Shekinah Church

Borrowed from Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse’s book ” Timeless Illustrations “

1. Talk less
2. Carry the book in your bag.
3. Put a copy under your pillow at night; if you can’t sleep, read.
4. Wake up 15 minutes earlier every morning and read.
5. Keep a copy handy to pick up while in the kitchen, dressing, or on the telephone. ( This may seem rude but, hey! )
6. Have your copy ready when meeting unpunctual people.
7. Take your own copy along when going to the dentist, doctor, or lawyer. Why read their old magazines?
8. Keep a copy in your car in case of traffic jams or a wait for repairs.
9. Never go on a journey without your book; you might not like your seatmate.
10. Remember that a book in the hand is worth two in the bookcase.

Dr. Barnhouse originally borrowed this from Boston Globe writer Lydia Roberts and her article ” How to Get Time to Read a Book “.

I spent some time in October examining eternity and writing on how our belief in the existence of heaven should shape the decisions we make in everyday life. You can read those Articles here: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5.

I can’t write about the doctrine of eternity and only discuss heaven, though, because the Bible teaches two significant things that are absolutely clear and unavoidable. First, the Bible teaches that humanity is marching toward an inescapable moment of judgment. Second, the Bible teaches that a life of unrepentant spiritual adultery results in unending torment.

Unfortunately, these two Biblical teachings – defined simply as the doctrine of hell – have become uncomfortable teachings in the church, often resulting in theological debate. They’ve been watered down and treated like the embarrassing uncle of the family that we want to hide from the public.

I have a theory as to why this has happened: we neither take the holiness of God seriously or the sinfulness of sin seriously. If we meditated on the stunning nature of the absolute perfection of God, and if we meditated on the dark, horrendous, heinous, ugliness of our sin, I’m deeply persuaded that we would have a different response to what the Bible says about hell and judgment.

What Does The Bible Say?

In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus talks about hell and the final judgment. I won’t include the entire passage here for the sake of space, but let me reference a few key phrases: “He [the Son of Man] will sit on his glorious throne […] and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats […] Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels […] And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

There are 3 principles of morality that you need to grasp in this passage:

1. Moral Elasticity

According to Christ, there’s no such thing as moral elasticity. In other words, there’s no middle ground when it comes to your desires, actions, and words. Just like there are goats on the left and sheep on the right and nothing in between, there are wrong and sinful decisions that disobey God and there are right and holy decisions that glorify God and nothing in between. You live in a world of right and wrong; every decision you make is moral and falls into one of those two buckets. There is no middle bucket.

2. Moral Specificity

If you live in a world of right and wrong, then there has to be a definition for what is right and what is wrong. The Bible never provides an opportunity for moral relativism to exist, where everyone can define what they think is right and wrong. Rather, this passage teaches us that only One has defined the difference between right and wrong – the Son of Man – and we have been given that definition in the Word of God.

3. Moral Verticality

Finally, every moral choice in this life has vertical implications. You never make a decision that only affects another person; everything you desire, say, and do is an affront against or a praise to the Lord. When you scream at your spouse or cheat a co-worker, you’re not only sinning horizontally against another human – you’re sinning vertically against the God.

The best summary of this principle is found in Psalm 51:4, when David says, “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.” David did horrible things to Uriah and Bathsheba, but before he confessed of his horizontal sin, he knew that he needed to confess of his vertical sin – spiritual adultery against God.

5 Applications From The Doctrine of Hell

Maybe you’re reading this Article and thinking, “Paul, I already believe this about hell and judgment.” Praise God that your brain is theologically aware, but what about your heart? Here are 5 things that your heart should be producing every day when it meditates on the doctrine of hell:

1. The doctrine of hell should produce grief. It should break your heart that there are those living with or around you who are marching towards a God-separated eternal punishment. You cannot celebrate the reality of heaven without grieving over the reality of hell. Does your heart grieve over those who are perishing?

2. The doctrine of hell should produce zeal. If the doctrine of hell produces grief, it also must produce zeal to share the Gospel of rescuing grace with those who are perishing. Day after day you brush shoulders with people marching towards doom, and you’ve been sovereignly positioned by God to brush shoulders with them. Is your heart zealous to share the Gospel?

