Act Like Men

Sunday I preached from 1 Corinthians 16:13-14.

The sermon can be summed like this:

Act Like Men

Listen here:

Or download here.


-joe

tuesday martyr

3 friends (found in Foxe's Book of Martyrs)

A.D. 1568, three persons were apprehended in Antwerp, named Scoblant, Hues, and Coomans. During their confinement they behaved with great fortitude and cheerfulness, confessing that the hand of God appeared in what had befallen them, and bowing down before the throne of his providence. In an epistle to some worthy Protestants, they expressed themselves in the following words: "Since it is the will of the Almighty that we should suffer for His name, and be persecuted for the sake of His Gospel, we patiently submit, and are joyful upon the occasion; though the flesh may febel against the spirit, and hearken to the council of the old serpent, yet the truths of the Gospel shall prevent such advice from being taken, and Christ shall bruise the serpent's head. We are not comfortless in confinement, for we have faith; we fear not affliction, for we have hope; and we forgive our enemies, for we have charity. Be not under apprehensions for us, we are happy in confinement through the promises of God, glory in our bonds, and exult in being thought worthy to suffer for the sake of Christ. We desire not to be released, but to be blessed with fortitude; we ask not liberty, but the power of perseverance; and wish for no change in our condition, but that which places a crown of martyrdom upon our heads."

Scoblant was first brought to his trial; when, persisting in the profession of his faith, he received sentence of death. On his return to prison, he earnestly requested the jailer not to permit any friar to come near him; saying, "They can do me no good, but may greatly disturb me. I hope my salvation is already sealed in heaven, and that the blood of Christ, in which I firmly put my trust, hath washed me from my iniquities. I am not going to throw off this mantle of clay, to be clad in robes of eternal glory, by whose celestial brightness I shall be freed from all errors. I hope I may be the last martyr to papal tyranny, and the blood already spilt found sufficient to quench the thirst of popish cruelty; that the Church of Christ may have rest here, as his servants will hereafter." On the day of execution, he took a pathetic leave of his fellow prisoners. At the stake he fervently said the Lord's Prayer, and sung the Fortieth Psalm; then commending his soul to God, he was burnt alive.

Hues, soon after died in prison; upon which occasion Coomans wrote thus to his friends: "I am now deprived of my friends and companions; Scoblant is martyred, and Hues dead, by the visitation of the Lord; yet I am not alone, I have with me the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob; He is my comfort, and shall be my reward. Pray unto God to strengthen me to the end, as I expect every hour to be freed from this tenement of clay."

On his trial he freely confessed himself of the reformed religion, answered with a manly fortitude to every charge against him, and proved the Scriptural part of his answers from the Gospel. The judge told him the only alternatives were recantation or death; and concluded by saying, "Will you die for the faith you profess?" To which Coomans replied, "I am not only willing to die, but to suffer the most excruciating torments for it; after which my soul shall receive its confirmation from God Himself, in the midst of eternal glory." Being condemned, he went cheerfully to the place of execution, and died with the most manly fortitude, and Christian resignation.

May God grant us the same perseverance if we are ever imprisoned with death before us.

-joe

Happy Reformation Day!

Over the last few years October 31st has become one of my favorite holidays. It was the night that Martin Luther nailed his theses to the door and I will forever be grateful to him, and men like him, for their stand on the glory of God in salvation.

Below I've collected a few links of interest regarding the day:

The Pyromaniac take on Luther and this day

Desiring God has an interesting post on Luther's first thesis and his last words

Stand to Reason talk of the effect of that day

The Thinklings lay out their own 95 theses

And if that's not enough, Tim Challies has his roundup of reformation posts here.

Go watch Luther tonight and have a great Friday.

-joe

library

I like going through my books on occasion. This happens to be one of those occasions (one of necessity not of mere jollity.)

You see, I have some exciting news. On Tuesday I won a free, yes that's right, FREE bed from Sealy. Not just some lame promotion bed either...any bed that I want from their entire line. (In case you don't know, my mother's furniture store where I work sells Sealy. I went to a Sealy event on Tuesday with my dad.)

So, because of the new bed, an upgrade from a twin size to a queen size, I have to do a bit of re-arranging in my room. I decided to bite the bullet and transfer the rest of my books from the house to the office.

Long story short: I had no idea that I had collected so much fiction over the years.

You might not think it much, but I think that 20 fiction books is a lot...considering how often I read one. I've just started reading The Sun Also Rises which I inherited from one of my parents recently. (They don't know to whom it belonged.)

