Notes from the Trail

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On Wednesday a.m., Michael Kelley spoke from John 11 about the death of Lazarus. It was not only high drama, but it was high impact. Kelley walked us through the event and the seeming stunning callousness of Jesus’ intentional 4-day delay.

Get this. Three of Jesus’ closest friends - one is on his deathbed. An urgent message is sent to Jesus. They have come to believe in Him as the Messiah and Savior of Israel. They know that He can.

Jesus gets the message… and does nothing.

He can. But He won’t.

How does that hit you?

Kelley pointed out that in at least one other circumstance in scripture, Jesus had only to say the word, and healing took place without Jesus even being there. But He doesn’t do that here either.

On top of that, He doesn’t even head in that direction. He waits two more days, and then makes the two-day journey to Bethany. By the time He arrives, Lazarus is dead, Mary and Martha are mourning, and Jesus’ reputation is on the line.

Jesus has two powerfully poignant conversations with Lazarus’ sisters: Martha and Mary. Martha confesses her belief in Jesus; Mary can only fall at His feet in tears. Both state the obvious: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

I could not help reflecting on all the instances in my own life in which the big IF statement was there. When I’ve “iffed,”  it is usually because my understanding of my circumstances is exceeded by my frustration with them. Implicit in “if” statements is a disagreement with how God has chosen to handle a matter.

When was the last time you were there? You realize that God can, and you’re devastated that He won’t.

Mary and Martha should be commended for their understanding of Jesus’ power. They were confident in Jesus’ abilities. They were now not so sure of His motives.

Things were so bad that upon arriving at the tomb - and I like how the King James Version puts it - they object to Jesus’ command to roll away the stone: “Lord, by this time he stinketh…”

That’s how I sometimes view situations in which the Lord doesn’t act on my own timetable… they stinketh.

But Kelley focused on Jesus’ encounter with Mary. She was the sensitive one, the contemplative one. She was the one who had sat at Jesus’ feet in Luke 10.39 in quiet adoration of the Messiah. Now she was at his feet in grief and confusion.

It was this that stirred the heart of Christ. The ESV records, “When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in His spirit and greatly troubled.” (v33) Just a moment later, “Jesus wept.”

Kelley asked, “What is more amazing - that Jesus raised the dead, or that Jesus knows the end of the story and weeps anyway?”

This is a profound indication of Jesus’ love for His children. He has a larger purpose. We are unaware, and our vision is obstructed. Yet Jesus weeps with us.

One other thing… Kelley pointed out that there is a sense of anger and indignation in the phrase “deeply moved and greatly troubled.” He asked where it was directed:

• To Mary: “Suck it up, Mary, and be a good soldier.” Was she angry that she didn’t get it after all this time?
• To the Sin-Infested World: The world is in such a state that the only way to break through the stranglehold of sin and announce the truth of the Gospel in Christ is through the suffering of God’s people. Sin has so obscured men’s view that His people must suffer in order to for others to see.

He pointed out that suffering is a preeminent theme throughout scripture. Suffering is a primary means that God uses to refine His people and display His glory.

Kelley did a magnificent job preaching this message. It wasn’t a sermon; it was a faith-conversation with us all.

 

 Monday Night, Glorieta 08 [57:28m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I’ve summarized David Platt’s message here, but you can listen to it here.

When was the last time you saw over 1000 college students study the Bible deeply for five straight hours?

I saw it last night.

David Platt has led his church, Brookhills, to host an event called Secret Church. Here’s what the site says about it:

When we think of “church” in America, we think of going to meet at a building, singing, praying and hearing a message from a Pastor or teacher. But in many places around the world, “church” meets in a home, an apartment, even in secret. These small groups of Christ-followers often meet for many hours in study, prayer and fellowship, as it is dangerous to travel to “church” and they want to make the most of their time together.

Secret Church is our “house church,” where we meet periodically for an intense time of Bible study–lasting 4-6 hours–and prayer for our persecuted brothers and sisters across the globe. This is not for the uncommitted or faint at heart. But if you desire to know God more deeply through His Word, and know His Church more fully around the world, then please join us for Secret Church.

David led us all in a 5-hour study of the Doctrine of God. We had a 74-page booklet that we went through that detailed the awesome attributes and character of our holy God. It was powerful to be part of the event and see students eating it up.

What does that say about a generation of church folks that can hardly tolerate a sermon longer than 20 minutes? And what does it say about the amount of doctrine that folks can possibly know? Perhaps are churching are starving for God’s Word.

David Platt spoke Monday night from Exodus 33.1-4, 12-18. It’s a rather dramatic moment in Moses’ and Israel’s relationship with God. Basically, the Lord has just extinguished the lives of a few thousand Izzies for worshipping the golden calf. In an expression of his divine sovereignty, he announces to Moses that he may go on up to the Promised Land, but that He will NOT go with them.

Platt shared about the dynamics of this encounter and related it uncomfortably well to the church today. Essentially, God told Moses that he could still have what had been promised but that God’s presence would not be a part of it. David shared that we too often crave God’s blessings rather than His presence.

What about you? Do you enjoy God’s blessings and crave more but wish that He would just leave you alone to live your life as you please? It’s akin to winning a shopping spree at Wal-Mart. We just want God to let us enjoy all that He offers without enjoying Him.

