Yes, it’s true:I covet something you have.Actually, it would be more accurate to say that I passionately, desperately, constantly covet something you have.I’m consumed with longing for it; I can’t quit thinking about it.Honestly, if I can’t get it from you, I don’t know what I’m going to do.You know what I want?
I covet your PRAYERS!
The longer I pursue all that God has called me to in Christ, the more acutely I feel an overwhelming sense of my complete weakness and inadequacy for the task.To “walk worthy” as His child, to be a godly husband, a diligent father, and a faithful pastor is not only difficult – it is humanly impossible.And so I covet your prayers on a constant basis. I desperately need God’s enabling grace moment-by-moment.Frankly, I know I speak for the other Elders and Pastor Steve in seeking your prayers
As I plead with you for your prayers, such a request could seem to be self-serving.But as I read the New Testament and see the great Apostle Paul so frequently pleading for the prayers of God’s people (as in Eph. 6:19,20; Col. 4:3,4; 2 Thess. 3:1,2; etc.), I’m both encouraged and instructed.
Paul understood that it was beyond his human ability to fulfill the responsibilities of faithfully preaching and living the Gospel of Jesus Christ.He was constantly subject to all manner of dangers, temptations, weaknesses, and obstacles.His appeals for prayer were not self-centered, but instead he longed for God’s purposes and glory to be accomplished in his life, and for the Gospel to be powerfully advanced through him.Only divine enablement, provided largely through the prayers of God’s people, could bring this about.
At times, Paul was very personal and specific regarding his needs.Listen to what he says in 2 Cor. 1:8,9:
“For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead…”
I wouldn’t remotely suggest that I know anything about the kind of suffering Paul experienced.But I will say this:vocational pastoral ministry is profoundly difficult, painful, and consuming.In the spirit of “not wanting you to be unaware,” let me mention some of the challenges of such a calling.
Like any child of God, I’m under orders to “walk worthy” (Eph. 4:1) in every sphere of life.Along with this, I have the additional privilege and responsibility of being an “under-shepherd” in God’s flock.Thus, I must faithfully preach the Word of God (1 Cor. 4:1,2; 2 Tim. 4:1-5), and shepherd the people of God (John 21:15-17; Acts 20:28; 1 Pet. 5:1-3).Such preaching and shepherding involves strenuous labor in prayer, study, preaching, teaching, training, meetings, counseling, evangelism, giving and receiving admonition, planning, phone calls, emails, visitation (in homes, hospitals, and workplaces), etc.Within all of this labor, I must “…pay close attention to myself and my teaching…” (1 Tim. 4:16), knowing that in this burdensome, but glorious work, I will give an account to God (2 Cor. 5:9,10; Heb. 13:17).
Moreover, I live in the same world you live in, and I’m made of the same stuff you are.I deal with the same hassles and difficulties of life (paying bills, taking cars to the mechanic, fixing broken faucets, etc.), and I face the same temptations (“No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man…” 1 Cor. 10:13).And I have the same 168 hours each week that you do, and must exercise wisdom in how that time is used.Though woefully imperfect, I resonate with Paul’s testimony in 2 Cor. 11:28,29 – “Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches.Who is weak without my being weak? Who is led into sin without my intense concern?”
So brothers and sisters, please pray for me, along with praying for the other Elders and Pastor Steve.Pray that God would give us grace to walk humbly before Him, and fulfill all that He has called us to as under-shepherds among you, His people.Pray that He would be glorified in bearing much fruit in and through our lives (Jn. 15:8), and that the Gospel would advance powerfully through us (2 Thess. 3:1,2).And rest assured that we are praying diligently for you, even as Paul exemplified in such prayers as Eph. 1:15-19; 3:14-21; Col. 1:9-12.
In closing, listen to what Paul goes on to say in 2 Cor. 1:10,11 concerning his longing and appreciation for the prayers of God’s people:
“…who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us, you also joining in helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many.”
