Sound Doctrine Required
Posted by jerrywhite on May 19, 2010
For the time is coming when people will not endure sound (healthy) teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passion, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
2 Timothy 4:3-4 (ESV)
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The day when many who profess Christ will not endure sound doctrine is upon us. Many strange winds are blowing upon the church. In our day of instant gratification, pleasure seeking, and quick fixes, many professing Christians will not take time to diligently seek, study, meditate and pray over God’s Word so they can understand with mind and heart the vital doctrines of God. Too easily some accept what sounds spiritual from a winsome personality, when in fact it does not match up with God breathed Scriptures. Basic principles of Biblical interpretation are ignored. Fundamental truths the apostles considered crucial are overlooked. Many active in church cannot articulate sound doctrine and cannot even think straight about essential truth. Worse, these truths are not even considered important. “Don’t disturb me with what God truly says, I just want a happy and comfortable life.” The result is that many professing believers hold to a hodge-podge of beliefs that have absolutely no Biblical foundation.
We can show our love for the Lord Jesus by studying His Word so we understand exactly what He says and means. By this our lives can line up with His revealed truth. Otherwise we are spiritually crippled and cannot grow into His likeness. Truth is not about what makes us feel good; it is about what our Lord precisely says so we can stand upon solid Biblical truth, obey His clear commands, and rest upon His glorious promises.
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“It was doctrine in the apostolic ages which emptied the heathen temples, and shook Greece and Rome. It was doctrine which awoke Christendom from its slumbers at the time of the Reformation and spoiled the Pope of one-third of his subjects. It is doctrine which gives power to every successful mission, whether at home or abroad. It is doctrine – doctrine, clear ringing doctrine – which like the rams’ horns at Jericho, casts down the opposition of the devil and sin.”
J. C. Ryle (1816-1900)
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Dependence Plus Discipline
Posted by jerrywhite on Feb 15, 2010
“Dependence is critical, but there is no growth in the Christian life apart from discipline and self-control (‘discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness’ [1 Timothy 4:7]). Spirituality is not instantaneous or haphazard; it is developed and refined. The Epistles are full of commands to believe, obey, walk, present, fight, reckon, hold fast, pursue, draw near, and love. The spiritual life is progressively cultivated in the disciplines of the faith; you and I will not wake up one morning to find ourselves suddenly spiritual. This is why Paul uses the metaphors of an athlete, a soldier, and a farmer to illustrate the discipline of the Christian life (see 1 Corinthians 9:24-27; Ephesians 6:10-18; 2 Timothy 2:3-60). We grow in godliness as we hear and obediently respond to the Word. Spiritual maturity is characterized by the ability to recognize and apply the principles of Scripture to daily experience (Hebrews 5:11-14). The Bible comes alive when its precepts are put into practice, but this does not happen apart from human choice. We must choose to have our minds and emotions guided and strengthened by the Holy Spirit.”
Kenneth Boa
Conformed to His Image, 76
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Make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 1:5-8 (ESV)
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Every Olympic athlete’s goal is to win. For this he trains diligently through persistent discipline. A lazy one will not qualify, much less win. Every Christian’s goal should be to know the Lord Jesus Christ with deeper intimacy and progressively become like Him. This will not happen if a believer will not “make every effort” through discipline. So teaches God’s Word quite clearly. Desire plus discipline plus dependence equals fulfillment. The sheer delight of discovering the Lord Jesus more intimately fuels the fire of desire. The reward exceedingly outweighs the investment. Jesus walked this way. His yoke is easy.
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Morning Confession
Posted by jerrywhite on Feb 4, 2010
The value of renewing your intimate relationship with and commitment to the Lord Jesus day by day cannot be overestimated. The enemy waits like a crouching lion looking for any opportunity to pounce upon you when he senses you are in a weakened spiritual state. When you neglect renewing regularly your heart devotion and desire for the Lord, it gives the enemy an opening to devour your spiritual well being. The devil knows your every weakness and therefore knows exactly where he should attack to rob you of God’s best for you. He is always stalking you, and this is why God says we must be sober and vigilant (1 Peter 5:8). Nearness to the Shepherd is the only safe place for His sheep to be protected from the stalking lion. A morning confession is very helpful, not as a thoughtless ritual, but rather as a genuine heart expression of your desire to live dead to your self-life and totally under the Holy Spirit’s control.
