Eastside Baptist Church, Winfield, Alabama

"Persecution in a Crisis" (Romans 12:14, 17-21)

"Persecution in a Crisis" (Romans 12:14, 17-21)
Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Sunday AM, May 31, 2020
Romans 12:14 (NIV)
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
Romans 12:17–21 (NIV)
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”  says the Lord. 20 On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” 
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
The Passive Response to Persecution and Mistreatment
Do not curse.
Do not repay evil for evil.
Do not take revenge.
Do not be overcome by evil.
The Active Response to Persecution and Mistreatment
Bless those who persecute you.
Do what is right in everyone’s eyes.
Live at peace with everyone.
Leave room for God’s wrath.
Do real acts of kindness for your enemies.
Overcome evil with good.
Main Idea: Even in the most trying of circumstances, Christians are called by our Savior to gracefully receive the mistreatment of our persecutors and actively demonstrate sacrificial love to them.

"Losing and Leaving" (Ruth 1:6-14)

"Losing and Leaving" (Ruth 1:6-14)
Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Wednesday PM, May 27, 2020
Ruth 1:6–14 (NIV)
6 When Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. 7 With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.
8 Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the Lord show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands and to me. 9 May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.”
Then she kissed them goodbye and they wept aloud 10 and said to her, “We will go back with you to your people.”
11 But Naomi said, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands? 12 Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me—even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons—13 would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord’s hand has turned against me!”
14 At this they wept aloud again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her.
 
The “House of Bread” Has Bread Again (Ruth 1:6-7).
Ruth 1:6–7 (NIV)
6 When Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. 7 With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.
 
The Long Road Home after Loss (Ruth 1:8-10)
Ruth 1:8–10 (NIV)
8 Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the Lord show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands and to me. 9 May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.”
Then she kissed them goodbye and they wept aloud 10 and said to her, “We will go back with you to your people.”
 
Drinking the Bitter Cup of Loneliness (Ruth 1:11-14)
Ruth 1:11–14 (NIV)
11 But Naomi said, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands? 12 Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me—even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons—13 would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord’s hand has turned against me!”
14 At this they wept aloud again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her.
 
Main Idea: Even in our greatest seasons of loss and loneliness, God continues to provide for and providentially guide his people.

"Charity and Hospitaltiy" (Romans 12:13)

"Charity and Hospitality" (Romans 12:13)
Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Sunday AM, May 24, 2020
 
Romans 12:13 NIV
13Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
 
1. Christians are bound by love to a local fellowship of believers and are called to meet one another’s needs.
 
2. Christians are bound by love to the global church of God and are called to support traveling brothers and sisters in Christ.
 
Main Idea: Because we have been loved by God, Christians are called to love one another, both at home and around the world.

"Where Is God in Times of Distress?" (Ruth 1:1-5)

"Where Is God in Times of Distress?" (Ruth 1:1-5)
Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Wednesday PM, May 20, 2020 
Ruth 1:1–5 (NIV)
1 In the days when the judges ruled,  there was a famine in the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. 2 The man’s name was Elimelek, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.
3 Now Elimelek, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, 5 both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.
Disorder
Deprivation
Disruption
Death
Where is God in Times of Distress?
 
Main Idea: Disorder, Deprivation, Disruption, and Death are our common lot in this fallen world, but none of these distressing circumstances falls outside the guiding providence of God.

"In the Presence of the King" (Psalm 24)

"In the Presence of the King" (Psalm 24)Pastor Cameron JungelsEastside Baptist ChurchWednesday, May 13, 2020
Psalm 24 (NIV)
Of David. A psalm.
1 The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it;
2 for he founded it on the seas
and established it on the waters.
3 Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord?
Who may stand in his holy place?
4 The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not trust in an idol
or swear by a false god.
5 They will receive blessing from the Lord
and vindication from God their Savior.
6 Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek your face, God of Jacob.,
7 Lift up your heads, you gates;
be lifted up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
8 Who is this King of glory?
The Lord strong and mighty,
the Lord mighty in battle.
9 Lift up your heads, you gates;
lift them up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
10 Who is he, this King of glory?
The Lord Almighty—
he is the King of glory.
 
1. The King: The Creator of the Universe (1-2)
 
 
2. Coming to Meet the King (3-6)
 
 
3. The Entrance of the King (7-10)

"A Mother in Crisis" (2 Kings 4:1-7)

"A Mother in Crisis" (2 Kings 4:1-7)
Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Sunday AM, May 10, 2020
 
2 Kings 4:1–7 NIV
1The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.” 2Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?” “Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a small jar of olive oil.” 3Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. 4Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.” 5She left him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. 6When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.” But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing. 7She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.”
A Mother’s Distressing Circumstances
A Mother’s Desperate Cry
A Mother’s Dependent Confidence
A Mother’s Divine Caregiver
Exodus 22:22–23 NIV
22“Do not take advantage of the widow or the fatherless. 23If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry.
 
Deuteronomy 10:18 NIV
18He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing.
 
Main Idea: We can trust in God and respond with simple dependent obedience in times of need, because our almighty Father is our generous and gracious Caregiver.

Knowing God by J. I. Packer - "The Adequacy of God" (Chapter 22, Part 2)

Knowing God by J. I. Packer
“The Adequacy of God” (Chapter 22, Part 2)
 
Romans: Book of Riches
 
What those who are wise seek for in the Bible and you can find in Romans:
Doctrine - Truth about God
A Book of Life
The Book of the Church
God’s Personal Letter
What does Romans 8 contain?
The adequacy of the grace of God (1-30)
The adequacy of the God of grace (31-39)
The Doctrines Applied
 
“What then shall we say in response to these things?” (v. 31)
 
What defines true Christians in every age?
Commitment to all-round righteousness
Exposure to all-round pressures
“What then shall we say in response to these things?” Paul provides us with four thoughts...
 
If God Is For Us
 
“If God is for us, who is against us?”
No opposition can finally crush us.
The adequacy of God as our sovereign protector
The decisiveness of his covenant commitment to us
What was Paul’s purpose in asking this question: “If God is for us, who is against us?”
He is countering fear - the timid Christian’s fear of the forces which he feels are massed against him.
Paul knows that sooner or later this becomes a problem for every Christian.
“Think! says Paul in effect. God is for you; you see what that means; now reckon up who is against you, and ask yourself how the two sides compare.” - J. I. Packer
“You will find in thus knowing God as your sovereign protector, irrevocably committed to you in the covenant of grace, both freedom from fear and new strength for the fight.” - J. I. Packer
No Good Thing Withheld
 
“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”
No good thing will finally be withheld from us.
The adequacy of God as our sovereign benefactor
The decisiveness of his redeeming work for us
The costliness of our redemption - “He did not spare his own Son.”
The effectiveness of our redemption - “God gave him up for us all.”
The consequences of our redemption - “God will give us all things.”
Who Will Accuse Us?
 
“Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns?”
No accusation can ever disinherit us.
The adequacy of God as our sovereign champion
The decisiveness of his justifying verdict upon us
Paul wrote the two previous verses to counter the Christian’s fear of opposition and deprivation among men.
Paul writes this verse to counter fear of rejection by God.
“There are two sorts of sick consciences, those that are not aware enough of sin and those that are not aware enough of pardon...” - J. I. Packer
“Paul speaks directly to the fear (to which no Christian is a total stranger) that present justification may be no more than provisional—that it may one day be lost by reason of the imperfections of one’s Christian life.” - J. I. Packer
Paul does not deny the fact that Christians fail and fall.
Paul does not question the sadness or pain over sins committed as a Christian.
Paul does emphatically deny that any lapses now can danger our justified status.
“The reason, he says in effect, is simple: Nobody is in a position to get God’s verdict reviewed!” - J. I. Packer
“Who will be the accuser of God’s chosen ones?”
Paul reminds us of God’s grace in election: “God’s elect.”
Paul reminds us of God’s sovereignty in judgment: “It is God who justifies.”
“...nobody can ever challenge the verdict, not even “the accuser of the brethren” himself. Nobody can alter God’s decision over his head—there is only one Judge!—and nobody can produce new evidence of your depravity that will make God change his mind. For God justified you with (so to speak) his eyes open. He knew the worst about you at the time when he accepted you for Jesus’ sake; and the verdict which he passed then was, and is, final.” - J. I. Packer
Judgment is a royal prerogative - the sole decision of the King of kings and Lord of lords. “The sovereign Lord who justified you will take active steps to see that the status he has given you is maintained and enjoyed to the full. So loss of justification is inconceivable...” - J. I. Packer
Paul reminds us of Christ’s effectiveness in mediation: “Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.”
He died—to save us from condemnation, by bearing the penalty of our sins as our substitute.
He rose and was exalted—“as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel” (Acts 5:31).
He intercedes with authority for us—that is, he intervenes in our interest to ensure that we receive all that he died to procure for us.
“The loss of justification is inconceivable.”
 
Who Shall Separate Us?
 
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?”
No separation from Christ’s love can ever befall us.
The adequacy of God as our sovereign keeper
The decisiveness of divine love in settling our destiny
“...whereas human love, for all its power in other ways, cannot ensure that what is desired for the beloved will actually happen, divine love is a function of omnipotence, and has at its heart an almighty purpose to bless which cannot be thwarted.” - J. I. Packer
“For it is the privilege of all Christians to know for certain that God loves us immutably, and that nothing can at any time part us from that love or come between us and the final enjoyment of its fruits.” - J. I. Packer
Romans 8:38–39 NIV38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
 
Paul displays God’s “all-sufficiency” in 2 ways:
God is adequate as our keeper.
1 Peter 1:5 NIV5who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
“...the power of God keeps them believing as well as keeping them safe through believing. Your faith will not fail while God sustains it; you are not strong enough to fall away while God is resolved to hold you.” - J. I. Packer
God is adequate as our end.
God is not a means to an end; He is the end and goal of our life’s quest.
“Christ is the path, and Christ is the prize.”
“The purpose of our relationship with God in Christ is the perfecting of the relationship itself. How could it be otherwise, when it is a love relationship? So God is adequate in this further sense, that in knowing him fully we shall find ourselves fully satisfied, needing and desiring nothing more.” - J. I. Packer
“Once more, Paul is countering fear—fear, this time, of the unknown, whether in terms of unprecedented suffering or of a horrific future or of cosmic forces which one cannot measure or master. The focus of fear is the effect these things might have on one’s fellowship with God, by overwhelming both reason and faith and so destroying sanity and salvation together.” - J. I. Packer
“But, says Paul, we must fight this fear, for the bogey is unreal. Nothing, literally nothing, can separate us from the love of God: 'In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us' (v. 37).” - J. I. Packer
Learning to Know God in Christ
 
Who is this God who is “there” for us to know?
The God of the Bible
The God of Romans
The God revealed in Jesus
The Three-in-One of historic Christian teaching.
How do we “know” this God?
We begin by knowing about him.
We come to know his revealed character and ways.
We come to know his attributes of goodness and severity.
Through this, we learn more about ourselves as fallen creatures bound for hell unless grace intervenes.
Knowing God involves a personal relationship with him.
Giving ourselves to God on the basis of his promise to give himself to us.
Asking for his mercy and resting on his undertaking to forgive sinners for Jesus’ sake.
Becoming a disciple of Jesus
Knowing God involves faith—assent, consent, commitment—and faith expresses itself in prayer and obedience.
Knowing God climaxes in full trust in the adequacy of God that dispels fear, knowing with assurance that we will be more than conquerors in Christ.
1 John 4:16–19 NIV16And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 17This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 19We love because he first loved us.
“...this is as high in the knowledge of God as we can go this side of glory.” - J. I. Packer
“...we have been brought to the point where we can grasp the truth in descriptions of the Christian life in terms of 'victory' and 'Jesus satisfies.' ...these phrases are precious, for they point to the link between knowledge of God on the one hand and human fulfillment on the other. When we speak of the adequacy of God, it is this link that we highlight, and this link is of the essence of Christianity. Those who know God in Christ have found the secret of true freedom and true humanity.” - J. I. Packer
“...we have been brought to the point where we both can and must get our life’s priorities straight… so many in our day seem to have been distracted from what was, is, and always will be the true priority for every human being—that is, learning to know God in Christ.”
Psalm 27:8 NIV8My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek.

"Serving One Another, Serving the Lord" (Romans 12:10-11)

"Serving One Another, Serving the Lord" (Romans 12:10-11)Pastor Cameron JungelsEastside Baptist ChurchSunday AM, May 3, 2020
Romans 12:10-11, NIV10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
Serving One Another (Romans 12:10)
Serving one another needs to be motivated by love.
Serving one another needs to be done with the love of a covenant family.
Serving one another needs to be humble and sacrificial.
Serving the Lord (Romans 12:11)Serving the Lord needs to be motivated by love.
Serving the Lord needs to be with full effort and zeal.
Serving the Lord needs to be with enthusiasm and whole-hearted commitment.
Acts 18:24–26, NIV24 Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. 25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue...
Romans 6:17–18, NIV17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
Main Idea: Christians that have been transformed by the love and grace of God serve the Lord with love and zeal and serve one another with love and humility.

Knowing God by J. I. Packer - "The Adequacy of God" (Chapter 22, Part 1)

Knowing God by J. I. Packer
“The Adequacy of God” (Chapter 22, Part 1)
 
In this chapter, J. I. Packer addresses the unbelief, doubts, and insecurities that hold us back from progress in the Christian life and from fully fulfilling our mission as disciples of Jesus Christ. What holds us back is a failure to trust, to completely rely on the adequacy of God for everything that we need from now to eternity.
 
In order to show us these truths, he leads us to Romans, because Romans encapsulates much of the Bible’s teachings about God, salvation, and the Christian life.
“All roads in the Bible lead to Romans, and all views afforded by the Bible are seen most clearly from Romans.” - J. I. Packer
Romans: Book of Riches
 
What those who are wise seek for in the Bible and you can find in Romans:
Doctrine - Truth about God
A Book of Life
The Book of the Church
God’s Personal Letter
What does Romans 8 contain?
The adequacy of the grace of God to deal with a whole series of predicaments (1-30):
the guilt and power of sin (1-9)
the fact of death (6-13)
the terror of confronting personal holiness (15)
weakness and despair in face of suffering (17-25)
paralysis in prayer (26-27)
the feeling that life is meaningless (28-30)
The adequacy of the God of grace - the emphasis moves from the gift to the giver, the Christian’s proper response to the grace of God in vv. 1-30 (31-39).
The Doctrines Applied
 
“What then shall we say in response to these things?” (v. 31)
 
What defines true Christians in every age:
Commitment to all-round righteousness - yielded to God as “slaves of righteousness” seeking to do the will of God fully.
Exposure to all-round pressures - with material hardship and human hostility as the common lot of all Christians.
What does Paul want to happen to Christians?
He wants them to “possess their possessions” - to know what is theirs in Christ and to live in light of it.
He wants them to know the peace, hope, and joy in God’s love which are the Christian’s birthright.
“Think of what you know of God through the gospel, says Paul, and apply it. Think against your feelings; argue yourself out of the gloom they have spread; unmask the unbelief they have nourished; take yourself in hand, talk to yourself, make yourself look up from your problems to the God of the gospel; let evangelical thinking correct emotional thinking.” - J. I. Packer
“What then shall we say in response to these things?” Paul provides us with four thoughts...
 
