Put “through the fire to awaken earnest prayer”

I needed to read this (from Dr. John Piper):

Now what about Zechariah 13:8-9? It tells us one of the main ways that God awakens earnest prayer in his children, namely, in the refining fires of suffering. Don’t worry about when this passage is talking about. Just see, for now, how God works, and use this word to prepare yourself for God’s prayer school.

Verse 8: “In the whole land, declares the Lord, two thirds shall be cut off and perish, and one third shall be left alive.” So the one third represents God’s remnant—his faithful, imperfect, weak people, who do not pray with the kind of discipline and desperation and joy, and hunger for God, that they should. So what is God’s remedy? What is his school of prayer?

Verse 9: “And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested.” Notice carefully what is happening. In his great love, God saved the one third from being cut off with the two thirds who perished (v. 8). And then as part of his love for them, he puts them in the fire to be tested and refined. That is normal Christianity. “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you” (1 Peter 4:12).

But what is it that God wants to see change in his people? Verse 9: “I will test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them.” That’s all he mentions. Nothing about their sex lives. Nothing about their money lives. Nothing about their power struggles. He just says: “When they come through the fire, they will pray to me, and I will answer.”

God puts his people through the fire to awaken earnest prayer.

Read the rest here.

Happy 13th birthday, Ethan!

I love you.

(Photo taken this past summer when we visited Washington, DC)

Here we go, again

Recently, I entered into what might turn out to be a significant period of personal trial. For the time being, it wouldn’t be wise to talk about it too much (especially over the Internet) but, suffice it to say, this trial is not health-related or marital or in any way scandalous.

But, it is a significant personal trial for me and my family. We stand in great need of prayer. In fact, about the only thing we can do is pray and trust God.

That sounds strange to say, but isn’t it often the case that we Christians would rather do something—anything!—rather than just trust God? Of course, we say we trust God. We’re supposed to—we’re Christians, after all. But, the reality is, most of us prefer to do something about our situation, whatever it is. Trusting God seems so impractical, like doing nothing at all.

I think this is why God must, sometimes, put us in the place where there simply is nothing we can do but trust Him. He puts us between the proverbial rock and hard place, trapped with no way of escape and no clue what to do. In such a situation, the mind is filled with questions, but we have absolutely no answers.

That’s where I am right now, along with my wife. From past experience, I know that God is getting ready to teach us something about trusting Him. In about three months, I hope to let you in on what God is doing with us.

Today, I was feeling sad and depressed, thinking about our situation. It was really getting me down. After lunch, I shut myself up alone to pray, read the Bible and think. In the course of reading, I came across these verses:

“Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the LORD” (Psalm 4:4-5).

I believe this was the word I needed to hear. This Scripture certainly spoke to what I was feeling today. In a time of trial and testing like this, the temptation is strong to be anxious and lash out at somebody—anybody—in anger. Perhaps, we have good cause to be angry, but the Scripture says “be angry, and do not sin”. What is usually the best way to not sin when angry? Keep your mouth shut! The Scripture says, “ponder in your own hearts”—think it over, process it—“and be silent.”

Then, the Scripture says, “Offer right sacrifices”. Immediately, I thought of Psalm 51:17: “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” When times get tough, it is not the time for us to react; it is the time for us to humble ourselves before God and offer right worship to Him.

“Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the LORD.” I’m ashamed to say, there have been times in the past when God has come to my rescue, and I was surprised! I didn’t think He would do it. I didn’t trust Him, yet God was merciful and rescued my fool self, anyway. “How could I have doubted you?” I said afterwards. I don’t want to repeat that mistake. I have the written record—the Scriptures—and that record is clear: God is faithful. He is true to His character. The Lord will not forsake His own. Then, there is the record of God’s past dealings with me. Since even before I was born, God has been faithful. His grace has brought me “through many dangers, toils and snares”. There is no logical reason to not trust Him, so the Scripture commands, “put your trust in the LORD.”

And so I shall. Like I said, I’ll let you know in about three months exactly what is going on. Right now, I don’t know what I’m going to do. I’m just trusting the Lord. And He is trustworthy.

