Are my friendships wise?

Good friends... bad friends. We all have them. But who are your closest friends? Who do you go to when you are in need of counsel or help?

"The problem is not conversation or acquaintance or even the occasional hang-out. The problem arises when bad friends replace our inner circle of godly, wise friends. The real problem happens when they replace Scripture and Jesus-loving friends... when they become our inner circle, our wise counsel, or our support during trial, we will be overcome by their foolishness and become fools ourselves." -James Pruch

A really good question that stings...

The following quote is from John Piper.

“Does your mouth usually heal people with words of grace and love and kindness, or does it wound people with insensitive, harsh, critical, unhelpful words?”

Yeah... I know. It stings doesn't it? I've read it several times (and even quoted it in my sermon last week) and it still stings - especially the word "usually". May God help us all to use our mouths to heal and not wound people!

Sunday Quotes!

It's astonishing to me that Bishop JC Ryle, who died 110 years ago, wrote these words. When I read them, they sound like they could have been written yesterday. What insights this man had about the Church!

“There is a generation of professing Christians now-a-days, who seem to know nothing of caring for their neighbors, and are completely swallowed up in the concerns of number one--that is, their own and their family's. They eat, and drink, and sleep, and dress, and work, and earn money, and spend money, year after year; and whether others are happy or miserable, well or ill, converted or unconverted, traveling towards heaven or toward hell, appear to be questions about which they are supremely indifferent. Can this be right?”

“The vast majority of professing Christians, whether rich or poor, seem possessed with a devil of detestable selfishness, and do not know the luxury of doing good. They can argue by the hour about baptism, and the Lord's supper, and the forms of worship, and the union of Church and State, and such-like dry-bone questions. But all this time they seem to care nothing for their neighbors.”

Sunday Quotes!

Last Sunday we looked at the "Magnificat" - Mary's Song - from Luke 1:46-55. Here it is, and (as a bonus) I've also tossed in John Piper's thoughts about this amazing song.

Mary's Song of Praise: The Magnificat
“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.
And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;

he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;

he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things,

and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy,

as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”

Piper said, “[Mary] sees clearly a most remarkable thing about God: He is about to change the course of all human history; the most important three decades in all of time are about to begin. And where is God? Occupying himself with two obscure, humble women—one old and barren, one young and virginal. And Mary is so moved by this vision of God, the lover of the lowly, that she breaks out in song—a song that has come to be known as the Magnificat.”

Sunday Quotes!

On the third Sunday of Advent we looked at Zephaniah 3:17, "The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing."

Here are some quotes from the sermon:

"The Bible has been called the greatest story ever told. It could also be called the greatest song ever sung. It’s a song of a Warrior-King who is intent on winning back his beloved from her false suitors and exulting over her with loud singing.” Reggie Kidd

“Zephaniah 3:17 tells us that God is a Singer… God composes a song with us in mind, and sings it to us.” Randy Alcorn

One last quote by John Piper - it's a bit long, but well worth reading!

“Can you imagine what it would be like to hear God singing? A mere spoken word from his mouth brought the universe into existence. What would happen if God lifted up his voice and not only spoke but sang! Perhaps a new heaven and a new earth would be created. What do you hear when you imagine the voice of God singing? I hear the booming of Niagara Falls mingled with the trickle of a mossy mountain stream. I hear the blast of Mt. St. Helens mingled with a kitten's purr. I hear the power of an East Coast hurricane and the barely audible puff of a night snow in the woods. And I hear the unimaginable roar of the sun 865,000 miles thick, 1,300,000 times bigger than the earth, and nothing but fire, 1,000,000 degrees centigrade, on the cooler surface of the corona. But I hear this unimaginable roar mingled with the tender, warm crackling of the living room logs on a cozy winter's night. And when I hear this singing I stand dumbfounded, staggered, speechless that he is singing over me – one who has dishonored him so many times and in so many ways. It is almost too good to be true.” John Piper

Sunday Quotes!

Last Sunday we celebrated one of the most important verses in Mark's gospel: "For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." -Mark 10:45.

As usual, my old friend JC Ryle was helpful:

"By that death Jesus made a full and complete satisfaction for man's countless transgressions. He bore our sins in His own body on the tree. The Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all. When He died, He died for us. When He suffered, He suffered in our stead. When He hung on the cross, He hung there as our Substitute. When His blood flowed, it was the price of our souls."

