The Christian life is a journey to the greatest joy that exists. But "the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few" (Matthew 7:14). Why is that? Because, paradoxically, in order to pursue our greatest joy, we must deny ourselves.

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It was a moment of euphoria for the disciples. Jesus was the Christ. Peter had confessed it and Jesus had confirmed it. The long-awaited arrival of Israel's Messiah had come! And the Twelve were at the center of it!

Then oddly, Jesus immediately started talking about being murdered by his enemies. And he said some strange things about a resurrection. This was very confusing. But one thing seemed clear to Peter: defeat could not be the path to the Christ's glory. The Christ was to be victorious.

So Peter brought correction to Jesus. Jesus called his correction satanic.

Peter was stunned. What could be satanic about wanting the Christ to be victorious? Jesus' answer was, "you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man" (Mark 8:33).

Jesus knew that this was the case for all the disciples and the crowd following him. So he gathered them all together and dropped a bomb on them:

If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. (Mark 8:34)

A crowd of bewildered faces. A cross? They all knew what that meant: Roman execution of the most horrific kind. They were hoping that Jesus might conquer their enemies and "restore the kingdom to Israel" (Acts 1:6). Carrying a Roman cross did not sound like the Messianic kingdom. It sounded like death. Jesus wanted them to die?

Yes.

Jesus' kingdom was not of this world—not the geopolitical world they knew (John 18:36). His kingdom was far broader in scope than they yet realized. And their true enemy was far more powerful and deadly than Rome. Rome was a drop in the bucket (Isaiah 40:15). Their real enemy lived in them and all around them. Jesus had indeed come to conquer that enemy. In fact, he was headed to Jerusalem to strike the decisive blow in just days.

So he now was preparing them for the cross—his first and foremost, then theirs—and the multi-millennial mission to call out Israel from all peoples into his kingdom. Jesus was teaching them to intentionally move toward death.

Physical death, yes. All present that day would die, some as martyrs. But all his followers would also have to die to themselves. Die to the desire for self-glory, die to the desire for worldly respect and the fear of man, die to the desire for an easy life, die to the desire for earthly wealth, and a thousand other deaths. Finally, they must die to their desire to save their earthly lives.

But Jesus wasn't calling his followers to some stoic life of self-sacrifice for a noble cause. His was an invitation to joy beyond imagination. The broad road of the world was lined with seductive false promises appealing to and blinding sinful human heart-eyes. And it was leading many to a horror beyond imagination. So Jesus was calling his followers to deny themselves the world's paltry, brief joys that they might have overflowing eternal joy; to deny themselves hell that they might have heaven.

That's why he went on to say:

For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. (Mark 8:35-37)

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Two brief summary observations from this account:

First, the Christian life is hard; sometimes agonizing. We shouldn't be surprised (1 Peter 4:12). It's hard because denying our fallen selves is hard. Any death is hard, some much more than others. But it's designed to be that way. Our lives are our most precious earthly possession. Nothing displays the worth of Jesus more than our willingness to give away our lives (in small and large ways) for his sake.

Second, the only things that Jesus asks us to deny ourselves of are what will rob us of eternal joy. Like Moses in Hebrews 11:25-26, we are called to deny ourselves the passing pleasures of sin and consider the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the world's treasures. How? By looking to the reward! I'll sum it up in some lyrics I wrote in a song for my oldest daughter years ago:

There's joy beyond your wildest dreams if you will just believe
This aching thirst for joy you feel God only can relieve.
And that eternal life is what's in store
For all who will believe that only he's worth living for.

This is the third and final video John Piper made before his leave. It is about experiencing spiritual breakthroughs through the gifts of other believers. (See the first one on justification and the second one on loving others.) It ends with some implications for how we do small groups.

Scroll down to read an edited transcript of the video.

The following is an edited transcript of the video.

I've been thinking a lot recently about relationships and about the way you being gifted one way and me being gifted another way relates to answers in prayer, or non-answers in prayer, or breakthroughs in struggles in life, or non-breakthroughs.

Here's what I’m thinking, and I just offer this to you to think about: suppose you've been praying about an issue in your life, say some intractable sin that doesn't seem to go away. You don't get the victory that you think you should have. You keep fighting it and that's an evidence that you're born again. And that's good, because none of us is without sin, and we have an Advocate and so we fight on.

But you'd like to see more victory. You've been praying for years and things haven't changed.

Now we think about possible reasons why God doesn't give answers, and sometimes we think of timing: "Well it’s just not the time yet. He's storing all my prayers up in a bottle. He's going to pour the prayers out in due time. And so the time will come."

And we have Joseph in the Bible who, no doubt, for 13 years was praying, "Lord, why was I sold into slavery? Why has it taken 13 years for me to discover the reason for all this pain in my life?" Then suddenly he discovers that he is going to be vice president of Egypt, he's going to save his family from starvation, he's going to be the heir of the Messiah—and now it all makes sense! But in those 13 years it didn’t.

But could it be that there are other reasons besides timing issues for why we don't get certain victories in answer to prayer? Here's the new idea. I’m sure its not new to everybody, but its been fresh to me. 

What if God has given a gift to another person in your small group or in the church, a gift of healing, or discernment, or knowledge, or miracles (I'm taking the list from 1 Corinthians 12)? You've been struggling with something. It could be physical. It could be psychological. It could be spiritual. It could be sin. Or it could be non-moral. And you're not getting anywhere. Could it be that God has a gift out there for you? And the gift is supposed to come not directly, vertically, in answer to your prayer in your little private room, "Lord fix me right now," but rather it’s supposed to come through another person?

Because I can’t think of any reason why God would create such a thing as spiritual gifts in the church if that were not the case. There are gifts of knowledge, discernment, miracles, faith, and healing that he means for you to have, but somebody else has the gift and you're not asking for the gift.

The implication is that in our small groups we're just really honest and we confess, "You know, I’ve been praying about this issue for a long time and God has seen it fit to this point not to give me the answer. And I’m just wondering that maybe he is waiting till I humble myself and come to you and say, ‘Would you pray for me and ask God whether you might have the gift of healing or the gift of the knowledge I need? Or the gift of faith, or whatever that will get a breakthrough for me?'"

