Author Archives: Pastor Tommy

Ever look around and see someone who seems to be doing better, experiencing more peace and joy, earning more . . . someone who always seems to be getting the right breaks, is making a bigger impact for Christ, finds more favor with God, and on and on?  In a word, they seem like “super saints.”  Or maybe you think you have seen this person staring back at you in the mirror?

I have news for you.  There are no super saints!  Never have been . . . never will be.

As a founding pastor of a church plant that Jesus is currently building, it’s all too easy for me to take my eyes off Jesus and put them on myself and think that I am more than I am.  In those moments, I am so thankful that God has given me a partner in ministry—my beloved wife, Kim—who reminds me I am no super saint—and that the church we serve is Christ’s church, not mine!  What a precious gift from God—to have a wife who is not afraid to kindly but firmly tell her husband like it is . . . over and over and over again!

Evangelist D. L. Moody once quipped, “I’ve had more trouble with D. L. Moody than with any other man I’ve ever known.”  Thomas à Kempis advised, “Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish yourself to be.”  When G. K. Chesterton was asked what was wrong with the world, he promptly responded, “I am!”  Honesty is truly the best policy, especially when it comes to being honest with ourselves!  When we acknowledge our true condition—great sinners in need of an even greater Savior—we begin to approach the place where we can be used by God.

Regardless of what we are doing for God, we are only doing it because He has given us the strength to do it.  Our next breath is a gift from God.  Our next heartbeat is a gift from God.  Our next step in the direction of advancing our service to our Savior is a gift from God.  Daniel testified that “God . . . holds your breath in His hand and owns all your ways” (Daniel 5:23 NKJV).  Everything is a gift from God, and when we understand this truth, we see ourselves for what we truly are: weak, utterly dependent creatures.  We join David in his cry, “Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy (Psalm 86:1).  Make no mistake, the ground is always level at the foot of the cross . . . and that means there are no super saints!

Keeping this truth before you at all times will do two things.  First, if people may regard you as some sort of super saint because of your character and service before God, receive the compliment with all humility—even with a measure of fear, for “The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but a man is tested by the praise he receives” (Proverbs 27:21).  Give all the glory to God!

Second, if you are quite sure that no one regards you as a super saint, perhaps because of your lack of ministry and service to God, remember that you are just as valuable to God and needed by God as everyone else!  You don’t believe me? Answer this question: How many extra Christians has God made?  The answer, of course, is none.  “For we are [God’s] workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10).  You are a vital member of the body of Christ.  Pouring all your gifts, talents, and abilities into the service of your Lord will cause all the boats in the harbor rise; refusing to do so diminishes us all.

Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free —and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.  And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.  If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty,  while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. (1 Corinthians 12:12-27)

So . . . since there are no super saints in the service of our Savior, what are you waiting for?  God never calls you to do something without equipping you to get it done.  You have the greatest reason and motivation in the world to do all God is calling you to do: “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).  You are free to simply put in what you have—all that you have—and leave the results to God.

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN! 

Really? Two things?!

Now that I have your attention, let me tell you what these two things are.  They are true for all of us, regardless of where this message finds you.  The two things that never change are:

1. God

2. The fact that there will always be change in your life!

I think you would agree that it is a whole lot easier dealing with life when we deal with it truthfully.  First, we know that God never changes, and that is very good news!  Those of us in the theological community refer to this as God’s attribute of immutability.  God simply does not change.  He does not change His mind, He does not change His plan, and His feelings toward us never change.  He does not have a Plan A, and then respond to our actions and go with Plan B, for not even a bird falls to the ground apart from His will (Matthew 10:29).

Knowing this first truth is a source of great comfort for the Christian.  God is the same, regardless of what is going on in the world around us and regardless of what is going on inside of us.  We read this truth in Scripture and we sing about it in congregations all over the world.

He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a human being, that he should change his mind.  (1 Samuel 15:29 NIV)

I the Lord do not change.  (Malachi 3:6)

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.  (Hebrews 13:8)

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.  (James 1:17 NIV)

However, as contrary as it might seem, the second truth is also very comforting for the Christian believer.  Everything other than God is always changing.  Now, I know the only person who actually likes change is a wet baby, but whether we like it or not, change is happening around us and within us.  It never stops!

