Category: Saturday Study

Saturday Study

Proverbs 16 (9-16-17)

Buckle up, as this Proverb gives us some important biblical truths we must understand rightly according to Scripture.

One of the major things Solomon brings forth in Proverbs 16 is the sovereignty of God. The result of our sin causes us to reject or push back on the idea that God is sovereign, meaning that He ultimately rules over everything in creation (nothing happens without His sovereign will (or ordination). Mankind, in our sin, likes the idea of being in control, and so we push back on the idea that ultimately God is the one in control. As we look to Scripture, and as the Holy Spirit works in us to bring about sanctification, my prayer is that we begin to value this reality: God is in control because God is God. And because God is good; whatever He decrees is ultimately good and for His glory and our good. Proverbs 16 gives us three foundation pillars to understand the width of God’s sovereignty over all things.

1. Even the wicked are created for God’s holy purpose

Proverbs 16:4 The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble.

The important clarity is that God does, indeed, rule over all things including evil and Satan, and He uses them to fulfill His eternal purposes. He does this in such a way that He is not to be blamed for evil, nor does His righteous ruling over these things in any way change that He is holy and perfect in every way. It also does not mean that sinful man or demon is not guilty of the evil our sin causes us to do.

Scripture is full of examples that prove that God is sovereign over evil. Let me remind you of a few:

1. Pharaoh:

We know that because of the hardened heart of Pharaoh, he did many evil things, including not submitting to God’s command to let His people go. But the Scriptures tell us that this was ultimately God’s plan.

The reason God hardened Pharaoh’s heart is revealed to us in Exodus 9:16: “But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.”

We must see that God ordained Pharaoh to set the table so that God could show His power through some of the most historic moments in human history. Mankind testified of these events for generations and still today.

We must see that Scripture affirms that God is the one who hardened the heart of Pharaoh:

God says, “I will harden his heart” (Exodus 4:21); “I will harden Pharaoh’s heart” (Exodus 7:3); “the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh” (Exodus 9:12); “the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart” (Exodus 10:20, repeated in 10:27 and again in 11:10); “I will harden Pharaoh’s heart” (Exodus 14:4); and “the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt” (Exodus 14:8).

It is sometimes objected that Scripture also says that Pharaoh hardened his own heart (Exodus 8:15, 32; 9:34), and that God’s act of hardening Pharaoh’s heart was only in response to the initial rebellion and hardness of heart that Pharaoh himself exhibited of his own so-called “free will.” But it should be noted that God’s promises that he would harden Pharaoh’s heart (Exodus 4:21; 7:3) comes long before Scripture tells us that Pharaoh hardened his own heart (we read of this for the first time in Exodus 8:15).

1. Joseph’s brothers:

A very clear example is found in the story of Joseph. Scripture clearly says that Joseph’s brothers were wrongly jealous of him (Genesis 37:11), hated him (Genesis 37:4, 5, 8), wanted to kill him (Genesis 37:20), and did wrong when they cast him into a pit (Genesis 37:24) and then sold him into slavery in Egypt (Genesis 37:28).

While it looks like God is not in play here, later Joseph says to his brothers, “God sent me before you to preserve life” (Genesis 45:5), and speaking of the sinful things that the brothers did to Joseph, he says, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (Genesis 50:20).

Here we have a combination of evil deeds brought about by sinful men who are rightly held accountable for their sin and the overriding providential control of God, whereby God’s own purposes were accomplished. Both are clearly affirmed.

1. Satan against Job:

In the famous story of Job, though the Lord gave Satan permission to bring harm to Job’s possessions and children, and though this harm came through the evil actions of the Sabeans, the Chaldeans, as well as a windstorm (Job 1:12, 15, 17, 19), Job looks beyond those secondary causes and, with the eyes of faith, sees it all as from the hand of the Lord.

“The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21).

The Old Testament author follows Job’s statement immediately with the sentence, “In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong” (Job 1:22). Job has just been told that evil marauding bands had destroyed his flocks and herds, yet with great faith and patience in adversity, he says, “The Lord has taken away.” He says that the Lord had done this, yet he does not blame God for the evil or say that God had done wrong. Instead he says, “blessed be the name of the Lord.”

To blame God for evil that He had brought about through secondary agents would have been to sin. Job does not do this, Scripture never does this, and neither should we.

1. Most importantly, the evilest deed of all history, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, was ordained by God–not just the fact that it would occur, but also all the individual actions connected with it.

Acts 4:27-28 testifies, “for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.”