So I just commend to you to reread 1 Corinthians 12-14 and think about the horizontal dimension of personal breakthroughs. God created a church! He didn't just create a series of individuals who go vertical with him and never take that vertical gifting, power, love, insight, and faith and bend it out horizontally to touch other people.

Lets grow together in this. Let’s avail ourselves of miracles, power, faith, knowledge, and discernment from others that God may have for us but we have not felt because we have not gone to the other people in a kind of community relationship or small group and asked.

Have you ever found yourself in prayer pleading a case before God when you suddenly get a sick feeling that either God is not listening or he’s not willing to hear you? What do you do when that happens? Hopefully you haven’t followed my example.

I have recently become painfully aware of a tendency of mine, when feeling inadequate to approach God, to try to bend his will through tears and contrite statements. Knowing that God will not despise a humble and contrite heart I’ve been seeking to make myself that way so that he would accept me and hear my pleas.

But there is a humbleness that does not flow from the gospel, and I frequently fall completely into its trap. It's the same humility that we see in men who flog and cut themselves and do other religious practices thinking that by these works God will finally hear their prayers. But true humility does not come through self-made regulations (Colossians 2:23).

The humility that pleases God (Psalm 51:17) isn’t an outward show, but a response of faith to Jesus’ work for us and nothing else. The place where we ought to go when we sense our unworthiness in prayer is straight to the cross where we put full trust in the righteousness of Jesus on our behalf, where he canceled the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands, nailing it to the cross (Colossians 2:14) .

We can be comforted when we pray, knowing that it is not our righteousness which gains us entrance into his presence (Hebrews 4:16), but that of Jesus, whose blood washes away the sins of all those who by faith trust in him alone.

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. (Romans 5:1,2)

Strangely enough, while writing this I saw that Tullian Tchividjian's recent book touches on this subject, as mentioned on the Crossway blog!

Below is the second of 3 videos John Piper recorded just before taking his leave. In it he addresses the question of whether or not it is OK to seek your own gain in the way you love other people (see the first one about justification).

The following is an edited transcript of the video.

One of the issues in Christian Hedonism—which is the name I love to give to my philosophy of life and my understanding of the Bible—is that you read in 1 Corinthians 13:5, "Love seeks not its own." Another version says, "Love doesn't insist on its own way." But here comes John Piper saying that all of life is a relentless quest for my own joy in God, spilling over in love to people. How does that fit? It sounds like love seeks not its own and here you come and say, "Seek your own joy."

Is that a contradiction? Is this Bible verse against Christian Hedonism? Here is a way to think about it. Back up to verses 1-3, "If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels but have not love I am a noisy gong and a clanging symbol. If I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and have all knowledge and have all faith so as to remove mountains and have not love, I am nothing." And then it says, "If I give away all that I have and deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing." Or the old version—"it profits me nothing."

Now what kind of argument is that? This is an argument that says, "Don't do that. Don't be the kind of person who gives away all that you have and who delivers your body to be burned lovelessly, because"—here's the argument—"you won't gain anything! Pharisees don't gain anything by trying to call all attention to their sacrificial labors when they are loveless inside. You want gain don't you? Then love authentically!" How does that argument work if love seeks not its own? See where I'm going? The argument is from gain, and yet it seeks not its own.

So here's the way I put it together: It is right to want our loving to be a certain kind of gain, and very wrong to want it to be another kind of gain. If my gain comes from stepping on you, manipulating you, exploiting you, being indifferent or insensitive to you, or using you, then I'm not loving. And it is this kind of gain being denounced in verse 5 with "Love seeks not its own." I don't seek my own at your expense.

What is the alternative? The alternative is that I seek my joy in your blessing. I seek my joy in your joy. I seek my joy in your salvation. I seek my joy in loving you as I long to be loved. That is the gain that verse 3 tells us we receive when we love. So I want to let verse five chasten me and say, "Be careful John Piper lest you take your Christian Hedonism to become a kind of selfish manipulation and exploitation of people."

But I don't want to let verse 5 undermine the truth that God wants us to seek our joy in loving people. You know as well as I do that if someone is loving you in a begrudging way, like, "I really don't want to do this for you, but I'm a Christian and I'm supposed to, so I'll do it," you don't feel very loved. You don't feel very loved when they are dutifully helping you fix your flat tire.

But, if they say, "You know what, it is my delight to do this for you. I just get a lot of joy out of seeing you get helped"—when someone says that to you, and you sense that they really do enjoy blessing you and putting themselves out in order that you might be built up or strengthened or have some need met, you feel wonderfully loved. Christian hedonism goes for that. It says yes, don't renounce the pursuit of that joy! Find your joy in the joy of the beloved, because you get the best joy that way, and they really feel loved that way.

At the end of July, I went down to Chicago to be a part of Legacy Conference 2010. The theme of the conference was Solus Christus (Latin for Christ Alone). This year’s conference drew over 1,000 people to the campus of Moody Bible Institute for a three-day conference consisting of plenary sessions, dozens of workshops and hip hop concerts, and an eight-hour outreach event on the last day of the conference.

Two of our National Conference speakers, Francis Chan and Thabiti Anyabwile, spoke at the conference. One of the most striking things about this conference is how doctrinally-centered and theologically-oriented all of the main sessions and the breakout sessions were. Legacy truly “exists to equip those that are serious about being disciples of Christ to make disciples for Christ.”

I believe God is doing an incredible saving and disciple-making work through Christian Hip Hop. I spent a good part of my time there in awe of the army of Hip Hop artists that God has brought together to influence this culture with God-centered music and lyrics.

I was blessed to be able to interview several new friends while at Legacy. I’d like to introduce you to Katalyst, Odd Thomas, and Braille. These dudes love Jesus, his bride, and hip hop music. I seriously encourage you to watch these interviews, pray for these brothers, and support them by purchasing their music and spreading the word.

John Piper made 3 short videos just before beginning his 8-month leave this past May, each one about a certain topic that was bubbling on his front burner.

