Tag: Lord

God Doesn’t Need Our Worship

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

In the Bible Belt, it’s easy to say you are a Christian. There is relatively no persecution or monetary cost for claiming to be a follower of Jesus. In most places it is even expected by our friends and family that we be a Christian. As humans, we often do outwardly what our family and friends expect of us without changing inwardly, but this is not the type of change the Lord desires.

Israel was the First

Bible Belt Christians are not the first ones to perform religious acts without an inward change. There were many in Israel who did the same. They offered sacrifices to God because it was expected of them, not because they were truly broken and thankful for God’s salvation.

In Psalm 50, the Lord rebukes those who offered sacrifices to Him out of duty rather than thanksgiving. He says in verses 16-21:

16  But to the wicked God says:
“What right have you to recite my statutes
or take my covenant on your lips?
17  For you hate discipline,
and you cast my words behind you.
18  If you see a thief, you are pleased with him,
and you keep company with adulterers.

19  “You give your mouth free rein for evil,
and your tongue frames deceit.
20  You sit and speak against your brother;
you slander your own mother’s son.
21  These things you have done, and I have been silent;
you thought that I was one like yourself.
But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you.

22  “Mark this, then, you who forget God,
lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver!
23  The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me;
to one who orders his way rightly
I will show the salvation of God!”

What Does the Lord Desire Then?

Instead of offering sacrifices for sacrifices sake, the Lord desired that they be offered in thanksgiving for their salvation, as well as those offering them be living in a way that honors Him (Ps. 50:23).

For the Lord desires sacrifices from a broken spirit and a contrite heart.

In other words, He does not want the sacrifices of those who are proud, believing they can bring about their own salvation. Rather, He desires sacrifices from those who know they are guilty and need atonement for that guilt. He wants sacrifices from those who realize they are sinners, and as such, cannot, on their own, repair their relationship with God, because they cannot cover their own sins (Ps. 51:17).

We are No Exception

The Lord desires the same from us today. Even though we do not go to a temple to offer sacrifices, the same principle applies. The Lord does not desire those who have no thought of Him to pile into churches each Sunday because their family and friends expect them to be there. Rather, He desires those who know they can’t provide their own salvation to worship Him.

It is Not Enough Just to Show Up to Church

It is not enough to just show up to church. We are not doing God any favors. He does not respect us for attending, if we have not first given our heart to Him, knowing He is the One, who alone provides us with salvation. As He told the Israelites, He does not need their sacrifices, He is the ruler of the universe, every beast of the field is His (Ps. 50:7-11).

Likewise, He does not need us in church to make Him feel better about Himself. He does not really need us at all. We are the ones who need Him, and when we realize that, then and only then is He glorified by our worship. 

Questions for Reflection

  1. Do you attend church because it is expected of you? Or do you go because you really desire to worship God?
  2. Do you believe God needs your worship? If so, why?

The Sanctifying Work of the Holy Spirit | Part 3

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Practical8 Comments

In my last post in this series, I discussed progressive Sanctification. In this post, we discover how the Holy Spirit Himself works in us to bring about change.

The Monergistic Work of the Holy Spirit

The Monergistic work of the Holy Spirit is the work He does by Himself upon our hearts to bring about change in our lives.

Grounding it in Scripture

Before exploring the specific work of the Holy Spirit, let’s first ground the idea that He works on us by Himself in Scripture. Psalm 119:36-37 says,

Incline my heart to your testimonies,
       and not to selfish gain!
Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things;
       and give me life in your ways.

The Psalmist asks God to do something he cannot do – change His heart. He asks because he knows only God (Holy Spirit) can change his heart.

The writer of Hebrews agrees with the Psalmist. In Hebrews 13:20-21 he writes,

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

While there is a lot here, what is important to notice right now is that the Lord is the one who equips us to do His will. Without Him equipping us, we wouldn’t give up our will for His.

So, in just these two references, we see that we aren’t the only ones working in the process of sanctification. God is also, and I would argue primarily the One, working in us through the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit (John 7:39; 14:26; Acts 1:8; 2:4; Rom. 5:5; 8:9; 8:11; 8:14; 15:13; 15:16; 1 Cor. 2:12; 3:16; 12:13; 2 Cor. 1:22; Gal. 3:3; Eph. 1:13; 1 Thess. 4:8; 2 Tim. 1:14; 1 John 3:24; 4:13).

What is the Work the Holy Spirit Does in Us?

