FS Sunday Sermon Become Who You Already Are Realizing Our Identity in Christ
By: Gary Millar
I have no idea how many books I have read over the years — nor, if I am honest, can I remember all that much of what they contained. But there are a few books, and a few sentences in those books, that have lodged so deeply in my heart and mind that I can honestly say they have shaped my life in ways I can’t begin to describe.
One of those sentences is found in Martyn Lloyd-Jones’s expositions of Ephesians 1, God’s Ultimate Purpose. In those sermons, Lloyd-Jones repeatedly reminded his hearers, and then his readers like me, that “our greatest need is to become who we already are in Christ.” That single sentence changed everything for me as it opened up a whole new world of self-understanding.
The Truth That Anchors Us
The idea that I should be who I already am in Christ laid an entire foundation for my identity and constructed a pathway to security, significance, and satisfaction. It saved me no end of pain and confusion in my walk with the Lord Jesus Christ and has made me passionate to help new Christians discover their real identity in Christ. This desire also spilled over into a small book, Need to Know, which was thirty years in the making.
When people come to new life in Christ, our first instinct is to teach them to do. To read the Bible, attend church, become part of a small group, give, and so on. And of course, all these things are important. But there is a prior step. If we are to negotiate living for Christ in all the muck of life, if we are to cope with the ups and downs of our emotions, and the whims of circumstance, and the sheer pressure of our human brokenness, then the first step is to make sure that we know who we are as children of God, as those who have been united to the Lord Jesus Christ.
This is the truth that will enable us to get out of bed in the morning and face the delight and despair of our world. This is the truth that will enable us to cope with success and failure without missing a step. This is the truth that will set us up to walk humbly and confidently with Christ through the day, and enable us to reflect on the day that has passed with repentance and faith, and to go to sleep resting in the peace that flows from God’s forgiveness. Knowing ourselves through the gospel is just about the most practical, most necessary truth there is for flourishing in our messy world.
Living as Those Who Know God
The Bible says over and over again that we have been brought to new life in Christ, but are still works in progress — still scarred and influenced by sin, although not controlled by it. We have already been changed — our true selves are now bound up in Christ (Colossians 3:4) — but we still need to be finished. This is why we need to become who we already are. The closing verses of John’s first letter state this truth as powerfully as any part of Scripture:
We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. (1 John 5:18–20)
Who are we? John announces to us that as those who have believed the gospel of God, we have been born of God. We are from (or perhaps better, of) God. Quoting Jeremiah 31:34, John says we have been given understanding, which flows from our new covenant hearts and minds, so that we are now people who know God. And because of that, we need to make a break from sin and constantly put it to death.
This means that from the very beginning of our Christian lives, we need to grasp the fact that we are both justified and enduringly sinful, forgiven yet flawed, utterly secure yet left with much work to do, as we press on to that for which Christ Jesus has taken hold of us (Philippians 3:12).
Be Who You Already Are
The beautiful, new-covenant, satisfying, gospel-shaped life to which we have been introduced in Christ is the only life worth living. That’s why John adds this note to close his letter: “Little children, keep yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:21). There is a clear choice: live with the God of the gospel, realizing that we are new people who are being transformed by the gospel, or opt for the emptiness of idolatry. Knowing who we are in Christ enables us to make that choice day after day for our whole lives.
One of my great concerns is seeing new Christians well-grounded in the gospel. I know that often this is a time-critical process, as from a human perspective, there is a real risk of the seeds being snatched away rather than taking root (Mark 4:4).
Our identity in Christ is one of those critical truths that, if grasped early in our Christian life, will avert all kinds of problems and issues later on. In Christ, we get to know the God of the gospel, Father, Son, and Spirit. He is the God who speaks to us — not least about ourselves. For in the gospel, God tells us that we are already his, secure in Christ, and that having set us free from the power of sin, he is utterly committed to transforming still sinful people like us into the likeness of Jesus. Therefore, we can become who we already are.
Before getting to this weeks Sunday Sermon, I would like to share my story about my Father. I wrote this and it was read at my father’s funeral service —- Sheryl
The last 2 years and 3 months have been the most trying and the most rewarding years of my life. My husband & son have put up with me just dropping everything at home to go to Belchertown to help my parents with something.
Was my dad the perfect husband? No he wasn’t. Was my Dad the perfect father? No he wasn’t. But he was my father and I loved him. He spoke his mind and didn’t care what anyone thought. He thought he was right about everything and nothing you said could change his mind. You never knew what he was thinking because he never shared his emotions. He wasn’t very affectionate. In general, he didn’t seem to really like people.
But he changed after he had his first stroke in March of 2018. He became more emotional, he talked about his feelings more, he still felt he was always right about everything, but hey you can’t change a person overnight can you?
After his second stroke in July of 2018 he changed some more. He started forgetting things, he mellowed a little bit more, he didn’t like being alone and wanted to be around people, he started questioning if he did the right things in life. Saying he did what he thought was best at the time. Don’t get me wrong, he still had his moments of the former man he was but he had definitely changed. Over the next 22 months we watched him decline. He became more vulnerable. He became more emotional. He was doing his best to fix things around the house. He was fixing things that he said he should have done years ago. We realized that he was doing this for Mom, so the house would be ok for her to stay in when he was gone.
He was my life for the past 2 years and 3 months. He’d call me devery night on my way home from work and a lot of times he’d call me again when I got home. Sometimes it was just to chit chat about the weather and sometimes it would be to ask if I knew where he put something. He’d call me to ask if he did something to upset Mom. He’d call me to ask how to run certain electronics or power tools because he had forgotten how.
My sister called me the Dad Whisperer because 99.9% of the time I could calm him down and talk him thru things. She also asked me “how do you have the patience to do this”? Truthfully, I don’t know how I did it, because I am not a very patient person. I must have had some help from above. But I always thought to myself if I am frustrated then Dad is probably 100 times more frustrated than me.
We did projects around the house that he didn’t feel comfortable doing alone anymore, we cut trees up in the woods, we changed tires on the cars, we went for car rides, we did a lot together. I think I spent more time with my father in the last 27 months then I did my whole life. I was there for him when he needed me most. During his vulnerable time. During the time that he needed assurance that he wasn’t going crazy, as he put it. During the time that he was realizing he wasn’t going to be around for my mother anymore.
When he had his stroke on May 25th the hospital wasn’t allowing visitors so we couldn’t see him at all. When he transferred to rehab we visited thru a glass window. That’s just cruel. Him on his cell phone and us on ours. By the time he transferred to the skilled nursing facility he really couldn’t hold the phone anymore so we basically just looked at each other thru a window, if you got a nice nurse she would slide the window open 6″ for you. When he went back to the hospital we could see him for the first 3 days then we couldn’t. By then he was declining rapidly. Friday he was moved to another floor that allowed visitors. Friday when I left his room I said I love you Dad and I’ll see you tomorrow, with a soft spoken forced voice he said “love you too”. His last words to me.