Here's the first one, about justification. (Scroll down to read an edited transcript.) The next two will address pursuing joy as we love others and experiencing spiritual breakthroughs because of the gifts of others.

For more from Piper on this issue, see the "Justification" topic in our Resource Library or check out either of his two books on the subject: Counted Righteous in Christ and The Future of Justification.

The following is an edited transcript of the video.

One of the concerns that I have about justification, and in particular the biblical understanding of imputation (being counted righteous as distinct from actually becoming behavioral in our righteousness—which are both crucial), is that those who are jealous like I want to be for our holiness, our love, our justice and our mercy in the world can begin to build those fruits into the instrument of justification to make sure that it is not separated. But in the process they undermine the very goal that we are both after.

Here's what I mean. I'm arguing, as I think historic protestant Christianity and the Bible argues, that the imputation of Christ's righteousness to me is through union with Christ, where he is for me all that he is, and I am attached to him in that union through faith alone. The only instrument by which I am made a participant in Christ's righteousness is God's acting through my faith. I am born into that relationship through faith alone, not through any of its fruits, like mercy and justice and love and patience and kindness and meekness and so on, which turn me into a useful person in the world.

Now what some people feel, I think, is that if you conceive of justification that way, as being imputed with Christ's righteousness so that you stand perfect before God by faith alone, you have disconnected it from love and mercy and goodness and justice and kindness, such that you can begin to become indifferent to those things. You can begin to think of yourself as holy and let the world go to hell. So to solve that problem, to make sure that justice and love and mercy are all kept closely connected—as they should be, as the fruit of justification—they begin to bring it into the instrument by which we are attached to Christ and they don't make faith clearly distinct as the sole instrument.

The reason I say this undermines what we are both after is because I don't think we can make any progress in holiness if we don't have a profound, deep, powerful assurance that we are accepted by God by faith alone. If you try to make the fruit of justification part of the root of justification, the fruit itself is destroyed. Because I think God has ordained that it is out of a sense of wonder and marveling that God is patient with me through faith alone that I am able to be patient with another person.

If I try to make becoming patient with my wife part of the instrument by which I am attached to Jesus, who then becomes my righteousness and acceptance with God, so that it is mostly his work but still partially my work, then my whole sense of assurance by which I make progress in that patience begins to go down the tubes.

So I'm giving this little video clip just to say that I really believe that Christians have to be loving, they have to be just, they have to be caring. In other words, the fruits of the Spirit really matter. We are not born again if we are not living differently than we would if we weren't born again. I just want to say that the doctrine of justification by faith alone, or imputation through union with Christ along the instrument of faith alone, is the best way forward in that.

William Wilberforce is perhaps the best historical example because he built his whole anti-slave trade life on the doctrine of justification. When he wrote his book A Practical View of Christianity, his one book, he said, "My main goal is to help England understand that transformation in life and in slave-trade is the fruit of justification, not the root." He wanted to distinguish very clearly how you became justified with God and how you became holy in the world.

As far as his example goes, that's where I'm heading. I want to produce lots of Wilberforces in my church and in the world. And I think trying to bring the commitment to justice into the instrument of justification, instead of the fruit of it, undermines what we're both after.

True and saving faith in Christ is not a thing out of the power of man, but infinitely easy. 'Tis entirely in a man's power to submit to Jesus Christ as a Savior, if he will; but the thing is, it never will be that he should will it, except God works it in him.

—Jonathan Edwards, from Miscellanies #71

Edwards draws a distinction here between two kinds of ability:

1. Physical ability - having the external means with which to do something, and
2. Moral ability - having the internal will or desire to do it.

He argues that though every person is free physically to believe in Jesus Christ, still no one by nature has the moral ability to do so. That is, no one naturally wants to believe in Jesus and therefore does not—unless, of course, God intervenes.

For some biblical evidence of this distinction, see Mark 10:17-27 and John 3:19-21.

Today we are burying my father, Marlin Bloom. He died at 8:16 PM on July 8th, just days short of his 78th birthday. Having battled numerous health issues over the years, his body simply wore out. Dad’s wish was to be cremated, and since my brother and his family were traveling to Asia just days after Dad died, we postponed the memorial service until they returned.

Dad was born July 19, 1932, to Elmer and Merle Bloom on a farm in central Minnesota. But he spent most of his growing-up years in Stubb’s Bay, about 20 miles directly west of Minneapolis. He was the 3rd of 5 children, a natural athlete, had an easy-going manner, a contagious laugh, and a winsome smile.

He graduated from Wayzata High School in 1950, served in the Navy during the Korean War, and in 1954, married his high school sweetheart, Marilyn (they were voted “cutest couple” by the class of ’50). Following his naval service they settled into a modest rambler in a working class neighborhood west of Minneapolis, raised six children (I’m the 5th) and cared for numerous foster children. And they were active members at Wayzata Evangelical Free Church for 50 years.

For most of my childhood, Dad worked as a route driver for Emrich Baking Company, delivering baked goods to area restaurants and hospitals. A few times during school breaks, when I was ten or eleven, I got up with him at 2 AM, we drove through the dark downtown to the bakery, I helped him load the truck, and spent the day with him riding his route (and eating doughnuts!).

Very few things are as wonderful as the smell of a bakery in the early morning and spending the day with a father you deeply love and admire.

In the mid-70’s, Dad experienced a spiritual renewal. His faith in Jesus became more vibrant. He studied the Bible. He took more spiritual leadership in the family. He was happier. He seemed to have a deeper keel. This had a profound impact on me as a child.

Then, at age 47, affliction struck hard. Throughout Dad’s adulthood, there had been periodic brief seasons of unexplainable behavior. This normally kind, honest, patient, and hard-working man said and did things completely out of character. But in the fall of 1979, he lost control and had to be hospitalized. It was then that Dad was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Life is hard. There are so many ways we suffer the affects of the fall. Brains can be defective just like hearts, hands, legs, and livers can be defective. Mental illness has its unique kind of suffering and humiliation. And the medications took their toll. Dad was never quite the same again. His energy and interest levels were significantly limited.

