Working Out and God’s Glory: How I lost 78 lb.
March 31, 2008
Similar to Jared of the Subway commercials, I was fat. At a whopping 240 lbs, I was unhealthy, unfit, and unnaturally round. I was not depressed or low on myself, but I did know the facts. I was about 70 pounds over weight. That is not being a good steward of my body.
How, then, and why did I drop the weight?
Mostly, it was a resolution: ”I resolve to drop it,” said I. But it was not so simple as that. People often ooh and aah over the picture that still remains in the lobby of my dormitory when I first came to college with my large stature. They look at me now, and they are impressed. “It must of taken a lot of discipline.”
Yes, it did. But that is not how I did it. No, I am not going to give some grand and overly stated workout plan that will help you complete a similar accomplishment. That is vanity. What I will tell you is eternal.
God is passionate about his glory.
“So, whether, you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31
In those long lonely days in the Fall of 2006 (oh my, has it really been almost two years?), I took my anxious and uncomfortable college experience out on myself. I pummelled my body daily, and not completely the way Paul speaks in 1 Corinthians 9:27. It was more Martin Luther than Paul. It was not good all the time.
Only one meal a day, only one helping per meal. Was it healthy? No.
Did it work? Yes, but that is not the point. The point is this: I was lonely. I needed a way of getting by each new day. That is the truth. It was way for me to get through a difficult time.
So why did I do it? Well, of course, I was unhealthy and overweight, but I was also needing a way to escape.
Jogging will do that for you, especially when you have an introspective and independent way about you like me.
Think about it:
You run from your problems on that treadmill. They disappear behind you as the miles pass away on the digital panel in front of you recording their progressive passage. They wash away with the ounces of sweat that flood your brow and dampen your shirt. It was karthartic to see myself in the mirror in front of me, staring deeply into my own dark brown eyes and saying, “I mortify you now.”
The guy in the reflection merely retorted with the same.
Everyday for eight long months, when people went to dinner, I went to the Young Mens Christian Association, a.k.a. the YMCA, to crush my anxieties under my steady pace. That is how it happened.
But was it godly? That is the question.
The answer to that is yes and no.
When I was consumed with anxiety, frustration, pride, vanity, and arrogance over the state of my body, over the numbers decreasing on that white digitial scale in the corner near the mirror on the right side of the cardio room, over the foods that I ate, over the compliments people shared, then was I ungodly.
Did you see that?
I was ungodly.
But….
When I was consumed with thanksgiving, God-entranced work ethic, God-centered discipline, God-enamored worship, when I cried as I ran because “Be Thou My Vision” rang in my ears with holy and piercing truth as the sweat gathered around the ear pieces in my ear canal, when God himself ran next to me, when God himself helped me lift the bench press bar, when God himself walked the cool-down lap with me, then was I godly.
Do you see that?
I was godly.
Why?
Because I was controlled with the Spirit.
I was not controlled with the flesh.
Do you see in this where I am such a wretch, and do you also see where God gets the glory by controlling me with his Spirit?
I tell you now: I am a prideful, self-centered, egotistical, frustrated young jerk who seeks the glory of man and the acceptance of the culture. There, but for the grace of God, go I.
I should have perished in my blubber, but God dropped my weight because Jesus Christ was crucified for my sins and raised for my justification. To Him be the glory, forever and ever. Amen
To this day, I find I glorify God most in my working out when I do it alone. Men are not there to whom I can compare myself…God is. And when I see I can’t measure up, I am most humbled at his greatness.
So, now, how do you glorify God through working Out?
Lose yourself and find God working out for you.
That’s grace, and so to answer the question, “How did you do it?” I say:
By the grace of God.
Working with you to cast off the flesh and run the race for God,
Vince R.
This was inspired by a ”Ask Pastor John” segment from March 31, 2008 entitled, “How do you glorify God through exercise?” Here is the link to the segment’s audio: http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/MediaPlayer/2695/Audio/
I saw the application almost immediately; I hope you do too.
Grace and Peace.
Here is an article http://www.boundless.org/2005/articles/a0001284.cfm articulating much of the troubling thoughts running through my head and burdening my heart for sometime. I hope brothers and sisters in Christ would not trivialize the problem with non-chalant arrogance or a dismissive attitude. It is not “just” television.
Look at this Scripture:
“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen”
Galatians 1:3-5
The word “deliver” literally mean to be rescued from that which binds and keeps by another power. When you see ”world” in the Bible, it means the entire cosmos and planet which is in rebellion against God as John 3:16. But when you see the word “age,” it literally means a subset of the “world.” It means a time and culture.
Therefore, Paul is saying that Christ gave himself for our sins IN ORDER TO rescue us from the powerful stronghold of the present evil time and culture on our lives.
Don’t allow this present evil age, Brothers, to control the way you view yourself. View the present evil age through the lense of God and his Word, and you will escape the corruption of your manhood into a complete and utter worldliness.
Look at the end of that verse: “…according to the will of God.”
