Being Passionate

February 22, 2010 in Bible - OT - Ecclesiastes, Ecclesiology, Meditations

Ecclesiastes 11:9 (NKJV)
9 Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, And let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth; Walk in the ways of your heart, And in the sight of your eyes; But know that for all these God will bring you into judgment.

For some weeks now we have been considering the lessons which young men as part of the body of Christ teach us. Solomon reminds us today that young men are full of energy, vision, passion, commitment, goals, dreams and aspirations. And so he exhorts young men to thank God for this energy and enthusiasm. “Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth.”

The desires to conquer the world, to chart unknown territory, to discover new things – these are good and noble. The reckless abandon with which young men can press ahead and pursue dreams and visions, is a lesson which young men have to teach us as the people of God. Passion is a good thing. So Solomon urges young men to follow these desires. “Walk in the ways of your heart, And in the sight of your eyes.” Take advantage of the passion which God has given you – dream lofty dreams, pursue outrageous goals.

Alongside these encouragements, Solomon delivers one reminder to young men in the midst of your passion: be tenacious in holding on to what is good and right. Too many young men allow their passions to direct them in ways that despise truth, goodness, and beauty. Their passions drive them to seek one more sexual encounter, one more drug enduced euphoria, one more victory at the gaming table. Notice what Solomon says, “But know that for all these God will bring you into judgment.” One day you will give an account for the choices you have made. One day you will answer to God for the way in which your passions have driven you. One day you will no longer be young.

In other words, Solomon is counseling you young men, that your passion can be put to either good use or evil use. If your passion drives you to honor the Living God and uphold His law, then rejoice for you are being precisely the type of young man He wants you to be. If, however, your passion is driving you to despise or ignore God and His statues, then you are in the clutches of the Evil One. Far from being a young man, you are nothing more than Satan’s tool. Too many young men have assumed that just because they feel like doing something, because they are passionate about it, therefore it must be right. Solomon teaches you otherwise. Passion is good – but it must be driven to achieving that which is honorable in the sight of God. Therefore your passion must be regulated by the Word of God.

What then do we as the people of God learn from young men today? Two things. First, the glory of passion. I fear that many of us have forgotten what it is to be passionate. John wrote to the church of Ephesus, “But this I have against you, that you have left your first love.” Have you forgotten what it is to be passionate? Then look at a young man and remember again and imitate him. Second, the danger of passion. We too must ask ourselves, “Have our passions driven us to evil?” Then we too must look at the Word of God and remember what it is we are to be truly passionate about.

Reminded that we have failed to learn the lesson of passion from the young men in our midst, let us kneel and confess our sin to God.

The Glory of Young Men

January 18, 2010 in Children, Ecclesiology, Meditations

1 John 2:13-14 (NKJV)
…I write to you, young men, Because you have overcome the wicked one… I have written to you, young men, Because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, And you have overcome the wicked one.

We have now finished our consideration of the lessons which children teach us. And so we begin to consider young men and young women – no longer grouped together as young people but distinguished and differentiated because God in His Providence uses this time in a young man’s life to notify him that that child he’s been playing with next door is different.

John writes to the young men in his audience for a very specific reason and highlights the strengths which young men possess. You young men out there have definite strengths, lessons to teach us as the people of God. Unfortunately, these very strengths expose you to certain temptations and weaknesses as well. And so let us consider what you teach us – both positively and, at times, negatively.

One of the first lessons that young men teach us is the glory of strength. Something happens when boys become young men. They start comparing muscle mass, challenging dad to feats of strength, working out to develop six packs and biceps. They challenge themselves and their friends with new and unsual tests. And these types of tests are not wrong but good and right. Pushing one another further, challenging one another, not being content with 10 pull ups but pushing for 20 – these traits are good. Solomon himself tells us that the “glory of young men is their strength.” God has given this strength to you young men and so ask God to use it to stretch yourself, to challenge yourself and your friends.

But John also encourages you to put this strength to work not only physically but spiritually. The Church stands in dire need of young men who are not content with the muddle headed, mealy mouthed, limp wristed spirituality that is passed off as pious today. Too many young men think that spirituality means getting some feel good spiritual high, having warm fuzzies about Jesus, or sharing their personal struggles just like the girls do.

