We Need Wisdom, Not Wealth

By / Aug 27

Every day I see the rich drive by in Bentleys and the poor ride by on bicycles. I live in the city of Dubai, on the Arabian Peninsula. My city was built on the magnetism of promised riches. Many moved here for better jobs and bigger paychecks. While it’s certainly not wicked to be wealthy, the Bible reminds us that we need wisdom, not wealth.

Many of us lack wealth in the world’s eyes, but we know we possess unimaginable prosperity in Jesus Christ. We have a heavenly inheritance (James 2:5) and possess heavenly treasure (Matthew 6:20–21). Paul says we have “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:3). Our bank accounts may be empty here, but our investments are being held in a treasury where moth and rust cannot destroy (Matthew 6:19).

Still, there is a danger we face in thinking money is what we need most. It’s a danger Jesus warned of often. Some hear the word, but the deceitfulness of riches choke it out (Mark 4:19). Others are driven by their greed for more, and they compromise their faith. Ananias and Saphira’s love for money cost them their lives (Acts 5:1–6). There are many more warnings in the New Testament for the rich than there are for the poor. So is it possible to love Jesus and money? The prosperity gospel says ‘yes,’ but Jesus says ‘no’ (Matthew 6:24).

There is also a subtle danger when it comes to wisdom. We all lack wisdom, but some of us don’t know it. People who don’t know they lack wisdom are like those with spinach between their two front teeth–everyone else can see it, except them. Here are a couple indicators that may be helpful:

You might not know you lack wisdom if you are impressed by your own wisdom (Proverbs 3:7). Do you think you are always right? Can you not remember the last time you were wrong? You may be an intellectual genius, but these are signs of pride, not wisdom.

You also might not know you lack wisdom if you don’t seek godly church members or pastors for counsel (Proverbs 11:44). Who do you go to when you face big decisions in life? Do you lean on your own understanding or do you open your life to the counsel of others?

Prosperity preachers may tell you to speak incantations over God and command him to financially bless you, but God has not promised you any material riches in this life. However, God has promised you something even better, if you ask. “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him” (James 1:5).

James actually commands us to ask God for wisdom! And like his older brother, Jesus, he roots his command in the doctrine of God (see Matthew 7:7–8). God is the source of wisdom. He’s the counselor who needs no counsel and the teacher who needs no teacher.

God is also the giver of wisdom, and he gives generously! He is undivided and unwavering in his giving. He is sincere and single-minded in his giving. He generously gives to all without partiality and without reproach. God is happy to give. He doesn’t scold us or criticize us for lacking wisdom. God is not stingy, or too busy to give you wisdom. He is not easily annoyed. He is glad to give you the wisdom you need. Jesus reminds us, “you’re evil and you know how to give good gifts… how much more will your Father?” (Matthew 7:9–11). We know we can count on God to give us the wisdom we need because God generously gave us his only Son, Jesus Christ–the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24)!

You may think you need wealth, but you don’t need it and God hasn’t promised it. Faith in God will not guarantee you a Bentley. But you can count on God for the thing you need even more than wealth. Ask God for wisdom. Ask him in a manner reflecting his single-minded giving. Ask him today.



Episode 91: John Starke on The Possibility of Prayer

By / Aug 26

For The Church Podcast

A Resource from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

On this episode of the For The Church Podcast, Jared Wilson talks with John Starke, Lead Pastor of Apostles Church in New York City and author of the new book The Possibility of Prayer, about the trials and joys of speaking to our heavenly Father.



Reading Slowly to See Heaven on Earth

By / Aug 25

If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next.

–C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Jonathan Edwards‘s fifteenth and final sermon on 1 Corinthians 13 is often overlooked, but is remarkable and evergreen. Compilers of his works note that “Heaven Is A World of Love” rivals “Sinners In A Hand of Angry God” as a second masterpiece in imagery, poetry, and rhetoric.[1]

I recently reread this masterpiece slowly over the course of several months. Part of this is because I do not read fast, but mostly because Edwards is often read best at slower rate.

