Does Sarah Condemn You? Why You Should Not Be Afraid of Frightening Things

Can you think of anything more frightening than obedience?  Certainly evil clowns and chainsaw murderers might seem to befirst on the list, if you asked me.  But the Scriptures tell a different story.

The Apostle Peter explains that Sarah, Abraham’s wife, was a remarkable woman because of her submission and obedience.  In fact, women who imitate her faith are known as her children, which is only fitting seeing that Abraham is the father of those who are righteous through faith.  What’s more, Sarah is held up as a model of bravery and fearlessness.  Peter writes, “And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening” (2 Peter 3:6).  This is a strange way of talking.  Be definition, frightening things are scary, and typically we are not prone to feel comfortable around frightening things.  This is why horror movies are so popular–they allow us to examine evil from a safe distance.  But if we were to ever find ourselves in a moment of horror and terror, well, again, that’s a different story altogether.

Sarah was not afraid of submission or obedience.  She followed Abraham into an unknown land, trusting God to make good on his promise.  And God did.  Sarah obeyed God beautifully.  She adorned herself with hope.  She had the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit.  Her confidence was in the goodness of God to give her what he had promised, so she did not fear the frightening prospect of following her husband into another land.  No longer would she observe the unknown from a safe distance–now she would walk right into it.

But really, the moral of the story is not to trust God with your future, though this is certainly an implication.  The point is this: do not be afraid of frightening things–trust God and obey him.  Those who do not know God fear for their lives–they are afraid to be confronted by evil.  But those who belong to Jesus have overcome evil.  They are not afraid of frightening things.

This is not about laughing at murder and perversion and crookedness–certainly not.  We acknowledge the evil and horror of these things.  But we must think more in terms of our craving for immediate comfort and satisfaction, “What will we eat?  What will we wear?”  Jesus said that pagans are consumed with these questions.  But we must not be afraid of what we do not understand; rather, we must trust God and obey him.  We are Abraham and Sarah’s children if we put our hope and confidence in the promises of One who has been before us to battle the dark forces in the heavenly places.  We are not afraid of frightening things because we fear the one who is able to cast the soul and body into hell, and he is for us and not against us.

Would you be condemned by a woman with a gentle and quiet spirit?  Then trust God and obey him, and you will not be orphans, but children of the one who was not afraid of frightening things.

Does Noah Condemn You? Why You Should Be Afraid of Fearlessness

Maybe the last image that comes to our mind when we think of Noah is that of a powerful judge.  More likely would be the image of a gentle, smiling man surrounded by happy animals in a small boat floating in a pond.  At least, that’s what comes to my mind.  It’s hard to escape this image when it is everywhere presented, almost as fiction.  But the truth is that far from saving a few animals, Noah actually condemned the entire world.  Yep.  He did.  Me and you included.

Hebrews tells us that Noah built his ark out of “reverent fear” and in doing so, he condemned the world and became an heir of righteousness, the righteousness that comes by faith (11:7).  No condemnatory words came out of Noah’s mouth, at least not that we  know about, but by building a mammoth ship to save himself and his family, he left the rest to perish. He never spoke a word about what was to come, and yet he is called a “herald of righteousness” (2 Pt. 2:5).  Why?  Because out of fear he fled from the wrath to come.  He built an ark because he was afraid.

Not so for others in his day.  Jesus tells us that those in Noah’s day were unaware of the impending doom which loomed over their world, until the day when the floods consumed them (Matt. 24:38-39).  They were eating and drinking and living normal lives.  But they were not afraid, so they did not understand their plight.  They were safe on land, away from the waters of judgment.

But the baptismal waters soon covered them, and the seas were filled with their lifeless corpses, soon to be fertilizer for dry ground.  And Noah came safely through the waters because he was in a boat–that’s it.  If he had not built the ark, he too would have been covered.  But he was fearful, and so he was saved.

And here is the message from the mouth of this herald of righteousness: flee from the wrath to come.  If we do not take judgment seriously, we will most surely not escape it.  Just as in the days of Noah, we may continue to live normal lives, and yet if we do not see storm clouds forming overhead, we too will be consumed by the flood of wrath.

All this to say, there is a greater judgment to come, and we have been warned.  Jesus too obeyed his Father and underwent the waters of judgment, now bringing us through them as well, if we find ourselves in him.  And if we choose to remain outside of Christ, there is nothing but a fiery judgment for us.  God’s wrath is the penalty for our infinite offenses against him.  But like Noah, fear brings the faith that God reckons to us as righteousness.  There is no reason to fear if we are afraid.

