Are You Ready To Be Free? (Romans 8:1-4)

This past week, Kenneth Lay, the founder of the Enron Corporation and the leader of one of the biggest business fraud scandals in history, died of a coronary artery disease at the age of 64. He was convicted in May of 10 counts of conspiracy and fraud and was set for sentencing on October 23 of this year for his suspected role in this scandal. He was due to face from 25 to 40 years in prison. It is all the more surprising when we see his humble upbringing that all this could have taken place.

 

Some may believe it was not fair that Ken Lay died before he could begin his sentence. But I submit to you that Ken Lay was in jail already.

To listen to the rest of this sermon via RealAudio, click here.

Do You Know Him? (Philippians 3:1-11)

Do You Know Him? What To Consider Before Going On-Mission Philippians 3:1-11 Commissioning Service for our WorldChangers 2006 Team (You may listen to this sermon via RealAudio at http://www.boonescreekchurch.com or by clicking here.)    Introduction   This morning, we praise God for the team He has raised from our youth and adults as they go on-mission to Moberly, Missouri.  This makes the seventh year that our youth have worked with either WorldChangers or Kentucky Changers in doing missions work in the name of Christ.  This morning, we also praise God for Eric Masters, Anthony Varble and the staffers at the Boone’s Creek Camp who will minister to middle and high school students.  What a special day this is to see so many young people ready to step out and make a visible difference in our world for the name of Christ.   When I first went into the pastorate in 1999 and even in the ministry back in 1992, I remember that white-hot passion I had to make Christ known to whoever would hear.  Yet, as we look at the Apostle Paul, we see throughout his entire ministry he desired to make Christ known — but he also knew that of critical importance for his own life and ministry was to know Christ.    Do you know Him?  Not know about Him — as if you were simply looking at His resume?  I mean, do you know Him?  What does that mean?   1.                  To know Christ means that we engage in the worship of God.   But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.  Indeed, I could everything as loss for the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.  For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ (Philippians 3:7-8).    Paul here says, “All that I had — all that was to my profit is now in the loss column.   And now what was in my loss column is now to my gain.”  All that matters is knowing Christ Jesus — to him, that was of the utmost worth and treasure to him.  He compared  all that used to be in the profit column, all that used to be treasure to Him as ‘rubbish.’    Rubbish here is pretty strong language.  Rubbish comes from the Greek word that could also mean dung, manure, even excrement.  With that type of waste, it not only describes the substance, but also the content and how you want it out!   I have four children:  a five-year-old, a two –year-old and twin eight month old boys.  My wife could tell you better than I that it is nothing for us to use 20 diapers a day between our three youngest.  One thing about it is that you do not want those diapers hanging around — even our handy dandy Diaper Genie won’t help out that way.  You want it out of the house!  It’s of no use to you and it is offensive!  You want it gone.   This is the essence of worship, dear friends, is that you treasure Christ above all.  In fact, the word ‘worship’ comes from the Old English woerthscipe with denotes worthiness, respect, reverence.  For Paul, Jesus Christ was of “surpassing worth.”  Just knowing him brought joy to his heart that knew no bounds.  A.W. Tozer put it so well:    “What is worship? Worship is to feel in your heart and express in some appropriate manner a humbling but delightful sense of admiring awe and astonished wonder and overpowering love in the presence of that most ancient Mystery, that Majesty which philosophers call the First Cause, but which we call Our Father Which Are in Heaven.”   I believe this is why Paul starts the conclusion of this letter that we as Christians are to “rejoice in the Lord.”  This phrase comes up again in Philippians 4:4 in a two-fold manner, where Paul says, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice” (Philippians 4:4).  Since Paul repeats that admonition to rejoice, we must not neglect nor take for granted the object of our joy — which also happens to be the object of our worship!  We rejoice in the Lord.  This phrase is key through out the entire passage — our joy, our treasure, and our worship must center on Jesus Christ our Lord.       2.                  To know Christ means that we experience the true righteousness of God.   Philip. 3:9     And be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—   Paul here makes a distinction between false righteousness and true righteousness.  And as we ponder Jesus’ words about how blessed we are when we hunger and thirst for righteousness, we have to ask, what type of righteousness do we hunger after?  Is it a righteousness that we can look at in our own thoughts and activities and words and say, “See, I’m righteous!  Look what at what I did.  Look at what I said!”    Why this admonition?  In the very next verse, Paul unloads on a group known as the Judaizers who kept preaching what I call a Christ-Plus religion.  Religions and cults practice this all across the world and have all throughout history.  In essence, it means that you bring something to the table to contribute to your salvation.  These Judaizers preached that you must trust Christ, but still keep all the Jewish rituals and sacrifices and even hold to the ritual of circumcision.   It must be said that the worship in which the Judaizers were engaged caused the Apostle Paul to be enraged.  He told the people to “look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh” (v. 2).  How ironic that Paul, a Jew, called these Judaizers a name that those Jews often reserved for Gentiles.  How noteworthy that he called them “evildoers,” even though they were given the “oracles of God” in the Law (Romans 3:2).  How pathetic that they felt obligated to follow Abraham’s example of the covenant in circumcision, yet since they did not worship by faith but by the flesh they were merely mutilating themselves.    Then he says, “For we are the real circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh” (Philippians 3:3).   Paul continued by saying, “You think you have confidence in the flesh, I have more.”  The interesting thing about his resume in verses 5 and 6, most folks would just kill to have just a few of these things — and Paul had it all and they wished they had it.  In fact, take the word WISH and you’ll see what I mean:   Wielded authority.  Paul’s zeal led him to be a “persecutor of the church,” as someone who was given the authority to bring those belonging to the church of Jesus Christ into prison (Acts 22:5).  Intellect:  to be a Pharisee meant you had to have a brilliant intellect.  You had to memorize the Pentateuch, know all 613 laws and traditions in place.  Status:  The word “Pharisee” comes from the word to mean “separate.”  