-joe

tuesday martyr (a day late)

I would have never thought that a modern day martyr would be found in a place like Mexico. I know that Mexico has quite a bit of corruption, but I did not think that Christians would be the point of some of that violence.

This is from Voice of the Martyrs:

On August 23, three Christians in Chiapas, Mexico, were brutally killed by their neighbor after he blamed them for his daughter’s stomach ailment. Antonio Gomez blamed his Christian neighbor, Pedro Gomez Diaz and his family, for his 11-year-old daughter's stomach ailment and accused the Christian family of practicing witchcraft, Compass Direct News reported.

Gomez and seven of his friends entered the Christian family’s home and attacked them with machetes. Pedro, his wife, Marcela, and their oldest son, Rene, were hacked to death. Six of the other Diaz children were seriously wounded. At last report, the eight men involved in the attack were being held in a jail, Compass Direct News added.

The Voice of the Martyrs actively supports persecuted Christians in Chiapas, Mexico, with literature and other resources following incidents of persecution. VOM encourages you to pray for their protection and courage during challenging times. Pray for the surviving Diaz family as they mourn their parents and oldest sibling. Ask God to give them comfort in knowing that Christ is victorious over death.

May God grant peace and courage to those who face persecution in Chiapas.

-joe

the rule and reign of Jesus

"...there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist." 1 Corinthians 8:6b

The ruling and reigning of Jesus should be constantly monitoring our thoughts and actions. We should be seeking to understand how "all things were created through him and for him." It is that last bit, "for him" that we seem to somehow forget.

Tonight, at senior high, I gave a rough outline of what this doctrine practically means in our lives.

One, it means that things that happen to us (or others) that are bad, such as: death, sickness, famine, disaster..., are ultimately for Jesus. There is nothing that happens that does not finally make him look amazing.

I talked about Job as the prime example and that Job asked those questions of God. The why questions...which are natural and not a sin to ask. It is, I believe, good to ask these questions of God. It is not good to assume things of God.

God's answer, in essence, to Job is "Why not? How do you know the finality of all things if you don't even know the beginning of all things?"

God is an infinite being and we are finite. We want to make this world about us (ourselves and other people) when in reality it is about God. Trouble brews when we turn the tables on God and count him as guilty for calamity. He is in control and sovereignly let it happen...but he is not guilty of a criminal act. All things are pointing towards him because all things were made to do just that.

Two, in this coming election (and all elections) we make a mistake to get riled up for what a particular candidate can do for us. The question must always be "Who do I think God can best use to call us to repentance and to make Him look awesome?"

(That doesn't mean you vote for a person who claims to be a christian all the time.)

Instead of focusing on the issues that affect us we should focus on those that dismay God. This world and its leaders are not here for our pleasure, they are here for God's glory. Vote accordingly.

Three, respect for those in authority rests on respect of God's authority. If God is ultimately in control and places people in places of authority...then we must respect them. A prime example would those folks in 1 Samuel 10 who despise Saul. They are called "worthless men" (which sounds nicer than it is) for despising a terrible king. We must never despise those in authority over us. Only if they deny us our right to proclaim the good news of Jesus do we have the right to usurp their authority.

There are more examples that come from a worldview that is founded on the truth that everything here is for Jesus and his glory. He is ruling and reigning in an active way by "holding the world together by the power of his word."

Let us live in light of it.

-joe

tuesday martyr (a day late)

I found this in a copy of Foxe's book of martyrs that I have and it took me awhile to find it elsewhere (it seems it is not in most modern editions of the book.)

I did find it in the Acts and Monuments of the Church. So, below is the story of Romanus. Within it is also the mention of a young boy and his mother. What courage for Christ is displayed. (It is a bit long...)

