Testify What the Lord Has Done for You

Last Sunday morning, we collectively read Psalm 40:1–5 as our responsive call to worship. Recall v. 5:

You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told.

David announces that he will proclaim all the wondrous deeds and thoughts or intentions that YHWH has multiplied to the people of God’s kingdom. We applied that this past Sunday to our call in Colossians 4:2–6 to be witnesses to those outside the kingdom—to walk in wisdom toward outsiders and to let [our] speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt. This is vital. We as disciples of Jesus must be his witnesses and ambassadors of the kingdom of God (Matthew 5:13–16; 2 Corinthians 5:20–21). However, we should also take a cue from our king and tell of God’s kindness toward us to our brothers and sisters in Christ, the church, as well. David, writing prophetically in the voice of Jesus in Psalm 22, pens:

I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you: You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel! (Psalm 22:22–23).

Our call as disciples is also to tell of Jesus to our brothers and to praise him in the congregation. God calls us to share Jesus with one another by telling of the wondrous deeds and thoughts he has multiplied toward us. Testimonies of what the Lord has done for us encourage our hearts in Christ and build up the church.

We see this exemplified by Paul and his partner in ministry, Tychicus.

Tychicus shows up a few times in Scripture. And, from the evidence available, he seems to be a very trusted co-laborer of Paul’s. When the church in Crete needs to be covered in Titus’ absence, one of Paul’s go to candidates is Tychicus (Titus 3:12). When Paul requires Timothy, he sends Tychicus to Ephesus to cover for Timothy while he’s gone (2 Timothy 4:11–12). Tychicus, Paul tells us, is a beloved brother and faithful minister of the gospel (Colossians 4:7; Ephesians 6:21). And, one of his most important jobs, it seems, was to to testify to other churches—to tell everything that was happening in Paul’s ministry:

Tychicus will tell you all about my activities… They (Tychicus and Onesimus) will tell you of everything that has taken place here (Colossians 4:7, 9).

 So that you also may know how I am and what I am doing, Tychicus the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord will tell you everything (Ephesians 6:21).

Why did Paul send Tychicus to tell about his ministry? He had this purpose in mind: to encourage the hearts of those who listened.

Paul writes to the Colossians and the Ephesians using identical language, “I have sent him (Tychicus) to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts” (Colossians 4:8; Ephesians 6:22). Paul wants other saints to know what God is doing through his ministry in order to encourage or exhort them.

Some of the sweetest moments in our corporate worship are our “Mission Moments” when a missionary we support visits and shares with us how the gospel has been increasing and bearing fruit in their ministries. In what manner does this encourage or exhort our hearts so much? I think it does so in at least three ways.

First, hearing the testimonies of what God has done for and through his people in the gospel magnifies Jesus in our midst. And, when we magnify Jesus in our midst, this stokes our affections for and worship of him as we behold his glory.

Second, hearing the testimonies of what God has done for and through his people in the gospel strengthens our unity and solidarity with Christ as the church.

Third, hearing the testimonies of what God has done for and through his people in their gospel ministry emboldens gospel action—we effectively spur one another on to love and good works (Hebrews 10:24).

There is one scene from Acts that captures this quite poignantly. In Acts 4:23–31, Peter and John return to their friends to report their recent gospel activities (healing of the lame beggar [Acts 3:1–10], Peter preaching in the temple [Acts 3:11–26], and the persecution they endured at the hands of the chief priests and elders [Acts 4:1–22]). They specifically report “what the chief priests and the elders had said to them” (Acts 4:23). After hearing their testimony three things result: (1) Worship—They begin to worship the Lord (Acts 4:24–30), (2) Strengthened unity—They prayerfully worship together (Acts 4:24), and (3) Emboldened gospel action—The Holy Spirit fills them and they continued to speak the gospel with boldness (4:31).

The lesson for us is, let’s be like Paul, Tychicus, Peter, and John. Let’s make a habit of sharing with our fellow brothers and sister what Jesus is doing in our lives and ministries. Because, our testimonies (1) magnify Jesus, leading to worship, (2) galvanize our collective solidarity with and our unity in Jesus, (3) and embolden gospel action. In short, when we share our testimonies of Jesus, we encourage one another in Christ and build up the church.