Some of these changes are welcome and some are not.  Advances in medicine have turned diseases that were once dread killers into a note in a history book.  There have been remarkable technological changes that have helped us advance in all areas of life.  But while these changes have made life longer, easier, and more productive, they have not come without a cost.  Today we can communicate with people all over the world at the touch of a button.  At the same time, however, we no longer have to build real relationships with face-to-face communication.  Today’s technological advances in communication have created individual lives that are, as the saying goes, “a mile wide, but only an inch deep.”

So . . . how do we deal with this second truth that everything except God is in a state of constant change, including you and the life you are living?  We must believe and fully embrace the first truth!  The only way to effectively deal with the truth of change is to view it in light of the truth that God never changes.  He is the one constant we have, in both life and death, and He is the One we are to focus our attention on.

When those we love move away, we can be assured that God never moves away.  When those we love begin showing the debilitating effects of aging, we can be assured that God does not age.  When those we love die, we can be assured that God never dies.

What change are you dealing with today?  Are you facing changes in your personal life?  Changes in your professional life?  Have the climactic changes in our economy triggered difficult changes in your life?  Regardless of the changes you are confronting and the anxiety they might be causing you, keep looking to the only One who never changes.  And along the way, you must trust that our sovereign, immutable God is working every one of those changes for your good and His glory.

One last thought: the most important change you will go through is to be conformed into the likeness of Jesus (Romans 8:29).  This means two things:  first, it is going to be painful!  Second, God will not stop His work until it is completed, and it will not be completed until you get to the other side.  Yes, along with the apostle Paul, we can be sure of this: “that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

When was the last time you gave any thought to having a savior other than Jesus?  At this moment, you’re probably thinking, “Never!”  To be sure, Jesus is the only Savior.  But you might be surprised to see just how easily we replace Jesus on the throne of our lives with “functional saviors,” which we imagine will meet us in our place of deepest need.

A functional savior is anything other than Jesus that we focus on to meet our needs, give us our identity, strengthen our significance, or magnify our meaning in life.  Jerry Bridges writes:

“They become the source of our identity, security, and significance, because we hold an idolatrous affection for them in our hearts.  They preoccupy our minds and consume our time and our resources.  They make us feel good and somehow make us feel righteous.  Whether we realize it or not, they control us and we worship them.”

My years spent devoted to men’s ministry brought me face to face with countless functional saviors that men serve: from accomplishment to addiction . . . from money to ministry . . . from good looks to the good life.  The foremost functional savior for many of these men was their careers!  Whether they are searching for a feeling of significance, meaning, purpose, identity, or approval, most men I have counseled over the years look to their careers as their savior—not Jesus Christ.  In the end, of course, the career could not deliver on its promise and left these men wrecked, washed up, and wandering aimlessly on the empty trail of their own selfish ambition.

So . . . is there a functional savior that you are depending on to bring you happiness and fulfillment?  Let us look at a man who worked through this question.

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through.  A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy.  He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd.  So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.  When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.”  So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.  All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”  Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.  For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”  (Luke 19:1-10)

The functional savior for Zacchaeus was money.  He even profited off of his own people by charging more than what was owed; because of this he was hated and despised by his neighbors.  Then Jesus showed up and everything changed, because this tax collector now knew what he was looking for in his money was only to be found in his new Master.  Zacchaeus was not only willing to give half of his possessions to the poor, he was willing to make it right with anyone he had cheated out of anything.

You see, while Zacchaeus was depending on money, he was never really happy.  He was never really fulfilled or satisfied.  And this is clearly evident in the account above; he was so eager to meet the genuine Savior that he scaled a tree, so as to be sure not to miss Him as he passed by!  Zacchaeus had tried to fill the God-sized void in his heart with money, but it wasn’t until that void was filled by his Master that he come to know true joy and fulfillment and to discover his real identity.  Do you know this feeling?  Is this the confession of your life?

Only the truths of the Gospel can empower us to trade in all of our functional saviors for the only true and real Savior: Jesus Christ.  Only Jesus has the power to deliver on His promises—every one of them, every single time.

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

It is one thing to have a promised salvation, one in which you hope to be saved in the end.  But it is another thing altogether to have a present salvation—to know that you are currently saved, no ifs, ands, or buts.

So . . . which do you have?  Take a look at what the apostle Paul had to say on this matter.