John highlights none of these things in his words to young men. Rather, John highlights the “strength” which is the glory of young men. “I write to you young men, because you have overcome the evil one…I write to you young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.”

So young men – challenge one another. Push one another. Fred, let’s memorize Ephesians together – I bet I can memorize it faster than you. Let’s pray regularly for our parents – I bet I can be more consistent than you. Let us be sexually pure – if you go after some girl dishonorably or start looking at porn I’m going to let the elders know.

Young men our culture wants you to think that you are incapable of true greatness; that the extent of your ability is to be addicted to entertainment and “big boys toys.” God thinks different. God knows you are quite capable of excelling; He knows you are strong; and so He tells you – fight the good fight, overcome the evil one, let my word dwell in you. For that is what you have to teach the body of Christ.

Reminded that we have failed to appreciate the strength of young men and have instead striven to emasculate them, let us kneel and confess our sin to God.

Like a Weaned Child with His Mother

November 6, 2009 in Bible - OT - Psalms, Ecclesiology, Meditations, Trials

Psalm 131:2 (NKJV)
2 Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, Like a weaned child with his mother; Like a weaned child is my soul within me.

A couple weeks ago we spoke of the lesson that infants teach us in their hunger. Just as infants cry and pull at their mother’s clothing to get at the milk, so we as the people of God are to hunger and thirst for the Word of God. We are to long for the pure milk of the Word that by it we may grow in respect to salvation. But children aren’t always quite so passionate about eating. Is there anything to learn when they grow up a bit? According to the psalmist the answer is yes.

Psalm 131 is one of the songs of ascent, sung when the men of Israel would journey to Jerusalem for one of the three annual feasts. God had commanded that the men of Israel appear before Him in Jerusalem three times per year. While sometimes whole families were able to travel to Jerusalem, frequently because of the cost and inconvenience involved, only the men were able.

Imagine, then, the fears that would beset families as the men prepared to go. The men would worry about their wives and children – will they be well when I return? will enemies attack while I am gone? The women would worry about their husbands, their children, themselves – will my husband return? what will I do if he doesn’t? what will I do if our enemies attack? how will I protect our home? Fear was a great temptation.

But God had not left them without assurance – He had promised them that He would take care of them during these times; that He would be their Protector and Defender. Exodus 34:23-24 declares, “Three times in the year all your men shall appear before the Lord, the Lord God of Israel. For I will cast out the nations before you and enlarge your borders; neither will any man covet your land when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in the year.” God promised that He would protect their homes as they went up to Jerusalem. And so the question became – will we trust Him, will we believe Him?

Around this question began to swirl a collection of songs, called the psalms of ascent. These are Psalms 120-134 in the Psalter. These psalms were especially sung in this time when the men of Israel were called to leave their homes and journey to Jerusalem.

Psalm 131 was sung to move the Israelites to patient trust in the promise of God. And notice the heart of the meditation: Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, Like a weaned child with his mother; Like a weaned child is my soul within me. The psalmist was a careful student of the people of God – not just the big people, but the little ones as well. And in the life of weaned children, he learned what we are to be like in times of trial.

As husbands and fathers made the trip to Jerusalem and feared for their families, as wives, mothers, and children remained at home and feared what could face them with the men away and their enemies surrounding them, this psalm would have been a great comfort and encouragement. What do we learn from weaned children? To be calm and quiet in the presence of our provider – no longer pulling and yanking at our mother’s breast to get that food. No instead now we know that our mother cares for us, we know that she shall feed us, we no longer fear that she will forsake us; for she has demonstrated her love for us time and again and we trust her.

This is the message learned from weaned children in our text today – our attitude to the Lord God is to be like this little child toward his mother. But often it is quite the opposite. We fuss and whine; we yank at the blouse, pull at the bra, trying to convince God to feed us when he has already promised to do so.

So the call of weaned children is this: trust God, he will provide for you, he will protect you, he will fulfill his promises. Entrust yourself to him and to His loving care. Reminded that we have failed to trust Him, let us kneel and confess our sin to Him.

