Look, Turn, Trust and Love ... Repeat

Have you got rhythm? Are you in a rhythm? How about a gospel rhythm? Do you have a strategy for any situation?

So what do you do when you lose your job? When your marriage is falling apart? When you fail to have your quiet time? When your car breaks down? When you spill your coffee on your pants on your way to work? When you sleep through church? When you get angry at your children? When you get angry at your parents? When the President takes away some of our freedom? When Congress increases our tax burden? When you spend more money on gas than on groceries? When you are hurt deeply? When you hurt someone deeply? When you lose something or someone dear to you? When you lack something that you think you need or that you desire greatly? When you don’t think you can go on? So what do you do when you’re not perfect? When others aren’t perfect? When life isn’t perfect?

This past Sunday we focused on Romans 10:9-10 and looking and living.

Last week we said, according to Romans 10:8-10 and other Scriptures like John 3:14-16 and Romans 4:5, being saved is as easy as looking outside of ourselves to Christ and what He has done, without any dependence on what we do (like those who looked to the brazen serpent and were healed). But doing the easy thing (looking to Jesus alone to save us apart from our own goodness) is as hard as letting go of a branch while hanging on the side of a cliff (because of our unbelief and pride). And doing the easy thing is followed by doing hard things (in loving as Christ calls to love) just as the easy “I do” of a marriage ceremony is followed by the hard thing of loving and laying down our lives in married life. And yet neither of these realities means that salvation itself is not an easy thing. (Matthew 11:28-30) We also said that looking to Jesus alone for salvation should impact the way we look at ourselves (Confessions of a Justified Sinner), so that we honor Jesus when we see ourselves differently simply because of what He has done for us, not because of anything we do.

This week we saw that looking has a necessary impact on living.

You may remember the farmer who set out to teach his son to plow (this is my version). He put him behind the plow, strapped him in the harness and gave him instructions before he went on his way. He told his son, “Now the key to plowing a straight row is to pick a object in the distance and keep your eye on it and plow straight for it. Do you think you can do that?” His son said enthusiastically, “Oh, yes!” The father said “Good!” and left the boy to plow the back 40 acres. At the end of the day, the farmer returned to see how things had gone with his son and to his horror, he saw a field with terribly crooked and criss-crossed rows. When he asked his son what had happened, the son replied, “Well, Dad, I did what you said. I picked an object in the distance, kept my eye on it and plowed to it.” “Then how did your rows get so messed up?” the father asked in astonishment. The boy thought a minute and said, “Well, maybe it was because the cow I was looking at kept moving!”

The steps of this young man were guided by where he was looking and therefore, what he was trusting that “object” for. It is important for us to know that salvation comes to us simply by looking to Christ alone for our salvation from sin, but our looking to Christ and what we are trusting Him for will impact profoundly the way we live and the direction our lives take.

What should looking to Jesus as Savior and Lord look like in everyday life?

There should be a gospel rhythm in life that causes us to look, turn, trust and love (obey). (Colossians 2:6-7; 2 Timothy 3:16-17)

In every situation and in every relationship, we are:

· To look at the truth of the gospel: about God, man and Jesus. (2 Corinthians 3:18; Hebrews 12:1-2; John 8:31-32; Galatians 2:20)

· To turn from sin: self-righteousness (pride), idolatry and self-determination (unbelief). (Acts 2:38; 20:21; 11:21; Mark 1:15; 1 Thessalonians 1:9)

· To trust in all that God has promised us through Jesus: peace, provision, pleasure. (Romans 5:1; Hebrews 11:6, 24-27; Psalm 16:11; Philippians 4:13, 19; 2 Peter 1:3; 2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

· To love (obey) by walking out the commands and wisdom principles of Scripture. (Romans 12:1-2; 1:5; Galatians 5:6; 1 John 2:4-6; 3:23)

· Look, turn, trust, obey/love, then repeat in every situation and relationship, without growing weary in well doing, in every season of life. (Galatians 6:6-10; Luke 6:27-38)

Most people know the story of Jack and Jill. But few know the rest of the story (smile). Jack and Jill went up the hill, To fetch a pail of water. Jack fell down and broke his crown, And Jill came tumbling after. What happened after fetching the pail of water and just before Jack fell down and Jill came tumbling after? Maybe … Jack complains of a bad back and wants Jill to do all the hauling herself. Jill doesn’t buy it and Jack is spoken harshly to by Jill (ie, insult). Jack does not respond well either (ie, insult returned). Jill smacks him so hard that not only does Jack fall but Jill does as well.

