Obedient Disobedience, Part 1

To provide a little context for the following, it comes from something I wrote a while ago in regards to a conversation I had about obedience and the Christian life. I've slightly adapted it where appropriate.

We must be sanctified by grace, and not a legalistic system, whether it be the Law of Moses or any other law. God doesn't present us with a list of things to do and not to do as the means (or motivation) for our sanctification. He presents to us Christ Himself, and by beholding Him, we are transformed (2Cor 3:18).

And so what's necessary for the orthodox, conservative Christian to recognize about the way he lives is Christian life is that it's not obedience at all if we grit our teeth and clench our fists and struggle and say, "Allllll riiiiight. Off to church, I guess," or, "I really don't feel like doing this, but I know you tell me to read Your Word, so here I go." That's not the second half of 1 John 5:3, which teaches us that the love of God is not only that we keep His commandments, but that we keep His commandments while finding them 'not-burdensome.' No, that would be demonstrating in action that His commandments are indeed burdensome.

The point that I think needs to be made over and over again within churches and other Christian circles, is that God gives us the grace in Christ to obey Him with joy. Many of you will be familiar with John Piper's effective little sound-byte on this issue, and I think he's spot-on. He often says, "Christ doesn't save us to make much of us; He saves us to enjoy making much of Him forever." And so the person who goes to church, or reads his Bible, or prays, or seeks to serve his neighbor against his will, but does it because "it's just the right thing to do," dishonors God.

Because it's as if that person is saying, "I know You tell me, God, that going to church and reading Your Word and praying are all good for me. And I know You reveal Yourself to Your people through those means as they obey in loving submission, but I honestly just don't think You're satisfying enough, pleasing enough, beautiful enough, to have me enjoy obeying You. Sure, I can muscle it down, but it's not enjoyable."

That's not obedience that glorifies God. That's moralism, and anyone can do that. Anyone -- born again by the Spirit of God or still dead in their trespasses and sins -- can do things they don't want to do if they're really pricked in their conscience that they should do them. But that's not grace. That's law. And so that dishonors not only the finished work of Christ on the cross, but also the beauty and pleasantness of Christ Himself.

Objections

"But," a reasonable detractor interjects, "isn't that a really complicated way to describe something that the Bible often describes so simply? Why can't we just read John 14:15 and 1 John 5:3 and be done with it? Why the extended explanation?"

Those are extremely good questions.

The answer for why we can't just leave it there is because we've gotten really good at being Pharisees. We've gotten really good at doing things "just because."

In John 14:15 and in 1 John 5:3 the doctrine of sanctification by grace -- and the doctrine of enjoying God in Christ as the basis of the Christian life -- is there. We've just largely ignored it. Someone quotes those verses, and everyone nods their heads in agreement. But then they deny that confession by their actions. Evidently, we understand different things when we read those verses.

Think of the Westminster Catechism. All true children of God affirm that the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. And we affirm that because we believe Scripture teaches that clearly. We also believe, for the same reason, that God does everything to glorify Himself to the utmost. Now, if that's true, it means that it is God's desire for His children (those to whom He reveals Himself) to enjoy Him. And so He's not honored by someone obeying Him just because they know it's the right thing to do as much as He's honored by someone who knows Him, and has tasted the satisfaction and the fullness that is in Christ, and given that -- that I know my God -- he loves to obey. It's at that point that we exclaim: Of course His commandments are not burdensome! And it's a delight to keep those commandments, because when I do, I get more of Him!

That's the love that Jesus is talking about in John 14:15. He is not saying that love for God is commandment-keeping. That's just not what the text says. Love for Christ -- that's one thing -- produces joyful obedience to what He commands -- that's another thing. Neither is He saying, "Your task is to prove your allegiance to Me by keeping My commandments." He is simply declaring that those who truly love God, who delight in Him, who know Him and enjoy Him, will, out of that love, keep His commandments.

"I don't know," responds our reasonable detractor. "Why can't we just say, 'If you're a Christian, a follower (= disciple = student) of Christ, do what your Lord tells you to do'?"

