31 Days of Purity: Day Thirty-One

Mike Leake

Day Thirty-One: Persevering in Purity

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.  (Jude 1:24-25)

This closes our 31 days together, but it does not close our lifelong pursuit of sexual purity. In fact, we have only just begun. Today we are praying for ourselves and for one another that we would continue to persevere in purity. Keep going, men. The battle is not over. Tomorrow morning you will need to start over in your pursuit of purity. And as you do, remember that the Lord Jesus—and only the Lord Jesus—is able to keep you from stumbling.

One day we will be presented blameless before the Lord and there will be great joy. Though that day is not yet called “today,” it is absolutely certain. Therefore, let us press on all the more as we look forward to that day. Why don’t you grab a friend and go through this challenge again?

Lord, thank you for all those that have prayed and battled for purity these 31 days. I pray that they would continue on in the battle. Help me to continue praying with them and pursuing purity together. Cause us to endure in this great endeavor. May Christ be glorified through us. Transform our hearts and our homes for His name. I am thankful that you are able to keep me from stumbling. Help me press on in purity, all the while looking forward to the day when I will be presented spotless in Your presence. Amen.

—

Mike Leake is associate pastor of First Baptist Church of Jasper, IN. He and his wife, Nikki have 2 children (Isaiah and Hannah). Mike is the author of Torn to Heal and regularly blogs atmikeleake.net.

31 Days of Purity—Day Thirty

Mike Leake

Day Thirty: An Eternal Perspective

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. -2 Corinthians 4:18

Sometimes we get so caught up in the moment that we lose all sense of perspective. We become like the man who stands before the sweeping mountain vista, but will only gaze at the ground beneath his feet. What he sees is real, but it is so small and so limited. We need to lift our eyes to catch the bigger perspective—the eternal perspective. Like Paul, we need to fix our eyes on what is unseen and eternal.

This life matters. But this life is short. When we put our lifespans in the context of eternity, they are but the shortest blip, the shortest dash between the two dates on on a gravestone. While another evening of battling sexual sin can seem like the longest and most difficult night of our lives, it is but the shortest tick of the clock in the context of eternity. “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison…” (2 Corinthians 4:16-17). Even this temptation, this affliction, is light when we compare it to the joy that awaits us.

Father, help me to keep my eyes fixed on what is unseen and eternal. Help me to view my life, and my moments of temptation, in the context of eternity. While these temptations can feel so weighty and so difficult, I want to know and believe that they are but light and momentary afflictions compared to the eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison you have prepared for me. I long for the day when I will be with you forever. Prepare me for that day by giving me your grace to battle sexual sin today and every day.

—

Tim Chalies is husband to Aileen and a father to three children aged 7 to 13. He worships and serves as a pastor at Grace Fellowship Church in Toronto, Ontario, where he primarily gives attention to mentoring and discipleship. He blogs daily at challies.com, is a book reviewer for WORLD magazine, co-founded Cruciform Press, and has written four books.

31 Days of Purity: Day Twenty-Nine

Nick Horton

Day Twenty-Nine: A Renewed Mind

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2)

Our bodies follow our minds. This is the consistent witness of Scripture, which always places mind before body. Throughout his life, the Christian is to be renewing his mind by the Word of God, to take it into captivity and bring it into conformity. As he does this, his words and his deeds, and even his thoughts, will necessarily follow.

If there is any area where we let our bodies dictate our thoughts and our actions, it is here in the context of sexual purity, in those times when the body seems to cry out in dissatisfaction. When we wallow in sexual sin, we fill our minds with what is impure, as if Philippians 4 commands us to think about whatever is false, whatever is deplorable, whatever is unfair, whatever is impure, whatever is ugly, whatever is critical, if there is any depravity, if there is anything worthy of rebuke, we think about these things. And, not surprisingly, our bodies follow our minds.

It is so much better to heed and to practice Philippians 4 which commands us to think about what is good and noble and pure. “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Philippians 4:8). Think about those things, brother, and let God transform your thoughts and your actions.

