The Grace of Anticipation

James 1:17 tells us, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." James reminds us that everything good in our lives comes from God. Now we often take such verses to mean the "holy" things come from God; the Bible, our church families, etc. And those are certainly gifts from God, given from the benevolent hand of the one who loved us and gave Himself for us. We praise God for these expressions of His goodness and worship Him for His generosity. But when James says that every good gift is from above, I don't think we're being untrue to the text to say that everything in our lives that is good is an expression of God's goodness. Even the things that aren't "holy" things can, I believe, be rightly considered to be good and perfect gifts from God. These are what we might call graces, i.e., demonstrations of the mercy and favor of God based on the imputed righteousness of Christ.
We have for example the grace of friendship. What a joy to have those with whom we can share our burdens and whose burdens we can share. It's an expression of the goodness of God that we can have these relationships.  

We have the grace of the beauty of creation. God could have made a drab, boring landscape. But He formed this world with the majesty and beauty that can only come from the divine brilliance of His holy creativity. 

In addition to these two is a grace that has been on my mind lately; the grace of anticipation. Anticipation is an expectation, a strong desire for something we look forward to, a hope that it will soon be ours. For the past couple weeks I've been anticipating an event that has become one of the highlights of my year--Guy's Weekend.  What is Guy's Weekend, you ask?  Simple; me and several college friends will get together for the weekend (pretty self-explanatory isn't it?). We'll talk theology, politics, and anything else we can find to disagree on. We'll play risk, cards, and golf (I won't actually play golf; my job is to ride in the carts and mercilessly taunt those who do). We'll eat an outrageous amount of ridiculously unhealthy food. We'll tell stories, we'll laugh and we'll crack on each other in ways that would ruin friendships less healthy than ours. Mostly we'll just enjoy one another's company. And I look forward to this event. It's a great time to unwind and to recharge.

A few weeks back, as I was thinking about the weekend and what all we'll be doing, God gently spoke to my heart; He reminded me that this anticipation I feel about Guy's Weekend is a gift from Him. And the reason it's a gift from Him is because it reminds me of a greater anticipation I have--the anticipation of going to be with Him forever. See, every good and perfect gift is from above. It comes from God. And so the point of these gifts is to point me towards God. The graces that God pours out on our lives are not just for us to enjoy. Certainly we are to enjoy them, to drink deeply of them and rejoice in the goodness of our King. But even more, they ought to cause us to want to enjoy Him, to drink deeply of Him and to passionately pursue the Giver of all good things.

The grace of friendship reminds me that there is a Friend who sticks closer than a brother. It reminds me that greater love has no one than this, that He lay down His life for His friends. The grace of creation reminds me that if all that I see is so magnificent, how much more magnificent is the One who spoke it into existence? If I can be swept away by the grandeur of the landscape, how much more should I be swept away by the grandeur of the divine artist Who designed it all? And if I can get so excited about a weekend with a bunch of knuckleheads, how much greater should my anticipation be for the eternal joy that will be found in the presence of King Jesus?
Let me share one other definition of anticipation--a realization in advance, a foretaste. All the good things in the world are simply a foretaste of the greater goodness that is found in King Jesus. All the good and perfect gifts are given to show us the ultimate satisfaction that is found in the good and perfect Giver of those gifts. 

May we drink deeply of the graces that God gives us. May we revel in them and rejoice in the expressions of goodness and favor from our great and benevolent King. But even more, may learn to look beyond them. May we learn to see that the greatest goodness we can enjoy in this life is but a foretaste of all that will be enjoyed in the presence of Jesus. May we learn that the greatest source of joy and delight is not the graces that are given; the greatest source of joy and delight is the Giver of those graces.

