Take Care How You Hear

Posted on July 3, 2014 by Pete

We are starting a new preaching series for the summer . . . Kingdom Stories. Going to take the next number of weeks to look at some of the parables. Last week, I was asked to kick off the series by addressing, “Why did Jesus speak in parables?” Based on Matthew 13:10-17, I suggested at least three reasons.

First, because of the subject matter . . . the kingdom of heaven. Jesus had been declaring that the kingdom of heaven had come . . . that it was to be found in the midst of those who, by faith, submitted to the rule of God in their lives. It was something unlike anything they had been prepared for. So, these simple stories, founded on realities they knew well, would be helpful in explaining the dynamics of the workings of a spiritual realm they were just being introduced to.

Second reason Jesus spoke in parables? Because of his mixed audience. For some, those who, by faith, were receiving the kingdom, the stories revealed spiritual truths. For others, those Jesus called “them,” the parables were intended to conceal how the kingdom of heaven operated. Because “them” had rejected the King, the kingdom was not theirs to understand. Because they refused to respond to the light they already had, no more light would be given.

And the third reason Jesus spoke in parables was because of a kingdom principle. I taught on it last Sunday from Matthew . . . I encountered it again in one of this morning’s reading in Luke. Simple principle . . . huge implications.

“Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.”   ~ Jesus     (Luke 8:18 ESV)

It’s kind of a “use it or lose it” proposition in the kingdom. For those who receive and respond to the light given, they will be given more. To those who do not, even the light they may have had will fade and, eventually, disappear. The way of the kingdom doesn’t know anything about a static status quo.  Subjects of the kingdom are receiving, believing, and receiving more or, they atrophy spiritually. If we’re not growing, we fool ourselves to think that we’re remaining steady.  To not grow is be withering. In the kingdom, if we’re not progressing, then we are regressing. If I’m understanding the King’s teachings correctly, that’s how it works.

“Take care then”, says Jesus, “how you hear.”

Literally, see what you hear. Not just receive, but perceive. Take notes, yes . . . but also take notice. Pick up what’s being laid down . . . catch what’s being thrown.

Now, illumination is not something we make happen based on how disciplined we are in listening. But the Spirit’s work of leading us into truth isn’t going to happen if we are not actively engaged in hearing and responding to the Word of God. Revealing the secrets of the Kingdom is God’s work through God’s Spirit, but the dynamics of the kingdom call for active participants in the kingdom to “have ears to hear.”

O’ that I might have ears to hear. Might I be kept from carelessly or callously receiving kingdom secrets. Instead, whether through my reading or by it’s proclamation, might I take heed and be careful with the precious Word of God graciously allowed to flow to my ears. Might more be given . . . might more be received and believed.

By His grace . . . for His glory . . .

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Hidden Treasures

Posted on July 2, 2014 by Pete

That Paul was working up a sweat is clear. He makes a point of letting his Colossian readers know that he was working himself to the point of exhaustion for their sakes . . . that he was contending as an athlete might contend in a gymnastic games or as a soldier might battle against adversaries . . . that he struggled, and toiled, and greatly labored to achieve the prize that he had in view. And it wasn’t that he might realize the prize, it was that the saints at Colosse would know the taste of sweet victory . . . that they would kiss the trophy, as it were. The prize? Hidden treasures.

Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all His energy that He powerfully works within me. For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.    (Colossians 1:28-2:3 ESV)

In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. In Him are the riches for all that is required to understand the dynamics of life on this world and of the nature and workings of the God beyond this world. In Him, there is the understanding of the remedy for our disease . . . His atoning sacrifice for all our sin . . . His imputed righteousness to cover our filthy rags . . . His once for all victory over death for our eternal glory. Through knowing Him, we know the Creator . . . in gaining the Son’s mind through the Spirit’s active agency, we find insight into the Father’s heart . . . in discovering the “mother lode” of wisdom and knowledge that are found in the Savior, we discover the foundation of full assurance as to our rescue and our hope.

So Paul worked his fingers to the bone that his kids-in-Christ would attain to the knowledge of the mystery of God’s love and grace found in Christ. He relentlessly labored so that he might present everyone mature in Christ. He toiled to the point of exhaustion that they might discover the hidden treasures found in the Son of God.

