Read your Bible. Monday Motivation

Yesterday was the last Sunday of the year! 

With a new year around the corner, and you are one who likes to make resolutions, make one that will count. Resolve to read your Bible every day, and if you have never read the Bible from beginning to end, make it the year to read the Bible. It's not an impossibly difficult task either. You'll have many obstacles and much opposition, but you can read your Bible. 

Did you know the average person spends 35 minutes a day on Facebook? If you cut that time in half, and are an average reader, by spending the other 15 minutes reading the Bible, you could read the whole Bible in a year. That's all it takes.

But, not everyone can read fast and many have reading problems. I've suffered from reading problems myself and understand the difficulty. But, did you know you can go to BibleGateway.com, select the KJV, and the book you want to read, click the speaker button on the bar and there are THREE different audio versions of the Bible where professional voice actors read the Bible to you? There are so many options available, there really aren't any excuses. 

If that's too daunting, take two years. That's only about 2 chapters a day. There's no rule that says you have to read the Bible in a year. Just read it. You can do it. And it's worth the effort. 

A Good Pastor

A church once called a new pastor, who thought he was prepared to preach three times a week, but suddenly realized the task was harder than he imagined. After preaching 20 messages, he ran out of motivation to study and to come up with topics to preach, so he started over and preached the same messages again. He did this three times in a row, and knew the church had to realize what he was doing but no one ever said anything. Finally, he asked the deacon  about the lack of concern with his repetition. The deacon replied, "We didn’t really want a pastor and you were as close to not having one as we could find." It's often said that pastoring is more than preaching sermons, but it's certainly not less. Preaching sermons is more than going to the next verse the next week or having an information dump of all the historical and archeological information you found in the books. There should be an aim for the message and the people you are preaching to, a motivating factor to preaching.

In Titus 1:1-2 Paul introduces the letter to a pastor by giving some instruction to us on some of the motivating factors of his ministry. He wasn't just trying to make it through every verse of the Bible. Nor was he preaching on his favorite topics. Having a preaching method is certainly better than many, who have no method at all. Some preach like the apostles – they start the message with no discernible plan and the sermons are "scattered abroad…every where preaching the word." Somethings wrong if you never put any thought into how you are preaching, why you are preaching, and what you are preaching. When Paul preached, he had a purpose. He was motivated to glorify Christ, declare the truth, and to move God's people to trust in Christ and live after godliness.

Paul preached with a view towards God's people, "Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect."  Paul believed in the sovereign grace of God and knew that God would save his elect. The doctrine of election didn't dampen his missionary but set it ablaze. God's sheep were lost and God ordained his people would receive Christ through faith. Paul was an instrument of the Lord's to declare the good news of the gospel, the word of God, the incorruptible seed, the means by which God the Spirit regenerates the soul (1 Peter 1:23-25). Paul preached the truth with confidence knowing God will save his people.

Paul preached with a view towards application, "the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness." The message wasn't merely for information. Paul knew the truth and godliness go hand in hand. You don't really know the truth if it doesn't change your life or the way you live. When Paul preached the doctrines, he also pressed upon the hearers godly living which adorns the doctrines. 45 minutes of facts is a lecture. Christian preaching glorifies Christ, is rooted and grounded in the truth, with an eye towards moving God's people.

A Good Story?

Everyone loves a good story. I believe God created us to enjoy them. Homer wrote The Odyssey 2700 years ago, and it's still a good yarn to our modern minds. It has everything we like, heroes, villains, adventure, and great obstacles to overcome.  We love stories. Paul liked to tell his conversion story, but he’s not the hero of his story. He’s the villain. Christ is the hero of Paul’s story. Paul was the bad guy, doing bad things, and loving every minute of it. He was a villain worthy of death, yet Christ died for him. Christ saved Paul’s soul, and Paul is a preacher of Christ.  

There is another type of conversion story, where we are the hero and our “sin” was the villain. Our sin is bad, and we were bad sinners, but the converted overcame all odds, and bested sin by their decision to follow Christ. In these stories, it seems there is a glory in the wickedness of sin. The bigger the villain, the better the victory. The person would never say it exactly that way, but how could we come away from such a tale with any other thought? 

Boasting is excluded, when it comes to salvation (Romans 3:27). When Paul talks about salvation, there is no room to boast on anyone or anything, other than Christ. We are declared innocent freely by God's grace. We are justified, not based on our works of the law, but because we have received, through faith, the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Our grounds for justification are based on Christ fulfilling all the demands of the law on our behalf. We are not the hero of our righteousness. We have all sinned and come short of God's glory, so Christ Jesus is our propitiation, whose death satisfied God's wrath for my sin. The blood of Christ washed away my sin. I'm not the hero there either. I was in bondage to sin, my nature, an indebted to divine justice, but Christ redeemed me, set me free, bought me, and gave me life. I'm not the hero and my testimony shouldn't make me one.

