A Sobering Reminder

On the 41st anniversary of Roe v. Wade, here is an important article from Dr. Albert Mohler, President of The Southern Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY.  It is a sobering reminder of the evil infecting our country and world and a call to desperate prayer for the sake of babies, parents, families, churches, nations and the glory of God.

http://www.albertmohler.com/2014/01/21/abortion-and-the-american-conscience-2/

That the Word of the Lord May Speed Ahead

Some Thoughts on 2 Thessalonians 3:1

June 12, 2013

This morning I asked Denise Melendez, one of our great staff members, to include this Scripture verse in our newsletter article about missions, outreach and disciple-building this summer:

"Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as is happened among you…"  (2 Thes. 3:1)

What does it mean for "the word of the Lord" to speed ahead and be honored?  This phrase pictures God's word as a runner in a foot race set on attaining the goal—victory, honor, glory.  His Truth will "finish first" and be acclaimed over all other religions, worldviews, and theories.  Christ will be shown to be "the Way, the Truth, and the Life" and that no one comes to God except through Him (John 14:6). 

And in Paul's obvious context of gospel mission and witness, he calls us to pray for this to happen!  The Scriptures will have their life-giving effect in countless people from every people group on the earth as "faith comes from hearing, hearing by the word of Christ" (Rom. 10:17). 

"God will indeed cause his word to be glorified, but he does not intend to win the victory without prayer" (Piper, "The Power That Wields the Weapon", Jan., 1985).

That's why I included 2 Thes. 3:1 in this week's newsletter article about a mission trip to Haiti, and outreach/disciple-building ministries at Rocky like the Rock, Little Rock, and S.I.T.  In these strategic ministries, the aim is to proclaim and show Christ and His gospel.  So it is vital for us to pray that the Word would powerfully speed ahead and work in the lives of adults and children in Haiti and Niceville!  The Word is mighty to save!  In the last several months we have had the deep joy of seeing people drawn to Christ for salvation from sin and death—Praise God for His goodness and grace!  Let us pray 2 Thes. 3:1 prayers for more of this, for our joy and the glory of Christ!  And let us pray this way for our missionaries when we meet on June 30 to pray together!

Also, as I meditated on this verse, I thought of another important reason to pray that "the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored".  It is that the Scriptures are essential and powerful for our sanctification and purification as we pursue holiness—lives set apart more and more for the glory of God in everything.

Therefore, let us pray for ourselves and one another that the Word will speed ahead and be glorified in us!  Let us pray that we will gladly "let the word of Christ dwell in [us] richly" (Col. 3:16); that we would be set apart for God as the Lord Jesus prayed in John 17:17, "Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth"; that our hearts would be purified by to the truth (1 Pet. 1:22); and that we would offer ourselves to the Lord for His surgically precise, convicting and sanctifying work as He applies His Word to our lives (Heb. 4:11-13).

Then, as we internalize the Word of God and welcome its life-shaping, sanctifying power applied by the Holy Spirit, we will assuredly be more and more fitted as conduits through whom "the word of the Lord will speed ahead"  as we proclaim Jesus Christ in witness and missions.

O God, cause your precious, strong Word to speed ahead in us and through us!

Thank You for Sabbatical Rest!

Rynette and I returned from our sabbatical on Tuesday night after being away for four weeks.  I believe the purpose of our time was fulfilled because we have come home rested and spiritually rejuvenated.  We thank you, our elders and church family, for this extraordinary, beautiful gift!  We needed the rest and the Lord has graciously granted us invigoration by His Spirit through the Word.

Some of you may wonder why the elders gave us sabbatical following seven years of ministry.  Two reasons come to mind: 1. Sabbatical is a biblical idea that first appears in the creation account of Genesis.  After doing His creative work for six days, the text says, "And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.  So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation" (2:2-3).  Was God all worn out from creating all that was made?  No, we know that isn't true.  But he did establish a rhythm and pace of life for created beings (like you and me) because he knew we would need to rest and take time to focus on him.  Later God even established this pattern for Israel's land, calling the people to rest their farmland every seventh year (Exodus 23:10-11).  Therefore, the elders seek to honor God's Word by providing a sabbatical rest for pastors, acknowledging divinely designed rhythm for life; 2. I think the elders also have in mind that pastoral ministry is unique in its demands and stresses.  In 2 Corinthians 11, the apostle Paul reflects on the suffering and hardships of his ministry and concludes with these words: "And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches" (11:28)."  And my thought is: Even Paul experienced pressure and anxiety in ministry, and so it is for other pastors like ours.  Therefore, I am deeply grateful for our elders' and church family's understanding and generous kindness expressed in the gift of sabbatical rest.

