Grace for the Race

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!

To be sure, we all wrestle with doubt from time to time.  The Bible shows us that even God’s strongest servants struggled with doubt.  Here are just a few examples.

• Adam & Eve doubted God’s goodness and ate the forbidden fruit.
• Abraham doubted God’s protection and said his wife Sarah was his sister—twice!
•  Gideon doubted God’s wisdom in shrinking his army down to 300 from 32,000.
• Threatened by Jezebel, Elijah doubted that God had any further purpose for him.
•  Languishing in prison, John the Baptist doubted if Jesus was the expected One.
• The apostles doubted God’s provision in feeding the 5000.
• Peter doubted that God could protect him from the accusation of a servant girl . . . and denied Christ.
• Thomas doubted the resurrection of Jesus.

Have you ever wondered why the Bible is chock-full of stories about God’s people doubting God?  I believe these accounts are there to remind us that doubt is a part of the human condition.  So when you and I are wrestling with doubt, we know that the experience is not unique to us.  We are not freaks or losers or second-class Christians because we doubt; we are simply human—sinful humans, to be sure—which puts us in the same company as some of the greatest heroes of Scripture!  The universal cry of God’s people should echo the prayer of the father of a demon-possessed son, who said, “Lord I believe; help my unbelief” (Mark 9:24 NKJV).

From the beginning, Satan has done his best to get God’s people to doubt His goodness and His grace by causing us to doubt His Word.  Our enemy, the devil, is relentless, always whispering slyly, “Did God really say . . . ?”

• “Did God really say you were to render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s?  What’s the harm of ‘fudging’ a bit on your taxes?”
• “Did God really say you are to love those who hate you and pray for those who persecute you?  Isn’t it true that revenge will make you feel a lot better?”
• “Did God really say marriage was to be between one man and one woman for one lifetime?  Aren’t we free to ‘hook up’ however we please?”

Satan uses the “wisdom” of the world and the weakness of our flesh to cause God’s people to doubt their God.  But when has doubt ever delivered you?  Granted, a little skepticism would have served Adam and Eve well back in the Garden of Eden; if only they had doubted Satan instead of God!  With all of God’s goodness on display and the charge given to them to care for God’s creation and have dominion over it, our first parents doubted God and trusted the devil.  And that has plunged all mankind into an appalling downward spiral of doubt and despair ever since.

So how do we resist our inclination to doubt the only One who is worthy never to be doubted?  We must remember our past deliverance!  Think about all that God has delivered you from in your past.  Every time you were under attack, He came to your rescue.  Every time you were struggling through a season of suffering, He came to your rescue.  Every time you put yourself in the middle of a miserable mess, He came to your rescue.  Every time you found yourself with one foot in the Word and one foot in the world, He came to your rescue.  Every time you were ready to give in and give up, He came to your rescue.  Based on His past performance in your life, does God not deserve your most confident trust, regardless of the circumstance you are facing?

God has never done anything that would cause anyone to doubt Him, and He never will.  He who began the good work in you has promised to finish what He started (Philippians 1:6).  Doubt is no deliverer—it never has been and never will be.  We must simply fix our eyes upon Jesus and never forget that He has promised to bring us home.  We don’t know whether the road will be long or short, but what we do know that road will be marked by tests and trials and troubles.  But through it all, we can trust in the One whose footsteps we walk in every step of the way.

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

Today is the Fourth of July, a time for food, fellowship, and fireworks.  But for the Christian, it is a time for so much more!  Today is a day to reflect on the fact that we are a nation that was founded, rooted, and established on Christian principles.  Don’t take my word for it; read the words of our founding fathers.

The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity. I will avow that I then believed, and now believe, that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God.  John Adams

May every citizen . . . have a proper sense of the Deity upon his mind and an impression of the declaration recorded in the Bible, “Him that honoreth Me I will honor, but he that despiseth Me shall be lightly esteemed.” Samuel Adams

The 1^st Amendment has created a wall of separation between church and state, but that wall is a one directional wall, it keeps the government from running the church, but it makes sure that Christian principles will always stay in government.  Thomas Jefferson

Why is it that, next to the birthday of the Savior of the World, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this day [July 4th]? . . . Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? That it forms a leading event in the progress of the gospel dispensation? Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer’s mission upon earth? That it laid the corner stone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity. . ?  John Quincy Adams

Regardless of what we hear from politicians or liberal media or historical revisionists, our great nation was founded on Christian principles and religious freedom—not to worship whatever god we want, but rather, the God who is: the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Our founding fathers not only pledged allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, they pledged allegiance to their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  They echoed the inspired and infallible words of the apostle Paul:

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.  (Galatians 2:20 NIV)

Our founders’ ultimate allegiance was to the Almighty.  They were devoted to Him.  They were dedicated to Him.  They were committed to Him.  Their entire existence was rooted in their right relationship with their Redeemer.  Patrick Henry, the fiery “Give me liberty or give me death!” orator of the Revolution, said simply, “This is all the inheritance I can give to my dear family. The religion of Christ can give them one which will make them rich indeed.”  And that, beloved, should be the confession of the lives of all those Christians who pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America . . . and every other Christian around the world, regardless of the flag that flies over their land.  The greatest gift we possess, and the greatest gift we can pass on to our posterity, is faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.