All the actions of all the participants in the crucifixion of Jesus had been “predestined” by God. Yet the apostles clearly attach no moral blame to God, for the actions resulted from the willing choices of sinful men.

Peter makes this clear in his sermon at Pentecost, “this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men” (Acts 2:23).

In one sentence, Peter links God’s plan and foreknowledge with the moral blame that attaches to the actions of “lawless men.” They were not forced by God to act against their wills; rather, God brought about His plan through their sin–their willing choices, for which they were responsible.

To be clear, Scripture nowhere shows God as directly doing anything evil but rather as bringing about evil deeds through the willing actions of moral creatures. Scripture never blames God for evil. Neither should we!

So, when your newborn dies, or planes fly into The World Trade Center, or Isis beheads Christians, or cancer overcomes your loved one, you don’t say, “God you did this. This is your fault.”

You don’t blame God for evil. He is not guilty of any sin. These things are the result of sin, of man’s selfish heart, of the curse on mankind.

What you can and should say is that God is at work in these things.

You say, “God is on the throne and not thwarted or surprised.”

You say, “God has us in His grip.”

You say, “God is sovereign and at work in all these things.”

Why do you say these things? Because they are true!

Because they are beautiful and needed reminders that when great evil is at work, death is at work, injustice is at work, that God is at work in a greater way.

When evil comes into our lives to trouble us, we can have from the doctrine of providence a deeper assurance that “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

So, I pray this helps you understand what Solomon means when he says, “The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble “(Proverbs 16:4).

To help us navigate and understand this, let me share the difference between the will of God’s command and the will of God’s decree.

Things God commands us to do and not do are the will of His command.

Things God decrees to be done and not done are the will of His decree.

Many times, the things God commands us to do or not do are in direct opposition to the things that God decrees to be done or not done in His sovereignty. Remember, He is God, and we are not.

If you think about it, this is not a foreign concept for any of us who grew up with parents or who have been parents. There are many things that are right and appropriate for Mom and Dad to do that are not right and appropriate for the kids to do.

For the same reason, we fought this when we were kids and we fight it now when it comes to God’s sovereignty, but let me try to explain it like this:

God’s “will of decree” ordained that His Son be betrayed, ridiculed, mocked, beaten, forsaken, pierced, and killed.

But the Bible teaches that God’s “will of command” is that we should not betray, ridicule, mock, beat, forsake, pierce, or kill innocent people.

We do not look at the death of Jesus, clearly willed by God, and conclude that killing people is a good thing that we all can and should do.

So, we are obedient to God’s commands and aware that those commands for us are different, many times, than what He, in the end, will decree to happen.

This does not make God inconsistent. It just highlights how we are not God and He is.

And despite how He will decree it to be in the end, we are to remain faithful and obedient to His commands!

Let me show you why this is GOOD NEWS for us today!

God commands us not to sin, or we will be rightly separated from Him in death.

Thank God that He didn’t leave it at that, but He decreed to intercede through Christ’s blood and makes atonement for us by imputing the righteousness of Christ upon us and putting our sin and deserved wrath upon Jesus.

What we have seen today and will see all throughout the Bible is that God often decrees that evil things come about to fulfill His purposes and bring Him glory. But, in no way, does this relieve us from being obedient to His commands.

We should hate injustice and violence and sin, even though God will use these things as He governs this world to see through His perfect and holy will.

Now, should this understanding cause us to pray less, or serve less, or preach less because God ultimately will do what He will do? NO. By no means.

We should keep on praying, love and serve the marginalized, keep making disciples, and keep testifying of the gospel and fighting sin.

WHY? Because God has saved us, it brings Him glory, and He has command us to do so!

We should be active and obedient to the commands of God, all while watching God perfectly work His will into fruition.

2. Free will and the sovereign control of God

Proverbs 16:9 The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.

Much of modern Christianity has adopted an unbiblical view of what is often called “free will”. We must be so careful to think biblically about these things and be willing to allow Scripture to shape our thinking, so we understand what God has said about these things.

John 8:32 “and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Galatians 5:1 (NIV) says, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.”

The Scriptures are constantly talking about the freedom Christ gives us. This is because without Christ, we are not free. We are enslaved to sin. In the book of John, we see Jesus himself bring this clarity to the Jews to whom He is talking:

John 8:34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.”

Our Lord is saying to them, “The gospel truth will give you spiritual freedom, which is freedom from slavery to sin, from sin’s total power, sin’s total control of your life. Gospel truth will give you freedom from spiritual blindness, spiritual oppression, Satanic dominion, the fear of death, the fear of judgment, the prospect of eternal hell– it is freedom in the purest and truest sense.”