And I am of two minds as I reflect on this. One of awe . . . the other of determination.

Awe, in the reminder of the treasures and riches that are to be discovered in Christ. Fresh amazement as to the riches that are found through relationship with Him who is the image of the invisible God . . . the treasure to be discovered as we desire to know, ever more deeply, the fullness of His person and the beauty of His face toward us. Nothing on earth . . . no gain to be found on this planet . . . compares with the hidden treasures that are ours to discover in the risen Lamb of God.

Determination, in that I know my tendency to be distracted by so many other things. Determination to, by His grace and through the power of His Spirit, be more of an all out treasure hunter . . . seeking first the kingdom and its King . . . counting all things as loss but for the “surpassing worth of know Christ Jesus my Lord.”

If Paul so struggled and toiled that the children of God might find the treasures of wisdom and knowledge found in Christ, how much should I labor to pursue the riches that are mine in the One who has called me to be His own?

By His grace . . . for His glory . . .

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Christ in You

Posted on June 30, 2014 by Pete

Some passages of Scripture are almost too much to handle. Too much “high and lofty” and “His ways are above our ways” stuff to pack into my puny brain. You read through the passage and it’s not long before you realize that the spiritual caloric intake per “bite” is huge . . . and you start feeling kind of full . . . but it keeps coming. The Word “tastes” so good . . . but you don’t think you can take in anymore . . . but it keeps flowing . . . the truth of what you’re reading almost becomes overwhelming.

And then, you find yourself wanting to respond like Peter did when He encountered the glory of Jesus that morning at the seaside and fell to his knees before Jesus saying, “Master, leave. I’m a sinner and can’t handle this holiness. Leave me to myself” (Luke 5:8 MSG). The truths of the passage you’re reading revealing the glory of God and the magnificence of His Son such that they compel you to go facedown in humble contrition.

Colossians 1:15-29 is one of those passages of Scripture. Don’t take my word for it . . . go read it and chew on it for yourself . . . see you on the floor!

The passage is all about the superiority of Christ. He is Number One . . . He is at the top of the charts . . . He is above all, standing on the highest podium. Nothing else compares . . . nothing else competes . . . nothing else is close. God having determined “that in everything He might be preeminent” (Col. 1:18).

Check out the reminder of who He is! He is . . . the image of the invisible God . . . the firstborn over all creation . . . the One by whom, and through whom, and for whom, all things were created. He is . . . before all things . . . and holds all things together . . . the head of the body which is the church . . . the firstborn from the dead. It pleased the Father that in Christ all the fullness of the Godhead should dwell.

Full enough? It’s just starting. Beyond who He is, noodle afresh on what He’s done! He reconciled all things to Himself . . . He made peace through the blood of His cross . . . He reconciled me (getting kinda’ personal, huh?) in the body of His flesh through death that He might present me holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight! Don’t know about you, but I’m not sure I can handle much more intake . . .

But it ain’t done yet . . . three words to come that are enough to make you burst . . . that last bite which you don’t think you have any room for is about to be fed to you . . . you gotta’ loosen your belt . . .

CHRIST IN YOU!

To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.   (Colossians 1:27 ESV)

Paul says that’s he was given a stewardship. That he was to “make the word of God fully known.” That he was to reveal a “mystery hidden for ages and generations” . . . a mystery now revealed to His saints. That to them . . . to the saints . . . to those called out and set apart and declared holy . . . that to them they might comprehend, in some measure, the glory of this wonderful mystery . . . the glory of Christ in you.

You go back and read and re-read about who He is . . . and what He’s done . . . and the needle goes off the “awe-o-meter.” But then, to have added to it all, that same Christ is in you . . . and how can you help but sit back and shake your head in jaw-dropping wonder! Christ in you . . . Christ in me . . . unreal!

The fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him . . . and He lives in me. He created all things . . . and now resides within His creation. In Him all things consist . . . and, in Me, He communes. Oh, the glory of God . . . the magnificence of Christ . . . the overwhelming blessing of salvation. Christ in you.