God Answers Job

The book of Job is a fascinating, heartbreaking, and sometimes head-scratching account of God's dealings with a man who by all accounts was righteous man. As tragedy after tragedy befell him, Job doggedly held to his trust in God.  At the same time, though, he wanted answers from God. Why, if he had followed God faithfully and passionately, would these things be happening to him? In our ears that sounds like a fair question doesn't it?  However, Job had friends who didn't think so. A good portion of the book is taken with the "comfort" they offered him--which basically amounted to, "Job, God is good and this must be happening because you are sinful. So what have you done?" One young man in particular, a fellow named Elihu, took pains to ask these same kinds of questions. He asserts that God is great, that we can't understand Him. He says in Job 37:23, "The Almighty, we cannot find Him..." God, who is not without a sense of irony, picks this moment as the time to show up and answer Job's questions.
What's fascinating, though, is that God's answers, the explanations that Job has been so hungry for, are shown to be beyond his reach. God doesn't explain; rather, He points out to Job why Job can't understand. With question after question, from chapters 38-41, God says, "Job, you couldn't get it even if I did explain it to you." And those chapters are great for reminding us of the greatness of God, of who He is and who we are.
This morning one specific question stood out to me. And it's not the one I would have thought. There are some amazing questions God puts to Job. Some give us a glimpse into the parts of God's creation in which He delights. In 39:5-12 God affectionately speaks of the wild donkey and the wild ox; He joys in their freedom and in their strength.  In vs19-25 of the same chapter He seems to take special delight in the fierceness of the war horse. Other questions soar poetically, such as 39:26, "Does the hawk fly by your wisdom, and spread its wings toward the south?"
The question that grabbed my attention, though, was the first question God asks Job. 38:4, "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth." Nothing particularly memorable about that, right? No poetic language, no wild and free animals; no power of creation or mysteries of God here. Just a simple, straightforward question: "Job, where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Where were you, Job, when I began building the earth on which you now walk, the earth onto which you were born? Job, where were you when I decided the laws by which this earth would be governed?"
I suppose the reason this question was so memorable to me is because of its simplicity. What would be the answer to it? How could Job respond? "I wasn't yet here, Lord. You hadn't yet knit me together in my mother's womb, fearfully and wonderfully making me. I hadn't yet breathed air (which You created) into the lungs You gave me, thereby drawing the oxygen that is necessary for life (which you breathed into my nostrils) into the body You fashioned from the earth--the earth You created."
God's 1st question to Job could rightfully have been His only question couldn't it? "Job, you are asking many questions. Let me ask you one." And the discussion could have ended there. But God wanted to make the point abundantly clear--both to Job and to us. He is far greater than we are. He is far wiser than we are. He knows things we don't know, He understands things that are beyond our ability. And while it isn't wrong for us to ask Him to help us understand, it is wrong to question Him. Why? Because we are unable to take hold of who He is, much less of what He does.
In 37:5 Elihu said, "God thunders wondrously with His voice; He does great things that we cannot comprehend." Elihu may not have had it all right, but that statement is good theology. God does great things that we can't comprehend. But even when we can't comprehend, we can trust. Even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, even though we are led there by the Lord who is our shepherd, we will fear no evil. Why? Because He is with us. We can rest in His presence when we can't understand His plan.

Nothing but the Blood

The following is taken from a sermon preached October 31, 1875 by Charles Spurgeon.  I couldn't decide which particular quote to post so I decided to post the entire quote. 

That part of the line of battle which is most fiercely assailed by the enemy is sure to be that which he knows to be most important to carry. Men hate those they fear. The antagonism of the enemies of the gospel is mainly against the cross. From the very first it was so. They cried “Let him come down from the cross and we will believe in him.” They will write us pretty lives of Christ and tell us what an excellent man he was, and do our Lord such homage as their Judas’ lips can afford him; they will also take his sermon on the mount and say what a wonderful insight he had into the human heart, and what a splendid code of morals he taught, and so on. “We will be Christians” say they, “but the dogma of atonement we utterly reject.”

Our answer is, we do not care one farthing what they have to say about our Master if they deny his substitutionary sacrifice, whether they give him wine or vinegar is a small question so long as they reject the claims of the Crucified. The praises of unbelievers are sickening; who wants to hear polluted lips lauding him? Such sugared words are very like those which came out of the mouth of the devil when he said “Thou Son of the Highest,” and Jesus rebuked him and said “Hold thy peace, and come out of him.” Even thus would we say to unbelievers who extol Christ’s life: “Hold your peace! We know your enmity, disguise it as you may. Jesus is the Savior of men or he is nothing; if you will not have Christ crucified you cannot have him at all.”

My brethren in Jesus let us glory in the blood of Jesus, let it be conspicuous as though it were sprinkled upon the lintel and the two side posts of our doors, and let the world know that redemption by blood is written upon the innermost tablets of our hearts. 

The Joy of Hardship

Psalm 119:71 says, "It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes." As curious as it sounds, there is often good that comes from bad. There is a joy that can be found in hardship--as long as we take hold of the fact that God can and does use those hardships for His glory in our lives.

