Part 1:

Part 2:

As I mention these five steps in Matthew 26:37 and following I want you to fix in your mind what it is that threatens your tranquility most, what it is that causes despondency or disheartened feelings to rise most often in your own life. What’s the shell that Satan drops most frequently into your life? And then as I mention these five steps that the Lord Jesus took when the bomb dropped in his life, I want you to translate them immediately into your experience, because they’re all relevant. Alright? There five of them.

1. Jesus chose some close friends to be with him. Verse 37: “And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled.” So he didn’t withdraw. He took the inner ring, his most precious and trusted friends, and he pulled aside with them.
2. He opened his soul to them. Verse 38: “Then he said to them, ‘My soul is very sorrowful, even to death.’” I can imagine their mouths dropping open, their King confessing his weakness. He opened his soul to them.
3. He asked for their help in spiritual warfare. Verse 38, second half: “Remain here and watch with me.” Another text says “pray,” and another, “Don’t let yourself come into temptation; stay here and fight with me. Fight with me.”
4. He poured out his heart to the Father in prayer. Verse 39: “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.” It’s just fine to pray that the bombshell that has dropped into your life be taken away. That’s just right. Whatever it is that Satan fires at you, it’s just fine to say, “Take it away Father. You’re stronger than he is.”
5. But finally, he rested his soul in the sovereign wisdom of God. Second half of verse 39: “Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt.”

Piper, in Future Grace, add’s a sixth point:

He fixed his eye on the glorious future grace that awaited him on the other side of the cross.  “For the joy set before Him [He] endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2)

-Ben

• Title: The Help Of The Holy Spirit
• Text: John 15:4-5, 16:5-15

We subtly take credit for our own spiritual growth

“Blessed are the poor in spirit” – we need a clear sense of inadequacy and insufficiency (and I would add, we need a clear sense of Christ’s adequacy and sufficiency)

We need constant help and mercy from God.

It’s okay – even good – to not have a 10 year plan, but to rely on God day by day.  (Perhaps I should comment on this more at some point – what’s the difference between dreaming about how you think God could use you (in light of your desires and giftings) vs. planning out how you think God should use you.)

The primary function of the Holy Spirit is to “guide you in all truth” (john 16).  Step 1 = make you a Christian.  Step 2 = keep you a Christian.  Both are accomplished by illuminating truth to us.

The most important truth the HS guides is in is the truth about Jesus – that He is glorious, that He is all-satisfying, and that He is all-sufficient.

The answer is given in Philippians 3:7-8:

Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.”

In other words, Paul displays the worth of Christ by counting everything else as loss for Christ’s sake. “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of Christ.” Which means that the life that displays the worth of Christ—the unwasted life—is the life that uses everything to show that Christ is more valuable that it is. Money is used to show that Christ is more valuable than money. Food is used to show that Christ is more valuable than food is. Houses and lands and cars and computers are used to show that Christ is more valuable than they are. Family and friends and your own life are a place to show that Christ is more valuable than any of them.

Some especially good ones:

• Where Is God by John Piper
• The Present Effects of Trembling at the Wrath of God by John Piper
• Ask Anything: Grace by Mark Driscoll
• How My Pastoral Ministry Shapes My Pulpit Ministry by John Piper
• The Supremacy of Christ and the Church in a Postmodern World by Mark Driscoll

In general, watching > listening > reading.

-Ben

Check it out – should be pretty intense:

• 1/6 – #9 – There’s no doubt the Bible says children are a blessing, but the Bible doesn’t seem to address the specific topic of birth control. Is this a black and white topic, or does it fall under liberties?
• 1/13 – #8 – Why do you make jokes about mormon missionaries, homosexuals, trenchcoats wearers, single men, vegans, emo kids and then expect these groups to come to know God in the same sermon?
• 1/20 – #7 – Why does an all loving, all knowing, and all sovereign God will into creation people He foreknows will suffer eternal condemnation? Why does Romans 9:20 feel like a cop-out answer?
• 1/27 – #6 – Of all the things you teach, what parts of Christianity do you still wrestle with? What’s hardest for you to believe?
• 2/3 – #5 – How should Christian men and women go about breaking free from the bondage of sexual sin?
• 2/10 – #4 – If salvation is by faith alone, then why are there so many verses that imply works?
• 2/17 – #3 – How does a Christian date righteously; and what are the physical, emotional, and mentally connecting boundaries a Christian must set while developing an intimate relationship prior to marriage?
• 2/24 – #2 – What can traditional/established churches learn from “emerging” churches?
• 3/2 – #1 – Do you believe that the Scripture not only regulates our theology but also our methodology? In other words, do you believe in the regulative principle? If so, to what degree?

