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A morning news show listed most popular New Year's Resolutions for 2015.  Exercise, lose weight, and spend less time on digital devices made the list.  Nothing inherently wrong with those.  But these from the pen of Jonathan Edwards are better and richer:

Good Works

11. Resolved, when I think of any theorem in divinity to be solved, immediately to do what I can towards solving it, if circumstances don’t hinder.

13. Resolved, to be endeavoring to find out fit objects of charity and liberality.

69. Resolved, always to do that, which I shall wish I had done when I see others do it. Aug. 11, 1723.

Time Management

5. Resolved, never to lose one moment of time; but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can.

7. Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if it were the last hour of my life.

17. Resolved, that I will live so as I shall wish I had done when I come to die.

18. Resolved, to live so at all times, as I think is best in my devout frames, and when I have clearest notions of things of the gospel, and another world.

19. Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if I expected it would not be above an hour, before I should hear the last trump.

37. Resolved, to inquire every night, as I am going to bed, wherein I have been negligent, what sin I have committed, and wherein I have denied myself: also at the end of every week, month and year. Dec. 22 and 26, 1722.

40. Resolved, to inquire every night, before I go to bed, whether I have acted in the best way I possibly could, with respect to eating and drinking. Jan. 7, 1723.

41. Resolved, to ask myself at the end of every day, week, month and year, wherein I could possibly in any respect have done better. Jan. 11, 1723.

50.Resolved, I will act so as I think I shall judge would have been best, and most prudent, when I come into the future world. July 5, 1723.

51.Resolved, that I will act so, in every respect, as I think I shall wish I had done, if I should at last be damned. July 8, 1723.

52. I frequently hear persons in old age say how they would live, if they were to live their lives over again: Resolved, that I will live just so as I can think I shall wish I had done, supposing I live to old age. July 8, 1723.

55. Resolved, to endeavor to my utmost to act as I can think I should do, if I had already seen the happiness of heaven, and hell torments. July 8, 1723.

61. Resolved, that I will not give way to that listlessness which I find unbends and relaxes my mind from being fully and fixedly set on religion, whatever excuse I may have for it-that what my listlessness inclines me to do, is best to be done, etc. May 21, and July 13, 1723.

'Tis the season for resolutions.  A brother in the church with me recently sent me this very practical blog post from Tim Challies concerning making resolutions that stick.  I commend it to you:

http://www.challies.com/articles/how-to-make-a-new-years-resolution-that-sticks

Now that you've clicked and read that link (you did, didn't you?) let me tell you that I've never been much for New Year's Resolutions.  To be sure, I plan and vision for the church.  I also try to plan and vision for how to best disciple my family in the year-to-come.  And from time to time, I set personal goals.  But as Challies aptly points out in his blog, far too often what we label "resolutions" are really just wishes or wishful thinking.  We're seldom willing to put pen to paper, or even type out and print a thoughtful plan of action and implementation.  I've witnessed this same phenomenon in biblical counseling.  Once I start to assign things that require writing, lots of deep thinking and soul-searching and Scripture digging, enthusiasm wanes.  The sin that brought someone to a counselor is suddenly "not that bad" or not worth the effort to write out a comprehensive battle plan.  Magic pixie dust I have not.  Hard work driven by the Spirit's grace and holy sweat is what a genuine resolve (i.e., resolution) requires.

Perhaps some eight years ago or more, I was exposed to the "Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards."  The most famous preacher in American history was a resolved man.  I cannot remember the precise age when he wrote these 69 resolutions, but methinks he was still a teen.  Imagine a teen writing these kinds of things today.  For that matter, imagine a teen writing anything today!  Would our teens even text such resolutions?

For the next several blog posts, I simply want to paste some of Edwards' resolutions for us to prayerfully ponder.  Perhaps the Lord will lead you to adopt a few of these in your own life, then seek a biblical counselor, pastor, or accountability brother or sister to help you draw up implementation plans?  [NOTE: I am indebted to Desiring God Ministries for the way they have divided up Edwards' resolutions into helpful categories.  This is why the numbers of the resolutions will not always be in chronological order below.]