Don’t take my word for it . . . go read it and chew on it for yourself . . . see you on the floor!

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Just Giving Thanks for Being Saved

Posted on June 27, 2014 by Pete

Years and years ago . . . and I mean years and years, like 30+ years . . . not too long after my brother came to know Christ, I recall him once relaying how, when he was getting ready one morning, he looked into the mirror and said to himself with wonder, “I’m shaving the face of a saved man!” It was still fresh. The awe factor had not diminished because of the passage of time. He looked in the mirror and he saw a blind man who now had sight . . . a lame man without hope who could now leap with joy . . . a lost man who now was found . . . a poor man who now was heir to a glorious inheritance. Sometimes, I think I need to be more like my brother was that morning so long ago. I need to look in the mirror and just give thanks for being saved.

May you be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.    (Colossians 1:111-14 ESV)

Give thanks to the Father . . . who has qualified you . . . who has delivered you . . . who has transferred you . . . all because, in His sovereign grace, He determined to redeem you. Just give thanks for being saved.

There is so much that can occupy my attention. So many things to get ready for . . . so many things to attend to . . . even so many things to give thanks for. But sometimes, I think I just need to look in the mirror in the morning . . . stare down that sinner-saved-by-grace looking back at me . . . and marvel that I’m standing face to face with a man rendered fit to share in the inheritance of the saints. To stand in awe that I have been stamped “A-1” . . . declared “5 stars” . . . found to be, in Christ, sufficient to partake of a future glory I cannot even imagine now. I just need to give thanks for being saved.

As I look at the mug in the mirror, I should see the countenance of one who was in bondage to the domain of darkness but has now been brought into marvelous light . . . being reminded of dingy streets of the world that I once called home, as I reflect on the kingdom that I have been translated into. And that countenance has a certain glow to it . . . the glow of Moses . . . the aura of one who has been in the presence of a holy God and has come away with a bit of that glory emanating from me. Not my glory . . . His. Not my doing . . . His. Not because I am anything . . . but because He is everything!

One other thing . . . my understanding is that punctuation isn’t necessarily found in the original . . . so I think I might move a comma, as have some other translations . . .

May you be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience [comma] with joy giving thanks to the Father . . .

Maybe if we spent more time in wonder at the saved face in the mirror, we would know more joy. Our joy fueled by who we are, and what we are, in Christ . . . and not dependent on what we’ve done or are going to do, or what we have or want to have. Just simply, with joy, giving thanks to the Father for being saved.

Sometimes that guy looking back at me in the morning isn’t all I’d like him to be . . . but He is a saved man . . . by God’s grace and for God’s glory.

And for that, and that alone, I’ll just give thanks. Amen?

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THINK!

Posted on June 26, 2014 by Pete

Looking back on it, much of Paul’s letter to the Philippians concerns attitude and perspective.

Paul’s confident that the work God has begun, He will complete (1:6) . . . for Paul, to live is Christ, to die is gain (1:21) . . . he says that our focus is not to be ourselves but others and that we should desire that the mind of Christ would be in us — that our attitude should be the same as the Lord’s (2:5) . . . and that we should view our salvation as something to be worked out with fear and trembling (2:12).

Paul viewed his life as drink offering being poured out on the sacrifice and service of other’s faith (2:17) . . . he counted all things loss compared to the excellence of knowing Christ (3:8) . . . forgetting those things in the past he reached forward to those things which were ahead — the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (3:13-14) . . . he said, this was the “mature mind” (3:15). He viewed heaven as his country and place of citizenship (3:20) . . . he could rejoice in the Lord always (3:4) . . . and be anxious for nothing (3:6) . . . knowing the peace of God which surpasses all understanding (3:7).

Paul’s letter is full of attitude . . . multi-faceted dimensions of how to view and approach walking in this world as a believer.

And then in chapter four, verse eight, he says, “Finally . . . ”

One more thing, Paul says . . . here’s the key to pulling it all together. Wanna know the “secret sauce” to the attitude and mind of Christ . . . listen up . . . “Finally, my brothers and sisters . . . THINK!”

