PREACHING TO MYSELF FOR MY FAITH'S SAKE

“Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” 1 Timothy 6:12 ESV

If there is one thing every one of us need these days it is faith. That vibrant heart-faith and childlike trust in the risen, supernatural Christ- the kind of faith that changes the way you live, talk, and feel. Satan wants to snatch this more than anything else, for he knows “the righteous shall live by faith”(Rom.1: 17). He knows that “without faith it is impossible to please God.”(Hebrews 11: 6) He knows that real faith is our lifeline to God’s grace and power. If he can sever the “faith connection”, he has gained a tremendous victory.

No wonder why Paul exhorts us to "fight the good fight of faith”. Fighting the fight of faith is the struggle to keep the faith. Every day is a battle to treasure Christ above all else, to keep on believing God, to keep on trusting his promises, to stay faithful, and to lay hold of eternal life over the promises of sin.

Paul Tripp writes,
The battle is in your mind where you are constantly involved in an internal conversation that greatly influences the things you decide, say, and do...What do you regularly tell yourself about yourself, God, and your circumstances? Do your words to you encourage faith, hope, and courage? Or do they stimulate doubt, discouragement, and fear? Do you remind yourself that God is near, or do you reason within yourself, given your circumstances, that he must be distant? Do you encourage yourself to run to God even when you don't understand what he's doing? Or do you give yourself permission to back away from him when you are confused by the seeming distance between what he's promised and what you're experiencing?....When others talk to you, is your internal conversation so loud that it's hard to concentrate on what they're saying?

So how do we fight these thoughts that lead to despair, anxiety, and unbelief? We fight by preaching to ourselves the Word of God instead of listening to our unbelieving selves speak. I learned this from Martyn Lloyd Jones in his book Spiritual Depression based upon Psalm 42. Listen to what he says. It has helped me greatly.

Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself? Take those thoughts that come to you the moment you wake up in the morning. You have not originated them, but they start talking to you, they bring back the problems of yesterday, etc. Somebody is talking. Who is talking? Your self is talking to you. Now this man’s treatment was this; instead of allowing this self to talk to him, he starts talking to himself. ‘Why art thou cast down, O my soul?’ he asks. His soul had been depressing him, crushing him. So he stands up and says: ‘Self, listen for a moment, I will speak to you.’… The main art in the matter of spiritual living is to know how to handle yourself. You have to take yourself in hand, you have to address yourself, preach to yourself, question yourself. You must say to your soul: ‘Why art thou cast down’– what business have you to be disquieted? You must turn on yourself, upbraid yourself, condemn yourself, exhort yourself, and say to yourself: ‘Hope thou in God’– instead of muttering in this depressed, unhappy way. And then you must go on to remind yourself of God, Who God is, and what God is and what God has done, and what God has pledged Himself to do.”

That is exactly what we must do. I have discovered that most of my unhappiness in life is due to the fact that I listen to myself instead of talking to myself! What we have each day is an internal conversation that never ends. It is ceaseless. It continues always within us. And so each day, throughout the day, we have two simple choices: We can either spend the day listening to ourselves, listening to ourselves in our constantly changing feelings and circumstantial interpretations, or we can spend each day talking to ourselves. We can talk truth to ourselves. We can preach the gospel to ourselves.

My mind cannot be trusted and my circumstances often lie to me. They informing me that God isn't sovereign, God isn't wise, God isn't kind, God isn't active, God isn't present, God doesn't love me, God isn't for me, in fact, he has forgotten me. Do you ever think that way?

THIS IS A BATTLE THAT I FACE EVERY DAY OF MY LIFE! Therefore, my only hope for victory is to preach to myself. It is what I do when I am afraid, stressed, defeated, discouraged, depressed, tempted, losing hope, feeling useless, abandoned, lost, and overcome. I pull out my sword of God’s word, God’s promises and weld it against my mind.

