1 Cor. 4 Revisited: SBTS Chapel

Before I begin the actual point of this post, let me announce that my dear church family in St. Peters has their website up and running again! It's pretty sweet, and I am very excited to listen to the sermons from week-to-week!

Anyway, I've been sick and decided not to attend chapel today. Knowing that C.J. Mahaney would be speaking, I had to pseudo-attend via Southern's website. As soon as I began watching, I wished I was there. Southern really is like a family, and you feel it most when you're in chapel. (It's not all academia in the clouds, like some outsiders may think.)

After singing "All I Have Is Christ" and Dr. Mohler's introducing him, C.J. approached the podium to speak. Not long into his sermon, he asked us to turn in our Bibles to 1 Cor. 4. I cried. As you may have noticed, I posted about 1 Cor. 4 Tuesday night and posted a status on Facebook of v. 7. I am humbled by and thankful for how the Lord uses Scripture and obedient men to touch me in a transformative way.

You must watch the video and listen to his message. Then continue reading.

Before entering seminary, I feared that my struggle of going all-intellectual would return to the fore. I did not want to sink back into such a proud, hypocritical pit from which the Lord so graciously and patiently pulled me. Hearing the Word preached this morning--I'm crying even now--I feel His hand hold me (Ps. 139 comes to mind), as if He's saying, "Kristi, I've got you. You're where I want you. I won't let your feet slip. I'll protect you from your sinful tendency." He's humbled me yet again. The Lord is so good, and he assures with gentleness. What rest is there in Christ's assurance! I didn't grasp this Tuesday night. The Lord knew I needed to encounter 1 Cor. 4 again, especially v. 7. Thank you, C.J., for being an obedient servant of Christ and helpful brother to me and everyone at SBTS in delivering this Word. I am confident the Lord Jesus will continually warn and remind me that I hava nothing that I did not receive from Him.

Rightly Handling the Word of Truth in Preaching?

Today Rachel and I visited a church in Fredericktown neither one of us had visited before but about which we had heard positive things. Services for Meadow Heights were cancelled, so we ventured out into the frosty air to worship the Lord with new people.

I was disappointed during the service, mostly because I was missing--and still miss--my brothers and sisters from FBC-St. Peters. The other reasons are lack of depth and expositional preaching. The message spoken was true but barely tethered to God's Word by way of Scripture proclamation. I have trouble with preaching like this because it is not false, but it is not couched in Authority, so I don't trust it. I know where I stand, but if someone asks me what I think about what I heard, I'm not sure how to answer them because I don't want to promote a critical spirit. (I struggled with this sort of thing for three years, so I'm gun-shy.)

I think a line about theology from Sjogren and Robison's Cat and Dog Theology applies here: The message is "not incorrect--it is just incomplete" (100). How can the hearers know the richness and many dimensions of the Word if the Word is not preached entirely, and how can the Word be preached entirely if only three non-consecutive verses are cited in a sermon? It seems more profitable and honorable to preach the Word (instead of a topic) and let It dictate the main body, implications, and applications of the sermon instead of limiting the Bible to supporting evidence.

On the flip side, the Holy Spirit works in people's hearts through either form of preaching, and the preacher in this service did proclaim Jesus. Do I have grounds to even be disappointed in the sermon I heard? (I even have trouble calling it a sermon.) I entered that sanctuary thirsty for a preaching of the Word and felt as though I received only a few drops of water. I expected that I would need to use my Bible but actually didn't. Jesus being proclaimed is good (duh), so I can't knock the preacher too hard, right? I'm thinking of the attitude Paul had in Philippians 1:15-18. At the same time, Paul commanded Timothy, pastor of the Church at Ephesus, to preach the Word.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. (2 Timothy 3:16-4:5)

So, what do you think? Are preachers who preach a true message from biblical principles but barely reference the Bible rightly handling the Word of Truth (2 Timothy 2:15)?

Follow-Up on the Recent Heart Change (Glory to the Lord)

Almost a couple months ago, I posted about the Lord's humbling me and softening my heart toward my home church. It is time to follow up. I requested prayer before I returned home that I would love my home church. Now my time at home is over, and I sit it the cafeteria at Southern Seminary with good news.

I think I wrote before about how I was thankful for my home church for the first time in a long while. Everyone of Meadow Heights was gracious to me. I was moved when one of our pastors invited my sister and me to join them at the Global Leadership Summit, expenses paid and transportation provided. That same pastor took us to lunch at the nicest restaurant in town. I was able to sit down with our lead pastor as well. I was able to talk to brothers and sisters on Sundays and observe their enthusiasm for the Lord and His mission. I listened to the teachings and heard the gospel--no critical spirit to cover my ears.

