An Email to my Fellow Evangelists

Greetings Brothers and Sisters,
 
I am grateful to God for each and every one of you.  It has been so amazing going out to Bardstown week after week and taking the gospel of Christ and Him crucified to people who, like us, so desperately need it!  It is so comforting walking down the street, looking for people to talk to, and seeing others in our group boldly proclaiming the gospel to those to whom it is foolishness.  It is even more comforting to be in such a conversation and see you guys walk by us, knowing that you are praying for God’s blessing on our conversations as you pass by.
 
While evangelism is not the most important part of our Christian lives, it should be very important nonetheless.  I hope and pray that you are all fighting sin and pursuing righteousness, knowing that sin never follows through on its empty promises.  Just as the serpent lied to Eve, telling her that she would not die and she would be “like God” if she ate of the forbidden fruit, he lies to us the same way.  As he tempts us with the various forbidden fruits of sin, he whispers in our ears that we will not die and that we should follow our own rules, rather than God’s- thereby tempting us with the promise to become “like God.”  Sin is never as good in the end as it looks in the beginning.  Sin is always deceptive.  Sin always looks sweet but tastes bitter, and is never ultimately satisfying.
 
Conversely, the fruit of righteousness is always sweet and satisfying.  Although it may sometimes appear bitter to bite the fruit of the kingdom of God and His righteousness, it is always sweeter than we could imagine.  The best way to satisfy all of our desires is the way that God commands us to.  He is God and we should obey Him even if this were not the case, but His law is delightful because both the pursuit of righteousness and the blessed pleasures at His right hand are the only real satisfaction and joy that this world has to offer.  Brothers and sisters, fight sin and pursue righteousness!
 
My desire is that we would not sin.  But, the reality is that we are sinners and we do sin.  In our war with sin and pursuit of righteousness, may we also be fervent in our repentance.  We have a great High Priest, who is able to acquit us of our faults, keep us from presumptuous sins, and both declare and make us blameless before God.  May we, like King David, cry out to the God of our righteousness when we stumble.  Christ, whose righteousness is available to all who believe in and submit to Him, is faithful to forgive us of our sins.  Our sins are as far from us as is the east from the west because Jesus paid our penalty and died in our stead.  What a glorious gospel, by which Christ takes His rebellious enemies and makes them His friends!
 
For, “surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried… He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening of our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed… the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him… by His knowledge the Righteous One, [God's] Servant, will justify the many, as He will bear their iniquities.”  -Isaiah 53:4,5,6, 11
 
But, as I’ve said, evangelism is important.  I wanted to send this email to encourage any who might be down on the Friday night evangelism in general, or specifically in their evangelistic abilities.  I have talked to a couple of guys who feel incompetent as evangelists.  I think that is great!  I think that if you feel competent (in yourself) as an evangelist, then you need to take a closer look.  The last things that we should put our trust in when we go out is ourselves and our own abilities.  Our desire is to see souls saved for the glory of God!  And we are utterly incompetent for that task.  We can make arguments and we can share things that are convincing or compelling for us, but we cannot bring about salvation. 
 
We utterly depend on the Word of God, His gospel, and His Spirit to do what we cannot do- draw those to Christ who cannot come on their own (John 6:44), give them life (John 5:21), and cause them to be born again (John 3:8).
 
I have been disappointed at times after our Friday night evangelism, as I think some of you have.  In the last couple of weeks I have been thinking about my own conversion, and it has been comforting.    In my own conversion, conversations with my brother played a huge part.  But, they did not have much of an effect while we were talking.  As we were talking, I was not heeding his words as much as I was defending my beliefs and defying his.  However, the effects of his efforts came about later, as I thought about the things he had said.  So, let us hope and pray that, even if we see no immediate results, the Lord will use our conversations to draw sinners to Himself. 
 
Also, I think that my expectations as we went out were too high, and I think I was putting too much of a burden on myself.  Let us take the burden from ourselves and cast it upon Christ.  He sustains all things by the power of His word, and we need Him to send His Spirit.  Let us trust in Him and be faithful to His word, which will not come back void, and to His gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes.
 
If you are leaving town for fall break as soon as you’re done with classes this week, I understand.  If not, for the joy before us, let us meet together at Dillard Chapel at 7:30 on Friday night for the blessed opportunity to be witnesses of Christ and Him crucified!
 
