Category Archives: Christian Living

Faithfulness …

Posted on May 21, 2009 by Andrew J. Nicewander| 575 Comments

It seems that true, persistent, plodding faithfulness is perhaps the hardest part of the Christian walk.

It is fairly easy to be flashy and it is easy to exert a great amount of energy for a small amount of time. But to be faithful and constant … that is hard. Patience and persistence is required for such faithfulness. To be faithful means constant warfare with the flesh. For the faithful man or woman there are no breaks, no rests, and no separation from the grind. The faithful Christian is a plodder. She is content in doing what she is called to do, even if she spends her whole life in relative obscurity. The faithful Christian does not mind doing the dirty work. In fact, he puts all of his effort into the task, knowing that there will be few who notice. The faithful Christian will be told at the end of things “Well done, good and faithful servant”. The faithful Christian is a slave and he rejoices in it. She is a servant and in her servitude she seeks the honor of God. He knows he might never be noticed, but he is ok with that possibility and general reality.

He is the pastor of a small congregation in the Texas Hill Country. The church he serves in has never had much numerical growth. He has never had many converts. He is not flashy and he is not real relevant. He is faithful in the little things and faithful in the big things he is given responsibility for.

She is the mother of ten believing children and currently the grandmother of fifteen. She was a beautiful woman in the flower of youth but now her body is wrinkled, bent and worn out. She is not flashy and she’s not real sexy. She is faithful in the little things and faithful in the big things she is given responsibility for.

This man might not be successful in the eyes of the world (or even the eyes of Evangelicals!), but in the Lord’s eyes this man is honored. This woman might not be beautiful in the eyes of the world, but in God’s eyes this woman exhibits true human beauty.

Are we content with faithfulness to God, or are we in such pursuit of fame, success, relevance and beauty that we lost sight of the one by whom and for whom all things exist?

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Morning Thoughts: Octavius Winslow on Justification

Posted on December 17, 2008 by Andrew J. Nicewander| 511 Comments

From Morning Thoughts, by Octavius Winslow for today, December 17th.

Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25 Whom God hath set forth [to be] a propitiation through faith in his blood. – Romans 3:24-25

By a change of place with the Church, Christ becomes the “Lord our Righteousness,” and we are “made the righteousness of God in Him.” There is the transfer of sin to the innocent, and, in return, there is the transfer of righteousness to the guilty. In this method of justification, no violence whatever is done to the moral government of God. So far from a shade obscuring its glory, that glory beams forth with an effulgence which must have remained forever veiled, but for the redemption of man by Christ. God never appears so like Himself as when He sits in judgment upon the person of a sinner, and determines his standing before Him upon the ground of that satisfaction to His law rendered by the Son of God in the room and stead of the guilty. Then does He appear infinitely holy, yet infinitely gracious; infinitely just, yet infinitely merciful. Love, as if it had long been panting for an outlet, now leaps forth and embraces the sinner; while justice, holiness, and truth gaze upon the wondrous spectacle with infinite complacence and delight.

And shall we not pause and bestow a thought of admiration and gratitude upon Him, who was constrained to stand in our place of degradation and woe, that we might stand in His place of righteousness and glory? What wondrous love! what stupendous grace! that He should have been willing to have taken upon Him our sin, and curse, and woe! The exchange to Him how humiliating! He could only raise us by Himself stooping. He could only emancipate us by wearing our chain. He could only deliver us from death by Himself dying. He could only invest us with the spotless robe of His pure righteousness by wrapping around Himself the leprous mantle of our sin and curse. Oh, how precious ought He to be to every believing heart! What affection, what service, what sacrifice, what devotion, He deserves at our hands! Lord, incline my heart to yield itself supremely to You!

But in what way does this great blessing of justification become ours? In other words, what is the instrument by which the sinner is justified? The answer is at hand, in the text, “through faith in His blood.” Faith, and faith alone, makes this righteousness of God ours. “By Him all that believe are justified.” And why is it solely and exclusively by faith? The answer is at hand, “Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace.” Were justification through any other medium than by believing, then the perfect freeness of the blessing would not be secured. The expressions are, “Justified freely by His grace;” that is, gratuitously—absolutely for nothing. Not only was God in no sense whatever bound to justify the sinner, but the sovereignty of His law, as well as the sovereignty of His love, alike demanded that, in extending to the sinner the greatest boon of His government, He should do so upon no other principle than as a perfect act of grace on the part of the Giver, and as a perfect gratuity on the part of the recipient—having “nothing to pay.” Therefore, whatever is associated with faith in the matter of the sinner’s justification—whether it be baptism, or any other rite, or any work or condition performed by the creature—renders the act entirely void and of none effect. The justification of the believing sinner is as free as the God of love and grace can make it.

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Advent Conspiracy

Posted on November 28, 2008 by Andrew J. Nicewander| 592 Comments

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVqqj1v-ZBU

Check it out here

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Revival’s True Test

Posted on August 14, 2008 by Andrew J. Nicewander| 483 Comments

Came across this on the Desiring God blog.

Test Revival with Doctrine

Excellent words by Brother Piper.

