GospelDrivenLife

links

There are two blogs I wish to recommend.

CJ Mahaney has a Gospel rich blog over HERE.  You can do no better.

Of First Importance is worth daily subscription.  It is a Gospel soaked quote a day, over HERE.

I am focusing my posts, at this time, at the Grace Church website homepage, HERE.

Resurrection: Better than Self-Help

I think there are people who are desperate for hope and positive thinking these days.  They turn to religious "snake oil salesmen" for help.  Snake oil is guaranteed to cure whatever ails you!  Snake oil is also lacking in sin and redemption.  It even works for a while.

Rather than just critique the false hopes of others, it is important to show them that the true hope is fare more glorious than their false hope.  Last Sunday we spent some time considering how the resurrection is a better hope for us all, because it gives a real answer to the real problem in life.

Listen HERE.

life and death

I am so very glad that Easter in upon us.

In four weeks we have seen two deaths of parents and the birth of this little guy to the right -- who is already learning to appreciate Sovereign Grace music!  Just today he really mellowed to Shannon Harris singing "The Gospel Song" but was not at all soothed by a louder rock sound.

As we have walked through these days and been cared for by our friends at Grace Church, we have rejoiced in the resurrection.  I think I have also gained clarity about its meaning.

You see, many people, knowing that my Mom and my wife's Dad died, offered prayer and comfort and words of hope.  Most often we heard, "they are in a better place."  But as I listened I thought, "that is not the last word on this."  Jesus did not die and rise again so when we die we go to a better place.  He died and rose again so that death will be swallowed up, this mortal shall be clothed in immortality, and our parents (and all who fall asleep in Christ) will be re-embodied.

It is surprising how very little the New Testament talks about life after death -- and how much it talks about (to borrow a phrase) "life after life after death."

I have changed my words now -- when people ask me about Mom, I tell them that she has died and is waiting the resurrection of her body.  I want to point to the real hope we have -- death swallowed up, being re-embodied and without sin, forever. 

a mother and a grandson

I have taken time away from posting completely, due to the death of my mother two weeks ago (a wonderful woman who was trusting in the Savior).  She had Alzheimers and this was expected and she is waiting the resurrection of the body.

Now we celebrate the birth of our first grandchild -- his name is Brendon Mark Ellis, born tonight (17th of February). 

This is a wonderful gift to us.

Just wanted blog-friends to hear the news.

The Spirit and the Church, 3

What do we do if the church is not healthy?

We must certainly NOT think that we can find some silver bullet to bring her to health.  We must turn from anything that would make us think fruitfulness is a result of something other than the Savior's blood bought grace.

No, we need to understand that as grace is active, so is sin.  The church is always marked by both.  And the downward drag of sin can weaken, wither, or shrivel the fruitfulness that was once there.  And God also sends dry times to draw us back to him.

Health is a living thing.  It is not something we can create.  All we can do is remove whatever obstacles we see.  It is like medicine and vital signs.

What do doctors do if there are deficient vital signs? What does a mother do if her child has no appetite because of the flu? Do they give lectures, admonishing the sick to be hungry? Do they chastise them for getting sick? No, they seek to remove the hindrances to health. Healthy children are hungry. If you get them back to health by treating the infection, they will be hungry again.

So in the church we may grieve or quench the Spirit. Or we may simply grow dull because of the working of sin to harden our hearts. Fellowship may be disrupted by bitterness or a pride that thinks it does not need others. Love for Scripture may be quenched by a desire for sin or a pride of traditions. The continuing work of Christ may be hindered by unbelief. We are called to ask God to see what is hindering the work of the Spirit and bring it to the cross. And we are called to go back to the Savior for fresh grace.

We are not to live under a cloud of despair or condemnation.  We are to flee to the cross.

The heart of the passage is this – the church is the work of the exalted Christ. She thrives by virtue of her union with Him. The church is made healthy by going back to him. Sin will disrupt the church. The Savior’s blood is more than sufficient for forgiveness and renewal. The call is to faith, to seek from the Savior the grace necessary for fruitfulness to be renewed. There is no reluctance in Him.

You can follow this series over at Grace Church.

 

The Spirit and the Church, 2

Acts 2:42-47 describes the vital signs of the church when the Spirit of God is working. I emphasize that is a work of God, not men.  This may lead us to ask, "Does this mean we play no part?" and "What is the place for our efforts?"

No where does Luke give the impression that health is the fruit of the right technique.  He is distinctly un-modern.  This pouring out of the Spirit is not being managed by the apostles.  It is being experienced.  The fruit is Gospel fruit, possible only in a new birth and the indwelling Spirit.  Fruitfulness is not the result of human strategies and planning.  It is certainly not the fruit of us deserving it.  Fruitfulness is the result of abundant grace.  Grace is not God's response to anything in us.

But God uses people. Acts is about the continuing work of Christ by the Spirit through his witnesses.  Everywhere Luke notes that God uses human means to accomplish his work.  But his work is related to their faith not their performance.  Paul asked the Galatians in 3:1-5 if their experience of grace and the work of the Spirit in them was due to their merits and efforts or due to their trusting God?  Jesus said, 'according to your faith be it unto you' and we are told 'he could not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.'

Does this mean faith is some kind of power over God?  No, faith is looking to God, hoping in God's Son, turning from self-focus.  It is the expectation and hope that such life comes from God because of Christ.

