God Is Sovereign, and You Are Significant

About a month ago I was preaching on the Parable of the Sower in Mark 4. The following week a church member came up to me and said he was troubled by something Jesus said to his disciples about the purpose of the parables:

"To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that 'they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.'"

- Mark 4:11-12; cf. Isa. 6:9-10

This church member remarked, "That sounds as if Jesus purposely hid the meaning of the parables to some and gave it to others." I replied, "Yes, it certainly looks that way, doesn't it? In fact, Matthew's account is even more explicit (see Matt. 13:10-17)."

"But isn't that Calvinistic?" my Christian brother queried. "I like to think that everybody has the same fair shot [opportunity] to receive Christ."

As you can imagine, this opened up the door to what could have been an extremely lengthy, in-depth conversation about the doctrines of grace, the difference between Calvinism and Arminianism, etc. But our time was short, so I attempted to convey just a few salient points on the matter:

1. We must allow Scripture to shape our theology, rather than "force" Scripture to fit our theology.
2. The Bible clearly teaches both the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man. These two doctrines are utterly compatible and are not contradictory, even though we cannot fully understand how they coincide. Charles Spurgeon asserted,

   "These two truths, I do not believe, can ever be wielded into one upon any human anvil, but one they shall be in eternity: they are two lines that are so nearly parallel, that the mind that shall pursue them farthest, will never discover that they converge; but they do converge, and they will meet somewhere in eternity, close to the throne of God, whence all truth doth spring."

3. If we are to be faithful to Scripture, we must embrace and proclaim both doctrines in all their fullness. If we emphasize one to the neglect of the other, we will misunderstand and misrepresent God, the human condition, and the gospel.
4. "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter" (Prov. 25:2). This encourages us to dig more deeply into those scriptural truths we don't understand, remembering that "we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God" ( 1 Cor. 2:12).

Currently I am reading David Powlison's book, Seeing with New Eyes. In a chapter entitled "Who is God?", the author shows from the book of Ephesians that God accomplishes his purpose for us in Christ. Powlison's comments on this New Testament letter underscores the points I stated above. Moreover, he emphasizes the spirit of the apostle Paul in expressing this truth and the manner in which we should receive it:

When Paul says that you have the hope of glory because you were "predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will," he's not trying to stir up debate about esoteric doctrines and philosophical riddles. He's not picturing an icy fate to make us fatalistic. From within the illogic of the shadowlands, we think that one must emphasize either God's sovereign will or the freedom and responsibility of human choices. But standing out in the daylight of God's logic, one needn't err in either direction. God is utterly in control. Any other view would be absurd--this God spins galaxies and holds atoms together, after all. This God raised spiritual corpses to new life in Christ. Salvation is warm and bright because God planned it. He had your name in mind in Christ. He holds us in his hand, bringing about his purposes. And we choose at every point.

Human life is absolutely significant; every fleeting thought, every choice, and every experience matter. This God calls you to faith, obedience, and responsibility. Because his purposes will not be thwarted, you can leap to the call, learning to be courageous, optimistic, persevering in love through troubles. His purposes sustain you through it all. His rule establishes the significance of our choices. Any other view would be absurd--human life counts, God's will controls. His will of control (Eph. 1:11) is to be trusted as the frame of reference behind every experience; his will of command (5:17; 6:6) is to be obeyed with all our heart.

The supremacy of God's purposes is not a debating point. It is the foundation of indestructible confidence and ravishing delight. God is in control, and you can bend all your energies to your calling, trusting that God's plans are working out.

Amen. Can we all agree to that?

A Little Bird Told Me . . .

While looking through some files today, I came across a little story I had read years ago, found somewhat humorous, and tucked away for a future time. That time is now. (No better time than the present, right?)

Anyway, this tale has to do with a little bird that was flying south for the winter. It got so cold that it froze up and fell to the ground in a large field. While the bird was lying there, a cow came and dropped manure on it. As it lay there in the pile of manure, the bird began to realize how warm it was. The manure was actually thawing him out! He lay there all warm, content and happy -- so much so that he began to sing for joy! A passing cat heard the bird singing, discovered him under the pile of manure and dug him out . . . only to eat him. What are the morals to the story?

1. Not everyone who drops manure on you is your enemy.
2. Not everyone who digs you out of the manure is your friend.
3. When you're in the manure, it's best to keep your mouth shut!

Of course there may be some notable exceptions to point 3, but hopefully you get the gist of the illustration! I can attest from my own experience that I've gotten into more trouble by saying something than being silent--especially when I find myself in a pile of manure (i.e. a situation that stinks!).

