Spiritual Warfare: When Satan Tempts You That There Is Sin Left Undone

Discerning the dark lord’s tactics

The dark lord is relentless in his attacking the saints. He has you right where he wants you if you think that you’re not going to be attacked by him. One of the ways in which he moves under the radar and sneaks in the shadows of our conscience is by tempting us to think that there is sin left unrepented of or left unconfessed in our lives. 

He knows that the gospel compels us to repent and have faith (Mt. 4:17). He knows that Romans 6:1-2 says, “Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” He knows that Psalm 32:1-3 says, “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, who sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.” Let’s be clear: the dark lord knows more of the content of Scripture than we do and he seeks to use it against us.

The dark lord loves to take Scripture out of context or to its unbiblical extremes (see the temptation of Jesus in Matthew 4:1-11). He knows that we would not fret if he came to us with wildly contrasting temptations that clearly aren’t biblical. He likes to take that which is good and distort it. One of the ways in which he does so is by taking the command of our Lord to repent and uses it to torment us with the thought that we have some sin left unrepented of.

Now, to be sure, there really might be some sin left unrepented of. We need to discern what is conviction versus what is condemnation. Condemnation has no hope. Condemnation only points out the bad and never gives you grace. There is always work to do. There is never any rest, joy, and peace in Christ. You are always under the Law. You are always to be ashamed. The Holy Spirit is always pointing out where you have failed. This is not how our gracious Lord and His Spirit acts towards us. As the hymn writer says, “When Satan tempts me to despair and tells me of the guilt within, upward I look and see Him there who made an end to all my sin.”

The Extremes He Takes Us To

One of the extremes in which the dark lord does this is by hounding us with the thought that we have not repented enough. There is something in our past that we haven’t confessed. There is something that we have only halfway repented of. Or, there is some element of something that we have not confessed in its absolute fullness.

It sounds awfully close to the truth doesn’t it? Of course we must repent and live a life of constant repenting! Of course we must confess our sins and seek to hide nothing from the Lord (1 John 1:8-10)! He will take this good and life-giving truth and use it to condemn and drain the life out of us. He will take God-centered proclamations of the gospel and turn them into man-centered efforts to make ourselves clean. This, as Paul says to the Galatians, is not the gospel!

As long as he can convince you that you cannot rest in Christ until this particular sin is drained completely dry then he has you where he wants you. He will continue to hold the law over you time after time and keep showing you that there is more to do. He knows that the law never quits condemning sinners. There is always confession that falls short. There is always repentance, even in the best saints, that falls short. There has never been anyone anywhere who has ever fully and completely repented or confessed the depths of their sin. 

Take Martin Luther for example. He would confess his sins for hours upon hours a day because the law was ever before his face. The dark lord sought to convince him that there was more to do and that he couldn’t rest in the grace of Christ until he had dealt with it exhaustively.

He wants you to think that until you express absolutely every feeling, every emotion, every detail, and every instance of such sin that you are under God’s wrath. When he hounds a saint with this, he causes the saint to fret and worry about whether they have done enough. They can’t rest because if they do then they must be quenching the Spirit who must be giving them this thought.

How to fight by faith

You will forever have duties left undone if you think Jesus won’t accept you until you have dealt with everything fully and perfectly. The antidote is first and foremost to soak in the finality of the Cross. In John 19:30 Jesus cries, “It is finished.” This one Greek word, tetelestai, has a lifetime of meaning in it. Think about it. Jesus did not have to say this right before He died. Why would He exert this final portion of His physical, mental, emotional, and even spiritual energy to say this one word before dying? He did it to confirm to us of His work on our behalf. As they say, “Last words are lasting words.”

When Jesus says it is finished He means it. Robert Mounce says, 

“This one word summary of Jesus’ life and death is perhaps the single most important statement in all of Scripture. The word means ‘to complete,’ ‘to bring to perfection.’ Jesus had fully done the work God the Father sent him to do… But the tense of the verb, the ‘perfect’ tense, brings out even more of what Jesus was saying. The perfect describes an action that was fully completed and has consequences at the time of speaking… Because Jesus fully completed his task, the ongoing effects are that you and I are offered the free gift of salvation so that we can be with him forever.”

What does Mounce mean by this? He means that there is nothing left undone in the work of Jesus. There is nothing that we need to go and do first in order to be saved. There will never be enough confession. There will never be enough repentance. You will absolutely never feel as sorry and convicted as you should about your sin. You cannot rest in your work. You must rest and trust in the finality of the atonement of Christ for all your sin (past, present, and future). 

Knowing What The Truth Really Is

We must have a robust doctrine and understanding of repentance and confession so that when someone tells us something differently we can spot it out. There is the common story that you might have heard about how the FBI detects counterfeit currency. They spend so much time looking at the real thing that when they see the counterfeit they know it immediately. We too must spend much time looking at Christ and looking at the reality of what the Bible says about repentance and confession so that when the dark lord tempts us to go back into slavery we can detect it.

Paul dealt with something similar to this with the Galatians. He knew that any subtle change to the gospel made it no gospel at all. The addition of anything to Christ and the gospel made Him no Savior and the gospel no good news. There is nothing but faith in Christ that saves us. It is out of that faith that we overflow into repentance. Indeed, faith and repentance are two sides of the same coin. That is why Jesus would say “repent and believe” and not “repent and then believe”. The dark lord will draw too much of a division between repentance and faith. He wants you to think that you must repent enough before you can have saving faith and free forgiveness (which would not be free at all!). It is another form of works-righteousness.

What Does It Mean To Confess?

In 1 John, the apostle John is writing to people who have been infiltrated by false teachers. He seeks to show them what it means to be truly saved. It’s only true Christians that admit and confess their sin. Christians do not think they are without sin. They are to declare, acknowledge, and to say the same thing about their sin as God says about their sin. They are to confess their sin not merely for confession sake but to express their need for Jesus on their behalf. This is the ongoing lifestyle of the believer. It is not a one time thing. This tells us that there is always something to confess and repent of. We are deceiving ourselves and being deceived if we think we have confessed and dealt with everything.

Like a sound apologetic argument, we can actually use the dark lord’s attacks on us against him. He says that we must always be confessing our sins and we can agree. He says that there is sin left undone and we can agree. It’s the very fact that we can’t confess everything that we must rest in Christ on our behalf. It’s the very fact that we can’t repent of everything to the fullest extent that we must look to Jesus to find peace of mind.

Now, to be sure, we must not use this as a biblical excuse to not confess or to shirk our Christian duty before God. Trust me, the dark lord will use this also to deceive you. We must deal with sin but we also must know when we simply cannot do enough and we must lay down and rest at the Cross. 

The Holy Spirit knows our frame. He knows that this is a lifestyle that lasts a lifetime. He doesn’t put believers on a “doomsday” countdown clock which tells us that if we don’t deal with everything exhaustively then we are inevitably going to fall under God’s displeasure and harsh discipline.

How God Looks Out For Us

Think about how God speaks about this in the Old Testament. Leviticus 4 is a chapter that is all about sacrifices for sinners who sin unintentionally. There are those who may not even realize that their actions or thoughts were actually sin and yet God provides a sacrifice for them. Wouldn’t it be horrible if we were only forgiven for the sins we knew of? Calvin talks about these sacrifices as follows:

Moses does not refer to those transgressions into which we are ensnared, when we are led astray by the appearance of rectitude, so as to think ourselves without blame; but to those of which we take no heed, and whereby our minds are not pricked; or to those sudden falls, wherein the infirmity of the flesh so stifles the reason and the judgment as to blind the sinner.

And isn’t Christ the ultimate fulfillment of Leviticus 4? Isn’t He the true sacrifice? Isn’t He of so much more worth and value as a substitute on your behalf? Doesn’t He give you a positive righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21)? Oh, Christ is capable of covering all your sins! He is enough for you! He has ended the war. He has taken away your guilt and shame. He no longer points the finger at you but welcomes you with open arms.

