God is bigger and more inclusive than you imagine

The following excerpt has really been challenging my paradigm of God. In times of suffering, difficulty, and trial it is so easy for me to get focused inward–on myself or my own circumstances–and lose track of looking outward–particularly to the Gospel truths and who God is amidst it. In a world where there is so much turmoil, inconsistency, and pain God promises to be a steadfast, firm foundation whose promises are always true and who is eternally unchanging (see Psalm 118, Hebrews 12:26-28, 2 Timothy 2:19, and Hebrews 13:8).

“Over the years I’ve seen Christians shaping God in their own image–in each case a dreadfully small God. Some Roman Catholics still believe only they will grace heaven’s green pastures.. There is the God who has a special affection for capitalist America, regards the workaholic, and the God who loves only the poor and the underprivileged. There is a God who marches with victorious armies, and the God who loves only the meek who turns the other cheek. Some, like the elder brother in Luke, sulk and pout when the father rocks and rolls, (and) serves surf-and-turf for a prodigal son who has spent his last cent on whores. Some, tragically, refuse to believe that God can or will forgive them, for: my sin is too great.

This is not the God of grace who “wants everyone to be saved” (1 Timothy 2:4). This is not the God embodied in Jesus that Matthew came to know. This is not the God who calls sinners–which, as you and I know, means everybody.”

From The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning (p.42).

—–

I could dissect this quote for hours, but for the purpose of this particular posting I will draw out only one thing that comes to mind: God is so much bigger and so much more inclusive than I give Him credit for or imagine; and when I reflect on this truth it is so remarkably calming–freeing, even. This massive God is powerful, not particular. Sovereign, not slave-driving. Victorious, not defeated (or defeatable!).

This is the God who sees me at my lowest and has the power and compassion to lift me up. This is the God that, as the book of Hebrews says, aligns with me in my weakness and is “mindful of me” (Psalm 8:4). This is the God I sing about, pray to, look towards, and live to proclaim. This is not some manmade idea to help make sense of a complex world. This is a God both higher than our intellect while also closer than our most intimate emotions.

Quite simply: This is a God worthy of our worship.

Bethlehem’s Supernatural Star

“Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” (Matthew 2:2)

Over and over the Bible baffles our curiosity about just how certain things happened. How did this “star” get the magi from the east to Jerusalem?

It does not say that it led them or went before them. It only says they saw a star in the east (verse 2), and came to Jerusalem. And how did that star go before them in the little five-mile walk from Jerusalem to Bethlehem as verse 9 says it did? And how did a star stand “over the place where the Child was”?

The answer is: We do not know. There are numerous efforts to explain it in terms of conjunctions of planets or comets or supernovas or miraculous lights. We just don’t know. And I want to exhort you not to become preoccupied with developing theories that are only tentative in the end and have very little spiritual significance.

I risk a generalization to warn you: People who are exercised and preoccupied with such things as how the star worked and how the Red Sea split and how the manna fell and how Jonah survived the fish and how the moon turns to blood are generally people who have what I call a mentality for the marginal. You do not see in them a deep cherishing of the great central things of the gospel–the holiness of God, the ugliness of sin, the helplessness of man, the death of Christ, justification by faith alone, the sanctifying work of the Spirit, the glory of Christ’s return and the final judgment. They always seem to be taking you down a sidetrack with a new article or book. There is little centered rejoicing.

But what is plain concerning this matter of the star is that it is doing something that it cannot do on its own: it is guiding magi to the Son of God to worship Him.

There is only one Person in biblical thinking that can be behind that intentionality in the stars–God Himself.

So the lesson is plain: God is guiding foreigners to Christ to worship Him. And He is doing it by exerting global–probably even universal–influence and power to get it done.

Luke shows God influencing the entire Roman Empire so that the census comes at the exact time to get a virgin to Bethlehem to fulfill prophecy with her delivery. Matthew shows God influencing the stars in the sky to get foreign magi to Bethlehem so that they can worship Him.

This is God’s design. He did it then. He is still doing it now. His aim is that the nations–all the nations (Matthew 24:14)–worship His Son.