I first learned I benefited from reading Edwards this way while in college when I was given this copy of his “The End for Which God Created the World,” and read it one summer, paragraph by paragraph, each morning before I went to work.

Reading Edwards this way, at first, is hard. It is like a novice visiting to the Smithsonian and completing a tour of each gallery in record time while the experts have barely left one room, or even one painting. When you slow-read Edwards, you have time to see the masterpiece take shape–the poetry and the brilliance that is there but seen only after a long gaze. This time spent forges a bond with the work that eventually brings a smile, or tears, but always joy.

This is why I have never quite understood the maxim that New England theologians were “so heavenly minded that they were of no earthly good.” Quite the opposite, Edwards shows that extended meditation on heaven can provide much stability and sanity to those on earth for good living.

To give just a glimpse of what I’ve seen and savored in my reading so far, here is a brief summary of the start of “Heaven as a World of Love.”[2]

Edwards begins by focusing on the state of the church in heaven. He acknowledges that the church on earth is imperfect and in a child-like state. Once in heaven, by contrast, the church is perfected and in a state of adulthood.

In heaven, while other gifts end, such as faith and hope, love remains, and then and there, “the Holy Spirit shall more perfectly and abundantly be given to the church than it now is.”[3]  This fountain of love from the Holy Spirit is the object of his sermon in six sections.

Here is one of those:

“Heaven is the palace, or presence-chamber, of the Supreme Being who is both the cause and source of all holy love. God, indeed, with respect to his essence is everywhere. He fills heaven and earth. But yet he is said on some accounts more especially to be in some places rather than others.

He was said of old to dwell in the land of Israel above all other lands, and in Jerusalem above all other cities in that land, and in the temple above all other houses in that city, and in the holy of holies above all other apartments in that temple, and on the mercy seat over the ark above all other places in the holy of holies. But heaven is his dwelling place above all other places in the universe.

Those places in which he was said to dwell of old were all but types of this. Heaven is a part of the creation which God has built for this end, to be the place of his glorious presence. And it is his abode forever. Here he will dwell and gloriously manifest himself to eternity. And this renders heaven a world of love; for God is the fountain of love, as the sun is the fountain of light. And therefore the glorious presence of God in heaven fills heaven with love, as the sun placed in the midst of the hemisphere in a clear day fills the world with light.

The Apostle tells us that God is love, 1 John 4:8. And therefore seeing he is an infinite Being, it follows that he is an infinite fountain of love. Seeing he is an all-sufficient Being, it follows that he is a full and overflowing and an inexhaustible fountain of love.

Seeing he is an unchangeable and eternal Being, he is an unchangeable and eternal source of love. There even in heaven dwells that God from whom every stream of holy love, yea, every drop that is or ever was proceeds.

“There dwells God the Father, and so the Son, who are united in infinitely dear and incomprehensible mutual love. There dwells God the Father, who is the Father of mercies, and so the Father of love, who so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life [John 3:16].

There dwells Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, the Prince of peace and love, who so loved the world that he shed his blood, and poured out his soul unto death for it. There dwells the Mediator, by whom all God’s love is expressed to the saints, by whom the fruits of it have been purchased, and through whom they are communicated, and through whom love is imparted to the hearts of all the church. There Christ dwells in both his natures, his human and divine, sitting with the Father in the same throne.

There is the Holy Spirit, the spirit of divine love, in whom the very essence of God, as it were, all flows out or is breathed forth in love, and by whose immediate influence all holy love is shed abroad in the hearts of all the church [cf. Romans 5:5].

There in heaven this fountain of love, this eternal three in one, is set open without any obstacle to hinder access to it. There this glorious God is manifested and shines forth in full glory, in beams of love; there the fountain overflows in streams and rivers of love and delight, enough for all to drink at, and to swim in, yea, so as to overflow the world as it were with a deluge of love.” [4]

While believers on earth are right to focus on serving in local churches to guard and proclaim the gospel and carry that good news to the ends of the earth, we are helped in that ongoing, though temporal, task by focusing on what will become of the church in heaven. Indeed, we are most effective in our work on earth when we keep heaven in view for there the church will be perfect and with God, for God is love (1 Jn 4:8).