Here goes, straight from Edwards' journal:

Being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God’s help, I do humbly entreat him by his grace to enable me to keep these Resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will, for Christ’s sake.

Remember to read over these Resolutions once a week.

Overall Life Mission¹

1. Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God’s glory, and my own good, profit and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriad’s of ages hence. Resolved to do whatever I think to be my duty and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved to do this, whatever difficulties I meet with, how many and how great soever.

2. Resolved, to be continually endeavoring to find out some new invention and contrivance to promote the aforementioned things.

3. Resolved, if ever I shall fall and grow dull, so as to neglect to keep any part of these Resolutions, to repent of all I can remember, when I come to myself again.

4. Resolved, never to do any manner of thing, whether in soul or body, less or more, but what tends to the glory of God; nor be, nor suffer it, if I can avoid it.

6. Resolved, to live with all my might, while I do live.

22. Resolved, to endeavor to obtain for myself as much happiness, in the other world, as I possibly can, with all the power; might, vigor, and vehemence, yea violence, I am capable of, or can bring myself to exert, in any way that can be thought of.

62. Resolved, never to do anything but duty; and then according to Eph. 6:6-8, do it willingly and cheerfully as unto the Lord, and not to man; “knowing that whatever good thing any man doth, the same shall he receive of the Lord.” June 25 and July 13, 1723.

As a preacher, my bread and butter is verse-by-verse, or passage-by-passage exposition of the Scriptures.  This normally means preaching through Books of the Bible.  The advantages of this kind of expository preaching ministry are manifold, and have been expounded upon by men far more qualified to speak to the subject than me.  For my purposes here, just suffice it to say I do not do as well in the pulpit when trying to come up with topical sermon series.

But having just spent 22 months in Luke, I sensed it may be time for a topical breather before we launch into Acts in January.  So, two sermon series planned for November and December.  The current series is titled "Gratitude: Our Weapon."  Sermons already preached in the series include:

• Gratitude: Our Weapon for Generosity (2 Cor 8-9)
• Gratitude: Our Weapon Against Greed (1 Tim 6)

If you missed either, you can listen to the Sermons Here. This Sunday we'll think on "Gratitude: Our Weapon Against Grumbling" from Philippians 2.

The idea of gratitude being a weapon for spiritual warfare shamefully had not occurred to me until I read Heath Lambert's book on sexual purity, Finally Free.  He has a whole chapter on using gratitude to fight pornography.  The opening verses in the chapter are Ephesians 5:3-4.

But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people.  Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.

There it is!  So clearly!  The antidote for sexual immorality and impurity and greed and other sins is actually - you guessed it - gratitude.

Give thanks.

There's more power for daily living in gospel gratitude than we can fathom.  I'm not sure there is any sin that cannot be battled against using thankfulness.  Gratitude for all of God's good gifts, and most of all for His Son and Spirit, changes us in significant and practical ways.

Gospel Gratitude frees us from the tyranny of greed, grumbling, pornography, arrogance, useless speech, entitlement, and the list goes on.

So, start reading your Bibles with an eye towards gratitude.  Few traits mark God's born again people more prominently than thankfulness.  The prayers of the Bible ooze gratitude.  The attitudes of the psalmists exude thanksgiving.  Read again the Psalms of Asaph (73 - 83).  Time and again Asaph claws his way out of fits of depression and pits of despair.  How?  By praising and thanking God!  By remembering His goodness and faithfulness and righteousness and promises to His people.

May the Lord be pleased to use these few sermons to create and cultivate deep, heart-felt gratitude among us.  A grateful heart is happy in Jesus.  A heart happy in Jesus will overflow in a tongue that praises and brags on Jesus, and hands that give and serve in His name.