The sad thing is, I believe, that few people are even aware that they can enjoy God. Christianity for them is not about relationship with a loving Father. Rather, it’s a religion that needs to be maintained, kept up, and white-washed.

Platt shared that what we need (and what a lost world needs) is for God’s people to be desperate for Him. He said that we needed to be desperate for the Spirit. Like Moses, we need to say that we will not go up into the Promised Land without God. His presence is more important to us than His presents.

As I was journaling this a.m., having had time to reflect on the message, I wrote the following:

I totally agree that we should be “desperate for the Spirit.” Yet, it’s crucial for us and a collegiate audience to know what that looks like. For instance, while we are desperate for the Spirit, we must also realize that a genuine follower of Christ is…

• 1) already sealed by the Spirit (2 Corinthians 1.22, Ephesians 1.13, 4.30),
• 2) baptized in the Spirit, (Mark 1.8, 1 Corinthians 12.13)
• 3) needs to yield to (or walk in) the Spirit. (Galatians 5.16, 25)

I think the latter is what David had in mind in the phrase “desperate for the Spirit.” For the phrase by itself is not enough to carry the day. Nor is the effort to be desperate for the Spirit. It must translate in our lives into a beautiful sacrifice of obedience to God’s revealed Word. It must be matched by a self-denying daily walk with Christ.

When Jesus said His sheep know His voice, He meant that they would recognize, hear and respond to Him. We must learn and acclimate ourselves to the voice of God above all the noise of our lives. This is being desperate for the Spirit. That God sometimes speaks in a gentle whisper should prompt us to live listening for His Word.

By yielding to His Spirit, we will be drawn into His Word so that we’ll become more acquainted - not just with His voice - but with His heart. When we seek to know Him - as Paul in Philippians 3.10 describes - we will be sensitive to the promptings and leadings of His Spirit through the day.

That is what I think Platt was getting at when he urged us to be “desperate for the Spirit.”

Practically, a person desperate for the Spirit will, of course, seek the Father in obedience. That is when the Spirit will produce fruit in our lives - as we yield our lives and bodies to His service. (Galatians 5.21-22) We will also seek Him privately and corporately (with other desperate believers) in prayer.

Platt shared about Jeremiah Lanphier amazing prayer movement/revival as an example of what it means to be desperate for the Spirit. The word “desperate” is such a good description of a much-needed attitude in the church. We need to be like Moses and with shock realize that God does not have to go with us. And we need to be so desperate for Him - apart from His gifts - that we will not move until we’re confident of His presence.

So, being desperate for the Spirit truly should look like embracing God’s Word, practicing obedience, and seeking Him and His glory in humility and grateful dependence.

When was the last time you were desperate for the presence and person of God? If it’s hard to remember, try gathering 1-2 others with you for a time of prayer and in humble desperation, call on the Father for His presence rather than His presents.

 

 Standard Podcast [37:59m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

On Monday, Michael Kelley and David Platt both preached and taught powerfully from God’s Word. Both were complementary of each other. The point is an old one, but they presented it with biblical authority and conviction: go to and get involved in the church! Christians who disparage the church are also maligning the very bride of Christ.

Michael’s message centered on Romans 12.1. He demonstrated convincingly after a summary of each chapter of the Romans that the “therefore” in Romans 12.1 is a reflection of all that Paul has written so far.

“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”

Now here’s where it got interesting. He pointed out that in some translations (the NIV included), the word “sacrifice” is plural. However, in the Greek it is singular. That’s a powerful distinction. Essentially, what Paul is geting at is that all believers (plural) should present our bodies (plural) as one, singular sacrifice to God. That infers the corporate nature of the church.

Especially as you continue reading the next several verses in Romans, you see Paul describing how God gave gifts to believers to function as His body, the church. Kelley preached that God did not give us an individual assignment but a “group project,” and that group project is the church. You can see this taught in 1 Corinthians 12 as well. Christians are not to withdraw from the church for their own selfish, dissatisfied reasons. Nor should we in the church malign it or other Christ-following fellowships.

In the church, God calls and gifts leaders to encourage, direct, rebuke, and exhort the people of God. In the church, you have ugliness AND beauty. No church is perfect, and the fact that anything gets done at all for the kingdom of Christ is simply a testimony to the fact of God’s grace and power over man’s sinfulness. But it is in the church that the very presence and fulness of God rests. It is upon the church that God pours out His Spirit. And it is the church that God calls into the world to preach the Gospel.

Kelley said, “You must be you so she can be her,” in referring to using our gifts for the church and the extension of the kingdom of God.

I felt it was a powerful message for those of us so familiar with the church that we sometimes criticize it. It was also a powerful rebuke for those who would sit on the sidelines embracing uninvolvement and even those who would create un-churches (groups disconnected from the whole body of Christ) out of discontent with the way church is being done.

Kelley said that perhaps the reason so may people disdain the church today - including disconnected Christians - may be because we have radically underestimated the role and scope of the church in redemptive history. Essentially, we must re-mind ourselves that the church is God’s only strategy for redeeming a lost world!

Listen to the message below: