____________ Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak,
_________________ and let the earth hear the words of my mouth.
____________ May my teaching drop as the rain,
_________________ my speech distill as the dew,
____________ like gentle rain upon the tender grass,
_________________ and like showers upon the herb.
____________ For I will proclaim the name of the LORD;
_________________ ascribe greatness to our God!
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:5-11)
- Print by Christopher Koelle
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:1-4)
- Print by Christopher Koelle
Powerful encouragement for mothers from Rachel Jankovic:
A few years ago, when I just had four children and when the oldest was still three, I loaded them all up to go on a walk. After the final sippy cup had found a place and we were ready to go, my two-year-old turned to me and said, “Wow! You have your hands full!”
She could have just as well said, “Don’t you know what causes that?” or “Are they all yours?!”
Everywhere you go, people want to talk about your children. Why you shouldn’t have had them, how you could have prevented them, and why they would never do what you have done. They want to make sure you know that you won’t be smiling anymore when they are teenagers. All this at the grocery store, in line, while your children listen.
The truth is that years ago, before this generation of mothers was even born, our society decided where children rank in the list of important things. When abortion was legalized, we wrote it into law.
Children rank way below college. Below world travel for sure. Below the ability to go out at night at your leisure. Below honing your body at the gym. Below any job you may have or hope to get. In fact, children rate below your desire to sit around and pick your toes, if that is what you want to do. Below everything. Children are the last thing you should ever spend your time doing.
If you grew up in this culture, it is very hard to get a biblical perspective on motherhood, to think like a free Christian woman about your life, your children. How much have we listened to partial truths and half lies? Do we believe that we want children because there is some biological urge, or the phantom “baby itch”? Are we really in this because of cute little clothes and photo opportunities? Is motherhood a rock bottom job for those who can’t do more, or those who are satisfied with drudgery? If so, what were we thinking?
Motherhood is not a hobby, it is a calling. You do not collect children because you find them cuter than stamps. It is not something to do if you can squeeze the time in. It is what God gave you time for.
Christian mothers carry their children in hostile territory. When you are in public with them, you are standing with, and defending, the objects of cultural dislike. You are publicly testifying that you value what God values, and that you refuse to value what the world values. You stand with the defenseless and in front of the needy. You represent everything that our culture hates, because you represent laying down your life for another—and laying down your life for another represents the gospel.
Our culture is simply afraid of death. Laying down your own life, in any way, is terrifying. Strangely, it is that fear that drives the abortion industry: fear that your dreams will die, that your future will die, that your freedom will die—and trying to escape that death by running into the arms of death.
But a Christian should have a different paradigm. We should run to to the cross. To death. So lay down your hopes. Lay down your future. Lay down your petty annoyances. Lay down your desire to be recognized. Lay down your fussiness at your children. Lay down your perfectly clean house. Lay down your grievances about the life you are living. Lay down the imaginary life you could have had by yourself. Let it go.
Death to yourself is not the end of the story. We, of all people, ought to know what follows death. The Christian life is resurrection life, life that cannot be contained by death, the kind of life that is only possible when you have been to the cross and back.
The Bible is clear about the value of children. Jesus loved them, and we are commanded to love them, to bring them up in the nurture of the Lord. We are to imitate God and take pleasure in our children.
The question here is not whether you are representing the gospel, it is how you are representing it. Have you given your life to your children resentfully? Do you tally every thing you do for them like a loan shark tallies debts? Or do you give them life the way God gave it to us—freely?
It isn’t enough to pretend. You might fool a few people. That person in line at the store might believe you when you plaster on a fake smile, but your children won’t. They know exactly where they stand with you. They know the things that you rate above them. They know everything you resent and hold against them. They know that you faked a cheerful answer to that lady, only to whisper threats or bark at them in the car.
Children know the difference between a mother who is saving face to a stranger and a mother who defends their life and their worth with her smile, her love, and her absolute loyalty.
When my little girl told me, “Your hands are full!” I was so thankful that she already knew what my answer would be. It was the same one that I always gave: “Yes they are—full of good things!”
Live the gospel in the things that no one sees. Sacrifice for your children in places that only they will know about. Put their value ahead of yours. Grow them up in the clean air of gospel living. Your testimony to the gospel in the little details of your life is more valuable to them than you can imagine. If you tell them the gospel, but live to yourself, they will never believe it. Give your life for theirs every day, joyfully. Lay down pettiness. Lay down fussiness. Lay down resentment about the dishes, about the laundry, about how no one knows how hard you work.
Stop clinging to yourself and cling to the cross. There is more joy and more life and more laughter on the other side of death than you can possibly carry alone.
________________________________________________________________________
Rachel Jankovic is a wife, homemaker, and mother. She is the author of Loving the Little Years. Her husband is Luke, and they have five children: Evangeline (5), Daphne (4), Chloe (2), Titus (2), and Blaire (5 months).