By grace are you saved.  (Ephesians 2:5)

Herein lies both the sum and substance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  By the grace of God, you are saved presently.  Paul does not tell us that we will one day be saved.  Paul does not tell us to hope that we will be saved.  No, Paul says we are already saved; our salvation is a completed act.  Charles Spurgeon, “the prince of preachers,” powerfully underscored this truth:

A present salvation cannot consistently be preached by any beside those who hold the Doctrine that salvation is by Grace.  Appeal to the very best of men, the most devoted, the most earnest who are seeking salvation by their own works and ask if they have obtained eternal life.  You cannot find one who has done so—they are all hoping that, through the mercy of God, they may somehow and sometime be saved—but none of them will declare that they are now saved.

If you are trusting in anything other than the finished work of Christ on the cross (such as your obedience and/or good deeds), you cannot ever consider yourself to be saved!  When would you know you had done enough or been good enough?  When you put both your good works and sinful deeds on the scales of justice, are you counting on the “good” scale to outweigh the bad?  Or are you more than a little unnerved by Jesus’ words, “You are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect”? (Matthew 5:48 NASB)  Perhaps, when you read those words and consider how ruinously short you fall from God’s standard of perfection, you are moved to cry, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24).

If this resonates with you, know this: if Adam had always kept the law of God and never sinned, his works would only have brought him to a place of doing his duty; and doing his duty would merit him nothing.  Our Creator owes nothing to His creation.  What would God have owed Adam for keeping the law?  Nothing!  Eternal life would still have been a gift of God’s grace.  And Jesus warns us, “You also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty’” (Luke 17:10).

Unworthy servants that we are, should we not abandon any and all notions of keeping the law to merit salvation?  Do we not recognize that we are sinners—both by nature and habit?  We cannot keep the law of God for a single hour!  Which one of us has ever loved God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength?

If by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.  (Romans 11:6)

Those who are hoping only in a promised salvation find that there is no rest for their souls.  It is a never-ending, life-draining, heart-sapping run on the performance treadmill of life.  With every step, we hope we have moved one step closer to the goal of final forgiveness and eternal life.  And these are the individuals who will say it is a presumptuous thing to believe in a present salvation!  I would reply that it is far more presumptuous to imagine that we could be good enough to make God our debtor!  Spurgeon argued,

The Scriptures teach that the moment a man believes in Christ, he is not merely put into a salvable state, not have saved—he is not placed in a position where, if he remains, he will be saved, but concerning which there is fear that he may fall from it—but that he is already completely saved!  I verily believe that the saints in Heaven, albeit they have received the crown of salvation, are not, as to its essential reality, more truly saved than the meanest and weakest believer in Christ who is struggling through floods of temptation here upon earth.  For what is it to be saved?  It is to have sin forgiven and to be accepted in the Beloved.  The moment a sinner believes in Jesus, his sins are as much pardoned as they ever will be!  They are as fully and as finally blotted out of God’s Book of Remembrance as they would be if he should live a thousand years of piety.  He is as completely clear, as far as the forgiveness of his sins is concerned, as he will be when he stands at the right hand of the Judge at the Last Great Day.

Only the truths of the Gospel take us from a promised salvation to a present salvation.  And only by preaching these truths to ourselves each and every day that we can live with the freedom and joy that comes with knowing we live under the banner of the finished work of Jesus Christ.

When grace comes knocking on the door of our hearts, it opens our hearts and takes up residency there, now and forevermore, because we are saved by His grace alone and not by our works.  From beginning to end, and all points in between, salvation is God’s gift of grace which moves us beyond a promised salvation to a present one.

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Those who are in Christ are living in the shade of the shadow of the cross.  This is the place where we meet with all the blessings of being in Christ:

• Pardon
• Adoption
• Acceptance
• Forgiveness
• Redemption
• Freedom
• Love
• Eternal life

The list of blessings, of course, is virtually endless.  Indeed, “The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:3).  Having been raised up, cleaned off, and brought in, we simply cannot plumb the height and depth of the blessings that we have received in Christ.  But we must remember that the Christian life is not an endless parade of balmy days and delightful, cool breezes.  We will spend days on the other side of shadow of the cross, where the sky is bronze and brittle, and a scorching sun beats pitilessly down on us—on that side of the cross is suffering.  And in that suffering we also need to live, and live well, as a witness to the One who hung on that cross in our place.