Do you want to know what God’s will is for your life? Start here. Don’t be controlled by your culture, but be separate for his glory just like it says in verse 5.
“…to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen”
Working with you to escape the evil age for God’s glory and your joy,
Vince R.
Thanks to Pastor Chris Osborne of Central Baptist Church in College Station, Texas in his sermon on Galatians 1:4 on May 6, 2006 for helping me understand the Greek meanings of “age” and “world.” http://www.acswebnetworks.com/centralbc/article57378.htm
Why Scattered Suffering Saints Can Still Say, “Yes, Lord.” An Easter Exposition of 1 Peter 1:1-3
March 23, 2008
“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood.” 1 Peter 1:1-2
The apostle Peter, a great man of God, bold and zealous for the faith, writes his letter to suffering saints.
But, we should ask, why do they suffer?
Because they are obedient to their Lord. This, I think, is the main application of this text.
Friends, if you are not suffering in some way for being a Christian, you must ask yourself: “Am I being obedient to my Lord?”
If not, you must repent, and obey your master who is in heaven.
Your suffering is not your back ache. It is not the fact that you are growing up, and life is complicating. All of that experience is just life. Even the pagans suffer in that way!
But you, child of the Most High, are called to obey your Father.
And He has promised it; the world will hate you for it when you do. John 15:18-20 says:
“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.”
Friends, consider: He says this to his disciples directly following his discourse on the vine and the branches in John 15:1-17, whereby he asserts that all of his followers will bear fruit. He declares it resolutely and definitively. His people are obedient to him. Though they may have bad moments in which a bad fruit appears, their lives are defined by good fruit, that is, obedience to their Lord. Look at the text:
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of mine that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” John 15:1-2
Not only does he promise that his people will be obedient, but even when they are, they will still be pruned. “…every branch that does bear fruit he prunes…”
Do you think that this feels good? Of course not! It hurts to be pruned. But look at why they are pruned:
“…that [they] may bear more fruit.”
Astonishing! It hurts in order that they may be even more obedient to him.
God puts his own through trials. Do you seriously think that He does not control those trials? He owns those people. They are His. They are kept.
So, I hope, you see that obedience to God brings about persecution from the world.
That is the situation of Peter’s readers. They are obedient saints suffering for their obedience.
Look at the end of verse 2 again:
“To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion… for obedience to Jesus Christ.”
Do you see it?
So again, I ask: Are you suffering for obeying your Lord?
I want you to notice three foundations for this outcome of obedience to Jesus Christ. They are given in verse 2.
1.) God’s foreknowledge.
“To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion…according to the foreknowledge of God.” v.v. 1 and 2
Now there are two possible meanings behind this text. We must ask Peter which he means. Or does he mean both?
Does he mean they are ‘elect” according to the foreknowledge of God?
Does he mean they are “exiles of the dispersion” according to the foreknowledge of God?
Or possibly, does he mean both? Are they “elect” and “exiles of the dispersion” according to the foreknowledge of God?
I am going to argue for the former but with a confidence that the latter is still true and supports my case.
There is explicit biblical support for the first, and there is implicit support for the second.
First, they are elect according to God’s foreknowledge.
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” Romans 8:28-30
That is the great chain link of grace.
He foreknew his people in an intimate way long before they were born. v. 29a
He predestines them to be conformed to the image of his Son (only God’s people will be conformed to his Son’s image) v. 29b
He calls those he predestined to life even when they are dead in trespasses and sins walking according to the prince of the world i.e. Satan (Ephesians 2:1-3)
He justifies those who he called out of death into life. Justification means that they are imputed with the righteousness of Christ because of the faith they have in Christ even when they themselves are unrighteous. (Romans 3:21-24)
He will also call them to glorification (which means that they will be totally conformed to Christ’s image, and they will gain their uncorrupted inheritance). (1 Peter 1:4-5)
All of this is grace sovereignly bestowed on them in such a way that is totally independent of any good or bad they themselves have. (Romans 9:9-12)
This is a hugely disputed doctrine, yet Peter affirms it plainly, using it as a huge foundation for the obedience of God’s people in verses two. In verse three, he will praise God for it.
Also, I said that their dispersion must have been according to God’s foreknowledge.
In Hebrews 11, the writer says:
“[The saints of the Old Testament] all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on earth.” Hebrews 11:13
So we establish that saints (people with faith in God), are strangers and exiles on earth.
All of them experience the suffering of strangeness and “exileness” when they are obedient to God. Every Old Testament example given in Hebrews 11 testifies that those with faith in God are obedient. The writer cites the obedience resulting from faith displayed in Abraham (verse 8-10), Isaac (verse 20), Jacob (verse 21), Joseph (verse 22), Moses (verse 23-29), etc.
Also note that when Jesus spoke to the disciples, he promised they would be persecuted.
“…he began to say to his disciples first…I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God? Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.” Luke 12:1, 4-7
In this passage, Jesus is proving the greater by stating the lesser. If God takes such good care of sparrows, not forgetting even one, then he will take better care of his followers, and never forget a single one. If he has such an intimate understanding of his followers that he numbers their very hairs, then he will most certainly take care of them in all things.