May the Lord bless and keep you,
David

Adulterous Wives

I was talking with someone who asked whether I believe that a murderer could be forgiven and attain heaven, while solely for not being a Christian Ghandi would go to hell.

The Lord blessed my mind at that moment and provided quite an analogy, I think. 

I asked the guy to think about this.  Imagine a husband and wife.  Imagine that this wife cheats on her husband.  Imagine that after her adultery she seeks to do everything within her power to make things right with her husband.  Any imaginable good that she could do, she does.  Would the husband be unjust if he were to refuse to reconcile with his adulterous wife, in spite of her mountainous efforts toward good works?

The reason that murderers, Ghandi, you, Muslims, Hindus, Mormons, Catholics, Protestants, black people, white people, Asian people, European people, African People, American people, and I all need Christ Jesus is because we are all the adulterous wife in that analogy.

We all stand guilty of spiritual adultery before God because we have both failed to do the good we should always do and done the bad that we should never do.  Therefore, a murderer who repents of his or her sins and believes in Jesus will have the atonement for sins, the satisfaction of the wrath of God, the reconciliation with God, and the adoption as a child of God that are only available in Christ Jesus.  On the other hand, if Ghandi did not repent of his sins and trust Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, then the wages for his sin is hell.

Therefore we, like the adulterous wife in the analogy, can do nothing on our own to attain forgiveness.  If she is to attain forgiveness it is only because of the amazing love of her husband.  So it is with us.

Our only hope is that the true God forgives us because of His amazing love.  We see such adultery-forgiving love portrayed by the prophet Hosea, who pictures the adultery-forgiving love of the true God.  My dear, adulteress friend, read the book of Hosea, and behold the amazing, adultery-forgiving love of the living God- which is only available in Christ Jesus!

“In Christ Alone”

“Come Ye Sinners”

“Hallelujah, What a Savior!”

Job and I

I mentioned in a recent post that I desired Job-like faith.  I still do.  But, for now at least, there is one Jobian response that I am exibiting.

After the Lord speaks to Job in chapters 38-39, chapter 40 begins with the Lord giving Job the floor:

“Then the Lord said to Job, ‘Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty? Let him who reproves God answer it.’” -Job 40:1-2

“Then Job answered the Lord and said, ‘Behold, I am insignificant; what can I reply to You? I lay my hand on my mouth.’” -Job 40:3-4

Before the Lord, I say with Job that I am insignificant and there is nothing that I can say before Him.  I lay my hand on my mouth. 

Oh, but how I need Him!  I, who stand condemned before His perfect law.  I, who have so many times forsaken Him, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out for myself broken, leaky cisterns.  I have turned my back on the living God, and the blessings forevermore that He promises are at His right hand.  I have sough to be self-sufficient.  I have sought to satisfy my thirst by running from a flowing fountain, and I have dug a hole in the ground.  All while failing to honor and thank the God who gives the rain that I still need if there is to be any water in my well.

He upholds my lungs and my heart, and causes them to breathe and beat by the word of His power, and yet I live as if He has no power.  He sits at the right hand of God in heaven, and I live as though He doesn’t see what I do.  I will stand before His judgment seat and behold His glory, and yet I live as if that moment has no impact on my daily life.

Oh God, be merciful to me, a sinner.  Send Your Spirit in power, because I am incompetent.  Change my wicked heart, which rejoices to pursue sin, but reluctantly pursues Your kingdom and Your righteousness.  Save me from myself, and keep me from the evil one. 

Thank You for Your mercy in sending Your Son, in whom, by whom, through whom, and for whom those who are His can rejoice at the words of the apostle Paul.  Those who are no less deserving of condemnation than anybody else can say with confidence,

“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” -Romans 8:1

“Evolution is Only an Unproven Theory”

From “Scripture” by Robert Saucy, p.177:

“Since evolution has never been demonstrated scientifically, there is no basis to charge the Bible with error in relation to creation.  Bible-believing scientists–and an increasing number of advocates of evolution–affirm that evolution is only an unproven theory.  Some years ago Gerald A. Kerkut, who is not a biblical creationist, wrote “Implications of Evolution” (Elmsford, N.Y.:Pergamon, 1960).  In it he set forth seven fundamental principles of the evolutionary theory.  None of these seven, according to Kerkut, has ever been proven.  More recently, with the increasing understanding of the amazing design of life forms and the finely calibrated interdependence of their parts, the validity of the concept of naturalistic evolution is even more questioned and its lack of factual support exposed.”