C. S. Lewis remarked, “Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.” When I feel ineffective, I am helped by a slow read of Edwards, and benefit from his redirecting my gaze toward the Bible and to God in heaven.

Most days, I don’t get farther than a paragraph or a “single painting” in the Edwards gallery. Yet, that gaze leads to a heavenly mindedness that gives much for earthly good.

—

For more on reading Edwards slowly on a daily basis see the new 365 day Edwards devotional by Owen Strachan, Always in God’s Hands (Tyndale Momentum, 2018).

[1] Works of Jonathan Edwards Online, Volume 8, Ethical Writings, ed. Paul Ramsey (Jonathan Edwards Center, Yale University, 2008), 61n7

[2] “Charity and Its Fruits: Sermon Fifteen, Heaven Is A World of Love,” Works of Jonathan Edwards Online, Volume 8, Ethical Writings, ed. Paul Ramsey (Jonathan Edwards Center, Yale University, 2008), 366-397.

[3] WJE 8:368

[4] WJE 8:369-370.



Consider The Grasshoppers of The Earth

By / Aug 24

When my family moved from Texas to Georgia, I discovered a new world right beneath my feet. The absence of friendship in this new place drove me to a fascination with insects. I think my interest in grasshoppers, worms, spiders, and other creatures most people avoid was always there, but my intrigue grew after my friendships shrank. Summer days were spent with my eyes at grass-level, searching for those who dwelt closest to the ground. 

Our yard was memorably full of grasshoppers – the big kind. I would catch them, put them in my unparalleled plastic bug-catcher, put grass and sticks and water in the cage, and observe their every movement. Eventually, I let them out and they would all hop away. 

One day, during a grasshopper escapade, I discovered a grasshopper that didn’t hop away when I let him out. So I affectionately named him, Hoppy. For a couple days, he would hang out in my bug-cage, and when I let him out, he wouldn’t run away. He was my pet. I loved that bug.

Then the unimaginable happened. My younger sister ran him over while she was on her tricycle. I wept. I was inconsolable. I still feel something soul-crushing when I see a big grasshopper, and if I think about it long enough, tears are inevitable. 

I’ve cried over the loss of several innocent insects: spiders, beetles, and butterflies to name a few. Jest and joking accompany these tears at times, some of that is warranted, I’m sure. After all, they are just bugs, right? They are insignificant.

One of sin’s most exceptional deceptions is to convince us of our insignificance. 

No one cares for you the way they should if they really loved you, Sin whispers, like the snake that it is. Your work is empty – you should be doing so much more, beckons the Liar. What is your life? Why do you even try? 

Anxiety floods your soul. You now believe you are invisible to most. You toil insignificantly beneath blades of grass sure to wither up by the end of the day (Psalm 90:5-6). You criticize yourself with passion – no one could possibly hate you more than you hate yourself. 

Stop.

Consider the birds, the sparrows, the lilies, the very hair atop your head (Matthew 6:26-30, Matthew 10: 29-31). 

Doesn’t God feed them, hold them, adorn them, number them? Such insignificant things, such fleeting contributors in God’s creation – and yet He knows and cares for the created world vastly more than we could ever imagine. 

If God, who fashioned every creature together with His very words, knows and cares about the lowest portion of the animal kingdom, what does that mean for you and me?

If God feeds the birds, holds the sparrows, adorns the lilies, and numbers the hairs on our head, are we not worth so much more?

I am certain that God cared that my grasshopper was gone too soon from this world. I am sure He cared about the spiders, beetles, and butterflies I’ve mourned too. 

I am certain that God cares unequivocally more for me. 

What undeserved love. What boundless grace. No insect rebelled against God, but I did. Vile, selfish, sinner that I am, lower than the lowest worms of the earth. But God. 