I say: We absolutely can say that!

But, unless the person you're talking to implicitly affirms and understands the principle of grace, that God makes it a delight for me to do what He tells me to do -- simply by making me able to see Him as He really is -- they will miss out on His glory, will not enjoy Him, and thus will fall short of Biblical obedience. And like I said earlier, I think many Christians don't implicitly affirm or understand that principle of grace in sanctification when they hear, "Do what God tells you to do." So in those instances in which that misunderstanding is even remotely possible, it's already complicated, and needs to be explained.

The Application

Now, all of this brings up another question. Someone asks, "So, based on all you've said here, does that mean that if I don't feel like reading my Bible or going to church, that even if I do read and if I do go I'm sinning?"

Yup. That's what it means.

"So does that mean I shouldn't read my Bible or go to church unless I do feel like it?"

Nope! It doesn't mean that at all!

I'll flesh that out a bit in the next post.

UPDATE: Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

Why Talk About Hell?

Isn't it primitive? Don't only really super-religious fanatics and superstitious fundamentalists believe in hell anymore? I mean, a place of fiery punishment where you go after you die unless you believe a certain thing? Aren't we beyond this?

Isn't it arrogant? I mean, how do we really know what's going to happen after death? And even if we did know, who are we to say who will or won't be where?

Isn't it just unseemly? "The smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night" (Rev 14:11)? Can't we talk about more pleasant things? Isn't God a God of Love?

Such questions pour forth from the hearts of those people both in the world and, sadly, in churches throughout the world. Hell exists. Knowing and believing that is the first step toward being saved from being there.

Luke 16:23-24 - In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried out and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.'

A while back (around six months ago), one of my mother's uncles died. He wasn't a believer. That caused me to think about Luke 16:19-31. After meditating on that passage for a while, I was struck with four reasons that Christians need to preach to our congregations about hell.

Christians need to know and to be affected by the fact that:

(1) Hell is what you deserve.
(2) Hell is what you were saved from.
(3) Hell is what Jesus endured for you.
(4) Hell is where the world is going.

#1 sparks the terror inside of me of God's righteous judgment and wrath and holiness. The rich man was in agony. His tongue was burning. And he had no hope of relief. Ever.

#2 speaks grace and relief to me. It is good news. I deserve to be there. But because of the grace of God to me in Christ, the power of the fear of death has been defeated. There is no longer any sting. I am saved.

#3 focuses all my affections of thankfulness, gratitude, joy, and delight, onto Jesus, because it was He who provided me #2. Because of the righteousness of Jesus, the perfection of His sacrifice, and His willingness to endure the full exercise of God's wrath -- hell -- in my place, I am saved. There is not one ounce of wrath or condemnation for me. Jesus fully satisfied God's anger against my sin.

But as I was meditating, #4 is what really gripped me. #4 hits the chord of compelling compassion as I consider that others are in the situation of #1 without #2 and #3. The world is dying. They're dying, and they refuse to believe it. Christians need to hear about hell from the pulpit because we need to have the magnitude and terror of what we were saved from compel us to take the Gospel to a world which is in that very desperate situation.

Hell is what you deserve.

And hell is what you will get apart from saving faith in Jesus Christ, from the One who promises that if you believe in Him for all your righteousness and rely entirely on Him for your acceptance before God (and not at all on yourself and your own works), that He literally endures hell in your place. He promises that you can be saved.

Hell is what Jesus endured in the place of those who believe. The agony that the rich man experienced with no hope of ever getting any relief is what you can be saved from by trusting Christ for righteousness and receiving Him as your Treasure.

And that's why we talk about hell. It forces the world into the ugly, disgusting reality of our deepest need -- really, our only need -- and then presents the most glorious and beautiful and satisfying and delightful Person as the alternative. The second question of the Heidelberg Catechism is: "How many things are necessary for thee to know that thou in this comfort [of knowing you belong to Jesus] mayest live and die happily?" The answer is:

Three. The first, how great my sins and miseries are. The second, how I may be delivered from all my sins and miseries. The third, how I shall express my gratitude to God for such deliverance.