Nathan Williams has compiled a good list of wise warnings we need to hear today.
One of the overriding themes of Proverbs is the admonition to control yourself! The wise man controls his attitude, his tongue, and his actions. The fool is lazy, mean-spirited, quick-to-react, hateful, and vengeful. Whatever a man does reflects what is in his heart. What is in your heart? You can tell by your attitude, words, and actions.
Control Your Body
___ The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside!
_______ I shall be killed in the streets!” (Pro 22:13)
____________ I passed by the field of a sluggard,
__________________ by the vineyard of a man lacking sense,
____________ and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns;
__________________ the ground was covered with nettles,
__________________ and its stone wall was broken down.
____________ Then I saw and considered it;
__________________ I looked and received instruction.
____________ A little sleep, a little slumber,
__________________ a little folding of the hands to rest,
____________ and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
__________________ and want like an armed man. (Pro 24:30-34)
Control Your Tongue
____________ What your eyes have seen
__________________ do not hastily bring into court,
____________ for what will you do in the end,
__________________ when your neighbor puts you to shame?
____________ Argue your case with your neighbor himself,
__________________ and do not reveal another’s secret,
____________ lest he who hears you bring shame upon you,
__________________ and your ill repute have no end. (Pro 25:8-10)
____________ When words are many, transgression is not lacking,
__________________ but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.
____________ The tongue of the righteous is choice silver;
__________________ the heart of the wicked is of little worth.
____________ The lips of the righteous feed many,
__________________ but fools die for lack of sense. (Pro 10:19-21)
Control Your Temper
____________ A fool gives full vent to his spirit,
__________________ but a wise man quietly holds it back. (Pro 29:11)
____________ A man of wrath stirs up strife,
__________________ and one given to anger causes much transgression. (Pro 29:22)
Control Your Associations
____________ Make no friendship with a man given to anger,
__________________ nor go with a wrathful man,
____________ lest you learn his ways
__________________ and entangle yourself in a snare.
____________ Be not one of those who give pledges,
__________________ who put up security for debts. (Pro 22:24-26)
____________ Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy;
__________________ do not desire his delicacies,
____________ for he is like one who is inwardly calculating.
__________________ “Eat and drink!” he says to you,
__________________ but his heart is not with you.
____________ You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten,
__________________ and waste your pleasant words. (Pro 23:6-8)
____________ My son, if sinners entice you,
__________________ do not consent. (Pro 1:10)
____________ For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light,
__________________ and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,
____________ to preserve you from the evil woman,
__________________ from the smooth tongue of the adulteress. (Pro 6:23-24)
____________ Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
__________________ and call insight your intimate friend,
____________ to keep you from the forbidden woman,
__________________ from the adulteress with her smooth words. (Pro 7:4-5)
Some convicting questions for husbands and wives from Justin Davis:
I met with a couple the other day that had lost almost all hope for their marriage. They love each other. They just don’t like each other. They don’t like being around one another. Why? Because all they do is fight.
Been.
There.
There isn’t a more miserable way to live than on eggshells, constantly trying to avoid an argument. Trisha and I still have arguments. We still have conflict. One of the things we’ve learned to do is leverage conflict to draw us closer to one another rather than allowing conflict to put distance between us. Here are 4 questions I ask myself when we are in a pretty big argument:
1. Do I want intimacy or do I want to be right?
Motives are everything. Have you ever been in an argument where you know you’re wrong, but you’ve already argued your point so much that there’s no going back? Pride is the biggest obstacle to intimacy in our marriage. We need to ask this question honestly when we engage in conflict: Am I trying to grow closer to my spouse or am I trying to prove how right I am? That question will bring your motives to light.
2. Am I withholding truth about anything?
Have your feelings been hurt and you haven’t said anything? Did you have expectations that you never communicated, so they went unmet? Do you have a sin or a mistake that you’re hiding behind a defensive attitude? You will never fully resolve conflict if there is withheld truth in your marriage.
3. Does my spouse just need some space?
Trisha and I react in opposite ways when we fight. I like to be all cuddly and affectionate and love it out. She doesn’t want to be hugged, touched or breathed on. If we try to make our spouses react or respond to conflict like we do, we will constantly be frustrated and create more conflict. Sometimes some space in conflict helps everyone see things more clearly.
4. Have I prayed about this?
This question should be the first question I ask, but honestly, sometimes it doesn’t even make it on the list. I can’t imagine how many fights and arguments and harsh words I could have saved if I would have just prayed about what I was upset about or what we were not on the same page about. God’s desire for our marriage is oneness. When we seek him, he has a way of restoring that oneness, even through conflict. Are you willing to pray about what you are so upset about? God has the power to change your spouse. You don’t.
What’s the most inclusive word in the Bible? I’d suggest to you that few are more inclusive than WHOEVER. We frequently use that word in exclusive everyday ways:
“Whoever reaches the finish line first gets a blue ribbon.”In exclusive contexts, many are invited to participate, but only one will be rewarded. On the other hand, we also regularly use the same word in very inclusive ways:
In inclusive contexts, many are invited to participate and each person who meets the expectations of the speaker will be rewarded.