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.    (Philippians 4:8 ESV)

Right thinking leads to right attitude. Fill your mind with good stuff and the result will be a well-focused perspective. If I want a godly outlook, I need to start with godly intake. I need to think and meditate on good stuff. I need to deliberate on stuff that is true . . . stuff of honorable character . . . just and righteous stuff . . . pure stuff, stuff that is free from carnality . . . stuff that is lovely, pleasing to the eye of the mind . . . stuff that is admirable and of good reputation . . . stuff marked by excellence and virtue . . . stuff that is worthy of praise . . . this is the stuff I need to think about . . . and meditate upon. Good stuff in . . . good stuff out.

And, as was pointed out to me many years ago, no better place to start this “thinking thing” . . . no better way to form the attitude of Christ . . . than to think about Christ, Himself.

For Jesus is true . . . “I am the way, the TRUTH, the life.” And, Jesus is honorable, the personification of godliness, the model for high and holy living. He is just . . . and, praise God, the justifier of those who had no hope of justifying themselves. My Lord, too, is pure . . . without spot . . . without blemish . . . the absolutely perfect Son of God who offered that perfection as the Lamb of God to atone for my imperfection. O’, to think on such things!

And isn’t He lovely? Isn’t He altogether beautiful? To gaze upon His face with faith’s eye is to be absolutely enraptured with His glory. To think upon His beauty is to be drawn in. And I can think of no one as commendable, nor anything else of such “good report” . . . none so admirable as my Jesus . . . this book in front of me is filled with that “speaking well of Him” . . . with His story.

Truly, to think on Jesus, to meditate on the Son, is of great virtue . . . it is an excellent pursuit. To meditate on His Person and His work is worthy of praise . . . ignites worship . . . fuels the fire of adoration. “Finally, my brothers and sisters, think!”

This wonderful, Spirit-filled dynamic I’m participating in is at the core of being transformed into His likeness through the renewing of the mind (Rom. 12:2). No wonder Paul exhorts us to meditate and muse and ponder and noodle and think on the right stuff. In doing so, we gain proper perspective . . . proper priorities . . . and proper praise.

THINK! By His grace . . . for His glory . . .

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The Shade on My Right Hand

Posted on June 25, 2014 by Pete

Change is ahead. And truth be told, I’m not naturally wired for change . . . a little deficient, perhaps in the adventure gene. But a new season’s coming and I have no doubt it’s the Lord’s leading. Nevertheless, I’m not naturally wired for change . . . did I mention that already? Because I know it’s of the Lord, 98.5% of my anticipation would be characterized by genuine excitement. The other 1.5% was ministered to this morning through God’s word.

First in Philippians, where Paul writes that he has learned “in whatever situation I am to be content” (4:11). Our peace defined less by our circumstance but founded, instead, upon our ever-present Shepherd. That whether we are “brought low” or whether we “abound,” the secret of contentment in all situations is knowing that “I can do all things though Him who strengthens me” (4:13). An old, familiar, reliable promise. Thanx Lord, I needed that.

Then I was reading in the Psalms. And my Father continued to speak to me through His Word . . .

The LORD is your keeper;
      the LORD is your shade on your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day,
      nor the moon by night.     (Psalm 121:5-6 ESV)

A song of ascents. A song to be sung while making the trip to Jerusalem. A tune to be hummed . . . lyrics to be meditated on . . . as pilgrims traveled–what was often a dangerous journey–in order to be where the presence of God rested. And as they lifted their eyes to the hills of their desired destination, they were reminded it was the place from where their help comes from. That if they were doing God’s will in God’s way, though the path might get a bit unpredictable at times, whatever help they needed would come from “the LORD who made heaven and earth” (121:1).

For the LORD had covenanted to be their keeper. He had promised to watch over them . . . to hedge them about and protect them . . . to lead them in His ways, even those ways which were new ways, as they responded in faith-fueled obedience. And as their keeper, He would be their shade on their right hand.