On the day that we Americans commemorate the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain, let us meditate on our declaration of dependence upon our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and His sovereign rule in our lives.  Jesus is to be our first priority in both life and death.  He is to be our safety in the storm.  He is to be our peace in times of trouble.  He is to be our portion in times of need.  He is to be our All in all.

There is no greater declaration for the Christian to make and honor than the one made to the King of kings and Lord of lords.  When we declare to be His, we declare that we are no longer our own.  We have been bought at a price no man can measure.  The very Son of God was crucified and nailed to rough wooden cross beams, hung between two thieves to pay our penalty for every one of our sins—past, present, and to come.  We are His—we belong to no other—and He will tolerate no rival.

So today, as you enjoy your Independence Day celebration, pause to remember and give thanks to the One who purchased your freedom from the kingdom of the prince of this world.  Jesus has brought you out of darkness and into His marvelous light to remain with Him forever and ever, world without end.  By God’s grace, may we live lives that confess both our pledge of allegiance to the republic for which our American flag stands . . . and to our triune God in heaven—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

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

What comes to mind when you read the phrase “growing in grace”?  Most Christians immediately think of growing in Christlike character and displaying the fruits of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).  And those same Christians would likely state that “growing in grace” further consists of consistent participation in the disciplines of grace: Bible study, prayer, church attendance, service, Christian fellowship, and so on.  These answers have great merit, and we all desire to see these actions and character traits increasing in our own lives and the lives of our Christian brothers and sisters.

But there is something more fundamental that lies behind all of this visible growth; “growing in grace” is growing in our understanding of the truths of the Gospel.  We grow in our understanding of the sinfulness of man.  We grow in our understanding of the holiness of God.  We grow in our understanding of the price Jesus Christ paid on the cross for our forgiveness and redemption.  As our understanding of the working of God’s grace in our lives grows, we are said to be growing in grace.

What we believe about the transforming power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is far more important than how we behave.  Remember, the Pharisees were always on their best behavior when it came to obeying the Law of Moses . . . yet that did not “score points” for them with God; instead, they were confronted by the wrath of Jesus.  “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” He thundered.  “You are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness”  (Matthew 23:27).  The Pharisees imagined that they were made righteous by what they did; but the truth is that we are declared righteous because of what we believe.

As we walk further in and further up into our understanding of our own spiritual bankruptcy and fallen condition, the more we find ourselves growing in grace.  Growing in grace is understanding the fact that we are sinners by nature and by habit.  And as we comprehend our awful moral bankruptcy, we are drawn more fully into our understanding of the unearned and undeserved mercy, favor, and blessing of God.  This is what it means at the deepest level when we are said to be growing in grace: when we have a deeper appreciation for His amazing grace!

So . . . how much have you grown in grace over the past few weeks, months, and years?  As our understanding of the Gospel grows, our motivation for new obedience also grows.  The more we rejoice in what Jesus has done for us in the past and promises to do for us in the future, the more we are motivated to walk by faith and not by sight, living in gratitude and thanksgiving.  This mindset is crystallized by Paul’s exhortation to the Corinthians.

Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.  (2 Corinthians 7:1 NIV)

This is life.  This is liberty.  This is growing in grace!  Paul is telling us that growing in grace is growing in our gratitude and reverence for God.  Simply because God is who He is, He is worthy of our praise and obedience.  Let me ask you a question: when you meditate on who God is with all that He has done for us in the past and all that He has promised to do in the future, could there be any greater motivation for doing what God has called us to do?  I think not!

When the grace of the Gospel has seized us, we are motivated purely out of a sense of reverence and thanksgiving.  We are not driven by what we hope to receive from God, but rather because of all that we already have received in promises fulfilled and those which will be fulfilled in the future.  God has never broken a promise in the past and He will not break any of them in the future either.  “He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind” (1 Samuel 15:29 NIV).  And this is the greatest motivation the world has ever known to live a life that is pleasing in His sight.