God Himself intervened. He sent the most significant person (Himself) to a lowly place. Jesus suffered in this world until the bitter end so that we might be raised up with Him. The blood of Jesus now establishes my significance. Without it, I am nothing. With it, I have everything. When I am tempted to believe in my unworthiness, I can consider the grasshoppers of the earth and how not one of them falls without our Heavenly Father’s consent. 

How much more He considers me!



Spurgeon on the Heart of Flesh

By / Aug 15

“And I will give you an heart of flesh.” — Ezekiel 36:26

A heart of flesh is known by its tenderness concerning sin. To have indulged a foul imagination, or to have allowed a wild desire to tarry even for a moment, is quite enough to make a heart of flesh grieve before the Lord. The heart of stone calls a great iniquity nothing, but not so the heart of flesh.

“If to the right or left I stray,

That moment, Lord, reprove;

And let me weep my life away,

For having grieved thy love”

The heart of flesh is tender of God’s will. My Lord Will-be-will is a great blusterer, and it is hard to subject him to God’s will; but when the heart of flesh is given, the will quiver like an aspen leaf in every breath of heaven, and bows like an osier in every breeze of God’s Spirit. The natural will is cold, hard iron, which is not to be hammered into form, but the renewed will, like molten metal, is soon moulded by the hand of grace. In the fleshy heart there is a tenderness of the affections. The hard heart does not love the Redeemer, but the renewed heart burns with affection towards him. The hard heart is selfish and coldly demands, “Why should I weep for sin? Why should I love the Lord?” But the heart of flesh says; “Lord, thou knowest that I love thee; help me to love thee more!” Many are the privileges of this renewed heart; “‘Tis here the Spirit dwells, ’tis here that Jesus rests.” It is fitted to receive every spiritual blessing, and every blessing comes to it. It is prepared to yield every heavenly fruit to the honour and praise of God, and therefore the Lord delights in it. A tender heart is the best defence against sin, and the best preparation for heaven. A renewed heart stands on its watchtower looking for the coming of the Lord Jesus. Have you this heart of flesh?



Andrew Fuller and the Genesis of Modern Missions

By / Aug 13

“I believe it is the duty of every minister of Christ plainly and faithfully to preach the gospel to all who will hear it.”

Andrew Fuller

Astonishingly, the modern missions movement owes its genesis to a man who was never a missionary himself: Andrew Fuller. For most of his life, Fuller was a Baptist pastor-theologian in England. From 1782 until his death in 1815, he pastored Kettering Baptist Church. Though he had no formal education, he was widely known for his theological candor. In fact, he was awarded honorary doctorates from both Princeton and Yale. The famed “Prince of Preachers,” Charles Spurgeon, once said of Fuller: “I have long considered [him] to be the greatest theologian of the century.” Fuller helped establish one of the first Protestant mission sending organizations—the Baptist Missionary Society—and served as its first secretary, giving much of his life to raising the funds needed for its work to go forth. In 1785, seven years before Fuller’s close friend William Carey, the “Father of Modern Missions,” was sent to India, Fuller wrote The Gospel Worthy of All Acceptation, concerning himself with the duty of sinners to believe in Jesus Christ. If he could prove this duty was the duty of believers, then he could prove the need for God’s people to take the gospel to those who had never heard it.

Again, Fuller’s aim was to show that faith in Christ was the duty of sinners. His argument was intentionally combative toward a somewhat prevailing theology known as hyper-Calvinism. Biblical Calvinists believe in God’s full sovereignty—yes, even over man’s salvation. But Fuller, raised in a hyper-Calvinist church, was taught that it was not the dutyof sinners to believe in Christ because some sinners do not have the ability to believe in Christ. It is no wonder, then, that the hyper-Calvinists of Fuller’s day were heavily anti-missions. Why preach the gospel to those who cannot believe in it? Fuller was opposite these men. He believed that if he could convince his readers—and moreover, his co-laborers—that it was the duty of sinners to believe in Christ, then he could also prove that it was the duty of Christians to tell others of Christ. “From what has been advanced,” Fuller wrote, “we may form a judgment of our duty, as ministers of the word, in dealing with the unconverted.” In arms with the Apostle Paul, Fuller continues: “Woe unto us, if we preach not the gospel!” Fuller argued that all unbelievers have a duty to believe; therefore, all Christians have a duty to evangelize.

