I'm listening to John Piper's sermons on Romans as I work on the study of Romans that I am writing, and came across this encouragement from a sermon preached on 4/21/02:
Picture this life as a journey on your way to receive a spectacular inheritance. It will protect you from idolatry and make all your burdens lighter, and quiet all your murmurings.
Here's the way John Newton put it:
Suppose a man was going to New York to take possession of a large estate, and his carriage should break down a mile before he got to the city, which obliged him to walk the rest of the way; what a fool we should think him, if we saw him ringing his hands, and blubbering out all the remaining mile, "My carriage is broken! My carriage is broken!" (Richard Cecil, Memoirs of the Rev. John Newton, in The Works of the Rev. John Newton, Vol. 1 (Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1985), p. 108.)
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Saturday, May 17, 2008
No condemnation in Christ!!
Rom. 8:1
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.
This is an important verse to have “hidden in your hearts.” We are so good at listening to the voice of condemnation. There is even a rumor going around that somehow living in condemnation and wallowing in shame is somehow pleasing to God, or that a constant, low-grade guilt will somehow promote holiness and spiritual maturity. Guess who started these!
What do you hear?
“Do you really think God will forgive you…again?”
“God must be unhappy with me.”
“How can you forgive yourself?”
These are not messages from the Spirit!
C.J. Mahaney, in Living the Cross Centered Life, said:
“Our sin is reality, but the death and resurrection of Jesus for our sin is a greater reality.”
So which reality am I going to live by?
He, Mahaney, has a great way to beat condemnation:
“Confess and believe in Christ’s atonement.”
It’s pretty simple and a great way to get us get past our guilt and shame. There is nothing that we have, or could, do that will undo His atonement for us.
He talks about “talking truth” to ourselves instead of “listening” to the lies. His example was very practical. Late one Saturday night as he was putting the finishing touches on a sermon for the next day, he spilled coffee on his keyboard. He lost the computer, and of course all of his notes. He got angry at God, for letting it happen, and at himself for his clumsiness and through a little fit. He chose, instead of continuing in the anger and getting mad about the anger, to talk truth to himself. He said “Your sin of anger has been atoned for by Another. Jesus died for that sin. Jesus, the One who passed every test, who was tempted in every way but never sinned. He stood in your place and He was punished in your place. God has forgiven you and He’s going to help you prepare and preach that sermon—not because you’re sinless, but because He is merciful.”
I frequently share Piper’s quote, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.” We can’t be satisfied in Him when we are nursing guilt, shame, or condemnation. We must, as Mahaney points out, believe in His atonement and our righteousness before Him, because of it.
So I encourage you to enjoy His gift of atonement and spend time praising Him for the freedom it gives us. We don’t deserve it, but His love provided it.
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.
This is an important verse to have “hidden in your hearts.” We are so good at listening to the voice of condemnation. There is even a rumor going around that somehow living in condemnation and wallowing in shame is somehow pleasing to God, or that a constant, low-grade guilt will somehow promote holiness and spiritual maturity. Guess who started these!
What do you hear?
“Do you really think God will forgive you…again?”
“God must be unhappy with me.”
“How can you forgive yourself?”
These are not messages from the Spirit!
C.J. Mahaney, in Living the Cross Centered Life, said:
“Our sin is reality, but the death and resurrection of Jesus for our sin is a greater reality.”
So which reality am I going to live by?
He, Mahaney, has a great way to beat condemnation:
“Confess and believe in Christ’s atonement.”
It’s pretty simple and a great way to get us get past our guilt and shame. There is nothing that we have, or could, do that will undo His atonement for us.
He talks about “talking truth” to ourselves instead of “listening” to the lies. His example was very practical. Late one Saturday night as he was putting the finishing touches on a sermon for the next day, he spilled coffee on his keyboard. He lost the computer, and of course all of his notes. He got angry at God, for letting it happen, and at himself for his clumsiness and through a little fit. He chose, instead of continuing in the anger and getting mad about the anger, to talk truth to himself. He said “Your sin of anger has been atoned for by Another. Jesus died for that sin. Jesus, the One who passed every test, who was tempted in every way but never sinned. He stood in your place and He was punished in your place. God has forgiven you and He’s going to help you prepare and preach that sermon—not because you’re sinless, but because He is merciful.”
I frequently share Piper’s quote, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.” We can’t be satisfied in Him when we are nursing guilt, shame, or condemnation. We must, as Mahaney points out, believe in His atonement and our righteousness before Him, because of it.
So I encourage you to enjoy His gift of atonement and spend time praising Him for the freedom it gives us. We don’t deserve it, but His love provided it.
Sunday, May 04, 2008
New Faith
Heaven Without Her by Kitty Foth-Regner is a book I found recently at our local library. It's a memoir of "a desperate daughter's search for the heart of her mother's faith. I wasn't sure what to expect but thoroughly enjoyed it.
Kitty was 47 when her mother died and the story starts on the day of her mother's death. Kitty grew up in a wonderful loving home and felt valued and cherished, but she rejected her families faith. Her final rejection was when her father died while she was in college. She wanted nothing to do with a God that would allow such hurt.
Kitty became a feminist and atheist and very successful in her career. She was happy with her life until her mother's death loomed. She loved her mother and didn't want to face that she would never see her again. All of a sudden it became very important to her to find out if the faith of her family was true.
This story is her journey to truth. It is exciting to see her perseverance in the search and commitment to truth, not just what would make her feel better. She found the faith of her mother and loved the new life it provided.
A couple of examples of the change in her new life are:
"... a dramatic reduction in that fundamental fear situations which once sent me into a panic barely ruffle me know. It's almost like He's turned me into an entirely new creature."
In speaking of the absence of the anger that had been such a reality in her life, she said:
"Later I would read in Phil. 4 about 'the peace of God, that passes all understanding.' It was like that: peace that I hadn't felt since I was a little kid, before I knew the heartbreaks and fears and humiliations that can happen in this world. The sort of peace that you feel when you know someone much bigger than you is in total control, loves you to pieces, and will take care of you always."
I finished this book feeling thankful for my God who is in control and, amazingly, love me to pieces, and will take care of me.
Thank you Kitty for your new faith and it's encouragement to me.
Kitty was 47 when her mother died and the story starts on the day of her mother's death. Kitty grew up in a wonderful loving home and felt valued and cherished, but she rejected her families faith. Her final rejection was when her father died while she was in college. She wanted nothing to do with a God that would allow such hurt.
Kitty became a feminist and atheist and very successful in her career. She was happy with her life until her mother's death loomed. She loved her mother and didn't want to face that she would never see her again. All of a sudden it became very important to her to find out if the faith of her family was true.
This story is her journey to truth. It is exciting to see her perseverance in the search and commitment to truth, not just what would make her feel better. She found the faith of her mother and loved the new life it provided.
A couple of examples of the change in her new life are:
"... a dramatic reduction in that fundamental fear situations which once sent me into a panic barely ruffle me know. It's almost like He's turned me into an entirely new creature."
In speaking of the absence of the anger that had been such a reality in her life, she said:
"Later I would read in Phil. 4 about 'the peace of God, that passes all understanding.' It was like that: peace that I hadn't felt since I was a little kid, before I knew the heartbreaks and fears and humiliations that can happen in this world. The sort of peace that you feel when you know someone much bigger than you is in total control, loves you to pieces, and will take care of you always."
I finished this book feeling thankful for my God who is in control and, amazingly, love me to pieces, and will take care of me.
Thank you Kitty for your new faith and it's encouragement to me.
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