Statements Like These Cost Us Dearly.

May the following statement resound in your heart the way it did in mine:

“The church’s inability to shake off the great distortion of God contained in the theory of penal substitution, with its inbuilt belief in retribution and the redemptive power of violence, has cost us dearly.” -Steve Chalke

The only efforts to which the spread of penal substitution cost dearly are the efforts of Satan and his minions.  In a world where people are really dying and really going to a real place called hell, where they will pay the price of eternity in hell for the dual evil of forsaking God, the fountain of living water, and hewing out their own broken cisters that cannot hold water.

Their cisterns go by a number of names:  Allah, Joseph Smith, the pope, their own good works, that God is good and will forgive them if they ask, atheism, agnosticism.  Whatever they want to call them, they are broken cisterns, and they cannot even hold water.  And for the supreme arrogance and wickedness of forsaking God for the sake of these cisterns, people will spend an eternity in hell.

The only salvation is the salvation made possible by the true and living God through penal substitutionary atonement.  It is penal because Christ paid your penalty.  It is substitutionary because Christ died in the place of all who would believe in Him, repent of their sins, and persevere in faith until the end.  It is atonement because it is the only way that our sins against the living God can be forgiven.

God is loving and God is forgiving, but He will not leave the guilty unpunished!  He must punish guilt.  And we are all guilty.  We all are guilty and stand condemned before the perfect law of the Lord.  But God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son to be a penal substitutionary atonement, that whosoever believes in Him will have the answer to the paradox of how the forgiveness of sins and punishment of the guilty in Exodus 34:6-7 can both be true.

The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” -Exodus 34:6-7

God can forgive those who believe in Jesus and punish their guilt because all who have faith in Jesus are declared by God to be “in Christ Jesus.”  All who are “in Christ Jesus” will not be punished for their sins because Christ Jesus was already punished for their sins.  His last words from the cross, “It is Finished!,” are the last word on the sins of all who are “in Christ Jesus.”

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. -Romans 8:1

We all stand condemned before the law, but we who are “in Christ Jesus” stand free from condemnation because Christ Jesus became our penal substitutionary atonement.  May all efforts to thwart the spread of the Christian gospel, the Christian good news, which has penal substitutionary atonement at its very core, be thwarted themselves.  And may their origin be shown to be what they truly are- efforts from the very hand of Satan that he may have more souls burning with him in hell for eternity!

If you do not believe, believe right now!  You stand guilty before the perfect law of God.  People readily admit that all have sinned.  But, you will not go to hell for the sins of everybody else.  You will go to hell for your sins.  You have preferred sin to the living God and His Son Jesus Christ.  Because you have preferred sin, you have suppressed the truth.  God is not far from you, because it is by His power that you breathe, walk, eat, sleep, and live.  The heavens declare the work of His hands, but their declarations fall on deaf ears.  All other religions fail to provide atonement for sins.  Jesus Christ alone is the way to God, and no man gets to God but by Christ Jesus, because He alone was the penal substitutionary atonement for your sins and mine.

You will either pay for your sins with an eternity in hell, or you will trust that Jesus paid the penalty for your sins by being your substitute on the cross.  God promises not to leave the guilty unpunished.  We are all guilty.  Our guilt will be punished by our paying their penalty in hell, or they will be transferred to Christ and paid for in full by His death and His blood.  Repent and believe today!

One Little Sin?

The demon, the servant of the father of lies, whispers in your ear, “it’sss just one little sssin.”  He knows that something is before you that is tempting you to seek fulfillment of a God-given desire in an ungodly way.  “You’ve done ssso many good thingsss that it will be okay if you do one bad thing,” he hisses.  He is a liar. 

Let us look at two examples where “one little sin” had anything but little consequences.  In light of these “little sins” with enormous consequences, may we see 1) what we deserve for “one little sin” and 2) that no sin is little.  Then, let us look at sin compared with righteousness, so that we may see that one sin is not equal to one act of righteousness.

