Thursday, October 24, 2013

Why I Love CFBC Part 4 — The Pursuit of Holiness & Conformity to Christlikeness

Why I Love Christ Fellowship Bible Church [part 4]
Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Christ Fellowship Bible Church

There are many reasons why I love CFBC. This continues the series as to why I love the flock of God at CFBC.

1. CFBC Has a Love for the Truth of Scripture.
2. CFBC Loves, Cares for, Prays for, & Encourages Me as Their Teaching Shepherd.
3. CFBC comprises people from different races, nationalities, cultures, backgrounds & ages.

4. CFBC zealously pursues holiness and conformity to Christlikeness in all things.

The Apostle Paul said that he labors and strives because he has fixed his hope on the living God who is the Savior of all men — especially of believers. He agonized for godliness. He took pains in his spiritual progress. People who have received God’s salvation, who have been set free from sin’s dominating grip, have become slaves of God which leads to sanctification and the outcome is eternal life. God’s people know this because the Word of God reveals this. A justified sinner will become a sanctified person. He will increasingly hate his sin, more zealously love Christ, more tenaciously cherish the gospel, and more fervently walk in the Spirit. Without holiness, the Bible declares, no one will see the Lord.

God has glorified His name in bringing families to CFBC who zealously pursue holiness and conformity to Christlikeness in all things. An undergirding tenor guides what happens at CFBC, namely, ‘will this make me more like Christ?’ Paul commanded Timothy to pursue righteousness, godliness, faith and love. I praise God for the likemindedness of the believers at CFBC.

The flock knows and understands that coasting through life does not produce holiness. Following step with cultural practices cannot produce godliness. Gliding in neutral will not lead to heaven. A believer must actively, intentionally, aggressively, and daily commit himself to the most glorious pursuit that a man could ever have — ‘practicing his position.’ A regenerated sinner is saved; clothed in the righteousness of Christ. He is washed, cleansed, purified, holy, and blameless — because he is in Christ. Yet this is the position that the believer has before God in Christ. Yet the practical and daily outworkings of the Christian’s duty is to manifest that position in his conduct as he increases in holiness, lives for God’s glory, and serves the Savior. CFBC does pursue holiness and for that I glorify Christ and magnify His name.

Additionally, the purpose of all things is for God’s glory to be supremely displayed. All that happens in a believer’s life works together for good and is thus intended by God to conform the Christian more to the image of Christ. Conformity to Christ is the goal of the Christian’s life. God desires to make His children holy; that is, to fit them for heaven. I praise God that biblical counseling has taken firm grounding at CFBC and that the flock recognizes that the Word of God must be brought to bear in the believer’s life as they speak biblical truth one to another, in discipling relationships, so that through the Spirit-indwelling power, fervent prayer, and daily effort, a child of God resembles the glorious likeness of Jesus Christ on earth.

Why I Love CFBC Part 3 — A Diverse Body of Believers.

Why I Love Christ Fellowship Bible Church [part 3]
Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Christ Fellowship Bible Church

There are many reasons why I love CFBC. I hope to elaborate on just a few over the next few days.

1. CFBC Has a Love for the Truth of Scripture.
2. CFBC Loves, Cares for, Prays for, & Encourages Me as Their Teaching Shepherd.

3. CFBC comprises people from different races, nationalities, cultures, backgrounds & ages.

Another reason why CFBC has so become so dear to me is that many different people have come together for one common reason — to worship and magnify Jesus Christ. Any body of believers can relate to this. All peoples, of all ages, of all backgrounds, of all nationalities join together in a mutual agreement of edification to submit together under the authority of the Word of God and under the sovereign Lordship of Jesus Christ over His church. The unity amidst the diversity is glorious.

The church has drawn folks from different races to worship Jesus Christ together. The differences in color has no bearing on the unity in worshiping Jesus Christ since all are “one body” in Christ. Another encouraging feature of CFBC is that God has placed folks to serve one another from many different nationalities and cultures. There are folks in CFBC from various countries on various continents who gather together joyfully, eagerly, expectantly and with a singular focus — to hear from God through His written Word as it is heralded.

Furthermore, the vast array of cultural backgrounds at CFBC reveals that worship can happen amidst differences in culture and background. Regardless of the background, God has so knit together a group of like-minded saints to meet together regularly under the preaching of the Word of God for the magnification of God’s great name.

And finally, CFBC looks like a church. There are all ages represented at CFBC. There are senior saints and there are small children. There are teenagers and there are families with middle-aged children. There are young families with infants and there are empty nesters. A cursory look at CFBC clearly evidences that the church has not particularly targeted one specific age group nor has it specifically drawn from one age group in particular. Rather, God has glorified His name by gathering many people, of all ages and backgrounds, to CFBC to worship the Lord Jesus Christ together. Praise God for His supreme power mightily put on display by gathering people who hunger for the Word to worship the Savior, to hear the Word preached, to disciple one another intentionally, personally, and lovingly, and to scatter to evangelize and proclaim Christ’s saving gospel to the lost so that Christ’s church may be expanded & His name may be magnified.

There is one body and one Spirit- just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call- 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
— Ephesians 4:4-6

Wanna be humble?

From Spurgeon:

Stand at the foot of the cross, and count the purple drops by which you have been cleansed. See His thorn-crown; mark His scourged shoulders, still gushing with encrimsoned rills; see His hands and feet given up to the rough iron spikes, and His whole self to mockery and scorn; see the bitterness, and the pangs, and the throes of inward grief, showing themselves in His outward frame; hear the horrid shriek, "My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me!"

If you do not lie prostrate on the ground before that cross—you have never seen it! If you are not humbled in the presence of Jesus—you do not know Him. You were so lost that nothing could save you—but the sacrifice of God's only begotten Son. Think of that, and as Jesus stooped for you—bow yourself in humility at His feet.

A sense of Christ's amazing love to us—has a greater tendency to humble us, than even a consciousness of our own guilt. May the Lord bring us in contemplation, to Calvary. Then our position will no longer be that of pompous pride—but we shall take the humble place of one who loves much—because much has been forgiven him. Pride cannot live beneath the cross! Let us sit there and learn our lesson—and then rise and carry it into practice!

Why I Love Christ Fellowship Bible Church [part 2]
Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Christ Fellowship Bible Church

There are many reasons why I love CFBC. I hope to elaborate on just a few over the next few days.

1. CFBC Has a Love for the Truth of Scripture.

2. CFBC Loves, Cares for, Prays for, & Encourages Me as Their Teaching Shepherd.

The Lord Jesus told His disciples to have love for one another and that in so doing all men would know that they are His disciples. One way that CFBC tangibly demonstrates this is in their love for me as their shepherd. Even in the formative and beginning stages of church planting as we have an off-site elder, the flock of God at CFBC has exuded love, prayer, and encouragement to the leadership.

CFBC has provided for needs that have arisen, they have prayed for me diligently, they have cared for our family when a new baby was born. They continually encourage me in my labor and study in the Word of God. When I ask what I can pray for, they quickly reply with some specific ways that I can shepherd them by taking them to the throne of grace in prayer.

But perhaps the greatest way that the flock at CFBC encourages me as their teaching shepherd is that they have a genuine love and concern for me as I study the Word, get the meaning of the text right, prepare a sermon, and proclaim it with Spirit-endowed power. They desire that I have time to pray and prepare, to reflect and to write, to examine the Word and to exhort with the Word. Thus, they graciously expect that I will meet with God daily so as to feed my own soul, to fill my own heart, to consume my own mind, so I can preach the Word to them which has already made its way through me. Their love and hunger for the Word directly relates to their love and hunger for me as their shepherd since my primary calling is to bring them before the Great Shepherd in prayer and to feed them on the Bread of Life when we gather.

When a person in the flock sends me a note of encouragement, a text assuring me that they are diligently praying for my fidelity to the Word and to sound theology, or an email encouraging me to remain faithful to Scripture amidst opposing, quickly-changing and God-hating times.

The sheep at CFBC evidently love their shepherds. They pray for me. They uphold me. They hold up my arms so that we can do the work of the ministry together. Prayer, encouragement, notes and letters of steadfast endurance, and earnest expectation to be fed from God’s Word each time we gather manifest some of the great ways that CFBC loves and cares for me as their teaching shepherd.

Why I Love Christ Fellowship Bible Church Part 1 — A Love for Scripture.