To be sure, it is always easier to live in the shade of the shadow of the cross.  This is the place where we find the sky is always blue and the clouds are always fleecy.  But on the other side of the shadow we find suffering . . . and this is part of taking up our cross and carrying it for Jesus.

He said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”  (Luke 9:23)

The cross is not only our greatest source of blessing, it is the source of our heaviest burden.  Jesus was a cross-bearer, and all those who would follow Him must be cross-bearers too.  If we will one day receive a crown, it will only be by way of the cross.  The Via Crucis, or the Way of Sorrows, is the only way to the place of blessing; it must be walked by every follower of Christ.  Jesus carried His cross to the Hill Golgotha to be crucified and to die upon it.  Will we not submit and surrender our shoulder to our cross to be purified on our way to eternal life?

If you keep the promise of the glorious life to come in view, your present burden will be greatly eased.  Jesus willingly gave Himself to a cross He did not deserve.  God forbid that we would shrink back from the cross that had our name carved into its side.  To know the Father’s love—a love that gave His only Son to be nailed to the cross to pay for all our sins—is to know enough to receive our cross as a badge of holy honor.  The apostle Paul’s prayer was that he would

. . . [B]e found in [Christ], not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.  (Philippians 3:9-10)

Paul believed it was an honor to share in the sufferings of His Lord, because Paul knew what His Lord did for Him on that cross.  He knew “the incomparable riches of [God’s] grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:7-8 NIV).  He stood in the glorious shade of the shadow of the cross on the road to Damascus, and in that moment when Jesus raised Paul from death to life, Paul stooped to surrender his shoulder to the glories of its suffering too.  Paul wanted nothing more than to be like Jesus.  To live like Jesus . . . to suffer like Jesus . . . and to die like Jesus!

The more deeply we understand the Gospel, the more delighted we are to carry our cross.  Both blessing and burden live beneath the cross, and it is the call of every follower of Christ to take it up daily, regardless of the cost or circumstance.

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Thanks for hanging in there all this week!  Today we conclude this week’s three-part message, which is based on Psalm 31:24—“Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the Lord.”

PART III – His Promise … “And he shall strengthen your heart”

What a wonderful comfort for God’s people to know that God never commands us to do anything without equipping us to actually get it done!  God did not simply say, “All you who hope in the Lord, be of good courage.”  After God tells us what to do, He proceeds to tell us how it will get done: “He shall strengthen your heart.”  It is important to take careful notice what of what is held forth to us in this incredible promise.  The psalmist says the Lord “will strengthen your heart.”  He does not say any of the following will strengthen your heart:

• A better economy
• A new job
• A different church
• More money
• Better health
• Higher education
• A new address
• A longer vacation
• Less rebellious children
• A more loving spouse

The psalmist makes it crystal clear that it is God and God alone who will strengthen the hearts of those who trust in Him in every circumstance.  Make no mistake, a lack of courage is a disease of the heart; there is only One who can cure it: our Cosmic Cardiologist, who delights in showing Himself strong on behalf of His people.  All strength comes from our Cosmic Cardiologist.

The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him.  (2 Chronicles 16:9)

For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.  (2 Corinthians 12:10)

What deliverance do you need today?  What Red Sea are you facing, with an implacable enemy thundering up behind you?  What wall of Jericho is standing in the way of the land promised to you by your God?  What Garden of Gethsemane are you kneeling in, hoping desperately to hear from your God?  What dark night of the soul have you been struggling with, hoping to see the light of the morning star?  Where in your life have you been wrestling with God, refusing to let go until you receive your blessing?

Clearly, the Cosmic Cardiologist is not finished with you yet.  Do you know why I make that statement so confidently?  It’s because you’re still here!  God has more for you to do to advance the cause of His kingdom.  When we keep our eyes on Jesus, no matter what difficulties we are facing, we will, by God’s grace, be able to do what David did—in spite of feeling distressed, dejected, rejected, weak, and not at all courageous.

David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters.  But David strengthened himself in the Lord His God.  (1 Samuel 30:6)

As we close out this three-part message, I hope you will never lose sight of the fact that one of ways God strengthens us is by connecting us to each other.  Yes, we were saved individually, but we were saved to community.  We were called to be members of one body (Ephesians 2:16) and we need each other!