The question then is “Does Noah condemn you too?”  If you are not afraid, he does.

Prosperity Lies

Inheritance Over Halo: Why It is Better to be a Son than an Angel

We like to speak in angelic terms when talking about people who are exceptionally good: “Isn’t she an angel” or “he looked like an angel.”  But really, that isn’t saying much at all.  It would be better to be called a son.  As the Scriptures ask, “to which of the angels did God ever say, ‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you?’” (Hebrews 1:5).  None.  Not one.  It is better to be a son.

And why?  Because the Father says to the Son, “God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions” (v. 9).  Do the angels know this joy?  And the Scriptures ask again, “to which of the angels has he ever said, ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet?’” (v. 13).  Only the Son will crush his enemies underfoot.  The angels may be in God’s presence, but the Son receives his Father’s inheritance: exaltation.

But sonship is not just for Jesus.  Christ has made a way for all sinners to get back to the Father, even us, who have squandered our inheritance.  And we are not just welcomed back as sons, we are given a place at the table with the Father.  ”See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are” (1 John 3:1).  We are sons and daughters of God in Christ; by his blood we are given a sonship, that is, a right to the inheritance.  And what is that?  To be exalted with Christ, that is, to rule with him as small kings and queens.  In Jesus the Son of God, we become heirs of eternal salvation and gain the power to overcome our enemies.  We are set free from the prisons of our past and given passage into the New Jerusalem, the paradise of God.  To which angel has God ever granted these things?

It might be better to get away from angelic labels, since all they have is halos.  I’d rather have an inheritance.  As for angels: “Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?” (v. 14).

Door of Death: How to Get Back to God from Here

People are always looking for doors.  Some of them are hoping to find fortune on the other side, some security, somecompanionship.  But everyone is looking.  And we all look because we all want to pass from this life into another, from our present situation to a greater and better way of living.  None of this is by accident.  We are destined to pass through doors.

When Adam and Even were pushed out of their garden home to be wanderers in the desert, the passage back to Eden was guarded by cherubim.  And we wonder with them, “Is there a way back into God’s presence?  Is there a way back to life?”

Then people tried to build a door into the heavens, a tower that soared above the clouds, upward into God’s presence.  But the Lord crumbled their tower and scattered them across the earth.  They were not using the right door.

Then came judgment, when God sent the angel of death to Egypt.  The only homes which were spared were those who had splattered blood across the doorway.  Here we begin to see a doorway back into the Garden, but it came at the price of blood.  The way back to God was deadly and fearful and scary; nevertheless, it offered mercy and new life.

Then there was the Temple, but God was separated and holy–there was a veil which kept us away from him.  Only one could pass through the veil, but even he was not worthy.  God was still inaccessible.  No one was worthy to go behind the veil and pull it back for us so that we might be with God.

Then Jesus comes, saying “Enter by the narrow gate.”  There is a way back to God, he said, but it is much different than you think.  It’s not through sanctification first, but through sacrifice; it’s not by religious service, but by a Redeemer-Savior.

Then Jesus says, “I am the door.”

Then he was crucified.  Sin was crouching at the door, and its desire was to overcome him.  But it could not.  He died, but the veil was torn in two.  He was buried, but Jesus was raised, and he rolled back the door of death that held him in and the way out of the grave was opened up.  Jesus stood in the flesh just a few feet in front of the door that had held his body captive.  Now he stood there, breathing and seeing and hearing, as the doorway to new life.

No longer were there angels guarding the way to the door.  In fact, they said, “He is not here.  He is risen.”  They marvel at the grace and wonder which would welcome sinners back into the paradise of God.

The truth is, we are all born on the inside of the grave, and none of us can pass through it.  We are literally buried alive, kept out of the presence of God.  But there is a door which is opened to us that leads back into the presence of God.  It is splattered with blood; it has been shredded apart.  And Jesus alone leads us through it.  But we must die to enter through it.  It is a door that demands our death, but its promise is eternal life.  Many try to climb in another way; they are robbers and thieves.  Jesus, however, is the Shepherd.  His sheep know his voice, and they follow him through the door.  He died first for us, and now we die with him so that we may reign with him on the other side of the door.

Everyone is looking for a door, but few want to die to enter it.  But many people would rather live in the grave, held in by the door of death, than die so that they may pass through the door of life.  Don’t let that be you.  There is nothing but judgment on the other side of the door.  Repent, and walk through the blood-splattered door of God’s Lamb.  Jesus is the door back to God.  Hear his voice, and follow him, through death, back into the presence of God.

