Everything Is Yours!

This is the brightest bolt of lightning that can strike in the darkness of your life, whether now or till you're dead. John Piper

The flight paths of little birds are sovereignly ordained by God, and so are the driving paths of buses in Philadelphia. I was pleasantly surprised this morning by an advertisement on a Philly SEPTA bus, reminding me of the Biblical truth that because I am a child of God in Christ, everything is mine:

So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future - all are yours, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's. 1 Corinthians 3:21-23

The saints (yes, the Holy Spirt calls them saints!) in the church in Corinth were proud and jealous and boasting in men instead of in God alone. So Paul seeks to turn them away from this pride and sin by reminding them that, in Christ, they own everything. They don't need to boast or fear because "everything is yours."

The apostles and teachers of the faith belong to them and serve them for their everlasting good!

The world belongs to them - all knowledge, all joys, all pains, all things in the world are theirs and serve them for their everlasting good!

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Matthew 5:5

For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. Romans 4:13

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Romans 8:32

. . . as having nothing, yet possessing everything. 2 Corinthians 6:10

Life belongs to them - everything holy, good, righteous, and satisfying - everything that makes you happy in life - it's yours. Even all that's bad and painful in life - even your own sin - is working together for your everlasting good!

Death is yours. Death only serves you now since Jesus has defeated death. Death will only bring you into the full enjoyment of everything that already belongs to you. Death will bring you into the presence of God where there's fulness of joy and pleasures forevermore!

The present is yours. You own it all. You will not miss out on anything. Don't fret. Don't worry. All things are now, in the present, working together for your good!

The future is yours. You have the most glorious, happy future awaiting you! The best days of your life are always in the future! As Tolkien wrote, "all things sad will become untrue." God will wipe away every tear from your eyes - there will be no more sin, no more death, no more pain, and no more tears. There will be no more losses to that last enemy, death. There will be no more sickness and decay. There will be no more broken relationships. There will be no more loneliness. Everything is yours!

If you are a Christian, trusting in God, trusting in His Son, the God-Man, and believing His Gospel, all this is true because you are Christ's and Christ is God's. You have all of this if you are in Christ by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, according to the Bible alone, all for the glory of God alone!

I considered how these glorious truths might be applied to those who are suffering this Christmas season because of the loss of a loved one or the loss of a romantic relationship or the lack of a relationship. We might be tempted to find our blessedness in those relationships we've lost. On 1 Corinthians 3:21-23, Charles Hodge wrote:

To "boast about" any person or thing is to trust in him or it as the ground of confidence or as the source of honor or blessedness. It is to regard ourselves as blessed because of our relationship to it. Thus people are said to boast about the Lord or the cross because God, or Christ as crucified, is regarded as the ground of confidence and the source of blessedness.

How does knowing you own everything keep you from boasting and from finding your "source of honor or blessedness" in the people or things of this world? If you own everything, you will be happy and content, so there would be no need to ever boast (except in the cross!) because the weak, insecure need to "be better than others" and boast is gone.

So in what ways do we as followers of Jesus Christ own everything? How is everything yours?

Everything is yours in the sense that all the knowledge, fellowship, relationships, oneness, joy, happiness, satisfaction, fulfillment, peace, and rest that you fear you are missing out on in this life will finally and fully (beyond your wildest imagination!) be found in God and in your new, glorified life in the New Heavens and the New Earth. You will not miss out on anything! You know that your "source of honor or blessedness" is absolutely guaranteed and sure in the life to come!

But this promise is not just future. All thing are yours now! This means everything belongs to you in the sense that everything serves you (you own things for the purpose of them serving/helping/supporting you), and God is using everything to work together for your everlasting good and to conform you into the image of Christ, which is your greatest good! (Romans 8:28: Part 1; Part 2; Part 3)

So, are you missing a dearly departed husband or wife, father or mother, son or daughter this Christmas and tempted to "boast" in them in the form of hopeless despair as your lost source of honor and blessedness? Take heart. Though they are dead, they still belong to you. All things are yours! In all the ways God wants you to still have them, they still belong to you. In Christ, you had them just as long as God wanted you to have them to make you and them more like Jesus. God's taking them away from you is also part of His plan to give you everything God wants you to have, especially that you may be conformed more and more into the image of Christ. All the joy and happiness you had with them - all the wonderful memories together - are yours. And these were just a tiny foretaste of the joys you will have in the life to come! All of that joy and happiness and satisfaction you had with them belongs to you in the future - with even more passion - even more intensity - even more depth and joy! It will be even better throughout all eternity in the presence of God! And if they too are in Christ, you will someday enjoy them forever in a new and even better way for all eternity. In all the ways God knows best, they still belong to you and serve you in the best way by making you more like Jesus. Because everything is yours!