Why does this matter to you in the midst of such a daunting and exhausting fight? Because God knows your frame. He knows that there is always sin that we leave undone. He knows there is a grand difference between our actively running away from Him (like Jonah) and our negligence, ignorance, or just flat out spiritual exhaustion. Our Lord knows that we can’t bear to see all of our sin all at once. He knows we can’t repent of everything at once. He knows that repentance itself is not our restitution or atonement. He knows that we cannot merely focus on the faults and the failures in our lives. Where would be the good news in that? Besides, we are built up in faith when we take our eyes off of ourselves and place them about the righteousness we have in Christ. 

The Path of the Gospel

This is where the dark lord attacks. He tries to do anything to take your eyes off of Christ. In Psalm 73, he almost had the psalmist forsake God and the covenant community by taking his eyes off Yahweh and placing them upon his circumstances and the world. It was when the psalmist returned to the temple that his sight of reality was restored. The same is true of us in our spiritual warfare. When we take our eyes long enough off God and place them upon us there is a temptation to do away with the gospel. Satan doesn’t want us to see the grace we have in Jesus. He doesn’t want us to realize that our sins are dealt with in Christ. He doesn’t want us to realize that Jesus is enough for us. He wants us to either do nothing with our sin or try to do everything with our sin. That is no salvation at all!

As always, the path of the gospel is a narrow path with ditches on either side. The dark lord lassos us from either side trying to pull us down into either extreme. He will either make us hound ourselves with condemnation until every aspect of the totality of our guilt is dealt with (as if that were somehow possible) or he will tempt us to ignore it all and continue to live as if we have no sin. Do not let the dark lord hire you to be his own co-accuser against you.

He will dress himself as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14) and make it sound as if he is the Holy Spirit. After all, he knows the Spirit will convict us concerning sin (Jn. 16:8). He wants to sound like the Spirit so that we fear the thought of saying “no” to the Spirit if we seek to stop and rest in Christ. He will tempt us to think that we are quenching the Spirit (1 Thess. 5:19; Eph. 4:30). But think about this, would Jesus invite us into a salvation of Sabbath rest (Mt. 11:28-30) and simultaneously say that we must always be on the sin-hunt in our lives? No, my friend. He wants you to rest. Trust Him. He will bring you to conviction in His timing and He will help you to confess and repent. You can rest in Him.

Spiritual Warfare: When Satan Wants Your To Re-Live Your Past

One of the most common ways in which the dark lord attacks sinners in Christ is by making them re-live their past mistakes. He does this by bringing up memories (which we will discuss how he does so later) and tempts them to be entrapped by these memories like a caged animal. His tactics are to bring up an event or memory in which the saint-sinner is reminded of some particular sin that they have committed or even that which has been committed against them.

In the case of those who have sinned, the dark lord will tempt you to re-live the event as if you are on trial. He recruits you to be his co-prosecutor against your own soul. He paints God in such a picture as if He is a ruthless judge who is not yet quite finished with you and your past. If you have done something wrong, he will plague you with some thoughts of:

1. No hope for grace

2. Guilt for presuming upon God’s forgiveness

3. Others finding out and wanting to publicly deal with you so as to shame you

4. God’s discipline hanging over your head to strike at you when you least expect it; this discipline doesn’t look like loving fatherly discipline (Heb. 12:7-11), it looks like condemnation.

5. That you have committed an unforgivable sin. It may not be the unforgivable sin but he will paint it in such a way that it seems like no man could recover a relationship with God after such an act.

6. Your past makes you unusable to God in the Great Commission

7. You should never feel at ease until you have paid your penalty

By re-living your past, the dark lord wants to keep you from forgetting what lies behind (Phil. 3:13-14). He wants to keep you from remembering what your current identity is in Christ (Rom. 6). He wants to keep you from living by faith (Gal. 2:20). He wants to keep you from rising up from the depths of despair to go out in the peace of knowing your faith has saved you (Lk. 7:50). 

What Re-Living the Past Does

He wants you to be trapped by the past. He wants you to dwell on your sin. Dwelling on sin causes you to skip out on seeing your Savior. He knows that the longer you dwell upon the glory of Jesus Christ that you will become more like Him (2 Cor. 3:18) and, therefore, more able to tear down his armies and thwart his tactics. You must remember that this is war! There is no neutral ground. There is never any “no man’s land”. As long as you are on this earth, the dark lord and his forces will seek you out. 

He will pull up a specific memory from your past and until you defeat him there he will continue to hound you with that thought. “Am I innocent? Did I really do that? If this went public, what would people think? Is God going to ‘get me back’ for this? Have I really dealt with this sin as I should?” But be sure, once you have fought off that one memory, he will bring up another.

When you realize that you have sinned (however greatly but especially in those times of great sin), the dark lord will show you more of your depravity than you have ever realized before. He will make you feel as if you are the epitome of sin. He will make you feel as if no one has a more evil, darkened, and hardened heart like you. You are an abnormal sinner. You are a hopeless sinner. You are a graceless sinner. 

He will tempt you to think that no other Christians have sinned this way in the past and even if they did they dealt with it far better than you have. Before they went to heaven (if they were going to get to heaven), they went back and fixed everything! The dark lord will tell you “You have depended too much on the free forgiveness of Jesus and haven’t quite turned over every stone to truly repent of this. What you need to do”, the dark lord wants you to think, “is to go back and split every hair to make sure you get the justice you deserve. Your repentance from such acts and thoughts are not enough. Your seeking others for help is not enough. No matter how small, you must announce it to the world so that they can put you on trial because the courtroom of Christ is only a heavenly reality. God will never set you free until you go through the earthly courtroom.”

When Satan Pinpoints the Memory

When you look back on such an event and you realize that you have not sinned in such a way, the dark lord will tempt you to think that your thoughts of the past aren’t accurate. He will try to take things out of context and blow them out of proportion. “You forgot about this part of it. You forgot how it hurt the other person greatly. You forgot how much it offended the glory of Christ.” He will make you ask plenty of “what if” questions. Here is the thing about this, no matter how many of those “what if” questions you answer accurately and honestly there will always be more “what if” questions to come. Often times, the dark lord will only use the knowledge that you have against you for the next “what if”. What is required here is to see that this is not of God. We must call this for what it is. This is a satanic attack!

When you look back on such an event and you realize that you have sinned greatly, he will pester you. He will pinpoint his full attack upon this one spot. It is the one crack in the armor that he will keep throwing his forces at. He is like a boxer who finds the one weak spot on his opponent and he will beat you into submission by hammering that one spot. He will darken your view of the cross. He will cause you to lose all sight of forgiveness. He will make your sin much bigger than your Savior. He will grip your thought life with such force it feels as if you can never escape. It will feel more real than the very moment in which you are living. Anything that reminds you of anything remotely similar to that memory will feel like spiritual PTSD. He will fire a thousand arrows at that area of your hurt conscience. If He cannot take away your salvation, He will certainly try to take away your experience of it.

How To Fight By Faith

When you read the Bible, especially when Jesus deals with such horrible sinners with such terrible pasts, do you see our Lord (the One who hates sin more than anyone!) treating people this way? Do you hear Him giving the command for His little lambs to turn over every stone in their past until all their sin is acknowledged to the full and dealt with on this earth? Do you hear Him say, “Fix this in your past first and then you may experience my grace”? Does He who is gentle and lowly in heart (Mt. 11:28-30) seem like the type of Savior who would hound such tender souls who are overloaded by the crushing yoke of their past? Would He really be the summun bonum (Latin for “the highest good”) if He tortured His saints with their past? Why would anyone want to go from living a life where they do everything to forget their past sins to go to a “savior” who would hound them for the rest of their lives on this earth with their past? Is this freedom? Is this love? Is this forgiveness?

We must not let the dark lord determine our Christology. We must remember the study that B.B. Warfield undertook when he sought to determine the emotion that was most attached to Christ in the Scriptures. “The emotion which we should naturally expect of finding most frequently attributed to that Jesus whose whole life was a mission of mercy, and whose ministry was so marked by deeds of beneficence that it was summed up in the memory of his followers as a going through the land ‘doing good’ (Acts. xi. 38), is no doubt ‘compassion.’ In point of fact, this is the emotion which is most frequently attributed to him.” 