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

How would you define the way you have been handling the Scriptures lately?  Would you say you have been searching them? . . . Skimming through them? . . . Or skipping them altogether?

The Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.  (Acts 17:11 NIV)

The Bereans did not skip the Scriptures, nor did they skim through them.  The Bereans searched the Scriptures and in so doing, set a noble example for every child of the Most High God.  To search the Scriptures is to study them and sift through them slowly, looking for every speck of gold contained within them.  Charles Spurgeon once said, “No man who merely skims the book of God can profit thereby; we must dig and mine until we obtain the hid treasure.  The door of the Word only opens to the key of diligence.”

If we really understood the Bible to be God’s love letter to us, would we dare skim through the Scriptures . . . or even skip them altogether?  Heaven forbid!  We confess what we truly believe about the Word of God with our lives, in the way we come to the Scriptures and search them, and the way we consider the Christ, who is revealed within every page.

On the road to Emmaus, Jesus rebuked two of His disciples, who were thoroughly dejected after the Christ was crucified and buried.  “O foolish ones,” the risen Savior said, “and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?”  Then, as He walked along the road with the two men, the living Word held a Bible study: “Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, [Jesus] interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.”  Later, the two disciples marveled, saying to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” (Luke 24:25-27, 32.)

One of the most amazing things I have learned over the years in searching through the Scriptures is that no matter how often I have read a particular passage, there is always something new to be uncovered!  The reason this happens for every serious student of the Scriptures is because the Word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12).  All other books, no matter how well written, are dead.  Only the Bible is God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16) and alive, and it makes us more alive every time we come to it with a heart set on searching its pages for a fresh encounter with God.

When we realize the truth that every page of Scripture testifies to the truth of our precious Savior and Lord, is there anything that could keep us from searching them often?  If our vision and view of the Gospel is clear, there is nothing that could stand in our way.  The more we read the Bible, the more we see Jesus; and the more we see of Jesus, the more we read the Bible.  There is no more compelling motivation than that to cause us to diligently search the Scriptures . . . and keep on searching them.  The truths of the Gospel draw us to its well, that we may drink in all of its living water.

Regardless of where this message finds you today, open the Book and let it speak into your life.  It will meet you in your place of need.  It will answer your questions.  It will calm your fears.  It will give you the strength to overcome every obstacle that stands in your way.  It will be the death of doubt and discouragement.  There is milk for those who are babes in searching and meat for those who have spent a lifetime doing it.  There is something for everyone who is willing to search and that something is the only thing we really need in both life and death . . . or more accurately, Someone . . .  and His name is Jesus Christ.  As one writer once said, “May [the Bible] be our pillow at night and our guiding light by day.”

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

Steve Brown of Key Life Ministries is a good friend of mine.  He tells the following story, which makes it clear how human beings will do anything and everything possible to avoid the reality of death and pain and suffering.

It happened a number of years ago on a flight from Miami to Los Angeles.  We were all enjoying a happy trip, since most of the passengers were returning from cruises.  They had their trinkets in their hands, tans on their faces, and great memories to share when they arrived home.

And then the lady in the aisle next to my seat died.

Everybody got real quiet while the flight attendants asked if there were a doctor on the flight.  Two or three came forward, and while they did their best to save her, she still died.  The pilot landed the plane in Dallas and directed his passengers to disembark while the corpse was taken from the plane to a waiting hearse.  Then we all reboarded the plane for the remainder of our flight to Los Angeles.

The crowd had changed into a somber bunch.  Most people try to avoid death and all thoughts of it.  But to be honest, it is hard to do that while encased in an aluminum tube cruising at 34,000 feet.  There just isn’t anyplace to run.

I approached one of the flight attendants.  “I’m a clergyman,” I said, “and deal with death a lot.  If you would like me to help, please feel free to ask.”

“Thanks for your offer, Reverend,” she said, smiling, “but we’re going to give the passengers free drinks.”

Can you believe that?  If you can get them drunk enough, they won’t have to deal with the reality of death.  Just souse ‘em up.

I fear that Christians sometimes do that too.  Only we don’t use alcohol; we use religious clichés, false theology, and Christian denial.

Wow!  Let’s give people alcohol instead of a faith that can make sense of the reality of pain and suffering and death, and even provide hope and encouragement!

There was a time in this world when there was no pain and suffering and death—but Adam and Eve changed all that.  Created by God for God, the first man and woman opted to remove God from the center of their lives and disobeyed the one and only “Thou shalt not . . .” He had given them.  By engaging in that horrific act of cosmic treason, our first parents plunged all of creation into a sickening downward spiral that leads to the pit of hell.  And that is why there is pain and suffering and death in this world.