Are you missing a romantic relationship because of a breakup this Christmas and tempted to "boast" in him or her in the form of hopeless despair as your lost source of honor and blessedness? Take heart, there is a sense in which that person you lost still belongs to you. "Everything they were, or are, or will be (See John Piper's comments on Cephas), everything they say and do, is being woven into the tapestry of your life with perfect skill to make it beautiful and complete." (Piper) In Christ, you had them just as long as God wanted you to be with them to make you and them more like Jesus. All the sweet times of fellowship, joy, times of prayer, study of God's Word - that's all yours! It all made you more like Jesus! And something better is coming! All the joys you had with them; all the happiness they brought you; all the joy you received in bringing them joy; all the satisfaction and hopes and dreams you had for that relationship - it's all yours. Because you have all that and something better in Christ. And you will get all that joy and all that happiness and all that fellowship and all that satisfaction - deeper, fuller, better, and forever in the life to come in God's presence where there's fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore! Because everything is yours!

You are not going to miss out on anything! All things are yours! Everything is yours! There's no need to fear or fret or worry. There's no need to be anxious. In Christ, everything is yours! Rest in Him! 

John MacArthur writes:

Another thing: things present are ours. Now, folks, I’m not going to tell you what that is, that’s everything! We’d be here all day. But it’s all the objects, all the people, all the situations, all the events, and all the experiences of life – listen – are for your blessing. You say, “Even the bad ones?” Yeah, that’s part of the “all things that work together for good.”

Listen, Lenski says – this is good. He says, “It is as if all things in life are a multitude of servants surrounding us on bended knees. They hold out their precious offerings to us. Some of these servants, like pain and injury and sickness and grief, may at first have a strange look to us who do not know our royalty sufficiently. It is God who commissions them all and makes each one bring us some blessing, so that as kings unto God, we shall lack nothing.”

Do you know that pain, and grief, and sorrow, and all that stuff serves you? It serves you. It’s yours. “All things work together for good.” All things present, all things present. And if you would compare that with Romans 8:38 and 39, you will see that there is nothing in the present that can separate you from the love of Christ, right? Not things present, not things to come.

Thomas Schreiner writes:

What Paul means by ‘everything’ is quite astonishing, for it includes not only ministers but also life and death and the present and the future. Everything is a gift to the Corinthians because they belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God, and thus everything is theirs in Christ. Therefore, boasting in leaders is foolish, because those who do such are satisfied with lesser things when the whole world is theirs . . . In verse 22 the ‘all things’ that belong to the Corinthians are listed. Paul begins by naming himself, Apollos and Cephas. In naming these ministers, Paul circles back to 1:12 where he indicated that the divisions in the church centre on the evaluation of Paul, Apollos and Cephas. Here he explains that such divisions are foolish, for why select one above the other when all of them are for the benefit of the Corinthians! The Corinthians, in their divisions, are satisfied with so little when God offers them so much more. Paul goes further, using language reminiscent of Romans 8:38 where he affirms that nothing can separate believers from Christ’s love, not even ‘death’, ‘life’, angelic powers, the present nor the future. In 1 Corinthians, the world, life and death, and the present and the future are mentioned. The parallel in Romans helps us understand the point being made here since it is evident in Romans 8:35–39 that some of the things mentioned bring suffering to believers. Paul is not claiming, then, that everything in life is pleasant for the Corinthians. Instead, his point is that everything in life is for their benefit. As Romans 8:37 says, believers ‘are more than conquerors’ in everything they face, which is another way of saying that God ‘works’ everything ‘for the good of those who love him’ (Rom. 8:28), and the good is being ‘conformed to the image of his Son’ (Rom. 8:29). The Corinthians were riven by divisions and failed to comprehend that falling prey to divisions was mistaken since every minister and every circumstance was for their benefit. In verse 23 the basis for the stunning affirmations of verse 22 is given. The Corinthians do not enjoy these promises inherently; the promises are granted to them because they belong to Christ, and Jesus Christ is the enthroned king at God’s right hand, the one who reigns over the universe (Rom. 8:34; Eph. 1:20–22). The rule of Jesus Christ over the world and his triumph over death finds its roots in his relationship to God. It is because he belongs to God that he was victorious over death, and thus God exalted him as the obedient one to his right hand as Lord over all (Phil. 2:6–11; cf. 1 Cor. 15:28) . . . The Corinthians were inclined towards the world’s wisdom because it gave them status and honour in Graeco-Roman society. The Lord, however, will frustrate and bring to nothing what the world prizes. Ironically, the Corinthians failed to see all that God had for them in Christ. They were already reigning with Christ in the sense that everything in life was for their benefit.

Jonathan Edwards wrote:

By virtue of the believer’s union with Christ, he does in fact possess all things. But it may be asked, how does he possess all things? What is he the better for it? How is a true Christian so much richer than other people? To answer this, I’ll tell you what I mean by “possessing all things.” I mean that God three in one, all that he is, and all that he has, and all that he does, all that he has made or done—the whole universe, bodies and spirits, earth and heaven, angels, humans and devils, sun, moon and stars, land and sea, fish and fowls, all silver and gold, kings and potentates—are as much the Christian’s as the money in his pocket, the clothes he wears, the house he dwells in, or the victuals he eats; yes, properly his, advantageously his, by virtue of the union with Christ; because Christ, who certainly does possess all things, is entirely his: so that the Christian possesses it all, more than a wife the share of the best and dearest husband, more than the hand possesses what the head does. It is all his. Every atom in the universe is managed by Christ so as to be most to the advantage of the Christian, every particle of air or every ray of the sun; so that he in the other world, when he comes to see it, shall sit and enjoy all this vast inheritance with surprising, amazing joy. ("Miscellany ff," in The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol. 13, The "Miscellanies," a-500, ed. Thomas A. Schafer (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1994), 183; language slightly updated.)

