Walking in the Truth: Notes from Sunday School

These notes and reflective thoughts are intended for members of our Friends and Family Sunday School class to stay connected with God through studying His Word in the event of absence from actual Sunday School worship time. The ideas and flow of the lesson comes out of Life Way's Master Work Series. Please provide comments.

On Sunday we continued our study in John Piper's Desiring God; this week's lesson focused on Love, the Labor of a Christian Hedonist. Reading Piper is such a blessing, but is equally challenging. He pushes us to first and foremost engage with God's Word, to find joy in the presence of our savior, to have all of Him. We began the lesson with a recap of Piper's thesis up to this point in the study: "If you Come to God dutifully offering Him the reward of your fellowship instead of thirsting after the reward of His fellowship then you exalt yourself above God as His benefactor and belittle Him as a need beneficiary--and that is evil" (111). Read that statement again. Now, read it a second time. Let it sink in. Let it melt all over you. I pray that we as a class seek him because of His all-sufficiency, because of the fullness of joy in His presence, because of Him, because of the pleasures at His right hand (Psalm 16:11).

Heretofore, we have dealt with the vertical of Christian Hedonism (and remember that Christian Hedonism is simply--and I realize there really isn't anything simple about this study--defined as delighting in God, our source of joy and pleasure)--our relationship with the sovereign God of the universe. On Sunday we shift focus to the horizontal, our relationship with believers and non-believers.

When you think of trademarks, what comes to mind? Some of the more popular? Google, Mercedes Benz, Polo, Izod, Wilson Sporting Goods, Starbucks (my favorite), Apple, etc. What is the purpose of trademarks? The make the product or band visible, noticeable, identifiable. Tony Evans, in his book of illustrations, says "God has sent forth something as irrefutable evidence that we are close to Him--an irrefutable test by which we can measure our own spiritual growth. In fact, so awesome is this trademark of God that He said it would be the major declaration of our faith." (John 13:35). Jesus put it this way. He said, “By this shall men know that you are my disciples, that you love one another.” I also address this 'badge of a believer in an earlier blog post on our right and only response to God's Love. To examine this "mark," read the following three passages. I have provided a brief statement following each one (these notations come from Life Application Bible, NIV). John 13:34-35. Christ presented here a new standard: It is a sacrificial love modeled after His love and it is produced through the New Covenant by the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 13:8-10. We are commanded to love other Christians and non-Christians. If we truly love our neighbor--anyone with whom we have contact--see Luke 10:24-37--we will only do what is in the best interest of him, and will find pleasure and joy in doing so. 1 John 3:11. Love is a command, not merely an optional duty for someone claiming to be a Christian, but proof positive that one truly has been born again.

Piper begins with a focus on Paul's writings in 1 Corinthians 13:5. The NASB translates this verse as "love does not seek its own." Also, Romans 15:1-3 reads, "We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: 'The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.'" It seems pretty simple: Love is not boastful, or proud, or selfless, right? It seeks not the good of self, but the good of others. Then Piper says that "the pursuit of pleasure is an essential motive for every good deed." (112). Come again? In essence, love is the pursuit of pleasure, he says. Now, I have to do a double take. So, can we enjoy being loving? Can we find pleasure in loving? Should we find pleasure in being loving? The answer is a resounding "Yes!" Listen to what Micah 6:8 says: "He has told you, O man, what is good;And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness , And to walk humbly with your God? (emphasis added)." Notice that, "to love kindness". The NIV translates it "to love mercy." Piper writes, "In other words, the command is not just to do acts of mercy, but to delight to be merciful or to want to be merciful. if you love being merciful, how can you keep from satisfying your own desire in doing acts of mercy?" (113).

When you think of instances of being loving, what comes to mind? Perhaps, giving a meal, sending a word of encouragement, offering praise for a job well done, mowing the yard of a neighbor who is unable to, random acts of kindness, giving gifts, etc. So, what do we gain when we demonstrate acts of love? Remember 1 Corinthians 13:5 says that "love doesn't seek its own," or as Jonathan Edwards puts it, love does not seek its own "private good." Is there a gain? Are there right gains, wrong gains? Notice that Paul writes in v. 3 of 1 Corinthians: "If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing." What does he imply? If actions committed without love gain nothing, then certainly, actions done in love gain something.Those that are done in wrong motives are those actions that seek self interest, or the private good as Edwards notes; but the gain of loving actions done with the right motivation is "joy." Notice what Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13:6--"Love . . . rejoices in the truth." Piper says, " love is not a bare choice or mere act. It involves the affections . . . .to rejoice in an act is to get joy from it." (114-115). Read 1 Corinthians 10:24 ("Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others") and 1 Corinthians 10:33 ("even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved").Before Paul writes that "love does not seek its own", he writes the above two verses. Piper returns his commentary to Romans 15:1-3 when he writes, "we should not please ourselves, but instead should please our neighbor for his good, to edify him. . . . Paul doesn't mean we shouldn't seek the joy of edifying others, but that we should let this joy free us from bondage to private pleasures that make us indifferent to the good of others. Love does not seek its own private limited joy but instead seeks its own joy in the good--the salvation and edification--of others" (115-116).