John MacArthur notes that to reach the level of a Pharisee was to reach the highest level in devout, legalistic Judaism.  They were separate unto the Law — Heritage:  the first three items listed in Paul’s resume had nothing to do with anything he did, but everything to do with what his parents did.  Even before Paul could control his own devotion to the Law, his parents laid the foundation.    Paul says, “I had confidence in the flesh — and even had more of a reason to confide in my flesh than any of you Judaizers.  But now, they are refuse to me!  My treasure that I had in my flesh, it’s trash now.”  Why?  Because that trash inteferes with the treasure of Jesus!   Romans 2:28-29, Paul says, “For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical.  But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.”  These Judaizers were currently putting their faith in exactly what Paul did in the past — in their flesh – in merely outside rituals and services.    Paul certainly hungered after a righteousness — a righteousness of his own that comes from the Law.  For him, the Law was a ladder by which he climbed to God.  Paul is not saying that the Law is a bad thing… on the contrary, the Law is good because it is God’s law.  Yet, Romans 3:20 says, “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.”   But in Romans 3:21, it says, “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it.”     So here again, Paul shows a righteousness that comes from God apart from the Law.  It comes not from the flesh obeying it, but through faith in the One who kept it on our behalf and who bestows that righteousness to us!  The flesh says, “I can get to God by depending on my works!”  The Spirit of God through Christ says, “I can get to God only through confident faith and total dependence on Jesus who stood as my substituted on that cross for my sin.  2 Cor. 5:21 says that “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”     You say, I’m not like Paul — I don’t think it’s up to me!  Good!  Yet you must be careful.  We can fall into two categories as Christians.  One category says, “I’m in Christ.  He loves me as I am.  I don’t have to do anything for Him because I’m in the kingdom.”  Sadly, many are like that.  Please examine yourselves   Others believe that Jesus will only love them if they go on a missions trip, come to church every Sunday, read their Bible, etc.  They are trying to please God by what they do — not through a relationship.  That righteousness comes through a relationship and through fellowship with the one who lived and died and rose again on our behalf.   3.                  To know Christ means that we enjoy fellowship with Christ..   “ … that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,  [11] that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”   Last Sunday, our church had a wonderful fellowship down at the park.  What a wonderful time that was when about 60 of us broke bread together, listened to the youth lead out in some wonderful worship music — we enjoyed a great time of fellowship.  What makes our fellowship work here at Boone’s Creek?  We enjoy being in each other’s company.    Paul here notes that he wants to know Christ (I hope we’ve gotten that by now!).  Here, he says, “I want to know him.”  Paul wants to so identify with Christ that He wants to experience what Christ experiences — in full!    Paul wanted to fellowship with Him not only in His life but also in Christ’s death — he wanted to be identified with Him in His sufferings.  Through going through the sufferings for Christ’s sake, He could identify with Him fully. In Acts 5:41, as the disciples were questioned and flogged by the Sanhedrin for preaching in the name of Jesus, we see this:  “Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.”      Part of Paul’s initial calling was to suffer for Christ.  In Acts 9:15-16, we read: “But the Lord said to him, ‘Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.  [16] For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.’”    1 Peter 4:13 says, “But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.”  Matthew 5:11-12, Jesus says, “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.  [12] Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”  The joyful life, the blessed life in Christ, the calling of Christ to His mission and work only comes through suffering for Christ’s sake.    But He desired to be with Christ in His sufferings so that He would rely only on the sufficiency of God’s grace.  Job said in Job 13:15, “Though he slay me, I will hope in him.”  In 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Paul says, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  [10] For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”   He talks about the power of his resurrection.  You see, Paul invested all of his life in following the Law — in trying to do His own to fulfill God’s commands.  The power of the Law which he thought lead to life, leads to death because the Law brings along sin, whose wages are death (Romans 3:20, 6:23).  Therefore, if the Law leads to death, that cuts off fellowship with the living and holy God who is life!   Here’s the issue:  this was all accomplished at the cross.  All you have to do is look at the cross.  The cross goes in two directions:  vertically and horizontally.  Paul here is focusing on the vertical nature of his Christian walk:  knowing intimately and personally God through Christ.  But with that, he desires to not only know God but to make him known in fellowshipping with others. 1 John 1:1-4 says this:   That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— [2] the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— [3] that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.  [4] And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.   John desired to proclaim all that Christ is and was and will be — why? — so that all who hear may have fellowship with them, and thus have fellowship with God through Christ.  J.I. Packer notes, “The person who is not in fellowship with the Father and the Son is no Christian at all, and so cannot share with Christians the realities of their fellowship.”       Conclusion In the Antarctic summer of 1908-9, Sir Ernest Shackleton and three companions attempted to travel to the South Pole from their winter quarters. They set off with four ponies to help carry the load. Weeks later, their ponies dead, rations all but exhausted, they turned back toward their base, their goal not accomplished. Altogether, they trekked 127 days. On the return journey, as Shackleton records in The Heart of the Antarctic, the time was spent talking about food — elaborate feasts, gourmet delights, sumptuous menus. As they staggered along, suffering from dysentery, not knowing whether they would survive, every waking hour was occupied with thoughts of eating. Jesus, who also knew the ravages of food deprivation, said,  "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for RIGHTEOUSNESS." We can understand Shackleton's obsession with food, which offers a glimpse of the passion Jesus intends for our quest for righteousness.  Do you have that passion for God's presence?  Do you have that hunger and thirst after God's righteousness?  May God grant us that passion even now.