One more reflection to share now is this… Something Rynette and I practiced together last month was reading God's Word to one another aloud.  This is valuable and beautiful because it requires dedicated time together around the Bible; speed-reading and skimming doesn't occur; scriptural themes and emphases are heard more clearly; and good discussion and application inevitably results.  We love doing this and I strongly encourage the husbands of RBBC to make a way to read the Word aloud with your wives!

Whether I Live or Die, God Wins

Please take a moment to watch this video.  It is a Christ-centered testimony for all of us, but especially those of us suffering life-threatening illnesses, to help give us perspective for future suffering and illness.

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2013/05/02/whether-i-live-or-die-god-wins/

A Meditation for Good Friday

Love Lustres at Calvary  from The Valley of Vision

Christ was all anguish that I might be all joy, 

cast off that I might be brought in,

trodden down as an enemy that I might be welcomed as a friend,

surrendered to hell's worst that I might attain heaven's best,

stripped that I might be clothed,

wounded that I might be healed,

athirst that I might drink,

tormented that I might be comforted, 

made a shame that I might inherit glory,

entered darkness that I might have eternal life.

My Savior wept that all tears might be wiped from my eyes,

groaned that I might have endless song,

endured all pain that I might have unfading health,

bore a thorned crown that I might have a glory-diadem,

bowed his head that I might uplift mine,

experienced reproach that I might receive welcome,

closed his eyes in death that I might gaze on unclouded brightness,

expired that I might forever live.

Follow-up After March 3's Sermon

The preaching text on March 3 for my sermon, "How To Pray for One Another", was Ephesians 3:15-18,  Here it is:

"For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, have the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints..."

Paul prayed for fellow believers in Christ at Ephesus, and he teaches us to pray for one another, that we would have knowledge of God-- "a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him"...and that we may "know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints..."

So we have the amazing privilege of praying for our brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus that we will know more of God's promised spiritual blessings (v. 3), including divinely seen wisdom and revelation, and hope and a gloriously eternal inheritance, by knowing more and more of God.  I say that because Paul surely know that the knowledge of God is infinite in measure because He is infinite.  His riches are unfathomable, and verse 19 tells us that his power is immeasurably great! 

Charles Spurgeon preached this on June 3, 1877-- "The most of the subjects which mortals study here will be forgotten in the world to come; the profoundest of them will be too trifling to be pursued amid angelic thrones.  The honors of classical and mathematical attainments will shine but dimly amidst the glories of of heaven, but the knowledge of Christ Jesus will still be priceless, and it will cause those who possess it to shine as the sun.  He that knoweth Christ shall go on to sit at his feet and still to learn, and as he learns he will tell to principalities and powers the manifold wisdom of God in the person of Jesus Christ.  Se ye, then, beloved, that the apostle for the sake of the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord still counted all the things that he had once gloried in to be but loss."

So, dear Rocky family, let us pray for one another in terms of Paul's example in verses 15-18.  And in these times of increasing uncertainly in the world, let us pray that Christ will be our hope.  He is our hope of glory (Col. 1:27)!

As we prepared for communion on Sunday, I spoke this invitation to the table: "Come to the Lord's table...rejoicing and remembering that our hope is built on nothing less that Jesus' blood and righteousness, and our inheritance is sure because of Him, and His substitutionary, atoning death in our place and his resurrection from the dead."  Some of those words are quoted from the following hymn, by Edward Mote, 1797-1874:

"My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness;

I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name."

"When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace; 

In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil."

"His oath, His covenant, His blood support me in the whelming flood;

When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay.

"When He shall come with trumpet sound, oh, may I then in Him be found;

Dressed in His righteousness alone, Faultless to stand before the throne.

Refrain-

"On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; all other ground is sinking sand, 

"All other ground is sinking sand." 