Infants and the Kingdom of God

November 6, 2009 in Bible - NT - Luke, Ecclesiology, Meditations

Luke 18:15-17 (NKJV)
15 Then they also brought infants to Him that He might touch them; but when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. 16 But Jesus called them to Him and said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. 17 Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.”

For the past couple Lord’s Days we have considered the lessons that infants teach us as the people of God. We have seen that infants, because of their intricate design, gloriously display the grandeur of God, overthrowing all the sophisms of the philosophers. We have also seen that infants, in their very hunger for milk, instruct us about the passion we all should have for the Word of God. Today we learn a final lesson taught by infants – infants display faith.

When a number of Jesus’ followers come bringing their infants to Jesus so that He can bless them, Jesus delivers a dual imperative to the disciples who are endeavoring to forbid this. “Let the little children come to Me,” He commands, “and do not forbid them.” Jesus gives both a positive command – let them come – and a negative injunction – do not forbid them. Notice that if we had only one of these imperatives, we could reason that Jesus thinks merely that these children should be tolerated, permitted to come into His presence. But the dual imperatives destroy such a supposition. He wants these children not merely tolerated but welcomed, ushered into His presence. Let the little children come unto Me.

Why? Why does Jesus deliver these exhortations? Why is He indignant with the disciples? Because, Jesus declares, “of such is the Kingdom of God.” Jesus declares in no uncertain terms that the children of believers are members of the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is not a social club. It is not an adults only club. It is not even an adults primarily club in which children are, I guess, welcome to come along for the ride. Of such as these – infants brought into the presence of Jesus for blessing – is the kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God, in other words, is not a social club at all but a new humanity incorporating adults, children, young adults, seniors, infants, and even dead people joined together under the banner of the Messiah.

Now many interpret this phrase “of such as these” to mean “of disciples who are like these infants” is the kingdom of God, but this is not the point. After all, Jesus goes on to explain the lesson which infants teach us as the people of God – not infant disciples but actual infants. Why is it that infants are such integral members of the Kingdom of God? Because they teach us about faith, about trust, about dependence. They are wholly and completely dependent upon God, trusting Him to care for them through their parents. And if we do not learn this lesson from them, if we do not learn to trust our Heavenly Father in the same way and so become their disciples in this, then we will by no means enter into the Kingdom of God.

Listen to the words of David in Psalm 22:9-10:

But You [O My God] are He who took Me out of the womb; You made Me trust
while on My mother’s breasts. I was cast upon You from birth. From My
mother’s womb You have been My God.

Infants have something to teach us. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, they declare, and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. Let us kneel together and confess that we have failed to learn this lesson from the infants around us.

Hungering like Infants

November 6, 2009 in Bible - NT - 1 Peter, Ecclesiology, Meditations

1 Peter 2:1-3 (NKJV)
1 Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, 2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

Last week we considered the words of David, acknowledging the wonder of God in little babies. Today we learn that there is more to babies than their incredible design. Not only do their mouths reveal the glory of their Master Craftsman, they also reveal the hunger that is to characterize us as the people of God. For no truth is more manifest in the lives of infants than that they like to be fed and are quite adept at letting others know their need.

When God by His grace converts us and adopts us as His children, it is as infants that we begin our journey. The word of God comes, convicts us of sin, enlightens our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and we are born again. Peter notes earlier in his epistle that his hearers have “been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever.” In general, when Scripture speaks of this new birth it then exhorts us to grow from that point. We are not to remain infants, to remain immature, but are to grow into a full grown man, able to discern between good and evil.

However, in one respect, we are to retain the quality of infants. Peter urges us, “as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.” Even as a newborn infant cries out for milk, we are to cry out for instruction from our Lord throughout our lives.

Infants know when they’re hungry and know what to do in order to let others know as well. The time of day doesn’t matter. The location doesn’t matter. The inconvenience to others doesn’t matter. When that baby is hungry, he cries out. So what of us? Are we disturbing God’s rest to obtain from him instruction and direction? Are we hungering and thirsting for righteousness, pushing and pulling and grabbing everything else out of the way so long as we get that food? I fear not. After all, who wants to be seen screaming in the check-out aisle?