God grant us gratitude, that we might magnify your salvation in Christ day-by-day.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope by now my few but faithful readers are seeing just how much gospel is in the Old Testament Book of Numbers.

Sin is ruinous.  Israel has been finding this truth out the hard way.  When we last left them in Numbers 14, their cowardly spies who "gave a bad report" of the Promised Land had "died by a plague before the Lord" (v. 37).  So, Israel has just watched the 10 cowards die, while the two faithful spies, Joshua and Caleb, lived to spy another day.

Lesson learned, right?  Trust God.  Obey God.  It's that simple.

Not so fast.  It is that simple, but nothing could be more difficult for hard-hearted sinners than trusting and obeying God.  Perhaps this explains why the very next thing the Israeli mob does is to confess their sin (a good thing) and then go about fixing it their way (a bad thing).

Numbers 14:39-40 tells us the plan concocted by Israel is to now confess their sin and go begin taking the Promised Land by military force.  Only one problem - God has already told them that none of them over the age of twenty will see Canaan.  Instead, they will all die in the wilderness, the 10 cowardly spies being the "down payment," if you will.

God had spoken.

No wonder Moses urged the people not to follow through with their hair-brained attempt at patching things up with God.  "Why then are you transgressing the command [literally the mouth] of the Lord when it will not succeed?  Do not go up, or you will be struck down before your enemies, for the Lord is not among you" (vv. 41-42).

So, what will the people do?  Will they really learn the lesson?  Trust and obey.  God had already spoken.  Now in an overflowing measure of grace He speaks yet again by Moses warning them not to try to take Canaan.  Life or death is again in the balance, it seems.

"But they went up heedlessly . . . then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that country came down and struck them and beat them down" (vv. 44-45).

No surprises there.  When will they ever learn?  When will we?  

How often do we come somewhat to our senses and realize we have sinned, only to confess and then run ahead in our own strength, leaning on our own wisdom?  We love to treat our lives like a "fixer-upper."  We'll make this thing work one way or another.  We'll try harder.  We'll study more.  We'll log more hours.  We'll turn over new leaves.  We'll go to church twice a week.  We'll take good sermon notes.  We'll even join a small group.  We'll get it right this time, God.  We promise.

Only one thing missing in that equation.

"Who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus was publicly portrayed as crucified?  This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?  Are you so foolish, having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?" (Galatians 3:1-3).

Oh God, help us stop and hear Your word with faith.  Help us, Holy Spirit, take You at Your Word, trust You, and walk by faith each day.  May we, like Paul, come to grasp that it is "No longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.  And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me."  Amen.   

God promised to give Israel a good land called Canaan.  Poised at its edge, Moses sent spies into Canaan.  Two spies believed God and wanted Israel to go in and take the land.  Ten spies disbelieved God and gave a cowardly report.

God was angry, saying essentially to Moses, "Stand back boy while I annihilate these whiners and I'll make an even greater nation out of you and your own children" (Numbers 14:11-12).

Now I cannot speak for you, but my initial gut reaction might have been to just stand back and say, "OK God, have at it.  This should be some kind of air show."

"But Moses said to the Lord, 'Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for You brought up this people in Your might from among them, and they will tell the inhabitants of this land.  They have heard that You, O Lord, are in the midst of this people.  For You, O Lord, are seen face to face, and Your cloud stands over them and You go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night.  Now if You kill this people as one man, then the nations who have heard Your fame will say, 'It was because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land that He swore to give them that He has killed them in the wilderness.'  And now please let the power of the Lord be great as You have promised, saying, 'The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but He will by no means clear the guilty . . .'  Please pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of Your steadfast love, just as You have forgiven this people from Egypt until now' " (vv. 13-19).

Wow.  What a stunning confession and humble intercession.  Moses is not interested in his name being made famous or great.  He cares far more for God's own Name and reputation.  Moses is essentially begging God not to change!  It's as if he's saying, "O God, please do not change on us now, after You've shown us how great and gracious You are and made all these promises to us.  Please God do not allow Yourself to be mocked by Egypt and other pagan nations.  Fight for Your glory and Your name, O God!  Forgive and keep on forgiving us, just as You have done all along."

