15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. 16 But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. 17 To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. (1 Timothy 1:15-17)

 Too often when we read Scripture, we do so from a point of view centered on ourselves. But here as Paul writes about receiving grace as the foremost of sinners; his focus doesn’t stay there. Rather considering the gravity of what happened (his salvation), he is prompted to respond in praise. He knew that his salvation was not his doing and it should result in praise. And so these words direct our hearts not inward, but outward - to praise of our great God.

In in a time like this (truly in any time) we need our gaze lifted to see the unspeakable character of God. He is the immortal, invisible, God only wise. He is the most glorious and most blessed. He is the giver of life. He is the one who deserves our attention and praise.

Here is the song “Immortal, Invisible” by Fernando Ortega. May your hearts today (and every day) be lifted to gaze upon the beauty and majesty of God.

Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
Almighty, victorious, Thy great Name we praise.

Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light,
Nor wanting, nor wasting, Thou rulest in might;
Thy justice, like mountains, high soaring above
Thy clouds, which are fountains of goodness and love.

To all, life Thou givest, to both great and small;
In all life Thou livest, the true life of all;
We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree,
And wither and perish; but naught changeth Thee.

Great Father of glory, pure Father of light,
Thine angels adore Thee, all veiling their sight;
All praise we would render; O help us to see
’Tis only the splendor of light hideth Thee

Immortal, Invisible As sung by Fernando Ortega © Words: Public Domain Music: 2004 Cerdo Verde Music, Curb Songs, John Andrew Schreiner Music I do not own the...

This morning I want to get back to the heart of God…I’m not sure there is a better place to focus than that. The text I turn to is Jeremiah 6:16.

16 Thus says the LORD: 

“Stand by the roads, and look, 

and ask for the ancient paths, 

where the good way is; and walk in it, 

and find rest for your souls.

Stand and look. The Lord is commanding the people to look…to think…to consider as a traveller does on a journey. They should take care to find their way. Matthew Henry, the great Bible commentator wrote: “O that men would be thus wise for their souls, and would ponder the path of their feet, as those that believe lawful and unlawful are of no less consequence to us than the right way and the wrong are to a traveller!”

And then we find another imperative - ask for the ancient paths. What are the paths? They are the way of faithfulness that had been given to Moses and the people. The paths are the way of God and that which he blesses. They are the way of godliness and righteousness and peace and joy. They are the way of God’s law.They are the way laid out in Holy Scripture…the written Word of God given to us to be treasured and followed. This is the good way that we are to walk in.

Psalm 1:1-3

Blessed in the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, 

nor stands in the way of sinners, 

nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 

2 but his delight is in the law of the LORD, 

and on his law he meditates day and night. 

3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water 

that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. 

In all that he does, he prospers. 

This ancient way is the way of delight in the Lord and in his ways. It is delight in his Word and in all that he has given us. It is following these ways even when the road seems quite rough. It is an ancient way, not necessarily a smooth way. It will likely cost you a bit of pain, but you will find much help along that way, and certainly the end of the journey will make it all worthwhile. It is a way that will bring rest to our souls. The way of faithful obedience is the way of true and lasting growth (John 15:1-17). And we have a forerunner, because this is the path that our Lord walked before us and in him we have the strength to walk it too.

Yet there is a little bit of the verse that I left out - the response: But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ Let us not say the same thing. Let us walk the road before us. Let us take up our cross and follow our Lord on his path of obedience and blessing. It is the good road. It is the road that reveals the heart of God…that he desires the best for his children.

Below is a song by Andrew Peterson (by now you know I really appreciate his music). It’s called “You’ll Find Your Way.”

Music video by Andrew Peterson performing You'll Find Your Way. (P) (C) 2012 Centricity Music. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction is a violation ...