Praying for you like Paul prayed, in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Pastor Carey

An Unlikely Convert

Pastor Travis Cook, filling the pulpit in my absence, shared the story of Rosaria Champagne Butterfield and the story of her conversion from a radical lesbian to a redeemed Christian.  If you would like to read more, check out this blog post:

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/from-radical-lesbian-to-redeemed-christian

To See God's Glory

Here is Pastor Carey's 2012 Advent poem, read at RBBC's Quiet Christmas Eve Service.

To See God's Glory


What a wonder is the coming of the Word, sent forth from God
           when He said the time was right;
With life and light in Him to overcome the dark of sin and
           show God's glory in plain sight.

Oh, what a wonder this is, because it wasn't always so—
          God's glory for men plain to see;
Glimpses had come, yes, and yearnings for more, until that day--
          "Hail the Incarnate Deity!"

When Israel grumbled about being stuck, hungry in the desert—
          "In Egypt we had bread at least!"
The LORD said, in grace, to Moses, "Look, I'm going to rain manna
          that you can gather for daily feasts."

He did this to test the people, to see if they'd trust and obey
            Him by following the rules He set;
And not only bread but daily meat God promised too,
            though their gripes were against Him, He said.

Then Aaron told the people, "Come near before the LORD now
            because your grumbling He hears."
When he spoke the congregation looked, and behold the glory
            of the LORD in a cloud appeared.

Later, God called Moses to Sinai to receive His law,
            to the cloud-shrouded mountain top;
To the people below the look of God's glory on the peak
            Was like fire that burned white-hot.

Descending the mount with God-engraved tablets in hand, Moses
            found Israel dancing round a god of gold;
Punishing them with a plague, the Lord did not erase the nation--
            to Moses, "Go to the land as I've told."

"Take the people to the promised place, but I won't go among them,
            lest I kill them for their stiff-necked ways."
When the people heard this disastrous word, they mourned
            while Moses went to the Lord to say—

"Show me now your ways, that I may find favor in your sight and
            Consider, we're yours, and please stay near."
"My presence will go with you and I will give you rest," God assured.
            "If not, do not send us up from here."

"For is it not in your going with us that we are distinct
            from other peoples on the earth's face?"
The Lord said, "This very thing that you have spoken I will do,
            For your name I know by my grace."

In a cloud, and in fire, God's glory had appeared and now
            Moses boldly asked Him for more:
"Please show me your glory!" "My goodness will pass before you,
            And my name I'll proclaim, 'The LORD!'"

"I'll be gracious to whom I'll be gracious, and have mercy
            On whom I will have mercy.
But you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live."
            Goodness seen by grace-- life spared in mercy.

And God said, "By me there's a rock where you'll stand, and I'll put you
            in a cleft of that rock and cover you
until I have passed by. Then, you uncovered will see my back,
            but my face you cannot view.

In a cloud, in fire, from a rocky cleft, God's glory had been seen.
            Then in the fullness of time
God came down, Christ the Lord— became as nothing, a man, a bond-slave!
            Born a babe, fullness of God--sublime!

To a created virgin, the Creator was born the God-man,
            to justify us by His blood shed,
and to rescue rebels from sin, death and His Father's wrath—
            propitiation laid in a hay bed.

Born heaven's Sun, the life and light of men shining in darkness-
            Whom the darkness cannot defeat-
to be the Light of the world and His people's Good Shepherd
            and lay down His life for His sheep.

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, God's glory to show,
            His Son full of truth and grace.               
No wonder, then, heaven's multitude exulted, "Glory to God!"
            And shepherds found Jesus in haste.

God's mercy shielded Moses from the overwhelming glory
            He would see in the Lord's face,
But now shepherds, looking at a baby, see the Lord:
            Glory, Goodness, Mercy, Grace.                     

What a wonder! The Glory of the Lord--so intense
            That Moses huddled in a stone--
Now huddles in a manger, so that to the whole world
            God's boundless love is made known.

What a wonder this is: That God so loved the world that He gave
            His Son, His only Begotten,
that whosoever receives and believes in Him should not
            perish but have eternal life.

Have you seen the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ?
           O God, shine in each heart, give the light
of the knowledge of our glorious God in the face of Jesus Christ!
            Open our eyes to this glorious sight!