Merry Christmas!

God And The Gospel

To learn more about the great and true Triune God, the God-Man, Jesus Christ, His cross, and His glorious Gospel message and everlasting Kingship, please watch American Gospel: Christ Alone. You can watch the full documentary here with a free, 3 day trial.

John Piper's Expositions Of 1 Corinthians 3:21-23 Are On Fire

All Things Are Yours

A Proven Recipe For Humility

'Death Is Yours' - What Does Paul Mean?

Sing And Be Encouraged!

I added a verse: 

No one's alone in Gloryland,

All treasure's found in Christ!

All things we miss, that cause us pain,

We'll surely find in Him!

Christ Is LORD To Magnify!

God's Mercy That Never Runs Dry!

"Mercy Fountain"

Come, thou Fount of every blessing
Tune my heart to sing thy grace
Streams of mercy, never ceasing
Call for songs of loudest praise!
Teach me some melodious sonnet
Sung by flaming tongues above
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it
Mount of God’s unchanging love!

And the Lord was with Joseph, and poured down mercy upon him . . . . Genesis 39:21

The LORD takes pleasure in those who fear Him, In those who hope in His mercy. Psalm 147:11

Blessed be the LORD! for he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy. Psalm 28:6

Many sorrows shall be to the wicked; But he who trusts in the LORD, mercy shall surround him. Psalm 32:10

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again . . . . 1 Peter 1:3

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ- by grace you have been saved . . . . Ephesians 2:4-5 

For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. Romans 9:15-18

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort . . . . 2 Corinthians 1:3

Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. Luke 6:36

Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy, That we may rejoice and be glad all our days! Psalm 90:14

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break
In blessings on your head. 

- William Cowper

Mercy is a glorious, precious, Bible word! 

Precept Austin has some helpful word studies on mercy here: Word Study O.T.; Word Study N.T. And this meditation on God's mercy from Thomas Watson is glorious: The Mercy Of God

This past year (a hard year for me), our Triune God has used a broken fire hydrant right outside of our church building to remind me of God's everlasting, never-ending, unstoppable mercy that is new every morning - that is chasing me down all the days of my life (even in the hard things!) - and that abounds more and more to always cover all of my sin! God's mercy is the mercy that flows to me from the Mercy Tree because that's where Jesus, the ultimate Mercy given by God, died for me. This hymn nails it:

Thy mercy is Jesus exempts me from hell

Its glories I'll sing, and its wonders I'll tell

'Twas Jesus my all, as He hung on the tree

Who opened the channel of mercy for me! (John Stocker)

This "Mercy Fountain" fire hydrant has been continuously (literally 24/7!) pouring out water for several months now. I've called the water department. I've told the local fire station. Someone even came out to fix it, but they were unsuccessful. It just keeps flowing. And it reminds me of God's ever flowing, never ceasing mercy:

Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. "The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him." Lamentations 3:19–24 

Surely goodness and mercy shall pursue me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever. Psalm 23:6

. . . where sin increased, grace abounded all the more . . . . Romans 5:20

On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness. Zechariah 13:1

Oh yes! An everlasting fountain filled with blood drawn from Immanuel's veins has been opened to wash away all of our sins! This reminder of God's mercies new every morning is the first thing I see every day that I step outside my house:

This ever-flowing, broken fire hydrant reminds me of God's lavish, everlasting mercy. In the good times, it's still flowing. In the bad times, it's still flowing (Even when Joseph was thrown into the pit by his brothers, falsely accused by Potiphar's wife and thrown into prison, and forgotten in prison, it was still God's mercy chasing him down and working all things for good!). At 7am, it's still flowing. At midnight, it's still flowing. Always flowing. Ever flowing. Never letting up. Never decreasing it's output. Every morning. Every night. Every hour. Every day. Every week - it goes on and on and on - just like God's mercy!

Furthermore, the water I see leaking out of this hydrant is just a drop in the bucket: 60 million gallons of drinking water leak out of Philadelphia pipes every single day! In the same way, there are great multitudes of other mercies that God is pouring out on us every single day that we're not even aware of, see, or understand!