If God Is For Us
 
“If God is for us, who is against us?”
No opposition can finally crush us.
The adequacy of God as our sovereign protector“This is the God who showed his sovereignty by bringing Abraham out of Ur, Israel out of captivity in Egypt and later in Babylon, and Jesus out of the grave; and who shows the same sovereignty still every time he raises a sinner to spiritual life out of spiritual death.” - J. I. Packer
The decisiveness of his covenant commitment to us
“This covenant relationship is the basis of all biblical religion: when worshipers say “my God,” and God says “my people,” covenant language is being talked. - J. I. Packer
What was Paul’s purpose in asking this question: “If God is for us, who is against us?”
He is countering fear - the timid Christian’s fear of the forces which he feels are massed against him.
Paul knows that sooner or later this becomes a problem for every Christian.
“Think! says Paul in effect. God is for you; you see what that means; now reckon up who is against you, and ask yourself how the two sides compare.” - J. I. Packer
“You will find in thus knowing God as your sovereign protector, irrevocably committed to you in the covenant of grace, both freedom from fear and new strength for the fight.” - J. I. Packer
No Good Thing Withheld
 
“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”
No good thing will finally be withheld from us.
The adequacy of God as our sovereign benefactor
The decisiveness of his redeeming work for us
The costliness of our redemption - “He did not spare his own Son."
“In saving us, God went to the limit. What more could he have given for us? What more had he to give?” - J. I. Packer
 
“So if God has already commended his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us (5:8), it is believable, to say the least, that he will go on to give us “all things” besides.” - J. I. Packer
The effectiveness of our redemption - “God gave him up for us all.”
“This fact is itself the guarantee that “all things” will be given us, because they all come to us as the direct fruit of Christ’s death.” - J. I. Packer
 
“The unity of God’s saving purpose makes such further giving necessary, and therefore certain.” - J. I. Packer
 
“The New Testament view is that the death of Christ has actually saved “us all”—all, that is to say, whom God foreknew, and has called and justified, and will in due course glorify. For our faith, which from the human point of view is the means of salvation, is from God’s point of view part of salvation, and is as directly and completely God’s gift to us as is the pardon and peace of which faith lays hold.” - J. I. Packer
 
“Psychologically, faith is our own act, but the theological truth about it is that it is God’s work in us: our faith, and our new relationship with God as believers, and all the divine gifts that are enjoyed within this relationship, were all alike secured for us by Jesus’ death on the cross. For the cross was not an isolated event; it was, rather, the focal point in God’s eternal plan to save his elect, and it ensured and guaranteed first the calling (the bringing to faith, through the gospel in the mind and the Holy Spirit in the heart), and then the justification, and finally the glorification, of all for whom, specifically and personally, Christ died.” - J. I. Packer
 
“The saving purpose of God, from eternal election to final glory, is one, and it is vital for both our understanding and our assurance that we should not lose sight of the links that bind together its various stages and parts.” - J. I. Packer
The consequences of our redemption - “God will give us all things.”
“We are unlike the Christians of New Testament times. Our approach to life is conventional and static; theirs was not. The thought of “safety first” was not a drag on their enterprise as it is on ours. By being exuberant, unconventional and uninhibited in living by the gospel they turned their world upside down, but you could not accuse us twentieth-century Christians of doing anything like that. Why are we so different? Why, compared with them, do we appear as no more than halfway Christians? Whence comes the nervous, dithery, take-no-risks mood that mars so much of our discipleship? Why are we not free enough from fear and anxiety to allow ourselves to go full stretch in following Christ? One reason, it seems, is that in our heart of hearts we are afraid of the consequences of going the whole way into the Christian life.” - J. I. Packer
“It is these half-conscious fears, this dread of insecurity, rather than any deliberate refusal to face the cost of following Christ, which make us hold back. We feel that the risks of out-and-out discipleship are too great for us to take. In other words, we are not persuaded of the adequacy of God to provide for all the needs of those who launch out wholeheartedly on the deep sea of unconventional living in obedience to the call of Christ. Therefore, we feel obliged to break the first commandment just a little, by withdrawing a certain amount of our time and energy from serving God in order to serve mammon. This, at bottom, seems to be what is wrong with us. We are afraid to go all the way in accepting the authority of God, because of our secret uncertainty as to his adequacy to look after us if we do.” - J. I. Packer
"Paul’s “all things” is not a plethora of material possessions, and the passion for possessions has to be cast out of us in order to let the “all things” in. For this phrase has to do with knowing and enjoying God, and not with anything else. The meaning of “he will give us all things” can be put thus: one day we shall see that nothing—literally nothing—which could have increased our eternal happiness has been denied us, and that nothing—literally nothing—that could have reduced that happiness has been left with us. What higher assurance do we want than that?” - J. I. Packer

"Christians during a Crisis" (Romans 12:9-21)

"Christians during a Crisis" (Romans 12:9-21)Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Sunday AM, April 26, 2020
Romans 12:9–21 (NIV)
9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”  says the Lord. 20 On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” 
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Sincere in Love
“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.” (Romans 12:9, NIV)
Love that is genuine
Love that is properly motivated
Love that is put into action
Serious about Holiness
“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.” (Romans 12:9, NIV)
Hating Evil
Loving Good
Main Idea: During difficult times, Christians must devote themselves to sincere love and serious holiness.

Knowing God by J. I. Packer - "These Inward Trials" (Chapter 21)

Knowing God by J. I. Packer
“These Inward Trials” (Chapter 21)
A well-meaning, but inaccurate application of the gospel, can cause disastrous results in the lives of new converts and immature Christians.
A gospel that promises too much—freedom from sin and temptation, resolution of relationship conflicts, overcoming fear and depression, etc.—is, at best, an imbalanced presentation of the Christian life, and, at worst, a gross distortion of the gospel that leads to false conversions and apostacy.
Misapplied Doctrines
The gospel does bring power over temptation and sin.
The gospel does produce the fruit of joy and peace through the Holy Spirit.
The gospel does bring us the abiding relationship with God our Father.
The gospel can help us restore broken marriages, families, and relationships.
But, to promise all of these things without the accompanying reality that the Christian life is also a struggle against temptation, the world, the flesh, and the devil and a daily taking up of our cross to follow Jesus on the road of suffering is to misrepresent biblical teaching.
A convert to Christianity who is drawn in with these false hopes is quickly disillusioned when the actual Christian life is harder to trod than anticipated. This person often falls away, revealing a false conversion.
Matthew 13:3–6 NIV3Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.
Matthew 13:20–21 NIV20The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.
God often is very gentle with very young Christians. Their Christian life may begin with great emotional joy, striking providences, answers to prayer, and fruitfulness in their witness.
But as they grow stronger, and are able to bear more, he exercises them in a tougher school, including testing, opposition, discouragements, and weakness.
Through these more difficult experiences, he builds our character, strengthens our faith, and prepares us to help others.
He glorifies himself in our lives causing us to depend upon him, making his strength perfect in our weakness.
“There is nothing unnatural, therefore, in an increase of temptations, conflicts and pressures as the Christian goes on with God—indeed, something would be wrong if it did not happen.” - J. I. Packer
Wrong Remedy
Those who “oversell” the gospel, painting only a rosy picture of the Christian life, also apply the wrong remedy when things do not happen as expected, only making the problem worse.
Struggles, temptations, loss of joy, discouragement, etc. are diagnosed as failures caused by a lack of “consecration” and “faith.”
So, the struggling new Christian, is counseled to find, confess, and forsake his defection; to reconsecrate himself to Christ and maintain his consecration daily.
Having done this, he is promised once again, a return to the mountain-top, victorious Christian life.
In all error, there is always a mixture of truth. And the truth is that deliberate sin will cause a believer’s joy, rest of heart, and peace to ebb.
But struggle, fighting against sin, wrestling with the flesh, and encountering times of discouragement, are a normal part of the Christian life, and not in themselves a mark of waywardness or rebellion.
The presence of troubles, struggle, increased temptation, etc. is not necessarily an indication of failure on the believer’s part to maintain consecration to Christ. It more than likely is God’s exercising his child to become more mature and complete in Christ.
So, added to the imbalance of promising an over-inflated and rosy picture of the Christian life is the false remedy of bondage to self-introspection and guilt over “lack of consecration” when the Christian life is an uphill climb.
 
