Glory to God Forever

talking to myself

In the Gospel we need have no identity crisis. We know who we are!

I said “I do”, and I still do. The “I do” of marriage is always in the present tense until The Lord Jesus says otherwise. ”I do” is never “I did at the time”. ”I do” is always present tense. “I do” travels through space and time to whatever condition the married couple finds themself in and says, “I still do, I always do, and when the enemy burns down these battlements, I shall remain”. The perpetual present tense “I do” is anchored in the grace of God. It is only possible in Him. Marriage was never about being happy. Marriage is a covenant, and covenants are rarely pain free. My Lord Jesus endured far more pain than I ever will to bring peace through the blood of His cross to this realm of dustlings.

Work is not significant only when it utilizes my full capacity or full capabilities. Work is not significant only when it offers unusual challenge or special opportunity. Work is not significant only when it is measurable in dollars and cents or praise and compliments. Work has intrinsic significance because it gives me the opportunity to do something with joy—with joy in the Lord. I can do my work in such a way that it glorifies God, or I can do it in such a way that it dishonors him. Anything I can do to God’s glory has significance. It has great significance!

Knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, so that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Do you feel restless for home? I have family coming home for the holidays. It feels good. I think the bottom line reason for why it feels good is that they and I are destined in the depths of our being for an ultimate Homecoming. All other homecomings are foretastes. And foretastes are good.

I have not come to you for your things, but for yourself. And this desire I now intensify and demonstrate by giving up things, in the hope of enjoying you more, not things. By giving to you what you do not need, and what I might enjoy, I am saying more earnestly and more authentically, ‘You are my treasure, not these things.’”

Grant me never to lose sight of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, the exceeding righteousness of salvation, the exceeding glory of Christ, the exceeding beauty of holiness, the exceeding wonder of grace.

If there was a banner or phrase that described what religion is, it’s this. The mantra of religion is, “I obey therefore I am accepted.” That’s the mantra of a religion. “I do these things, and because I do these things, God will accept me, God will forgive me, God will be nice to me and God will bless me.” That is religion. Christianity and our Scriptures teach violently against this idea constantly."

This is what I said earlier some Christians simply will not believe. They say that God is not in charge of the evil that happens to us. That he has given the world over to Satan and the free will of man. But it will not work in this passage. The hostility of sinners is real and it is wrong and responsible and guilty. But it is also - and this is a great hope for us - it is also the loving, painful discipline of our Father in heaven. God is not coming to his children late after the attack, and saying, "I can make this turn for good." That is not discipline. That is repair. It's the difference between the surgeon who plans the incision for our good, and the emergency room doctor who sews us up after a freak accident. This text says, God is the doctor planning our surgery, not the doctor repairing our lacerations.

Doctor J. Wilbur Chapman told of a distinguished minister from Australia who preached very strongly one day on the subject of sin. And after the service one of the church officers came to counsel with him in his study and he said, Doctor Howard, we don't want you to talk as openly as you do about man's corruption, because if our boys and girls hear you discussing the subject they'll more easily become sinners. Ah, call it a mistake or something if you will, but don't speak so plainly about sin. The minister took down a small bottle from the cabinet and showed it to the visitor and said do you see that label? The man said, yes. It says strychnine and underneath that in bold red letters is the word poison. Do you know man, what you are asking me to do? You're suggesting that I change the label. Suppose I do and paste over it the words, essence of peppermint. Do you see what might happen? Someone would use it not knowing the danger involved and would die, and so it is too with the matter of sin. The milder you make the label the more dangerousyou make the poison. And so we cannot mitigate the danger of sin, we must speak of the issue.