Does this mean that Christ doesn’t deal with our past that needs to be dealt with? No. Does this mean that Christ doesn’t call us to repent of all sin? No. It means that when He deals with our past and when He calls us to repent that He is first and foremost compassionate when He goes about it. He is not harsh, rough, and domineering. He desires us to leave our past in the past so that we might live by faith in the present. He knows that the past can entrap us in a dungeon of despair (similar to what Christian in Pilgrim’s Progress was entrapped in). He wants to boost our faith. 

How Does Christ Treat Us?

Listen, when Christ convicts us, not condemns us, we will know it. It is of a much more pure way. See how He approach Peter after He had risen from the dead (Jn. 21:15-19). Notice how He approached all the disciples after they all betrayed Him (Jn. 20:19-29). If He really wants you to deal with something, He will enable you to deal with it. He will not rub your nose in it. He will show you the grace, love, mercy, and forgiveness that you have in Him the entire time. He has dealt with our sins. You must fight to remember that this involves all of your past. 

When Christ died on the cross and rose for your justification, He meant it. In other words, He did not neglect anything. He knows it all and it’s for the past event, that past event, that He died. He wants to forgive. He desires to cleanse you. 

Are there some things from our past that we must deal with if they are left undone? Yes, but when He deals with you it is much more pastoral than the dark lord. There are many times in which things are too far gone and He desires for us to move on. It would be an act of unbelief were we to tell Jesus, “Just wait right here for a second so that I can go back and do something. Then I will follow you.” 

He places your eyes upon Him more than your past. But, once He deals with our past, He does not make us keep re-hashing it. God is not “historical” with us in that He brings up our past time and time again. Matter of fact, He bids us time and time again to go on an live in light of our full forgiveness in Christ:

1. Luke 7:50 And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

2. Mark 5:34 "Daughter," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be free of your affliction."

3. Luke 17:19 And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

4. Philippians 3:13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead

Biblical Reflection and Application

Was David supposed to re-live his memory of sleeping with Bathsheba and killing Uriah over and over even after he heard of God’s forgiveness from Nathan? Did Jesus come to Peter after He had risen from the dead and did He rub Peter’s nose in his denying Jesus three times? Was Paul to always dwell on the fact that he endorsed the stoning of Stephen? Was Jacob to keep thinking about the countless lies he told in the past? Was Sarah to remind Abraham over and over about the two times that he told others that she was his sister? Was Moses to be haunted by the Egyptian he killed or of his striking the rock? What kind of salvation would this be?

 We must remember that it is more of an act of faith and more honoring to our Lord when we forget what lies behind and press forward in faith. We need to realize that this is a great danger to our souls if we think we cannot rest in the blood of Christ but rather need to seek atonement another way. After all, when we seek to re-live our past we are hoping that we are either guiltless or we try to figure out how we can atone for our sins. Either way, that is avoiding the Cross.

Now, to be sure, there are some who can use these truths to their own sinister advantage to run away from their sin. They can use it as a “get out of jail free” card. Those souls must deal with the Lord and He will be sure to deal with them. But, these truths are for those who aren’t running away from Jesus. They want Him. They want to be free from their sins.

God Of Our Future

God promises us a future (Jer. 29:11). One piece of the fruit of the Spirit is peace, not torment (Gal. 5:22). The Christian is at peace with God (Rom. 5:1). Sin no longer has dominion over us (Rom. 6:14). There is no more condemnation for us in Christ (Rom. 8:1). The Spirit bears witness in us that we are children of God (Rom. 8:12-17). He doesn’t torture us with regret and shame from the past. For freedom Christ set us free; we must stand firm and never again take upon us the yoke of slavery (Gal. 5:1). 

Jesus always approaches people seeing their potential future in Him (Jn. 1:42, 47; Mt. 4:20). Even when He does remind someone of their past (such as the Samaritan woman in John 4), He always does so in order to quickly bring them to the source of grace. Do you really think sinners and tax collectors would flock to be with Him (Matt. 9:10; Luke 15:1) if He only reminded them time and time again of their constant failures and gave them no hope?

Jesus is far greater than we can ever imagine! Do not let those attacks from the dark lord change the reality of the heart of Christ (Mt. 11:28-30). Do not assume the worst or most harsh motives of Christ. The dark lord always tries to make himself look more gentle, loving, gracious, and approachable than Jesus. He wants to paint Jesus in rough colors. He wants you to say to yourself, “Why would I continue with Jesus if this is what life with Him is like?”

Good News, Bad News

May 15, 2020

John Kwasny

22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; 24 for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, 25 but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.
(I Peter 1:22-25)

I don’t know about you, but one thing I could do without during this Covid-19 pandemic is the 24-hour news cycle.  We are pummeled by way too much news all day, every day.  As an old guy, I find myself longing for the good old days of basically only having the nightly news to report the “highlights” of the day.  But those days are long gone.  Now, we are treated to a seemingly never-ending stream of news that’s really more opinion and conjecture than true news.  And worse than that, it is almost solely bad news, isn’t it?  Every time I read one article or column with some good news, there comes flooding in dozens of stories reminding me, “No, it’s really not that good at all—it’s much worse than you think!”  It seems so much easier to be the bearer of bad news than a bringer of good tidings in our world today.

We really shouldn’t be surprised that the world as a whole is more attuned to bad news than good news.  Without Christ, there is only bad news.  If God doesn’t exist, and human beings (or viruses) are in charge of the world, then there is only doom and gloom ahead.  Christians alone know, believe, and rely on the truth that there is good news available.  That good news is not found on the nightly news, the scientific reports, or anywhere else--except in God’s Word.  As Peter says, “this WORD is the good news that was preached to you.”  When we read or hear God’s Word preached and taught, we imbibe the good news of salvation in Christ alone.

But there is also the reality that there is plenty of bad news for all of humanity—and it has little to do with a novel coronavirus.  Before Peter reminds his readers of the good news, he presents the truly bad news.  First, he says that we are all born into this world as “perishable” seed.  All human beings will die—whether it is by Covid-19 or something else.  We are all perishable, like the items left out for weeks in your fruit bowl.  He compares us to grass and the flowers of the grass: the grass withers, and the flowers fall.  Again, we will grow for a little while, become as glorious as a flower for a time, and then it all comes to an end.  The bad news is that, because we are sinners living in a fallen world, death comes to us all.  There is no way to permanently lockout death, or quarantine ourselves in order to live forever.

Amidst this true doom and gloom, as well as the overhyped end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it news of today, Christians alone have good news for the world.  It’s much better news than a vaccine or effective medical treatments.  It is even more glorious news than when a governor says you are free to move around, get your hair done, and actually sit in your favorite restaurant.  As Peter puts it, “You have been born again of imperishable seed” and “the grass withers, and the flower falls, but the Word of the Lord remains forever.”  God’s Word is the good news for the entire world.  And when that Word is planted as an imperishable seed in our hearts by the Spirit, we enjoy eternal life in Christ.  This is the only good news to be celebrated—much, much better than any news that the virus will be eliminated.  Sin and death have been defeated already in Jesus Christ!  Rejoice in that good news today, and share it with those who are lost in all the bad news this world has to offer.  That is the best way for us to love one another!  

Love and Unity

Dean Williams

May 14, 2020

Question: What do the following verses have in common?

“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works” (Hebrews 10:24).

“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” (Psalm 133:1).

“Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing” (1 Thess. 5:11).

“We used to take sweet counsel together; within God’s house we walked in the throng” (Psalm 55:14)

“Love one another with brotherly affection” (Romans 12:10).

“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” (John 13:34).