A Reason To Laugh (and Mourn)

Planned Parenthood Director Leaves, Has Change of Heart

A Mother’s Home and a Devil’s Hell: How One Can Save You from the Other

Motherhood is warfare. It is about saving lives. It is about fighting for your children’s lives. And I don’t mean fighting for a better education, or fighting for a drug-free teenager. For Christ-loving mothers, motherhoood is about saving people from God’s wrath.

Most women are called to be mothers. This is how God has designed the world, and to avoid motherhood is to avoid one of the greatest opportunities to overcome the evil one and his evil schemes. Motherhood ought to be gladly embraced as a calling, not as a career, or even worse, something to do after you’ve finished you’re career.

Motherhood is a ministry that saves people from hell, or at least, it should be, and it can be for those mothers who are hoping in Christ. A mother’s home ought to be the one place, even if it is the only place, where her children and husband can see the gospel lived out before them. The home is the perfect place for the gospel because it is the perfect place for sin. The sinfulness of our flesh may manifest itself most in our homes, where there is the most potential for hating and fighting and dissension. Yet this is the perfect place for a mother to display the humility of Christ by humbling herself to do the dirty work of motherhood.

When a mother embraces her rebellious teenage son and forgives his recklessness time and again, for the sake of saving him from hell, the gospel is being lived out. When a weeping mother can barely stand to face her indifferent husband, but loves him in humility anyway, she is displaying the gospel of Jesus Christ. When a sorrowful mother confronts her teenage daughter about her dangerous behavior, knowing that she will face tremendous conflict, she is proving in a very real way that Jesus Christ is Lord and will give her grace in her time of need.

A mother’s heart and behavior have a direct affect on the direction of her children and husband’s lives. This is why Titus tells us that young women ought to “love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled” (2:4-5). Paul also instructs Timothy to tell the younger widows to “marry, bear children, manage their households, and give the adversary no occasion for slander” (1 Tim. 5:14). There is a connection between the mother’s home and the Word of God: by keeping a Christ-centered home, the mother keeps the Word of God from being rejected and despised. This is spiritual warfare; this is the gospel overcoming the evil world.

So the next time your toddler screams at you, or the next time your adolescent son hides himself away in his room, or the next time your teenage daughter struggles with relating to boys, remember: motherhood is about saving lives. Your home is the perfect place for the gospel. Pray to God that he will use you to bring your family to faith in Christ. Pray to God that they will love Christ and his gospel, so that on Judgment Day, they will stand before Christ and escape a Devil’s hell because of their mother’s home.

Tasting Tomorrow: Do You Have a Palate for the Powers to Come?

You’ve heard people talk about “tomorrow” in visionary terms, like “I can just see it.”  But have you ever heard anyone say they can feel it on their tongues?  Maybe the future is so bright you have to wear shades, but does it taste so good you that you salivate?

The author of Hebrews speaks of those who “taste” better things to come, but have no appetite for them.  He says, “It is impossible to restore again to repentance those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they then fall away, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt” (Hebrews 6:4-6).  What is the problem here?  That those who hunger for greater things reject the greatest thing, namely, the knowledge of Christ.  They have tasted God’s grace and spit it out–what hope do they have of anything better?

But how do you taste the “powers of the age to come”?  It would seem that this flavor is found among the people of God, which is the Bride of Christ, the Church, and specifically, local churches.  If after experiencing the transforming grace of God working in and through the lives of believers a person still rejects Christ, they have no other hope; it’s not like they can crucify Jesus again.  Herein lies the warning for believers: if we turn away from Christ, there is no further hope, so do not turn away.

Our palates must be pleased with the powers of the age to come.  So many of us long for better things and grow weary of battling so many of the things that we deal with daily.  But if we fail to recognize the goodness of God to us in our churches today, we fail to understand the nature of the days to come, and thus we have misguided taste buds.  The Church is displaying the manifold wisdom of God to the cosmos–this is his eternal plan, the mystery now revealed.  The Church is a resurrected body of saints rushing toward a final day of suffering under sin’s awful dominion, a day on which we will look down at the head of our enemy as he squirms beneath our Warrior-King’s feet.  But this is not just a future event.  Even now his foot is pressing down, and the gates of hell cannot overcome him.