Charles Spurgeon wrote the following about welding God's promises,

God's promises were never meant to be thrown aside as waste paper; He intended that they should be used.... Nothing pleases our Lord better than to see His promises put in circulation; He loves to see His children bring them up to Him, and say, "Lord, do as you have said." We glorify God when we plead His promises. Do you think that God will be any the poorer for giving you the riches He has promised? Do you dream that He will be any the less holy for giving holiness to you? Do you imagine He will be any the less pure for washing you from your sins? He has said, "Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord, though your sins...be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." Faith lays hold upon the promise of pardon, and it does not delay, saying, "This is a precious promise, I wonder if it be true?" but it goes straight to the throne with it, and pleads, "Lord, here is the promise, do as You have said." Our Lord replies, "Be it unto you even as you will." When a Christian grasps a promise, if he does not take it to God, he dishonours Him; but when he hastens to the throne of grace, and cries, "Lord, I have nothing to recommend me but this, You have said it;" then his desire shall be granted. Our heavenly Banker delights to cash His own notes. Never let the promise rust. Draw the word of promise out of its scabbard, and use it with holy violence. Think not that God will be troubled by your importunately reminding Him of His promises. He loves to hear the loud outcries of needy souls. It is His delight to bestow favors. He is more ready to hear than you are to ask....It is God's nature to keep His promises; therefore go at once to the throne with, "Do as you have said."

Let me give you some of my favorite weapons I use to preach to myself against my unbelieving thoughts:

• Psalm 16:8 have set the LORD always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.
• Psalm 23:1-6, “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever.
• Psalm 27:13 – 14, “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living. Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD! “
• Psalm 31:14-16, “But as for me, I trust in You, O LORD; I say, "You are my God." My times are in Your hand; Deliver me from the hand of my enemies, And from those who persecute me. Make Your face shine upon Your servant; Save me for Your mercies' sake."
• Psalm 46:1-2, “God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear.”
• Psalm 50:15, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me."
• Psalm 55:22, “Cast your burden on the LORD, And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.”
• Psalm 57:2, “I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me.”
• Psalm 73:25-26, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
• Psalm 112:6-8, “For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered forever. He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD. His heart is steady; he will not be afraid.”
• Psalm 121:1 – 8, “I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 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. The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.”
• Psalm 123:1-3, “To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens! Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he has mercy upon us. Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us.”
• Matthew 28:20, “behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
• Matthew 7:7-8, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened."
• Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
• John 6:35 “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”
• John 14:1-3 , “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
• Romans 8:28, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
• 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, “We do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”
• Philippians 1:21, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
• Hebrews 13:5-6, "I will never leave you nor forsake you” So we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?"
• 1 Peter 5:7, “Cast all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”
  

These are but a few of my weapons that I use to preach to myself and fight the good fight of faith.
Pastor Bill

YOU ARE GREATLY LOVED BY GOD

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. 1 John 3:1

Do you feel loved by God today? Some days I don't. Often times I measure His love for me by how well I perform and live the Christian life. Other times I measure it by whether or not I feel His love for me. this of course is conditioned by my emotional history, my circumstances, my mental and emotional health, and how I understand Him. How do you know if God loves you? The place that I constantly must return to is His word, especially 1 John 3:1.

George Matheson was a 19th century Scottish pastor. He was born with an eye defect that left him totally blind by age 18. Shortly after this, his fiancee left him, deciding she would not be content to be married to a blind preacher. Years later, at age 40, Matheson was alone on the night of his sister’s wedding. Something happened, perhaps the memory of being rejected by his own fiancee years before, that caused him severe mental suffering and duress. Suddenly, the words of a hymn came to him as if dictated by some inward voice. The whole thing was done in five minutes and he never had to edit or correct it. The first verse is: O love that will not let me go, I rest my weary soul in You. I give You back the life I owe that in Your ocean-depths its flow May richer, fuller be.”