Why I Love Christ Fellowship Bible Church
Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Christ Fellowship Bible Church

There are many reasons why I love CFBC. I hope to elaborate on just a few over the next few days.

I. CFBC Has a Love for the Truth of Scripture.

I love CFBC because the people that God has brought to this flock hunger for God’s Word and love the truth of Scripture. The believers at CFBC have a yearning for more of God’s Word. They long to be fed from the pure milk of the Word. And they attend with great expectation to hear from God, from the Word of God, so they can be changed by God, resulting in the greater glory of God. Scripture predominates when CFBC gathers. The presiding authority is Jesus Christ and how He has revealed Himself in and through Scripture. And it is Scripture alone that tells God’s people how to worship. God not only cares that He is worshiped; he cares how He is worshiped. CFBC craves the Living Bread that is contained in the Bible.

The flock of CFBC believes in the inspiration of Scripture — that is, that all the Bible, in its entirety, is ‘breathed-out’ by God Himself. The flock affirms the inerrancy of Scripture — that is, that all the Bible, in every book, chapter verse, word, and letter is perfect and wholly without error. The Christians hold to the infallibility of Scripture — that is, that the Bible cannot err, it cannot lead astray, and the promises of Scripture cannot, and will not, fail. The church firmly upholds the supremacy and preeminence of Scripture — that is, Scripture is our only authority. Tradition holds no authority over CFBC. Nor does a group, a person, a committee, or cultural patterns or ecclesiastical practices hold authority over CFBC. God’s Word alone stands as the glorious and exclusive authority over CFBC. Furthermore, God’s people cherish and cling to the sufficiency of Scripture — that is, that the Bible contains great and precious promises for God’s people and that the Bible contains all that is needed for a believer’s life and godliness. In other words, the Bible has not left anything out. God does not need to still speak. God has spoken fully, sufficiently, clearly, and perfectly. And this revelation of God is contained in the Word of God and there is no new revelation that God speaks today. This must be the case because God’s Word is enough. It is sufficient to make the man of God adequate, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

The church is not about a preacher, a leader, a teacher, a group, a ministry, or a program. Rather, CFBC is about the proclamation of the Word of God so that the people of God, who are indwelt by the Spirit of God, can glorify God by becoming more conformed into the glorious likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ — the Son of God. The more that God’s Word is elevated, the more God’s glory is displayed. The more that God’s Word is taught and applied in counseling (discipleship) relationships within the context of the local church, the more God’s Word convicts, reproves, transforms, and conforms the man/woman of God into the image of Christ. This happens when a church has a deep, robust, steadfast commitment to the truth of Scripture. And the flock that God has gathered at CFBC has this love for the truth of Scripture.

Download the pdf article here.

Membership Does Matter in Christ's Church.

Membership Does Matter in Christ’s Church
Why is Membership Important?
Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Christ Fellowship Bible Church

1. Membership Accurately Pictures the Unity of the Body of Christ.
The body of Christ is made up of many members inextricably bound together through the redemptive work of Christ. And just as they make up the universal body of Christ, God has given to each individual spiritual gifts with which they can — and must — obediently employ in the upbuilding of the believers. This takes place in a localized assembly of gathered believers.

2. Membership Willingly Identifies with Others in the Body of Christ.
A believer in Christ should desire to identify with other believers through a covenant of discipline and witness. To identify with Christ and refuse to identify with Christ’s people is contradictory and must be confronted as sinful. A mark of true salvation is that a child of God loves those who are born of God. This includes an eager willingness to associate with those who are also saved by Christ and brought into the family of God.

3. Membership Eagerly Submits to the Leadership of the Body of Christ.
When a Christian eagerly and humbly enters into church membership, he obediently follows Scripture in submitting to the pastors and elders. Every Christian is commanded by Scripture to know their leaders, to respect them, and to obey them. This is impossible to do when one has not committed to a local flock.

4. Membership Humbly Accepts the Accountability of the Body of Christ.
To be a member is to invite scrutiny, accountability, and shepherding care. A Christian longs for this. A believer accepts the accountability of other caring Christians who desire to come alongside to help stimulate growth, guard from sin, and bear each other’s burdens.

5. Membership Helpfully Allows the Shepherds to Know Who is 'Among Their Flock'.
God commands all pastors to shepherd the flock of God among them. For the pastors and elders to know just who their flock is among them almost certainly requires some sort of membership structure. Especially with the plethora of churches in the present day and the consumeristic mentality that many have, it is extremely important to join oneself in membership to a local church so the leadership knows who the sheep are for whom they will give an account one day before the Lord.

6. Membership Clearly Demonstrates that One is Not Outside but Inside Christ's Church.
In Scripture, and particularly in the context of church discipline, church membership is to show who is “inside” and who is “outside” the church. Those who are inside the church must be disciplined by the church when they fall into persistent, unrepentant sin. Those outside, however, God judges. The way to determine who is “in” and who is “out” must be through an active, up-to-date membership in a local flock.

7. Membership Faithfully Follows the New Testament Pattern of Adding Saints to a Church's Number (or 'the List').
When people repented of sin, believed in Christ, and subsequently were baptized, the book of Acts says that many were “added to their number.” There was a list in the early church that widows who met certain requirements were to be placed upon so they could receive adequate care. These examples demonstrate that the early church had a pattern of adding saints to their number or putting folks on a certain “list.” Church membership certainly fits this as individuals who profess faith in Christ, who have then been baptized, and who are walking in holiness join themselves together in a local church where they can together grow in Christlikeness and evangelize with boldness.

A preacher must plead & plead & do more pleading...

Learn from the Prince of Preachers on pleading with sinners to come to Christ for salvation:

Oh! my dear hearers, my beloved hearers, I cannot bring you to Christ. Christ has brought some of you himself, but I cannot bring you to Christ. How often have I tried to do it! I have tried to preach my Saviour's love, and this day I have preached my Father's wrath; but I feel I cannot bring you to Christ. I may preach God's law; but that will not affright you, unless God sends it home to your heart; I may preach my Saviour's love, but that will not woo you, unless my Father draw you. I am sometimes tempted to wish that I could draw you myself—that I could save you. Sure, if I could, ye should soon be saved! But ah! remember, your minister can do but little; he can do nothing else but preach to you. Do pray that God would bless that little, I beseech you, ye who can pray. If I could do more, I would do it; but it is very little I can do for a sinner's salvation. Do, I beseech you, my dear people, pray to God to bless the feeble means that I use. It is his work and his salvation; but he can do it. O poor trembling sinner, dost thou now weep? Then come to Christ! O poor haggard sinner, haggard in thy soul! come to Christ! O poor sin-bitten sinner! look to Christ! O poor worthless sinner! come to Christ! O poor trembling, fearing, hungering, thirsting sinner! come to Christ! "Ho! everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; and he that hath no money, come, buy wine and milk; yea, come buy wine and milk, without money and without price." Come! Come! Come! God help you to come! for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.

—Charles Spurgeon, sermon on Psalm 51:4: "Unimpeachable Justice"

Consider how much our sins cost Christ!

From Thomas Watson:

To consider how dearly our sins cost Christ, may cause tears to distill from our eyes. Christ is called the Rock (1 Cor. 10:4). When his hands were pierced with nails, and the spear thrust in his side, then was this Rock smitten, and there came out water and blood. And all this Christ endured for us: "the Messiah shall be cut off—but not for himself" (Dan. 9:26). We tasted the apple—and he drank the vinegar and gall. We sinned in every faculty—and he bled in every vein! Can we look upon a suffering Savior with dry eyes? Shall we not be sorry for those sins—which made Christ a man of sorrow? Shall not our enormities, which drew blood from Christ—draw tears from us? Shall we sport any more with sin and so rake in Christ's wounds? Oh that by repentance we could crucify our sins afresh! The Jews said to Pilate, "If you let this man go, you are not Caesar's friend" (John 19:12). Likewise, if we let our sins go and do not crucify them—we are not Christ's friends.

Strange Fire Viewing Party @ CFBC

Join us at CFBC for the Strange Fire Conference viewing party this week!

We plan to live-stream four of the sessions. Though there are many more (which you can watch at home, at work, etc.), we will only be viewing four together in the upstairs fellowship hall at Church. Some chili & drinks will be provided. Feel free to bring lunches, etc. during the sessions!