But we must not miss what Jesus is highlighting here about true slavery to sin. All of us are born slaves to sin and desperate for the freedom only Christ is. Because of the fall, every part of natural man has been corrupted by sin: his mind, will, emotions and flesh. Sin affects the whole person; we sin because we are sinners by nature. All men are conceived in sin, dead in sin, slaves to sin, and deserving of God’s wrath. This is the doctrine of total depravity.

Total depravity recognizes that the Bible teaches even the apparent “good” things unregenerate man does are ruined by sin, because they are not done out of faith in Jesus for the glory of God.

The Bible says in Titus 1:15 (NIV), “nothing is pure to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, because their minds and consciences are corrupted.”

Romans 3:9-12 For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

Many people, myself included, were taught growing up that man has the ability, is free enough, to choose God and believe in His gospel. But as we have just seen, the Bible speaks often and clearly that man’s will is not free, as many commonly think of “free will.” Instead, man is opposite of “free” in our nature and will. We are “enslaved” to sin. We are totally depraved.

We are bound in sin.

The question often comes up, “If I inherited my sinful nature and I don’t have a will or motive or ability to do anything that pleases or worships God, do we still make real choices?”

The answer is absolutely. Unsaved people choose every day and all day to do the things they do.

This is what Proverbs is telling us. A person’s desires and choices are from within them.

Proverbs 16:1 The plans of the heart belong to man

Proverbs 16:9 The heart of man plans his way

Proverbs 19:21 Many are the plans in the mind of a man

And we see this in James as well:

James 1:14 each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.

What we must see is that we make choices out of the sin nature that we are enslaved in.

Paul says it clearly again in Romans 6, saying the unregenerate are “slaves of sin” (Romans 6:17, 20).

Therefore, the pagan concept of “free will” must be rejected for God’s clear teaching in Scripture.

As slaves to sin, mankind‘s natural will is not free, and it is unable to seek, love, or trust God. It is bound to only do sin. Romans 8:7 says, “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.”

It cannot because it is bound in sin. It is not free to choose because it is enslaved to sin.

But the good news for those who are saved in Christ is we are freed from our bondage to sin and empowered to honor God in righteousness in the Holy Spirit.

Romans 6:17-18 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

Before we are given saving faith, we are enslaved to sin, and we will choose to sin because it is all we know; it is all our nature is inclined to.

After we are given saving faith, we are enslaved to Christ, and we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to grow in obedience to God and fight sin. The key is, we who are in Christ are no longer enslaved to sin!

What this means is that God works in the saved to produce real fruit so we may honor Him with our lives.

When we choose obedience, it is a real choice from us that God works in us, just as Philippians 2:13 says, “it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.”

It is truly good news that “if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36).

At the end of the day, we are either slaves to sin or slaves to righteousness. (See Romans 6)

We are bound to sin and death or bound to Christ and life. The freedom we experience is freedom from sin and death. It is freedom to enjoy God and serve Him the rest of our days. This is truly good news. We are never free in the way modern man wants to declare that we stand apart from anything affecting our will and get to choose. This is a view that makes mankind too high and God too low. It is a view that doesn’t understand the fullness of the fact that we are always bound either to sin or to Christ.

So, back to our verse, in sin or in Christ, “The heart of man plans his way” (Proverbs 16:9). This is true; man has desires, plans, and a real will.

But what is also true is the sovereignty of God. As the verse says next: “but the Lord establishes his steps” (Proverbs 16:9).

One more verse we find here in Proverbs 16 about the sovereign control of God over all things, even the little things.

3. Every little thing is under God’s control

Proverbs 16:33 The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.

This tears apart our modern idea of “luck.” When society says, “You were lucky,” this is their unbiblical way of removing God from His sovereign control of all things. It is the culture’s way to say, “God doesn’t exist,” so they believe in things like fortune telling and lucky trinkets. Luck depends on chance, on randomness. To think it fell your way and therefore you were “lucky” is to give credit to randomness. This method of thinking falls in line with sinful mankind’s idea of Mother Nature, the Big Bang theory, and other random assurances of life and existence. But the Bible informs us of a different reality, whereby all things are in the hand of the sovereign God. Nothing happens outside of His sovereign will and without His sovereign permission. Nothing is random or the result of superstitious luck; everything is under God’s control–even the roll of the dice.