I’m looking forward to many of these.  #9 should be very interesting and insanely controversial.  #8 is personally interesting to me as I contemplate the place of humor in preaching.  #3 might just be the most needed out of all these.  And #2 and #1 have to do with church methodology and practice, which is also very interesting and useful for me…

-Ben

To Root Our Hope In A Sovereign God

First, God gives us money to root our hope in a Sovereign God, and not in money. Throughout Luke 12, the refrain is, “do not worry”, “do not worry”. Why do we not need to worry? Because God will take care of us. He takes care of the birds of the air and the grass of the field – and you’re so much more valuable than them! He knows every little thing that we need, and it’s trivial for him to give them to us.

Luke 12:30-32 – “For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things. But seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you. Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.” God knows you need simple, physical things to keep you alive, and he’ll give them to you, but he also knows that what you really need is HIM – the rest are just additions. Notice the word choice in this verse.

• “your Father” – you have a heavenly Dad who, unlike earthly dads, will never let you down and is 100% for you. He’s caring for you and looking out for your best interest. He wants to keep you safe and secure and comfortable and happy, and he knows precisely how to do that…
• “has chosen” – it’s an active decision that he’s made. he could have withheld it from us, but he didn’t – he chose to give it to us
• “gladly” – this is the Father’s attitude – he doesn’t do this begrudgingly or expecting repayment, but with the delight that you would expect from a loving gift-giver
• “to give” – this is the Father’s action – he doesn’t withhold it from you, and he doesn’t lend it to you and expect repayment – it’s a gift
• “flock” – the Father is also called the Good Shepherd. As Christians, we are part of his flock, under his watchful care, protection, and guidance.
• “little” – our relationship to the Father. He is big and powerful, and we are small and weak. But because he is good, he cares for us and protects us.
• “the kingdom” – The kingdom of God is what is referred to here, where the King – Jesus – reigns. Matthew 25:34, in the middle of the parable of the sheep and the goats, says “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” The Kingdom of God is the ultimate blessing for those who love the King, because we get to be with the King forever!
• “Do not be afraid” – we don’t need to fear not obtaining the kingdom, because it’s the Father who has chosen to give it to us. What he decrees will happen will happen, so we need not be afraid.

Your Heavenly Father holds you safely and securely in his arms, gladly giving you the best thing – Himself – along with everything else you need to live. And so our hope is rooted in a Sovereign God, instead of ourselves, and instead of money, to provide us with comfort and security. And with the Father securing us, and providing for all our needs, we can give generously and with compassion and broken-hearted care, not begrudgingly, with uncertainty, or fear. And the more we give, the more we trust his sovereign goodness as HE is unmistakably the one providing for our every need and we’re not looking to ourselves for a secure future.

1. Pride is our greatest enemy.  Humility is our greatest friend.

2. Pride, in its origin and practice, is demonic and Satanic (Satan’s pride was the first sin).  Humility is Christ-like and Spirit-enabled.  Any human being who has any measure of humility is a miracle.

3. Pride is the encouragement to compare ourselves to other people.  We tend to pick people who are less than us.  Humility is continually comparing ourselves to Jesus.  If you struggle with pride, compare yourself to Jesus and that will help.

4. Pride covets the success of other people.  When they succeed, we become jealous.  This is why we critique them.  Humility allows us to celebrate the success of other people and the grace God has displayed.

5. Pride is about me…. about what I deserve.  Humility is about Jesus, and it’s about other people.  It allows people to be selfless.

6. Pride is about my glory – who I am, what I’ve done, do you like me?  do you want to be like me?  Humility is about the glory of Jesus – who is Jesus, what has he done, do you want to be like him?

7. Pride is “I am God”.  Humility is not about being God but about celebrating the fact that the real God has lovingly served me.

8. Pride leads to arrogance/cockiness/smugness, and is repugnant.  And leads to rejection of truth/teaching.  Humility leads to confidence (in truth), NOT compromise (of truth).

9. The point of pride is independence (look at Satan, look at our sin).  Humility is about dependence – acknowledging that we are created, God is creator, and we are dependent on God for everything.

10. “Pride is the mother of all sin” – Augustine.  Therefore, conversely, humility is the mother of all Joy.

11. Pride is something that we can achieve in this lifetime.  Humility is something we must continually pursue – it isn’t something we achieve fully.  Can’t say, “I am proud to report that I am now humble.”  Can say, “By God’s grace, I am a proud person pursuing humility.”