I love gathering with the Body of Christ, particularly I love gathering with the Body at Edgewood.    Particularly, the Lord’s Day or Christian Sabbath is a delight and refreshment as we gather and use the day.   JC Ryle gives us a good reminder about observing and guarding the 4th Commandment to keep the Sabbath.

We live in days when anything like strict Sabbath observance is loudly denounced, in some quarters, as a remnant of Jewish superstition. We are boldly told by some people, that to keep the Sabbath holy is legal, and that to enforce the fourth commandment on Christians, is going back to bondage. Let it suffice us to remember, when we hear such things, that assertions are not proofs, and that vague talk like this has no confirmation in the word of God. Let us settle it in our minds, that the fourth commandment has never been repealed by Christ, and that we have no more right to break the Sabbath day, under the Gospel, than we have to murder and to steal.

The architect who repairs a building, and restores it to its proper use, is not the destroyer of it, but the preserver. The Savior who redeemed the Sabbath from Jewish traditions, and so frequently explained its true meaning, ought never to be regarded as the enemy of the fourth commandment. On the contrary, He has “magnified it, and made it honorable.”

Let us cling to our Sabbath, as the best safeguard of our Country’s religion. Let us defend it against the assaults of ignorant and mistaken men, who would gladly turn the day of God into a day of business and pleasure. Above all, let us each strive to keep the day holy ourselves. Much of our spiritual prosperity depends, under God, on the manner in which we employ our Sundays.

JC RYLE

As a church body we watched a documentary on the life of Eric Liddell during our New Year’s Eve Service. We watched an additional 30 minute film on his life and commitment to Christ with the Teens during youth group Sunday night. His life and commitment to Christ continue to convict today.  Much of this is due to the fact that his stand to not run on the Sabbath in the 1924 Olympics was not a singular conviction but rather simply obedience and commitment to follow Christ and His law of love in all of his life.

Today we rarely hear of Christian athletes with such conviction, but Scotland has given us another modern day example in rugby player Euan Murray.  Here is his explanation for not playing for Scotland on the Lord’s Day.

Euan said: “It’s basically all or nothing, following Jesus. I don’t believe in pick ‘n’ mix Christianity. I believe the bible is the word of God, so who am I to ignore something from it?

“I might as well tear out that page then keep tearing out pages as and when it suits me. If I started out like that there would soon be nothing left.”

Euan’s recent decision to keep Sunday as a day of worship means he will miss Scotland’s opening Six Nations game against France on February 7 and, potentially, some key matches with his club, Northampton.

Despite his religious stand, Euan has played for Scotland before on a Sunday – in the 2008 Six Nations against France.

But he said turning out on the Sabbath grew increasingly painful.

Euan, who has 28 caps, said: “I was going against my conscience and it became impossible to enjoy.

“I realised it’s quite simple, really.

“Jesus said, ‘If you love me, keep my commandments’ and there are 10 commandments – not nine.”

It is understood a clause in Euan’s new club contract, stating he does not have to play on Sundays, is unique in top-flight rugby

He added: “I’ve talked about the ‘call to excellence’ I perceive in the bible, being the best you can be and I try to present myself as a living sacrifice to the Lord.

“I want to excel in rugby because that’s where I’ve been given the opportunity to serve my God – but it has to fit with the way I want to live my life.

“The most important thing in my life will always be serving Christ.

“I want to live my life believing and doing the things he wants and the Sabbath day is a full day.

“It’s not a case of a couple of hours in church then playing rugby or going down the pub, it’s the full day.”

(ht:tc)

We have been studying Jonah on Sunday evenings at Edgewood.  This past Sunday we look at verse 5 of chapter 4 and drew from Jeremiah 29.  The point was to examine our hearts to see if we are moved with compassion for our city and community.   If so, are we  seeking to benefit the welfare of it.  We do this by doing the ordinary things that are necessary to life (having a house, working, eating, etc.), but doing them to the glory of God.

The application of this needs to be carefully done.  Peace and welfare can be general, in the sense of for the greater good (ie giving a cup of cold water in the name of Christ), but our ultimate goal must be redemption.  In our compassion and love for the lost, this sometimes means we must resist the practice of the world and go against the flow.   For instance, we work for the welfare of the city when we stand against things like abortion and abuse.   Engaging the world does not always mean coming alongside the world and its practices.  Kevin DeYoung gives an interesting application for seeking the welfare of the city in his examination of casinos and gambling.

