The Discouraged Christian

I know several people who have been discouraged and frustrated in their Christian walk. I have even felt that way myself at times. Maybe you’re there right now…with no desire for God, or His Word, no desire to go to church or be around other Christians…maybe even no desire to live. From experience, I can tell you, the only place to go if you are in this place is to the Word of God and the God of the Word.

Read from Hebrews 11 (the great chapter on faith). If you look closely at the end of this chapter, you will see all types of things that the Jewish people suffered for their God. These things include, but aren’t limited to: mockings, scourgings, chains, imprisonments, stonings, being sawn in two, temptations, death by the sword, and homelessness.

Then the writer of Hebrews moves on in chapter 12 to show us that because of them, and their walk, and their testimony – we should be encouraged. I am certain that that is the context of this 12th chapter – to give us discouraged Christians hope that, as those who went before endured, so may we! Let’s look at what it says…

1 since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Heb 12:1-2 (NASB77)

Being an English major, I can see all types of imagery in this text. First we are to “lay aside every encumbrance.” The word “encumbrance” carries the connotation of a bulging or bending load that we are supposed to put down, or cast aside. Second we are to lay aside “the sin which so easily entangles us.” The word “entangles” reveals that sin is means of the evil one to catch us, confuse us, and complicate our walk with Christ. And then we are to “run with endurance the race….” The word “endurance” in the Greek implies hopeful cheerfulness, patience, or constancy.

The imagery then is centered around a runner in a race; he casts off things that weigh him down, he does not get entwined and entrapped by evil and sinful things, and he runs with hope, patience, and constancy. This all is done by focusing on Jesus (see Heb. 12:2). Look at the Christ!

There are 3 things about Him that we should know, in order to walk with victory instead of discouragement: 1.Who is He – “the author and perfecter of our faith.” He began our walk, and He’ll see it through. 2.What He Did – “enduring the cross.” He suffered much more than we ever will. 3.Where He is now – “sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” The fact that Christ is at God’s right hand, and is seated reveals His power as the Son of God. You cannot be a discouraged Christian for very long, once you follow the instructions of Hebrews 12!

Share the Gospel! Rely on God! Follow the Godly!

8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or of me His prisoner; but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, 9 who has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, 10 but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, 11 for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher. 12 For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day. 2 Tim 1:8-12 (NASB77)

So in this passage we see three commands to a believer today that Paul also commanded Timothy:

1. Be proud of the Gospel – vs. 8a, 12a “So don’t be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord,” and “and that is why I suffer these things. But I am not ashamed…”

2. Rely on the power of God – vs. 9-10, 12b. I think everything in vs. 9-10 is Paul showing the great power that our God has…(look at the phrases and wording used): He saved us, He called us, according to His own purpose and grace, before time began, Jesus abolished death, brought life and immortality to light through the gospel…all of these phrases show the mighty power of God. We are to rely on that power just like Paul who said in vs. 12b “because I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to guard what has been entrusted to me until that day.”

3. Pattern yourself after the godly – vs. 11 & 13. The apostle urges Timothy in vs. 13 to “hold on to the pattern of sound teaching that you have heard from me…” We as believers should follow the example of Paul! Vs. 11, Paul is a herald, an apostle, and a teacher. Although you are not apostles, you are called to herald the gospel…scream it out…and teach it.

Priority, Passion, & Praise

Have you fallen deeply & madly in love with the Savior? Does His name alone bring joy to your heart? Are you eager to meet with Him in the morning, and quick to speak His name as you fall to sleep? Are you excited to praise Him and do you long for others to praise Him as well? Have you fallen in love with Jesus? Is He the only one that your heart knows can satisfy? Do you love Him? If you don’t experience some of these feelings towards the Risen Savior, then I urge you to fall in love! Seek after Him, fall on your knees before Him, call on Him, pursue Him…for this is the only relationship that truly matters!

When we fall in love with someone, there are certain things that we do:

We give them PRIORITY over others
We have more PASSION for them than for any other
We honor them with PRAISE before others

Do you possess these traits of love for the Savior? If you are in Christ, then you have been enabled with the love of God through His Spirit. "We love because He first loved us." So if you love Him, if you've fallen in love with Him, then there must be evidence of it - in Priority, Passion, & Praise.