Pitiless Galerius, with his grand captain Asclepiades, violently invaded the city of Antioch, in tending by force of arms to drive all Christians to renounce utterly their pure religion. The Christians, as God would, were at that time ongregated together, to whom Romanus hastily ran, declaring that the wolves were at hand which would devour the Christian flock; but fear not, said he, neither let this imminent peril disturb you, my brethren. Brought was it to pass, by the great grace of God working in Romanus, that old men and matrons, fathers and mothers, young men and maidens, were all of one will and mind, most ready to shed their blood in defence of their Christian profession. Word was brought unto the captain, that the band of armed soldiers was not able to wrest the staff of faith out of the hand of the armed congregation, and all by reason that one Romanus so mightily did encourage them, that they stick not to offer their naked throats, wishing gloriously to die for the name of their Christ. Seek out that rebel, (quoth the captain,) and bring him to me, that he may answer for the whole sect. Apprehended he was, and, bound as a sheep appointed to the slaughterhouse, was presented to the emperor, who with wrathful countenance beholding him, said, What! art thou the author of this sedition? Art thou the cause why so many shall lose their lives? By the gods I swear thou shalt smart for it, and first in thy flesh shalt thou suffer the pains whereunto thou hast encouraged the hearts of thy fellows. Romanus answered, Thy sentence, O emperor, I joyfully embrace; I refuse not to be sacrificed for my brethren, and that by as cruel means as thou mayest invent; and whereas thy soldiers were repelled from the Christian congregation, that so happened, because it lay not in idolaters and worshippers of devils to enter into the holy house of God, and to pollute the place of true prayer. Then Asclepiades, wholly inflamed with this stout answer, commanded him to be trussed up, and his bowels drawn out. The executioners themselves, more pitiful in heart than the captain, said, Not so, sir; this man is of noble parentage, unlawful it is to put a nobleman to so unnoble a death. Scourge him then with whips (quoth the captain) with pieces of lead at the ends. Instead of tears, sighs, and groans, Romanus sung psalms all the time of his whipping, requiring them not to favour him for nobility's sake; Not the blood of my progenitors, (saith he,) but Christian profession, maketh me noble. Then with great power of spirit he inveighed against the captain, laughing to scorn the false gods of the heathen, with the idolatrous worshipping of them, affirming the God of the Christians to be the true God that created heaven and earth, before whose judicial seat all nations shall appear. But the wholesome words of the martyr were as oil to the fire of the captain's fury. The more the martyr spake, the madder was he, insomuch that he commanded the martyr's sides to be lanced with knives, until the bones appeared white again. Sorry am I, O captain, (quoth the martyr,) not for that my flesh shall be thus cut and mangled, but for thy cause am I sorrowful, who, being corrupted with damnable errors, seducest others. The second time he preached at large the living God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, his well-beloved Son, eternal life through faith in his blood, expressing therewith the abomination of idolatry, with a vehement exhortation to worship and adore the living God. At these words Asclepiades commanded the tormentors to strike Romanus on the mouth, that his teeth being stricken out, his pronunciation at leastwise might be impaired. The commandment was obeyed, his face buffeted, his eyelids torn with their nails, his cheeks scotched with knives, the skin of his beard was plucked by little and little from the flesh; finally, his seemly face was wholly defaced. The meek martyr said, I thank thee, O captain, that thou hast opened unto me many mouths, whereby I may preach my Lord and Saviour Christ. Look how many wounds I have, so many mouths I have lauding and praising God. The captain, astonished with this singular constancy, commanded them to cease from the tortures. He threateneth cruel fire, he revileth the noble martyr, he blasphemeth God, saying, Thy crucified Christ is but a yesterday's God, the gods of the Gentiles are of most antiquity.

Here again Romanus, taking good occasion, made a long oration of the eternity of Christ, of his human nature, of the death and satisfaction of Christ for all mankind. Which done, he said, Give me a child, O captain, but seven years of age, which age is free from malice and other vices, wherewith riper age is commonly infected, and thou shalt hear what he will say His request was granted. A boy was called out of the multitude, and set before him. Tell me, my babe, (quoth the martyr,) whether thou think it reason that we worship one Christ, and in Christ one Father, or else that we worship infinite gods? Unto whom the babe answered, That certainly, whatsoever it be that men affirm to be God, must needs be one, which
with one, is one and the same; and inasmuch as this one is Christ, of necessity Christ must be the true God; for that there be many gods, we children cannot believe. The captain, hereat clean amazed, said, Thou young villain and traitor, where and of whom learnedst thou this lesson? Of my mother, (quoth the child,) with whose milk I sucked in this lesson, that I must believe in Christ. The mother was called, and she gladly appeared. The captain commanded the child to be horsed up and scourged. The pitiful beholders of this pitiless act could not temper themselves from tears; the joyful and glad mother alone stood by with dry cheeks; yea, she rebuked her sweet babe for craving a draught of cold water; she charged him to thirst after the cup that the infants of Bethlehem once drank of, forgetting their mothers' milk and paps; she willed him to remember little Isaac, who, beholding the sword wherewith, and the altar whereon, he should be sacrificed, willingly proffered his tender neck to the dint of his father's sword. Whilst this counsel was in giving, the butcherly torturer plucked the skin from the crown of his head, hair and all. The mother cried, Suffer, my child, anon thou shalt pass to Him that will adorn thy naked head with a crown of eternal glory. The mother counselleth, the child is counselled; the mother encourageth, the babe is encouraged, and received the stripes with smiling countenance. The captain, perceiving the child invincible, and himself vanquished, committeth the silly soul, the blessed babe, the child uncherished, to the stinking prison, commanding the torments of Romanus to be renewed and increased, as chief author of this evil.

