Tag: Jesus

Does Your Awe and Need of the Cross Grow or Diminish Over Time?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals, Discipleship2 Comments

In 1 Timothy 1:12-16, Paul recounts his testimony to Timothy in order to differentiate himself from the false teachers, and give Timothy a reason why he can be trusted over and against them. After recounting his testimony, Paul breaks out into spontaneous worship of God. In verse 17 we read,

“To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” (1 Ti 1:17)

At the thought of God’s grace and his salvation, Paul can’t help but worship God, praising and magnifying Him for who He is.

Likewise, when we think about how God’s grace and mercy worked in our life to provide us with salvation, we should be driven to worship God as well. Our awe and worship of Him should only grow as we grow in Christ.

For some, however, that is not the case. Their awe and need diminishes over time instead of grows. So we don’t make this mistake, it’s important we explore these two mindsets. Let’s start with the negative before moving to the positive.

Awe and Need Diminishes Over Time

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As you can see in the diagram above, the cross starts out big, but then it gets smaller over time. This is how some people see their Christian walk. They see a need for Jesus at the beginning, but as time goes on, they don’t believe they need Him or His grace as much. As a result, they start to believe that they can handle most things on their own, and they might even get to a point where they think they are good enough to secure their own salvation.

The above, however, is far from the biblical idea of salvation and our need for God’s grace. We always need Jesus, and He is the One who always sustains our salvation.

Even though that is true, some still go down this path. You know they have gone down that path because this type of thinking produces people whose awe of God and His grace diminishes instead of grows over time, which results in someone who is proud, arrogant, and self-righteous. Someone who isn’t willing to admit they are a sinner or even talk about their sin. As well as it produces someone who thinks they don’t need the church, God’s Word, or prayer.

All this ends with someone who doesn’t worship God as they should. Instead of giving God the glory, they give themselves the glory, patting themselves on the back for what they have accomplished instead of for what God has accomplished through them.

Awe and Need Grows Over Time

While the above represents those whose awe and need diminishes over time, this next diagram represents those for whom awe and need grows over time.

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As you can see, for this person the cross grows bigger and bigger as they grow in Christ. The crosses growth is a result of this person gaining a clearer picture of who they are — an unwise sinner who desperately needs God’s grace and wisdom. Coming to that recognition, they lean on God more and more instead of less and less.

This type of thinking produces people who are humble, who have a sense of unworthiness, who live in awe of God and are driven to worship Him. As well as it produces people whose prayer life is robust, and those who see a need for the church and God’s Word in their lives.

True Christians Grow In Awe and Need

If we are true Christians, the second diagram will represent us. The cross won’t grow smaller in our lives, instead it will grow bigger.

As the cross grows, we won’t hesitate to say with Paul, “I am the chief of sinners.” Neither will we hesitate to break out in worship when we think of our salvation, and the grace that God continues to pour out in our lives. We won’t hesitate to humble ourselves and praise God because we know our salvation and continued acceptance isn’t based on our work, but God’s work. He is the One who saved us, He is the One who continues to sanctify us, and He is the one who will glorify us.

When we recognize what God has done and continues to do, and when we are willing to admit that we are the chief of sinners, and praise God for His salvation, we know that the gospel has changed us. We know we are God’s children because only someone who has been changed by the gospel will recognize and admit their need for a Savior, and will humbly praise God for their salvation, leaning more and more on Him as time goes by.

Question for Reflection

  1. Which diagram represents you?

Resources

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Post developed from my sermon How do we become someone who is used by God for His service?

Ideas are mine, but the diagrams were originally seen in this sermon

6 Characteristics of a Spiritual Awakening Servant of Christ

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals3 Comments

“What [characteristics must a pastor possess in order to] be the pastor of a great and growing church that is experiencing a significant spiritual awakening?”

Lewis Drummond proposed and answered that question in his comprehensive biography on Charles Spurgeon. He does so with six answers, which amount to six characteristics of the man God could use to create a significant spiritual awakening. These characteristics were true of Spurgeon and are needed in men today.

Six Characteristics of a Spiritual Awakening Servant of Christ

(1) He must be a Spirit-filled man, who has been saved by God.

(2) He must be a man unencumbered by tradition, who is able to relate to the people he is given watch over.

(3) He must be a disciplined thinker, who studies hard and reads voraciously.

(4) He must have a personality that is warm and outgoing, and he must love people.

(5) He must be sold out for Christ. Evangelism and church planting run thick in his blood.

(6) He must be a man who is given to much prayer.