Though not a hyper-Calvinist, Fuller did remain a Calvinist—he believed in God’s absolute sovereignty. So, how did he wed his theology with the biblical mandate for missions? Again, the main argument of hyper-Calvinists was that the non-elect had no duty to believe in Christ because they had no ability to believe in Christ. To them, that ability was only available to God’s elect—that is, those who had been predestined by God for salvation. So, asking a non-elect sinner to believe in Christ would be both wrong and deceptive.

Fuller’s question was essentially this: what if the non-elect do have the ability? This is where Jonathan Edwards’ influence—particularly his book, Freedom of the Will—can be seen in Fuller’s life. All men have two types of ability: natural and moral. Man has the natural ability to believe in Christ because he can repent and trust in Him. However, man does not have the moral ability to do so because of his sinful nature. In light of his sinful nature and, thus, his sinful desires, the non-elect do not choose to believe in God, but it is not because it is something they cannot naturally do; it is because it is something they don’t wantto morally do. Fuller explains: “If the inability of sinners to perform things spiritually good were natural, or such as existed independent of their present choice, it would be absurd and cruel to address them in such language.” That is, if the non-elect do not have the natural ability to believe in Christ, Fuller says it would be wrong to ask them to do so, for “no man is reproved for not doing that which is naturally impossible.” However, Fuller argued that man does have the natural ability—just not the moral ability.

And the only one who can overcome this moral inability is God himself. God must give man the desire to believe. Once given this desire through regeneration, man will beirresistibly drawn to believe in Christ. So, Christians should call all sinners to respond to the gospel, and let God do His work as He wills. Christians should not only ask men to do what they are morally capable of doing; rather, they should ask men to do what only God can help them to do. We can be sure that God has an end, yet he also has a means: us.

Fuller’s argument was and still is convincing because his book is so saturated with Scripture and biblical reasoning. The decline of hyper-Calvinism in both Fuller’s day and ours owes some credit to his work. While it may seem strange that God says He is sovereign over man’s salvation and tells man to evangelize sinners, Christians should not seek to create a false dichotomy between the two. Fuller is proof that one can both believe in God’s sovereignty and God’s call to live missionally. Christians should be resolved to believe that it is the duty of all sinners—both those who have heard and have not heard the gospel—to believe in Christ. Fuller would surely affirm the sobering truth that all who perish without faith in Christ will unfortunately go to hell. Yet, the sobering reality of this truth is one of our greatest motivations to take the gospel to those who have never heard of Christ. Because of Fuller, a generation of missionaries were convinced to give their lives to the mission field, and that mission continues to this day.



Episode 90: Remembering J.I. Packer (and Thoughts on Finishing Well)

By / Aug 12

For The Church Podcast

A Resource from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

On this episode of the For The Church Podcast, Jared Wilson and Ronni Kurtz reflect on the ministry of the recently departed theologian J.I. Packer and add some words of counsel for ministers, inspired by Packer’s legacy, on finishing well.



When the Headlines are Horrifying

By / Aug 12

Does anyone else wonder if the world is just falling apart? If you caught any of the headlines from this past week you know just what I mean. The chaos, controversy, and riots. Add to that, it’s an election year. Debates, campaigns, and polls all swirling around in a cloud of uncertainty. Not to mention the fears over our economy and our physical safety.

And that’s just the news! What about the hundreds of personal headlines hidden in our hearts that run like ticker tape over our souls? Headlines like your high school senior trying to get into college or your sophomore daughter whose weight loss is starting to scare you. Maybe your headline is your parents’ failing health or that elephant in the room of your marriage that just can’t be ignored anymore. Or how about that phone call from the doctor’s office, the auto shop, the school principal or the bank? Put it all together and it’s easy to feel panicked and powerless.

What do we do when it feels like we’re a headline away from hopeless? How can we possibly “laugh at the future” like a Proverbs 31 woman when the world around us makes us want to sit down and weep?