When I think back to my attitude, thoughts, and words prior to humility, I am ashamed. I learned firsthand the deceitfulness and blindness of pride. C.J. Mahaney's Humility: True Greatness helped me better understand this heinous sin and to learn ways to cultivate humility and thus guard against my tendency to become proud.

Temptation did come. Opportunity to criticize and think loftily threatened my newly-established care for Meadow Heights. But because the Lord Jesus had worked a change in my heart, I resisted and focused more on MH's strengths (evidences of grace) than on weaknesses (needs of adjustment).

I experience freedom since the Lord's humbling me to pray for MH, to rejoice with their rejoicing, to weep with their weeping, to truly worship with them, and to enjoy their fellowship. I could not do these things before, at least not from pure heart. I've also missed them for the first time in a long while.

I want to take this opportunity now to commend their mission-mindedness and love for their communities (the Parkland). The Lord Jesus is using them to introduce the talking and walking gospel to thousands of people. They truly love those they serve, believers and unbelievers alike, being active in their love for Jesus. The leaders realize the responsibility and feel its weight and are earnestly seeking the Lord's will and desiring His presence. As Pastor Bryan has been referencing lately, Exodus 33:15-17 says,

"And [Moses] said to [the LORD], 'If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?'

"And the LORD said to Moses, 'This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.'"

Thank God that He has humbled again, softened my heart again, and enabled me to love Meadow Heights. I am called elsewhere and cannot participate in the work, but I look forward to hearing about what the Lord does in them and through them.

By Faith on the Grounds of Christ's Righteousness: A Reaction to Piper's T4G 2010 Message

A few minutes ago I listened to John Piper’s message from the Together for the Gospel 2010 conference for the third time. When I heard it live then later as an mp3 download, my mind kept wandering; I struggled to bring my mind under subjection. Today, however, I truly listened, and the effect was wonderful and much needed.

In “Did Jesus Preach Paul’s Gospel?,” Piper unpacks Luke 18:11-14 and sets it beside Philippians 3:3-9. His overarching point is that justification by faith alone is essential to Christianity; we cannot trust in the work of God in us (e.g., fruit of the Spirit). On the contrary, it is the work of God in us that confirms our justification by faith (cf. Romans 4). If the fruit we bear were the root of our justification before God, then why are they fruit? Would not justification become the fruit and the work of God in us the root of our righteousness? He is saying that our righteousness, our righteous standing, is not our own—it is Jesus Christ’s. God imputes His righteousness to us. If Jesus Christ did not live a perfect (sinless) life and bear the Father’s wrath that we sinners (and we are all sinners) deserve, we are and have nothing. Jesus says,

“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” (John 15:5-8)

After listening, I could not stop thinking about the truth of justification by faith alone in Christ alone. I attempted to read a chapter in one of my books but had to close it. I had to stop, consider, and pray about what I had just heard.

In doing so, I was filled with joy and thanksgiving for the activity of Jesus Christ on the cross. I’m so glad He did it! Some song lyrics read, “O blessed Jesus, may we find a covert in Thy wounds. Though our sins they rise up to meet us, how they fall next to the merits of You.” He paid the ransom that I could not pay, and He gave me the merits—His merits—for eternal life with Him.

I recalled Romans 8:31-34:

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is seated at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”

Christ Jesus is the one who died! Had it been anyone else, we would still be dead in our sins, still condemned. But Christ Jesus died for us! The perfect, sinless Son of God sent from the Father as our Messiah. We can have confidence in Christ Jesus. Who can be against us?

It gets better. Verses 35-39:

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, ‘For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, not things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Do you get it? Not only does Jesus justify us, He keeps us! We have a firm foundation. We have a seal on our souls. His name is Jesus. More song lyrics: “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness…. On Christ the sold Rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand…. When He shall come with trumpet sound, oh, may I then in Him be found dressed in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the Throne.”

Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ, so let’s live like it's true. Let's rejoice and have confidence. For,

“…God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus… who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel…” (2 Timothy 1:7-9a, 10a).

If Jesus, who is so powerful as to abolish death and bring life through the gospel, is for us, we have no reason to be afraid or ashamed.

And let’s remember that our justification is founded upon the life and death of Jesus Christ, His redemptive activity of grace, not upon our works of righteousness, what God has done in us. We are and always will be dependent on God.