June 29, 2020 my life changed forever. My biggest fear was that he would die alone in a hospital bed. But that wasn’t the case, we were all with him. I held my father’s hand as he struggled to take his last breath while Take Me Home Country Roads played on Pandora in his hospital room. I watched my father die. The absolute worst thing in my life I have ever had to do. It’s something I will never forget.
Rest in peace Dad. I will miss you. You taught me a lot of things over the years but the one thing you never taught me was how to live without you. ❤️
FS Sunday Sermon Finding Hope In The Darkness of Grief By: Paul David Tripp
What You Need to Know
Nothing is more shocking, emotional, or final than the death of a loved one. Facing the death of someone you love—a child, a spouse, a parent, a close friend—is one of life’s most difficult experiences.
Your head is spinning with so many thoughts, feelings, and emotions. You can’t grasp that you’ve had your last visit, your last conversation, your last meal, and your last holiday with your loved one. Your mind is flooded with things you wish you had said or done. You want to say, “I love you,” one more time, and you want to hear it said to you.
Your warehouse of memories is filled with fond and painful remembrances, and you are holding tightly to that treasured collection of fading photographs. You don’t feel ready to say goodbye or to deal with the grief that’s overtaken you.
This article is written to help you make sense out of what appears to make no sense and to point you towards hope even as you are experiencing the darkness of death.
Remember a few scriptural truths
When you are dealing with grief your emotions race and your thoughts are scattered. In the middle of this confusing and hard time, you need to remember a few simple truths from the Bible. God will use them to help you understand what you are experiencing and to give you hooks on which to hang your emotions.
You can’t prepare for the death of a loved one. Whether death results from a sudden accident or a long illness, it always catches us unprepared. Death is so deeply emotional and stunningly final that there is nothing you can do ahead of time that will help you sail through your moment of loss. Those who knew that death was coming and those who were taken completely by surprise will go through many of the same things.
The Bible includes many poignant stories that mirror our experience. The story of the death of David’s son, Absalom, gives us a picture of a grieving parent.
Absalom plotted to take David’s place as king of Israel. When his rebellion was crushed, he was killed, even though David had ordered his soldiers to take him alive. David knew that Absalom’s actions might lead to his death, but that didn’t lessen his grief. 2 Samuel 18:33 (ESV) tells us, “And the king was deeply moved and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. And as he went, he said, “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!”
Death shakes us to the core
David’s cry is the cry of every grieving parent. Whether it is unexpected or predictable, death shakes us to the core. The pain is inescapable. Don’t feel guilty or embarrassed if you feel unprepared to face it. There’s no way to be ready for what you are going through.
Death was not part of God’s original plan. One reason death is so hard to accept and understand is that it’s completely out of step with the life God planned for this world. The apostle Paul calls death our “enemy” (1 Corinthians 15:25-26).
Death is the enemy of everything good and beautiful about life. It should make you morally sad and righteously angry. Death reminds us that we live in a world that is terribly broken; it’s not functioning according to God’s original design, where life was meant to give way to life, on into eternity. It’s biblical to treat death as sad and unnatural.
God encourages you to mourn. Death was never meant to be. When you recognize this, you will hunger for a final restoration of all things. You will long to live in a place where the last enemy—death—has been defeated.
It’s normal to feel alone
You are never alone in the darkness. Death is one of the loneliest experiences of human existence. The circumstances you are dealing with are individual and unique. It’s normal to feel as if no one has been through what you’re experiencing. It’s normal to feel all alone, even when you are surrounded with people.
But the death of a loved one is a universal experience, and a company of mourners surrounds you. Yet there is an even more powerful way in which you are not alone. Your Savior, Jesus, has taken another name, Emmanuel, or “God with us.” This name reminds you that, as you came to Christ, you literally became the place where God dwells.
You have a powerful Brother, Savior, Counselor, and Friend who not only stands beside you, but lives within you! His presence makes it impossible for you to be alone in this moment of pain (John 14:15-20).
Good can come out of the very worst of things. Is death a bad thing? Yes. But the Bible tells us that the brightest of good things can be found in the midst of evil’s darkness.
God defeated sin and death
The death of Jesus Christ is a powerful demonstration of this truth. On the hill of death outside the city, the best thing that ever happened came from the worst thing ever. What could be worse than the killing of the Messiah? What could be more unjust than the illegal execution of the one perfect person who ever lived? In the sermon he preached on the day of Pentecost, Peter said that Jesus’ death was an evil thing done by evil men to the one truly good person in the whole world (Acts 2:22-36).
But this terrible moment was under God’s control. God planned that this ultimate evil would accomplish ultimate good. In this dark moment, as Jesus died on the cross, God defeated sin and death—two enemies we could not defeat on our own.
In the same way, God can and does bring wonderful things out of the darkest moments of our lives. Your Lord is present with you in this darkness. He has planned that even the darkest of things would result in redemptive good for His children. He surrendered His Son to death so you could have life. And He will not abandon you now.
Death is an enemy, but this enemy will die
One day death will be put to death. The death of a loved one should remind you that God’s work is not yet complete. Because of sin, death entered the world. When sin is completely defeated, death will also be defeated. The apostle Paul talks about Christ’s present ministry this way: “For he must reign until he has put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death” (1 Corinthians 15:25-26).
Jesus died so we would no longer have to die. When He rose from the dead, death was defeated. Until Jesus returns, we still experience death, but one day life will not give way to death. Children will not mourn their parents. Parents will not mourn their children. There will be no widows or grieving friends. Yes, death is an enemy, but this enemy will die. The present reign of Christ guarantees this. One day life will give way to life for eternity.
As you weep, remember that the One who weeps with you understands your heartache. He is “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3). But He does more than understand; He also acts. Jesus will not let death reign forever. On the cross He defeated death, and His resurrection is your guarantee that one day, all who believe in Him, will be resurrected to a life of glory and peace. One day He is coming again to end physical death and to usher in a new heaven and earth where there will be no dying, no tears, and no sorrow (Revelation 21:1-4).
What You Need to Do
Grieving leaves you emotionally volatile and mentally confused. It’s painful in expected and unexpected ways. Death interrupts your plans and messes up your schedule.
Sometimes death brings people together and sometimes it drives them part. Death mixes the best and the worst of memories. Because death is this confusing mix of emotions and experiences, it is often hard to know exactly what to do when it has entered your door.
Here is some biblical direction:
1. Be honest about your emotions.
Being a Christian does not mean being a stoic. God doesn’t want you to hide your emotions or wear a happy face mask. He wants you to come to him with complete honesty. In the Psalms, God invites us to bring our honest grief to him. Psalm 34:15 depicts God as a loving father, watching over His children and listening for their cries. Psalms 13, 22, 42, and 73 picture God’s people running to Him in grief and confusion.