Charles Spurgeon wrote, “God does not work needless miracles.  He will not send an angel when a brother or sister will do.  A brother’s sympathy is more precious than an angel’s embassy.”  Wow!  Who better to help a hurting heart than one who has the scars from the same battle?!  When a brother or sister speaks into our lives it is “like apples of gold in baskets of silver.”  Sometimes it may come in the person of Barnabas the encourager.  At other times it can come in the person of Nathan the confronter.  Either way, it is a great grace the Cosmic Cardiologist gives to all of His patients: He strengthens our hurting hearts.

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

I preached a sermon a few weeks ago, titled The Cosmic Cardiologist, for our covenant partners at New Horizons Church in Deerfield Beach.  The message was warmly received, and it was suggested that I present it on this blog.  So here it is, divided into three parts for this week.  The message is based on Psalm 31:24—“Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the Lord”—and is laid out in three parts: His Patient; His Prescription; and His Promise.  Today we’ll look at Part One: His Patient.

“All you who hope in the Lord . . .”

It is important to notice at the outset what this verse does not say.  It does not say, “All you who hope in their good works” or “All you who hope in their religiosity” or “All you who hope in your baptism” or “All you who hope in your repentance” or “All you who hope in your church.” In short, wasn’t written for “All you who hope in yourselves” . . . like the Pharisee in the temple.

[Jesus] also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”  (Luke 18:9-14)

Scripture succinctly spotlights the Pharisee’s problem: Jesus told the parable for those who trusted in themselves that they were righteous.  The Pharisee was not hoping and trusting in the Lord and His righteousness; he was hoping and trusting in himself!  Self is a miserable substitute for God, the only One who is worthy of our hope and trust.  The Word of God has nothing to say to those like the Pharisee, who trust in themselves.  Any hope smaller than God is not a hope worth having.  It is hope-less!

The Bible identifies others who put their hope in places smaller than God.  Some trust in chariots and horses (Psalm 20:7), which is another word for the strength and power of military might.  Others trust in the government (Psalm 146:3), banking on rulers and governing bodies to fix the world’s problems.  Still others trust in their money (1 Timothy 6:17).

So . . . what have you been hoping for and trusting in lately?  What is the confession of your life?  What would those who are closest to you say?  Remember, if your hope is anything smaller than Jesus, Psalm 31:24 does not speak to you.  But if your hope is in the Lord, as I trust it is, you will know hope in the way that the writer of Hebrews described it:

By faith [Abraham] made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.  For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.  (Hebrews 11:9-10 NIV)

All those who hope in the Lord have a divine dissatisfaction with life today.  Like the apostle Paul, we have learned to be content in any and every situation (Philippians 4:12), yet we recognize that something is radically wrong with ourselves and the world around us. We look with forward with positive anticipation to a better future, groaning inwardly in our longing to walk the streets of the sparkling city of God.

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

If you are anything like me, you struggle with holy living.  (If you are not anything like me, please let me know how you are doing it!)  As a minister of the Gospel, the reason I don’t mind confessing that I am far less than perfect is because another minister of the Gospel, who was far, far more sanctified than I, confessed the very same thing.  Here the apostle Paul sets forth the ongoing experience of every Christian:

I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate . . . I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.

(Romans 7:15, 18-19)

There are lots of books written and sermons preached that outline a plethora of “things-to-do” and “how-to’s” for living a holy life.  They range from trying to get us to do more, pray better, serve smarter, or try harder.  The problem with all of this advice is found in the focus: that focus is on ourselves!

When we focus on ourselves and our need/desire to get better, we are looking to the wrong place for strength.  We focus on getting better; perhaps we do for a while.  But before long, we mess it up again and begin to doubt ourselves and despair of succeeding at holy living.  And this is precisely the dreary district where the devil wants every Christian to be living: at the intersection of doubt and despair.