Here are the four sessions we’ll live-stream at the church. *All times are Central time*

Wednesday, October 16
12pm - Session #1 (John MacArthur preaching)
5:15pm - Session #3 (Steve Lawson preaching)

Thursday, October 17
11am - Session #5 (John MacArthur preaching)

Friday, October 18
11am - Session #8 (Conrad Mbewe preaching)

To watch & live-stream the conference, go HERE.

For the full schedule, go HERE.

The desperate need for more faithful heralds.

The Desperate Need for More Faithful Heralds!
Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Christ Fellowship Bible Church

1 Timothy 2:7 — For this I myself was appointed a preacher [εἰς ὃ ἐτέθην ἐγὼ κῆρυξ].

The desperate need in the times of our day is for more heralds to rise up who will confidently, courageously, and unflinchingly proclaim God’s message, to God’s people, using God’s method, for God’s glory. What is it that characterizes a faithful herald? What is a God-glorifying preacher? What is it to preach? To herald? This brief essay will help define what a faithful herald is.

A faithful herald is one who faithfully, regularly, confidently, and courageously manifests each of these following six characteristics.

1. Courageously Stands to Herald the Sovereign’s Message.
A faithful herald stands with courage obeying the Master’s mandate to herald the message that has been entrusted to him to faithfully impart to others. The content does not change the mandate to herald. To herald is to faithfully announce. It is to courageously declare. It is to authoritatively deliver a message. Thus, a herald courageously stands and heralds the message.

2. Emphatically Refuses to Alter the King’s Message.
To change the King’s message even in the slightest is to deliver another message than that which he was called upon to deliver. To change the message is to be unfaithful. The sole duty of the herald is to faithfully deliver precisely what the King chooses. He cannot add to it. He must not exclude anything from it. He cannot add his persona, his wisdom, or rhetoric. A faithful herald is one who cries out precisely what the King has given and refuses to alter its content whatsoever.

3. Authoritatively Announces All to Hear the Master’s Message.
All authority that the Master possesses is carried over into the herald’s faithful proclamation. The herald inherently has no authority. He is a nobody. But in so far as he faithfully relays the precise demand of the Master, he comes with the full authority of the sender. Thus, the herald is one who authoritatively announces everyone to pay attention, listen, and heed. The authority is entirely alien to himself. He has no authority. It is the message, faithfully delivered on the part of the Master, that contains all the power, authority, and weightiness in the heralding.

4. Comprehensively Proclaims All of the Content of the Sovereign’s Message.
To read only parts of the message from the Sovereign is to be an unfaithful herald. To herald is to relay to the recipients exactly, precisely, and comprehensively what the sender wishes. To do anything else is unfaithful treason. The height of arrogance is displayed when the messenger picks and chooses what to say from the sender’s message. Thus, a faithful herald must comprehensively proclaim all of the content of the Sovereign’s message. He unapologetically, unflinchingly, unapologetically, and tirelessly proclaims all of the content of the Sovereign’s word.

5. Passionately Pleads With All to Hear, Heed, and Obey the Master’s Message.
A faithful herald has a passionate heart while delivering the message. He earnestly desires that men and women will hear and heed the message. He knows their welfare depends on their obedience to the message. He knows that their disobedience, defiance, and indifference will bring about their harm. So the faithful herald passionately pleads with fire, with urgency, with tears, with brokenness, with earnestness, with compassion, with love, and with persuasion that all will stop and listen, hear and heed, and leave and obey exactly what the Master commands. A heartless herald is an unfaithful herald. A heartless crier is a worthless crier. No one listens to someone speak about that which he has no desire to listen to himself. But the man who is on fire about the message in which he delivers compels others to listen. And so the preacher pleads with all to hear and obey the stipulations given by the Sovereign.

6. Confidently Trusts that the Master is Pleased with Faithfulness in Delivering the King’s Message.
No herald can produce the King’s results. A herald finds himself completely and utterly impotent in producing any results — lasting results, that is. To faithfully deliver the message is his charge. To fully impart the King’s message i
s his only duty. To do anything other is unfaithful defiance. Thus, a faithful herald must trust wholeheartedly that his duty is to accurately dispense the message, not to bring about results. The faithful herald recognizes that he must deliver with faithfulness the King’s message. He is not accountable whatsoever, even in the slightest, for producing the King’s results. His duty is singular, to be faithful to his charge. The herald is accountable to one as to how faithfully he announced the message. He gives an account to his Master. Thus, a faithful herald will trust confidently that the Master takes great pleasure in the herald’s faithfulness to deliver, impart, and cry the King’s message — regardless of the response.

Download the pdf article here.

A compelling reason to mortify your sin.

From Thomas Brooks (Heaven on Earth, 1667):

A great motive to provoke you to the mortifying of your darling sins, is solemnly to consider, that the
conquest and effectual mortifying of one bosom sin, will yield a Christian more glorious joy, comfort, and peace--than ever he has found in the gratifying and committing of all other sins.

Spurgeon on Singing to Glorify God

Spurgeon says this (from Psalm 50):

True praise glorifieth God. I must confess that I do not particularly like to hear voices that jar in the singing, but I should not like to stop one voice, certainly not if it stopped one heart. I think it is said of Mr. Rowland Hill, that an old lady once sat upon his pulpit-stairs who sang so very bad a voice that the good gentleman really could not feel that he could worship while he had her voice in his ear, and he said, “Do be quiet, my good soul.” She answered, “I sing from my heart, Mr. Hill.” “Sing away!” said he, “and I beg your pardon. I will not stop you.” And I think I could beg the pardon of the most cracked voice I ever heard if it is really accompanied with a real loving, grateful heart. God gets same of his richest praise amidst dying groans, and he gets delightful music from his people’s triumphant ones.

Instructions on Singing.

John Wesley provides some Instructions on Singing.

That this part of divine worship may be more acceptable to God, as well as more profitable to yourself and others, be careful to observe the following directions:

1. SING ALL

See that you join with the congregation as frequently as you can. Let not a slight degree of weakness or weariness hinder you. If it is a cross to you, take it up, and you will find a blessing.

2. SING LUSTILY AND WITH A GOOD COURAGE

Beware of singing as if you were half dead, or half asleep; but lift up your voice with strength. Be no more afraid of your voice now, nor more ashamed of its being, heard, than when you sung the songs of Satan.

3. SING MODESTLY

Do not bawl, so as to be heard above, or distinct from, the rest of the congregation, that you may not destroy the harmony; but strive to unite your voices together, so as to make one clear melodious sound.

4. SING IN TIME

Whatever time is sung, be sure to keep with it. Do not run before, nor stay behind it; but attend closely to the leading voices, and move therewith as exactly as you can. And take care you sing not too slow. This drawling way naturally steals on all who are lazy; and it is high time to drive it out from among us, and sing all our tunes just as quick as we did at first.

5. ABOVE ALL, SING SPIRITUALLY

Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing Him more than yourself, or any other creature. In order to this, attend strictly to the sense of what you sing; and see that your heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to God continually; so shall your singing be such as the Lord will approve of here, and reward when he cometh in the clouds of heaven.

The Necessary Power of the Spirit in Preaching

From Art Azurdia:

"All of [the communication of the gospel message], however will amount to nothing apart from the sovereign manifestation of the necessary means. If the aim of Christian preaching is more than intellectual enlightenment and moral reformation, but is, instead, the thorough-going trans-formation of people dead in trespasses and sins, then the Christian preachers must rest their dependence solely upon the Spirit of the living God because such a transformation requires a power of an altogether supernatural kind. Stated simply, the power of the Holy Spirit is the sine qua non of gospel preaching, the one thing without which nothing else matters."

The Relationship Between God & the Unregenerate Sinner.

"Our culture is permeated with the idea that there is no war between man and God. We hear, 'God hates the sin but loves the sinner.' We hear that God loves everybody unconditionally, but that is the biggest lie of our day, because he does not. At the last judgment God will not send sins to hell; he will send sinners to hell. Even though sinners enjoy the blessings of God's providential love, his filial love is not their desert.

The Scriptures are graphic in describing God's attitude toward impenitent, carnally minded people. God abhors them. Nobody talks that way anymore—except for God in his Word. To set our minds on the things of this world is death. God is the supreme obstacle to people's finding happiness in their desires of the flesh. God is always standing in the way. The life of the flesh is lived not in neutrality but in opposition to God, which is Paul's point. To be carnally minded is to be at enmity with God."

