Spear of Phinehas

"Love Covered with Flesh"

noreply@blogger.com (BJ Stockman) — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:59:00 +0000

Christmas is the celebration of Jesus' Incarnation. The Puritan, Thomas Watson, described the Incarnation this way,

"Christ incarnate is nothing but love covered with flesh." A Body of Divinity, (Source)

God in Christ has become a man.

This is indeed astonishing, yet for some the idea is blasphemy. The Qur'an, the holy book of Islam, states,

"Believe, then, in God and His apostles, and do not say, '[God is] a trinity'. Desist [from this assertion] for your own good. God is but One God; utterly remote is He, in His glory, from having a son: unto Him belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth; and none is as worthy of trust as God." (4:171)

For Islam God would never cover Himself with human flesh. He is far remote. He is transcendently above such a thing. He would never have a Son.

Christianity asserts something quite different: God is not remote--He is near. He is indeed transcendent and glorious--and yet wonderfully immanent. He does have a Son--born to a actual human parents. This truth does not tamper with the massive glory of God, but rather displays it.

Jesus is "love covered with flesh." In Christ God has come to reconcile the world to Himself. He is not far off waiting for sinful humanity to come to Him. God has come to sinful humanity. Worship is not hindered, but born in the hearts of those who accept this historic event.

Worship is not only the adoration of being caught up in the transcendence of God, but amazement that God has humbled Himself in the person of Jesus Christ to serve sinful men. God is not looking for men to give gifts to Him, but for men to receive the gift of Himself. God has been made a man to make men sons of God

Christmas is indeed a great reminder of God's great love for the world.

It is not, as the Qu'ran says, "for your own good" to say that God does not have a Son. It is precisely the opposite. It is "for your own good" that God sent His Son to live in this suffering world and suffer on behalf of sinful humanity. God has made a way to Himself through the person and work of His Son. Do not reject this. Rejecting Jesus--"love covered with flesh"--is rejecting God.

You may not believe that God loves you or even what the love of God is. But God has spoken in His Son. The person and work of Jesus Christ is the proof of the divine love of God.

Jesus came to earth, born of a virgin, died on the cross, and came back to life three days later that people like you may know and love God. As the apostle John wrote,

"In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (1 John 4:10).

God's love to the world is on display in the incarnation and crucifixion of Jesus. He has loved sinners and died in the place of all sinners who would trust His work on their behalf.

Love covered with flesh has covered sin. Reflect on this love, this Christmas.

When was Jesus Born? Does it Matter?

noreply@blogger.com (BJ Stockman) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 19:51:00 +0000

December 25th is on its way, and the celebration of Jesus' birthday is fast approaching.

In light of this, last night I was asked if Jesus' birthday was actually December 25th, and it prompted some thought. Was it? And does it even matter if it was or if it wasn't?

It most likely is not. No one knows when Jesus' was born for certain. New Testament scholar Craig Blomberg writes,

"Christians in the Western part of the Roman empire began to celebrate 'Christmas' on December 25, a holiday for worshiping Sol Invictus ('the unconquerable sun'...); in the East, on January 6. Both dates also coincided at times, in the ancient calendars with the winter solstice. So it is doubtful if these dates reflect any information about the actual day on which Jesus was born. Some historians point to the fact that shepherds would have watched their flocks at night (Luke 2:8) primarily in the springtime when most lambs were born, so perhaps Jesus was born in the spring. Still, we simply have no way of being sure." (Jesus and the Gospels, 188)

From the sounds of it, Jesus was probably born in the spring and in the evening, which means a couple things:

We most likely not only got the day wrong, but the entire season messed up.
All you weird people out there that open presents on Christmas Eve have ruined the fun of waking up Christmas morning, but you do get props for probably being more biblical ;)

What about that darn pagan holiday? Certain Christians get concerned about celebrating the holiday because the current day commemorated was a day that was dedicated to the worship of a false god.

Really this is nothing to get worked up about. As Paul, one of the first Christian missionaries showed, since the day that you engage in publish worship on isn't that big of a deal, the day that one celebrates Jesus' birth on shouldn't be either. Days in themselves aren't special.

The real problem isn't the fact that an idol was worshiped at some point in the past on December 25th, but that for some Christmas Day (and maybe Easter) is the only day that one gives any sort of recognition to the person of Jesus Christ. Paul's point is that every single day is about celebrating the gift of God's Son to a sinful world in the person of Jesus Christ.

It doesn't matter when Jesus' birthday was. Just enjoy the celebration, the presents and hot cider, and remember to point to the historical reality of the incarnate Son of God and Savior of the world being born. Immanuel--God with us--actually entered into human history. The Creator of the world came into the world to save sinners. God is not distant. God came as man to dwell with man.

This historical truth is what is worth heralding every day, and celebrating the wonder of the Incarnation on one particular cold day in December is just fine. Even if we humans got it wrong.