Prayer in the Life and Ministry of the Pastor

By Mark Dever of 9 Marks Ministries

Prayer is a matter that most of us readily endorse but, in reality, think of too little. I’m not talking about prayer in general, but prayer in the life and ministry of the pastor.

In the only letter we have from Jesus’ brother Jude, we find a passionate warning against false teachers who were invading and beguiling the church. Jude writes scathingly of them. After he describes and dismisses them, he turns in verse 20 to contrast the true Christians, and true leaders of the church, with these unspiritual men.

Click here to read the rest of the article.

A Silly Fly

A silly fly!

(Gleanings from the Inner Life of Ruth Bryan)

I have just seen a silly fly, sporting heedlessly close to a spider's web, and most likely it would soon have sported into it–and have become fast entangled in the snare. But a friendly hand swept away the spider's network, and thus removed the danger; while the heedless, helpless fly, was equally unconscious of both the danger and the preservation.

Ah! then, I thought, perhaps it is thus often with me! In an unseen snare I had been almost heedlessly caught. But the seeing eye, loving heart, and powerful arm of Jesus are mine! He beholds the intended mischief, defeats the wily worker, sweeps away the entangling thread–and thus preserves me from disaster!All praise be Yours, dear Lord, for known and unknown mercies and deliverances! Oh, may I never knowingly sport on the edge of sin–or trifle with temptation.

"Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You preserve my life . . . with Your right hand You save me!" Psalm 138:7

(Distributed by Grace Gems.)

Do you have sensuality or Spirituality?

He that has not received the Spirit is said to be sensual. Oh, what a gulf there is between the least Christian and the greatest moralist! What a wide distinction there is between the greatest professor destitute of grace, and the least of God's believers who has grace in his heart. As great a difference as there is between light and darkness between death and life, between heaven and hell, is there between a saint and a sinner; for mark, my text says, in no very polite phrase, that if we have not the Spirit we are sensual. " Sensual!" says one; "well, I am not converted man—I don t pretend to be; but I am not sensual." Well, friend, and it is very likely that you are not—not in the common acceptation of the term sensual; but understand that this word, in the Greek, really means what an English word like this would mean, if we had such a one—soulish. We have not such a word—we want such a one.