Thus was Romanus brought forth again to new stripes, the punishments to be renewed and received upon his old sores, insomuch as the bare bones appeared, the flesh all torn away.

Yea, no longer could the tyrant forbear, but needs he must draw nearer to the sentence of death. Is it painful to thee (saith he) to tarry so long alive? A flaming fire, doubt thou not, shall be prepared for thee by and by, wherein thou and that boy, thy fellow of rebellion, shall be consumed into ashes. Romanus and the babe were led to the place of execution. As they laid hands on Romanus, he looked back, saying, I appeal from this thy tyranny, O judge unjust, unto the righteous throne of Christ, that upright Judge, not because I fear thy cruel torments and merciless handlings, but that thy judgments may be known to be cruel and bloody. Now when they welcome to the place, the tormentor required the child of the mother, for she had taken it up in her arms; and she, only kissing it, delivered the babe; Farewell, she said, my sweet child. And as the hangman applied his sword to the babe's neck, she sang on this manner:

All laud and praise with heart and voice,
O Lord, we yield to thee,
To whom the death of all thy saints
We know most dear to be.

The innocent's head being cut off, the mother wrapped it up in her garment, and laid it to her breast. On the other side a mighty fire was made, whereinto Romanus was cast, who said that he should not burn; wherewith a great storm arose (if it be true) and quenched the fire. The captain gave in commandment that his tongue should be cut out. Out was it plucked by the hard roots and cut off: nevertheless he spake, saying, He that speaketh Christ shall never want a tongue; think not that the voice that uttereth Christ hath need of the tongue to be the minister. The captain at this, half out of his wits, bare in hand that the hangman deceived the sight of the people by some subtle sleight and crafty conveyance. Not so, (quoth the hangman,) if you suspect my deed, open his mouth, and diligently search the roots of his tongue. The captain at length, being confounded with the fortitude and courage of the martyr, straitly commandeth him to be brought back into the prison, and there to be strangled; where, his sorrowful life and pains being ended, he now enjoyeth quiet rest in the Lord, with perpetual hope of his miserable body to be restored
again with his soul into a better life, where no tyrant shall have any power.

-joe

the ascension

Tonight at senior high youth I will speak about the ascension of Jesus Christ and what that means to us, as believers in Him.

I think there are several reasons why it is important for us to realize He ascended and for what purpose He went.

The first I think is fairly obvious, since Jesus tells us one of the main reasons He will be leaving the earth after His resurrection. He talks about in John 16:4-15. I'll summarize by saying that He left in order that the Holy Spirit would come to 1)convict the world of sin, 2)convict the world of righteousness, 3)convict the world of judgment, 4)guide us into all truth, 5)Glorify God through Jesus.

Hebrews 4:14 gives us another reason that He left and "went through the heavens." It was so that we could have hope and confidence and hold fast to our faith. This leads to the last two points.

He left to rule and reign as is spelled out in Ephesians 1:15-23. He went to act as our advocate and High Priest. We, therefore, place our hope and confidence in the great, powerful, mighty, resurrected Lord Jesus who rules with all authority and intercedes for us. That is why we get to have confidence (point number 2).

The final reason I believe Jesus left us was to give us a reminder and hope of his return. In Acts 1:11 the angels tell the apostles that Jesus will return in the manner they just saw him go. I think that gives us a great hope of his return (and goes back to point number 2).

I hope you will be encouraged that Jesus ascended through the heavens to be seated at the right hand of the Father and has sent us the Holy Spirit. What a merciful and awesome God.