The third verse reflects Matheson’s experience of God’s love through suffering: ‘O joy that seeks me through pain, I cannot close my heart to You; I trace the rainbow through the rain, and feel the promise is not vain that morning shall tearless be.” In his blindness and loneliness, perhaps feeling forsaken by the love of a woman, Matheson sought and found comfort in the unchanging love of God. Although human love is wonderful, it is incomparable to God’s love. It is the most life-changing force in entire universe.

This is what causes John to joyfully exclaim, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us” John, in his writings, thinks often of God’s love. As you look at the Gospel of John it would seem that John was overwhelmed with the thought that he was loved by God. In John 3:16 he records the words of the Lord Jesus, “God so loved the world” and reveals the measure of God’s love. As you look at the Epistle of 1 John it would seem that even in his old age he was still amazed by the fact that he was loved by God. His words show us that…

A. The Father’s love for you is meant to be seen! I want to draw your attention to one word: “See”. It may not immediately impact you but it should. It is rich, powerful, and life-changing. This is John’s passionate exclamation and command to all of us. “See” is often translated, “behold”. As an exclamation, “see” shows that the Fathers great love is meant to amaze us, but in order to be amazed by it, God’s love is meant to be seen. God desires it to consume our thoughts and control our behavior. He wants our seeing His love to motivate us to serve Him and to live holy lives. He wants the sight of His love to give us comfort in all our trials. He desires his love to fill us with the eager hope of being with Him in heaven.

John is so amazed, awestruck, humbled, joyful, and excited that he invites us to join him and “see what manner of love the Father has given to us”. Look at it, be staggered by it, feel the wonder of it, be amazed and astonished by it- the depth, the quality, the commitment of His heart to you and for you.

B. The Father’s love for you is meant to instruct you “See” is not only a passionate exclamation, it is also a command. “Stop everything else! Look at this! Think about it! Reflect upon this! Fill your minds with this truth! Ponder the significance of it!” John does not just speak of the fact that God loves you, but how God loves you! The word translated, “what kind” is the Greek word “potapen” that originally meant, “of what country, or race”. It is the same word spoken about Jesus in Matthew 8:27 after He calmed the storm out at sea and they said “what sort of man is this that even the wind and the seas obey Him?” What they saw the Lord do amazed them. When they saw the miracle, they thought, This man is out of this world. What we saw is strange and foreign. They had never seen anyone do what they saw Him do. John says that the kind of love that He has shown to us, when seen and reflected upon, leaves us speechless and amazed. It is the kind of love that leaves us saying “Wow”! It is as if John thinks about the Father’s great love and says, “Where does this come from? It must be from heaven, because there’s nothing like it in this world!” It is supernatural, divine, peculiar, unique, stands out, incomparable, exceedingly beautiful and compelling.

What kind of love is it? The heavenly, infinite, gracious, divine, supernatural love of the Father and He wants us to know it, understand it, see and savor it! Is it no wonder why Paul prays in Philippians 1:9? “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight.” Or in Ephesians 3:17-19, “…I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

A habit of devout, thankful meditation on God’s great love lies at the foundation of all vigorous, happy Christian living. This is why John makes this a command. It is the grace given, grace enabled, love caused, and wonderful duty of the believer to see and savor the love of God.

John Owen, the great Puritan, wrote that the revelation of God and His great love “deserves the severest of our thoughts, the best of our meditations, and our utmost diligence in them.” If you had a friend in New York, but you never thought about this friend and never communicated with him, that friendship would fade and not have much significance in your life. Friendship maintained and built always requires great effort. For the friendship to affect you, you must think often about this friend and what he means to you and spend time with him. That is why John Owen suggests that “Friendship with God is most maintained and kept up by visits”. Oh how we need regular visits with God to stoke the fires of our love!

C. The Father’s love for you is lavished to you as a gift! “See what kind of love the Father has given to us” (Verse 1c). John puts this in a very interesting way. Notice John does not just say says that this love been shown us, revealed to us, manifested to us, or spoken about to us; even though He has done all of that. John says God has gone even further- He has given His love to us! The word speaks many things.