The central matter is not so much putting Christ back into Christmas, as conservative talk show hosts have demanded, but putting Jesus in his central place every single day--as the only object of worship in your heart.

The Center of the Christian Religion

noreply@blogger.com (BJ Stockman) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 20:14:00 +0000

Twentieth century Presbyterian J. Gresham Machen writes the following on the center of Christianity, and is a great launching-pad for Thanksgiving weekend:

"Christ, according to Paul, will do everything or nothing; if righteousness is in slightest measure obtained by our obedience to the law, then Christ died in vain; if we trust in slightest measure in our own good works, then we have turned away from grace and Christ profiteth us nothing.

"To the world, that may seem to be a hard saying; but it is not a hard saying to the man who has ever been at the foot of the Cross; it is not a hard saying to the man who has first known the bondage of the law, the weary effort at establishment of his own righteousnes in the presence of God, and then has come to understand, as in a wonderous flash of light, that Christ has done all, and that the weary bondage was vain....--that man knows in his heart of hearts that the Apostle is right, that to trust Christ only for part is not to trust Him at all, that our own righteousness is insufficient even to bridge the smallest gap which might be left open between us and God, that there is no hope unless we can safely say to the Lord Jesus, without shadow of reservation, without shadow of self-trust: 'Thou must save, and Thou alone.'

That is the centre of the Christian religion--the absolutely underserved and sovereign grace of God, saving sinful men by the gift of Christ upon the cross. Condemnation comes by merit; salvation comes only by grace: condemnation is earned by man; salvation is given by God....

The reception of that gift is faith: faith means not doing something but receiving something; it means not the earning of a reward but the acceptance of a gift....Faith, in other words, is not active but passive; and to say that we are saved by faith is to say that we do not save ourselves but are saved only by the one in whom our faith is reposed; the faith of man presupposes the sovereign grace of God....

Thus the beginning of the Christian life is not an achievement but an experience; the soul of the man who is saved is not, at the moment of salvation, active, but passive; salvation is the work of God and God alone."
What is Faith?, 193-197. (Emphasis mine).

I am not only thankful for the gracious gift of of Jesus' death and resurrection on my behalf, but the gracious gift of faith that God has given me. Thanks be to God for the Good News of Jesus.

Should Christian's Punish Their Kids? Lloyd-Jones Answers

noreply@blogger.com (BJ Stockman) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:56:00 +0000

Martyn Lloyd-Jones gives the following answer via my excerpts from his sermon "Discipline and the Modern Mind":

"[In the modern outlook there is] a general opposition to the whole idea of justice, and of righteousness, of wrath and punishment. These terms are all abominated and are hated. In general the modern man dislikes them radically....What makes the position so serious is that this attitude is generally presented in terms of Christianity, and especially in terms of New Testament teaching, and this, in particular, as contrasted with the Old Testament teaching....They claim that these modern ideas concerning discipline are based upon the New Testament, and that they have the true New Testament conception of God. They are therefore not interested, they say, in justice and righteousness, wrath and punishment. Nothing matters but love and understanding....

Summing it up we can say that the basic idea underlying this view is that human nature is essentially good....What is needed therefore is to draw out, to encourage, and to develop the child's personality. So there must be no repelling, no control; there must be no punishing, and no administering of correction because that tends to be repressive....

We are told that you must not punish; you must appeal to children, show them the wrong, set them a good example, and then reward them positively. We must grant, of course, that there is a measure of truth in all this, but the danger is that men usually go from one extreme to the other, and by today the whole notion of punishment has largely vanished....

All this, I repeat, is based upon the notion that human nature is essentially good; so you have only to appeal to it. You will never need to resort to punishment. And if you do punish at all, it must never be corporal, and it must never be punitive; if there is any sort of punishment, we are told, it must be reformatory....

This, we are told, is the approach of Christ toward these matters....

I do not hesitate to assert that the biblical and Christian attitude towards these two extremes is that they are both wrong; that the Victorian position is wrong, and that the modern position is wrong, even more so....

Any position which says 'law only' or which says 'grace only' is of necessity wrong, because in the Bible you have 'law' and 'grace'....It is a tragic fallacy to think that when you have grace there is no element of law at all, but that it is a kind of license. That is a contradiction of the biblical teaching....We are not 'without law' as Christians, says Paul, 'but we are under law to Christ' (1 Corinthians 9:21)....

...the modern teaching--and this is one of the serious things concerning it--displays a complete misunderstanding of the biblical doctrine of God. This is the desperately serious thing....the notion that God is One who can wink at sin and pretend that He has not seen it, and cover it over and forgive every offender, and never feel any wrath, and never punish is, I say, not only to deny the Old Testament, but to deny the New Testament also. It is the Lord Jesus Christ who spoke about the place 'where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched'....[God] is a holy God, a just God, a righteous God, who has made it plain that He will punish sin and transgression, and who has done so in many times. He punished His own children of Israel for their transgressions; He sent them into captivity...The Apostle Paul teaches explicitly in the Epistle to the Romans (1:8-32), that God punishes sin, and does so sometimes by abandoning the world to its own evil and iniquity....