“It sentences devoted Christians to a treadmill life of hunting each day for nonexistent failures in consecration, in the belief that if only they could find some such failures to confess and forsake they could recover an experience of spiritual infancy which God means them now to leave behind. Thus it not only produces spiritual regression and unreality; it sets them at cross-purposes with their God, who has taken from them the carefree glow of spiritual babyhood, with its huge chuckles and contented passivity, precisely in order that he may lead them into an experience that is more adult and mature.”
Losing Sight of Grace
 
What is wrong with this teaching?
Fails to grasp NT teaching on sanctification and Christian warfare.
Does not understand the meaning of growth in grace.
Does not understand the operation of indwelling sin.
Confuses the Christian life on earth with the Christian life as it will be in heaven.
Misconceives the psychology of Christian obedience (Spirit-prompted activity, not Spirit-prompted passivity).
It loses sight of the method and purpose of grace.
What is grace?
God’s love in action toward people who merited the opposite of love.
There is both a will of grace and a work of grace. The will of grace is God’s eternal plan to save. The work of grace is God’s “good work in you” (Phil 1:6).
Grace includes, then, not only God’s purpose, but also his work of actually making us into children of God.
What is the purpose of grace?
Primarily, to restore our relationship with God.
God forgives our sins in order that we may live in fellowship with him.
God renews our nature in order to lead us into the exercise of love, trust, delight, hope, and obedience toward God.
The work of grace aims at an even deeper knowledge of God and an ever closer fellowship with him.
Grace is God drawing us sinners closer and closer to himself.
How does God fulfill this purpose of grace?
Not by shielding us from assault by the world, the flesh, and the evil.
Not by protecting us from burdensome and frustrating circumstances.
Not by shielding us from troubles created by our own temperament and psychology.
He exposes “us to all these things, so as to overwhelm us with a sense of our own inadequacy, and to drive us to cling to him more closely. This is the ultimate reason, from our standpoint, why God fills our lives with troubles and perplexities of one sort and another: it is to ensure that we shall learn to hold him fast.” - J. I. Packer
“God wants us to feel that our way through life is rough and perplexing, so that we may learn thankfully to lean on him. Therefore he takes steps to drive us out of self-confidence to trust in himself...” - J. I. Packer
The God Who Restores
It is God’s pattern and purpose to use our sins and mistakes to mature us in Christ. “He employs the educative discipline of failures and mistakes very frequently.”
The Bible is filled with examples of his people sinning and God chastening them for it.
“But the point to stress is that the human mistake, and the immediate divine displeasure, were in no case the end of the story.” - J. I. Packer
“God can bring good out of the extremes of our own folly; God can restore the years that the locust has eaten.” - J. I. Packer
“Unreality in religion is an accursed thing… Unreality toward God is the wasting disease of much modern Christianity. We need God to make us realists about both ourselves and him.” - J. I. Packer
John Newton:
 
I asked the Lord, that I might grow
   In faith, and love, and every grace;
Might more of His salvation know,
   And seek more earnestly His face.
 
I hoped that in some favoured hour
   At once He’d answer my request,
And by His love’s constraining power
   Subdue my sins, and give me rest.
 
Instead of this, He made me feel
   The hidden evils of my heart;
And let the angry powers of hell
   Assault my soul in every part.
 
Yea more, with His own hand He seemed
   Intent to aggravate my woe;
Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,
   Blasted my gourds, and laid me low.
 
“Lord, why is this?” I trembling cried,
   “Wilt thou pursue Thy worm to death?”
“’Tis in this way,” the Lord replied,
   “I answer prayer for grace and faith.
 
“These inward trials I employ
   From self and pride to set thee free;
And break thy schemes of earthly joy,
   That thou may’st seek thy all in me.”

"The LORD Our Refuge" (Psalm 16)

"The LORD Our Refuge" (Psalm 16)
Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Sunday AM, April 19, 2020
Psalm 16 (NIV)
A miktam of David.
1 Keep me safe, my God,
for in you I take refuge.
2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing.”
3 I say of the holy people who are in the land,
“They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.”
4 Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more.
I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods
or take up their names on my lips.
5 Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup;
you make my lot secure.
6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.
7 I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
8 I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,
10 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
nor will you let your faithful one see decay.
11 You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
Overview
A song of trust and confession of faith
A miktam of David
The LORD is worthy of our exclusive loyalty, because he alone is God (Psalm 16:1-4).
Only the LORD can be our refuge (Psalm 16:1).
Psalm 16:1 NIV
1Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge.
Only the LORD is to be worshiped (Psalm 16:2-4).
Confession of Faith (Psalm 16:2).
Psalm 16:2 NIV
2I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.”
Community of Faith (Psalm 16:3).
Psalm 16:3 NIV
3I say of the holy people who are in the land, “They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.”
Corruption of the Faith (Psalm 16:4).
Psalm 16:4 NIV
4Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more. I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods or take up their names on my lips.
The LORD is worthy of our praise, because he has abundantly blessed us (Psalm 16:5-8).
The Blessing of God Himself (Psalm 16:5).
Psalm 16:5 NIV
5LORD, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure.
The Blessing of Provision (Psalm 16:6).
Psalm 16:6 NIV
6The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.
The Blessing of Wisdom (Psalm 16:7).
Psalm 16:7 NIV
7I will praise the LORD, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me.
The Blessing of Peace (Psalm 16:8).
Psalm 16:8 NIV
8I keep my eyes always on the LORD. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
The LORD is worthy of our abiding trust, because he will never abandon us (Psalm 16:9-11).
Complete trust in the LORD brings joy (Psalm 16:9, 11).
Psalm 16:9 NIV
9Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure,
Psalm 16:11 NIV
11You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
Complete trust in the LORD brings security (Psalm 16:9).
Psalm 16:9 NIV
9Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure,
Complete trust in the LORD brings hope (Psalm 16:10-11).
Psalm 16:10–11 NIV
10 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay. 11You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
Main Idea: The LORD alone is worthy of our worship, praise, and trust, because he alone is our security, provision, and hope.

Knowing God by J. I. Packer - "Thou Our Guide" (Chapter 20)

Knowing God by J. I. Packer
“Thou Our Guide” (Chapter 20)
 
Divine guidance has either been ignored or doubted because of the influence of modern notions about God, or it has been misunderstood by Christians leading to unnecessary anxiety.
 