Answer: Among other things, they provide pictures of a call for, or a recognition of people who are physically walking in, love and unity. That is who we were before the pandemic, and that is who we long to be again. We have been loving each other from a distance, but perfect love has a proximity element to it. This notion can be readily seen in Jesus’ high priestly prayer in John 17. Jesus prayed, “The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”

Jesus prayed that we might be united as He and the Father were. And how were they united? Among other things, they were united in perfect love, which again, includes an element of proximity. In fact, one of the greatest evidences for the Trinity is the presence of love and proximity in the Godhead. You see, in order for there to be love, there must be an object of that love. So, for it to be said that God “is” love, perfect love, there must be an infinite and eternal object of His love. The Father has infinitely and eternally loved the Son and the Spirit, the Spirit has infinitely and eternally loved the Father and the Son, and the Son has infinitely and eternally loved the Father and the Spirit, and all three are “one.” We are called to reflect this glorious fellowship, and so for many, our spirits yearn to be physically reunited with the rest of our body (I Corinthians 12). 

As we reflect on these wondrous truths; we have been united in Christ, we have been made to reflect the love and unity of the godhead, and thus our spirit and souls yearn to be reunited, let us do so prayerfully, asking our Lord to bring us to that day when we are all physically united for the purpose of glorifying His name and loving one another.

Some Thoughts on Returning to Public Worship

This blog post probably isn’t what you were thinking it would be. I’m not going to give any opinion here about when churches should return to gathered corporate worship, or what health measures we should take. (Although I will note that our elders at POPC are meeting this week to discuss when they want to open wide the church doors again for the saints here, and we covet your prayers.) Rather, I want to share with you a few sentences about public worship that I came across in the 1884 Encyclopedia of the Presbyterian Church in the USA (scroll down the page and you’ll see the link to this large book) . These points were succinct, encouraging, and I believe will be important for us all to meditate on as we prepare to return to gathered corporate worship, whenever that might be. How will we return? Will it be with a proper understanding of the importance of gathering together with the saints, and in a proper approach to our triune God?

Public worship is of great utility.

1. It gives Christians an opportunity of openly professing their faith in and love to Christ.

2. It preserves a sense of religion in the mind, without which society could not well exist.

3. It enlivens devotion and promotes zeal.

4. It is the means of receiving instruction and consolation.

God is eminently honored by the social worship of his people, and he delights to honor the ordinances of his public worship by making them means of grace. Most commonly it is by means of these ordinances that sinners are awakened and converted, and that saints are edified and comforted.

Public worship should be:

1. Solemn, not light and trifling (Psalm 89:7; Hebrews 12:28-29);

2. Simple, not pompous and ceremonial (Isaiah 29:13; 62:2);

3. Cheerful, and not with forbidding aspect (Psalm 100);

4. Sincere, and not hypocritical (Isaiah 1:12 ; Matthew 23:13 ; John 4:24);

5. Scripturally pure, and not superstitious (Isaiah 57:15).

— “Public Worship” in the Encyclopedia of the Presbyterian Church in the USA

As we continue to remain apart, may the Lord keep creating within our hearts the longing and hunger for His courts; and may we return with a spiritual frame of heart, in reverent joy, with simplicity and sincerity!

The Shortest But Most Encouraging Blog You'll Read This Week

God told Adam and Eve to get up and leave the land they were in to get out of the Garden of Eden. Years later (and 9 chapters later in Genesis 12), God tells someone else to get up and leave the land they were in. This time, it was a call for Abram to leave his life of idolatry and come to God.

Why does this matter?

Every time the minister gets up in public worship and reads the “Call to Worship”, he is preaching the gospel. Do not take the “Call to Worship” as if it is merely someone reading Scripture or just making an opening statement. You are graciously being called to return back to God! Jesus is calling you to bring the entirety of your life to Him. No matter where you are, no matter what you’ve done, no matter what you’ve gone through, you can come to God this Sunday!

Now, that right there will warm our hearts when we hear the “Call to Worship”!

Wisdom: From Above or Below?

May 8, 2020

John Kwasny

13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. (James 3:13-18)

In a recent sermon, I compared and contrasted two seemingly similar terms: A wise man and a wise guy.  While being called a “wise man” is quite the compliment, being referred to as a “wise guy”—not so much.  The wise guy acts like he has superior intelligence, but it’s only a façade.  A wise man understands the truth and applies it accurately and precisely.  In this ongoing pandemic, we need many more wise men (and women) and far fewer wise guys.  More importantly, Christians are called to be the “wise and understanding” among us, in a world of fools and wise guys.

Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, James has a far superior way of comparing the two types of wisdom claims: True wisdom comes “from above” and false wisdom is “earthly, unspiritual—and even demonic.”  Wisdom from above has particular characteristics according to this passage:  It is meek (vs. 13), pure, peaceable, gentle, reasonable, merciful, impartial, and sincere (vs. 17).  On the other hand, wisdom from below is marked by jealousy, selfish ambition, disorder, and every vile practice (vs. 16).  What a dramatic difference!  But, more importantly, this contrast directs us to look for the fruit in the person’s life who claims to be wise, rather than simply evaluate the content of the wisdom itself.  In other words, true wisdom is simply part of the godly life—a life that displays the fruit of the Spirit.  That should make sense, right?  Why would the Spirit give a person wisdom--but not love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, etc.?  Wisdom is fully connected to a life of walking in the Spirit, keeping in step with Him.

Unfortunately, we tend to consider someone to be “wise” if he or she speaks intelligently, shows forth knowledge, has lots of education and the right degrees, and wears some sort of scholarly title.  But does that automatically make one wise?  Not if the conduct of his or her life says otherwise.  Sure, he or she can be very smart and well-educated, but that should not lead us to assume he or she is actually wise.  And, if wisdom is defined as the right application of knowledge, then we should value wisdom far more than simple intelligence.  God’s Word clearly places the gaining of “wisdom from above” as the highest of pursuits.

So, let’s make this practical in our current worldwide pandemic.  We have been told repeatedly for months that we must follow the “science,” the “data,” the “research,” wherever it leads us.  To go against any of these “facts”--this educated knowledge--is to be selfish, foolish, rebellious, and unloving.  Yet, bare data does not necessarily connect to wisdom from above.  For example, the “science” may say that there’s a greater risk of contracting Covid-19 if you leave your house and gather in a group over ten people.  But does that information give you any wisdom whether or not you should leave your house?  Very little.  We must all seek Godly wisdom from above to determine how we should live in these perilous times.  While it is always tempting to seek the “intelligent” people to tell us what to do when it comes to things like health and safety, we need to be looking for wisdom that is from above.

Now, please don’t hear that I am somehow a man against science or data or research—I have spent my life pursuing knowledge and truth.  And, I am not saying we Christians should be ignorant to the facts and simply follow what we think God is telling us.  No, we are to seek wisdom wherever it is found—but only wisdom from above, not below.  That’s an extremely difficult task in a time of disinformation, fear, and political agendas.  But, in another sense, it is extremely simple: We can find wisdom only in Christ, seeking the Spirit’s help, and praying without ceasing.  We must trust that God will give us wisdom if we ask for it.  Ultimately, wisdom from above will bring the PEACE and understanding that we need in these anxious times!     

Coronavirus and Missions

May 7, 2020

During a recent midday Devotional, I spoke about Elisha’s interaction with his servant, who at the time was distressed by the presence of the Syrian army that had completely surrounded them, and were under instructions to seek their demise.  Elijah calmly shared his perspective with his servant saying, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” He then prayed that his servant would have his eyes opened so that he could see things from God’s perspective and not his own. After sharing that story, I encouraged us to be like Elisha and pray for God’s perspective to be revealed to us. Well guess what? When you pray, God, in His providence, can answer in several different ways. Below is what I consider to be one answer to prayer, a kingdom perspective in the area of missions. It’s an excerpt from John Piper’s latest book, Coronavirus and Christ (yes, books addressing this issue are already being written and published 😊). May God bless us as we reflect on this perspective:

Loosening Roots to Reach the Nations

In the coronavirus God is loosening the roots of settled Christians, all over the world, to make them free for something new and radical and to send them with the gospel of Christ to the unreached peoples of the world.