But I never heard Dad complain. If he struggled with self-pity I didn’t see or hear it. The darkness he experienced was beyond description. I know he fought the temptation to end it all. He did not surrender. And he did not reject or express anger toward God because of his affliction. While his health permitted, he continued faithfully to attend his local church.

But one of the most beautiful things I have had the privilege to witness in my life was the faithfulness of my father and mother to each other through it all. Both suffered due to Dad’s illness, each in different ways. Life and marriage did not turn out like they envisioned in 1954. Many marriages shatter over far less than they endured.

But they stayed together and loved each other, which at times called for significant resolve, desperate prayers, and deep faith in Jesus. Mom in particular lived out a beautiful sacrificial love for Dad, tenderly caring for him until death parted them. It was a wonder few could see; a treasure undervalued by many.

So, Dad, it is with a heart full of deep gratitude that I say goodbye. Thank you for loving Mom so faithfully, thank you for loving me with such generous affection and patience, and thank you for persevering to the end. I love you, Dad. I will miss you. But I rejoice at your liberation.

And thank you, Heavenly Father, for all the lavish grace you have poured on me through my father’s life and example. I don’t understand all that you ordained for him to endure, but you have taught me to trust you and your promises more than my perceptions. And Dad was a part of that. And that is a priceless gift.

A good friend forwarded me this photo of a seminary student’s groom cake. I had never heard of a “groom’s cake” before. But even if I’d seen 100 others, I doubt any would beat this. Man, I wish I could have had a piece of that!

This was probably made to look like the pile beside his bed. Of course, if they were piled in priority I’m sure he’d switch the middle and bottom books around…

G. K. Chesterton argues in his book Orthodoxy that sanity—the ability to reckon with the world and life as it truly is—is not possible without believing in mystery. Those who limit themselves to believing only what can be seen and analyzed by human observation are not the most balanced and informed among us; rather, they are the blindest and most irrational.

He illumines this point by drawing an analogy with the sun and moon:

The one created thing which we cannot look at is the one thing in the light of which we look at everything. Like the sun at noonday, mysticism [belief in mystery] explains everything else by the blaze of its own victorious invisibility. Detached intellectualism is (in the exact sense of a popular phrase) all moonshine; for it is light without heat, and it is secondary light, reflected from a dead world. . . .

But that transcendentalism by which all men live has primarily much the position of the sun in the sky. We are conscious of it as of a kind of splendid confusion; it is something both shining and shapeless, at once a blaze and a blur. But the circle of the moon is as clear and unmistakable, as recurrent and inevitable, as the circle of Euclid on a blackboard. For the moon is utterly reasonable; and the moon is the mother of lunatics and has given to them all her name. (pp. 17-18, paragraphing added)

As Christians, we must embrace mystery. The Bible calls us to believe that God is one and yet exists as three persons, that Jesus Christ was and is simultaneously 100% human and 100% divine, that God is completely sovereign yet men are still accountable for their sins, that a good God created a world in which evil exists, etc., etc.

To believe these mysteries does not mean that we reject or avoid reason and scientific methods. No, we use them as long and as far as they will take us. But we recognize their limitations, and in the end we always surrender ourselves and our findings to the highest and truest authority—the Word of God.

Do you understand the majesty and practicality of the grace you have been given? If you don't, in subtle and not so subtle ways, you are looking to other things to get you through. You don't need to go out searching for hope and help, because they are already yours in the resources of grace that you have been given as God's child.

Grace is the most transformational word in the Bible. The entire content of the Bible is a narrative of God's grace, a story of undeserved redemption. By the transformational power of his grace, God unilaterally reaches his hands into the muck of this fallen world, through the presence of his Son, and radically transforms his children from what we are (sinners) into what we are becoming by his power (Christ-like). The famous Newton hymn uses the best word possible, maybe the only word big enough, for that grace—amazing.

So grace is a story and grace is a gift. It is God's character and it is your only hope. Grace is a transforming tool and a state of relationship. Grace is a beautiful theology and a wonderful invitation. Grace is a life-long experience and a life-changing calling. Grace will turn your life upside down while giving you a rest you have never known. Grace will require you to face your unworthiness without ever making you feel unloved.

Grace will make you finally acknowledge that you cannot earn God's favor, and it will once and for all remove your fear of not measuring up to his standards. Grace will humble you with the fact that you are much less than you thought you were, even as it assures you that you can be far more than you had ever imagined. You can be sure that grace will put you in your place without ever putting you down.

Grace will enable you to face shocking truths about yourself that you have hesitated to consider, while freeing you from being self-consciously introspective. Grace will confront you with profound weaknesses, and at the same time bless you with new-found strength. Grace will tell you again and again what you aren't, while welcoming you again and again to what you can now be. Grace will make you as uncomfortable as you have ever been, while offering you a more lasting comfort than you have never before known .

Grace will work to drive you to the end of yourself, while it invites you to fresh starts and new beginnings. Grace will dash your ill-founded hopes, but never walk away and leave you hopeless. Grace will decimate your little kingdom of one as it introduces you to a much, much better King. Grace will expose to you the extent of your blindness as it gives you eyes to see what you so desperately need to see. Grace will make you sadder than you have ever been, while it gives you greater cause for celebration than you have ever known.

Grace enters your life in a moment and will occupy you for eternity. You simply cannot live a productive life in this broken-down world unless you have a practical grasp of the grace you have been given.

Are you living out of this amazing grace? Does it shape the way you respond to your personal struggles, your relationships, and your work? Does your trust in this grace form how you live with your husband or wife? Does it propel the way you parent your children? Does it give you comfort when friends have disappointed you? Does it give you rest when life is unpredictable and hard? Does it make you bold and give you courage in places where you would have once been timid? Does it make the idols that tempt you less attractive and less powerful? Do you wake up and say, "I don't know what I will face today, but this I do know: I have been given amazing grace to face it right here, right now."

May God help you to understand and rest in the grace that you have been given!