In this last verse of Proverbs 16, we are given a huge truth that needs to shape our thinking and shape our hearts to acknowledge a God that is in total control. He is never out of control. He is never thwarted by the actions of His creation. He never has to duck or react to something which surprised Him. He is all knowing. He is reigning all the time over all things.

Colossians 1:17 says that God “is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

Every moment of every aspect of all of creation is being held together and continued only by the sovereign will of God.

He is at work in all things. He is God and worthy of our praise. We trust in Him because He is good, even when we don’t understand why these things are happening, why evil prevails or great loss comes our way. God is at work in all these things, for His perfect plan and eternal glory, for our good, and for those who will come to saving faith’s eternal joy.

Let us rightly understand how big God is and how small we are. Let us think of Him not in the ways that make sense to us, but in the ways that He reveals to us through His word. May God’s word inform us and instruct us, and may we wholly give ourselves to it. Praise God for His saving grace that sets us free to know Him and enjoy Him forever.

I will leave you with a great quote from William Perkins: “We must not think that God does a thing because it’s good and right, but rather the thing is good and right because God does it.”

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Disciples Church

Saturday Study

Proverbs 15 (9-9-17)

Grab your Bibles, and let’s dive into Proverbs chapter 15. As we begin this chapter, I can’t help but think of the old saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but…” Now you know you just finished the saying in your head, and hopefully it won’t be stuck there all day. What parents tried to use to help children overcome the sting of gossip really flies in stark contrast to the word of God. Words can cut deeper and bring more pain and suffering than sticks or stones. But why is this the case? Well, most often words are used behind your back, so to speak. You can usually see the person flinging rocks in your direction, but it’s much harder to hear that someone you trusted shared something they shouldn’t have or shared something false to others. Now before we get too far off track, this chapter of Proverbs dives into much more than simply gossip or the effect of words, but let’s start by looking at the passages that warn us about our tongue:

Proverbs 15

15:1 A soft answer turns away wrath,
but a harsh word stirs up anger.
2 The tongue of the wise commends knowledge,
but the mouths of fools pour out folly.

4 A gentle tongue is a tree of life,
but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.
7 The lips of the wise spread knowledge;
not so the hearts of fools.
26 The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord,
but gracious words are pure.
28 The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer,
but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things.

One of my favorite things to do when I study the word is to draw out the compare and contrast style of writing. Let’s take these verses and separate the good tongue and its effects from the bad tongue and its effects.

According to these verses the good or righteous tongue:

Turns away wrath, commends knowledge, is a tree of life, spreads knowledge, delivers gracious words that are seen as pure by God, and the heart behind the righteous tongue is where this righteousness springs up from. It is slow to speak, pondering how to answer, that it might bring life and not death to the hearer.

In contrast, the evil tongue:

Stirs up anger, pours out folly, is perverse and crushes the spirit, does not spread wisdom, is an abomination to the Lord, and pours out evil things.

So don’t move forward thinking of all the people who are filling up the “evil tongue” category in your mind; rather, consider how you use your tongue. Which of these categories would the Lord say your tongue is in? Let’s not be so quick to place people in categories, and thereby relieve the conviction we should feel that may bring us to repentance for the way we use our words. Remember that out of the overflow of our hearts, our mouths speak. We see this clarity in Matthew 12.

Matthew 12:33-37 A Tree Is Known by Its Fruit

33“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. 34You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. 36I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, 37for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

The entire point that Jesus is making here is that the fruit of your heart will be revealed through the way you speak. In verse 34, we see the clarity that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. If this clarity wasn’t obvious enough, verses 36-37 really bring the hammer down. You will give an account for EVERY CARELESS WORD you speak. In fact, by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.

Every time I read this passage, I feel like I’ve been hit in the gut. I’m sure I am not the only one. A couple of points of clarity here are important. You will be justified by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. So why does Jesus Himself say you will be justified by your words? Jesus is saying that your words will be the evidence that proves your salvation to have been true. Let me explain: If God saves you, He gives you a new heart. This happens at regeneration (being born again). We read in Romans 8:6-8 about our ability to submit to God before this regeneration: “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”  So we see that when a man is born again, his old heart that was in complete rebellion and unable to submit to God is removed, and a new heart is put within him. Praise God for this work, Christian, for apart from it we would be hopeless! Now this new heart has new affections and desires, and though we may progress slowly in our sanctification, there will be true and lasting fruit that gives evidence to what kind of heart (dead in sin or alive in Christ) each of us has. This evidence is what Jesus speaks of when He says we will be justified or condemned according to our words. Notice how he begins the passage with this phrase: “a tree is known by its fruit.” If you planted what you thought to be an avocado tree in your back yard, but when the tree matured it produced oranges from the branches, what kind of tree did you plant? Would you argue that you have grown a new type of avocado?