(1) He Makes us Aware of Our Sin & Brings Conviction

He makes us aware of and convicts us of specific sins in our lives, so that we can deal with those sins. Sins we may not even have known existed before the Holy Spirit brought them to our attention. This can occur in a number of ways:

  • He may convict us of a particular sin as we are reading God’s Word.
  • He may awaken our conscience to a particular sin as we are praying.
  • He may cause us to see patterns of sins in our lives that we previously thought were insignificant.
  • He may use adversity to cause us to see our sin.
  • He may even send a friend, relative, or spouse to point out sin in our lives.

There are a number of ways the Holy Spirit reveals and convicts us of sin, but the important point to notice is that He is the One who reveals these sins to us as He works Monergistically (by Himself).

(2) He Creates Desire in us to Change

Not only does the Holy Spirit reveal our sin and convict us of it, but He also creates a desire in us to change.

How does He create desire in us to change? 

He does so by causing us to remember the gospel. As we remember what Christ has done for us in the gospel, our love for Jesus should increase and we should desire to rid sin from our lives for His glory.

A desire to change based on the gospel is different from a desire to change because we feel guilty or defeated by our sin.

Guilt

Admittedly, guilt is an effective motivator to get rid of certain sins in our lives.  The reason we change, however, is not necessarily because we want to glorify God by becoming more like Christ. Rather, it is because we want to feel better about ourselves.

Defeated

Like guilt, feeling defeated by certain sins can motivate change, but not for God’s glory. Our motivation here is our own pride. It is the desire to stroke our own ego for not having sin in our lives.

(3) He Creates Change

After making us aware of our need and creating a desire to change, the Holy Spirit works on our hearts to bring about change. Ultimately, the way He creates change in us is mysterious and hard to explain. But two illustrations might help.

Unlovable to Lovable

We all have those people in our lives who are unlovable. No matter what you do, how much you prepare yourselves, and how well you try to interact with them, they always do something or act in some way that causes them to be hard to love. As Christians, we know we should love, even loving those who are at times unlovable, so we pray that God would change our hearts. At some point God answers our prayer, changing our hearts, and causing us to love the person who was once unlovable to us. Now that person did not change, they still act in the same way, but we have changed because the Holy Spirit has worked on our hearts.

Anxious to Calm

There are those of us who are anxious when it comes to flying. As Christians though, we know it is a sin to be anxious because it shows we are not trusting in the Lord. Our awareness of this sin in our lives causes us to pray to God to change our hearts, so that we are no longer anxious when we board a plane. Amazingly, the next time we get on a flight we are not anxious. We find ourselves calm, and even enjoying our time in the air. Now, air travel did not suddenly get safer. What changed was our heart, and that change was brought about by the Holy Spirit working in us.

Conclusion

So we see that one way in which Sanctification occurs in our lives is through the Monergistic Work of the Holy Spirit. He works by Himself to make us aware of and to convict us of specific sins. He also produces a desire in us to change and rid specific sins from our lives by causing us to reflect on the gospel message. Furthermore, He produces change in our hearts that we could not bring about by ourselves.

Now this does not mean that we are not to work. Indeed we are to work in the Sanctification process and I will talk about that next time.

Looking Forward

In my next post in this series, I will discuss the Synergistic Work of the Holy Spirit – how we work alongside the Holy Spirit to bring about change in our lives.

Resource

Jerry Bridges, The Transforming Power of the Gospel, Ch. 8

Prayer: Assurance, Questions, and a Right Perspective

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals3 Comments

In 1 John 3:21-22, John tells us that those who are confident before God have their prayers answered. Confidence comes to those who have examined themselves with the test of love John provides in 1 Jn 3:16-19. After examining themselves they have found that they are able to persuade their hearts that they are God’s children because they see evidences of biblical love present in their lives. As a result, they can and should go boldly before God in prayer, knowing they will receive what they ask of God because they keep His commandments and do what is pleasing before Him. John writes,

Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.
(1 John 3:21-22 ESV)

God is Not Our Cosmic Genie in the Sky

With these verses, John is not turning God into a Cosmic Genie and supporting a Health Wealth Gospel, which is evident because after telling us God answers our prayers, he provides the reason our prayers are answered at the end of verse 22.

What is the Basis for Answered Prayer?

The basis for answered prayer is two-fold and requires we:

(1) Keep God’s commandments

(2) Do what is pleasing to Him

When a person keeps God’s commandments and does what is pleasing to Him, they show they are a true believer. True believers will pray according to God’s will because His will has become their will.

In addition to seeking God’s will, when John tells us that answered prayer comes to those who do things that are pleasing to God, it includes things we ask for in our prayers. This means believers would not ask God to make them into a millionaire, give them a new car because it makes them look cool, or ask God to cause a jury to acquit them, when they are guilty of their crime. These things are not done in obedience to God’s commandments, nor are they done to please God; rather, they are done to please oneself.

