Chapter 4: Idol Words

Brief Summary and Key Points:

-Words are directly connected to our hearts as fruit is to the plant and roots. So all words come from our heart. Jesus does not make any qualifications or exceptions. See Luke 6:43ff

-Therefore, an idolatrous heart will produce as a direct cause-effect, idolatrous words. See James 4:1ff. Here James refers to the heart through the terms "your passions" and "desire" which is the source of "quarrels" (or idolatrous words).

-In James we get an understanding of the connection that explains in better detail when one crosses over into idolatry. There are clear clues that we can see in our hearts (see Tripp's questions on page 54, paragraph 2 for examples).

-These clues follow a pathway: a wrong desire --> becomes a demand --> then a "need" --> then an expectation. Once there, it will easily become disappointed and then frustrated leading us to punish those around us using words.

-This as James 4:4 is adultery and defines what sin actually is. So adultery is fundamentally an exchange and so sin too is fundamentally an exchange of desires, creation for the Creator.

-How then do we change? I suspect the second half of this book will dwell on this in much detail, but suffice it say, I found this quote on page 63 encouraging, "God never reveals our hearts to discourage us. Conviction of sin is one of the most profound ways He demonstrates His love for us..." So, brother, let this give us HOPE!

Question: Look on page 64 and share a specific example from one of those categories that has happened in the past week! Then please share a verse from Scripture that you can latch yourself to when those times come. It can be a verse of conviction, of reminder of grace, of hope, of yielding to God. Keep that verse with you this week!

Thomas' prayer request: That I would yield to trusting in my identity in the Lord when my competence appears to be questioned by anyone whether it be in my family or at work. I don't think it is done on purpose, but I do take it that way because of my idolatrous heart. I'll share two examples later that happened this week!

Have a wonderful Christmas, guys!!!

Chapter 3: The Word in the Flesh (from Jae)

Summary: The summary of Chapter 3 can be summarized into one word: Gospel. It is the clash between Chapters 1 and 2. When you guys were reading this chapter, didn't it remind you alot of our past discussions, sermons we hear, praises we sing and homegroups? For those of you who read Dave Harvey's, "When Sinners Say I Do," I thought I was reading that book again. I thought that the book could be summarized into the following points:

1. Our war with words ultimately comes back to the issue of our sinful heart
2. We cannot overcome our sinful tendency with words by "trying harder." God the Father needed to send His Son, Jesus Christ, to "...become Flesh because there was no other way to fix what is broken in us." (p. 37)
3. War of words is a spritual battle. To win this war, the Word gave us hope that we'll speak "...up to God's standards and according to His design." (p. 40)...that we'll once again mirror Chapter 1. This hope is not empty, fragile or broken but full of
a. riches (2 Peter 1:3)--Christ provides everything that we need to win the battle with words
b. power (Eph 1:19)--since sin has rendered us powerless, Christ empowers us to defeat sin! This power is at our disposal.
c. rule (Eph 1:22-23)--our lives are not out of control but is overseen (i.e. ruled) by Christ. Our words are spoken oftentimes to "take back" control of our lives. By doing this, not only do we replace God at our center with ourselves but suggests that we don't trust him...disbelief that God is for us.

Question 2: Oftentimes, I know that it is my unbelief that prevents me from tapping into the hope that Christ bought with His blood. Before I even think of the power and the promises of riches of the Spirit, my first reaction (i.e. words) to my circumstances is to be rash to try to regain control. Slowly, over the past years, I think my head is telling me to stop and reflect on the gospel before I react. However, mind you fellow brethren, this has been very hard and I have not been very successful. If I believe in Christ and the strength of the Holy Spirit, why am I so reluctant to choose His power over mine? How can I change my unbelief? How is it for you guys? My prayer request would be that I would eliminate my unbelief.

Question 3: What are some ways you have relied on the hope of Christ in your times of frustrations and anger? What have been good reminders for you to trust in Him?

Chapter 2 Summary

Chapter 2 Summary: (From Sam Lee)

- in the garden of eden, satan was the first to challenge God's authority by speaking a lie. adam and eve disobeyed God, broke their relationship with Him and with eachother.
- "We say what we want to say, when and how we want to say it. We speak as if we are in chage and as if we have the right to use words to advance our purpose, and to achieve what would make us happy."
- "you and i don't respond to the people or circumstances of our lives on the basis of the facts. Our responses are based on the way we interpret those facts."
- "Word problems are often interpretation problems. We do not say the right thing because we do not believe the right thing."
- "no longer do we speak up to god's standard; we often speak down to the serpent's. No longer are our words a faithful picture of God's design; too often they picture Satan's deceit."
- "we must begin by humbly ackknowledging that our words have their roots not only in the words of the Lord, but also in the words of the Serpent."