Don’t miss this.  The powers of the age to come are on display now in local church congregations across the globe.  Men and women are turning from cherished sin toward Christ.  Families are refusing to give in to cultural pressures which would separate them.  Brave believers are dying at the hands of ruthless oppressors.  And countless numbers of people are being transferred from a kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son.  When we see this, we get a taste of the days to come, when death itself will be destroyed.  This is what we must long for.  This is what our glands should salivate over.  This is what our tongues ought to tingle for.

The power of the ages to come is working even now.  Do you like the way it tastes?

Receiving is Believing: Why Truth Must Be Welcomed To Be Believed

Biblical belief is more than recognizing and giving ascent to truth–it is rejoicing over truth.  Luke tells us that after Peter preached at Pentecost, those who received his word celebrated by being baptized (Acts 2:41).  They recognized truth and rejoiced in it to the point that they publicly identified themselves with the gospel of Jesus.  They believed, and you knew they believed because they welcomed the truth with gladness.  They received it, and that meant more than merely believing it.

James warns us against being only “hearers” of the word and not “doers” (1:22).  Hearers are those who recognize truth but do not welcome it–they do not receive it.  But doers are those who “receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save [their] souls” (v. 21).  They receive the word, unlike those who only believe it.

The danger is that we come to the place where we no longer rejoice over the gospel, the point at which we recognize truth as good and holy, but do not see it as desirable and lovely.  There is the danger of becoming dull in our hearing (Hebrews 5:11), so that we hear but do not hear, and see but do not see.  Truth is meant to be loved and delighted in and rejoiced over.  The man who found a treasure in a field sold all that he had so that he could purchase the field–in his joy he sold everything, so that he might have the treasure.  This is what it means to rejoice over truth.

It is so easy to grow dull in our hearing.  Lawlessness abounds when we do not receive the truth–our love grows cold because we do not delight in truth.  If you want to see wickedness at work, look for those who know the truth but have not been set free by it.  Look for those who can point to truth, but walk away from it.  And when I say truth, I mean the gospel.  Everything belongs within this redemptive context–the gospel is the framework for all truth.  It is the end of all questioning, indeed, even the beginning, as we groan inwardly for redemption and salvation.

For this redemption we wait with eager expectation . . . waiting to welcome our Lord Jesus in the clouds “when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed” (2 Thess. 1:10).  We welcome you here, Lord Jesus–come quickly.

Pray Like a Widow (Or Be Judged)

Think about what Paul told Timothy: “She who is truly a widow, left all alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day, but she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives” (1 Timothy 5:5-6).  He’s talking about caring for true widows within the church, those who are really all alone with no one else to turn to but God.  These women continue in prayer day and night because their need for care is serious and urgent.  They are truly in need.

What about those who are not really widows?  What’s the difference?  They don’t cast themselves on God in desperation, but wrongfully indulge themselves on the kindness and concern of others.  In contrast, true widows are really all alone.  If the church doesn’t feed them, they will starve to death.  And so they pray day and night and lay out supplications before God, entrusting their lives to the One who made their empty stomachs that are grumbling in hunger.  They pray in desperation–they are true widows and have no recourse but to cast themselves on God.

Pray like a desperate widow, because if you do not turn to God in desperation you will open your mouth for others to fill it, and this is self-indulgence.  Those who are self-indulgent will be judged, James tell us (5:5).  But those who understand their desperation will cast themselves on God.  Widow or not, we are all commanded to do just this, to prostrate ourselves before the God of mammon and money and houses and cars, and to recognize our absolute poverty apart from his gracious provision.  In this regard, we ought to all be praying like widows so that we may escape judgment.

Monogamy is a Context

Sexual liberality has almost swallowed monogamy wholly.  We may have gained the freedom to get naked whenever we want with whomever we want, but only at the sacrifice of losing the only way to understand the world.  Monogamy isn’t a contract–it’s a context.  If we lose the story of monogamy, we lose everything.  Monogamy is the meaning of life.

By monogamy, I mean more than having a single sex partner (at a time).  I mean marital fidelity, lasting commitment, permanent wholeness.  Marriage is the way the world works, and in order for marriage to work, there must be monogamy.  You can drop all of the pieces of life into the paradigm of monogamy, and they will fit perfectly.  We have been suited for singular affection.  There is a pattern underneath marriage that we don’t always see.  Nevertheless, the world is shaped monogamously, and we are unavoidably attracted to being one with one other.