Proverbs 21:23 says, "Watch your tongue and keep your mouth shut, and you will stay out of trouble." Now there's some wonderful counsel for us all. So don't say it's for the birds! :)

Timely Tonic

Tonic. It's a word that you don't hear much anymore. Kind of quaint, like something you'd see Doc Baker using on a Walnut Grove patient in Little House on the Prairie. Tonic is a "medicinal substance taken to give a feeling of vigor or well-being; something with an invigorating effect."

That's what one song did for my soul this morning. It's an old hymn that came to mind the very moment I woke up:

My faith has found a resting place--

Not in device nor creed;

I trust the Ever-Living One--

His wounds for me shall plead.

I need no other argument;

I need no other plea.

It is enough that Jesus died,

And that He died for me.

Enough for me that Jesus saves--

This ends my fear and doubt;

A sinful soul, I come to Him--

He'll never cast me out.

My heart is leaning on the Word--

The written Word of God;

Salvation by my Savior's name,

Salvation through His blood.

My great Physician heals the sick--

The lost He came to save;

For me His precious blood He shed--

For me His life He gave.

I need no other argument;

I need no other plea.

It is enough that Jesus died,

And that He died for me.

It is enough. There's nothing I need to add to Jesus' atoning work. There's nothing I can add. Salvation is all of grace--God's grace. "But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation" (Colossians 1:22). That's a truth I need to tell myself every day, lest I get discouraged over my frequent failings.

Minutes later I had made my way from the bedroom into the living room, where I sat with the Bible in my lap and a freshly-poured cup of coffee in my right hand. As the text before me came into focus, my eyes settled on Ephesians 3:7-8: "I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God's grace given me through the working of his power. Although I am less than the least of all the Lord's people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ."

This was Paul's testimony. This is my testimony. My service to the Lord, like my salvation from the Lord, is a gift of His grace. God didn't call me to preach because I'm great; He did it because He is great--and gracious. I re-read these verses several times. I intend to print them out and post them on the bulletin board by my desk.

Finally, I picked up our family's copy of Spurgeon's classic devotional work, Morning & Evening. I turned to this morning's entry, dated February 13. The text was 1 John 3:1-2: "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God." In commenting on these verses, Spurgeon wrote (in part),

"Beloved, now are we the sons of God." That is easy to read, but it is not so easy to feel. How is it with your heart this morning? Are you in the lowest depths of sorrow? Does corruption rise within your spirit, and grace seem like a poor spark trampled under foot? Does you faith almost fail you? Fear not, it is neither your graces nor feelings on which you are to live: you must live simply by faith on Christ. With all these things against us, now--in the very depths of our sorrow, wherever we may be-- now, as much as in the valley as on the mountain, "Beloved, now are we the sons of God." "Ah, but," you say, "see how I am arrayed! My graces are not bright; my righteousness does not shine with apparent glory." But read the next: "It doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him." The Holy Spirit shall purify our minds, and divine power shall refine our bodies, then shall we see Him as He is.

God has got it all covered, hasn't He? His grace is sufficient, from start to finish. My faith indeed has found a resting place. Thank you, Lord, for mixing that song and Scripture, with a dose of Spurgeon, into a wonderful elixir this morning. It's just what my soul needed.

Crashing Cars and Careless Words

A few nights ago after gulping down my dinner, I jumped into the car and headed off to church for a meeting. I backed out of the garage and went through my little "steering ritual," which requires some explanation. At the base of our driveway there is a drain that is sunk down too deep, so we always back out on the left side of it. But we also park our van on the left side of the driveway, to allow room for the car to back out of the garage. If our daughter is home, she also parks on that side of the driveway, behind the van.

So I backed out of the garage as I always due, looking at both side mirrors to avoid the van on my left and the grass on my right. Once I saw that I cleared the van, I turned the steering wheel to the left so that by the time I got to the end of the driveway, I could avoid the drain.

This ritual has become so common, I don't even think about it anymore. That, however, created a problem. As I continued to back out, I suddenly heard a sound of metal crunching against metal. "NOOOOO!" I yelled. Immediately I knew what happened. I had forgotten that my daughter was home and had parked her itty-bitty Mazda behind the van!

If you have ever made such a stupid mistake as I did, you can relate to the frustration I felt. One careless move, and I created unnecessary damage.