God Has a Plan
 
Belief in divine guidance rests on two foundational facts:
The reality of God’s plan for us
The ability of God to communicate with us
Does God have a plan for individuals?
He does.
God has an eternal purpose for all things and all people (Eph 1:10-11).
God has a gracious eternal purpose for his redeemed people (Rom 8:28-30).
Can God communicate his plan to us?
He can.
Our God is a communicative God, exemplified countless times in the Scriptures.
Scripture contains explicit promises of divine guidance, whereby we may know God’s plan for our action.
God promises to give wisdom to those who sincerely ask in faith (James 1:5).
We are children of God. What father does not counsel or guide his children?
Scripture is God’s Word to us, for our teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness (2 Tim 3:16-17).
We have the Holy Spirit as our indwelling Instructor.
God seeks glory through our lives, so it stands to reason that God would guide us to obey his will so as to receive glory through us.
“It is impossible to doubt that guidance is a reality intended for, and promised to, every child of God. Christians who miss it thereby show only that they did not seek it as they should. It is right, therefore, to be concerned about one’s own receptiveness to guidance, and to study how to seek it.” - J. I. Packer
How We Receive Guidance
 
The question is not whether or not God guides us as his children; the proper question is how God guides. “Earnest Christians seeking guidance often go wrong.”
 
Why do Christians often go astray in their pursuit of God’s guidance?
A distorted conception of the nature and method of divine guidance.
They overlook the guidance that is ready at hand and open themselves up to all sorts of delusions.
“Their basic mistake is to think of guidance as essentially inward prompting by the Holy Spirit, apart from the written Word.” - J. I. Packer
How do thoughtful Christians make this mistake?
They hear “guidance” and immediately think of a particular class of “guidance problems,” which may be termed “vocational choices” — choices between competing options, all of which in themselves appear lawful and good.
Should I marry or remain single?
Whom should I marry?
Where should I go to college?
What vocation should I choose?
Where should I live?
What church should I join?
These are obviously important questions that deserve our attention, but the mistake is jump to the conclusion that all guidance problems are of this one type of “vocational choices.”
Two features about divine guidance in the case of “vocational choices” are distinctive:
These problems cannot be resolved by a direct application of biblical teaching.
So, because Scripture cannot directly decide the issue, people fall back to inward promptings and inclinations that give their minds a settled peace and therefore decide the issue on this basis, assuming that these inward promptings and inclinations are God-given and revelatory.
“The consequences of this mistake among earnest Christians have been both comic and tragic. The idea of a life in which the inward voice of the Spirit decides and directs everything sounds most attractive, for it seems to exalt the Spirit’s ministry and to promise the closest intimacy with God; but in practice this quest for superspirituality leads only to frantic bewilderment or lunacy.” - J. I. Packer
Those who adopt this mystical pursuit of guidance through inward impressions and promptings fail to grasp that the fundamental mode whereby our rational Creator guides his rational creatures is by rational understanding and application of his written Word.
“The true way to honor the Holy Spirit as our guide is to honor the holy Scriptures through which he guides us.” - J. I. Packer
“The fundamental guidance which God gives to shape our lives—the instilling, that is, of the basic convictions, attitudes, ideals and value judgments, in terms of which we are to live—is not a matter of inward promptings apart from the Word but of the pressure on our consciences of the portrayal of God’s character and will in the Word, which the Spirit enlightens us to understand and apply to ourselves.” - J. I. Packer
“The basic form of divine guidance, therefore, is the presentation to us of positive ideals as guidelines for all our living.” - J. I. Packer
“‘Turn from evil and do good’ (Psalm 34:14; 37:27)—this is the highway along which the Bible is concerned to lead us, and all its admonitions are concerned to keep us on it.” - J. I. Packer
“The reference to being ‘led by the Spirit’ in Romans 8:14 relates not to inward ‘voices’ or any such experience, but to mortifying known sin and not living after the flesh!” - J. I. Packer
Any inward thoughts and promptings that we have must be judged and evaluated on the basis of the revealed, written Word of God. “The Spirit leads within the limits which the Word sets, not beyond them.”
Six Common Pitfalls
Even with the right ideas about guidance in general, it is still easy to go wrong. Even regenerate human nature is open to inward deception of the heart.
Unwillingness to think.
Unwillingness to think ahead.
Unwillingness to take advice.
Unwillingness to suspect oneself.
Unwillingness to discount personal magnetism.
Unwillingness to wait.
No Simple Answers
Choosing the correct path does not guarantee a smooth road. Encountering obstacles and pitfalls along the way is not a sure indication that one has taken the wrong path.
Encountering troubles and trials is always an opportunity to assess our lives and the path we have chosen, but it does not immediately follow that the existence of troubles is a sure sign of sin or error.
Trouble is not necessarily a sign of being off track at all; for as the Bible declares in general that “many are the afflictions of the righteous” (Ps 34:19).
Things that we may consider a bad decision and a waste of life or opportunity may be exactly where God wanted us all along.
We cannot properly assess the wisdom of the path we have chosen by the lack or presence of hardships we face.
Hindsight is not necessarily 20/20, because we can’t know all the possibilities of alternative courses of action. Only God can.
“And if you are thinking that you know the will of God for your life and you are anxious to do that, you are probably in for a very rude awakening because nobody knows the will of God for his entire life.” - Elisabeth Elliot in Knowing God by J. I. Packer
When We Miss the Road
What if we do miss the road? What if we did clearly make a wrong choice and take the wrong path?
Is the damage irrevocable? Have we completely messed up God’s will for our lives? Thank God, no.
“Our God is a God who not merely restores, but takes up our mistakes and follies into his plan for us and brings good out of them.” - J. I. Packer
“Guidance, like all God’s acts of blessing under the covenant of grace, is a sovereign act. Not merely does God will to guide us in the sense of showing us his way, that we may tread it; he wills also to guide us in the more fundamental sense of ensuring that, whatever happens, whatever mistakes we may make, we shall come safely home. Slippings and strayings there will be, no doubt, but the everlasting arms are beneath us; we shall be caught, rescued, restored. This is God’s promise; this is how good he is.” - J. I. Packer

"Resurrection and Reunion" (Easter 2020)

“Resurrection and Reunion”Pastor Cameron JungelsEastside Baptist ChurchEaster Sunday AM, April 12, 2020
We are designed to be in fellowship and close relationship with one another and with God.
All human beings are designed to be in close relationship with other human beings.
The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." (Gen. 2:18 NIV)
A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need. (Prov. 17:17 NLT)
Human beings are designed to be in close relationship with their Creator God.
Sin has alienated us from one another and from God.
The penalty for sin, death, completely separates us from one another and from God.
Resurrection results in reunion.
The Bible actually speaks of two kinds of resurrection:
Resurrection from spiritual death reconciles us to God and begins to restore our broken relationships with one another.
24 "Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. 25 Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. (Jn. 5:24­–26 NIV)
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, (1 Pet. 1:3 NIV)
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. (Eph. 2:13 NIV)
21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation-- (Col. 1:21-22 NIV)
Resurrection from physical death reunites us with the whole family of God and with the full presence of God—Father, Son, and Spirit.
But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. (1 Cor. 15:20 NIV)
And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. (Col. 1:18 NIV)
29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. (Rom. 8:29-30 NIV)
13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord's word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. (1 Thess. 4:13-17 NIV)
Main Idea: The resurrection of Jesus Christ restores our fellowship with one another and with God and one day will reunite us with one another and with our God.

