When you put your hand into a bunch of goo that a moment before was your best friend's face, you'll know what to do.

"Likewise, the church in our day is to be holy. The church is not a voluntary association to be governed as its members see fit, but a dwelling place of God. It ought to be structured according the orders of its commander, the Lord Jesus Christ. Our families and our homes are to reflect the spiritual purity, beauty, and orderliness that was temporarily pictured through the tabernacle and is now supremely set forth in Jesus Christ Himself."
~Vern Poythress, The Shadow of Christ in the Law of Moses

But, Vern ... and I hope it's okay to call you "Vern" ... methinks a big problem in the churches in the US of A is that they are seen as and operate as "a voluntary association to be governed as its members see fit."

Consequently, their families don't "reflect the spiritual purity, beauty, and orderliness" they ought. It may or may not be a uniquely American problem, but "We the people" is great for ordering a nation, but for a church it must be "You, the Lord, Jesus."

But we think you're crazy to make us write this essay telling you who we think we are.

A.W. Tozer's Rules for Self Discovery:

1. What we want most
2. What we think about most
3. How we use our money
4. What we do with our leisure time
5. The company we enjoy
6. Whom and what we admire
7. What we laugh at

To make it an even 10, to those I would add the following:

1. What makes us cry
2. What we fear
3. What we pray about
   

You oughta have more respect, mister. If you say stuff like that to him again ... I'm gonna lay you out.

The following are some quotes and points made from Sunday's sermon at Providence Church on Matthew 6:9b, part of the Sermon on the Mount series.

"hallowed be your name"(ESV)

Click to listen:


“God has often forgiven sinners, but He never forgives sin; and the sinner is only forgiven on the ground of Another having borne his punishment.”
- Arthur W. Pink, Attributes of God, 46

“All contempt for his glory is duly punished, either on the cross, where the wrath of God is propitiated for those who believe, or in hell, where the wrath of God is poured out on those who don’t.”
- John Piper, Desiring God, 296, n.7

“God’s holiness is manifested at the cross. Wondrously and yet most solemnly does the atonement display God’s infinite holiness and abhorrence of sin. How hateful sin must be to God for Him to punish it to its utmost deserts when it was imputed to His Son!”
- Arthur W. Pink, Attributes of God, 46

HOW IS GOD’S NAME HALLOWED?

A. When sinners repent of their sins and honor the Holy One with their faith and obedience.

B. When God’s people respond rightly to Him.

1. in Worship – Responding to who He REALLY is, ascribing worth to Him (worship = Worthship). We must never forget worship is about God, not us.

2. in Prayer – We must balance “Our Father” with “Hallowed by Thy Name” - We could use a little less “What I’d really like dad is to borrow the car keys. See you later, can I have them please?”

3. in Evangelism – We’re telling everyone how special God is and what He’s graciously done for a rebellious world. It’s not that we’re so enamored with humanity, but we're consumed with extolling His greatness, regardless of whether seeds planted or watered bear fruit in our presence.

4. by Holy living ... and not our lips only.
Jesus in Matt 15:8-9 (quoting Is 29:13) ... “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”

Luther’s catechism:
Q: How is God’s name hallowed among us?
A: When both our doctrine and our life are truly Christian

“for God’s name to be hallowed means a burning desire that the whole world may bow before God in adoration, in reverence, in praise, in worship, in honour and in thanksgiving. Is that the thing that is always uppermost in our minds whenever we pray to God?”
- Martyn Lloyd-Jones

*See also "The Holiness of God and His People," which I presented at the 3rd Annual Fellowship of Reformed Churches’ conference: 'The Character of God in Everyday Life,' 11/2007, Fort Worth, TX.
Click to listen:

Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son.

I came across this question about a month ago:

"Which would you rather have in your church, legalists or alcoholics?"

For discussion purposes, I'm defining legalist in the following manner:

"A legalist [in the realm of the biblical Christian] is one who elevates human rules/laws to the point where they are equated to or trump God's laws, considering violation of those human precepts to be sinful when done by others."

In other words, it's calling something sin that the Bible does not, particularly in the lives of others. I have no problem, for example, with a person making a rule for himself/herself to help prevent sin, but it becomes legalism when others are held to that rule as well. For example, it may be wise to say, "To avoid being drunk, I will never drink."

That being said, we return to the original question:

"Which would you rather have in your church, legalists or alcoholics?"

There's no doubt in my mind. I would rather have alcoholics in my church and for the following reasons:

1. Alcoholics tend to know their struggles, knowing drunkeness to be sinful. Legalists not only don't see their legalism as sinful behavior, but they actually see it as righteous. They take pride in their ability to perform according to those human standards, creating a pride and arrogance that are hard to combat.
2. Alcoholics tend to know what it's like to struggle with sin and they are more compassionate and encouraging to others in the church who struggle with sin. The legalists tend to be the least compassionate and encouraging people you'll meet in church, loving you only when you're meeting their standards of behavior.