Ultimately, we become whole when we are reconciled to God through Jesus Christ.  By being found in him, literally becoming one with him, we are restored to monogamy.  Apart from Christ, we are self-seeking idolaters.  God calls us whorish and adulterous.  Faithlessness is in our DNA.  But through Jesus blood, a new DNA is transferred to us–we are given the blood of God.  Monogamy courses through our veins, and every chemical and tissue and muscle in our body begins to long for wholeness and completeness.  The full weight of the curse presses on us as the reality of our helplessness and captivity is realized.  We are compelled to monogamy in every respect.

Understanding monogamy means to know the gospel, because the gospel is a story about sacrificial fidelity.  The brokenness of sin is the fracturing of fidelity, and so the gospel is essentially a story about how God has repaired the great breach of trust between us and given us again a way toward knowing him faithfully.  Jesus came to do the will of his Father, and Jesus’ disciples follow Christ only–they are forbidden to have two masters.  We die with him.  We live with him.  We suffer with him.  We will reign with him.  In Christ we have regained gospel fidelity, and have recaptured a monogamous vision for living.  This is basic Bible.  Jesus died for me.  This defines my world now.

We will never completely lose monogamy because Jesus, who is called Faithful and True, is preeminent, and therefore so is his kingdom of fidelity.  We may lose monogamy as a context in our culture at large, but our local churches must fight against this trend by continually pointing people toward sexual purity, marital fidelity, and finally, singular devotion to Christ.  If our churches lose monogamy, we will have lost our ability to communicate the gospel as well.  In fact, we will have lost everything.

Bruce Springsteen Was Right: Everybody’s Got A Hungry Heart

I’m not sure how much Bruce Springsteen and I would be in agreement on various issues, but I at least agree with him on this:everybody does in fact have a hungry heart.  Mr. Springsteen is not known for being a theologian, but this is a very profound theological statement, even if made unwittingly.

We are undeniably driven by our appetites.  The issue is what exactly we are hungry for.  Jesus said that those who hunger for righteousness are blessed.  Paul said that some people’s bellies were their gods.  James says that sin is born not in circumstantial conflict, but by internal conflict, a war of cravings and desires in our hearts.  We are driven by desire, an overwhelming hunger for a thing or person or feeling or reality.  Our passions are at war within us, and even The Boss knows this.

The thing that we set our hearts on is the thing we worship.  The thing we pursue is the thing we worship.  We are driven by desire, which is why the object of our desire is so key to understanding our behavioral patterns.  We will rearrange our lives in order to have the thing we crave.  Which is why Jesus forbids us to hunger for anything above him.  Where our desire is, there are heart is sure to be also.

No, Bruce Springsteen wasn’t singing about deep spiritual truths, at least not technically speaking.  But everybody has a hungry heart, and this is undeniable.  We were made for rest, for relationship, for truth.  We were made to hunger for the Bread of Life.

Everybody needs a place to rest
Everybody wants to have a home
Dont make no difference what nobody says
Aint nobody like to be alone

Saved By Wisdom, Not Through Wisdom

We cannot be saved without wisdom, and really, I mean to say Wisdom, the person.  The truth is, God does save the Wise, but only because they are the people of Wisdom, sons of God  through Jesus, who is our wisdom.  We are fools because we love wisdom, and such is the great irony of God’s “foolishness”.

The Scriptures say that Christ is the “power of God and the wisdom of God” and that Jesus Christ has been made “our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:24, 30).  We are saved by Wisdom, but only because Wisdom is a person, not a seasoned intellect.

It did not please God to save the world through wisdom (v. 21), because then we might have grounds for boasting, though it would be insane to boast in front of God.  But it pleased God to save the world by Wisdom.  The gospel is foolishness, but only when we think wisdom saves.  And yet, wisdom does save.  And the point is this: wisdom saves only when it leads to obedience, which is why Jesus is our wisdom, because he alone has obeyed his Father perfectly.  He is for us our grounds for boasting before God, because in Jesus Christ we are fools who have abandoned everything.  Only fools may boast before God because he has chosen to save fools by Wisdom.

Hibernating Lust: How To Kill It Without Waking It

I know you’re awake right now, but in reality, at least part of you is probably asleep.  And the scary thing is that the part of you that is now asleep presents the greatest danger.  Deep in all of our hearts is hidden lust.  Like a hibernating bear, it has made a bed to lie in until the time is right for it to come out.  Though it is silent now as it sleeps, make no mistake, the time will come when it will not be silent anymore.