When I look at you, boy
I can see the road that lies ahead
I can see the love and the sorrow

Bright fields of joy
Dark nights awake in a stormy bed
I want to go with you, but I can’t follow

So keep to the old roads
Keep to the old roads
And you’ll find your way

Your first kiss, your first crush
The first time you know you’re not enough
The first time there’s no one there to hold you

The first time you pack it all up
And drive alone across America
Please remember the words that I told you

Keep to the old roads
Keep to the old roads
And you’ll find your way
You’ll find your way

If love is what you’re looking for
The old roads lead to an open door
And you’ll find your way
You’ll find your way
Back home

And I know you'll be scared when you take up that cross
And I know it'll hurt, 'cause I know what it costs
And I love you so much and it's so hard to watch
But you're gonna grow up and you're gonna get lost
Just go back, go back

Go back, go back to the ancient paths
Lash your heart to the ancient mast
And hold on, boy, whatever you do
To the hope that's taken hold of you
And you'll find your way
You'll find your way
If love is what you’re looking for
The old roads lead to an open door
And you’ll find your way
You’ll find your way
Back home

One of my favorite hymns is “Rock of Ages.” It was written by Augustus Toplady to conclude a magazine article in which he emphasized that humans can never repay, through their own efforts, the debt which they owe to God. And it’s interesting he correlated that to the national debt of England at the time. There is nothing we can do on our own to satisfy the justice of God in regard to our rebellion against him.

Two passages from Paul’s letter to Titus highlight this. First I’ll go with 3:4-7:

4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

This may be the second largest “but” in Scripture (behind Ephesians 2:4). Paul reminded Titus right before this of how we were all foolish, disobedient, led astray, etc…BUT then the goodness and kindness of God appeared. And we have been saved not by our works, but only by his mercy.  

And then let’s jump back to 2:11-14:

11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

Here we see that "double-cure” that comes through the work of Christ on the cross. By his blood we are not only redeemed (saved from wrath), but we are also made pure (sanctified). It is all from the grace of God. The grace does not merely saves us, but thankfully, God’s grace makes us more and more like him. God’s grace conforms us to the image of Christ.  

I got to know a band called Vigilantes of Love when I was on a summer project with CRU in 1993. One of their songs is called “Double Cure” (here is a rare solo performance of it - and here is another version with lyrics) and there is a line in it that I have loved for years: “I wanna drink out of that fountain, on a hill called Double Cure…” I want the grace of God to keep me from the things that masquerade as fountains and I want to drink solely from the fountain of his grace. The hill of Calvary, because of Christ, is a fountain of life for sinners. Let us run to that fountain daily and draw from all that he has for us. The things of this world pale in comparison to all that we have in Christ

Music Rock of Ages (lyrics) Artist: Chris Rice Place: Namibia South Africa July 2017

It’s Monday of Holy Week. What we see on this day in this last week of Jesus’ earthly ministry is that he curses a fig tree and he cleanses the Temple. Why? Why does he do this?

Well, he comes upon a fig tree and he sees it in leaf. The presence of leaves signified that there should be fruit (even out of season), but there wasn’t. It looked as though it would have fruit, but it didn’t. And so Jesus cursed the tree.

Next he comes to the Temple. Let’s look at Mark’s account in chapter 11.

15 And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 16 And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17 And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” 18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching.

There is a relation between these two events. Jesus judged the fig tree for showing forth the signs of fruit, but not producing any. He judged the Temple for not being the place of prayer, the place of worship. It had the appearance of a place of worship and holiness, but it was not functioning in that manner. In a sense, both the tree and the Temple were hypocritical - they had the appearance of the right thing, but weren’t producing the fruit that was to be present…and he judged them both.

Isn’t that too true of all of us? Are we not all hypocrites? Do we not all deserve the judgment of God?

Praise God for the work of Christ to die for sinners and to take the judgment we deserve upon himself!! Without that work, without Christ, we would all be without hope. But by the grace of God, the love of God, we have a sure hope in what Christ did for sinners.

2 Corinthians 5:21: For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

This week I’m going to try and highlight hymns/songs about the passion of Christ. For our first installment, the great hymn “Alas! And did My Savior Bleed?”

Holy Week, Day 2: Monday Monday, March 30, AD 33. To continue through the week, follow the link below for Tuesday: https://vimeo.com/89651201 The link for Palm Sunday: https://vimeo.com/89013208