This is God’s will for everybody in your office at work, and in your neighborhood and in your home. As John 4:23 says, “Such the Father seeks to worship Him.”

At the beginning of Matthew we still have a “come-see” pattern. But at the end the pattern is “go-tell.” The magi came and saw. We are to go and tell.

What is not different is that the purpose of God is the ingathering of the nations to worship His Son. The magnifying of Christ in the white-hot worship of all nations is the reason the world exists.

This excerpt is taken from John Piper’s Advent Devotional available here: http://ow.ly/fWMBf

Prepare the Way

“He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” (Luke 1:16-17)

What John the Baptist did for Israel, Advent can do for us. Don’t let Christmas find you unprepared. I mean spiritually unprepared. Its joy and impact will be so much greater if you are ready!

That you might be prepared…

First, meditate on the fact that we need a Savior. Christmas is an indictment before it becomes a delight. It will not have its intended effect until we feel desperately the need for a Savior. Let these short Advent meditations help awaken in you a bittersweet sense of need for the Savior.

Second, engage in sober self-examination. Advent is to Christmas what Lent is to Easter. “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24) Let every heart prepare him room… by cleaning house.

Third, build God-centered anticipation and expectancy and excitement into your home–especially for the children. If you are excited about Christ, they will be too. If you can only make Christmas exciting with material things, how will the children get a thirst for God? Bend the efforts of your imagination to make the wonder of the King’s arrival visible for the children.

Fourth, be much in the Scriptures, and memorize the great passages! “Is not my word like fire, says the Lord!” (Jeremiah 23:29) Gather ’round that fire this Advent season. It is warm. It is sparkling with colors of grace. It is healing for a thousand hurts. It is light for dark nights.

This passage is excerpted from John Piper’s Advent Devotional available for free here: http://ow.ly/fLqnw

A Hunger for God

Christian fasting is not only the spontaneous effect of a superior satisfaction in God; it is also a chosen weapon against every force in the world that would take that satisfaction away.

The greatest enemy of hunger for God is not poison but apple pie. It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for heaven, but endless nibbling at the table of the world. It is not the X-rated video, but the prime-time dribble of triviality we drink in every night. For all the ill that Satan can do, when God describes what keeps us from the banquet table of his love, it is a piece of land, a yoke of oxen, and a wife (Luke 14:18-20). The greatest adversary of love to God is not his enemies but his gifts. And the most deadly appetites are not for the poison of evil, but for the simple pleasures of earth. For when these replace an appetite for God himself, the idolatry is scarcely recognizable, and almost incurable.

Jesus said some people hear the word of God, and a desire for God is awakened in their hearts. But then, “as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life” (Luke 8:14). In another place he said, “The desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful”(Mark 4:19). “The pleasures of this life” and “the desires for other things”—these are not evil in themselves. These are not vices. These are gifts of God. They are your basic meat and potatoes and coffee and gardening and reading and decorating and traveling and investing and TV-watching and Internet-surfing and shopping and exercising and collecting and talking. And all of them can become deadly substitutes for God.

~ John Piper (A Hunger for God, Crossway, 1997).

7 Marks of a Right Heart Before God

1) A right heart is a NEW heart (Ezek. 36:26). It is not the heart with which a person is born—but another heart put in them by the Holy Spirit. It is a heart which has new tastes, new joys, new sorrows, new desires, new hopes, new fears, new likes, new dislikes. It has new views about the soul, sin, God, Christ, salvation, the Bible, prayer, heaven, hell, the world, and holiness. It is like a farm with a new and good tenant. “Old things are passed away. Behold all things are become new” (2 Cor. 5:17).

2) A right heart is a BROKEN and CONTRITE heart (Psalm 51:17). It is broken off from pride, self-conceit, and self-righteousness. Its former high thoughts of self are cracked, shattered, and shivered to atoms. It thinks itself guilty, unworthy, and corrupt. Its former stubbornness, heaviness, and insensibility have thawed, disappeared, and passed away. It no longer thinks lightly of offending God. It is tender, sensitive, and jealously fearful of running into sin (2 Kings 22:19). It is humble, lowly, and self-abased, and sees in itself no good thing.