Later, Jack puts on his “gospel glasses” as he thinks about what happened (with vinegar and brown paper on his head to cure the bruises, according to later additions to the nursery rhyme), so that he looks at it through the lens of Jesus and what has been done for him (holding up the Bible, so to speak).

He sees that his response of pride and anger and bitterness and returning the insult was wrong and he sees that he must turn (repent) of it because Jesus died that we might be freed from the penalty and power of sin.

He sees that God has forgiven him because of what Christ as done and has given him the power to do what pleases Him in every situation and has promised to reward him for doing what is right in each situation, and he is to trust God for these things.

He sees that God calls him to obey His Word and to rejoice and pray and give thanks, to forgive as he has been forgiven by God, to accept as he has been accepted by God and to love as he has been loved by God and that he is to seek reconciliation with those he has sinned against and he is to overcome evil with good.

So Jack looks and turns and trusts and loves in his relationship with Jill. The next day, Jack receives an exorbitant water bill in the mail. And John must repeat the process in order to live out his faith.

If my “faith” does not move me, to one degree or another, in situations and relationships each day, to look at things through the lens of the gospel, to turn from my sinful responses, to trust God for what He promises through Christ and to lay down my life to love as He commands, then my “faith” is dead. If we find our “faith” doing this only a “little,” then, at best, our faith is weak and needs strengthening. (Galatians 5:6)

What should you do? Ponder (think), pray (ask for help), plan (think about how to apply it in different situations), practice (take action), persevere (don’t give up in failure) and praise (thank God for grace). (James 1:21)

To confess Jesus as Lord is to submit to His Lordship and to live to trust and obey Him daily by applying the gospel – looking, turning, trusting and loving.

If you find yourself lacking obedience, don’t go back to what you are suppose to do first, but address your faith by going back to the good news: who Jesus is, what He has done, what He promises us, and His great love. (2 Corinthians 5:14-15; 1 John 4:16-21) We need to look – long and hard – at Jesus so that we can turn and trust and love, to the glory of His name.

Where are you today? What do you need to do? Look to Jesus and live!

Confessions of a Justified Sinner

For those looking to Christ
how should they see themselves
in light of the cross?

As we said Sunday in the message, The Profoundly Easy Gospel (Romans 10:5-8), the testimony of Charles Spurgeon concerning his conversion to Christ in a Primitive Methodist Church as a searching teenager highlights the truth that we are saved simply by looking outside of ourselves to Jesus Christ and what He has done for us.

"The minister did not come that morning; he was snowed up, I suppose. At last, a very thin-looking man, a shoemaker, or tailor, or something of that sort, went up into the pulpit to preach. Now, it is well that preachers should be instructed; but this man was really stupid. He was obliged to stick to his text, for the simple reason that he had little else to say. The text was,—

"LOOK UNTO ME, AND BE YE SAVED, ALL THE ENDS OF THE EARTH."

"He did not even pronounce the words rightly, but that did not matter. There was, I thought, a glimpse of hope for me in that text. The preacher began thus—"My dear friends, this is a very simple text indeed. It says, 'Look.' Now lookin' don't take a deal of pains. It ain't liftin' your foot or your finger; it is just, 'Look.' Well, a man needn't go to College to learn to look. You may be the biggest fool, and yet you can look. A man needn't be worth a thousand a year to be able to look. Anyone can look; even a child can look. But then the text says, 'Look unto Me.' Ay!" said he, in broad Essex, "many on ye are lookin' to yourselves, but it's no use lookin' there. You'll never find any comfort in yourselves. Some look to God the Father. No, look to Him by-and-by. Jesus Christ says, 'Look unto Me.' Some on ye say, 'We must wait for the Spirit's workin'.' You have no business with that just now. Look to Christ. The text says, 'Look unto Me.'"