If we are not watchful, we can do the same thing with our words. "There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts..." (Prov. 12:18). Rash can be defined as "displaying or proceeding from a lack of careful consideration of the possible consequences of an action." So, here, the Spirit of God is not talking about words that are intentionally mean or destructive, but ones that are given no thought in terms of their effects. Such words include:

• "harmless jokes" (i.e. laughter at someone else's expense - see Proverbs 26:18-19)
• newsy items (gossip)
• critical or sarcastic remarks (I didn't mean anything by it)
• complaining
• arguing

The list goes on and on. Again, we're not talking about intentional words but the kind that come out of our mouth without thinking. Again, that's the problem. We speak without thinking. That's pretty dangerous when you think of Jesus' warning, recorded in Matthew 12:36: "I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak." Every careless word! That's sobering! We need to wise up!

How can we do that, i.e. "wise up" when it comes to our words? First, we can ask the Lord for help. We can pray as David did, "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer" (Psalm 19:14). Then, working in cooperation with the Holy Spirit, we can be purposeful in our use of words, choosing them carefully ... thinking before we speak. We can:

• Choose words of restraint. Proverbs 10:19 says, "When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent." It's been said that a wise man speaks because he has something to say; a fool speaks because he has to say something. I think of what Neal Page (Steve Martin) said to Del Griffith (John Candy), the talkative shower-curtain-ring salesman in the movie Planes, Trains & Automobiles: "Everything is not an anecdote. You have to discriminate." There's some sound wisdom in that counsel!
• Choose words of truth. "Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor..." (Eph. 4:25).
• Choose words of love. One can speak the truth but in a hurtful way. We must choose to be loving in our communication with others. Ephesians 4:15 says that believers in Christ are to be "proclaiming the truth in love."
• Choose words of grace. Again in Ephesians 4 we are commanded, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen" (v. 29).
• Choose words of forgiveness. "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God" (Eph. 4:32-5:2).

As you can see, Ephesians 4 alone is a chapter filled with rich exhortations regarding our choice of words. Paul David Tripp has expounded on these more thoroughly in his book War of Words, if you would like to delve more deeply into this subject, using that as a resource.

Bottom line: Mind what you say, or you'll say whatever comes to mind -- and do a lot of damage, both to yourself and others.

Putting the Super Bowl into Perspective

Four years ago, after the Patriots lost to the Giants (shudder, twitch, convulse), I posted a blog article entitled, The Superbowl, Brady, Belichick ... and Bread. Given the rematch coming up this Sunday, I thought it would be wise to repost the article before the "big show" this weekend. Of course I'm hoping that history doesn't repeat itself, but regardless of whether you are a Giants' fan or a Patriots' fan, we would all do well to keep this game in perspective. Read on!

Superbowl Sunday was marked by black Monday – at least here in Boston – as Patriot fans licked their gaping wounds from Sunday’s Super-disappointment. One gentleman sent me the following e-mail on Monday morning, which I have posted with his permission:

Good morning, Pastor Matt.
I have to confess, I am coming off a pretty much sleepless night. It is amazing to me how emotionally involved we can become in matters such as Super Bowl wins and losses. I need to find a way to disassociate myself from sports. I get so emotionally distraught when our "home teams" lose….primarily the big games. Have winning and sports become gods to us? Pastor Matt, I don’t understand how we can get so wrapped up in these things. The winning affects my life in no way at all other than the "good feeling" that accompanies rooting for the home team. The flip side seems so unbalanced.
Anyhow, I just thought I’d send you a note and ask that you somehow put this into perspective for me. No family member died…..no one got hurt….all are healthy and there are no debt collectors beating at the door…..and yet after the game, there was this giant sized hole/pain. Why do we take these matters so seriously? It’s silly really.. Have a great day.

I’m glad this brother wrote what most others are probably feeling but perhaps wouldn’t say. He raises some good questions, like why is it that we get so "emotionally distraught" over a simple game? Why do we take these matters so seriously? And perhaps the most important and revealing question of all: Have winning and sports become gods to us?

I think they have. After all, what is an idol but the object of our desires? "Worship is basically adoration, and we adore only what delights us" (John Piper, Desiring God, p. 19). Bear with me for a moment, as I paraphrase a few verses from the Psalms:

"As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for the Patriots. My soul thirsts for the Patriots, the undefeated Patriots. When can I go and watch the Patriots?

"O Patriots, how sweet are your wins to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!"

"My soul thirsts for a Superbowl win, my flesh yearns for one, in a dry and weary land where there is no water."

My intent is not to be sacrilegious, but to engage in hyperbole for the sake of making a point. Isn’t it ridiculous that our enthusiasm and sentiments for a sports team comes even close to paralleling our affections for God?