That testifies to God’s care for his people in suffering through obedience.
But Jesus continues:
“And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.” Luke 12:11-12
Jesus makes a bold statement in which he guarantees the suffering of his servants, and subsequently, he promises that the Holy Spirit will guide them in that time.
Why promise that which will not be needed? Jesus promises the Holy Spirit during these hardships. If God’s people are definitely his people (as we looked at earlier), then their hardships are not given apart from his will.
Christ’s obedience to the Father was displayed in his death on the cross (Philippians 2:8), our mind is to be like his (Philippians 2:5).
People like to use that Scripture in Philippians 2 to emphasize being humble before others. But that is not the point of the text. Obedience to the Father is the point of the text.
That takes humility before God. No one can have one mind and love (Phil. 2:2), avoid rivalry and conceit (Phil. 2:3a), in humility count others more significant than themselves (Phil. 2:3b), or look to the interests of others (Phil. 2:4), if they are not first being humble before God the Father in obedience like Christ did. That is point of Philippians 2:5.
“Have this mind among yourselves, which [was also] in Christ Jesus.”
That mind is humility and obedience to the Father in heaven.
Do you see where man-centered preaching takes you? It thwarts the obedience that glorifies God.
But I digress…
Lastly,
If Christ’s suffering was preordained according to the foreknowledge of God (Acts 2:23), why wouldn’t the suffering of his people (those being conformed to his image) be foreknown in the same way?
2 and 3.) The Sanctification of the Spirit.
The elect are going to be obedient to Christ because of the sanctification of the Spirit.
There are two sanctifications spoken of in Scripture.
One is the sanctification whereby God’s people are washed from their sins in the regeneration (that is to be washed by the blood of Christ).
Because of the nature of verse 2, I am inclined to think that this is what Peter meant primarily but not exclusively.
“You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” 1 Corinthians 6:11
Christians are washed from their sins with the blood of Christ, by the Spirit of God.
In that moment, their sins are washed away, and they are set apart as belonging completely and totally to God.
This is the first sanctification spoken of in Scripture. It is positional. It is where the Christian stands. He stands as belonging to and set apart for God.
But as before, I am also convinced that the other type of sanctification spoken of in Scripture is true too for Peter, and it holds as an additional foundation for the obedience of which Peter speaks and of which I am trying to prove is the reason for the suffering of the saints.
In this sanctification, the Spirit works in the Christian to put the disobedient flesh to death and to bring about obedience.
This is called progressive because this sanctification takes time. It spans the life of the believer.
“But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brother beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14
I think that in these verses, Paul is thanking God for the believers at Thessalonica because God chose them to be saved through sanctification by the Spirit to obtain the glory of Christ. This obtaining is something that happens in the future. It is the glorification spoken of in Romans 8:30. The sanctification is the means by which this obtaining will happen. It is like a tunnel through which the believer must go before he will be saved at the end.
“Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 5:23.
Again, Paul speaks of the time in the future when God’s people will be saved. He prays that God will sanctify them completely. Now does he mean that he hopes that all their sins will be washed away before Jesus comes back, that hopefully God will not accidentally forget to wash a sin or two with the blood of Christ?
I really don’t think so. That is not the nature or context of Paul’s prayer. He prays that they will be blameless on that last day. Though be knows God will do it, he prays (to encourage the believers at Thessalonica) that God will continue what he started and completely sanctify His people.
Paul wants God to continue to work in them in order to bring about those fruits he mentioned in the previous verses (1 Thessalonians 5:12-22), so they may be “…blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul clearly wants God to make them ready for a time in the future when Christ comes back.
It is also noteworthy that one of the reasons Paul wrote to the church at Thessalonica is that some were trying to confuse them about the second coming of Christ. Paul clearly is keeping the future in mind.
I also think Peter is keeping the future in mind in this passage. Look at verse 5:
“[Believers] by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
Thusly, both positional and progressive sanctification are in Peter’s mind here, but by virtue of the blood of Christ mentioned in verse 2 (which provides the third point), I think he wanted to emphasize the saint’s positional sanctification.
As I have proved, I hope, the elect, exiled in the dispersion around the world, will bring about “obedience to Jesus Christ” because of three main foundations:
1.) God the Father’s foreknowledge
2.) God the Spirit’s sanctification
3.) God the Son’s obedience (the blood shed on the cross used to sanctify the believer).
Then, note the very end of verse 2.
“May grace and peace be multiplied to you.”
Peter wants to bless the suffering saints by showing them the grace of God and the peace that surpasses all understanding. Here is how he shows it, and in this way we see how this relates to Easter Sunday:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!”
He declares a state of blessing in which God resides. God is “makarios.” He is “divinely happy.” That is what ”blessed” means in the Greek. Peter declares God’s perfectly happy fellowship with himself for his own great work. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!” “He is perfectly happy with himself,” and here is why he says that about God.
“According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,”
Do you see the demonstration of God’s perfect happiness with himself?
