Everyday Grace: Recent Episodes
Theocast
Today's reminder is from Justin Perdue, Pastor of Covenant Baptist Church in Asheville, NC.
Listen to the full sermon here!Everyday Grace 125https://youtu.be/n3th4xHa7uA
Today's reminder is from a recent Theocast episode hosted by Pastor Jon Moffitt and Pastor Justin Perdue.
Listen to the full episode here!Everyday Grace 124https://youtu.be/LgQ7cHLSSBY
Today's reminder is from Jon Moffitt, Pastor of Grace Reformed Church in Spring Hill, TN.
Listen to the full sermon here!Everyday Grace 123https://youtu.be/lrUgWUGLgqk
Today's reminder is from Justin Perdue, Pastor of Covenant Baptist Church in Asheville, NC.
Listen to the full sermon here!Everyday Grace 122https://youtu.be/NsRqQgUGd3A
Today's reminder is from a recent Theocast episode hosted by Pastor Jon Moffitt and Pastor Justin Perdue.
Listen to the full episode here!Everyday Grace 121https://youtu.be/0Kwlf2xf3Q4
Today's reminder is from Jon Moffitt, Pastor of Grace Reformed Church in Spring Hill, TN.
Listen to the full sermon here!Everyday Grace 120https://youtu.be/0VFF4H1K1E4
Today's reminder is from Justin Perdue, Pastor of Covenant Baptist Church in Asheville, NC.
Listen to the full sermon here!Everyday Grace 119https://youtu.be/HGf3npDE0NE
Today's reminder is from a recent Theocast episode hosted by Pastor Jon Moffitt and Pastor Justin Perdue.
Listen to the full episode here!Everyday Grace 118https://youtu.be/kJVnGkBFqXw
Today's reminder is from Jon Moffitt, Pastor of Grace Reformed Church in Spring Hill, TN.
Listen to the full sermon here!Everyday Grace 117https://youtu.be/rDRZUvBDN9A
Today's reminder is from Justin Perdue, Pastor of Covenant Baptist Church in Asheville, NC.
Listen to the full sermon here!Everyday Grace 116https://youtu.be/CQY3hTk-wBg
Today's reminder is from a recent Theocast episode hosted by Pastor Jon Moffitt and Pastor Justin Perdue.
Listen to the full episode here!Everyday Grace 115https://youtu.be/uUzyxvpgI0M
Today's reminder is from Jon Moffitt, Pastor of Grace Reformed Church in Spring Hill, TN.
Listen to the full sermon here!Everyday Grace 114https://youtu.be/SZZcjKQKWK4
Today's reminder is from Justin Perdue, Pastor of Covenant Baptist Church in Asheville, NC.
Listen to the full sermon here!Everyday Grace 113https://youtu.be/gI0XatvdVYM
Today's reminder is from a recent Theocast episode hosted by Pastor Jon Moffitt and Pastor Justin Perdue.
Listen to the full episode here!Everyday Grace 112https://youtu.be/dvLjqIQVXHo
Today's reminder is from Jon Moffitt, Pastor of Grace Reformed Church in Spring Hill, TN.
Listen to the full sermon here!Everyday Grace 111https://youtu.be/9jEhxRpP0F0
Today's reminder is from Justin Perdue, Pastor of Covenant Baptist Church in Asheville, NC.
Listen to the full sermon here!Everyday Grace 110https://youtu.be/KHzN98Qj6jE
Today's reminder is from a recent Theocast episode hosted by Pastor Jon Moffitt and Pastor Justin Perdue.
Listen to the full episode here!Everyday Grace 109https://youtu.be/N-CqPRCXgrg
Today's reminder is from Jon Moffitt, Pastor of Grace Reformed Church in Spring Hill, TN.
Listen to the full sermon here!Everyday Grace 108https://youtu.be/-SF28xIQRog
Today's reminder is from Justin Perdue, Pastor of Covenant Baptist Church in Asheville, NC.
Listen to the full sermon here!Everyday Grace 107https://youtu.be/5WhWgXRWBWI
Today's reminder is from a recent Theocast episode hosted by Pastor Jon Moffitt and Pastor Justin Perdue.
Listen to the full episode here!Everyday Grace 106https://youtu.be/W66yhrz0LdM
Today's reminder is from Jon Moffitt, Pastor of Grace Reformed Church in Spring Hill, TN.
Everyday Grace 084
Listen to the full sermon here!
https://youtu.be/1KijQmDGH2w
Today's reminder is from Justin Perdue, Pastor of Covenant Baptist Church in Asheville, NC.
Everyday Grace 083
Listen to the full sermon here!
https://youtu.be/C4XhUuIF628
Today's reminder is from a recent Theocast episode hosted by Pastor Jon Moffitt and Pastor Justin Perdue.
Everyday Grace 082
Listen to the full episode here!
https://youtu.be/Birgye5UcdQ
Today's reminder is from Jon Moffitt, Pastor of Grace Reformed Church in Spring Hill, TN.
Everyday Grace 081
Listen to the full sermon here!
https://youtu.be/TDzViallhTg
Today's reminder is from Justin Perdue, Pastor of Covenant Baptist Church in Asheville, NC.
Everyday Grace 080
Listen to the full sermon here!
https://youtu.be/UlCRmY-Yo_0
Today's reminder is from a recent Theocast episode hosted by Pastor Jon Moffitt and Pastor Justin Perdue.
Everyday Grace 079
Listen to the full episode here!
https://youtu.be/qWGmc1_Cj_s
Today's reminder is from Jon Moffitt, Pastor of Grace Reformed Church in Spring Hill, TN.
Everyday Grace 078
Listen to the full sermon here!
https://youtu.be/juYVrU6vJA4
Today's reminder is from Justin Perdue, Pastor of Covenant Baptist Church in Asheville, NC.
Everyday Grace 077
Listen to the full sermon here!
https://youtu.be/mf_GRIZ-V3w
Today's reminder is from Jon Moffitt, Pastor of Grace Reformed Church in Spring Hill, TN.
Everyday Grace 075
Listen to the full sermon here!
https://youtu.be/D9JhmVBj8kw
Today's reminder is from Jon Moffitt, Pastor of Grace Reformed Church in Spring Hill, TN.
Everyday Grace 075
Listen to the full sermon here!
https://youtu.be/D9JhmVBj8kw
Today's reminder is from Justin Perdue, Pastor of Covenant Baptist Church in Asheville, NC.
Everyday Grace 074
Listen to the full sermon here!
https://youtu.be/F6wP3qcJ6uk
Today's reminder is from a recent Theocast episode hosted by Pastor Jon Moffitt and Pastor Justin Perdue.
Everyday Grace 073
Listen to the full episode here!
https://youtu.be/Hn-JwMgMv-s
Today's reminder is from Jon Moffitt, Pastor of Grace Reformed Church in Spring Hill, TN.
Everyday Grace 072
Listen to the full sermon here!
https://youtu.be/K86joR6qLyg
Today's reminder is from Justin Perdue, Pastor of Covenant Baptist Church in Asheville, NC.
Everyday Grace 071
Listen to the full sermon here!
https://youtu.be/olJpjyMOJKo
Today's reminder is from a recent Theocast episode hosted by Pastor Jon Moffitt and Pastor Justin Perdue.
Everyday Grace 070
Listen to the full episode here!
https://youtu.be/SBjNp_C8iNM
Today's reminder is from Jon Moffitt, Pastor of Grace Reformed Church in Spring Hill, TN.
Everyday Grace 069
Listen to the full sermon here!
https://youtu.be/Dy2n2EkVhM0
Today's reminder is from a recent Theocast episode hosted by Pastor Jon Moffitt and Pastor Justin Perdue.
Everyday Grace 067
Listen to the full episode here!
https://youtu.be/yyjJliejxgg
Today's reminder is from a recent Theocast episode hosted by Pastor Jon Moffitt and Pastor Justin Perdue.
Everyday Grace 067
Listen to the full episode here!
https://youtu.be/yyjJliejxgg
Today's reminder is from Jon Moffitt, Pastor of Grace Reformed Church in Spring Hill, TN.
Everyday Grace 066
Listen to the full sermon here!
https://youtu.be/4xrc9r3YJ8Q
Today's reminder is from Justin Perdue, Pastor of Covenant Baptist Church in Asheville, NC.
Transcript:
It is Christ who will sit on the judgment seat. At that point, all of his sheep will be gathered in. The dead will be raised, and all humanity will stand before Christ, and he will judge the world in righteousness. And the only ones who will stand in the judgment are those who have obeyed the law perfectly.
Not just heard it, but they've obeyed it. The only ones who will stand in the judgment are those who are without sin. In other words, the only ones who will stand in the judgement are those who are found in him, covered in his own blood and dressed in his own righteousness, those who have been united to him by faith, those who trust him- not themselves, not their works- him for the forgiveness of sins and for perfect righteousness under the law.
And for now, Christ's people live in this world. We live in this place, in this world, as sojourners and as exiles, as pilgrims nourished and sustained in the church until the day when the ransomed church of God is saved to sin no more. We will be with the Lord in a new heaven, in a new earth. May he remind us anew of the hope to which we've been called, because we're all so earthbound.
I felt that this morning driving to church. I trust you felt it too. May God give us eyes to see, hearts that would know the hope he has called us to. The glory of Christ, as was prayed earlier, will be the light of that kingdom. The presence of Christ will be our comfort. The name of Christ will be our song.
The Lamb is all the glory of Emmanuel's Lamb, beloved. And in the meantime, he, our redeemer, David's greater son, comforts us with the promise of his return. These words are from the end of this large book that I'm about to read: "I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star. The spirit and the bride say, 'Come.' And let the one who hears say, 'Come.' And let the one who is thirsty come. Let the one who desires take the water of life without price.
He who testifies to these things says, 'Surely I am coming soon.'" Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. Now the grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.
Everyday Grace 065
Listen to the full sermon here!
https://youtu.be/LAIGYfr1fT0
Today's reminder is from a recent Theocast episode hosted by Pastor Jon Moffitt and Pastor Justin Perdue.
Transcript:
Jon: I know you do this at your church. I do it at my church. I tell people our confession is to protect you from me.
Justin: Yeah.
Jon: And to protect me from you. So that neither of us will abuse each other because we have sinful tendencies to do so.
Justin: Sure. I mean, so I, I think the question could be asked in one of two ways.
I mean, you could be asking, I'm, I'm in a context where my conscience is being bound outside of the scriptures.
Jon: Yep.
Justin: Uh, or you could be saying, I'm in a context where my conscience is being just bound in a general sense, some of it may be good, some of it may be bad.
Jon: Yeah.
Justin: And there's no real objective standard that we're both appealing to.
Jon: Yeah. Like you're unwilling to adopt a child from another country, and you're feeling guilty for that.
Justin: Let me start with the one that's easy. This is one of the values of confessional theology. I'll just go ahead and say it, because what we have is a confession of faith that is substantial and robust that deals with primary and secondary matters and makes pretty plain what we're to believe and how we're to live.
Jon: Yeah.
Justin: And we appeal to that because we understand it to be biblical. So in our congregation, we appeal to the second London confession, and our- our congregants all have copies of this, and it's a public document. I mean, they can, they can look at it anywhere.
And so if we're, like we've said a couple of times, if we're as pastors asking people to do things or we're preaching something that's contrary to that. Then they ought to be able to appeal to the confession and to the scriptures to say, Brother, I disagree with you. So if, if that's not the kind of environment you find yourself in, or if your church has some just very vague, ambiguous statement of faith and it always ends up being sort of the pastor's opinion versus your opinion, that's tough, and may the Lord give you wisdom.
Jon: And what you may hear is "Well, we just believe what the Bible says here."
Justin: Yeah, which is biblicism,
Jon: Right.
Justin: you know, a lot of times. That's just a different way to frame it. Uh, but then I think for me as a pastor, you know, I think some of the, the more difficult people to deal with are those who are very sincere, very zealous, and mean well, and, and take very seriously godly living and faithfulness.
Like, I, I want to be faithful to the Lord in, in every area of my life. And I don't, I just, I, I don't want to do things that are contrary to the will of God. Sometimes those individuals, meaning, well, you know, just want to be super clear, end up doing this inadvertently. They're binding the consciences of, of their families or those around them to do A, B, and C because they have inferred and reasoned from biblical principle that this must be a good thing.
Jon: Yeah.
Justin: To where what I try to do in those situations is, "Okay, brother, sister, let's, let's back up a little bit and, and state what is clear unequivocally from the scripture and the confession." Now, once we've stated that, we need to agree that anything that's not specifically that, Christians actually could disagree about this and it's okay. And so now what I pray is that the Lord give you wisdom. And, and you've got some real problems in your home, or there's some real problems in some of your relationships because you're so rigid and dogmatic here ,and you actually shouldn't be.
Jon: Mm-hmm.
Justin: You know?
Jon: Yeah.
Justin: Those are conversations that I've had a number of times as a pastor with people. And those are conversations we should have.
Everyday Grace 064
Listen to the full episode here!
https://youtu.be/SW1d6uQK9PE
Today's reminder is from Jon Moffitt, Pastor of Grace Reformed Church in Spring Hill, TN.
Transcript:
As to living underneath grace, why should we obey? Well, it protects the body of Christ from unnecessary suffering. You ever read Paul's angry letters, like to the Corinthians? They are suffering unnecessary struggles because they aren't, they're not, uh, repenting of sin. It's like, look, y'all, you're going to suffer enough in life.
Don't suffer more because you're being stupid. Don't do that. Secondly, why should we obey? Well, it furthers the message of the gospel. If we're entrapped in sin and we're not willing to repent of our sin, the focus and the message of the gospel is lost. But most importantly, it brings God the deserved glory to His name.
It really does. Every, every week, when I think about- when I walk out of this building, it is a wondrous, a wondrous event if I have the opportunity to just remotely share Christ with someone. I think God is so awesome and so wonderful and deserves so much glory that even if they don't want to listen to what I have to say, it's still wondrous to share that message, even with each other.
The hope of the message of the gospel brings glory to God's name. It's worth doing that. So all of that to say, if God is sovereign and he saves sinners by his sovereign grace alone, and it's not determined by men's will, we still have every motivation to share the good news and pursue holiness because of who he is and not because of what we earn.
That being said, is why every week I will constantly do my best within my power to bring you the hope of Christ so that your motivation is always what- your motivation is always your assurance. I am assured, therefore I will. And it is never "I must do so I can be assured." The phrase we like to use a lot is "we focus on the done before the do."
Well, there's a do, but it's why. Why? Why do it? Why do it? We saw from Paul, we saw from Peter, and we've seen from John in the book of John that the emphasis is on what Christ has done. And because of what he has done, look what we get to do because now we're in Christ.
Everyday Grace 063
Listen to the full sermon here!
https://youtu.be/dM0c0795ZBE
Today's reminder is from Justin Perdue, Pastor of Covenant Baptist Church in Asheville, NC.
Transcript:
This is holy week, rightly defined. Maundy Thursday we celebrate the institution of the Lord's Supper the night that Christ was betrayed. On Friday, Good Friday, we had a service here. We remember the crucifixion. Today, Sunday, resurrection day, we celebrate the fact that Jesus got up from the grave. His sacrifice vindicated; our resurrection secured. But sometimes Saturday is skipped over.
Saturday, when Jesus laid in the tomb, was a Sabbath day, a day of rest. He was put in a tomb. His body remained there that day on the Sabbath, and that my friends is not coincidence. Nothing in the scripture is. You remember when God made the world? Everybody says, "Yeah." Everybody remember when God made the world?
Yes, Genesis one and the first few verses of Genesis two. You remember the way that the creation account is written by Moses- and there was evening and there was morning, the first day. There was evening, there was morning, the third day, et cetera. How about the seventh one? Here's what it says, Genesis 2:1-3, "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished and all the hosts of them, and on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done. God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.
So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation." What's missing? There isn't any "And there was evening, and there was morning, the seventh day."