The modern notions that man is fundamentally and essentially good, and that, if only the good is drawn out, everything will be right, and that you have only to make an appeal, and never punish...are the consequence of a rejection of the biblical doctrine of sin. The simple answer to them is that man's nature is evil, that as the result of the Fall he is altogether evil....

...there is also a complete misunderstanding of the doctrine of the atonement and of redemption....The biblical doctrine of the atonement tells us that, on the Cross of Calvary, the just and holy and righteous God was punishing sin in the person of His own Son, that He might 'be just, and the Justifier of him that believeth in Jesus' (Romans 3:25 & 26)....The justice and the righteousness of God demanded this, the wrath of God upon sin insisted upon this. But this is where we see truly the love of God, that it is so great that the wrath is poured out even on His own Son in all His innocence, in order that you and I might be rescued and delivered....

There is no purpose in making appeals in terms of sweet reasonableness to men who are evil and governed by lust and passion.

The biblical teaching is that such people are to be punished, and are to feel their punishment. If they will not listen to the law, then the sanctions of the law are to be applied. God, when He gave His Law, accompanied it by the sanctions which were to be applied following transgression. When the Law was broken the sanctions were carried out....The biblical teaching is that because man is a fallen creature, because he is a sinner and a rebel, because he is a creature of lust and passion, and governed by them, he must be forcibly restrained, he must be kept in order. The principle applies alike to children and to adults who are guilty of misdemeanor and crime and a departure from the law of the land and from the Law of God....The biblical teaching, founded upon the character and being of God, and recognizing that man is in a state of sin, requires that law must be enforced, in order that men may be brought to see and to know God; next that they might be brought into grace; so that finally they may be brought to own and obey the higher law under which they delight in pleasing God and honouring and keeping His holy commandments."

Life in the Spirit in Marriage, Home & Work, 262-275

The Difference Between Christianity and Other Religions

noreply@blogger.com (BJ Stockman) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 02:20:00 +0000

Herman Bavnick:

"Buddha and Confucius, Zarathustra and Mohammed are no doubt the first confessors of the religions which have been founded by them, but they are not the content of these religions, and they stand in an external and to a certain extent accidental relation to them. Their religions could remain the same even though their names were forgotten, or their persons replaced by others....Christianity stands to the person of Christ in a wholly different relation from that of the religions of the peoples to the persons by whom they have been founded. Jesus is not the first confessor of the religion which bears His name. He was not the first and most eminent Christian, but He holds in Christianity a wholly different place....Christ is Christianity itself; He stands not outside of it but in its centre; without His name, person and work, there is no Christianinty left. In a word, Christ does not point out the way to salvation; He is the Way itself."

Source: Quoted by B.B. Warfield, "Christless Christianity", Christology and Criticism, Volume III, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 1932, reprinted 2003), 367

They Have Healed the Brokenness of My People Superficially

noreply@blogger.com (BJ Stockman) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 17:16:00 +0000

The prophet Jeremiah:

"Everyone is greedy for gain,
And from the prophet even to the priest
Everyone deals falsely.
They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially,
Saying , 'Peace, peace,'
But there is no peace." (6:13-14)

Any brokenness that is healed without the person and work of Jesus Christ is a superficial healing. The answer to human brokenness--be it in marriage, sexuality, child-rearing, friendships, drugs, etc.--is always Jesus. To withhold Jesus as the answer, or to make Jesus peripheral and something else central, even if that something else is a good thing, even a biblical thing, is to heal God's people superficially.

Pastors--priests and prophets--who leave out Jesus or who just tag him on the end of sermons and books and counseling sessions like a bumper-sticker are superficial pastors healing God's people with superficiality, which is no healing at all.

This breaks God's heart. God sent his Son to heal the brokenness of His people. Jesus is sufficient for every level of human brokenness.

Klosterman, Likability, and God's Love

noreply@blogger.com (BJ Stockman) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:24:00 +0000

Chuck Klosterman on the problem of making it your personal aim to be liked:

"...being likable is the only thing that seems to matter to anyone. You see this everywhere. Parents don't act like parents anymore, because they mainly want their kids to like them; they want their kids to see them as their two best friends. This is why modern kids act like animals. At some point, people confused being liked with being good. Those two qualities are not the same. It's important to be a good person; it's not important to be a well-liked person." IV, 275

To make your personal mission being liked by the world, your neighbors, your kids, your wife, your church, your friends, whomever it may be is setting yourself up for a life of frustration and depression. You will end up living your life based upon others expectations and your discernment on what is right and wrong will fly out the window as the litmus test of everything becomes what will and will not make this or that person happy. The goal of life is not be liked.

