Why is Good Friday so Good? [Passion Week Devotions]
What follows are some meditations as to why Good Friday is good. The topic is truly infinite. Hopefully this serves to stir your heart as a believer and aid conversations with unbelievers today.
Good Friday is ‘good’ because…
…Jesus was my substitute there upon that blood-stained tree
…Jesus wore the crown of thorns that I might wear the crown of life
…Jesus was scourged that I might be healed
…Jesus was condemned that I might be pardoned
…Jesus was abandoned that I might be accepted
…Jesus was made to be sin that I might be declared and ultimately made righteous
…Jesus pleased the Father whom I had angered
…Jesus tasted death that I may never taste it
…Jesus drank wrath that I might drink the waters of life
…Jesus died that I may live
…Jesus was shamed for my shameful sin
…Jesus was showered with judgment he did not deserve that I might be showered with the grace that I do not deserve
…Jesus distinguished himself as the exclusive basis for divine forgiveness
…Jesus purchased eternal redemption through his eternal sacrifice to pay my eternal debt
…Jesus crushed the serpent’s head (he defeated the devil)
…Jesus pleased the Father
…Jesus vindicated the glory of God
…Jesus put the attributes of God on full display singing in beautiful harmony (justice, love, wrath, forgiveness, holiness, mercy…)
…Good Friday is good because I am so bad
….and Good Friday is only good because the Savior, our Lord Jesus is so good
Feel free to add your own praise evoking meditations of the cross in the comments as to why Good Friday is so good…
Posted in Irish Calvinist.
Satan is Preying so the Savior is Praying [Passion Week Devotions]
Luke 22:31-32 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.
As the Savior is looking down the barrel of the unmitigated wrath of God he speaks to his disciples rather cryptically about the ‘one’ (Judas) who would betray him and then quite specifically about the Apostle Peter’s impending defection.
In the midst of this dialog between Peter and Jesus we have these two verses nestled in full of encouragement for believers today.
We learn of Satan’s desires. It is to “have” believers. Satan is not concerned so much with the unbelievers, for he already has them, but rather those who are following the Messiah. Satan’s desire is to have Peter. Satan already ‘has’ Judas (Luk 22.3) and now he wants Peter too. He wants to undermine the work of Jesus by attacking his followers. So believer, know that just as sure as you have the Holy Spirit you have been ‘painted’ with a demonic laser sight…he wants to have you. For truly nothing would give the Devil more joy than to see the narrow road depopoulated, for there is plenty of room on the broad road for apostates.
But notice what the Lord says, “but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail…” What a blessed thought to chew upon. The Savior, who has Calvary on his mind and in his sights, is praying for Peter! Consider the blessing of having Jesus pray for you!? Perhaps this is some insight into why and how Peter did in fact return after his denials. Can you imagine how these words would have resounded in the Apostle’s ears in the decades that passed? Jesus Christ prayed for me. Jesus made intercession for me. This is incomprehensibly glorious.
Believer this is not a reality that is limited exclusively to the time of the Apostles. We know in Scripture that Jesus has prayed for all believers (Jn 17.20) and is now interceding for us as the successful advocate (Rom. 8.34; 1 Joh 2.1). Mark it down, Satan is still the accuser (Rev. 12.10) and Jesus is still the intercessor (Isa. 53.12; Heb. 7.25). He is able to intercede for us as he pleads the merits of his own righteousness; he pleads his obedience of life unto death.
Do you thank Jesus for his intercession? Do you thank him for his glorious righteousness? Do you thank him for his commitment to you? Oh, it is true indeed, he is a far better Savior than we think him to be. You and I would be a Judas in an instant, selling Jesus out for a handful of pocket change and some temporal props, if it was not for Jesus and his faithful intercession. As the Good Shepherd pivots to Calvary he has his beloved sheep on his mind, he was and is praying for his sheep. And so we thank him with humble joy, for he is glorious.
Posted in Irish Calvinist.
Jesus, the Fig Tree, and the Temple [Passion Week Devotions]
Jesus, walking from Bethany, is trekking onward towards his crucifixion in Jerusalem. And Mark lets us know that the Savior is hungry. So he does what so many have done upon a walk in the Middle East, he looks for something that is edible on the trees. Off an to the distance he sees a fig tree that is “in leaf” (Mk. 11.13) so he goes “to see if he could find anything on it”.
It should be noted here that the fig trees in this region begin to have early or smaller figs that grow from the sprouts of the previous year. These early figs would typically appear at about the same time or even before the new year’s leaves. These smaller figs were known to supply the poor and hungry with quick sustenance as they traveled about. It is important to note that the annual figs or the large figs did not come until later in the year, typically after August.
This becomes important in this passage. Jesus is of course descending upon Jerusalem here on the week of Passover. It is probably late March or early April. As a result, the large figs have not arrived yet. Hence Mark’s statement, “…it was not the season for figs.” (Mk. 11.13).
So here we have Jesus who is hungry walking up to this fully leaved fig tree in the season where there should be small figs for pilgrims who are hungry. However, we read that this is not the case:
And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.(Mk. 11.13)
Jesus comes to a tree that has the appearance of fruit (it has leaves) and so therefore it should satisfy his hunger. However, upon a close inspection of the tree he finds it barren and fruitless.
The next words from Jesus might be a surprise to some:
And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it. (v.14)
Jesus curses the fig tree for its lack of fruit.
Now did the tree do anything wrong? Of course not. So what is the significance of this ‘cursing’?
Well, if we keep reading we see that Jesus soon after goes into the temple. It is here that he comes upon a bustling religious event. There are lots of people, animals, noises, and activities. Imagine the sights, sounds and smells that would have greeted the Savior’s senses? Jesus is infuriated with a holy anger and he carries out a Messianic sting operation on the temple. We read that “And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple.” (11.16).