What do the following people groups have in common: Snotty cashiers, unkind spouse, rebellious child, bitter family member, sharp-tongued, church gossip, irresponsible friend, self-ingratiating coworker? They are unlovable. So, how can we love like God loves these people? We must seek the good of others; rejoicing in their salvation; edifying and building them up. If we joyfully love in these moments, then we "are learning the brushstrokes of God's love" as David Jeremiah writes in his book, Signs of Life 232). Jeremiah 9:24 declares,

"But those who wish to boast
should boast in this alone:
that they truly know me and understand that I am the Lord
who demonstrates unfailing love
and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth,
and that I delight in these things.
I, the Lord, have spoken!

God loves because he delights to love. So, what does that mean for us? We too should delight in Love.

What does it take to perform loving actions for someone? Is the act and feeling of love a choice? What does it take to really feel genuine love for others? This kind of love can only be expressed if first we receive the Love of the master in our hearts by confessing our sins and declaring Him Lord and savior; then we must by an act of the will allow the Spirit to work His transforming power in our hearts; only then can we express and show Jesus’s love and compassion to others. What does 1 John 4:7-8 say? We are able to love because God first loved us. God is love and love comes from God. The original conveys the idea of making sure that love is an habitual practice--clearly as John has written before (1 John 2:10-11; 3:14), those who are born again will assuredly exhibit the characteristic habit of love. David Jeremiah writes in Signs of Life, “When we have God’s love in us, He loves people through us: (232).

Let's examine a biblical model of this kind of joyful, love that all Christians should emulate. Read 2 Corinthians 8:1-5,8. In this example of the Macedonian church, how were they able to give even though it was a sacrifice for them to give? It was a work of divine grace--the willingness was a gift of God. Notice that in a few verses later Paul writes in verses 16-17, "I thank God, who put into the heart of Titus the same concern I have for you. For Titus not only welcomed our appeal, but he is coming to you with much enthusiasm and on his own initiative." This verse speaks of God's gift and our willingness to give. What did the Macedonians gain for their loving kindness, actions? Look at verse 2: out of their trial, rose up an overflow of joy and rich generosity. They even want to give more, for they begged Paul for the opportunity. But pay attention to verse 5--they first gave themselves to the Lord in total surrender and submission. Wow!!!

Love enjoys service; love enjoys loving. The biblical concept of love and the thesis of this entire week's study is “Love is the overflow of joy in God that gladly meets the needs of others" (131).

To put this in practice and to demonstrate that this joyful love is also costly, our Friends and family Sunday School class concluded Sunday with a study of three examples: Hebrews 10:32-35, Hebrews 11:24-26, and Hebrews 12:1-2. In your quiet time this week, read through these verses thoroughly and reflect upon how these examples demonstrated not only the biblical concept of love state above but also the costliness of this kind of love.

Piper says that "we double our delight in God as we expand it in the lives of others" (141)

I want to conclude with this statement about love, service, the horizontal and vertical:

A.T. Pierson wrote in The Truth: "Whatever is done for God, without respect of its comparative character as related to other acts, is service, and only that is service. Service is, comprehensively speaking, doing the will of God. He is the object. All is for Him, for His sake, as unto the Lord, not as unto man. Hence, even the humblest act of humblest disciple acquires a certain divine quality by its being done with reference to Him.

The supreme test of service is this: 'For whom am I doing this?' Much that we call service to Christ is not such at all....If we are doing this for Christ, we shall not care for human reward or even recognition. Our work must again be tested by three propositions: Is it work from God, as given us to do from Him; for God, as finding in Him its secret of power; and with God, as only a part of His work in which we engage as co-workers with Him."

"The command is to love. The reward is to become like the one who loves" (Piper, Desiring God 138)

Next Week's lesson: Scripture: The Kindling for the Christian Hedonist

Have we feasted on God today?