- "I know that you (God) alone are able to tame my tongue."
"Remember, Christ not only forgives, he delivers. He not only delivers, he restores. He not only restores, he reconciles."
- 2 Cor. 12:9 "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

i'm using Tripp's questions and i would refer to his examples as his questions might be confusing. feel free to answer 1 or more... these can be found on p.31:
1. Are there places where your words challenge the authority of God?
2. Do your words reveal places where bought into an interpretation of life different from the Lord's? In other words, does your talk reveal a consistent, biblical view of life that encourages others to look at life the same way?
3. Has your communication been infected with Satan's lie that the things you need for life can be found outside of Christ?

Chapter 1 God Speaks

Key points to this chapter:

• Words belong to God and therefore they do NOT belong to us.
• Because words to not belong to us, we must use them to His standards. This means godly talk is not an option but a command from God.
• God created words for us to understand Himself, his plans and his purpose. This is clearly evident through Lord Jesus Christ who is THE Word, and our only hope for our words.
• Words also help us define, explain and interpret who we are in light of the Gospel and others.

It’s incredibly difficult for us to communicate without words. Even if we tried to communicate through sign language, without meaning in each word, it could be all gibberish. But more importantly, words belong to God. How often are we thinking of this truth when we are communicating with our loved ones, our neighbors, and our co-workers during the day? Unfortunately we often misuse and abuse words to our own selfish interests, hence, forgetting that God demands words for His glory. But there is hope because Jesus is the Word and He alone can help us in battling our use of words.

There are so many great questions in this chapter but I want to pick a few below:

1. In what ways do you misuse words to reflect your own self-interest/self-righteousness with your (choose one or more): spouse, co-worker, stranger, and friends.
2. In your times of trouble or struggle or difficult circumstances, how do you use your words to others and to yourself in light of the Gospel? (i.e. recognizing God’s forgiveness, His grace and sovereignty, etc.)
3. Do you talk with others to develop relationship with them, or do you only talk to solve problems during times of trouble.

Don’t feel pressured to answer all of them but please share with us at least one of the questions.

For me, I tend to use extreme words when I’m frustrated or angry. For example, I often catch myself using words like “never” or “always” or “stupid” to make an exaggerated point. I think I used one of these words even this weekend when Owen was being fuzzy and refuses to go to sleep as I said to JJ, “Owen is never going to be sleep trained” forgetting that God is infinitely wise and sovereign and works all things for those who love Him, and that Owen is indeed grace upon grace! Another example is dealing with my lack of love for my earthly dad as I usually vent these phrases to JJ, “I have absolutely no relationship with him” as though justify my estranged relationship and blame shift everything to my dad (as though it’s his fault!), and thus, not making real effort to re-establish relationship. While this has been on-going and has been up and down, I need help from Jesus, big time.

But I’m encouraged brothers because no one on this blog has it all together, but rather, we are all in one great mess in our sinful nature. But thank God that He will (and has) help us! Look forward to your responses.

Chapter 11 Humility: Responding Humility to trials

This chapter raises several provoking questions to all Christians when faced with battle of sufferings:

“When you encounter trial and suffering, what’s the content of your prayer?” And in turn, how do you respond?

CJ insightfully points to Habakkuk’s experience with suffering through his bleak circumstances to his transformation from despair to rejoicing in the Lord. But how does this happen?

The book of Habakkuk is relatively short (only 3 chapters) yet there is a clear view of the sanctification of a man who was absolutely disheartened by his dark situation, where he doubted God’s goodness and had forgotten about His salvation. The story continues to unfold as Habakkuk’s man-centered approach turns to God-centered approach through remembering and acknowledging what God has ALREADY done and what He will continue to do through His promises and faithfulness, and ultimately placing his trust in God and rejoicing in Him. That is the nutshell of it.

But this chapter had things that provoked my thoughts and my sinful patterns when facing difficult circumstances: do I ultimately want God to remove my sufferings for the sake of relief or is it to earnestly seek God in patience and humility? In other words, is my greatest desire God Himself or my well-being? While it is NOT unbiblical to pray for relief during sufferings or times of trouble, often times my initial reaction and greatest desire are relief from these tough circumstances. Outwardly, this may look somewhat spiritual because I may be praying to God and that is a good thing. However, my attitude is often filled with entitlement and pride as though God is not doing His job of making my life easier. There is no sense of remembering what He has done for His continual provision for me. Thus, in many ways, there is this false implication that God is ignoring me and He isn’t good anymore, and He simply cannot execute His sovereignty over my situations. Thus, not only am I forgetting God’s great salvation in Christ, there is also the deceiving heart that is ultimately man-centered prayer.