There’s one Old Testament prophet whose short book shows us the answer. Habakkuk lived during one of the worst times in his nation’s history, about 600 years before Christ, when Israel was about to be conquered and taken captive. He was among the minority who remained faithful when his country turned its back on the Lord. For generations the Lord held back His righteous anger against His people’s stubborn, stiff-necked idolatry and finally, during Habakkuk’s lifetime, the Lord was preparing to punish their sin.

Habakkuk heard the upcoming headlines with horror. When he asked the Lord, “How long will I cry and you not hear?” the answer he got wasn’t exactly a six-point plan to turn the country around. Instead he was told that things would get a lot worse. An invading army. His people taken captive. A just God who would keep His covenant and punish disobedience.

Habakkuk was horrified, but – and here’s the amazing part – he wasn’t hopeless.

Listen to this man’s calm in the middle of the chaos: Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. (3:17-18) After hearing the worst of the headlines, he lifted his head to find joy in his unchangeable God. If nothing ever grew again, if his world fell apart, Habakkuk would still hope. How could he have this kind of confidence when everything around him crumbled? “God, the Lord, is my strength; He makes my feet like the deer’s; He makes me tread on my high places.” (3:19)

No matter what was standing in front of him, Habakkuk banked on God’s faithfulness to him. He knew that whatever God, in His sovereign will was allowing or accomplishing, He would not abandon His children. I don’t know what high places you’re standing in front of right now. But I do know that the Lord, your strength, will put them under your feet. Whatever the ticker tape tells, there is banner over you proclaiming, “Redeemed! More than a Conqueror!”

Does this sound like some kind of glass-half-full, head-in-the-sand pep talk? Far from it, friend! It’s true that we have been put on this earth during nationally and globally turbulent times. But here’s the incredible part – in Christ we have been made citizens of a Kingdom that will never crumble, buckle, or cave into the world: “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.” (Heb. 12:28-29)

When the headlines are horrifying, remember this simple, unshakable truth: Jesus is coming back! It’s happening! Until then, it’s going to get worse before it gets better. (Rom. 8:19-24). Until then, we hope in our unchanging God, confident that He will never abandon us. Until then, we shine like stars in a crooked and perverse generation, we proclaim the excellencies of Him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light, and we offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe (Phil 2:15, 1 Pet. 2:9, Heb. 12:29)

Don’t lose hope. Don’t jump ship. And don’t forget Who you belong to. No matter what the news pundits say, we’re never a headline away from being hopeless. Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines…though the economy crumble and our national security be threatened, though our liberties may be taken and our geopolitical world uncertain…yet we will rejoice in the LORD; we will take joy in the God of our salvation. God, the Lord, is our strength; He makes our feet like the deer’s; He makes us tread on our high places (3:17-19)

Editor’s Note: This article has been adapted and was originally published at Biblical Woman



Introducing the For The Church Preaching Guides

By / Aug 11

We are excited to announce a new series of resources coming to FTC.co—For the Church Preaching Guides.

Our desire here at FTC.co is to equip local churches with gospel-centered resources. We aim to aid our readers in treasuring Jesus and cherishing his gospel. We believe a major way Christians are conformed into the image of Christ is through taking in the regular preaching of God’s word. So, it is important to us to promote healthy, biblical preaching.

That is the motivation behind the new For the Church Preaching Guides, simply to aid local church pastors and leaders in navigating their way through books of the Bible. Each Preaching Guide will cover one book of the Bible at a time and will assist preachers and teachers in pulling important information and resources together.

Each Preaching Guide will contain the following:

1. Preaching Outlines

In this section, we will provide a number of different homiletical outlines from trusted pastors. The outlines will show different strategies preachers and teachers can use when walking through the book. They will differ in length and emphasis, showing a number of faithful ways to traverse the biblical data.

2. Problem Passages

In the second section, each Preaching Outline will walk through a few “problem passages” that preachers and teachers should be aware of when considering going through a book. This section will identify the most difficult passages to interpret in a particular book and give a bit of guidance on where to find answers.

