Are You Really Saved? Which Jesus Do You Know?

Not every one who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of heaven; but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Matthew 7:21

As a Pastor, it has been my lot to surface this verse and to deal with it with God's people. And unless it be misunderstood, I have applied it's terrifying impact upon myself as well! What a shocker it would be if I were to have professed to have been a Christian "all my life," gone through school and thereupon to have entered ministry for years only to discover at the judgment that Matthew 7:21 applied to ME!! 

You may say to me, "Oh, but you haven't seriously applied it to yourself have you? Surely, after all these years of serving God, you would know by now that you are saved!" That's a valid question certainly. But if I understand the tenor of this verse, I MUST consider it carefully especially in light of the proofs that are cited immediately after it, that is, "prophecying" (preaching), "casting out demons" and doing "many mighty works" and all "in Jesus' name"!! See what I mean? These are not slight spiritual acts. Now, let me answer the concern with an affirmation. I do believe that my salvation is secure. But I also believe that it is important to take such verses seriously . . . quite seriously! How else can we treat such things?

So, having given this background, let us hear from A. W. Tozer, who reveals how vague mankind has been with regard to Jesus' person. We best not fall into this pattern. Building on the same verse, Tozer writes:

We can only conclude that Jesus is universally popular today because He is universally misunderstood.

Everyone admires Jesus, but almost no one takes Him seriously. He is considered a kindly idealist who loved babies and underprivileged persons. He is pictured as a gentle dreamer who was naïve enough to believe in human goodness and brave enough to die for His belief. The world thinks of Him as meek, selfless and loving, and values Him because He was what we all are at heart, or would be if things were not so tough and we had more time to cultivate our virtues. Or He is a sweet, holy symbol of something too fine, too beautiful, to be real, but something which we would not lose nevertheless from our treasure house of precious things.

Because the human mind has two compartments, the practical and the ideal, people are able to live comfortably with their dreamy, romantic conception of Jesus while paying no attention whatsoever to His words. It is this neat division between the fanciful and the real that enables countless thousands of persons to say “Lord, Lord” in all sincerity while living every moment in flat defiance of His authority.

Tozer on the Almighty God : A 366-day devotional. 2004. Camp Hill, PA: WingSpread.

May the Lord stir up his people to a healthy and thorough self-examination!

A Post Long Overdue! Christ Precious . . . But Who Really Says So?!

Believer, I ask for your attention. 

In my years of Christian experience, such sentiments for our Lord Jesus as you will read here are almost non-existent! I don't believe that I am exaggerating. Please, take time to read the following slowly. I'm right there with you. One convicting thought to me is this: "Would it seem at all strange if I wrote this?" Much could be said about this subject, but I would simply submit that the brand of Christianity to which most of us have been subjected neither encourages nor (unfortunately) ALLOWS for such expressions of love to Christ! Those who DO feel the following in their hearts may have a very difficult time accepting what I confess here--it seems to them so apparent. But those who DON'T identify with Kempis, may just pass it off as just so much emotionalism or a relic of the past. I hope not! But I fear that it is so. Brothers and sisters, these things ought not so to be! 

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING WITH PRAYER AND CARE. It is after all our Savior about whom we are talking. Perhaps after we have eaten at such a rich table for a season we will be able with absolute freedom to write similarly of our Lord. I pray so!


GOD IS SWEET ABOVE ALL THINGS AND IN ALL THINGS TO THOSE WHO LOVE HIM

BEHOLD, my God and my all! What more do I wish for; what greater happiness can I desire? O sweet and delicious word! But sweet only to him who loves it, and not to the world or the things that are in the world.
 
My God and my all! These words are enough for him who understands, and for him who loves it is a joy to repeat them often. For when You are present, all things are delightful; when You are absent, all things become loathsome. It is You Who give a heart tranquility, great peace and festive joy. It is You Who make us think well of all things, and praise You in all things. Without You nothing can give pleasure for very long, for if it is to be pleasing and tasteful, Your grace and the seasoning of Your wisdom must be in it. What is there that can displease him whose happiness is in You? And, on the contrary, what can satisfy him whose delight is not in You?
 
The wise men of the world, the men who lust for the flesh, are wanting in Your wisdom, because in the world is found the utmost vanity, and in the flesh is death. But they who follow You by disdaining worldly things and mortifying the flesh are known to be truly wise, for they are transported from vanity to truth, from flesh to spirit. By such as these God is relished, and whatever good is found in creatures they turn to praise of the Creator. But great—yes, very great, indeed—is the difference between delight in the Creator and in the creature, in eternity and in time, in Light uncreated and in the light that is reflected.
 
O Light eternal, surpassing all created brightness, flash forth the lightning from above and enlighten the inmost recesses of my heart. Cleanse, cheer, enlighten, and vivify my spirit with all its powers, that it may cleave to You in ecstasies of joy. Oh, when will that happy and wished-for hour come, that You may fill me with Your presence and become all in all to me? So long as this is not given me, my joy will not be complete.
 