God's mercy is a prominent, powerful, perpetual, pervasive, personal theme in my life. God has mercifully taught me many glorious truths about Himself. God showed me great mercy in college. I love movies that highlight God's mercy. One of my favorite devotional articles ever is about God's mercy (And now this one too!). One of my favorite chapters in the Bible, 2 Chronicles 20, has praise to God and His mercy at the center. Almost every time I read the Bible devotionally, I pray that God would satisfy me with His mercy that I might be joyful in Him all my days. God has shown me so much mercy through the preaching of His Word. I wrote a hymn based on the book of Jonah called "Mercy-Heart". I attempted to write a book on trusting God in the midst of rejection in romantic relationships that I wanted to title: Mercy No. God showed me great mercy at one point in my life when I thought His salvation was totally out of my reach. In the future, I would like to name one of my daughters Mercy. Even God calling me into the ministry was mercy. Oh what lavish mercy I have received from my King Jesus!

According to David Mathis in this excellent article on mercy, "Fittingly, the most prominent request made of Jesus in the Gospels is, 'Have mercy on me!'" Amen! See more here. Praise God that His mercy is always more than our sin through Jesus Christ - our crucified, risen, and reigning God-Man! Jesus' perfect life, wrath-bearing death for sin, resurrection from the dead, and ascension to heaven where He rules, reigns, and intercedes for us is the foundation of all mercy! This is the Gospel!

In his helpful book, The Pleasures Of God, John Piper writes:

Not only does God promise not to turn away from doing good to us, he says, "I will rejoice in doing them good" (Jeremiah 32:41). "The LORD will again take delight in prospering you" (Deuteronomy 30:9). He does not bless us begrudgingly. There is a kind of eagerness about the beneficence of God. He does not wait for us to come to him. He seeks us out, because it is his pleasure to do us good. "The eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show his might in behalf of those whose heart is whole toward him" (2 Chronicles 16:9). God is not waiting for us, he is pursuing us. That, in fact, is the literal translation of Psalm 23:6, "Surely goodness and mercy shall pursue me all the days of my life." I have never forgotten how a great teacher once explained it to me. He said God is like a highway patrolman pursuing you down the interstate with lights flashing and siren blaring to get you to stop - not to give you a ticket, but to give you a message so good it couldn't wait till you get home. 

God loves to show mercy. Let me say it again. God loves to show mercy. He is not hesitant or indecisive or tentative in his desires to do good to his people. His anger must be released by a stiff safety lock, but his mercy has a hair trigger. That's what he meant when he came down on Mount Sinai and said to Moses, "The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love" (Exodus 34:6). The point is the contrast between the sluggishness of his anger and the effusiveness of his love. (Pages 184-185)

And again Piper writes: 

God is never irritable or edgy. His anger never has a short fuse. Instead he is infinitely energetic with absolutely unbounded and unending enthusiasm for the fulfillment of his delights. This is hard for us to comprehend, because we have to sleep every day just to cope, not to mention thrive. Our emotions go up and down. We get bored and discouraged one day and feel hopeful and excited another. We are like little geysers that gurgle and sputter and pop erratically. But God is like a great Niagara Falls — you look at 186,000 tons of water crashing over the precipice every minute, and think: Surely this can’t keep going at this force year after year after year. Yet it does. That’s the way God is about doing us good. He never grows weary of it. It never gets boring to him. The Niagara of his grace has no end.

Amen! Hallelujah! What a Savior!

May we continuously be stunned my God's mercy in Christ that never runs dry! And if you need help, cry out for mercy! If you are tempted, cry out for mercy! If you are in sin, cry out for mercy! If you are alone, cry out for mercy! If you are afraid, cry out for mercy! If you are anxious, cry out for mercy! If you fear losing your mother or father, cry out for mercy! If you are in a hard marriage, cry out for mercy! If you lose your spouse, cry out for mercy! If you lose your children, cry out for mercy! If you lose your parents, cry out for mercy! If you lose your health, cry out for mercy! If you're single and long for marriage, cry out for mercy! If your children are born with disabilities, cry out for mercy! If you are falsely accused and slandered, cry out for mercy! If your spouse threatens to leave you, cry out for mercy! If you're sinned against, cry out for mercy! If circumstances in your life are so bad and hard and you are overwhelmed and just want to give up and die, cry out to God for mercy! For His mercy fountain NEVER runs dry! Jesus, strong and kind will help you! Trust your Savior Jesus, and cry out for mercy!

To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens! Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he has mercy upon us. Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us . . . Psalm 123:1-3

I love the LORD, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live. The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish. Then I called on the name of the LORD: "O LORD, I pray, deliver my soul!" Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; our God is merciful. Psalm 116:1-5

I love how Chad Bird writes about the Hebrew word for mercy here:

Untranslatable Love חֶסֶד

Multiple Hebrew words have simply migrated into English, such as amen, hallelujah, cherub, and hosanna.

I wish the same had happened with חֶסֶד (chesed), for there is no simple equivalent in our language. It’s been translated as “unfailing love, steadfast love, mercy, loving-kindness, faithfulness, goodness, graciousness.”

But attempting to squeeze a huge word like chesed into one tiny English word is like trying to catch a waterfall in a cup.

