“Before destruction the heart of a man is haughty, And before honor is humility.”

Proverbs 18:12

The entire book of Proverbs is a book written to give instruction, to impart wisdom.  The first nine chapters are written with a strong personal connection between the teacher and the student…my son, listen to your father’s instruction.  And, as you go through these chapters, the son is reminded time and again to listen and follow the instructions.  

But can we hear without listening?  Yes, we know how easy it is to nod our heads without any intention of heeding the advice.  That is, putting the advice into practice.  But, what is it that causes this break in communication or readiness to ignore what we are being advised?  

At the most basic level, we could say that we think we are right in whatever path we are pursuing and the advice we are being given is wrong.  Would you agree that we could describe this as being ‘self-right’?  If you do, you would have to agree that in this case you could be described as self-righteous!  

It doesn’t sound as good when we call it by this name.  But, if we are honest, we always act on the basis of thinking that what we are doing at the moment is the right thing to do.  The only problem is who is defining what is right at that moment.  In the case of the Pharisee and the tax collector praying  together in the temple in Luke 18, we hear in their prayers that the Pharisee is confident that he has done everything right.  The tax collector, on the other hand, is beating his chest honestly about the fact that much of what he has been doing may have been right in his own eyes at the moment, but these things were clearly wrong in the sight of God — and he is coming clean with them.  

The commendation from Jesus for the tax collector is that he was humble before the Lord.  And, this humility is the link between wisdom offered and wisdom received.  If we have a humble spirit, we are looking for the right definer of truth outside ourselves.  We are not self-righteous but God-righteous.  Without this heart attitude all the wisdom in the world is useless.  

Finally, we can be reminded that humility is commanded (necessary) to be applied toward God’s representatives:  parents, elders, leaders.  This is not to say that God’s representatives can’t be in error, but our going in attitude must be respectful in our judgement with a heart of thankfulness for them that will guard us against self presumption.

This reminds of our our need to confess our sins, so let’s prepare our hearts by singing.

Matt Meyer – June 2, 2024

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Jesus said that the Father has life in Himself. He added that the Father has given to the Son to have life in Himself (John 5:26). And you must see what a grave mistake it would be to say, “And, yes, the Father has also granted me to have life in myself. Amen and amen.” No, no amen to that. The Father has not granted you to have life in yourself. He has granted you to have life. But that life is found in Him. It is His liveliness that is your life.

The great temptation that lurks in the marshlands, that temptation that would suck you down and snuff out your life, is the temptation to live apart from God. It is the temptation to go about your coaching, teaching, summering, purchasing, cooking, exercising, and all of your other ings in the same exact way unbelievers do. This can be tricky. Unbelievers coach, and teach, and summer, and purchase. You are doing the same activities, after all. But you must do them as what you are, which is one who has been brought into the life of the fully-alive Trinity.

If you attempt to go about your living severed from Him, you will have as much sweetness and flavor as one of those molded blueberries at the bottom of the container you forgot was in the back of the refridgerator. God has brought you into the bond of His covenant, and in that covenant He has given you life, a big wide world, an array of gifts and good works to enjoy. So resolve to never live outside of that bond of the covenant. The life you live, you live by faith. The life you enjoy is the life of the Trinity, which never grows old or stale.

Jared Longshore – May 26, 2024

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We believe in the God of the Bible, the Author of our salvation. Which means we believe in a Trinitarian God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We confess, with the ancient Church in our creeds, that “we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in unity.”

The doctrine of the Trinity is foundational to our faith, and yet often when we think about it or try to explain it, we are prone to shy away. This is because we know there is high theology here, and with that comes deep cliffs of heresy. There are big theological words like essence, substance, subsistence, persons, filiation, spiration… shouldn’t we leave this to the experts? But my encouragement this morning is because of the deep mystery here, you are to lean in all the more. Yes, you must do so with precision, with the help of Scripture and the creeds, but you absolutely should learn to embrace the Trinity with simple joy.

One reason for this is that your salvation is tied up in the doctrine of the Trinity, in the undivided work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In fact, His salvific work in history is how He has revealed this doctrine to His people. God the Father so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, and the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Spirit who was also given to us (Jn. 3:16, Rom. 5:5). Salvation is nothing more than being united to the Triune God. You are made partakers of His divine nature and are given access to this great mystery, to God Himself. 

Can your finite minds fully comprehend what it means to believe in one God in three Persons? No, for we are talking about the infinite God in Himself. Should that then dissuade you from contemplating Him? Consider these words from C.S. Lewis, “You may ask, ‘If we cannot imagine a three-personal Being, what is the good of talking about Him?’ Well, there isn’t any good talking about Him. The thing that matters is being actually drawn into that three-personal life, and that may begin any time…”

So the exhortation is this: Confess this great mystery. Believe in the holy Trinity. Pray to the Father, in the name of the Son, in the power of the Holy Spirit. And simply love your Triune God, in whose name you have been baptized, who has made you His.

Shawn Paterson – May 26, 2024

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When it comes to the Christian arsenal, it is tempting to view prayer as a lesser weapon. Meaning we know it’s there and available but it’s not our first option. I mean why use the nerf gun of prayer when we have the bazooka of Christian hospitality? Hospitality is necessary, don’t misunderstand me, but we ought to view prayer as a powerful weapon. In Col 4:12 Paul describes prayer as “wrestling”, the word he uses here is associated with battle, war and agonizing effort. In other words, when you pray for your spouse, you aren’t merely sending good vibes, you are stepping into the arena and taking a flaming sword to the knees of powers and principalities. When you pray for your kids you aren’t merely diversifying your parenting portfolio, you are surrounding them with impenetrable walls. Like Jacob, when we pray we go to the mat with God Himself and fight for a blessing. With this in mind, to neglect your prayer life is nothing more than surrender. To neglect your prayer life is a refusal to engage the enemy and a failure to commune with God. It’s for this reason that it is important to prioritize prayer both personally and in our families. It’s been said that too much of a good thing is a bad thing, well not with prayer, the apostle tells us that we should “pray without ceasing.” So when someone tells you that they’ve been praying for you, instead of our reaction being akin to receiving socks for Christmas, our reaction should be one of deep gratitude. Instead of offering prayer only in dire circumstances, we should seek to offer prayers up for all people at all times knowing that the prayers of a righteous man availeth much. 

 Col 4:12 “Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. He is always wrestling for you in his prayers, so that you can stand mature and fully assured in everything God wills.“

Jeremiah Jasso – May 26, 2024

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