I am pleased to announce the availability of a new booklet to introduce people to the gospel. It's entitled: How Can I Know Eternal Life? Click on the title above for a description and preview of sample pages.
"How can I know eternal life?" Shouldn't the question be, how can I have eternal life? Isn't salvation something believers possess?
"Have" would work in the title. After all, the sure promise of eternal life is precious to those who have trusted in Jesus Christ. The joy of sins forgiven stands as a gift, offered from the gracious hand of God to all who will repent and believe. Removal of sin's guilt that renders us odious before a holy God, deliverance from sin's power that pulls us down into the pit of hell, provision of the cloak of spotless righteousness earned on our behalf--the gospel of life in Jesus Christ contains all these. That gospel is a gift and the hope of its recipients stands as a present possession.
Yet the gospel is more. It brings something greater than a treasure trove of gifts. It brings us the Giver Himself. In His high priestly prayer recorded in John 17 that showcases the glory of the gospel and the personal involvement of God in all its facets, Jesus surprises us with His description of eternal life.
"And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." (v. 4)
Eternal life involves not just having. It reaches to the redemptive heights of knowing God, knowing Him in restored, reconciled relationship. The Christian life embarks on the journey of growing in the grace and knowledge of this God, where goodness and mercy follows us all the days of our lives and we will dwell in the house of our God forever, not as guests but as His children, not temporarily but for eternity.
(Below is the third (of 3)installment of the CHOP Ministry Manual (p. 12), preparing participants for involvement in strategic prayer outreach to those among whom God has placed them.)
As we look to embark upon a ministry of reaching others for Christ what bearings are we given? The land we survey gives us a panorama of grace, a grace that has swept us up in its current, a grace that oxygenates and invigorates our existence in this world, and a grace that qualifies and empowers our role as ambassadors of Christ. We enjoy the standing we do only by the grace of God. His grace sustains us each and every day, leading us away from self-focus and self-dependence to find our strength and sufficiency in Christ (Titus 2:11-14; 3:4-7). His grace has given us new hope, a new identity and a new home and His grace will lead us home.
With these bearings, as ones who have received every spiritual blessing in Christ because of the grace of God and who are stationed as His witnesses in this world, we turn to how we can be faithful to carry out that role. CHOP is a tool designed to equip, engage and encourage us in faithful service to our Lord as instruments of grace in His hand for the spreading of the sure hope of the gospel.
(Excerpt from Community Houses of Prayer Ministry Manual, Outreach Orientation, pp. 11-12)
As part of this new kingdom of hope, joy and peace, we enjoy not only the blessings of heavenly citizenship, we find ourselves as subjects and servants of a new King, workers in His vineyard, soldiers of His kingdom. No longer is this world our home. Rather we are citizens of heaven, aliens and pilgrims in this world, not occupied with building our own kingdoms or enhancing our own reputations but concerned with Christ’s kingdom priorities and values, seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness. In this sojourning our Lord calls us to be ambassadors of hope, declaring to those around us without God and without hope (Eph. 2:12), the sure hope of the gospel wherein a perfect righteousness is found in Christ apart from our own efforts at obedience to God’s law (Rom 3:19-24).
Our lives bear witness to this God of hope both in word and in deed. The character of our lives is to point others not to how great we are but to how great is our God (1 Pet. 2:11). That our behavior might not point to us or to any notion that salvation is by our good behavior, we are to give interpretation to our deeds as the Lord provides opportunity by verbal explanation for the hope we have (1 Pet. 3:15). Our lives are governed by the reality that Christ bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness; by His wounds we are healed. We were as sheep gone astray, but now by the grace of God we have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls. (1 Pet. 2:24f; cf. Is. 53:4-6). Our lives are His and we live for Him.
(Excerpt from Community Houses of Prayer Ministry Manual, Outreach Orientation, p. 11)
Our Lord Jesus Christ has called us to Himself to belong to Him and to follow Him. He has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness that imprisoned us in sin’s mastery, misery and condemnation. He has brought us into His kingdom of light and life, the very ground and reason for our worship (1 Pet. 2:9f.). Through Him we are sons and daughters of the living God, servants of the Most High.