In order to live and die happily, we need to know: (1) Hell is what I deserve; (2) hell is what I was saved from; and (3) hell is what Jesus endured for me.

But while we live in the satisfaction and the rest of being beneficiaries of the perfect work of Christ, let our souls also be afflicted by #4, that the terror from which I have escaped is the very hell to which the world is going. Let that compel us in compassion to take the Good News to that world, even one person at a time.

Open your mouth.

How will they hear without a preacher?

A Meditation on My Father

This semester I'm taking a class called "The Biblical Exposition of Prayer," or just "Prayer," for short, as we call it. I've really enjoyed the opening two classes so far and look forward to the rest of the semester. As with all classes here, there is much work to be done for prayer week-to-week, and even day-to-day.

One of our assignments is to pray for an hour a day. That's really been beneficial over the last eight days. I pray that through this God would transform my life into a praying life, that He would transform me into a praying man of God.

In class Tuesday, Dr. Harris mentioned a couple of times in passing (as if he wanted to stop and comment further but recognized he didn't have the time) that the "Our Father" in the disciples' prayer (Mt 6:9-13; Lk 11:2-4) is a great way to start our prayer and a great thing to ponder as we pray. "Our Father," he said, right away denotes a relationship. And even as he said the word "relationship" he seemed blown away. And then he hurried back to what he'd been saying, sticking to the point and to the flow of his lecture.

So Wednesday morning as I spent some time praying to My Father, who is in heaven, I started there. I started, as I often do, by saying the word, "Father." But I kind of just stayed there. And I said to my Father that He was my Father, and that I was thankful for that, and I asked Him to show me what it means -- the true significance -- that He is my Father. And after a brief second or two, my mind was taken to Ephesians 1.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.

I thought about that for a minute. Our Father has blessed us with every spiritual blessing of heaven, all of which are wrapped up in the chief blessing Jesus Christ, whom He delivered over for us all (Rom 8:32). That took my breath away. So I kept reading.

He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.

There's the Gospel! The Father chose us in Christ before the world began in order that we would be holy and blameless before Him, a purified people, worthy for His own possession (Tit 2:14). And so, to that end, our Father "predestined us to adoption as sons." Here the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ becomes our Father by adopting us as His own sons!

And my mind leaped to Romans 8: We have not been given a Spirit of slavery leading again to fear, but we have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by which we cry out Abba, Father (Rom 8:15)! We can call the God of all creation, who holds the universe in His hands (Ps 95:4-5), "Daddy." This kindness of adoption happened through Jesus Christ and to the Father Himself (Eph 1:5). Through this adoption we have been redeemed and have had our sins forgiven (Eph 1:7). Because of this adoption we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession (Eph 1:13-14). We are God's own possession.

I kept reading in Ephesians 1. I got to verse 17 where it calls my Father the Father of glory. He is the Fountain of everything glorious! Everything that is desirable, everything that is attractive, everything that is delightful, everything that is pleasant has its origin in my Father, the Father of glory. The pleasantness of a light summer rain, the beauty of a sunrise or sunset over the ocean, the magnificent patterns of fluffy white clouds in a blue sky, the delightful smile on the face of your wife, the sweet laughter of your children -- all of these things derive their glory from my Father. And He does not simply lend glory to those things. The glory we see in those things is God Himself. He is the glory of all things! My Father!

I kept reading, and came to Paul's magnificent prayer in verses 18 to 23. He prays that the eyes of our hearts may be enlightened. He prays that our spiritual sight would be opened up and increased. He wants us to be able to perceive something that we need spiritual eyes to perceive. Something that we miss all the time because we only see with our eyes and can't see with our hearts.

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling.

My mind focused on "the hope of His calling." He wants me to know that. He prays that I have spiritual eyes to know the hope of my Father's calling. I wondered what that calling was. My mind skipped to Ephesians 4:1, where Paul implores us to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which we have been called. My mind jumped to 1 Thessalonians 2:12: "...so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory." So here He started to give me a glimpse. The calling with which I've been called is a calling into my Father's kingdom and into His glory. My Father, the King of all creation, has called me into His own kingdom! My Father, the Father of glory, has called me into His own glory! The hope of His calling is the hope of glory!