"Jesus the Cornerstone" (Matthew 21:33-46)

"Jesus the Cornerstone" (Matthew 21:33-46)Pastor Cameron JungelsEastside Baptist ChurchWednesday PM, April 8, 2020
Matthew 21:33–46 (NIV)
33 “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. 34 When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.
35 “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. 36 Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. 37 Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.
38 “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ 39 So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
40 “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”
41 “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”
42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
“ ‘The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
43 “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. 44 Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.” 
45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. 46 They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.

"A King on a Donkey" (Zechariah 9:1-17)

"A King on a Donkey" (Zechariah 9)Pastor Cameron JungelsEastside Baptist ChurchPalm Sunday, April 5, 2020
Matthew 21:1–11 (NIV)
21 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”
4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
5 “Say to Daughter Zion,
‘See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ” 
6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,
“Hosanna to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” 
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”
11 The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
1. The LORD will triumph in victory over the enemies of his people (Zechariah 9:1-8).
Zechariah 9:1–8 (NIV)
9 A prophecy:
The word of the Lord is against the land of Hadrak
and will come to rest on Damascus—
for the eyes of all people and all the tribes of Israel
are on the Lord—
2 and on Hamath too, which borders on it,
and on Tyre and Sidon, though they are very skillful.
3 Tyre has built herself a stronghold;
she has heaped up silver like dust,
and gold like the dirt of the streets.
4 But the Lord will take away her possessions
and destroy her power on the sea,
and she will be consumed by fire.
5 Ashkelon will see it and fear;
Gaza will writhe in agony,
and Ekron too, for her hope will wither.
Gaza will lose her king
and Ashkelon will be deserted.
6 A mongrel people will occupy Ashdod,
and I will put an end to the pride of the Philistines.
7 I will take the blood from their mouths,
the forbidden food from between their teeth.
Those who are left will belong to our God
and become a clan in Judah,
and Ekron will be like the Jebusites.
8 But I will encamp at my temple
to guard it against marauding forces.
Never again will an oppressor overrun my people,
for now I am keeping watch.
a. The LORD will defeat his foes (vv. 1-6).
b. The LORD will deliver a remnant (v. 7).
Zechariah 9:7 NIV7 I will take the blood from their mouths, the forbidden food from between their teeth. Those who are left will belong to our God and become a clan in Judah, and Ekron will be like the Jebusites.
c. The LORD will defend his people (v. 8).
Zechariah 9:8 NIV8 But I will encamp at my temple to guard it against marauding forces. Never again will an oppressor overrun my people, for now I am keeping watch.
2. The LORD will install his Messianic King in Jerusalem (Zechariah 9:9-10).
Zechariah 9:9–10 NIV9 Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 10 I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the warhorses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.
3. The LORD will renew and restore his covenant people (Zechariah 9:11-17).
Zechariah 9:11–17 (NIV)
11 As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit.
12 Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope;
even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you.
13 I will bend Judah as I bend my bow
and fill it with Ephraim.
I will rouse your sons, Zion,
against your sons, Greece,
and make you like a warrior’s sword.
14 Then the Lord will appear over them;
his arrow will flash like lightning.
The Sovereign Lord will sound the trumpet;
he will march in the storms of the south,
15 and the Lord Almighty will shield them.
They will destroy
and overcome with slingstones.
They will drink and roar as with wine;
they will be full like a bowl
used for sprinkling the corners of the altar.
16 The Lord their God will save his people on that day
as a shepherd saves his flock.
They will sparkle in his land
like jewels in a crown.
17 How attractive and beautiful they will be!
Grain will make the young men thrive,
and new wine the young women.
Matthew 21:1–9 (NIV)
21 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”
4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
5 “Say to Daughter Zion,
‘See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ” 
6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,
“Hosanna to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” 
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
Main Idea: The Triumphal Entry of Christ into Jerusalem marks the dawn of the age of the Messianic King, which will ultimately culminate in the Lord's complete victory and the restoration of his people.

Knowing God by J. I. Packer - "Sons of God" (Chapter 19, part 2)