It's not in the text. Many Christians before we've been alive have understood this to say something about the Christ who would come to point to something in the future. Consider this- you consider: Jesus laid in the tomb on the seventh day of the week. His work finished, righteousness fulfilled, satisfaction for sin made, redemption accomplished. And then he would rise the next day in order to bring us into the new creation that God has prepared for those who love him.
And Christ's invitation to us is this: come to me all who labor and are heavy laden and I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. We ask this question, should we not seek rest, that it would be well with us?
Beloved, come to Jesus and find it.
Everyday Grace 062
Listen to the full sermon here!
https://youtu.be/zkkVk6voCM0
Today's reminder is from a recent Theocast episode hosted by Pastor Jon Moffitt and Pastor Justin Perdue.
Transcript:
Chad: The more you experience life, uh, the more you realize that self-reliance and all this stuff about self- you know, my self-worth and all those self dash whatever you want to fill in the blank in, all those things are, are chains on your soul because inevitably you're going to fall on your face. Uh, you're, there's going to be bad things that happen that make you realize that all of this focus upon me, me, me, is, is actually constructing an iron cage around me.
It's not liberating; it's enslaving. And what's liberating is to know that, number one, I have people around me who love and care for me, and then I can love and care for as well. And most importantly, it's liberating in the fact that, you know what, I don't, I don't have to have my act together.
I don't have to always be this, uh, super strong, rugged individual for Christ to care for me.
Justin: You don't have to be a green beret.
Chad: beret In fact, what, what I think the Christian life is all about is not getting stronger and stronger; it's becoming more and more aware of our own weakness. And, and the more that we are aware of our own weakness, the more we're aware of that it, it's not up to us.
The gospel doesn't say God's done his part and now it's up to you to, to do yours. The gospel says God loves you in Christ fully and completely, loves you, forgives you, makes you- makes you his own. You are free. Uh, you're free from doing all the shoulds and ought to's and shalts and shalt nots in order to please God, because he's already pleased with you in Christ. And having been pleased with you, making you his child- giving you all these gifts over and over and over, now he's like, "You're free. There's nothing you could do to make me happy with you because I'm already pleased with you in Christ. And so, now you're free, what are you going to do with your freedom? Well, I guess you're going to freely love and freely serve those who are around you.
That's what free people- that's what free people do. Enslaved people, enslaved people are um, all about myself, all about- it's all about me.
Jon: That's right.
Chad: Liberated people are all about the neighbor.
Jon: And they can't be quiet because they want to liberate people.
Justin: Not only is there joy and, and just the freedom inherently in being a liberated person, you're actually more effective in loving neighbor.
Everyday Grace 061
Listen to the full episode here!
https://youtu.be/u7UeOniPIro
Today's reminder is from Jon Moffitt, Pastor of Grace Reformed Church in Spring Hill, TN.
Transcript:
I pray, as Paul prays for his congregates, that these truths will transform your mind, in essence will transform your actions, and in turn, you actually receive the joy of why you're here. You oppose Christ, you'll never have joy. You embrace Christ, you will have, as he said, endless joy. Because he is all in all, for all, in all things. So hopefully prayer is no longer that awkward, weird thing that you know you're supposed to do.
Hopefully prayer becomes the very hope of your life and relationship with your Father. That every day, a time to say, "Father, I don't fully understand how I'm going to do this today; how I'm going to glorify you. I don't understand how the kingdom is going to be coming in my life. I don't understand how exactly I'm going to fulfill your will, but I know for a fact you will provide for me what I need.
I know for a fact you will forgive me. Please forgive me, and Father direct me today." He will answer. It's his promise. You, by faith, pray and trust him, and he will answer. Let me ask you this question. What do you have to lose? You've already lost everything. It's all going to burn: your- your body, if you haven't figured this out yet.
I had a nice five year old tell me yesterday that I got a lot of gray hair. I said thanks, I appreciate that. I really needed to know that- the indication that I'm decaying, I'm dying- or growing smarter, one of the two. So, the design of our church is to hear these truths, and then we need to confront each other on them.
We need to call each other to repentance. We need to confront each other. You're trapped in the selfishness of your own kingdom. The way in which you treat each other, the way in which you treat your spouse and your children, the way in which you treat your coworkers and your neighbors- if it is not with grace and meekness and mercy and kindness, you need to repent.
That's not how we as kingdom dwellers live. We don't, we don't live like that. We don't talk to each other this way. And what do we point to? Fear? No, we point to joy. We point to what we've been liberated from, and we point to our future hope. And so don't just take this truth. I want you to be warned. I want all of us to be trained on how to encourage and strengthen one another, to use this language of the kingdom, to remind each other, "Hey, you're not seeking the kingdom of God right now.
You're seeking your own kingdom by that comment, by those actions, by you refusing your time, by you refusing your emotions, by you refusing your money, what are you putting in? What trust do you have that is outside of Christ?" We don't say this because we want to manipulate you. We want to say - we say this because we want to free you.
Everyday Grace 060
Listen to the full sermon here!
https://youtu.be/ngqd8HtjIhg
Today's reminder is from Justin Perdue, Pastor of Covenant Baptist Church in Asheville, NC.
Transcript:
Christians are not people who are really good at keeping rules. Christians are not people who have it all figured out. Christians are not people who have it all together. Christians are people who have taken refuge under the wings of Christ. It's what we are. It is that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
It is that God justifies the ungodly. It's not that he's in the business of justifying godly people, because if that were true, there would be no hope for us. It is that even though we are law breakers and still struggle against the corruption of our flesh, we are credited with the perfect holiness, righteousness, and satisfaction of Christ by faith.
So what does that mean for us? It means several things. It means that by faith in Christ as he becomes our representative, it is as though we have never sinned. That's big. It is as though I have never committed a sin because Christ was sinless for me. It is also as though I have never been a sinner. It is as though I've never had a corrupt nature.
And, perhaps even more astonishingly, it is as though I have done all of the perfectly obedient works that Christ did. Not only did he deal with sin. Not only is my slate clean. He then gives me, gives us, all the righteousness that we'll ever need. And we hide ourselves in the rock who is Christ.
We take refuge in him like Moses whom God put in the cleft of the rock when his glory passed by. "Rock of Ages," we sang it earlier, "cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee. Let the water and the blood from thy wounded side which flowed be of sin, the double cure, save from wrath, and make me pure." We take refuge in Christ, the rock of ages. We take refuge in the lamb of God, whose blood covers us, whose blood has washed away our sins, in whose blood we have washed our robes and made them white. On account of the blood of Christ,
there is nothing now but love and grace from God to us. No condemnation. There is no fear. We've been given a spirit of adoption, not slavery, that we might call God, "Father." No longer a judge- now our father.
Everyday Grace 059
Listen to the full sermon here!
https://youtu.be/i8FBZt5XMSc
Today's reminder is from a recent Theocast episode hosted by Pastor Jon Moffitt and Pastor Justin Perdue.
Transcript:
Justin: Yeah, I would just simply state that we use the confessions and we confess the confessions; we subscribe to the confessions because they're biblical.
Jon: That's right.
Justin: So, because sometimes people get that under- they get it twisted a little bit. Like we, well we use the confession in as much as it's biblical.
It's like, no, we use this because we have- it's been assessed and it is biblical. And that's the conclusion that we have drawn. And when we read language from these things, man, I mean, good gracious. Like you said, it sounds like the words of the scriptures. I mean, it sounds like the teaching of the apostles.
Jon: Right.
If someone reads the Bible and then gives you the explanation of what it means, they're giving you a confession. So Justin, if we read,
Justin: Sure.
Jon: um, take up your and follow me, and then someone says, "This is what that means." You just gave me a confession.
Justin: Well, you've given me interpretation, and that means you've given me a confession.
Jon: Right.
You're confessing what you believe to be true about the text. The question is, is your confession examinable and does it stand the test of time.
Justin: Right.
Jon: That's the issue.
Justin: And I'm just going to go ahead and leave this here. Colossians one is a great example of this Colo- the whole letter to- to Colossae, but then a number of the other letters of the apostles, Paul and others.
I think an honest survey of the New Testament of epistles makes this plain that I'm about to say. It's obvious in the mind of Paul and others that the thing that will guard the saints from false teaching and abhorrent practice in the church is one thing, and that is a clear vision of the person and work of Jesus Christ.
And that is what the confessions guard. The confessions guard that news and they guard that, that presentation of Jesus: his person rightly understood, his work rightly understood. And that is the thing that will protect the church.
Everyday Grace 058
Listen to the full episode here!
https://youtu.be/zQkB0tX6Vj4
Today's reminder is from Jon Moffitt, Pastor of Grace Reformed Church in Spring Hill, TN.
Transcript:
But what's the promise? If we do church according to God's will, he says there's healing for the weary soul, for the sick soul, the dry soul, the one who's been destroyed. So we confess these sins to each other and we pray for each other, and we sit back and we do this: we believe that God's word will do what God promised he would do.
I find a lot of comfort in that.
Many, many, many of you sit in my office and we work through all kinds of heartache and pain and suffering. You know what is the greatest comfort I take at times? I just pray for you. All right, Lord, I got nothing. They're a mess. I'm a mess. And you're powerful. Will you please come heal us? And he doesn't mean physically.
He means our soul, our spirit, because our spirit is at war with our flesh. And so my encouragement to us as a congregation is that we can take James's clear instructions throughout his entire letter- that letter, that as we gather, we need to be wary of what we say to one another; the decisions that we make.
I will tell you, there is no sin you can commit that does not affect somebody else. I've thought about it for a long time. Every sin we commit needs to be confessed for this reason: it affects somebody. Now, some of you're sitting here like, "Wait a minute. You want us to confess like confess, confess? I mean, not like I sped this week, I, uh, my alarm went off at six and I got up at 6:05. I'm so lazy. Can you guys pray for me? You want me to like, to confess? Confess?"
Well, he says, "Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you might be healed." It's a wonderful promise. You can keep doing what you're doing, or you can listen to James, and at least try it.
What's so great about men's and women's Bible studies is it's this amazing opportunity for you to do this. It's not pretty. It's not clean. It's filthy. You want to know why? Sin is involved with sinners. It's just a mess. But where is your hope found?
After you confess your sin, guess what James doesn't say? Hey, why don't you try harder next time? He says rely on a power outside of yourself. This brings me a lot of hope, church. I hope it brings you a lot of hope. The righteousness I rely on that gives power and prayer is the righteousness that was given to me by Christ.
I'm confident that's what James means.
Everyday Grace 057
Listen to the full sermon here!
https://youtu.be/OmrhNxZ123I
Today's reminder is from Justin Perdue, Pastor of Covenant Baptist Church in Asheville, NC.
Transcript:
What is our calling now? In short, it's to be faithful. It's to work, and by work I don't just simply mean vocation. I mean work in the building of God's kingdom: to serve, to give of ourselves for the good of our brethren, the good of our sisters, the good of our neighbor. It's to use what God has given us all for the building up of the body of Christ.
That's our calling: to use everything we have for the good of our brothers and sisters, everything we have for the good of our neighbor, to the praise of God's glorious grace. Beloved, we serve a great king, a great king. A king who has shown us grace in that he has given us what we don't deserve. A king who has shown us mercy in that he has not given us what we do deserve.
And a king who has showed us steadfast love, unswerving, always faithful. A king who has forgiven our iniquity and our transgression in our sin. The king who gives us all kinds of good gifts, the first of which is being a part of his kingdom in the first place. And upon giving these gifts, he says, now go and do business.
I trust that in your heart, you are thinking, "Amen. I want to serve him. I'm going to serve him. I'm going to be faithful. I'm going to use what God has given me for the good of the body of Christ and for the good of my neighbor. Like Zaccheus, who joyfully receives the Lord, and it says, I'm going to do good by people." I trust that's what you feel and what you think. And, real talk, there may be a part of you that's thinking, but man, this world has fallen and things just don't go well sometimes.
Our efforts can feel futile. Our labor can seem fruitless. You might also be thinking like, Bro, I'm a sinner. I don't understand my own actions.
Like Newton said, John Newton, I'm a riddle to myself. I don't understand myself. I want to serve the Lord, but yet often I find myself not doing that. So what can we say to those things? We can say that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ Jesus.
We can say that he who calls you as faithful and he, the God of peace himself, will sanctify you completely. That he will surely keep your whole spirit and soul and body blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We can say that the God of peace brought our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead who is the great shepherd of the sheep, and that by the blood of the eternal covenant, he will equip us with everything good that we may do His will and will work in us that which is pleasing in his sight.
We can say that God has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ, and therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. Knowing that, we press on, we work, we labor, we serve, we await and anticipate the return of the King.
And when he comes, he will come to make his blessings flow far as the curse is found.
Amen.
Everyday Grace 056
Listen to the full sermon here!
https://youtu.be/lngKeOyND4A
Today's reminder is from a recent Theocast episode hosted by Pastor Jon Moffitt and Pastor Justin Perdue.
Transcript:
Jon: For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. When Jesus rose from the grave (Hebrews), he brought many sons to glory. Why? Because he, when he rose from the grave, he vindicated his works, meaning that they were perfect, they were righteous, they were acceptable before God. If not, Jesus would've stayed dead.
He would've stayed in the ground because he deserved death.
Justin: That's right.
Jon: Jesus did not stay in the ground. He, the Spirit rose him because he did not deserve to be there. He paid for ours and he brought many sons to glory. Meaning this, he was the second Adam. He perfectly obeyed where Adam failed. And therefore, that righteous obedience is what brings us to glory. Now,
that is the grounds of our salvation and justification. We now imperfectly are being sanctified. Sanctification means "separation from." So we are gradually being separated from our old being into this new being, but we still live in these duality of this world. We're saint and sin at the same time, and the full separation happens at our glorification. And it- when you don't use Jesus' obedience as the ground of your glorification, basically, Justin, this is what you're arguing for is that your sanctification is what guarantees your glorification. That is not true.
The Holy Spirit is the one who is sanctifying us. The second thing I'll, and I'll add to this, and I'll throw it back over to you. These are kind of my final thoughts, is that the obedience that is required of the believer is always for two reasons.
It is always for the advancement of the gospel and for the care of other believers, always. It is always for that. If you look at-
Justin: In other words, it's, it's for the good of neighbor.
Jon: That's right. It is for the sake of a vertical, I'm sorry, horizontal line. We are, we are working out right- we love other people, because he first loved us.
And then he says, if you don't, I John says, if you don't love your brother, which is the outflow of God's love for you, then you don't have the love of the father. It's always outward for the sake of others, not for the sake of our salvation.
Everyday Grace 055
Listen to the full episode here!
https://youtu.be/RPBcOiBVGU4
Today's reminder is from Jon Moffitt, Pastor of Grace Reformed Church in Spring Hill, TN.
Transcript:
Hopefully those who are here today, we- because of the grieving loss of a mother, or a father, or strife within a relationship, suffering under the weight of life, whatever it may be- may we who have faith in God use that strength to strengthen one another when they are too weak. And we pray for them- notice- in their presence.
This is why the church gathers to pray. It's a means of God's grace to us. We'll address this more in the coming weeks. But this is why as a church, we implement singing; we implement confession; we implement prayer. Because it's through those means God takes the power of our faith, and he unites us. I know this to be true because I've done this, and I've seen you do it.
There are times that you show up and you cannot sing. Your heart is too heavy. By the way, I'm not judging you if someone's not singing. I know sometimes if you just stop to listen- and I do the same thing- it's wonderful. But I also know I've been in those moments where my heart's too heavy. I, I don't have the energy to sing.
There have probably been times you've sat in my sermons and not had the energy to listen. No judgment here. I grew up a pastor's kid. I did the same thing. The last thing I want you to do is walk out of here and not hear what James says. If you find yourself at the end, you're not alone.
The point of elders is not to buy the right chairs. The point of elders is to bring the right of Christ to you that you may sit in his goodness. That's the point of the church. I'll close with this quote you've heard me say, but I think it fits. The Holy Spirit, by his power, gave the church teachers and preachers that they might equip the saints for the work of ministry. That's what James is talking about.
Everyday Grace 054
Listen to the full sermon here!
https://youtu.be/D14XpaonyU8
Today's reminder is from Justin Perdue, Pastor of Covenant Baptist Church in Asheville, NC.