—R.C. Sproul, Romans, p.253 (commenting on Romans 8:5-7).

Praise God that 'what the Law [law-keeping] could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, GOD did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh (Rom 8:3).

Righteous in Christ!

A Christian's Sin Transferred to Christ; His Righteousness Transferred to Us.

Martin Luther spoke concerning this...

Luther goes to say, “Unites the soul with Christ as a spouse with her husband. Everything which Christ has becomes the property of the believing soul, everything which the soul has becomes the property of Christ. Christ possesses all blessing and eternal life. They are thenceforth the property of the soul. The soul has all its iniquities and sins, they become thereafter the property of Christ. It is then that a blessed exchange commences Christ who is both God and man, Christ who has never sinned and His holiness is perfect, Christ the almighty and eternal, taking to Himself by His nuptial ring of faith, all the sins of the believers. Those sins are lost and abolished in Him for no sins dwell before His infinite righteousness and thus by faith the believer’s soul is delivered from sins, clothed with eternal righteousness, the righteousness of her bridegroom Christ.”

Holy Men Meditate!

Holy Men Meditate.
Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Christ Fellowship Bible Church

What does it mean to meditate on the Word of God? Spurgeon said that ‘holy men are thoughtful men; they do not suffer God’s wonders to pass before their eyes and melt into forgetfulness, but they meditate deeply upon them.’ How can we learn from this and excel at the God-given grace and important discipline of biblical meditation?

Below I’ve penned some thoughts on what it means to meditate. Truly, holy men meditate.

1. To Meditate Requires Aloneness with God.
The morass of distractions plagues Christians today. Satan can use devices which are not sinful in and of themselves and distract the child of God from spending alone time with God. To have eternal access to the Omnipotent, to have open-arms from the heavenly Father willing to receive His dear children, to have eager affections from the Lord of Hosts to meet with His children should resolutely compel all of His children to meet with Him each day. But meeting with God requires being alone; it requires being quiet; it requires the deliberate exclusion of distractions and distracting devices. And this is hard for us. To be quiet, alone, distraction-less, is hard — yet it is essential. Biblical meditation means that the man of God meets with His God and he does not wish to allow that anything would interrupt or intrude his time of meeting with God.

2. To Meditate Requires Digesting the Scriptures.
Jeremiah was given the scroll and God told him to eat it (Jer 15:16). Ezekiel also ate God’s scroll and digested it (Ezek 2:8-3:3). Jesus’ true food was to do the will of God and accomplish His work (John 4:34). Man lives on every word that comes out of the mouth of God (Matt 4:4). The Apostle John received the scroll and was told to eat God’s Words (Rev 10:9-10). All of these emphasize the importance of internalizing, digesting, receiving, eating the Word of God. To feast on the Word in the mornings, in the evenings, and during corporate worship is most essential. Yet eating food requires the digestion of food. And the biblical art of meditation is the digestion of God’s Word. Every Christian needs this. Eating without digesting does not provide nourishment. Eating with proper digestion is crucial. The man of God should digest the Word, he should think on the Word, he should return to the Word repeatedly, he should fill Himself with the Word incessantly.

3. To Meditate Requires Contemplation of Thought.
To be a Christian is to know Christ. To know Christ is to ponder Him, to love Him, to desire more of Him, to increase in passion for Him and His glory. God told Joshua, the man of God, to meditate on His truth day and night (Josh 1.8). The idea of meditate includes that of constant musing and continuous pondering to oneself. Men of God passionately and zealously desire to behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in His temple (Ps 27:4). To understand God’s ways includes meditating on His wonders. Thinking and understanding go together and are required in biblical meditation. Meditation is not a freeing of the mind or an emptying of the mind. It is to fill one’s mind with God’s truth and to contemplate that truth so as to know it better, to love it deeper, and to obey it more.

4. To Meditate Requires Responding in Prayer.
A man of God quiets himself with the Word of God, digests the Word of God, considers and contemplates the wondrous beauty and truthfulness of that Word and then he responds to the Word of God by speaking to the God of the Word. Prayer is a necessary ingredient to meditation. A man of God grows in his knowledge of and love for God by responding to who God is by taking hold of God in prayer and earnestly seeking His face. Yet this cannot be contained in a few minutes. This kind of taking hold of God does not happen without deliberate prayerful intentions. Especially with the busy calendars with which we are familiar, holy men of God must carefully, consciously, and resolutely protect his time of meeting with God so that he can respond to what he has read in the Word, so that he can confess where he has failed to live up to God’s demands, so that he can seize the grace of God received in the gospel of Christ’s love, and so that he can, by the Spirit’s enabling power and grace, endeavor to follow, serve, and obey Him even more faithfully.

Download the pdf article here.

Submitting to Church Leadership — Some Thoughts on Hebrews 13:17

Submitting to Church Leadership
Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Christ Fellowship Bible Church

Hebrews 13:17 — Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account.

In the following essay, I hope to show how God’s people can submit to God’s leaders in a God-honoring way.

1. Submit Obediently.
An important command given to Christ’s Church is the command to submit obediently to the flock (1 Thess 5:12). This means that submission begins in the heart and it manifests itself in obedience to what the leadership decides on a given issue. To submit to the leadership is to obey the leadership with a heartfelt, eager, positive spirit. God’s people should follow their leadership and submit obediently to their godly and wise counsel.

2. Submit Joyfully.
Since submission begins in the heart and manifests itself in outer conduct, the people of God should submit to their leadership with joy (Col 3:23; Heb 13:17). Steadfast joy in Christ’s church should permeate every aspect of the ministry. Joy should come because of the sovereignty of God. Joy should come because Jesus Christ is the Head of His Church and He is the One who holds all things together and works all things according to the counsel of His will (Eph 1:22). Christ’s people should submit joyfully because joyful obedience is always better than a sour attitude.

3. Submit Confidently.
Since God rules the universe, God’s people can have unshakable confidence (Ps 47:1-4). Since the Lord Jesus Christ sits at the right hand of the Father and who is the only Head over His Body — the Church — His people must submit with confidence knowing that nothing can spiral out of control since Christ holds all things in His control. Nothing can spiral out of control since it is the Lord of the Church who rules and reigns over every event in history — including His church, and its servant leaders.

4. Submit Honestly.
Submission is an attitude of the heart (1 Pet 3:4-5; Eph 6:6). To submit to the leaders that God has appointed thus means that a Christian should serve His church without deceit, manipulation, flattery, or adverse motives (Ps 5:9). To be honest is to act like God since God cannot lie (Titus 1:2). God shows Himself to be truthful at all times and to all people because He is a true, faithful, and reliable God. He cannot deceive, break a promise, or be at fault. So, to submit to the leaders of Christ’s church with this kind of attitude would require one to honestly and humbly follow those whom God has appointed in a way that exemplifies Christ.

5. Submit Edifyingly.
To edify in the New Testament means to build up, to strengthen, to fortify (1 Cor 14:12). Every believer should have as his continual mindset to fortify and establish other believers in the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thess 3:12-13). To edify other believers, especially within the same local fellowship, requires that a number of vices be eliminated entirely. To submit edifyingly to leadership means that believers must never slander their leaders to other believers — especially within the same flock (Prov 10:18). To slander a pastor, an elder, a deacon, or anyone else who oversees a particular ministry of the church is to squash all opportunities of edification and to enhance all opportunities for division and disunity (Ps 15:1-3). Believers must not talk bad out or speak against those servant leaders that God has raised up and appointed as shepherds over His church (Prov 19:1; Prov 22:11).

6. Submit Knowledgeably.
The Bible calls all Christians to know their leaders (1 Thess 5:12). Many English translations speak of ‘appreciating’ those who diligently labor among the flock. The word here speaks of knowledge. The flock must know their leaders. They must pray for them (1 Thess 5:25). They must bear them up and assist them in any way possible. Saints can follow their leaders and submit to them by knowing who they are, the goals for the near future, the struggles that can be prayed for, and how they can best encourage all the elders who serve Christ and His flock together.

