Church Growth God’s Way

It is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. (Romans 9:8)

Picture the Old Testament Abraham as a pastor. The Lord says, “I will bless you and prosper your ministry.” But the church is barren and bears no children.

What does Abraham do? He begins to despair of supernatural intervention. He is getting old. His wife remains barren. So he decides to bring about God’s promised son without supernatural intervention. He has sex with Hagar his wife’s handmaid (Genesis 16:4). However, the result is not a “child of the promise,” but a “child of the flesh,” Ishmael.

God stuns Abraham by saying, “I will give you a son by her [your wife Sarah]” (Genesis 17:16). So Abraham cries out to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” (Genesis 17:18). He wants the work of his own natural, human effort to be the fulfillment of God’s promise. But God says, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son” (Genesis 17:19).

But Sarah is 90 years old. She has been barren all her life, and she has already passed through menopause (Genesis 18:11). Abraham is 100. The only hope for a child of promise is stunning, supernatural intervention.

That is what it means to be a “child of the promise” — to be born “not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13). The only children that count for children of God in this world are supernaturally begotten children of promise. In Galatians 4:28 Paul says, “You [Christians], like Isaac, are children of promise.” You are “born according to the Spirit,” not according to the flesh (Galatians 4:29).

Think of Abraham as a pastor again. His church is not growing the way he believes God promised. He is weary of waiting for supernatural intervention. He turns to the “Hagar” of mere human devices, and decides he can “attract people” without the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit.

However, it will not be a church of Isaacs, but Ishmaelites — children of the flesh, not children of God. God save us from this kind of fatal success. By all means work. But always look to the Lord for the decisive, supernatural work. “The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord” (Proverbs 21:31).

John Piper 

Bible Study

Romans 15:13

[13] May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

1 Thessalonians 1:5

[5] because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.

2 Peter 1:16

[16] For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

1 Corinthians 4:20

[20] For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power.

How Do You Know You’re Saved?

PRAY OVER THIS

“Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.” 1 John 3:24

 

PONDER THIS

Do you know the reason some Christians doubt their salvation? They don’t have the witness of the Spirit. How do you know you’re saved? Is it because a pastor or another person has told you that you’re saved? Or does God’s Spirit bear witness with your spirit that you’re a child of God? The ministry of the Holy Spirit is to give you joy, peace, understanding, wisdom, power, and grace to make Jesus Christ real to you. This goes beyond what we hear about God from others. This is God in your heart, bringing you into communion with Himself. This communion in the Greek is koinonia, which is used throughout 1 John.

Have you experienced the assurance of your salvation through the Holy Spirit? If you haven’t, how is God calling you to respond to Him today?

How does the Bible help us know what it looks like for the Holy Spirit to give us assurance of our salvation?

PRACTICE THIS

Read John 3:36; 5:24; and Romans 8:16-17 about assurance of belonging to God. Ask God to make it clear to you whether you belong to Him or not and to help you respond accordingly. 

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Six Things It Means to Be in Christ Jesus

[God] saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began. (2 Timothy 1:9)

Being “in Christ Jesus” is a stupendous reality. It is breathtaking to be united to Christ. Bound to Christ.

If you are “in Christ” listen to what it means for you:

In Christ Jesus you were given grace before the world was created. Second Timothy 1:9, “He gave us grace in Christ Jesus before the ages began.”

In Christ Jesus you were chosen by God before creation. Ephesians 1:4, “[God] chose us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world.”

In Christ Jesus you are loved by God with an inseparable love. Romans 8:38–39, “I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

In Christ Jesus you were redeemed and forgiven for all your sins. Ephesians 1:7, “In [Christ] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses.”

In Christ Jesus you are justified before God and the righteousness of God in Christ is imputed to you. Second Corinthians 5:21, “For our sake [God] made [Christ] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

In Christ Jesus you have become a new creation and a son of God. Second Corinthians 5:17, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” Galatians 3:26, “In Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.”

I pray that you will never grow weary of exploring and exulting in the inexhaustible privilege of being “in Christ Jesus.”

John Piper 

Bible Study

John 3:36

[36] Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

John 5:24

[24] Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

Romans 8:16-17

[16] The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, [17] and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

John 6:56-57

[56] Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. [57] As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me.

Are You Approaching God Unhindered?

PRAY OVER THIS

“And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.” 1 John 3:22

 

PONDER THIS

How do you get your prayers answered? Begin by having a good conscience—one that is clear before God. What does that do? It gives you a great confidence, and you can come to God and ask in His name for your prayer to be answered. Answered prayer is not for rebels. Answered prayer is not for those whose hearts are filled with hate. The Bible says, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear” (Psalm 66:18). That’s a prayer promise we don’t like to quote. Here’s an illustration. Have you ever read in 1 Peter 3:7 where Peter told husbands and wives how to dwell together as heirs of the grace of life? Peter went on to say the reason for this was so that their prayers may not be hindered. This is one example of what it looks like to live in such a way that our prayers are not hindered. All of God’s people are called to live this way, whatever their circumstances.

What needs to change for you to live with a clear conscience before God?

How does living with a clear conscience give you the confidence to come before God?

PRACTICE THIS

Take time today to confess before God anything you have held back from Him so that your conscience might be clear, and you might approach Him unhindered.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Forgiven for Jesus’s Sake

For your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great. (Psalm 25:11)

In knowing what is right, God does not consult any authority higher than himself. His own worth is the ultimate value in the universe. Therefore, for God to do what is right means acting in a way that accords with this ultimate value.

The righteousness of God is the infinite zeal and joy and pleasure that he has in what is supremely valuable, namely, his own perfection and worth. And if he were ever to act contrary to this eternal passion for his own perfections, he would be unrighteous — he would be an idolater.

How shall such a righteous God ever set his affection on sinners like us who have scorned his perfections? But the wonder of the gospel is that in his divine righteousness lies also the very foundation of our salvation.

The infinite regard that the Father has for the Son makes it possible for me, a wicked sinner, to be loved and accepted in the Son, because in his death he vindicated the worth and glory of his Father.

Because of Christ, we can pray with new understanding the prayer of the psalmist, “For your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great” (Psalm 25:11). The new understanding is that, because of Christ, instead of only praying, “For your name’s sake, pardon my guilt,” we now pray, “For Jesus’s name’s sake, O God, pardon my guilt.”

First John 2:12 says, “I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake,” referring to Jesus. Jesus has now atoned for sin and vindicated the Father’s honor so that our “sins are forgiven for his name’s sake.”

God is righteous. He does not sweep sin under the rug. If a sinner goes free, someone dies to vindicate the infinite worth of God’s glory that the sinner defamed. That is what Christ did. Therefore, “For your name’s sake, O Lord” and “For Jesus’s name’s sake” are the same. And that is why we pray with confidence for forgiveness.

John Piper