Paul David Tripp is the president of Paul Tripp Ministries, a nonprofit organization, whose mission statement is "Connecting the transforming power of Jesus Christ to everyday life." Paul is an international conference speaker, Pastor (Tenth Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, PA), seminary professor (Redeemer Seminary, Dallas, TX), Executive Director of the Center for Pastoral Life and Care, and the author of many books.

Allow me to speak personally for a moment about a sin that long festered in my life: forsaking the means of grace in my home, sacrificing them on the altar of vocational work.

In my profession, it is customary to work long hours to meet deadlines (often multiple overlapping deadlines). And since the work is not back-breaking labor, it is easy to slowly get entangled in it until I find that I have spent an entire year working such long hours that I have forsaken the first things God has called me to, namely prayer, meditation, scripture memorization and study, instructing my wife and children, knowing their infirmities, and bearing with them in daily struggles.

God has plainly shown us in his Word the means that a man ought to attend to if he is going to see godly spiritual fruit on the vines of his family. Consider what Paul says to pastor Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:13-16:

Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

Now it would be a mistake to apply all of these things to fathers, since most fathers aren't preachers. But consider what are the means by which God saves "both yourself and your hearers": it is through reading, exhortation, teaching, and being immersed in scripture.

Can we say that a father may neglect these means of God's grace and expect that his family will not suffer terribly? Do we not shake our heads when pastors neglect these things only to let their flock get attacked by wolves? So too must fathers give themselves diligently to these things if they wish to see God bearing fruit in themselves and their families.

Do not think that you can simply take your family to church for a couple hours a week and then forsake the means of sanctification in the home. Just as pastors who forsake the public means of grace destroy their flock, so do fathers destroy their children who neglect spiritual disciplines in the home. It might actually be worse because it teaches them hypocrisy—that the Christian faith consists of maintaining moral duties in public while neglecting personal holiness. It would be better for you to be a pagan than for Christ's gospel to be so profaned.

After years of neglect in this essential calling, the guilt can feel overwhelming. But David's beautiful words in Psalm 51 guide me in finding comfort:

Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!

And we may know full well that he will cleanse us and help us to fulfill our spiritual calling, for he has told us, "I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father." Will he not give penitent sinners the fruit they long to see in their lives? Of course he will. These things are according to his will, so he will surely give them to us as we call out to him.

"But", you say, "I don't have the faith to ask him and I have sinned against him too long for him to have mercy on me." Fellow sinner, remember that Christ did not come to save the righteous but sinners like us. Jesus said, "It is not the healthy that need a physician by those who are sick." He will give you what you desire. "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." (Psalm 51:17)

So, fellow workaholic, I urge you, if you desire the blessings of God that he promises through the means of grace, do not delay to arrange your life and disentangle yourself from the things of this world that so easily make you too busy and tired to attend to them. I am not suggesting that you refrain from working hard—far from it!—but I am suggesting that you consider whether your commitments have become an idol and if you have chosen to give priority to your professional calling over your spiritual calling. If this is so, I urge you to repent.

Find rest in the Savior and once again possess a clear conscience before the Lord. The harvest of joy, peace and righteousness that the Lord is eager to give you will far outweigh the fleeting pleasures of this life. Rejoice in him—allow him to come in to you and "sup with you" as he desires to do, that, as Paul prayed, "Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth and know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."

Adapted from the July 2007 newsletter.

Charles Darwin loved his scientific studies. They were his "chief enjoyment and sole employment throughout life."

As a young man he made a half-hearted attempt to become a clergyman, but gave it up because beetles and plants and rock formations held far more fascination for him than theology.

At age 22, he embarked on his famous five-year voyage aboard "The Beagle" and his career as a naturalist was established. He spent the rest of his life intensely observing things, reducing them to their component parts and theorizing where they came from and why they behaved as they did.

However, as the years passed something very sad happened to him. He described it near the end of his life in his autobiography:

Up to the age of 30 or beyond it, poetry of many kinds…gave me great pleasure, and even as a schoolboy I took intense delight in Shakespeare…. Formerly pictures gave me considerable, and music very great, delight. But now for many years I cannot endure to read a line of poetry: I have tried to read Shakespeare, and found it so intolerably dull that it nauseated me. I have also almost lost any taste for pictures or music… I retain some taste for fine scenery, but it does not cause me the exquisite delight which it formerly did… My mind seems to have become a kind of machine for grinding general laws out of large collections of facts, but why this should have caused the atrophy of that part of the brain alone, on which the higher tastes depend, I cannot conceive… The loss of these tastes is a loss of happiness, and may possibly be injurious to the intellect, and more probably to the moral character, by enfeebling the emotional part of our nature.

What a devastating loss. All that time in his laboratory abstracting theories from facts had conditioned his mind to analyze to such a degree that he could no longer enjoy beauty just for what it was. A symphony, a sunset, or a sonnet was not designed for Darwin to dissect but delight in.

Too much dissection robbed him of delight.

Of course, Darwin’s rejection of Christianity contributed to his loss of wonder. But we can learn something very valuable from Darwin here. There is a principle that we condition our minds to value whatever we watch and study and contemplate the most. John Piper has taught me to think of it like this: we become what we behold. What absorbs our interest, what we give our attention to most, shapes our thinking and trains our affections.

We must resist the seductive lie that someday in the future we will give up our workaholic habits or our sinful addiction or our trivial time-consuming pursuits and enjoy God and his creation and his purposes like we should. The truth is that if we spend too much time focusing on lesser things someday we will wake up to find that we have lost our ability to find great things delightful or even interesting.

We become what we behold. This is right from the Bible. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3:18,

We all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

This is the transformation that God intends for us: to grow, not decline, in our ability to enjoy glory. We are to fix our eyes on Jesus, the radiance of the glory of God (Hebrews 1:2), and in doing so he will reveal increasing degrees of glory to us, which will then shape our thinking and train our affections.

This summer take an audit of your affections. Over the last few years has there been an increase or a decrease in your love for God and your awe at his amazing gospel? Do you enjoy his creation, from cell to star, more? Or less? Does that familiar sin have greater or lesser power over you? What is captivating your interest? Look at what you have been spending your time beholding for the answers.

