Dennis Ngien is research professor of theology at Tyndale Seminary, Toronto, and author of Luther as a Spiritual Adviser: The Interface of Theology and Piety in Luther's Devotional Writings (Paternoster, 2007).
"Not all Christians face death so courageously. In the past 20 years, I have conducted and preached at more than 150 memorial and funeral services. I have sat beside numerous deathbeds, with people terrified by the sight of the final conflict. For me, it is no wonder that Scripture calls death "the last enemy."
This brother, now advanced in years, is battling cancer and is face to face with his own death. Knowing how fierce this last battle can be, I sent him one of the most helpful meditation guides I've known: Martin Luther's "A Sermon on Preparing to Die." In this sermon, Luther provides pastoral counsel to his closest friend, Mark Schart, who was troubled by thoughts of death. His counsel contains a great deal of wisdom for today."
The Three Temptations
Luther believed that death becomes ominous because the devil uses it to undermine our faith. He haunts us with death in three ways.
First, the Devil taunts us with the remembrance that death is a sign of God's wrath toward sinners. "In that way, [the devil] fills our foolish human nature with the dread of death while cultivating a love and concern for life, so that burdened with such thoughts man forgets God, flees and abhors death, and thus, in the end, is and remains disobedient to God."
Luther's remedy for this first temptation is to contemplate death all the more, but to do so at the right time—which is not the time of death. Instead, he exhorts us to "invite death into our presence when it is still at a distance and not on the move"—that is, in our daily lives long before death threatens us. Conversely, Luther counsels Christians to banish thoughts of death at the final hour and to use that time to meditate on life.
Second, the Devil magnifies our accusing conscience by reminding us of those who were condemned to hell for lesser sins than ours. This, too, casts us into despair, so that we forget God's grace in the last hour. Again Luther admonishes us not to deny our sinfulness, but to contemplate it during our lifetimes, as is taught in Psalm 51:3: "My sin is ever before me." The devil closes our eyes to our sin during our lives, just when we should be thinking of it. He then opens our eyes to the horrible reality of sin and judgment in the final hour, when our eyes should be seeing only grace.
Third, the Devil plagues us with the prospect of hell, specifically by increasing the soul's burden with haunting questions concerning election. He prods the soul into undertaking the one thing forbidden—delving into the mystery of God's will. In this undertaking, the devil "practices his ultimate, greatest, and most cunning art and power," for he "sets man above God" so that we look in the wrong place for assurance of election. In this respect, delving into the mystery of election is never a good practice, but especially not when one faces the final enemy.
How do we banish these devilish images and see only grace? Luther exhorts us to contemplate the image that saves: Jesus Christ, who "overcame death with life." In addition, he encourages us to contemplate the deaths of those who died in God's grace, such as the saints before us. The more one fixes one's gaze on such pictures, the more death appears "contemptible and dead, slain and overcome in life. For Christ is nothing other than sheer life, as his saints are likewise."
Luther says to look to Christ is to see grace, because "the picture of grace is nothing else but that of Christ on the cross."
Here sins are never sins, for here they are overcome and swallowed up in Christ. He takes your death upon himself and strangles it so that it may not harm you, if you believe that he does it for you and see your death in him and not in yourself. Likewise, he also takes your sins upon himself and overcomes them with his righteousness out of sheer mercy, and if you believe that, your sins will never work you harm.
Luther also says that when facing death's agonies, we should find support in the fellowship and faith of the church.
The experience of dying, though intensely personal, cannot be handled privately without our being crushed. As each person contends with death, we should not desert him or leave him to die alone. In the deafening loneliness of death, we "shout in the ears" of the dying to assure them of our companionship. In fact, God, Christ, angels, saints, and the entire congregation "shout" with us. The eyes of the entire communion of saints are upon the dying to empower him to go through the unavoidable. The annihilating voice of death, then, can drive us into the arms of Christ. The voice of the law that incites sin, death, and divine wrath is replaced by the voice of the gospel. That voice is like a lamp shining in darkness until the day dawns and the morning star rises in our hearts (see 2 Peter 1:19–20)—and it makes dying much easier.