Commenting on this truth, J.C. Ryle said

"Let us mark this well. There is nothing which shows our ignorance so much as our impatience under trouble. We forget that every cross is a message from God, and intended to do us good in the end. Trials are intended to make us think, to wean us from the world, to send us to the Bible, to drive us to our knees.

Health is a good thing; but sickness is far better, if it leads us to God. Prosperity is a great mercy, but adversity is a greater one if it brings us to Christ. Anything, anything is better than living in carelessness, and dying in sin. Better a thousand times to be afflicted, like the Canaanitish mother (Mark 7:24-20) and like her flee to Christ, than live at ease like the rich fool (Luke 12:20) and die at last without Christ and without hope."

No one enjoys hardships. But if we can take hold of the fact that God will use them for His glory, and to teach us of His goodness, and to use them to minister to others, we can learn to embrace these times.

Job's Righteousness

WARNING: This is a rather wordy post. Proceed with caution.

I've been reading through Job as part of my daily Bible readings this year and today's reading was fascinating. In chapter 31 Job is defending himself against his friends' assertions that the calamities in his life were a result of his unrighteousness.

Defending yourself against untrue claims is an awkward proposition. I find it hard to strike a balance between humility and setting the record straight. I want to correct false accusations but I have a bent towards self-righteousness and if I guard myself I can easily begin to not just defend myself but to pat myself on the back a little. Something like, "Not only are you claims untrue, I'm actually a better guy than you realize!" That sort of thing. Anyways, that's why Job 31 was so interesting to me. In this chapter, as Job defends himself, he lays his life out before his friends and before God. He essentially says, "This is who I am. You guys are saying I'm being punished for sin but there's no patter of sin in my life." That challenges me because I want to be able to say that. I want to be able to say, "There is no pattern of sin; you can check this area, that area, and any other you want but my life is blameless."

Job lists 13 areas of his life in which he is blameless before God. Some of them I expected; some of them surprised me. Not because they were bad things, but because they wouldn't be things I would use to vindicate myself.

He says first that he's blameless because he's committed himself to sexual purity, vs1-4. Then he's blameless because he walks according to truth, vs5-6. He doesn't covet, vs7-8, and he's not been guilty of adultery, vs9-12. Then in vs13-15 he says he hasn't been guilty of showing partiality. He says that when his servants complain against him, he listens to them. In vs15 he says, "Did not He who made me in the womb make him?" How about that, civil rights in the oldest book of the bible? And what's fascinating about this to me is that I would never think to point to my impartiality as proof of my righteousness. That isn't to say that I show partiality; I don't think I do, but for Job this was a central point of his argument. And why not? James 2:1 says, "My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ." Not showing partiality--something I would never even consider as a fruit of righteousness, is an explicit command in scripture.

Job continues his defense by asserting he is blameless because of his compassion for the poor and destitute, vs16-22. Again, not something I might point to in my own life. But again, we find a clear command in the New Testament. James 2:15-16, "If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them 'Go in peace, be warmed and filled', without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?" If there's anything we don't talk much about it's taking care of the poor. Yet Job points to this as proof of his righteousness; and James commands this of us. Job next says that he's blameless because he doesn't trust in riches, nor is he held captive by materialism, vs24-25. That's a powerful thing for a wealthy man to say. He also asserts that he doesn't follow false religions, vs26-28. These are characteristics that maybe would come more readily to mind. But then he says he's blameless because he loves his enemy, vs29-30. What a convicting defense. Can I look at my life and say, "I know I'm blameless before God, I see fruit of the transforming power of the gospel because I love my enemies. I don't rejoice when those who hate me are destroyed"? Job's final three points of defense are that he is hospitable, vs31-32, he's not a hypocrite vs33-34, and he is honest in his business dealings, vs38-40.

Which of these things would we point to as proofs of a right standing with God? Some of them we might, others we most likely wouldn't. And understand, this isn't an exhaustive list, nor should we judge our righteousness by Job. Jesus is our standard, not Job. However, remember how Job begins. Chapter 1 vs1 says, "There was a man in the land of Uz who name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil." And lest we think this is Job saying what a great guy he is, in vs8 God says of Job, "...there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil..." Job was indeed a righteous man; God declared him to be righteous and Job was able to point to specific things in life, evidences of the righteousness that had been imputed to him.

