Guarding our Hearts for Prayer (part 1)

"The consummation of all things has drawn near. Therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the purpose of prayer." - 1 Peter 4:7

Every one who has been born again by the Spirit of God desires to have a more robust, intimate, and consistent prayer life.

When I read this text, I am reminded not only of the purpose and power of prayer, but also the preeminence and priority it ought to have in my life.

The end has come. Peter's admonition? Pray.

As simple as this may seem, we as Christ's sheep must never forget that we have an adversary who also understands just how powerful prayer is to the believer. And since he hates Christ and His people, our ancient foe "prowls to and fro" seeking ways to thwart and hinder our prayers.

The book of Revelation portrays Satan as a defeated foe who, unlike many Christians, understands that his "time is short." Though he has been definitively defeated by our strong Warrior (Col. 2:14), we must never forget that he is still - at this moment - thrashing around in his death throes.

This thrashing is much more cunning and subtle than can be seen by the naked eye.

With his dying breaths, his strategy to destroy and dismantle Christianity - at least in the affluent West - primarily consists of distracting the church from using her greatest weapon: prayer.

Think about it: if you were battling someone who had an unstoppable weapon, wouldn't it be in your best interest to find a way to prevent them from using that weapon?

This is precisely what the great liar and deceiver does to Christ's church. Whatever it takes - distraction, lukewarmness, love of the world, moralistic busyness, social justice, sin - Satan seeks to keep Christ's people from praying.

And so Peter, himself not ignorant of Satan's schemes, reminds us of our great need to be "self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of our prayers" (ESV).

The first word comes from two Greek words, "save" and "mind", and literally means "safeguard your mind."

The best way to safeguard our mind is to be continually renewing it by the Word of God (cf. Eph. 4:20-24; Col. 3:16; Phil. 4:8; Rom. 12:1-2; Psa. 119).

The second word literally means "to be sober." Again, we see the importance of having temperance in our thinking, which of course comes from immersion in the Word of God.

Just as I used to do foolish things when I was not "sober" as an unbeliever, so also do we as Christians act foolishly (e.g. with our time, talents, treasures) when we fail to act soberly in the spiritual realm by not guarding our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Dear believer, the consummation of all things has drawn near. We are living in the last days. Oh that we might heed the Spirit's call in this text to be self-controlled and sober-minded, especially with regards to our prayer life.

When we read the Bible, we see just how important prayer is. When we are not in the Word, we quickly forget this, and begin drifting away from a vital, powerful, Spirit-enabled walk with Christ.

For the next couple of weeks, I will be working through a short section from John Flavel's gem "Keeping the Heart", focusing on 8 ways he gives for the believer to "guard their hearts" with regards to prayer.

But for now, it might be beneficial for you simply to memorize 1 Peter 4:7. It has been a great reminder to me these last few weeks of just how desperately I need to be a man of prayer, and how desperately I need to "safeguard my mind" and "be sobered" by the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In Christ, and for His great glory,
Pastor Ryan

Using God's Gifts for God's Glory

"As each has used a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks the oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies - in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory and dominion forever. Amen." (1 Peter 4:10-11)

Peter's point couldn't be any clearer or simpler: our gifts are meant to further God's dominion and glory in Christ.

Dear reader, what gifts has God entrusted to you?

Are you using them to make a name for yourself, or are you using them to glorify the name of Jesus?

Let us pray that the Spirit would help us to use 'our' good gifts to carry out God's good works (Eph. 2:10; Tit. 2:14; 3:8, 14; Gal. 6:10) for the good of all people, but ultimately for the glory of God in Christ.

Let us not be like those in Genesis 11, who, though endowed with amazing and diverse giftings, sinfully and selfishly sought to build their own empire and dominion.

Let us rather, in the words of Paul, do everything - which includes the faithful use and stewardship of all our gifts "for the glory of God" (1 Cor. 10:31), that the saints might be "built up", and the lost might be "brought in."

May God, in answer to Peter's prayer, give us all the strength to do so.

Soli Deo Gloria,
Pastor Ryan

P.S. - if you are not sure what "gifts" you have, the best way to find out is to regularly get into a gospel community. As you do life with other Christ followers, it will become clear both to them and to you what your gifts (whether natural or supernatural) are. 

How Gossip Destroys Community

"If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand." (Mark 3:24-25)

Though originally spoken by Jesus in response to the blasphemous accusations the Pharisees were leveling against Him, this well-known and time-tested aphorism can be applied by us today who have entered into God's kingdom by repentance and faith in Christ.