There is a great distinction between mere animals and men, because man hath a soul, and the mere animal hath none. There is another distinction between mere men and a converted man. The converted man hath the Spirit—the unconverted man hath none; he is a soulish man—not a spiritual man; he has got no further than mere nature and has no inheritance in the spiritual kingdom of grace. Strange it is that soulish and sensual should after all mean the same! Friend, thou hast not the Spirit. Then thou art nothing better—be thou what thou art, or whatsoever thou mayest be—than the fall of Adam left thee. That is to say, thou art a fallen creature, having only capacities to live here in sin, and to live for ever in torment; but thou hast not the capacity to live in heaven at all, for thou hast no Spirit; and therefore thou art unable to know or enjoy spiritual things.

And mark you, a man may be in this state, and be a sensual man, and yet he may have all the virtues that could grace a Christian; but with all these, if he has not the Spirit, he has got not an inch further than where Adam's fall left him—that is, condemned and under the curse. Ay, and he may attend to religion with all his might—he may take the sacrament, and be baptized, and may be the most devout professor; but if he hath not the Spirit he hath not started a solitary inch from where he was, for he is still in "the bonds of iniquity," a lost soul. Nay, further, he may pick up religious phrases till he may talk very fast about religion; he may read biographies till he seems to be a deep taught child of God; he may be able to write an article upon the deep experience of a believer; but if this experience be not his own, if he hath not received it by the Spirit of the living God, he is still nothing more than a carnal man, and heaven is to him a place to which there is no entrance. Nay, further, he might go so far as to become a minister of the gospel, and a successful minister too, and God may bless the word that he preaches to the salvation of sinners, but unless he has received the Spirit, be he as eloquent as Apollos, and as earnest as Paul, he is nothing more than a mere soulish man, without capacity for spiritual things.

Nay, to crown all, he might even have the power of working miracles, as Judas had—he might even be received into the church as a believer, as was Simon Magus, and after all that, though he had cast out devils, though he had healed the sick, though he had worked miracles, he might have the gates of heaven shut in his teeth, if he had not received the Spirit. For this is the essential thing, without which all others are in vain—the reception of the Spirit of the living God. It is a searching truth, is it not, my friends? Do not run away from it. If I am preaching to you falsehood, reject it; but if this be a truth which I can substantiate by Scripture, I beseech you, rest not till you have answered this question: Hast thou the Spirit, living, dwelling, working in thy heart?

(An excerpt from a sermon by Charles H. Spurgeon, The Holy Spirit and the One Church.  Delivered on Sabbath Morning, December 13, 1857, at the Music Hall, Royal Surrey Gardens.  To read the entire sermon, click here.)

Medical Study Questions the Power of Prayer

Don Whitney has written an excellent piece on the power of prayer in response to a recent article in the New York Times saying that prayer actually hindered recovery and escalated complications of surgery recipients.  Click here to read his response.  (This would be good for a bulletin insert as well.)

The True April Fool — Hear the Word of the Lord

 The fool says in his heart, "There is no God."
   They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds,
   there is none who does good. 

 The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man,
   to see if there are any who understand,
   who seek after God.    

 They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
   there is none who does good,
   not even one.
(Psalm 14:1-3)

Proverbs 1:7
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Proverbs 1:22
"How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?How long will scoffers delight in their scoffingand fools hate knowledge?

Proverbs 3:35
The wise will inherit honor,but fools get disgrace.

Proverbs 8:5
O simple ones, learn prudence;O fools, learn sense.

Proverbs 10:1
The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son makes a glad father,but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother.

Proverbs 10:8
The wise of heart will receive commandments,but a babbling fool will come to ruin.

Proverbs 10:14
The wise lay up knowledge,but the mouth of a fool brings ruin near.

Proverbs 10:18
The one who conceals hatred has lying lips,and whoever utters slander is a fool. 
Proverbs 10:21
The lips of the righteous feed many,but fools die for lack of sense. 

Proverbs 10:23
Doing wrong is like a joke to a fool,but wisdom is pleasure to a man of understanding. 

Proverbs 11:29
Whoever troubles his own household will inherit the wind,and the fool will be servant to the wise of heart. 
Proverbs 12:15
The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,but a wise man listens to advice. 