Don’t hide your emotions; when you are struggling, run to the One who knows you completely and loves you faithfully. As Peter says, “Cast all your anxieties on him because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7, NIV)
2. Run to where comfort can be found.
When he was suffering, the apostle Paul said an amazing thing about the Lord. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort…” (2 Corinthians 1:3). All real, lasting comfort has its source in the Lord, because He is the Father of compassion and comfort.
Think about this. Your heavenly Father is in charge of comfort and compassion. He exercises His loving power on earth so that comfort will be available. Whenever anyone, anytime, anywhere experiences real comfort, it is because God, the source of all true comfort, has made it happen. It is never useless to cry out to Him. He has the power to bring hope and rest to your soul in ways you could never conceive. God, in His grace, has assigned this job to Himself.
3. Don’t fall into grief’s traps.
Moments of sorrow are also moments of temptation. You have an enemy who wants to use this moment to tempt you to question God’s goodness and love. He will tempt you to be envious of others and to become angry and bitter. The struggle of grief is not just a struggle of sorrow, but of temptation as well.
Look out for grief’s traps. Watch yourself for signs of doubt, anger, envy, self-pity, bitterness. When you see these things in yourself, run to Jesus for His forgiveness, strength, and protection.
4. Open yourself up to God’s helpers.
God designed life to be a community project. We need the help of others in our lives to become the people God created us to be (See Ephesians 4:1-16 and 1 Corinthians 13).
When your heart is breaking and your eyes are blinded by grief, you need the help of others more than ever. The godly friends that Jesus has put in your life can help you see things you would not see by yourself. They can help you remember God’s goodness when you are tempted to forget. They will exercise faith for you when your faith is weak. When you are in despair, they will bring the comfort of Christ to you. And they will gently warn you when you are tempted to get off track.
Don’t try to go through your sadness alone. God has placed helpers in your life. Look for them, and be patient with them. Since no human comforter is perfect, their comfort will not be perfect either.
5. Be thankful.
Even in the darkest of moments, you can find clear signs of God’s presence and love. The apostle Paul says it this way. “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Notice the little preposition “in” in the middle of the verse. We are called to be thankful in every situation. This doesn’t mean that you will always be thankful for what you are going through, but it does mean that you can be thankful for what God is giving you to sustain you in your grief.
In your darkness, there are always little lights of God’s grace and love to be found. Search for those lights. Pay attention to the good things God is doing, even in this dark moment, so your grief can be mixed with heartfelt gratitude.
6. Don’t neglect your spiritual habits.
When you are overwhelmed with sadness, it can seem pointless to pray. You may feel too weak and emotionally distracted to read the Bible, be with your Christian friends, and attend public times of worship. But you need these spiritually productive habits in your life now more than ever. God has called you to do these things because they mature your heart and strengthen your soul. They remind you of who you are and who the Lord is. They reconnect you to your identity as His child and help you to remember that a time is coming when you won’t have to face death ever again.
7. Celebrate eternity.
Look beyond this moment of grief to an eternity with God. When you entered into God’s family, you started a journey that won’t end until you are with your Lord in eternity.
The heart-breaking pains of life in a fallen world will some day end. The crushing sadness of death will end. Some day your grief will be gone and it won’t return. So, as you grieve, remember what is to come and be thankful. You have a bright future that does not include sadness and death.
8. Give away the comfort you have received.
Scripture says that God comforts us, not only to bring rest to our hearts, but also so we can comfort others (2 Corinthians 1:3, 4). If you have experienced God’s comfort in your time of grief, you are uniquely able to understand what a fellow griever is going through. So what you do or say will give other mourners hope and rest. Don’t hoard your comfort. Your experience has qualified you to be an active part of the army of helpers that the God of compassion sends into our broken, hurting world.
As you face the death of a loved one remember you are not alone. Jesus endured death for you so that even in the face of death you would be able to live with hope, strength, and courage. And because of what Jesus has done for you, good things can happen even in the darkest moments of life. Don’t let grief rob you of life. Choose to live and experience the grace that Jesus died to give you.
Frequently-Asked Questions
Christians are called to thank God for everything; does this mean I’m not allowed to grieve?
Don’t feel guilty because you are grieving. Many Christians think that glorifying God as they grieve means putting on a happy face. But this is a misunderstanding of how God wants us to handle the crushing sadness of death.
Paul, in 1 Thessalonians 4:13, captures God’s perspective on our grief, “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.”
Christians do grieve—and we should, because death was not part of God’s original plan. We know that death exists because sin has entered our world. Death should make us angry. It should make us sad.
But we do not grieve as if we have no hope. We have hope because we trust in the God who made us and the rest of the world. We trust in His love for us, we trust in His goodness, and we trust that He is in control of our lives. And we know that Jesus is working to put death to death. And we know that some day we will live in a place where there will never again be any sickness, sorrow, or death. So our sadness is mixed with rest and our sorrow is colored with hope.
Why would a loving God this to happen?
Your question is the natural question of many who face the death of a loved one. Yet one of the things that is very important to do when you are dealing with death is to resist asking questions that cannot be answered.
When you are grieving, it is tempting to think that, if you could get answers to the questions that plague you, your grief would lessen. The questions are quite natural: “Why here?” “Why now?” “How could God let this bad thing happen to such a good person?”
Anyone who has grieved has asked questions like these. The problem is that they simply are not answerable. These things are secrets in the mind of God and therefore mysteries to us. The key to comfort and peace will not be found in figuring out God’s secret plan. Lasting comfort is not found in what you know, but Who you know.
Real comfort comes when you rest in your relationship as the child of the wisest, most powerful, most loving, most gracious, most forgiving, and most faithful Person in the universe. He has promised to never leave you (Joshua 1:5, Heb.13:5). He is committed to making even the worst moments in your life result in good (Romans 8:28-38). And He will give you everything you need to face whatever you encounter in this fallen world, even death (2 Peter 1:3).
Our world is filled with sin and suffering, the kind of pain and darkness that creeps into every single heart and life. There’s no way around it. Following Jesus will rescue us from a thousand evils, but it will not keep us from getting hurt in this life.
If we know him, we know deep down that these sufferings highlight our dependence (2 Corinthians 1:8–9) and help us comfort others with the very comfort of Christ as we share in his sufferings (2 Corinthians 1:3–7). We know that God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness, and we even know the deep feeling of being “well pleased” with our weakness because of that reality (2 Corinthians 12:10). We know that our trials will produce a faith that is tested, refined, and full of glorified joy (1 Peter 1:6–7). We know deep realities that can create deep hope beneath even the deepest pain.
Except sometimes we don’t.
Sometimes we preach these truths to ourselves and our hearts aren’t moved at all. We groan, and wish that life was so different than it is (Romans 8:23). We pray and pray and pray, and things only seem to get more overwhelming and more difficult. Sometimes our hearts simply ache with the pain of broken dreams, broken relationships, broken bodies, and broken sinfulness.
Have you had that experience? Hope doesn’t come. Happiness doesn’t flood your heart. The clouds of depression don’t blow away. Overwhelming struggles simply overwhelm you more. Relationships are not restored. What can we do?