Of course not! That would be silly, as an avocado tree cannot grow oranges. No one would grab the orange and say, “Wow, this is the sweetest avocado I’ve ever eaten!” Rather, you would realize that though you thought you were planting something else, the tree that grew was indeed an orange tree. Why? Because a tree is known by the fruit it produces. Christian, the fruit you produce, as sure as an orange tree produces oranges, will prove that you belong to Christ. Your fruit, Christian, will produce the evidence that God has given you a new heart. Jesus says one of the key areas of life that will provide evidence is the way you speak.

Let’s move on. Verse 3 speaks to the omnipresence of God. This is a theological term to say that God is everywhere. There is not a place in existence where God is not.

3 The eyes of the Lord are in every place,
keeping watch on the evil and the good.

This takes on an even deeper meaning in verse 11, where we see the mind and heart of man is not hidden from God, for there is no place of thought in which the Lord is not present.

11 Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the Lord;
how much more the hearts of the children of man!

This often reminds me of the sign, “Big brother is watching you,” that you see outside of convenient stores. The thought here is if we warn people there are cameras and they will be seen, perhaps we will discourage thievery. I wonder if the writer of this Proverb was doing the same thing. This can be taken as a warning that there are no dark corners or secret places where we can escape the sight of God to indulge in sin. Let this warning remind you that you are not alone, and let it help you to fight off sin.

Now this also brings comfort. The same way it tells me the store takes security seriously and there will be less chance of something happening while I’m here, the Proverb tells me God takes His glory seriously and will always be there for me to turn to instead of the sin I might be chasing. To those who think God cannot see what’s going on in their suffering or sinful struggle, they should take heart; God is always there. Even if God feels absent to you, remind yourself of the truth that God cannot be absent, and let that bring you comfort.

There is so much comparing and contrasting going on throughout the rest of this chapter, so I’d encourage you to take a pen and paper and make some notes. Write out two categories, one labeled righteous and one labeled wicked, and place under each category the characters and actions of the two contrasted peoples here in chapter 15. At the very least, it is a fun practice to do and will help aid you in future study of God’s word.

There is one more theme that I’d like to unpack more while I wrap up this study. There is an extra emphasis in this chapter regarding counsel and reproof. This is one area where I have seen more destruction or more fruit than almost any other area in the Christian life. Look first at the posture of the righteous man in these verses:

31 The ear that listens to life-giving reproof
will dwell among the wise.
32 Whoever ignores instruction despises himself,
but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence.
He heeds rebuke, and he listens to correction. The righteous man grows in wisdom and applies the counsel of loving brothers to his life for growth. The righteous man is humble enough to be told he needs to make a change and is missing something in regards to how God has called him to live. Is this you? When a brother who loves you confronts you about sin and error in your life, do you receive it well? Are you thankful that a brother is willing to risk confrontation to love you well? Do you thank him and apply his counsel to your life?

Unfortunately, this is not usually our posture. We are so often offended when someone approaches us about an area of possible sin in our lives. This offense that we run to often reveals pride in our hearts. Pride comes before the fall (Prov. 16:18); just look at the destruction awaiting those who will not heed rebuke:

10 There is severe discipline for him who forsakes the way;
whoever hates reproof will die.
12 A scoffer does not like to be reproved;
he will not go to the wise.

The proud person in fact hates being corrected. He avoids reproof; he doesn’t speak to wise people, because he does not want to hear their counsel. Notice what happens to this person: he forsakes the way and will receive severe discipline. He who hates reproof will die! How many times growing up did you fail to heed your parents’ wise instruction? How many times in your life have you avoided a friend or maybe even a relationship altogether because you did not want to be loved this way? When we do this, we line ourselves up with destruction. One of the saddest realities in our churches today is that due to the sheer number of options available to people, whenever someone is pushed to grow and receive rebuke and counsel, they typically just bail out on the people who are trying to save their lives. There’s always another church you could go to or other people you could make friends with, but don’t forget to see the warning here in this Proverb. A scoffer does not like to be reproved; he will not go to the wise.

Oh, how much better for you would it be to humbly allow others into your life who have your best interest in mind? How many times have your plans failed because you did not seek counsel?