Let’s learn from Darwin and heed God’s life-giving exhortations: "Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind" (Romans 12:2) by "set[ting] your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on the earth" (Colossians 3:2).

*          *          *

A helpful Piper message to listen to at this time of the year to get perspective is "Summer Is for Seeing and Showing Christ."

The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable. (1 Corinthians 12:21-22)

Paul is speaking here of the local church. He assumes the reader already understands that members of the church which appear to be stronger are indispensable. So too, says Paul, the members of the church which appear to be weaker are indispensable.

God has designed for Christians to be relationally committed to a local group of other Christians.

While there are some extreme circumstances when it is not possible to be committed to a local group of believers (frontier missions), when it is possible it is not to be seen as optional or dispensable. The people in your local church are indispensable. All of them. They have a grace given to them by God to contribute to your life. Without them your experience would be less than what God designed for you.

It is inappropriate for anyone to say, "I have no need of you," concerning any other member of their church.

Throughout this blog series there have been responses on the blog and on Facebook from people who see their local church as weak in many areas. Maybe you are dissatisfied with your church because you feel it fails to equip others for ministry, hold people accountable, or care for hurting members. Every church has its unique weaknesses, and some churches may appear to be weaker than others. Yet, I implore you. Give yourself to your local church. You need them. Don't dare say, "I have no need of you."

As you come together on this Lord's Day thank God for your church. Dig in to your church community. Stir up the brothers and sisters in your congregation to love and good works. Encourage people in their gifts and look to be ministered to by them. You need them, no matter how weak they appear to be.

Posts in This Series

• The Local Church: For Your Perseverance
• The Local Church: Training You for Ministry
• The Local Church: Helping You Grow Up
• The Local Church: People to Suffer With
• The Local Church: People to Rejoice With
• The Local Church: A Safe Place to Be Judged
• The Local Church: Indispensable

But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? (1 Corinthians 5:11-12)

It is dangerous not to be judged. We need other people to judge us, with righteous judgment (John 7:24). We need accountability. If we don't have Christian friends that are close enough to confront us when our lifestyle doesn't match our confession, then we ought to tremble.

The type of judgment I am referring to is not generated by a desire to look down on others for the sake of feeling superior—a condescending disposition. Rather, it comes from a tender disposition of love. It comes from a Nathan who is willing to tell David to repent and turn to God (2 Samuel 12).

We should fear God in light of the sin that can deceive and destroy us. We should not fear the judgment that comes from friends in the church which helps us to fight sin. This is grace!

It is immeasurably more safe to be a part of a local church that watches for our souls. Praise God for the safety that is in the righteous judgment of his people. It is grace from heaven!

Posts in This Series

• The Local Church: For Your Perseverance
• The Local Church: Training You for Ministry
• The Local Church: Helping You Grow Up
• The Local Church: People to Suffer With
• The Local Church: People to Rejoice With
• The Local Church: A Safe Place to Be Judged
• The Local Church: Indispensable

But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. . .  if one member is honored, all rejoice together. (1 Corinthians 12:25-26)

God designed it so that, as Christians, our joy is increased in the joy of others in our church. We ought to be united to our Christian brothers and sisters in such a way that their happiness is personally experienced in us.

The more we are knit together with and invested in the lives of church members, the more we have reason to celebrate when a member gives birth, gets married, gives testimony of deliverance from a sin issue, graduates, gets a job offer, or is reconciled to an astranged family member or friend. Their joy is our joy, because we are one body.

Moreover, the joy the Christian community experiences is the very joy of God (John 15:11, 17:13), delighting in the unity and the good of his people (Psalm 133).

This kind of communal and spiritual joy can only be experienced by the church. Let us follow the example of Paul who gave himself for the joy of the church (2 Corinthians 1:24, 2:3), and who's joy was increased by the church (2 Corinthians 7:13, Philippians 2:2, 4:1; 1 Thessalonians 2:19-20; 3:9; 2 Timothy 1:4; Philemon 7).

Invest your life in your local church to increase the joy of others, and give yourself more opportunities to rejoice!

Posts in This Series

• The Local Church: For Your Perseverance
• The Local Church: Training You for Ministry
• The Local Church: Helping You Grow Up
• The Local Church: People to Suffer With
• The Local Church: People to Rejoice With
• The Local Church: A Safe Place to Be Judged
• The Local Church: Indispensable

A few years back I wrote about the 5 "D's" I pray for daily. Recently, I added a sixth: desperation. I need to feel continually my desperate need for God.

Whatever it takes, Lord, give me...

Delight in you as the greatest treasure of my heart.
        Delight in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)

Desire to know you, be with you, and seek your kingdom above all else.
        Delight in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)

Discernment that comes from a renewed mind that I might know your will.
        But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. (Hebrews 5:14)

Desperation because when I stop feeling my need for you I tend to wander.
         Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word. (Psalm 119:67)

Discipline to plan for what I discern as your will.

        Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. (Ephesians 5:15-16)

Diligence to do your will with all my heart.

        You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. (Deuteronomy 6:5)

But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together... (1 Corinthians 12:25-26)

In March of 2008 my wife almost lost her life giving birth to our second daughter. She was in excruciating pain as the doctors moved quickly to stop the bleeding. Four blood transfusions could not keep up with the 3500 cc's she was losing.

She was rushed into emergency surgery. I wasn't sure that I would ever see her again, this side of eternity. As I paced anxiously in the waiting room with my newborn child I saw my pastor walk through the door. He traveled well over an hour to embrace me in my pain, to pray for me and read a Scripture passage to me. Another friend of ours came and prayed through the night. Dozens of people from the church visited us and brought us meals.

A few weeks later my wife had more postpartum blood loss needing two more transfusions and another surgery. It took her months to recover. It was an extremely difficult time for us, but the church was there to suffer with us. We were not suffering alone.

Though Christians suffer, in the local church they are to suffer together. It is the way God designed it. Just as Christ entered into a world of suffering and ministered to us, we also should enter into one another's suffering.

