my burg

"For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith.  Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?"  (1 John 5:4-5 ESV) I finished reading Bavinck on the Christian Life , by John Bolt (Crossway, 2015).   The excerpt below is from a sermon given by Dr. Bavinck in Kampen (the Netherlands) on June 30, 1901.   It is the concluding chapter in Bolt's excellent book.  The excerpt below comes after Bavinck reviews the victorious faith of believers down through biblical history.  He asserts that this faith is not merely psychological faith, nor faith in general, but a specific faith...    "Acknowledge this history therefore as witness to the world-conquering power of faith!  But history does not bear this kind of testimony to every kind of faith -- not to the faith that is only a psychological phenomenon without refere...

Sermon notes & quotes on Romans 4:13-25.  Download or stream "Abraham's Faith"   What is faith?  Is it...  -- a feeling of dependence or that everything is going to work out? -- sincerely believing in something but the something doesn’t really matter? -- believing in faith itself, as in “just have enough faith”?  -- believing a creed or set of doctrines? -- a leap in the dark, believing in something that is empirically unproven? -- wish fulfillment, or visualizing a future outcome that we desire? -- making a decision or "going forward" in a church service? Four key concepts from Romans 4:13-25, which are characteristics of Abraham's faith that apply also to believers today.  PROMISE / POWER / POSSESSION / PERSON 1) PROMISE. Faith looks to God’s gracious word of promise . (4:16-17, 20) It is not wishful thinking, projection, or a feeling, but is  based upon God's revelation, in words, focusing upon a promise given in grace. Unless s...

But that is not the way you learned Christ!-- assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness."  (Ephesians 4:20-24 ESV) In a sermon on this passage, specifically verse 23, Lloyd-Jones writes... "We now recognize that becoming a Christian does not mean that you simply change your moral suit or your outward behaviour.  Nor does it merely mean that you change your opinions, or change your mind.  But it most certainly means changing the spirit of your mind.  What a distinction!  In other words, Christianity is not something that you and I take up intellectually; it is something that takes us up, and captivates us, and governs us, and controls us." "The Christian is...

"Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it."  (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 ESV) “Sanctification may be defined as that gracious and continuous operation of the Holy Spirit by which He purifies the sinner from the pollution of sin, renews his whole nature in the image of God, and enables him to perform good works.” (Louis Berkhof, Manual of Christian Doctrine , p 267) Here's the responsive reading after the sermon : Leader:   Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,  whose sin is covered.   Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity,  and in whose spirit there is no deceit. Congregation:   I acknowledged my sin to you,  and I did not cover my iniquity;  I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,"  and y...

Here are some notes from last Sunday's sermon by Chris Faith... From The Renovation of the Heart , by Dallas Willard, he cites:  The Process of Change : V.I.M. =  VISION,  INTENTION, and  METHODS METHODS : 1. GET HONEST: Find someone you trust; establish some accountability. Be frank about the struggle.  2. GET SMART: Avoid temptation. Flee temptation. 3. GET SATISFIED: Married couples need to have a regular, satisfying, sexual relationship.  4. GET VICTORY: It’s possible to walk in purity. Believe that.  5. GET CLEANSED: Remember Jesus’ body broken and His blood spilled to make you clean. Receive His cleansing. Do you hear me? Receive now His cleansing.  6. GET HUMBLE: Beg God for His power in your weakness. Seek His filling. Seek the things above. 1 Corinthians 6:18... "Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body." James 4:7... "Submit therefore to ...

“Our God is a Consuming Fire” (Hebrews 12:25-29) Sermon outline :  There are to be 3 basic responses to the truths of the book of Hebrews... • Watchfulness --  being careful not to turn away. (v 25-27) • Gratitude – being thankful for his great salvation. (v 28a) • Reverence – being pleasing to him in worship and service. (v 28b-29).  “The God who ‘spoke to the fathers by the prophets’ (1:1) is the same God who ‘has spoken to us by his Son’ (1:2) and the same as ‘him who is speaking’ today by his Word (3:7-11; 4:12; 12:25).”   Can Christians lose their salvation?   Of all those the Father gives to the Son, none are lost (Jn 6:39).  They will never perish and no one can snatch them from Jesus and the Father’s hands (Jn 10:28-29). The very same ones God “calls” and “justifies” are the same ones he “glorifies” (Rom 8:29).   And “he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil 1:6).  We...

"These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.  If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city."  (Hebrews 11:13-16 ESV) "A continual looking forward to the eternal world is not (as some modern people think) a form of escapism or wishful thinking, but one of the things a Christian is meant to do. It does not mean that we are to leave the present world as it is. If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next. The Apostles themselves, who set on foot ...

“If I could have seen land, I might have made it.”  ( Florence Chadwick, long distance swimmer to a reporter after being taken  out of the water a mile from shore in thick fog in her swim from Catalina Island to the California coast in 1952. ) Faith is a way of seeing the unseen , seeing that which is i nvisible but nonetheless real .  It is believing what God has said,  reckoning it (and him) as true, and laying hold of his promises and of hope.   Faith pleases God .  What biblical faith is not :  Not a leap into the dark; it is based upon something God has revealed.  Not a mystical feeling , or  a feeling of dependence on someone (or anyone). It is trust in the God Who Is and what he has revealed. It’s not faith in  faith .  (As in, “I have faith.”)  Biblical faith is not sincerity in believing something , though sincerity in faith is  important. It is more than a mere list of beliefs . What we believe has content, ...