“Am I a soldier of the cross?”

One thing that stays with me from the church experience of the first 30-plus years of my life are the hymns. Now, I’m not one of those who is opposed to all things contemporary in music, nor am I one who wants all hymns and classical music. Nevertheless, there is something special about hymns, particularly those “Common Meter”, “Long Meter” and “Short Meter” hymns that were common in the denomination in which I came to faith.

One hymn that has frequently come to mind over the years, and which seems to carry more personal meaning for me the older I get, is the hymn “Am I a Soldier of the Cross?” by Isaac Watts (1674-1748). We always used to sing this hymn to the tune, “Arlington”, by Thomas Arne (1710-1778). Reading the words of Dr. Watts makes me long for “that illustrious day” when it will be announced that the “kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever”(Revelation 11:15).

Am I a soldier of the cross,
A follower of the Lamb,
And shall I fear to own His cause,
Or blush to speak His Name?

Must I be carried to the skies
On flowery beds of ease,
While others fought to win the prize,
And sailed through bloody seas?

Are there no foes for me to face?
Must I not stem the flood?
Is this vile world a friend to grace,
To help me on to God?

Sure I must fight, if I would reign:
Increase my courage, Lord;
I’ll bear the toil, endure the pain,
Supported by Thy word.

Thy saints in all this glorious war
Shall conquer, though they die;
They see the triumph from afar,
By faith they bring it nigh.

When that illustrious day shall rise,
And all Thy armies shine
In robes of victory through the skies,
The glory shall be Thine.

Amen.

“The remembrance of them is grievous unto us”

The denomination in which I grew up, in which I was ultimately ordained a minister of the gospel—and which my family and I left about eleven years ago—was more liturgical than the average evangelical church. Although the worship services of each local congregation had its own distinct feel, there was a structure and pattern to worship which let you know you were in one of our churches, no matter the part of the country in which you were.

This was especially true when it came to the observation of the sacraments: the Lord’s Supper and Baptism. For the sacraments, there was a set form, with written prayers and set procedures. The ritual for the Lord’s Supper and Baptism were taken from the old Methodist Episcopal Church from which my former denomination broke rank in the late 18th century. The Methodist Episcopal Church, in turn, borrowed their ritual from the Book of Common Prayer of the Anglican Church from which it came.

After all these years, I still know much of the liturgy by heart, especially the order for the Lord’s Supper. After inviting communicants to the altar rail to partake of communion (in my former denomination, we used to kneel to receive the Lord’s Supper), the minister led the congregation in a prayer of general confession:

Almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Maker of all things, Judge of all men, we acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, which we from time to time most grievously have committed, by thought, word and deed, against thy Divine Majesty, provoking most justly thy wrath and indignation against us. We do earnestly repent, and are heartily sorry for these our misdoings; the remembrance of them is grievous unto us. Have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us, most merciful Father; for thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, forgive us all that is past; and grant that we may ever hereafter serve and please thee in newness of life, to the honor and glory of thy name, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Today, I was thinking about particular sins I’ve committed, and the thought crossed my mind: “the remembrance of them is grievous unto us.” That’s exactly how I feel. I’m grieved by the things I’ve done. Needless to say, I can’t change the past, nevertheless, I still remember. Even knowing God’s forgiveness through faith in Jesus Christ, I find that “forgive and forget” is impossible to do. We can forgive others and receive God’s forgiveness, but the mind still retains its memory. It’s when my mind pulls up the memory of my sins that I’m grieved.

Not only does the memory of my sins grieve me, but the memory humbles me. When I want to lash out with condemnation against someone else, it is the memory of my own sin which either stops me completely or tempers my response. It’s the memory of my own sin which helps me understand fellow sinners, even of the grossest sort. I don’t condone their sin, but I understand that, but for God’s grace, I could do the exact same thing. It is the memory of my own sin which helps me to realize that, apart from Christ, I am a vile sinner deserving eternal condemnation.