The old man, alas, yet lives within me. He has not yet been entirely crucified; he is not yet entirely dead. He still lusts strongly against the spirit, and he will not leave the kingdom of my soul in peace. But You, Who can command the power of the sea and calm the tumult of its waves, arise and help me. Scatter the nations that delight in war; crush them in Your sight. Show forth I beg, Your wonderful works and let Your right hand be glorified, because for me there is no other hope or refuge except in You, O Lord, my God.


Thomas à Kempis. (1996). The Imitation of Christ (169–170). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems.

The Message of the Bible in 221 Words (DGM)

Borrowed from Desiring God Ministries. If you're looking for a concise description of the Gospel, you may appreciate this.

D. A. Carson:

God is the sovereign, transcendent and personal God who has made the universe, including us, his image-bearers. Our misery lies in our rebellion, our alienation from God, which, despite his forbearance, attracts his implacable wrath.

But God, precisely because love is of the very essence of his character, takes the initiative and prepared for the coming of his own Son by raising up a people who, by covenantal stipulations, temple worship, systems of sacrifice and of priesthood, by kings and by prophets, are taught something of what God is planning and what he expects.

In the fullness of time his Son comes and takes on human nature. He comes not, in the first instance, to judge but to save: he dies the death of his people, rises from the grave and, in returning to his heavenly Father, bequeaths the Holy Spirit as the down payment and guarantee of the ultimate gift he has secured for them—an eternity of bliss in the presence of God himself, in a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.

The only alternative is to be shut out from the presence of this God forever, in the torments of hell. What men and women must do, before it is too late, is repent and trust Christ; the alternative is to disobey the gospel (Romans 10:16;2 Thessalonians 1:8; 1 Peter 4:17).

For Such a Time as This: Perspectives on Evangelicalism, Past, Present and Future, ed. Steve Brady and Harold Rowdon (London, UK: Evangelical Alliance, 1986), 80.

Posted originally on DGM by Josh Etter | Jun 23, 2012

Charles Spurgeon's Last Sermon & My Debt of Gratitude

Thanks to LOGOStalk, I re-post the following. But first let me ask your indulgence for doing so. I realize anyone can RE-post something. But I select the ones I do . . . obviously . . . for their import. I owe Spurgeon (i.e., Spurgeon's GOD) a debt of gratitude too heavy to pay. From my freshman year of college till now, I have read his sermons, his autobiography, and numerous other of his writings. I feel that I know the man. I've appreciated his humor, his candor and his boldness in the face of opposition. I even own an actual sheet of one of his sermons that he corrected before it went to the publisher! So, I send this forth with no small amount of thanksgiving. Please, if you haven't yet, find and read Spurgeon. Perhaps the best place to start is with his Morning and Evening Devotions. That will hopefully whet your appetite for more. God bless us as we hear CHS and fall more in love with his Christ.


On June 7, 1891, Charles Spurgeon stood before the congregation gathered at London’s Metropolitan Tabernacle and began his Sunday message with these words: “Those who associate themselves with a leader must share his fortunes . . .”

Spurgeon’s brilliant message equated the spoils shared by David’s men with the spoils we share through our affiliation with Christ. But to those associated with the Metropolitan Tabernacle, this message would go on to hold special significance. Unbeknownst to anyone one at the time, this would be Spurgeon’s last sermon.

Spurgeon preached his first sermon in December 1853 to London’s largest Baptist congregation at New Park Street. It wasn’t too long before his powerful messages caused the church to outgrow its 1,200-seat auditorium. The church moved a couple times before the 1861 dedication of the current Metropolitan Tabernacle at the intersection of Elephant & Castle. Spurgeon  spoke to 6,000 attendees every Sunday for 30 years, preaching to more than 10,000,000 in his lifetime.

It’s hard for modern readers to grasp how popular and controversial Spurgeon’s preaching was for nineteenth-century listeners, many of whom wrote Spurgeon off as overly dramatic and sacrilegious. Spurgeon never feared causing contention when he felt the topic deserved it. In a sermon titled “Baptismal Regeneration” (June 5, 1861), he challenged the validity of child baptism. This sermon sold more than 350,000 copies and created such a public uproar that Spurgeon withdrew from the ecumenical Evangelical Alliance.

The “Prince of Preachers” struggled with illness for most of 1891. Some time after preaching his last sermon, he went to the French Riviera to rest and recover, but he died the following January. More than 60,000 people attended his funeral on February 9, 1892.

Spurgeon’s last sermon, delivered 121 years ago today, ended with these words:

“Those who have no master are slaves to themselves. Depend upon it, you will either serve Satan or Christ, either self or the Saviour. You will find sin, self, Satan, and the world to be hard masters; but if you wear the livery of Christ, you will find him so meek and lowly of heart that you will find rest unto your souls. He is the most magnanimous of captains.