Get It Together?
Sometimes we heap harmful expectations on one another on top of already painful circumstances. Few things are more prized than “having it all together.” Even in Christian circles, there is a subtle undercurrent that we must always have glimmering hope just above the dirt of despair.
In Psalm 88, the authors begin by stating, “O Lord, God of my salvation,” but that first verse is the last note of hope in the Psalm. There is only lament after those six words. Now, of course there are questions, like the one in Psalm 88:10, that if answered correctly would flood our hearts with hope. But the psalmists aren’t there yet. They are only asking the hard questions.
Keep Talking
How do we grieve like Psalm 88 — without minimizing our pain, and without losing our hope?
First, I think that the normal experience of life in Christ will be one that is sorrowful and rejoicing, (2 Corinthians 6:10) — gospel-hope brimming and broken-work despairing, side by side each day until Jesus returns. We should expect suffering, and preach to ourselves that the deep gospel truth shines through it, and even in it.
Second, sometimes we go through seasons of more overwhelming struggle than overwhelming hope. Life is overwhelming. It seems like too much. It seems like God is piling it on (Job 3). My advice is to follow the example in Psalm 88 and keep talking to your Savior — even when you’re not ready to recite all the right answers just yet.
Tell him you trust him, but that you need him to help your current unbelief (Mark 9:24). Sometimes it’s the repeated hard conversations with God that eventually bring the breakthrough to the intimacy and help we desperately need. Don’t load on yourself the extra burden of “being okay.” Lay that weight aside and look to Jesus (Hebrews 12:1–3), casting all your cares on him. Be honest with God. He can handle it. And he cares for you (1 Peter 5:7)!
Third, let’s be honest and compassionate with each other. Let’s be quick to sit with people and cry with people (Romans 12:15), and be eager to bear one another’s burdens together (Galatians 6:2). One of the surprising ways God comforts his people is through the comfort of other believers who have also struggled and can relate (2 Corinthians 1:3–11).
Tell God Your Troubles
When life feels like too much, tell God. When it feels like God isn’t close, tell God. When it feels like you can’t go on, tell God. When it feels like the pain won’t ever stop, tell God. When it feels like you want to give up on things, tell God. When it feels bleak and dark and no rays of light are breaking through, tell God.
He is your Savior. That won’t change. And even when it doesn’t feel like it, he is listening.
And then, find a few members of the blood-bought family of Christ, and tell them, too. We are meant to bear one another’s burdens. Take off the mask. Take off the social media façade. And let people into your life so they can extend to you the comfort of Christ and help you bear whatever unique discomfort you are bearing today — physical, relational, spiritual, or otherwise.
God will help you — through prayer as you seek him, through his promises as you read them, and through his people as you draw them closer into your life.
As another Mother’s Day rolls around, we find ourselves floating in a sea of sentimental, loving, and sweet words on the things that mothers do for us. It is good to recognize, appreciate, and honor all of that, but it is not what I want to do today. I want to pull back the sentiment and look at the unbelievably powerful position that God has called his women to.
Yes, I intentionally said “his women,” and not just those women who are mothers. Womankind in this sense is the same thing as motherkind. If you are a woman in Christ and obedient to him, you are just as much a part of this archetypal feminine power as those who have borne children.
I once spoke to a room that was crowded with pregnant bellies, nursing infants, and fat toddlers. You almost always see this kind of power thinned out in a crowd, but not in this room. Looking at it head-on and packed together was breathtaking. I was reminded of this glorious passage in Song of Solomon where the husband says of his bride, “Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?” (Song 6:10, KJV). The loveliness and fearsomeness only compounds when the bride becomes a mother.
I once spoke to a room that was crowded with pregnant bellies, nursing infants, and fat toddlers. You almost always see this kind of power thinned out in a crowd, but not in this room. Looking at it head-on and packed together was breathtaking. I was reminded of this glorious passage in Song of Solomon where the husband says of his bride, “Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?” (Song 6:10, KJV). The loveliness and fearsomeness only compounds when the bride becomes a mother.
It’s no wonder that the world is so unsettled by Christian women bearing children — it is a fearsome thing.
Babies Change the World
There is a nineteenth-century poem that ends each stanza with this high-octane refrain: “For the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world.” The second verse of Psalm 8 gives us a surprisingly similar take on how God views motherhood. It tells us what he thinks of the babies themselves.
Out of the mouth of babies and infants, You have established strength Because of your foes, To still the enemy and the avenger.
If the purpose of our infants is this God-ordained strength, which he is using to silence the enemy, then motherhood is hardly beside the point to womanhood. It is hardly beside the point to kingdom work, or to cultural transformation.
Motherhood is central to the calling of women because it is central to the creational power that God has bestowed on us. This is our strength, this is our glory, and this is our true power. We make babies, and babies change the world.
The Modern “Woman”
Modern women are starving for power. They are marching, demanding, and fighting — doing everything they can do — to try to obtain a sense of power because they are painfully aware of a feminine power shortage. The horrible irony is that they trample on the bodies of infants — demanding abortion rights as essential to feminine strength. But it is all a perverting of the truly shocking feminine power — that of childbearing, that which they are discarding.
We have been slowly brought to believe that empowered women are those who have detached themselves from fertility. We stand by feeling embarrassed of our bellies, while intentionally infertile shells of women despise our childbearing, as though it was a hobby for the low-achieving and undereducated. They take the glory and the awe out of sex, both the act itself and the incredible archetypes God wrote into human sexuality. Love that is creational. Mankind and womankind, constantly creating new men and new women.
They have persuaded us that there is no fight in motherhood, no value to children in marriage.
Your Part in Ruling the World
“Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring” (Malachi 2:15).
Your work with your children matters. Your pouring out of your life for theirs matters. They matter. Because God made it so. He ordained strength to come into the world in this way. He seeks godly offspring. That growing belly, those hungry cries in the night, the comfort of your breasts, the arms wrapped around your leg, the child on your hip, the teen in the car with you, the smile around freshly lost teeth, the weight in the stroller you are pushing — this is your strength, this is your power, this is your hand doing its part in ruling the world.
Far More Than Biology
I can already hear all of the objections coming at me — all of the horror that I would say the power of women is in bearing children (as though that was not amazing). Can we really only have power in our biological functions? Of course not. Isn’t there more to our lives than cranking out babies? Absolutely.
You need to follow up that glorious act by raising them up to fear the Lord, to love him with their whole hearts and minds and souls and strength. And how are we to do that? We will do it first by loving him with our whole hearts. We will love him with our whole minds. We will love him with our whole souls. And we will love him with our whole strength, including the strength of making babies.
Spurgeon says, “Those who think that a woman detained at home by her little family is doing nothing think the reverse of what is true. . . . Mothers, the godly training of your offspring is your first and most pressing duty.” If you don’t have children, or aren’t married, you are still called to live like you are part of this glorious archetypical motherkind — you are called to live like a woman who would honor God in her mothering, because you honor God in your whole life, embracing his design and purpose for women as a whole, and for yourself as a woman.