Father, I pray that you would do your work of mind-renewal within me. I know that my behavior follows my thoughts, so I pray that you would help me to think about those things that are true and beautiful. Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, I pray that you would help me to think about these things and to love thinking about these things.

—

Tim Chalies is husband to Aileen and a father to three children aged 7 to 13. He worships and serves as a pastor at Grace Fellowship Church in Toronto, Ontario, where he primarily gives attention to mentoring and discipleship. He blogs daily at challies.com, is a book reviewer for WORLD magazine, co-founded Cruciform Press, and has written four books.

Sibbes and Violence for the Gospel (YWS Week 12)

Nick Horton 2 Comments

Welcome to a year of reading Richard Sibbes together! The reading plan for the entire year can be accessed here. I encourage you to stick with us, allow yourself time to read, and soak in the riches of this gifted and prolific Puritan preacher. You will be edified and encouraged.

If you have trouble with how Sibbes used words, check out the Lexicons of Early Modern English for definitions from the period.

Summary/Engagement

Violence and the Gospel are not terms often joined together these days. Unless one is reading about the Crusades, or perhaps the Inquisition, or the persecutions of the Reformation, Christianity is most often associated with peace. Yet here our author said that man pursues the kingdom of heaven by violence in his interpretation of Matthew 11:12.

Let’s be clear, he does not mean that folks pursue God through harming other people. He does mean that Christians pursue God with effort, passion, zeal, and action. Those that come to an understanding of their position as sinners before a Holy God, and having been shown the “excellency of heaven” and the kingdom, pursue Christ with violent affection. There is no passivity to the soul illuminated by grace to comprehend the gospel.

When Peter preached the first Christian sermon at Pentecost, men were “cut to the heart” at what they heard and crying out “What must we do to be saved?!” I can almost hear the despair, heartache, and agony ringing in my ears as the Holy Spirit worked on the hearts of the crowd. They didn’t come weakly to Christ. Their passions were aroused for him. They knew themselves to have crucified the Lord of Glory and sought reconciliation with Christ and deliverance from the wrath of God. There was no folding of the hands, idle chatter, and clock watching to see if the preacher was over among those who were redeemed that day. There was a “violent” striving after God.

“God will have this violence and striving, as a character of difference, to show who are bastard professors and who are not: who will go to the price of Christianity, and who will not.”

Application / Further Discussion

Truly as Solomon said in Ecclesiastes, there is nothing new under the sun. Nominal Christianity and false professions were a problem in 17th century Stuart England as well. Sibbes strikes hard at the hearts of those who treat God not with holy violence but with shameful neglect and indifference.

“What ‘violence’ is this, now and then to hear a sermon, now and then to read a chapter, now and then to utter a yawning prayer between sleeping and waking, perhaps when thou knowest not what thyself sayest? How then wouldst thou have God to regard it?”

Heaven is not for those who do not want it. Those with no zeal or joy for Christ, his kingdom, his word, and for time spent in prayer might be so because they have no desire for God. These are hard words, but necessary words. Christ is the Lord of Glory, ruler of heaven and earth, Son of God, Savior, Creator of all things, and worthy of all worship and honor and praise. Can we approach worship, his word, or even communicating with him in a constantly neglectful way? Is that evidence of the redeemed heart?

The thoughts are probing and open dark doors in our hearts we would perhaps desire be left closed. Yet, let his questions and observations do some heart surgery. Listen to Paul’s exhortation to the Corinthian church; “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” 2 Cor. 13:5

We are saved by grace through faith in the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Yet as James noted, that faith is shown by the accompanying works. To use our author’s words, accompanying violence. The Soul fixed on God will violently pursue him, desperately smashing through barriers and sins to be united with him. The Savior of your soul is due complete devotion, total submission, and unquestioned obedience.

So let me ask, do you give Christ his due?

Are your affections and passions fixed upon Jesus or on the perishable things of this world?

Are you running after him with all you’ve got, or do you pick him up when you feel like it and put him down just the same?

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.” (1 Corinthians 9:24–25)

Run that you may obtain him. Run with violent passion for Christ.

—

Last week, we read “Christ is Best.”

Next week, we’ll read chapters 1 and 2 of Glorious Freedom.