The slot-machine is not a toy, or as it is so often dubbed, a bit of harmless entertainment.  It is a learning machine intent on finding your weakness and exploiting it.  Casinos exist to take your money.  They make no product.  They do not create wealth.  They do not contribute to the public good.  They hurt communities, hurt families, and by design try to hurt people by making them into coin-dropping addicts. Christians interested in seeking the shalom of their cities should do what they can to oppose the proliferation of casinos, lotteries, and the rest of the gaming industry. They could start by not showing up.

You can read the whole article here.

Charles Spurgeon is often referred to as the “prince of preachers” and proves so by still being so relevant and regarded today.   He also had a faithful church member  and supportive deacon named, William Olney, On the Lord’s day after Mr. Olney “fell asleep” Mr Spurgeon preached a message on Acts 13:36 in regards to the death of his beloved friend.

For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep – Acts 13:36

In this sermon Spurgeon went on to define what it means to serve one’s own generation.

1. It does not mean to be a slave to it.  It is not to drop into the habits, customs, and ideas of the generation in which we live…that man serves his generation best who is not caught by every new current of opinion, but stands firmly by the truth of God.
2. It is not to fly from it. If any man says, “The world is so bad, that I will avoid coming into contact with it altogether… he is certainly not serving his own generation.   If he shall shut himself up…and leave the world to go to ruin as it may, he will not be like David…Come forward and fight evil, and triumph over it  whether it be evil in doctrine, evil in practice, or evil  any other kind.  Be bold for Christ, bear your witness, and be not ashamed.
3. It is to perform the common duties of life. He that at home cannot or will not undertake ordinary duties, will not likely be able to serve his age.  The girl who dreams about the foreign missionary field, but cannot darn her brother’s stockings, will not be of service either at home or abroad.  Do the commonplace things, the ordinary things that come in your way, and you will begin to serve your generation, as David served his.
4. It is to be ready for the occasion when it comes...If you want to serve the church and serve the age, beloved friend, be wide awake when he occasion comes.  Jump into the saddle when the horse is at your door; and God will bless you if you are on the look-out for opportunities of serving Him.
5. It is to maintain true religion...This David did.  He had grave faults in his later life..but he never swerved from his allegiance to Jehovah the true God…We, too, shall truly serve those amongst whom we dwell by maintaining true religion…The spread of “pure and undefiled religion” is a certain way to serve those around us.
6. It is to continue to serve all our life. Notice well that David served “his own generation”; not only a part of it, but the whole of it.  He began to serve God, and he kept on serving God.
7. It is to prepare for those who are to come after us…We must be looking ahead as far as ever we can, not with unbelieving anxiety or unholy curiosity; but after the fashion in which David prepared abundantly before his death.  If we cannot find a successor to enter upon our service when we have to leave it, yet let us do all we can to make his work the easier when he comes to it.

AP:  Chicago The vote in Copenhagen was carried on huge television screens set up in the Daley Center to carry what many had hoped would be approval of Chicago as host. It had seemed so likely to many in a city still basking in the glow of hometown Sen. Barack Obama’s election as president.

Instead, Chicago was bounced in the first round, bringing an audible gasp from the crowd. The elimination came so quickly that some would-be revelers weren’t sure what had happened and they asked bystanders if they had heard what they thought they heard.

Many stood for a few minutes, staring at the screens, and at least one flung his hands into the air in a crude gesture toward the TVs. Within seconds, people began filing out of the plaza.

“I’ve never really had a disappointment like this,” said Ken Rudd, a 33-year-old salesman from Evergreen Park. “This is one of the saddest things I’ve ever seen.”

As I read this I could not help but think of the passage from the Gospel of Matthew in chapter 7

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

Losing an Olympics when you thought you had it is nothing to losing one’s soul when you thought you had secured it.  It appears to be there will be similarities in the reasoning.  Those on that day will want to prove their worth, what they had done and think that they deserve to be rewarded for the greatness of their reputation.