Fit for Nothing Less
Imagine all the playgrounds in your city. Imagine all of them full of children who know what it means to be loved. They know God and know his people — hearts full of the stories of his faithfulness. Swings weighed down by children who are living in the joy of the Lord — children who know who they are and what they are for. Now ask yourself: in what kind of a city would that be the case? What would it mean if every playground in our country was full of Christian children? It would mean you were in a Christian country.
When Paul describes the duties of Christian women in Titus 2:3–5, he is not describing some kind of retirement home for the delicate — where we are to be discreet and chaste and love our husbands and love our babies because we are fit for nothing else. He is describing our battle stations. He is saying we are fit for nothing less.
Paul is describing the role of a good woman in making the kind of children you just pictured on that playground. He is calling women to their powerful, and glorious, and world-changing work — the great good work, his work, of silencing the enemy and the avenger.
FS Sunday Sermon When You’re Tempted To Give Up By: Ryan Chase
Suffering of any kind can be a dangerous threat to faith. Pain provokes us to doubt that Jesus is better than what we have lost, whether health, money, dreams, independence, or the life of a loved one.
God’s word declares that it’s possible to face the agonizing realities of life with joy because the testing of our faith produces steadfastness (James 1:2–3), and suffering gives rise to endurance (Romans 5:3). But suffering doesn’t automatically produce pleasant things. In fact, trials commonly make people increasingly bitter, despondent, impatient, envious, or angry. If we respond in unbelief, suffering produces bitter fruit. But if we do not give up, suffering can produce a harvest of righteousness (Galatians 6:9; James 3:18).
So what practical steps can we take in the midst of suffering in order to persevere in faith?
1. Please don’t stop gathering with your church.
When our twin boys were born with a devastating condition called nemaline myopathy, we went through a season when we didn’t feel like attending corporate worship gatherings. I’m not talking about the times when we were circumstantially unable to leave the home because we had two ventilator-dependent babies. I’m talking about the times when there was something in our hearts that didn’t want to be around God’s people. That is the kind of unbelieving attitude we need to guard against.
The excuses always feel legitimate. It’s too exhausting to be around people. I don’t want to answer the same questions over and over. I can’t take the well-meaning-but-unhelpful comments.
But feelings are unreliable guides. Lack of desire to participate in the body of Christ is never a reason not to. In fact, it’s a clear and alarming reminder that we desperately need to. If we are going to persevere, it’s going to be with the help of gospel community. Hebrews 10:23–25 says,
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another.
Belonging to the body of Christ means belonging to a community of believers who are called to intentionally think of ways to help us not give up. Corporate worship is where we stand shoulder to shoulder with the saints, raise our voices together in worship, publicly professing that we are still clinging to Jesus.
2. Don’t stop consuming God’s word.
Suffering provides all kinds of excuses to neglect God’s word. Perhaps my schedule is so dramatically disoriented that I can’t find the time. Or the word suddenly tastes stale and falls with a hollow thud on my pallid soul. When the comfort and hope we once knew is nowhere to be found, the temptation is to quit opening the Bible.
But we have a body and a soul. That’s why we don’t live by bread alone (Matthew 4:4). It’s not a question of whether our souls will consume spiritual calories; it’s a matter of where we will find them. Instead of looking to cheap diversions that numb our souls without satisfying them, we must continue to consume the word any way we can. Read it. Listen to it. Memorize it.
Jeremiah 15:16 says, “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart.” Keep consuming the word of God whether or not it feels like joy and delight. Keep consuming until it becomes a joy and delight. It doesn’t change our circumstances, but it changes us. It proactively fills our minds with truth that serves as a sentinel to block out the creeping lies of unbelief.
3. Don’t stop asking for help.
Anxiety, depression, marriage conflict, grief — we’ve experienced it all. While pride would keep us from admitting we need help, God’s grace humbles us by reminding us that our temptations aren’t unique to us and that God promises to enable endurance and provide ways of escape (1 Corinthians 10:13). Knowing that everyone needs help encourages us to ask for it.
God has also supplied all the resources needed to instruct, correct, and encourage us in his word (2 Timothy 3:16–17), but we often need the help of wise believers who can bring the truths of the gospel to bear upon our souls from outside of our suffering. Thankfully, God has also equipped the church with people who are gifted to instruct, admonish, and counsel others.
One practical way to not give up is to seek out wise counselors who are convinced that God’s word is sufficient for every malady of the soul. In both formal and informal settings, we want to surround ourselves with people who can gently help us identify our attitudes of unbelief and our sinful responses to suffering, and then skillfully help us remember all that God promises to be and do for us in Christ.
4. Don’t stop clinging to God’s promises.
When we look at the future through the lens of past and present pain, the only thing we feel is despair because the only thing we see is more of the same. But through faith we obtain a glorious vista that looks back on our suffering in light of eternal glory.
From that perspective, we see that our suffering will maximize our eternal joy in the glory of God. And when we see that our present suffering is producing an eternal weight of glory that eclipses our momentary afflictions (2 Corinthians 4:17–18), we can affirm now what we will declare then: “We would have it no other way.”
5. Don’t stop serving others.
Suffering certainly changes our capacity to serve. It upends routines, saps strength, and crowds out emotional margin. But it doesn’t change that word that says, “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:4). Serving others is a vital part of not giving up because it guards us against toxic self-pity and gives us the opportunity to prioritize the needs of others.
Serving others also positions us to receive divine strength. “Whoever serves, [let him do so] as one who serves by the strength that God supplies — in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 4:11). Suffering may limit the ways we are able to serve, but it can’t nullify God’s provision of strength.
Keep Looking to Jesus
These are effective ways to persevere in faith because they are all ways of fixing our eyes on Jesus, who is the only source of endurance for the fainthearted (Hebrews 12:1–3).
Corporate worship is where we are built up as members of the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:11–16) and where our souls are nourished with the body and blood of Jesus (1 Corinthians 11:23–26). We read the Bible because it points us to Jesus (John 5:39). We seek wise counsel rooted in God’s word because Jesus himself is our wisdom and our sanctification (1 Corinthians 1:30). We cling to every promise spoken by God because they are all yes for us in Jesus (2 Corinthians 1:20). And we serve others because that mind-set is ours in Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:5).
Whatever else comes our way, let us never stop looking to Jesus.
FS Sunday Sermon The Real Meaning Of Easter By: Beth Patch
Jesus had come into town for the Passover celebration and was nearing the time when he would be betrayed by one of his disciples, publicly humiliated and mocked, beaten beyond recognition, and hung on a cross to die. It was the night before his suffering when he made his special request for his followers to remember that He gave his body for them and poured out his blood as a sacrifice for them.
The best way to understand the real meaning of Easter would be from Jesus, in His three words … the new covenant.