CONNECTING THE CORONAVIRUS with missions may seem like a strange idea, because in the short run, the coronavirus is shutting down travel and migration and missionary advance. But I am not thinking short term. God has used the suffering and upheaval of history to move his church to places it needs to go. I am suggesting that he will do that again as part of the long-term impact of the coronavirus.

Persecution as Missionary Strategy

Consider, for example, how God moved his people out of Jerusalem, on mission, into Judea and Samaria. Jesus had instructed his disciples to take the gospel to all the world, including “Jerusalem and . . . all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). But by the time of Acts 8, it seems the mission was stalled in Jerusalem.

What would it take to move the church into mission? It took the death of Stephen and a consequent persecution. As soon as Stephen was martyred (Acts 7:60), a persecution broke out:

 There arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. . . . Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. (Acts 8:1–4)

That’s how God got his people moving—with martyrdom and persecution. At last, “Judea and Samaria” were hearing the gospel. God’s ways are not our ways. But his mission is sure. Jesus said so. And his word cannot fail. “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). “This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations” (Matt. 24:14). Not “may be proclaimed.” But “will be proclaimed.” 

Setbacks as Strategic Advance

We may think the coronavirus outbreak is a setback for world missions. I doubt it. God’s ways often include apparent setbacks that result in great advances.

On January 9, 1985, Pastor Hristo Kulichev, a Congregational pastor in Bulgaria, was arrested and put in prison. His crime was that he preached in his church even though the state had appointed another man as pastor whom the congregation did not elect. His trial was a mockery of justice. And he was sentenced to eight months in prison. During his time in prison, he made Christ known in every way he could.

When he got out, he wrote, “Both prisoners and jailers asked many questions, and it turned out that we had a more fruitful ministry there than we could have expected in church. God was better served by our presence in prison than if we had been free.”

This is often God’s way. The global scope and seriousness of the coronavirus is too great for God to waste. It will serve his invincible global purpose of world evangelization. Christ has not shed his blood in vain. And Revelation 5:9 says that by that blood he ransomed “people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.” He will have the reward of his suffering. And even pandemics will serve to complete the Great Commission.

Seeing Christ's Heart In Action

More Questions and Answers from Sunday, 5/3/20

5/4/20

Wilson received more questions yesterday than we were able to cover in the 15-20 minutes Q&A period after our morning worship service, so I wanted to give brief answers to them here on our blog. I’m not exactly sure yet if we’ll be able to continue this Q&A in the same way once we resume gathering for corporate worship, whenever that occurs. But it’s been well received, so I hope to figure out some way to continue interacting with you in this manner.

Here are questions that we didn’t get to answer yesterday:

1. Connecting last week’s sermon and this weeks [on I Peter 1:3-5 and I Peter 1:6-9], are our responses to trials meant to be a gift of assurance to the believer? Conversely, are the way that people respond to fiery trials meant to show if we are in God or if the trials of this world choke us out?

This is a great insight. The parable of the sower in Matthew 13/Mark 4/Luke 8 makes this very point. The seed that falls on the rocky ground is “the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away” (Matthew 13:20-21). In Luke 8:13, the language of “a time of testing” is used in the place of “tribulation or persecution.” It’s clear that trials and tribulations are a test of the reality and genuineness of a person’s faith. In the child of God, “suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (Romans 5:3-4; see also James 1:2-4). In the false professor, trials are very often the occasion of abandoning a profession of faith that did not flow from a true conversion. I’m reminded of Pliable in Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, who followed along with Christian at the beginning of his journey, but at the Slough of Despond he turned back in disgust and discouragement. Of course, just because we respond poorly to a trial is not a reason that we ought to conclude we are not genuinely converted - as I mentioned in my sermon yesterday, Peter failed the test and denied Jesus three times. Yet he repented, he turned back in sorrow and new obedience, and strengthened the church through his writings. As God grants endurance, and repentance where endurance is flagging, we see the fruit that should lead us to be assured that we are in a state of grace as opposed to a state of sin.

2. Why does God have to use suffering to strengthen our faith? Why couldn’t He just make our faith perfect?

This question is indeed a mystery, along the same lines of “Why didn’t Jesus establish His kingdom immediately at His first coming?” or “Why doesn’t God take me home to glory immediately upon saving me?” God knows the answers to those question, though He hasn’t chosen to reveal them to us in their fullness. What He has revealed is that “it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering…[B]ecause he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted” (Hebrews 2:10, 18). If Jesus learned obedience through what He suffered (Hebrews 5:8), then we His people, still living on this side of glory, should not expect to learn obedience in any other way (especially since Jesus’ learning obedience did not entail any movement from disobedience to obedience, but only deeper experience of what obedience actually meant). We are being conformed to our Savior, who endured the cross before He enjoyed the crown. And just like in the case of Jesus, God uses our suffering to comfort and strengthen others who are suffering. One reason God doesn’t take us home immediately after saving us is because He has work for us to do in bringing other sons and daughters into His family - in the same way, when we suffer and are comforted by God, we “are able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (II Corinthians 1:4). Could God make our faith perfect without suffering? Certainly He could. But He has chosen not to do so, for wise reasons. And so we trust Him and obey.

3. When Peter says, “if necessary” [about our trials], I know he uses that to strengthen us but does Peter imply that God uses that as a tool for Christians who are in sin? We know God tempts no one (James 1).

The Bible is clear that trials can come as discipline for our sin, as well as for training for future righteousness. As I mentioned yesterday, a coach might make his team run sprints because they have been lazy or disruptive in practice, or even if they have been model athletes, he may make them run sprints in order to be in shape to last an entire game. In the same way, God disciplines those He loves, whether in response to our sin (to draw our hearts back to Himself) or irrespective of any particular sin (so that we might yield the peaceful fruit of righteousness, as Hebrews 12:11 puts it). I don’t think Peter only had in mind Christians who were acting sinfully, since later in his letter he will mention suffering for doing good (2:20; 4:16). But trials do come as a tool of God’s sanctifying grace, and so as the Puritans were apt to say, let us “kiss the rod” that smites us, and trust that God’s discipline is always for our good.

4. Why does God need to see if our faith is real if He already knows all things?

It is true, God already knows all things from the beginning (Isaiah 46:9-10 - "I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose’”). He knows those who are His, whom He has chosen from before the foundation of the world (II Timothy 2:19). Yet in Genesis 22:12, after Abraham shows himself willing to sacrifice his son Isaac, God says, “[N]ow I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” Some commentators say that this text proves that there are some things God doesn’t know, and must learn through experience. This is a dangerous and heretical view of God. But why do the Scriptures speak in this way? I think John Calvin answers this question well: “Truly, by condescending to the manner of men, God here says that what he has proved by experiment, is now made known to himself. And he speaks thus with us, not according to his own infinite wisdom, but according to our infirmity. Moses, however, simply means that Abraham, by this very act, testified how reverently he feared God.” Another way to put it is that the trial of our faith reveals to ourselves and to others that our faith is genuine. It’s not that God needs to see if we really have faith, but trials demonstrate the reality of faith for all the world to see. And on the last day, as we saw from I Peter 1:7, we will be glorified and openly acknowledged before God and all creation.

5. How does this text help us to help others in their suffering?

I think this is a powerful text to use as you counsel and encourage those who are suffering. Use my three points as you speak to them: God recognizes your suffering - He sees it and sympathizes with you. God reassures you that He has ordained suffering just for a little while if necessary. God has reasons for your suffering - in this life and in the life to come. These truths are a healing balm to the wounded soul, and I hope that all God’s people will apply them to their own hearts and use them to help others. And as I mentioned above, II Corinthians 1:4 shows us that another reason God ordains suffering is so that we can enjoy His comfort in the midst of it, and thus be able to give that comfort to others. Sometimes God’s primary reason for bringing you through a trial is so that you might be able to minister to someone else walking through a trial. Has not every believer seen that at some point in our life?

6. If God does not punish believers because of their sins because of Christ, what are we to make of the Old Testament when God seems to be doing this to His people?