I just saw these two videos from Greg Laurie, pastor of Harvest Bible Fellowship in Riverside, CA. They capture for me the essence of our true calling: feasting on God, hungering for His holiness, thirsting for His word. Pastor Greg equates happiness with righteousness. Have we feasted on God today? Have we just melted in His presence by being in His word? I mean, really being in His word, not looking to see application of His word, or how His word can be used to support a Sunday School lesson or small group study (a real challenge for me), or some other preparation. Simply loving being in love with His word, enjoying His presence, learning about His character, praising His name, glorifying the sovereignty of His majesty, communing with our Lord. That is true delight. That is worship. That is our call.

What is happiness?



Are you hungry for God?

Walking in the Truth: Notes from Sunday School

Each week I want to provide some notes and reflective thoughts about the lesson God gives our Friends and Family Sunday School class, most importantly to reflect on the truth of His holy scripture. Also, I hope those who could not attend can read these notes and reflections and still remain connected to our class as we together grow closer to God (Important Note, as one member mentioned this morning: this does not take the place of Sunday School:))

We have been studying John Piper's Desiring God for the last couple of weeks. This week's lesson centered upon Worship. The subtitle of this chapter is "the feast of Christian Hedonism." I just love that: Isn't worship all about feasting on God--every thought, God centered; every action, God centered; every word, God centered. We began with these two definitions of worship:

Worship is to feel in your heart and express in some appropriate manner a humbling but delightful sense of admiring awe and astonished wonder and overpowering love in the presence of that most ancient Mystery, that Majesty which philosophers call the First Cause, but which we call Our Father Which Are in Heaven." (A.W. Tozer)

And secondly,

"True biblical worship so satisfies our total personality that we don't have to shop around for man-made substitutes. For worship is the submission of all our nature to God. It is the quickening of conscience by His holiness; the nourishment of mind with His truth; the purifying of imagination by His beauty; the opening of the heart to His love; the surrender of will to His purpose -- and all of this gathered up in adoration, the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable and therefore the chief remedy for that self-centeredness which is our original sin and the source of all actual sin. (William Temple, quoted in Warren Wiersbe, The Integrity Crisis)

Our main text of study today came from Jesus's conversation with the Samaritan woman in John 4:3-24, particularly verses 21-24. What was Christ's main purpose in His pursuit of this woman? Listen to how Dr. Piper sums up His intent, providing a glimpse into the thoughts of Christ: "Yes, even now, just now, I will seek someone to worship the Father--a Samaritan adulteress. I will show my disciples how My Father seeks worship in the midst of real life from the least likely. She is a Samaritan. She is a woman. She is a harlot. Yes, i will show them a thing or two about how to make true worshipers out of the white harvest of harlots in Samaria."

Her response to Christ as he confronts her with her sin is to change the subject to a more "religiously appropriate subject": the "where" of worship. Isn't that what we do when it gets too hot in the kitchen? We hedge; we dodge; we redirect. But, Christ immediately turns the subject to something by far more important: the "how" and "whom" of worship. He says in verses 23-24, "Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." It isn't about the "where" of worship, but the "how" and "whom." So, when Christ talks about worshiping in Spirit, He is talking about the "how," the heart, and emotions of worship; when he talks about worshiping in Truth, He is talking about the "whom", the head, and thought of worship. Dr. Piper says that "worship must have heart and head. Worship must engage emotions and thought . . . .But true worship comes from people who are deeply emotional and who love deep and sound doctrine" (81-82).

Worshiping in Spirit (John 4:23-24):

Think of the actions involved in worshiping: singing, kneeling in prayer, lifting of hands, reading of scripture, performing a drama, preaching the word. I posed this question today: Do the actions themselves have meaning? Some said "yes"; others said "no". One said with such emphasis and clarity, "only if the heart is right" Bingo!!! Remember, Christ said in Matthew 15:8-9 (Quoting Isaiah 29:13): "'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'" How does "honor me" define worship? Recognizing the honor of God by feeling the worth of it. Dr. Piper repeatedly offers in this section the following phrase: "gladly reflecting back to God the radiance of His worth." Isn't that awesome? Take a moment to read and reflect upon Psalm 96:2-8. The Psalmist uses words like "sing to the Lord," "praise his name," "proclaim His salvation, " "declare his glory," "for great is the Lord," "Ascribe to the Lord." Honor indeed.