In one of the Psalms we read today in Bible in One Year (https://www.1517.org/oneyear), Psalm 36, the word chesed appears three times:

Vs. 5, “Your chesed, O LORD, extends to the heavens…”

Vs. 7, “How precious is your chesed, O God!”

Vs. 10, “Oh, continue your chesed to those who know you…”

Chesed is truly untranslatable love. No-holds-barred mercy. Covenant faithfulness even if it costs God the lifeblood of his beloved Son. Chesed is the beating heart of God in cruciform display. The kind of love that chases us to the ends of the earth, picks us up, places us atop divine shoulders, and dances all the way home.

There really is only one word that encompasses the totality of what chesed is—Christ Himself. He is the chesed of the Father made flesh.

“Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your chesed, for they have been from of old” (Ps. 25:6).

To learn more about the great and true Triune God, the God-Man, Jesus Christ, and His glorious Gospel message and everlasting Kingship, please watch American Gospel: Christ Alone. You can watch the full documentary here with a free, 3 day trial.

More Of My Blog Posts On Mercy

The Beautiful Mercy-Heart Of Jesus Christ!

Great Mercy In Christ!

Christ: The Fountain Of Mercy At Just The Right Time

Christ The Mercy-Heart!

How His Mercy Endures Forever!

May We Be Moved To Sing About Jesus And His Mercy!

All The Way My Savior Leads Me

All the way my Savior leads me, What have I to ask beside?

Can I doubt His tender mercy, Who through life has been my Guide?

Heavenly peace, divinest comfort, Here by faith in Him to dwell!

For I know, whate’er befall me, Jesus doeth all things well.

All the way my Savior leads me, Cheers each winding path I tread,

Gives me grace for every trial, Feeds me with the living bread. Though my weary steps may falter,

And my soul athirst may be; Gushing from the rock before me, Lo! a spring of joy I see!

All the way my Savior leads me, Oh, the fullness of His love!

Perfect rest to me is promised, In my Father’s house above;

When my spirit, clothed immortal, Wings its flight to realms of day.

This my song through endless ages: Jesus led me all the way.

My Favorite Songs About Mercy

1. Mercy Tree

2. His Mercy Is More

3. Thy Mercy, My God

4. Jesus, Your Mercy

5. All Because Of Mercy

6. Have Mercy

7. Mercy-Heart

Christ Jesus Is The Righteous Way!

I'm Gonna Fight! Till I Can't Fight No More!

 

I love how this video of Coach Jeff Monken firing up his team in the Army locker room reminds me of the Christian life - the life of the warrior for Christ Who puts on the full armor of God, fights the good fight of faith, gets knocked down & bleeds awhile, but gets back up to fight some more because it's ultimately the LORD God Who fights for us! 

The Christian life is war.

In Christ, we will fight till we can't fight no more! And we will get up! Get up! Get up! For soon we will see Him face to face, and there will be no more death, no more sin, no more pain, no more tears, and no more sorrow.

When I get knocked down and bleed awhile, I fight then too in order to focus on the great King Jesus Who is better, and plead for Him and Home.

Come LORD Jesus! Come quickly!

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Ephesians 6:11-13

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

You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the LORD will be with you. 2 Chronicles 20:17

Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD will be a light to me. I will bear the indignation of the LORD because I have sinned against him, until he pleads my cause and executes judgment for me. He will bring me out to the light; I shall look upon his vindication. Micah 7:8-9

Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. 1 Corinthians 9:25-27

At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. 2 Timothy 4:16-18

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 2 Timothy 4:7

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." Revelation 21:3-4

So, as my old high school football coach said: "Go to war!" 

To learn more about the great warrior King Jesus and His glorious Gospel message, please watch American Gospel: Christ Alone. You can watch the full documentary here with a free, 3 day trial.

The Army Navy Game And Thanksgiving To God

The Army Navy Game is today, and it reminds me of what God mercifully did for me & in me during my years in college at the Naval Academy. And God's mercy is a great reason for great thanksgiving:

God (our triune God!) introduced me to Christian campus ministries like Baptist Student Union (BSU) and Officers' Christian Fellowship (OCF) and godly leaders and their wives like Tom and Melissa Clemmons, Kirk and Deborah Ritchey, Tom and Mary Thompson, and Bob and Libby Underhill who loved me and mentored me and taught me and showed me what it means to pursue God with all my heart. Thank you all so much for discipling me and helping me follow Jesus. (On discipling, see Mark Dever: Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4)

God showed me my pride and introduced me to my desperate need for humility (and He deeply humbled me!), showing me I should only boast in the cross ("But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." (Galatians 6:14)). Col. Art Athens' talk on humility was amazing. A study like this on the different characteristics of proud and humble people was very helpful and challenging.

God introduced me to "cold turkey evangelism" - just going up to random people on the beach and talking to them about Jesus Christ, the God-Man (thanks Tom Clemmons! - remember the frisbees with the Gospel printed on the back!) I read my first book on evangelism by Mack Stiles called Speaking of Jesus. Col. Art Athens' article, provocatively titled "Go To Hell!", was a powerful motivation for evangelism as well. God, through His Word and by His Spirit, saves sinners!

