C.J. Mahaney on Conflict

C.J. has a prediction: Conflict is coming your way...soon... Read his exposition of James 4:1-2. This is outstanding and why I so love this man and feel so blessed to be a pastor under the care of Sovereign Grace Ministries. Read, apply, change and enjoy. Take care. -Matthew
ttp://www.reformation21.org/Counterpoints/Counterpoints/342/vobId__6296/

"The Ninety and Nine" A Hymn about The Good Shepherd

In light of this last week's message on Jesus being "The Good Shepherd," my mother forwarded on to me this hymn that my grandfather use to sing. I trust as you read it you will be freshly reminded of our Good Shepherd's goodness and kindness


THE NINETY AND NINE
Words: by Eliz­a­beth C. Cle­phane, 1868.

There were ninety and nine that safely lay
In the shelter of the fold.
But one was out on the hills away,
Far off from the gates of gold.
Away on the mountains wild and bare.
Away from the tender Shepherd’s care.
Away from the tender Shepherd’s care.

“Lord, Thou hast here Thy ninety and nine;
Are they not enough for Thee?”
But the Shepherd made answer: “This of Mine
Has wandered away from Me;
And although the road be rough and steep,
I go to the desert to find My sheep,
I go to the desert to find My sheep.”

But none of the ransomed ever knew
How deep were the waters crossed;
Nor how dark was the night the Lord passed through
Ere He found His sheep that was lost.
Out in the desert He heard its cry,
Sick and helpless and ready to die;
Sick and helpless and ready to die.

“Lord, whence are those blood drops all the way
That mark out the mountain’s track?”
“They were shed for one who had gone astray
Ere the Shepherd could bring him back.”
“Lord, whence are Thy hands so rent and torn?”
“They are pierced tonight by many a thorn;
They are pierced tonight by many a thorn.”

And all through the mountains, thunder riven
And up from the rocky steep,
There arose a glad cry to the gate of Heaven,
“Rejoice! I have found My sheep!”
And the angels echoed around the throne,
“Rejoice, for the Lord brings back His own!
Rejoice, for the Lord brings back His own!”

***
Oh friends rejoice in the Good Shepherd who brings back His own!

Casting Our Burdens Upon God

The following is an excerpt that was forwarded to me by a dear friend as an encouragement to my own soul. When I read it, it was not only timely in its intellectual comforts that it brought to me, but I found my soul flooded with God's sustaining grace through it. This is from Octavius Winslow's "The Burden Cast Upon God."

"Cast your burden upon the Lord, and
He shall sustain you." Psalm 55:22.

It is by an act of simple, prayerful faith we transfer our cares and anxieties, our sorrows and needs, to the Lord. Jesus invites you come and lean upon Him, and to lean with all your might upon that arm that balances the universe, and upon that bosom that bled for you upon the soldier's spear! But you doubtingly ask, "Is the Lord able to do this thing for me?" And thus, while you are debating a matter about which there is not the shadow of a shade of doubt, the burden is crushing your gentle spirit to the dust. And all the while Jesus stands at your side and lovingly says, "Cast your burden upon Me and I will sustain you. I am God Almighty. I bore the load of your sin and condemnation up the steep of Calvary, and the same power of omnipotence, and the same strength of love that bore it all for you then, is prepared to bear your need and sorrow now. Roll it all upon Me!" "Child of My Love! Lean hard! Let Me feel the pressure of your care. I know your burden, child! I shaped it- I poised it in My own hand and made no proportion of its weight to your unaided strength. For even as I laid it on, I said I shall be near, and while she leans on Me, this burden shall be Mine, not hers. So shall I keep My child within the circling arms of My own love. Here lay it down! Do not fear to impose it on a shoulder which upholds the government of worlds! Yet closer come! You are not near enough! I would embrace your burden, so I might feel My child reposing on My breast. You love Me! I know it. Doubt not, then. But, loving me, lean hard!"

Grace Motivated Giving - Matthew 20:28

This last Father's day I preached a message based on Matthew 20:20-28, entitled, "Becoming Men of Biblical Greatness." In that message the last point was "Biblical Greatness is found in men who sacrifice." In each point, though there was a directive for us to apply in pursuing what Scripture calls truly great, there was also a point for worship, in that each point was also an opportunity to worship Christ, because He and He alone is the One Who is eternally so Truly Great. Using that passage as a spring board, I would like to do a series of blog entries on why we "give" whether it be our finances, time or talents to the building of the local church.