3) A right heart is a heart which BELIEVES on Christ alone for salvation, and in which Christ dwells by faith (Rom. 10:10; Eph. 3:17). It rests all its hopes of pardon and eternal life on Christ’s atonement, Christ’s mediation, and Christ’s intercession. It is sprinkled in Christ’s blood from an evil conscience (Heb. 10:22). It turns to Christ as the compass-needle turns to the north. It looks to Christ for daily peace, mercy, and grace—as the sun-flower looks to the sun. It feeds on Christ for its daily sustenance, as Israel fed on the manna in the wilderness. It sees in Christ a special fitness to supply all its needs and requirements. It leans on Him, hangs on Him, builds on Him, cleaves to Him, as its physician, guardian, husband, and friend.

4) A right heart is a PURIFIED heart (Acts 15:9; Matt. 5:8). It loves holiness, and hates sin. It strives daily to cleanse itself from all filthiness of flesh and spirit (2 Cor. 7:1). It abhors that which is evil, and cleaves to that which is good. It delights in the law of God, and has that law engraved on it, that it may not forget it (Psalm 119:11). It longs to keep the law more perfectly, and takes pleasure in those who love the law. It loves God and people. Its affections are set on things above. It never feels so light and happy as when it is most holy; and it looks forward to heaven with joy, as the place where perfect holiness will at length be attained.

5) A right heart is a PRAYING heart. It has within it “the Spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba Father” (Rom. 8:15). Its daily feeling is, “Your face, Lord, will I seek” (Psalm 27:8). It is drawn by an habitual inclination to speak to God about spiritual things—weakly, feebly, and imperfectly perhaps—but speak it must. It finds it necessary to pour out itself before God, as before a friend, and to spread before Him all its needs and desires. It tells Him all its secrets. It keeps back nothing from Him. You might as well try to persuade a person to live without breathing, as to persuade the possessor of a right heart to live without praying.

6) A right heart is a heart that feels CONFLICT within it (Gal. 5:17). It finds within itself two opposing principles contending for the mastery—the flesh lusting against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. It knows by experience what Paul means when he says, “I see a law in my members warring against the law of my mind” (Rom. 7:23). The wrong heart knows nothing of this strife. The strong man armed keeps the wrong heart as their palace, and their goods are at peace (Luke 11:21). But when the rightful King takes possession of the heart, a struggle begins which never ends until death. The right heart may be known by its warfare, quite as much as by its peace.

7) A right heart is HONEST, UNDIVIDED, and TRUE (Luke 8:15;1 Chron. 12:33; Heb. 10:22). There is nothing about it of falsehood, hypocrisy, or image-acting. It is not double or divided. It really is what it professes to be, feels what it professes to feel, and believes what it professes to believe. Its faith may be feeble. Its obedience may be very imperfect. But one thing will always distinguish the right heart. Its religion will be real, genuine, thorough, and sincere.

 ► Summary:

A heart such as that which I have now described, has always been the possession of all true Christians of every name, nation, people and tongue. They have differed from one another on many subjects—but they have all been of a right heart. Some of them have fallen, for a season, like David and Peter—but their hearts have never entirely departed from the Lord. They have often proved themselves to be men and women laden with infirmities—but their hearts have been right in the sight of God. They have understood one another on earth. They have found that their experience was everywhere one and the same. They will understand each other even better in the world to come. All that have had right hearts upon earth, will find that they have one heart when they enter heaven.
~ J.C. Ryle [Old Paths, “The Heart” (348-351)].

Devoting Ourselves to Death

Devotions aren’t all that. In the Old Testament, to devote something was to offer it to God in complete destruction (e.g. Deuteronomy 7:2 ). Is that what we’re doing when we say things like, “This year, I’m going to improve my daily devotions”? True devotion will kill you! Maybe that’s why we have so much trouble achieving a routine of daily, devoted Bible reading and prayer.