The New Covenant
In Luke 22 we get a picture of the night before his death:
When the time came, Jesus and the apostles sat down together at the table. Jesus said, “I have been very eager to eat this Passover meal with you before my suffering begins. For I tell you now that I won’t eat this meal again until its meaning is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.” Then he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. Then he said, “Take this and share it among yourselves. For I will not drink wine again until the Kingdom of God has come.” He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this to remember me.” After supper he took another cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.” Luke 22:14-20
The heart of Easter lies in his words, “the new covenant between God and his people.”
Passover and the New Covenant
To put this new covenant in context we must look at history. Long before Jesus was born, God made other covenants with His people (the Israelites) – some to multiply them, some to bless them, and some to give them land. All along the way, God required believers to recognize their sinful nature, confess their sins, ask for forgiveness for their sins, and offer specific animals to the priests as sacrifices for their sins. Their religious observance of Passover included sacrificing unblemished lambs, just as the Israelites had done when they painted their doorposts with the lambs’ blood the actual night of Passover – when Moses led God’s people out of Egypt (see Exodus 12:11-13).
The sacrificial lamb was a significant part of sparing the lives of the Isrealites on Passover as well as in future remembrances of the event. God gave Moses and Aaron specific instructions on how to honor God with annual Passover celebrations. Lamb was the pinnacle of the Passover meal (and still is). The lambs were to be without blemish and even lived with the families for several days before they were sacrificed, adding to the understanding that the ultimate sacrifice was close to the hearts of those whose sins were atoned for.
Easter and Passover have a special relationship for many reasons. Jesus became the “lamb without blemish” as he sacrificed his life for the sins of all who believe in him – to bring them into right relationship with the Father. Just as the Israelites celebrate freedom from their slavery to the Egyptians as they celebrate Passover, Christians celebrate the victory over sin and death signified in Jesus’ death and resurrection. Jesus said the new covenant between God and his people was “an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.” It was no coincidence that Jesus gave up his life for all at the time of Passover. It was the appointed time, chosen by the Father.
What is the real meaning of Easter? In John 1:29, as he sees Jesus approaching, John the Baptist announces to the crowd around him, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
He knew that Jesus was the son of God, the long awaited Messiah, the one whom God’s prophets had promised to save mankind from their sins and to give them a deep heartfelt relationship with God the Father. The new covenant would be an everlasting covenant. (Jeremiah 31:31-34, Jeremiah 32:39-42, Isaiah 55:3) Jesus, our sacrificial lamb, our Savior, our God, our Redeemer – he laid down his life as our sacrificial lamb to pay for our sins. When he rose from the dead three days later, he gave victory over eternal separation from God (death) to all who put their faith and trust in him. That is the new covenant – everlasting life spent with God through faith in all that Jesus Christ has done and continues to do.
Bible Verses
All who believe in the Son of God know in their hearts that this testimony is true. Those who don’t believe this are actually calling God a liar because they don’t believe what God has testified about his Son. And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life. (1 John 5:10-12, NLT)
“Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3b-4, KJV)
“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9, NLT)
Prayer
Father God, there is sometimes controversy about how, when, and what to call the remembrance of the greatest day in history – the day Jesus Christ, your beloved son, rose from the dead and brought the gift of your forgiveness and eternal life to all who would like to receive it – the new covenant. Please pour out your Holy Spirit on all who believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ and put us on our knees before you with thankful hearts for your great love for us. You, oh God, have given us victory over sin and death, and the promise of never leaving us or forsaking us for eternity. Help us to be the body of Christ, the church, united in awe of how you saved our unworthy souls … your body and your blood as a sacrifice for us. Help us to bring this message to all who will listen. Help us to love like you love. Thank you forever! Amen.
FS Sunday Sermon Do Not Silence Your Mess Meeting God in Everyday Chaos By: Paul Tripp
The life of faith for a follower of Jesus Christ is messy. Have you noticed? We live in a fallen world. Sin has frustrated the cosmos, and creation is subjected to futility and in bondage to decay (Romans 8:20–21). This makes our daily existence difficult and complicated.
The frustration can be both mundane and extreme. Our stain-resistant carpet ends up not being so stain-resistant after all. The shiny new car with the fresh car smell is, well, just a car, with scratches and squeaks to prove it. Our daily schedule never seems to pan out the way we planned.
On the other end of the spectrum, you might receive a life-changing diagnosis. A friend could experience tremendous suffering. A loved one was here just yesterday but now is gone. Have you experienced some of the realities of life in a fallen world recently? How do you communicate with God in difficulty?
Where Do You Run?
Within the fallen world, we reside with broken people. In Genesis 3, man and woman engage in accusation and slander, and on its heels, a man murders his brother. David fled for his life from his son Absalom. Christ was betrayed and denied by those who were his closest followers. While many of us might not experience drama to this extent, all of our relationships are less than perfect and require significant daily effort if they are going to last, let alone thrive. Have you experienced the brokenness of relationships recently? Where do you run for relief?
To top it all off, we wrestle with internal sin and external temptation. Sin distorts our thoughts, desires, choices, actions, and words. The Bible requires each of us to accept that, at the most practical of levels, we have moral flaws within us that we can do absolutely nothing to solve on our own. Meanwhile, we fight against spiritual forces of evil as ferocious as a prowling lion, seeking to devour us (1 Peter 5:8). What internal struggles and external temptations are you facing right now? How are you fighting against them?
I think you get the point. The Christian life is messy and complicated. In some way, every day, you will face disappointment, grief, pain, confusion, and struggle. The question is, Where do you go and what do you do?
Transparent Hearts Before God
If you are a true follower of Jesus, you will be in constant communication with your Lord as you experience the frustration of life in a fallen world. Many of us tend to think that our prayer life — or our communication with God — is limited to our personal devotion time, before a family meal, during the prayer segment in a worship service, or within our small group or Bible study.
The reality is that we talk with God all day long. Sometimes those conversations are vocal; other times, they are silent in our hearts. Sometimes they are cries of pain; other times, they are hymns of profound joy and thankfulness.
That’s one reason why I love the Psalms so much — we get to eavesdrop as the writer talks with God all day long. In Spirit–inspired poetic form, the psalmists record their honest and transparent conversations with God. The angst, doubt, and weakness. The confusion, despair, and desire to give up. The self-reminders to find strength in Christ and follow God no matter what. The deep abiding joy as we remember the presence and grace of God.
I see myself in every Psalm. The story and struggle of my life of faith is splashed across every page, and so is yours. But, if all we did was discover us in the Psalms, we’d leave depressed and discouraged. Most significantly, we find Christ in the Psalms. We are confronted and comforted with the beauty of his faithfulness, patience, power, wisdom, and grace.
As a believer in Jesus, there is no healthier place to be than to remind yourself of who you are and who your Savior is. That’s what the Psalms do so well, and that’s what a healthy devotional life is meant to stimulate.