In that spirit, I leave you with these words of instruction from our King from Mark 5:19:

“Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”

DGCC 20th Anniversary Celebration: Obeying God’s Command to Remember

As we have seen now over and over again in the book of Judges,  God’s people consistently rebel against him to serve other gods after he persistently shows them mercy by saving them from oppression. In Judges 3:7 we learn of one of the most surprising root causes of their idolatry; “the people did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. They forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth.” They forgot God? That sounds really strange. Did they forget God like we forget the many passwords we use to access our accounts online? Did they forget God like we forget a person’s name just moments after they introduce themselves to us? No. In fact Romans 1:18 suggests that is impossible to forget God in this way since our world is filled with reminders of an eternally powerful creator God.

The things that God has given us that bring us joy and purpose are not inherently bad but when they become our ultimate focus we can forget God.

So how did they (and we) forget God? They forgot God like a adult child forgets to call their parents or loved ones. It’s not that they forget they exist but other things in life begin to occupy their focus and animate their hearts and desires. We can begin to be more interested in the things of this life and begin to believe the promises that they can give us more than the promises of God. Maybe it’s a fulfilling career, your identity, a mate, bodily pleasure and expression, or even your vision of ministry. The things that God has given us that bring us joy and purpose are not inherently bad but when they become our ultimate focus we can forget God. The people of Israel forgot God and served Baal and the other idols of their day. We too are prone to forget God, but, instead of serving physical idols, we often serve our own worldly hearts and desires. Have you forgotten God? Have you loved creation more than the Creator or wanted the gift more than the gift giver? We all have whether it was intentional or not. The solution to this problem is found in Deuteronomy 6:4-9, 20-25, and it is as simple as the problem is surprising. We must remember God’s Law, his powerful work in our lives and then testify of his goodness.

We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. And the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. And the LORD showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes. And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers (Deuteronomy 6:21–23).

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates[…] “When your son asks you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the LORD our God has commanded you?’ then you shall say to your son, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. And the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. And the LORD showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes. And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers. And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are this day. And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us” (Deuteronomy 6:4–5, 20–25).

Our personal testimonies of God’s work in our lives are just as miraculous and powerful as visual acts of God’s power.

One of the ways we remember God is by sharing our personal testimony of how he has delivered us. To the children of Israel their testimony was of a big and powerful act of God through the plagues and parting of the red sea to save them. Our personal testimonies of Gods work in our lives are just as miraculous and powerful as visual acts of Gods power. We were slaves to unforgiveness, but the LORD softened our hearts and repaired our relationship. We once lived a life that ignored God, and now God has become the primary source of our joy. Sharing our personal testimonies, especially with our children, in a way that highlights God’s power and doesn’t bring undue glory to our sin is not only God honoring but it also helps build faith. This weekend we have an exciting and joyous opportunity to fulfill this command as part of our celebration of 20 years of ministry at Desiring God Community Church. We will share our testimonies of God’s work in our lives through this ministry. We will sing songs of worship to God for his steadfast love shown to us through others. So think of the ways that this ministry and the people in it have blessed you and helped you draw closer God. Come and join us this weekend as we remember a God who cannot be forgotten.

We will be celebrating the 20th Anniversary of Desiring God Community Church on Saturday October 21st with dinner, testimony, and worship at 1821 Back Creek Church Rd, Charlotte, NC 28213 from 3pm-7pm. Please join us!

Why Did a Davidson Math Major and Stanford PhD Submit Himself to the Authority of Scripture? The Authority of Scripture, Part 3

Over three blog posts, we’re considering our position before God’s revelation in Scripture. Two weeks ago, we looked at the biblical image of us as two-year-olds before God. Last week, we considered the impact of sin on our ability to think and reason. Today, I’ll tell my own story of coming to submit myself to the authority of Scripture.

I graduated from Davidson as an excellent student and an accomplished athlete. I believed I could do anything I set my mind to doing. For to that point in my life, I either had – or had a good excuse for why I hadn’t.

I called myself a Christian. I read the Bible – occasionally. I had read all the New Testament, and perhaps eighty percent of the Old. I thought I knew it.

