Before the throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea
A great High Priest whose name is love
Who ever lives and pleads for me
My name is graven on His hands
My name is written on His heart
I know that while in heav'n He stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart
No tongue can bid me thence depart
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
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free
For God the just is justified
To look on Him and pardon me
To look on Him and pardon me
Behold Him there, the Risen Lamb
My perfect, spotless Righteousness
The great unchangable I Am
The King of glory and of grace
One with Himself, I cannot die
My soul is purchased by His blood
My life is hid with Christ on high
With Christ my Savior and my God
With Christ my Savior and my God
Before the Throne of God Above - lyrics by Charitie Lees Bancroft and Vicki Cook. Copyright 1997 Sovereign Grace Music
Showing posts with label grace. Show all posts
Showing posts with label grace. Show all posts
Apr 6, 2013
Jan 7, 2013
A Powerful Story...
If you've never heard the story of Steve Saint and Mincaye, the man who killed his father Nate Saint in Ecuador, you have missed a blessing. It was the subject of the movie "End of the Spear" and another movie "Beyond the Gates of Splendor". I had the awesome privilege of hearing Steve and Mincaye speak in person at John MacArthur's "Shepherd's Conference" in 2003. Their story is a powerful testimony to the gospel, grace, forgiveness, redemption, and missions.
Last year, Steve Saint was injured in an accident as he was testing a "flying car" his company had developed to use in the jungles. This video below is after his accident. You will see the awesome love that the gospel has bridged between these two men and their families.
To see this specific video, go to the bottom where it says "playlist" and click and select the video that says "Nanicabo".
Last year, Steve Saint was injured in an accident as he was testing a "flying car" his company had developed to use in the jungles. This video below is after his accident. You will see the awesome love that the gospel has bridged between these two men and their families.
To see this specific video, go to the bottom where it says "playlist" and click and select the video that says "Nanicabo".
Sep 20, 2012
"Refined" Sins
I am leading a Wednesday night class at my church through Jerry Bridges book The Discipline of Grace. I read this book about five years ago for the first time. It had a huge impact on helping me rediscover the gospel and the power of grace. Last night we were discussing chapter 2 in the book "The Pharisee and the Tax Collector". As the title suggests, it is about Jesus parable in Luke 18. It is easy on this side of the cross and the New Testament to see the obvious judgmentalism and hypocrisy of the Pharisee. It's always easier to see Pharisaism in others, but it's often impossible to see in ourselves.
Also in this chapter, Bridges has a very good section on what he calls "refined sins" that we don't often talk about in church. Here is an excerpt:
Bridges also identifies other "refined" sins that are not always frowned on as much in the church. Some of these include resentment, bitterness, an unforgiving spirit towards others, impatience, and irritability. Bridges does a masterful job reminding us that while some sins have greater degrees of consequence or horror in our eyes, all sin grieves God. The sin of gossip grieves God as much as the sin of murder. The sin of bitterness grieves God as much as the sin of sexual abuse. We must never make lighter of our sin just because we have done a good job avoiding the "biggies".
Can you think of some other "refined" sins that you can think of that we often tolerate, excuse, or turn a blind eye to in the church?
Also in this chapter, Bridges has a very good section on what he calls "refined sins" that we don't often talk about in church. Here is an excerpt:
"A large part of our problem as evangelical believers is that we have defined sin in its more obvious forms-forms of which we are not guilty. We think of sin in terms of sexual immorality, drunkenness, lying, cheating, stealing, and murder...Most often our sin problem is in the area I call "refined" sins. These are the sins of nice people, sins that we can regularly commit and still retain our positions as elders, deacons, Sunday school teachers, Bible study leaders, and yes even full-time Christian workers."Bridges then goes on to identify some of these more insipid sins that many of us as Christian believers will commit and then quickly excuse or ignore. One of these is a critical and judgmental spirit. Bridges talks about how so often we don't take seriously Christ's warning to remove our log before we try to examine the speck in another person's eye. Many in the Christian church make it a continual part of their character to criticize and put down others, especially other Christians with whom they may have theological differences. Often I picture the world looking at us like the two curmudgeons from the Muppet Show who never have a kind word to say. Another refined sin identified by Bridges is gossip, "the endless recounting and passing on of the sins and misfortunes of others. We seem to get a perverse delight out of being the bearer of bad news about other people." Bridges reminds us of Paul's admonishment in Ephesians 4:29, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." If we really take that Scripture seriously, then we are not to use the words of our mouth to ever speak to or about someone unless we are doing it for their benefit and building them up in the faith. In my opinion, that would solve many of the conflicts we have in churches today.
Bridges also identifies other "refined" sins that are not always frowned on as much in the church. Some of these include resentment, bitterness, an unforgiving spirit towards others, impatience, and irritability. Bridges does a masterful job reminding us that while some sins have greater degrees of consequence or horror in our eyes, all sin grieves God. The sin of gossip grieves God as much as the sin of murder. The sin of bitterness grieves God as much as the sin of sexual abuse. We must never make lighter of our sin just because we have done a good job avoiding the "biggies".
Can you think of some other "refined" sins that you can think of that we often tolerate, excuse, or turn a blind eye to in the church?
Feb 14, 2012
Happy Valentine's Day...
As I start this post, I wish my wife of soon to be 15 years a Happy Valentine's Day. I got her flowers and candy yesterday and am about to go home to cook steaks for tonight. I love the fact that I get to show her how much I love her. However, I shouldn't have to feel compelled to do it one day out of the year. I should be more inclined to show her daily by being a servant and spiritual leader. I think periodic moments of getting off my rear watching TV to sweep the floor or wash the dishes does much more (and is much cheaper) than flowers and candy and steaks. My wife is so awesome, she deserves both.