22 Without counsel plans fail,
but with many advisers they succeed.

Do not allow the sin of pride to deceive you into thinking you don’t need help. Wars are won with the counsel of many. And finally:

33 The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom,
and humility comes before honor.

If you truly fear the Lord, you will seek instruction and welcome rebuke and reproof. You will embrace the Christian life that calls us to walk with the family and love each other well. Notice the last line: “humility comes before honor.” Will you attempt to honor yourself in your pride and die, or will you humbly receive the loving reproof of others and be honored by your Lord?

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Disciples Church

* I want to thank Steve Obert for helping to write this week’s study. He is a great partner in the gospel, and a faithful man of God.

Saturday Study

Proverbs 14 (9-2-17)

This week’s proverb gives us many good points of counsel and wisdom. I am thankful for the deep well of help and guidance the proverbs are to us and our daily lives. The key is studying them and doing what they teach us. One of the proverbs that really stuck out to me in chapter 14 is verse 2.

Proverbs 14:2 Whoever walks in uprightness fears the Lord, but he who is devious in his ways despises him.

The Bible constantly talks about the fact that we are known by our fruit. In other words, the evidence of those who honor and fear the Lord is portrayed in their lifestyles. Here, Solomon is pointing out that uprightness or righteousness is evidence of a true and right fear of the Lord, whereas a life of deception or lawlessness shows the heart despises the Lord. So, before we go too far, which are you known by? Not necessarily when all things are going well, but when life is coming hard at you or when you are frustrated or tired. Do you walk in uprightness or deviousness? Jesus says in Matthew 7 that people will be known by their fruit.

Matthew 7:15-20 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.”

The good news is it’s not up to you to produce fruit; it is the byproduct of the kind of tree you are. If diseased, you still stand in your sin and are not alive in Christ and therefore, you will not produce good fruit. If healthy, you have been made alive in Christ, and he will grow in you or produce in you the fruit of the Spirit.

So, while we should “work out our salvation” (Phil 2:12) and “be doers of the word and not hearers only” (James 1:22), this proverb serves more as a way to evaluate the true motives and heart of someone by the fruit he/she bears. God will not be mocked and false testimony will not stand to honor Him. Brothers, may we walk in uprightness and so prove that we do indeed fear the Lord and live for Him.

A second verse that stands out in the 14^th chapter of Proverbs is verse 12.

Proverbs 14:12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.

We are truly blind and depraved apart from the grace-filled regeneration of God’s saving work in our lives. The Bible says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9). We have to be constantly aware of our fleshly tendencies and make war with them. The way of the flesh, as Solomon puts it, is the way to death. Christ in us is our only hope for glory (Colossians 1:27). Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). May our “way” be the way of Christ. May our days do what pleases and honors the Lord, for He is good, and His ways are always best. They may not be easiest and they may often be a complete war with our fleshly desires or reasoning, but we can trust in our good God and the ways of His word.

Finally, in Proverbs 14:27, it says, “The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death.” A righteous respect and fear of God puts our flesh in its place. Who are we, oh man, that we should bring counsel to God? Romans 11:33-36 reminds us of this well. “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?’ ‘Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?’ For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” May we rightly and humbly submit to God in all things. May a right fear of Him keep us from, or as Solomon says it, “turn us away from the snares of death.” Brothers, I know that these truths seem so basic, but if you are honest, how often do we still get this wrong? How often do we still give way to our flesh and have a low view of God? One of our daily prayers for each other and ourselves should be a true and lasting fear of God and upright walk; that our testimony would be bright in pointing others to Christ, and we would flee from sin and temptation and the snares of death.

May God be glorified and many come to know Him through the testimony of our lives in Christ.

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Disciples Church

Saturday Study

The Spiritual Discipline of Accountability (8-26-17)

WHAT IS ACCOUNTABILITY? Accountability is the act of being accountable. Being accountable means you explain or expose what you did and why you did it. You are accountable for your actions. The key to accountability is that you are exposed and responsible to someone.

Now, let us acknowledge something very critical. This is something in our sin that we do not like to do at all. The last thing we want is to be accountable to others. Our sin says, “I don’t care what anyone else thinks, I am going to do this my way”. Now you may not have this attitude with everything in your life, but the problem arises when you are not accountable with certain things, things you don’t want exposed, you slip into compromise and addiction and adultery and cheating and so many other forms of sin.

God has blessed us (the body of Christ) in his mercy to redeem us from our sin unto a lifestyle of accountability. What this means is that we enter into a lifestyle that is counter culture to our sinful preference, which is to be left alone. For the sake of the glory and name of Jesus, we highly value accountability because it protects us from falling into sin and/or hidden God-belittling habits and helps us keep our affections centered on Christ and all that He has for us.