As summer comes to a close and we move into the fall, this is traditionally a time when many people in America are going back to school. It may be graduate school, college, trade school, high school, grade school, or starting kindergarten for the first time, but literally thousands are engaging in a process of education designed to better equip them for their future.
The foundational motivation of all educational pursuits is the clear understanding that adequate preparation must precede effective usefulness. We expect that those we rely on for a myriad of services: doctors, dentists, law enforcement personnel, mechanics, teachers, etc. have received the necessary training to make them competent in their field.
While the necessity of adequate training and preparation for effective usefulness is an inbred reality in our society, we in the church often fail to recognize the need for such training, education and preparation when it comes to spiritual matters. Believers sometimes forget that God has saved us and left us on this earth for a reason—to do something. He wants to use us to “bear fruit” for His glory (Jn. 15:8), actively pursuing the “good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). We are not saved by good works, but we are saved for good works. And in order to be effectively used by God, we simply must be “equipped” – trained, educated, prepared. Eph. 4:11,12 speaks directly to this issue:
And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ…
The key principle here is that God has given gifted leaders to the church whom He uses to equip the saints – all believers – for the work of service (for the ability to minister and serve one another). The word translated “equip” here literally means “to set in order or to mend,” In the context of Eph. 4:12 it has to do with making someone completely adequate or sufficient for something. A form of the same word is seen in 2 Tim. 3:17, in a passage explaining why the inspiration and sufficiency of the Word of God is so profitable, “…that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” This passage in 2 Tim. 3:16, 17 clarifies that there is only one textbook to be used in the equipping of the saints: The Word of God. Christ… These truths, the necessity for believers to be equipped, and the fact that the Word of God
is to be our textbook, lead to the following conclusion:
“Believers are made adequate and useful for service to God only to the extent that they understand, apply, and are saturated in their heart and thinking with the Word of God.”
There simply is no substitute for spiritual growth and usefulness, it begins and ends with letting “the Word of Christ richly dwell within you” (Col. 3:16).
There are numerous opportunities at RCG for you to be growing in your relationship with God through the study and intake of the Word of God. May I encourage you to re-arrange whatever is necessary in your life for you to take advantage of these opportunities. God wants to bring you into an ever-deepening relationship with Him that He might use you to have an ever-broadening impact for Him.
That His grace may abound and overflow through you.
As a Christian, do you ever feel overwhelmed with a sense of inadequacy in your ability to be what God has called you to be and do what He’s called you to do? I wrestle with this occasionally (like every day!), but I’m growing. And the glorious truth of Romans 8:31,32 is the reason why:
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is
against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him
over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?
This passage speaks to the fact that my greatest problem in life goes far beyond mere feelings of inadequacy. And in Christ, God has dealt with this problem!
My greatest problem, as Paul reveals earlier in the book of Romans, is that I am an unrighteous, rebellious sinner under the wrath and condemnation of God Almighty. Moreover, I have absolutely no way to free myself from either the presence or penalty of my sin. But God in His abundant mercy has provided the remedy! Jesus Christ fully satisfied the judgment of God through the shedding of His blood, and He has fulfilled the righteous demands of the Law through His perfect obedience. And as God has called me to Himself through faith in Jesus Christ, I am now freed from His condemnation and declared righteous. I am thus reconciled to Him under whose wrath I once lived. If God is for us, who can be against us?
And that brings us to Paul’s point in Romans 8:31,32. If God has done this “BIG” thing - provided the remedy for my sin through the offering of His Son Jesus Christ - He is certainly able and willing to provide the “little” things I need to walk obediently with Him in this life. In other words, if God has chosen to powerfully rescue me from His own judgment and reconcile me to Himself in Christ, will He be any less willing and able to provide all I need on a daily basis in following Him? Will He not daily provide the enabling grace for me to be a godly child of His in this world, a godly husband, a godly father, a godly pastor?