Proverbs 12:16
The vexation of a fool is known at once,but the prudent ignores an insult. 

Proverbs 12:23
A prudent man conceals knowledge,but the heart of fools proclaims folly. 

Proverbs 13:16
In everything the prudent acts with knowledge,but a fool flaunts his folly. 

Proverbs 13:19
A desire fulfilled is sweet to the soul,but to turn away from evil is an abomination to fools. 

Proverbs 13:20
Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise,but the companion of fools will suffer harm. 

Proverbs 14:3
By the mouth of a fool comes a rod for his back, but the lips of the wise will preserve them. 

Proverbs 14:7
Leave the presence of a fool,for there you do not meet words of knowledge. 
 
Proverbs 14:8
The wisdom of the prudent is to discern his way,but the folly of fools is deceiving.

Proverbs 14:9
Fools mock at the guilt offering,but the upright enjoy acceptance.

Proverbs 14:16
One who is wise is cautious and turns away from evil,but a fool is reckless and careless.

Proverbs 14:17
A man of quick temper acts foolishly,and a man of evil devices is hated.

Proverbs 14:24
The crown of the wise is their wealth,but the folly of fools brings folly.

Proverbs 14:33
Wisdom rests in the heart of a man of understanding,but it makes itself known even in the midst of fools.

Proverbs 15:2
The tongue of the wise commends knowledge,but the mouths of fools pour out folly.

Proverbs 15:5
A fool despises his father's instruction,but whoever heeds reproof is prudent.

Proverbs 15:7
The lips of the wise spread knowledge;not so the hearts of fools.

Proverbs 15:14
The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge,but the mouths of fools feed on folly.

Proverbs 15:20
A wise son makes a glad father,but a foolish man despises his mother.

Proverbs 16:22
Good sense is a fountain of life to him who has it,but the instruction of fools is folly.

Proverbs 17:7
Fine speech is not becoming to a fool;still less is false speech to a prince.

Proverbs 17:10
A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understandingthan a hundred blows into a fool.
Proverbs 17:12
Let a man meet a she-bear robbed of her cubsrather than a fool in his folly.

Proverbs 17:16
Why should a fool have money in his hand to buy wisdomwhen he has no sense?

Proverbs 17:21
He who sires a fool gets himself sorrow,and the father of a fool has no joy.

Proverbs 17:24
The discerning sets his face toward wisdom,but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.

Proverbs 17:25
A foolish son is a grief to his fatherand bitterness to her who bore him.

Proverbs 17:28
Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise;when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.

Proverbs 18:2
A fool takes no pleasure in understanding,but only in expressing his opinion.

Proverbs 18:6
A fool's lips walk into a fight,and his mouth invites a beating.

Proverbs 18:7
A fool's mouth is his ruin,and his lips are a snare to his soul.

Proverbs 19:1
Better is a poor person who walks in his integritythan one who is crooked in speech and is a fool.

Proverbs 19:10
It is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury,much less for a slave to rule over princes.

Proverbs 19:13
A foolish son is ruin to his father,and a wife's quarreling is a continual dripping of rain.

Proverbs 19:29
Condemnation is ready for scoffers,and beating for the backs of fools. 

Proverbs 20:3
It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife,but every fool will be quarreling. 

Proverbs 21:20
Precious treasure and oil are in a wise man's dwelling,but a foolish man devours it. 

Proverbs 23:9
Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,for he will despise the good sense of your words. 

Proverbs 24:7
Wisdom is too high for a fool;in the gate he does not open his mouth. 

Proverbs 26:1
Like snow in summer or rain in harvest,so honor is not fitting for a fool. 

Proverbs 26:3
A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey,and a rod for the back of fools. 

Proverbs 26:4
Answer not a fool according to his folly,lest you be like him yourself. 

Proverbs 26:5
Answer a fool according to his folly,lest he be wise in his own eyes. 

Proverbs 26:6
Whoever sends a message by the hand of a foolcuts off his own feet and drinks violence. 

Proverbs 26:7
Like a lame man's legs, which hang useless,is a proverb in the mouth of fools. 

Proverbs 26:8
Like one who binds the stone in the slingis one who gives honor to a fool. 

Proverbs 26:9
Like a thorn that goes up into the hand of a drunkardis a proverb in the mouth of fools. 

Proverbs 26:10
Like an archer who wounds everyoneis one who hires a passing fool or drunkard. 

Proverbs 26:11
Like a dog that returns to his vomitis a fool who repeats his folly. 

Proverbs 26:12
Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes?There is more hope for a fool than for him. 