BUT thank God it doesn’t end there. I love what CJ says about what Habakkuk learned through his trials:

“Those who know true joy in the midst of suffering are those who recognize that, in this life, our suffering is never as great or as serious as our sins.”

And the quote from J. Edwards:

“How far less [are] the greatest afflictions that we meet with in this world…than we have deserved!”

Indeed, that is the divine and Biblical perspective of suffering that I need to remind myself daily. So practically what can we do?

1) We need to remember what Christ has accomplished through the Cross. We need to go here again and again to explore how great our sins are and how great His mercies and grace is to us in Christ!

2) Actively waiting in patience. CJ says waiting is NOT resignation but an active trust in God to provide fulfillment in His perfect timing. Remembering that God is indeed sovereign over every path that I take on earth and He will forever be in heaven! (Phil. 1:5-6)

3) That I may find comfort and rest in that sovereignty and in turn, leading to rejoicing. We should all read Habakkuk 3:17-18 and pray through this Scripture together because it is amazing that one can actually and genuinely rejoice when he is about to face great desolation. Habakkuk isn’t insane nor was he part of the Moonies. God was so gracious to Him as Habakkuk remembered God’s promises and thus engaged in God-centered faith (which I really believe that it is the only way to battle through).

Sorry folks, once again I’m too verbose here but I would like to hear your thoughts on this chapter. So please share! God bless.

Chapter 8 Identifying Evidences of Grace in others

This chapter addresses our need to identify the evidences of grace in others (text from 1^st Corinthian 4-9), especially since we are so prone to be critical of others. Here, CJ explains several key reasons why we need to apply this spiritual discipline:

1. Because it reminds us how we were once “called” (effectual calling) by God and therefore saved by His grace alone in Christ alone;
2. Because we are saved by His grace and not by our works (i.e. Ephesians 2:8-10), we should be succumbed to nothing except to boast in our Lord Jesus Christ (i.e. Galatians 6:14);
3. Because it reminds us that God is at work despite our limited views; and
4. Because it helps us place our trust not in men or ourselves or our abilities to change people but in the faithfulness of God.

This doesn’t mean that we just passively sit back and tolerate sin. Quite the contrary! We should be humbled that God chose and saved us! And we know that it is not by our own merits but simply by His grace and mercy. Again, this is where I think exploring and learning total depravity of sin could enrich my limited understanding of God’s total and unchanging election. And this is indeed humbling for me.

But it doesn’t stop there. When we encounter every believer in Christ, we should remind ourselves, “This individual has been preciously acted upon by God.” In other words, that same grace that saved me also saved him/her! Therefore our affection for others would be radically different. Admittedly, this chapter strikes a chord in my heart because too often I’m grumbling about how things are not changing fast enough whether it be my family or Church or etc. This really implies that I can do better than what God has already been doing in these areas. What a fool am I!

There’s another great sermon by CJ on this topic from Resurgence Conference website. I recommend that you listen to it if you get a chance.

It would be good for us if we could finished this chapter before we meet on the 23^rd. But meanwhile, I would love to hear your thoughts!

Chapter 7 Humility

This chapter continues to discuss practical ways to explore the riches of God. More specifically studying in these following areas:

1. Attributes of God
2. Doctrines of Grace
3. Doctrine of Sin

I personally appreciate how CJ gives us some recommendations for available resources through specific titles of books. One thing that I’ve been richly blessed was studying attributes of God through P. Sam’s Bible doctrine class. For example, studying God’s immutability and sovereignty in light of God’s election and suffering has really challenged my narrow perspectives of God. Also keep in mind that studying systematic theology is NOT JUST for full-time ministers or those involved in teaching. I would say that EVERYONE who desires to pursue God (i.e. Christians) should be open to learning attributes of God since it would only help us understand our Lord with more clarity. It can’t answer every question that you may have about God, but He is indeed mysterious and beyond our understanding (Deut 29:29) but it shapes our faith through understanding some critical attributes mentioned above. The problem for me is that I’m often too lazy and excuse myself with busyness of this world.

Lastly, studying the doctrine of sin has also been humbling to me. And this is a daily battle since my sinful nature is so prone to be entitled to God’s grace. But I encourage you to listen to John Piper’s sermon on TULIP or the Mortification of Sin by J. Owens to discover how sin is really THAT bad and how much we NEED God’s grace.

There are tons of articles on these topic so if you don’t want to purchase books, then you can check out Monergism website and find bunch of free stuff.

I’m think we should meet late August to discuss, pray and reflect together on what we have learned thus far through this book. We can either meet at my house or (somewhere quiet) for few hours. How about tentatively August 23 after 1 or 2PM at my crib?

Let me know your thoughts and if you happened to cross good articles/resources/books.

Thanks!