Transcript:
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
In his own words, he said the son of man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. In his own words: I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the father knows me and I know the father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. Our savior left his throne above and exchanged his wealth for poverty.
For you know, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake, he became poor, so that you, by his poverty might become rich. He suffered and was perfected by suffering as a human being. God, the Son became a man and suffered and was perfected by it as a human being. He learned obedience as a human being.
This is Hebrews two, Hebrews five. God himself in human flesh did that. He was tempted in every way that we are. And while we were still weak, while we were ungodly and his enemies, he died for us. He was made to be sin even though he knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. He did that.
How great is his compassion? How great is his mercy? How great is his sympathy? Since the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise, partook of the same things that through death, he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.
For surely it's not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. He helps the children. Therefore, he had to be made like his brothers in every respect so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
That's how great his compassion is. That's how great his mercy is. That's how great his sympathy is. All this and more he did for us. So beloved, consider him.
Everyday Grace 053
Listen to the full sermon here!
https://youtu.be/XLeOCGQEZDw
Today's reminder is from a recent Theocast episode hosted by Pastor Jon Moffitt and Pastor Justin Perdue.
Transcript:
Justin: My encouragement to all of us as we encounter these new theological categories, and as we are learning what it is to rest, and we have these moments of weightlessness and disorientation- you know, it's, it's like in some, in once it's kinda like free falling, you know, you jump out of the airplane -I've never done it- but I mean, this is, I'm told that you have these, this feeling of kind of like weightlessness and disorientation. You know, it's like, okay, what do I do now?
What do I do now that I don't have to do anything for righteousness? It's like, we'll consider some of the things that we've just outlined: love, humility, patience, bear with one another, weep with those who weep, rejoice with those who rejoice. You know, these things. Do these things for the brothers and sisters around you.
Again, like I said, there are very simple things in the scripture. God says these things are good. God says these things are bad. If God says it's good, pursue it. If he says it's bad, flee from it. You know, do all of that and realize that we're going to do this together. We're going to do this in the power of Christ. Because of the fact that we've been united to Christ, and his spirit is now at work in us,
we can take great comfort and find hope in the fact that the one who calls us is faithful. He'll sanctify us. He'll surely do it. You know, and so we can calm down about sanctification and we can calm down about our Christian lives. And when we have those weightless moments and when we have these , these- these moments where the concerns pop up and it's like, oh my gosh, what about holiness?
You know? Oh my gosh, what about, you know, righteousness and obedience? It's like, no, we should pursue those things, according to the scriptures, but we're pursuing them in freedom and we're pursuing them in the power of Christ and the gospel. And what we need to be given is guidance from the scriptures, guidance from the law as to what good works even really are.
And then we need to be given power so that we might go about doing them. And that power comes from the gospel. That power comes from Christ, which is why we come to church on Sundays to receive Jesus in the word and in the table. We come to sing of him. We come to pray in his name. We come to fellowship with each other.
And then even as we live our lives, you know, we're, we're doing that in the fellowship of the saints, and this is what we do and we do this for the rest of our days until we die or Christ returns and all is well.
Everyday Grace 052
Listen to the full episode here!
https://youtu.be/O1hJNFvRiHQ
Today's reminder is from Jon Moffitt, Pastor of Grace Reformed Church in Spring Hill, TN.
Transcript:
What does someone do when they find themselves too weak to believe in the goodness and lovingkindness of the father; when their faith feels almost gone? Paul describes it as those who are spiritually weak and sick. What does that person do? James tells him, call for your elders. You do not depend upon yourself.
And what are those elders to do? Bring their own power and strength? No, they bring faith in the one who can heal. So James is going to address this in the next few verses, talking about sickness that I don't believe he means physical. I do believe he means a spiritual sickness. We'll look into the text and see why that is, and why it is
it's so important we confess our sins to one another, and how in the midst of suffering, the church can use the power of prayer to restore the faith of those who are weak. And thankfully, we don't have to wait until next week to receive encouragement of our faith, for we can see and taste the gospel this morning.
You remember the man that was lowered down through the ceiling by his friends? And when Jesus is standing there, obviously seeing this man laying on his bed, what does Jesus say? Your sins are forgiven. And people are confused. Obviously this man wasn't there to have his sins forgiven, and then they're upset at Jesus.
Well, who are you to forgive sins? You don't have that power. Only God has that power. And then Jesus says, well, what is easier for me, to say get up and walk or your sins are forgiven? His point is I have the power to do both, and the one that matters is that his sins are forgiven, for now, he will live forever.
We take communion every week, and as we hold the body and the blood of Christ and symbol in our hands, Jesus says this to you: Child, you will live forever because I died.
Everyday Grace 051
Listen to the full sermon here!
https://youtu.be/LnlHdr4mBUY
Today's reminder is from Justin Perdue, Pastor of Covenant Baptist Church in Asheville, NC.
Transcript:
After he's pronounced salvation for Zacchaeus, for the son of man came to seek and to save the lost. So just consider this, this section of Luke's gospel- not much more than a chapter, you have this: you have a tax collector crying out, God be merciful to me, a sinner. And Jesus saying, I tell you, this man went home justified rather than the other.
We see that we're to receive the kingdom of God like a child, simply receive from the father; trust. Jesus making it plain to a man: you have not kept the law that you think you've kept. To which his own followers say, "Who can be saved then?" And he says, well, with men it can't happen, but with God it can. He then tells his disciples pointedly, I'm going to suffer and die in the place of my people.
Then we have a blind beggar crying out, "Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me." And his response is recover your sight. Your faith has made you well. And then the pronouncement: today's salvation has come to this house since he also, a tax collector and a sinner, is a son of Abraham, for the son of man came to seek and to save the lost.
Now, that's gospel if I've ever heard it. I don't know about you. As we often say here, thanks be to God for Jesus Christ, for his death in our place, for his fulfillment of the law. He is the only hope for sinners. He is our surety. He is the guarantee of our final salvation, and we will stand covered in his blood and righteousness. We will stand wearing his very garments as we stand before him on the judgment seat. And so, we can have peace.
So as you depart today, I'm not sure what you're going to do this afternoon, but whatever you do, enjoy your forgiveness. Love each other.
Everyday Grace 050
Listen to the full sermon here!
https://youtu.be/sIFwlSSfFMA
Today's reminder is from a recent Theocast episode hosted by Pastor Jon Moffitt and Pastor Justin Perdue.
Transcript:
Justin: That when God does get in the stand and bear testimony like he does with Job and he does other places, we don't like what he has to say.
Jon: That's right.
Justin: We'll hear him and we're like, "Okay, yeah, but that's not enough. Like that doesn't, that doesn't satisfy me." Or, even worse," Like what you're saying, I just don't like, you know, I don't want it to be this way." And such is the problem. I mean, that's what sin has done to us, right? Because we are at emnity with God. The fact that he is these things, it just doesn't sit well with fallen people.
Jon: You even look at like just Abraham as an example, right? God comes to Abraham with the credentials of, I'm God. And tells Abraham what he's going to do. And you know, Abraham, we love the guy. He's such a great encouragement to us.
Justin: Well, the fact that he's the model held up as, you know, being justified by faith. I'm like, Amen.
Jon: But he struggled, and the point of it is, is that we have so many examples in the Old and New Testament of those who have interactions with the father, and our hearts get in the way. Our fleshly, sinful hearts get in the way of the promises of God. So the point of it is, if you're sitting over here and you're wrestling with this and you're struggling, and you're not quite sure, you know, why these things are happening, and it gnaws at you, man, I just think that the instructions from James are so helpful. He says, ground your heart in the coming of the Lord. Like, look past all of this. Don't try and make sense of it today because one day you will see and know because you will stand. As Job says, I will see him in the flesh. With my own eyes, I will see God. Because you can't see him now; you'll die. But when you are redeemed and you have new- you know, the angels, they cover them- they cover their faces. They don't even look upon the Lord and see, but one day we will.
Justin: It's a staggering thought.
Jon: It is. And it's a great hope to go, not only is that here- I'm sorry- not only is that going to happen, but the writers of the New Testament say live every day as if it's going to happen today because it's at hand. It's about to- and he says establish yourself in that, and that will get you through the suffering.
Justin: May God give us grace for that. Yeah, like I'm not huge on apologetics, Jon, and I'm going to kind of conclude us with this thought. I'm not huge on apologetics, but I do think this is compelling. Nobody has the answer. Nobody has a satisfactory answer for suffering and pain in the world.
Jon: Yeah, they have answers; they're just not satisfactory or biblical.
Justin: I don't, I don't care what, I don't care what religion. It doesn't matter, right? You don't have an adequate answer in terms of- to explain all of the nuances of suffering and pain. But one thing that Christianity has to offer is the fact that God the Son took on flesh and dwelt in this world and he suffers these things with us. Like he's, He's not just some distant deity sitting off in the heavens who cannot identify with what we're going through. You know, the John Martin Millon has a song called "The Road, the Rocks and the Weeds" and he says, you know, don't have an answer for, for hurt knees and cancers, but we have a savior. You know, I have a savior who suffers them with me. That's a good word.
Jon: That's right.
Everyday Grace 049
Listen to the full episode here!
https://youtu.be/KYO-AeSLP7s
Today's reminder is from Jon Moffitt, Pastor of Grace Reformed Church in Spring Hill, TN.
Transcript:
No matter how hard we work, how hard we discipline ourselves, we manipulate ourselves, we will never reach true satisfaction in this life if it's based upon us and our performance. But if we humbly embrace the word of Christ, we can have full joy. Now listen, as passionate as I may seem up here, I wrestle with giving in to the lie of the world.
I counsel all of you here that throughout different times we have opportunities to sit down. And if you've been in a counseling session with me, I try my best to let you know I too suffer from sin. There is no one who's arrived. There is no one who has achieved perfection. This is why he says, confess your sins to one another; hold onto one another; encourage one another; strengthen one another.
When the body functions as it should, a bunch of broken, fractured sinners, and you all get glued together with what- Christ, all of a sudden, love comes pouring out. How is that possible? Because the power of the spirit is there. Someone asked me the other day about what I think about the power of the Spirit.
I'm thinking it's lacking in most churches. You want to know why? Because the churches don't see themselves as broken pieces being brought together in Christ. Literally, Paul says the power of the spirit is in the body of Christ when the body of Christ functions as it should. And how does the body function as it should? Under what? The word of God.
That's why he says consider how to speak truth to one another. What's truth? Truth is this: you don't need the things of the world because God has exalted you. I need that to be told to me tomorrow when my truck breaks down. We need the community of this church to embrace this teaching. Remind yourselves who James is writing to.
He's not writing to individuals. He's writing to the churches that are suffering, who are in exile. Many of you, this letter appeals to you, because some of you just left states where you're thinking, I don't want to be in this state anymore. I'd rather be in exile outside this state. But guess what happened when you showed up to Tennessee? Not to bust your bubble-it's messed up here too. Guess who lives in Tennessee? Sinners.
You can't escape it. We need Christ. And when the community of Christ decides not to make this message the center point of their community, we will devour each other. Literally, James says, why do you fight and devour each other? It's because your passions are at war with one another.
And so I do you no service, and I do not help you if I don't remind you of what true joy comes from. It does not come from selfishness. It comes from sacrifice. When you lay your life down and you understand that when you do, you're doing it for the benefit and love of another, God promises joy. So we can either take God at his word, or we can keep trying the system of the world.
Mind you, no one has ever been satisfied by the world.
Everyday Grace 048
Listen to the full sermon here!
https://youtu.be/HGUDoYn7VRs
Today's reminder is from Justin Perdue, Pastor of Covenant Baptist Church in Asheville, NC.
Transcript:
The ministry of the Word of God, perhaps in its most pointed form, is done right now. But the ministry of the Word of God continues in the life of this congregation as we even depart this place, and as we speak these words to each other. We speak words of life and truth, and- here's the thing- redemption. We speak words of Christ and His work for us to each other on the regular to consider your brothers and sisters as you think about what Christ has done for us.
And may our collective sense of our need of Christ and our collective sense of gratitude for Christ affect how we live together. Bringing this to a close, if we were to summarize what Jesus communicates in these two parables of the tenants and the wedding feast, we could sum it up this way:
God is building his kingdom. He is building his kingdom through and for his Son. The people to whom God's prophets were sent, on the whole, rejected their word. Just historically, that's true. The people to whom God's son was sent, on the whole, rejected him. Historically, that's true. They killed him. Historically, that's true. One's entrance into the kingdom hinges upon whether one receives God's son. And one's admittance into the wedding feast at the end of history hinges on whether one receives God's son and thereby receives his righteousness to wear. We should not be surprised by that summary. That those things in particular, those last couple of pieces about admittance into the wedding in particular, we shouldn't be surprised that that is Jesus' point that he makes. Because at the heart of that point is the heart of the faith once for all delivered to the saints.
This is why the point that Christ makes, particularly in the parable of the wedding feast, is why we confess these words. The principle acts of saving faith focus directly on Christ: accepting, receiving, and resting upon him alone for justification, sanctification, and eternal life by virtue of the covenant of grace.
Close quote. It's why we confess, quote: God Imputs Christ's active obedience to the whole law and passive obedience in his death as their whole and only righteousness by faith, close quote. These truths that Christ communicates in these parables is why we sing: my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. And when he shall come with trumpet, sound, O, may I then in him be found dressed in- what? His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne.
Everyday Grace 047
Listen to the full sermon here!
https://youtu.be/QP69GfmGQ3s
Today's reminder is from a recent Theocast episode hosted by Pastor Jon Moffitt and Pastor Justin Perdue.
Transcript:
Mike: I mean, one of the ways I like to say it is this: the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, true or false? And, of course, we say "yes."
Justin: Yeah.
Mike: But dear Christian, what kind of fear do you have if you stand based on the ground of Christ's perfect work? What kind of fear is it? And there are two kinds of fear, and it opens everything up the next time you read your Bible in Proverbs or Job 28, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom- or Ecclesiastes. There's a kind of fear before you were a Christian that you were standing before God as judge, jury, and executioner. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God. But now, Christian, because of Christ, you don't stand before him like that, because you don't stand before the judge. You stand before your father, because you have Jesus, the mediator. Should you still fear him? Yes, in this way: my father is so awesome. He's so protective. He's provided everything. He's the greatest father ever. I want to respond with awe, obedience, honor, reverence, and I want to do the right thing to make him look good.
Jon: It sounds like Paul, when he says walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called. You've been called his son. Not out of gratitude, right?
Everyday Grace 046
Listen to the full episode here!
https://youtu.be/cu7nb93qu4w
Today's reminder is from Jon Moffitt, Pastor of Grace Reformed Church in Spring Hill, TN.
Transcript:
We actually think we have the same power as God to make the decisions for God. And James says, just be patient. So church, every week to help us with our patience, I don't give you the wisdom from me: here are five ways to do this or seven ways to do that. I can't create patience in you, but I can show you the mighty power of the gospel, the God who sent his son down to take on all of the sin of the world for you.
I can show you that every week and say, now, listen, he not only paid for your sin. He not only earned all of your righteousness, but he's going to finish what he started, guaranteed. That's what we're being patient for is the guarantee part of his return. So here's the kicker, church. Why are you here this morning? Why are you sitting there?
What brought you here this morning? According to James, the reason you should be here is that you need to be reminded to be patiently waiting for what? The return of Christ. And while you wait, what are we doing? We're loving and caring for one another. This is why he says don't grumble. Don't do that.
You're going to cause the weak to fail. You're going to discourage people. The writer of Hebrews says it this way. Consider how to build one another up in love that you aren't hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. The Church is not about how you come and feel better about yourself, tips so that you can improve your marriage or improve this life.
I'm not going to mobilize you to go out into the city so we can redeem the city, and it can have moral values again, and we can have better politics. What we need is a hope that is beyond a world that is sinking. And the moment we take our eyes off of Christ and his gospel, church, we're done. Paul literally says, go party, for then we die.