What’s the “hinge” word in each of those sentences? WHOEVER.
The same point could be illustrated from all over God’s written communication to mankind. He has clearly expressed his expectations for us, many times using the straightforward word WHOEVER. Few examples are more succinct and powerful than the New Testament letter of 1 John. Did you know that John uses the WHOEVER line of reasoning more than twenty times in the span of just five chapters? Check the majority of the examples out for yourself here.
We love to focus on the gracious promises of God. Let’s just make sure we pay careful attention to the WHOEVER that forms the logical foundation of those promises.
For more sermon outlines and recordings, be sure to visit the Sermons archive.
Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. (Phil 4:11-13)
Contentment is learned. Frederick Keonig wrote, “We tend to forget that happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting something we don’t have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.”
Why not take that challenge personally this week? You may just discover that it’s better to want what you have than to have what you want.
Some good thoughts from Andy Sochor:
We do not typically think of the term “hard-headed” as being a compliment when it is used to describe someone. Yet the Bible teaches that it is an essential characteristic of one who would proclaim the word of God. When God commissioned Ezekiel to “go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them” (Ezekiel 3:4), appointing him as “a watchman to the house of Israel” (Ezekiel 3:17), God gave the prophet a hard-headed demeanor so that he would be able to accomplish his task.
Then He said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them. For you are not being sent to a people of unintelligible speech or difficult language, but to the house of Israel, nor to many peoples of unintelligible speech or difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. But I have sent you to them who should listen to you; yet the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, since they are not willing to listen to Me. Surely the whole house of Israel is stubborn and obstinate.
“Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. Like emery harder than flint I have made your forehead. Do not be afraid of them or be dismayed before them, though they are a rebellious house.”
Moreover, He said to me, “Son of man, take into your heart all My words which I will speak to you and listen closely. Go to the exiles, to the sons of your people, and speak to them and tell them, whether they listen or not, ‘Thus says the Lord God’” (Ezekiel 3:4-11).
The simple yet sad reality is that even today many people do not want to listen to the word of God. This is what Ezekiel was warned about – the people would not be willing to listen. When this is the response to teaching, the teacher must do one of three things:
Paul’s instructions to Timothy clearly show us what option the faithful gospel preacher must choose.
Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.
But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry (2 Timothy 4:2-5).
Timothy’s responsibility as a gospel preacher was to “preach the word.” What if people were not interested, but instead wanted to find preachers who would tell them what they wanted to hear? Was Timothy to compromise the message? No! He was to continue to “preach the word… in season and out of season… with great patience” (2 Timothy 4:2). Was Timothy to give up and quit teaching? No! He was to “endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, [and] fulfill [his] ministry” (2 Timothy 4:5). His only right course of action was to continue preaching as he had always done, whether people listened or not.
This is where the hard-headed quality of Ezekiel becomes necessary. It can be discouraging when our efforts to preach the gospel are either ignored or rejected. But we must meet the stubborn rejection to the gospel with hard-headed perseverance.
If others reject our preaching of the word, remember that they are not rejecting us, but they are rejecting Christ (Luke 10:16). If people refuse to obey the gospel, remember that our first responsibility is to preach, not necessarily to baptize (1 Corinthians 1:17). If people reject the warnings from Scripture, at least by teaching, “you have delivered yourself” (Ezekiel 3:19).
God told Ezekiel to take “all My words” and speak them to the people, “whether they listen or not” (Ezekiel 3:10-11). In the same way, we must speak “the whole purpose of God” (Acts 20:27), without addition, omission, or distortion (Galatians 1:6-9), whether people listen or not.
We need fewer preachers who are compromisers, cowards, and quitters, and more who will make their foreheads “harder than flint” (Ezekiel 3:9) and continue to preach the word, regardless of how it is received.
A good response from Jeff Smith to that common question:
“What’s the name of your church?”
It’s a common enough question, but the answer is not necessarily so simple. First, if you have your own church, you are in direct competition with Jesus Christ, who also has his own church. We use that terminology very loosely to describe the church where we work or labor, but perhaps emphasizing Christ’s ownership would lead everyone to greater respect for his authority over the church.
Second, throughout the first century of the ministry of Jesus and the early existence of the church he built, it had no recognizable proper name. The apostles lived in a time during which no denominations existed, no pope had yet been imagined or ordained, and the need for identifying nomenclature was absent. The New Testament describes churches without any sectarian signification. There were no Baptist or Methodist Churches, no St. Paul’s or St. Bartholomew’s. Even when the congregations were described as “churches of Christ” or “churches of God,” there was no denominational intent, but only an acknowledgement of divine possession. The churches in Revelation were identified only by location. Their namelessness was a short-lived triumph over the divisive impulses of men.
