Tuesday, February 11, 2014

What I Have Inside My Bible

The proclamation of the gospel is the great task of my life.  It is a weighty task and one of great privilege and joy.  To remind myself of the gravity of the calling, I have put these things on the inside of the Bible to look over before I open the Word and teach.

“All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” 2 Timothy 3:16
Preach the point of the passage.
Open the Bible and tell the people what it means with all of my heart.
Biblical identity is shaped in community as the Word is preached.
Give the people the mind of Christ through the Word.
The Scripture is the voice of the church.  Speak, meditate, read, & proclaim.
Explain the Scriptures with gravity and skill.
Significant preaching comes from a mighty life of prayer.
Teach everything He has commanded. – Matthew 28:20 & Acts 20:27
The Scripture always accomplishes its purpose. Isaiah 55:10-11
Give the sense so that the people understand the reading.  Nehemiah 8:8
“Let us not take into our heads either to seek out God anywhere else than in His sacred Word, or think about Him that is not prompted by His Word, or to speak anything that is not taken from that Word”.  John Calvin
Prayer is the necessity to an effective life and sermon.
“…the Word of God is not bound…” 2 Timothy 2:8
Before I speak on God’s behalf, I need that Word to wash over me.
When I know something is what God truly says, then I must live and proclaim them.
My heart must tremble at His Word!
Declare only the standard of God’s Word, so we will only have one standard.
My life will be a product of my view of Christ and response to His Word.
I need more than head knowledge, I need my heart penetrated by truth.
Preach the Word only after being in God’s presence.
I am called to pray just as much, if not more, as I am called to preach.
My sermon should be stained by the depth and breath of my prayers.
I will study and preach well when I have prayed well.
The Scriptures are sufficient enough for us to know the truth. 
Preach in such a way that people have more of a sense of God’s greatness.
“The great design and intention of the office of a Christian preacher is to restore the throne and dominion of God in the souls of men.”  Cotton Mather
Be a man who is competent in the Scriptures.
Never relax the commandments.  Matthew 5:19
Devote myself to the public reading of scripture.  1 Timothy 4:13
Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching.  Persist in this, for by doing you will save both yourself and your hearers. 1 Timothy 4:16

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

What Satan even Knows

I could spend quite a bit of time listing many of the scriptures in the Bible where it speaks of our necessity to know God's word.  For the Christ-follower, being in God's Word gets no argument from Biblical circles,  as we know that being in the Scripture is an absolute priority for true Biblical Discipleship.  We know this is not an option to knowing Him.  Jesus lived to obey the Father's words, to fulfill the scripture, to teach the scripture, to model truth, to point out hypocrisy, to explain the scripture to those confused.  As scripture permeated every bit of Jesus life, so must our lives be filled with the truth of scripture.

If we are not careful though, knowledge can actually not really lead anywhere spiritually.  The truth simply becomes "Facts" that we have agreed to and believe to be true.  We all know from instances in our lives that we know a lot, but don't actually allow the truth to translate into walking out the scripture.  They just get stuck in our head or are filed away into some kind of knowledge bank where they just sit.  It is as if we at times think accumulation is the end result.  This was one the big issues the Religious leaders in the 1st Century struggled with.  They knew the scriptures in their mind, but right in front of their very eyes and ears, was the fulfillment of those very scriptures and they missed it.

The Psalmist wrote 3 very insightful verses in chapter 119.  Here they are, please read them slowly and let the meaning be comprehended.

Psalm 119:98 Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. 
Wisdom greater than our enemies comes from the commandments that are every with us.  What does this mean?  It does not mean I believe, because the commandments are "filed" away in our mind, but they are present, ever with us, in our mouth, leading our hands and feet, and guarding our eyes.  They are not somewhere else, but present as we live.  Next...
Psalm 119:99 I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation.
Knowledge is to lead to understanding, the understanding comes from the active meditation on the Word.  Again, filled away, but is out and being chewed upon in our mind.  The word is present in our thoughts.  The meditative chewing on the Word leads to deep understanding of not only the meaning of scripture, but the working out of the scripture in all areas of our life.  Now...
Psalm 119:100  I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts.
To get to a deep understanding of the scripture does not necessarily come from years and years of reading the scripture, but from keeping the scripture  Again the meaning is clear, understanding comes from keeping, meaning walking in the knowledge of the truth.  The Psalmist is not encouraging us to just keep facts in our head, but to keep the precepts means that affect how we live.

Those thoughts above came out of my time in Matthew 4 today.  Matthew 4 reminded me to think through something interesting.  All around us in our day, we hear the scripture quoted from politicians, musicians, athletes, and philosophers.  Satan quoted scripture as well in Matthew 4.  In each of the 3 temptations, underlying the temptation is Satan's knowledge of the Word, though he only quotes scripture out loud in the second temptation.  In each of the temptations, he tempts with something that would lead Jesus to violate a commandment of God.  He knew that for Jesus to "take the bait" (see James 1:14) would mean the fall of Jesus and all of the implications connected to that.  He knows the scripture as well.

1.  First Temptation comes from his understanding of the manna in the wilderness.  Satan using the manna to manipulate Jesus to sin.  Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 8 to rebuke Satan.
2.  Second Temptation - Here, Satan quotes from Psalm 91:9-13.  To rebuke Satan this time, Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:16.
3.  Third Tempation - Satan calls Jesus to worship him, which is a clear breaking of God's commands and Jesus responds by quoting Deuteronomy 6:13.

Jesus knew what Satan was doing and that is why He responded with scripture.  Lies can only be dealt with by the truth.  Truth is ready to be spoken when it is being meditated on.

So, what's the big point in this blog today?  Since Satan knows the scripture and will use his knowledge of it in temptation, it is of the highest necessity that we not just have it filed away, but scripture needs to be present, alive in us, on our tongue, before our eyes, in our hearts.

You see, Satan knows the priority that God's Word is to have in the life of the Christ-follower and just as he did with Jesus, he will use his knowledge of scripture to pervert the truth and call us to buy the lie that only leads to sin.  

Joshua said it this way, "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it.  For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success".  Joshua 1:8