Change has a way of turning up the heat. The spotlight seems to shine intensely . . . whether it’s evaluating the legacy of the season past, or watching how you enter the season on the horizon. Granted, it might be a self-created, self-imagined, spotlight . . . but still, it can sear the soul a bit. And then, no doubt, there’s the fiery rays of doubt sown by the enemy. Minor panic attacks once in awhile echoing, “Really?” But the LORD is my keeper and He is the shade on my right hand.

Like a great rock or a great oak, He protects from the burning heat and glaring light. At my right hand, drawing alongside, He shields me from the heat of the journey and returns my focus to the glory of the destination. Mine is to faithfully follow . . . and He has promised to be the shade on my right hand.

Kinda’ nervous. But reminded of God’s unfailing, limitless, abiding grace . . . as, by faith, I walk in the paths I believe He has laid for me.

Change is ahead. And while I may not naturally be wired for change . . . I am in the shade of the God who transcends the natural.

By His grace . . . for His glory . . .

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Motivation

Posted on June 24, 2014 by Pete

Encountered a phrase in my reading this morning that I think could be understood two different ways. Taken one way, it refers to a future realization . . . taken the other, it is a reminder of a present reality. Both understandings are true . . . and both understandings have the same impact . . . motivation.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.   (Philippians 4:4-6 ESV)

When I’m reading, I’m on the lookout for “commands to obey.” Here there’s three of them: 1) rejoice in the Lord always; 2) let your reasonableness, or gentleness, be known to everyone; 3) be anxious for nothing and pray about everything. But what stood out this morning was the small statement of motivation embedded in the middle of them . . . “the Lord is at hand.”

The Lord is at hand . . . in that He’s coming soon? Or, the Lord is at hand in that His presence can be known? Future realization, or present reality? Yes!

Both are true and both provide fuel for the fire of obedience . . . both elevate obedience from a check-the-box exercise and weave into our very fabric a desire to do what we do because the Lord is at hand.

I can rejoice in the LORD always because He is at hand. He is coming again and so I can wake every morning, look to the sky and smile as I wonder, “Perhaps today?” I can rejoice as I anticipate that the day is soon approaching when the way of this world and the corruption of sin will be gone and mine will be to gather before the throne in the splendor of holiness and fix my eyes on the Lamb who redeemed me. But until that I day, I can also rejoice always because the Lord is at hand . . . He is near . . . and I anticipate going through this day with His abiding presence. As I draw near to God, He says He will draw near to me (James 4:8) . . . His ever-present Spirit leading . . . empowering . . . encouraging. Rejoice . . . the Lord is at hand.

Because He is coming soon, I want to model the gentle character of Christ that He might be known. The Master will return at an hour we think not and I want to be found a faithful ambassador when He does. No greater joy than imagining Him, when He returns, finding me being who He’s called me to be and doing what He’s asked me to do. But being like Christ in a world which despises the things of God can be a bit intimidating. But, He is at hand . . . the Lord is present . . . and greater is He that is in me, than anyone or anything that is in the world (1John 4:4).

And, because the Lord is at hand and His return is imminent, I need not be anxious about anything. The anxieties of the day, though very real, can all be placed in the context of the risen, ascended, soon to return King of Kings. Weeping may last for a night . . . but joy comes in the morning (Ps. 30:5). And because He is ever present . . . because His Spirit intercedes with my spirit . . . because He has promised never to leave me nor forsake me . . . I can bring Him my petitions and know a peace that passes all understanding (Php. 4:7).

The Lord is at hand . . . soon to return . . . even now, always present. What a motivator . . . for rejoicing always . . . for making known my reasonableness to everyone . . . for resting in Him in all things.

By His grace . . . for His glory . . .

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Come Find Me

Posted on June 23, 2014 by Pete

I’m sure we can all recall hearing, at one time or another, those stories of dogs who go missing and against great odds, and usually over a great number of miles, find their way back home. You know, the dog who goes missing on a camping trip half way across the country and somehow, weeks or months later, shows up on their master’s doorstep. Kind of amazing! But this morning, I’m reminded that ain’t gonna happen with sheep.