And that's the existence of our life. Or, we have a life that is full of joy- no death. And as Job says, I will stand, and with my own eyes, I will see my Redeemer and he will wipe away my tears, and I for the first time will be able to love God without sin in my heart. I have no idea what that's like, but I so look forward to knowing the joy of loving of God with all my heart and all my soul and all my strength.
And so what do we do every week? We go to the cross and remind ourselves what he finished in resurrection, he will come and return and restore.
Everyday Grace 045
Listen to the full sermon here!
https://youtu.be/vauNJxe1-zw
Today's reminder is from Justin Perdue, Pastor of Covenant Baptist Church in Asheville, NC.
Transcript:
For consider your calling, brothers; not many of you were wise, according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth, but God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God chose what is low and despised in the world.
Even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are. So that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. So that, as it is written, let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.
It's good to understand scripture with scripture. It's good to see how beautifully consistent God's revelation is. And even now, saints, we see the nations, the birds of the air, coming to find shade in the branches of this tree called the kingdom of God. We have come. And one day, we'll stand in the midst of a multitude that no one can count from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, and we will all be standing there, clothed in white robes that have been washed and made white in the blood of the Savior.
And we'll cry out that salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. It's sewn. It's small; looks like nothing, but it ends in that. It's what Jesus is saying. So, the parables of Christ, what can we say about them? Well, they are not a Christian version of Aesop's fables for us to read them.
Think about them and learn a few moral tips on how we can be better. They're not morality tales. They're not Jesus looking at us and saying, you know, you need to do better. Do better. That's what God requires of you. They are about realities of the kingdom of God. They're about God's law and God's gospel.
Just go ahead and have this in your minds, beloved, as you come to service, whenever we're going to be looking at one of these parables. We should hear these parables, and we should think, "He was talking about me." That's what we should think. Not talking about other people; he was talking about me. So secondarily what- given that secondarily,
yes, I am going to strive to live better according to God's law. I'm going to strive to love my neighbor better. I'm going to strive to live in a more sacrificial way. I'm going to strive to forgive my brothers and sisters more eagerly. I'm going to strive to forgive more joyfully- you fill in the blank. You should take that away.
And primarily, given that I know he's talking about me, my takeaway from the parables of my Savior is that I need him.
Everyday Grace 044
Listen to the full sermon here!
https://youtu.be/v6vfdEO6P4c
Today's reminder is from a recent Theocast episode hosted by Pastor Jon Moffitt and Pastor Justin Perdue.
Transcript:
Jon: So Justin, if you think about when we defined the nature of love, the first thing we defined it as was unconditional, and the second thing we defined it as was sacrificial, then the third thing we described it as was steadfast. Those have to be the description in a world of sin. Because if there is no sin, then love is going to be defined differently.
Right? But because we live in a world of sin, the nature of it saying it's unconditional, which means there are going to be situations that you are going to be tested by which, okay, this is going to, this is going to challenge my claim for loving you.
Justin: Yes. Because none of us are lovable. Certainly not all the time.
And yeah, God loves the unlovable in how he's loved us.
Jon: Which is what the good news is. Right? So I love how, you know, we just did a podcast, uh, was it last week- yesterday on forgiveness. And I think forgiveness works well, because there are two things that are commanded without exception: to forgive and to love.
Uh, what does first John say? If you say you love God, and you have not love for your brother, you're a liar and the truth is not in you.
Justin: And in fact, you demonstrate your love for God through how you love others.
Jon: Right. So we don't want to live in fear of loving one another because that, again, misses out on what the joy of what love is. And I think this is why the constant preaching of the gospel - I believe that the love of God has diminished in churches, because we have preached a fear-based, guilt-driven relationship with God.
Justin: Yeah.
Jon: And we move that into our relationship with our marriages. We move it into relationships with our children. Even governments use this. When you put the preaching of Christ and the gospel back at the supreme of the pulpit ministry, all of a sudden people's perspectives change, which means their lives change.
Justin: Right. We always question the love of God for us because we know we fail. And when we, because we naturally think in these terms, because when other people fail us, it affects us.
It affects how we feel, whether we want to admit that or not. So we think God has to be the same way, that when I fail God, he's going to feel differently about me. You know, and it affects how I then think about him in his relationship to me. I agree with you, which is why the preaching of Christ, the extolling of the love and the mercy and the power, the offices of Christ in our place is so important for everything, including how we love each other.
Everyday Grace 043
Listen to the full episode here!
https://youtu.be/Fq7dZX9djw4
Today's reminder is from Jon Moffitt, Pastor of Grace Reformed Church in Spring Hill, TN.
Transcript:
What are your good works for? They're to help you be effective in loving your brothers and sisters and creating unity within the body of Christ. When we just shove off that responsibility of like, yeah, whatever. I mean, it's, I know it's important but... No, it's more than just important. It's more than just important.
It's what the believer was called to, not out of fear. But as we see -this is what I love- second Peter 1:9, if you're not doing these things, you've forgotten you've been cleansed. Paul says, for the love of Christ controls us because of the gospel. Grace is always our motivation. Love for Christ is always our motivation.
But let us not be foolish to think that our actions don't matter because how else are we to care for one another? I think the gospel message has been watered down, and I think we focus on so many things because the church has lost two things: we don't preach Christ and him crucified. You go to churches, and you hear anything but the gospel, and then you wonder why people are so mean and vile and nasty towards each other because they aren't being motivated by the love of Christ that has been crucified for them.
And then, you know what we try and use? Fear. We try and use fear to motivate people. Our governments have tried it. They've been trying it for thousands of years. Fear does not motivate people to do right. It does not. What motivates us to do right, according to scriptures: we love because he first loved us. So I am not up here trying to scare you because you're going to stand before the judge. Romans 8:1, one of the greatest verses the holy spirit has ever given us: for there is now at this moment and going forward, no condemnation for those who are in Christ. The judge is not coming to condemn your sins- that's not what it means, but he will say these were for the glory of the father and for the benefit of the believers, and these were done out of selfishness and they're of no value. So at the end of our life, whatever that may mean, there's nothing wrong with saying, I really want my life to be about effectively loving one another.
Everyday Grace 042
Listen to the full sermon here!
https://youtu.be/C-lXUoh3fgs
Today's reminder is from Justin Perdue, Pastor of Covenant Baptist Church in Asheville, NC.
Transcript:
In Acts chapter nine, we read about Saul. Have you ever noticed how Jesus speaks to him? We read these words, but Saul still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord- you remember he was murdering Christians -went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus so that if he found any belonging to the way, he found any Christians in Damascus men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
Now, as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. We're familiar with that. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And he said, who are you, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. In other words, from Jesus' perspective, to persecute his people, to hurt his dear ones was to persecute and hurt him.
So closely does he identify with his church; so significant is his union with his people. May this encourage our hearts today. The Lord Jesus, beloved, is jealous for us. He protects us. He has always fought for us, just like David and Goliath. We thought about that last week, right? How David stood. He fought on behalf of God's people.
He went out to go to battle with the great champion of the enemy on behalf of God's army, on behalf of God's people. And he was victorious in battle and cut off the enemy's head. Just like that, Jesus has always gone out to fight for us, conquering all of our enemies, conquering sin and death and hell and the evil one. We read from Exodus earlier.
But listen to these words again and think of Christ. And Moses said to the people, fear not, stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you and you have only to be silent.
Fear not, stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord, which he has worked for you. For the sin that you see today, you shall never see again. Jesus has fought for you, and you have only to be silent. Saints, fear not. Stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord, which he has worked for you. For the death that you see today, you will never see again.
Jesus has fought for you and you have only to be silent. Saints, fear not. Stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord, which he has worked for you.
Everyday Grace 041
Listen to the full sermon here!
https://youtu.be/VrO6wNgK8Vg
Today's reminder is from a recent Theocast episode hosted by Pastor Jon Moffitt and Pastor Justin Perdue.
Transcript:
Jon: The most helpful thing about the gospel is this, Paul says in Ephesians two that the good news is this: you were dead in your trespasses and sins. Right? That's how you were born. You were born in Adam, under the curse, dead. And then it says he made you alive. And how did he do that? He gifted you grace and faith, right?
Grace is to receive something you don't deserve. And what is it that you received that you didn't deserve, right? Which was forgiveness and righteousness. And how did that come to life in you? Faith. All of that is a gift to you. That's the good news of the gospel. It’s that you have nothing to boast of. When you stand before the father, and he looks at you, and he points to you and says, “Justified, righteous,” when he does that, you're going to raise your hands in celebration and say, thank you for your gift. You have no involvement in it. That's the good news.
Justin: Yeah. The gospel, you know, it’s in Romans 4:4-5, now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift, but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness. And then we get, you know, first Corinthians 1:30, we get that because of God, we are now in Christ who has now become to us wisdom from God, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
And so it's all of the Lord. And then Paul's conclusion is, therefore, you know, let the one who boasts boast in the Lord, referencing Jeremiah nine. And because this is God's work, it's a gift completely. We're not doing anything to contribute to our salvation at all.
We simply receive what Christ has accomplished by the mechanism of faith. It's passive. We are passive in it.
Jon: That’s right. Second Peter one would be another way that Peter uses the gospel. He says his divine power has granted, that's gifted, to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence.
So that's another great example that there's nothing for you to do in the gospel. He brings you to life. He forgives your sins. He gives you righteousness, and you now walk in his ways. He who began a good work in you will complete it. That's the gospel, right? There's no “do” in the gospel.
If there is “do,” if there's just a fraction of a percent that you are required to do something in the gospel, that's now law and gospel. And it's important that if you have a fraction of a percentage, you have reasons to boast. So we have multiple sections - Romans, Ephesians, Peter - that make it very clear that the good news of the gospel is when you realize you're alive and you realize you've been granted righteousness and forgiveness, you can stand there and go, well, I had nothing to do with this, and that's good! That means you can't do anything to disrupt it either. I mean, this is John six, where he says no one will take them out of my hands, or John 10, right? I will lose none. That's all good news. No commands, no obligations, no law. All power is resting in Christ. Everyday Grace 040
Listen to the full episode here!
https://youtu.be/TsD_JB_rI4Q
Today's reminder is from Jon Moffitt, Pastor of Grace Reformed Church in Spring Hill, TN.
Transcript:
I agree with you. This world is a beautiful place. It's full of beautiful people. It's full of the wonderful gifts of God. It's full of images of spirits of God that have been cursed. And it's easier for our hearts to be tempted to think, “If only this, then I can be happy.” If your joy is not found in the sufficiency of Christ, you will be disappointed.
We all felt it this week. How many of you felt the shame of your sin this week? I did. And how many of you went, “I can’t believe I fell for that lie again, that if only I have this, I will be satisfied. I will be happy. I will be safe. I will be secure. I will be liked. I will be wanted. I will be beautiful. I will be of value.
I will be of worth.” How many of us believed that this week? James comes in and says, strengthen your heart in all of the promises of God, and that is what will give you patience. And when he appears, as first John says, we will be just like everything we have ever desired: perfection, beauty, value, significance, right in the presence of our father, but you cannot have it now.
The reason why we're suffering is that God is using us to complete his work. And his work is to find those who have not received the balm of the gospel, who have not received the hope of Christ, and to administrate Christ to them. So our mission is vital.
There are people in our homes, in our city and in our state, and around the world who have not yet heard of Christ. And this is the way that the prophets described it, that God holds back his anger and wrath and, in mercy and kindness, sends the church to administrate the gospel that the lost might be found.
We're suffering for a good reason. Our brothers and sisters are still being found. I think that is worth suffering for, amen? So let's not forget, we're not here to be happy in the things of this world. We're not here toget ahead. We're not here to take advantage. We're here to care for one another and keep strengthening one another as we do the mission that we've been called to do, which is to advance the gospel here and around the world. Everyday Grace 039
Listen to the full sermon here!
https://youtu.be/S_95CjEmOxo
Today's reminder is from Justin Perdue, Pastor of Covenant Baptist Church in Asheville, NC.
Everyday Grace 038
Listen to the full sermon here!
https://youtu.be/C941PKAmIJ0
Today's reminder is from a recent Theocast episode hosted by Pastor Jon Moffitt and Pastor Justin Perdue.
Everyday Grace 037
Listen to the full episode here!
https://youtu.be/adwmQupq2u4
Today's reminder is from Jon Moffitt, Pastor of Grace Reformed Church in Spring Hill, TN.
Transcript:
I think James is a very passionate and very tender pastor. I think his heart has the same desire as Paul and Peter. He literally says you'll have joy when you look to God's sustaining power in the midst of your trial. You'll have joy when you learn to boast in your exultation. Do you know what joy means?
Joy is non-circumstantial blessedness is how he says it. Blessed is the one who endures, meaning circumstances cannot change the satisfaction that I have. Do you know what we look for every single day? We want to be satisfied. We want to be satisfied.
That's what joy is. Joy is ultimate satisfaction. And James says you'll have ultimate satisfaction in Christ when you follow his truth, and you don't wander from it. But church, if you think my instructions to you this morning are going to be “Don't wander from the truth,” that’s not what he says. He says we're confessing our sins to one another; we're trusting in the power of prayer; we're gathering. As Hebrew says, do not forsake the assembling of yourselves. Consider daily how to build one another up so that you aren't hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Ephesians four: when the body functions properly, it builds itself up in love. The point of it is if you think you just need to stay focused on the truth of Christ and you will not wander, you have already been deceived.
We need each other to hold up the mirror of God's word, to hold up the truth, and to grab each other's arms. This is why Paul says in Galatians 6:1 to bear, to hold each other's burdens because it's too strong for us to carry on our own. There are people in this church right now who are wandering, and they are living in so much sin.
And guess what they don't have? They don't have any joy. They're trying to use the world’s system to bring safety and security and comfort, and it can't happen. And the reason why I am so soft and tender to this is because every week, my heart often wanders. If I had a little bit more money, if I had a little bit nicer car, if I had a little bit better insurance, if we had a little bit bigger…
My heart's desires often wander off from the truth. And we gather in here, and you all sing, “In Christ alone my hope is found.” I heard you sing that this morning, and I'm sitting here thinking, ‘They're right. They're right.” It's not in wealth. It's not in fame. It's in Christ. Church, we need each other, for we often wander.
Everyday Grace 036
Listen to the full sermon here!
https://youtu.be/-VKQrNsLzuM
Today's reminder is from Justin Perdue, Pastor of Covenant Baptist Church in Asheville, NC.
Transcript:
We need to hear the gospel, the good news, every week because we forget it every week. The righteous are not those who trust in themselves. The righteous are not those who try to please God through their own efforts. The righteous are not those who strive to attain heaven through good works and obedience to the law.
The righteous are those who have actually stopped trying to please God on their own and have turned to Jesus Christ in faith to receive, not achieve, but to receive righteousness in him. Righteousness, by the way, that God gives freely. The foundation of the Christian life is not what we have done for God, but it's what he in Christ has done for us.
The lifeblood of the Christian life is not what we do for Jesus; it's what Jesus has done for us. The Christian life is not one of achieving on our own; it is a life of receiving everything that we need for eternal life and godliness from Jesus Christ. What is saving? How does our confession answer that question?
Saving faith focuses directly on Christ. This is 14.2 from the confession. I cite that so that you don't assume that this is just my idea. The focus is directly on Christ, accepting, receiving, and resting in him alone for justification, sanctification, and eternal life by virtue of the covenant of grace.
Let’s unpack some of that. What is saving faith? I accept. I receive. I rest. Is there anything in that equation that you're doing - that you're accomplishing? No, you're passive. You receive it; you rest; you trust in Christ alone. For what? Justification, absolutely, the declaration of righteousness, but also for sanctification that you will be conformed unto the image of Christ because his spirit is in you and you've been united to him, and he will see it through. For eternal life, meaning glorification and everything that you will ever need to stand before Christ at the end of history, not in fear, but knowing that you have been loved and accepted in the beloved by virtue of the covenant of grace, not works. It's not contingent upon what we do; it is the gift of God on account of Christ alone.