And Oh how He gives! He gives me His living Word to make me adequate (2 Timothy 3:16,17). He has given His Holy Spirit to indwell me (1 Corinthians 3:16). He gives me His strength when I’m weary (Isaiah 40:29). He gives me wisdom in the midst of trials (James 1:5). He gives me mercy and grace in every moment of need (Hebrews 4:16). He gives everything I need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3,4). He gives me every spiritual blessing in Christ (Ephesians 1:3-14). He gives me daily provision for all my physical needs (Matthew 6:25-34). He gives me ongoing forgiveness and cleansing of my sin (1 John 1:9). He gives me boldness (Psalm 138:3). He gives me peace that passes understanding (Philippians 4:6,7). He gives me other believers to encourage me in the faith (Hebrews 10:24,25). The list could go on and on - so abundant are His riches in Christ!
Beloved, when Satan hurls his fiery darts of inadequacy and condemnation your way, lift up the shield of faith with promises like Romans 8:31,32! The God who is able to save you from your sin is also the God who is able to keep you. Nothing can separate you from the love of God in Christ. Know it, believe it, cling to it, and act on it. If God is for you, who can be against you?
Prayer is to the soul what breathing is to the lungs. As breathing is the means by which necessary and life-giving oxygen enters into the lungs, so prayer is the means by which God’s necessary and faith-giving grace enters our souls. The only difference in practice between breathing and prayer is that one comes naturally to us, the other does not. But for the person who has been born-again through faith in Jesus Christ, the practice of prayer should become increasingly normal. Let King David teach us this lesson.
Prayer is the expression of a soul longing after God (Ps. 42:1). It is the cry of one in distress (Ps. 18:6), the scream of one in trouble (Ps 61:1,2), the confession of one paralyzed by guilt (Ps. 51), the request of one needing guidance (Ps. 25:4,5), the tears of one saturated with grief (Ps. 6:6,7), the comfort of one who is anxious (Ps. 94:19), the courage of one gripped by fear (Ps. 34:4), the hope of one in despair (Ps. 42:6), the confidence of one who is desperate (Ps. 40:1-3), the strength of one who is weak (Ps. 86:16), the joy of one who is trusting Him alone (Ps. 33:21), the song of one who is secure (Ps. 108:1).
Sadly, too many professing Christians are dull and disinterested when it comes to prayer. Why? Because they have for too long been breathing the polluted air of their own pride and self-sufficiency. Rather than thriving with the fresh air of God’s cleansing and empowering grace - supplied by Jesus Christ and appropriated through prayer. They are content to choke along with a strangled soul. Those in this condition have no power to resist temptation when it comes and they then sink deeper into spiritual slumber and despair. It need not and should not be this way.
The practice of prayer is in reality the practice of humility. Said another way, prayer is the practice of trusting only in God and His Word. The core of all sin is unbelief in the sufficiently of God, trusting in something of our own choosing other than Him. We don’t pray because we don’t trust Him alone to be our refuge. And from this we need to repent.
A drowning person instinctively longs for one necessity: air. Likewise, a humble and broken person is instinctively desperate for one reality: God. To those so inclined, He is eager to show Himself strong.
“Trust in Him at all times, O people;
Pour out your heart before Him;
God is a refuge for us.
On God my salvation and my glory rest;
The rock of my strength, my refuge is in God.” Ps. 62:7,8
I am continually intrigued by how often King David in the Psalms cries out to God in the midst of difficult, distressing, and agonizing circumstances. Consider just a few of these instances:
Psalm 18:6
In my distress I called upon the LORD, And cried to my God for help; He heard my voice out of His temple, And my cry for help before Him came into His ears.
Psalm 25:16,17
Turn to me and be gracious to me, For I am lonely and afflicted. The troubles of my heart are enlarged; Bring me out of my distresses.
Psalm 34:6
This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him And saved him out of all his troubles.
Psalm 86:1
Incline Your ear, O LORD, and answer me; For I am afflicted and needy.
Psalm 118:5
From my distress I called upon the LORD; The LORD answered me and set me in a large place.