Being a pastor, I am often times the recipient of a host of emails and direct-mail advertising by
"church marketing" firms that claim that if we use their services, etc. then we can really do "great things" for God's kingdom. Several years ago, I received one advertisement almost (almost is the key word) claiming that if we used their bulletins then people would be coming back again and again to our church, and that it would grow exponentially. "Wow" I thought, "I never thought about building a church on the style of the bulletin." There are many other "church marketing" groups out there seem to promote a variety strategies to pastors to help make their church grow numerically or to give more, etc. As a pastor reading such material and the thought of actually employing such methods to motivate (or manipulate) God's people to give financially makes one's stomach turn.

As we come to Matthew 20:28, we see a motivation to give and live self-sacrificial lives that are not motivated by compulsion, nor by human manipulation, but instead are motivated by and rooted in the grace of the Gospel, from the very Nature and Heart of God, that produces true, worshipful, grateful, gracious and joyful hearts.

That passage states, "even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Here in this passage, we are shown not only the uniqueness of our precious Savior, but we are also given an example to follow. I say, an example to follow, because in this context, Jesus is contrasting the disciples desire for a type of "worldly" greatness (using the Gentile rulers manipulation and lording of authority over the people they are to lead), and then saying to them, "It is not to be so among yourselves" and then points them to Himself in verse 28.

Here we see that the very notion of giving our lives away for the cause of Christ, is not motivated by "successful stories" by others who have done this and then come out on top. Nor, was it because of some natural wisdom or antidote that someone acquired through their own life experience, saying that sacrifice for good or moral causes is a good thing to do. No. The reason why the "Christian" life is to be a life of sacrifice for Christ, is because this is Who God Himself is.

The goal of the Christian life is that we will be made like Him. And one by, by Grace Alone, we will be made like Him, we will be transformed into His image. And one of the characteristics of this God Who saved us, is that He, Himself is a "Self-Sacrificing, Generous God." This is the God Who has GIVEN TO US. We who deserve His just wrath and judgement, He instead, gave us what we didn't deserve and that was grace, which was purchased through the GIVING of His one and only Son for us.

John 3:16 For God so loves the world that He gave His Son
Matthew 6:11 He gives us our daily bread
Luke 11:13 He gave us the Holy Spirit
Luke 12:32 He gladly gives us His Kingdom
Matthew 7:10 He gives us good gifts

We give our lives for Christ...why? Is it because we heard a good motivational speaker who shared a lot of great anecdotal stories? No. We give because we worship God. We give because we adore Him and desire Him. We give our lives because this is the very nature of the God who so graciously "gave His life as a random for many." In light of what we have truly earned through our own sinfulness, aren't you glad the Father gave the Son? Aren't you glad that the Son, in submission and love for the Father, He gave His life as a ransom for you?

How and why do we give? Is it out of a sense of manipulation or out of a sense of legalism? No, we give of our time, finances and talents, because this is a reflection of our redemption. This is a reflection of the gospel itself. This is a reflection of the very God we serve. Our lives are no longer our own, we were bought with a price! We are His! And we give of our lives not grumbling or complaining, but instead out of joy that is motivated by the Gospel. As Hebrews 12:2 shows us the root of where our motivation is to come from by pointing us to the glad, generous sacrifice of our Savior,

"Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."

We give so in true, free grace motivated joy! And so in closing to this blog entry, I want to end by just commending the people of Providence Community Church. You excel in this! You excel not just in the grace of giving (time, possessions, finances and resources), but you excel in your keeping of the gospel central to your motivations. The Gospel is to be central to all of our motivations and especially so in how we give our lives in service to one another as unto the Lord in gladness! This you do so, so very, very well. You are a joy to lead! Take care...and have a great day giving yourself increasingly so to the God Who gave Himself to us.

Shifting Our Focus From Ourselves To Our Savior

Because of my pride, I spend far too much time contemplating myself (my desires, my opinions, my thoughts, etc.) and never enough time contemplating my Savior's work and grace. I am so very thankful for men like Mr. Jerry Bridges, C.J. Mahaney and of course Mr. Spurgeon himself who call us to "Preach the Gospel To Ourselves Everyday!" ((Because we, I need it!!)) What a necessary daily journey it is for us to take! It is a difficult road, but a necessary one - from ourselves to Our Savior.

I received this quote by Charles Spurgeon this week from a great friend. Listen to these words of Mr. Spurgeon as takes us from ourselves to our beautiful Savior! Enjoy!

"It is ever the Holy Spirit's work to turn our eyes away from self to Jesus; but Satan's work is just the opposite of this, for he is constantly trying to make us regard ourselves instead of Christ. He insinuates, "Your sins are too great for pardon; you have no faith; you do not repent enough; you will never be able to continue to the end; you have not the joy of his children; you have such a wavering hold of Jesus." All these are thoughts about self, and we shall never find comfort or assurance by looking within.