Like a trick candle, lust flares up with full vengeance after we think we have snuffed it out.  We must continually keep our eyes out for the slightest movement of it in our hearts.  Though we cannot see it burning, be assured, it burns, so we must pour the water of the Word on it at every moment, or it will consume us when we least expect it.  Like a hibernating bear, it doesn’t appear to be dangerous, but after a season, it will come out with a fierce hunger to devour.

And how is it that we kill lust without waking it up?  We must be more sly than the serpent.  The snake-king is devious and clever, but if we have the mind of Christ, God will show us the way of escape.  There are times when killing sin will mean running away from it, especially when it is sexual temptation we are confronted with.  At other times, we must pounce on our sin while it is not bothering us, understanding that it is only waiting for an opportunity to overcome us.  So we enter the cave.  We find the hibernating lust.  And we murder it.  This will happen in a million ways.  We walk into the kitchen and kiss our wives and speak kind, tender words at the moment we would rather complain.  We keep our cool when our kids disobey us for the tenth time in as many minutes; we discipline with loving patience, though anger would boil over if we would let it.  We bypass the magazine stand or candy isle or alcohol section because we know how we are tempted and we will not give Satan that advantage.  In a multitude of ways we must go into the cave and kill the sin before it comes out to kill us.

But we must not awaken our sin in our attempt to kill it.  We do not run into temptation in order to overcome it.  We do not walk into a liquor store so that we can learn to resist liquor.  We do not go to the local doughnut shop so that we can refine our desire to eat with wisdom.  We do not go to strip clubs to share the gospel.  We must be smart, not suicidal.  Beating the flesh into a pulp requires careful, prayerful precision, and it must always be done in humility.  He who thinks he stands will fall.

As you examine your life by the light of God’s Word and uncover hidden pockets of hibernating lust, do not wait to kill it–”Spring” is coming and lust will come out of hiding.  Go after it in humility, and put to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit.  Remember, the flesh wars against the Spirit like a roaring lion.  There will be blood, so crucify your flesh before it leaves you lying in a pool of blood.  Do not turn your back on your flesh, but stand with Jesus, the One who has conquered sin in the flesh.

Nudity Is A Bedtime Story: Seeing Our Bedrooms As The Context For Our Nakedness

We have a big problem: we are getting naked in all the wrong places.  In our own culture and in so many worldwide, nudity has been ripped out of its proper context and placed beyond the boundaries of the bedroom.  We rightly understand that there is a glory in our nakedness, but many fail to see that this glory can only be manifested when we are uncovered without shame.  Scripture says this happens in the marriage bed.  When we get out from under these proverbial sheets, we ought to be rightly ashamed.  But are we?

What we need to see is that nudity is a story for the bedroom.  There is a context to our nakedness revealed in the larger narrative of Scripture.  Our bodies were made for pleasure, sure, but for the pleasure experienced in the pursuit of biblical, monogamous sexual satisfaction to the glory of God.  When we wander away from our bedrooms uncovered, we wrongly hold up the glory of human sexuality divorced from its ultimate meaning: to behold the wonder and majesty of God in Christ as we gaze upon our spouse with sexual desire.

Let me explain.  A man and woman may get naked together without shame, so long as they are married and so long as they are alone (and not breaking any laws).  In this sense, wherever they go, they are in their “bedroom”, even if it is a borrowed hotel room or an old tent tucked away in the woods (but be careful!).  In this case, nudity is good because the husband and wife are unveiling themselves in the sight of God, understanding that they have given themselves to one another permanently, and by the grace of God, have been made to delight in one another physically.  Whatever they want to do, so long as they both want to do it, they may do it, sinful acts being excluded.

God has made us for sex, but more significantly, he made us for his glory, and his glory is to be our highest delight.  This being said, sex is one way in which we may glorify God by delighting in his good design.  However, when we pursue sexual gratification outside of its biblical context of marital fidelity, we are exalting our sexuality over the purposes of God and making gods of ourselves.  Pornography isn’t wrong simply because of the fornication and adultery involved.  It’s wrong because it’s telling the wrong story about creation.  It removes nudity from the context of monogamy, where God has placed it within the story, and puts it into a different narrative, one of rebellion and self-worship.  In essence, pornography is wrong because everyone involved, from the “actors” and “actresses” to the viewers, thinks he or she knows better than God, which is nothing less than high-handed treason, rooted in Adam’ original rebellion.