There are many aspects of accountability that the scriptures instruct us on.

1. Accountable to God

Romans 14:11-12 For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.

No matter what you think about God, you will one day bow before Him!

You won’t stand before Him. Why? Because He is God and you will in that moment realize how little you made of Him as you encounter His amazing presence.

One day, every person will give an account for their life before the living God.

This is the most underestimated event that we will ever have. People love to speak of how they plan to show God the good they did in this life or that they will reason with Him.

Oh, how mistaken we are. Because in God’s perfection, His justice and judgment are upheld in every way. God will not be reasoned with. He will judge each person to the finest detail.

God will judge every human being that has ever lived.

Proverbs 29:26 (KJB) Many seek the ruler’s favour; but every man’s judgment cometh from the LORD.

Hebrews 9:27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment

For those who don’t trust Jesus with their lives, this should be the most serious fearful event of one’s existence.

For those who do trust in Jesus with their lives, we

praise God for the gospel which pardons us from the deserved punishment our sin is due us.

1 Peter 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

Colossians 2:13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses

For anyone who is unsaved and reading this, there is no greater priority in your life than to recognize your standing before the living God at his judgment seat.

I implore you to look upon the life, death and resurrection of Jesus and savor what you see then praise God for His stopping your spiritual blindness and giving you a heart of repentance and faith.

2. Accountable to the authority of the word of God

God is specific in not only delivering His word, but enduring it unto the command that we are to not only read it, but to be accountable to living what He tells us to do through it.

James 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

1 John 2:5 But whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him

How do we know we are in Him? WE KEEP HIS WORD!

We cannot just hear the WORD OF GOD and then move on. We must act on it, live it, it must affect us, transform us, and grow us. We are accountable to it.

Listen to the directness of Jesus’ words in John 14:23-24 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.”

Our full and right submission to the authority of God’s word is so serious that the scriptures give warning for those who don’t submit themselves to it.

Proverbs 13:13 Whoever despises the word brings destruction on himself, but he who reveres the commandment will be rewarded.

It is essential that we study, believe in, abide in, teach accurately, and hold to every word of God.

The problem is our tendency in the flesh is to submit to the rationale of our human mind instead of the authority of the almighty, eternal God’s holy word. As a result, we form views of who God is or how He acts or doesn’t act based more on our personal feelings or logic instead of the divine and perfectly written words He gave us in Scripture. This is so dangerous and detrimental.

Instead, we need to take very seriously the words of God and submit to God’s authority and conform to his image and not try to make Him conform to our ideas or will.

Do you want God’s word to change you and conform you into his likeness?

I am asking you to take this seriously: 2 Tim 4:3-4 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

There is a way to look to the Bible to just itch your ears or to make you feel good about you and what you know and where you want to go OR you can SUBMIT yourself to it!

We are at war with our sin and selfishness and self-reign.

We must realize that we are desperate for the authority of God’s word to correct our futile view of God, self, this world, and everything in it. We are desperate for His word to lead us with authority; to be accountable to the word of GOD.

3. Accountable to our pastoral elders

Hebrews 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

The Scriptures clearly command Christians to submit to and honor those that God puts over them to lead them.

This is an important area for the modern church to hear and act on. It doesn’t say, “Obey and submit only when it is in line with what you want.” It says, “Obey and submit to those God has put over you.”

Now the question is, who has God put over you? Are you joyfully and faithfully submitting to the authority that God has given them in your life? Are you accountable to them?

4. Accountable to our Christian brothers/sisters

Galatians 6:1-2 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

If your brother or sister in Christ has done something contrary to the Bible, you are called to stand by and just watch him struggle because you don’t want to get messy too.

NO, that is not what it says. It says to confront him gently, forgive him, comfort him and to HOLD HIM ACCOUNTABLE.

James 5:16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

Two things to highlight here:

1. The privilege of bearing the burdens of your brothers and sisters.

God’s design is that every believer has a community of people around whereby they know each other and are committed to carrying each other’s burdens. When one mourns, we all mourn. When one rejoices, we all rejoice!

1. The privilege of inviting each other to be held accountable.

The body of Christ is thriving when Christians are willing to engage one another over sin and are also willing to be engaged.

We need to be men and women who, if we see our brother or sister struggling in sin, we engage them. “Hey, I love you. So, what are you doing? What is this?”

We also need to be quick to invite this kind of accountability in. Not just when we are called on it, but when we are doing well. Inviting others around you and into your life so they can hold you accountable to not fall into sin.

