Hope vs. Consolation

by Ken Harvey

God has providentially placed a few recent circumstances in my life to make me consider the reality of death. As many of you know, I’ve experienced the loss of two loved ones this past year. God has also used His Word through recent messages from Nathan Busenitz, Pastor Whitcomb and Upward to help me properly interpret my experiences and to further consider death and hope. While I’ve learned many different lessons, I would like to address one in particular: with all of the death, suffering and persecution in this world–followed by ensuing judgment–our hope should not be set on the things of this world!

What then do I hope for? Do I hope for a cessation from difficulty, tiredness, frustration from sin and disappointment in myself and others? There is nothing Christian about hoping for an end to hardship. Sometimes I want to be merely consoled with the thought of going to heaven. Left at that level, my “hope” is selfishness veiled in Christian lingo.

As wonderful as being in heaven will be, our message of hope is more than consolation. Our true and final hope should not be to leave this world behind while it is still in the power of the evil one (1 John 5:19), a world where the mass majority of the people are godless and heading towards hell (Matthew 7:13-14). True hope is believing that the full glory of God will be revealed; true hope is knowing that all sin, pain, suffering and death will be destroyed forever; a true hope is trusting that everyone acknowledge the greatness of God. We are “waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).

There are plenty of other passages that can guide our thinking on this topic (1 Corinthians 15:19-28; 2 Peter 3:13; Romans 8:17-25; Ephesians 1:16-23). We should long for the triumphal return of Jesus when all of the promises of God will be fulfilled, when His kingdom will be established forever, and when, without the hindrance of sin, we will be able to see His attributes on display. Human history is moving toward a day when Christ will return and set things in order. “Come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20).

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Grace, Grace, God's Grace

by Garth Gaddy

The grace of God is His goodness poured out on those who don’t deserve it. It is also known as unmerited favor. There are two manifestations of God’s grace at work, common grace and saving grace. Common grace is God’s activity that gives blessings that are not part of salvation such as sustaining creation (Matt. 5:44-45), restraining evil (Rom. 2:14-15), enabling excellence in the arts and sciences (John 1:9, Rom 1:21) and maintaining order in society (Rom 13). Common grace does not lead to salvation. It does not change the heart or bring people to repentance and faith. It does, however, allow sinful humans to live for some time so that they might hear the Gospel and repent or have subsequent generations who might do the same. Common grace also demonstrates God’s goodness and mercy (Luke 6:35) and justice (Rom 2:5). When sinners repeatedly refuse His invitation, He is just in condemning them.

Saving grace is the manifestation of God’s grace that results in regeneration. It comes from God for the purpose of salvation (Eph 2:8-9, Titus 2:11). Salvation by grace begins with the Gospel call (proclaiming the message of the Gospel); then regeneration (being born again); conversion (faith and repentance); justification (declared righteous); adoption (membership in the family of God) and sanctification (initially changed and then progressively conformed to the image of Christ). All by grace, all a result of God’s goodness poured out on a sinner.

God’s grace should cause believers, having been the recipients of saving grace, to be thankful and should motivate us out of compassion to be ministers of the Gospel. God in His sovereignty is responsible for all things around us and is patiently pouring out His common grace on all people. Since saving grace begins with the Gospel call, that’s where you and I come in. God has determined to use believers as a means of communicating the Gospel to unbelievers. As long as God is pouring out grace that is common to all, we are commanded to go and make disciples of all nations.

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Olympic Vanity

by David Morris

Personally, I think the Olympics are an amazing spectacle. The display of cultures from across the world, the pageantry of opening ceremonies, the combination of countless sports, the thrill of victories, the agonies of defeats—it all adds up to an amazing few weeks. I marvel at events I couldn’t even imagine attempting, like luge or aerials or curling. Okay, I don’t marvel so much at curling, but still, there are countless other opportunities to be amazed by athletes and all they can accomplish.

As I’ve watched this year, however, I’ve been struck with the vanity of Olympic athletes. First, vanity in the sense of arrogance and self-importance. I watched interview after interview with breathless, triumphant Olympians who proudly proclaimed their own worth. Without shame, they declared that they deserved this gold because of their hard work, or were rightly being recognized for their dedication, or were glad to see all their efforts pay off. Losers, on the other hand, looked for excuses, insulted winners, whined about judges, and basically turned everywhere except themselves to explain their losing. Humility never made it to the medal platform, it seemed, and self-accomplishment got the exclusive spotlight over and over. 