And it’s not only pornography that rebels against the knowledge of God in Christ.  Anywhere human flesh is uncovered for sexual satisfaction, apart from marital intimacy, there is a problem.  Nudity is a story for the bedroom, not the public square.  Our moral decadence and sinful depravity is revealed most honestly, ironically, in the fact that we have learned to live with and love nudity outside of the bedroom.  In a strange twist, the sheets have been pulled over our eyes because we believe we do not need bed sheets for sex, or the bedroom for that matter.

Christians, more than anyone else, ought to be the people celebrating sex as God’s goof gift and as part of his natural revelation.  Though we cannot come to know Christ in the marriage bed, we must certainly know him in the marriage bed after we have come to him by faith.  If we are to ever recover biblical sexuality in the public square, it will happen when we learn to regain the context of monogamous intimacy.  But more than refusing to view sexually offensive content, we must hate the spirit by which it prevails in the hearts of men.  Satan may rule over the powers of  darkness in heavenly places, but Jesus is Lord over everything, even the bedroom.  It is not enough to abstain from evil; we must do good also.

And so we must do good in the bedroom, even while we are naked . . . especially while we are naked.

Why You Need Flesh To Fight “The Flesh”

There is no technology that can keep you from sin.  There is no machine that can fight off temptation.  There is no program that can reprogram your heart.  Only other people, working through the power of the Spirit of Christ, according to the Scriptures, can lead you out of sin.  God’s plan for change is the person sitting next to you.

Though software and other technologies may be very helpful and even necessary when combatting temptation and being wise against Satan’s devices, these devices themselves are only useful insofar as there is a person behind them, applying them with biblical skill and care.  Left to our own, we will always find a way to get around these safeguards.  This is why we must have in-the-flesh people to fight our flesh.

And this means that the people we look to need to be people we can actually look at, in the eyes, face to face.  Long distance accountability has its place, but ultimately, we need someone who can image the proximity of the Spirit by being in our presence continually.  There is something about personal contact that maximizes accountability and its power to deliver from temptation.  Again, there may be times when the best person to speak with isn’t anywhere close to you, but this cannot be a permanent arrangement.  There needs to be someone who can look you square in the eyes and deal with matters of the heart.  Someone needs to see your life being lived out in small ways, and this simply cannot be done from long distances.

Look with discernment at those whom God has put in your life and make a friend who sticks closer than a brother (or sister).  Like the sickly woman, we must grab the hem of the Healer’s garment if we hope to have victory, even if that “hem” looks more like a factory uniform or business suit.  Don’t be foolish.  You will not walk away from temptation if there aren’t other people in your life walking with you.  You need flesh to fight the flesh.

Forget the Sin–Remember the Sin Forgiven

It is too easy to remember the sins of yesterday.  After all, we are likely still dealing with the consequences today.  In truth, we can never really get past our sin in this life–it is far too much with us.  We are stained from head to toe, from mind to heart, with the blackness that is our sin.  It clings so closely to us.

But God has not given us an option to remember our sin.  He himself has put it away in Christ fully and finally.  Our sins are removed from us, having been nailed to the cross.  God has cast them behind his back; he has thrown them into the sea; he has banished them to the extreme ends of creation.  So Paul can gladly say, “Forgetting what lies behind . . . I press on . . . ” (Philippians 3:13-14).  If our brother sins against us and in repentance seeks forgiveness, we are to forgive him and be reconciled to him.  No, we don’t play dumb and enable people’s sinful tendencies, but neither do presume they will do it again.  We put the sin behind us and forget it.

However, the biblical way to forget sin is to remember that it was forgiven.  Peter tells us that those who forget the cleansing of their former sins are “nearsighted” and “blind” (2 Peter 1:9).  If we forget that God forgets through forgiveness, we have lost sight of the grace of God in Jesus.  The gospel is not a matter of recollection, as if God just decides not to recall our sins.  The gospel is a matter of reconciliation, in that God only forgets our sin when he has forgiven us our sin.  Our sins are out of God’s mind because they were laid on Jesus.  We will not stand sinless before God because he has put our sins under a benevolent rug.  We will stand sinless before God because Jesus was put under the merciless wrath of God.  So we do not forget our sin because it is forgettable, but because it is forgivable.

Remember your sin to the degree that you remember it as forgiven.  If it causes grief to think of past grievances against God and people, so be it.  Sin is a horrible reality.  But do not sink under the heavy weight of the guilt which as already been lifted off your shoulders in Christ.  Move quickly from remembering former sin to reflecting on God’s forgiveness.  Forget your sin by remembering it was (and will be) forgiven.