Kevin DeYoung offers a wonderful complement and balance to the idea of service that we look at last evening as a church body.  The call last night was for faithfulness in priorities, relationship, and service, but not to load ourselves down with programs just for the sake of being busy.  Kevin’s article concludes this way:

I’m not for a minute advocating a cheap grace or an easy-believeism. But the yoke still is easy, right? And the burden still is light, is it not? The danger–and it’s a danger I’ve fallen foul of in my own preaching–is that in all our efforts to be prophetic, radical, and missional, we end up getting the story of Pilgrim’s Progress exactly backwards. “Come to the cross, Pilgrim, see the sacrifice for your sins. Isn’t that wonderful? Now bend over and let me load this burden on your back. There’s a lot of work we have to do, me and you.” A cross, yes. Jesus said we would have to carry one of those. But a cross that kills our sins, smashes our idols, and teaches us the folly of self-reliance. Not a burden to do the impossible. Not a burden to always do more for Jesus. Not a burden of bad news that never lets up and obedience that is always out reach.

No doubt some Christians need to be shaken out of their lethargy. I try to do that every Sunday morning and evening. But there are also a whole bunch of Christians who need to be set free from their performance-minded, law-keeping, world-changing, participate-with-God-in-recreating-the-cosmos shackles. I promise you, some of the best people in your churches are getting tired. They don’t need another rah-rah pep talk. They don’t need to hear more statistics and more stories Sunday after Sunday about how bad everything is in the world. They need to hear about Christ’s death and resurrection. They need to hear how we are justified by faith apart from works of the law. They need to hear the old, old story once more. Because the secret of the gospel is that we actually do more when we hear less about all we need to do for God and hear more about all that God has already done for us.

“The North American Christian community today is in a missionary location….There are two obstacles, however, that must be overcome in trying to take our missionary location seriously. One is that many people in today’s Christian community are too fond of the culture that makes up our missionary location [e.g. Christians addicted to American materialism, the god of technology and pop culture]. The other is that many people in the Christian community are too disdainful of this culture [e.g. Christian separatists, legalists and the 'angry at the world' religious Right].”

- Richard Mouw, “The Missionary Location of the North American Churches,” inConfident Witness – Changing World, ed. Craig Van Gelder

(ht:ap)

I found this quote to be challenging on multiple levels.  One, it reminds us of the great mission field that we live in, America.  Second, it calls us to inquire within whether or not we are embracing that challenge.  Are we too in love with the world to be desirous of it being transformed?  If you love something too much you really don’t want it changed.  When this comes to sin and worldliness this is a real spiritual problem.  Or there is the second problem of being too separate to be able to help those who are lost and dying.  If all we ever do is bash and hate the world then it will be difficult for us to relate in love to the world.  

Jude reminds us of the need to find this balance

17 But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. 18 They [6] said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” 19 It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. 20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. 22 And have mercy on those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment [7] stained by the flesh. (ESV)

Last night at our Wednesday prayer time we were challenged that the number one test of our salvation is our obedience to God’s Word.  ”If we love Him we will keep His commandments.”  Keeping commandments does not make one a Christian, but one who is a Christian, who is in a loving relationship with God, will obey the commandments.  Peter Jeffery’s book “Walk Worthy” gives a brief test of obedience.  Some mentioned that they did not get all the scripture references, so I wanted to put them down here.

A Test:

Have you obeyed the Lord concerning

• other Christians (Galatians 6:10)
• regular worship and fellowship (Hebrews 10:25)
• Bible Study (2 Timothey 2:15)
• Baptism (Acts 2:38)
• Your Pastor (Hebrews 13:17)

How is it possible that a Christian can unreservedly accept the Bible as the infallible, inspired Word of God, and yet still disobey its commandments?  It is because he has lost the reality of the presence of the God of the Word.  Correct beliefs are not enough to ensure obedience, but a right relationship to God will.  Given that, you too will acknowledge that the commandments of the Lord are not grievous.

Tonight at dinner Tyler was talking to me.

God wants us to go to church to preach, not to make paper airlplanes

Thanks Tyler, I really need the first two statements:

1. God wants us to go to church
2. To preach

The last one is helpful too, about not making paper airlplanes, but not quite as helpful of a reminder to me.

After our message Sunday night on the value of keeping our eyes fixed on Christ and his return, I found this video very thought provoking and challenging. I would love to hear your response to watching it.