Proverbs 27:3
A stone is heavy, and sand is weighty,but a fool's provocation is heavier than both. 

Proverbs 27:22
Crush a fool in a mortar with a pestlealong with crushed grain,yet his folly will not depart from him. 

Proverbs 28:26
Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool,but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered. 

Proverbs 29:9
If a wise man has an argument with a fool,the fool only rages and laughs, and there is no quiet. 

Proverbs 29:11
A fool gives full vent to his spirit,but a wise man quietly holds it back. 

Proverbs 29:20
Do you see a man who is hasty in his words?There is more hope for a fool than for him. 

Proverbs 30:32
If you have been foolish, exalting yourself,or if you have been devising evil,put your hand on your mouth.

Christway Media — great devos of Dr. D.A. Carson

I would like to commend to you Christway Media for a good, meaty devotional each day.  These devotionals are from D.A. Carson’s “The Love of God, Book II” (and taken by permission).  Maurice Bergeron is the curator of this ministry.  In the devotional you see the four Scripture readings at the beginning are from the McCheyne Bible Reading system to help you through the Scriptures each year.  The devotionals are taken from one of those Scripture readings.

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March 19

Exodus 30; John 9; Proverbs 6; Galatians 5

THE BEGINNING AND THE ENDING OF Galatians 5, taken together, tell us a great deal about the Gospel that Paul preaches.

  In the first part, Paul is still trying to persuade his Gentile Christian readers in Galatia that adding Jewish heritage and ritual to their Christian faith does not add something to it, but subtracts something from it.  In particular, if they submit to circumcision, then “Christ will be of no value” to them at all (5:2).  Why not?  What harm could arise from being circumcised?  Paul explains that the Gentile who allows himself to be circumcised “is obligated to obey the whole law” (5:3).  That was the symbol – significance of circumcision:  it was the mark of submission to the law – covenant.  But to take that step betrays a massive failure to understand the true relationship between the law – covenant and the new covenant that the Lord Jesus Christ introduced.  The former prepares for the latter, announces the latter, anticipates the latter.  But to commit oneself to obeying the terms of the law – covenant is to announce that the new covenant Jesus secured by his death is somehow inadequate.  These Galatians, who have in the past clearly understood that men and women are justified by grace through faith, are now “trying to be justified by law,” and in so doing “have been alienated from Christ”; it means nothing less than falling away from grace (5:4).  The ultimate righteousness will be ours at the end, when Jesus returns.  Meanwhile, “by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope” (5:5).  To understand the crucial significance of Christ this way means that those who believe in Christ Jesus — what he has accomplished for us in his central place in redemptive history — know full well that circumcision itself is neither here nor there (5:6).  But circumcision actually subtracts from Christ if one undergoes it out of a desire to submit to a covenant that in certain respects Christ has made passe.
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O Lord, I Desire to Be Humbled

Under a sense of my sins and unmerited mercies, I desire through grace, in sincerity and humility of soul, to approach to the Author of all my mercies, and to lay before You, O merciful Father! all my plans–desiring Your divine direction.

And, in the first place, I confess my own sins. I desire to be humbled under my natural proneness to evil and aversion to good; for my many sinful thoughts, which You, O Lord, know; for my wrong conceptions of the great Jehovah, and the smallness of my holy fear when in Your presence, calling on You before whom all the earth should tremble.

I also desire to be humbled for my limiting God, as if he were not Almighty; for not placing all my faith and hope on Him alone, but on appearances and probabilities; for my ingratitude to God for His many matchless mercies to me in feeding and clothing me, and giving me favor in the eyes of men with whom I had to do. Providence has never failed me, but always supplied me; yet in the time of prosperity I sinned, and joined with sinners in their follies, which now I lament, and desire to be humbled for.

O to learn the language of Your rod!

O Lord! I desire to be humbled for . . .
all my prevailing lusts and passions;
my spiritual pride,
my ignorance of the things of God,
my barrenness under the gospel,
my lukewarmness about the things of Christ;
my carelessness about pious duties.

Ah! that ever I should doubt the good will of Him who heard my cry and delivered me out of the hand of my fierce afflictions, manifesting His mighty power. I desire to be humbled for my earthly-mindedness and my desire after temporal things–riches, honor, and glory–which perish and pass away. I desire to be humbled for that great mountain of sins accumulated on me since my last season of prayer.