I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Your servant,
     for I do not forget Your commandments.      (Psalm 119:176 ESV)

Kind of an interesting last word in what’s been a psalm marathon covering all kinds of terrain relating to the Word of God. One-hundred-seventy-six verses, each one focused on some aspect of God’s revealed Word . . . twenty-two stanzas . . . each stanza an acrostic, each line starting with the same letter of the Hebrew alphabet . . . the first lines of the first stanza all starting with “A,” the last line of the last stanza starting with the Hebrew “Z” equivalent . . . carefully crafted . . . carefully thought out . . . every word God-breathed. And I’m struck with how it finishes.

I do not forget Your commandments . . . yet I know I have a tendency to drift . . . a predisposition to lose my way, from time to time . . . like a sheep . . . not like a dog . . . so Lord, come find me.

You might think that given the songwriter’s love for the Word . . . His hunger for the Word . . . the hours spent ingesting and meditating on the Word . . . his holy determination to obey the Word . . . that someone like that wouldn’t worry too much about straying from the Word. But that same Word, like a sharp two-edged sword, splays deep, discerning the inner heart, and revealing the weakness of the flesh. In it we not only learn of God and His wondrous ways, but in it we also learn of the frailty of our frame . . . the flakiness of our old nature . . . and our dependence on God’s Spirit for power to walk in accord with our new nature. And thus, we are aware that we can be apt to lose our sense of “true north” from time to time and to wander off like sheep. And that we need a shepherd who seeks lost sheep and draws them again to Himself. And so we cry, “Come find me.”

And, as I sit here this morning, noodling on this great song’s final line, I’m not thinking I am in a “lost sheep” state. Don’t believe I’ve gone astray or have taken a wrong turn recently. But I do believe, apart from the abiding grace of God, I could. Like the hymn-writer put it, “Prone to wander, LORD I feel it.”

So there is a measure of comfort knowing that straying sheep can cry out to seeking Shepherd. No confidence in my ability to find my way back, but confidence in His ability, and desire, to call me back to Himself . . . and that, hearing the Shepherd’s voice, this sheep, by His grace, will follow that voice back to safety. Confident, that should the need so arise, the Shepherd might even hoist this confused and turned around little lamb upon His shoulders and carry him back to green pastures.

Seek Your servant.

Not to presume upon it . . . but to rest in it. I serve a Savior who seeks the lost . . . and retrieves those who wander. The grace of God is not a “once and done” deal . . . but the well is deep. And should I lose my way a bit . . . because I have loved and known His Word, I know that I too can cry out, “Come find me.”

O’, what a psalm . . . O’ what a Savior . . . O’ what a Great Shepherd!

To Him be all glory!

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God Has My Back

Posted on June 20, 2014 by Pete

While I believe that I need to work out my own salvation with fear and trembling (Php. 2:12), I also believe that it is God who has begun a good work in me and that He will complete it. While I believe that I need to make every effort to add to my faith things pertaining to holiness and godliness (2Peter 1:5), I also believe that I can rest in the finished work of Christ and that, I am already complete in Him (Col. 2:10 NKJV). Such, I believe is the essence of the work of sanctification. What He has declared me to be positionally in Christ, that is, holy and set apart, I am to work at being practically, through the power and transforming agency of His Holy Spirit.

His finished work . . . our work in progress. Two dynamics at play in the Christian life.

And for this reason, as I read this morning, Paul would determine to “press on to make it my own” . . . he would forget what lied behind him and strain forward to what lied ahead . . . he would “press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus”. He was, as they say, in it to win it. Though the battle had already been fought and the victory already won, he was determined to make it his own “because Christ has made me His own” (Php. 3:12-14).

And I think about what it means for me . . . and the huge responsibility that’s mine to run the race and navigate towards the prize. What if I get it wrong? What if I miss something? What if I don’t quite “rightly divide the Word” in some matter? In Paul’s encouragement this morning, I’m also reminded that God has my back . . .

Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.    (Philippians 3:15-16 ESV)

God, through Paul, makes it clear that running the race of faith isn’t just for some, but for all “who are mature.” It’s just right thinking for those born again . . . for those adopted into the family . . . for those brought into the kingdom. But, says Paul, if someone doesn’t quite get it, God will reveal that too. The implication being that in revealing the immature thinking, He will also correct “less than best” thinking. That, having given us the mind of Christ through the Spirit of God, He will bring that mind to bear.