When I thought "hope of glory," I jumped immediately to Colossians 1:27, where I learn that "the hope of glory" is Christ in me. The reason that I can hope for glory is because the Father has predestined me to adoption as His son through Jesus Christ (Eph 1:5), whom He was pleased to crush (Is 53:10) on my behalf (2Cor 5:21)! I kept reading Paul's prayer.

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.

So all my mind's jumping around was confirmed! The hope of His calling is related to riches of glory. And I love that! Riches of glory! Treasures of glory! Magnificence and superabundance of glory! And not just glory, but the glory of His inheritance!

I stopped there. What's the glory of His inheritance? Who's inheriting who here (cf. Eph 1:11)? I think "of His inheritance" is just a way of expressing: "of the inheritance of Him." I am called to the hope of glory, which is the riches of inheriting Him!

Immediately my mind skipped to all sorts of passages about treasure. He is my treasure!

• Matthew 13:44-46 - He is the treasure hidden in a field, which, when I found Him, I sold all that I have and all that I was to gain Him!
• Luke 12:33 - He is my treasure in heaven which I should lay up for myself!
• Matthew 6:21 - He is the treasure where my heart is!
• 1 Peter 1:3-4 - He is my inheritance which will not spoil or fade away!
• John 17:3 - Knowing Him is eternal life!
  
• Psalm 73:25-26 - Whom have I in heaven but Him? And besides Him I desire nothing on earth! My flesh and my heart my fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever!
• Psalm 16:2 - He is my Lord; I have no good besides Him!
• Psalm 16:5-6 - The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and my cup; He supports my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me!

Indeed, my heritage (=inheritance) is beautiful to me!

And, praise God, as if that wasn't enough, I kept reading.

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what the surpassing greatness of His power toward those who believe.

Paul wants me to have spiritual eyes so that I can see the surpassing greatness of His power. And as I read this I immediately thought of Philippians 3, where Paul comforts the believers by presenting to them their hope of glory: "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself." The power that He has in Himself to subject all things to His rule, that same power guarantees my resurrection and my ultimate freedom from sin! Oh how I long for this!

Then I went back to Ephesians 1 and let Paul finish his sentence. That power is in accordance with the working of the strength of His might, which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also the one to come.

There it is again! The surpassing greatness of His power toward me, which will transform my humble, wretched flesh (Phil 3:21; Rom 7:24) into perfect conformity to His glory (Rom 8:29-30; 1Jn 3:2), is the very same power by which my Father raised Christ Himself from the dead, and by which He set Him as authority over all things!

I understand why Paul would pray this for us. I'm thankful that he did.

I understand why Dr. Harris was blown away by just saying the words, "Our Father." I'm thankful that he was.

Brothers and sisters, love the sweet reality that God is our Father!

The God-Centered Gospel vs. a Man-Centered Gospel

In the following video, James White interacts with a Roman Catholic and discusses how the Gospel of Roman Catholicism is man-centered. As he himself mentions, though, it's interesting (and actually extremely sad) how much the man-centered gospel of Roman Catholicism sounds like the theology of some evangelicals.

Anyway, I found the video extremely helpful. It was disappointing, in one sense, to see the similarities between Rome and evangelicalism's man-centeredness. But in another sense it was refreshing to hear the Biblical Gospel proclaimed and defended -- one in which the glory of God is the center and the goal. It's worth the 23-minute listen.

I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions
for My own sake.
- Isaiah 43:25 -

For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act;
For how can My name be profaned?
And My glory I will not give to another.
- Isaiah 48:11 -

...I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in th earth.
- Psalm 46:10 -

I am writing to you, little children,
because your sins have been forgiven you
for His name's sake.
- 1 John 2:12 -

In love He predestined us
to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ
to Himself,
according to the kind intention of His will,
to the praise of the glory of His grace,
which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
- Ephesians 1:5-6 -

Drop a Line

So two or three days after New Year's, my computer decided that it doesn't want to cooperate with me anymore. It's a long story. I've been scrambling trying to figure out how to save my data and salvage my computer.

