by John Mason | Aug 1, 2018 | Uncategorized
‘When it comes to knowing God, we are a culture of the spiritually stunted,’ writes DA Carson in A Call to Spiritual Reformation (Baker: 1992, p.15f). ‘So much of our religion is packaged to address our felt needs – and these are almost uniformly anchored in our pursuit of our own happiness and fulfillment…’
He comments, ‘In the biblical view of things, a deeper knowledge of God brings with it massive improvement in… purity, integrity, evangelistic effectiveness, better study of Scripture, improved private and corporate worship, and much more… One of the foundational steps in knowing God, and one of the basic demonstrations that we do know God, is prayer – spiritual, persistent, biblically minded prayer’.
Let me ask, ‘How can we grow as well as meet the challenges that confront us in today’s secular progressive society if we don’t adopt an ever-deepening relationship with God through prayer?’
Ephesians 3:14-21 gives us a glimpse of Paul the Apostle’s prayer-life. He begins: I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name (3:14f).
Genesis 1 tells us that God created all men and women in his image. It is, therefore, true to say that all of us have our fatherhood or parentage in God.
However, as the Bible unfolds, we see there is a special relationship between God and those who turn to him and enjoy a personal relationship with him. Paul tells us what Jesus tells us – we can call God, ‘our Father’. It is this great truth that stands at the head of Paul’s prayer.
With this thought in mind let me touch on the first theme in his prayer: ‘I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,…’, he writes (3:16).
Notice he doesn’t simply pray, ‘God bless…’ Rather, drawing on his deeper understanding of God – the riches of his glory – he prays for God’s powerful work within us.
Change from within. Paul knows that life is not all downhill as we age. Rather, he says that if God is at work in our lives, changes for the better to our inner being can occur.
It’s here we begin to see the counter-cultural way God works as opposed to the way that the world expects him to work. The world expects God to work with great display of obvious power. And we can be tempted to think like this too.
But God in his goodness has a different plan. For the present, he chooses to work in secret— changing us from the inside out, not the outside in. It’s easy to miss this for we tend to think of God’s power in terms of what can be seen.
We might think God’s power in our lives will bring self-confidence, self-assertion, success. And when it comes to churches, we think that God’s power will be seen in high-powered church.
But what Paul is praying for is the work of the Holy Spirit, strengthening us at the very heart of our lives. Because of his understanding of the character of God, Paul wants God’s Spirit to strengthen our appetite for God. He wants the Spirit to strengthen our resolve to trust and follow Jesus so that we say ‘No’ to temptation and ‘Yes’ to him. He wants the Spirit to so focus our life on Jesus that we will drop sinful habits and adopt a new framework for living.
He longs to see the whole of our inner life affected by the Spirit—the desires of our hearts, our thoughts, and the choices we make. Paul is saying, ‘I pray that God will change you through the Spirit’s work within you.’
This can be painful for as the Holy Spirit begins to probe and question, to challenge, discipline and develop us, it hurts. The adage, ‘no pain no gain’ rings true when the Spirit begins his work.
Growth. When he takes the Word of God and reaches to the very depth of our lives, the Word becomes like a scalpel in his hands. Paul knows that God wants us to put on the qualities and integrity that Jesus himself displayed. So he writes in 2 Corinthians 3:16-17 that God is committed to changing us into the likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ— from one degree of glory to another.
Is your prayer life stunted because you don’t make the time to grow in your understanding of God?
In Knowing God, JI Packer writes, ‘Christian minds have been conformed to the modern spirit: the spirit, that is, that spawns great thoughts of humankind and leaves room for only small thoughts of God.’
© John G. Mason – www.anglicanconnection.com
by John Mason | Jul 25, 2018 | Uncategorized
In her Wall Street Journal article (May 31, 2018), Peggy Noonan wrote: ‘I have been thinking about trust. All the polls show and have for some time what you already know: America’s trust in its leaders and institutions has been falling for four decades…’
She went on to observe, ‘It’s time to see our mighty institutions with their noble facades—the grand marble court houses, the soaring cathedral—for what they are: secretly frail and in constant need of saving.’
Is there a solution? If so, where do we begin? Pray.
How then should we petition God for our leaders, for his people, for the nations and for people in need? Daniel’s prayer in chapter 9 sets out principles for us.
The Honor of God’s Name. Following his confession of Israel’s sin (see last week), Daniel petitions God on the basis of God’s mercy. In 9:15 we read: And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have a name for yourself,…
Daniel reminded God that his Name was revered because he had brought about the release of his people from slavery in Egypt. People knew that you didn’t mess with this God. He did what he said he would do!