Everyday Grace 035
Listen to the full sermon here!
https://youtu.be/3ndFx2hU4vA
Today's reminder is from a recent Theocast episode hosted by Pastor Jon Moffitt and Pastor Justin Perdue.
Transcript:
Justin: What does it look like to live in a way that God would say is good? And what does it look like to live in a way that's good for my neighbor? How do you know? Well, you know, from the law, as given in the moral law and the Old Testament, and also as expounded upon in various commands and imperatives in the New Testament. That's all it is, love of God and love of neighbor. That's all that the imperatives and the commands and the New Testament are, an expounding upon what it looks like in more detail to love God and love neighbor.
Jon: Right. Jesus even says this. This is the summation of the law: to love God and love neighbor. Or, even when he says in Galatians 6:2, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Right? So I think it's important to understand that the law does not go away, and the value of the law does not go away, but the purposes of the law do. In other words, we do not live under the law in fear of its retribution. We live under the law looking to it as saying, these are reflections of the nature and heart of the Father. Right? If you think about most of the laws outside of love God, there are negatives in that, in saying, all right, your heart is going to desire a woman other than your wife, but you cannot do that. Your heart is going to desire the objects of another person, and you're going to covet them, but you should not do that.
Justin: You’re going to be angry, and at some so much, you almost want to kill your brother, and you can't.
Jon: That’s right. But when we fail in those areas, which I John says, you will - you're going to fail, Hebrews four says you can with boldness run - this is where the difference of the law comes in. Because of the moral law, it's different in that we can run into the father's presence and ask for mercy in time of need. Justin, let me ask you this. Why, if the law is no longer relevant, why would you run into the presence of the father and ask for mercy? Right? Because you violated the law, right?
Justin: Right. You understand what sin is. I mean, Paul says this, we know what sin is because the law exists. How do you know that you should honor your father and your mother? You intuitively understand these things, again, because this law is written into you. But you understand explicitly that it's sin to not honor your father and mother because God said so.
You understand that it is wrong, in a pointed way, to bear false witness about your neighbor because God says so. And these are all things in your sinful nature that you're naturally going to do because you're naturally self-absorbed and self-interested as a fallen human. So God has to tell us, in terms of prohibition, don't do these things. Even though we intuitively know this, kind of, because we all have a conscience, because we're made in God's image, and covenant works is a thing, we also need this clear teaching from the scriptures in form of law so that we can look at something and say, “That's sin.”
Jon: That’s right. Well, and under the old covenant, if they did not abide by the law, they could be kicked out, if not killed, of the community. Under the new covenant, this is what's so glorious, Jesus says, “I lose none.” Right? We are adopted children. There's nothing that can separate us from the love of God. So we love those passages because they draw us into the heart and protection of the father.
But yet the father then says - this just goes back to Romans seven - your heart is going to desire things that are contrary to me. And so this guide is still here. This fence is still here to show you that this is the opposite of who I am. This is what I love about Hebrews 12, looking unto Jesus. Why? Because Jesus is the reflection of God. Jesus is God. So as we look to Christ, we understand the way in which our heart's desire should be. And I love that the law just becomes those lines on the road that say, “Here, this is where you want to stay as you're following Christ,” not out of fear but out of gratitude, knowing that as I stay within these lines of my heart and gratitude and lust, all of this, I am doing it knowing God has liberated me from the consequences of the law, and I now live under the righteous declaration of Christ.
Justin: Amen.
Everyday Grace 034
Listen to the full episode here!
https://youtu.be/93X_1rX46Ho
Today's reminder is from Jon Moffitt, Pastor of Grace Reformed Church in Spring Hill, TN.
Transcript:
Paul and the apostle - I'm sorry - Peter and the apostle stand up on the day of Pentecost, and they preach the gospel. Three thousand people are saved. By the way, have you ever thought about how big that is? That's a lot of people: 3000 people. Now, they just entered into the faith by grace through Christ alone.
Do you know what it is they did right after that? Read Acts 2:42. And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching - which is probably where we got the apostles' creed - teaching and the fellowship, meaning spending time together, to the breaking of bread, which is communion, and prayers. Back up and read it again.
They devoted themselves to it. I think we can look and see in verse 43, “And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common.” All of a sudden, you see that the power of the spirit comes to life, where? When the body of Christ gathered around his word and trusted in his word. As James says, they were doers of the word; they didn't just hear it.
So what's interesting is that when we think about strength, when we think about, okay, when I am weak, and I am dry, and I cannot see clearly that God should be praised and that I accomplish his will, and I want to do my own will, and I want to do it my way, and I'm wrestling with it, what do we try?
Well, I just need to come up with a plan to work harder. I need to be more disciplined. What's interesting is that the church for 2000 years has been called to devote themselves to the word of God, but we don't devote ourselves to the word of God. We devote ourselves to ourselves, and then we just tack the Bible onto it.
I might be stepping on toes now, but I'm okay with it. Trust me. I sit across the room from people weekly, and I hear how heartbroken they are and how they have tried for years to find hope and rest. And I think about how there are clear instructions in God's word and how he feeds you and cares for you and upholds you, and yet we don't devote ourselves to those means. We devote ourselves to our own wisdom. We devote ourselves to the wisdom of the world. And so when I present that God will care for you, God will strengthen you, he will uphold you if you come to him as he's commanded. If you devote yourself to that, I think we'll be able to say with Paul, “I can do all things to Christ who strengthens me.”
The will of God becomes my food. It becomes the thing that I long for, and I don't need health. I don't need wealth. I don't need the world to recognize me. I don't need them to clap for me. My wife and I were talking about this yesterday. That as a pastor, at times, I get praised. Hey, that was a really great sermon.
Hey, you did a really good job. Hey, that shirt, you did a great job ironing it today. I appreciate. But, you know what? When I get criticism, it outweighs them all. It's like 10,000 praises compared to one criticism that just crushes me. And what does James say? Hey, Jon, let the lowly boast in his exultation. You don't need the praise of men.
Why does Jesus say don't pray so that people will praise you? You're going to get your worthless reward. Oh, look, he's a spiritual guy, but you want to have full satisfaction? Do you want to be able to endure death itself at the hand of an angry mob? Look to the means that Christ has given to you: the preached word, the fellowship of the saints, prayer, and communion.
So, this is why we emphasize communion so heavily at our church. And my heart breaks because, at times, when we get to this, I think people become guilty. They think, oh, well, I didn't have a really good week this week, and so I'm not going to take communion. I love this quote by Michael Horton. He says, “Communion, the supper, is not for those who have done well, but it's for those who are weak.”
I love it.
Everyday Grace 033
Listen to the full sermon here!
https://youtu.be/IDYlzOPYndc
Today's reminder is from Justin Perdue, Pastor of Covenant Baptist Church in Asheville, NC.
Transcript:
Consider the Lord Jesus Christ. Consider who he is. God, the son, who took on flesh. Truly God, truly man, with a nature like ours yet without sin. Tempted and tried in every way that we are, yet He never failed. The second Adam, who, just like Adam, was tempted by the evil one, but unlike our father, Adam, Jesus was victorious.
Consider what he did in addition to that. He lived a life meditating on God's law day and night. He never walked in the way of sinners or sat in the seat of scoffers. He obeyed God's law always. The personal, perfect, perpetual obedience that God requires to his law; Jesus did it, and he did it in our place.
Consider him. Consider his suffering. He suffered his whole life. He was perfected by suffering. Through suffering, He learned obedience as a man. This is the language of Hebrews. And then, most pointedly, he suffered in his death. He was obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross, to satisfy the perfect justice of God in the place of lawbreakers who should receive that justice themselves.
So when we get warped out of our frame over mercy and justice and all of that, consider Christ. If we have trouble with some of these things - that we are counted with Adam’s sin. If we have trouble with being represented by Adam, we should have trouble being represented by Christ. Christ represents all those who trust in him.
He has accomplished our righteousness and made satisfaction for our sins. But consider what he did beyond his life and his death. We thought about this some in recent weeks. Christ came as a conqueror. We live in fear, the fear of death, fear of harm, fear of judgment. He conquered all of it. Because the children share in flesh and blood, he too partook of the same things so that through death, he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil so that he might liberate us because we've been living in lifelong slavery. He set us free. He conquered death. He conquered the strong man who is the devil. He set the captives free. Having done that, He ascended to heaven and sits at the right hand of the father, where he reigns.
He’s so in control. Having done the work so adequately and sufficiently that he sat down. He's not scrambling. He’s seated and reigns and upholds the universe by the word of his power. He's building his church that he tells us the gates of hell will not prevail against. You and I are evidence of that. He's building his church. Two thousand years after he ascended here, we sit covered in his blood and righteousness, singing praises to his name, encouraging one another to trust him.
Why? Because he's building his church, he's saving his people. He intercedes for us. The father delights to save us, and Christ delights to intercede for us. He advocates for us when we sin, not once we're better. All authority in heaven and on earth is his, and we belong to him. So whenever you think about the ebbs and flows in the world and things that are fearful, and you're afraid of death, remember that all authority in heaven on earth has been given to Christ, and you've been united to him.
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Trust him.
Everyday Grace 032
Listen to the full sermon here!
https://youtu.be/1_7LkI9LKiM
Today's reminder is from a recent Theocast episode hosted by Pastor Jon Moffitt and Pastor Justin Perdue.
Transcript:
Jon: Sometimes, I don't have words for some of the pain you've seen and experienced. The one hope I want to give to somebody is if you wake up every day and you begin your day with bitterness, and then you run to the throneroom of grace, and you ask for mercy - you need to do that daily so that you aren't hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
Justin: That's right.
Jon: There's nothing more that Satan wants to do and sin within your heart than to turn your heart hard to justify yourself in your bitterness. It will destroy not only you but everyone in and around you, and it will not restore what was lost. As we’ve already stated, you think, well, if I've lost, someone else is going to lose as well. They're going to lose as well, and it's impossible to do that. May I say vengeance is mine says the - Lord, and I will repay. You need to hand that over to God, and God will say, I will dish out what is right and just. You are not the judge. I am.
Justin: Right. You're not. You are not the judge. And we so often act as though we are. We live in this cycle, this loop of law, transgression, and judgment. Here's my law. You've transgressed; now there's judgment. And we think it's up to us to be the judge, to which we know the Lord is the judge of all the universe. He always does right. And as you said, Deuteronomy cited in Romans twelve: Vengeance is mine, declares the Lord. I will repay.
Jon: Yeah, this isn't judgment. This is us standing outside the dungeon, saying trust me, you don't want to be in here. It's going to kill you being in here. You do not want to be in here.
Justin: And if you continue to live from this transactional, quid pro quo perspective - that's not gospel, that's not grace. And if we want that kind of transactional quid pro quo life, we need to be careful what we ask for certainly before the Lord, but we can't relate to each other in these ways, you know? And what we have to trust, Jon, in particular, in the church, when we forgive a brother or a sister in the faith, whether that's a spouse, a child, or a friend, whatever it may be in the church, it's like, okay, I'm extending forgiveness because I trust that Christ has already handled and satisfied the justice of God against my brother, against my sister.
And so I'm just pronouncing over them what Christ has already accomplished on their behalf. You know, so that's important. And then even when it comes to people maybe outside the church, unbelievers in our lives, and we don't know whether they're ever going to come to faith, we still can forgive them because the Lord will handle it. Because Christ will either have atoned for this sin, their wrongdoing, in what he accomplished on the cross in his suffering, in his life, and all the rest or they will. And so we can say in as much as it concerns us, we have been forgiven by our king, a debt we could never pay, and we've been given a righteousness that we could never earn.
And so we are not going to hold the sins of fellow men and women, image bearers of God. We're not going to hold their sins over their heads as a record of wrongs because that would be inappropriate.
Everyday Grace 031
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Today's reminder is from Jon Moffitt, Pastor of Grace Reformed Church in Spring Hill, TN.
Transcript:
If we apply what Christ is giving us, you don't know what you need, but your father does. Your father knows what you need. So as a point of application for the entire prayer so far, he says the greatest thing that you need is that my name be glorified in your life. Now that's really hard because we naturally don't want to glorify God.
The second thing he says is that you want to pray for God's kingdom to come. Later in chapter six, he says, seek first the kingdom of God. I don't know about you, but that is messing with my life. I don't examine my life and think, “Hmm. You know what, Jon, you're doing a great job seeking first the kingdom of God.” I seek first my flesh often. I seek first the desire to fulfill my fleshly desires.
And then I wonder why I'm so unhappy and angry. And I, as James says, I fight with people around me because my passion is not aligning with his. This is why the Psalmist says, delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. So Jesus says you need to put first my kingdom. So pray that the kingdom of God would be first in your life.
Pray to see the fulfillment of the kingdom, where all the nations of the world will hear the gospel. What other purpose do you have in your life? To live long? Use me however you want. And if the purpose of my life is to live long and old, and that will bring the gospel to the lost, and they will be found, then Lord, let me live no longer than 120, please.
But you see, our purposes are so skewed. And so he says, you need to constantly be, daily be washing yourself with the purpose of your life, which is to glorify God and to be a part of his kingdom and to do his will. Lord, he says, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And then to accomplish these things in me, Lord, give me daily bread.
Everything I need, you will provide. And I trust that. And Lord, when my eyes are off of the kingdom, and I'm not glorifying you, and I'm not doing your will, and I'm definitely not depending on your grace, forgive my debt. Do you see that? It's so great. It's so wonderful. Prayer brings freedom. We are so entangled in this world, and we're so entangled in our flesh, and we're so entangled with sin. And the father says, I can liberate you from that. By simply asking me, you will be free.
It is supernaturally - if I can use the colloquial - cool. It's so wonderful to think that my slavery yesterday can be liberated today. And I have the guarantee it'll be liberated tomorrow. Everyday Grace 030
Listen to the full sermon here!
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Today's reminder is from Justin Perdue, Pastor of Covenant Baptist Church in Asheville, NC.
Everyday Grace 029
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Today's reminder is from a recent Theocast episode hosted by Pastor Jon Moffitt and Pastor Justin Perdue.
Transcript:
Jon: So I had a conversation recently with my own son. I'm going to challenge every parent in here: this is not a one-and-done. They don't need to know the anatomy, and then we're done. What you have to do is - it's a constant… let me put it this way, you are way outgunned and way outdone with advertising from the world.
The world is pressing in on them and reprogramming their brain every second of every day through music, advertisement, and friends. So I am in constant conversations with my son - and my wife, with our daughters and me even, with our daughters - where I'm always talking about the positives and the upsides and the joy of what's going on.
Recently, I was telling my son, I said, you know, you're going to start having strong affections. You're going to be like, wow, I really like, I think I really appreciate this person, and I just want to be near her. And you're going to have physical attraction.
You're going to be just like your dad. I think your mom is gorgeous. Right? I like to be around her. And I said, Titus, I like to show physical affection towards your mom because I want her to know that I really care about her. I said you're going to want that, and that's good. What I want you to learn how to do is to prepare your heart and your mind to not only do it in a way where, you know, God's being glorified but also you're going to enjoy it the right way.
Let me put it this way. You're actually going to enjoy it versus you fulfilling a temporary satisfaction that leads to guilt and shame.
Justin: The guilt is real, but the shame piece is so significant. And people will say that - when we make the statement that no sin is private - people will push back and say, well, what if it's just me by myself, you know, and my thoughts? And I'm just kind of, I'm just kind of toying with the cravings I have, and it's just me? It's not hurting anybody else. You're a fool if you think that. You are a fool. Because of this guilt and shame reality and the ways that you are - let's use some biblical language - you are feeding that monster of your flesh…
Jon: You mean to tell me you're not going to treat them differently?
Justin: Exactly. That's significant. But then you will, in particular, if you're a believer - even if you're not, because you are made in God's image, and his law is written on your heart, your conscience will be wrecked. You will be riddled with guilt, and you will be riddled with shame when it comes to this aspect of your life. So do not for one second think that you can toy with your cravings and your passions by yourself, and it will not affect other people. It will.
Jon: It will. I will speak into this as well. I think this is why we do have an epidemic in the church when it comes to people struggling with what they watch. Justin, you and I both have to counsel men and women, and I will say women too - men and women.
