This last weekend, Dr. James White was speaking in Dublin, Ireland at the Arann Reformed Baptist Church there. He spoke on a number of themes.
One of his sessions was on Romans 9:6-24 and for those going through the TULIP study here on the blog, you may wish to add this to your listening material. The audio has now been posted here and I recommend it highly.
“The reason Jesus is essential to believe in is because there is a holy God who is infinitely just and infinitely loving. And in his justice he is angry at us because we have sinned against him. We have rejected him, we haven’t loved him as we ought, we have broken his commandments. All we have to do is list out, “Thou shall not steal, thou shall not lie, thou shall not lust or covet and shall love him only above all things.” And we’ve broken those and so wrath rests upon us.
Jesus is the Son of God sent into the world as the atonement, the sacrifice that bears our sins and that provides our righteousness. So that if there were no Christ we would only have guilt and judgment and condemnation and Hell from God.
But because Christ came and God sent him, in his love we can look away from ourselves. This is what faith means: we look away from ourselves, we cast ourselves on Christ for his mercy and we trust his death to be our punishment.
And we trust his righteousness to be imputed to us so that now in Christ, that is in relation to Christ, by faith, God looks upon us as having fulfilled his whole law, as having all of our sins forgiven, and being acceptable in the beloved Jesus Christ. So that now we have eternal joy, eternal glory.
So the practical answer, “Why believe in Jesus?” is because it’s the only way to escape Hell, to know God, to have everlasting joy in the presence of God.
And we believe it because it’s true.” – John Piper
“What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things…
We have all heard the phrase, “Practice makes perfect.” But is that actually true?
It is true, only if you are doing the right thing in the right way.
If you want to be a better cyclist, make sure you are not using square wheels. That’s an obvious one. Most of our issues are far less obvious, at least to us. We all have our blind spots.
Want to improve your financial state? Are you willing to have someone assess what you are doing daily, weekly or monthly that might be hurting you? Are you really willing for change?
Take your golf swing – you could be holding the club wrong, and standing with your feet in the wrong place and the problem is this – the more you practice, the more you will simply reinforce your problem swing. What you need is the insight of a golfing coach who can tell you what you might be doing wrong. He can see what you cannot see by yourself. He can tell you what you can do to dramatically improve your current results. Once you get his sound advice, adjust accordingly and then, once you know you are doing the right thing in the right way, practice, practice, practice.
Here’s the principle: Practice does not make perfect. Practice makes permanent.
What are you practicing? Some things are not worth practicing. Some people are not worth following.
Think about each aspect of your life – your spiritual, physical, mental, social and financial life. What is the dream you have? Writing a book? Restoring a broken or stale relationship? Getting in physical shape? Growing spiritually? Being the spiritual leader in the home? Getting out of debt? Financial freedom so that you can live in such a way that you can be a great channel of supply for God’s kingdom? What is it that thrills your heart? What is your dream?
What is your goal in each area? Do you have one?
Then think about this. If you keep doing what you are currently doing, over and over again, will you eventually reach your goal?
Is there anything you can make a part of your daily schedule and routine that would, over time, transform your dream into reality?
Is there anything you need to change? Is there anything you can do today and make a part of your life?
Would you pray about this, asking God for His insight and wisdom? And will you be a doer of the word and not a hearer only?
God bless!
John