Living as Citizens of Heaven
But our citizenship is in heaven,
and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Philippians 3:20
“Let our lives be conformed to the glory of our citizenship:
“In Heaven they are holy, so must we be—so are we if our citizenship is not a mere presence.
“[In Heaven] they are happy, so must we be rejoicing in the Lord always.
“In Heaven they are obedient—so must we be, following the faintest monitions of the Divine will.
“In Heaven they are active, so should we be, both day and night praising and serving God.
“In Heaven they are peaceful, so should we find a rest in Christ, and be at peace even now.
“In Heaven they rejoice to behold the face of Christ, so should we be always meditating upon Him, studying His beauties, and desiring to look into the Truths of God which He has taught.
“In Heaven they are full of love, so should we love one another as Brethren.
“In Heaven they have sweet communion, one with another. So should we, who though many, are one body, be every one members one of the other. Before the Throne they are free from envy and strife, ill-will, jealousy, emulation, falsehood, anger.”
-C.H. Spurgeon, from Sermon No. 476 Citizenship in Heaven (entire sermon here)
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Why God Became Man (Part 3)
One of the beautiful scenes in the Christmas story is that of the angels visiting the shepherds the night Jesus was born. Last year I wrote two articles (Part 1 & Part 2) on the last phrase of their announcment, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased.” (Lk. 2:14). I emphasized that this statement reveals the two foundational reasons for the Savior’s birth: to bring (1) glory to the Father who is in the highest and (2) peace to favored men who are on earth. I want to discuss the second here (peace), considering what peace Jesus brought to earth and to whom on earth.
Man sinned and broke His peaceful relationship with God. He hated God and rejected His authority and laws (Rom. 1). God was angry with man, waiting to pour out His righteous wrath upon us rebels. But while we were yet enemies of God, Christ accomplished reconciliation. He restored our relationship with God, erasing all hostility between us. He did this by His death (Rom. 5:10). The God-man hung on the cross, shedding His blood to bring us near to His Father (Eph. 2:13). He became the final peace offering, absorbing our punishment to bring us peace (Is. 53:5). This is why the Prince of Peace came, visiting us from on high: to guide our feet into the way of peace (Lk. 1:78-79).
As puritan Thomas Watson said, “He came into the world with a song of peace: ‘On earth peace’; He went out of the world with a legacy of peace, ‘Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you.’ Christ’s earnest prayer was for peace; He prayed that His people might be one. Christ not only prayed for peace, but bled for peace: ‘Having made peace through the blood of His cross.’…As He prayed for peace, so He paid for peace.”
He brought peace to earth, but not to every person on earth. He brought peace only for those who receive Him, or as the verse states, “among those with whom he is pleased.” The Father chose a select group whom He loved and delighted in, and to these He gives peace. What beautiful love and grace is displayed through the gift of peace!
My brother, my sister, you who follow Jesus, you have tasted the sweetness of this gift of peace. You know the joy of forgiven sin, the deep satisfaction of walking with your Father, the contentment of His remaining Presence, the nourishment of His precious words, the rest of anxiety-casting prayer, and the edifying fellowship of His people. We share in all these blessing because Jesus has come and given us peace. Let these truths fill your mind with a meditation and ignite your heart with a burst of thanksgiving to God for such a Gift of peace.
Unceasing Thanksgiving
God is so good to me. He richly provides me with everything to enjoy. When I stop and consider what he has done, my hearts thrills with a song of thanksgiving. He made me; He saved me, and daily sustains me!
Yet my song was drowned out with the noise of the world’s cravings. Lovers of self, money, and pleasure all sang of self-getting. Their song seemed so fulfilling, and I almost joined in.
But then I remembered the words of my Friend, “You have food; you have clothing, and with these be content. A longing for riches will lead to your ruin, so flee from these cravings and seek after Me. I am your fountain, leave the puddles to be.” (cf. 1 Tim 6:8-11)
Now, in the stillness and peace of the night, my heart is still singing with thanks to my God. “Thank You for being so all-satisfyingly good. I’ll sing on in unceasing thanksgiving to You.”
Eating with “Sinners”
Luke 5:29-32
In this story Jesus blows the religious conceptions of the day out of the water. Instead of hanging out with the religious people, He eats meals, a main social event of the day, with those people from whom the religious leaders had distanced themselves. He hangs out with “sinners.”