Secondly, however, vanity can mean futile or empty. I was struck with the emptiness of the games during interviews too, as athletes expressed their wins in terms of “experience of a lifetime.” Human interest stories saddened instead of inspired me, as coaches told of abandoning families in sacrifice for their sport, and young prodigies of surrendering their childhoods. Take just one sport, like figure skating, estimate the amount of hours one athlete spent in practice, multiply that by the total amount of athletes, and it all adds up to the potential for tragically wasted lives. Not that sports by themselves are a wasted life, but when used only to glorify man they are simply another idol and sinful glory-stealers from God. 

In great contrast to self-exaltation and a wasted life, Paul wrote, “far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Gal. 6:14). The Gospel is all about grace, specifically so that no one may boast in his works (Eph. 2:9) in the presence of God (1 Cor. 1:29). God is opposed to proud exalters of themselves, and those who know the Gospel should prize boasting in Christ instead of self. The Gospel is simultaneously the only way to avoid a wasted life. Instead of giving him the world, the cross of Christ meant the death of the world to Paul. When the crowning achievement of life is an odd-shaped gold medal, that is a life wasted. When the fruit of one’s life is self-sacrifice, complete abandonment to the cause of Christ and faithful discipleship, that is a life that brings glory to Christ and should bring admiring imitation from us.

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God’s Omniscience, Our Worship

by Andy Muxlow

Isn’t it fascinating to think about the all-knowing nature of our God?  Our eternal God spoke the heavens into place. His perfect design of creation was not studied or learned; he knows everything (Isaiah 40:13-14). There is nothing that God ever improved upon knowing.  He never needs an advanced study of any subject, any place or anyone.  Our time in history is called “the Information Age,” and God does not even need to process it; He, by nature, already knows it.  It’s an interesting concept, but God does not discover anything.  I wonder what He thinks when mankind finally makes a scientific discovery. For instance, the telescope that can see the galaxies but never see an end to space.  Although unbelievers continue to suppress the truth, we have the privilege of worshiping and marveling at our Creator and His amazing design.

Not only does God know everything in our world; He actually knows you.  In a very real sense, He knows you better than you do. He knows the real you. First Samuel 16:7 says, “For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”  If you’re like me, there have been times that I am so thankful that despite man’s criticism in certain times of my life, God knows my heart.  And then there are other times that man’s praise of my actions is my shallow reward in full because God knew my wrongful heart motives. You see, God is as concerned with the why of what we do as He is with the what. He knows our thoughts even before we act or speak. Psalm 139:4 says, “Even before a word is on my tongue, behold oh LORD, you know it altogether.” 

The truth of God’s omniscience should not raise questions about why we pray, but rather drive us to pray. In Psalm 19:12, David prays, “Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults.”  Who else is worthy of our praises and cares than the God who has infinite knowledge and unwavering, undersierved love for us through Christ?

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Worship Throughout the Week

by Ken Harvey

What does true worship look like?  How do you know that you are worshiping God?  If you were asked these questions, how would you respond?  We need to periodically ask ourselves these questions to constantly check our motives and to make sure that we have a proper understanding of foundational truths.

When approaching our time of corporate worship, do not slip into the danger of thinking that worship takes place only when you are singing. Understand that worship, that is your spiritual service, is living a transformed and holy life (Romans 12:1-2; Psalms 51:17). Every obedient action and thought that is observed in faith and with joy is an act of praise to God. This thought elevates mundane tasks, whether at home or at work, to acts of worship (Colossians 3:17). On Sunday mornings in particular, we can additionally worship God through singing, corporate prayer, giving, fellowship and intently listening to the Word preached. All of these actions can be an act of worship if you (1) observe them with joyful obedience and (2) believe that they are acceptable only by grace and through faith in the work of Christ.

In fact, it is dangerous to think that worship takes place only on a Sunday morning. Worship on Sunday morning is an overflow of your worship throughout the week. “What we love most will determine what we genuinely worship” (Worship Matters, p. 25). We cannot expect our hearts to be pure and focused every Sunday if throughout the week we have actively pursued loving ourselves and loving the world. True worship simply will not take place. It is also crucial to worship throughout the week because singing devoid of a holy life is hypocrisy and offensive to God. Listen to one criticism the LORD gives in the Old Testament: “This people draw near with their mouth; and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me” (Is. 29.13a). While we are commanded to gather together (Hebrews 10:24-25), let us not think that attendance trumps obedience (1 Samuel 15:22). This week, do everything as an act of worship.

“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).

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