3. The doctrine of hell should produce thankfulness. You should never take pleasure in the death of wicked people (Ezekiel 18:23), but you should be thankful that final justice is coming. Is your heart broken by the injustice that occurs everyday in your world? Does your heart cry out, “Lord, how long until the pain of this world is no more?”

4. The doctrine of hell should produce celebration. You should daily celebrate the fact that you’re not marching towards hell, but this celebration should not be self-righteous or proud. You could never behave your way out of hell. It’s only by the grace of God that you became aware of your sin, desire to live a righteous life, and have the ability to make God-glorifying moral decisions.

5. The doctrine of hell should produce prioritization. I said this earlier in my series – eternity reminds us of what is truly important in this life. When you meditate on the reality of heaven and hell, you will rearrange your value system. A believer who meditates daily on the doctrine of hell will invest much more into the Kingdom of God than the kingdom of self.

A Final Thought

I’ll be honest – I don’t wake up every morning and immediately meditate on the doctrine of hell. My heart often meditates on what I’ll have for breakfast and what the weather outside is doing! My selfish heart is not naturally captivated by grief and zeal for the lost.

But here’s the beautiful thing about God’s grace. The same grace that saved me and you from eternal damnation will greet us every morning. It will remind us that hell exists, it will produce in us a desire to live an eternally-focused life, and it will give us the desire and ability to act accordingly. Confess your need for that grace once again, and watch what God will do!

This is the final devotional in a four-part series on what the Bible means when one of its authors, Peter, wrote, “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life” (2 Peter 1:3, NIV).

What is everything? It would be unwise to put a limit on what it could be, but I wanted to point out four things from Colossians 2. The first was wisdom for foolishness; the second was power for inability; and the third was freedom from guilt.

Here’s the fourth and final section from Colossians 2: “He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.” (Colossians 2:15, ESV).

There’s theology available that would name the Cross as a momentary defeat, and that God had to scramble to “bail out” His loss in battle by resurrecting Jesus from death. That’s not the theology of this passage.

The Apostle Paul is arguing that the Cross of Jesus Christ is a triumph, and it was God’s idea for victory all along. It was the moment where sin would be defeated, where God’s anger would be satisfied, and where atonement would be purchased with blood.

The Cross isn’t a defeat at all, at least not for the Lord. Rather, the Cross is a moment of mocking victory – God is saying to the Enemy, “Is this the best you have to throw at me? You think you’ve won, but you’ve actually lost!”

This historical moment of victory means day-by-day victory for your sin. That victory has already been given – you don’t need to hope for it. What you now need to do is live out of that victory.

Of course, the presence of sin still remains, so you will be fighting against the sinful desires of your flesh each day. But with this victory, the power of sin has been broken. You don’t need to break the power of sin – you need to take hold of the victory on the Cross and live as if you actually believe it happened.

I’m concerned that there are many Gospel amnesiacs out there who celebrate victory on Sunday but live defeated during the week. I wouldn’t for a moment question that your life is difficult and filled with trial, but victory has already been won and is freely available to you every day.

Do you move forward in life with hope and courage because you embrace that victory on the Cross? It’s the deepest prayer of my heart that the Lord would encourage you in that way today.

We’re in the middle of a four-part series on what the Bible means when one of its authors, Peter, wrote, “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life” (2 Peter 1:3, NIV).

What is everything? Last week it meant “power for inability”, and the week before it meant “wisdom for foolishness”.

Here’s a third thing it can mean: “Having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross” (Colossians 2:13-14, ESV).

I don’t know what your theology of the Cross is, so I want to make sure we get it right. When Jesus went to the Cross, He didn’t purchase the “possibility of salvation” – as if, His death opened the door for people to walk through later in life, if they so chose. No, Jesus took names to the Cross.

This verse is picture of a physical list of names, and under each name is a list of every iniquity that name would ever commit. (It’s a really long list, I can imagine!) And as the nails pierced Jesus’ hands, all those specific debts were crossed off. Each listed sin, and each listed name, was nailed to the Cross through the Sacrificial Lamb.