The compulsion to be liked by your spouse, by your boss, by your friend, by the people in your church is actually the fear of man. Your desire for likability is actually a revelation of your own fear. Humans were only made to fear one person--God. When your value becomes defined by what other people think of you, you will not be "a good person" nor a "godly person", but a narcissistic person who needs the praise of others for self-fulfillment. This will always disappoint.

Fearing God is what you were made for. His opinion of you is the only thing that matters and fulfills. His value-system does not fluctuate by your likability. He does not like, he loves. The measure of his love is seen in the crucifixion of his Son. The event where God became man to die for sinners, who show their sin by valuing the opinion of humanity more than the opinion of the Creator of humanity.

The love of God is not the like of God. God did not die to affirm you, but to save you. His love is never based on your good actions, but always based on the perfect work of Jesus. For those who trust Christ, God's likeness of you never fluctuates because it is wrapped up in his eternal love for Jesus.

God loves those who trust Him with the same eternal love that He loves His own Son. Knowing and experiencing this love is human wholeness. It frees you from the desire to be liked, and imparts the experience of being loved by the Creator of the universe forever.

It's not important to be well liked, but it is eternally important to be in the favor of God. This divine favor is offered to all who trust Jesus, and those who do will never come into condemnation but live forever in the unwavering and abundant love of God. This reality frees you and heals you from the cancerous desire of being liked.

I doubt Klosterman would agree with me here, but it is the only remedy to the problem that he sees. People act like animals not just because their not liked, but because as the image of God they do not trust the revelation of the exact image of God in Jesus Christ. In doing so their own humanity becomes inverted and the idolatry of likability is traded for the glory of God.

Exercise Naked

noreply@blogger.com (BJ Stockman) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 14:43:00 +0000

I've begun reading Disciplines of a Godly Man with a couple buddies, and came across the author's fleshing out of the Greek word "train" in 1 Ti. 4:7's phrase "train yourself to be godly":

"The word 'train' comes from the word gumnos, which means 'naked' and is the word from which we derive our English word gymnasium. In traditional Greek athletic contests, the participants competed without clothing, so as not to be encumbered. Therefore, the word 'train' originally carried the literal meaning, 'to exercise naked.'" (R. Kent Hughes, 14)

Now this doesn't mean those of you who've always wanted to go to the gym naked now can and call it biblical, but it does say something quite insightful for the discipline of godliness. The author explains:

"Just as the athletes discarded everything and competed gumnos-free from everything that could possibly burden them--so we must get rid of every encumbrance, every association, habit, and tendency which impedes godliness. If we are to excel, we must strip ourselves to a lean, spiritual nakedness." (14)

If you reduce Christianity to "I can do this" and/or "I can't do that", you've just done that, you've reduced Christianity to something that it is not. Christianity is running the race in such a way as to win the prize, not just to barely finish the race.

Spiritual nudity is a good thing--"put off" all that impedes and "put on" all that helps you win and finish well.

Seven Characteristics of False Teachers

noreply@blogger.com (BJ Stockman) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 22:43:00 +0000

Seven characteristics of false teachers from an old Puritan named Thomas Brooks:

1. False teachers are men-pleasers.
2. False teachers are notable in casting dirt, scorn, and reproach upon the persons, names, and credits of Christ's most faithful ambassadors.
3. False teachers are venters of the devices and visions of their own head and hearts.
4. False teachers easily pass over the great and weighty things both of law and gospel, and stand most upon those things that are of the least moment an concernment to the souls of men.
5. False teachers cover and colour their dangerous principles and soul-impostures with very fair speeches and plausible pretences, with high notions and golden expressions.
6. False teachers strive more to win over men to their opinions, than to better them in their conversations.
7. False teachers make merchandise of their followers.

Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices, 230-233

Christ is Triumphant

noreply@blogger.com (BJ Stockman) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 14:47:00 +0000

Eugene Peterson regarding Revelation 6:2's rider on the white horse:

"Biblical Christians do not sentimentalize Christ. There is a fierceness and militancy here. The world is in conflict; our Christ is the first on the field of battle. High issues are decided every day. Christ is not only worshiped each Sunday, he is triumphant each week day. That, of course, is not the way the newspapers report it; that is not the way our own emotions respond to it; but that is what the preached revelation proclaims." Reversed Thunder, 75.

Spiritual Warfare in Marriage - Review of "God, Marriage and Family"

noreply@blogger.com (BJ Stockman) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 20:31:00 +0000

Over summer vacation in July I read Dr. Andreas Kostenberger's God, Marriage, and Family. I highly recommend it for every marriage, especially for husbands. It is a bit academic and scholarly, but you can always skip the more academic interactions, and read Kostenberger's conclusions.

Kostenberger provides a full theological framework for marriage and family in light of the Old and New Testament. He covers issues such as singleness, children, male headship, birth control, homosexuality, divorce and remarriage, etc. Obviously, those include some hot-button topics in the culture and in the church, and Kostenberger deals with them carefully and biblically, radically focusing upon God and the Gospel without losing cultural relevance.