The saints of the Old Testament were definitely judged for their sins. Just to take two examples, the Israelites in the wilderness were excluded from the Promised Land because of their refusal to believe God and go into the Promised Land; and Israel and Judah were sent into exile to Assyria and Babylon, respectively, for their idolatry and sinfulness. But it is absolutely imperative to realize that, like the church today, Israel was a mixed multitude of unbelievers and genuine believers. So to use Paul’s language in I Corinthians 11:32, God’s judgment on Israel was condemnation/punishment for the unbelievers, but discipline for the believers. The word “judgment” refers to the suffering and affliction endured, but in itself it does not carry the negative connotation of condemnation (see also I Peter 4:17 in this regard). Jesus bore the punishment of all His elect people on the cross, including the Old Testament saints. Yet in both covenants, old and new, true believers have suffered God’s judgments as discipline. As Proverbs 3:11-12 tells us, God disciplines and reproves those He loves. That verse, which applies first to Old Testament saints, is picked up in Hebrews 12 to apply to New Testament saints. The principle of I Corinthians 11:32 is operative throughout the whole Bible.

7. Can we ever see the precise reason for our suffering in this life?

I believe that using the Scriptures as our guide, we can discern many reasons for our suffering. But even as we scan those reasons, we may not know the precise reason why God has ordained a particular trial come into our life. Providence is best read backward, as someone once put it. We see after the fact what God was doing through our suffering. I love the illustration of a tapestry, that underneath looks like a tangled mess of thread, yet when you turn it over you see the most exquisite design. In the same way, in the moment it is difficult to makes sense of suffering. Yet even in this life, God pulls back the curtain to some degree to show us His purposes. Of course, some suffering may go unexplained or un-understood all our life. And I’m not even convinced that we will know comprehensively all of God’s purposes in our suffering in the life to come - since we will be finite rather than infinite in a glorified state. But I trust that God will show us what He has been up to in our lives to such a large degree that we will be able to glorify Him perfectly in glory - that we will be able to affirm like never before that “the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18).

8. How can we direct those caught in a “health, wealth and prosperity gospel” using a proper understanding of suffering?

There are entire books written on this subject (see this website, for example), so I will be very brief. Show those caught in the prosperity gospel, that Jesus suffered and calls His people to take up their cross as well (Matthew 16:24; I Peter 2:21). Show them that Paul says “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). Show them that he writes that “All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (II Timothy 3:12). Show them that God has granted us suffering along with faith (Philippians 1:29). Show them that we are called to rejoice in our sufferings, and that sufferings are to be expected in the normal Christian life (Romans 5:1-5; 8:17; Philippians 3:10; James 1:2-4; etc.).

Patience for Patients

John C. Kwasny May 1, 2020

10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.  (Romans 12:10-12)

Anyone who knows me well understands how much I love etymology, the study of the origins of words.  It just fascinates me to learn how our words, terms, and colloquial phrases originate, as well as how far from original meanings we have strayed.  Then, there’s also the variety of ways we can use the same word to communicate things that are very different.  A term that is on my mind lately is PATIENT.  I wonder why?  Just think about it with me for a moment.  While, as Christians, we are repeatedly commanded to be patient, none of us ever wants to be a patient—especially in our current pandemic.  A patient (noun) is literally “one who suffers,” and to be patient (adjective) is “to suffer long.”  So, when you are a patient in a hospital or even at home, you are suffering with a disease or illness that needs care and cure.  You are a sufferer.  But, when you are striving to be patient with another person or within the context of a hard situation, you are also a type of sufferer—you are having to suffer long. In a sense, we all have been treated as patients over the last couple of months, haven’t we?  Of course, some among us throughout the world are actual patients in hospitals and medical care facilities, suffering from the ravages of Covid-19 (as well as many other unrelated diseases and conditions).  The rest of us are still being somewhat quarantined, limited in our activity, and even having to live with the possibility that we may be asymptomatic carriers of the virus.  So, we are all patients, even if we are not all sick.  Or, to use the original word meaning: We are all sufferers during this current crisis.  And, again, no one ever wants to be a patient, not even for a short time.  To be a patient always tests our patience.  To suffer always forces us to deal with the challenge of learning how to be long-suffering.

In Romans 12, Paul presents us with a laundry list of very brief, precise, and difficult commands:  Love one another.  Show honor to one another.  Do not be lazy.  Be fervent.  Serve God.  We need the work of the Spirit to do any of these well.  But, then, he pens three more imperatives that we so desperately need to hear right now: Rejoice in hope.  Be patient in tribulation.  Be constant in prayer.  Read those again.  Rejoice in hope.  Be patient in tribulation.  Be constant in prayer.  Are you rejoicing in hope that we will get through this pandemic, unless the Lord Jesus returns?  Are you patient (suffering long) in this time of tribulation?  Are you constant in prayer, for not only the end of our suffering, but for the specific needs in your life and those around you? 

As the old, well-worn joke goes: no one ever really prays for patience.  But as patients, God always grants new opportunities for you to be patient.  Patient with your spouse, your children, your parents.  Patient within your current circumstances.  Patient with our leaders.  Patient with those around you who may be fearful or insensitive to you.  As co-sufferers in this world together, let’s pray and seek to be able to suffer long in Jesus Christ, our Suffering Servant. 

Wednesday Noon Devotional

The COVID-19 Good Samaritan

Dean Williams April 30, 2020                                                                               

“A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him.” (Luke 10:30-34)

This parable was spoken by Jesus as a response to the question, “Who is my neighbor?” The question was posed by a fellow Jew, one who would have been in complete shock when he heard the parable. You see, it was common knowledge that the Jews and Samaritans absolutely hated each other.  Here, Jesus directly attacks and dismantles that culturally held norm. He does so by communicating two things: (1) our acts of compassion should not be confined solely to those who we consider to be in our inner circle; and (2) our love and care for those around us should be evidenced by volitional acts of engagement, which might include addressing the immediate needs of those around us who might be experiencing some form of distress. There are two quick insights to offer here:

First, regarding lesson #1, “Our acts of compassion should not be confined solely to those who we consider to be in our inner circle”:  In this parable, Jesus dramatically drives home this point by noting it was a Samaritan, not a priest (whose job it was to intercede for his people), nor a Levite (who was called to assist the priest in his duty to serve the people), but one who was completely outside the accepted circle of friends, family, and associates.

Secondly, regarding lesson #2, “Our love and care for those around us should be evidenced by volitional acts of engagement, which might include addressing the immediate needs of those around us who might be experiencing some form of distress”: In this parable, the Jewish victim had an immediate need for medical care. Not only did the Samaritan man attempt to address the man’s physical needs by first tending to them himself, but he also provided his own personal resources; his oil, wine, money, and his ride (donkey). It would be fair to say that the Samaritan’s actions were sacrificial in nature. After all, he was going against the norm of his day, and this could have subjected him to both the ire of those around him and a loss of resources which he could have used for his own benefit or pleasure.

Today, I would like us to consider two thoughts that are related to this parable. First, we should be able to see ourselves as the victim in this parable, not because we were members of God’s covenant community and were rescued by an outsider. Clearly, that is not the case for most of us (Gentiles). But because we were in desperate need of being rescued from the wrath of God and the unending ravages of sin in our lives. Sin stripped and beat us out of any hope of being reconciled to God. But the good news, the Scriptures tell us, is that while we were yet sinners, our neighbor and friend, Jesus, died for us. He sacrificed himself on our behalf, giving up the greatest resource in existence, life itself (Phil. 2:5-8). And because of his actions, we have been made whole.

The second thing I would like us to consider is our response to what Christ has done for us, and how this parable should guide that response. To do this, let me first refer you back to Philippians 2:5, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.” Exactly what mind or mindset was the apostle Paul alluding to here? The answer is found in the preceding verses which state, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” These verses describe the mindset that contributed to Jesus’ ministry to the poor, the broken hearted, the special needs community, and to many who were bound in the irremovable chains of sin. It ultimately resulted in the greatest act of sacrifice in the history of mankind, Christ’s death on the Cross.

