A Life as an Epistle

2 Corinthians 3:1-3

    Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you, or from you? [2] You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all. [3] And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

            What kind of epistle are you?  As we read the words Paul penned to the Corinthians, I cannot help but be convicted.  Paul was constantly being accused of not being a real apostle.  He always had to defend his apostleship on various levels to the various churches he addressed.  And here the question comes up again.  What was Paul’s response?  Paul had such a confidence in the Corinthian Church that he claimed they were the proof of his apostleship.  That is a great deal of confidence considering all that the Corinthian church went through, but even more importantly is the third verse.  Not only did he consider them an epistle to the truth of his apostleship, but they were an epistle to the truth of the work of Christ.  The way we live our lives in the midst of the world around us is a letter open for all to read.  This letter really has a threefold purpose. First, it is a letter reflecting the state of our own spiritual life.  It tells all people that we encounter who we are deep down.  The way we live means more than the things we say.  You gain a great deal of confidence for others over several years of speaking to them and lose it in one moment through the way you act.  Our lives are an open letter declaring our own spiritual state.  Secondly the way we live is also an open letter to all, witnessing to the state of our local churches.  Just as Paul counted on the Corinthians to be a witness to his apostleship, so people look at the members of our churches to determine the spiritual state of the whole.  The way we live in the world can either reflect poorly or well upon the church.  This adds a great deal of weight upon the shoulders of us who are called pastors.  We feel this weight, and rightly so in some instances, to be intimately involved in the lives of our congregation because the individual lives effect the picture of the whole church.  Thirdly and most importantly, the way we live our lives is an open letter declaring the power of Christ.  The way that you and I live in the midst of the world tells others about Christ.  When we are fast bound in sin and the people around us see this, they begin to think that the grace of Christ has no effect upon the weight of sin in our lives. The word of God which is powerful and sufficient for all of life and godliness can be thought of as weak because of how we live.  This puts the weight back upon the individual and the way they live their lives.  Which of us would like to be accused of a being a false witness?  Because God’s word is powerful and when we live as though it was not then we proclaim falsehood.  When we live as though Christ blood was of no purpose for our life we proclaim this as truth to the world.  When you live as though God’s Spirit has no affect upon your life, you proclaim him as weak and useless.  You can and will be read like a book.  What kind of epistle are you?  

Psalm 119:65-72 (ESV)  

[65] You have dealt well with your servant,
O Lord, according to your word. 
[66] Teach me good judgment and knowledge,
for I believe in your commandments. 
[67] Before I was afflicted I went astray,
but now I keep your word. 
[68] You are good and do good;
teach me your statutes. 
[69] The insolent smear me with lies,
but with my whole heart I keep your precepts; 
[70] their heart is unfeeling like fat,
but I delight in your law. 
[71] It is good for me that I was afflicted,
that I might learn your statutes. 
[72] The law of your mouth is better to me
than thousands of gold and silver pieces.

God’s goodness is not only in the receiving of positive gifts, God’s goodness is in the affliction and trails of the godly.  Often times when we stand in the Valley of Affliction and look to the Mountain Top of Prosperity we are discouraged.  However when we look from the Mountain Top of Prosperity to the Valley of Affliction we often times are encouraged by the grace of God bringing us up in our knowledge and understanding through the valley.  None of us want to be in the valley.  We all want to be on the mountain top; however you must go through the valley to get there.  You must make the difficult choices and struggle with the climb in order to reach the peak.  Friends, this side of glory we will never reach the highest peak we will just go through valley to peak over and over again till we climb to the highest mountain in glory and look at the face of our good God and thank him for the valleys and the peaks in between.

Currently Reading Relationships: A Mess Worth Making By Timothy S. Lane, Paul D. Tripp see related

A Good Quote

Paul David Tripp and Tim S. Lane, Relationships: A Mess Worth Making

Page 165

"Bible Study and persanl reading fall flat when we miss what Bible study and reading aremeant to do.  They are intended to be a means, not an end. The purpose of Bible study is to give me a vision of the God who is my Savior and with whom I am in relationship.  Bible study is intended to stimulate worship, but so often it is focused on theology and rules.  My relationships with my brothers and sisters in the body of Christ are intended to stimulate our collective appreciation of God's greatness and grace. But so often relationships become an end in themselves, serving our desires for acceptance." 

Lesson Learned

I have been preaching at Turner's Station Baptist Church since July of 06.  It has been a wonderful time but I am still learning so much.  Since October I have been preaching on the Word of God from Various text.  This has been a great time and I, as well as the congregation have learned so much. However, as I was thinking back upon my sermons and how some seemed to be so powerful and some seemed to fall short.  I think I have come to a realization.  Its not new, it is rather really old.  I have probably been told something like this but I have never really put it together like this.  Some of you will probably say duh, and that is ok.  But for me it was truly an eye opener.  See I have been preaching about the word and the importance of the Word, but now I realize I missed it. My realization is this, the word is the foundation for preaching, however the gospel is the power of preaching.  The reason some Sunday's seemed so fruitful was because I did not preach the importance of the Word as the law but rather the Gospel. See, I was preaching the importance of the Word, which is true but the importance of the Word is not found in the Word itself.  We don't read and study the Word or honor the Word because it is words, but because they point to God and Christ.  See, I have missed it.  I write this so that others won't waste time like I did.  I have been preaching as the law.  Read the Word. Study the Word.  Do the Word.  But this all means nothing. The people will fail and I am setting them up for failure apart from telling the the point, apart from pointing them to the one in which the Word points.  I wish I could go back and change that but I can't.  So from now on I preach about the Word while pointing in the direction it points, to Christ Alone.  I then realized this is not only true of preaching but of counseling.  We cannot merely counsel people to change behavior, but to have a change of heart.  I pray that God would cause us all to look to the Word as the foundation in which the power of the Gospel is found. 

Romans 1:16, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek."

2 Timothy 3:15, "and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus."

P.S. For all those interested there is lots of new Pic's of Abraham on his Website and two really cool videos.

In the Hospital Again

We just got home from the hospital again.  When Valerie went in for her check-up they found an infection so they had to give her antibiotics through an IV drip for the past 2 days.  We are really glad to be home and excited to get into a routine.  Abraham blessed us last night with a full 7 hours of sleep.  He is an extremely happy baby and has been great for us.  He is a very sound sleeper as well though, we can't hardly get him up to eat some times.  But we love him.  I have been on Vacation all week, however after having a Vacation like this I need a Vacation from my Vacation.  Now that we are home though we miss our dear friends Jeremy, Jennifer and Isabel beings they moved back to St. Louis but hopefully we will be back soon.  Speaking of which we will be visiting STL in February(Maybe 11th-15th) to Visit, so see you then. 

P.S. Check out All the Pictures of Abraham at www.ableonard.myphotoalbum.com