Justin: That’s right. It's not a male-only issue.
Jon: When sexuality becomes purely about appetite fulfillment, where we are just satisfying the desires of our flesh, well, that makes it super easy to do that. Well, my spouse isn't doing it for me. That's just a whole reprogramming of life.
Justin: Because now it becomes transactional. It's about my gratification. And then I end up resenting my spouse because my spouse is not meeting my expectations. Yeah, it's a death spiral.
Everyday Grace 028
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Today's reminder is from Jon Moffitt, Pastor of Grace Reformed Church in Spring Hill, TN.
Transcript:
Seek first my kingdom. And to do this, we're going to need strength that is far outside our capacity. Because I know everything I require, I supply. It's amazing. Everything God requires of us; He supplies the strength to do it. He says, don't walk in your own might; don't walk in your own strength. So Christ becomes food.
This is why when you come here on Sundays, I am not feeding you funny stories or political agendas or some kind of social club meeting. I am convinced that if you don't feast on Christ delivered to you by means of his word, you will suffer and have no strength. You won't have strength. You should be very upset at the elders if we ever stop feeding you Christ. You have every right to stand up and say, “This is not what I signed up for.” Right? This is good. This is good. We want Christ. We want to be fed him.
If my children walk into the kitchen letting me know that they are hungry (this happens more often as they get older), and then they ignore my instructions on how it is that they could have something to eat - here is what you can eat - and then they continue to complain about the miserable state that they are in, what do you think I'm going to say at that point?
Why are you not hearing my instructions? What is it that's preventing you from obeying what I have given you? And this is where I think it's very helpful is that when Christ gives his instructions, he says, glorify God, make his kingdom first. Do his will and be satisfied with his bread.
And then you go, man, I've got no purpose in life, and I'm always angry, and I'm always tired. I just have to step back and go, did you hear what your father said? He said he would supply what you need. And then you have to answer this question: why are you not accepting it? Most likely because you're holding on to something else.
You have to let it go. You have to let it go. I'm convinced if we begin to pray this prayer faithfully and believe in its promises and trust and obey it, I believe our habits are going to change. I believe our desires are going to change, and clearly, our priorities are going to change.
Everyday Grace 027
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Today's reminder is from Justin Perdue, Pastor of Covenant Baptist Church in Asheville, NC.
Transcript:
Romans 3 beginning in verse 10. You're familiar with these verses; they're strong. Paul is citing Psalms; he’s citing Proverbs; he's citing Isaiah to say in a word that there is not a single human being, a son or daughter of Adam, who is righteous on this planet. There's not one? Really, Paul, not one?
Nope, not even one, he says. Nobody does good. Nobody's a seeker of God. All we're good at is shedding blood. All we're good at is destroying people with the venom that's under our tongues. We don't know peace, and we don't fear God. This is the conclusion of an argument. Verse 19: Now we know that whatever the law, that same law says it speaks to those who are under it, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God - the whole world held accountable. For by works of the law, no flesh, no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
The first use of the law is to crush us in our sins. Are you ready for some good news? Here it comes. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it - the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe, for there is no distinction. Here we go again. All have sinned. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, fallen short of that law and are justified, declared just in God's sight, by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. And here we go, whom God put forward as a propitiation, a satisfaction for sin. How can lawbreakers go free? Because their debt was paid; their wrath satisfied; their punishment taken by a representative. He's put forward as a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith.
We don't achieve; we receive what Christ has done. This was to show God's righteousness because in his divine forbearance, he had passed over former sins. There were people who had lived long ago who were sinning. People who had lived before Christ, whom God was saving. For goodness sake. How is this possible?
Because Christ was coming. The propitiation, the sacrifice, the offering was coming. (Verse 26) It was to show his righteousness at the present time, says Paul, so that he might be just, upright, and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Everyday Grace 026
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Today's reminder is from a recent Theocast episode hosted by Pastor Jon Moffitt and Pastor Justin Perdue.
Transcript:
If we're going to rightly be preaching the word of God, we've got to have some tools in view. You've got to have a redemptive, historical framework of the scriptures in terms of how the Bible hangs together. For us, as covenantal theologians, we would understand that covenant theology is that framework. So when we say redemptive, historical theology, we mean covenant theology.
We’ve got to have that, but then we have to rightly divide law and gospel. We talk about that a lot on this show that the law and the gospel are very often collapsed in the evangelical church, and even amongst Calvinistic evangelicals, this is common. And we don't keep the law and the gospel appropriately distinct, and we actually compromise both.
We soft-pedal the law in one sense, but then we turn the gospel into this kind of conditional covenant of works sort of thing where there are requirements placed upon us. That's not helpful if we're going to be preaching the word of God, rightly, as a means of grace.
Here are some things that often occur in the pulpit, in a general sense - like in pulpits across this land, that are unhelpful. One, the scriptures are preached through the lens of law, not through the lens of law and gospel. And what I mean by that, it's when I say this - think morality, think moralism, think about how you would typically hear the Old Testament preached, where we would go to the Old Testament in particular, and we would follow around Old Testament saints, and we would think about how we can be like them in their good moments, so let me imitate the good, and here's some bad stuff we need to avoid.
That is not the kind of preaching that we're advocating. That is a law-based, morality-based perspective on the scriptures, and that's not preaching. So that occurs all over the place. And I think that's the only way that many people even know how to approach the Old Testament, in particular. A second comment I want to make: there's a lot of preaching that's called “Christ-centered” that, with all due respect, I don't think is. If you get into the pulpit, I don't care what Testament you're in; I don't care what genre scripture, but if you get into the pulpit and you preach for 45 minutes and 40 of those minutes, you're saying good things, true things that you're observing from the passage, you're talking about stuff that is not false, you're giving me a lot of information, you're maybe even meditating on, you know, how I should conduct my life, et cetera. None of that is inherently illegitimate, but that's what you do.
And then you slip in the plan of salvation, or you slip in the meta-narrative of creation, fall, redemption, consummation. And you call that Christ-centered preaching. I'm just like, homey, with all due respect, it's not. Because you've not preached a Christ-centered sermon. You've actually preached a law-centered, morality-centered sermon.
You've preached a Christian life-centered sermon, and you've slipped Christ in rather than asking the question of every passage: where does this stand in relation to Christ and his work? Everyday Grace 025
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Today's reminder is from Jon Moffitt, Pastor of Grace Reformed Church in Spring Hill, TN.
Transcript:
This is how prayer is to be approached. If you understand everything I just said, then go back and read the first thing. The first thing Jesus says is: Our father in heaven, we pray that your name would be what everybody praises when they look at us. Your name be hallowed. Not only that, but God, we know that your kingdom is the greatest hope for our world.
May your kingdom come. And father, we know that our will gets in the way, and we have these desires. Lord, remove our will. Your will be done. It's at this moment when you're living in massive dependence upon God, he just ratchets it down and says, you need to learn to trust me daily for what I am about to provide for you.
I can't get into it this week. It's a marketing scheme of mine to get you to come back next Sunday. But for me to unpack that, it is going to mess with our pocketbook. It's going to mess with what our futures hold. It's going to mess with your heart. Jesus is not trying to enslave us so that we are controlled like some maniacal leader.
He is saying I have freed you so that you will understand what real peace and real joy and true meaning in life is. And that is to trust that my name should be praised. That the kingdom of God, my kingdom, would be evident here through your proclamation and that my will would be done in your life, which is to love God and love others.
And the greatest way that that is accomplished is if you depend on me every day. In order for us to become dependent upon him, guess what you have to stop depending on? Yourself and this world. So we have this mission that's being brought to us from Christ that we, through the church, are going to proclaim the good news of the kingdom.
And in order to do that, we are going to need to depend upon the father every single day to keep our affections on the love of Christ. This is why, church, I will tell you what the reformed have been teaching for hundreds of years: that we gather on Sundays and we don't let anything get in the way because it is here God feeds our souls and our souls are then refreshed and strengthened. And it is there that Christ rules our hearts. If you are wondering why your heart often wanders, why it is that you find yourself dabbling in sins you know you shouldn't be in, and you let your heart groom it inside of you to the point it starts to capture you, and then you're wondering why it is that you're in constant war with your spouse and your kids, and your whole life is turned upside down. I need to ask you one question. Does God's love rule your heart? The only way it will is if you are being washed in his word. This is why he tells the Colossians, “Let the word of God dwell in you.”
That's a living organism, and he doesn't mean a little bit, he means a lot. And then he says, this is how it happens (Colossians three): by teaching and admonishing one another by singing songs and hymns and Spiritual songs and by considering how to build one another up - hear this - daily.
Everyday Grace 024
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Today's reminder is from Justin Perdue, Pastor of Covenant Baptist Church in Asheville, NC.
Transcript:
We have our text today in Jonah 1:17. So all of that third-day stuff in the Old Testament, including Jonah being in the belly of the great fish for three days, happened for what reason? One reason only: the Messiah would come, and he would lie in the earth for three days, and he would rise again.
Now, as great as that is, let's think about Jesus being in the heart of the earth for three days. That's what he said: Matthew 12, “For just as Jonah was for three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
You cannot help but think about the words of the Apostles' Creed: “I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only beloved son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to hell.” We confess this. Jesus would descend to Sheol. You see this language in Jonah. He would descend to the realm of the dead.
He would rise from the dead. Literally from “the dead ones” is how the New Testament writes it. When you hear the word “Sheol,” understand it as the spiritual realm of the dead, akin to the word “hell” or “Hades'' in the New Testament. And just a brief side note, the “place of eternal torment”, “the final state,” “final judgment” is referred to differently: “Gehenna,” the lake of fire, the outer darkness, that's the language.
“...suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to hell.” To do what? Psalm 16:10 reads this: ”For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol…” says David, meaning you will not allow it to stay there, “...or let your holy one see corruption.”
Peter picks this up in the Pentecost sermon in Acts two, where Peter says this, having quoted Psalm 16:10, he says, “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being, therefore, a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.”
The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is a fulfillment of Psalm 16:10. In Romans 10:6-7, we read these words, “But the righteousness based on faith says, ‘Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend to heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down) or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).’” Implication? Christ already came from heaven. He did his work. Christ has already descended into the abyss and has been raised.
Everyday Grace 023
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Today's reminder is from a recent Theocast episode hosted by Pastor Jon Moffitt and Pastor Justin Perdue.
Transcript:
Jon: So when you think about if you're struggling in your obedience, if you're struggling to glorify God and to love others, if you're struggling to be satisfied in Christ - in the will that he has for you, we are in instructed by scripture to be using the means of grace, AKA communion, to sustain us and grow us so that we can do the duties that are required of us.
To be clear, now, these are not duties to confirm our salvation. These are not duties to earn favor with God. They are the reflection of the nature - and this is why we say they are born out of gratitude. Because what is it you're looking to? The gift of the gospel through the means of the table as your motivation to obey the father.
Justin: The last thing it says in our confession about the table that I think we want to talk about for a moment as well is this - this is the last sentence of 30.1 in the second London confession - “The supper is to be a bond and pledge of their communion” - so common union with Christ and each other. So this again is why you don't take the Lord's supper individually.
Jon: That's right.
Justin: You know, you wouldn't take it by yourself someplace. You would take it with the body of Christ because the supper is about our union with Christ and our union with one another. We use the language a lot in our church: “We all cling to one another as we cling to Christ.”
Jon: Amen.
Justin: And that's the picture of it. I mean, this is the language of first Corinthians in a number of different places. We've already picked up on first Corinthians 11 and how, when Paul says that if somebody comes and eats and drinks without discerning the body, what he's meaning is you're not discerning the body of Christ. That's what it is to take the supper in an unworthy manner.
But then, in first Corinthians 10, I want to pick back up on this language. First Corinthians 10:16-17: ”The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.”
So, this idea of our union with Christ and our participation in the body and blood of Christ is inextricably tethered, according to the apostle Paul, to our union with one another as Christ's body. It's a beautiful picture, you know, of how we together come with a collective sense of our need for Christ.
We, together, come to receive the bread and the cup as a sign of our union with Christ, the forgiveness of our sins and righteousness in his name, in our union with one another, as his people.
Everyday Grace 022
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Today's reminder is from Jon Moffitt, Pastor of Grace Reformed Church in Spring Hill, TN.
Transcript:
First of all, guys and ladies and gentlemen, in your marriages, I want you to think about your last argument. I want you to run it through this filter. I, unfortunately, had the opportunity to do that this week. Uh, I was wrong. Am I glorifying God at this moment? In this argument, is God's name being praised? Do you know how many arguments that shuts down or maybe alters the tone a little bit?
Is the kingdom of God the greatest desire I have at this moment, or is it my kingdom? Is it my desire at this moment? And can I truly say that I am loving God with all of my heart at the moment in this argument? And I'm definitely loving my spouse sacrificially and unconditionally at this moment?
For those of you that have done some counseling with me, this might sound familiar. It's amazing how our sinful desires absolutely destroy our marriages and our parenting and relationships. They destroy us.
One other way of thinking about this is your life decisions. Next time you make a major life decision that affects your time and income, or even your location: am I glorifying God at this moment with what I am seeking, or am I trying to satisfy a portion of my flesh? Am I seeking the greatest good and the desire of the kingdom, or am I seeking something that is earthly?
When Jesus says, “Seek ye…” what “the kingdom of God first.” Am I seeking that first, or am I seeking my flesh first? And lastly, am I loving God in this decision more? Is something eclipsing in front of God, which is keeping me from not only loving God as I should but loving others in this decision? By the way, sometimes we make decisions, and we say, well, I have peace about it. I don't care how peaceful you are. If it's unbiblical, it's unbiblical.
But here's what's wonderful about all of this. We remember the promise. I am in a world where you decree that I'm going to die because of the curse of Adam. And while I'm waiting, though, the other part of your decree is that you have chosen me to be your son, and there's an already part that I receive all the spiritual blessings, which means I'm going to receive peace and joy and comfort and hope and purpose and meaning.
And then secondly, this isn't it. The not-yet part is when he brings me into the new world. Then I will live as I desire to live. Now, see, heaven is not you floating on a cloud, playing the harp, and holding golden hymn books. Heaven is this: in the presence of Christ without sin and death.
Everyday Grace 021
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Today's reminder is from Justin Perdue, Pastor of Covenant Baptist Church in Asheville, NC.
Transcript:
Many in the room know that David was long dead when those words were written, so what on earth could it mean that God would set David up over his people? About 600 years after Ezekiel wrote those words, a man came to John to be baptized in the river Jordan. He told John that it was appropriate that he be baptized in order that all righteousness might be fulfilled.
This man was driven into the wilderness by the holy spirit to be tempted by Satan. He was tempted for 40 days. He went there not having eaten. He's in a wasteland; everything is stacked against him. And unlike Adam before him, who had everything going for him and failed, this man succeeded.
He then preached the sermon in which he said that he had not come to abolish the law or the prophets, but he had come to fulfill them. This man was called the son of David by many. He once asked the question to the religious authorities in Israel, “Whose son is the Christ?” And they replied that the Christ is David's son.
Well, he then quoted a portion of a Psalm that David himself had written where David wrote, “The LORD says to my Lord: Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.” And then he asked these religious leaders if the Christ is David's son, then why does David call him LORD?
The son of David said things like this: The son of man came to seek and save the lost. He said, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners. He said this - listen with Ezekiel 34 in mind. Those words of Ezekiel we just heard, listen with them in your mind - I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
He, who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he's a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep, but I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep, and I have other sheep that are not of this fold.
I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason, the father loves me because I lay down my life so that I may take it up. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.
This charge I have received from my father. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
Everyday Grace 020
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Today's reminder is from a recent Theocast episode hosted by Pastor Jon Moffitt and Pastor Justin Perdue.
Transcript:
Justin: Here's what we're talking about. Remember your baptism. Here you are today; you're struggling. That's acknowledged. There was a point in time in your life when you were baptized. You received baptism.
It was given to you as a sign of the fact that you've been united to the Lord Jesus Christ, and that he has you, that your sins are forgiven, and there has been the remission of those in Christ Jesus, and God is going to keep you. As a result of your union with Christ, you will be finally saved. There was a time in your life when that occurred.