Born Again
Death, for Luther, is "the beginning of the narrow gate and of the straight path to life" (Matt. 7:14). Although the gate is narrow, the journey is not long. Luther elaborates:
Just as an infant is born with peril and pain from the small abode of its mother's womb into this immense heaven and earth, … so man departs this life through the narrow gate of death. … Therefore, the death of the dear saints is called a new birth, and their feast day is known in Latin as natale, that is, the day of their birth.
RC Sproul comments...
"This road through the dark valley may be traveled safely when we are assured of its end. We do not have to deny the pain of grief and death. On the contrary, it is the harsh reality of death that makes the heavenly mansion so glorious: "So it is that in dying we must bear this anguish and know that a large mansion and joy will follow."
While we should be aware daily of the inevitable reality of death, we can live as those who have been freed from the curse and sting of death. Luther wisely reminds us to ponder "the heavenly picture of Christ," for in Christ, we have passed from death to life. Death is no death to the believers whose lives are hidden with Christ in God."
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Solomon The Wisdom Prophet
Did Solomon Practice His Wisdom?
Like Solomon, as great of a king and prophet that he was, he committed evil acts against God demonstrating that no one is righteous, not even he (Psalm 51:5; Romans 3:10). Thus through God’s wisdom Solomon understood that we no longer live in the Garden of Eden, but in a fallen world.
Solomon wisely said, "If they sin against you--for there is no one who does not sin—…” (1Kings 8:46).
Consider that the wisdom attributed to Solomon was not his own. It was God’s working in and through him as a blessing to David, the Israelites, and His chosen city Jerusalem. God chose Solomon for His divine purpose and because of his great love for David He tempered His judgment upon him (Solomon), (1 Kings 11: 9-12).
Despite his weaknesses Solomon is portrayed overall as having passion for God, yet he is not presented as one who must be envied. We too, must look to God alone in awe and reverent fear so that we who are sinners who sin, will be led into understanding of who and what He is and His purpose and plan for our lives (Psalm 111:10).
Lastly, what Solomon failed to do to be a perfect man of wisdom, Christ fulfilled perfectly. Our focus then should be on Christ who is the wisest of all.
In Christ
Like Solomon, as great of a king and prophet that he was, he committed evil acts against God demonstrating that no one is righteous, not even he (Psalm 51:5; Romans 3:10). Thus through God’s wisdom Solomon understood that we no longer live in the Garden of Eden, but in a fallen world.
Solomon wisely said, "If they sin against you--for there is no one who does not sin—…” (1Kings 8:46).
Consider that the wisdom attributed to Solomon was not his own. It was God’s working in and through him as a blessing to David, the Israelites, and His chosen city Jerusalem. God chose Solomon for His divine purpose and because of his great love for David He tempered His judgment upon him (Solomon), (1 Kings 11: 9-12).
Despite his weaknesses Solomon is portrayed overall as having passion for God, yet he is not presented as one who must be envied. We too, must look to God alone in awe and reverent fear so that we who are sinners who sin, will be led into understanding of who and what He is and His purpose and plan for our lives (Psalm 111:10).
Lastly, what Solomon failed to do to be a perfect man of wisdom, Christ fulfilled perfectly. Our focus then should be on Christ who is the wisest of all.
In Christ
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Friday, October 23, 2009
CAN WE BE JUST LIKE JESUS?
Are we really expected to be just like Jesus? To do all the works He did?
No one should ever think that a Christian can be all that Christ is, but yet He is are one and only "perfect" role model to faithfully and obediently follow.
“But we must not think of ourselves more highly than we ought, but rather think of ourselves with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given us” (Romans 12:3-3).
Christians have different levels of maturity and spiritual gifts thus they do not all have the same function. Scripture is clear in explaining and instructing us what “being like Christ” means and what is involved in salvation and being His follower.
The twelve disciples asked Jesus a similar question,
“Then they said to him, "What must we do, to be doing the works of God?"
Jesus answered them, This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent" (John 6:28,29).
His Word also tells us, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8,9).
Jesus’ role modeling for us is all about grace and faithfulness and not about earning salvation through good works.
All Jesus ever asked anyone to do is to love. To love God and to love others. These are the two greatest of all commandments (Matthew 22:37,39). Jesus the God Man modeled perfect love and it is His people’s desire to follow His example and learn to do the same. The good news is that we learn to love not by our own efforts or achievements, but by and through the redemptive work of God. We can do nothing on our own, it is only through His loving power working in and through us that we can.