“There never was his like among the choicest of princes. He is always to be found in the thickest part of the battle. When the wind blows cold he always takes the bleak side of the hill. The heaviest end of the cross lies ever on his shoulders. If he bids us carry a burden, he carries it also. If there is anything that is gracious, generous, kind, and tender, yea lavish and superabundant in love, you always find it in him. These 40 years and more have I served him, blessed be his name! and I have had nothing but love from him. I would be glad to continue yet another 40 years in the same dear service here below if so it pleased him. His service is life, peace, joy. Oh, that you would enter on it at once! God help you to enlist under the banner of Jesus even this day! Amen.”

Star Trek's "Data" on Glorifying God . . .

Lt. Commander Data

I have always enjoyed Star Trek, especially Star Trek-The Next Generation made popular in the late 80's and early 90's.  One of the notable characters on this series is Lt Commander Data, an Android, an artificial mechanical, robot-like individual who is constantly studying the "human equation" hoping--Wizard of Oz like--to become more human himself. In one episode, Data encounters Dr. Graves, reputed to be the most intelligent scientist known. The two form a close relationship especially since one of Dr. Graves' specialties is cybernetics of which Data is a fine example. Graves was trying to explain to Data the term "delight." Data proceeded (per the norm) to give a dictionary definition. It was accurate . . . as definitions go. But Graves pointed out that giving a definition, knowing what it means is not the same as experiencing it. I thought, "Oh, how close you are in this dialogue to describing one of the greatest besetting problems that has ever faced mankind and which has not escaped the Church.

Too many within the boundaries of the Church who call themselves believers will have to admit to about as much understanding of God's glory as Data did of the term "delight." They may be able to give a paper definition, but they fail to testify to its experience. This is very sad indeed. I feel at times the pang of such a weakness in my own heart as well. I know that as a Pastor, it is easy for me to teach & preach regarding this issue, even with passion, and still not feel it myself. Let me cite a verse:

Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)

There is a great difference between desire and desire defined. There is also a world of difference between the dictionary meaning of "delight" and the act of delighting. Thanks to Star Trek Next Generation this lesson was reinforced to me. For a number of years both Jonathan Edwards and later John Piper have pressed this upon our consciences. Basically, they have taught that it is one thing to talk of glorifying God, quite another to DO it. Further, it is one thing to glorify God, but it is still much better if we delight in glorifying God!

To draw this home, perhaps our greatest need in the church is to get our idea of God right. In short, our God is too small, too weak. A. W. Tozer throughout his ministry gave much energy to this topic. Hear him write regarding the Christian's belief in a weakened God: 

The God of the modern evangelical rarely astonishes anybody. He manages to stay pretty much within the constitution. Never breaks over our bylaws. He’s a very well-behaved God and very denominational and very much one of us, and we ask Him to help us when we’re in trouble and look to Him to watch over us when we’re asleep. (Tozer on Christian leadership: A 366-day devotional).

Now, that's the weakness. Hear from Tozer again on developing a right relationship with God:

When we come into this sweet relationship, we are beginning to learn astonished reverence, breathless adoration, awesome fascination, lofty admiration of the attributes of God and something of the breathless silence that we know when God is near. 

You may never have realized it before, but all of those elements in our perception and consciousness of the divine Presence add up to what the Bible calls “the fear of God.”… 

There are very few unqualified things in our lives, but I believe that the reverential fear of God mixed with love and fascination and astonishment and admiration and devotion is the most enjoyable state and the most purifying emotion the human soul can know. (Christian Leadership)

Breathless adoration! Awesome fascination! Now we're getting somewhere. Star Trek was clearly a God-denying show, but Graves got this much right about Data, and by extension, about us as well. It's one thing to be told to delight in God, quite another to experience it. May God grant us a revival of interest in our intimate union with the God of glory and thus having this, we must, yes, we will delight in Him!

10 Dynamic Warren Wiersbe Quotations

I love a good quotation. When in college and seminary, my profs encouraged us to keep illustrations in files (the old fashioned paper ones). I did that. But now with my Logos Bible software, I can find all kinds of illustrations! The following, in fact, came from their own blog post (HERE). His was a household name growing up. I include Logos' brief bio of Wiersbe on the chance that you may not have heard of him.  Blessings . . .

 

Warren Wiersbe

Born May 16, 1929, beloved author, pastor, and preacher Dr. Warren Wiersbe is best known for the Old Testament “Be” Series and New Testament “Be” Series of expositional Bible studies, which have sold more than four million copies. But not many know that Wiersbe’s first foray into publishing had more to do with his love of magic tricks than with his spiritual pursuits.