-joe

God works sovereignly

"God works sovereignly. In essence, Exodus challenges the common notion that God is passive." pg 88

"In Midian, Moses marries, settles down, and probably think retirement is upon him as he nears his eightieth birthday...as much as Exodus is a story about Moses, when I read it again this week, I found that God is really the main character in this story. God appears to the aging Moses in the burning bush. God reveals his name to Moses--Moses was not out there looking for it. God commissions Moses to speak to Pharaoh and bring God's people out of Egypt. Moses was sitting around reading the Federalist Papers, determining that the Hebrews needed to take freedom into their won hands. No, Moses is an eighty-year-old shepherd. God is the actor in this story." pg 89-90

"This is the God presented in the book of Exodus. He is sovereign even over wheels getting stuck in the mud and coming off!" (ref. Ex. 14:23-28) pg 91

"Just as God raises up Moses to lead the people, he places Pharaoh in his position of power. God purposed to install a pharaoh, as it says in the book's opening verses, "who did not know about Joseph" (1:8). And a little later he explicitly tells Pharaoh, "I have raised you up" (9:16). Surely you realize that God was no less sovereign in raising up Pharaoh than in raising up Moses." pg 91

"Then comes the part of the story that troubles people the most, but is undeniably crucial to the great escape from Egypt. God works sovereignly in Pharaoh [by] hardening his heart...God warns Moses ahead of time that he will do this (Ex. 4:21)...I don't claim to understand everything about how God hardened Pharaoh's heart, or all of its implications. But the verse certainly says that God had a purpose in hardening Pharaoh's heart." pg 92

"But that is not all of what we are supposed to observe. We are also supposed to observe that God works sovereignly (now let's add a little bit to the sentence to make our second point to save a special people...Exodus challenges the common notion that God treats all people in the same way, or that God is a committed egalitarian. No, that is not the story in Exodus. God is certainly fair; he is the standard of justice. But God does mysteriously and graciously choose to extend mercy to some. And no one can require mercy from him. It is his mercy. From a foundation of utter fairness, God chooses to extend mercy." pg 93

"The nations will hear and tremble...(Ex. 15:14-16)
This, of course, is why the Lord sovereignly placed his people in Egypt...Because Egypt was a great power. Because Egypt provided the perfect stage on which God could display his glory." pg 102

from Mark Dever's The Message of the Old Testament

-joe

the google

The google, also known as "the creeper."

Here's a google streetview pic...with my truck, in front of a place I used to live. Now, that's creepy.



-joe

tuesday martyr

This week I thought I'd give you a glimpse into what is going on in India. Below is a brief outline of the martyrdom of 3 Christian men in India several years ago. You can find a more detailed story here.
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Graham Staines and his two sons traveled deep into a very remote part of India in January of 1999 to proclaim the Gospel and to help with medical and other physical needs of the village.

As they were sleeping in their vehicle one night a mob of about 100 gathered around their jeep and soaked it in gasoline. They lit it on fire and danced around the 3 men who were burnt alive. His sons were 9 and 7.

They then held off authorities for more than an hour to make sure of their death.

Graham's wife and daughter were not with them when the act occurred and later his wife plead for clemency for the main man incarcerated for the murders.
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Here are some links to other stories of murder and violence against Christians in recent months:
The Christianity Today Blog
Persecuted Church Blog
Pyromaniacs Blog

May the God who keeps us let us live and die for His glory and for the spread of the good news of Jesus Christ.

-joe

Missions: Go or Send

Missions was the topic during yesterday's sermon. There are two extremely influential sermons and one book that have shaped my view of missions over the last two years. I reference all three in the sermon. I encourage you to listen to them or read them:

Paris Reidhead's sermon "10 Shekels and a Shirt"
John Piper's book Let the Nations Be Glad
(I am working on finding out the name and hopefully audio link from the sermon on Revelation 5 that was preached at College Park Church in early 2006)

My sermon outlines two ideas: What is the point of missions and evangelism? and What should we do because of that?

The answers: God is the point of missions and evangelism. He is worthy of all praise and adoration and glory because He was slain for our sins. He deserves the reward of his suffering.

We should go and send missionaries because of this glorious truth. We all have the duty as Christians to be sending and going for the cause of Christ because He is worthy. Jesus said "As the Father has sent me, so I send you." We must go, because we are commanded.

Here is the audio from the sermon:

You may also download it here.

-joe

the sun

I have no idea where I found this...I tried digging through my Google Reader, but I caught no signs of it.

It is a series of pictures of a solar flare on the sun's surface. You should definitely check out the other 20 photos and be amazed at the great magnificence of God's creation.




-joe

picture day

I saw this photo in the most recent (I think) issue of National Geographic. It was an article on Right Whales. You should go check out the article and read about their warts.



-joe