7. Submit Prayerfully.
Perhaps the greatest way that a believer can serve Christ’s church and submit to his leadership is to pray fervently for them by name, for their wives by name, for their children by name, for the spread of the gospel by name, for their purity and theological fidelity, and for their encouragement in the midst of hardships and discouragements (2 Thess 3:1; Rom 15:30; Heb 13:18). To pray for church-shepherds is to do one of the most neglected ministries of the church today. Sadly, many see elders as a prominence position or a position of prestige rather than as a position of lowly, servant, humble leadership (Matt 20:28; Mark 10:45). There is nothing self-admiring about being a church leader. A church leader worth anything knows that he is wholly undeserving of such a monumental privilege and that he must daily submit to and surrender to the mighty power of God’s Spirit working in him, through him, and in spite of him. A praying Christian for servant leaders is one of the mightiest weapons in a local church. Furthermore, to pray for church leadership is to submit to them. It’s hard to slander for whom you pray (Eph 4:31-32).

8. Submit Optimistically.
To submit to under-shepherds who desire to follow Christ, love Christ, treasure Christ, and worship Christ in their own hearts, lives, and families can also include a spirit of optimism and a positive outlook in situations and various decisions (Heb 13:7). To find the negative features in decisions, the missing element in church-functions, and to find the ‘better way’ to ‘do’ ministry is to throw cold water on the fire of servant leadership. Leaders need Christ’s people to help them in their goals, ambitions, and guiding and directing the church. Thus, to submit to church leaders in an optimistic way can include each believer looking for ways to serve and help the overseers in achieving the ministry goals — both short term and long term (Eph 4:11-16). This can include prayer, action, giving, discipleship, change, and even sacrifice.

In today’s evangelical and ecclesiastical landscape, I surmise that talking about Christ’s people submitting to church leadership is the white elephant and the oft-neglected topic in a typical Sunday-sermon series. Nevertheless, the Word of God commands it and churches today demonstrate that many do not understand what biblical submission to God’s leaders entails. To submit is an attitude of the heart which is itself an outflow of one’s attitude toward Jesus Christ Himself — the Lord over His church. May the Lord’s people submit with joy, gladness, expectancy, zeal, knowledge, confidence, and prayerfulness to the undershepherds designated by God Himself, to serve the body of Christ, appointed by the Spirit Himself.

Download the pdf article here.

Praying for Revival — An Urgent Need in Today's Church.

Here are a number of articles that I've written in leading up to my sermon this week at Christ Fellowship Bible Church on revival.

Psalm 85:6-7 — Will You not Yourself revive us again, That Your people may rejoice in You? Show us Your lovingkindness, O LORD, And grant us Your salvation.

1. Why Do We Not Pray for Revival?

2. Why Should We Pray for Revival? Some Motivations.

3. Praying for Revival Through the Triune God and His Sovereign Work

4. Praying for Revival in the Church

5. Praying for Revival in the World

Isaiah 64:1-4 — Oh, that You would rend the heavens and come down, That the mountains might quake at Your presence-- As fire kindles the brushwood, as fire causes water to boil-- To make Your name known to Your adversaries, That the nations may tremble at Your presence! When You did awesome things which we did not expect, You came down, the mountains quaked at Your presence. For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear, Nor has the eye seen a God besides You, Who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him.

The New Covenant & Futuristic Premillennialism

Reading the Old Testament at face value implementing a normal, plain hermeneutic (interpretation) leads a person to futuristic premillennialism (that is, that Jesus Christ will return to earth in glory before the one-thousand year earthly kingdom.

Concerning the NEW COVENANT:

"The unconditional, unilateral (Ezek 20:37; 37:26), everlasting (Isa 55:3; 59:21; 61:8; Jer 32:40; 50:5; Ezek 16:60; 37:26; Heb 9:15), and irrevocable (Isa 54:10; Heb 7:22) new covenant assumes nullification, due to Israel's sin, of the conditional Old/Mosaic covenant (Jer 31:32; Ezek 44:7; Zech 11:10-11). Originally made with Israel (Jer 31:31) and containing redemptive blessings of both salvation (Isa 49:8; Jer 31:34) and prosperity (Isa 49:8; Jer 32:40ff; 50:5; Ezek 34:25; Hos 2:18ff), this autonomous covenant later allowed the New Testament church to participate salvifically (cf. Rom 11:11-32) through Christ, the messenger (Mal 3:1) and mediator (Heb 8:6; 9:15; 12:24) of a better covenant (Heb 7:22; 8:6) purchased with the blood and death of this unique High Priest (Zech 9:11; Matt 26:28; 1 Cor 11:25; Heb 9:15; 10:29; 12:24; 13:20). Old Testament believers anticipated (Heb 9:15) Christ's life-giving sacrifice (2 Cor 3:6) involving:

1. grace (Heb 10:29)
2. peace (Isa 54:10; Ezek 34:25; 37:26)
3. the Spirit (Isa 59:21)
4. redemption (Isa 49:8; Jer 31:34; Heb 10:29)
5. removing sin (Jer 31:34; Rom 11:27; Heb 10:17)
6. a new heart (Jer 31:33; Heb 8:10; 10:16)
7. a new relationship with God (Jer 31:33; Ezek 16:62; 37:26-27; Heb 8:10).

This covenant pictures Israel's new betrothal to God (Hos 2:19-20) initiated by the same divine mercy as the Davidic covenant (Isa 55:3)."

—from Richard Mayhue, "Why Futuristic Premillennialism," in Christ's Prophetic Plans: A Futuristic Premillennial Primer (Chicago: Moody, 2012), 73.

Praying for Revival -- in the Church & in the World

Here are some ways that I'm praying for revival along with our flock at Christ Fellowship Bible Church:

PRAYING FOR REVIVAL
IN THE CHURCH
- in our hearts to love Christ
- in our hearts to love the gospel
- in our hearts to pity the lost
- in our hearts to live for eternity
- in our hearts to smell & hear the crackling fire of hell
- in our hearts to long for, hear & see the glories of heaven
- in our midst to be a praying church
- in our midst to be a loving church
- in our midst to be a pure church

IN THE WORLD
- that we would evangelize zealously
- that the Spirit would open blind eyes
- that the Spirit would blow regeneration in masses
- that the Spirit would awaken dead souls to new life
- that the Spirit would use tract distribution
- that the Spirit would bless & use the open air preaching
- that the Spirit would give regeneration to CFBC folks preaching Christ.
- that our marriages would be so radically different from the world that they would be walking, breathing, living pictures of the gospel.

Live in the Love of God Today.

Live in the Love of God Today
Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Christ Fellowship Bible Church

Nothing motivates a Christian to live godly more than basking in the bottomless ocean of divine love. To live in the love of God is to experience the nearness of God.

Jude commands believers to: ἑαυτοὺς ἐν ἀγάπῃ θεοῦ τηρήσατε (“keep yourselves in the love of God”; v.21).

1. The Love of God is Available.
God’s love surrounds the child of God. No child of God needs to approach the Father and ask Him to begin pouring out love. No child of God needs to perform a particular ceremony in order to begin the outpouring of divine love. The love that God gives is ever-available. It is near, it is perfect, it is available, and it is full. The love that God gives is rich and it never runs dry.

2. The Love of God is Beautiful.
Nothing can warm the believer’s heart more than the love of God. The love that God displays is captivating to the believer’s heart and soul. The love that God gives is beautiful because it finds full expression in countless ways. It is a beautiful love because it aggressively pursues its object. God’s love is beautiful because He liberally bestows it upon even the most vile of sinners who repent and turn to Christ in faith. What a beautiful love that is offered.

3. The Love of God is Ravishing.
The free love of God ravishes the soul of His elect. It takes the soul of a man and seizes it. God’s love captures man’s heart and chains his being. The love of God is strong, effectual, and powerful. How amazing to think that God’s self-giving love is so powerful that it can overpower and seize the heart of God’s child so that the son or daughter of God finds himself gloriously glad by being overwhelmed by it. It is a ravishing love that overpowers man’s sinful will.

4. The Love of God is Eternal.
God’s love will not fail. The love of God cannot run dry after millions of ages. God’s love will never cease flowing after a sin is committed. The love that God bestows upon His elect is a love that will endure for endless ages to come. His love endures as long as the sun endures. It endures as long as the stars endure. It endures as long as God Himself endures. The love of God manifested most gloriously in the gospel of God is a love that cannot end, it cannot fail, it cannot be minimized, it cannot be ignored, it cannot be temporal. No temporal boundaries constrict and constrain the love of God. It endures forever.