Between not really having a functioning computer of my own, and getting transitioned back to California after a three-week trip, and preparing for the upcoming semester, I trust you'll understand if in the next week or so I don't keep up my Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule.

One thing I'll recommend is that you look through some past posts. The ones I recommend most highly are under the heading "Past Posts For Our Benefit" on the banner at the right of the screen. Others are just as good though, ;o).

Also, and perhaps more importantly, I want to -- first -- thank all of you who read my blog. I am encouraged to know that you all are reading and, I trust, benefiting from God's Word as it's presented; and -- second -- encourage you all to, while I can't write much, drop a comment and let me know who you are and that you're reading. I'd appreciate knowing who you guys are, where you're coming in from, and what kinds of situations of faith and ministry you find yourselves in.

So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed,
not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence,
work out your salvation with fear and trembling;
for it is God who is at work in you,
both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
- Philippians 2:12-13 -

Update: Audio Available

Janna and I are traveling back to Southern California today after a wonderful three-week visit with friends and family for Christmas and New Year's. It's been a great trip and a joyful vacation. Perhaps I'll write a summary about it in the next few days.

For now, though, I have a different kind of update. The four-part Christmas series I posted a few weeks ago came from a sermon I was preparing. The audio of that sermon is now available, and can be downloaded from this link (right click, save link/target as).

I pray it's a benefit.

Putting Expositional Listening into Practice

As I've been thinking about becoming a more diligent recipient of the Word of God preached -- or, as Thabiti Anyabwile puts it, an expositional listener -- I've been struck by the thought that I don't want this to just be something I talk about. I want to take advantage of the opportunity God has given me to consistently listen to the preaching of His Word, a privilege that many don't enjoy enough.

To that end, I tried to summarize both Tim's and Thabiti's posts into a sort of practical application format for me. Hopefully it will be helpful to you, and will encourage you to put these things into practice as well.

During the Week Before the Sermon

• Pray for your pastor (or pastors), that God would work in his heart, illumine the Word to him, grow him in his faith, and protect him from the accusations and temptations of Satan.
• Encourage your pastor by telling him that you are praying for him and are preparing to listen to the sermon.
• Resolve any conflicts with brothers and sisters, as following Matthew 5:23-24.
• In your devotional time with the Lord, study and meditate on the passage to be preached.
• As part of your study, outline the text. Use good commentaries to supplement your study if necessary.
• Be sure to get a good night's sleep on Saturday night. Commit the late Saturday night hours to the Lord as part of your preparation to meet with Him in His Word the next morning.
  

Sunday Morning

• Be sure to sanctify time with the Lord on Sunday morning. Take that time to confess any unrepentant sin.
  
• Pray according to Psalm 119:18, that in the coming hours God would prepare you to listen to His Word, and that He would illumine it to you that you might behold wonderful things.
• Come to church expecting and excited to hear Divine words that will change you. Expect to meet with God through the proclamation of His Word.
• Immediately before and during the sermon, pray for focused attention and against distractions which abound.
  

After the Sermon

• Do pursue fellowship with friends and family immediately after the service, but don't talk about trivial and non-spiritual things at such a pivotal time.
• Talk and pray about the sermon in conversation with friends. Discuss the point of the passage. Ask such questions as, "How were you affected by the Word of God today?"
• Share what you learned from the sermon and what you thought was significant.
• Ask trusted others if they know of an obvious application of the sermon for your life (this will reveal areas of sinfulness in you). Receive that well (Psalm 141:5; Prov 9:8b; 19:25; 25:12; Ecc 7:5).
• Pray with fellow believers that you and the rest of the congregation would be properly affected, not become dull of hearing, and would be doers of the Word and not hearers only.
• During your personal quiet time Sunday afternoon or evening, pray for Spirit-led application and obedience.
• Seek to make applications of the passage preached to your own life.
  