There can be no resurrection like the one spoken of at the end of this verse if Jesus Christ did not die.
So we see that the death of Christ on the cross threads this passage like a precious string keeping it all together.
Peter is saying this: “Blessed be God the Father! He sent his Son to die! His Son shed the very blood that washes the sins of his people! He also raised his Son from the dead!”
And here is where the grace is:
Those two mighty acts of God, the sending of his Son to die and the resurrection of the Son sandwich something that should encourage the suffering saints and give them peace.
“…he has caused us to be born again to a living hope…”
Do you see the finely cut and succulent meat that resides between those two perfectly placed pieces of bread?
The Son dies and is resurrected from the dead.
Because of this, sinners are born again or born from above by the Spirit (John 3:1-8), and therefore, they have hope. And it is not just any hope: It is a living hope. It survives. It endures. It lasts.
The death and resurrection of Christ is the only hope of saints who will suffer for being obedient to their Lord.
So do you see my point?
After all of this, we see lastly and resolutely that obedience for the glory of God is the lasting fruit of a life reborn by the work of Christ because they have a hope to endure the suffering of obedience.
This opens so many doors for you, Christian.
It means that you have been set free from sin and death to a living hope which enables you to do radical things for Christ, things that will turn the world upside down.
To be obedient to another will means to die to your own. And if we die to ourselves like he did, even to the point of a literal death, then what a promise thereafter! We shall also share in his resurrection.
“For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” Romans 6:6
So be obedient and live a sanctified (set apart) life for God.
“[Now] that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:22-23
You are not your own. You are sanctified, you are washed, you are bought, and you are His.
I promise you this: God takes better care of his things than you do.
So in light of that, even death itself acts as a grace opening the door to paradise. In light of that, what have you to worry about? Death is the worst they can do.
“Let goods and kindred go/this mortal life also/the body they may kill/God’s truth abideth still/His kingdom is forever.” –Martin Luther, A Mighty Fortress is Our God
Easter Sunday is a yearly reminder to go do something for the kingdom, lest the death and resurrection of Christ be a vanity in your life signifying nothing.
Like the saints of old (the ones in Hebrews 11 and the ones to whom Peter wrote), you are called to bear your cross just like Christ did on that Good Friday. His cross was obedience to His Father. So is yours.
Just be obedient and God will do the rest.
“And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you. Fear not, little flock, for it your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Luke 12:29-32
Working with you to do bold things for God’s kingdom because of our living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
Vince R.
Happy Easter!
All texts taken from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version 2005.
Did Jesus Really Preach in Hell between Good Friday and Easter Sunday? Here is why I don’t think so.
March 23, 2008
It is in the Apostle’s Creed.
“[He] was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead.”
We have heard it somewhere before, even if we didn’t know from where it came.
But is it in the Bible?
I have had my doubts for some time. A pastor/friend of mine once brought it to my attention. That day, when he explained why he didn’t believe Jesus descended into hell, I didn’t quite understand his explanation. But since that day, I have pondered if the Bible even says that it is true.
As I looked at the common verse used to support it (1 Peter 3:19), I tried to look at in the context Peter wrote it. Exegetically, there doesn’t seem to be biblical support for it. I still don’t see it in that text, but I do see how one may come to that conclusion, especially with the Apostle’s creed buzzing in the back of their mind.
I pondered attacking that verse to help you see why I have my doubts about the biblical foundation of this assertion, but, instead, I have decided to let John Piper tell you through his blog. He says it very well. Read it several times if necessary. Try to understand what he is saying, and then decide if you agree or not.
http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1139_did_jesus_spend_saturday_in_hell/
I think, most of all, that this suggests and exhorts me to consider the Bible as the only source of all doctrine. I greatly respect many of the ancient creeds. But I think when we have a conviction, we should know why we have it. That is a bold statement…I know.
It is very hard to live by that policy, especially in an unbelieving world controlled by material-based minds. I do not profess to be able to answer beautifully and infallibly for all of my convictions. I am still a young man, and a relatively young Christian (about six years). But I am convicted of this:
About two thousand years ago, Jesus Christ lay dead in the grave today. Tomorrow, two thousand years ago, he rose again. That is my living hope. (1 Peter 1:3) The Spirit will communicate that truth to your heart better than I ever can. (1 Corinthians 1:17-18)
So here is that truth presented in Scripture.
“‘Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.’ And they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.” Luke 24:5-8 ESV
Whatever your take on this finer point of doctrine, remember this first and above all else:
“He was dead, but now He Lives!”
Rejoice with me brothers.
Working with you to remember the power of the resurrection from the dead,
Vince R.
We must never forget that the cross means death. In the day of Christ, no one would dare wear one around their neck. It was a curse.
“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us-for it is written-’Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree” Galatians 3:13
Any man carrying one was stricken and forsaken. He was a man of sorrows. Death was his destination. Of hope there was none.
Not only that. It meant that creatures despised the creator. It meant children spat in thier father’s face. It meant mere men and women rebelled against a Holy God.