Unfortunately, Valentine's Day is one more example of the tendency in our culture to go to commercial extremes. It's a day we feel pressured to perform acts of love. However, true love is not a performance. It shouldn't be about commercialization. In addition, Valentine's Day has a tendency to feed that fallen part of our nature that believes that the measure of love is to be made much of by someone else. Our hearts are idol factories and many times the chief idol we worship is "me." This becomes a problem when we don't have someone to make much of us - when our loved ones are taken away, when we are single, etc. When the idols of our love and affection are taken away from us, they often reveal how shallow our understanding of love really is.
If you are a follower of Christ, I would encourage you to find your identity in the gospel and know that much has already been made of you, not because of anything you bring to the table, but because "God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." The cross of Jesus is the ultimate display of God's love. Not because it makes much of you, but because it shows the brutal price God paid to redeem you of your sin. A friend of mine said it well today on Facebook, "
Unfortunately, Valentine's Day is one more example of the tendency in our culture to go to commercial extremes. It's a day we feel pressured to perform acts of love. However, true love is not a performance. It shouldn't be about commercialization. In addition, Valentine's Day has a tendency to feed that fallen part of our nature that believes that the measure of love is to be made much of by someone else. Our hearts are idol factories and many times the chief idol we worship is "me." This becomes a problem when we don't have someone to make much of us - when our loved ones are taken away, when we are single, etc. When the idols of our love and affection are taken away from us, they often reveal how shallow our understanding of love really is.
If you are a follower of Christ, I would encourage you to find your identity in the gospel and know that much has already been made of you, not because of anything you bring to the table, but because "God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." The cross of Jesus is the ultimate display of God's love. Not because it makes much of you, but because it shows the brutal price God paid to redeem you of your sin. A friend of mine said it well today on Facebook, "
Mar 7, 2011
Rahab: Grace turns a harlot into a hero
eYesterday I preached on the story of Rahab in Joshua. It was subtitled "The Transforming Power of Grace." Rahab's story is a often overlooked one in the Bible. She was a woman born in the wrong place and had the wrong lifestyle but crossed paths with the glory of the God of Israel and decided to place faith in a God who can part the seas instead of the gods of her people. Rahab found herself at a crossroad of life. Surely "prostitute" wasn't what she wrote in the ten-year plan of her senior memories book. She probably opened up an inn hoping to start a reputable business but found out that she had to make compromises in order to make ends meet. In the process, she became the town slut. She was nothing more than a commodity to the people of Ninevah - a means to an end. However, through the stories of the men who frequented her house she heard about a God who delivered a nation of slaves from the most powerful country on the planet, who sent plagues of frogs and locusts, and who parted the Red Sea to let them cross before drowning Pharoah's army.
These stories were nothing new. However, while most people in Ninevah heard the stories and began to make contingency plans on how to encounter this nation in the wilderness, Rahab began to believe that if there was a God that powerful then he was the one, true God. One wonders how the encounter began with the two spies that night. Was there something noticeably different about them when they came in? Did she offer her usual services only to be surprised when they said all they wanted was a bed? Did she notice that their dress or skin tone showed them to be foreigners? What is certain is that she decided her fear of their God was greater than her fear of her king. So she lied to the king in order to save their lives. She is never condemned nor commended for her lie. Her faith in this God was infantile and not yet established enough to believe that if she had given up the spies that they would still be spared. There had been no Shadrach, Mesach, and Abednego yet. There was no Daniel in the lion's den yet. However, her testimony "for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath" and her actions to save the spies revealed the repentance of her heart. Consequently, she and her family were all saved.
In the end, Rahab and her family integrate into the nation of Israel. She meets a man named Salmon and bears a son named Boaz who becomes the kinsman redeemer for Ruth. From her line come Jesse and eventually King David. From David comes the Messiah. Only God's grace can take a prostitute and from her body bring forth the lineage that would usher in the Messiah. That is grace.
Like Rahab, we all have baggage. We may not have stooped to selling our bodies, but we have all exchanged our love for God for 1000 other lovers much less glorious. But God's grace is sufficient to redeem and restore. Good news that we all need.
These stories were nothing new. However, while most people in Ninevah heard the stories and began to make contingency plans on how to encounter this nation in the wilderness, Rahab began to believe that if there was a God that powerful then he was the one, true God. One wonders how the encounter began with the two spies that night. Was there something noticeably different about them when they came in? Did she offer her usual services only to be surprised when they said all they wanted was a bed? Did she notice that their dress or skin tone showed them to be foreigners? What is certain is that she decided her fear of their God was greater than her fear of her king. So she lied to the king in order to save their lives. She is never condemned nor commended for her lie. Her faith in this God was infantile and not yet established enough to believe that if she had given up the spies that they would still be spared. There had been no Shadrach, Mesach, and Abednego yet. There was no Daniel in the lion's den yet. However, her testimony "for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath" and her actions to save the spies revealed the repentance of her heart. Consequently, she and her family were all saved.
In the end, Rahab and her family integrate into the nation of Israel. She meets a man named Salmon and bears a son named Boaz who becomes the kinsman redeemer for Ruth. From her line come Jesse and eventually King David. From David comes the Messiah. Only God's grace can take a prostitute and from her body bring forth the lineage that would usher in the Messiah. That is grace.
Like Rahab, we all have baggage. We may not have stooped to selling our bodies, but we have all exchanged our love for God for 1000 other lovers much less glorious. But God's grace is sufficient to redeem and restore. Good news that we all need.
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