One more implication from Romans 8:31-39 and the doctrine of justification by faith alone: Since we have beheld, understood, and believed this most glorious gospel and rest secure in Jesus Christ, we should have a desire to tell others about Him through the gospel message, with no fear and no shame, and clearly proclaim the doctrine of justification by faith alone when it is threatened. Look at Exodus 9:16 that Paul quotes in this passage: “’For your sakes we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered’” (v. 36). And Romans 1:16-17: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith’ [Habakkuk 2:4].”

And in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, 19-21:

“For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised…. in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

In conclusion, consider Philippians 3:8-9:

“Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.”

I write these things to you to stir up your faith and affection for our Lord Jesus Christ, if in fact you are in Christ. If you approached this post cold, I pray that you are finishing this post ablaze. Study the Gospels and acquaint yourself afresh with Jesus. Listen to Piper’s message. Set your mind on the Truth and understand sound doctrine. Live it out.

Love the Brotherhood. Watch Yourself and the Teaching.

The Together for the Gospel conference this past April is a highlight of this year. I am thankful to have had the opportunity to go, for the experience itself, and for my brothers and sisters from FBC with whom I experienced it. Three of us were able to attend T4G Late Nite, in which Mahaney, Dever, Duncan, and Mohler gave us ten-minute nuggets of wisdom, and the T4G staff gave us flash drives with the nuggets and extra sermons. I listened to one of these sermons today.

I took my last walk around the subdivision. I'll leave, Lord willing, with my parents tomorrow morning to pick up my sister from the airport and head on down to Fredericktown. As I enjoyed the birds I listened to C.J. Mahaney's "Grace and the Adventure of Leadership" that he preached at a PDI conference. It was just the sermon I needed to hear from what I can tell. In going to my hometown church, I hope and pray that I love them. I have struggled for a few years to harbor a right attitude and seek unity in light of their need for some adjustment in their handling of the gospel. Mahaney's sermon was a very good slap in the face--just what I was praying for! Not really. When I had prayed and asked for prayer about loving my home church through actions and words, I did not expect that God would prepare me by convicting me. I was blind to my sin and thus my need for conviction.

Though it may seem virtuous that I toil over my home church so and desire for their reform, in reality I myself am in need of reform. My criticisms and dread are evidence of my pride and self-righteousness, as mentioned in the sermon. I realize now that part of the reason I become critical and sometimes hostile is fear that I will get "sucked in." This fear is a lack of trust in God, who promises to keep us and is able to guard us. My heart attitude and consequent behavior is not the example for watching yourself and the teaching (1 Timothy 4:16).

So how do we guard ourselves and the gospel and sound doctrine? When faced with people who are under grace but who we think are in particular need of adjustment (my situation) or when faced with false teaching or a distortion of the gospel, how should we respond? For starters, I think it's good to locate our concern: Are we concerned with the preservation of the gospel, or are we concerned that we ourselves and our faith are being threatened? The answer to this question reveals your motivation and will dictate your action. For me, it is both, which makes things a little messy.

Mahaney presents a course of action that is helpful here in answering these questions. Think upon the evidences of grace in the people's lives. As a side note, while I was walking, and Mahaney was addressing pride in criticism with a Peanuts illustration, a car went by and hindered my hearing. I backed up the sermon on my iPod to hear what I missed, and when I played it again, a large trash truck then obstructed my hearing. I tried a third time, and the truck moved my direction and turned onto the street I was walking down--once again, obstructing my hearing of Mahaney's words. By this time, I was annoyed. Then I noticed the word that was painted on the side of the truck as it went on: Grace. I had to laugh. Grace has not much resonated in my heart toward my brothers in and sisters in my home church. Nor have I thought upon God's grace toward me as often as I should.

When we consider evidences of God's grace in difficult people rather than focus on their hang-ups--no matter how trivial or crucial the hang-ups are--we are much more apt to thank God for them, like Paul was thankful for the Corinthian church.

I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (1 Corinthians 1:4-9)

As Mahaney points out, Paul's thankfulness for the Corinthian church, who had many problems of sin at the time, does not make sense initially. My first reaction to my home church is not thankfulness. Paul, however, had maintained a God-centered thanksgiving by acknowledging the grace God showed them in Christ Jesus, knowing that God had fully equipped them with spiritual gifts, and trusting God's sustenance for them. Imagine what the Corinthians must have felt in hearing these words. Feeling the weight of sin and guilt and hearing that Christ will sustain them and, more than that, present them blameless before God the Father! You see, Paul motivated by grace. He did not beat them down with criticism and condemnation. No. He reminded them of who they were. He built them up. Lastly, in his God-centered thanksgiving, he recounts God's faithfulness. He reminds them that God called them into the fellowship of Jesus Christ. Their first reception of grace, their continuance in the gospel, and their victorious finish are all credited to God in Christ Jesus. Paul so trusts the Lord that he can thank Him for the Corinthians in their evidences of grace, confident that they will make it to the end, no matter the needs of adjustment they have. (We see here that Paul had a long-term view. He saw the big picture, not just the immediate circumstances.)