Psalm 142:1,2
I cry aloud with my voice to the LORD; I make supplication with my voice to the LORD. I pour out my complaint before Him; I declare my trouble before Him.
I take great encouragement in the presence and frequency of these cries of distress, because David’s experience resonates so much with my own. The only difference is in the specifics of the circumstances. But there is not a week that goes by, actually not a single day, in which I am not similarly driven to cry out to God because of some situation (or situations!) for which I desperately need His help and provision. This happens with increasing frequency.
Not only in the Psalms, but throughout all of Scripture, it is clear that being in distress and agony is a normal Christian experience. The issue isn’t whether we’ll be subject to these things as believers - we will be. The real issue is: how do we respond? For David in the above Psalms, his faith-filled cries to the Lord became the conduit through which God comforted and stabilized his soul, so that David knew great joy and hope even in the distress of his circumstances. As a result, he persevered in trusting and obeying God, even when it was difficult and painful.
God intends to deepen our dependence on Him by leading us through distresses and difficulties that provoke us to seek Him. So we ought not be surprised when we face any number of agonizing circumstances, but rather follow the example of David and countless others in crying out to God. As we do so in faith, regarding all that God has revealed in His word, we too will know more of the joy, hope, strength, and power God lavishes on his thirsty, distressed children. And He will be praised all the more!
Paul said it this way in Phil. 4:6,7:
Philippians 4:6,7
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
From a human perspective, these are times that are marked by great and intensifying confusion. Whether it is the economy, politics, terrorism, the swine flu, persecution and ridicule, or the challenging adventures of interpersonal relationships, all of us are bombarded with various uncertainties that can easily consume our daily existence.
Believers are in no way immune from being impacted by these things, but how critical it is for us grow strong in faith in the midst of such trials! We ought not to be surprised at the myriad of difficulties we face in this fallen world. Jesus couldn’t have been any plainer when He told His disciples in Jn. 16:33 - “In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”
The only means by which the faith of believers can grow strong in the midst of trials is to hold firm to the promises of God in His Word! All of His promises - which flow from and revolve around the redemptive work of Christ on the cross - serve to focus our eternal hope, which is as an anchor for our storm-battered souls (Heb. 6:19).
So let me simply encourage you to feast on, ravish over, embrace, memorize, trust in, meditate upon, pray through, submit to, sing about, declare, and cling to the mighty promises of God revealed in His word! Let us not abandon our hope, but let us be like Abraham of old who, “…did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform.” (Rom. 4:20,21)
And let us live our hope well before a lost and saddened world, that many more might come to saving faith in Jesus Christ!
As we have been working our way through John 17 on Sunday mornings, we’ve been reminded about the clear and focused mission the Lord Jesus has given to all believers: He has sent us into this world to bear testimony of Him. As Jesus says to the Father in the midst of praying for His disciples in John. 17:18
“As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.”
This and many other passages make it clear that for as long as God has us in this world, we who know the Lord Jesus Christ are to tell other people about Him. We’re to talk to people, in the power of God’s Spirit, about how they can be reconciled to God through faith in Christ. I’m convinced that all true Christians intuitively know this is our God-given task. I’m also convinced that most of us, if we are honest, are ultimately pretty wimpy about this task when it comes right down to it. So we all need help in being more faithful.
Many things can and should be said about this matter of evangelism. But I’d like to challenge and encourage you with a simple, profound, radical thought for how you can “break the ice” in talking to your unbelieving friends, family, and acquaintances about the Lord. Are you ready? Here’s the radical thought:
INVITE PEOPLE TO OUR CORPORATE WORSHIP SERVICE ON SUNDAY MORNINGS!
That’s it! Crazy, wild, and earth-shattering idea, isn’t it? Seriously, think about it. How many non-Christian folks, that you interact with on a regular basis, have you invited to join you in worship over this past year? If you are like me, probably not as many as you could have or should have. Just think about the opportunities that a simple invitation to join you for worship on Sunday morning might lead to. If a person accepts your invitation, you have the opportunity to let them know what to expect when they come. We sing, we pray, and we hear Scripture read and preached. You’ll also have the opportunity to “debrief” with them after the service. Most likely they’ll either be intrigued or offended with what they’ve heard and observed, but at least they know more fully what you are about. And who knows what kinds of conversations might come from this.