Stephen the Martyr

Stephen is a model of what a Christian is. Look at some verses from Acts written concerning him...

6:5 – “And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit…”

6:8 – “And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people.”

6:10 – “And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke.”

6:15 – “And all who sat in the council, looking steadfastly at him, saw his face as the face of an angel.”

7:55 – “But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, ‘Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’”

7:59-60 – “And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ Then he knelt down and cried with a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not charge them with this sin.’ And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Why was Stephen such an encouragement to others? Why is he revered today among Christians? Is it because of who he was as a man? No! It is because of who his God is! It is because he was continually being filled by the Holy Spirit to accomplish tasks he otherwise as a fallen human could not accomplish.

Stephen walked with God
Stephen knew the Word of God
Stephen displayed the wonders of God

Annoyed, Angry, and Full of Anxiety

Philippians 4:4-6 says, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Have you ever felt annoyed, angry, or full of anxiety? I know that at times I have felt all of these emotions strongly. Sometimes they are overwhelming. It doesn’t take much for the flesh to get riled up. That’s why, when I read the above verse, I get really convicted.

Did you know that the Apostle Paul was in jail when he wrote these words? I can’t imagine sitting in a modern day jail cell, writing something like that. And even more, Paul was most likely in a crude, disease and rodent infested Roman jail cell. And yet he did not write, “I am a Roman citizen myself and I am annoyed with this situation.” He could have written about his anger and frustration, and about his rights being infringed upon. Or he could have whined and said, “I am so worried about this! Why has God left me in this jail!?”

But you won’t find that mentality from the Apostle Paul. How humbling. I get annoyed, get angry, and worry over the most stupid things. I would be embarrassed to meet Paul, or much more, my Lord Jesus. They might say, “O you of little faith! Look at all you have – the car you drive, the roof over your head, the protection from your government, your money, your food, your church where you worship without persecution. You are blessed and yet you still complain.”

God forgive us! I’m so tired of American Christianity and it’s encouragement of the annoyed, angry, and anxiety filled Christian. I hunger to know Christ as the Apostle Paul did! For when we truly walk with Christ and know Him, we will more and more learn to respond to our difficulties as Paul did – with rejoicing in the Lord, with being gentle to all men, and being anxious about nothing.

Passion Week: Resurrection Sunday

The redemptive work of Jesus culminated in His ressurection from the dead. If Jesus had died and stayed in the grave, then He would have been just like any other man. But praise be to God, for He is risen!

I remember growing up, we used to say to one another in church, "He is risen!" and the other person would respond, "He is risen indeed!" I like these statements, because they carry within them an excitement over Christ's triumph over death and the grave. Because of His triumph, we also may share in the victory over death. This is seen in Paul's writings in First Corinthians 15:20-22, "But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, in Christ all shall be made alive."

We see two things from these verses: 1)in Adam we die, yet through Christ 2)we are made alive. This is cause to celebrate! Where Adam gave us sickness, sorrow, and death, Christ offers joy eternal, vitality, and abundant life in living and in dying. Think about the so called great men who are still in their tombs - Buddha, Muhammad, and Joseph Smith. They can do nothing for us - for they have not defeated anything.

But then there is the Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, the God-Man...

Up from the grave He arose, with a mighty triumph over His foes, He arose a Victor from the dark domain and He lives forever with His saints to reign. He arose! He arose! Hallelujah Christ arose!!!

Passion Week: Good Friday

I bet that the world wonders why we call this day Good Friday, when it is the day of the death of our Lord. Maybe this verse will help those who wonder about such things...

"Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, 'cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree')." Galatians 3:13 What an awseome verse that sums up what happened on the Friday that Jesus died for us on the cross! Within it, we see two actions of God - one is an action that deals with us and the second is an action that deals with the person of God.

First we see that Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law. The word redemption in the Greek referred to the purchase of a slave's freedom. Thus we may literally think of the work of Christ on the cross as His purchasing our freedom. This implies that we were enslaved to sin, and works of inquity. But Christ's work redeemed us (freed us, released us) from the curse of enslavement and sin. Hallelujah!