Let this not be an excuse for ignorance, however. Sin must be addressed and accountability carried out. What I do mean to say is that we can guard ourselves and the teaching and respond to difficult people in accordance with the gospel, without pride, self-righteousness, or fear, by motivating by grace. We can remember God's grace toward us and be humbled. We can then remember God's grace toward them and be motivated to encourage them in that grace, thus motivating them to do the same. Inherent in this is the desire to please the Lord. No longer do they rebel but submit, turning the tides on sin and bringing glory to the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.

My home church is no longer a threat but an opportunity to extend grace. And praise be to God for His forgiveness and immeasurable grace!

Sin, Grace, Jude, and James

For a while, maybe a week, I could feel my heart turning toward my former manner of life, in which I was supposedly in charge and definitely devoid of the Spirit of Christ and belief in the gospel. During this time, discipline--especially spiritual disciplines like Bible intake and prayer--was waning and my indulgence in idleness and entertainment growing. I tried to make myself pray in the evenings and meditate on God's majesty with thanksgiving on my walks in the mornings, but I sensed that my heart was not fully in them, that my affections were not wholly stirred, and I soon gave up--or you could say, gave in. I did not do what I knew I ought to do, which is sin (James 4:17).

Once sin begins, if not interrupted by the grace of Jesus Christ, it will snowball. Today was the culmination. I neglected the Word, rushed prayer, struggled to keep even my personal discipline of walking a mile, and found myself sinning in ways I haven't in a long while (mainly grumbling and complaining). The worst of it, though, was lack of desire to change. I stepped outside the house to go on my walk, shut the screen door, and thought, "I don't care."

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. (James 1:12-15)

I listened to about half of a sermon by C.J. Mahaney on Jude ("Contend," part two of two in Jude series) while I walked. Shortly before finishing the mile I realized that Mahaney's words directly pertained to me. One of his points was from v. 21 ("keep yourselves in the love of God..."). The sub-points that followed answered the question, how? From the text, he answers (1) build up yourselves in faith (e.g., preach the gospel to yourself every day), (2) pray in the Holy Spirit, and (3) wait for the Lord's mercy. Okay, so how am I doing with these? Epic fail.

Remorse began for all the sins I mentioned above, beginning with remorse for grumbling and complaining. While I showered, I asked the Lord to give me a right heart and a new song (literally, a new song to sing and worship in the shower) and forgiveness and recounted the gospel with thankfulness. I sang the hymn the Lord gave me. My heart was then turning toward the way I should go--submission to Christ. Now, before I go to sleep, the desire to please my Lord is in me and even affection.

Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. (James 1:16-18)

I write all that as a foundation for this: This afternoon I shared this experience with a brother and sister in the Lord as we discussed man's desire for autonomy, the nature of sin, and the use of Scripture in resisting temptation and putting off sin/putting on Christ. We discussed the sin snowball effect. Then, tonight as I was preparing for bed, I listened to the back half of the sermon, and Jude and Mahaney confirmed what we were saying: "If I'm not praying, then it reveals for me, at least, the presence of pride and self-sufficiency," and again,

If you neglect this imperative, to keep yourselves in the love of God,... it will have a subtle but gradual and inevitable effect on your soul. Yes, it will. And eventually what is subtle will become obvious because if you neglect this passage [Jude 20-22] and the application of this passage, you neglect this passage to the detriment of your soul. And eventually you will reap. I know because I have neglected this passage at times and then experience the dullness in my soul, diminished affections for the Savior, diminished desire to read His Word. I know what it's like. I look in my soul and say, "You're not as affectionate and passionate as you once were."... If your heart is dull or hard, you arrive there by a daily neglect of this verse... You can keep yourself in the love of God by doing, by the grace of God, what you should have been doing all along--preaching the gospel to yourself, praying, and waiting... Gradually, over a period of time, you will know a restored affection for the Savior.

Thank you, Lord, for your Word and your Word preached and that you keep us (Jude 1, 21, 24).

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. (James 1:19-21)