Acts is no more about human wisdom and planning than surfing is about the surfer creating the wave.  The surfer rides a wave, and so do the apostles ride the wave of the Spirit's coming.

But what do we do if the church is not healthy? 

The Spirit and the Church

I have preached the book of Acts before – twice actually. But this time it is as though I am seeing with new eyes. You can follow along at Grace Church

The temptation of my heart is always to take a work of God and turn it into a self-improvement project. Acts is about the continuing work of Christ to build his church by the Spirit of God and through the witness of his people. Human servants are all over – but Luke wants us to see this is the work of Christ. My heart wants to turn it into a blueprint for what I need to do.

This week I was struck deeply by this. Studying Acts 2:42-47 I was tempted to preach a message on what needs to be built into a local church to make it godly. It would have been a series of exhortations and the application would have been to take one of them and make it happen.

But Acts 2:42-47 is the end of a passage about the pouring out the Spirit of God by the exalted Christ. It is about how the Spirit of God is the active presence of God in this last chapter of history. Human effort is not forward – God’s work is.

Acts 2:42-47 contains no exhortations. It is a description. It is a description of what it looks like in a local church when the Holy Spirit is active. These are vital signs.

“Vital signs” is a medical image. Doctors look for vital signs in a patient. They look for a strong pulse, good respiration, skin color. If they do blood work, they look for acceptable red and white cell counts. Vital signs are the fruit of health.

Vital signs in the church are a mark of health. Luke gives five (at least as I tried to summarize them): hunger for God’s word, hunger for fellowship, hunger for worship, the active presence of God, and fruitful evangelism. If the Holy Spirit is active, these will be there.

So, I do not think the passage is a template for human initiative. It is a measurement of God’s work. Compare the church you are in with these vital signs.

The Spirit of God

What does it mean to live by faith in the person and work of the Holy Spirit?

I am a continuationist. That means I believe from Scripture that the age in which we live is marked by the continuing active presence of God, by the Spirit. While I think his work may be more pronounced at one time or other, I do not believe what the Spirit of God is doing in the world has changed.  There is no cessation of any particular aspect of his work.

Acts 2 is the record of the inauguration of this day, and it reminds me that the pouring out of the Spirit at Pentecost is not an event that ended at sunset of that day. No, it is like a wedding – it brought about a whole new state of being. It is like an inauguration, it resulted in a new regime.

Acts 2 says that the regime of the “last days” (in which we live) is marked by the effusive, abundant working of the Spirit of God in all of his people. No one person has a special corner on the work of the Spirit. He is given abundantly to all his people. The result is powerful works of God – healing and conviction of sin, signs and conversions. The result is also great fruitfulness. When the Spirit of God comes, the barren ground bears a great harvest. 3000 are converted in one day, and the fruitfulness abounds so much that Luke no longer records conversions, he records multiplication of churches.

What does it look like to trust the Spirit of God? Where does my practice of the Christian life look like I believe in the present work of the Holy Spirit? Where does fear take over my life? Or a desire not to be embarrassed? Or to be in control?

Over at Grace Church, we are studying Acts, in order to grow in our grasp of the continuing work of Christ. 

 

 

The Politics of Christmas

I find it annoying that the primaries for the presidential elections have been moved up so close to the holidays.  It is a distraction from the season to have to read headlines about the various candidates.  I know this is important, but it takes away from the message of Christmas . . . . or does it?

Wasn't the announcement of Gabriel to Mary a political one?  Did he not say that the child would reign on the throne of David?  Did not Mary speak of the work of God to bring kings down from their place of power?

The coming of the Messiah is all about the coming of God's kingdom.  And that is politics. 

The Bible is filled with politics -- the assertion that God would appoint his king upon Zion -- and though the nations revolt, their rebellion will be in vain.

At Grace Church we looked at Jesus, the Son of David, and saw the politics of Christmas. But it is a different sort of politics -- the politics of humility and the power of self-sacrifice as a substitutionary offering to God.  he is King -- but not that kind of king!

The Exclusive Message of Christmas, 2

What makes Christianity the least exclusive of all religions?

All other religions of the world require people to do something – either to exercise some sort of discipline or to have some sort of experience or to perform some set of rules or to increase in some set of virtues. Most people think that religion is about being good.  God will weigh the good of our lives against the bad, and those who have done more good will be in heaven.

Those are all requirements which are exclusive. They have limited value to a vast majority of people on planet earth. People who cannot rule their passions or have lived such a bad life that no amount of repentance will ever make up for their bad deeds are not given help or hope by these demands. People with limited education or skill may be unable to measure up to these requirements. If that is not elitist and exclusive, what is?

But Christianity is anything but elitist. It offers salvation that is entirely through the work of another – Jesus, the son of Abraham. There are no moral or intellectual requirements. Past record of wrongs have no bearing upon future possibilities. Gender is not an issue – nor age – nor race. Christianity is the only religion that is universally accessible to people, regardless of their qualities of life.

This means that far from being narrow and proud -- the message of the Gospel is not most welcoming and inclusive of all -- anyone may be received by God in the forgiveness of sin regardless of race, gender, moral history, ability or disability.

Christmas is the celebration of grace – God doing all that must be done to forgive us of sin and bless us. It is good news to all peoples – for all may receive this gift. For more reflection, check out our sermons at Grace Church.