Knowing God by J. I. Packer“Sons of God” (Chapter 19, part 2)
What is a Christian?
A Christian is one who has God as Father.
A New Relationship
Adoption: The Highest Privilege
Adoption: The Basis for Our Life
Christian Conduct
Adoption is the basis of Christian conduct.
Christian Prayer
Adoption is the basis of Christian prayer.
The Life of Faith
What Our Adoption Shows Us
Propitiation only occurs four times in the NT, but it is fundamentally important, as being the nucleus and focal point of the whole NT teaching on the saving work of Christ.
The word adoption only occurs three times in the NT with reference to our present relationship to God in Christ (Rom 8:15; Gal 4:5; Eph 1:5). Yet the concept of adoption is the nucleus and focal point of the whole NT teaching on the Christian life.
The focus of the NT message: adoption through propitiation.
God’s Love: Our adoption shows us the greatness of God’s love.
Two biblical ways to measure God’s love:
The cross of Christ
The gift of sonship
1 John 3:1 NIV1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
In the ancient world, a well-to-do childless man would adopt a young adult who had shown himself to be worthy of carrying on the family name. God does not adopt us in this way. Just the opposite, he adopts us out of his free love, not because our character and record show us to be worthy to bear his name.
“Adoption, by its very nature, is an art of free kindness to the person adopted. If you become a father by adopting a son or daughter, you do so because you choose to, not because you are bound to. Similarly, God adopts because he chooses to. He had no duty to do so.” - J. I. Packer
God’s adoptive grace does not stop with the initial act of adoption. The establishing of the child’s status as a member of the family is only the beginning. The Father continues to show love to us by which he wins our love. “The prospect before the adopted children of God is an eternity of love.”
“It is like a fairy story—the reigning monarch adopts waifs and strays to make princes of them. But, praise God, it is not a fairy story: it is hard and solid fact, founded on the bedrock of free and sovereign grace.” - J. I. Packer
Hope: Our adoption shows us the glory of the Christian hope.
New Testament Christianity is a religion of hope, a faith that looks forward.
Our Christian adoption teaches us to think of our hope not as a possibility or as a likelihood, but as a guaranteed certainty, because it is a promised inheritance.
God’s adoption of us makes us his heirs, and so guarantees to us, as our right (we might say), the inheritance that he has in store for us.
The doctrine of adoption tells us that the sum and substance of our promised inheritance is a share in the glory of Christ.
We shall be made like our elder brother at every point, and sin and mortality, the double corruption of God’s good work in the moral and spiritual spheres respectively, will be things of the past.
This likeness will extend to our physical being as well as our mind and character.
Romans 8:23 NIV23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.
When we think of Jesus exalted in glory, in the fullness of the joy for which he endured the cross, we should always remind ourselves that everything he has will someday be shared with us, for it is our inheritance no less than his; we are among the“many sons” whom God is bringing to glory (Heb 2:10), and God’s promise to us and his work in us are not going to fail.
The doctrine of adoption tells us that the experience of heaven will be of a family gathering.
...as the great host of the redeemed meet together in face-to-face fellowship with their Father-God and Jesus their brother. This is the deepest and clearest idea of heaven that the Bible gives us.
What will make heaven to be heaven is the presence of Jesus, and of a reconciled divine Father who loves us for Jesus’ sake no less than he loves Jesus himself. To see, and know, and love, and be loved by, the Father and the Son, in company with the rest of God’s vast family, is the whole essence of the Christian hope.
The Spirit: Our adoption gives us the key to understanding the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Too many have a confused understanding of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Rather than being content with the biblical description of his ministry, they seek that which is experiential, radical, mystical—something they can feel.
This quest for an inward explosion rather than an inward communion shows deep misunderstanding of the Spirit’s ministry.
The vital truth to be grasped here is that the Spirit is given to Christians as “the Spirit of adoption,” and in all his ministry to Christians he acts as the Spirit of adoption.
His task and purpose throughout is to make Christians realize with increasing clarity the meaning of their filial relationship with God in Christ, and to lead them into an ever deeper response to God in this relationship.
By considering the Spirit’s ministry through him being the “Spirit of adoption,” his work has three aspects:
He makes us and keeps us conscious that we are God’s children by free grace through Jesus Christ.
He moves us to look to God as to a father, showing toward him the respectful boldness and unlimited trust that is natural to children secure in an adored father’s love.
He impels us to act up to our position as royal children by manifesting the family likeness (conforming to Christ), furthering the family welfare (loving the brethren) and maintaining the family honor (seeking God’s glory). This is his work of sanctification.
“So it is not as we strain after feelings and experiences but as we seek God himself, looking to him as our Father, prizing his fellowship, and finding in ourselves an increasing concern to know and please him, that the reality of the Spirit’s ministry becomes visible in our lives.” - J. I. Packer
Holiness: Our adoption shows us the meaning and motives of “gospel holiness.”
“Gospel Holiness” vs. “Legal Holiness”
“Gospel Holiness” - authentic Christian living, springing from love and gratitude to God.
“Legal Holiness” - consisting merely of forms, routines and outward appearances, maintained from self-regarding motives.
“Gospel Holiness”
Consistently living out our filial relationship with God into which the gospel brings us. It is the expressing of one’s adoption into the family of God. A child of God living as a child of God, true to his Father, to his Savior, and to himself.
The adoptive relationship, which displays God’s grace so vividly, itself provides the motive for this authentically holy living.
We live like a daughter or son of God, because we are a son or daughter of God.
1 John 3:1–3 NIV1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
“The children know that holiness is their Father’s will for them, and that it is both a means, condition, and constituent of their happiness, here and hereafter; and because they love their Father they actively seek the fulfilling of his beneficent purpose.” - J. I. Packer
The Father’s discipline is a loving part of the process of moving us toward holiness, which is our ultimate destiny.
Hebrews 12:6–7 NIV6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” 7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?
Hebrews 12:11 NIV11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
Adoption into the family of God for the purpose of gospel holiness helps us better understand Romans 8:28.
Romans 8:28 NIV28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Adoption into the family of God for the purpose of gospel holiness also helps us better understand the place of obedience in the Christian life.
“Justification frees one forever from the need to keep the law, or try to, as the means of earning life, it is equally true that adoption lays on one the abiding obligation to keep the law, as the means of pleasing one’s newfound Father. Law-keeping is the family likeness of God’s children...” - J. I. Packer
Assurance: Our adoption gives the clue we need to see our way through the problem of assurance.
What is assurance?
Whom does God assure?—all believers, some or none?
When he assures, what does he assure of?
And by what means is assurance given?
If God in love has made Christians his children, and if he is perfect as a Father, two things would seem to follow:
The family relationship must be an abiding one, lasting forever. Perfect parents do not cast off their children. Christians may act the prodigal, but God will not cease to act the prodigal’s father.
Romans 8:29–30 NIV29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
God will go out of his way to make his children feel his love for them and know their privilege and security as members of his family. Adopted children need assurance that they belong, and a perfect parent will not withhold it.
Romans 8:16–17 NIV16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
The witness of our spirit becomes a reality as “the Holy Spirit enables us to ascertain our sonship, from being conscious of, and discovering in ourselves, the true marks of a renewed state.” - Robert Haldane (quoted in J. I. Packer, Knowing God)
This is inferential assurance, being a conclusion drawn from the fact that one knows the gospel, trusts Christ, brings forth works meet for repentance, and manifests the instincts of a regenerate man.
“The Holy Spirit testifies to our spirit in a distinct and immediate testimony, and also with our spirit in a concurrent testimony.” - Robert Haldane (quoted in J. I. Packer, Knowing God)
This is immediate assurance, the direct work of the Spirit in the regenerate heart, coming in to supplement the God-prompted witness of our own spirit.
“So the truth about assurance comes out like this: Our heavenly Father intends his children to know his love for them, and their own security in his family. He would not be the perfect Father if he did not want this, and if he did not act to bring it about. His action takes the form of making the dual witness that we have described part of the regular experience of his children. Thus he leads them to rejoice in his love.” - J. I. Packer
We may strengthen the inferential aspect of our assurance by making use of the doctrinal and ethical criteria of 1 John.
The source of our assurance, however, is not our inferences as such, but the work of the Spirit, convincing us that we are God’s children and that the saving love and promises of God apply directly to us.
The Great Secret
The doctrine of adoption has not received the attention it deserves in our thinking on the Christian life.
“Do I, as a Christian, understand myself? Do I know my own real identity? My own real destiny? I am a child of God. God is my Father; heaven is my home; every day is one day nearer. My Savior is my brother; every Christian is my brother too.” - J. I. Packer
Do I understand my adoption? Do I value it? Do I daily remind myself of my privilege as a child of God?
Have I sought full assurance of my adoption? Do I daily dwell on the love of God to me?
Do I treat God as my Father in heaven, loving, honoring and obeying him, seeking and welcoming his fellowship, and trying in everything to please him, as a human parent would want his child to do?
Do I think of Jesus Christ, my Savior and my Lord, as my brother too, bearing to me not only a divine authority but also a divine-human sympathy? Do I think daily how close he is to me, how completely he understands me, and how much, as my kinsman-redeemer, he cares for me?
Have I learned to hate the things that displease my Father? Am I sensitive to the evil things to which he is sensitive? Do I make a point of avoiding them, lest I grieve him?
Do I look forward daily to that great family occasion when the children of God will finally gather in heaven before the throne of God, their Father, and of the Lamb, their brother and their Lord? Have I felt the thrill of this hope?
Do I love my Christian brothers and sisters with whom I live day by day, in a way that I shall not be ashamed of when in heaven I think back over it?
Am I proud of my Father, and of his family, to which by his grace I belong?
Does the family likeness appear in me? If not, why not?

"Citizens of Heaven" (Philippians 3:20–21)

"Citizens of Heaven" (Philippians 3:20–21)Pastor Cameron JungelsEastside Baptist ChurchSunday AM, March 29, 2020
Philippians 3:20–21 NIV20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
1. A Christian’s true citizenship is in heaven.
​     Two unhealthy ways we focus our attention on the world:
Desire - coveting the world’s pleasures
Distress - fearing the world’s troubles​
Colossians 3:1 NIV1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
2. A Christian’s sure hope is a returning Savior.
Philippians 2:11 NIV11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
3. A Christian’s steadfast confidence is in a sovereign Lord.
4. A Christian’s certain future is a resurrected, glorified existence.
Main Idea: A Christian need not fear uncertain or troubling circumstances, because we have a sovereign Lord and Savior, who is coming again to glorify us and bring us to our true home.