"It is true that we are sinners, but Christ has borne our sins. It is true that we are poor helpless debtors, but Christ has paid our debts. It is true that we deserve to be shut up forever in the prison of hell. But thanks be to God, Christ has paid a full and complete ransom for us. The door is wide open. The prisoners may go free. May we all know this privilege by heartfelt experience, and walk in the blessed liberty of the children of God."

Maybe I need to add Ryle's name as co-pastor of SHF...?

Sunday Quotes!

Yesterday we examined and reaffirmed our belief that our great Savior is "fully man" and "fully God." This truth is beautifully laid out for us in Mark 4:35-41. This is where we find Jesus, fully man, resting sound asleep in a boat during a raging storm. Next we see him, fully God, commanding the storm to stop... and the wind and waves obey the voice of the Creator. These quotes were helpful:

"We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the virgin Mary, and was made man." -Nicene Creed

"As Man he had slept. As God He stilled the storm." -JC Ryle

"Who is this man? He is the Lord of the storm. He is Lord of death and the grave. He is Lord of the seas, indeed of all creation. And since he love us and has purchased us with his own blood, he will never leave us nor forsake us, even when things look bleak and no hope is to be found. The wind and the waves obey this man because he is Lord. He is our Lord. For he is our God and we are his people." -Kim Riddlebarger

Sunday Quotes!

Yesterday I preached from Mark 3:20-35 and we examined two false accusations about our Savior: (1) He was out of his mind (verse 21), and (2) He was possessed by the devil (verse 22). These three quotes were helpful to us as we looked more closely at this text:

"A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things that Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic - on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg - or else he would be the devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to." -CS Lewis

"It is a strange paradox that in any times of religious revival or obvious working of God's Spirit, it is often the religious leaders who oppose the work of God most strenuously, and seem to misunderstand it most willfully." -Alan Cole

"It is interesting to mark the quiet, firm perseverance of our Lord, in the face of all discouragements. None of these things moved Him. The slanderous suggestions of enemies, and the well-meant remonstrances of ignorant friends, were alike powerless to turn Him from His course. He had set His face as a flint towards the cross and the crown. He knew the work He had come into the world to do." -JC Ryle

Sunday Quotes!

This past Sunday we considered what it means to be "filled with the Spirit". These quotes were very helpful:

“We are not only to come to Jesus once, in penitence and faith, but also thereafter to keep coming and keep drinking, because we keep thirsting. We do this physically. Whenever we are thirsty, we get a drink. We must learn to do it spiritually also. The Christian is a spiritual dipsomaniac, always thirsting, always drinking. And drinking is not asking for water, but actually taking it. It is extremely simple. Drinking is one of the first activities that babies learn; indeed they do it by instinct.” -John Stott

“What we should seek (and this applies to all Christians) is that God pour his Spirit out upon us so completely that we are filled with joy, victorious over sin, and bold to witness. And the ways he brings us to that fullness are probably as varied as people are. It may come in a tumultuous experience of ecstasy and tongues. It may come through a tumultuous experience of ecstasy and no tongues. It may come through a crisis of suffering when you abandon yourself totally to God. Or it may come gradually through a steady diet of God's Word and prayer and fellowship and worship and service. However it comes, our first experience of the fullness of the Spirit is only the beginning of a life-long battle to stay filled with the Spirit.” -John Piper

Sunday Quotes!

Last Sunday we examined the gracious work of the Holy Spirit called "regeneration" - aka: "born of the Spirit", "born again", or "new birth". Whichever name you prefer, it is still an incredible and mysterious work of God that causes our dead spirits to become alive so that we may see our need for the Savior.

"Exactly what happens in regeneration is mysterious to us. We know that somehow we who were spiritually dead have been made alive to God and in a very real sense we have been born again. But we don’t understand how this happens or what exactly God does to us to give us spiritual life." -Wayne Grudem

"One thing is very clear—we cannot work this mighty change ourselves. It is not in us. We have no strength or power to do it. We may change our sins—but we cannot change our hearts. We may take up a new way—but not a new nature. We may make considerable reforms and alterations. We may lay aside many outward bad habits, and begin to do many outward duties. But we cannot create a new principle within us. We cannot bring something out of nothing… Who then can make a dead soul alive? No one can do it but God." -JC Ryle

Sunday Quotes!

We finished our series on 1 Peter by focusing upon the last portion of 5:12 "...I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it."

These two quotes were helpful as we considered how to stand in the true grace of God.