But the Holy Spirit turns our eyes entirely away from self: he tells us that we are nothing, but that "Christ is all in all." Remember, therefore, it is not thy hold of Christ that saves thee-it is Christ; it is not thy joy in Christ that saves thee-it is Christ; it is not even faith in Christ, though that be the instrument-it is Christ's blood and merits; therefore, look not so much to thy hand with which thou art grasping Christ, as to Christ; look not to thy hope, but to Jesus, the source of thy hope; look not to thy faith, but to Jesus, the author and finisher of thy faith. We shall never find happiness by looking at our prayers, our doings, or our feelings; it is what Jesus is, not what we are, that gives rest to the soul. If we would at once overcome Satan and have peace with God, it must be by "looking unto Jesus." Keep thine eye simply on him; let his death, his sufferings, his merits, his glories, his intercession, be fresh upon thy mind; when thou wakest in the morning look to him; when thou liest down at night look to him. Oh! let not thy hopes or fears come between thee and Jesus; follow hard after him, and he will never fail thee."

"My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness:
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus' name."

What Forgiveness Is NOT!

As we walk in relationship with one another, because of the presence and nature of indwelling sin, there will forever be conflict and the need to both be forgiven and to freely forgive. But then questions arise - like, "But do I have to in this circumstance or that circumstance?" Or, "what does it truly look like to forgive?" In this posting, I wanted to copy a portion of an outstanding book, "The Peacemaker" by Ken Sande, on this topic. I would highly recommend this book to you! If you are in a conflict, get this book...if you are not presently in a conflict...hurry up and get this book, because you soon will. Enjoy...

"What Forgiveness is Not"

To understand what forgiveness is, we must first see what it is not. Forgiveness is not a feeling. It is an act of the will. Forgiveness involves a series of decisions, the first of which is to call on God to change our hearts. As he gives us grace, we must then decide (with our will) not to think or talk about what someone has done to hurt us. God calls us to make these decisions regardless of our feelings--but these decisions can lead to remarkable changes in our feelings.

Second, forgiveness is not forgetting. Forgetting is a passive process in which a matter fades from memory merely with the passing of time. Forgiving is an active process; it involves a conscious choice and a deliberate course of action. To put it another way, when God says that he "remembers your sins no more" (Isa. 43:25), he is not saying that he cannot remember our sins. Rather, he is promising that he will not remember them. When he forgives us, he chooses not to mention, recount, or think about our sins ever again. Similarly, when we forgive, we must draw on God's grace and consciously decide not to think or talk about what others have done to hurt us. This may require a lot of effort, especially when an offense is still fresh in mind. Fortunately, when we decide to forgive someone and stop dwelling on an offense, painful memories usually begin to fade.

Finally, forgiveness is not excusing. Excusing says, "That's okay," and implies, "What you did wasn't really wrong," or "You couldn't help it." Forgiveness is the opposite of excusing. The very fact that forgiveness is needed and granted indicates that what someone did was wrong and inexcusable. Forgiveness says, "We both know that what you did was wrong and without excuse. But since God has forgiven me, I forgive you." Because forgiveness deals honestly with sin, it brings a freedom that no amount of excusing could ever hope to provide.

((Taken from The Peacemaker: A Biblical Guide to Resolving Personal Conflict by Ken Sande, Updated Edition (Grand Rapids, Baker Books, 2003) p. 206-207))

J.C. Ryle on the Sufficiency of Preaching Christ & Him Crucified

Hey folks, I know it has been a bit since my last posting, but this week someone passed on this quote to me, from Mr. J.C. Ryle that is not only very encouraging, but one that, if taken to heart causes one to rest in the simple, pure and yet eternally profound message of the Cross. May we grow in simply loving our Redeemer!

"Let us never doubt for a moment, that the preaching of
Christ crucified--the old story of His blood, and righteousness, and substitution--is enough for all the spiritual necessities of all mankind. It is not worn out. It is not obsolete. It has not lost its power. We need nothing new--nothing more broad and kind--nothing more intellectual--nothing more effectual. We need nothing but the true bread
of life, distributed faithfully among starving souls. Let men sneer or ridicule as they will. Nothing else can do good in this sinful world. No other teaching can fill hungry consciences, and give them peace. We are all in a wilderness. We must
feed on Christ crucified, and the atonement made by His death, or we shall die in our sins." -J.C. Ryle