“The cross symbolizes how depraved you really are,” preached Paul Washer. I do believe he is right.
Because of our depravity, an innocent lamb bled and died.
This is not to be taken lightly.
Don’t think lightly of a man whose beard was plucked, whose skin was torn, whose body was broken, whose brow bled from thorns firmly implanted, whose eyes and face wreaked of his blood and the spit of his mockers, whose arms held abroad suffocated him as he hung there for hours, whose overwhelming fatigue throbbed every muscle in his body, whose footsteps left pulpy and bloody prints from his massive blood loss.
He drug a tree up the side of a mountain, his hands and side were pierced with sharp metal. Not only that, people mocked him as he hung there in unspeakable pain.
“You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” Matthew 27:40
And then, like an innocent man of God, possibly gurgling the words because of the blood in his mouth, he screams in agony,
“‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ that is ‘My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?’” Matthew 27:46
Then, with the last moments of his life closing, he says
“‘I thirst.” John 19:28
Like true revilers and wicked men, they give him sour wine, probably old and unfit for consumption.
And then after he recieved it, he declares finally and definitively,
“‘It is finished!’
…and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” John 19:30
He died.
It was a day of sorrow not because he died, but because he died for the sins of others.
My black sins killed the only begotten Son.
God’s wrath burned against an innocent lamb, when it should have overwhelmed me like a small ant at the base of a broken dam.
My blood should have splattered on the ends of the Father’s white robes as he crushed me under his perfect feet, laughing in derision as I cried out to him in mercy.
That is the image of wrath satisifed.
But, Praise the Lord, so is the death of Christ Jesus.
“God shows his love for us in that while were still sinners, Christ died for us. ” Romans 5:8
We throw that verse around too often, and it makes me sad when we do. I want us to treasure it like a pearl of great price. It is the foundation of the kingdom of God.
Christ and his finished work is the anthem of God’s people forever more. It is all we will be singing in heaven, for all eternity, never growing tired of the words, but hanging with joy on every word.
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to recieve power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing…To Him that sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!…Amen!” Revelation 5:12-14
But until you see how black your sins are, you won’t understand the joy and sorrow of God’s Son slain.
You won’t weep with an overwhelming experience of emotions and tenderness at the thought of a crucified Messiah.
You won’t smile as tears go down your face, feeling sorrow and joy in your heart because you won’t see how wretched you are and how gracious God is.
I urge you, therefore, to experience the ultimate and surpassing value of Christ and Him crucified this Good Friday. It is all our hope.
Working with you to treasure the death of Christ with tears and joy,
Vince R.
“It is an amazing thing what happens to a life that is utterly devoted to an objective reality outside itself. Periodically the experience is enjoyed of total self-forgetfulness in the wonder of that Other Reality.
One does not know one is having such an experience until afterward, because that’s what it is by definition—unself-conscious. These are the healthiest times. And those who enjoy them most are the healthiest people—when that Other Reality is the God of the Bible.” – John Piper
It is in the moments that I forget Vince Robles and become totally enamored, enchanted, and entranced by the God who is that I find I am the happiest and most joyful. I find myself overwhelmed by the burdens of this world many times. I am so tired, and my feelings go every which way. Yet God still is, and in that, I must take joy. Why?
God is self-existent. He was not created, nor was he brought about by any thing outside himself. He just is…
“The human mind, being created, has an understandable uneasiness about the Uncreated. We do not find it comfortable to allow for the presence of One who is wholly outside of the circle of our familiar knowledge. We tend to be disquieted by the thought of One who does not account to us for His being, who is responsible to no one, who is self-existent, self-dependent and self-sufficient” (Tozer, 26).
Thus explains A.W. Tozer in his beloved book The Knowledge of the Holy. One cannot fathom a God who just is. It simply blows our finite mind into all manners of wicked and self-exalting unbelief. To rest in the objective reality is to be humble before it. Resting signifies a moment of self-forgetfulness. It means we let go our fighting, our efforts, and our exertions of will. It requires humility.
“To admit that there is One who lies beyond us, who exists outside of all our categories, who will not be dismissed with a name, who will not appear before the bar of our reason, nor submit to our curious inquiries: this requires a great deal of humilty, more than most of us possess, so we save face by thinking God down to our level, or at least down to where we can manage Him. Yet how He eludes us! For He is everywhere while He is nowhere, for “where” has to do with matter and space, and God is independent of both. He is unaffected by time or motion, is wholly self-dependent and owes nothing to the worlds His hands have made” (Tozer, 26-27).
Just as Tozer predicts, many will ask the question, “What bearing does this have on my life?”or “What possible meaning can the self-existence of God have for me and others like me in a world such as this and in times such as these?” (27).
“Everything!” I will interject. It means precisely your very existence and being. He is therefore, you may be. Even the very structure of that sentence admits it. You are dependent on He who is independent.
”Some knowledge of what kind of God it is that operates the universe is indispensable to a sound philosophy of life and a sane outlook on the world scene…We can never know who or what we are till we know at least something of what God is. For this reason the self-existence of God is not a wisp of dry doctrine, academic and remote, it is in fact as near as our breath and as practical as the latest surgical technique” (27-28).