So here's the point; actually, the points. First, Just as Job was able to point to fruit in his life, I need to be able to do the same. Jesus said you know someone by their fruit, right? So I need to be able to point to fruit in my life, evidence of the indwelling Holy Spirit and of the transforming power of the gospel. And second, I need to reevaluate what I think constitutes righteousness before God. Many of us, I think, would answer charges such as were leveled at Job by saying, "I go to church, I give money, I read my Bible and pray." I don't see any of that from Job. All those things are great but even lost people can do these things. Job pointed to specific, concrete evidences of the work of God in his heart. He pointed to things that are almost completely overlooked in the church today; especially his focus on caring for the poor and destitute, and his claim that he hadn't fallen victim to materialism. Can I say the same? Can you? I need to be certain that the fruit I look to as evidence of the Spirit's work in my life is biblical fruit, i.e., that my life is matching up with the teachings of scripture. Not that I'll do this perfectly. But I should be doing it consistently.

Super Bowl--So What?

Last night was the Super Bowl. And whether you're a football fan or not you must agree that the Super Bowl is a big event. Each year about half the nation watches; a big star puts on an incredible halftime show (or as was the case this year, Madonna sang); advertisers paid millions of dollars for commercial time; and there was also a football game. Parties were had, tons of food was eaten--it's a huge event. If you're a Giants fan it was a good game. If you're a Patriots fan, not so much.

But here's a question; is your life any different this morning? By that I mean, did the Super Bowl make an impact on you? Have you been changed as a result of it? Now the answer of course is no. Unless you bet tons of money on the Giants and won big; in which case I'll address your gambling problem in a separate blog. But by and large the Super Bowl makes no difference in our lives. We may go to a fun party, eat great food, laugh at some commercials, be grossed out by Madonna, or even cheer for our favorite team. And when it's all said and done we're still the same people.

Now the purpose of this post isn't to bash the Super Bowl. I love football, I love the commercials, I love the whole deal. But I was reminded this morning of how easily my heart can chase after the wrong things. I can spend all week reading about the matchups, about who's going to win, about what commercials will be shown, all that. And when I stand before Jesus to give an account for my life none of things will matter. Again, I'm not saying it's wrong to watch the game or like football. I'm saying I was reminded that my heart is desperately wicked. I was reminded that even though I'm supposed to set my mind on things above, there are times when I don't.

The Super Bowl can't change my life. It can't make me more holy. It can't make me a better husband or father or pastor. But Jesus can do all those things. He can make me more like He's declared me to be. He can make me the kind of husband who loves my bride like He loves His bride. He can make me the kind of father who is an example of my Heavenly Father. And if He can do all those things, how much more excited about Him should I be? How much more should I look forward to spending time in His word and in His presence? This morning I'm not any different because of the Super Bowl. But I'm eternally different because of Jesus.

Father, thank You for Your love. Thank You for changing me. Help me to passionately run after You, to seek You desperately above all things. Help me to enjoy the good things You've given in this life; time with friends, things that bring laughter, football games that are fun to watch. But help me to find my greatest joy and deepest fulfillment in You. Help me to be more like You. Amen.

The Sin of Unbelief

In Mark 6:5-6 we read, "And He could do no mighty work there (Nazareth), except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He marveled at their unbelief." When Jesus returned to His hometown He wasn't welcomed with parades or banners. No one was proud of the hometown boy. Instead, they were offended by Him. They called Him illegitimate. And worst of all, they didn't believe who He was. They utterly rejected Him.

We don't often consider unbelief to be such a big deal. But J.C. Ryle in his Expository Thoughts on the Gospels points out several truths about this grave wickedness. First, it is the oldest in the world. Adam & Eve's sin in the garden was essentially a sin of unbelief. God had told them that if they ate of the fruit they would die. They didn't believe Him.

Second, it is the most ruinous of all sins because if the consequences of it. Unbelief brought death into the world; unbelief kept Israel out of the promised land for 40 years.

Third, it is the most foolish sin. Unbelief is a choice; a choice that is made in spite of the plainest evidence, in spite of the clear testimony of scripture and the testimony of the Spirit. Ryle says, "It is neither the want of evidence, nor the difficulties of Christian doctrine that make men unbelievers. It is want of will to believe."

Finally, unbelief is the commonest sin. Everyone, believer and nonbeliever alike, wrestle with this sin. Either we commit it with our minds and lips, or we commit it with our lives.

Unbelief is a grave, dangerous sin. Let us guard our hearts against it. Let us, as Ryle exhorts, "...go on watching our hearts, even after we have believed. The root of unbelief is never entirely destroyed."