Question for Reflection

  1. If you desire to be a minister, are these characteristics true of your life?

Christians Don’t Just Accept Truths About Jesus, They Have A Desire To Know Jesus

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

Every week I gather with a few faithful men to read and study God’s Word. We meet at a local IHOP, sit at the same table, and are served by the same waitress. While it is a routine meeting in a routine place, we have learned truths about God’s Word that have made our life anything but routine. It’s amazing how a simple study designed around the reading and studying of God’s Word can change your life. But it’s the Bible we are talking about, so that shouldn’t shock us too much.

Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer

As of late, we have been working through the book of John. Today we started working through Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer in chapter 17. If there was ever a chapter that was packed full, it is this one. In fact, this chapter is a theological factory that’s doing no less than pumping out deep truths about Jesus, salvation, our mission, and eternal life.

Eternal Life and Being a Christian

I don’t know why, but verse three landed hard on me this morning. It really got the wheels turning. There Jesus tells us what it means to have eternal life. He says,

“And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” (Jn 17:3)

According to Jesus, eternal life involves us knowing the one true God and Jesus Christ.

Sadly, that truth is not emphasized by many preachers. Instead many teach a watered down gospel which involves nothing more than someone gaining their “fire insurance” by raising their hand, walking an aisle, filling out a card, or accepting some blanket truths about Jesus.

Sure, we need to believe that Jesus is the Son of God who has come on a rescue mission to seek and save the lost. We need to believe He died on the cross for our sins, resurrected on the third day, and will return to set things right. We need to admit we are sinners, repent of our sin, and turn to God. I don’t want to downplay any of those truths and actions. We need to believe and do those things in order to be a Christian. But that is just the beginning, not the end of our Christian walk. Those beliefs and actions serve to bring us into a relationship with God that should be continually nurtured and deepened.

Being a Christian, then, involves more than raising our hand, walking an aisle, being baptized, or even accepting some truths about Jesus. Being a Christian involves a desire to know God, to have a relationship with Him.

A Christian’s Desire

Pushing the envelope a bit further, we can also say that being blessed, experiencing joy, and seeing loved one’s in heaven is just a by-product of our relationship with God. If you have come to Christ out of a desire to gain those things instead of a desire to know God, you may need to ask yourself if you truly are saved.

You see, if you are a Christian you will have a desire for the things of God. You will  have a desire to fellowship with God’s people, to worship Him, to learn more about Him, to read His Word, and to pray to Him. In other words, you will have a desire to continually deepen your relationship with God and Jesus in an effort to get to know more about Him.

Questions for Reflection

  1. Do you have a desire to know more about God?
  2. Do you have a desire to deepen your relationship with Jesus?

Resource

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This World is Heaven to the Non-believer

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

“Arise, O Lord! Confront him, subdue him! Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword, from men by your hand, O Lord, from men of the world whose portion is in this life. You fill their womb with treasure; they are satisfied with children, and they leave their abundance to their infants.” (Ps 17:13–14)

Those who don’t follow the Lord only have this life. There is nothing better for them. The world in which we live now is their heaven because the world to come will literally be their hell.

Our World

When we consider the world in which we live, we know that this is not heaven. Murder, rape, war, genocide, disease, and death occur every day somewhere in this world, if not in our own backyard. As we witness these atrocious acts, everything inside of us screams for something better. The secularist tries to bring that better world into existence by exercising political power, social pressure, and legislative change. But the world for which we long can’t be brought about in these ways. In fact, the world for which we long will never exist this side of Jesus’ return because the world in which we live is corrupted by sin.

Our Hope

At Jesus’ return, however, He will deal a final blow to sin, and He will eventually usher in the new heavens and new earth. Then, and only then, will this world be free from sin, and, subsequently, free from the corruption of sin (Rev 21). Because Jesus is reconciling all things to Himself through the blood of His cross we can experience the world for which we long (Col 1:20).

Only for the Christian

But the world for which we long is only for the Christian. It is only for those like David who submit themselves to God and live according to God’s will (Ps 17:3-5). It is only for those who have turned to Jesus as Lord and Savior. If that is not you, then this world is your portion, it is your heaven, it is all you have to look forward to.

Question for Reflection

  1. Have you repented of your sins and turned to Jesus as your Lord and Savior?

Resource

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A Call To Maturity: How the older generation can train the youth of today

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Church Life, Discipleship, Pastoral4 Comments

March 2013’s edition of Table Talk Magazine covers Youth Culture. In an article entitled A Call to Maturity, Robert Carver challenges the older generation to train up our youth in the way of the Lord.

While there is a cultural divide between the older generation and the up and coming youth, godly saints still have a lot of wisdom to offer. Walking with the Lord for 30, 40, or even 50 years bears a lot of fruit. Fruit that needs to be shared. Even though formal instruction exists in homes, schools, and churches, informal day-to-day opportunities are available. Carver offers three practical ways to take advantage of the everyday.