First, it speaks of the measure of God’s love to us; it could more literally be translated lavished on us. Romans 5:4 tells us that, “the love of God is being constantly poured into us by the Holy Spirit”. Second, it speaks of the manner of God’s giving of love. Giving has the idea of a one-sided giving, instead of a return for something earned or deserved. God’s love is purely a gift that comes from His undeserved favor, or grace. We see Paul emphasizing that out of this world love in action in Romans 5. First he says in verse 6, “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” Further, in verse 8, he adds, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Even then he does not exhaust this miracle. He goes on in verse 10, “while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son.” Add up the terms: we were helpless, ungodly, sinners, and enemies of God. His great love is demonstrated in that He sent His Son to die for us while we were in such an awful condition! That is why John cries, “What amazing love!” But John takes God’s love even deeper and farther…

“that we should be called children of God; and so we are” (verse 1b) The greatness of God’s love is magnified to the highest level because of what it not only shows but even more so for what it does! He called us and made us to be called children of God. This is why John is so amazed! Are you ?

John wants us to feel the wonder of it today. This means we are no longer to let the world define you. (John says that they don’t have a clue at the end of this verse). Don’t let people define you. Don’t let yourself define you. Let God define you! The truth will set you free to live in love and truth. You are to think this way brethren: I am loved and I am a Child of God!

There is no other word for God’s love than amazing. It is a love that leaves us standing in awe. It is a love like no other. It is a love that makes us a son of God. It is a love by which God calls us His son. Christians, to the degree that you behold the free grace of God, to the degree that you meditate on it and you let it become a holy fire in your heart, to the degree you experience and behold the love of God, to that degree you are going to agree with John and say and feel “How great is the love of God!”

Pastor Bill

SEEING THE BEAUTY OF HIS KINDNESS TOWARDS YOU

" Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you…" (Romans 11:22)

Why do millions of people travel to Hawaii, the Grand Canyon, or Yosemite? Why do I feel happy when I look at my latest National Geographic and its photos of nature or Surfer Magazine and its photos of waves. Why do people admire singers, actors, sports stars, and models? I believe that it is because the essence of humanness is the appetite for great beauty.

I have previously mentioned that the great tragedy of the human race is that we were made to find our supreme joy by admiring God in his infinite beauty; but because of our spiritual blindness admire things that are less than and less satisfying than the enjoyment of God to satisfy our insatiable craving to admire greatness and beauty.

The irony of our sinfulness is that God put us within sight of Kauai and we have chosen to stay home and watch DVD's of downtown Watts. If we are honest, as the question goes, "Are we having fun yet", we aren't! Every single person here knows that it hasn't worked. All of my scenic vacations and pictures and movie stars, models, and rock stars can never satisfied the deepest longings of our heart. At best they give some pleasure, and make the drudgery and emptiness of life a little more livable; but they are incomparable to seeing the beauty of Jesus Christ!

Jonathan Edwards wrote:
“The enjoyment of God is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to Heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. Fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, or children, or the company of earthly friends, are but shadows; but God is the substance. These are but scattered beams, but God is the sun. These are but streams, but God is the ocean.”

If your life is boring, empty, without happiness, without significance, and without a fulfilling direction, it is because you do not see Jesus Christ, for who he really is. Some of you see him scarcely at all, perhaps. Others have such a pitifully small and sentimental picture of Him on the wall of your mind that you are starving for the real thing.

I have previously stated Jesus is beautiful because He has a glory, an excellence, a supreme beauty-that as you read the Bible is self-authenticatingly true. That is to say, when you see Him there is a direct and personal apprehension and appreciation of the beauty that you see. It’s like seeing the sun and knowing that it is light, or tasting honey and knowing that it is sweet. There is a direct apprehension and attraction once you see Jesus that affects your thinking, your will, and your feelings, it goes deep and does something to your very soul. It changes your life.