So what does this mean practically? First, are we preparing to receive the preaching of God’s Word every Lord’s Day? Every Lord’s Day God meets with us, instructs us, directs us from His Word. Do we come eager to hear? Rested and refreshed, alert and eager to hear the voice of Christ and to have His Word change us and transform us? Or do we simply come each week out of habit? Perhaps to stroke our ego and make us feel like righteous people? Do we come worn out and frazzled from failing to prepare ahead of time? Peter reminds us – long for the pure milk of the word. Do everything and anything you can to get the full benefit from the food.

Second, are we reading and studying the Word of God on our own? Do we take the Word preached and discuss it as families? Do we read other portions of the Word of God and let them shape and mold us. I’ll guarantee you that an infant wouldn’t be content being fed for one hour once a week. So why are we?

Reminded that we are to imitate the littlest members of our community by hungering for the pure milk of the Word, let us kneel and confess our lack of passion to the Lord.

The Glory of Infants

November 6, 2009 in Bible - OT - Psalms, Ecclesiology, Meditations

Psalm 8:1-2 (NKJV)
How excellent is Your name in all the earth, Who have set Your glory above the heavens! 2 Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, Because of Your enemies, That You may silence the enemy and the avenger.

We begin our survey of the lessons taught by every member of the family of God with infants. We could, of course, begin earlier, with the little ones in the womb. But we’ll stick with the ones not hidden in the depths of the earth.

Babies are so cute and cuddly; so small and tiny and apparently so fragile. It always seems to first time parents as if the slightest rustle, the gentlest breeze may land our little one in the doctor’s office. We bundle them up, we scrub all the toys with disinfectant, we wash the food two or three times. They are so weak, so dependent.

And it is this very truth that strikes David as he considers the world about Him. The Lord’s Name, David tells us, is excellent in all the earth. After all, He has set His glory above the heavens. Day to day utters forth speech and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no language, nor voice where their tongue is not heard. Their line has gone out to the ends of the earth. The heavens tell the glory of God.

Having considered God’s wonder in creation, the first place David turns to behold this wonder, the wonder of God’s Name, is the mouth of little babes. Turn and look upon this child – crafted by the hand of God Himself, carefully knit in his mother’s womb, appointed by God to live and breathe and scream and eat – and in looking on this child behold the wonder of God’s Providence.

For God has not only crafted this child, this dependent child, but has provided food and nourishment for him in his mother’s breast; has not only given the food but given him, this teeny, tiny baby, a tongue that latches on to his mother’s breast so that he can drink his fill and be satisfied. God orchestrated this; God put it together. Behold the wonder and grandeur of God!

And so, David tells us, these little babes, so fragile, so small declare the praises of God, reveal the excellence of His Name, reveal His great power. God needs no rhetoricians; He needs no learned men to vindicate His Name. Every baby born into the world manifests His glory, His strength.

Chapman Cohen once remarked, “Gods are fragile things. They may be killed by a whiff of science or a dose of common sense.” Yet modern history has demonstrated that the gods are far more resilient than Cohen imagined, and the living God more so than the idols of the nations. We simply cannot escape His presence, cannot avoid reckoning with Him because all the sophisticated arguments of philosophers, all the conjectures of scientists, all the pontifications of sociologists, suddenly confront the hard reality of a little baby. And God says, behold My grandeur!

So have you looked at a baby recently and considered the strength that God has vested in that little one? We are reminded this morning to see with new eyes and to ask God’s forgiveness for failing to see His glory in the weakest of places. Let us kneel as we are able and confess our sins to the Lord.

The Family of God

October 4, 2009 in Ecclesiology, Meditations

1 Timothy 5:1-2 (NKJV)1 Do not rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father, younger men as brothers, 2 older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, with all purity.