"Then the good man followed up his text in this way:—"Look unto Me; I am sweatin' great drops of blood. Look unto Me; I am hangin' on the cross. Look unto Me; I am dead and buried. Look unto Me; I rise again. Look unto Me; I ascend to Heaven. Look unto Me; I am sittin' at the Father's right hand. O poor sinner, look unto Me! look unto Me!

"When he had gone to about that length, and managed to spin out ten minutes or so, he was at the end of his tether. Then he looked at me under the gallery, and I daresay, with so few present, he knew me to be a stranger. Just fixing his eyes on me, as if he knew all my heart, he said, "Young man, you look very miserable." Well, I did; but I had not been accustomed to have remarks made from the pulpit on my personal appearance before. However, it was a good blow, struck right home. He continued, "and you always will be miserable—miserable in life, and miserable in death,—if you don't obey my text; but if you obey now, this moment, you will be saved." Then, lifting up his hands, he shouted, as only a Primitive Methodist could do, "Young man, look to Jesus Christ. Look! Look! Look! You have nothin' to do but to look and live." I saw at once the way of salvation. I know not what else he said,—I did not take much notice of it,—I was so possessed with that one thought. Like as when the brazen serpent was lifted up, the people only looked and were healed, so it was with me. I had been waiting to do fifty things, but when I heard that word, "Look!" what a charming word it seemed to me! Oh! I looked until I could almost have looked my eyes away. There and then the cloud was gone, the darkness had rolled away, and that moment I saw the sun; and I could have risen that instant, and sung with the most enthusiastic of them, of the precious blood of Christ, and the simple faith which looks alone to Him. Oh, that somebody had told me this before, "Trust Christ, and you shall be saved."

"In my conversion, the very point lay in making the discovery that I had nothing to do but to look to Christ, and I should be saved. I believe that I had been a very good, attentive hearer; my own impression about myself was that nobody ever listened much better than I did. For years, as a child, I tried to learn the way of salvation; and either I did not hear it set forth, which I think cannot quite have been the case, or else I was spiritually blind and deaf, and could not see it and could not hear it; but the good news that I was, as a sinner, to look away from myself to Christ, as much startled me, and came as fresh to me, as any news ever heard in my life. (The Great Change)

As Spurgeon learned, by God’s grace, all we must do to be saved is to look to the Lord Jesus in simple faith. And yet, as believers, we are to continue to look to the Lord Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-2; Colossians 2:6-7) and we are to see ourselves as we are in union with Him and what He has done for us. To speak of ourselves as we are because of what He has done for us and because of our union with Him is to honor Christ and His cross and all that He accomplished. To speak and think and believe otherwise is to dishonor what He has done. May God give us greater grace to boldly speak what the Word says is true of us in Christ in each and every situation and relationship. These confessions are true of believers in Jesus simply because of what Jesus has done, not because of anything that we do.

Simply because of a trusting look at Jesus, I can say and should say in my heart each day, all day:

1. I am forgiven: I am forgiven by God for all my sins, yesterday and today and forever. (Colossians 1:13-14)

2. I am righteous: I have been declared righteous by God through the imputed righteousness of Christ Himself and will never be condemned. (Romans 5:17)

3. I have peace with God: I have peace with God and am reconciled to Him so that I can know Him intimately as my Father. (Romans 5:1-2)

4. I am accepted: I am accepted and rejoiced over by God just as He rejoices over His Son, Jesus, and He will never reject me, no matter what. (Romans 15:7)

5. I am loved perfectly: I am loved perfectly and continually by God, even when I give in to temptation and when I face the most difficult and confusing of trials. (1 John 4:16-18)

6. I am a new person: I am a new creation in Christ and I can live differently so that my past of sin need never be my future. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

7. I have a purpose for living: I have been called to follow Christ to the glory of God and I am to help others to do the same. (Mark 8:34-38)

8. I have all I need: I have all I need in Christ for this life so that I need not fear. (2 Peter 1:2-4)

9. I can handle any situation: I have the strength I need in Christ to live to please God in every situation. (Philippians 4:11-13)

10. I can boldly ask for whatever I need: I can approach God boldly and confidently at all times as my Father and can expect Him to answer as I call on Him for what I need, according to His timing, His glory and my good. (Hebrews 4:14-16)

11. I have the happiness my heart longs for: I have true happiness in Christ that is a full and forever joy, tasted here and completely experienced in the life to come. (Psalm 16:11)

12. I can be confident in the face of sin and suffering: I can be confident of all these things, even when I sin and suffer greatly, because of the finished work of Christ and God’s sovereign grace that has enabled me to trust in Christ alone for His righteousness which leads to eternal life. (Romans 8:28)

So even as saved believers, we are to look to Jesus and live!