5. The Love of God is Protecting.
As a father who loves his newborn son protects him, so God protects and cares for His helpless little children. This tender love is a protecting love. It is a love that protects from Satan and his wily schemes. God’s love protects from demonic powers and influences. The love of God protects from the world and its overpowering effect upon God’s child. The love of God safely preserves and keeps His elect child until everlasting glory. As a mother bear watches over her young cubs with all diligence so as to protect them from predators, so God diligently, faithfully and constantly protects His children from all soul-predators.

6. The Love of God is Electing.
Most gloriously manifested is the love of God displayed in the eternal act of election. Sovereign election is that divine, supernatural, monergistic act in eternity past whereby God, out of His own sovereign will and by His own sovereign grace, chose to bestow spiritual life to individuals. God elects because of His love. His love drives His election. God’s election draws the sinful wretch out of the pit of dung-infested sin and gloriously and sovereignly calls that soul to Himself. The sinner can do nothing to merit this. The sinner does nothing to contribute to this whatsoever. This love of God entirely stems from the sovereign will and power of God.

7. The Love of God is Fatherly.
Far from being a dominating kind of oversight or a ruthless kind of authority, the love that God gives His adopted children is a father-like kind of love. It is like an adopted father who jubilantly brings his new son home to his house to love, care for, provide for, bestow family blessings to, and display him to others. God’s fatherly love is a warm love. It is a love that warms the heart of the Christian who knows that God affectionally and effectually cares for him. It is a faithful love. Even if the child of God sins, he knows that God will still receive him back with open arms. It is a disciplining love. As a father who genuinely loves his son disciplines him for disobedience and sin, so the Father must discipline His children because of their sin. God does this out of heartfelt love, out of zealous passion, out of fervent love for them. The father-like love of God is protective and providing. The believer in Christ knows that the love of God will protect Him from the spiritual minions of the darkness and that God will provide for his every need. God will protect both physically and spiritually according to His sovereign pleasure and will. The child of the risen King can rest confidently in the love of God.

8. The Love of God is Supreme.
The love that God gives is the best kind of love. It is supreme. It is supernal. It is a preeminent love. No love can compare with the love that God bestows upon His children. The love that a husband has for his wife pales in comparison with the kind of love God has for His bride. The selfless love that relentlessly pursues a wayward spouse can only begin to describe the love that God displayed toward wayward rebels. The sacrificial love that Jesus poured out when He suffered being forsaken by the Father is a love that no man can ever fully understand in this life or the next. The unconditional love that the Father grants to His children is a warm motivation for obedience, submission, and commitment. It is a love that is not based on the conditions of good works or particular ceremony obligations. It is a love that is based solely in the sovereign love of God. These are reasons why the love of God is supreme. No love can compare with the kind of heavenly love that God gives to His children.

Let the LORD be magnified. A meditation on Psalm 40:16

The LORD Be Magnified! [ יִגְדַּל יְהוָה ]
Meditation on Psalm 40:16
Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Christ Fellowship Bible Church

The Scripture declares that all who seek the Lord should rejoice in Him and say continually: “The Lord be magnified” (יִגְדַּל יְהוָה; yigdal Yahweh) This brief meditation strives to provide a number of specific reasons why believers must remember this chorus continually.

Because You Rejoice in God.
The text declares that those who ‘rejoice and are glad’ in the Lord should be those who acclaim the magnification of God. Believers should rejoice in God because he inclines and hears our cries (Ps 40:1), he rescues us (v.2), and puts a new song in our mouths (v.3). The Lord deserves the highest praise and worship because the wonders He has done are innumerable (v.5). Thus, those who have been delivered by God, who have a new song in their mouth because of the newly revealed grace fully unveiled in the Lord’s salvation should rejoice heartily in God and proclaim His magnificence.

Because You Seek the Lord.
The Lord deserves to be hailed as the magnificent sovereign because His people seek Him. Psalm 40 tells the Godly who seek the Lord to rejoice and be glad in God. Those who seek the Lord and desire to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ should proclaim His preeminence and glory!

Because You Receive His Blessings.
The thoughts that God has toward His people are many (Ps 40:5). Indeed, his thoughts toward His people cannot be counted (v.5). None can compare with this all-wise and all-knowing God! The wonders, the blessings, and the thoughts toward His own saints provide endless reasons for God’s people to praise Him! The blessings of God beckon believers to bow & utter that the Lord must be magnified!

Because You Benefit from Grace.
Those who love God’s salvation should always have on their tongues that the Lord is to be magnified. All boasting in self must cease & all boasting in the cross of Jesus Christ must abound! The believer who benefits from God’s grace revealed in the cross of Christ should proclaim the Lord’s magnificence daily. This proclamation should come to his own soul in reminding him of his lostness and of the Lord’s unspeakable love that provided salvation. This proclamation should also include telling others of the manifold benefits of God’s grace that are found in salvation. The one who loves God’s salvation, who has experienced God’s mercies, and who has been wooed by the supremely tender cords of divine love is one who must herald the Lord’s magnificence!

Because You Wait with Hope.
The psalmist says that he waited patiently for the Lord. Literally, waiting, he waited for the Lord. To wait on God requires the hard discipline of quieting oneself and stilling oneself before God with active, aggressive, persistent — and undistracted — praying. To wait on God is to pray to God and expect God to bring an answer to the petition. To wait on God is to actively hope and confidently trust in His sovereignty and His goodness. To wait on God is never to live lazily, act indifferently. Rather, it is to confidently pray while waiting for God to answer. This person who waits on God, praying to God, confident in God, trusting in God is one who can honestly say that the Lord is to be magnified in and through all things. To wait is to trust. To wait is to affirm the Lord’s magnificence.

Because You Hail His Incomparability.
Every person worships. There is, however, only one God who exists. Only one God is worthy of worship. Only one God is real, living, active, wise, good, and sovereign. The psalmist proclaims the priority that God cannot be compared with anyone or anything else (Ps 40:5). He far surpasses all other gods. None can compare with God. To whom would someone liken to God or what likeness can be compared to Him (Isa 40:18). God alone must be elevated as the magnificent one, the great one, the highest one, the supreme one, and the praise of His sovereignty should drip from the lips of His children continually. O let all God’s children join the heavenly chorus and continually say, the Lord be magnified!

Download the pdf here.

Behold the many acts of God! Psalm 40:5

Cast abroad your eyes through the nations, and meditate on the mighty acts which he hath done, and the wisdom and power of his providence, which should charm all thy affections.

Behold his admirable patience, with what pity he looks down on obstinate rebels; and how he is moved with compassion when he sees his creatures polluted in their blood, and bent upon their own destruction; how long he waits to be gracious; how unwillingly he appears to give up with sinners, and execute deserved vengeance on his enemies; and then with what joy he pardons for 'with him is plentous redemption.'

And what can have more force than these to win thy esteem, and make a willing conquest of thy heart? so that every object about thee is an argument of love, and furnishes fuel for this sacred fire. And whether you behold God in the firmament of his power, or the sanctuary of his grace, you cannot miss to pronounce him 'altogether lovely.'

—William Dunlap

Kill Your Treasured Sin!

Kill Your Treasured Sin!
Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Christ Fellowship Bible Church

A believer no longer lives under the dominating power of sin. The death of Christ has freed him from the condemnation of sin, the power of sin, and the penalty of sin. At the same time, every believer understands that the Christian life demands nothing less than an aggressive zealousness for pursuing sanctification until glorification dawns. So how do believers kill sin? How do Christians kill sin? The power resides within the believer — through the enabling power, grace & strength of God the Holy Spirit — to overcome sin and to kill sin. Not only is the power available to every believer to overcome sin but he must strive to be killing sin in his life.

So the question remains, how does the man of God kill sin? If a cherished sin has a home in a corner of one’s life, how does he slaughter that treasured sin? A few helpful thoughts will provide help for how to kill sin.

1. Meditate on Death.
One motivation for killing sin is the ever-present reality that death could invade at any moment. When the believer remembers that death could seize him at any time, it serves as an incentive for killing a treasured sin. No believer in the Lord Jesus Christ desires to meet Christ at the moment of death having just engaged in an activity of sin. Meditating on the imminency of death can lead a man of God to strive to kill his darling sin by the grace of God, with a perspective on Christ, and by the power of the Holy Spirit.