So, those who desire to obey God’s commandments and do those things which please Him, will have their prayers answered because their prayers will be inline with God’s commandments and with what pleases Him.

When God Does Not Answer Prayer

In talking about answered prayer, the question usually arises: What about those times when we are confident before God, coming boldly to the throne room of prayer, obeying His commandments and seeking to do those things that please Him, as well as we are praying according to God’s will, but our prayer is seemingly not answered right away, why does this occur?

In other words, what are we to think when God does not seemingly answer our prayers?

Charles Spurgeon, one of the greatest preachers of all time, when faced with this question gives this counsel:

If you have been knocking at the gate of mercy and have received no answer, shall I tell you why the mighty Maker has not opened the door and let you in? Our Father has reasons peculiar to himself for keeping us waiting. Sometimes it is to show His power and His sovereignty, that men may know that Jehovah has a right to give or to withhold. More frequently the delay is for our profit.

You are perhaps kept waiting in order that your desires may be more fervent. God knows that delay will quicken and increase desire, and that if He keeps you waiting, you will see your necessity more clearly, and will seek more earnestly; and that you will prize the mercy all the more for its long tarrying. There may also be something wrong in you that has need to be removed, before the joy of the Lord is given. Perhaps your views of the gospel plan are confused, or you may be placing some little reliance on yourself, instead of trusting simply and entirely in the Lord Jesus. Or, God makes you tarry awhile that He may the more fully display the riches of His grace to you at last.

Your prayers are all filed in Heaven, and if not immediately answered; they are certainly not forgotten, but in a little while shall be fulfilled to your delight and satisfaction. Let not despair make you silent, but continue instant in earnest supplication [1].

In another place He also says,

Still remember that prayer is always to be offered in submission to God’s will; that when we say that God hears prayer, we do not intend that He always gives us literally what we ask for. We do mean, however, that He gives us what is best for us. If He does not give us the mercy we ask for in silver, He bestows it upon us in gold. If he does not take away the thorn in the flesh, He says, “My grace is sufficient for thee, and that comes to the same in the end [2].

So, if it seems that God does not answer our prayer, there are a number of reasons for that, but we always are to pray that God’s will be done and rest in that.

Conclusion

In these verses, John seeks to assure believers who are confident before God, obey His commandments, and do what is pleasing to Him, that God will answer their prayers, even if it does not seem like He does. As a result, we are to come boldly before God in prayer, lifting our requests up to Him. After which, we are to remain confident He has heard us, and we are to know that He will answer in due time and in the way He sees fit, if He has not answered already.

So then, may we all examine ourselves to see if we are true believers. If we are true believers, may we all go boldly to God this week in our time of prayer, knowing the Lord hears us and will answer us in due time.

Resources

[1] Spurgeon on Prayer: How to converse with God, compiled and edited by Harold J. Chadwick, 59-60.

[2] Spurgeon on Prayer: How to converse with God, compiled and edited by Harold J. Chadwick, 304.

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Reflections on Psalm 40

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals3 Comments


 Psalm 40:9-10 (ESV)

I have told the glad news of deliverance
       in the great congregation;
behold, I have not restrained my lips,
       as you know, O LORD.
I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart;
       I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness
       from the great congregation.

Reflection

This week, I read Psalm 40 as I was following my Bible reading plan (Let me stop here to encourage you, if you are not already doing so, to read through the Bible. Here is a link to several plans that will help facilitate that discipline). As I read and meditated on this psalm, these two verses stuck out to me. Here David writes that he has spread the news of God’s deliverance, faithfulness, and steadfast love to the great congregation. He has not hidden it in his heart, keeping what the Lord has done for him to himself. Rather, he has spread that message for all who are in the great congregation to hear.

Application

We too, need to spread the message of God’s deliverance, faithfulness, and steadfast love, as we see it evidenced in our lives to our church family. Telling others how God is working in our lives serves to motivate and encourage fellow congregates to continue to fight the good fight. Not only does it encourage others, but our speaking of God’s work in our life brings glory to God.

Challenge

So, may we seek to tell others in our church how God is working in our lives. Not keeping it a secret, but using it as an opportunity to encourage and motivate our fellow church members, as well as a way to glorify our Father in heaven.

For He Has Risen, as He Said!

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals6 Comments

Tomorrow is Easter Sunday. The day we will celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This Easter I have the privilege of preaching on the resurrection at Sycamore Baptist Church, where I am now the Lead Pastor. I will be preaching over Matthew’s account of the resurrection. In that account, the angel of the Lord tells the two Mary’s who come to the tomb:

“Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, as He said. Come, see the place where He lay.”