And so, I argue, that the very truth that we bear the imago Dei, the image of God, should humble us to the most creatureness of creatureness. We are totally created and not self-existing. We OWE praise to the creator. Not because He needs it, not because He cannot be without it, but because we are created creatures, made and exalted by the sole good pleasure of his soveriegn and imcomprehensible plan to bear his image and to propogate his glory and promote his name.
He is the creator. As Isaac Watts once wrote, “Let the whole race of creatures bow/And pay their praise to thee.” He chooses the verb pay, and it is a most biblical choice.
As the creation, we owe praise like a debt. But oh, those moments when it is not so obligatory! What joy resides in our hearts, when our desire, not just our duty, is to exalt the God of all creation!
So how can you promote such desires in your heart? It begins with a right understanding of his self-existing supremecy. Let us note a powerful passage of scripture:
“For by him were all things created, that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible, and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him; and he is before all things, by him all things consist.” Colossians 1:16-17
As my pastor says often, “The word ‘A double l’ is a real neat word in the Greek. It means ‘all.’” And that is precisely the key word of Paul’s statment. Notice the supremacy of Christ in this passage:
1.) He created all things
a. Things in heaven
b. Things on earth
c. Invisible things
d. Visible things
e. Thrones
d. Dominions
f. Rulers
g. Authorities
Now, notice the reason He did this at the end of verse 16:
2.) He created all things for himself.
Everything was created for his own purpose. Not OURS. That is where you will find your joy. Settle it in your heart even now.
Now, notice his rule over all things in verse 17.
3.) He is before it ever was.
4.) He upholds it; it only cosists because of Him.
The supremecy of God over all, will give you joy. If you believe these things or simply acknowledge them to be true, and yet live as though they are not. You are a hypocrite. “Woe unto you…” as Jesus said of the Pharisees.
Not living as though it is true includes worrying, envying, idolating, lusting, coveting, raging, or boasting. Such things indicate that you really believe that all things were made by you and for you. What blasphemy and unholiness!
But…
When you humble yourself before this truth of God’s supremecy, you will have joy unspeakable and full of glory. It will carry you through the times when all around you soul gives way. It means life and that more abundantly. If you find yourself falling to sin, you need not blame God for your circumstances. You are at fault for not believing his revealed word.
In this wicked unbelief, man proceeds to exalt himself against his proper role of dependence and proceeds to be independent. Thus he enters depression, despondency, envy, anger, sexual immorality, pride and arrogance. These attributes do not become kingdom people.
Kingdom people recognize it is not their kingdom for which they labor.
At these blunt exhortation I urge you to be pierced by the Word with humility. Its searing blade will cotarize your self-inflicted wounds. Though it hurts, joy will come in the morning.
Thus,
Self-forgetfullness is what we need. Stand in awe of the God who is…supreme over all, soveriegn over all, ruler over all, creator of all, decreer of all. He reigns…
“Oh, no single piece of our mental world is to be hermetically sealed off from the rest, and there is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry: Mine!” -Abraham Kuyper
Therefore, brother and sister, in light of this weighty truth, I urge you to forget yourself and to get lost in the glory of God almighty. Just as I began, so I finish with this excerpt from John Piper’s quotation:
“It is an amazing thing what happens to a life that is utterly devoted to an objective reality outside itself.”
What will happen with yours?
“When all around my soul gives way
He then is all my hope and stay.”
-Edward Mote The Solid Rock
Working with you to forget yourself and to remember Him in all things,
Vince R.
Works Cited
Tozer, Aiden Wilson. The Knowledge of the Holy. Harper, San Francisco: 1961.
Piper, John. Enjoy Something Bigger than Yourself. www.desiringgod.org/Blog/ Mar. 6, 2008.
Psalm 73
“Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped. For I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men. Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness, they have more than heart could wish. They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily. They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth. Therefore his people return hither: and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them. And they say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most High? Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world: they increase in riches. Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency. For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning. If I say, I will speak thus; behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children. When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me; Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end. Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors. As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image. Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reigns. So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee. Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand. Though shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever. For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee. But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works.”
In this passage of scripture, Asaph, the psalmist, affirms the goodness of God almighty. Yet before arriving at this mighty assertion, he goes through a fiery understanding. Allow me to do the same:
When I look around, my heart does fail. There is no hope for people around me, but Jesus Christ and him crucified. Wayland perishes in unbelief. It doesn’t matter that it remains a Christian institution. It is a sort of rabinical school bereft of the one true God.
Oh, of course, the efforts of Christians on this campus are great. The labors of fellow workers hint at the hope of Christ and show His love abounding. I am grateful, wholly greatful, for the labors of the BSM, the FCA, the religion department. But as always, I wonder….Why has God not taken over this campus?
In addition, does it not make logical sense that institutions such as Wayland and Hardin-Simmons, do not overtake this portion of Texas at least?!!