So, what does worshiping in vain mean? As directed this morning, we looked at several translations of Isaiah 29:13, and then talked about vain worship. The phrase that strikes me first is, "their hearts are far from me." Or as the Message renders it, "their hearts aren't in it." Have you ever been in a worship service and you are singing and following the words either in the Hymnal or on the video screen, hands are lifted, and then you start thinking about something else? Or you are praying and your mind starts to wonder? Or you look around to see how others are worshiping or worst yet, you are judging whether your neighbor is even worshiping at all. Our hearts are far from him. This reminds me of an illustration told about the Italian Poet Dante Alighieri: "Deeply immersed in meditation during a church service, Dante failed to kneel at the appropriate moment. His enemies hurried to the bishop and demanded that Dante be punished for his sacrilege. Dante defended himself by saying, 'If those who accuse me had had their eyes and minds on God, as I had, they too would have failed to notice events around them, and they most certainly would not have noticed what I was doing.'"

Listen to how the CEV translates this passage: "but they never really think about me." How much or our day is consumed with thoughts of God? How much of our day do we spending communicating with God? You see, "far away hearts" equals vain worship. It is meaningless and it dishonors the only One worthy of our affections. Dr. Piper adds as a note in his text, "worship is first and most essentially an act of the heart. It is being satisfied with all that God is for us in Jesus" (83). Remember the account Jesus tells of the Pharisee and the tax collector as both men approach God in prayer? Whose worship was accepted? Whose worship was authenticated? The Tax collector's of course, but why? He worshiped without any pretense. He was broken and contrite. His heart was rightly and vertically aligned. He worshiped in spirit.

Read Psalm 63:3-4:

Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.

I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.

The Psalmist's lips honored the Father and his heart drew near. Dr. Piper discusses the affections that make worship authentic (86-87): "stunned silence (Psalm 46:10), "awe and reverence and wonder at the magnitude of God (Psalm 33:8), "holy dread of God's righteous power" (Isaiah 8:13), "brokenness and contrition and grief for our ungodliness" (Psalm 51:17), "longing for God" (Psalm 42:1-2), "gladness and gratitude" (Psalm 30:11-12).

Is worship a duty or a joy? Duty implies obligation, doing because we have to or because we are forced to. duty suggests that it is just one more thing to add to my already busy day that I must check off when completed. Joy on the other hand is passion, is desire, is happiness, or delight. Imagine if I bought flowers for my wife to commemorate our anniversary and she really took delight in them and thanked me, and I replied, "Oh it was nothing; it was just my duty." It is going to end badly for me, I assure you. Duty dishonors her; it belittles her, just as duty dishonors and belittles God. I need to be moved by just being in her presence, to delight in her company, not because I have to, but because I want to and desire to. How much more then should I desire and delight in God's presence? "If God's reality is displayed to us in His Word or His world and we do not then feel in our heart any grief or longing or hope for fear or awe or joy or gratitude or confidence, then we may dutifully sing and pray and recite and gesture as much as we like, but it will not be real worship, " writes Dr. Piper (92). This is what is meant by worshiping in spirit.

Worshiping in Truth (John 4:23-24)

First, we need to see that God is our ultimately reality; we must have a right perspective of God; we must know Him. What does John 17:3 say? "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." Secondly, he is worthy of our worship. Worship comes from Old English word which means "worth-ship", so we worship a God who is worth it. Hebrews 13:15 reads, "Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise--the fruit of lips that confess his name." Remember that Dr. Piper says that worship is a way of "gladly reflecting back to God the radiance of His worth." Thirdly, we should worship God not because we are in the mood but because he has asked us to and has everything in control. He is God and we are still not. Case in point, let's turn our attention to Job for just a moment. Is it safe to say that Job probably didn't want to worship the Lord? I know he is an Old Testament saint, and it just seems wrong to think that he would ever think or act like an ordinary person. But he was, and I am sure he struggled with the same doubts and feelings we struggle with during trials and suffering. After all he had the worst season of life imaginable. If anyone had the right to be angry, turn his back on God, have a pity party, it would be Job. Yet what does the Word proclaim?

"At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised"

He was humbled; he was broken; he was thankful; he counted it all joy; he worshiped. Do you see that? He worshiped. He had a right perspective, a truthful perspective of God, the "whom" of worship. Worship in truth therefore is a complete focus on God, the object of our desire.