The Following Week

• Listen to the sermon again mid-week. Pick applications to focus on and put into practice throughout the week.
  
• Study the passage preached, using the sermon as the chief aid, in small groups, one-on-one discipleship groups, or in family devotions.
• Study further to find answers to questions that you had about the text during the sermon.
  

Thabiti concludes, "Church members are healthy when they give themselves to hearing this message as a regular discipline. Expositional listening promotes such health for individual members and entire churches."

Love the Word of God. Love the Church of God.

Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances.
But examine everything carefully;
hold fast to that which is good;
abstain from every form of evil.
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely;
and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete,
without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Faithful is He who calls you,
and He also will bring it to pass.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:20-24 -

More on Expositional Listening

As we celebrate the beginning of a new year, and consider all of the things that we didn't do in 2009 that we want to do in 2010, I think at the top of the list should be to strive to become better hearers -- and thus, doers -- of the Word of God. Becoming an expositional listener, I believe, will do just that.

And as I re-posted Tim Challies' gem on how to prepare for listening to sermons, I was reminded of the first chapter of Thabiti Anyabwile's book, What is a Healthy Church Member? The first chapter of that book that treats such an important topic is "Expositional Listening." With permission (and thanks to Thabiti!), I'm reproducing a large portion of that first chapter here.

A Healthy Church Member is an Expositional Listener

What is “expositional listening”?

Before answering that question, we need to define “expositional preaching.” The first and most important mark of a healthy church is expositional preaching. “Expositional preaching is not simply producing a verbal commentary on some passage of Scripture. Rather, expositional preaching is that preaching which takes for the main point of a sermon the point of a particular passage of Scripture.” If churches are to be healthy, then pastors and teachers must be committed to discovering the meaning of Scripture and allowing that meaning to drive the agenda with their congregations.

There is an important corollary for every member of a local church. Just as the pastor’s preaching agenda should be determined by the meaning of Scripture, so too should the Christian’s listening agenda be driven by the meaning of Scripture. When we listen to the preaching of the Word, we should not listen primarily for “practical how-to advice,” though Scripture teaches us much about everyday matters. Nor should we listen for messages that bolster our self-esteem or that rouse us to political and social causes. Rather, as members of Christian churches we should listen primarily for the voice and message of God as revealed in his Word. We should listen to hear what he has written, in his omniscient love, for his glory and for our blessing.

So what exactly do I mean by “expositional listening”? Expositional listening is listening for the meaning of a passage of Scripture and accepting that meaning as the main idea to be grasped for our personal and corporate lives as Christians.

Then, he lists 5 benefits of expositional listening; that is, reasons why we should strive to be expositional listeners.

1. It cultivates a hunger for God's Word, because as we listen for God's intentions in a particular passage, we become accustomed to His voice, and we want more of it.
   
2. It helps us to focus on God's will and to follow Him, because His agenda -- not ours, and not the preacher's -- becomes primary.
   
3. It protects the Gospel and our lives from corruption, because it guards members from having "itching ears" (2Tim 4:3-4), and hearing only what they want to hear.
   
4. It encourages faithful pastors. "Faithful men flourish at the fertile reception of the preached Word."
   
5. It benefits the gathered congregation by unifying them around the voice of God in His Word.
   

He continues to the heart of the chapter:

How Can Church Members Cultivate the Habit of Expositional Listening?

Well, if expositional listening is so vital to the health of individual church members and the church as a whole, how does a person form such a habit? At least six practical ideas can foster more attentive listening to God’s word.

1) MEDITATE ON THE SERMON PASSAGE DURING YOUR QUIET TIME

Several days before the sermon is preached, ask the pastor what passage of Scripture he plans to preach the following Sunday. Encourage him by letting him know that you’ll be praying for his preparation and preparing to listen to the sermon. Outline the text in your own daily devotions and use it to inform your prayer life. Learning to outline Scripture is a wonderful way of digging out and exposing the meaning of a passage. You can then use your outline as a listening aid; compare it to the preacher’s outline for new insights you missed in your own study.