What does it mean to be like Jesus?
Humans were created in God’s image. Image meaning our souls mind, emotion, and will. He created us in likeness to His invisible spirit nature for the purpose of communicating with us. But when Adam sinned, the human spirit became spiritually dead toward the Lord and cut off from Him because of disobedience. Adam’s undoing was that Satan tempted him in thinking that he could become equal to God.
No longer were humans capable of being God’s people for their image (moral character), was stained with sin. In order for God’s people to be saved a Savior was predestined and ultimately sent to earth to rescue them from Satan and their sinful image and lifestyle. Thus the old Adam was an imperfect ungodly role model and thus Christ was sent to be the new Adam, a perfect sinless role model in moral character for us to witness and follow. God demonstrated His love for us that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). And once a person receives and accepts Christ as their personal Savior they are born again and begin the transformation process to become like Him in “moral character”.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Because of what Christ promised to do in the OT and fulfilled at the Cross, He tells us that God’s people would be made holy, pure and perfect just like Him. This isn’t referring to Jesus' omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent power. We should never think that we are going to become God just like Him. It is only in perfect moral character that we one Day will be.
“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers” (Romans 8:29).
Christians are sinners who sin and there is no way we are or will ever be morally perfect during this lifetime, but we do have the perfect example (role model), to follow in Jesus Christ who is leading us out of this evil earthly wilderness by His Word so that we will be fully transformed and made perfect in moral character when our spirit leaves our body to be with Him in our heavenly eternal afterlife.
“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18).
Once saved a person is a new spiritual person in Christ-that is, the Holy Spirit dwells and protects our spirit so that He can complete a good work of sanctification in and through us. Meaning that gradually over a lifetime we will continue to lose the desire to sin in character likeness to Christ. More and more as we mature in our faith we resemble and are representative of Jesus in what we say and do in likeness to Him. Again, we are not perfect, yet people see a glimpse of Jesus’ character working in and through us. A character we are incapable of developing on or own. People then know that we are of Christ by the “good fruit” we produce, the very godliness of our faith and the love which we demonstrate and share with others.God is Love and our new image is being made by Christ alone through our faith alone so that we too, can and will willingly love Him and others.
Christians are given special callings and the gift of skill and power to accomplish God’s will such as prophecy, preaching, teaching, serving, encouraging, contributing, leadership,showing mercy (Romans 12:6-8). But God doesn't expect us to possess all of His gifts that only Christ can claim being the Great "I Am" that He is (John 8:58:14:6).
Just My Thoughts. What say you?
God Bless
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
Does (2 Chronicles 7:14)indicate or promise that if we pray God will heal the problems we as a nation face in the USA?
"If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."
"If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."
Charles Spurgeon "Be Bold"
The following excerpt is from "Christ’s People—Imitators of Him," a sermon delivered Sunday morning, 29 April 1855, at Exeter Hall, in the Strand.
A Christian should be like Christ in his boldness. This is a virtue nowadays called impudence, but the grace is equally valuable by whatever name it may be called. I suppose if the Scribes had given a definition of Peter and John, they would have called them impudent fellows.
Jesus Christ and his disciples were noted for their courage. "When they saw the boldness of Peter and John, they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus." Jesus Christ never fawned upon the rich; he stooped not to the great and noble, he stood erect, a man before men,—the prophet of the people, speaking out boldly and freely what he thought.
Have you never admired that mighty deed of his, when going to the city where he had lived and been brought up; knowing that a prophet had no honor in his own country, the book was put into his hands; he had but then commenced his ministry; yet without tremor he unrolled the sacred volume and what did he take for his text?
Most men, coming to their own neighborhood would have chosen a subject adapted to the taste, in order to earn fame. But what doctrine did Jesus preach that morning? One which in our age is scorned and hated—the doctrine of election. He opened the Scriptures, and began to read thus: "Many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land, but unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none off them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian."
Then he began to tell, how God saveth whom he pleases, and rescues whom he chooses. Ah! how they gnashed their teeth upon him, dragged him out, and would have cast him from the brow of the hill.