And here you sit today amid struggles and wrestlings and fears and doubts and all that still meaning to trust the Lord Jesus Christ. And how in the world do you think that happened? It's because God has done that for you. Remember your baptism. And when we say, remember your baptism, we are encouraging you to remember your union with Christ as signified to you through that thing that happened to you.
And this is a means of God's grace to you, and it's his testimony and his pledge to you that you've been united to his son and therefore will never be lost. And so it's just another way for us to talk and to preach the gospel to people that they might look away from themselves unto the Lord Jesus Christ, and look upon the grace of God that they received in the sacrament of baptism.
Jon: That’s so good. So all throughout the Old Testament, God has been instituting signs and symbols. He's been instituting forms by which Israel could look to as remembrances. And so they would build altars, and God would institute different things. I mean, a great example of this is the rainbow in the sky.
We look to the promises of God. And so baptism is another, which by the way, the whole flood and the ark are also used by Peter as an illustration of baptism.
Justin: My flood sermon was called “Brought Safely Through Water” when I preached through Genesis.
Jon: There you go. Yeah. So God, in his kindness and his grace, has given us signs and symbols that we might look at them and say, assuredly, as this has happened, God's promises are a surety to us.
And I love that God, to people who are visible, to people who are tangible that we taste, we see, we look, we feel, and God says in this kindness, I'm going to give you something as a remembrance that you might constantly receive.
Justin: I'm going to give you a sign of my covenant.
Jon: That's right. Yeah. And the purpose of it is not just for you to remember it. It, it's not just a like, oh yeah, that happened. The purpose of it is grace. Amen.
Everyday Grace 019
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https://youtu.be/oM8jyvlhiHU
Today's reminder is from Jon Moffitt, Pastor of Grace Reformed Church in Spring Hill, TN.
Transcript:
Jesus first points to their relationship that is secured with the father. You can address him as the most intimate title: father - not God - father. It is in that relationship I want to remind you that the aim of your life is to glorify him and that his name might be praised. Because it's true: he is the most supreme, awesome God that ever existed.
We want people to know that. Do you want to get in comparisons with God? Let me tell you about mine, what he did, has done, and will do. He then points to their hope and joy. As you glorify God, you will find that rest.
And then he gets to them looking for - he says, “Your kingdom come.” Now you know what it means - not a second coming. It's what his whole mission was about: preaching the good news of the kingdom. So every day, we are called to pray that the greatest news the world could ever hear, could ever see, could ever experience, to be set free from sin, to have real peace and real joy and real hope - God bring that!
May your kingdom come in my heart, and may it come in the church's heart, and may it come in a neighbor's heart. Lord, bring that. That prayer has a little bit more spice to it, doesn't it? I was praying that on my way here: “Father, how do I say this in such a way where people walk away and go, ‘I don't need the kingdom of this world anymore.’?”
And when my heart wavers and my mind is gone, I'm going to repent, and I'm going to come back. As James says, but there's more grace. And I'm going to say, “Father, may your name be glorified in my life, and may your kingdom come. May I see this invisible kingdom in my own heart because I know it's there that you dwell.”
You know that it's fascinating when Jesus says where two or three of you guys are gathered - what did he say? I'm there. The kingdom can be seen by kingdom people. I love when we gather on Sundays, and we gather during the week because he's there, and I speak it to you, and you speak it to me.
Everyday Grace 018
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Today's reminder is from Justin Perdue, Pastor of Covenant Baptist Church in Asheville, NC.
Transcript:
Maybe you sit here today not meaning to go your own way, necessarily. Maybe you sit here desiring to honor the Lord. Your faith is in Christ, but deep down, you're haunted.
You're haunted by the thought that you need to do enough for God, that he would be happy to welcome you into his joy forever. You're haunted by the thought that you need to live a spiritual enough life, that he would, in fact, find you righteous when it's all said and done. You feel that you need to pay a portion of the fare.
Well, friends, let's reason together from the scripture. The only ones who will ever be justified by God are those whom God judges to be without sin and to be acceptable based on their righteousness - without sin - acceptable based on their own righteousness.
Can mortal man be in the right before God? Can a man be pure before his Maker? Even in his servants, he puts no trust and his angels he charges with error; how much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust.
Behold, God puts no trust in his holy ones, and the heavens are not pure in his sight; how much less one who is abominable and corrupt, a man who drinks injustice like water.
Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins. If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? Who can stand before his indignation?
Friends, we will, when it comes to standing before God, we will never pay the fare - not any part of it - and stand before him.
We are justified, the saints of God, those to whom he will look and say, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your master.”
Everyday Grace 017
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Today's reminder is from a recent Theocast episode hosted by Pastor Jon Moffitt and Pastor Justin Perdue.
Transcript:
Jon: This is Philippians 1:29: “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him, but also suffer for his sake.” It would be very clear and biblical to say that while we live on this earth, in these bodies, it is God's will that we suffer because we are going to be administering the gospel.
Justin: Yeah. And, you know, I'm thinking of first Peter, there will be times when we suffer. I don't think he means for being Christians necessarily. I think he's just talking about our circumstances in life where we're going to suffer unjustly. And then there are other passages in scripture that make it very plain that we're going to suffer for the sake of Christ's name like you're alluding to. Either way, we look to Christ, who is the greatest example in the history of the world of bearing up under unjust suffering. You know, because a lot of times we struggle with that. Our justice meters start going off, and we struggle to forgive people who've wronged us - there's any number of things that we can talk about. So we're going to suffer in those ways.
These are a few thoughts related to this - If somebody in my congregation comes to me and wants counsel on a particular decision or wants counsel on, you know, a general wisdom call in their life, I always say several things.
I'll say all right, look, what we're dealing with is an issue of wisdom, because if what's in front of you, you know, is not inherently sinful or not, we're dealing with prudence, we're dealing with wisdom. So be comforted by that. Secondly, I am going to take great pains as your pastor never to bind your conscience where the Bible doesn't bind your conscience.
So, if you're coming to me to ask me to tell you what to do, unless the scriptures are clear that you must do this, or you must not do that, you're not going to get that from me. So I'm happy to reason with you. I'm happy to talk with you about things I would be thinking through. Happy to talk about high-level biblical categories that you can weigh.
But I'm not going to tell you what you should do or what you should not do. We're just not going to talk in those terms. And then often I'll tell people if you want my particular take on something, I'll talk with you happily as your friend and your brother in Christ, but this is not pastor to congregate.
We're just going to reason together, and we can have a conversation, you know, over this cup of coffee, about A, B, or C. But this is not “Thus saith the Lord,” and this is not gospel. This is not me authoritatively speaking into your life. This is just us processing together as citizens of the common kingdom and also as citizens of the redemptive kingdom who have been rescued by the son of God. And so I think we do ourselves a favor, Jon, when we talk in these terms because we try to avoid some of that over-spiritualization. We try to avoid some of that paralysis and the foolishness of trying to discern the secret hidden will of God.
Everyday Grace 016
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https://youtu.be/7SY3V-jiA4g
Today's reminder is from Jon Moffitt, Pastor of Grace Reformed Church in Spring Hill, TN.
Transcript:
When we believe these lies, we wander from the truth. We've got to bring each other back. I can't stand Christianity that isolates itself. “I'm good. As long as I read my Bible and I pray, and I go to church, I'm good.” And James says, you can save the life of a Christian if you go - and what: be patient and gentle and kind and loving.
We don't isolate ourselves. He says you gather and you confess just how messed up you are so that you can be healed into one. I mean, Paul describes this supernatural thing that happens. He says when God gives you the gift of mercy and grace and the spirit comes and lives in you and all of a sudden you have this ability to do something that you didn't have before. And he says when you take your ability, and you connect it to the rest of the body, the spirit comes, and he says, the whole thing grows, grows into what - I love this - love. The point of your obedience is to help your brother and sister grow in the love of Christ.
That's the point. The whole entire point. This is why he says to consider how to build one another up daily. So James writes a letter to scared, fighting, sin-sick, wandering Christians. And you know how he always brings them back? He grounds them in their faith, and he reminds them of the grace of God.
That's how he does it. So, I think the conclusion can be that there is no hope for us in this world, none. Whatever you think money, a political party, or time will fix hasn't worked in 6,000 years. Do you know why humans are so stupid? Because we keep throwing a brick up in the air, thinking it is eventually going to fly, and it keeps killing us. We're dumb. And you know what opens blind eyes to be able to see the darkness of this world?
When Jean Valjean dies, back behind him on the mantle are two candles lit. And the picture was that he died in the light of his mercy. He took them with him for the rest of his life. It was a reminder of what he had received. What is it that the father gives us as a symbol of his mercy until we die? The blood and his body.
Everyday Grace 015
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Today's reminder is from Justin Perdue, Pastor of Covenant Baptist Church in Asheville, NC.
Transcript:
“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” (Revelations 22:1-2)
My, how we need that.
“No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.” (Revelation 22:3-5)
Maybe your heart, saint, is breaking as you sit here today.
Maybe things are really hard. And if they're not today, they may very well be tomorrow. We are not promised good circumstances. If anything, God's word promises us suffering in this life. As Peter wrote, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.” (I Peter 4:12-13) For our part, beloved, we press on. We cling to one another as we all cling to Christ.
For, I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comprehension, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.
But the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. Those are not statements about how insignificant trials are. That's a statement about how great the glory is that’s coming. Suffering and then glory.
I leave you with this. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore, let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here, we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.
Everyday Grace 014
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Today's reminder is from a recent Theocast episode hosted by Pastor Jon Moffitt and Pastor Justin Perdue.
Transcript:
Jon: When I think about when Jesus says, “No greater demonstration of love is this…” Do you know what he describes next? Grace. “...that a man should lay down his life.”
Justin: Take his friend's place.
Jon: That's right. Jesus gave what we don't deserve - that's grace. And then what does first John say?
Justin: We love because he first loved us.
Jon: Right. He gave the demonstration of grace. He loved us. Grace is our means of salvation, and grace is our means of motivation. We are motivated by grace to live this life each and every day. And it's really hard when you have a steady diet and you've been told your entire life that you must do these things to validate yourself. That's not grace, dear child.
Jon: That is not grace. You are not walking by faith. You are walking by faithfulness. Your eyes are on you. They're not on Jesus. Your hope is in your capacity. It's not in your identity. And so, we're here just to say as loud and as long as we possibly can, “Look unto Jesus. He started your faith. He will complete it.”
Jon: He is perfect, and he's never failed. And every time you fail, with absolute boldness, you can run into the presence of your father and say, “Father, I have failed once again. Will you please give me mercy? I need grace so that I may trust in this amazing gospel that you have given me.” And so, as believers, as Hebrew says, we need to consider daily how to take these truths and build each other up so that we are not hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
Jon: Dear child, we are not giving you the freedom to go and enslave yourself in sin. We're giving you every reason to trust in the grace of God to fight your sin because it is there you find hope and joy.
Justin: Amen. If I can add one other brief thing. I think just an encouragement to us and maybe another way to expose what we're talking about.
Justin: You said something that made me think about this. I think in the church landscape today, most people in trying to respond to the objection that Paul responds to at the beginning of Roman six, “Should we go on sinning that grace may abound?” I think the answer of many today would be, “By no means, because if you're legit, you will do these things, and you won't do these things.”
Justin: That's how I think most would respond.
Jon: That's good.
Justin: Whereas, how does Paul respond? Should we go on sinning that grace may abound? By no means. Why? Because you've been united to Christ. You've been baptized into Jesus. You've been set free from the tyranny of sin. And you become obedient from the heart.
Justin: Like that's his answer, and that's what you just said.
Jon: That's right.
Everyday Grace 013
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Today's reminder is from Jon Moffitt, Pastor of Grace Reformed Church in Spring Hill, TN.
Transcript:
What do you say to such a question? “Well, what do you want from me?”
Love in the biblical response of the father: “Nothing. I don't want anything from you.” You proved you couldn't do it the first time. Why would I ask you to do it a second time? So you can fail again? And if you had something to do - this is the father - and if you had something to do with your salvation, you would boast about it because you are that sinful and that foolish.
So, now do you accept this gift I give you without condition or consequence?
Well, what will I have to do in response? You will never be considered my enemy again. You will live forever as my beloved child. I will provide you a new home and a new body, and I will always provide for you everything that you need. And while you are in this sinful body and in this sinful world, I promise that nothing you do or that happens to you will ever separate you from my love and my promises to you, not even death.
And I'm going to give you a book. And inside that book, I have written down my love for you - all that you could ever need to know about me and what I have done for you as a reminder is in that holy book. I have also given you a family for your journey in this life. You will not be with me in person just yet.
I have work for you to do, and you will do this work with your brothers and your sisters. They will be closer to you than your own blood relatives because they will have the same spirit living in them as you do. You will find supernatural joy and power because you're connected to them. You will bring the world hope and joy together.
You will be the light of the world to help find my other lost children. You will suffer, and it will be painful, but you will never lack my love, joy, and blessings. It will be a short while, like a vapor, but that suffering you face will be nothing compared to what you receive in eternity. That is what you will receive without condition. And there's nothing for you to do.
Everyday Grace 012
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Today's reminder is from Justin Perdue, Pastor of Covenant Baptist Church in Asheville, NC.
Transcript:
We live in a world that's groaning, and we groan too. That's because of sin's high level. But, at times, we bring emptiness on ourselves through what we do. Through sinful choices, thoughts and actions - we're just like Naomi.
And God redeems out of that emptiness. To highlight how good God is in that redemptive work, consider this: as we think about emptiness, there is one person in the history of the world who experienced emptiness, and it was not because he was a sinner. Now this person of course, is our Savior, Jesus, God, the Son who took on flesh, right? Jesus of Nazareth. He left the glory of heaven to enter exile in a fallen world. He emptied himself by taking on human flesh. As is expressed beautifully in the song entitled “Welcome to Our World.” We sing this, “Wrap our injured flesh around you. Breathe our air and walk our sod. Rob our sin and make us holy, perfect son of God.”
The God-man, Jesus of Nazareth, knew suffering in this life. We read in Hebrews chapter two, that he was perfected by suffering. Sometimes we think and reduce it down to the fact that he suffered in his death, which is certainly true, but he suffered his whole life in that way.
He was obedient, as well, his whole life. He was obedient, as well, in his death. He was obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. He suffered in his life and death. He obeyed in his life and death, and he is the atonement for our sins. He is the absolution for our guilt. He is our righteousness. We receive all of that. We don't achieve any of it. We trust; we rest; we hope in Christ.
Everyday Grace 011
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Today's reminder is from a recent Theocast episode hosted by Pastor Jon Moffitt and Pastor Justin Perdue.
Transcript:
Jon: “Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient.” So he's using all these examples of being patient. Well, why would he do that and then go to healing after that? I think what he's dealing with is no matter what circumstance you find yourself in, the hope of it is that we will be finally restored, but not now. We are looking to that resurrection and that final day of resurrection. So for those of you that have been struggling and thinking to yourself, “Well, I could be liberated. I could be set free if I just simply had enough faith or if I believed longer or harder” - whatever circumstance you want to put yourself into - I don't think the entire letter of James ever was intended to do that.
This is why he even says in the midst of your trial, and I think trial literally means of any kind because a trial means to go without if you're lacking something. So, no matter what your trial might be, God is there faithfully sustaining you and keeping you strong. And then what I love, what James does is he says, “Listen, you can pray for wisdom and he'll give that to you in the midst of a trial, and you can pray for grace, and you can pray for mercy…”
Justin: Because He is good.
Jon: Right. And when you stumble and you fall, realize there's more grace and you can go and ask, and draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.
I mean, there's so much that's happening here. And then he says, by the way, when you are selfish and in the flesh, you bite and devour each other. And so what's so encouraging here is James doesn't leave us without hope. He doesn't just say, Hey, toughen up, Bucko! You know, deal with it. He gives us power, supernatural power.