And now I desire to lay before You my petitions. And first of all, O to be daily getting nearer and nearer You; to be growing more and more acquainted with lovely
Jesus, increasing more and more in grace, becoming more and more like You, and daily less conformed to the world; to be delighting more and more in spiritual things, given more and more to meditation on the glory to be revealed, loving Him more and more, who loved me!

O to be delighting in God all the day long, living in His fear as before Him always, learning more and more submission to His disposals in providence, and more and more persuaded of the rectitude of His will, the equity of His law, the longness of His patience, and His care of His own. O to get some victory over prevailing sin, and that which so easily besets me! O, Let never the greed for money get a hold of my heart; keep me from covetousness.

Now, O Lord, in the hope that You will hear, I lay all my petitions before You. Choose what you will, cast away what you will–I will be content. I commit myself to You. I take You as my God and Father, for my Savior, for my Sanctifier forever. O hear!

I desire in truth, O majestic Jehovah! to call these heavens over my head, the hills and mountains aroundme, the growing grass–to be witnesses, that I this day subscribe with my hand to be Yours, wholly Yours. Amen, amen! So be it!

James Meikle, July, 1752.
(from a paper found among his remains)

(Distributed by Grace Gems, who sends out quotes of this nature daily.)

Are You a Storehouse Tither?

[This is a tract I gave to the members here at Boone's Creek Baptist Church, but may it be a reminder for us as well. --- MRP]

Bring the full tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need (Malachi 3:6-10, ESV).

“What is a storehouse tither?” Well, in our language today, we would say it is the tither who gives an undesignated tithe. See, there are many who give contributions to special items such as missions, special offerings for those who are in need, or even to the building fund (just to name a few) and they designate those gifts to go to that certain fund. And as wonderful as those gifts are — and as much as God loves the cheerfulness in which that gift is given — this is not a storehouse tithe.

A storehouse tithe is a tithe that is undesignated, given to what’s called the general fund. You see, when tithes were first instituted in Numbers and Deuteronomy, they were given to help the Levites (that is, the priests) to help them in their spiritual ministry and in the upkeep of the Temple. This tithe was to be brought into the storehouse of the Temple for use for any needs (both physical and spiritual) that may come up in the course of their day-to-day ministry. When the people were obedient and gave their storehouse tithe, the ministry of the Temple flourished. When they were not, it was the result of the people’s disobedience and the ministry of the Temple disintegrated.

The same is true in our day. We are a New Testament church who are still commanded to give their storehouse tithe and to give it first and to give it fully. Remember, “Bring your full tithe into the storehouse.”

This is an imperative, not an option. We have our nice homes, our bells and whistles, our nice clothing and jewelry, we fund our hobbies, we finance our habits — but where is God in the equation. For many, the question isn’t, “Is God first?” For many, we have to get to the point, “Is God anywhere at all in our money?”

What happens when we do not ‘storehouse tithe?’

1. When we do not storehouse tithe, we are running from God.

Look with me at Malachi 3:6 and the first half of verse 7:

For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts.

God shows us His immutability. God never changes. How He was in the past is how He is now is how He will be in the future. In other words, He is faithful. And this attribute is polar opposite of how Israel was during Malachi’s time.

If you read through Malachi, you see God having a conversation with His people. He tells them first, “I have loved you.” But Israel looks around at their poor, rundown condition and their lack of prosperity and then asks, “God, how have you loved us?” They could not see the evidence of it.

He then tells the priests and the religious leaders in 1:6, “You have despised my name.” The priests, who felt they were doing everything just fine thank you very much, asked God back, “How have we despised your name?” They felt they were offering the right sacrifices and doing all the right things. But they were offering blind, lame, and blemished animals rather than the very best. God even says, “You wouldn’t offer your civic leaders this, would you? But you do Me.

In Malachi 2:10, God shows His anger toward Israel for joining with unbelievers in marriage and thus were “joining themselves to a foreign god.” Plus, in that day, divorce was rampant — they did not remain faithful to their vows. Yet the people could not understand why God was not showing His favor toward them. They were not being faithful to God nor to each other.

Next, God says, “You have wearied me with your words.” Israel again asks, “How?” Israel had spoken of how God was unjust. They felt they were the epitome of faithfulness and godly morality, but God wasn’t blessing them. Yet those around them who were evil (that’s everyone else but them, you see) were prospering. They were saying, “God is not just.” God reminds them that the day of the Lord, the day of judgment is coming. Then you will see how just I am.

Then He says, “But what about you?” In verse 5, God condemns them of sorcery; adultery; false testimonies; swindlers; extortioners; disregard for the needy, the widow and the fatherless!