He’s not impressed

In calling us to a devoted life (Romans 12:1), the Bible is not calling us to a mere performance of spiritual disciplines. Jesus wasn’t impressed with those who were famous for rigorous self-discipline (Matthew 23:23). Yet, when we look at Jesus’ life, we see a man who absolutely had his priorities straight, and it didn’t always make sense from a time-management perspective.

• Consider what he did just after miraculously feeding 5,000 families (Matthew 14:23). He went up to a lonely mountain to pray.
• And in preparation for his last day on earth, he went to a garden and prayed until he bled (Luke 22:44). That’s devotion.

Performance-based devotions suck.

When we try to perform Jesus’ level of devotion, we so often wind up disappointed with our failing efforts, sometimes even opening a door to self-condemnation. The irony here is devotional efforts that result in condemnation produce exactly the opposite of God’s work for us in Christ: justification. Performance-based devotions suck. They are anti-Jesus, anti-Gospel, and sub-Christian.

Devotions versus devotion

The next time you set some goal of personal devotion, ask yourself this question: would a spouse appreciate being approached for intimacy like, “Okay, it’s time. I need to put in my fifteen minutes today.” Neither does God. Because of his great love for us, God opened the way to his very presence (Hebrews 4:16), so our devotions become devotion only when we approach God as one we love—like a lover with her spouse, like a son spending time with his father. The relationship motivates the action, not vice-versa.

Fail like Peter

Here’s what’s redeeming: your past failure at performing self-disciplined devotions can become the very means God uses to bring true devotion from your life. Like cowering Peter before his denial of Christ versus uninhibited Peter preaching to thousands on Pentecost, the old fleshly creation must die and give way to the new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), formed and filled by the Holy Spirit. True devotion brings us to the crux of that transformation in our own lives (Romans 12:2).

Give yourself to God to read the Bible, pray, fast, worship, etc. But don’t do it bound to self-driven perfectionism that exists only to be measured; do it out of dying self-effort and rising new life which longs for the measureless grace and boundless presence of a living, loving God.

Posted Originally by Bill Martin on The Resurgence here: http://ow.ly/c0gQ7

Genesis to Revelation: God’s Heart for the World

What verses come to mind when you think of the word, “MISSIONS”? Most of us are hard pressed to name more than the old faithful Great Commission. For years our church culture has singled out this passage to be the theme of our missions conferences and the motivation for those who go. It’s no wonder that our obedience is slow – who wants to hang their future on one verse? The Bible has a lot more to say on this subject then just the Great Commission. We need to understand the concept of a Biblical basis for missions. Maybe you’re saying, “The Biblical basis, is there one?” YES! And not only that, but missions permeates every book of the Bible. It is in fact the theme of the Bible. If you don’t believe that all 66 books can be reduced to one theme, keep reading. You will see that missions is not your pastor’s idea, or your campus minister’s idea, or even your idea…it is God’s. Since creation, God has been interested in redeeming all peoples to Himself. As Christians, it is vital that we see the world as He sees it.

Let’s look at the Bible in light of God’s heart for the world, and we will see that from Genesis to the Revelation He is beckoning you and I and all of His people to join Him in bringing every people group to His throne. The Bible is not a collection of separate books with no common theme or story. It is one book with an

Introduction: Genesis 1-11, a Plot: Genesis 12 – Jude, and a Conclusion: Revelation.

Let us begin where God begins, in Genesis.

Genesis 1:28 “God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth…”

This is an interesting command. Be fruitful and multiply. Now why wouldn’t God just want the Garden of Eden populated? Why the whole earth? Because God knew that as Adam would populate physically, he would also populate spiritually. Can you picture that? The planet covered with worshippers of Him as Adam and Eve “filled the earth.” However, we know that by Genesis 3 sin had crept in and by chapter 8 the world was not looking good. So as God floods the earth and starts over, listen to the command He gives Noah, just after he steps off the ark.

Genesis 9:1 “Then God blessed Noah and his sons saying to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.”