To be sure, the world is broken and so are all the people in it . . . including you and me!  But God did not leave us to wallow in damaged despair; He sent His beloved Son on a rescue mission to make everything that is broken whole again; all that is evil will be made righteous; every crooked thing will be made straight!

But before Jesus returns and finishes what He started in making all things new, we will all face the dark reality of pain and suffering and death.  We can pretend it doesn’t exist; we may try to inoculate ourselves from it or anesthetize ourselves to it, but this will not shelter us from ugly reality.  I am sure that the hearse waiting to take the dead woman off Steve Brown’s plane didn’t have luggage racks on it.  Do you know why?  Because she wasn’t coming back!

Since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.  (1 Corinthians 15:22, 23)

I don’t know the spiritual condition of the woman who died on that plane, but if she was not in Christ, she is suffering unimaginable torment in hell today.  When we are in Christ, we can face pain and sorrow and death with the confident assurance that God is working all of it for our good and His glory.  When death comes for us, in the instant we are absent from our body, we shall be present with our Lord—forevermore!

Make no mistake, we will all come face-to-face with pain and sorrow and death.  These are fires through which we all must pass.  But for the Christian believer, these trials will be vastly different from what is experienced by the unbeliever.  Only the Gospel will free us, when facing pain and sorrow and death, to say: “You keep the free drinks; I’ll keep my faith in Jesus!”

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

We live in a society that is in mad pursuit of the good life.  Never fully satisfied with what we have, we are always on the lookout for something better.  Restlessness is the daily reality for many people—both outside and inside of the church.  James identified this problem in stark language:

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?  You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.  (James 4:1-4)

There’s really only one thing that will cure us from this grasping for “more.”  When we have a clear vision of what God has called us to and the courage to walk into it, we will find contentment, regardless of the cost or circumstance.

Years ago, when the Standard Oil Company was looking for a representative in the Far East, they approached a missionary and offered him $10,000 to take the job.  He quickly turned down the offer.  They raised it to $25,000, and he turned it down again.  They raised it to $50,000, and he rejected it once more without giving it a second thought.  “What’s wrong?” they asked.  He replied, “Your price is all right, but your job is too small.”  Every job is too small when it is not the job Jesus has called you to do to expand the cause of His kingdom in this world.

Now, don’t run off thinking I’m telling you to be a missionary because everything else is too small.  Not true!  The job at the oil company would have been a wonderful job . . . if it had been God’s calling for this missionary.  But it was not.  This man knew so well what God had called him and equipped him to do, and he was so focused on doing it, that he had the fortitude to refuse a job that would have made his life a whole lot more comfortable and secure.

Only a small percentage of Christians are called by God to be missionaries in the sense of travelling to a foreign land.  To be sure, we are all on mission for God, declaring and demonstrating the transforming power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  And for most of us, that mission is to be lived out right where we have been planted . . . whether we have been called to be a butcher, a baker, or a candlestick maker.  Our calling is the place where we are growing and serving our Lord, regardless of the offers that come our way and no matter how much greener the grass may look on the other side of the fence.  This missionary who turned down Standard Oil knew that nothing less than God’s call in his life was worth contemplating, considering, or carrying out.

What about you?  In what vineyard has God planted you to grow and flourish and expand the cause of His kingdom?  If we have never thought much about our calling and where we fit into God’s perfect plan, we may find ourselves careening from wall to wall throughout life, going from one job to another job.  I have spent many hours counseling men who have lived this reality, which has left them reeling.  Only when we are doing what God has designed us to be doing, based on the way He has hard-wired us, will we be able to say in the face of a seemingly better offer: “No thanks, it’s too small!”

Dr. D. James Kennedy, the man who brought me into full-time vocational ministry, told me that someone asked him if he had ever considered running for president of the United States.  He promptly replied, “Why would I want to take a step down from the greatest job in the world?”  Dr. Kennedy knew what God had called and gifted him to do, and once that truth seized him, he could not consider any other place of service in the world, even if that place was located at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.  It simply would have been a job that was too small!

When you are doing what you have been created to do, there is nothing that can pull you away from it.  At this level of living, you are not only in your calling, but your calling is in you.  Remember, every job is too small when it is a job you have not been called to do or you are not doing for the glory of God.  Someone once asked me if I considered any job to be menial labor.  “Absolutely!” I said emphatically.  “It is the job you are working at for your own glory, to expand the reach of your own little kingdom, and where Jesus simply cannot be found.”

But this is not for you!  If Jesus is not calling you away from your current station in life, grow where He has planted you.  This will be for your good and for God’s glory and to the benefit and blessing of everyone you meet.

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