Your devotional life should serve as one big gospel reminder. It should remind you of the horrible disaster of sin. It should remind you of Jesus, who stood in your place. It should remind you of the righteousness that is his gift. It should remind you of the transforming power of the grace you and I couldn’t have earned. It should remind you of your future destiny that is guaranteed to all of God’s blood-purchased children.
Different Form of Reminder
If you’re anything like me, you forget. Not just your car keys or what time you were supposed to have that meeting — spiritual familiarity causes you to forget the gospel of Jesus Christ. As the themes of grace become more and more familiar, they don’t capture your attention, awe, and worship as they should.
I write to remind myself and others of the glorious grace of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Some years ago, I even committed to writing 366 daily reminders. I also regularly remind myself of the gospel through a different form: poetry.
I do not retreat to a country cottage to write poems. No, I take out my phone during a flight to write down lines. I scribble a phrase on a napkin while waiting for Starbucks. I pull over on the side of a road to capture a thought that suddenly comes. I pen poems spontaneously as I interact and communicate with my Lord and Savior.
What you are about to read is one of these poems. My hope is that this piece, titled “My Heart Cries Out,” will help you see the Savior more clearly, understand his grace more deeply, confess your struggle more honestly, worship him more fully, and find the motivation to continue to follow the Savior even when he’s leading you into unexpected and hard places.
My heart cries out, but I am not afraid, discouraged, panicked, forgotten, alone, dismayed, or doubtful because in the din of a million voices from every place, in every situation, young and old crying day and night in weakness, in alienation, in fear, and in distress, you are not overwhelmed, you are not distracted, you are not disgusted, you are not discouraged, you are not exhausted. But you listen, you hear, you attend to my cry in tenderness of mercy, in patience of spirit, and with generosity of love. You listen to my plea and you never turn away. But with power and wisdom and the tender heart of a Savior, you do this amazing thing — you answer.
FS Sunday Sermon Staying In The Eye Of The Storm By: Doug Addison
We are in a time of preparation for some amazing times that are just ahead. Though it seems like things are uncertain, we must gain a heavenly perspective to overcome the attacks that are active all over the world.
You can be sure that the disasters and difficult times we are seeing are not from God. These things are from Satan and the forces of darkness that are trying to discourage you from the breakthrough that is about to happen.
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe. Hebrews 12:28 NIV
God is using these difficult times to prepare us. In order to receive greater levels of His power and calling we are in a time of testing and preparation
God is with you
The Lord is calling you to walk through the storms without being afraid. The Lord not only has you covered but He is speaking your name in the midst of it all.
But now, this is what the Lord says—he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. Isaiah 43:1 NIV
Watch for God to give you confirmations and speak in ways that you will know He is with you. The Lord knows your name and your needs and there are plans and strategies being released for you right now.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. Isaiah 43:2 NIV
The past few months have been some of the fiercest storms and trials for me, but the Lord showed me how to get through this time and be a victor, not a victim.
Staying in the eye of the storm
Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. Matthew 8:24 NIV
Jesus demonstrated for us the importance of staying at peace during stressful times.
He slept through a violent storm and later He commanded it to be still. In another example when the storm was coming against His disciples He walked on the water above the waves (Matthew 14:22-26).
But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” Matthew 14:27 NIV
This is a prophetic word from the Lord to you right now—do not be afraid for the Lord is with you.
The Lord has shown me how to pick and choose my battles. In the midst of the heaviest storms you can find the “eye of peace,” like the center of a hurricane. I have had to fight some battles each day but once I find that place of peace, I do my best to stay there all day.
Agreement is a key
I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. 1 Corinthians 1:10 NIV
There is power when we can come into agreement with the words of the Lord. Keep in mind that the promises to you in the Bible are all very real. As you come into agreement with the Word of God and the Bible you are in agreement with Heaven.
There is also power in agreeing with each other. You can change your situation right now by laying down disagreement and differences and replace them with prayers and love.
The enemy is kicking up the storms because the breakthrough to this new season is now here. Find the place of peace and stay in the eye of the storm. Be encouraged because the Lord is with you!
FS Sunday Sermon Don’t Face Unbelief Alone By: Jon Bloom
We all very much need other trusted Christians to help us fight for faith and against unbelief — and most of us know this. The problem is, the truth has a tendency to lose its obviousness to us when we most need to trust it. What we very much need, we often very much want to avoid.
Sinful desires, irrational or exaggerated fears, the discouraging and anxiety-producing pall of doubt, and the blanket-darkness of despair all have great power to distort our perceptions of reality. But when we are experiencing them, they appear and feel very real to us. Sin’s promise can look very alluring, the threats of fear and doubt can feel terrifying, and the temptation to despair can appear compellingly inevitable. When we’re in these states, we really need the help of trusted, wise brothers and sisters to discern what’s real and not real.
But when we’re in these states, that’s often when we least want to expose what’s going on inside. We know Scripture teaches us to “exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews 3:13). But when our need for this is most acute, we often experience the most acute internal resistance to pursuing it or receiving it.
And so, we must take hold of another truth: trusting in the Lord with all our heart and not leaning on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5) is not something we merely do on our own; it has a communal dimension. We need our trusted brothers and sisters to help us trust in the Lord, even when we’d rather struggle alone.
Resistance from Within
Why can we feel such resistance to pursuing or receiving the help we really need? Three major contributors are typically pride (e.g. my perception of what’s true is more trustworthy than I believe yours will be), shame (e.g. I don’t want you to see my evil or weakness), and fear (e.g. you may reject me, or I may yield some control to you that I want to keep).
Whenever the sin of pride is present, its trajectory is destruction (Proverbs 16:18). But shame and fear are usually complex emotions, fueled partly by various sinful and/or weak tendencies in us and partly by external factors, such as damaging painful past experiences. The net effect is that these responses distort how we view those who might help us, undermining our trust in them and producing instead resistance toward them.
If we listen to the resistance, you can see the confusing, dangerous place this leads us. Sinful desires, misplaced fears, doubt, and despair undermine our trust in what God has spoken to us in his word, and pride, shame, and fear undermine our trust in our brothers and sisters. Unbelief can become a vicious cycle, leaving us isolated and increasingly vulnerable to more and more deception.
Distrust Your Inner Resistance
You can see how crucial it is, when it comes to unbelief and resisting the wisdom of other trusted Christians, that we really take seriously the biblical command to not lean on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). The Bible’s warnings about this could not be clearer.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Proverbs 1:7)
Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. (Proverbs 3:7)
The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice. (Proverbs 12:15)
The ear that listens to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise. Whoever ignores instruction despises himself, but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence. The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor. (Proverbs 15:31–33)
Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment. (Proverbs 18:1)
Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future. (Proverbs 19:20)
Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered. (Proverbs 28:26)
Those who lived in the time these proverbs were written weren’t fundamentally different from us. They were subject to the same temptations to disbelieve God and felt the same kinds of resistance against seeking the sound counsel of others, whether out of pride, shame, or fear. And the proverb writer(s) calls giving in to those impulses foolish.