What makes Jesus Christ so precious, so beautiful, and so glorious is what Jonathan Edwards calls “an admirable conjunction of diverse excellencies". It is a unique coming together in one person of extremely diverse qualities. The depth and complexity of Jesus shatter our mental frameworks. Where is the beauty of Jesus? What is God for us in Jesus?

The apostle Paul opens for us a window in God's word and points to the beauty of Jesus Christ. We are encouraged by him to "Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you…" (Romans 11:22). The Amplified Bible translates it: "Note and appreciate the gracious kindness and the severity of God”. The NKJV translates it: “Consider the goodness and severity of God”.

Literally, the apostle Paul is exhorting us to “look” at something. Look at what? Look at two things: the kindness of God and the severity of God. Or we could say: look at the mercy of God and the wrath of God. Look at the tenderness of God and the toughness of God. Look at the salvation of God and the judgment of God. Look at the assistance of God and the opposition of God. Look at the friendship of God and the fierceness of God.

This reminds me of a corny old Frank Sinatra song called Love and Marriage. Maybe you remeber it as the theme song to the old TV show Married With Children. The lyrics went like this:
Love and marriage, love and marriage,
fit together like a horse and carriage.
This I tell you brother,
you can't have one without the other.
Try, try, try to separate them It's an illusion.
Try, try, try, and you will only come to this conclusion
Love and marriage, love and marriage
Go together like a horse and carriage
Dad was told by mother
You can't have one without the other.

In a deeper and true sense, the kindness and severity of God fit together like a horse and carriage and you can't have one without the other. Try to separate them and it is an illusion. The goodness and mercy and grace of God go together with the justice and severity and wrath of God. They are all part of who He really is and are what make Him so full of infinite worth and beauty.

Many people today do not undewrastand and see this. Thus, they overemphasize love, mercy, and kindness and underemphasize(If they even mention or think at all of it) God’s severity, justice, judgment, and wrath. When the Bible says, "Note the kindness and the severity of God," we should do that. “Oh, how comfortable is a little glimpse of God!” said David Brainard.

We cannot study the kindness of Christ without also encountering His severity. We cannot savor His mercy without savoring His severity. We cannot savor His grace without savoring His justice. We cannot savor His kindness without savoring his wrath. Sheldon Vanauken coined it well. He called it a “severe mercy or a merciful severeness”.

The word "kindness" here means "kindness, mercifulness, gentleness, goodness." God is kind, gentle, merciful, and good. But God is more than that. He is also severe. The word "severity" means "rigor, sharpness," even "harshness." God is both: He is kind, gentle and good, but He is also rigorous, sharp, and harsh. We see this demonstrated in the person of Jesus Christ.

So this week let us look at the kindness of Jesus. I love what John Piper writes about the mercy of Jesus. I quote at length what he wrote about it in his book Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ is the incarnate display of the wealth of the mercies of God. His life on earth was a lavish exhibit of mercies to all kinds of people. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth… For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (John1:14; 2 Corinthians 4:6) The glory of God seen in Jesus is full of grace, mercy, kindness, and goodness. Mercy is the goodness of God shown to those who are in a miserable plight. Grace is God’s goodness given to those who don’t deserve it. Every act of grace shown to a sinner is also an act of mercy because his sin brings misery. And every act of mercy shown to a person because of his miserable plight is an act of grace because he does not deserve it. When God shows mercy he shows grace and vice-verse. That’s what we see in Jesus!

Every kind of need and pain was touched by the mercies of Jesus in his few years on earth. When the blind beggar cried out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" many were embarrassed and indignant. But Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has made you whole.”(Luke 18:38, 42). When the revolting and feared lepers raised their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” He stopped and took pity on them and said, “Go and show yourselves to the priests. And as they were going, they were cleansed" (Luke 17:13-14).