God in His grace and mercy and wisdom has called us to be part of a family. Not only has he ordained marriage as the foundation for human society – with children being the fruit of it – but he has also, in Christ, united the Church to one another as family. In the text before us today, Paul reminds Timothy to treat the other members of the Church as extended family. He is to treat older men as fathers, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters. The Church is a family.

Because the Church is a family, there are lessons that all members of the family teach one another. All members of the body of Christ, male and female from infancy to old age, teach and instruct one another. It is for this reason that the trend in the modern church to separate folks according to age is so detrimental. Whether this manifests itself in children’s church, in contemporary versus traditional services, or in youth groups that capitalize on juvenile behavior, each robs the Church and undermines her long term health.

Today, therefore, we begin a short series of exhortations on lessons learned from different portions of the family of God. What do infants teach us? Children? Young boys and young girls? Young men and women? The middle-aged? The aged?

As we look at the Word of God, we will see that every member of the family of God has incredible significance. Each has a lesson to teach – and this, of course, means that everyone has a lesson to learn from them all. And so the questions come to us this morning – how are we doing? Are we considering the important role that we play in teaching the rest of the people of God? And, on the flip side, are we learning from all members of the family?

Paul expects us to treat one another as family – to love and cherish one another, to show respect where it is due, and loyalty at all times. But I fear that this is often not what happens. We hasten to hide away some members of the family. We don’t want the inconvenience or embarrassment associated with them. Old Uncle Charlie gets shuffled down the stairs to the basement and junior gets tossed in the nursery. We ignore Freddy’s pertness and pray that little Sally won’t say “Amen” too loud. But in the process we miss what God is teaching us and fail to see the true wonder of His glory.

Reminded of our failure to treat one another as family, to love one another and be loyal to one another, let us kneel and confess our sins to our heavenly Father.

Let Your Joy be Turned to Gloom

August 25, 2008 in Bible - NT - James, Ecclesiology, Meditations

James 4:8-10 (NKJV)8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

Two weeks ago we remarked that there are critical places where the modern church draws contrasts between the Old Testament and the New Testament but the Scriptures themselves make a parallel. The practical implications of this parallel come to roost in our text today. Many an earnest Christian has read the verses from James today and imagined that the proper Christian demeanor is one of sour gloominess, that laughter is not fitting for someone who is really spiritual, and that the safest course in life is to walk around with a frown.

But we must remember that for James the Church of God is composed not only of earnest Christians who hunger and thirst for righteousness and desire to please and honor their Lord but also of hypocrites who abuse the grace and mercy of the Lord. It is to these tares among the wheat that James addresses his exhortations today. “Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

In reading James’ words, it is imperative to recall the life of Israel and the words of the prophets. To recall that there are those who claim the name of Christ and live in a way that defames him and causes the enemies of God to blaspheme. It is to these folks that James issues his exhortation – much like the words of the prophets Joel and Zephaniah years before – Woe to you who long for the day of the Lord! For what benefit will the day of the Lord be to you? It will be darkness and not light. Put away your laughter, put away your insipid joy, repent and seek the face of God.

Notice then the way James responds to grievous sin in the Church. He does not deny that such folks are Christians in any sense of the term. Rather, he exhorts them for their unfaithfulness and their lack of genuine devotion to the Lord. He treats their hypocrisy seriously, viewing their fawning deception as a blot on the Church of God. The sin of hypocrites and apostates is far more grievous than that of an unbeliever in the same way that an adulterer is committing a far worse sin than a fornicator. One who has been baptized into the Name of the Triune God, covenantally bound to Him and identified with Christ, and who rebels and rejects this word is in far worse condition than he who never heard the word at all.

So give heed to the words of James all you who bear the Name of God. You children particularly, growing up in the midst of a Christian home, hear the word of James. Greater revelation brings greater responsibility. Do not reject the Lord Jesus Christ. Do not imagine that merely going through the motions of religiosity is a sufficient hedge against the coming judgment. Your only escape – even as it is the only escape of us all – is to throw yourself on the mercy of God in Christ and ask Him to deliver you. Shun hypocrisy. Shun worldliness. Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

Reminded of the need to seek the face of the Lord and to shun hypocrisy and worldliness, let us kneel and seek His forgiveness.