As a teenager, Wiersbe wrote a book and sent his manuscript to the L. L. Ireland Magic Company. In 1944 they published his For Magicians Only: Action with Cards. This early success fed Wiersbe’s desire to write. 68 years later, he has written more than 150 books.

Here are 10 inspiring Wiersbe quotes:

1. “The Christian life is not a playground; it is a battleground, and we must be on our guard at all times.”—from The Bumps Are What You Climb On

2. “This modern emphasis only on personal salvation makes us lose sight of the grandeur and glory of God’s church. I am not minimizing our personal experience with Christ, but I am affirming that it is not the primary goal that God has in mind. He is building His church. He is building up the Body of Christ. The glory and greatness of our personal salvation is but a reflection of what God is doing corporately in and through His church.”—from Prayer: Basic Training

3. “You don’t have to read very far in your Bible to discover that God forgives His servants and restores them to ministry.”—from Be Amazed

4. “The immediate purpose of prayer is the accomplishing of God’s will on earth; the ultimate purpose of prayer is the eternal glory of God.”—from On Earth as It Is in Heaven: How the Lord’s Prayer Teaches Us to Pray More Effectively

5. “For the most part, the people we serve in our congregations don’t look like Josephs, Esthers, or Davids, nor do we; but the same God who glorified himself in the lives of ‘ordinary people’ in ancient days will glorify himself in our lives today if we will trust him.”—from 10 Power Principles for Christian Service

6. “God’s people don’t live on explanations; they live on promises.”—from Be Heroic

7. “We may be statistics and numbers as far as the world’s computers are concerned, but we are precious individuals as far as our Shepherd is concerned. He knows his sheep personally.”—from Be What You Are

8. “Satan wants us to think that our ‘disobedience detours’ must become the permanent road for the rest of our lives, but this is a lie.”—from Be Obedient

9. “The most important meeting we as leaders attend is that daily personal meeting with the Lord, before the day begins, when worship and meditation increase our faith as we receive the orders for the day.”—from On Being a Leader for God

10. “If you serve only to earn a salary, you will never do your best as long as you think you’re underpaid. If you minister to get recognition, you will start doing less when people don’t show their appreciation. The only motivation that will take you through the storms and keep you on the job is, ‘I’m serving Jesus Christ.’ “—from On Being a Servant of God

The Most Important Concern Ever!

DON'T SKIP THIS! . . . PLEASE. 

In a day when we talk all around a subject and can probe Google ad nauseum, we need someone to force us into the central, the most important, the sine qua non of the Christian life. There are times that I utter, "Stop the world I want to get off!!" Do you ever feel that way? Meditate instead on love to Jesus Christ? If you have this, you'll have all else. Without this, having all else, you will lack everything. No exaggeration!! Did I say, DON'T SKIP THIS? . . .

WHEN Jesus is near, all is well and nothing seems difficult. When He is absent, all is hard. When Jesus does not speak within, all other comfort is empty, but if He says only a word, it brings great consolation.

Did not Mary rise at once from her weeping when Martha said to her: “The Master is come, and calleth for thee”? [John 11:28]  Happy is the hour when Jesus calls one from tears to joy of spirit.

How dry and hard you are without Jesus! How foolish and vain if you desire anything but Him! Is it not a greater loss than losing the whole world? For what, without Jesus, can the world give you? Life without Him is a relentless hell, but living with Him is a sweet paradise. If Jesus be with you, no enemy can harm you.

He who finds Jesus finds a rare treasure, indeed, a good above every good, whereas he who loses Him loses more than the whole world. The man who lives without Jesus is the poorest of the poor, whereas no one is so rich as the man who lives in His grace.

It is a great art to know how to converse with Jesus, and great wisdom to know how to keep Him. Be humble and peaceful, and Jesus will be with you. Be devout and calm, and He will remain with you. You may quickly drive Him away and lose His grace, if you turn back to the outside world. And, if you drive Him away and lose Him, to whom will you go and whom will you then seek as a friend? You cannot live well without a friend, and if Jesus be not your friend above all else, you will be very sad and desolate. Thus, you are acting foolishly if you trust or rejoice in any other. Choose the opposition of the whole world rather than offend Jesus. Of all those who are dear to you, let Him be your special love. Let all things be loved for the sake of Jesus, but Jesus for His own sake.

Thomas à Kempis. (1996). The imitation of Christ (76). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems.

To this I would add Jesus' comment to the religious of his day . . .

“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; [and one may find eternal life there, if . . .] and it is they that bear witness about me, [what you should be looking for] yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.” [the crux of the matter, always!] (John 5:39–40). Really. How many who call themselves "Christian" today come to Jesus? Or are we expert (at best) in knowing things pertaining to him? I do not exclude myself from this questioning; not at all! In fact, I relish the reminder for therein lies the greatest joy, and I frankly don't want to miss it!