The best way to get better is to quit focusing on getting better and fix our eyes instead on the One who has already made us perfect in the eyes of God.  That’s when we will actually start getting better . . . sometimes!  Here’s how Charles Spurgeon, known to many as “the prince of preachers,” profoundly explained it more than a century ago:

When believers say, “I cannot grow in grace as I would, and therefore I doubt,” do you see what they do?  It is as though they said, “Here is a plant that will not grow and therefore it shall not have any water.”  It is impossible for any one of us—for you—to get sanctification through doubts!  Your doubting takes away the water which alone can nourish the roots of your sanctity.  If, in the teeth of all your sins, you still believe in Christ—believe over the head of all your shortcomings and your negligence—then your belief will breed love and admiration!  And then your love of Christ and your admiration of Him will breed imitation—and so there will come holy living to the glory of God.  Love is the forceful mainspring of a gracious life, but doubt makes it grow limp and feeble.  Doubt snaps the string of your bow, takes off the edge of your sword, makes you languid and powerless and causes all your Divine Graces to flag.  Therefore, keep to it, Christian, keep to it and let not the devil himself drag you from it!

Living a holy life never happens because we are pursuing holy living.  It only happens when we understand that Jesus is in hot pursuit of us.  It is His love for us, not our living for Him, that produces holy living.  When we keep our focus on what He has done for us, we can begin to live the life He has called us to live without fear of messing it up.  The more we focus on the truths of the Gospel, the more the Holy Spirit will fill our hearts with admiration for Jesus.  And, as Spurgeon explained, it is this admiration that will ultimately lead to imitation.

His love for us, not our love for Him, grows us up in our faith.  When we confuse these two, doubt will have its way with us.  It is only when we keep the love of Christ before us—whether we are in seasons of plenty or want or health or sickness—that doubt will depart and holiness will begin to appear.

In his new book, Three Free Sins, my good friend Steve Brown writes, “Christians, by and large, are neurotic about purity, obedience, and holiness.  It is probably the main reason we’re not very pure, obedient, and holy.  And in order to maintain our witness, we have learned to fake it.”  WOW!  Or perhaps I would do better to say OUCH!  That’s a pretty piercing observation!

Sure, we all want to get better.  None of us are happy with the way we are.  But the way to getting better and living a holy life is not to focus on getting better and living a holy life.  It is to focus completely on Christ.

• On the perfect life of Christ
• On the sacrificial death of Christ
• On the supernatural resurrection of Christ
• On the miraculous Ascension of Christ
• On the promised return of Christ

The more we focus on Him, the less we focus on ourselves; and the less we focus on ourselves, the more we begin to imitate Him.  You see, God loves you just the way you are, but He loves you too much just to leave you there!

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.  (Colossians 3:1-4)

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Most readers are probably familiar with the television sitcom Friends, which ran from 1994-2004.  The series revolved around a group of friends in Manhattan who spent considerable time at the “Central Perk” coffee house; Friends consistently rated in the top ten in the primetime ratings.  Can you guess why?  Friendships strike a chord that runs deep within every human being, because God made us for relationship—both with Himself and with others.  In fact, the first time God declared that something was “not good” was when man was alone.

The Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” (Genesis 2:18)

God has hard-wired us for relationship.  We were made for community, and that is why shows like Friends and the still-syndicated Cheers, which are built upon the theme of community and friendship, are among the highest ranking of all time.

Rev. Charles Kingsley (1819-1875) was asked the secret of his productive life; he referred to scholar and educator F. D. Maurice and said simply, “I had a friend.”  Many Americans still prize the idea of “rugged individualism,” and many American Christians are missing out on one of God’s great gifts to His people: close friends in the family of faith.

I rejoice in the great gift of friendship that God has given to me, which begins with my beloved wife, Kim, but doesn’t end there.  God has also given Clark, who has been a faithful and fabulous mentor for more than a decade, and a several other men who have walked alongside me for years.  The words you read in every “Grace for the Race” blog are edited by my best friend, Dan, who, like the rising tide, lifts all boats in his vicinity—including me!

I long ago lost track of how many people have told me they don’t need the church or the people of God.  They insist that they “just need Jesus.”  OK, I’ll grant that at the deepest level of understanding, it is true to say Christ is our most important need.  But Jesus has called us out of isolation and placed us within His body to live and work and pray with other members of His church.  Another man who has played a huge role in my life as a pastor is my beloved friend, Tullian Tchividjian. Tullian frequently quotes the late Frank Colquhoun, who wrote that one of the Gospel’s “most thrilling notes” is that “when Christ saves a man he not only saves him from his sin, he saves him from his solitude.”