A Zeal for "God's House"

How Do We

‘Go to Church’

to the Glory of God?

Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God! –

1 Corinthians 10:31

His disciples remembered that it was written, “ZEAL FOR YOUR HOUSE WILL CONSUME ME.” (John 2:17)

But in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household (or house) of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth. (1 Timothy 3:15)

For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.” (Matthew 18:20)

Why do you go to church? Is what happens in the worship service something to look forward to? Something to prepare for? Unfortunately, many believers don’t expect much when they gather with their local church in worship.

Unfortunately many people see church attendance like the little boy who was looking at pictures of men in the foyer of his church and asked a deacon, “Who are these men?” And the deacon replied, “They are men who died in the service.” The little boy thought a minute and then asked, “Which one? The morning or evening service?”

The Puritans encouraged us to see the weekly gathering of believers in worship as profoundly significant and important for our spiritual lives.

That the saints love public worship is a constant Puritan theme. Why their delight in it? Because in worship the saints do not merely seek God; they also find Him. Worship is not only an expression of gratitude but also a means of grace, whereby the hungry are fed so that the empty are sent away rich. For ‘there is in worship an approach of God to man.’ ‘God’s presence is in his ordinances’ is a reality; God is essentially present in the world, graciously present in his church. … And men honour God most when they come to worship hungry and expectant, con-scious of need and looking to God to meet them and supply it. (J.I. Packer, A Quest for Godliness)

So what can we do to make the most of every time we ‘go to church’ to gather with believers for worship?

1. Pray for God: Pray for God to be there when you get there. (Exodus 33:14-16)

God is everywhere. But He manifests His presence selectively. We prepare for the church service by asking God to manifest Himself in His love and power and truth so that we are changed as we see His manifest glory through the display of the truth.

2. Pray for Man: Pray for those leading and listening. (1Timothy 4:14-16)

God uses people to speak to people. So pray for those leading in song, Scripture reading, prayer and preaching that they would do so according to God’s Word from their hearts and pray for all to hear with teachable and humble hearts to receive the truth.

3. Deal with Sin and Broken Relationships: Confess sin to God and others and pursue reconciliation as needed. (Matthew 5:23-24)

Before we go to worship, we should confess our sins to God and trust Christ anew for forgiveness. We may need to go to those we have offended, confess our sins and ask for their forgiveness. We cannot make them forgive us, but we must try to be at peace with all men as much as possible. Some issues take much time and effort to resolve, but if we are beginning to attempt to resolve it then we can still attend worship in good conscience.

4. Start the Night Before: We need to begin preparing to go to church the night before. (Exodus 19:10-11)

The worship of God with the local church is worthy of proper preparation: mentally, spiritually, relationally and spiritually. We should seek to be ready for church and to do so before Sunday gets here. We should make sure we get enough sleep so we can participate at full strength in such an important gathering. We should prepare what we need the night before and get up in plenty of time. We should get to the church service before it begins and try to avoid quarreling on the way.

5. Come to Participate and Rejoice: Remember that God is the Audience and the Speaker, we are the participants and the hearers and He loves us. (1 Corinthians 14:26)

We must remember that we are not simply spectators when we go to a church service. We are to attend to participate: to listen care-fully, to sing, to pray, to share, to write down things to remember, and to hear the Word of God as if it was a matter of “life and death” (and it is).

6. Come to Get: We go to church to get: to encounter God. (Mark 1:32-34)

If God is with us as we worship and we pray for Him to manifest Himself to us in deeper and richer ways and if He is the great Speaker we are there to hear, then we dishonor God if we do not go to a church service to get: to get a life-changing, soul-satisfying, circumstance-comforting revelation of God Himself to the eyes of our hearts.