2. Meditate on Judgment Day.
A day quickly is coming when every Christian will stand before God’s judgment seat to give an account of what he has done. It will not be a judgment to determine salvation or judgment. For the believer, Christ destroyed sin’s penalty by becoming sin in his place on the cross. Nevertheless, every person of God will appear before God’s judgment seat (the bema) (2 Cor 5; Rom 14). To bear in mind this day when the Christian will stand before His master and deliverer will be a helpful motivation to holiness. To meditate on the certain reality of standing before Jesus Christ and giving an account of his life will win the blood-bought sinner away from sin and toward holiness in Christ. Thus, he will kill his treasured sin the more that he meditates on judgment day.

3. Meditate on the Joys of Heaven.
To think much on heaven necessitates thinking much about the glory of God, the purity of God, the beauty of God, the holiness of God, and the world of love. To meditate on the joys of heaven will catapult the believer to a heartfelt zeal to kill every treasured sin on earth because there will, of course, be no presence of sin in heaven. For the believer who knows heaven to be his destiny, Christ to be his inheritance, and God to be his joy is a triumphant motivation to kill every treasured sin. No lust can compare with the lasting satisfaction in Christ. No covetous thought can compare with the glory of heaven. So then, to meditate much on the joys of heaven will remind the believer that sin is worth killing with all vigilance and all iniquity is worth slaughtering mercilessly so as to best prepare for the next world of perfect glory.

4. Meditate on the Torments of Hell.
Meditating on the torments of hell will compellingly remind the believer to kill every treasured sin. Every sin deserves hell. Every lawless deed, every evil thought, every careless word, every selfish motive, every hypocritical act deserves endless eternities of God-inflicted punishment in hell. Every Christian knows himself to be deserving of hell. Since being a follower of Christ, he fully affirms his worthiness of judgment, wrath, hell, and divine fury. No Christian enjoys sin without repentance. No Christian would desire to trample on the blood of Christ by living a life of willful sin. So then, the redeemed sinner who is owned by God and reconciled to God by the blood of Christ is one who earnestly wants to kill his cherished sin. He wants to allow no sin. He desires to permit no ongoing lust in his life. Meditating on the torments of hell serves as a powerful antidote to indulging in sin.

5. Meditate on the Death and Sufferings of Jesus Christ.
The greatest incentive for the believer to kill every treasured sin is the reality that Jesus’ death and sufferings paid for all of the sins of all of His elect. Therefore, every sin that every Christian commits is one that Jesus Christ died for and paid for in full. The believer, thus, does not want to bring shame upon the name of Christ. Nor does he want to shame the reputation of Christ’s gospel or give a faulty picture of holiness to a watching world. The Lord Jesus died on the cross and he suffered anguish because the Father forsook Him because the One who hung on the cross became ‘cursed of God.’ To think much on the perfect life, the substitutionary death, and the divinely-given sufferings of Christ leads the believer to desire to honor his Savior. It compels the believer to kill his treasured sin. It motivates the believer to maul his darling sins. O to look at the dying Savior, to behold His sufferings, to contemplate the eternally-mysterious reality that He drank the cup of divine wrath stored up for sinners! O to behold the beautiful salvation Christ won for His children. To see the death of Christ, the curse that He became, the hell that He bore, the wrath that He took, and the punishment that He received is to remind the believer of the salvation that Christ has won on his behalf. There is no more compelling reason to passionately pursue the mortification of sin than to see the love displayed at Calvary when the Lord Jesus became sin. Seeing the sufferings of the Savior will encourage the slaughtering of sins.

Thomas Brookes once compellingly put it: “the daily sight of a bleeding, groaning, dying Savior—is the only thing which will subdue and mortify darling sins!”

Thoughts for Young Men on Finding a Godly Wife.

From JC Ryle:

If you ever marry, it is more than probable you will choose a wife among the connections of your friends. If Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram had not formed a friendship with Ahab’s family, he would most likely not have married Ahab’s daughter.

And who can estimate the importance of a right choice in marriage? It is a step which, according to the old saying, ‘either makes a man or mars him.’ Your happiness in both lives may depend on it. Your wife must either help your soul or harm it: there is no medium. She will either fan the flame of religion in your heart, or throw cold water upon it, and make it burn low. She will either be wings or fetters, a rein or a spur to your Christianity, according to her character. He that findeth a good wife doth indeed ‘find a good thing;’ but if you have the least wish to find one, be very careful how you choose your friends.

From Thoughts for Young Men (from Ryle's book: The Upper Room [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1970], 407).

The Hell of Sin & The Heaven of Mercy!

From James Smith:

Before conversion...

"I had no good desires--no holy aspirations--no redeeming qualities.

I was a rebel against God's government--and a traitor against God's crown!  I would have destroyed
God if I could--and blotted His name out of creation! The language of my heart and life was, "No God for me!" My heart was filled and fired with enmity against Him, and at times I could have cursed Him to His face!  I hated His law. I despised His gospel.  I abhorred His people.  If I could--I would have crushed His cause!

How astonishing that such a wretch was allowed to live!

How astonishing that God had not crushed me by His power, and sentenced me to Hell!

But, O the patience and the sovereign grace of God! He bore with me. He loaded me with His benefits. He determined to win me with His love. Nevertheless I sinned yet the more, and provoked Him with my ungodly conduct. O how surprising that I am not in Hell! Surely there are many already in Hell--who were never such great sinners as I have been!

But, the Lord is good, ready to forgive, and plenteous in mercy unto all who call upon Him. He put a cry into my heart, He listened to that cry--and made me a new creature in Christ Jesus. He unveiled my enormous wickedness before the eyes of my mind, which filled me with confusion, despondency, and shame. He laid me in the dust, and seemed to doom me to despair. He . . .  crushed my proud spirit,  destroyed my infernal enmity against Him,  and melted me into contrition with His love."

The Glorious Providence of God.

From Octavius Winslow:

God rules the kingdom of providence.

His hand is moving and controlling all events
and circumstances, national and social, public
and private; giving birth, and shape, and tint
to those phenomena in the history of nations,
and to those affairs in the history of individuals,
which to human perception are often enshrouded
in mystery so dreadful and profound.

Let this view of God's providential reign hush
all murmurings at our lot, making us content
with such things as we have, assured that He
will never leave us nor forsake us.

Let it bow our soul in meek submission to His
sovereign will, in view of those painful and
inexplicable events which sometimes cast the
darkest shade upon our sunniest landscape,
and dash from our lips their sweetest cup of joy.

The Power of God in Creation.

From James Hervey (1789):

Who, that looks upward to the midnight sky; and, with an eye of reason, beholds its rolling wonders; who can forbear enquiring [sic], Of what were their mighty orbs formed? Amazing to relate, they were produced without materials. They sprung from emptiness itself. The stately fabric of universal nature emerged out of nothing.

What instruments were used by the Supreme Architect to fashion the parts with such exquisite niceness, and give so beautiful a polish to the whole? How was it all connected into one finely-proportioned and nobly finished structure? A bare fiat accomplished it all. Let them be, said God. He added no more; and at once the marvelous ediface arose, adorned with every beauty, displaying innumerable perfections, and declaring amidst enraptured seraphs its great Creator's praise. "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth" (Ps.33:6).

(Quoted from AW Pink, The Attributes of God [Baker, 1975], 62).

The Holiness of God Revealed at Calvary's Cross

From Stephen Charnock:

Not all the vials of judgment that have or shall be poured out upon the wicked world, nor the flaming furnace of a sinner's conscience, nor the irreversible sentence pronounced against the rebellious demons, nor the groans of the damned creatures, give such a demonstration of God's hatred of sin, as the wrath of God let loose upon His Son.

Never did Divine holiness appear more beautiful and lovely than at the time our Saviour's countenance was marred in the midst of His dying groans. This He Himself acknowledges in Psalm 22. When God had turned His smiling face from Him, and thrust His sharp knife into His heart, which forced that terrible cry from Him, 'My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?' He adores this perfection—Thou art holy.

(Quote from AW Pink, The Attributes of God [Baker, 1975], 54).

The Holy Spirit is Gracious

The Holy Spirit is, emphatically, the gracious Spirit. All that he does for us, and all that he works within us — is of grace. His grace is his glory, and he glories in his grace. We may obtain his presence, and receive his blessing in answer to prayer — but we can never deserve either, nor can we by any works we perform merit them.

He graciously . . .
quickens the dead,
instructs the ignorant,
liberates the captives,
restores the wanderers,
comforts the dejected,
strengthens the weak,
and sanctifies the impure.
His work is his delight, and to see us holy and happy his pleasure!