If God thought it was good for man to be alone He would have stopped after forming Adam and simply kept him in a vertical relationship with Himself.  But God didn’t do that; He created Eve out of Adam so that they could begin to expand their vertical relationship with God into a horizontal relationship with each other.  And that is His perfect plan for us, as well!

Steve Brown tells a story about a friend of his who got into a terrible dispute with another friend over a $3 million contract.  It happened a long time ago, Steve says, but its effects still linger.  He said his friend told him recently, “I got a bad deal.  I would give up the money to have my friend back.”

How many reading this right now does that story resonate with?  I know I cannot be alone.  Perhaps it was nothing like a $3 million deal, but something came between you and a friend, or even a family member.  We all have pasts littered with broken friendships and damaged relationships; this happens for one simple reason: we are broken and damaged people.

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.  (Proverbs 17:17)

So . . . what kind of friend have you been to those around you?  How would those closest to you answer this question?  Do you have relationships in your life that could stand for a little upkeep?  Maybe they are not broken or even badly damaged . . . but they could use a little extra TLC?  The power of the Gospel frees us to go to work on all of our relationships.  It frees us to forgive everyone because we have been forgiven.  It frees us to try to reconcile with anyone, regardless of the outcome.

All of us will do well to remember the saying, “Make new friends, but keep the old; one is silver and the other gold.”  The silver and gold we have been given in friendship is worth more than all the silver and gold coins this world has ever seen.  We can stand to lose a business deal.  We can stand to lose some money.  We can stand to lose some of our pride.  But we simply should not stand to lose a single friend.

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

I learned the term “pain reflex” while I was in seminary; it refers to the witness of the early Christian church.  It is said that some of the most powerful Gospel preaching came through the “pain reflex” of the early church.  For many in the church today, especially in the United States, this term is somewhat foreign; we don’t have to deal with much pain regarding our faith!  But the early church certainly did, as have many throughout the world during the past 2,000 years.  Here are just a few examples of how the early church suffered under the Roman emperors Nero and Domitian, as recorded by the first-century Roman historian Tacitus:

• Christians were thrown to voracious wild animals to be torn apart while crowds of thousands watched and cheered the mauling
• Fully alive and alert, Christians were covered with pitch and set on fire to provide lighting for nightly parties at Nero’s gardens
• Christians were crucified by the hundreds and sometimes thousands along the main highways in and out of Rome as a lesson to all those observers who might desire to claim any lord other than the emperor

The horrific stories of the affliction of the saints are as numerous as they are atrocious.  The extent of their persecution was only limited by the depraved imagination of their persecutors.  But it was not the suffering that drew unbelievers to the claims of Christ; it was the way they suffered that did.  It was their pain reflex that preached a clear, compelling message and caused the watching world to take notice of their claim of a crucified and risen Christ.

Christians could be heard singing hymns and spiritual songs as they were being torn apart by snarling beasts.  As they were brought to the stake to be burned alive, Christians were overheard telling their executioners there was no need to tie them to the post, because their faith in Christ would keep them there.  One of the most remarkable biblical stories regarding the pain reflex of the early church is recorded about the death of Stephen.

When they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at [Stephen].  But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.   And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”   But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him.   Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.   And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”   And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.  (Acts 7:54-60)

Here we read the biblical account of the first Christian martyr, who followed the model of his Master, who, as He hung on the cruel cross, prayed: “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do,” Jesus prayed (Luke 23:34).

What does all this have to do with you and me?  After all, it’s not likely that you or I will ever be thrown to the lions; what should we take away from the sterling faith of the early Christians?  The answer is that you and I are given many opportunities to preach Christ to a watching world through our own pain reflex.  Though we don’t face violent persecution here in America, we do deal with a great deal of pain on this side of the grave.  With every trial and every season of suffering, we are given the opportunity to testify to the truth of what we say we believe—very much like our first century brethren.

We always have two different ways to respond to the struggles of life.  We can shrink back from them and demonstrate a pain that points to the self.  Or we can embrace our trials and demonstrate a pain reflex that points to the One who suffered for us and with us.  This is the pain reflex of the redeemed.  Is it yours?

This is the truth of what it means to preach the Gospel with both our lips and our lives.  This is the truth of what it means to preach the Gospel with both the profession of our faith and the practice of our faith.  And this truth shouts the loudest when we find ourselves in the furnace of affliction; we demonstrate to those who are watching a confident faith that points straight to Jesus!

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!