I believe it's good for Christians to tell the story, but we need to make sure it's a true story. Stories change over time. They also change when we get all the facts. The Bible tells us the truth about how we are saved. We get the "inside scoop" on God's work in our salvation. The Bible tells us the truth about ourselves, our nature, and our ability. We learn we are saved by grace, not by works. Even our faith is a gift of God (Ephesians 2:8). If you are the hero of your testimony, then you need to check your story against the Scriptures. We are the villains. We are sinners, the law breakers, the guilty and condemned. Christ is the hero who saved us and set us free. If your story makes you look good, then you are taking credit for God's work.

Good and Angry

It’s good to be angry. Sometimes, anyway. There is an anger that is ungodly and Jesus tells us anger, without cause, is murderous (Matthew 5:22). But it’s easy to have a simplistic view of our emotions. “Anger bad. Calm good.” But we are not that simplistic, nor are we made of brass. We must understand our emotions and rule them according to the Bible. In the very place Jesus said  sinful anger puts you in danger of judgment, He said, "whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause…" There are some causes where we should be mad and it would be wrong NOT to be angry. How do I know that anger can be holy? Because the Holy God is angry (Deuteronomy 29:27-29; Revelation 14:10). Psalm 145:8-9,20 tells us God is gracious, compassionate, great in mercy, good to all, and tender in mercy. But the text also tells us he is "slow to anger." Who is He angry at? “The LORD preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy.” The wicked. God is angry at sin and sinners.

Sin is rebellion against His goodness. Sin is breaking His good and holy laws. And because God is good, anything that is contrary to His goodness and glory angers Him. I don’t think it is possible for God to be good without getting angry. Apathy toward evil is evil. To love holiness is to hate ungodliness. God gave us the emotion of anger and we must learn to use it rightly. One of the characteristics of godly repentance is indignation (2 Corinthians 7:10-11). Indignation is a holy, righteous emotion when directed in the right way for the right reason.  Should we love what God hates? Is it good to claim to have more mercy and compassion than God does? We should get angry at corrupt politicians and religious hypocrisy. We should get angry at sexual abusers and lying cheaters. We should get angry at slanderers and gossips. We should be angry at false gods and idolatry. We should be angry with our sin. Too often we get angry at the sin of others, but make excuses for our own sin. Why? Because God is angry with those things! In order to have true love and compassion for others, it's good to be angry when others are harmed or God's glory is defamed. God gave us that emotion to motivate us to action so we protect and rescue the victims.

Good anger must be directed in a good way. Not to vent, or to get what we want, but for God's glory and the good of others. Sinful anger comes because someone dares to do something against our preferences or our honor. If someone disrespects us or does something we don't like, our pride is wounded and we get angry. Good anger is not directed by our pride, but God's Word. Righteous indignation is concerned about God’s glory and God’s law, not our law and our glory.

Books have their limits

“A book is like a mirror: if a donkey looks in, you can’t expect an apostle to look out.”
G. C. Lichtenberg




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Angry Talk

"Angry people always talk to the wrong person. They talk to themselves, rehearsing the failings of others. They talk to the people they're mad at, reaming them out for real and imaginary failings. They talk to people who aren't even involved, gossiping and slandering. But chaotic, sinful, headstrong anger starts to dissolve when you begin to talk to the right person - to your good Shepherd, who sees, hears, and is mercifully involved in your life."

David Powlison, Good and Angry

A letter from Spurgeon to his son.

MY DEAR SON,—You are a good son to write to your father so often and so lovingly. I am indeed happy in having two of the best of sons.

I shall be right glad if you can help the Colportage in any way, for just now it is in great straits. Therefore, go to Birmingham, if you can.

In general follow this rule—Do not engage yourself far ahead; for some fitting place for you to settle in may suddenly appear and it would be a great pity to lose it for the sake of some travelling engagements. Work hard now at theology, and never leave off doing so. The more you put in the more will come out. Get nearer and nearer to the Lord in prayer, and in your general walk, and so you will gain a depth which cannot come in any other way.

Your time will soon be up, and I should like you to begin in some sphere, not too large, nor too small, from which you may step into a life-long position. I think you will maintain a good congregation, and by God's blessing will be useful. We must not push or strive to get you a position, but wait on the Lord and He will do better for you than I can. When Bishops look out for livings for their nephews or sons we condemn their nepotism, and we must not fall into it ourselves. You will be patient and believing, and the right door will open. Cheer them all at home.

Your loving father, C. H. SPURGEON.
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**I've had this in the draft for a very long time and regrettably, I didn't record where I read this.**

A Happy Exchange. Funeral Sermon by Thomas Brooks

"She has exchanged: earth—for Heaven, a wilderness—for a paradise, a prison—for a palace, a house made with hands—for one eternal in the heavens, imperfection—for perfection, sighing—for singing, mourning—for rejoicing, petitions—for praises, the society of sinful mortals—for the company of God, pain—for ease, sickness—for health, a bed of weakness—for a bed of spices, her brass—for silver, her pennies—for gold, her earthly contentments—for heavenly enjoyments, an imperfect, transient enjoyment of God—for a more clear, full, perfect, and permanent enjoyment of God."


Read the rest HERE