The second thing we see is that Christ became a curse for us. I know that I have read over this part of the verse quickly and have not stopped to think about its implications. Christ (fully God and fully Man, the One who holds together this world and the universe, the great I AM of the Old Testament, the One who is and was, and is to come) became a curse for me! He took all the wrath and the punishment for that which belonged to the ones who had broken the law(us). Praise be to God!

Redemption is the theme of the entire Bible. This one verse describes the love of God towards us. I can never get enough of thinking about Christ's redeeming work on the cross, the mystery of it all, and the wonderful and awesome God Who did it. I want to encourage you friend, if the theme of redemption doesn't warm your heart, you should seek the Lord. Ask Him to reveal the wonder of it.

So yes, to those who wonder, this Friday is good. Good indeed! Redeemed how I love to proclaim it! Redeemed by the blood of the lamb! Redeemed thro' His infinite mercy; His child and forever, I am.

Passion Week: Maundy Thursday

The effects of the Reformation are still evident within Protestant circles today, in that we no longer emphasize Holy Week (as the Catholic church does). The Reformation taught us to focus more upon the Resurrection of Christ. I am thankful for the focus upon the Resurrection! However, it is good to look at the days prior to it, and to celebrate both the suffering and the resurrecting power of God.

Maundy Thursday derives its name from the latin phrase “mandatum novum do vobis,” which is a quote from John 13:34, “a new command I give to you.” And that command, we know, was that we love one another as Christ loved us. So this day is a celebration of the new command of Christ, and of His body being broken and poured out for us.

On that Thursday before the crucifixion, Jesus gave the disciples a church ordinance – the Lord’s supper. He had washed their feet, and then He had broken bread with them. Take time to read in the Gospels today concerning the Lord’s supper. If Jesus said to love others as He loved us, it is necessary to assess whether or not we are truly obeying His command. He loved us by laying down His life – would you or I do that for another?

I wonder sometimes if we’d even give our shirt, our money, our cars, or our food to others. We aren’t willing to die for others if we aren’t even actively pursuing the lost, the poor, the tired, and the hungry. Oh, how convicting this is to me. And yet, when we are found lacking, God is found with an abundance. The love of God is truly amazing, that He would send His Son to teach us, to love us, and to ultimately die for us. I like how Charles Wesley wrote to this in 1738…

And can it be that I should gain an interest in the Savior's blood! Died he for me? who caused his pain! For me? who him to death pursued? Amazing love! How can it be that thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

Let us all think today upon Christ’s magnificent love, and how we in turn are supposed to love others in that way. Once you do this, you are accurately celebrating Maundy Thursday.

Attribute: Moral Purity

I covered a few of God's attributes already: eternality, immutability, and independence. I'd like to put a focus on His moral qualities as well. These are communicable attributes (those which He communicates to us). I am using Introducing Christian Doctrine by Millard J. Erickson for this information. I recommend it for an easier read than Grudem's Systematic Theology.

Within the communicable attributes, there is one that is awesome and one we should seek to understand, and that is God's moral purity. An understanding of the moral purity of God will help us in our own walk as we (through the Spirit) pattern our life after God. Erickson defines moral purity in stating that it is "God's absolute freedom from anything wicked or evil. His moral purity includes the dimensions of 1)holiness, 2)righteousness, and 3)justice."

Let's take this time to focus on the first one: holiness. Holiness means that God is unique, and totally separate from all of creation. He is totally other than us. One wonderful Scripture that helps to expand on holiness is found in Isaiah 6:1-4. Once the prophet Isaiah saw the Lord in His infinite holiness, he was totally devastated about himself. He cried out, "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips." Isaiah, when confronted with the 100% moral purity of God, was utterly convicted. (For a deeper study of Isaiah's confrontation w/holiness, look at The Holiness of God by R.C. Sproul.)

This poses many questions for my walk when I think about Isaiah's experience. 1)Have I encountered the holiness of God in such a way that I am utterly devastated by my own sinfulness? 2)Do I seek to pattern my life after God, and specifically after Jesus and the Bible? 3)Am I more interested in the ungodly, unholy things of the world or the things that push me to pursue holiness in my personal life?

The Lord gave us a command that I think many times, we read over, but don't follow through with, and that is, "Be holy as I am holy." Well believer - are you?