I love this. I'm going to go back up to the beginning, Justin. When someone finds themself in the deepest, darkest - like they are bitter at God. They're weak in faith. They just feel cold and distant. Do you know what James says? All right. Here's your list of things you need to do: call the elders. Here's your list of things to do: call for help. But what do we do to the weak and frail? We yell at them and we scream at them and we cast judgment upon them. And I just love that James is saying, listen, if you find yourself in this place, what you need is the power of prayer. What you need are godly people to come and pray the gospel for you.
Justin: Call for the people who have been entrusted with the care of your soul.
Jon: That's right.
Justin: And have them pray for you.
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Everyday Grace 010
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Today's reminder is from Jon Moffitt, Pastor of Grace Reformed Church in Spring Hill, TN.
Transcript:
So, this is what Jesus begins your prayer with. You first address your father, which is an unbelievable statement we talked about last week. And the first petition from Christ after he says, “By the way, the father knows what you need. You don't know what you need, but the father knows what you need. So the father knows what you need, and here's how to tap into what you need. You need his name to be holy in your life and the world around you. It's the greatest advantage to you that God is praised in your life. Pray for it.” So with boldness, we can come to the father and say, “God, change my desire so that I desire your will. Hallowed be your name in my life for your glory and my good, for your praise and my joy.”
Man, that is a different way of praying. Typically we're praying, “That person annoys me; make them stop. And Jesus says, “I'm going to give you patience and I'm going to give you longsuffering, and I'm going to give you forgiveness and make you open to reason. And as you give patience, and as you give selfless love, and as you selflessly love this person, they will see your good works and they will glorify me. So, child, I'm going to change you instead of changing them.” So instead, we say, “Lord, I'm frustrated with this person; change my heart. Lord, I don't like these circumstances; change my heart. I don't like that I lost my job. Change my heart. Lord, hallowed be your name in my heart because it is not hallowed right now.
And - I love this - when we fail, what does he say? He's faithful and just to forgive you of your failure to hallow his name. He says in Ephesians four, “With boldness, child, run into my presence as my child. And with the name of Christ upon you clothed in his righteousness, ask in a time of need for mercy and grace, and I will give it to you and you will be restored having forgiveness, and your faith will be renewed.” And it is at that moment, you can say father hallow, be your name in my life.
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Everyday Grace 009
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Today's reminder is from Justin Perdue, Pastor of Covenant Baptist Church in Asheville, NC.
Transcript:
There is also preaching that is thoroughly rooted in the biblical text. But what we're taught to do is to go to the text and glean a lot of good from it: background, historical and original context, moral and practical application. And then, having done that, we're going to insert Jesus somewhere. We're going to slip Christ in somewhere.
But we're not taught to read literally every passage of scripture through the lens of Christ and his redemptive work in place of the sinner. I am saying that is how we should read every page of this book: through the lens of Christ’s work in our place.
Some with the best of intentions actually caution against preaching that way. So beloved, let me ask you this question. What is it that we need, particularly when we gather like this? What do we need?
We need the glory and the grace and the sufficiency of Jesus Christ heralded to us as much as possible. That's what Paul is doing here in Colossians. I’ve quoted him a lot today and it's okay. Here again, is Calvin: “This is the only means of retaining as well as restoring pure doctrine.” He's going to say it. “To place Christ before the view such as he is with all of his blessings, that his excellence may be truly perceived.”
We preach Christ. One may rightly ask, “Brother, what about the law?” I'm glad you asked. We preach the law too. We preach the law and the gospel. We preach the law first and foremost to show us our sin and drive us to Christ in faith. And then we preach the law as the perfect guide for our living in Christ. Do you want to know what righteousness looks like? The law will tell you. Do you want to know what wickedness is? The law will tell you. Do you want to know what will go well for you; what will produce good in your life? Look to the law. Do you want to know what will ruin your life? Look to the law.
And we preach Christ as the atonement for our sins and as our whole and only righteousness before God. “Whole” meaning all of it. “Only” meaning there is no other. It's not like we have his righteousness and then we need to add ours. His, is it, in terms of our standing before God received by faith.
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Everyday Grace 008
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Today's reminder is from a recent Theocast episode hosted by Pastor Jon Moffitt and Pastor Justin Perdue.
Transcript:
Justin: James' aim in encouraging people to confess their sins to one another - that's obviously a corporate dynamic where we, as the body of Christ, corporately are confessing our sins to one another and then praying for one another that you may be healed. Again, that healing language is clearly a spiritual principle.
We pray this for ourselves a lot, Jon. I know I pray this personally, and then I pray it often publicly in our congregation. I know you do too. We ask for mercy from the Lord, and we ask that he would take away the shame and the guilt, and the fear that we carry around with us all the time. Because our conscience accuses us, the enemy accuses us, there are a lot of darts flying at us, and we're mindful of our sin and we can be wrecked and affected by that. And so the healing we're talking about is the freedom and restoration that the Lord gives to us as we apprehend Christ for us and what that means in terms of our forgiveness and our liberation, and the fact that we don't need to worry anymore about the sins of yesterday or the sins of this morning. We are free in Christ to pursue righteousness now.
My goodness, brother, I want these things. I trust others feel the same. We need to keep saying these things and putting these words in our mouths so that we would believe them, we would trust them, and we would feel them.
Jon: Justin, you know when you and I either are weak or we have epically faceplanted in sin and we just feel disgusted and ashamed, when you're in that moment, do you want to go talk to somebody who is going to be a hardened judge? It's just going to make you feel worse. Or do you want to talk to somebody who maybe understands and is sympathetic towards your position?
Justin: The latter.
Jon: Yes! Justin, you and I do this when we fail and falter. We struggle even in our own marriages. There are times we call each other because we know Justin's going to be sympathetic to my position here because he struggles with this too. But Justin always points me back to the grace of God. Well, this is what's amazing about Hebrews four. It says we have a high priest, the one who we are supposed to talk to who is sympathetic. And what that means is that not only does he understand, but he wants to hear you talk about it.
So you can go in and say, “All right, Lord, this is how I've completely faceplanted. I completely just botched this,” or “I am weak and in need, and I know that you actually care and you are compassionate to hear what I have to say.” That is so powerful. I do believe that is what James is going after.
He says, “Listen, you who are sinning, you can trust in the power of the righteous position you are in.” This is why he says, “Hey, just so you guys know, Elijah had a nature, like ours, weak and sinful, and he prayed, and God heard him.”
Justin: So if he was fallen like you, and he was able to pray and it didn't rain for three and a half years, you certainly - fallen as you are - can pray for each other. You can confess your sins and you can pray and you will be healed and you will be restored and God will give mercy and grace in your time of need.
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Everyday Grace 007
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Transcript:
I find great hope in the fact that Jesus, in his model prayer, says to us, “Be cognizant of who you're talking to: ‘Our Father’.” Now, for those of us who've been in Christianity, that's not earth-shattering. When I said, “Our Father,” no one gasped, “How dare he!” But this was not a common practice amongst the Jews, especially of that day.
You are saying, “I am equal with the Son of God.” In other words, “I am equal with God.” Is anybody else getting a little nervous now? When you say, “Our Father,” you are saying, “I have equal rights with God, the Son.” There's a reason why Jesus gives illustrations of prayer afterward because they were like, “Whoa, wait a minute. First of all, no one just walks up and says, you're my father, and you're going to listen to me. We have to make a sacrifice. No, there are ways in which this is done! We have to have a priest!” Jesus comes in and says, “If you want me to teach you how to pray, you need to have the right perspective.”
I will tell you this right now. I am so exhausted. I'm so tired of reading books on prayer that do nothing but make me feel guilty. I'll tell you what - guilt never works on me. Do you want to try to guilt me? I will do the exact opposite every time. It's not right and not good, but that's who I am.
But you want to motivate me with love? I will run through a brick wall for you because love is that powerful. In love, Jesus laid down his life! He was not guilted by the father. He was not shamed by the father. He was not pressured by the father. No greater demonstration of love than when Jesus said, “I laid my life down.” When people come around me and say to that God, “I'm going to pray, and you make me feel guilty when I don't,” something's off, something's wrong.
He opens it up and says, “Guys, when you pray, understand the perspective you have - he's your father, that's who you're talking to,” - it's a perspective. He's gone through and removed the religion. He's gone through and removed the repetition, which is pagan. And then he says, “This is the man who is connected to you like a connection you have nowhere else.” By the way, he has to be clear, “Our Father in heaven.” Not just a father, but the father who resides over the universe.
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Everyday Grace 006
https://youtu.be/b5Nr_Gx56Go
Transcript:
We understand grace to an extent on the front end of salvation because we believe the word of God. We were in need of regeneration. We were dead in our trespasses and sins. We needed to be made alive.
We needed resurrection. Many in the room would rejoice. We weren't just sick and in need of healing. We weren't just dirty and in need of cleansing. Right? We were dead and in need of resurrection. We needed grace. We get that. But then for many, it's as though once we're in, once we're regenerated, we want to flip the whole thing back to an economy of merit.
And now we're just collecting stars and earning cookies.
We're like the older brother in the parable of the prodigal son. Do you remember what the father said to the older brother toward the end of that parable? He said, son, you are always with me and everything that is mine is yours. We don’t realize that. We don't get that. We are so often wrong in our thinking. We get it all kinds of twisted.
It is as though we think that we have worked really hard at the Christian life and thereby have validated the favor we've been shown by God. It is as though we think that through our working, we can go back and retroactively vindicate God's saving.
As though we can become the kind of people that God would've been happy to save in the first place. Beloved, it can't be done. It can't be done.
It's like if you were to buy your young child, your very young child, an expensive and utterly unique gift. A gift that will bless him for the entirety of his life.
A gift that will change his entire life. And upon receiving this gift, the child goes to his piggy bank and scrapes together a few quarters and gives them to you and then spends the rest of his life trying to earn what you gave him. Now, there are two significant things that child does not understand.
One: he doesn't understand that he can’t come close to being able to earn this gift. He can't come close to being able to pay for it because he cannot comprehend its cost or its value. But then secondly, he doesn't understand that you, as a loving parent, don't want him to live his life trying to earn it.
You want him to live in it and to live from it; not chasing after it all of his days.
https://youtu.be/wuwhmpac8GY
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Jon: We live daily in the truth of God's word. And that is what shapes and governs our life. If someone finds hope and encouragement and desires to spend time in his word, engaging in it more in that way, they have every right, joy, and freedom to do so. And we would say, “Praise God for your time to be able to do that.”
But, we have to emphasize what God's word emphasizes. I've had people say that if someone does not want or is not willing to read their Bible daily, they should question their faith.
Here is my struggle with that. We long for the word of God. We want to see it. We want to know it. We want to believe it. But the act of reading God's word is never a litmus test, and it should never be a barometer of one's maturity because when Paul describes a mature Christian in Christ, he describes the fruit of the spirit: patience, meekness, long-suffering, gentleness, sacrificial love. That's a mature Christian. But often, it's the amount of time and longevity one has spent reading a particular book, and that's not evidence of maturity.
Justin: Here's something I think is a dead giveaway we've gotten this twisted. If you were to ask a person, “What's the Lord teaching you these days?” How would people answer based on how they've been conditioned? They think that what you're asking is a super subjective, individual question and that they need to come up with some kind of insight that they’ve gained through their own personal time.
Rather than saying, “Well, my pastor preached James five on Sunday,” or “My pastor preached the parable of the good Samaritan on Sunday, and I'm learning more of what it means - that the Lord is faithful and how there's healing in the confessing of sin.” Or, “I'm learning more of the distinction between the law and the gospel, and I'm seeing how God's law works in more ways, and I'm seeing how the gospel is in the declaration of God that I am just, because of Christ.” You can't answer like that because it's looked at as, “Oh, you're talking about what you learned in church on Sunday. No, I mean, I need some personal insight that you've gained in your personal life.”
It shouldn't be that way. We're told in the scriptures that it's a good thing to meditate on God's word. And it's a good thing to understand and to believe God's word and to meditate on it. What does that mean? Meditation, in our context, either implies some kind of Eastern religious practice or quiet time. In reality, that means to live a life where all of your life is lived in light of the truth of God's life.
https://youtu.be/0-pUnY5oPoo
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We don't trust that God wants what's good for us. We think our will is better than God's. This is what got us in trouble in the first place. And so the entire book, the entire Bible, is proof God's will can be trusted. Where was it violated? Genesis three. Where was it recovered? Genesis three. What requirements did God put on Adam and Eve to restore the relationship they had broken?
God put no requirements on them. He says, “You know what? I will take on all the shame. I will take on all of the pain, and what you failed to do, which was to obey me, I will make sure the son obeys on your behalf, and I will give it to you all by grace.” And then he says, “Can you trust my will now? You didn't the first time. You destroyed the world. You destroyed my relationship with you. It doesn't work! Now, do you trust my will?” And then he gives you thousands upon thousands of stories and years to say, “I'm trustworthy. I'm trustworthy. I'm trustworthy. You want me to be glorified. You want to be satisfied in me.”
That leads us to our third point: that our ultimate desire and prayer should be to see our spiritual development and not our safety and satisfaction. Do you know why I can take a lot of confidence in that? Because Jesus warns his disciples, “Hey, by the way, follow me. Ask whatever you need in my name, and I will give it to you.” After that, he says, “Now you're going to suffer, and most of you are going to die.” I don't think Jesus has our comfort and safety in mind when he says, “Ask for what you need.” As Paul says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” every disciple except for John was brutally murdered. Was it because they failed to pray? No.
Even as we think about Paul and his infirmities, he said, “Lord, take this from me!” three times. It's okay. There's nothing wrong with asking the father that. But what did Paul say? “But father, if it's not your will, I understand.” And Jesus Christ responds and says, “Paul, my grace - it's sufficient for you. For in your weakness, you are made strong.” It's there that Paul found satisfaction in Jesus and said, “God be praised. To God be the glory.” Church, I'm not telling you that you can't take your infirmities, struggles, pains, sorrows, and discomforts to the father. He says to cast all your cares upon him, for he cares for you.
Father, I'm hurting. My heart longs for this thing, and I'm not getting it. What am I to do? And then what does he say? “I hear you, and I will give you exactly what you need.”
https://youtu.be/FAZJK-PtzVs
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I want to encourage you in the Lord Jesus.
If Jesus says to us, “You are to be unending in your forgiveness toward your brothers when they repent,” dear Christian, know that God is most certainly unending in his forgiveness toward you.
God's forgiveness is not based on our sincere efforts to repay what we owe.
It is based on God, who is merciful, gracious, and slow to anger; who abounds in steadfast love and faithfulness; who forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin.
It is based on God, who established a covenant in Christ.
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
Our forgiveness is based on God, who does not deal with us according to our sin. It is based on God, who has compassion for us.
“The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.”
Praise be to his name.
https://youtu.be/BlW88pqscVk
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When you think about the church, how many of you think, “Whoa, not a pretty scene”? I was just interacting with somebody last night on social media who has, unfortunately, left the church. He said his description of the church is all but sewage, and I get it because we have allowed the world's ideology about sin to influence us.
We do not love each other in the church as God has demonstrated for us. Could you imagine the world watching us and saying, “Man, I have never seen people who are so forgiving and patient and kind. They just give up everything all the time. That kind of love is the strangest thing.” And Jesus says, “Yes, because the world does not love like that.”
Can you imagine: there are children, there are moms and dads, there are people in this room that the only experience they've ever had in relationships has been abusive, manipulative, damaging, and fearful? Can you imagine what it would feel like to have someone in this church love you the way God loves? Can you imagine how that would change a life forever? And then they ask you, “Why do you care for me like this? Why do you love me like this?” And your response is, “I just want to show you how God loves me. There's no greater joy in my life than to know that you can experience the same love that I have experienced.”
Church, we’re not convinced of it yet, but every week we come, and we open up, and we sing, and we look at the cross. We look to his sacrifice. We sing of love, yet we let the world dictate what love looks like. And church, I'm just not going to do it anymore. Too many people are enslaved with selfishness, fear, and peer pressure, and they're destroying their children and their marriages.
https://youtu.be/oZT7IL88bR0