We should love to be confronted. Why? Because it is an act of LOVE!

Christian accountability is inviting others into your life in such a way that they know you and your struggles to the point they can walk with you as you seek to press into Christ and honor Him with your life.

Christian accountability is not asking me questions weekly and me answering them. This is a false sense of accountability. True accountability doesn’t need to ask, they know. Because they have been invited all the way in and they know where you are.

Do you invite others around you into your life? Who is this in your life right now?

Are you open with them and accountable to them?

This is an open-handed, humble approach to life. Sin doesn’t have a lot of room to fester in this kind of environment, but when we run solo, when we pull back, when we are just kind of connected and not very accountable, sin has room to REIGN in our lives.

Brothers and sisters, may we be joyful and faithful to practice accountability as a true and lasting discipline of our Christian life. May God be honored as we fight sin, lean into each other and obey His word and the shepherd leaders He has put over us.

What action steps do you need to take as a result of today’s study?

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Disciples Church

Saturday Study

Proverbs 13 (8-19-17)

Open your Bibles, and let’s dig a little deeper into Proverbs 13. Like last week, I want to highlight a few of Solomon’s points of wisdom from Proverbs 13, and I pray they are a blessing to you as they are to me.

Proverbs 13:3 Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.

The tongue is a sharp tool that can build people up or tear them down. We must guard our words and not vomit at the mouth, because the words we say can and do affect people. James tells us a similar counsel when he says, “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry” (James 1:19). We should let our words be thoughtful, so they can be helpful and God-honoring. Speaking up before we know all the facts can and does cause problems. Further, we should choose our words wisely. As Psalm 58:4 says, “They spit poison like deadly snakes; they are like cobras that refuse to listen.”

Here, David is talking about people who misuse their tongues and how literally poisonous it can be. Washington Irving once said, “The tongue is the only tool that grows sharper with constant use.” Paul said in Colossians 3:16, “Let the words of Christ, in all their richness, live in your hearts and make you wise. Use his words to teach and counsel each other. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.”  And Hebrews 10:24 says, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.”  May we use our words wisely and for God’s glory.

Proverbs 13:13 Whoever despises the word brings destruction on himself, but he who reveres the commandment will be rewarded.

The holy word of God is not hidden in a cave in the distant reaches of the farthest mountaintops. It is in your hand! You have this book! Many in the world do not have access to it yet, but you do have access to it. You can hold in your hand a book whose words are the very words of God. God has saved you from the enemy, put a holy sword in your hands, and said “GO! Teach this to others and make disciples of the nations; go fight.” But all too often we are guilty of setting our sword down and making our lives about something else. Some even go so far to reject the word of God and claim a better way.  This is what Solomon is warning us against. Nothing should come close to what we ought to feel for the value of God’s word to us. This is why the psalmist cries out in desperation, “Incline my heart to your testimonies” (Psalm 119:36). He is asking this of God because, as great as the Bible is, there are just too many distractions and too many fleshly temptations. We must fight to take the word with us, to be in it, to value it, and know it, and study it.

Psalms 1:1-2 says, “Blessed is 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; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.”

Do you meditate on it day and night, or do you ignore it or even despise it? The problem for many is we spend far too much time doing the exact opposite of this teaching. Instead of avoiding the counsel of the wicked, the way of sinners, the seat of scoffers, we spend more time with them than in God’s word. We do this mainly by the media we consume. Just think about the hours of TV, internet, social media, and music you sit with in comparison to God’s holy and living Word. No wonder so many Christians are spiritually malnourished and often feel distant from God. We need a far less diet of these things and a far greater diet of God’s word. May we “hold fast to the word of life” and be rewarded as we walk in the light.

Proverbs 13:24 Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.

The simple truth is we don’t like discipline, nor do we enjoy disciplining those we love. But God’s word is clear that discipline done in love is the very thing that is loving for those whom God has entrusted to us. Hebrews 12:6 says, “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”  It is often our laziness that causes us to put off proper discipline of our children or those put under us. But this is a self-serving thing that not only affects us but those God has entrusted to us. The very heartbeat of raising a child in the Lord is to raise them in loving discipline. It is these disciplines that God uses to help shape and mold our children. We must not be quick to throw away the very things God has given us to mold our children in the name of being their friend or our laziness. Parenting is hard work, and the practice of loving discipline is a key part of how we best love and shape those in our care. Let us not hate our children by sparing the very discipline that corrects their sin and points them back to what is right. May we also not ever discipline in sin or anger but in love and care for their growth.

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Disciples Church