One of the best sections that I found was his highlighting of the theme of spiritual warfare in marriage. Now, Kostenberger isn't talking bustin' a cap in a demon with a quick exorcism of your spouse via speaking in tongues. What does he mean then? He writes,

"Because marriage and the family are not merely a human convention or cultural custom but a divine institution, it should be expected that Satan, who seeks to rob God of his glory, would attack marriage...Spiritual warfare has been a part of married life and childrearing from the beginning. The foundational biblical narrative in Genesis 3 recounts how the tempter, Satan, prevailed upon the first woman to violate God's commandment and how her husband followed her into sin. Ever since, marriage has resembled more a struggle for control and conscious and unconscious efforts at mutual manipulation than an Edenic paradise. The first known instance of sibling rivalry issued in Cain killing his brother Abel out of envy and jealousy. The rest of the Old Testament chronicles a whole series of ways in which sin has affected marital and family relationships since the Fall" (163).

A bit later Kostenberger asks, "What is the key element in spiritual warfare?" (165). He answers, "According to the Scripture, it is human minds" (165). He goes on:

"'But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ' (2 Cor. 11:3, NIV)...Just as Satan reasoned with Eve as to why she should disobey God in the Garden, it is people's thought life that is the arena in which our spiritual battles are won or lost. For this reason believers ought to saturate their minds with scriptural teachings regarding their new position in Christ." (165)

What key areas does Satan use to attack marriage? Kostenberger lists three specific things: "sexual temptation", "unresolved anger", and "sowing the seeds of marital conflict through the husbands insensitivity to his wife" (166). How then does one fight this battle, these areas of Satanic attack: first, "an awareness of the fact that there is a battle" (167); second, "know one's spiritual enemy. This enemy is not one's marriage partner. Nor is it one's children. It is Satan the enemy of our souls..." (167); third, "spiritual battles must be fought by the use of proper weapons" (168). The proper weapons include the list that Paul gives at the end of Ephesians.

The spiritual armor of Ephesians isn't to be taken out of context (Eph. 6:10-20). It's right next to the practical issue of marriage (Eph. 5:21-33). The armor of God is meant to be used in marriage for the good of your spouse. It's not just a neat passage to memorize and do a Sunday School class on, its one that you need to utilize in your own marriage. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, the Word of God, and prayer are marriage weapons. Not weapons to attack your spouse with, but use for the benefit of your spouse, your kids, and the glory of God.

Read Kostenberger's book, not just because he has an awesome last name, but because it will serve your marriage and family well and incite the worship of God in your heart.

Your Favorite Sport? Wisdom or Wickedness

noreply@blogger.com (BJ Stockman) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 22:55:00 +0000

Proverbs 10:23:

"Doing wickedness is like sport to a fool,
And so is wisdom to a man of understanding."

This verse challenged me to ask the question: What is my favorite sport? Wisdom or wickedness. Just as I derive pleasure from sports, I should derive pleasure from living and thinking wisely and practically with godly insight.

What if men tossed back ideas on how to live wisely with the same pleasure and passion that accompanies memorizing stats, naming every member of their favorite team, setting up fantasy leagues, predicting how every NFL team will finish this year, and committing to watching countless sporting events on TV .

The same pleasure that comes from your favorite sport should come from walking in wisdom.

Of course sports is a good thing not a bad thing, but even the best things can become desperately wicked. Are you choosing wisdom or wickedness? What sport are best at?

Spurgeon Answers: What is Faith?

noreply@blogger.com (BJ Stockman) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 17:02:00 +0000

Charles Spurgeon, the prince of preachers, answers:

"Faith is not a blind thing; for faith begins with knowledge. It is not a speculative thing; for faith believes facts of which it is sure. It is not an unpractical, dreamy thing; for faith trusts, and stakes its destiny upon the truth of revelation. That is one way of describing what faith is.

Let me try again. Faith is believing that Christ is what He is said to be, and that He will do what He has promised to do, and then to expect this of Him."

"All of Grace", The C.H. Spurgeon Collection, (AGES Digital Software, version 1.02), 33

Points for Married Men from Proverbs 5 for Sexual Purity

noreply@blogger.com (BJ Stockman) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 13:37:00 +0000

1. Listen to God's words and do them. Read your Bible and live what it says. (5:1, 7)

2. Know God is watching you. They eyes of the Lord watch your every action and your every thought. Knowing God's "eyes" are on you keeps your eyes from wandering. (5:21)

3. Be satisfied with your wife's breasts . Eyeing other women's breasts kills satisfaction in your spouse. Taking pleasure in your spouse kills the desire for lust and adultery. (5:19)

4. Stay away from the temptress. Don't "go near" her or where she lives. Flee emotional affiars with other women. Don't click-to pornographic web-sites. Be faithful in the small things. (5:8)

5. Recognize that the allure of a women that is not your wife is like a mousetrap. The cheese looks good: those luscious lips drip honey, but the mouth tastes of wormwood and poison. Adultery and lust is attractive, it appears to be sweet and satisfying, and offers the fulfillment of fantasy, yet in reality is death. (5:3-4).