A Millstone For Me? A Weighty Question For Those Who Dare Tread Lightly

Jesus said it would be better for me to have a huge rock hung around my neck and sink to the dark ocean floor than to cause one of his little ones to stumble.  He also said it would have been better if Judas had not been born at all.  These are no kind words to faithless people.  Would Jesus cast me into the sea?

Is there anything in your life which is causing another person to stumble?  Jesus said that people would stumble over him, but are they stumbling over you before they even get to him?  And worse, do the “little ones” come to Jesus through you, or are you tripping them up?  As a father, there is nothing I fear more than to draw the wrong picture of the gospel for my children by sinning against them, or sinning in front of them (really these are the same).  The fiercest sort of spiritual warfare I wage is in my fathering.  This is where I will either prove Jesus is powerful to save or make a mockery of grace, if such a thing were possible.  Above all else, I want my daughter and son to be lifted up out of the grave by the words of Jesus.  So I shutter to think of myself being crushed under the weight of God’s judgment if I were to trip them up, as if I were dropped into the sea with a boulder around my stiff neck.

Not surprisingly Jesus gives an exhortation along with his awful warning: “Pay attention to yourselves!” (Luke 17:3a).  The spiritual disciplines are meant to equip us for this cause.  As we behold the wonder of God in the face of Jesus, so we examine ourselves daily, to see whether we are chasing after folly or chasing after Christ, who is our Wisdom.  Do you forgive your brother?  Do you bear with the weak?  Have you misused your tongue?  Are your fingers busy for righteousness’ sake, or do they conspire with your feet to run after evil?

Beware.  Pay attention to yourselves.  Woe to the one through whom temptation comes.  It would be better for him to fill his lungs with water at the bottom of the ocean than to face the judgement of God for shipwrecking the faith of little ones.  If that is better, then do we really understand the gravity of the matter?  Hardly, but there is hope, and so we pray for wisdom and understanding.  Do not tread lightly under the weight of such a perilous promise.  Pay attention to yourselves!

Nickelback, I’ve Figured You Out

Though they may think they are incredibly cool because they sell, I’ve got news for Nickelback: they aren’t cool at all.  In fact, they are the furthest thing from cool I can imagine.  If you’ve had the unfortunate experience of hearing “Figured You Out” then I hope you will agree with me: Nickelback is a band of fools.  They are only one example from contemporary culture, so I am not necessarily singling them out.  They represent a larger problem: people hate God and love sin, so they reject authority and invent ways to pursue evil, and run over everyone in the process.

I won’t repeat the lyrics to “Figured You Out” here; they are far too retarded and foolish, not to mention they make me very angry.  In fact, in my flesh I would love to pound these guys into a pulp for boasting in sexual deviancy, mocking women, belittling sex, and worst of all, praising violence toward women.  I am not a big guy by any stretch of the imagination, but in my flesh, I would really like to hurt these guys with my fists.  Of course, that would be returning evil for evil.  Vengeance belongs to the Lord.  I pray these young fools would turn from folly, and I pray to God he would save them from his wrath through Jesus.  But if they persist in their folly, especially as it endangers and belittles women, sex and fidelity, I pray the Lord would take them to the grave early and inflict on them the punishment they deserve.  But they have time still to repent and turn from their devious, underhanded, treacherous ways.  God is ever so patient with such sinners.

You guys are fools, Nickelback.  You boast in idiocy and deviancy and violence.  You are not cool; you are stupid.  I can’t stand you and I can’t stand what you stand for.  I am not righteous, so I do not pretend to come against you with moral authority.  But Jesus is righteous, and he has redeemed my life from destruction and given me a new heart to love good and hate evil.  The Lord will crush you if you do not repent.  Come to Christ for grace and mercy; be forgiven and freed from your wretched flesh.  If not, you will see what righteous anger looks like.  God has figured you out, and you will not get away with such foolish words.  So repent.

Praying Like A Jewish Prophet

Here’s a short excerpt from The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions (“Act of Approach”, p. 262),

While I confess my guilt, help me to feel it deeply, with self-abhorrence and self-despair, yet to remember there is hope in thee, and to see the Lamb that takes away sin.

I ran across this earlier this morning during my time of prayer, and understood better the words of John the Baptist: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).  Surely John must have included himself in this prophetic declaration, as he marveled that one who looked so much like him, who was even his own blood relative, was also the One sent by God to redeem his sinful life from hell.  There he was, the Man who loved sinful men, the Lamb who loved wolves.

In our counseling with sinners, and in our own private prayer, we must speak and pray  like a Jewish Prophet: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”