Reverence, Awe, and a Consuming Fire!

On Sunday, I taught the message: Reverence, Awe, and a Consuming Fire!  Our God is certainly worthy of the first two, and is most definitely the second!

A brother in Christ pointed out that in some of the best manuscripts (and those used to translate the ESV), the word for reverence is actually “eulabeia” and the word for awe is “deos” in Greek, which simply means “fear.”  The Strong’s dictionary I used was keyed to the King James Version, where “aidōs” is the word for reverence, and “eulabeia” is the word for awe.  So depending on which version you are using, you might see either Greek word.

A small thing to be sure, but I wanted you to know.  The conclusions are the same:

To reverence God acceptably is to have a heart that is:

1. Aware of one’s own sin, and is therefore not overly proud or boastful.
2. Modest…seeking to place all attention upon Christ in every way.
3. Childlike in faith and fear, simply willing to obey God.
4. Absolutely, positively unwilling to offend Him!

Our worship should be:

1. Passionate, but not out of control!
2. Expressive, but according to Scripture!
3. Fervent, but with a reverent fear!

May we offer our God worship that pleases Him! He's so worthy!

Amen.

Resolved!

Based on the Biblical Vision for Family and Church we shared on Sunday, Dec 28, 2014, here are 20 IMAGINE Resolutions.  To me, they are not just for 2015; they are for life!

1.       Resolved, to love Christ with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength.

2.       Resolved, to spend time in personal devotions, prayer, and worship.

3.       Resolved, to build a life based on the Gospel, with a growing understand of my sin and His grace.

4.       Resolved, to self-govern according to the Scriptures.  I will obey what He has commanded; this is my loving response to my loving God.

5.       Resolved, to worship the Lord on the Lord’s Day; to be faithful to the local church and to serve it with my time, talents, and treasure.  Resolved to hold others accountable and to be open to correction.

6.       Resolved, to pray for the fullness of the Holy Spirit, and to not grieve Him.

7.       Resolved, to encourage the saints and to speak those things beneficial for their growth.

8.       Resolved, to preach the Gospel and make disciples.

9.       Resolved, to fight against ungodliness, to protect marriage, to take care of widows and orphans, to fight for the unborn, and to work to eliminate oppression.

10.   Resolved, to walk systematically through Scripture, to declare the whole counsel of God, and to seek to worship Him biblically.

11.   Resolved, to worship with my family, and encourage others to do so as they are willing.

12.   Resolved, to apply biblical stewardship to my life, and to encourage others to do the same.

13.   Resolved, to save, give, and invest; to build an inheritance for my children and their children, to work towards the fulfillment of the Dominion Mandate.

14.   Resolved, to work hard for my family.

15.   Resolved, to pursue personal holiness; to refuse to hurt those I love with my own unrighteousness.

16.   Resolved, to love and be faithful to my spouse, and to disciple my children.

17.   Resolved, to be consistent in family worship.

18.   Resolved, to speak loving and kind words to my spouse, to repent when I’m wrong; to pray for her.

19.   Resolved, to be hospitable; to build a welcoming home where the Gospel can be shared and the love of Christ displayed.

20.   Resolved, to live a life different from the culture; one dedicated to Christ.

May these bless you next year and beyond!  Amen!

CCM

He will Save His People from their Sins!

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.

And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ. So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations.

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel" (which means, God with us).

When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus. 

(Mat 1:1-25 ESV)

Hallelujah! :)

Nothing!

In his 1895 work, Humility, Andrew Murray writes this:

"In our ordinary religious teaching, the second aspect has been too exclusively put in the foreground, so that some have even gone to the extreme of saying that we must keep sinning if we are indeed to keep humble. Others again have thought that the strength of self-condemnation is the secret of humility. And the Christian life has suffered loss, where believers have not been distinctly guided to see that, even in our relation as creatures, nothing is more natural and beautiful and blessed than to be nothing, that God may be all; or where it has not been made clear that it is not sin that humbles most, but grace, and that it is the soul, led through its sinfulness to be occupied with God in His wonderful glory as God, as Creator and Redeemer, that will truly take the lowest place before Him."

I'm in the process of going back through this little book, which I highly recommend to the reader by the way.  You can find it online for free.  But I must admit I'm struck by one of his opening statements which I must have failed to truly consider the first time through:

"...nothing is more natural and beautiful and blessed than to be nothing, that God may be all"

How far away is this mindset from how many normally think or even from what we are taught in the modern church!?  And how much of our drama is based on "wanting to be something or get something or feel something?"

Here is a word I'm meditating on: nothing.  It is blessed to be nothing that God may be all.  All of my work: nothing unless He is glorified.  All of my gifts: nothing, unless He is central.  All of my stewardship: nothing, unless it is available for His use.  All of my visions and goals and achievements: nothing, unless Christ is made much of.  What do I truly deserve from Him?  Nothing but pain and punishment.  And yet He has saved....

Murray concludes his Preface (yes, all of this good stuff is in the PREFACE) by writing:

"If Jesus is indeed to be our example in His lowliness, we need to understand the principles in which it was rooted, and in which we find the common ground on which we stand with Him, and in which our likeness to Him is to be attained. If we are indeed to be humble, not only before God but towards men, if humility is to be our joy, we must see that it is not only the mark of shame, because of sin, but, apart from all sin, a being clothed upon with the very beauty and blessedness of heaven and of Jesus. We shall see that just as Jesus found His glory in taking the form of a servant, so when He said to us, "Whosoever would be first among you, shall be your servant," He simply taught us the blessed truth that there is nothing so divine and heavenly as being the servant and helper of all. The faithful servant, who recognizes his position, finds a real pleasure in supplying the wants of the master or his guests. When we see that humility is something infinitely deeper than contrition, and accept it as our participation in the life of Jesus, we shall begin to learn that it is our true nobility, and that to prove it in being servants of all is the highest fulfillment of our destiny, as men created in the image of God."

Amen sir.

Again, if you haven't read this little book, highly recommended. 

:)