6. Know that physical adultery and lustful addiction is suicide and murder. It will kill you, and it will kill your family, your friends, your time, your relationships, your mind, your ministry, and your emotions. (5:4-5)

7. Pursue Jesus more than purity. Pursuing purity often turns into another law that you make for yourself. Instead cultivate affection for Jesus, and a longing to see God. As Jesus makes clear, it is the "pure in heart that see God" (Mt. 5:8). (Yes, I cheated that's not from Proverbs 5, but from Jesus who embodies the wisdom that Proverbs speaks). A passion for God squelches impurity more than a passion for purity produces purity. You don't need to make another vow, make a new law, or go to another conference. You need to repent, and pursue Jesus.

Acknowlege Your Nakedness

noreply@blogger.com (BJ Stockman) — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 02:12:00 +0000

John Stott:

"But we cannot escape the embarrassment of standing stark naked before God. It is no use our trying to cover up like Adam and Eve in the garden. Our attempts at self-justification are as ineffectual as their fig-leaves. We have to acknowledge our nakedness, see the divine substitute wearing our filthy rags instead of us, and allow him to clothe us with his own righteousness." The Cross of Christ, 162-163

We are all naked under our clothes; literally, as well as, the metaphorical self-righteousness we put on everyday. The only way to have your spiritual shame covered is not to make-up your own clothes, but take the clothes of another. God in Jesus Christ has taken away the naked shame of sinners who trust Him, and clothed them with the perfect righteousness of Christ. Admit your naked and helpless before God and by faith throw yourself on Jesus Christ, and not only will you will never be ashamed but you can stand unashamed before God as His friend, because the clothes you now wear are the clothes of God's Son.

Love & Joy in God & the Gospel the Test of Excelling Spiritually

noreply@blogger.com (BJ Stockman) — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 20:18:00 +0000

Lest one think I was implying raw self-effort in my last blog, excelling spiritually is not moralistic or ascetic or pragmatic. The test of true spiritual growth--excelling spiritually--is Gospel-motivation that springs from love.

In reading AW Pink today, I came across this excellent, and pertinent quote:

"If love be healthy then my greatest joy will be in making [God] my chief Object and supreme End, but if I seek to do so only from a sense of obligation and duty, then my love has cooled." Spiritual Growth, 185.

One could appear to be excelling spiritually, and yet really be spiritually dead. The Thessalonians, of course, were not spiritually dead because their growth sprang from love. Spiritual growth is impossible if one's love is cold and heart is hard.

Many times I measure my spiritual growth by duties fulfilled and the spiritual obligations I've met. It looks good on paper. Its nice for the spiritual resume. Yet, it may be driven by self-love and not love for God, His Gospel, and neighbors.

The measure of your spiritual growth may not be by fulfilling your Bible-reading plan this year, but by your sense of affection for God and for others and the joy experienced in it.

Spiritual excellence may not be what you think it is. Excelling spiritually is a divine miracle evidenced by love and joy.

Test yourselves, most likely guilt sets in, and then saturate yourself with the Gospel that covers your sinful failures--your not measuring up--and fall in love with Jesus.

The Sunday School song isn't wrong, but it is radically deficient: "Read your Bible pray every day and you'll grow, grow, grow..."

Instead: "Read your Bible, pray every day, and when you do and if you don't, preach the Gospel to yourself and love Jesus the Substitute for your sin and the Source of your growth."

Excel More

noreply@blogger.com (BJ Stockman) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 19:52:00 +0000

Read some provoking Scripture this morning in the book of 1 Thessalonians...

Paul says that the Thessalonians were walking and pleasing God (4:1), and were loving one another (4:9-10). He is recognizing the evidences of grace in the believer's lives of the Thessalonian community. However, he calls them in both areas to "excel still more" (4:1, 10).

You're doing great--keep doing it. You're growing--keep growing. You're walk is pleasing to God--seek to please Him more. You're loving other believers--seek to love them even more.

Are you feeling pretty good about the way things are going in your life? Are you encouraged by the fact that you've grown? Wonderful! However, don't get passive in your spiritual growth.

Get some holy discontent and continue on and "excel more".