Hope. To us belongs a hope, not a “hope-so” hope of wishful thinking but a hope of confident expectation, assured conviction and vibrant certainty. Ours is not futile hype, but a fertile hope grounded in the historical work of Jesus Christ. As the writer of Hebrews puts it: “We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf.” (Heb. 6:19-20a). This hope points to the finished, victorious, redemptive work of Jesus on our behalf that secures our salvation and secures us as heirs of eternal life. The apostle Peter exclaims the praises of such a God who graciously gives us new birth into a living hope (1 Pet. 1:3), in which our inheritance is held for us (1 Pet. 1:4) and we are held in His mighty hand for our inheritance (1 Pet. 1:5). We live out our days in anticipation of the blessed hope, the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13). Every day of our lives we live as the redeemed of the Lord, children of hope (1 Thess. 5:5), different from those of the world who have no hope (1 Thess. 4:13). As we walk by faith, God fills our lives with faith, hope and love, causing us to overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 15:13).
I toyed with the idea of getting a smart phone. To be honest, I fantasized about it. All those cool apps. Constantly connected. Then I thought of the downside. All those cool apps. Constantly connected. I could see myself becoming infatuated with the apps I had and wanting to know what else was available. I envisioned myself constantly checking my email to spend time on things that could easily wait until I got to my computers at home or office. Plus, I had seen the distractions the smart phones could be for others in classes I had taught.
Yet, the idea of constant connectivity does seem a positive thing when it comes to our communion with God. Whether the blogging of dialog with God in our journals or prayer closets (Neh.9), or tweeting expressions of thanks or praise or help as the occasion prompts (Neh. 2:4; 4:9), or posting the events of life in the friendship of His grace (Neh. 1:4-11), constant fellowship with God seems a good and necessary dimension of life with our Heavenly Father.
After all, we are to pray without ceasing.
We are a nation addicted to junk food. In this I count myself chief of sinners. As big a concern as that may be, it pales in comparison to its spiritual parallel.
The psalmist spreads before us the feast of God's love:
"Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
and his wonderful deeds to men,
for he satisfies the thirsty
and fills the hungry with good things." (Psalm 107:8-9)
We understand those "good things" as God's redemptive mercies and the glories of his grace bound up in Jesus Christ. In her Magnificat, Mary reveled in the realized promises of God, declaring that God her Savior had "filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty" (Luke 1:53).
Who are these hungry? They are those longing to be filled the Bread of Life, whose spiritual palate has been awakened to God's provision of enduring Manna. Isaiah speaks to those so awakened, giving both promise and warning:
"Come, everyone who thirsts,
come to waters;
and he who has no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
Isaiah appeals to those aware of their need, bringing the invitation of God to take and eat.
"Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Yet the empty calories of the world's offerings compete and attract.
"Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
Incline your ear, and come to me;
hear, that your soul may live;
and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
my steadfast, sure love for David." (Is. 55:1-3)
We are to listen intently to God. As we do we find the issue is not physical nourishment but spiritual. The richness of the food speaks to the substance of salvation, bound up in the Son of David, the Chosen One, the sole covenant keeper, Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life, the one Mary was told would inherit the throne of his father David and whose kingdom would never end (Luke 1:32f.)
The Spirit of God has opened our eyes to taste and see that the Lord is good, to savor the Savior. The question we need to ask ourselves, though, is, what is our daily diet? Or, to put it more pointedly, with what are we filling ourselves? Where are we trying to satisfy our thirst? Or perhaps more clearly, of whose love do we drink deeply?
Our heart hungers, our restless spirit searches. And we turn to the lures of evils on the internet to satisfy. The latest electronic gadget makes us salivate. Our eyes widen and taste buds pop as we read the sales circulars. We find "rich" food in the offerings of the world that at best offer empty calories and at worst poison for the soul.
Just as we find life in Christ, so we must feed upon Christ in communion with him, in delight of his blessings and in full enjoyment of his love. Only then will we be strong in the Lord and worthy instruments in his service.
As the National Day of Prayer (the first Thursday in May) draws near a buzz has been generated by the ruling of a federal judge declaring the day unconstitutional. But even if that ruling is upheld, what difference does it make? Should it stop the church from praying? Can it stop the church from praying? Not only can believers legally gather for prayer, even the most severe of government strictures cannot silence believers in their communion with God and petitioning of him on behalf of the nation.
Actually, when it comes down to restricting prayer, the church is doing a pretty good job all on its own. Often we don't pray, don't feel the need to pray, and the prayer we do engage in seems pretty anemic. In fact, this prayerlessness is one of the things for which we need to repent and bear the fruit of repentance in taking up the mantle of prayer given us by our Lord. In the service I prepared for my congregation for the National Day of Prayer, I include these confessions of our prayerlessness:
we your people, called by your name, do not humble ourselves and pray but instead go about our business in prideful self-sufficiency and willful neglect of your commandments and decrees, unconcerned for the name of Jesus Christ that we bear and inattentive to his design for us as his disciples;
we do not seek your face nor turn from our loveless indifference and worldly preoccupations, actually tolerating and even enjoying the corruptions of this world to the dishonor of you who has called us to be holy as you are holy;
we are not salt and light to our nation, nor do we desire to be, content to dabble in “Christian” practice and use you for our ends;
(I will post the whole prayer of confession after the May 6 service)
The buzz created by the judicial questioning of a national day of prayer and the ripples of rumor surrounding it should strengthen our resolve to pray, and not just on a designated day. But my guess is that it won't. Being up in arms will not translate to being on our knees. And that is to our shame.