Is this not a picture of today? Worship by routine, corrupt clergy, blindness to one’s unfaithfulness, believing God should bless even while we are in open sin, disregarding God — until something goes wrong, then He’s to blame! We change our devotions constantly. During one part of our lives, we were on-fire for the Lord in sincere worship and service — but now we may have changed! We shrug our shoulders at sin, we do everything godly by the motions, church and worship become less appealing. We change!

But God doesn’t. Because of God’s faithfulness and patience, we are not consumed. In every generation, those who call themselves His people change. And we may in our thoughts see these as awful issues, but by not tithing, do we see that this is a sin comparable to all those mentioned throughout Malachi?

2. When we do not storehouse tithe, we are robbing from God.

During one Sunday morning service at Ashland Avenue Baptist Church, then-pastor Hershael York stood behind the pulpit during the middle of the service and began to speak. He said, “Dear church family, there is something that has come to my attention that I as your pastor must deal with. I regret doing this during a Sunday morning service, but since this is when most of our church family attends, this seems to be the best time. I apologize to those of you who are guests with us this morning, but I must take care of some family business.

“It seems that someone has been stealing from the Lord’s treasury.”

As you can imagine, all the air went out of the room. You could have heard a pindrop in that rather large sanctuary. Dr. York went on: “I feel the need to tell you that I personally am not guilty of stealing from the Lord’s treasury, and neither are any on staff here at Ashland Ave. But I fear there are many in this room who are guilty.” You can imagine how they were beginning to shift in their seats looking around at who may look guilty.

Then he dropped the bomb: “We are stealing from the Lord in our tithes and offerings.” With that, the air came back in the room and people seemed relieved. Many thought, “Wow, that was a good one, preacher. You really had us going there for a minute.” And slowly people began to talk with one another and then came laughter as if to say, “Wow, I’ve been had!”

Yet Dr. York stayed behind the pulpit and then said, “I can see from your reaction that you do not see this as a very serious matter. But to God, it is of the utmost seriousness. Do you want to be convicted of robbing God? I don’t.”

You know, some folks got upset with Dr. York over that. But when you look at this passage, is he not right? The passage reads as follows:

[8] Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed
you?’ In your tithes and contributions. [9] You are cursed with a curse, for you
are robbing me, the whole nation of you. [10] Bring the full tithes into the
storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test,
says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and
pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need (Malachi 3:8-10).

Just like when they asked, “How shall we return?” with an attitude of, “We’re already devoted to you already,” so too they asked, “How have we robbed you?” “We’ve offered the sacrifices, we come to the temple, we do all these things — how have we robbed you?” The answer?

“In your tithes and contributions.” That is, God’s people were not bring a tenth of the resources that God had provided them and were not bringing them into the storehouse. They were robbing Him of His due! It’s even happening now! The average church member contributes between 1.5% and 2.5% of his total income specifically to the Lord’s work.

This issue is simply a symptom along with the other problems to a deeper situation — and that is the sin of unbelief! Lack of faith in being a storehouse tither stands right along disengaged worship, corrupt preachers and clergy, unfaithfulness to your marriage and friends, and blindness to your own sin even while you point out the sins of others.

3. When we storehouse tithe, we receive the blessings of God!

In our upside-down world, we buy our bells and whistles first. So many fund their hobbies and their habits and give them priority. Then we buy our clothes so we look good, feast on our food. Then we take care of our home and pay the bills (if there’s any money left over from that). Then Sunday rolls around and we are reminded of the offering time, we think, “Oh man, I can’t afford to tithe — I don’t have any money.”

You know what God is saying here? He’s saying, “You challenge Me! Take Me at My word and see what I will do. Come on! Test Me! Remember, I don’t change!

And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.

Those of you who are familiar with the Scriptures may remember a time when Jesus, as He was tempted by the devil, told him, “It is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test’” (Matthew 4:7, cf. Deuteronomy 6:16). Satan was trying to manipulate God into sin so Satan would get the glory. Here in Malachi, God is challenging His people to taking Him up on His Word.

Are we willing to do that? Are we willing to give God what is due Him — the full tithe into the storehouse?

Copyright © 2005 by Matt Perry, Boone’s Creek Baptist Church. 185 N. Cleveland Rd., Lexington, KY 40509. (859) 263-5466. Copy as many as needed. http://www.boonescreekchurch.com . All Scripture references are from the English Standard Version. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles. All rights reserved. Used with permission.