2) INVEST IN A GOOD SET OF COMMENTARIES

Add to your quiet times some of the greatest minds in Christian history. Study the Bible with John Calvin or Martin Lloyd-Jones by purchasing commentaries on books of the Bible as you read and study through them. If your pastor is preaching through John’s Gospel, pick up D. A. Carson’s or James Montgomery Boice’s commentary on John. Let these scholars and pastors help you hear God’s Word with a clear ear and discover its rich meaning. The Bible Speaks Today commentary series is an excellent starting place for those wanting to build a library of good commentaries. Also, you might want to purchase an Old Testament and New Testament commentary survey to help you sort through the range of commentary options available. Tremper Longman’s Old Testament Commentary Survey and D. A. Carson’s New Testament Commentary Survey are excellent resources.

3) TALK AND PRAY WITH FRIENDS ABOUT THE SERMON AFTER CHURCH

Instead of rushing off after the service is over, or talking about the latest news, develop the habit of talking about the sermon with people after church. Start spiritual conversations by asking, “How did the Scripture challenge or speak to you today?” Or, “What about God’s character most surprised or encouraged you?” Encourage others by sharing things you learned about God and his Word during the sermon. Make particular note of how your thinking has changed because of the meaning of Scripture itself. And pray with others that God would keep the congregation from becoming “dull of hearing” and that he would bless the congregation with an increasingly strong desire for the “solid food” of his Word (Isa. 6:9–10; Heb. 5:11–14).

4) LISTEN TO AND ACT ON THE SERMON THROUGHOUT THE WEEK

We can cultivate the habit of expositional listening by listening to the sermon throughout the week and then acting upon it. Don’t let the Sunday sermon become a one-time event that fades from memory as soon as it is over (James 1:22–25). Choose one or two particular applications from the Scripture and prayerfully put them into practice over the coming week. If your church has an audio ministry or a website that posts recent summaries, take advantage of these opportunities to feed your soul with the click of a mouse. With your pastor’s support, establish small groups that review and apply the sermons. Or, use the sermons and your notes as a resource in one-on-one discipleship relationships. I know of several families that have
a regular sermon-review time as their Sunday evening family devotional. There are a hundred ways to keep the sermon alive in your spiritual life by reviewing God’s Word throughout the week. Be creative. It’s well worth the planning.

5) DEVELOP THE HABIT OF ADDRESSING ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE TEXT ITSELF

Jonathan Edwards resolved that he would never let a day end before he had answered any questions that troubled him or sprang to mind while he was studying the Scripture. How healthy would our churches be if members dedicated themselves to studying the Scripture with that kind of intentional effort and resolve? One way to begin is to follow up with your pastor, elders, or other teachers in the church about questions triggered by the text. Moreover, don’t be passive in your private study; seek answers by searching the Scripture yourself and by talking with accountability partners or small groups. But don’t forget that the pastor has likely spent more time than most in thinking about that passage and is there to feed you God’s Word. Follow up the sermon with questions and comments that would be an encouragement to your pastor and a blessing to your soul.

6) CULTIVATE HUMILITY

As you dig into God’s Word, listening for his voice, you will no doubt begin to grow and discover many wonderful treasures. But as you grow, do not become a “professional sermon listener” who is always hearing but never learning. Beware of false knowledge that “puffs up” (1 Cor. 1:8; Col. 2:18) and tends to cause strife and dissension. Mortify any tendencies toward pride, the condemnation of others, and critical nit-picking. Instead, seek to meet Jesus each time you come to the Scripture; gather from the Word fuel for all-of-life worship. Instead of exalting ourselves, let us remember the apostle Peter’s words: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time” (1 Pet. 5:6).

Conclusion

It is hearing the message and the Word of God that leads to saving faith (Rom.10:17). Church members are healthy when they give themselves to hearing this message as a regular discipline. Expositional listening promotes such health for individual members and entire churches.

Thanks, Thabiti, for those words. May God give the grace to make it be so in our lives.

But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.
- James 1:22-25 -