The Gospel of Judas?

In light of recent events, it would be good to take a brief look at the Bible, and how the books within it became a part of the Canon. First, the Canon is defined by Grudem as “the list of books that belong in the Bible.” While the media and historians are boasting about the discovery of the gospel of Judas, I want to encourage you about the full Counsel of God that we already have.

As Christians, we believe in the faithfulness of God. Therefore, we must know that the Lord has been faithful in the assimilation and preservation of the Holy Bible. This thought can be found in Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology, which states, “We know that God loves His people, and it is supremely important that God’s people have His own words, for they are our life (Matthew 4:4)….We also know that God our Father is in control of all history, and He is not the kind of Father who will trick us or fail to be faithful to us or keep from us something we absolutely need.”

On the basis of the faithfulness of God, we can know without a doubt that the gospel of Judas is irrelevant to matters of Christian faith and doctrine, and is a means of the enemy to cast doubt. I encourage you with Grudem’s words, “The canon of Scripture today is exactly what God wanted it to be, and it will stay that way until Christ returns.”

If you desire to know more about the process of the canonization of Scripture, buy a copy of Systematic Theology for yourself. Hopefully this blog will encourage you and maybe you can share it with others who are not so sure about the Bible, and the gospel of Judas.

Passion Week: Palm Sunday

I wanted to take a few days this week and focus on the passion of our Lord. And by passion - I mean "suffering." The week before Jesus was crucified on the cross, several events took place which are happenings that we should ponder and mediate upon during the Easter season.

The first event that a born-again follower of Christ should meditate upon is Palm Sunday. I can remember growing up in the Episcopal church, and Palm Sunday was a big day. Each member, upon entering the church pinned a cross on his person, which was made out of dried palm leaves. There was also much pomp and celebration which enabled the members to in a sort, reenact the day of Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Every year, I remember those services with reflection and how they impressed on my heart the importance of Jesus' final week here on earth.

Notice from the gospel of Matthew two things about this day in the life of our Lord. First, His entry. In Matthew 21:5 it says, "Behold, your king is coming to you, gentle, and mounted on a donkey." His very public appearance was filled with symbols of mercy and compassion. He was not coming as some had expected, as a warrior type of Messiah. He was offering hope and grace to those who would receive.

The second thing about this day was His exaltation. The people shouted out phrases such as "Hosanna in the highest," and "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord." Hosanna in Hebrew literally means, "Save us!" They were seeking a physical, political salvation on earth. But Jesus offers much more - spiritual salvation of the soul. While the people did not really know what they were doing, they were a part of the fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9.

It is a good time to fall in love with your Lord again or for the first time. He is still offering mercy, compassion, and grace. He did come to save - and you can cry out to Him, Hosanna! Meditate on Him and His passion on this Palm Sunday.

Eternality

God is not only independent and immutable. He is eternal as well. Wayne Grudem has defined God’s eternality by stating, “God has no beginning, end, or succession of moments in His own being, and He sees all time equally vividly, yet God sees events in time and acts in time.” Talk about a mind boggler! Take the time to read over that definition again. In a world where everything has a beginning and ending, this proclamation about God throws me for a loop!

This is supported by Psalm 90:2, which says, “…from everlasting to everlasting you are God.” And while this thought is hard for our minds to grasp, it is also a thought that echoes praise in the heart of the believer. It gives us a small dose of the awesomeness and power and greatness of our God. This is revealed in what Grudem says, “God always existed, without beginning, and without being influenced by time. And time, therefore, does not have existence in itself, but, like the rest of creation, depends on God’s eternal being and power to keep it existing.” Does your head hurt yet?

Sometimes, I begin to feel as if I am serving a clock. Do you? I wake up to the clock screaming at me, I go to bed by the clock. I arrive and leave work by the clock. I eat by the clock. Time is what fills by day. But God is not bound to time as we are. He ascends time; He is not limited by it as we are. Yet He reaches into our world and works and moves in time. Grudem wrote it this way, “God can act in time because He is Lord of time. He uses it to display His glory.”

God uses time everyday…to show us His love, compassion, patience, mercy, justice, and wrath. Believer, ponder today God’s eternality!