Even more remarkably, Mark recalls the time another dreaded leper fell on his knees pleading with Jesus to make him clean, and Jesus not only spoke to him, but also touched him: "Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, `I am willing; be cleansed"' (Mark 1:41). When Jesus saw a widow who had not only lost her husband but now her only son as well, Luke tells us, "[Jesus] felt compassion for her, and said to her, `Do not weep"' (Luke 7:13). Then he raised her son from the dead. And in this case, not a word was said about her faith. It was a free and lavish overflow of divine mercy, even before faith.

Mercy also drew Jesus to those who were made miserable by demons. One man brought his demon-possessed son to Jesus after years of sorrow. The boy was unable to speak, and the evil spirit often threw the boy into the fire. The father pleaded with Jesus, "Take pity on us and help us!" (Mark 9:22). And even though the grieving father could only manage a mustard seed of faith-"I do believe; help my unbelief" (Mark 9:24). Jesus responded to the cry for pity and rebuked the spirit and cast it out.

Not only was the mercy of Jesus kindled by suffering, but also by sin. When Jesus ate with "tax collectors and sinners," the Pharisees and scribes criticized him. But Jesus told three parables to explain what he was doing. One was the parable of the prodigal son. The climax of this parable pictures God, filled with compassion for his sin-soaked, home-coming son: "While [the son] was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him" (Luke 15:20). In other words, Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners because he was the incarnate display of the Father's tender compassion for sinners.

Jesus showed this compassion not only for individuals who sin and suffer, but also for whole multitudes. He did not look on masses with contempt or with impersonal indifference. Once when great crowds had followed him and had not planned well for their food, Jesus looked on them and said, "I feel compassion for the people because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat" (Mark 8:2). On another occasion, it was not their hunger but their spiritual need that filled him with such compassion for the crowds: "He saw a large crowd, and he felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things.” (Mark 6:34)

This compassionate and merciful "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8). This is why God, who is called "the Father of mercies" (2 Corinthians 1:3), beckons us to come boldly to his throne through Jesus Christ who can "sympathize with our weaknesses" (Hebrews 4:15). Jesus is our sinless, all-sufficient High Priest. He has offered himself as our substitute in perfect obedience and perfect sacrifice. All of the Father’s mercies belong to those who come to God through faith in Jesus. “Therefore, let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16).The place where mercies are kept is at the throne of God. Here is the source of infinite help and infinite wealth and infinite power and infinite wisdom in our time of need. And all this stands ready in the service of mercy, because of Jesus Christ, the mercy of God incarnate. "The Lord is full of compassion and is merciful" (James 5:11).

O would you consider the kindness, the mercy, the goodness, and grace of Jesus Christ! May you see the mercy of Christ and savor it for what it is. May the mercy of Jesus become the greatest beauty of the Savior in our eyes. Let us behold, and beholding, become like him. Make we seek to be filled with His mercy that we might show mercy.

Seeing and savoring the beauty of Jesus' mercy,
Pastor Bill

ENTRANCED BY GOD'S BEAUTY!

There is something about my favorite National Park:Yosemite. I guess you would have to have visited it to understand my exuberance about this magical and majestic place. If you haven't been there, make sure you do. You don't want to miss it! Yosemite National Park, in my highly subjective yet humble opinion, is one of the most beautiful places in the world. I love the very first sight you get when you drive through the long tunnel and come out at the Bridal Veil Falls Overlook. You can take in the whole lower valley and see Half Dome in the distance as well as Bridal Veil Falls to your right. Ii never ceases to take my breadth away!

There is such a glory to Yosemite's natural splendor. There are sheer faced granite cliffs such as El Captian that seem to be a mile high and luminous water falls such as Vernal Falls and Nevada Falls. Yosemite is one of those rare places where words and pictures won’t do. It can’t be described. You must see it and take it in. It has to be experienced for yourself.