3. Key Themes and Motifs

Each book of the Bible has key themes and motifs that run throughout it. Moreover, every biblical book has themes and motifs that connect it to the larger canon of Scripture. These are important elements to keep in mind in doing justice to teaching the material of each biblical book. This section will identify and explain each book’s major themes.

4. Commentaries and Resources

A question many pastors and teachers have when considering a series through a new biblical book concerns what commentaries and resources they should be consulting along the way. We answer that very question here with a number of recommended resources and commentaries.

5. How to Preach Christ From This Book

As Christian preachers and teachers, we want our material to be thoroughly Christ-centered, regardless of what book of the Bible we are teaching. This section will bring out the Christological focus and emphasis of each book and will connect it to the larger redemptive framework running throughout the Scriptures.

6. Conclusion: Why You Should Preach This Book

Each Preaching Guide will conclude with a brief conclusion on why this particular biblical book is worthy of your time as a preacher and teacher. The conclusions will focus on how your people, and you as a preacher or teacher, will benefit from extended time in each book. The hope is to aid Christian leaders in processing the biblical material and in making informed decisions about how to best shepherd and lead those God has entrusted to them.

The first For the Church Preaching Guide will be released on August 18th. That guide will cover the book of Jude in the format mentioned above. We have a number of trusted authors working on future Preaching Guides and plan to release them regularly.

We sincerely pray these resources will bless you as you faithfully proclaim God’s Word. The Scriptures tell us that we do not live by bread alone, but on the Word of the Lord. We are people of the book. May all our energy and effort in unpacking God’s word be fruitful and may he use it to glorify himself.



A Surprising Command for Suffering Saints

By / Aug 6

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:2–4)

James is a timely book for today. If you care about how to respond to the poor, the oppressed, and the marginalized, you’ll want to read James. If you need wisdom about how to use your words wisely on social media, read chapter 3. James is practical too for those who face trials, troubles, and tribulations. In fact, in his first words after the greeting, James fires off his letter with a surprising command for suffering saints: he tells suffering saints to count their trials as opportunities for joy.

This might seem like insensitive counsel from a young, zealous pastor. But James knows that trials lead to testing which produces steadfastness which works in us for our maturity and spiritual wholeness.

Many of us, however, find great joy when our trials are over. James reminds us to find joy in our trials. Life is full of occasions for joy. Engagements are occasions for joy. Weddings are occasions for joy. Births are occasions for joy. You know this. But is sickness an occasion for joy? Are strained relationships occasions for joy? What about loneliness or loss? What about poverty and persecution? All trials are opportunities for joy.

This is not new theology, James is simply repeating his older brother. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven…” (Matt. 5:11–12). Jesus even guaranteed tribulations. “In this world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). So why is this idea so strange to many of us?

There is a false gospel–a prosperity gospel–that has been exported from the United States and made its way to my city in the United Arab Emirates. The message of James has been distorted from, “Christians should count their trials as joy,” to “Christians should have no trials and only joy.” Could it be that we’ve been sipping on some of this poison? How do we know? One question to ask is, how do you respond when trials meet you?

Perhaps you feel fear, wondering what will happen to you. Maybe you experience anger, questioning how this could happen to you. Some feel envy, asking why their trials don’t happen to others. You probably feel a mix of emotions. James is not saying that your exclusive experience should be joy, but that part of your experience should be great joy. James is not only talking about a joy that’s independent of circumstances, he’s saying one circumstance to have joy in is trials. One evidence of the Holy Spirit in your life is your joy in trials.

When Jesus Christ met trials he not only endured them, he counted them joy! He is the one, “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2). Trials are a special time in the life of a believer where God himself causes us to remember that he is at work in our sorrow and suffering to make us more like Jesus Christ.

You are probably facing trials, troubles, or tribulations right now. If not now, you need to expect them. “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). The Christian life is not an easy path, but it is the path that leads to life (Matt. 7:13–14). So remember that God is working in you through trials, and count your trials as opportunities for joy.