Where is God’s awakening in the east? Southwestern, Truett, Baylor, etc, etc, etc. And do you think I think only Baptists are in the kingdom? God forbid! I failed to mention Lubbock Christian and Abeline Christian of the Chruch of Christ, McMurray of the Methodists, Texas Christian of the Disciples of Christ. Where are my brethren of the PCA, my brethren of the Nazarene etc., etc., etc. Seminaries and Christian undergraduate programs abound, but not revival. Where is God’s mighty hand upon this state?!!!
And tragically, we speak only of Texas. Wheaton, Liberty, Golden Gate, Southern, Southeastern, New Orleans, Denver, Calvin, Kuyper, Missouri Baptist, etc. etc. etc.
Think then of Harvard, Yale, Columbia, William and Mary, and Princeton. They were all founded on the firm conviction of propagating the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Eighty-eight of the first one hundred colleges that started in this country were founded as institutions for the spreading of God’s gospel and the training of God’s people to spread it.
Timothy Dewhite, the president of Yale advised the Class of 1814: “Christ is the only true, the living way, of access to God. Give up yourselves to Him with a cordial confidence, and the great work of life is done.”
In 1646, Harvard had a set of rules by which its students must conduct themselves:
1.) Everyone shall consider the main end of his life and studies to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life.
2.) Seeking the Lord gives wisdom; everyone shall seriously by prayer in secret seek wisdom from Him.
3.) Everyone shall so excercise themselves in reading the scripture twice a day, that they may be ready to give an account of their proficiency therein, both in theoretical observation of language and logical and practical and spiritual truth.
Princeton in its early days insisted that the faculty “be convinced of the necessity of religious experience for salvation.” John Witherspoon, the first president of Princeton said this, “cursed be all learning that is contrary to the cross of Christ; cursed be all learning that is not coincident with the cross of Christ; cursed be all learning that is not subservient to the cross of Christ.”
Now imagine these schools today. William and Mary has recently had its cross removed. It was offensive. Such is the cross, I say. Yet in all these things, has God slumbered? Where is He in this country?
What is to become of a country with no god? What is to become of a country who forsakes the one true God? Death, Destruction, Degradation, Desolation, and lastly, Damnation.
”Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.” Proverbs 14:34
This sort of cogitation clouded the mind of Asaph, the psalmist. Yet look at his first verse, and in it, we find the importance of faith and the pivotal truth of the knowledge of God.
”Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.”
This simple resolution came when he realized this: God is good. God is good to his covenant people. I don’t know who are members of God’s covenant people in this country. On this campus, it’s like finding silver needles in a pile of steele ones. But even that fails to communicate the difficulty. At least those can be tested. No, I do not know the hearts of men. God does, and therein lies my point.
Look at the second part of the verse: “…even such as are of a clean heart.”
God knows the hearts of men. There is nothing hidden before his eyes. The cleansed (notice the active verb) hearts of God’s covenant people (passively received), is contingent for God’s favored goodness. He himself makes the covenant, he himself cleanses the hearts of the covenant people, he himself seals the covenant, he himself keeps the covenant.
“Truly God is good to Israel…”
Then notice the temptation to forget the truth, to lower the concept which we hold of God.
Verses 2-3 communicate Asaph’s doubt. “But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps has well nigh slipped.”
Why is that Asaph?
“For I was envious at the foolish…”
Why is that Asaph?
“…when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.”
Yes, that is exactly what happens to me all the time. “If you can’t beat ’em. Join ’em.” Unholy!
God’s people do not speak that way, period. God IS.
“We may absolutely say, by God’s grace, I am what I am…but God says absolutely, I AM that I AM.” -Matthew Henry
The “God who is there” as Schaeffer put it is still there “where all the nations dead,” as Watts put it.
God IS…
That statement calms God’s people. That statement comforts God’s people. That statement keeps God’s people.
Asaph discovered one way with which to fill the blank. God is good. And what’s more, Asaph saw the grace. “God is good to Israel.” We get to enjoy that goodness….forever.
In verses 4-9, Asaph cogitates the wickedness of the people. Just as I have only lightly done myself in the introduction, we approach another tragic fact. In 1973, Roe v. Wade was decided. That was 35 years ago. What ever child was murdered in that year, could have been running for president this year. My heart hurts because God’s people still applaud and resign, falling like Asaph almost did in verses 2-3. Oh the tragedy of pragmetism over truth. 40 million unborn killed since that year.
“They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom the LORD commanded them: But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works. And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them. Yea, they sacrificed their sons and daughters unto devils, And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their dauthers, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood. Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions. Therefore was the wrath of the LORD kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance. And he gave them into the hand of the heathen; and they that hated them ruled over them. The enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand. Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity.” Psalm 106:34-43
In like manner the psalmist behind Psalm 106 laments the sins of Israel, mingling with the very ones from whom they were delivered. They are like the downcast baby brought up in beauty by the Lord’s precious covenant, yet they went back trusting in their own beauty and commited adultry with the Amorites and Hittes of the land of Canaan. Ezekiel 16.
Yet look here.