Jesus makes it clear (v.26) that even Satan understands this principle, which is why we should not be surprised that his most cunning attacks against Christ's church are calculated to undermine and erode the unity and peace of Christ's people who comprise it.

One of the fiercest agents in the disintegration of the blood-bought unity and community of the saints is gossip. Which is why we as Christ's people must do everything we can to not only avoid it, but ultimately to "put it to death" by the Spirit (cf. Rom. 8:13) as we seek to "make every effort to maintain the unity and bonds of peace that the Spirit has wrought among us" (Eph. 4:3, my paraphrase).

As OT scholar Tremper Longman says, "As is typical of foolish speech, spreading rumors destroys relationships and thus community."

This is precisely what the OT sage Solomon says in Proverbs 16:28:

         "The perverse produce conflict,
              and gossips separate intimate friends."

When gossip is removed from the situation, community is enhanced:

         "For lack of wood the fire goes out,
              and where there is no whisperer,
                     quarreling ceases."  (26:20)

Gossiping spreads information behind people's backs, not to help but rather to damage their reputations. It does not matter whether or not what is said is true: it is the intention and timing of the speech that is so damaging and reprehensible.

Until the gospel becomes a more delicious "morsel" to us (see Proverbs 18:8), we will never be able to say "no" to it (see Titus 2:15, NIV). And so the only way to slay gossip is by faith in the gospel.

Which is the very remedy Paul gives us in the book of Ephesians:

        "Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths,
             but only such as is good for building up,
          as fits the occasion,
             that it may give grace to those who hear." (4:29)

How they communicated to - and about - one another in community was but one of the many ways the believers in Ephesus were to communally "walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which they had been called" (4:1) in a response of gratitude to how Christ has "walked" for them (chapters 1-3).

One of the most crucial ways we are to be "imitators of God" (5:1) is how we use our tongues towards others. When we use our tongues to tear down instead of build up, Paul says that we "grieve the Holy Spirit of God" (4:30).

Rather, with our lives as well as our lips, and in view of God's mercies towards us in Christ (Rom. 12:1), we are called to continually strive to be kind to one another and tenderhearted (Eph. 4:31). "Walking in love" (5:2) means "speaking in love" (4:15), which says Paul, reflects Christ's "fragrant offering when He sacrificed Himself to God."

This is the mind of Christ (Phil. 2:5): to esteem others as more important than ourselves (2:3). When we have this mind, we - like Jesus - will seek to build others up for their good, rather than tear them down for our 'glory.'

How we speak to one another reflects the condition of our own hearts (Mark 7:21-23).

Do you gossip much? It's because your heart has not comprehended "the breadth and length and height and depth of Christ's love for you" (Eph. 3:15-19).

So go back to the gossip and let Christ's death on the cross for your sins, and His resurrection for your justification (see Rom. 4:25), recapture your affections afresh.

Let us, in the words of wise Solomon,

     "Above all else guard our hearts,
           for our heart determines the course of our lives" (Prov. 4:23, NLT)

Why? Because Jesus said that our communal love for one another is not merely a fruit of the gospel, but an actual expression of it (see John 13:34-35; 17:20-23).

Father, help us to guard our hearts by the gospel. And help us put gossip to death by the gospel. May the love of Christ captivate and control our lips as well as our lives. May the love of Your Son be clearly evidenced and effused in our lives, that the world may see and savor our Savior. Be glorified "in the church and in Christ Jesus, throughout all generations" (Eph. 3:21). Amen.

In Christ's Name, and for His glory to the ends of the earth,
pastor ryan

Slaying Gossip with the Gospel

"The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body." - Proverbs 18:8

Proverbs has much to teach us about one's speech.

The book simply divides our speech into one of two categories: wise speech or foolish speech.

As OT scholar Tremper Longman says, "the gossip is the classic example of a foolish speaker."

Which led me to ask, "Why is gossip so foolish?"

The simple answer, which we will see, is because gossip is idolatrous: it exalts self by tearing down others.

According to Proverbs 18:8, the reason I gossip and listen to others gossip is because it is so delicious in my "inward parts", that is, my heart.

But why is this destructive perversity so delicious?

The simple and biblical answer is this: even though I am a born-again Christian, I am still a recovering idolater.

Before Christ made me a new creation by the sovereign intervention of His vivifying Spirit, I worshiped myself and anyone else who worshiped me. The idol I sacrificed to was not a silly piece of wood or metal. No. I was my own god. I sat upon the throne of my own heart.

And I was willing to sacrifice anything - and anyone - to this god, that his name might be made great among the nations.