God introduced me to the five points of Calvinism (which are actually just straight up what Jesus teaches). Thanks Benjamin Selph, a fellow Midshipman, who introduced me to these wonderful truths and gave me book after book on the absolute sovereignty of God in and over all things. This teaching totally revolutionized my view of God and how I read the Bible! It also gave me a hunger and thirst for God and theology I'd never had before which ultimately led to me becoming a pastor. God is a great God! He's a powerful God! He's the almighty God! He's the totally and absolutely sovereign God! "Salvation belongs to the LORD!" (Jonah 2:9). I write more about many truths that God has taught me in a Thanksgiving article here.

God introduced me to some great Reformed authors - R. C. Sproul, John Piper, Mark Dever (I actually got to join the church where he pastors in Washington D. C.), Matthew Henry (I remember having no idea who he was, but I found a study Bible with his notes in it. I called Ben and asked if Matthew Henry was a good dude. Ben and his father laughed!), A. W. Pink, Louis Berkhof, Loraine Boettner, Charles Spurgeon, and others.

God introduced me to several dear brothers and sisters in Christ who encouraged me and helped me walk with Jesus. I've been able to stay in touch with some of them, and they pray for me and encourage me in Christ to this day. I also got to see God transform one of my roommate's lives from a Roman Catholic to a true, genuine, born again Christian who now has a beautiful, godly, loving family that lives for the glory of King Jesus!

God introduced me to reading through the Bible regularly.

God introduced me to the serious fight against sin in my life by the power of the Holy Spirit.

God introduced me to Mark Dever and the wonderful ministry of Capitol Hill Baptist Church where we drove each Sunday and eventually joined as members.

God introduced me to the ministry of John Piper, Desiring God, and Christian Hedonism - again totally revolutionizing my views and understanding of God and teaching me that "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him!"

Later, long after graduation, God answered a prayer of mine and allowed me to officiate my first wedding and preach the Gospel in the Naval Academy Chapel. 

Photos by Karen Santilli Photography

There were many more graces God blessed me with during those years, I'm sure. Thank You Father God! You are a good, good Father! The Army Navy game reminds me of these blessings.

Go Navy! Beat Army!

God And The Gospel

To learn more about the great and true Triune God, the God-Man, Jesus Christ, His cross, and His glorious Gospel message and everlasting Kingship, please watch American Gospel: Christ Alone. You can watch the full documentary here with a free, 3 day trial.

Christ Jesus Male And Female Made!

Christ Jesus To The World Is Sent!

Christ Jesus Alone Can Unify!

10 Gifts I'm Most Thankful For With Christ As The Center Of All Thanksgiving!

1. Conversion And The Cross And Resurrection

I am most thankful for God and Him saving me from His wrath and my sins through the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ, and for adopting me into His family as one of His very own sons! I'm thankful for my parents who first taught me about Jesus and took me to church. You can read the full story of my conversion here.

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. Titus 3:4-5

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6

Jesus is the God-Man, and He is LORD - the name above all names! 

2. Comprehensive Sovereignty of God

While in college, Navy was playing Wake Forest one weekend, so I was headed down with all the Navy fans to cheer on the team because it got me a free trip to North Carolina to see my family. For the trip, my friend, Ben Selph, had given me a cassette tape series to listen to called "A Southern Baptist's Explanation Of Calvinism." As I listened to that series, my eyes were opened by the Holy Spirit, and my understanding of Who God is changed forever! Understanding T.U.L.I.P. was revolutionary for me. God is not a pipsqueak God, subject to my almighty free will. He is absolutely sovereign and in total control of all people, decisions, and events, from the hairs on my head (Matthew 10:30) to the flight paths of little birds (Matthew 10:29). This is not merely what John Calvin taught. This is what the Bible and Jesus teach.

Later I would learn the truth from the Westminster Confession of Faith - that "God from all eternity did by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass . . . ." That statement was amazing to me, but I wondered if it was Biblical. God began to show me, time and time again, that this is taught all over the Bible. Here are just a few examples:

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will . . . . Ephesians 1:11

Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, "My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose," calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it. Isaiah 46:8-11

The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD. Proverbs 16:33

The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will. Proverbs 21:1

Ben gave me book (Chosen By God by R. C. Sproul) after book (The Sovereignty Of God by A. W. Pink) after book (The Reformed Doctrine Of Predestination by Loraine Boettner), helping me understand these truths more clearly, and my understanding of God was changed forever. I truly loved and delighted in knowing that God was this BIG and sovereign and that He does all things, first and foremost, for His own glory! Just read Romans 9 if you have any doubts!

3. Christian Hedonism
In college, I was introduced to John Piper, his ministry (Desiring God), and his book by the same name, (Desiring God). These resources opened my eyes to the great joy God is and that we should pursue our joy in Him.

John Piper summarizes Christian Hedonism with this sentence: "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him." Sam Storms summarizes it here.