The Importance of a Right Doctrine of Saving Faith

noreply@blogger.com (BJ Stockman) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 15:36:00 +0000

The American Puritan Revivalist, Jonathan Edwards:

"Therefore, doubtless, saving faith, whatsoever that be, is the grand condition of an interest in Christ, and his great salvation. And if it be so, of what vast importance is it, that we should have right notions of what it is! For certainly no one thing whatever, nothing in religion, is of greater importance, that that which teaches us how we may be saved. If salvation itself be of infinite importance, then it is of equal importance that we do not mistake the terms of it; and if this be of infinite importance, then that doctrine that teaches that to be the term, that is not so, but very diverse, is infinitely dangerous. What we want a revelation from God for chiefly, is to teach us the terms of his favour, and the way of salvation. And that which the revelation God has given us in the Bible teaches to be the way, is faith in Christ. Therefore, that doctrine that teaches something else to be saving faith, that is eseentially another thing, teaches entirely another way of salvation...Therefore he who teaches something else to be that faith, which is essentially diverse from what the gospel of Christ teaches, he teaches another gospel; and he does in effect teach another religion than the religion of Christ...Such doctrine as I have opposed, must be destructive and damning, i.e. directly tending to man's damnation; leading such as embrace it, to rest in something essentially different from the grand condition of salvation. And therefore I would advise you, as you would have any regard to your own soul's salvation, and to the salvation of your posterity, to beware of such doctrine as this." (emphasis added).

"Remarks on Important Theological Controversies", from The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Volume 2, 595-596.

The Gospel is Good News not Good Advice

noreply@blogger.com (BJ Stockman) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:35:00 +0000

Late 1800's professor and pastor, James Denney:

"The proclamation of the finished work of Christ is not good advice; it is good news, good news that means immeasurable joy for those who welcome it, irreparable loss for those who reject it and infinite and urgent responsibility for all. The man who has this to preach has a gospel about which he ought to be in dead earnest. Just because there is nothing which concentrates in the same way the judgment and the mercy of God, there is nothing which has the same power to evoke seriousness and passion in the preacher." The Death of Christ, 173.

An Encouragement to Vomit More Often

noreply@blogger.com (BJ Stockman) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:34:00 +0000

The Puritan, Thomas Brooks:

"Repentance is the vomit of the soul; and of all physic, none so difficult and hard as it is to vomit." Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices, 63.

I need to vomit more often. So do you.

Truth Necessitates Application

noreply@blogger.com (BJ Stockman) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:43:00 +0000

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones:

"...a real and true understanding of the truth always does lead to application. So that if a man does not apply the truth, his real trouble is that he has not understood it. For if a man is gripped by a truth and sees what it means and what it implies, of necessity he must apply it."

"How and Why the Christian Puts on the New Man", Darkness and Light, 201.

The Loud Cries and Tears of Jesus

noreply@blogger.com (BJ Stockman) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 17:24:00 +0000

"In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence." Heb. 5:7

We do not have records of Jesus laughing, but we do so of his tears. This is a comfort to me. Not because Jesus never laughed, I am confident He did, and did so with deep belly-laughs, but there is something significant about the tears of Jesus. It shows the world that God is with us in suffering.

Jesus cried. He wept hard with prayer and supplication. Life was not lived casually by Jesus. He knew the stakes. He was aware of the cross, his own death. His mission inspired an intercession accompanied by weeping.

I cannot imagine what it must of looked like to see Jesus cry.

I was talking to my sister(-in-law) yesterday talking about how good it made her feel to see her dad cry. I can relate. Not because it's enjoyable to see one hurt and be saddened, but because there is something so human, something so connected with the reality of the state-of-the-world exhibited when one close to you cries.

Jesus wept. What a sight that must have been: God's weighty tears. In Jesus, God wept for the world. God is not a deist. God is not detached from suffering humanity. He became human and entered into the curse of the world, indeed became a curse for all who would trust Him so that the curse would be removed.

Therefore no tears in heaven.

Seeing tears in this world is good because it is a human emotion that expresses that something is wrong with the world. There will be no tears in heaven because what's wrong will be under the feet of Jesus and all will be made right. On this earth tears are healthy and right. In the new heavens and the new earth where righteousness dwells tears will be wiped away forever.

God revealed himself in the person of Jesus Christ. This means God revealed Himself by death and suffering.

God is good. One of the greatest proofs of that is He did not exempt Himself from the suffering of humanity. God is sovereign. One of the greatest proofs of this is that He willingly laid down his life. His sovereignty is on display by letting the Romans and Jews, yea, you and I, put Him to death. Sovereign humility usurped sovereign earthly power. He did this in order to defeat death. He destroyed the enemy by using the very weapon of the enemy and triumphing over in resurrection. The Father heard the loud cries and tears of His Son's prayers and answered in resurrection so that Jesus "became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him" (Heb. 5:9). Embedded in the tears of Jesus was this joy set before him. The horrid enemy of death, the enemy of everyman, was defeated by the God-man who died. The defeat is proven by the resurrection of Jesus.

God, revealed in the person of Jesus Christ, is not aloof. He weeps with those who weep. He is near to the brokenhearted. He died for the sins of the world. This is good news for sad and suffering people. For all who trust Jesus, His death is the pathway to eternal salvation.