Obviously, one can take this kind of thing too far. Nevertheless, I think brief remembrances of our own sins can be a useful corrective against self-righteousness and pride. As awful as abortion is, as shameful as homosexuality of any kind is, I just can’t get as worked up over it as some of my fellow conservative evangelicals. Is abortion a sin? Definitely. Abortion is murder. Is homosexuality a sin? Absolutely. It is an abomination in the sight of God. But the remembrance of my own sins reminds me that I’m not far removed from the homosexual or the one who condones abortion. Homosexuality and abortion are symptoms of a fatal affliction that I also have: sin.

The memory of my own sins informs me that the “pro-choice” individual and the homosexual do not need my hatred and condemnation; they need the Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior from sin. They need Jesus like I do.

Where is the Lord of glory?

Crossway Books has just published Living Water: Studies in John 4, fifty-six previously unpublished sermons by the late Dr. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. (Now, pause just a moment and think about that: Fifty-six sermons on John 4? For goodness’ sake, there are only fifty-four verses in John 4!) Taken from this volume, the following quote by Dr. Lloyd-Jones is just as relevant, I think, as when originally preached:

“Possibly one of the most devastating things that can happen to us as Christians is that we cease to expect anything to happen. I am not sure but that this is not one of our greatest troubles today. We come to our services and they are orderly, they are nice—we come, we go—and sometimes they are timed almost to the minute, and there it is. But that is not Christianity, my friend. Where is the Lord of glory? Where is the one sitting by the well? Are we expecting him? Do we anticipate this? Are we open to it? Are we aware that we are ever facing this glorious possibility of having the greatest surprise of our life?

“Or let me put it like this. You may feel and say—as many do—‘I was converted and became a Christian. I’ve grown—yes, I’ve grown in knowledge, I’ve been reading books, I’ve been listening to sermons, but I’ve arrived now at a sort of peak and all I do is maintain that. For the rest of my life I will just go on like this.’

“Now, my friend, you must get rid of that attitude; you must get rid of it once and for ever. That is ‘religion’, it is not Christianity. This is Christianity: the Lord appears! Suddenly, in the midst of the drudgery and the routine and the sameness and the dullness and the drabness, unexpectedly, surprisingly, he meets with you and he says something to you that changes the whole of your life and your outlook and lifts you to a level that you had never conceived could be possible for you. Oh, if we get nothing else from this story, I hope we will get this. Do not let the devil persuade you that you have got all you are going to get, still less that you received all you were ever going to receive when you were converted. That has been a popular teaching, even among evangelicals. You get everything at your conversion, it is said, including baptism with the Spirit, and nothing further, ever. Oh, do not believe it; it is not true. It is not true to the teaching of the Scriptures, it is not true in the experience of the saints running down the centuries. There is always this glorious possibility of meeting with him in a new and a dynamic way.”

“Where is the Lord of glory?” In this day in which churches seem to think they can make things happen simply by applying the right methods and latest strategies, it seems few are very concerned whether the Lord of glory shows up or not. Yet, isn’t this the crying need? Plenty of large churches dot the country. We know (because we’ve been to the conference or read the book) how to draw a large crowd. We’ve perfected the methods. But, my friend, where is the awful [i.e., awe-inspiring] presence of God in our midst? And, I’m not talking about Pentecostal-Charismatic hysteria (and I don’t think that’s what Lloyd-Jones had in mind, either). I’m talking about the church as she appears in the book of Acts, during the Reformation and throughout church history during other times of genuine revival.

We’re definitely missing something. Although he still has a number of admirers, preaching like that delivered by Dr. Lloyd-Jones is exceedingly rare in our day. Maybe, for all our admiration of the late Doctor, we just don’t believe God’s word to the degree that he, apparently, did. This is our loss.

HT: Justin Taylor

A momentous event: Let’s celebrate and pray

I know it’s been said innumerable times today, but I, too, “never thought I’d see the day” that a Black man would be sworn in as the President of the United States. Today’s Inauguration was truly a momentous and historic event. I honestly believe God put Barack Obama into this high office. Therefore, it only makes sense to thank God for Barack Obama, the first African-American President of the United States.