“Hey Noah, don’t just populate a city, fill the earth.” There it is again, the command to multiply. So as we come to chapter 11 there should be one simple question on all of our minds: Does God get the earth filled? Lets keep reading,

Genesis 11: 1-4 “Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there…Then they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.'”

Can’t you hear the talk of the town? “Ya know, we all look the same, act the same, talk the same, eat the same, and dress the same. Lets just stay right here and make a name for ourselves. Do we really want to be scattered?” This does not exactly sound like they are excited about obeying God’s command. Because of man’s urge to settle, God is forced to step in and scatter, filling the earth just as He desired.

Genesis 11:7-8 “‘Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.’ So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city.”

So as we end the introduction we see that God has a problem: people scattered all over the earth speaking many different languages. How is He going to reach all of them? What will He do? Who will He use? The plot begins.

Genesis 12:1-3 “The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you…I will bless you…and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.'”

Hey Abram, leave. Leave your country, your people, your family, your life, your dreams, your ambitions, your future as well as all that you know and are familiar with and go to the land I will show you. Now if you keep reading, something really weird happens…

Genesis 12:4 “So Abram left, as the Lord had told him.”

He leaves. Man obeys God. This is a pretty weird concept especially in today’s world. So Abram is off to establish a nation that will bless all peoples. Interestingly, this command was not for Abram alone. Watch God continue to call succeeding generations to reach all nations. Next in line is Abraham’s son, Isaac.

Genesis 26:4 “I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed.”

And to Isaac’s son, Jacob:

Genesis 28:14 “Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring”

The rest of the Old Testament is filled with God using Israel to make His name great among the nations. Here are just a few examples:

The 10 Commandments

Deuteronomy 4:5-6 “Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.'”

His reputation spread after parting the Red Sea

Joshua 2:9-10 “I (Rahab) know that the Lord has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us…we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt…”

Solomon and his wisdom

1 Kings 4:34 “Men of all nations came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world, who had heard of his wisdom.”

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace

Daniel 3:29 “Therefore, I (Nebuchadnezzar) decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces… for no other God can save in this way.”

Daniel in the lions’ den

Daniel 6:26 ” I (Darius) issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel…”

For further study see Psalm 33:13-14, 67:1-7, 86:9-10, 96:3; Isaiah 11:9-10, 49:6, 52:10, 61:11; Jonah 4:11, Habakkuk 1:5, Zephaniah 2:11, Haggai 2:7, Zechariah 8:20-23, Malachi 1:11

As we transition to the New Testament the plot only thickens. Now Christ, God in flesh, enters the scene and what do we see in the pattern of His life and ministry? Nothing different. Whether it is taking a longer route to reach a Samaritan women (John 4:1-42) or healing various Gentiles to teach His followers (Mark 5:1-20, 7:24-30). Christ in the New Testament maintained the pattern established in the Old Testament. Here are a few more examples.

Clearing the temple

Mark 11:15-17 On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area designated for the Gentiles to worship and he found people buying and selling there. As He drove them out saying “Is it not written; ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’?”

The sign of His return

Matthew 24:14 “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”

Jesus’ ministry

Luke 4:42-43 “…they tried to keep him from leaving them but He said, ‘I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.'”

The mandate to His followers

Mark 16:15 “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.”

The book of Acts is a testimony of the account of the gospel spreading to the ends of the earth. It begins with Jesus echoing what He had taught the disciples for the past 3 years.

Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

As the persecution begins so does the scattering (Acts 8:1), and the Lord adds great numbers to their missionary force.

Acts 9:15 “…Go! This man (Paul) is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles…”

The rest of the book of Acts and Epistles give a detailed description of Paul and the rest of the missionary band struggling to raise up churches all over the world.

For further study see Matthew 9:35-38, 28:18-20; John 20:21, Romans 10:11-15, 15:20; Galatians 3:13-14, I Timothy 2:4-6, II Peter 3:9, I John 2:2

The introduction: Genesis 1-11, the plot: Genesis 12 through Jude, so what is the conclusion?