"The LORD our Help" (Psalm 121)

"The LORD our Help" (Psalm 121)Pastor Cameron JungelsEastside Baptist ChurchSunday, March 22, 2020
Psalm 121 (NIV)
A song of ascents.
1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord watches over you—
the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.
1. The LORD is our source of help; therefore, we should look to him (vv. 1-2).
2. The LORD is our vigilant help who never fails to watch over us (vv. 3-4).3. The Lord is our protector who ensures the safety of his people (vv. 5-6).4. The Lord is faithful and eternal, and he will never stop caring for us (vv. 7-8).Main Idea: In times of trouble and uncertainty, we may trust the LORD, who is our vigilant, faithful, protecting helper.

Knowing God by J. I. Packer - "Sons of God" (Chapter 19, part 1)

Knowing God by J. I. Packer“Sons of God” (Chapter 19)
What is a Christian?
A Christian is one who has God as Father.
Everyone is a creature of God by creation, but not everyone is a child of God by redemption.
“Sonship to God is not, therefore, a universal status into which everyone enters by natural birth, but a supernatural gift which one receives through receiving Jesus.” - J. I. Packer
John 1:12–13 NIV12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
Sonship is a gift of grace. It is not a natural sonship, but an adoptive sonship.
Ephesians 1:5 NIV5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—
The revelation to the believer that God is his Father is in a sense the climax of the Bible.
In the OT, God revealed his covenant name as Yahweh, (the LORD). Holiness was the emphasis. The “fear of the LORD” was our proper response.
In the NT, God is still holy, but a new relationship has been emphasized. “Father” has become his covenant name and the name by which his people call him.
A New Relationship
Christians are his children, his own sons and daughters, his heirs.
“To those who are Christ’s, the holy God is a loving Father; they belong to his family; they may approach him without fear and always be sure of his fatherly concern and care. This is the heart of the New Testament message.” - J. I. Packer
Our comprehension of God as our Father need not be limited or distorted by our own experiences with our earthly fathers.
We all have an innate perception of what an ideal father would be, and the NT gives us clear testimony to the perfect fatherhood of God in relation to Jesus Christ.
God’s relationship as Father to us is meant to be a reflection and reproduction of God the Father’s own fellowship with Jesus, God the Son.
God’s fatherly relation to Jesus in John’s Gospel:
Fatherhood implied authority.
John 6:38 NIV38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.
Fatherhood implied affection.
John 5:20 NIV20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed.
Fatherhood implied fellowship.
John 8:29 NIV29 The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.”
Fatherhood implied honor.
John 17:1 NIV1 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.
John 5:22–23 NIV22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.
Each of these dimensions of fatherhood apply to us as believers as well:
We are to obey our heavenly Father.
We have fellowship with our heavenly Father through Jesus Christ.
Our Father loves us as his adopted children.
We are honored by our heavenly Father through our union with Christ.
John 12:26 NIV26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
Adoption: The Highest Privilege
A Formal Definition:“All those that are justified, God vouchsafeth, in and for His only Son Jesus Christ, to make partakers of the grace of adoption: by which they are taken into the number, and enjoy the liberties and privileges of the children of God; have His name put upon them, receive the Spirit of adoption; have access to the throne of grace with boldness; are enabled to cry, Abba, Father; are pitied, protected, provided for, and chastened by Him, as by a father; yet never cast off, but sealed to the day of redemption, and inherit the promises, as heirs of everlasting salvation.” WCF 12
Adoption is the highest privilege that the gospel offers, higher even than justification.
Justification—God’s forgiveness of the past together with his acceptance for the future—is the primary and fundamental blessing of the gospel.It is primary, because it meets our primary spiritual need: forgiveness of sins, rescue from God’s wrath, and reconciliation.
It is fundamental, because everything else in our salvation assumes it and rests on it.
But it can be argued that adoption is the highest blessing. Justification deals with our relationship with God as our Judge - legal.
Adoption deals with our relationship with God as our Father - familial.
Justification, in and of itself, does not imply any intimate or deep relationship with God the judge.
Adoption is a family idea, conceived in terms of love, and viewing God as father. Closeness, affection and generosity are at the heart of the relationship.
According to the Scriptures, pardon, acceptance, and adoption, are distinct privileges, the one rising above the other in the order in which they have been stated . . . while the first two properly belong to (the sinner’s) justification, as being both founded on the same relation—that of a Ruler and Subject—the third is radically distinct from them, as being founded on a nearer, more tender, and more endearing relation—that between a Father and his Son. . . . There is a manifest difference between the position of a servant and a friend—and also between that of a servant and a son. . . . A closer and dearer intimacy than that of a master and servant is said to subsist between Christ and His people: “Henceforth I call you not servants: for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends” (John 15:15); and a still closer and dearer relation is said to exist in consequence of adoption; for “Thou art no more a servant, but a son, and an heir of God through Christ” (Galatians 4:7). The privilege of adoption presupposes pardon and acceptance, but is higher than either; for, “To as many as received Him, to them gave he power”—not inward strength, but authority, right, or privilege—“to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (John 1:12). This is a higher privilege than of Justification, as being founded on a closer and more endearing relation—“Behold! what manner of love the Father hath bestowed on us, that we should be called the sons of God.” - James Buchanan, The Doctrine of Justification
Galatians 4:4–7 NIV4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.
Adoption is an abiding blessing. In God’s family there is absolute stability and security; the parent is entirely wise and good, and the child’s position is permanently assured.
Adoption: The Basis for Our Life
The entire Christian life has to be understood in terms of adoption. “Sonship” must be the controlling thought.
Just as Jesus always thought of himself as Son of God in a unique sense, so he always thought of his followers as children of his heavenly Father, members of the same divine family as himself.
John 20:17–18 NIV17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.
Just as the knowledge of his unique Sonship controlled Jesus’ living of his own life on earth, so he insists that the knowledge of our adoptive sonship must control our lives too.
The Sermon on the Mount: The Christian’s “Royal Family Code”
Christian Conduct
Adoption is the basis of Christian conduct.
“...the sermon teaches Christian conduct not by giving a full scheme of rules and a detailed casuistry, to be followed with mechanical precision, but by indicating in a broad and general way the spirit, direction and objectives, the guiding principles and ideals, by which the Christian must steer his course…precisely the kind of moral instruction that parents are constantly trying to give their children.” - J. I. Packer
Three Principles of Christian Family Conduct:
Imitate the Father.
Matthew 5:44–45 NIV44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
Matthew 5:48 NIV48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Glorify the Father.
Matthew 5:16 NIV16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
Please the Father.
Matthew 6:1 NIV 1 “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
Matthew 6:4 NIV4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Christian Prayer
Adoption is the basis of Christian prayer.
Matthew 6:9 NIV9 “This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
“Jesus could say to his Father, “You always hear me” (Jn 11:42), and he wants his disciples to know that, as God’s adopted children, the same is true of them. The Father is always accessible to his children and is never too preoccupied to listen to what they have to say. This is the basis of Christian prayer.” - J. I. Packer
Prayer must not be thought of in impersonal or mechanical terms, as a technique for putting pressure on someone who otherwise might disregard you.
Matthew 6:7–8 NIV7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
Prayer may be free and bold.
Matthew 7:7–11 NIV7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
God lovingly hears our prayers, but often he gives us what we should have asked for, rather than what we actually asked for, because he is a wise, loving Father.
The Life of Faith
Adoption is the basis of the life of faith—the life of trusting God for our needs as we put his kingdom and righteousness first.
Faith is not foolhardiness or presumption — there is a difference.
Faith is tested when disciples live for Christ in a hostile world.
Following Jesus may mean that we forfeit some measure of worldly security or prosperity, but Jesus reminds us of what our status as adopted children of God promises.
Matthew 6:25–26 NIV25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
Matthew 6:31–33 NIV31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.