If they decline your invitation, you might still have an opportunity to talk about why you are a part of RCG, which can ultimately lead to more directly talking about the Good News of the Gospel. So whether a person accepts or declines your invitation, you have at least opened a door to talk about spiritual matters. Again, who knows what kinds of conversations might come from this.
There is, of course, much more to evangelism than simply asking people to church. But I really believe that this can be one of the best, simplest, and most practical ways to break the ice. The results are always in God’s hands. How people may respond is between them and God. But we need to do our part. So be praying about specific people that the Lord might have you to extend such an invitation to, and likewise be praying that you would be graciously bold and faithful in bearing witness of Jesus Christ. This is our God-given task and mission - let’s diligently keep at it!
True believers are often encouraged by the testimony of other saints regarding what they have known of the faithfulness of God in their lives. Such testimonies spur us on to trust the promises and purposes of God, and bring great refreshment when our souls are weary in the battle of faith.
One such testimony that ought to ever strengthen and nourish us comes from King David at the beginning of his well-known 23rd Psalm - “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.”
Employing the rich shepherding imagery of the Ancient Near East, imagery which David lived out as a young boy, he sublimely declares his complete, total, ongoing satisfaction in the shepherding care of his God. In the rest of the Psalm, David vividly describes the many dimensions of God’s faithful care. All of these dimensions are the basis upon which David knows such peace, joy, and freedom from want with his God. He was utterly convinced of and secure in the Shepherd’s powerful, skillful, loving care. Thus his soul sang!
This is a truth that we can never hear often enough, nor meditate on frequently enough. We are so easily beset by myriads of temptations toward fear, anxiety, and doubt. Such temptations are usually not just random and occasional in our experience. Indeed, they are incessant and constant. They are temptations that would move us to the realm of unbelief, a realm in which we think of and respond to God as far less than He truly is.
Yet for those who have come to faith in the Good Shepherd who has laid down His life for them (Jn. 10:11), who have thus returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of their souls (1 Pet. 2:25), we may and we must give the same testimony as David. God has not changed!! Note that David’s testimony is not
just declaring an objective truth (the Lord is THE Shepherd), but a personal, experiential truth (the Lord is MY Shepherd.)
May you know Him ever more fully as YOUR Shepherd, and thus sing with the hymnwriter:
The King of love my Shepherd is,
Whose goodness faileth never,
I nothing lack if I am His
And He is mine forever.
(Words: Henry W. Baker, in Hymns Ancient and Modern [London: 1868], found at
http://cyberhymnal.org/htm/k/i/kinglove.htm)
This coming July 10, a very significant and special birthday will be celebrated. On that day 500 years ago, in the small town of Noyon, France, one of the prominent figures in church history was born - John Calvin. While Calvin only lived 54 years on this earth, in God’s providence his Christ-exalting, Biblically-saturated influence continues all around the world even to this day. Indeed, because Calvin was first and foremost a preacher of God’s Word, his works are perhaps more relevant today than ever.
My son, Zach, gave me a special book this last Christmas that was compiled in honor of this great reformer’s 500th birthday. It is entitled 365 Days With Calvin (Day One Publications, 2008.) It is edited by Joel R. Beeke, and has daily readings based on excerpts from Calvin’s Commentaries. Each reading is followed by a brief meditation from Beeke. The entry from January 23 was
particularly convicting, and therefore encouraging to my soul - I trust it will be to yours as well. It’s entitled “Ungodly Society.”