The problem is not that we’re pursuing pleasure but that we’re trying to find it outside of God. The prophet Jeremiah put it like this:

"My people have exchanged their glory for that which does not profit. Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate," says the Lord; "for my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that hold not water." (Jer. 2:11-13)

Like C. S. Lewis said, "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."

We settle for football instead of Christ. If it’s not football, then it’s something else: clothes, computer games, a higher income, the approval of others, a great sex life, etc. The tragedy is that we have seen our worship of God as something separate – and perhaps even in opposition to – our pursuit of happiness. This is what John Piper has rightly called "the moral enemy of worship." Says Piper, "When worship is reduced to disinterested duty, it ceases to be worship. For worship is a feast."

Isn’t this precisely the point that our compassionate Lord makes in Isaiah 55:2, when He says, "Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food." You see, "the great hindrance to worship is not that we are a pleasure-seeking people, but that we are willing to settle for such pitiful pleasures" (Piper). We think that football or sex or popularity or more money or a better marriage or physical fitness or the affirmation of others can satisfy the longings of our soul. The fact is, they can’t; only Christ can.

Even those who "follow Christ" must be careful to seek their pleasure in HIM, and not just His gifts. Remember what Jesus told the crowds when they followed Him after He fed the five thousand? He said, "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval" (John 6:26-27 NIV).

Rather than seeing Jesus as the object of their desires, they saw Him only as a means of fulfilling their wants. Recently I read an outstanding lesson on John 6 by Paul David Tripp in his book, The War of Words. In a chapter entitled "Following the King for All the Wrong Reasons," he asked: "If you had to write down your dream for your life, what would you write? What is your ‘if only,’ ‘if I could just have,’ ‘if God would just give me. . . then I would be happy?’"

Think about that for a second. What would your answer to that question be?

Tripp goes on to share insights from John 6, centering on our struggle betweenphysical bread and spiritual bread: "In the middle of this struggle is the Deceiver, who would have us believe that life is all about physical bread, that spiritual things are of little consequence." Tripp then goes on to share four subtle but persuasive lies that Satan puts before us. Time and space forbid me from expounding on all four lies, but they all culminate in the fourth deception, which is: Life is found in physical bread. Read carefully Tripp’s comments on this vital point. It will be well worth your time:

This is the lie of lies–that somehow, some way, life can be found outside of a relationship with God. This was the lie told by the Deceiver in the Garden, and it is the lie told countless times again every day. Feeding on physical bread only leads to more hunger. It is only as you feed on Christ by faith, receiving his life, that you can ever be satisfied. He is the Bread. He is life! All other offers of life outside of Christ lead parched people to drink at dry wells. He is the True Bread. He is the river of life. Follow him and within you will flow rivers of living water (John 4:13-14). Without him you are dead, even though you physically live (Eph. 2:1-10).

It is so easy to buy into the lie that life can be found in human acceptance, possessions, and positions. It is so easy to have your life controlled by dreams of success in your career. It is so easy to believe that nothing else satisfies like romantic love. It is so easy to fall into pursuing the idol images of Western culture–big suburban house, luxurious car, lavish vacations, etc. When we do this, we quit feeding on Christ. Our devotional life begins to suffer. We pray less, and when we do, we pray more selfishly. We find our schedule doesn’t leave much time for ministry, and we spend more time with our colleagues at work than we do with brothers and sisters in the body of Christ. Functionally, we are feeding on the world’s bread, not on Christ.

Our entire life will be determined by which bread we pursue. There are no more dangerous lies than the ones that lead us away from a loving hope and surrender to the Creator we cannot see, and toward a bondage to an endless, unsatisfying pursuit of what is passing away....

We fall into spiritual depression when [Christ] removes the physical bread so that we would hunger again for the Bread that really satisfies....

To the degree that you have based your life on something other than the Lord, to that degree God’s love and the hope of the gospel will not comfort you. You will not be comforted because you are hungry for another kind of bread. You long for a king who will give you the bread you crave....

As we look at our own lives and all that we are living for, we need to ask, Whose dream, which bread do we seek?...

Perhaps many of us, even though we have not physically forsaken the King, have lost our enthusiasm for his grace and mercy because following him has not led to the fulfillment of our dreams....

This can be something as "silly" as a Superbowl win or something more subtle but just as superficial. You can find your satisfaction in physical bread, or you can find it in Christ, the living Bread. You can pursue your own dream, what you think will make you happy – or you can pursue Christ and His dream for you -- "the good portion, which will not be taken away from [you]" (Luke 10:42).