But before we immediately criticize the Pharisees, we should recognize that their motives weren’t all bad. They were interested in ritual holiness and wanted to be free from the contamination of sin.
But their logic was terribly flawed. And in fact, whenever we seek to distance ourselves from non-Christians in order to protect ourselves, we expose a heart that agrees with their philosophy.
Why do we not hang out with non-Christians? Let’s explore some of the reasons.
1) Fear: Deep down, we still believe that our holiness is dependent on our circumstances instead of our hearts. When we fear being contaminated by the sin around us, we must remember that the problem is never around us; it is always inside us (Mark 7:20-23). Should we still fear sin? Yes (Jude 23), but the fear must not push us away from those in sin; rather, it should push us closer to the cross and a living awareness of our death to sin. Isolation from “sinners” never guarantees our holiness. The only guarantee of our holiness is the redemption Jesus purchased for us at the cross. And that is claimed by faith, not by manipulating circumstances.
2) Laziness: We simply don’t want to take the time to plan and strategize to build relationships with others. We like the social comfort of not having to purposefully live and speak the gospel. And we love this comfort because we don’t really believe that Jesus is worth everything we have and are. We are not driven to enter peoples’ lives for the sake of the gospel because we don’t believe that Jesus is better than our social comfort.
3) Disobedience: We think the mission of the gospel is something optional, something for those who “have it together.” We isolate the mission to events such as church activities. But God meant the mission to pervade even the most mundane moments of our lives—like eating! We just don’t see the good news of Jesus as really that good. And our isolation is just plain sin.
4) Self-righteousness: Here’s the heart of Jesus’ teaching. By even calling non-Christians “sinners,” we subtly agree with the Pharisees’ philosophy. They saw themselves in a different class; they assumed that their ceremonial holiness had made them different. When we place non-Christians in a different class and then distance ourselves from them, we deny the gospel. The gospel levels everyone at the cross because everyone brutally murdered Jesus. We like to hide behind a wall of self-righteousness because it makes us feel better about ourselves and keeps us from facing the dark realities of our heart. The reality of our sin destroys every inclination to superiority and gives us humility in our interactions with others. Jesus’ death and resurrection is such good news that we dare not pervert it by self-righteous isolationism.
I’m writing this primarily because I needed this wake up call. When was the last time I purposefully ate with non-Christians? How deeply am I willing to be involved in their lives in order to call them to repentance? I sit in my safe house surrounded by all my theology books, read Christian blogs, hang out with Christian friends, and then make reconnaissance missions into the world to salve my conscience. But where is the heart of love for non-Christians that is willing to befriend them and love them into the kingdom?
So, how will we plan to “eat” with non-Christians today?
Strength in Suffering
“[Paul & Barnabas] returned
to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch,
strengthening the souls of the disciples,
encouraging them to continue in the faith,
and saying that through many tribulations
we must enter the kingdom of God.”
Acts 14:21-22
We who follow Jesus desperately need our souls strengthened in suffering. Like weary soldiers we’ve battled long and hard through the battles of life wondering if this war will ever end. Like marathon runners we’ve run up so many hills and almost forgotten that the finish line exists. And like hardworking farmers we labored for weeks under the heat of the sun with little hope that harvest will ever come. So it was with the Christians of the first century. They too needed strength in their suffering. And for this reason God sent Paul and Barnabas to visit them, to strengthen their souls through “encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.”
Notice that part of the message of encouragement was reminding them of the reality of present and ongoing suffering. They needed to understand that following Jesus meant following Him through suffering. Jesus taught, “The Son of Man must suffer many things… [and] if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Lk, 9:22-23). True followers of Jesus should expect suffering and willingly bear their crosses.
There will be new crosses, new types of sufferings from new enemies, for we no longer follow our sinful passions and pleasures but wage war against them. We no longer follow the vanity fair of this world, but resist affection for it and conformity to it while traveling as pilgrims through it. And we no longer serve the devil but resist his attacks, standing firm on gospel truth.