John Piper writes:

Christian Hedonism is a philosophy of life built on the following five convictions:

1. The longing to be happy is a universal human experience, and it is good, not sinful.

2. We should never try to deny or resist our longing to be happy, as though it were a bad impulse. Instead, we should seek to intensify this longing and nourish it with whatever will provide the deepest and most enduring satisfaction.

3. The deepest and most enduring happiness is found only in God. Not from God, but in God.

4. The happiness we find in God reaches its consummation when it is shared with others in the manifold ways of love.

5. To the extent that we try to abandon the pursuit of our own pleasure, we fail to honor God and love people. Or, to put it positively: The pursuit of pleasure is a necessary part of all worship and virtue. 

That is: The chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever. (Desiring God, Page 28)

Here are some of my favorite Christian Hedonistic testimonies:

Augustine: You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.

John Calvin: Nay, unless they establish their complete happiness in him [God], they will never give themselves truly and sincerely to him.

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16:11

Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. Psalm 73:25

Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. Habakkuk 3:17-18

These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. John 15:11 

 

4. Christ In All The Scriptures
I listened to a 35 lecture/Q&A series that Tim Keller and Ed Clowney taught called Preaching Christ In A Postmodern World, and seeing Jesus Christ in all the Scriptures was amazing to me because Jesus is amazing!

Jesus taught that all the Bible is about Him:

And he said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. Luke 24:25-27

 Tim Keller's video here drives this point home (see the full text here):

5. Christ And His Gospel Daily
I first heard a man from Capitol Hill Baptist Church respond to the greeting/question, "How are you?" with these words: "I'm better than I deserve." His point was that he knew, according to God's Word, all he deserved was eternity in hell, but because of the finished work of Jesus Christ, he's always better than he deserved. Keeping this in mind has been a rock of stability and a well-spring of joy for me. This devotional by John Piper helped me see this more clearly: The Transforming Power Of Feeling Mercy

I wrote this in 2014, expressing these truths:

I didn't deserve to be born.

I didn't deserve to be born in a country where the Gospel is freely preached.

I didn't deserve to be brought up under the influence of the Gospel.

I don't deserve the family I have.

I don't deserve the friends I have.

I don't deserve the education I have.

I don't deserve the job I have.

I don't deserve the life experiences I've enjoyed.

I don't deserve the health I've been given.

I don't deserve the food, clothes, and shelter I've enjoyed these many years of life.

I don't deserve the material resources I've been given.

I don't deserve the gift of marriage.

I don't deserve the gift of children.

I don't deserve the gift of singleness.

I don't deserve joy, peace, and happiness.

I don't deserve any of the pleasures this life or the next has to offer.

I don't deserve for things to go my way.

I don't deserve health, wealth, and prosperity.

Because of my sin, all I do deserve is death, judgment, curse, loneliness, ridicule, slander, joblessness, homelessness, nakedness, starvation, pain, suffering, depression, despair, brokenness, and everlasting torment away from the presence of the LORD in His love and mercy and in the presence of the LORD in His everlasting wrath and fury for all eternity.

But in Christ, Who lived, died, and rose again, I get what I don't deserve!

I'm born again!

I'm reminded of the Gospel daily!

I have friends and family who love Jesus and point me to Him!

I get educated in the Word of God!

My job is to study and preach God's Word!

Christ is my health, my clothing, my food, and my shelter!

Christ is more valuable than all the earth!

Christ is my great heavenly Spouse Who is more beautiful than all and loves and satisfies like no other!

Christ allows me to disciple spiritual children!

Christ allows me to receive singleness as a gift and cry: 

Whom have I in heaven but You! And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You! Psalm 73:25

Christ is all joy, all peace, and all happiness in and of Himself!

Christ is the pleasure and treasure of life!

Christ makes all things go my way for He works all things for my good!

Christ is my health, wealth, and prosperity!

Christ has forgiven and saved me for Himself!

Christ is all!

Thank You my Eternal Lover!

You, O God, are all good things and every good thing . . . You are silver, gold, honor, delight, food, clothing, house, land, peace, wisdom, power, beauty, father, mother, wife, husband, mercy, love, grace, glory, and infinitely more than all these. George Swinnock

6. Christ Is All
Cotton Mather said: "Let the motto upon your whole ministry be - Christ is All!"

My desire is to live out that motto. My hope (and every Christian's hope!) is to desire Christ and delight in Christ above everything else in my life. It's one thing to confess "Christ is all" with your lips, but it's another thing to believe it in the depths of your heart and soul. Sometimes God teaches us that Christ is all by withholding from us some of our deepest earthly longings. I have desired marriage for over 25 years now, and God has chosen to withhold it.

But this withholding is teaching me that Jesus is better. Lord, I believe, help my unbelief! Oh to finally go home to be with Him! May my mind be gone to be with Jesus!