What does that mean? For one, it means a future freedom. Your hostile heart was ransomed and given freedom forever in a moment. It means that you have a beautiful and unending eternity to look forward to, where freedom from pain and suffering and sin will define your existence.

But it also means that you can live in freedom today. You don’t have to be trapped by guilt. You don’t need to be burdened with the fear of being known. You can be free from riding the roller coaster of people’s responses to you.

Sure, it’s a good thing to be loved and respected and appreciated, but you have all the acceptance you need. This gives you freedom to live with honesty and courage, unafraid of your sins and weaknesses and failures.

I’m concerned that many Christians try to hide their sin from one another. There’s nothing to hide! Everything you are tempted to hide was absolved 2,000 years ago.

When you live in this kind of freedom, your soul will find rest. And, you will be more susceptible to heart change, because you’re willing to admit that your heart is still in need of help.

Last week I started a four-part series on what Peter meant when he wrote, ““His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life” (2 Peter 1:3, NIV).

What is everything? Last week I wrote about wisdom for foolishness (Colossians 2:3-4), and today I want to write to you about power for inability.

Here’s our second text from Colossians: “For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority” (Colossians 2:9-10).

Sin leaves you weak and unable to be who you’re supposed to be and do what you’re supposed to do. You were created to be a righteous and worshipful child of God, finding your identity in Him alone, but sin decimated that. You’re simply unable.

Unable, that is, in your own strength. But you’re not left alone – the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. What an amazing reality! This means that you’re the temple where the God of glory and grace now lives.

Husbands and wives, you can move toward your spouse and work on your marriage. On your own, you would ruin your marriage, but because the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, you can love your spouse sacrificially. Parents, you can move towards your children with patience and raise them in faith. On your own, you would ruin your children, but because the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, you can raise them with wisdom.

Whoever you are, and whatever God has called you to, move forward with courage and faith, because the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. You don’t have to live in timidity as a believer.

At the same time, you shouldn’t live in bold arrogance, thinking that you can solve your problems on your own. Know that sin has left you unable, but more than that, embrace the Gospel and live out of the new power that is yours in Christ.

2 Peter 1:3 is one of my favorite verses in all of Scripture: “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life” (NIV). I think it’s a verse that so clearly argues for the nowism of the gospel – what it looks like to live a godly life between salvation and eternity.

But as I’ve taught from this verse, people will ask me: “Paul, what is everything I need?” It’s a great question, and one the Bible doesn’t leave unanswered. Obviously, writing about everything would be impossible, but over the next four weeks, I want to pinpoint four specific things.

Using Colossians 2:1-15 as my primary text, I want to highlight four benefits of the work of Christ that give you everything you need to live a godly life until salvation. This week, we’ll focus on Wisdom For Foolishness.

Here’s our first text: “…in [Christ] are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3).

In Christ, you have been given wisdom for the foolishness of sin. You don’t celebrate the wisdom that is yours in Christ unless you first embrace your own foolishness. This may offend some of you, but sin has reduced you to a fool.

You don’t need to look very far to see evidence: you will continually belittle another person (spouse, child, neighbor, etc) and be surprised when that relationship is tense and cold. You will play with the fire that is sin and be surprised when you get burnt. You will spend more money than you should and be surprised when you run into financial difficulty. You will eat more than you should and be surprised when your body shows the evidence.

Certainly, you have been given wisdom for outside deception as well. “I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments” (Colossians 2:4). But the fool that is most dangerous to you is the fool inside of you. You see, the foolishness of the world is only attractive to you because there is still remaining foolishness inside your soul.

Maybe you feel put down today by being called a fool so many times. But you have to understand the Gospel – good news is only good news because bad news exists. If your heart wasn’t infected by foolishness, the One who is Wisdom wouldn’t have had to invade earth.

Today, humbly admit to your own foolishness and susceptibility. But more than that, celebrate the new wisdom that is yours in Christ.

Please click the link. This is a very good article.

http://www.reformation21.org/articles/family-worship-and-its-benefits.php

It’s one of the most radical phrases in all of Scripture. It’s found in Isaiah 53:10 – “Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief.”