For us, this mindset should be accompanied by a heart filled with gratitude, recognizing that we fit the description, spiritually and otherwise, of every area of need that Jesus lovingly and sacrificially addressed. This, in turn, should prompt us to clothe ourselves with the same mindset of service and sacrifice, while asking the question, “How now should we live and serve?” Well, I am glad you asked. In the coming weeks and months, we can expect to see, and experience, the negative consequences associated with the current pandemic. Many will have suffered the loss of their jobs.  Familial strains and hostilities are commonplace right now and might be even more prevalent in the days to come. Post-traumatic stress related emotions will start to manifest themselves in some who suffered in ways disproportionate to what most of us either have, or will have experienced during the pandemic (health, family, unable to grieve for or bury loved ones, job, finances…). What we have before us is a COVID-19 Samaritan call to be a blessing to those around us, to be the hands and feet of Christ, to a lost and dying, and now physically ailing, world.

As we consider these things, I echo an inspired voice from the past, Mordecai (Esther 4:14b), saying, “And who knows whether we have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” I pray our joint response will be to strategically, or even clumsily, map out ways in which we can be the Lord’s hands and feet in just “such a time as this.” 

Sorrow and Depression (Wednesday Night Series on Depression: Week 4)

Counsel for Pandemic Parenting

April 29, 2020

Biblical Counseling and Training Ministries (BCTM) sent out a helpful article for parents this past week sharing some suggestions about how to process these quarantine weeks and months with our children. I hope it will be an encouragement to you as you seek to continue to raise your children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

3 Practical Ways to Help Our Children During COVID-19

by Sara Littlejohn, MAC 
Counselor, BCTM-East MS

It was eleven o’clock on a school night and my 7th grade daughter sat on the edge of my bed sobbing, “It is all just too much!” We were on day two of distance learning and day 20 of social distancing. I crawled up next to her and whispered, “I know, I know, it is all too much for me too!”  I wrapped her up in a hug and told her I wanted her to go to bed and whatever had gone sideways with her day - with her school assignments, with her heart and mind - we were going to evaluate it under the light of a new day. 

There is no prize being handed out to the set of parents who quarantine the best during COVID-19. Some families are genuinely enjoying the extra time with their children at a slower pace of life. Some families are really struggling, feel like they are drowning, and making it through each day is a complete victory. As thoughtful and compassionate believers, we would be wise to give each other an extra ounce of grace to run the full spectrum of parenting emotions during this quarantine.
 
Whether you are living your best quarantine life right now or just surviving this quarantine life, here are a few suggestions that might help your kids process what is going on around them. And if it all feels like it is just too much and you cannot handle one more suggestion, that’s ok! Hug those babies and keep moving forward. 

Find the Heart
Right now our kids are experiencing a broad range of emotions: disappointment, fear, loneliness, exhaustion, confusion, relief, happiness, depression, anxiety and so many more. One helpful thing to do is find a healthy outlet for our kids to express what they are feeling and experiencing.

As parents, we do not like seeing our children anxious, disappointed or sad. But it is very important to invite our children to share with us what they are feeling and experiencing. They are real people, with real feelings and real experiences. And they are carrying all of it around in their tiny bodies. We might assume we know what they are feeling and experiencing, but until we give them the opportunity to tell us, we cannot be certain.

By inviting our children to share with us what they are feeling and experiencing we are directly reflecting how our Heavenly Father invites all of us to share with Him what we are feeling and experiencing.

Inviting our children to share with us what is going on inside of them will look differently for each. Some kids will love to journal their thoughts, feelings and experiences. Some kids will better be able to express their feelings through drawing you a picture, a Play-Doh sculpt or a Lego tower. Some kids will want to sing you a song or even put on a play about how they are feeling. Get creative here! Give them a simple prompt, “Journal, draw, sculpt, build with Legos, sing me a song, or put on a play about how you feel about the Coronavirus.” After they complete the prompt have them explain their project to you to the best of their ability. As a parent, this can be a rich time of uncovering what is going on in their little hearts and minds. Besides helping you understand your children, giving them this kind of opportunity to express their thoughts and feelings in healthy, constructive ways might also keep them from more unhealthy and destructive expressions later on. 

Remember, after you invite your children to share their experiences and feelings with you, you want to respond by thanking them for sharing with you personal and important things. Don’t try to fix their feelings or minimize their feelings. Instead, ask them if there’s anything you can do to love and encourage them right now. Or even better, pray with your children after they share. You can teach them by example how to take those personal experiences and feelings they just shared with you to the Lord. Together, in word and deed, you can boldly approach the throne of grace knowing you serve a God who hears the prayers of his children.

Find a Rhythm
Many of us have undergone a major shift in our schedule and daily routine. We are all searching for something predictable and familiar. Finding a new rhythm will not look the same for every family, but it can be helpful to establish one while we all learn to wait well. 

Some families will benefit from a daily schedule with activities designated for each hour. I would digress in my sanctification if I tried to implement this in our home, but many of my cherished friends and family are thriving in this approach. Some families (like mine) are benefiting from a list of things that need to be accomplished and then going about doing them throughout the day. Regardless of how you find your new rhythm, make it one that is fitting for both you and your children. Don’t try and be a superhero. Be reasonable and keep your expectations on yourself and your kids sane. Remember, no prizes are being handed out for the most beautiful, crafty and organized quarantine. Your new daily rhythm might look like keeping all the people under your roof alive, fed and clothed. Celebrate even these seemingly small accomplishments! 

While the rearrangement of our days can be disillusioning, remember to point your heart and your children’s hearts to a rhythm and a foundation that never shifts beneath us: the God who is our sure foundation and our stability during this time (Isaiah 33:6). He is the God that supplies us every day with our daily bread (Matthew 6:11). He is the God who never changes. He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). We cannot promise our children or predict for our children how these next few days, months and years are going to unfold, but we absolutely can point them to the God who holds our every single day. 

Find Hope
It is not a matter of if we are going to blow it as parents during quarantine, but really a matter of when (and how often) we are going to blow it. We are going to lose our patience, say unkind words, be selfish, get frustrated and lose our way. But what an opportunity to practice repentance and humility before our children. If you sin against your child, repent. If your child sins against you, forgive. Isaiah 40:11 reminds us that our Savior gently leads those that are with young. I don’t know about you, but I need a gentle Guide right now. We are with our young a lot right now, and Jesus never stops pouring out His grace and His kindness toward us as we navigate this new terrain. It's alright to admit how confused, upset, irritated, or anxious you are right now - that's exactly why you need a Savior! So put your hope in him, and point your kids toward him (not yourself) for hope as well.

A new day did come for my struggling 7th grade daughter. The sun came up and a new day dawned, and while our troubles did not disappear we were able approach them with new energy. A new day is also going to come for each of us. COVID-19 does not get to write the final chapter of our days and even our lives. Our hope, our children’s hope and the only hope for this broken world is found in the Living Hope that is Jesus Christ. May just an ounce of this hope sprinkle onto our everydays as we seek to gently lead our children as we are gently led by the Good Shepherd himself. 

What's Jesus Like?

How Not to Lose Heart During a Pandemic Quarantine

April 27, 2020

During our Question/Answer time following the morning service yesterday (you can find the service and the Q/A here), the first question was a great one, and I was only able to give a partial answer off the cuff - but several more answers have come to mind in the past day and a half. The question was this: “What are some ways to stay positive and not descend into the spiral of negativity which is so easy to get trapped in during this time?” The question recognizes how difficult the past two months have been - many feel trapped, stuck at home, stuck with their families, unable to go where they are used to going and do what they are used to doing. It is easy to get discouraged, to lose heart, to grow weary - even to grow discontent, bitter at God, covetous of the way we were able to live before this pandemic. To be sure, these are days of sorrow and loss, so if we are grieved and saddened and mourning, such emotion is to be expected and affirmed. Too often we try to do every thing we can not to be sad. Yet sadness, in a fallen world, is an appropriate response. But like the apostles, God calls us to be “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing” (II Corinthians 6:10) - to grieve as those with a great hope (I Thessalonians 4:13). How do we do that?