—James Smith

Teach Your Children the Fear of the LORD

Teach Your Children the Fear of the LORD
Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Christ Fellowship Bible Church

Psalm 34:11 Text [34:12 Hebrew]:
לְכוּ־בָנִים שִׁמְעוּ־לִי יִרְאַת יְהוָה אֲלַמֶּדְכֶם

Psalm 34:10 Author’s Translation:
Come, O children, listen to me, I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

Teach Your Children to Fear the LORD
The primary teachers that God gives to children to teach them the words, ways, and works of God is their parents. One of the highest duties that parents have is the delightful privilege and lofty duty to teach their children the fear of the LORD.

It should be noted that in Psalm 34:11, the psalmist gathers the children (“come”) and then commits to teaching them verbally (“listen to me”). This here lays forth a helpful model for parental instruction of children. Parents should gather the children and verbally instruct the children daily.

The book of Proverbs reveals why this is so important as it is the fear of the LORD that is wisdom (1:7-8). If a child stores up the words of God within him then he will know the fear of the LORD (2:1, 5; 3:1, 7). Wisdom calls out and begs for the naive to understand wisdom (8:4-5).To know God is understanding and to fear God is wisdom and this is the fundamental building block of all biblical wisdom, knowledge, and learning that parents must instill in their children’s hearts and minds (9:10).

So the question is asked, how do you teach a child to fear God? Here are a few practical suggestions to help.

1. Show them God’s glory.
No parent speak of God’s greatness too much with the children. No father can point his child to the Sovereign Ruler of creation too frequently. It cannot happen. A parent must show the children the glory of God, the worth of God, the magnificence of God, the praiseworthiness of God, the beauty of God, the loveliness of God, the unrivaled supremacy of God, the uniqueness of God, and the exclusivity of God. The more a parent instills these principles in the hearts of the children, the more the children will be confronted with the glory of God.

Parents can do this in a number of ways. Being outside in creation provides endless opportunities to speak of God’s glory and to show God’s glory. Pick up a leaf and talk about God’s handiwork. Look at the clouds, the raindrops, the snowflakes, the wind bending the trees, the colorful trees on a Fall day, the birds chirping in the morning, the ants crawling on the ground, the warmth of the sunlight. These and so many more features of creation can reveal the glory, self-revelation, and worthiness of God. Parents can also teach children through regular, consistent, consecutive bible reading with them. When the parents take the Bible and systematically read Scripture to the children and confront them with the wondrous works of God from both Testaments, the children will see the greatness of God! Another way that parents can practically show their children God’s glory is by helping them memorize the catechism. This concise way to learn theology via question and answer format is indispensable and should be incorporated by every family to teach children (and the adults!) the entire spectrum of solid, biblical theology.

2. Deal with sin firmly.
Parents can teach their children about God’s glory by dealing with sin firmly, swiftly, immediately, and biblically. God does not shrug sin away. He doesn’t treat sin lightly. He cannot laugh at sin. So parents should also demonstrate a similar kind of firm action taken against sin.

The most loving thing a parent can do is discipline the child when he has sinned. To discipline swiftly and in a way that gets to the child’s heart-motives is key. To bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to bear in every disciplinary situation is essential. To discipline consistently, faithfully, and biblically is to show the children the glory of God — that is, the holiness of God and his abhorrence of sin.

At the same time, to be restored one to another after sinning (against another) also demonstrates God’s glory to the children. To repent of sin, verbally confess it to another, and seek someone’s forgiveness and then to hear the other person grant that forgiveness also provides marvelous teaching opportunities for giving the children a lofty view of God, His glory, and the fear of the LORD.

It must be noted at this point that dealing with sin firmly does not mean the parents are harsh, mean, rude, or unloving. On the contrary, to discipline swiftly, firmly, biblically, and consistently can repeatedly teach the children to turn from sin, to seek God’s forgiveness, to reconcile quickly with others, and to welcome and learn from parental discipline.

3. Live at home blamelessly.
Another way that parents can teach their children the fear of the LORD is simply by living at home with integrity. To live with integrity means to live in a way that is blameless, undefiled, whole. It is to reject double-living; it is to refrain from being double-souled and hypocritical. To live at home blamelessly before the children is to teach them the fear of the LORD. This, however, does not mean that a parent must be sinless and perfect. This can never happen!

It is possible, however, to endeavor to live with such purity, with such humility, with such willingness to repent, confess, and reconcile that the children see a full transparency and a total honesty in the way that the parents live their lives. This is what gives the children the fear of the LORD. Why would the children want to fear God when the parents live a double life? They may live one way in church-environments but while at home — when the children see and observe them most intimately — they prove themselves to be different persons with different passions, enjoying different pleasures, and loyal to a different master. Another way that parents can teach their children the fear of the LORD is by striving — with God’s help, by God’s Spirit, and by gazing upon Christ’s sufficiency — to live complete, upright, blameless, and irreproachable lives both in the innermost parts of home-life and in the public venues. Essentially, the children see that God owns the parent’s heart, mind, and life at all times — whether in the private setting of the home or out in public.

4. Plead with them eternally.
A necessary element of parenting must include gospel-pleading. It is essential for parents to realize that children are born enemies of God and apart from the merciful quickening of God’s Spirit to regenerate them, sanctify them, keep them, and glorify them, they are hopelessly and eternally damned. This provides the present way that parents can teach their children the fear of the LORD, namely, to plead with them eternally. This speaks to evangelism. This refers to the ongoing, fervent, constant, passionate pleading with the child to consider eternity.

A parent must beg his child to be spared from hell where God’s wrath is forever unleashed upon deserving sinners. This teaches the children the fear of the LORD. It teaches them that eternity matters and that this life is not the end.

One practical way that parents can do this is by realizing that every disciplinary situation is an open door for presenting the gospel and pleading with that child to repent and turn to Jesus Christ. To show them their sin, their shortcomings before God’s most-holy standards, and the due penalty for their rebellion allows the parent to most gloriously show the child that the penalty that they deserve has been fully placed upon another — Jesus Christ — if they would only believe in Him, come to Him, surrender to Him, follow Him.O how parents need to plead with their children! Parents must never be ashamed to beg for the children to believe in Christ and be spared from God’s judgment.

5. Prioritize worship of God Almighty.
Parents cannot overestimate the importance of worshiping God — especially when children are watching. Children know when events and activities are important in the life of the family or not. This shows the necessary duty incumbent upon parents to prioritize the worship of God so that the children will learn the fear of the LORD. This can happen in many ways, but here are just a few examples.

Parents can teach the fear of the LORD to the children as the young children see dad and mom engaging in regular private worship. The fervent praying of dad and the ongoing prayers of mom leave indelible marks on the children’s souls. When the children see the parents daily delighting in the study and meditation of God’s Word, it shouts to the children that this is priority to dad and mom.

Not only is private worship important but family worship also helps instill the fear of the LORD in the children. To gather the children so they have to listen to the parent frequently throughout the week as the family meets for family worship is necessary to teach and instruct the children in the Word of God and thus provide them with the fear of God. Family worship does not need to consist of lengthy times each day. It can be 5, or 10, or 15 minutes (time may vary depending on the ages of children, the interaction of the children, etc.) but the key element in family worship is consistency, frequency, and faithfulness. Family worship biblically includes three necessary elements and church history has shown this to be essential in childrearing: (1) the reading of the Word of God, (2) praying together as a family, and (3) singing rich hymns and songs. One could only trust that the more the parents gather the children and instruct them in the Word of God daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly, the more they are learning the fear of the LORD.

Parents teach their children immense amounts about God as to whether corporate worship is important or not in the life and culture of the family. How a family prepares for the Lord’s day teaches the children how important worshiping God is. After all, preparing for vacations takes work and much preparation. How much more should the worship of Almighty God! How a family acts during corporate worship speaks volumes as to the family’s view of God. How the parents reflect on the sermon, re-teach the sermon to the children, and whether or not they ask thought-provoking and heart-searching questions also reveals much to the children about the importance of corporate worship in the family life and in childrearing. To go faithfully to corporate worship teaches the children the fear of the LORD. To make church-life, the preaching of the Word, the fellowship with the saints, the Lord’s day of worship, and intentional heart-preparation a priority are just a few ways that parents can clearly communicate to the children that God must be feared and He deserves to be worshiped.

Download the pdf article here.

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