I close with a few final thoughts from Dr. Piper's Desiring God. First, he writes, "The Christian Hedonist knows that the secret of joy is self-forgetfulness. Yes, we go to the art museum for the joy of seeing the paintings. But . . . . set your whole attention on the paintings, and not on your emotions, or you will ruin the whole experience. Therefore, in worship there must be a radical orientation on God, not ourselves" (95). Secondly, in worship, he continues, the issue is not the form, but whether the excellency of Christ is seen" (107). How will your life reflect the image of Christ this week? How is your life a daily picture of worship? What will you do this week to demonstrate God's radiant worth to others?

Next Week's Lesson: "Love: The Labor of Christian Hedonism"

The Right and Only Response to God's Love

Two weeks ago I wrote a post reflecting on what God's love means to me. I often contemplate the depth of God's Love and I still stand in amazement that He did it ALL just for me. Humbling. Knowing this depth and witnessing it daily, what is our only right and true response?

First, we must worship Him. Listen to the words of Psalm 63:1-3:

O God, you are my God,

earnestly I seek you;

my soul thirsts for you,

my body longs for you,

in a dry and weary land

where there is no water.

I have seen you in the sanctuary

and beheld your power and your glory.

Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.

The words "earnestly," "seek", "thirst," "long" describe a worshipful heart; in fact, John Piper says in his book Desiring God, "We can sing and read the Scriptures and pray and not be worshiping because worship is first and most essentially an act of the heart" (83). Christ says in Matt 15:8-9, "This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me. But in vain do they worship me." It is clear that the Psalmist quoted above honors God with lips and heart; it is clear that the Psalmist has a right perspective of God--He the master, we the humble servant, a master worthy of our praise, a master worthy of our honor: "Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you." There is nothing better in life than the love we have in our Father: not our spouses, not our children, not our families, not vacations, not hobbies, not work, not leisure. Again, listen to our only response, our right response. The psalmist writes in Psalm 73:25-26:

Whom have I in heaven but you?

And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

My flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is the strength of my heart

and my portion forever.

Our desire and delight is in our Lord; everything else pales in comparison.

So firstly, we worship, praise and glorify Him, as our hearts delight and rejoice in Him. But there is something else that we must do as a right and true response to His love. Do you know what it is? Francis Schaeffer in his book, The Mark of a Christian, writes: "The badge of the believer; interestingly isn’t the shape of fish on the back of a car, nor a cross hanging around the neck of a believer, or a well worn bible, or the ability to quote well-known scripture; it isn’t church activities or the ability to sing, or play a musical instrument, or the ability to preach a well-crafted sermon; it isn’t graduating from a seminary. What is this badge? This mark of authentic Christian living? LOVE. Let love be our standard (James 2:8-9). Some of the neediest people receive the worst kinds of unlovely responses. we must frequently ask ourselves:  “How can I love this person?” "How can I love the cashier who makes a snide remark? or the co-worker who always seems to ingratiate himself to the boss?  or the child who has been rebellious? or the spouse who has been unkind? or a church member expressed his feelings toward us sharply and with bitterness? or the homeless man on the street corner who we think is freeloading, lazy, etc? Shame on us if it is anything but an act of loving deeply, as Christ loved us. If we love in these moments, then we "are learning the brushstrokes of God's love" (David Jeremiah, Signs of Life 232). Take a moment to pause and read Deut. 15:7-11 and 1 John 3:16-19.

We must love others. How are we supposed to love as He loved? This kind of love can only be expressed if first we receive the Love of the master in our hearts by confessing our sins and declaring Him Lord and savior; then we must by an act of the will allow the Spirit to work His transforming power in our hearts; only then can we express and show Jesus’s love and compassion to others. David Jeremiah writes in Signs of Life, “When we have God’s love in us, He loves people through us: (232). He writes earlier in the text about Henry Drummond, who explained, in a classic sermon, "The Greatest Things in the World," how such a transformation takes place: "'If a piece of ordinary steel is attached to a magnet and left there, after a while the magnetism of the magnet passes into the steel so that it too becomes a magnet. The way we learn to others, then is by staying so close to Jesus that His love becomes our love for others'" (165). Let's be so close to Christ, that the world will be forced to say, as they did of the early Christians, "How those Christians love each other."

Big Tom, The Movie

Last week, leading up to Easter, I reflected on what God's love means to me; everyday I stand amazed and in awe of Him and the Love he demonstrated for me and you on that old rugged cross. We should stand amazed and in awe repeatedly, everyday--not just on Christian Holidays--but EVERYDAY!!! A friend sent this video to me. Please watch and be awed how this captures the work of Christ on the Cross.



Jesus, I will love you till I die for taking my licking for me. John writes, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers" (1 John 3:16).