“[So let us] be content to pass through all difficulties in the way to heaven. Though the path is before you, and you may walk in it if you desire, yet it is a way that is ascending, and filled with many difficulties and obstacles. That glorious city of light and love is, as it were, on the top of a high hill or mountain, and there is no way to it but by upward and arduous steps. But though the ascent be difficult, and the way full of trials, still it is worth your while to meet them all for the sake of coming and dwelling in such a glorious city at last.
“Be willing, then, to undergo the labor, and meet the toil, and overcome the difficulty. What is it all in comparison with the sweet rest that is at your journey’s end? Be willing to cross the natural inclination of flesh and blood, which is downward, and press onward and upward to the prize. At every step it will be easier and easier to ascend; and the higher your ascent, the more will you be cheered by the glorious prospect before you, and by a nearer view of that heavenly city where in a little while you shall forever be at rest.”
–Last 2 paragraphs from Jonathan Edwards, Heaven, A World of Love
Never Abandoned
The Lord strengthened my faith today through the preaching of the Word from brother C.H. Spurgeon (a re-preached sermon). I’m sharing an excerpt from it here, that you too may be built up. May the Spirit deeply impress us with this profound promise, that we may truly grasp it and walk it by faith.
He has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Hebrews 13:5b
“As I repeat these words, they may not seem to you to have much power in them, but if the Holy Spirit will impress these simple syllables upon your heart, they will come to you full of the music of heaven, and you will realize that it is God who saith, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”
“…Beloved, this choice promise provides against all troubles. We do not know what troubles may come upon us… but whatever they may be, “He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”
“There may come to us great losses. Our riches may take to themselves wings, and fly away; where we had large estates, we may be without a place whereon to lay our head; but, “He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” We may be the victims of cruel slanders, and under the pressure of those slanders those that used to respect us may avoid us, and former friends may be alienated from us; but “He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”
“We may have to suffer great pain, and the earthly physician may be unable to relieve us; but God’s promise will still avail us, for “He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Sore sinking of heart may come upon us, and all God’s waves and billows may roll over us; but “He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”
“In the course of our service for God, we may meet with many difficulties; where we looked for helpers, we may find opponents; but let us still press onward, for “He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” We may have to remove to distant lands, but “He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”
“Days of weakness may come to us, when the pillars of the house shall tremble, when they that look out of the windows shall be darkened, and the grinders shall fail because they are few; the infirmities of old age may tell upon us; but “He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” And with old age may come the loss of children and friends, till we seem left, “like the last rose of summer,” or the last sere leaf of the woods in the autumn; yet “He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”
“And then shall come the chill river of death, and the gathering darkness of the night; but “He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” And after that shall come another world, where our spirit shall fly through tracks unknown, and where new and wondrous scenes shall burst upon our astonished view; and, in the fullness of time, Christ shall come, and the last great battle shall be fought; but whatever is to be, or is not to be, a Christian has nothing to fear, for “He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”
“Come forth, thou dragon bound with the chain, and ravage the world again if so it must be; rise, Antichrist, from thy den amidst the seven hills, pollute the churches once again if thou canst; let war and bloodshed, famine and pestilence break loose again with unwonted fury; but whatever happens, in time or in eternity, “He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”
“‘Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea.’ If the Lord of hosts is with us, what ground can there be for fear? I know of no supposed dangers, no imaginable troubles, no conceivable difficulties, through which, and out of which, and beyond which this text will not carry us, if by faith we grasp it, ‘He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.’”
-C.H. Spurgeon, “Never, No Never, No Never” (sermon #3150)
Thank God for Our Mothers
Three years ago I wrote this simple song for my mom on mother’s day, and its a tradition now for my family to sing it to her each year. I share it, hoping it will stir up a spirit of thanksgiving to God for our excellent mothers.
An excellent wife who can find?
She far more precious than jewels.
An excellent mother they’re so few
But God blessed us with you.
All of us here thank God for you.
We rise up and call you blessed
Your husband praises you and we just join right in
We thank God for you.
Mother, you look well to the ways of your house;
You don’t just sit around;
You work to feed us home-cooked meals;
Yes, God blessed us with you.
Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain;
Not she who fears the LORD.
She’s to be praised with a beautiful heart;
We see this heart in You.
Words and music by Matt Hancock
Written in honor of my excellent mother, Mother’s Day 2008