If it meant cutting down others to exalt myself, then so be it. This tyrant allows no rivals.

Which means this: gossip is not an issue of the tongue; it's an issue of the heart.

And so petty programs and silly solutions will not root out this ferocious foe who is not easily exiled from my "inward parts."

Only the gospel can evict this terrible tyrant from my heart:

"Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits." - Proverbs 18:21

What I say is determined by what I deem delicious: if I love the fleeting 'fruit' of self-worship, I will slander and cut down others made in the image of God (cf. James 3:9); but, if I love the forever fruit of God-worship, I will "edify and encourage" my fellow image bearers, even if it means saying hard things and speaking the truth in love (Eph. 4:15, 29).

Is this not how our Lord Jesus dealt with us?

This is precisely what Paul says in Ephesians 5, right after his commands of how Christians are to use their tongues:

"Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." - Ephesians 5:1-2

This is almost identical to his exhortation in 4:20-24:

"But that (see vv.17-19) is not how you learned Christ! - assuming that you have heard about Him and were taught in Him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old man, which belongs to your former manner of life, and is corrupted through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the image of God in righteousness and holiness of truth."

We put off our old "man" with all his or her "deceitful" desires, as well as put on this new self, by "renewing our minds." The "Spirit" does this as we gaze upon Christ in the gospel. As we do so, our desires (i.e. what we love) are changed. We will bless not only God with our lips, but others also, just as Jesus did.

Our old "man" deceives us into thinking that we are gods. It makes us think that evil is good and bitter is sweet. The new man, as he (or she) is renewed into the new-creation image of the God-man by the Holy Spirit (cf. 2 Cor. 3:18), will not take the life and vitality of others to exalt himself (by gossip and slander), but will like Jesus give up his (or her) life and vitality for the good of others and the glory of God. This is God-wrought love, the very that enables us to fulfill Christ's new covenant law (see 1 Cor. 9:21; Rom. 13:9-10; Gal. 5:6, 13-14; James 2:8).

So, let us endeavor to slay slander and mortify gossip this year by looking to Jesus, learning from Jesus, and then longing to "walk even as He walked", that is, "in love."

God help us to honor You with both our lips and our hearts. Make the gospel of Your Son sweeter to us than the worship of ourselves.

For Jesus' sake, Amen.

Greed as Idolatry

"So put to death whatever in your nature belongs to the earth: sexual immorality, impurity, shameful passion, evil desire, and greed which is idolatry." (Colossians 3:5, NET)

If it is true that we are idolaters at heart, then according to this verse, it could be said that we're all greedy by nature. Of course, like any sin, there will be different degrees and different expressions in different people. But, to say that we are not greedy or "covetous" (ESV) people is a dangerous position to be in, because such sentiments often proceed from the lofty perch of delusional self-righteousness.

Of course, when one thinks of "greed", inevitably the first thing to come to mind is materialism. Certainly, this is warranted, but the Greek word literally carries the connotations of "the state of desiring to have more than one's due", and thus is variously translated as "greediness, insatiableness, avarice, covetousness." (BDAG, 824)

And so, "greed" might express itself in things like coveting (or being jealous of others if they have) a better job, a better house, a better vehicle, or a better smartphone; greedy people have an unhealthy craving to gain a greater measure of attention or approval or applause from others; they might desire more safety and security and serenity from the things of this earth than God has permitted.

Ultimately, this heart idol comes from and is fueled by a lack of satisfaction in all that God is for us in Christ (Paul's main argument in his letter to the Colossians).

Because of God's creation purposes, we have indeed been made with desires - good desires. We were made to long for God, and the identity, security, and rest that flows from a proper relation to our Creator.

But because of sin, these desires have become crooked and corrupt, depraved and distorted, and now are unruly and tyrannical slave-masters. The result: instead of being thankful for the gifts of creation the Creator has given us (which were given to point us to Him in worship and thankfulness [e.g. 1 Tim. 4:3b-5; 6:17b), we now desire - even slavishly crave - the gifts more than the Giver (see Rom. 1:21-23, 24-25, and 29 [note how "greed/covetousness" is near the top of the list]).