Oh, for the Church of today to have such zeal for God's holy Name and fame.  What if this spirit truly consumed a local congregation in America today?  Can we even dream of such a thing, so foreign to us in our pride and complacency?  Salvation, after all, is ultimately "to the praise of His glory" (Eph 1:11-12).

Well, God did pardon Israel's great sin, as Moses requested (v. 20).  But He did not erase the real-world consequences of their rebellion.  God promised that none of the generation of Wilderness Wanderers, except Caleb and Joshua, would see the Promised Land.  They would instead die in the wilderness and their corpses would rot there.  Their children, whom the ten spies claimed would be "prey" in the land of Canaan, would actually go in and take the good land (vv. 20-31).

Of particular note is verse 33: "And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness."

Sin always has consequences, you see.  And, those consequences nearly always involve the suffering of those closest to you.  This is still true.  Few things grieve me more than to see others hurt because of my own sin, and to see the unrepentant sin of those in the church cause immense grief and hurt to often innocent by-standers.

The Gospel tells us Christ has borne the curse of our sin upon Himself on the cross.  By trusting in Jesus' sacrifice, we have forgiveness of sin and right standing with God.  This right standing relies on Christ's own righteousness and thus cannot be diminished or removed (Romans 3-4).  And yet, even as Christians saved by grace through faith, our sin has real-world consequences.  It's definitely one of the means God uses to discipline His children, to allow our sin to impact us and others in this life (thankfully it will not be held against us in the next life, praise Jesus).

Sin hurts.  Always has, always will, until God makes a full end to sin in the New Heaven and Earth.  Until then, let us "put to death the deeds of the body" (Romans 8:13), and "put on the new self" (Colossians 3:10).  Let us not use grace as a license to sin (Rom 6:1).  Rather, let us "walk in a manner worthy of our calling" (Eph 4:1).

The Name of our Lord and Savior is worthy of our fighting against sin in His Spirit and power.  Jesus is worthy of our living for things above and not the things below (Col 3:2).  And when we sin and God allows consequences to bite us, let us thank Him for this kindness of Fatherly affection (Hebrews 12:4-11).

After all, God could rightly kill us instantly for our disbelief and sin.  That is exactly what He did to the 10 cowardly spies (Numbers 14:37).  The fact that we are alive and reading this blog is all of grace in Christ Jesus!

"And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron" (Num 14:2).

When we last left Israel, they were at a decision-point.  Would they listen to the voice of the cowards, or Caleb the Conqueror?  The answer is given rather quickly as we move into Chapter 14 of Numbers.  The people get so depressed over the bad report of the 10 cowardly spies that they decide to choose a leader to take them back into Egyptian slavery.

Sin is insane.  Sin drives us mad and makes us crazy.  When sin is ruling our hearts and minds, we cannot and will not think straight!  We pastors see this repeatedly in the counseling room.  Someone caught in sin is stumbling and bumbling through life making one insane decision after another.  Digging their own grave ever-deeper, the mad sinner refuses to hear the voice of truth, love and reason.  Yet, God is so faithful to send His people the Voice of Truth, even in their sinful madness.

The Voice comes through Joshua and Caleb: "The land which we passed through to spy it is an exceedingly good land; if the Lord delights in us, He will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey" (v. 7-8).

What truth!  What courage!  What faith!  The Lord had shown His delight in these grumbling people called Israel time and time again; after all, He rescued them from slavery, bringing the world's dominant empire to shame in the process!

Truth's Voice continues: "Only do not rebel against the Lord, and do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us.  Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us.  Do not fear them" (v. 9).