The loud cries and tears of Jesus create a louder hope.

Hammer the New Man into Yourself

noreply@blogger.com (BJ Stockman) — Wed, 27 May 2009 14:59:00 +0000

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones:

"The whole matter of putting on the new man is in essence the application of truth to ourselves. It is the most important thing that one can ever discover in the Christian life. The real secret of Christian living is to discover the art of talking to yourself. We must talk to ourselves, we must preach to ourselves, and we must take truth and apply it to ourselves, and keep on doing so. That is the putting on of the new man. We have to hammer away at ourselves until we have really convinced ourselves. In other words, this is not something that you wait for passively. If you wait until you feel like the new man it will probably never happen. We must be active in this. There is no greater snare in the Christian life than to entertain the idea of waiting until we feel better, and of then putting on the new man. On the contrary, we have got to go on telling ourselves the new man is already in us. In his Epistle to the Romans the Apostle Paul says, 'Reckon yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, and alive unto God' (6:11)." Darkness and Light, An Exposition of Ephesians 4:17-5:17, 191-192

Strengthened by the Might of the Glory of God

noreply@blogger.com (BJ Stockman) — Wed, 20 May 2009 23:00:00 +0000

Paul writes in Colossians 1:11:

"May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy,"

Paul prays that the believers would be strengthened with power in accord with the glorious might of God. It's easy to pass over quickly the prayers of Paul because the sentences seem to go on and on, but one when one reads to quickly one misses the punch. This phrase, "according to his glorious might," indeed carries a seriously weighty wallop.

Douglas Moo comments:

"Paul further emphasizes the extent of God's empowering, as well as making explicit its source, with the next description: according to his glorious might...The translations are almost unanimous in using the adjective "glorious" to qualify this divine might...But one might wonder if this interpretation gives appropriate value to the very significant word "glory." This word occurs frequently in Scripture as a very basic characterization of God, signifying his "weighty," overwhelming presence. The English "glorious" is too easily cast loose from this God-focused meaning (as when we speak of a "glorious sunset"). It might, then, be preferable to take the genitive as possessive: the strength that God supplies his people is in accordance with (and is the expression of) his own intrinsic glory." The Letters to the Colossians and to Philemon, 98.

Paul isn't praying for some casual power to be at work within the believer. He knows that "glory" is no word to be just tossed around. He is asking God to supply his people with such weighty and glorious power that accords with God's own glory. Paul the vigilant proclaimer of God's glory is not afraid to pray that an expression of that glory be imparted to the sons of God.

Paul wants the Colossian believers to know He is praying for them to be empowered by God Himself. In fact, we learn later in Colossians, that God indwells the believer: "To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (1:27). God does not take His own glory lightly (because He does everything for His glory) and the empowerment God gives is energized by His own divine might.

May you be strengthened with the might carrying the force and weight of the very glory of God.

A Remedy for Boredom with God

noreply@blogger.com (BJ Stockman) — Mon, 18 May 2009 05:21:00 +0000

AW Tozer, speaking to students of Wheaton College, in 1954:

"The great doctrines of the Bible are not timely. When a man comes up to me and says, “Mr. Tozer, that was a timely sermon,” I take it as a doubtful compliment, for the truths of God are not timely (that is, geared into time). The truths of God are eternal. They rise above time, and they were as true when Adam was in the garden as they will be true in the millennium or in the ages that follow.

There are certain great truths: God, God’s creating us, our response and relation to God, human sin, human redemption, the incarnation, the indwelling Christ, the union of the soul with the Triune God. All these are great, eternal truths, true under all kinds of conditions, among all people everywhere and in every age in the world, no less true and no more true because they are absolutely true. Indeed, we will never be where we should be until these become to us the source of thrill. The entertainment of great spiritual concepts will lift us like a song until, brooding upon the great ideas of the Triune God and all He means to us, will thrill us like a stimulant from within.

We will never be where we ought to be until we go back to those old paths and learn to find God. We will cease to be bored with God. We will cease to make His redemptive plan merely an escape from hell and put the thought of hell and all that way behind us in the dim disappearing past. Instead, we will center our affections upon God and Christ, where Christ sits at the right hand of God, and become specialists and experts in the realm of the spiritual life.

It is amazing how little outside stimulus we need if we have that inward stimulus. It is amazing how much God will meet our needs. It will not be God and something else. It will be God everything. And then, wisely, we will gear into our times, and we will gear into the gadgets around us, and we will gear into the needs of others, and in a moment we will become as practical as overshoes and as alert to the needs of the world around us as the most keen sociologist. Nevertheless, at the same time our great anchor will be God above. And if at any moment we should be cut off from our environment so that we did not have the stimulation and comfort of what the world provides, we would still be perfectly restful, for God would be enough."

"Is God Enough", Tozer Speaks to Students, in Quick Verse 6.0, Works of AW Tozer (CDROM)