And while Daniel was honest about the sin of God’s people (Lord, we have sinned, we have done wickedly), he was bold to pray: Lord, in view of all your righteous acts, let your anger and wrath, we pray, turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain;… (Daniel 9:16).
Daniel didn’t ask God to put aside his righteousness and overlook the faults and failings of Israel. Rather, he asks God to act because of his righteousness.
We don’t live under same covenant as God’s ancient people. With the coming of Jesus the Messiah we live under a new covenant grounded in the unchanging character of God.
In Matthew 16:18 we read that Jesus plans to build his church and in Matthew 28:18-20 we see that this involves drawing people from all nations to himself as Lord. What is more, you and I are caught up in his commission to bring others to know and love him, to honor and serve him.
This brings us back to the principles of prayer that we find in Daniel 9.
Consider how he develops his appeal to God in 9:17-19: Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his supplication, and for your own sake, Lord, let your face shine upon your desolated sanctuary. Incline your ear, O my God, and hear. Open your eyes and look at our desolation and the city that bears your name. We do not present our supplication before you on the ground of our righteousness, but on the ground of your great mercies. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, listen and act and do not delay! For your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people bear your name!”
At the heart of Daniel’s intercession is the glory of God’s name. Daniel did not hesitate to remind God of what he’d already revealed in his Word and urged him to roll up his sleeves and act.
Daniel wasn’t being presumptuous. He was humble, honest and contrite about his own and Israel’s sin. But this did not prevent him from praying on the basis of God’s character and God’s promises.
The glorious thing about God which the Bible reveals to us, is that he is gracious and always willing to receive people back on the basis of repentance and a commitment to start afresh. No matter how great our sin, God is willing to forgive us when we turn to him in heartfelt repentance.
Furthermore, Daniel’s prayer challenges us to come to God, not just about the little things that concern us as individuals, but about the big things, namely governments, our loved ones and the salvation of people we know.
In the prayer Jesus taught his disciples, he told them – and us – to pray for the honor of God’s name and for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. These are promises we can take to God in our prayers for our country, our leaders and all our concerns – great and small.
Prayer is a precious privilege. It brings us into the very presence of the God whose nature is honor-bound always to have mercy. Yet so often our prayer life is dead. Why don’t we pray? God is the perfect father who loves to give.
Phillips Brooks once commented: ‘Prayer is not conquering God’s reluctance, but taking hold of God’s willingness’.
Optional – you may want to read Daniel 9:16-19; Luke 11:1-4; Ephesians 3:14-21.
– – –
© John G. Mason – www.anglicanconnection.com
by John Mason | Jul 18, 2018 | Uncategorized
He was relaxing on the palace roof when he saw her. Now in his early 50s, King David was tantalized by the beauty of a young woman bathing on a nearby rooftop.
But things went too far. Bathsheba, the wife of one of his officers, became pregnant. A scandal was inevitable. He tried to cover it up by calling Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, back to the city. For three days he entertained him, urging him to have a night at home with his wife. But Uriah refused: his troops were still fighting.
David adopted an unscrupulous plan. He had Uriah put at the center of a major battle as his troops were drawn back. Left to fight alone Uriah was killed. David married Bathsheba. Like the eye-surgeon in Woody Allen’s Crimes and Misdemeanors, David had apparently committed the perfect crime. But he had made a mistake. He had forgotten God.
Today we live in a self-absorbed society where everyone is intent on pursuing their own interests and pleasures, ignoring the reality of God.
Not that this is new.
Writing in his Letter to the Romans (1:28-32), Paul the Apostle says: Since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind and to things that should not be done. They were filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, they are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, rebellious toward parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. They know God’s decree, that those who practice such things deserve to die—yet they not only do them but even applaud others who practice them.’
As Paul points out earlier in Romans 1, we have evidence all around us that there is a creator God. We also have the evidence of history – the life of a unique man, Jesus of Nazareth who, after he was put to death, was raised again to life.
Furthermore, we have the awareness of our own conscience that we are guilty before a holy God. To agree with the implied conclusions of Woody Allen’s Crimes and Misdemeanors suggests that there is no ultimate justice – that there is no God to whom we are all accountable. We may as well live as we like.
But it is foolish to ignore the reality of God. Psalm 49:13-14 (it’s worth reading the whole psalm) says: Such is the fate of the foolhardy, the end of those who are pleased with their lot. Like sheep they are appointed for death; … But God will ransom my soul from the power of death, for he will receive me.
Repentance. Three millennia ago, the prophet Nathan rebuked King David (2 Samuel 12). David was reminded that the guilt within him was neither socially conditioned nor a psychological hang-up. He knew he had offended God: You are justified, God, in your judgment, for against you alone, have I sinned… (Psalm 51:4).