As you probably assume, I do not regard the consumption of alcohol as sinful in and of itself, whether it be in a cough medicine, vinegar, or beverage alcohol. However, I am convinced the Bible condemns drunkenness.

When you are a man, sometimes you wear stretchy pants in your room, just for fun.

Who is the man in Romans 7:14-25?

Is it a non-Christian? Is it an immature Christian? Is it a mature Christian?

Cogitate about that some and share your thoughts in the comments section.

Paul writes in the first person in the present tense, which plays a large role in my thinking that he's speaking of the normal Christian life, the Christian's ongoing struggle with indwelling sin.

(However, I've not always held that view, and at one time I adamantly held that Paul was speaking of the experience of the pre-conversion person. Perhaps I'll finally put together an argument for my view, but not today.)

Although not conclusive, it is encouraging to me that so many of my theological heroes* share the view that Paul is speaking of a converted person's struggles.

The following quote is from John Piper speaking about J.I. Packer on this topic. (I've not been able to track down Packer's original source, but will cite it when able.)

J. I. Packer wrote an article on this passage two years ago to defend the view that I am taking here. He said...

Paul is not telling us that the life of the "wretched man" is as bad as it could be, only that it is not as good as it should be, and that because the man delights in the law and longs to keep it perfectly his continued inability to do so troubles him acutely. . . . The "wretched man" is Paul himself, spontaneously voicing his distress at not being a better Christian than he is, and all we know of Paul personally fits in with this supposition.

So I think what Paul is saying is not that Christians live in continual defeat, but that no Christian lives in continual victory over sin. And in those moments and times when we fail to triumph over sin, Romans 7:14-25 is the normal way a healthy Christian should respond. (emphasis Gunny's)

*This is not an appeal to authority per se, but rather an appeasing confirmation for me personally. Though these lads may disagree on various other things, the following all agree that the man in Romans 7:14-25 is a converted individual:

• Matthew Bradley
• John Calvin
• Jonathan Edwards
• John D. Hannah
  
• Charles Hodge
• John F. MacArthur, Jr.
• John Murray
• John Owen
• J.I. Packer
• Arthur W. Pink
• John Piper
• J.C Ryle
  
• R.C. Sproul
• Charles Spurgeon

(There may be others, but I didn't want to speak of those where I was unsure.)

It ain't how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.

My sermon this morning at Providence Church was on Matthew 5:8.

Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they shall see God.



Click to listen to “Pursuing Purity.”


The following are some related quotes (some not in sermon) as well as my threefold application to HOW we are to be pursuing purity.

“Sin is the dare of God's justice, the rape of His mercy, the jeer of His patience, the slight of His power, and the contempt of His love.”
- John Bunyan

“There are only two kinds of religion in the world. One is the religion of human achievement, which comes under every name imaginable. It teaches that you can earn your way to heaven. The other is the religion of divine accomplishment, which affirms that God brings salvation through faith in Christ alone and that people can't make it to heaven on their own. The many forms of the religion of human achievement all serve to propagate Satan's lies.”
– John F. MacArthur, Jr.

“…the Christian faith is ultimately not only a matter of doctrine or understanding or of intellect, it is a condition of the heart.”
- Martyn Lloyd-Jones

“The heart is what you are, in the secrecy of your thought and feeling, when nobody knows but God. And what you are at the invisible root matters as much to God as what your are at the visible branch.”
- John Piper

“How many today rest satisfied with a head religion, supposing that all is well if their creed be sound; and how many more have nothing better than a hand religion—busily engaged in what they term ‘Christian service.’ ‘But the Lord looketh on the heart’ (1 Sam 16:7), which includes the mind, conscience, affections and will.”
- Arthur W. Pink

“Christian people can see God in a sense that nobody else can. The Christian can see God in nature, whereas the non-Christian cannot. The Christian sees God in the events of history. There is a vision possible to the eye of faith that no-one else has. But there is a seeing also in the sense of knowing Him, a sense of feeling He is near, and enjoying His presence. … Another way we see Him is in our own experience, in His gracious dealings with us. Do we not say we see the hand of our Lord upon us in this and that? That is part of the seeing of God.”
- Martyn Lloyd-Jones

“… one of the most conclusive evidences that we do possess a pure heart is to be conscious of and burdened with the impurity which still indwells us.”
- Arthur W. Pink

How are we to pursue purity?

1. Pursue purity by reading your Bible, to facilitate the renewing of our minds. (cf. John 17:17; Rom 12:2)
2. Pursue purity despite discouraging setbacks. (cf. James 3:2; 4:6-10; Phil 1:6; 2:13)
3. Pursue purity for God’s glory (i.e., not your own).

“So often when we sin we are more vexed at the lowering of our self-esteem than we are grieved at God's dishonor. We are irritated at our lack of self- control in subjecting ourselves to some unworthy habit. ... God does not honor these self-centered desires. This is one reason we do not experience more of his enabling power in our day-to-day struggles with so-called besetting sins. God does not give us power so that we can feel good about ourselves; he gives us his power so that we can obey him for his sake, for his glory.”
- Jerry Bridges, Pursuit of Godliness