At this point we expect something like the initial battle scene in the movie Braveheart to transpire.  William Wallace has just ridden in on his war horse and delivered a rousing speech.  The Scottish troops who were determined to tuck tail and run have a change of heart.  They begin to cheer wildly and begin to foam at the mouth ready for war!

But sin and idolatry do not work that way.

"Then all the congregation said to stone them with stones" (v. 10).

No human, no matter how great, can remove the insanity of sin from our hearts.  This is something God must do!

"But the glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel" (v. 10).

Glory!  Grace!  Mercy!  The real Hero rides in to save the day and to save us from ourselves and our sinful lunacy!

"And the Lord said to Moses, 'How long will this people despise Me?  And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs I have done among them?'"

Our sin and grumbling is always ultimately about the Lord.  Our fear of man is always ultimately a demonstration of our lack of faith in God.  Our walking by sight and leaning unto our own understanding is always evidence of our sinful tendency to forget all God's wonders and to not take Him at His Word and live by His promises.

And we should all be judged severely for it.  God's speech to Moses goes on: "I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they" (v. 12).

Justice.  It's what we deserve.  It's what we've all earned from God.  Should the Lord follow through here, it would be perfectly just and fair and right.  Crazy, insane sinners need to soak in this reality until they feel the weight of their own guilt and shame.  But so often we share the Gospel today in only "positive, encouraging" ways.

But there's nothing to commend in the sin-stained hearts and minds of crazed rebels.  What is positive about ungrateful idolatry?

In our last post, we uncovered some eternal gospel truths out of Numbers Chapter 12.  We come now to Chapter 13, where we read of Moses sending spies into the land of Canaan (The Promised Land).

The first we thing we should note is that God told Moses to send out men for this risky military mission (vv. 1-2).  This will not ring popular in our culture, but this is the clear pattern and design of God.  Men are called and equipped by God to lead out, especially if the mission is dangerous and has potential wide-spread consequences.  We may hate gender roles, but God doesn't.  

These men are so important to the history of Israel and God's dealings with them, that they are all named in verses 3-15.  The future of this people, this nation called Israel, appears to depend largely on how these 12 men carry out their God-given mission.  These men represent their fathers (note how each one's father is also named) and families (tribes) and nation.  Much rides on these 24 shoulders!  The implication for our day and age in America is obvious, isn't it?          

Verse 16 tells us something interesting: "but Hoshea the son of Nun Moses called Joshua."  Hoshea means "salvation" or "deliverance."  Joshua means "Yahweh is salvation."  The Greek form is "Jesus."  Thus, Moses exercises authority over his protege and does something God has been known to do throughout Israel's history - he gives a man a new name, signifying a critical moment in redemption history.  Moses wants these men and these people to know their salvation and deliverance comes ultimately not from any man, but from Yahweh Himself!  

Then Moses gives the men their marching orders (vv. 17-20), and the men carry out their mission perfectly (vv. 21-24).  After 40 days in the bush, prowling and sneaking and spying, the men emerge and report back to Moses and their kinsmen (vv. 25-26).  One can hardly describe the anticipation that must have filled the air in the camp of Israel as these spies open their mouths to describe the land and its inhabitants.

The report starts out matter-of-factly (v. 27).  The land is fertile and produces abundance!  So far, so good.

"Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak [a giant] there" (v. 28).

Wait a minute!  What just happened?  This positive report took a downward turn in a hurry, didn't it?

Ah, but there is a man among these so-called men.  His name is Caleb of the tribe of Judah.  He begins to counter their cowardly claims, saying, "We will surely overcome" (v. 30).  The cowards keep insisting, however, that conquering the land is not in the realm of possibility (vv. 31-33).  "The people are too strong for us," they shout.

And so now, Israel has a choice, a decision.  Will they listen to the voice of cowards, or the voice of Caleb the Conqueror?  Will they fear man, or God?  Will they trust in the very name given to their leader-to-be, Joshua?  Or, will they trust their own instincts for self-preservation and survival?

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Are not these same questions ones we must answer daily as Christians and as a Church?        