Some disagree with David’s words: Against you alone, God, have I sinned… ‘What about Uriah?’ they ask. Bathsheba may have consented, but what about Uriah? David expresses what we all have to come to terms with: ultimately all sin is against God. Committing adultery and murder is breaking the second commandment: ‘Love your neighbor’. But sin against our neighbor is first and foremost sin against God. We cannot come to terms with our guilt until we personally deal with God.
And so, when David turned to God in an honest confession from his heart (Ps.51:7), he could say: Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
We need to be cleansed, not merely from our isolated sinful acts, but from sin’s powerful grip on our lives. So David prays: God, create in me a pure heart… (Ps.51:10). Our problem is that we too often shy from this. We don’t want to change.
As speakers at GAFCON last week observed, when we fail to call one another to repentance we preach a false gospel. How important it is that when we turn to Christ we do so in true repentance and in faith. How important it is when we gather as God’s people we also confess our sins against God before one another, for our own benefit and also for the benefit of outsiders who are present.
When by God’s grace we do truly turn to him with heartfelt repentance, we have this assurance: God in Christ not only pardons our sin when we turn to him and confess it, but also delivers us from its consequences.
The English 1662 Book of Common Prayer puts it well: ‘God, and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who desires not the death of a sinner, but rather that he/she may turn from his/her wickedness, and live; and has given power, and commandment, to his Ministers, to declare and pronounce to his people, being penitent, the Absolution and Remission of their sins: He pardons and absolves all who truly repent, and unfeignedly believe his holy gospel. Wherefore let us beseech him to grant us true repentance, and his Holy Spirit, that what we do now may please him, and that the rest of our life may be pure and holy, so that at the last we may come to his eternal joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
© John G. Mason – www.anglicanconnection.com
by John Mason | Jun 30, 2018 | Uncategorized
He was relaxing on the palace roof when he saw her. Now in his early 50s, King David was tantalized by the beauty of a young woman bathing on a nearby rooftop.
But things went too far. Bathsheba, the wife of one of his officers, became pregnant. A scandal was inevitable. He tried to cover it up by calling Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, back to the city. For three days he entertained him, urging him to have a night at home with his wife. But Uriah refused: his troops were still fighting.
David adopted an unscrupulous plan. He had Uriah put at the center of a major battle as his troops were drawn back. Left to fight alone Uriah was killed. David married Bathsheba. Like the eye-surgeon in Woody Allen’s Crimes and Misdemeanors, David had apparently committed the perfect crime. But he had made a mistake. He had forgotten God.
Today we live in a self-absorbed society where everyone is intent on pursuing their own interests and pleasures, ignoring the reality of God.
Not that this is new.
Writing in his Letter to the Romans (1:28-32), Paul the Apostle says: Since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind and to things that should not be done. They were filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, they are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, rebellious toward parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. They know God’s decree, that those who practice such things deserve to die—yet they not only do them but even applaud others who practice them.’
As Paul points out earlier in Romans 1, we have evidence all around us that there is a creator God. We also have the evidence of history – the life of a unique man, Jesus of Nazareth who, after he was put to death, was raised again to life.
Furthermore, we have the awareness of our own conscience that we are guilty before a holy God. To agree with the implied conclusions of Woody Allen’s Crimes and Misdemeanors suggests that there is no ultimate justice – that there is no God to whom we are all accountable. We may as well live as we like.
But it is foolish to ignore the reality of God. Psalm 49:13-14 (it’s worth reading the whole psalm) says: Such is the fate of the foolhardy, the end of those who are pleased with their lot. Like sheep they are appointed for death; … But God will ransom my soul from the power of death, for he will receive me.
Repentance. Three millennia ago, the prophet Nathan rebuked King David (2 Samuel 12). David was reminded that the guilt within him was neither socially conditioned nor a psychological hang-up. He knew he had offended God: You are justified, God, in your judgment, for against you alone, have I sinned… (Psalm 51:4).
Some disagree with David’s words: Against you alone, God, have I sinned… ‘What about Uriah?’ they ask. Bathsheba may have consented, but what about Uriah? David expresses what we all have to come to terms with: ultimately all sin is against God. Committing adultery and murder is breaking the second commandment: ‘Love your neighbor’. But sin against our neighbor is first and foremost sin against God. We cannot come to terms with our guilt until we personally deal with God.
And so, when David turned to God in an honest confession from his heart (Ps.51:7), he could say: Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
We need to be cleansed, not merely from our isolated sinful acts, but from sin’s powerful grip on our lives. So David prays: God, create in me a pure heart… (Ps.51:10). Our problem is that we too often shy from this. We don’t want to change.