We are not made to lean on our own understanding. We are made to fear the Lord and listen to the counsel of those who have proven themselves trustworthy. Which means we must cultivate a healthy distrust in our resistance to trust wise brothers and sisters.
Trusting the Lord by Trusting Others
Eighty years ago, in the dangerous, disorienting, distrustful days of the Third Reich’s reign of terror, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote to his fraternal Christian community:
God has willed that we should seek him and find his living word in the witness of a brother, in the mouth of a man. Therefore, a Christian needs another Christian who speaks God’s word to him. He needs him again and again when he becomes uncertain and discouraged, for by himself he cannot help himself without belying the truth. He needs his brother man as a bearer and proclaimer of the divine word of salvation. (Life Together)
This is true. A Christian needs another Christian to speak God’s word to him. We need it more than we know, and we especially need it when we’ve become disoriented regarding what’s real and true and we feel strong internal resistance to sharing it with another Christian. Because trusting in the Lord with all our heart is not something we merely do on our own; we also do it with others, in the community the Lord provides for us.
When We Are Most Vulnerable
There are graces the Lord provides to us only through our brothers and sisters. As Paul wrote, “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” (1 Corinthians 12:7). And “as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them” (Romans 12:4–6).
Therefore, the Lord requires us to humble ourselves and confide our sinful desires, irrational or exaggerated fears, the soul-shaking doubts, and dark despairing thoughts in trusted members of our community of faith, distrusting the resistance we feel to doing this. Because he has ordained that we receive the Spirit’s help through them. For it’s when we’re on our own that we are most likely to be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
FS Sunday Sermon When You’re Tempted to Give Up By: Ryan Chase
Suffering of any kind can be a dangerous threat to faith. Pain provokes us to doubt that Jesus is better than what we have lost, whether health, money, dreams, independence, or the life of a loved one.
God’s word declares that it’s possible to face the agonizing realities of life with joy because the testing of our faith produces steadfastness (James 1:2–3), and suffering gives rise to endurance (Romans 5:3). But suffering doesn’t automatically produce pleasant things. In fact, trials commonly make people increasingly bitter, despondent, impatient, envious, or angry. If we respond in unbelief, suffering produces bitter fruit. But if we do not give up, suffering can produce a harvest of righteousness (Galatians 6:9; James 3:18).
So what practical steps can we take in the midst of suffering in order to persevere in faith?
1. Please don’t stop gathering with your church.
When our twin boys were born with a devastating condition called nemaline myopathy, we went through a season when we didn’t feel like attending corporate worship gatherings. I’m not talking about the times when we were circumstantially unable to leave the home because we had two ventilator-dependent babies. I’m talking about the times when there was something in our hearts that didn’t want to be around God’s people. That is the kind of unbelieving attitude we need to guard against.
The excuses always feel legitimate. It’s too exhausting to be around people. I don’t want to answer the same questions over and over. I can’t take the well-meaning-but-unhelpful comments.
But feelings are unreliable guides. Lack of desire to participate in the body of Christ is never a reason not to. In fact, it’s a clear and alarming reminder that we desperately need to. If we are going to persevere, it’s going to be with the help of gospel community. Hebrews 10:23–25 says, Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another.
Belonging to the body of Christ means belonging to a community of believers who are called to intentionally think of ways to help us not give up. Corporate worship is where we stand shoulder to shoulder with the saints, raise our voices together in worship, publicly professing that we are still clinging to Jesus.
2. Don’t stop consuming God’s word.
Suffering provides all kinds of excuses to neglect God’s word. Perhaps my schedule is so dramatically disoriented that I can’t find the time. Or the word suddenly tastes stale and falls with a hollow thud on my pallid soul. When the comfort and hope we once knew is nowhere to be found, the temptation is to quit opening the Bible.
But we have a body and a soul. That’s why we don’t live by bread alone (Matthew 4:4). It’s not a question of whether our souls will consume spiritual calories; it’s a matter of where we will find them. Instead of looking to cheap diversions that numb our souls without satisfying them, we must continue to consume the word any way we can. Read it. Listen to it. Memorize it.
Jeremiah 15:16 says, “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart.” Keep consuming the word of God whether or not it feels like joy and delight. Keep consuming until it becomes a joy and delight. It doesn’t change our circumstances, but it changes us. It proactively fills our minds with truth that serves as a sentinel to block out the creeping lies of unbelief.
3. Don’t stop asking for help.
Anxiety, depression, marriage conflict, grief — we’ve experienced it all. While pride would keep us from admitting we need help, God’s grace humbles us by reminding us that our temptations aren’t unique to us and that God promises to enable endurance and provide ways of escape (1 Corinthians 10:13). Knowing that everyone needs help encourages us to ask for it.
God has also supplied all the resources needed to instruct, correct, and encourage us in his word (2 Timothy 3:16–17), but we often need the help of wise believers who can bring the truths of the gospel to bear upon our souls from outside of our suffering. Thankfully, God has also equipped the church with people who are gifted to instruct, admonish, and counsel others.
One practical way to not give up is to seek out wise counselors who are convinced that God’s word is sufficient for every malady of the soul. In both formal and informal settings, we want to surround ourselves with people who can gently help us identify our attitudes of unbelief and our sinful responses to suffering, and then skillfully help us remember all that God promises to be and do for us in Christ.
4. Don’t stop clinging to God’s promises.
When we look at the future through the lens of past and present pain, the only thing we feel is despair because the only thing we see is more of the same. But through faith we obtain a glorious vista that looks back on our suffering in light of eternal glory.
From that perspective, we see that our suffering will maximize our eternal joy in the glory of God. And when we see that our present suffering is producing an eternal weight of glory that eclipses our momentary afflictions (2 Corinthians 4:17–18), we can affirm now what we will declare then: “We would have it no other way.”
5. Don’t stop serving others.
Suffering certainly changes our capacity to serve. It upends routines, saps strength, and crowds out emotional margin. But it doesn’t change that word that says, “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:4). Serving others is a vital part of not giving up because it guards us against toxic self-pity and gives us the opportunity to prioritize the needs of others.
Serving others also positions us to receive divine strength. “Whoever serves, [let him do so] as one who serves by the strength that God supplies — in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 4:11). Suffering may limit the ways we are able to serve, but it can’t nullify God’s provision of strength.
Keep Looking to Jesus
These are effective ways to persevere in faith because they are all ways of fixing our eyes on Jesus, who is the only source of endurance for the fainthearted (Hebrews 12:1–3).
Corporate worship is where we are built up as members of the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:11–16) and where our souls are nourished with the body and blood of Jesus (1 Corinthians 11:23–26). We read the Bible because it points us to Jesus (John 5:39). We seek wise counsel rooted in God’s word because Jesus himself is our wisdom and our sanctification (1 Corinthians 1:30). We cling to every promise spoken by God because they are all yes for us in Jesus (2 Corinthians 1:20). And we serve others because that mind-set is ours in Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:5).
Whatever else comes our way, let us never stop looking to Jesus.