Revelation 7:9 “After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb…”

It is important to connect what is happening in Revelation with what God started in Genesis 12 in the life of Abraham. God will do it. There will be a representative from every nation, tribe, people, and language bowing and worshipping at His feet. Heaven is multicultural. God is a missionary God, and from cover to cover He is showing us His mission. Will you join Him in bringing a representative from every people group to His throne? It will happen, the only question is will you be a part?

Originally posted by Todd Ahrend here: http://ow.ly/bAUUl

Going Deeper With God

How do I go deeper in my relationship with God? Let’s look at others who’ve gone deep with God.

King David wrote many of the Psalms. Reading a psalm is taking a peek into his prayer journal – seeing his deepest thoughts and feelings. In Psalm 23 he says, “The Lord is my Shepherd….He makes me lie down in green pastures….He leads me by still waters….He restores my soul….He leads me in the paths of righteousness….He is with me….His rod and staff, they comfort me.” As a shepherd boy, David spent lots of time alone tending sheep. While tending, he observed creation, pondered on the Creator and trusted God to give him strength to fight lions and bears.

Kind of makes you want to be a shepherd boy, doesn’t it?

Elijah the prophet, in flight from Jezebel, holed up alone in a cave. The Lord told him to stand on the mountain as He passed by. The Lord was not in the strong wind, the earthquake or the fire – but in the gentle breeze. It was in the stillness that Elijah heard the voice of the Lord say, “What are you doing here, Elijah….Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus” (1 Kings 19:9-15).

It’d be nice to hear God’s voice for direction in life, wouldn’t it?

Jesus often drew away to be alone with His Father. After healing crowds, He was found early in the morning “in a secluded place…praying there” (Mark 1:35). After the feeding of the 5,000, He “went up on the mountain to pray…he was there alone” (Matt. 14:1-36). On the night of His arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, He withdrew from His disciples to kneel down in prayer, and “an angel appeared, strengthening Him” (Luke 22:43). Jesus spent time alone with His Father who gave Him strength to meet the demands of His service and suffering.

Does a day go by that we don’t need His strength to meet the demands of our life?

Martin Luther, Susanna Wesley, Jonathan Edwards, Hudson Taylor, Francis Schaeffer and Billy Graham – great men and women of faith – all share a common practice in their biographies. They spent time alone with God. They took walks in the woods, sat by the sea, hiked in the mountains. They pulled away from their struggles and the busyness of life to be with Him in silence, surrender and solitude – to ponder and reflect, to be refreshed and restored. They found time alone with God – not just in discipline but also in delight.

“Be still and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10). In being still, we go deep with God.

Originally found on The Village Church blog here: http://ow.ly/bbAmr

To Be a True Christian Will Cost You

It costs something to be a true Christian. Let that never be forgotten. To be a mere nominal Christian, and go to church, is cheap and easy work. But to hear Christ’s voice, follow Christ, believe in Christ, and confess Christ, requires much self-denial. It will cost us our sins, our self-righteousness, our ease, and our worldliness. All– all must be given up. We must fight an enemy who comes against us with thousands of followers. We must build a tower in troubled times. Our Lord Jesus Christ would have us thoroughly understand this. He bids us “count the cost.”

~ J.C. Ryle

Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke volume 2 , [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1998], 168.

Do Not Be Surprised If the World Hates You

Let it be a settled principle in our minds that the true Christian must always enter the kingdom of God “through much tribulation” (Acts 14:22). Their best things are yet to come. This world is not our home. If we are faithful and decided servants of Christ, the world will certainly hate us, as it hated our Master. In one way or another grace will always be persecuted. No consistency of conduct, however faultless, no kindness and amiability of character, however striking, will exempt a believer from the world’s dislike, so long as they live. It is foolish to be surprised at this. It is mere waste of time to murmur at it. It is a part of the cross, and we must bear it patiently. “Marvel not, my brethren,” says John, “if the world hates you.” “If you were of the world,” says our Lord,“the world would love his own; but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” (1 John 3:13; John 15:18,19)

~ J.C. Ryle

Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke volume 2 , [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1998], 363. {Luke 21:10-19}