Their dialogue tells us that Jesus knew about His crucifixion and resurrection. It was not a mystery, nor was it plan B.

Jesus’ Announcements of His Resurrection

Jesus actually announced His resurrection several times during His ministry:
  • In Matthew 12:40, He compares Himself to Jonah saying that as Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days, I will be in the grave three days.
  • In Matthew 16:21, we learn that “Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”
  • In Matthew 17:23, 20:19, and 26:32, Jesus again foretells His death, and in Matthew 26:32 He even tells His disciples where He would go after His resurrection, which is Galilee.

What does this tell us?

It tells us that Jesus’ resurrection was not unplanned, nor unknown. In fact, His death, burial, and resurrection was and always has been apart of God’s sovereign plan. God knew Adam and Eve would sin in the garden, even before the foundation of the earth since Ephesians 1:3-4 tells us that we are chosen (predestined/elected) before the foundation of the earth to be blessed in Christ. In other words, we are chosen before the earth even began to be saved from our sins through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

So we learn that Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection were apart of God’s plan from the beginning and Jesus knew this plan and shared it with His disciples.

What does Jesus’ death and resurrection accomplish?

His death and resurrection accomplishes salvation for all those who repent of their sins and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior.

Through His death He paid the price for our sins, taking on the wrath of God, and dying the death we deserved, so that all those who believe in Him would be reconciled to God and could experience eternal life.

His resurrection proves all He said was true. In the resurrection, God places His stamp of approval on all of Jesus’ claims to be the Messiah, the Savior, the Chosen one, as well as His cross work, which means that His death really does cover our sins. His death really does reconcile our relationship to God. His death really does provide us with eternal life. We should recognize that and worship Him.

Conclusion

So this Easter, do not forget the resurrection. Amidst all the fun with friends and family hunting Easter eggs, cooking out, and dressing in your Sunday best, do not forget that this day was planned from before the earth began. Do not forget that this day Jesus our Lord and Savior was resurrected from the grave. Do not forget that this day all that Jesus said about Himself was confirmed, when His hand began to twitch in the grave and life was breathed back into His crucified body. Do not forget to worship the Lord, FOR HE HAS RISEN, AS HE SAID!


When God Test’s Us

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals2 Comments

Genesis 22:1-2 tells us that the Lord tested Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his son, his only son, the one whom he loved. After reading those words, our immediate response might be, “Should the Lord do that? Is that right? Can he ask Abraham to sacrifice his son as a test? What is the Lord accomplishing by asking such a thing of Abraham? What would He accomplish by testing us?”

The Lord Tests Our Hearts

Before we jump to conclusions, it is important to understand the Lord’s testing of us is not sinful. In fact, Scripture is full of verses showing the Lord tests the hearts of men (Prov. 17:3).

  • Ex. 15:25-26 and Deut. 8:2 – Tells us the Lord tests Israel to see if they will follow His commandments.
  • Deut. 13:3 – Tells us that the Lord will tests us by sending prophets who will tell us to go after other gods instead of serving the Lord Himself.
  • Ps. 11:5 and Luke 8:13 – Tells us Lord tests the righteous, who claim to be His followers
  • Ps. 26:2 – The Psalmist asks the Lord to test his heart, in order for him to show that he loves the Lord and knows that the Lord is faithful to His promises.
  • James 1:3 – Tells us the testing of our faith produces steadfastness.
  • James 1:12 – Tells us those who endure testing prove they love the Lord more than the world, which results in them receiving the crown of life.

How does the Lord test us?

We know from James 1:13-15 that the Lord does not tempt us to do evil, but He does test us. He tests us by putting us in difficult situations to see if we will obey and trust Him or seek to do it our own way (Ex. 15:25-26; Deut. 8:2). In addition, He tests us by sending those our way who preach a false gospel to see if we will follow after it (Deut. 13:3). Furthermore, He tests us by putting us in situations where we have to deal with either the lack of, or the excess of, recognition, fame, wealth, and comfort among other things (1 Thess. 2:4-7)

He Tests us to know:

  • If we believe His promises (Ps. 26:2)
  • If we believe in His gospel (Gal 1:6-7; Hosea 6:4)
  • If we are fully dedicated to Him and Him alone (Ex. 15:25-26; Deut. 8:2; 13:3)
  • If we desire the things of the world, looking for joy and satisfaction there; rather, than finding it in God and God alone (1 Thess. 2:4-7).

Conclusion

In the end, we see that the Lord does test us. The reason He tests us is to see where our heart is, to show us our true nature, and to humble us so we will follow Him alone.