Suffering with a believer is an entirely different experience than suffering with an unbeliever. Believers serve to remind us of the immovable hope grounded in the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. Christians can share deeply in each other's pain, and do it in such a way that nurtures immense hope.

Give yourself to the local church to suffer with those who are suffering, and allow others to come alongside you in your suffering.

Posts in This Series

• The Local Church: For Your Perseverance
• The Local Church: Training You for Ministry
• The Local Church: Helping You Grow Up
• The Local Church: People to Suffer With
• The Local Church: People to Rejoice With
• The Local Church: A Safe Place to Be Judged
• The Local Church: Indispensable

Billy Graham once was asked, “If you were a pastor of a large church in a principal city, what would be your plan of action?”

In the modern-day classic The Master Plan of Evangelism (which has gone through over 100 printings since it was first published in 1963), Robert Coleman reproduces Graham’s response, perhaps a surprising answer to many:

I think one of the first things I would do would be to a get a small group of eight or ten or twelve people around me that would meet a few hours a week and pay the price!

It would cost them something in time and effort. I would share with them everything I have, over a period of years. Then I would actually have twelve ministers among the laypeople who in turn could take eight or ten or twelve more and teach them.

I know one or two churches that are doing that, and it is revolutionizing the church.

Christ, I think, set the pattern. He spent most of his time with twelve men. He didn’t spend it with a great crowd. In fact, every time he had a great crowd it seems to me that there weren’t too many results. The great results, it seems to me, came in this personal interview and in the time he spent with his twelve. (page 103, paragraphing added)

For more on this kind of ministry strategy, see Coleman's book.

In 2 Corinthians 11-12, Paul describes one of the most difficult things for us to grasp and believe about the life of faith: God purposefully blesses us with weaknesses for the sake of our joy.

*          *          *

So-called “super-apostles” had found their way to Corinth. These parasitic charlatans had followed in the wake of the Lord’s servant and were siphoning off glory from God and discrediting Paul in order to inflate the appearance of their self-importance.

If it had only been about his reputation, Paul wouldn’t have wasted his ink. But these men were not only maligning Paul, they were distorting the gospel. They were maligning Paul in order to distort the gospel. The situation demanded that Paul call these imposters out and contrast their doctrine, character and labors with his own. But it was tortuous for him: “I am talking like a madman” (2 Corinthians 11:23).

Reluctantly Paul cataloged revelations he had received, suffering he had endured for the gospel and the church, and how he had never financially benefited from the Corinthians.

But it’s important to see that there was far more behind Paul’s reluctance than self-conscious awkwardness. He was conscious of the danger that in drawing attention to himself he might obscure the grace of God.

Test yourself. When you read of Paul’s lashings, beatings, imprisonments, shipwrecks, danger, hunger, exposure, and mind-blowing revelations, what are you tempted to think? If you’re like me, you might think, “This man had faith, brains, guts, endurance, and a work ethic second-to-none. I’m a sorry excuse for a Christian compared to him.”

And that is the danger Paul feared. Because in that moment we are tempted to look away from the cross of Christ and the sufficiency of his grace to our achievements for our justification.

Here’s what I mean. Our fallen nature craves self-glory. We seek the admiration of others. We love the myth of the superhero because we want to be one. So we want our successes to be known and our failures hidden. And since people who achieve remarkable things earn the favor of others, we are tempted to believe that they earn the favor of God as well.

That’s the last thing Paul wants us to believe.

Paul knew better than most that it is not human achievements that showcase the grace of God. It is human helplessness.

Paul viewed himself as the foremost of sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). Apart from God’s grace in giving him the free gift of Christ’s righteousness, all of Paul’s achievements were “rubbish” (Philippians 3:8-9). Paul knew the impotence of self-righteousness (Philippians 3:6-9). He knew who had brought him to faith (Acts 9:5), called him to be an apostle (Romans 1:1), sent him to make Gentile disciples (Romans 1:5), and called him to suffer for his sake (Acts 9:16). Yes, Paul knew that he worked harder than just about everybody. But he knew that it was not him, but the grace of God that was with him (1 Corinthians 15:10).

And one reason he knew this so profoundly was that Jesus had disciplined him. Knowing how Paul’s indwelling sin might respond to the power and fruitfulness he would experience, Jesus gifted him with a “thorn in the flesh,” a “messenger of Satan” to harass him (2 Corinthians 12:7). It would be a continual reminder to Paul that he depended on Jesus for everything.

Don’t you love the power and wisdom of God—enlisting a messenger of Satan to serve Paul? It must have been maddening to the demons—another way Jesus put them to open shame (Colossians 2:15).

Like us, Paul didn’t immediately recognize the thorn as a gift. He pleaded for deliverance. But Jesus replied, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

This opened up a world of insight to Paul. God showing his strength through weak things was laced all through redemptive history, culminating in the cross.

That’s why Paul said, “If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness” (2 Corinthians 11:30). He even went beyond that: “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10).

*          *          *

Are you content with the weaknesses you live with?

I don’t mean sin—Paul is clear that we are to put sin to death (Romans 6:12).

Neither do I mean foolishness (Proverbs 26:11).

But we all live with different kinds of constitutional limitations or illnesses or disabilities or circumstantial adversity. And what God wants you to know through this text is that he has given them to you for your joy, even if it’s Satan harassing you.

Here’s the secret: the more aware you are of God’s grace, the more humble, prayerful, thankful, patient, gracious, content and joyful you will be. And you are more aware of God’s grace when you are weak.

God will use the strengths he has given you—he certainly used Paul’s strengths.

But thank God for your weaknesses, because it is there that God’s strength is often most clearly displayed.

. . . so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. (Ephesians 4:14)

Hope, my two year old, is constantly on to new things. It is not uncommon for her to climb up on my lap with a book, signaling for me to read to her. It is also not uncommon for her to climb down from my lap when I'm not even halfway through, only to get a different book or be entertained by something else that caught her eye. She is distractible, even when I pour myself into engaging her with a semi-theatrical portrayal of the book's content, attributing different animated voice inflections to different characters. This can be disheartening for the performer (me).

However, I must remind myself that this is normal activity for a two year old. She is trying to get her hands into everything to figure it out, beginning to process the world around her.