I don’t need to fret about having it all figured out perfectly, because, if I’m sincere about seeking the things of the kingdom, God has my back . . . and my mind . . .

Jesus said that for those who ask, they will receive . . . that for those who seek, they will find . . . that for those who knock, the door will be open. So, for those who desire to work our their salvation, those who are sincere about adding to their faith, God will work our transformation by the renewing of our minds (Rom. 12:2) . . . He will lead us into truth . . . He will reveal right thinking to us.

Mine is to seek . . . by faithfully reading, studying, and meditating on His Word. Mine is to ask . . . prayerfully submitting myself to the illumination and revelation of the Holy Spirit. Mine is to knock . . . believing that God desires to open the portals of heaven itself to His children. And mine is to lean in to the goal . . . to press on for the prize . . . to make it my own . . . to know, experimentally, the fullness of this new life I have in Christ

And I do it by His grace . . . and I do it for His glory.

Amen?

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The Surpassing Worth

Posted on June 19, 2014 by Pete

His was a bio that would certainly rise to the top of the “who’s who” in the world he grew up in. His bloodline was a good line. From an infant his parents dotted the i’s and crossed the t’s to ensure that he would get on the right track. He was smart . . . always at the top of his class . . . always given advance placement and accepted into the classes of the best teachers. Not only was he smart, but he had a great, internally driven, work ethic . . . pursuing what he pursued passionately . . . accomplishing what he accomplished because he believed in it. According to the values of the world he grew up in, he was tracking for great success. But he gave it all up . . . because he discovered something better . . . something of surpassing worth.

If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness, under the law blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ . . . (Philippians 3:4b – 8 ESV)

Paul had it all . . . and yet he’d give it all up for the sake of Christ . . . that he might gain Christ . . . for the surpassing worth of knowing Christ.

Peterson translates it “the high privilege” in The Message, but it’s more than just a statement of privilege. Look at any of the major translations and the idea is that of relative superiority. Knowing Christ is of “surpassing value” in the NASB . . . it is of “surpassing greatness” in the NIV . . . it is “the excellence” in the NKJV . . . it is, to refer to one of Jesus’ parables, that “one pearl of great value” that is worth selling everything else for (Matt. 13:45-46). It is, to use a more modern term, over the top!

Pause for a moment and reflect on the relative worth of what it is to know “Christ Jesus my Lord.”

Not just know about Jesus, but to know Jesus experimentally . . . through encounter and through experience. To have the active agency of His blessed Spirit at work in us to give us the mind of Christ through the inspired word of God. By that same Spirit, to interact with Him as we draw near in the secret through prayer or, as we draw near with His people through worship. And beyond that, His Spirit engaging our spirit throughout the day, 24/7, such that we know the reality of communion with the One who would claim us as His own. How much is that worth? It is of surpassing worth.

To know Christ Jesus my Lord. To know Christ, the promised Messiah . . . the anointed . . . God’s holy Servant come to do His will . . . the Son of God . . . King of Kings. To know Jesus, He who name means Savior . . . come as perfect man to redeem fallen man . . . come as the Lamb of God to give His life as a ransom for many . . . come as the Great Shepherd to gather His flock . . . come as the Bridegroom to make ready for Himself His bride. To know my Lord . . . mine . . . me, individually and personally . . . to know my Sovereign . . . and bow the knee to Him who alone is worthy of the highest places of my heart and soul. To know Him . . . that is of surpassing worth.

And when you’ve identified that which is most excellent . . . that which is of greatest value . . . that which is of surpassing worth . . . everything else kind of falls in place. That which needs to be scrapped, we’ll scrap for the surpassing worth of knowing Christ. That which needs to be pushed down in the priority list of things to do, will find it’s lower place for the surpassing worth of know Jesus. That which needs to be given a pass we’ll take a rain check on because of the surpassing worth of knowing my Lord.

In order that I might gain Christ . . .

By His grace . . . for His glory . . .

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