I met with a Christian brother recently who has been vigorously trying to get the Community Houses of Prayer ministry started in his local church. I've always admired this brother for his administrative skills and wizened ways. He knows the patience and perseverance involved in establishing new ideas, and he has exhibited this approach with CHOP in his church--starting small, building an enthusiastic nucleus, trying to bring influential leaders on board, working with appropriate committees. So far he has some enthusiasts who have seen the power of prayer, experienced the heart of God and transformed their mentality as witnesses for Christ through the CHOP ministry. But overall he has encountered apathy and even annoyance.
It seems his church has a mentality of mission that looks to foreign soil. Mission affects them as supporters of "missionaries." There is little sense of or interest in personal witness and how God might use them for the sake the gospel. Complicating matters is the academic approach of the church that is happy to be instructed in theology but reluctant to be involved in its practice. Discipleship stops at education at the expense of being equipped and engaged in service to Christ.
I'm sure these are generalizations and it would be wrong to paint each member of that church with the brush that colors the whole. However, it does highlight a problem with the church militant and the forces of Christ for the sake of gospel and advancement of kingdom of our Lord. It seems to me the culprits are lack of love for God and neighbor, absence of commitment to Jesus Christ and an obstinate view of the church as an outpost of Christ's kingdom.
I would value my readers' thoughts and opinions on the subject. I would also enjoin each us to importunate prayer, giving God no rest until He restores His church to the action of faith that believes the gospel is the only hope of salvation and that we are His appointed conduits.
"I have sinned ; the Lord is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. Plead with the Lord."
"We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord.... Pray to the Lord."
Two admissions of guilt. Two requests for mercy. The first came from the lips of Pharaoh in Exodus 9:27, asking Moses to intercede for him. The second was uttered by the people of God in Numbers 21:7. Pharaoh would eventually face the judgment of God in the depths of the Red Sea. For His people, God would tell Moses to make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole that everyone bitten may look upon it and be spared the death he deserved.
What was the difference between Pharaoh and the Israelites that God should act as He did? The only answer we can find is that God will have mercy on whom He will have mercy. The only reason God provided a way of escape from judgment for the Israelites was that He had set His love upon them for His own reasons.
In the provision of the fiery serpent, God shows us Jesus, whom He sent in love that whoever looks to Him in faith may not perish but live, eternally. Jesus is offered to the world, Jew and Gentile alike, but offered for His sheep.
That we believe casts us upon the electing purposes of our God. We deserve mercy no more than the next guy, and we deserve judgment every bit as much as any other sinner. Our response has to be shock and awe at such amazing love and condescending grace.
May this amazing love grip our hearts and compel our witness that we might be the ones to hold up Jesus that everyone who sees Him and believes on Him might gain eternal life.
Someone lamented to me this week how urgent it is for us as Christ's church to involve ourselves with our neighbors and with others in our spheres of influence for the cause of the gospel. He pointed out how no one would deny the importance of evangelism and few would suggest Christ's mantle of witness is not draped on their shoulders. Yet we often remain disinterested, unmotivated and uninvolved.
I am convinced that the closer our walk with our God, the closer we will draw to those around us to converse about Christ. This is where the Community Houses of Prayer (CHOP) ministry comes in. May God be pleased to use CHOP for the enlivening of His people, the equipping of His church and the extension of His kingdom. Below is a description of the ministry. I encourage you to get it started where God has established you for the sake of His name.
"CHOP is a ministry tool that directs prayer as a means to revive (motivation) our hearts in grace as we draw near to the living God as our loving Father and to involve (participation) us in our everyday lives as active witnesses for Jesus Christ in dependence and expectation of His working. CHOP looks to cultivate in us a greater awareness of the evangelistic nature of ordinary life in which we find ourselves every day. It kindles in us an attitude of personal involvement and expectation as the witnesses for Christ we are by virtue of being His disciples. It involves us in the actual activity of bearing verbal witness to the glorious gospel of salvation bound up in Christ alone. We look to draw near to people for Christ and draw near to Christ for people. And we do it collectively, united with fellow believers for mutual encouragement in a common mission." (Community Houses of Prayer Ministry Manual, p. 13).