I like using other translations for this verse, because they use a variation of the word pleasure – “But the Lord was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief” (NASB) or “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief” (NKJV). You need to get your mind around this radical phrase. How could it be that God the Father would ever find pleasure in the crushing and the grief of his Son?

If you’re a parent, think of the protective heart you have for your children. You don’t want any harm to come to them, and you try to protect them from danger and difficulty. You can’t imagine them being crushed or grieved, nevertheless you personally inflicting that pain on them. This verse is meant to make you stop short and ask questions.

What could be so powerfully motivating in the heart of the Father to enable him to crush his Son and find pleasure in his grief? The answer is found in John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” God looked at this broken world and the separation between himself and man and was motivated by love. His heart was grieved by sin, and the only solution was to crush his Son, the perfect sacrifice.

For many of you, John 3:16 is a verse that can be found on your refrigerator, a coffee mug, or a picture frame somewhere in your house. You know that God “so loved world;” you know that you’re going to heaven when you die; your theology on the love of God is strong.

Or so it seems. What about the love of God today? Does God really love us, right here, right now? We wouldn’t never say aloud that God doesn’t love us in the present, but I think we all have our doubts.

The Apostle Paul combats these doubts in Romans 8:32 when he says, “He who did not spare his own Son but have him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”

Here’s the logic: if God subjected Christ to the extreme suffering described in Isaiah 53:10 for our eternal salvation, it would make no sense for God to turn his back on us during our present time of need. In other words, the guarantee of our future (sealed by the Cross) also guarantees everything we need right here, right now.

We have other Scriptural evidence of this promise too: “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life…” (2 Peter 1:3, NIV) and “My God will supply every need of yours…” (Philippians 4:19, ESV).

God knows what you need, and he will provide everything for you today and tomorrow and everyday until you meet him face to face. God’s love not only applies to your past sin and your future eternity; God’s love meets you where you are, right here, right now.

As you celebrate Christmas today, remember that there is no more clear-pointed, rest-giving demonstration of the love of God for you than the gift of his Son. Jesus faced the rejection from the Father so you would never see the back of God’s head.

It was the most important event ever, accompanied by the most important song ever, containing the most important announcement ever – “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased.” (Luke 2:14).

For today’s devotional, I just want to focus on two words: GLORY and PEACE. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased.”

Let’s look at the first word – GLORY. Imagine what the world would be like if every person lived with the glory of God in view. Imagine what it would be like to participate in a society where every heart of every citizen was ruled by the glory of God. But we know that this is far from true.

Political corruption, social injustice, lust and adultery, violence and murder – all these things happen because human beings forget about the glory of God. Our planet is populated with people who live for their own glory. But it’s not just “the world” – you’re a glory amnesiac, too.

You were created to live with the glory of God in view. The principal motivation of your heart was supposed to be that God would be praised in every moment of your life. But some days, you simply don’t care about the glory of God, choosing to replace him with little self-glories that don’t satisfy.

Now the second word – PEACE. Imagine what the world would be like if every person lived at peace with God, with themselves, and with one another. Peace means no war; peace means no divorce or strained relationships with children; peace means no violence or murder. But we certainly know that’s not the case.

From the moment Adam and Eve sinned, peace with God was shattered, and when we don’t have peace with God, we struggle to find peace within. We don’t need to say much about peace with others – our lives are marked by relational conflict. I don’t think anyone reading this devotional has lived a conflict-free 2013. In fact, I think it would be safe to say that you experienced some type of conflict this week already.

That’s a discouraging conversation, isn’t it? All this talk of glory amnesia and conflicted relationships isn’t the most uplifting subject. But here’s what you need to understand – good news isn’t good news unless you first know the bad news. In other words, you can’t be excited about something being fixed until you know it’s broken.

The Good News of Christmas is that Jesus came to earth to restore all that is broken. By his death on the Cross, we can live at peace with God, and by his Spirit, we have the desire and ability to live for the glory of God. Because of the birth of Christ, we don’t have to be afraid to look honestly at a verse like Luke 2:14 and see that we’re glory amnesiacs and unpeaceful people. Christ was sent exactly for this purpose!

This Advent season, look honestly at the glory amnesia of your heart while celebrating the peace that God made with you, while you were still his enemy.