I wish I could say that once we trust in Christ and are converted, that this pernicious and persistent propensity towards the accumulation and guarding of 'stuff' is immediately and forever eradicated. But this didn't happen to the early believers in the Bible (see also Eph. 5:3, 5), and so we should not be overly surprised that we so often find this perpetual battle waging in our own hearts. [Un]fortunately, these desires have been divinely impressed upon the hearts of humanity, and so we cannot simply turn them off like a switch: we cannot not stop our hearts from desiring and seeking satisfaction and pleasure; we cannot not stop being worshipers. In the words of Paul, we cannot eliminate worship; we can only "exchange" it. And inevitably, we exchange it with a worship of self. (see Rom. 1:22-23)

The first thing we must do, then, is ruthlessly wage war to [re]direct the gaze of our hearts heavenward, which is precisely what Paul instructs us to do in the preceding verses (notice that the first word of Col. 3:5 is "so" ["therefore" in the ESV]).

Amazing! Christ is our life. Not stuff. Not bigger barns. Not notoriety or popularity or "likes" on Facebook, or retweets on Twitter, or pins on Pinterest. Christ is our life. And He is infinitely more glorious and glory-full than any of the counterfeits this world could ever produce or entice us with.

Too many of us as Christians are content with being satisfied with the unsatisfying glories of this world.

So, how can we do battle with the immense gravitational pull of the things of this earth that wrestle and vie for our unwavering allegiance? The answer is in the context.

"Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Keep thinking about things above, not things on the earth, for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God." (Col. 3:1-3, NET)

Dear Christian, if your life is characterized by spending all your time and talents and treasures on yourself, then you simply are not looking "above". And if we are not looking heavenward to Christ, we will inevitably look horizontally to self. Life will be more about striving to acquire more stuff, instead of striving to rest more in all that we have and are - in Christ.

The illustration by C.S. Lewis could not be more fitting to close:

"It would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

Or, in the words of John Piper, "sin [e.g. greed] is what happens when our hearts are not satisfied with Christ." The more our hearts are satisfied in Christ, the less they will be satisfied in idols.

Dear listener, are you struggling with the idol of greed? Then slay it with the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ your Lord more.

If this is a struggle, ask the Father right now to help you by the power of the Holy Spirit to look to His Son that you might truly live.

May His grace free us from the shackles of selfishness, that we might better imitate the generosity He has shown us in Christ. May we give less to ourselves, and more for the purposes of advancing His kingdom on earth.

Perhaps you can prayerfully consider a God-honoring budget that verifies that you are seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Perhaps you could prayerfully consider sponsoring a missionary or Compassion child. Perhaps there is a need in your church that you could meet.

This little blurb was 'inspired' by the following video by David Matthis. It is only 10 minutes. It gets really practical after the four minute mark. I wholeheartedly recommend it for you to watch.

All I Have Is Christ

In Christ, and for His glory to the ends of the earth.
Pastor Ryan

Our Sanctification is a Community Project

The following is an excerpt from Paul David Tripp's excellent book, "Dangerous Calling." Though the book is written primarily for pastors, the following is equally applicable to the rest of the flock.

I thought this too good and valuable to not pass along to others:

I was raised in the "Jesus and me" privatized, individualized Christianity of the fundamentalism of the '60s and '70s. The closest our church got to an actual, functioning, ministry-oriented body of Christ was a rare pastoral visit and the Wednesday night prayer meeting. No one knew my father and mother - I mean, really knew them. No one had a clue what was going on in our home. No one helped my father to see through the blindness that allowed him to live a double life of skilled deception and duplicity. No one knew how troubled my mother was beneath her encyclopedic knowledge of Scripture. No one knew. We were a Christian family in active participation in a vibrant church, but what we were involved in lacked one of the primary and essential ingredients of healthy New Testament Christianity: a trained, mobilized, and functioning body of Christ. It was Christianity devoid of Ephesians 4, 1 Corinthians 12, and Hebrews 3:12-13.

For much of my Christian life and a portion of my ministry, I had no idea that my walk with God was a community project. I had no idea that the Christianity of the New Testament is distinctly relational, from beginning to end. I understood none of the dangers inherent in attempting to live the Christian life on my own. I had no awareness of the blinding power of sin. I had no idea that I was living outside of God's normal means of sightedness, encouragement, conviction, strength, and growth. I had no idea how much consumerism and how little participation marked the body of Christ. I had no idea of the importance of the private ministry of the Word to the health of the believer. I had no idea.

I have now come to understand that I need others in my life. I know that I need to commit myself to living in intentionally intrusive, Christ-centered, grace-driven, redemptive community. I now know it's my job to seek this community out, to invite people to interrupt my private conversation, and to say things to me that I couldn't or wouldn't say to myself. I have realized how much I need warning, encouragement, rebuke, correction, protection, grace, and love. I now see myself as connected to others, not because I have made the choice, but because of the wise design of the One who is the Head of the body, the Lord Jesus Christ. I cannot allow myself to think that I am smarter than Him. I cannot allow myself to thing that I am stronger than I am. I cannot assign to myself a level of maturity that I do not have. I cannot begin to believe that I am able to live outside of God's normal means of spiritual growth and be okay. I cannot allow the level of my spiritual health to be defined by my ministry experience and success, or by my theological knowledge. I cannot let myself think that my marriage can be healthy if I live in functional isolation from the body of Christ.