Psalm 19 tells me that there is not only beauty like Yosemite, but that there is a source of that beauty. Listen to what David writes:

"The heavens declare the glory of God,and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech,and night to night reveals knowledge.There is no speech, nor are there words,whose voice is not heard.Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun,which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.Its rising is from the end of the heavens,and its circuit to the end of them,and there is nothing hidden from its heat."
Psalm 19:1-6

Whenever you see water falls, mountain peaks, granite walls, and awesome sunsets, they are but a representation, a picture, a reflection of the beauty, the glory of God. The Lord has ordained in His great plans and purposes ways to express His beauty and makes His glory known. The Psalmist David, whom we learned last week had an insatiable longing to see the Lord's beauty, celebrates the fact that as he looks up in the sky, that nature is one way by which God's glory would be made known.

Owen Strachen and Doug Sweeny in their wonderful new book Jonathan Edwards on Beauty (Which I most heartily recommend!) say,

"God exists as the resplendent one, but did not content Himself with mere self-appreciation of His beauty. Instead, He set in motion an arc of glory that began with Himself, moved to creation, continued with the incarnation of Christ, moved next to the church, the bride of Christ, and is consumated in heaven,Where the Holy Trinity dwells."

But there is a greater beauty that I have seen and experienced then Yosemite and nature, as much as it echo's God's beauty. What I see in Jesus Christ and in the universe because of Him, through the lens of Scripture, is more breathtaking than anything (And that is not hyperbole)!

All study of Jesus Christ in scripture should not lead to dead end dogma but speeds us down a one way street to worship.To see Jesus Christ, after you catch your breath, is to breathe the uncommon air of the Yosemite's of revelation. John Piper says,

And the refreshment that you get from this high, clear, Christ-entranced air does not take out of the valleys of suffering, pain, and sorrow in this world, but fits you to spend your life there for the sake of love with invincible and worshipful joy.

When it comes to the beauty of Christ, who can adequately describe glory and beauty that is infinite and is therefore beyond description? There is no one like Christ in this regard. Charles Spurgeon has said it well:

Hope not, my brethren, that the preacher can grapple with such a subject. I am overcome by it. In my meditations I have felt lost in its lengths and breadths. My joy is great in my theme, and yet I am conscious of a pressure upon my brain and heart, for I am as a little child wandering among the stars. I stumble among sublimities, I sink amid glories. I can only point with my finger to that which I see, but cannot describe. May the Holy Spirit himself take of the things of Christ and show them unto you.

In his own observations and experience of seeing the beauty of Jesus and the things of Jesus, Octavious Winslow wrote:

Jesus is the most lovely, winning, wondrous object upon which the intelligent eye ever rested. Trace the points of attraction which meet in Jesus, and marvel not that when the eye fixes on them, the heart is irresistibly won, the soul is instantly dissolved, and the believer prostrates himself at the foot of the cross in the profoundest sense of his vileness before God. All loveliness, all excellence, all glory meet and center in Jesus the Crucified. He is the most wonderful, as He is the most beauteous and attractive being in the universe. All the infinite perfection of absolute Deity, all the finite excellence of impeccable humanity, concentrate in Christ.

Oh brothers and sisters. I feel like a guide on a sightseeing trip to Yosemite who knows that since people are longing to enjoy beauty, so I take them to Yosemite Falls. Once I get there I urge them to check it out, take it all in, and enjoy it.

That is why I write to you today and enthusiastically shout,

Oh Christian look up at the sky, look at nature and beauty all around you, open up the scripture and see the self-authenticating beauty of Jesus Christ. Until our hearts are freed from the blinding effects of sin,spiritual darkness, and self centered narcissism it is our duty to "Set our minds on things above, not on things of this earth" (Colossians 3:1)

If you would do this and look and reflect and enjoy the beauty of God you will experience what Jonathan Edwards so profoundly asserts:

“The enjoyment of God is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. Fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, or children, or the company of earthly friends, are but shadows; but God is the substance. These are but scattered beams, but God is the sun. These are but streams. But God is the ocean."

Entranced by and enjoying God's beauty,
Pastor Bill