"By faith we understand..." (Heb 11:3) Everybody begins with faith in something.  We trust our own reason and observation and that usually stands us in good stead .   But we can only see clearly and reason clearly when we reason and see from God’s point of view . Adam and Eve were presented  with two ways of seeing the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They yielded to what looked good and made sense to them...  "So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes , and that the tree  was to be desired to make one wise ..."  (Genesis 3:6 ESV)  Ever since that day our minds have been darkened , and we have been very muddled in our thinking, especially about God, and  right and wrong, and things unseen by our physical sight and senses .  "For my thoughts are not your thoughts , neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD."  (Isaiah 55:8 ESV)   Paul describes it in Ephesi...

From Drew's sermon on Sunday... “The Christian life starts in conversion with a clear sight of the excellency of Christ and the beauty of God. It is a sight through a glass darkly, but it is still sight. The culmination of that event is standing before the God of love and beholding him as my Father, seeing him clearly and growing in knowledge of him for eternity. Most of us currently stand in between these two events.  As believers, our lives are lived after this initial sight of the truth and beauty of the gospel and before its climax in glory. These events bracket the Christian life and give it its texture. The Christian life is a journey to see clearly. It is a journey inaugurated with a sight of faith and a journey whose destination is the perfection of that sight.” (Kyle Strobel, Formed for the Glory of God: Learning from the Spiritual Practices of Jonathan Edwards)

"Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.  These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God." (Colossians 2:16-19 ESV)(See also 2:20-23)  False spirituality described in Colossians 2:16-23 .  Here are some of the "isms" we face today... This passage also gives characteristics of true spirituality ... Christ's death applied to all of our life , from birth to death. After conversion we are not on probation or justified by our behavior. True spirituality is lived in the light and power of Christ's perfect, complete,...

Some Sunday quotes & notes  from the sermon by Jim Krouscas.  "Two natures beat within my breast. The one is foul, the other blest. The one I love, the one I hate; The one I feed will dominate." "To be In Christ – that is redemption; but for Christ to be IN YOU – that is sanctification! To be IN CHRIST – that makes you fit for heaven; but for Christ to be IN YOU – that makes you fit for earth! To be in Christ – that changes your destination; but for Christ to be IN YOU – that changes your destiny! The one makes heaven your home – the other makes the world His workshop."  (Ian Thomas, The Life of Christ in the Life of the Believer ) Treasuring Christ.  Because of Christ... 1) I am a recipient of God’s mercy. (Col 3:6) 2) I am a new person. (Col 3:3) 3) I am being renewed in the knowledge of God. (Col 3:10) 4) I am part of the universal Body of Christ. (Col 3:11) 5) I am chosen by God. (Col 3:12) 6) I am holy. (Col 3:12) 7) I am loved. (Co...

Here's a way to pray for someone this week, based on Colossians 1:9-12... Here's a PDF sheet of four of the above.  And here's the sermon behind the graphic.

"He lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance."  (Acts 28:30-31 ESV) Sermon MP3 here.  “And you will be my witnesses...  to the end of the earth.”  (Acts 1:8)...  Thirty years and 1500 miles later...  “...and so we came to Rome.”  (Acts 28:14) • Do I sincerely believe that Jesus’ death for our sins and his resurrection are true historical events? • Have I been convicted of my own lostness and turned to God in faith and repentance? • Am I committed to the world-wide expansion of this good news about Jesus? • Am I submitted to, and living for, the larger and glorious Kingdom of God or for my smaller kingdom of self? • Have I quenched or grieved God’s Spirit, who desires to give me power and boldness in witness?   • Am I prepared to give a gracious defense fo...

How we are to defend the faith :    a)  With cheerfulness (24:10; 26:2) (Lu 6:23; 21:13; 1 Pet 2:9) b)  With respect (24:10; 26:2-3) (Rom 13:1-7; 1 Pet 3:15) c)  With our personal story (26:9ff)(Luke 21:13; Phil 3:3-11) d)  With confidence in God’s word (24:14-15; 26:6)(Luke 24:26-27,44) e)  With a good conscience  (24:16) (1 Pet 3:16; Titus 2:7-10) f)  With persuasion (24:25; 26:18-20, 29)(Prov 11:30; 2 Cor 5:20; Jude 1:3) g)  With endurance (24:22-27; 26:24) (1 Cor 15:58)  Quotes... “Snarkiness has no place in Christian apologetics.”  ( Chris Travis )   “Religious experience occurs in the sanctuary, but its claim to truth has to be tested in the public world of facts.” (Lesslie Newbigin)   “If your souls were not immortal, and you in danger of losing them, I would not speak this way to you; but the love of your souls constrains me to speak...” (George Whitefield) "Fallen man is not simply an imperf...

Listening to the three-part series on 1 Peter by Vaughan Roberts in this year's EMA conference in England.   Very encouraging and challenging.  Roberts applies Peter's letter to the increasing marginalization of evangelicals today in the west.   Here are a few quotes from the second message ... "Do we add value to the culture and community in which we live?" "We may not get justice in this life, but judgment is coming." "God did not choose to save us through political power, but through the cross."

"Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do : forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14 ESV) Philippians 3:12-16 ... having the right mindset (mental attitude) for the Christian life : 1.  Recognizing that you’re not there yet. (3:12, 13a) 2.  Knowing what to neglect, to forget, and to leave behind. (3:13 ) 3.  Directing your mind ( and life ) hard in one direction.  (3:12b-14) 4.  Trusting the guidance of the Lord to show you the way.  (3:15) 5.  Staying faithful to the gospel and its community. (3:16) Summary : the right mindset for the Christian life is:   “A single-minded pursuit to become  what God has already declared me to be  and what I actually one day will be.”  “Any choice involves the use of time in a way that cannot be used over again....