But I did not believe in the authority of Scripture. I was not under the Word; rather, I was over it, judging it. If Scripture seemed reasonable to me, I liked it and followed it – and used it to justify what I already believed. If it didn’t seem reasonable to me, I didn’t follow it. So in the end, my own reason was my authority – my own fallen reason, my own sin-soaked reason.

I had grown up in the Washington, DC area. Many of my friends in high school had parents with bad marriages – usually because the father was a workaholic, neglecting his wife and children. So even while I was in high school, I told myself: Should I ever get married, I won’t be like that. I will make the marriage work.

By the time of my Davidson graduation, I was seriously involved with the perfect woman, Beth. There was no question: Our marriage would work. We loved each other; we were committed to each other; and we were both wonderful. Of course our marriage would be wonderful.

Yet two and a half years after our wedding, the marriage was in disarray. Indeed, it was falling apart. One pivotal night thirty-one years ago, I had to acknowledge that I was destroying our marriage, Beth, this supposedly perfect woman, was destroying our marriage, and there was nothing I could do to keep it from dissolving. Indeed, I had to recognize that, left to my own devices, I would continue to destroy it.

I was an economics PhD student, but I was not maximizing my utility. Instead: I was destroying what I really loved and wanted most.

That night, I confessed my sin before God, and asked His forgiveness through the blood of Jesus.

God worked powerfully that night. I still didn’t believe in the authority of Scripture. But I did see that my putting myself above scriptural authority was part of the problem. I had ignored parts of Scripture that I didn’t want to listen to – and some of those parts spoke directly to the issues in our marriage.

So I began reading the Bible in a fresh way. I asked God to give me insight into it. I prayed for wisdom to understand His Word. I beseeched God to change me through His Word.

As I approached Scripture as a supplicant, I began to see more and more of myself described in it. Particularly powerful was Romans 7, where Paul describes exactly what I had gone through:

I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.  For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:21-25)

As I read this and other Scriptures over the course of the next eighteen months, God convinced me of Scripture’s authority. Though I wouldn’t have used these terms at that time, this is how it came about:

I recognized that I had been seeing God as the coach and myself as His quarterback, or God as president and myself as Secretary of State. And I had to acknowledge that I was not even His second string defensive tackle. I had thought that God was fortunate to have someone with my talents and abilities to call himself a Christian; and I had to acknowledge that I was the problem, not the solution to God’s problems.

I had made my own reason my ultimate authority, judging Scripture by it. Because of the noetic effects of sin, I had to acknowledge that my reason could never play that role; I could not understand His Scriptures apart from Him, apart from His help. Indeed, I would without fail distort them and misinterpret them for my own selfish – and ultimately harmful – purposes.

But when I approached His Word with humility, I discovered the truth of Proverbs 2:3-6:

If you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

I then saw that I was only God’s two-year-old. That is, I had nothing that would make Him want to choose me, nothing that would make Him want to have me on His team.

“Only” His two-year-old – that was a humbling thought. However, I was His two-year-old! I was His precious child! This process of putting myself under the authority of Scripture was not solely an intellectual process, a way of coming to Truth – but it was fundamentally relational. I was His beloved child – He chose me out of His own goodness and mercy, He gave His Son for me, He welcomed me into His presence.

He accommodated Himself to my capacity; He spoke baby talk to me so that I could be like a weaned child with his mother: so that I could rest in Him and delight in Him.

So that’s how a Davidson math major and Stanford PhD came to submit himself to the authority of Scripture.

So where are you? Do you doubt the authority of Scripture?

If so, take this test: Commit yourself every day to come humbly before the Word of God. Follow some systematic plan for reading through Scripture (the Bible Unity Plan is one option). Before you read each day, pray to God something like this: “God, if You exist, and if the Bible is indeed Your revelation, then it tells me I cannot understand it on my own. In my inner being, I really do want know the Truth; I want to submit to the Truth. So if the Bible is Your Word, open up this passage to me. Enable me to understand it and apply it. If it is Your revelation, open my eyes to see that truth.”

I challenge you: Make that commitment. And then go to the Word in that way every day – for thirty years.  I trust that God, by then, will have answered your prayer.

(A final blog post will point to other recommended references concerning the authority of Scripture.)

(For printing, download this pdf file.)