I have my own confession that expresses my inward longing for the Lord Jesus to be glorified in me.
HCG. Moule (1841-1920) used the following Morning Confession:
I believe on the Son of God, therefore I am in Him, having redemption through His blood and life by His Spirit.
He is in me and all fullness is in Him.
To Him I belong by creation, purchase, conquest and self-surrender;
To me He belongs for all my hourly need.
There is no cloud between my Lord and me.
There is no difficulty inward or outward which he is not ready to meet in me today.
I believe I have received not the spirit of fearfulness, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. The Lord is my Keeper. Amen.
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I love you, O Lord, my strength.
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.
Psalm 18: 1-3 (ESV)
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Patience In Growth
Posted by jerrywhite on Oct 8, 2009
Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.
Philippians 3:12 (ESV)
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“In a culture that promotes instant gratification, it can be wearisome for us to wait patiently for God’s timing. Many of us are tempted to bypass grace and take matters into our own hands as we seek some method, technique, seminar, or experience that will give us the results we want when we want them. But we are as incapable of changing ourselves through our own efforts as we are of manipulating God to transform us more quickly.
In his grace, the Lord invites us to cooperate with the formative work of his Holy Spirit in our lives by engaging in the disciplines of faith, repentance, and obedience and by trusting in his ways and in his timing. Inevitably, God’s timing will seem painfully slow to us, but as we grow in wisdom, we learn to be more patient with the divine process, knowing that he alone knows what we need and when we need it. Thus spiritual formation is nourished by years of disciplined fidelity to the sovereign call of God. Indeed, we will fail and disobey and do many foolish and grievous things throughout the process, but fidelity means that we get up and return to Jesus each time we fall. ‘Each day has enough trouble of its own’ (Matthew 6:34). May we allow the ordinary demands of everyday living to drive us to the grace of Jesus, to the love of the Father, and to the fellowship of the Spirit (2 Corinthians13:14).
Kenneth Boa
Conformed to His Image, 258-259
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Dear Christian reader, press on persistently to know the Lord Jesus; seek His face regularly that your heart may gaze upon Him; exercise discipline habitually so that you fully cooperate with Him in your transformation; and love Him passionately so that your heart stays close to Him. Be settled in your heart: This is a lifelong process.
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Desire Requires Discipline
Posted by jerrywhite on Feb 2, 2009
Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness.
1 Timothy 4:7 (NASB)
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“Neglecting time alone with your Lord will impoverish you. You will be drawn away by your own selfish desires, the attraction of the world, and the ruthless attack of the enemy. One cannot continue in fullness if he or she does not continue drinking of His life, and this requires self-discipline. Thirst must find expression through self-discipline because discipline is necessary for godliness (1 Timothy 4:7). Sometimes Christians confuse discipline with legalism. The Olympic athlete with his eye on a gold medal is not legalistic because he disciplines himself for the purpose of winning, but rather he is self-disciplined because he wants to win. Longing to be the best motivates him to prepare for the competition, and that is not always easy. If you have your heart set on the goal of knowing and seeing God and becoming like Jesus, then discipline is necessary in order to fulfill your desire. You will have to make choices against an enemy whose intent is to rob you of a close and affectionate relationship with Jesus. The devil will even use good things to hinder you. Jesus let nothing, even ministry to the masses and the needs of suffering humanity and lost people dying and going to hell, keep Him from necessary time alone with His heavenly Father (Luke 5:15-16).”
Author
The Spirit and Presence of Christ, pp. 98-99
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My dear loving Father, stir in me such deep and strong thirst that I cannot help but run from this worldly desert to heaven’s flowing river in order to drink deeply of Your life-giving refreshment. Amen!
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