On Voting in the 2012 Election

In all my years of ministry, I don't recall an election like the one coming in less than two weeks.  I have read an article by one pastor giving his reasons for deciding not to vote because he cannot agree with voting for either one of the major party candidates for President.  He vote is not voting.  I know that some believers, as a matter of conscience, will vote for President, but not for either the Republican or Democrat.  And I have listened to a Christian leader whom I greatly respect, Dr. Albert Mohler (President of The Southern Baptist Seminary, Louisville, KY) make a case of distinction between the two major candidates in which he rather plainly communicates which of the two he will vote for.

Because voting is a small but very real opportunity for us as followers of Jesus Christ to be salt and light in the world (Matt. 5:13-14), I cannot agree with declining this opportunity to vote.  As a matter of conscience some believers may vote for a candidate affiliated with a minor party.  And while evidence is abundant that neither of the major candidates is a Christ-exalting lover of the Scriptures with a Biblical worldview, it is good to be reminded that Paul's instructions for believers in relation to governing authorities and governors were written in the context of life under a Roman system that was hostile to the apostle and to all Christians.  Yet he called for being subject to governing authorities because their power was God-given and instituted by God (Rom. 13:1).  Further, in 1 Timothy 2:1-3 Paul wrote--- "...I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.  This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior..."  

Since Paul counsels us to pray this way so that "we may live a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way", it follows that our voting would be directed toward candidates who will govern in manners that will result in environments and opportunities for such God-honoring living. 

As I have said before during elections seasons I most certainly encourage all of us to stand for the preciousness of all God-given life and against abortion and euthanasia as we vote.  I continue to be amazed at God's patience with a nation in which it is legal to slaughter unborn little ones, and even those who have emerged from the birth canal!  (And now this year, we have a party platform that openly calls for freedom to pursue infanticidal murder and countenances immorality.)  In this sense I am a one issue voter, and other issues of moral importance must be taken into consideration as we vote if we are to stand for the absolute truth of God's Word and design.  However small you perceive one vote to be, I encourage us to stand against such evil and for truth with our vote.

Finally,, here are some resources you may find helpful as you prepare to vote:

* A fine sermon by Dr. Mark Dever--  www.capitolhillbaptist.org/2010/09/jesus-paid-taxes-makr-1213-17/

* The American Worldview Test-- www.albertmohler.com

* "Is A Vote for Mitt Romney a Sin Against God?", by James A. Smith, Executive Editor of the Florida Baptist Witnes-- www.goFBW.com, current issue

More On Loving One Another

Dear Rocky Family,

The subject of last Sunday's sermon, Loving One Another, is very, very big and there is much more to say about the importance of "one another" relationships with fellow disciples in the body of Christ.  There are many verbs describing the benefits of loving one another in the church-- encourage, build up, pray for, forgive, restore, be kind, exhort, help, stir up-- as we seek to grow in faith in Christ Jesus together.

As I read in the book of Hebrews on Monday, I was struck with how important it is to be connected in "one another" relationships as together we battle temptation and sin and live in obedience to Christ, for our joy in Him (John 15:11). The apostle Paul wrote in 1 Thess. 4:1-4  "Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to live and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus.  For this is the will of God, your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality, that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor..."  

In Hebrews we find that being sanctified in Christ is what John Piper calls a community project.  We are called to encourage one another to grow up in Jesus and fight sin together.  Here are two passages that show how very vital and serious this is:

Hebrews 3:12-14    "Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.  But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called 'today', that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.  For we share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end."

Hebrews 10:23-31    "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.  And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.  For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.  Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses.  How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?  For we know him who said, 'Vengeance is mine; I will repay.'  And again, 'The Lord will judge his people.'  It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

Sobering, to be sure.  Isn't it a great blessing that the Lord of the church has designed his body, the church, so that fellow believers are granted and called to the blessing of caring for the church by spurring one another on in going hard after Christ as we do life together and abide in and obey him for our joy?  So let us move toward each other and unite together in worship, Bible study, LIFE groups, and ministry, helping one another "bring about the obedience faith for the sake of his name" (Rom. 1:5).

And one more passage to encourage you in this: Jesus said, "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.  Abide in my love.  If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love.  These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full"  John 15:9-11.

For His glory and your joy,

Pastor Carey