He embraces all things that are lovely: he seals up the sum of all loveliness. Things that shine as single stars with a particular glory, all meet in Christ as a glorious constellation. Col. 1:19, "It pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell." Cast your eyes among all created beings, survey the universe: you will observe strength in one, beauty in a second, faithfulness in a third, wisdom in a fourth; but you shall find none excelling in them all as Christ does. Bread has one quality, water another, raiment another, medicine another; but none has them all in itself as Christ does. He is bread to the hungry, water to the thirsty, a garment to the naked, healing to the wounded; and whatever a soul can desire is found in him . . . . John Flavel

7. Church
I am thankful for the centrality and beauty of the church. I am thankful for my church family who love me and pray for me. I am thankful for their support, friendship, patience, and forgiveness. I am thankful for how they serve Christ and spur me on to love and good deeds. I am thankful for their self-less love and faithfulness to God and His Word. The church is truly how God makes His manifold wisdom known to the world! I am so thankful for men like Tom Thompson, Tom Clemmons, Mark Dever, Kreg Bryan, Bill Harrell, Dechard Stevens, John Piper, and Michael Tan who have mentored me and helped me see these truths and so many other wonderful truths in God's Word as well!

To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. Ephesians 3:8-10

The Church is the mirror, that reflects the whole effulgence of the Divine character. It is the grand scene, in which the perfections of Jehovah are displayed to the universe. Charles Bridges

 

8. Christ Humbling Me

I remember reading this chart in college and being profoundly convicted of how proud I was (and still am!):

God has used my service in the Navy and my time as a pastor to continue to humble me and show me that I truly have nothing to boast in except the cross of our LORD Jesus Christ:

But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Galatians 6:14

Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." 1 Peter 5:5

9. Christ My King

I do not remember exactly when I first heard this amazing description of Jesus Christ, but when I did, I was immediately amazed and somewhat addicted:

It's the greatest description of Jesus I've ever heard outside the Bible, and I'm so thankful for Dr. S. M. Lockridge, and I'm thankful that God gave him these wonderful, poetic words. I heard one pastor say it may be the most listened to sermon [clip] in modern church history because of how many times it's been listened to and downloaded from the internet. As I said, outside the Bible, it is the most glorious, powerful, amazing, beautiful, wonderful description of Jesus I have ever read or heard. Nothing outside the Bible, prayer, and the local church has helped me fight depression, loneliness, sadness, self-pity, selfishness, fear, anxiety, and all manner of other sins more than this glorious description of Jesus Christ. It has helped me fix my eyes on Jesus – "the Founder and Perfecter of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2) – like almost nothing else! 

It has also inspired me to write more poetry like it about Jesus, which started by writing down how Jesus is described in various books of the Bible (beginning with the book of Hebrews). Now all my sermon titles are inspired by Dr. Lockridge's description of Jesus. I even self-published a book in his honor and in the honor of our great King Jesus: "That's My King!" Meditations On The Christ Who Is All In All. King Jesus is our greatest reason for thanksgiving!

10. Christ Proclaimed

In high school, I remember one of the first major changes in my life as a new believer in Jesus was a deep burden to tell others the Gospel of Jesus Christ. After all, I'd been saved from hell, and now I enjoyed Jesus as my LORD and Savior, so how could I not warn others and tell them about the glorious God-Man Who saved me?! I remember first seeing this book by Mack Stiles when I was a freshman in college: Speaking Of Jesus: How To Tell Your Friends The Best News They Will Ever Hear. I remember my Baptist Student Union leader, Tom Clemmons, leading a beach evangelism trip to tell others about Jesus with frisbees that had the Gospel printed on the back. This was my first introduction to what some call "cold turkey evangelism." Then, after a few years of being a pastor in Philadelphia, I began street preaching. A man we met on the corner of Broad and Olney while street preaching who started coming to the church regularly, who got baptized and joined the church - he, Lord willing, will be cooking the turkey for our community meal at the church on Thanksgiving this year. May our burden to share the Gospel with others grow!

God And The Gospel

To learn more about the great and true Triune God, the God-Man, Jesus Christ, His cross, and His glorious Gospel message and everlasting Kingship, please watch American Gospel: Christ Alone. You can watch the full documentary here with a free, 3 day trial.

Some Other Reasons For Thanksgiving

1. I'm thankful for a deeper, clearer understanding of the Cross: In the last 5 years, in response to false teaching, God has pushed me to study the cross more in depth, and it's been a tremendous blessing.

2. I'm thankful for the Trinity: I really enjoyed this study on the Trinity. 

3. I'm thankful for what God has been teaching me about Islam: God has given me an interest in better understanding Islam and pointing Muslims to Christ. These teachings by Nabeel Qureshi have been tremendously helpful. This article on the recent Hamas attacks on Israel shows some of the fruit of that study.

4. I'm thankful for how God's Word continues to challenge me to live a simple, war-time lifestyle for the glory of God. Even my birth place, Valdese, North Carolina, reminds me of this!

5. I'm thankful that my parents didn't abort me, and how clear God's Word is on this issue and speaks to how we should and shouldn't vote on this issue.

6. I'm thankful for all the excellent preaching I've had the opportunity to hear over the years. Here are some of the most influential sermons I remember hearing/reading.