The two sins that I have in mind are the sin for which Lucifer was cast out of heaven and the sin for which Adam was cast out of the garden of Eden.  The consequence of these two “little” sins is that evil is in this world.  Whenever evil occurs in this world, one answer to the question “why?” is because Lucifer and Adam sinned.  Because they sinned, there is evil in this world.  Because they sinned, tsunamis and floods and tornadoes take lives.  Because they sinned, there are wars.  Because they sinned, there is death.  Because they sinned, there is hell.  Because they sinned, we all sin and stand condemned before a perfect God and His perfect law.

In Jeremiah 2:12-13, God spoke through His prophet concerning His people Israel:

“Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the LORD, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.”

I think that this is the essence of all sin, and God’s reaction to each sin.  I imagine that this was God’s reaction when Satan sinned and was cast out of heaven (Isaiah 14:1-23 and Ezekiel 28:1-19).  I imagine that the Lord called for the heavens to be appalled, shocked, and desolate, for Lucifer had committed two evils.  He forsook God, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out broken, leaky cisterns for himself, when he sought to raise his throne “above the stars of God” (Isaiah 14:13).  I imagine that this was God’s reaction when Adam ate of the forbidden fruit.  I imagine that the Lord called for the heavens to be appalled, shocked, and desolate, for Adam and his helpmate had committed two evils.  They forsook God, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out broken, leaky cisterns for themselves, when they broke the one law that God had given them in pursuit of the desire to “be like God” (Genesis 3:5).

I imagine that this is also God’s reaction when you and I sin.  When we buy the lie, as Adam and Eve did, that it is just “one little sin.”  That “one little sin” really is anything but little.  It is forsaking God, the fountain of living waters, and hewing out cisterns for ourselves that cannot even hold water.  It is saying, “no thanks, God, I don’t need your way.  My way is better.”  Or worse, it is invoking the forgiveness made possible by the incarnation, person, work, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as a license to sin. 

If one sin of Satan and one sin of Adam resulted in all the evil that has occurred since, why are we so foolish to think that God doesn’t mind when you and I commit “one little sin?”  That “one little sin” is enough to condemn our souls to hell for eternity, for that “one little sin” is rejecting the fountain of living waters in favor of broken, leaky cisterns. 

Atheists sometimes evoke the “Mother Theresa” argument, asking whether God would send Mother Theresa to hell if she didn’t believe in Jesus.  I would say yes to that question, without hesitation, because even Mother Theresa needs Jesus.  One thought, word, or deed against the living God is enough to condemn a soul to hell for eternity.  This is because the living God created us to know Him and enjoy Him, and because He is worthy of our praise in our every thought, word, and deed.  This explains why God sees sin as two evils.  Not only is sin putting our trust in something other than God, but it is also failing to trust and believe and praise the fountain of living waters, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God who raised Christ Jesus from the dead.

The reason that even Mother Theresa needs Jesus Christ is because of her sin.  No good deed, or mountain of good deeds, can fix the problem of our sin.  There are two reasons for this.  1) We cannot atone for our sins and 2) there is no good deed that could make up for the atrocity of fosaking the living God.  The blood and death of a spotless sacrifice are needed to atone for sins.  In the Old Testament, the faithful would sacrifice spotless animals to atone for their sins, while awaiting the coming of the Messiah who would atone for their sins for good.  That Messiah has come, and He atoned for the sins of whosoever believes in Him with His blood and His death on the cross.  Neither Mother Theresa, you, nor I can atone for sin.  Jesus Christ alone atoned for sin, and that is why we all need Jesus Christ.

Because of our sins, the atrocious forsaking of the living God for broken, leaky cisterns, we stand condemned before the perfect, living God and His perfect law.  We can neither atone for nor make up for our sins.  Only by believing in Jesus, repenting of our sins, and persevering in faith until the end, can we be freed from condemnation by being “in Christ Jesus.”  These thirteen glorious words free us from the guilt of our sins, and free us to have a relationship with God, that we may know and enjoy Him as we were created to do:

“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” -Romans 8:1

A Thought on Palin

I think a woman like Palin is great for the way that women are viewed in this country. I think that the ideal society is one in which womanhood, marriage, and motherhood are all celebrated. And I think that having a woman like Palin- woman, wife, and mother- as the Vice President of our United States is a step in the right direction!