Do you not admire his intrepidity? He saw their teeth gnashing; he knew their hearts were hot with enmity, while their mouths foamed with revenge and malice: still he stood like the angel who shut the lion's mouths; he feared them not; faithfully he proclaimed what he knew to be the truth of God, and still read on despite them all.
So in his discourses. If he saw a Scribe or a Pharisee in the congregation, he did not keep back part of the price, but pointing his finger, he said, "Woe Unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites;" and when a lawyer came, saying, "Master, in speaking thus, thou condemnest us also;" he turned round and said, "Woe unto you, lawyers, for ye bind heavy burdens upon men, while ye yourselves will not touch them with so much as one of your fingers."
He dealt out honest truth, he never knew the fear of man; he trembled at none; he stood as God's chosen, whom he had anointed above his fellows, careless of man's esteem. My friends, be like Christ in this. Have none of the time-serving religion of the present day, which is merely exhibited in evangelical drawing rooms—a religion which only flourishes in a hot-bed atmosphere, a religion which is only to be perceived in good company.
No, if ye are the servants of God, be like Jesus Christ, bold for your Master; never blush to own your religion; your profession will never disgrace you; take care you never disgrace that. Your love to Christ will never dishonor you, it may bring some temporary slight from your friends, or slanders from your enemies: but live on, and you shall; live down their calumnies; live on and ye shall stand amongst the glorified, honored even by those who hissed you when he shall come to be glorified by his angels, and admired by them that love him.
Be like Jesus, very valiant for your God; so that when they shall see your boldness, they may say, "He has been with Jesus."
A Christian should be like Christ in his boldness. This is a virtue nowadays called impudence, but the grace is equally valuable by whatever name it may be called. I suppose if the Scribes had given a definition of Peter and John, they would have called them impudent fellows.
Jesus Christ and his disciples were noted for their courage. "When they saw the boldness of Peter and John, they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus." Jesus Christ never fawned upon the rich; he stooped not to the great and noble, he stood erect, a man before men,—the prophet of the people, speaking out boldly and freely what he thought.
Have you never admired that mighty deed of his, when going to the city where he had lived and been brought up; knowing that a prophet had no honor in his own country, the book was put into his hands; he had but then commenced his ministry; yet without tremor he unrolled the sacred volume and what did he take for his text?
Most men, coming to their own neighborhood would have chosen a subject adapted to the taste, in order to earn fame. But what doctrine did Jesus preach that morning? One which in our age is scorned and hated—the doctrine of election. He opened the Scriptures, and began to read thus: "Many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land, but unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none off them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian."
Then he began to tell, how God saveth whom he pleases, and rescues whom he chooses. Ah! how they gnashed their teeth upon him, dragged him out, and would have cast him from the brow of the hill.
Do you not admire his intrepidity? He saw their teeth gnashing; he knew their hearts were hot with enmity, while their mouths foamed with revenge and malice: still he stood like the angel who shut the lion's mouths; he feared them not; faithfully he proclaimed what he knew to be the truth of God, and still read on despite them all.
So in his discourses. If he saw a Scribe or a Pharisee in the congregation, he did not keep back part of the price, but pointing his finger, he said, "Woe Unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites;" and when a lawyer came, saying, "Master, in speaking thus, thou condemnest us also;" he turned round and said, "Woe unto you, lawyers, for ye bind heavy burdens upon men, while ye yourselves will not touch them with so much as one of your fingers."
He dealt out honest truth, he never knew the fear of man; he trembled at none; he stood as God's chosen, whom he had anointed above his fellows, careless of man's esteem. My friends, be like Christ in this. Have none of the time-serving religion of the present day, which is merely exhibited in evangelical drawing rooms—a religion which only flourishes in a hot-bed atmosphere, a religion which is only to be perceived in good company.
No, if ye are the servants of God, be like Jesus Christ, bold for your Master; never blush to own your religion; your profession will never disgrace you; take care you never disgrace that. Your love to Christ will never dishonor you, it may bring some temporary slight from your friends, or slanders from your enemies: but live on, and you shall; live down their calumnies; live on and ye shall stand amongst the glorified, honored even by those who hissed you when he shall come to be glorified by his angels, and admired by them that love him.
Be like Jesus, very valiant for your God; so that when they shall see your boldness, they may say, "He has been with Jesus."
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
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