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Lesson from Joshua

Posted on July 12, 2008 by Andrew J. Nicewander| 631 Comments

So Joshua took all that land,(Y) the hill country and all the Negeb and(Z) all the land of Goshen(AA) and the lowland(AB) and the Arabah and the hill country of Israel and its lowland (AC) from Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir, as far as(AD) Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon below(AE) Mount Hermon. And he captured(AF) all their kings and struck them and put them to death.  Joshua made war(AG) a long time with all those kings.  There was not a city that made peace with the people of Israel except(AH) the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon. They took them all in battle.  For it was the LORD’s doing(AI) to harden their hearts that they should come against Israel in battle, in order that they should be devoted to destruction and should receive no mercy but be destroyed,(AJ) just as the LORD commanded Moses.

-Joshua 11:16-20

It is rather stunning to read through the chapters of Joshua where the Israelites are marching throughout the land of Canaan and to note just how dominating that army was.  No one could stand before them.  They slaughtered everyone.  They left none alive.  No mercy was shown, and all were completely and utterly destroyed.

It might be easy to look at Joshua and note how courageous and faithful a leader he was.  After reading through chapter 12, I was reminded of the fear that the ten spies had of the inhabitants of the land of Canaan, and how it was only Joshua and Caleb who had faith that the victory could be attained.  You think of the fear that those 10 spies had, and then compare that to the great victory that Joshua achieved, and you might be tempted to glorify Joshua.  But, reading through the book of Joshua, you note a common refrain.  “The Lord delivered them into the hands of Israel”  It was only and completely by the sovereign power and faithful hand of God that Israel was allowed to enter and conquer the land that had been promised to Abraham.  Throughout their history after Egypt, Israel proved themselves time and time again to be faithless and cowardly.  Yet, God continued to have mercy upon them and still allowed them to enter the Promised Land.

It was the Lord who hardened the Canaanites hearts.  It was the Lord who delivered the 31 kings into Joshuas hands.  It was the Lord who allowed the absolute domination by Israel of the nations that Israel destroyed.  The Lord was faithful, the Lord was merciful.

Thus, the lesson for us:  no matter what we do, not matter what we want, no matter what we try, if the Lord don’t Will it, it ain’t gonna happen.  It is by Him that we “…live and move and have our being.”  He is God, we are His people, and may He ever be glorified and made known!

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Morning Thoughts

Posted on July 7, 2008 by Andrew J. Nicewander| 559 Comments

This is the excerpt from “Morning Thoughts” by Octavius Winslow from yesterday, July 6th.  Very encouraging stuff.

“Come unto me, all [ye] that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. – Matthew 11:28

With what brightness does the truth appear, written with beams of heavenly light-Jesus, the Rest of the weary! “Come unto me.” The Father has made His Son the resting-place of His Church. He Himself has vested His whole glory in Christ. He knew what Christ was capable of sustaining. He knew that as His fellow-one equal with Himself-He could with safety embark the honor of His government in the hands of His Son. He confided therein Himself! His government and His Church-all in Christ. To this “tried stone” He would now bring His people. He found it strong enough for Himself, and He knows it to be strong enough for them, and with confidence He invites the weary to come and repose upon it. Jesus but echoes the heart of the Father when he says, “Come unto me-I will give you rest.” Never did the tongue of Jesus utter words more learned, more eloquent, more persuasive. Just the word we need. By nature, we seek rest everywhere, and in everything, but in Jesus. We seek it in the sensual world, we seek it in the moral world, we seek it in the religious world-we find it not. We seek it in conviction, we seek it in ordinances, we seek it in doing the works of the law, and still it evades us. We go from place to place, from means to means, from minister to minister, and still the burden presses, and the guilt remains, and we find no rest. No; and never will we find it, until it is sought and found solely, wholly, exclusively, and entirely in Jesus. Rest for the sin-weary soul is only to be met with in Him who bore the curse for man’s transgression. Here God rests, and here the sinner must rest. Here the Father rests, and here the child may rest. Jesus is the great burden-bearer, for God and for man. Listen again to the melody of His words: “Come unto me-I will give you rest.” See, how He invites you, without one solitary condition. He makes no exception to your guilt and unworthiness. The word is, “Come unto me;” in other words, believe in me. To “come” is simply and only to believe. And oh! How can we fully set forth the “rest” to be found it Jesus? Let those testify who took their guilt to His blood, their vileness to His righteousness, their sins to His grace, their burdens to His arm, their sorrows to His heart. Let them tell how, in a moment, their sense of weariness fled, and rest, sweet, soothing rest to their soul succeeded. Are you, my reader, a sin-weary soul? Then, to you is this invitation addressed: “Come unto me-to me, a Savior whose willingness is equal to my ability. To me, who never rejected a single soul that sought salvation and heaven at my hands. Come unto me-I will give you rest.”

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A quote on Spiritual Leadership

Posted on July 6, 2008 by Andrew J. Nicewander| 584 Comments

I’m currently reading through “Disciplines of a Godly Man”

by R. Kent Hughes, and during my morning reading yesterday, I came across this quote:

“No one attains true spiritual leadership who thinks his power is his own or that past victories are due to his own genius…the backbone of any work done for God is prayer.”
- R. Kent Hughes

Great stuff.

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