Since, as one who has remaining sin still inside of him, it is right to say that the greatest danger in my life exists inside of me and not outside of me, then wouldn't it also be the height of naivety or arrogance to think that I would be okay left to myself?

Having said all of this, it is my grief to say that individualized, privatized Christianity still lives in people who have forged a life that is live above or outside the body of Christ.

Simply put, sanctification is a community project. We hurt ourselves, our families, and others when we disobey (yes, you heard that right) Christ's command to regularly meet together for the purpose of stirring one another up by way of gospel-centered encouragement.

The body, with every part functioning properly as a unit (see Ephesians 4:16), is Christ's idea. So let us be humble enough to recognize and admit that He knows better, go against our feelings and propensities to isolate ourselves when the going gets tough, and actively seek out (yes, you must do it) a community of uncomfortable grace. This is how it works, whether we like it or not.

Dear reader, are you involved and integrated into such a community? It is not enough to show up on Sunday, download some facts, and then leave to go live out your own little life for the other 99% of the week.

May God grant us these kind of communities, where we are transformed together into the image of Christ, for His honor and glory in this world.

Rbac

Pray for Us - A Preacher's Plea

I love posting articles written by other preachers and pastors, because often I find them saying things I wish I could say to the flock, but out of false humility, fear they will think I am being selfish. But what George Whitefield, arguably one of the most powerful evangelists to ever trod this earth, writes here totally resounds with the heart of any faithful pastor and preacher.

If George Whitefield needed prayer as a minister of the gospel, how much more do the rest of us, who often feel insufficient for these things, need the constant and fervent prayers, supplications, and intercessions from their congregations, much the way Joshua needed the intercession of Moses, Aaron, and Hur when he was doing battle against the Amalekites? (Exodus 17)

The following is an excerpt by George Whitefield, taken from a devotional I purchased a couple years ago entitled, "Daily Readings", edited by Randall Pederson, to be read on January 2.

"Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you..." (2 Thessalonians 3:1)

You ought to pray for those whom the Holy Spirit has made overseers over you. This is what Saint Paul begs again and again of the churches to whom he writes...surely, if the great Saint Paul, that chosen vessel, that favorite of heaven, needed the most importunate prayers of his Christian converts, much more do the ordinary ministers of the gospel stand in need of the intercession of their respective flocks.

Much good is frequently withheld from many by reason of their neglecting to pray for their ministers, and which they would have received, had they prayed for them as they ought.

Not to mention, that people often complain of the want of diligent and faithful pastors. But how do they deserve good pastors, who will not earnestly pray to God for such? If we will not pray to the Lord of the harvest, can it be expected He will send forth laborers into His harvest? Besides, what ingratitude it is, not to pray for your ministers! For shall they watch and labor in the word and doctrine for you and your salvation, and shall you not pray for them in return?

Add to this, that praying for your ministers will be a manifest proof of your believing, that though Paul plant, and Apollos water, yet it is God alone who gives the increase. And you will also find it the best means you can use, to promote your own welfare; for God, in answer to your prayers, may impart a double portion of His Holy Spirit to them, whereby they will be qualified to deal out to you larger measures of knowledge in the spiritual things, and be enabled more skillfully to divide the word of truth.

Dear reader, please pray for your pastor regularly. Pray that he be near to Christ in sweet fellowship. Pray that he feed richly and often on the Word of God. Pray that he be a man of prayer, a man of holiness, a man of conviction, a man who fears God, a man filled with the Spirit, a man mighty in the Scriptures, a man faithful to the flock, a man who hates sin, a man who is humble, a man who loves his triune God, a man who loves the flock entrusted to him, a man who loves perishing sinners, a man who loves the glory of God, a man who loves his wife and family, a man who is filled with the Spirit, a man who has the Word of Christ abiding in him richly, a man who is used as a mighty vessel of God to draw Christ's wandering sheep to Himself.

I couldn't agree more heartily to Whitefield's plea for Christians to pray for their pastors.

Dear reader, would you please consider praying daily for your pastor(s)?

In Christ, and for His glory through the church, to the ends of the earth,
Pastor Ryan