I answered this question by reminding us how important it is to begin and spend and end our days in the word of God and in prayer. Meditating on God’s promises, God’s character, and God’s grace to us in Jesus Christ throughout the day will enable us not to lose heart as we struggle through a pandemic quarantine (see II Corinthians 4:16-18). But there are other good and helpful answers to this question. Here are a few (starting the list with the number 2 so that we don’t forget #1 above):

2. Spend time with other people. Now maybe you think, “This is exactly what I’m not able to do!!” or “It’s the people around me that are causing me to be so negative!!” It may be true that you aren’t able to be with people as easily as you once were. But I encourage you to be creative in how you spend time with others. Perhaps it something as simple as an old fashioned phone call, or as high tech as a Zoom or Facetime video chat. Perhaps you sit in someone’s driveway and talk to them or eat lunch together from a distance. Perhaps you participate in the new social distanced practice of drive-by home parades, and talk from your cars. If you’re able to combine #1 and #2, all the better - how we need to be encouraging one another with the word of God, strengthening one another in the Lord (I Samuel 23:16; I Thessalonians 5:11). Make sure to spend time with people who are going to comfort and sympathize with you, but who will also challenge and rebuke your discontentment, and exhort you to put your trust in the Lord with them.

3. Get outside. This may seem like an “unspiritual” answer - but when you recall that God has made us body and soul, and that God has made all things to display His glory, then Christians must never forget that one of the best ways not to lose heart is to spend time in nature, in God’s creation. Not only will you get needed vitamins (and recognizing that our souls are affected by our bodies, how important it is during these times to recognize the connection between physical health and spiritual health), but you will get needed perspective. God is sustaining all creation, and He will sustain you all your life. See the majesty and goodness of God in plants, animals, bodies of waters, the blowing wind, the brilliant sun. Read Psalm 8, Psalm 19, Romans 1:18ff., Acts 14:17 - then go out and see the power and kindness of God.

4. Serve someone. One of the best ways to fight negativity and discouragement and a downcast spirit, is to focus on someone other than yourself. Often our negativity is sinful: it’s selfish, self-centered, envious, jealous, bitter, prideful, discontented, covetous. Fight off these bad fruits by seeking to do good to someone around you. Love your neighbor, whether through writing them a letter, making or baking them something, buying something for them, doing something unexpected for them, etc. Joy comes from making someone else happy. Be a blessing to someone else in need - and you won’t only see that your needs are not perhaps as large as you’ve made them out to be, but you will also gain the blessing promised in Jesus’ word: “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).

Undoubtedly there are more ways not to lose heart as we suffer through this season of affliction - so please leave your answers in the comment section below!

God-Confidence brings Contentment

John C. Kwasny

April 24, 2020

5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6 So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”  (Hebrews 13:5-6)

We are inching closer to being able to re-open some businesses, having more movement in society, and getting our economy going in the right direction again.  I know we all wish that day would come sooner than later--especially for all who are unemployed or are losing significant income as business owners.  One of the most disgusting political ploys during this pandemic has been the irrational pitting of those who “love money” against those who “love people.”  It goes something like this: If you are in some way concerned about the economy, then you don’t care that people are dying from Covid-19.  This effort has created a warped either/or: it’s either the economy, or it’s public health.  We’re being told that if we truly loved people we wouldn’t even care how long we have to do without money to provide for our families.  Now, hopefully, you can see through this illogic and know that you can actually be FOR people living AND FOR people making a living.  It doesn’t have to be one or the other.  We need to protect human lives AND we need the engine of the economy to start humming along again.

Yet, in a time when all of our incomes have been impacted to a small, medium, or even large certain extent, it is important to examine our hearts to see if we are, in fact, driven by the love of money.  No, you may not be an Ebenezer Scrooge; but, have you found yourself fearful and anxious as your savings has dipped or your income has fallen?  Have you had to give up some creature comforts that have caused a bit of sadness or even depression?  It would do us good to remember what the writer of the Hebrews says:  that the opposite of the love of money is the dreaded word, “contentment.”  Be honest, you don’t like that word either, do you?  Sure, we all want contentment in our lives, but to actually, actively BE CONTENT is another matter.  We are, by nature, discontented beings.  It takes the work of the Spirit in our lives to find that secret of daily contentment.  Unfortunately, we only learn if we are truly content when we are in the midst of trying times--like the present!

But don’t miss HOW the Spirit produces contentment in our hearts: It happens when we put our confidence in God alone.  Now, I don’t know about you, but I often put my “money-making” confidence in my own skill, giftedness, employability, and overall ability!  But God’s Word calls on us not to be more self-confident, but increasingly God-confident.  Look at Hebrews 13:5-6 again.  The author declares that we can truly be content because God has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  Let those words sink in and wash over your mind.  What an amazing truth!  Then, he doubles down and says, “So we can CONFIDENTLY say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’”  (Would it be wrong to add, “what can the coronavirus do to me?”)  The truth is, the level of our contentment tells us where our confidence really lies.  Only when we are confident that the Lord is our greatest helper, and that He will never leave us or forsake us, will we be able to grow in Godly contentment through this time! 

Good Words from an Elder Statesman

Dean Williams

April 23, 2020

A few weeks ago, I shared my thoughts concerning the inestimable value of our seniors. I gave particular emphasis to the debt of wisdom and practical knowledge they possess as a result of their decades long walk with the Lord. The same exact sentiment applies to the long serving Teaching Elders in our Presbytery, the Presbytery of the Mississippi Valley. One such elder is William C. Hughes, known to most of us as Bill Hughes. Bill is an 81-year-old Teaching Elder who is currently the primary Pulpit Supply Minister to Carthage Presbyterian Church (CPC), in Carthage, Mississippi. Prior to his semi-retirement, he spent almost 23 years at First Presbyterian Church, Jackson. While there, he served in various capacities, most notably as Administrative Pastor. Bill lives here in the city of Ridgeland, and I am beyond delighted to say that he is a neighbor of mine. The following are the contents of a COVID-19 related letter that Bill recently shared with the members of CPC. I pray its contents would beautifully speak to our hearts as well:

Under the sovereign hand of God, the Coronavirus has appeared so suddenly. For most of us, our world has been filled with upheaval and uncertainty, both in our health, and our finances. For all of us, there have been various adjustments to our way of life, this, as we respond to the new demands of these COVID-19 days.

I’m reminded of the scene in the book of Joshua (Chapter 3), where the people of Israel are on one side of the Jordan River and the Promise Land is on the other side. The day before they were to cross the river, they had no idea how they were to get across. Much like us today, they must have wondered, how do we face our uncertain future?

The river Jordan, at this time in history, was in flood season, and there were 2 ½ million people on one side of the Jordan. And making matters worse, God had told Israel to stay and watch the raging river, for 3 days; night and day. They saw the problem in front of them, much like our Mississippi River and Pearl rivers only a few weeks ago. God promised Israel they would cross the Jordan on dry land in order to enter the Land of Promise. Yet, here they were.

The Coronavirus is our Jordan, hindering our progress in living, posing setbacks, establishing brick walls, causing us to be faced with storms and raging waters. Our solution is the same as was Israel’s. We need to understand our helplessness before God. God is with us, and in control, in these troubled waters. In crossing through our Jordan(s), don’t take your eyes off the Lord Jesus, and don’t look at the troubled waves and water. Keep your eyes fixed on Christ, for He alone can carry you through on dry land.

Here are some practical questions to ask: Lord, what are you teaching me right now? What is it you want me to learn? How do you want me to grow more like you in this? Lord, what sin do you want to purge from me?

The 84th Psalm is a beautiful expression of love for the sanctuary of God to all who worship and love Him. As the sovereign Lord has allowed this scourge upon our land, I pray that we would seek refuge in Him through His Word. Perhaps a consequence of these COVID-19 days, will be that we will see how perishable this world, and all that’s in it really is, and that our God is in control and full of love for us who know Him.

-- William C. Hughes

Wednesday Noon Devotional