I've taken on the task of reading through the Bible in the last six months of this year.  Typically I read through the Word each year, but spent the first half of this year doing a somewhat different reading plan.  But decided to now go back and sweep through God's Book in 6 months, which has me currently in the Book of Numbers.

My reading has been so enthralling that I am compelled to share a 4-5 part series from Numbers Chapters 12-16 or so.  This Book often gets a bad wrap (perhaps second only to Leviticus).  But there is a massive amount of gospel in Numbers.  So, buckle up, put your trays and seat backs in the upright and locked position, and prepare for take-off.

After the people murmur against Moses (and ultimately God), whining about their Divinely-provided manna, God sends quail in droves upon the camp of Israel.  But the greed of Israel in gathering the birds angered God and He sent a plague upon them and killed all those who gathered in greed instead of gratitude (Num 11).

The very next Chapter records Moses' own sister and brother (Meriam and Aaron the High Priest) rebuking Moses for marrying a Cushite woman.  But apparently this was not really about a marriage:

"And they said, 'Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses?  Has He not spoken through us as well?'  And the Lord heard it" (v. 2).  

Jealousy.  By this time in the journey of Israel with God, there should be no question as to Moses' God-given authority.  He's the "go-between."  Moses represents God to the people and the people to God.  He mediates.  He intercedes.  He receives God's word and then proclaims it exactly as God gave it.  He judges and adjudicates disputes.  In today's parlance, "Moses is da man."

So, please note that we have recorded for us these words: "And the Lord heard it."  God has never taken words against His appointed men lightly.  This carries into the New Testament (1 Tim 5:19) but I digress.  For now we note that God took note.

Then, these words: "Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth" (v. 3).

Wow!  Miriam's words were not spoken justifiably.  Her words were spoken against the world's most humble man!  So, we as readers know who is in the right and who is in the wrong here.  We've got insider information.

Miriam and Aaron want some power and authority, but we must recall that Moses never asked for this job!  HE WAS CHOSEN FOR IT BY GOD.  So, little wonder that God fights for Moses.  He will not need to defend himself against his jealous family, nor would he, being the world's most humble man.

Long story short, God calls out Moses, Miriam and Aaron, and winds up striking Miriam with leprosy.  And in the process, the Lord holds up Moses as even more than a prophet (vv. 7-8).  God speaks with this man "mouth to mouth."

Aaron begs Moses for mercy and confesses his sin, and then Moses pleads with God for mercy on his power-hungry sister (vv. 12-13).  The narrative makes it seem as if she is not yet repentant, as we have no record of her confession or plea for mercy.  She is stiff-necked and has essentially spit in God's face (v. 14), which is probably why God strikes her with leprosy.  Far too often, we must be brought to the valley of death before we give up our filth.  

Mercifully, God does heal her, but only after she is quarantined outside the camp for 7 days as one unclean.  The whole camp of Israel is forced to remain in place for a week, making them more susceptible to enemy attack, all because of one unrepentant sinner (vv. 15-16).  Sin always hurts and impacts others, even so-called private sins.

Sin, you see, makes us dirty.  It casts us outside the camp (the presence) of Holy God.  It matters not whether anybody hears or sees our sin.  The Lord hears and sees.  But thankfully, the Lord gives mercy through His chosen mediator, servant and prophet.  In this case, that was Moses.  But Moses is dead and gone.  His life and ministry served only to point us to the risen and living Mediator Jesus the Christ.  Moses' mediation and intercessions worked only temporarily to stave off God's wrath, as we shall see in this series of blog entries.  But Jesus' mediation and intercession is forever!  

"For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified" (Heb 10:14).      

I hear it when I go to Wal-mart....when I stand in line at subway...when I do business at the bank....everywhere I go...

Oh my word!  Really?  Really, really God?  Are You awake?  Are You at work?  Do You have any idea what is going on? Have You lost complete control?  Must I do everything?