“NEVERTHELESS, he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry: And he remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies.” Psalm 106:44-45
That Psalmist remembers God as well. God acted according to his character, “the multitude of his mercies.”
Yes, Asaph’s attitude brought him into doubt. Look at verse 11-14. He wonders if God truly knows. “…is there knowledge in the most High?” What blaspehmous doubt and unbelief!
“Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me. Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.” Isaiah 46:9-10
Do you doubt your God? Do you claim to crawl upon his throne, stick your wormy finger in his face, and say what have you done? Unholy…
“And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?” Daniel 4:35
Why does evil and wickedness abound in our country? It is our fault. God is still good. He does whatever he pleases. Psalm 115:3 Surely, it does not happen apart from his will.
“Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?” Amos 3:6
God is good, and God does good. It’s our fault when wickedness reigns. We are the cause of evil. God has simply permited it and willed to be, in his good pleasure.
We have not “cleansed our heart in vain” as Asaph once thought. God is still sovereign over all. All…
He comes to himself in verse 15 and 16 when he imagines the horror and ungodliness of blaming God almighty, and speaking of his salvation as vain. “If I say, I will speak thus; behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children. When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me;”
But what helped Asaph come to the conclusion of verse 1?
Look at verses 17-20.
First, The realization of Justified Judgment.
Realize first the importance of fellowship with God. He goes first into the sanctuary of God in verse 17.
“Until, I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I there end.”
He realizes God’s justice when he enters into closer fellowship with God almighty. God is just. Upon meditation in God’s presence, “then understood I there end.”
In verse 18, he understands God’s sovereign judgment in actively placing them in slippery places where their doom is sure.
In verse 19, he understands God’s swift judgment when he actively brings them into desolation “in a moment!”
In verse 20, he understands God’s sure judgement when he promises he will have judgment, when he “awaketh.”
Second, The realization of Foolish Failing.
In verses 21-22, Asaph understand the foolishness and stupidity of doubting the most high.
“Thus my heart was greived, and I was pricked in my reigns. So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee.”
Yes, a heart greived because of foolish forgetfulness of God’s faithfulness. Beastly iniquities because of idiotic ignorance of God’s Infinite attributes. “To Thee there’s nothing old appears/Great God there’s nothing new,” writes Watts. Amen…
Third, The realization of Sweet Security.
In verses 23-26, Asaph tells of God’s sweet eternal preservation of his people. Look at the ”Nevertheless” that brings glory to my soul,
“Nevertheless, I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and aftward receive me to glory.”
Yes, despite the doubting, God still IS….amen.
I am continually with him…that is an ongoing action that does not cease!!
What’s more, he holds my hand. Praise his Personality!
What’s more, he guides me with his perfect counsel. Praise his Perfection!
What’s more, he will (that’s an eternal promise) receive me to glory. Praise his Preservation!
Then, the cogitation of things eternal in verse 25.
“Whom have I in heaven but thee?” Exactly! Does heaven without God sound glorious to you? God forbid!
He IS….have not I made that clear? Heaven is where God is.
“And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.” Revelation 21:2-3
Yes, God is heaven.
“…and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.”
Yes, God…be my one desire upon the earth, not my members, not my king, not my army, not my chariots, but God…be my desire. You alone have made the earth. If you were hungry, you would not tell me, for the earth is yours and the fulness thereof. You, who keep your people, shall neither slumber nor sleep. Amen.
In verse 26, we see the security of the cleansed heart as promised in verse 1.
“My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.”
Flesh and hearts will deceive and fail, but the question is: Who resides therein? God IS….the strength. God IS….the portion…forever.
“Look unto me, all ye ends of the earth, and be ye saved, for I am God, and there is none else.” Isaiah 45:22
As the preacher preached to Charles Spurgeon the day he was saved, so I preach to you…”look” simply means to look, to behold something. “Unto me” means simply this. Look to God, don’t look to yourself. All the ends of the earth means everybody, and thus we may be saved from our iniquity and inquity of the wicked about us. God is God, and there is none else.
Lastly, the realization of Differing Destinies.
Verses 26-27 simply describe two different destinies. Notice the first,
“For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: thou has destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee.”
Notice their proximity to God, himself. “Far from [him]“
They whore around committing adultrey against God like the young woman of Ezekiel 16. What is their destiny? They will perish. They will be destroyed.
Then the main and most important exhortation of this Psalm is found in the good destiny.
“But…” Note the opposing conjunction.
“But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all thy works.”
Notice the proximity to God himself. “Near”
What does that create? Knowledge of Him.
What does that create? Trust in Him. “I have put my trust in the Lord GOD”
What does that create? Obedience to Him. “that I may declare all thy works.”
Yes, the logic is amazing. The meditation is complete. Know your God and take comfort in the knowledge thereof.
He is Good. That’s the Attribute.
He is Good to His people. That’s the Grace.
What can you add to your life by worrying about this country? Nothing.
Know him, trust him, obey him.
Working with you to draw near to God for the glory of His name and for revival in this country,
Vince R.