Immutability

One of the attributes of God is immutability (unchangeableness). Grudem defined it in this way, “God is unchanging in His being, perfections, purposes, and promises, yet God does act and feel emotions, and He acts and feels differently in response to different situations.” While humans constantly grow and change in their character and personalities, God does not. This is evident in James 1:17, where it speaks about God by saying, “…with Whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”

In regards to the definition provided by Grudem, we see that God is also unchanging in His purposes and His promises. The Father has eternal purposes that He has determined, and these will never be changed. He also has made promises – of which He will never go back on. We, on the other hand, purpose and plan, and promise many things to ourselves and others. Yet our plans fail, and at times our promises are broken. This is not true with God. Isaiah spoke to this in chapter 46 verses 9-11, “My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose…I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.”

Relaying the person of God through His attributes is difficult, because our human minds are limited. Ultimately, we can never fully understand the God of the universe. Thus, in reading the Scriptures it appears that at times God changes His mind. Such Scriptures would include Jonah and his preaching to the people of Ninevah (Jonah 3:10), and other examples such as Genesis 6:6, Exodus 32:9-14, and 1 Samuel 15:10. Grudem stated in his definition that God “acts and feels differently in response to different situations.” He also stated, “God’s previous action led to events that, in the short term, caused Him sorrow, but that nonetheless in the long term would ultimately achieve His good purposes.”

This can be convoluted and difficult to explain. I think John Piper explained it well in stating, “God's responses are not like man's. They are never based on ignorance of what you and I will do. He foresees our changes and knows the perfect response to each change, and plans to respond according to his own perfect wisdom and righteousness and goodness and power to maintain his plan and purpose in the world. This is not the way humans respond. "God is not man that he should lie or change his mind" (1 Samuel 15:29). In other words, God's variations, as we experience them, are part of a unified and unchanging plan to accomplish his great purposes in the world.”

An application from this would be to rejoice in God! He is perfect, infinite, all knowing, and is in control of all things. We live in a world that is full of change – minute by minute. If you are in Christ, you can be confident in our unchanging God, like David who said, “I love you, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge.” Psalm 18:1-2

Independence

From the moment we are born until the day we die, we are dependent beings. We depend upon our parents to feed us, clothe us, and raise us. Then when we are senior citizens, we depend upon our children to take care of various needs. In between, during the teenage and young adult years, independence is what we struggle to gain. But that is one thing that we never truly receive – total independence.

God, on the other hand, achieves total independence. Wayne Grudem defines it in this way, “God does not need us or the rest of creation for anything, yet we and the rest of creation can glorify Him and bring Him joy.” While everything we do on earth pulls us toward another person, or another person toward us, God exists and is because of who He is. “God exists by virtue of his very nature…He was never created and never came into being. He always was.”

He does not rely upon what we do, say, think, or feel. To put it bluntly, God does not need us. This seems like a harsh statement. It may even hurt our feelings a little bit. Yet the Scriptures reveal that it is true. The Apostle Paul promoted this idea with his words to the lost men of Athens in Acts 17:24-25, when he said, “The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things.”

And while you may feel hurt friend, there is an awesome balance to the independence of our great God. While He does not need us to exist, He still has created us, and chosen to love us. Grudem said, “God has created us and He has determined that we would be meaningful to Him.” What greater joy can there be for the human race, than to know that we have been created so that we might experience the love of God and Christ?

The Attributes of God

In walking with Christ, one should seek to know God more and more each day. One way to do this would be to study the atttributes of God. I have listed under my recommended reading list a book by Wayne Grudem called Systematic Theology. I think it would be beneficial for you to purchase this book because it teaches good doctrine. The study of doctrine is not limited to pastors, ministers, and seminary students. Rather, we all should seek to have an understanding of God through the study of His Word, and the study of doctrine.

I am going to do a study on here each day concerning the attributes of God. Most of the material will be taken from Grudem's book. I hope you enjoy, and become more thirsty to know God!

Grudem divides the attributes of God into two categories: incommunicable and communicable. Tomorrow the study will begin with the incommunicable attributes, which refer to "those attributes that God does not share or 'communicate' to others." Take time to meditate on this verse today as we prepare to know God in a deeper way:

Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth; for in these things I delight, says the LORD. Jeremiah 9:23-24