With the mature it is different. They have trained their faculties to be focused, to go in one direction. Christians that are tossed to and fro in multiple different directions, like a two year old constantly being distracted by something more colorful, will struggle to be directional enough to make an impact as ambassadors of the Kingdom of God.

When contrary doctrinal winds try to throw us off course, the ministry of the local church serves to focus us on what is important. The gospel. We are all in need of teaching, shepherding, and accountability to stay on track. By ourselves we are too easily deceived and distracted from the thing in life that is of first importance.

The local church is a stabilizing and protective force. It helps us to grow up so that we can move steadily in one direction, the right direction, bearing gospel fruit with our lives.

Posts in This Series

• The Local Church: For Your Perseverance
• The Local Church: Training You for Ministry
• The Local Church: Helping You Grow Up
• The Local Church: People to Suffer With
• The Local Church: People to Rejoice With
• The Local Church: A Safe Place to Be Judged
• The Local Church: Indispensable

I have a friend who works in a country where Islamic law governs life. The small house church he had established was in the hands of national leadership, and he was not present when the religious police broke in and arrested the entire church, sentencing all of the men to prison.

One day soon after, an angry mob assembled at the local mosque and marched toward my friend’s home. He gathered his wife and children together, locked the doors, shuttered the windows, and went upstairs. His wife shook in fear as they prayed together, asking for deliverance and praying for those who were marching down the street toward them. The shouts and insults against Christians grew as the mob drew closer to their home.

To his amazement, the crowd passed by and continued down the street. He then came to the realization that they had never intended to visit him that day. They were unaware of his involvement with the small, persecuted house church.

As we consider Islam and its reach into our own country this story helps me understand where many of our hearts might be. The news is filled with angry mobs and it appears that they are headed our way. How should we think about this?

It is easy for us to assume, like my friend did, that they are coming for us. But we are not the reason for their anger.

Paul wrote, "Many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ" (Philippians 3:18). The dangerous anger of Islam does not burn foremost because of our culture, our freedoms, or our "way of life." It is an attack on the cross first and foremost. Our response should be based on this fact.

Watching the news one might be led to conclude that anger is the best response to Islam. Another response might be fear, such as that felt by my friend (an understandable, human response).

Jesus taught another response. "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: love your enemies …" (Matthew 5:43, 44). 

For many evangelicals, the threat of Islam—both real and perceived—has sometimes distracted from obedience to the demands of the gospel. While radical Islam certainly has a political agenda that should not be minimized, we should, in obedience, follow Jesus' command to love them.

How best should we love Muslims? We can pray, we can show them tangible acts of love, and we can send emissaries to them. While it is very disconcerting to see Islam grow within the borders of the USA, our hearts should break more over the fact that 1.2 to 1.5 billion people don’t know Jesus and will never experience the joy it is to know him. Most will never meet a disciple of Christ unless some of us go.

That is why Pioneers, the organization I serve with, exists.

Pioneers-USA is pleased to be a sponsor of the 2010 Desiring God National Conference. I look forward to meeting you in Minneapolis, October 1-3. Until then, you can connect with me at twitter.com/tedstur and connect with Pioneers at pioneers.org, twitter.com/pioneersusa or http://www.facebook.com/pioneersusa to find out more about engaging Muslims with the gospel.

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-12)

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. (1 Corinthians 12:4-7)

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (Hebrews 10:24-25)

It is God's will that you be active in life-long ministry, in your church. You are called to edify, build up and encourage a local body of believers by utilizing your own unique giftings by the power of the Spirit. How are you to be equipped for this ministry? Through the ministry of the local church itself.

The role of the local church leaders is to equip the members for ministry by teaching and shepherding. Then, the ministry of each member collectively builds up the church. Hosting small groups, evangelistically engaging your city, equipping younger men in trades that will provide for their families and serve the community, encouraging and helping mothers of young children, assisting in practical needs by working with your hands, teaching Sunday School, facilitating fellowship through hospitality, nurturing the young, caring for the old, practicing intercessory prayer, etc.

One of the reasons the local church exists is so that we might learn to serve one another, according to the various capacities and gifts we have been given, under the gospel of God's amazing grace in Christ. Dig in to your local church to be equipped and serve in the ministry God has for you!

Posts in This Series

• The Local Church: For Your Perseverance
• The Local Church: Training You for Ministry
• The Local Church: Helping You Grow Up
• The Local Church: People to Suffer With
• The Local Church: People to Rejoice With
• The Local Church: A Safe Place to Be Judged
• The Local Church: Indispensable

Today is the first installment of a seven part series on the local church. Every day this week we will look at a different Bible passage, seeing how it shows the local church to be vital to the life of a believer.

Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. (Hebrews 3:12-14)

In this passage we have wonderful assurance and firm warning. The wonderful assurance comes from the last sentence: For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. Said another way, if we have come to share in Christ, we will persevere. True believers will never fall from grace and be disqualified from their inheritance, period.

On the flip side, this passage comes as a firm warning. We are exhorted to seek out the means that God has appointed to keep us from falling away. Namely, the local church. Not only as an institution or formal assembly, but as friends and encouragers—brothers and sisters battling for each other's sanctification and perseverance. This regular and honest interaction with other believers is a means of grace that God has appointed to counteract the self-deceiving, heart-hardening sin that would otherwise lead us away from God.

God has designed for our perseverance to be realized in authentic community—living and dying together in the gospel of Christ.

Posts in This Series

• The Local Church: For Your Perseverance
• The Local Church: Training You for Ministry
• The Local Church: Helping You Grow Up
• The Local Church: People to Suffer With
• The Local Church: People to Rejoice With
• The Local Church: A Safe Place to Be Judged
• The Local Church: Indispensable

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?

Do not be deceived:

• neither the sexually immoral,
• nor idolaters,
• nor adulterers,
• nor men who practice homosexuality,
• nor thieves,
• nor the greedy,
• nor drunkards,
• nor revilers,
• nor swindlers

will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you.

But

• you were washed,
• you were sanctified,
• you were justified

in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.