Also, as a great-great-great grandson of former slaves, I can’t help but think about my forebears: “If only _______ was alive to see this.” I’ve wondered what they would say had they lived to see this day. Thinking about our nation’s history, you know it’s only been by the grace of God that Black people have come so far:

God of our weary years,
God of our silent tears,
Thou who hast brought us thus far on the way.

Barack Obama’s Inauguration as President of the United States is a testament to the grace of God. That’s why I celebrate.

However, I also join with others in praying for President Obama and his family.

I pray that God would protect them from all physical harm.

I pray that God would grant President Obama great wisdom to deal with the deep and serious issues that confront our country at this present moment.

Though we don’t deserve it, I pray that God would bring about much good for our country through the leadership of Mr. Obama.

I also pray that God would keep our President from doing evil.

Finally, as a sinner saved by grace, I pray that God’s Spirit would deal mercifully with President Obama, a fellow sinner, and open his eyes to see “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:4).

May God grant that the sound of the gospel be effectually heard even within the walls of the White House.

In my opinion, the best thing I can do for my President is pray for him. Believer in Christ, will you join me and pray for our President? Millions are rejoicing, especially Black people. Even if you did not vote for President Obama, can you “rejoice with those who rejoice”? Today was an historic, momentous day in the life of our country. I invite you to rejoice and pray with me.

Making Christ a minister of condemnation

As is now well-known, President-Elect Barack Obama selected the openly homosexual Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire, Gene Robinson, to pray the invocation at the opening Inaugural event, tomorrow at the Lincoln Memorial. About the decision to select Robinson, John Piper writes,

The gospel, with its forgiveness and deliverance from homosexual practice, offers salvation. Gene Robinson, with his blessing and approval of homosexual practice, offers damnation. And he does it in the name of Christ.

It is as though Obama sought out a church which blessed stealing and adultery, and then chose its most well-known thief and adulterer, and asked him to pray.

You can read the rest here.

Cold weather and God’s word

When I awoke this morning, the temperature was about -17°F with a wind-chill of something like -33°. The reporter on the radio said this was the coldest weather we’ve had on this date since 1982. I don’t remember if it was 1982 or not, but I do remember a couple extremely cold Sundays back in the 1980s—so cold, in fact, that church was cancelled. Today, it is so cold the decision was made to cancel school.

Since I’m home for the day, I have time to write. Thinking about this cold weather, I was reminded of that part of Psalm 147 where we read these words:

15 He sends out his command to the earth;
his word runs swiftly.
16 He gives snow like wool;
he scatters hoarfrost like ashes.
17 He hurls down his crystals of ice like crumbs;
who can stand before his cold?
18 He sends out his word, and melts them;
he makes his wind blow and the waters flow.
19 He declares his word to Jacob,
his statutes and rules to Israel.
20 He has not dealt thus with any other nation;
they do not know his rules.
Praise the LORD!

According to the psalmist, the power of God’s word is seen in the forces of nature. God sent out His command and the temperature plunged way below zero, it became too cold to be outside, buses wouldn’t start and, as a result, school was cancelled for the day. “Who can stand before his cold?”

God has spoken His powerful word to His people whom He has chosen (Psalm 147:19). He has caused it to be written down so that it could be preserved for generations to follow. God’s chosen people hear His voice as it speaks in the pages of Scripture, and they do what He commands. The Lord Jesus Christ said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27). Those who are not God’s people—who are not Christ’s sheep—do not hear Him. They don’t know His rules. They are lost without a guide.

What a profoundly awesome privilege it is to know this great and powerful God! That believers in Christ Jesus enjoy this unique privilege is an act of grace. “He has not dealt thus with any other nation”, and it’s not been because we’ve earned the privilege. It’s all of grace that God has chosen to speak to us, to bring us into relationship with Him, to allow us a glimpse into His mind. I wouldn’t know anything about God or know the way to God without His revelation. This is why the Bible is so infinitely valuable and precious, and why it should be read, studied, taught, proclaimed and believed.

On this cold day, I’m grateful for God’s gracious gift of a warm home and the opportunity I have to spend time with Him, reading His word and listening to His voice.

Romans 8

Courtesy of Wordle