How to Take Advantage of the Everything

(1) Love Them Genuinely And Patiently

The younger generation needs to know that the older generation is not estranged from them. The church is a body made up of many members, young and old – all valuable to the functioning of the whole.

In Ephesians 4, Paul describes the saints as growing from spiritual immaturity “to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (v. 13). This process is accomplished “when each part is working properly, mak[ing] the body grow so that it builds itself up in love’ (v. 16).

If we are to have an impact on the young, we must love them, and they must know that we do.

“Love one another earnestly from a pure heart” (1 Peter 1:22).

If you are a part of the older generation, don’t be hesitant to tell the up and coming youth you know that you love them (corporately and individually). To love them genuinely and patiently is to love them as God loves us.

(2) Share With Them What Is Most Important to You

One thing that should be important to you is God’s Word. Let the youth see your passionate love for God’s Word as it instructs you, guides you, encourages you, and convicts you. Let them see how vital of a component it is for your everyday life.

“I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food” (Job 23:12).

Share specific passages that have gripped your life recently.

Also, convey to them the essential nature of prayer. Help them to see that it is an activity Christians can’t live without. Do this as you pray with them and for them. Le’ts Paul’s testimony of Epaphras be yours. In Colossians 4:12, Paul testified that Epaphras was “always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God” (Col. 4:12).

Without fail urge them to fight the good fight, to battle tirelessly with sin, and to flee youthful passions (2 Tim. 2:22) that wage war against the soul (1 Peter 2:11).

Furthermore, challenge them to see God at work in all events, including the details of their lives. Encourage them to constantly thank God for all they have and for them to never forget to give Him all glory.

(3) Invest In Them

Buy them books that have made a spiritual impact on your life, and offer to study these books with them. Offer to take them to conferences and other Christian gatherings. The investments we make in their spiritual lives will pay everlasting dividends.

Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days (Eccl. 11:1).

Conclusion

After offering three practical suggestions Carver closes by saying:

So, “to what shall I compare this generation?” Surely it is a generation like no other. But it is also a generation that needs to know Christ’s redeeming love, and needs to shine as lights in the world in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation (Phil. 2:15) – just as we of the older generation needed to do back in our day (and now). May God help us to be examples and loving instructors to them, and may they do likewise.”

I believe Carver’s call and suggestions are helpful and must be heeded. I can speak from personal experience in saying that the older generation has influenced me. I am thankful men have stepped up and spoke into my life. I am afraid though that is a rarity, but it doesn’t have to be.

May those in the older generation feel God’s call to train up the youth of this generation to be the men and women of Christ that they have become.

Resource

Table Talk Magazine March 2013, A Call to Maturity, 23-25.

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Why Jesus is Enough

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals, Discipleship1 Comment

In Colossians, Paul is dealing with false teachers. Focusing on the big picture, what we see is that these false teachers were adding something to the gospel. They required the Colossians to do more than believe in Jesus in order to be saved.

Here is the thing, however, when we add something to the gospel, we are really subtracting from it. Christ plus something = nothing. In other words, Christ plus something = no salvation.

Why does Christ plus something = nothing?

The salvation God provides through Jesus is by grace alone. No works are required. Paul says in Ephesians 2:8-9,

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Eph 2:8–9)

Grace by definition excludes works, so much so that if you add one work to grace, then it’s no longer grace that you are saved by but works. Paul makes this clear in Romans 11:6 when he says,

“But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.” (Ro 11:6)

It is crucial that we get this point because our eternal destiny hangs on it. If you add just one work to grace, it means you aren’t being saved by grace, but by your works. Our own works can’t provide us with salvation (Gal. 2:16). Only the work of Jesus can provide salvation. Only the pure gospel saves.

You can think about like this. If you were to add one drop of poison to a glass of pure water, you could no longer say that that was a glass of pure water. Instead, you would have to say it is a glass of poisoned water. One that might look like it would save you from thirst and dehydration, but in reality, would kill you.

It is the same way with grace. When we add just one human work to salvation, the gospel of grace becomes poisoned, so that when you drink of it, it no longer saves, but kills. Sure it might look like it provides salvation, just like the glass of poisoned water looks like it will refresh, but it won’t. That’s because Jesus plus something = nothing, but Jesus plus nothing = everything.

I know the idea that we are saved by grace alone baffles us at times and I know it is hard for us to get past the idea that we don’t have to perform any works to be saved. Paul, however, couldn’t be clearer. Jesus’ work alone is sufficient for life and godliness. I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s true. Jesus is enough!

Questions for Reflection

  1. Do you believe Jesus’ work is enough for salvation?
  2. Even though you heard the idea that you are saved by grace alone a thousand times, do you still find yourself practically acting as if you have to do something in order to be saved?

Resources

Post adapted from my sermon Jesus is enough

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