“At the end of this letter, Peter is concerned that his readers hold fast to the truth. They have received the gospel of God’s grace. Let them stand fast in it. They cling, not to an impersonal moral code, nor to philosophical abstractions. They cling to the grace of God; not what they have done for God, but what God has done for them in Christ.” -Edmund Clowney

“Forgiven souls are humble. They cannot forget that they owe all they have and hope for to free grace, and this keeps them lowly. They are brands plucked from the fire – debtors who could not pay for themselves – captives who must have remained in prison for ever, but for underserved mercy – wandering sheep who were ready to perish when the Shepherd found them; and what right then have they to be proud? I do not deny that they are proud saints. But this I do say – they are of all God’s creatures the most inconsistent, and of all God’s children the most likely to stumble and pierce themselves with many sorrows.” –JC Ryle

Sunday Quotes!

“It matters nothing what a man is called. He may be a Preacher, Minister, or Deacon. He is still a fallible man! Neither the education, nor the anointing oil, nor the laying on of hands, can prevent a man from making mistakes.” -JC Ryle The Fallibility of Ministers

I quoted Ryle to reinforce the point that leaders should always be pursuing humility as they set an example for the church to follow. I actually could have quoted much more from him because JC Ryle has so much to say to leaders. His two little sermon booklets The Fallibility of Ministers and Simplicity in Preaching are "must reads" for anyone in pastoral ministry.

Sunday Quotes!

I preached from 1 Peter 4:12-19. Here's a helpful quote I shared from John Piper:

“The degrees of suffering and the forms of affliction will differ for every one of us. But one thing we will all have in common till Jesus comes: we will all die. We will come to that awesome moment of reckoning. If you have time, you will see your whole life played before you as you ponder if it has been well-spent. You will tremble at the unspeakable reality that in just moments you will face God. And the destiny of your soul will be irrevocable. Will you rejoice in that hour? You will if you entrust your soul to a faithful Creator.”

These "Sunday Quotes" posts also seem to give me an opportunity to clarify things I say in my sermons. So just in case you are not familiar with my (poor?) sense of humor... I confess it publicly -I got the speeding ticket in Maryland, not Autumn.

Sunday Quotes!

I preached out of 1 Peter 4:7-11, which includes these verses: "Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling." (verses 8-9). Here are two quotes:

“Where love abounds in a fellowship of Christians, many small offenses, and even some large ones, are readily overlooked and forgotten. But where love is lacking, every word is viewed with suspicion, every action is liable to misunderstanding, and conflicts abound – to Satan’s perverse delight.” -Wayne Grudem

“Christians are to provide hospitality without complaining or whining about the time and expense involved. This is an expression of agape love.” -David Walls

The second quote prompted people to go out to eat after the service for immediate application. As a side note - I promise to never use an illustration in a sermon that involves pregnant women and stretchy pants ever again. I'm an experienced enough preacher to know when an illustration bombs big time!

Sunday Quotes!

I rarely preach a sermon without including at least one quote from a theologian or a pastor (dead or alive) who has already said something much better than I can. So, as a new "blog feature", I'm going to start giving out these quotes on Mondays as a way to encourage us all at the beginning of each week. Enjoy!

"We are shown first, in this passage, what true Christians must expect to meet in this world--hatred and persecution. If the disciples looked for kindness and gratitude from man they would be painfully disappointed... Persecution is the lot of all really godly people at this very day. Ridicule, mockery, slander, misrepresentations still show the feeling of unconverted people against the true Christian... In public and in private, at school and at college, at home and abroad, "all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." (2 Tim. 3:12.) Mere churchmanship and outward profession are a cheap religion, of course, and cost a man nothing. But real vital Christianity will always bring with it a cross." -JC Ryle

"Though we say this world is vain and sinful, we are too fond of it; and though we hope for true happiness only in Heaven, we are often well content to stay longer here on earth. But the Lord sends afflictions one after another to quicken our desires, and to convince us that this world cannot be our rest. Sometimes if you drive a bird from one branch of a tree he will hop to another a little higher, and from thence to a third; but if you continue to disturb him, he will at last take wing, and fly quite away. Thus we, when forced from one creature-comfort, perch upon another, and so on. But the Lord mercifully follows us with trials, and will not let us rest upon any; by degrees our desires take a nobler flight, and can be satisfied with nothing short of Himself; and we say, 'To depart and be with Jesus is best of all!'" -John Newton