“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.” Psalm 1:1
Calvin’s Comments: “The psalmist says it shall go well with God’s devout servants whose constant endeavor is to progress in the study of His law. Most people derided the conduct of the saints as mere simplicity and regarded their labor as useless. So it was important that the righteous should be confirmed in the way of holiness. This is done, first, by considering the miserable condition of all men who are without the blessing of God. It is supported by the conviction that God favors no one but those who zealously devote themselves to the study of divine truth. Moreover, as corruption has always prevailed in the world to such a degree that the general direction of men’s lives is nothing but a continual departure from the law of God, the psalmist admonishes believers to beware of being affected by the ungodliness of the multitude around them. Beginning with a declaration of his abhorrence of the wicked, the psalmist teaches us how impossible it is for anyone to meditate upon God’s law without first withdrawing and separating himself from the society of the ungodly. This is surely a needful admonition, for we see howthoughtlessly men will throw themselves into the snares of Satan and how few there are who guard against the enticements of sin.
“To be fully apprized of our danger, we must remember that the world is fraught with deadly corruption. The first step to living well is to renounce the company of the ungodly; otherwise their conduct is sure to infect us with pollution.”
Beeke’s Meditation: “Calvin’s comment that it is impossible to meditate upon God’s law when surrounded by the ungodly is very applicable today. Cell phones, iPods, e-mail, and other technology can dominate our lives and surround us with ungodly influences. In our use of these technologies, are we taking care to avoid what the psalmist warns us against in Psalm 1:1?”
As a new year once again begins, I’ve invited C.H. Spurgeon to pass on some thoughts and exhortations for our benefit. These come from the December 31 morning entry of his “Morning and Evening” devotional.
“In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, if any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink.” — John 7:37
Patience had her perfect work in the Lord Jesus, and until the last day of the feast he pleaded with the Jews, even as on this last day of the year he pleads with us, and waits to be gracious to us. Admirable indeed is the longsuffering of the Saviour in bearing with some of us year after year, notwithstanding our provocations, rebellions, and resistance of his Holy Spirit. Wonder of wonders that we are still in the land of mercy!
Pity expressed herself most plainly, for Jesus cried, which implies not only the loudness of his voice, but the tenderness of his tones. He entreats us to be reconciled. “We pray you,” says the Apostle, “as though God did beseech you by us.” What earnest, pathetic terms are these! How deep must be the love which makes the Lord weep over sinners, and like a mother woo his children to his bosom! Surely at the call of such a cry our willing hearts will come.
Provision is made most plenteously; all is provided that man can need to quench his soul’s thirst. To his conscience the atonement brings peace; to his understanding the gospel brings the richest instruction; to his heart the person of Jesus is the noblest object of affection; to the whole man the truth as it is in Jesus supplies the purest nutriment. Thirst is terrible, but Jesus can remove it. Though the soul were utterly famished, Jesus could restore it.
Proclamation is made most freely, that every thirsty one is welcome. No other distinction is made but that of thirst. Whether it be the thirst of avarice, ambition, pleasure, knowledge, or rest, he who suffers from it is invited. The thirst may be bad in itself, and be no sign of grace, but rather a mark of inordinate sin longing to be gratified with deeper draughts of lust; but it is not goodness in the creature which brings him the invitation, the Lord Jesus sends it freely, and without respect of persons.
Personality is declared most fully. The sinner must come to Jesus, not to works, ordinances, or doctrines, but to a personal Redeemer, who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree. The bleeding, dying, rising Saviour, is the only star of hope to a sinner. Oh for grace to come now and drink, ere the sun sets upon the year’s last day!
No waiting or preparation is so much as hinted at. Drinking represents a reception for which no fitness is required. A fool, a thief, a harlot can drink; and so sinfulness of character is no bar to the invitation to believe in Jesus. We want no golden cup, no bejewelled chalice, in which to convey the water to the thirsty; the mouth of poverty is welcome to stoop down and quaff the flowing flood. Blistered, leprous, filthy lips may touch the stream of divine love; they cannot pollute it, but shall themselves be purified. Jesus is the fount of hope. Dear reader, hear the dear Redeemer’s loving voice as he cries to each of us, “if any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink.”