As speakers at GAFCON last week observed, when we fail to call one another to repentance we preach a false gospel. How important it is that when we turn to Christ we do so in true repentance and in faith. How important it is when we gather as God’s people we also confess our sins against God before one another, for our own benefit and also for the benefit of outsiders who are present.
When by God’s grace we do truly turn to him with heartfelt repentance, we have this assurance: God in Christ not only pardons our sin when we turn to him and confess it, but also delivers us from its consequences.
The English 1662 Book of Common Prayer puts it well: ‘God, and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who desires not the death of a sinner, but rather that he/she may turn from his/her wickedness, and live; and has given power, and commandment, to his Ministers, to declare and pronounce to his people, being penitent, the Absolution and Remission of their sins: He pardons and absolves all who truly repent, and unfeignedly believe his holy gospel. Wherefore let us beseech him to grant us true repentance, and his Holy Spirit, that what we do now may please him, and that the rest of our life may be pure and holy, so that at the last we may come to his eternal joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
© John G. Mason – www.anglicanconnection.com
by John Mason | Jun 13, 2018 | Word on Wednesday
It’s never fun to stand against current opinion. People laughed when Galileo insisted that gravity attracts all bodies with the same acceleration, regardless of weight. People derided Isaac Newton when he presented science that explained the laws of motion. People laughed at Moses when he said that God would bring the Hebrew people out from under the rule of Egypt.
Some three millennia ago, God’s people were on the edge of ancient Canaan. Twelve of their number reported on the prosperity of the land, but they were divided with respect to taking the land. Ten advised, ‘No!’ But two, Caleb and Joshua said, ‘yes’. ‘God is with us’.
The minority report was dismissed. Numbers 14:1-4 tells the sorry tale of Israel’s failure to trust God. We read: Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. And all the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron; the whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt!…
God had promised through Moses several times that they would inherit the land of Canaan. They had already experienced his miraculous interventions – in their release from Egyptian slavery and in his provision of food as they traveled. But now their hearts failed.
Absorbed with self-interest and self-pity, they spurned God’s love and compassion. Despite all he had done for them, they refused to listen and to trust him. They even wanted to stone their leaders – Moses and Aaron. We could understand if Moses had walked out. Instead, he prayed.
The Bible and Christian history is filled with scenes where a lack of true faith amongst professing believers can lead to vindictive acts. Acts 7 tells us that Stephen was stoned to death when he denounced the Jewish leadership for rejecting their Messiah.
Through the ages, faithful believers have encountered a similar vindictiveness from people who call themselves Christians but who lack a true faith in God. Lack of faith is more interested in what it thinks than in the truth. Human reason becomes the arbiter and determiner of truth.
God’s response in Moses’ day is chilling. He told Moses he would disinherit the people and start afresh – with Moses (Numbers 14:11-12). Moses might have found the offer attractive. Instead, he prayed a prayer that remains instructive for us today.
He reminded God that it was through his (God’s) initiative and power that the people had been freed from slavery (14:13). He spoke to God about his commitment to his promises (14:14). Furthermore, he pointed out that the Egyptians and the other nations would think that he (God) was incapable of fulfilling his promise. ‘ Lord, aren’t you a God of your word?’ he asked (Numb. 14:13-16).
At the heart of the prayer is Moses’ appeal to God’s unswerving love for his people. In 14:17 we read: “And now, therefore, let the power of the Lord be great in the way that you promised when you spoke, saying, ‘The Lord is slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but by no means clearing the guilty,..
And in 14:19 we read: “Forgive the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have pardoned this people, from Egypt even until now.”
Humbly but boldly Moses speaks directly to God. He reminds him of what he has promised, of his nature to forgive, and of his steadfast love. Moses understood that he could beg for God’s mercy because he knew God keeps his promises. Above all, he understood the mercy of God.
When we consider this prayer and God’s compassionate response, we can understand why Blaise Pascal, the 17th C French philosopher wrote: “God instituted prayer in order to lend to His creatures the dignity of causality.”
We live under another, very different covenant from the one at the time of Moses. God doesn’t promise to give us land or material wealth, but he does hold out forgiveness and a future to the nations. We live in the age of God’s mercy. So, how should we pray?
Jesus now calls you and me to join him in his plan to reach people everywhere. At the heart of this is our prayer. If we don’t pray there is no reason for God to act in mercy – in our own lives or in the lives of people around us. If we don’t pray we can assume that God will simply leave people to their own devices and desires!
The prayers of each one of us can make a difference. Moses’ prayer made all the difference for his people. Jesus prayed, ‘Father forgive them,’ even as he gave his life as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. And, because Jesus is who he is, he continues to intercede for us.
So, do you trust that God will listen to your prayers? Do you believe your prayers can make a difference? How will you act on this?
© John G. Mason – www.anglicanconnection.com