7. Come to Give: We go to church to give: to minister to others. (Hebrews 10:23-25)

We go to church to get and to give: to stimulate others to love and good deeds, to comfort the grieving, to encourage the discouraged, to admonish the disobedient, to strengthen the weak, and to minister our gifts in whatever way we can for the upbuilding of the church in faith and love.

8. Worship With Others: We should worship with other believers in the service. (1 Corinthians 11:18)

There is something about being with other believers in a church service which is dedicated to the true worship of the living God that should not be minimized. And therefore, we should not sit outside or wander around outside for no good reason.

9. Prepare to Stay: We should prepare to stay in the service the whole time. (Revelation 2:7)

There are times when we have to leave a church service. But this should be the exception rather than the rule. Often we either have not planned to be in the service the whole time (and haven’t gone to the bathroom beforehand or done other things prior to the service) or we don’t want to sit the whole time. The issue here is not physical, but spiritual. It may be time to check your heart for the things of God and repent so you can sit.

10. Pay Attention: We should pay attention, teach our children to pay attention and help others to pay attention. (Hebrews 2:1)

We honor God by giving Him our undivided attention. We will have to train our children at home to sit and listen quietly so they can hear God’s Word and not distract us and others. We will have to minimize our getting up and down. We may want to also take notes as God speaks to us.

11. Pray and Talk: We should pray about and talk about what we’ve heard. (Matthew 13:36)

One way to help to make sure that we are processing rather than forget-ting what we hear is to try to put into words what we’ve just heard and to talk it over with someone. This we can do in fellowship right after church, on the ride home, and during the week. Certainly the most important Person to talk it over with is God in our times of prayer.

12. Review: We should review and apply what we’ve heard. (James 1:22)

The point is that we can easily be “sermon tasters” who listen and enjoy (or don’t enjoy) what we hear but never take the time to think further about it. We need to be doers of the Word, not hearers only. We might ask ourselves at the end of each service, “What is one thing I could do differently this week in light of the truth I’ve heard today?”

13. Pass It On: We should teach and make disciples in light of what we’ve heard. (2 Timothy 2:2)

What we hear each week in the worship service is meant to help us to grow and to help equip us to help others to grow. Maybe we should ask questions like, “How can I use what I’ve heard today in my speaking the truth to unbelievers?” and “How can I use what I’ve heard today to encourage and equip my fellow believers?”

What do men come to hear the Word of God for? What do they pray for? What do they expect to receive from him? Do they come unto God as the eternal fountain of living waters? As the God of all grace, peace and consolation? Or do they come unto his worship without any design as unto a dry and empty show? … Or do they think they bring something unto God, but receive nothing from him? … To receive anything from him they expect not, nor do ever examine themselves whether they have done so or no? … It is not for persons who walk in such ways, ever to attain a due delight in the ordinances of divine worship … they do not rightly fix their faith on this truth, namely that these holy administrations and duties are appointed of God in the first place, as the way and means of conveying his love and sense of it unto our souls. From hence springs all that lukewarmness, coldness and indifferency unto the duties of holy worship, that are growing among us. (John Owen, Works)

Note: It is understood that Biblically the “church” is the people of God, not the building or the worship service. But it is in popular usage to speak of “going to church” and that is reflected here.

Note: In the OT the "house" of God was the temple, but in the NT, the people of God are the "house" or "temple" of God. To have a 'zeal for God's house' now is to have a zeal for God's people and for God's people 'assembled' for worship. (1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 1 Peter 2:5)

Note: The Scripture references attached to each practical suggestion may, at best, only suggest the spirit of the practice encouraged.

Note: This focuses on some of the practical issues of 'going to church' but we recognize that the most important thing is to approach God through faith in the Person and work of Jesus Christ as our all-sufficient Savior (our righteousness - pardon and perfection) and in glad submission to Him as Lord of our lives and the satisfaction of our souls (our LIFE - Help and Happiness). (Romans 1:16-17; Romans 4:4-5; Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 2:8-10)