The temple was the place where people were to go to meet God. They would have their greatest need fulfilled through satisfied fellowship with Jehovah. And from a distance the temple appeared to be doing a pretty good business; it appeared to have ‘it’ together. The tree had leaves, if you will. However, upon a closer inspection from the Savior the temple was, like the fig tree, barren and fruitless. The tree was a picture of Israel. It should have had fruit on it, after all it was the season and it had leaves! Israel should have had fruit but they rejected their Messiah.
What a dreadful irony here. The true temple comes to the temple and there is such a polarizing reaction. On the one hand Jesus is infuriated. He runs through the temple and disrupts their ‘worship’ with his presence and anger. And on the other hand we have the religious leaders infuriated. They hated and feared him (11.18). And so goes the age old war between the seed of the woman and the serpent (Gen. 3.15ff). This battle would be dealt with in blood stained finality in a matter of days as the seed of the woman crushes the serpent’s head like a discarded cigarrette. But in the meantime we see this battle raging through the religious leaders, the temple worshippers, and the Savior himself.
Posted in Irish Calvinist.
Jesus Wept Over the City [Passion Week Devotions]
And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it (Luke 19.41)
It is early in the Passion Week and our Lord is coming upon the great city Jerusalem. He has been hailed the King by worshipers (19.37-38) but he has also been questioned and interrogated by the Pharisees (19.39). But now he is upon the crest of the city and he is moved to tears.
Why? Well ultimately the tears are bound up in the upcoming destruction of Jerusalem which Jesus connects to their rejection of him as the promised Messiah (vv. 42-44).
But our tendency is to quickly turn from the Savior to the people and begin to think about AD 70 and the destruction as well as the ongoing demonstration of judgment for rejecting Christ. However we mustn’t too quickly turn away from the heavy truth in verse 41: Jesus wept over the city.
The mere fact that Jesus wept here shows the deeply emotional state of the Savior as he moves toward Jerusalem. He is not an indifferent Calvinist who’s theology is so suffocated that he cannot breath, see, and be moved. He is weeping over lost people, judgment, and disaster. We must not lift our heads up too quickly from the page lest we miss the Master’s heart. Think and ask yourself about how often (if ever) you have wept over your city.
Furthermore, he is weeping as he approaches his crucifixion. Jesus is not going to a reception here but an execution. We know that while the cries may have been “Hosanna!” (John 12.13) on the front end they will be “Crucify Him!” in a matter of days (Mark 15.14). They call him “King” now but in due time these same fickle crowds will declare passionately that “We have no king but Caesar” (John 19.15). But nevertheless Jesus weeps. It would seem that the fickleness and feigned worship seem to even further pierce the Savior’s heart. He indeed knows what is in man (John 2.24-25). He is weeping over the sinful hearts of his executioners. He is weeping because of who they are and what they are doing. He is weeping because of what they are missing. Let the Savior’s tears communicate the hidden mysteries of his perfect heart as it beats blood of holy compassion in his bosom.
Jesus’ patience, love, and emotion are so convicting and instructive to me. He had every right to yell at all of them for their rejection of him. However he pauses over the city and in plain view, he weeps. How unlike Christ am I that I do not even come close to this compassion, grief, emotion, or heartache? Furthermore he is not afraid to show his emotion in the plain eyes of the public. He does not fear men and their reactions of him. He just loves them and grieves over their rejection of him. O’ What a Savior!
Posted in Irish Calvinist, Jesus, Preaching.
Audio from Phil Johnson at OBC
Many folks have asked for the audio from Phil Johnson’s teaching at the recent Men’s Breakfast at Omaha Bible Church. It has been uploaded and may be listened to or downloaded below.
Timeless Attacks on the Gospel
In this session Phil, while rockin’ his team pyro t-shirt under his coat, gave an overview of five major heresies that the church has battled against (Judiaziers, Gnosticisim, Arianism, Pelegianism, and Socinianism). The bulk of his talk was on the modern day proponents of the fifth breed of heretics, the Socinists. He argued that the traditional liberal denominations and the modern day left wing emergents are just Socinianism retreaded. It is a good talk and worth your time. I recommend it with your favorite blend of robust coffee.
Phil also sat down with our Senior Pastor Pat Abendroth to talk about church history, evangelicalism, the gospel, and John MacArthur.
Overall it was a great weekend with Phil. I wish I could have spent more time with him one on one but my schedule did not allow it. He is a great encouragement in his love for Christ, the gospel and the church.
Posted in Irish Calvinist.
Devotions for Passion Week
The week leading up to the death and resurrection of Jesus is one of the most heart stirring and pride smashing times in the gospel narratives. I remember as a new Christian being continually drawn back to this scene. Thankfully God has been pleased to repeatedly plunk me down at the foot of the cross to witness his glorious Son do what we neither could nor would do, that is vindicate his glory.
As I have tried to do annually on Irish Calvinist, we will be looking at several meditations on the Passion Week concluding on Sunday with a devotion on the resurrection. I envision this to be helpful for us as believers, for our own hearts or perhaps even to share with unbelievers. Also, it may serve to jump start some men to the practice of doing family devotions (just go home and read the passage and talk about it). And finally, if it serves to help stir other pastors’ hearts leading to this great weekend of simultaneous humiliation and exaltation through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.
I want to include a helpful link provided by the folks at Crossway and the ESV Bible. It is a Google Map that annotates the events of the Passion Week. This is really helpful.couple of weeks ago I preached a sermon in which I emphasized the deception and danger of lust. I regretted not being able to further develop the topic, specifically how to fight lust. Therefore in the next few days I will aim to think biblically about lust and how we as Christians are to deal with it.
So here I just want to briefly provide a bit of a biblical framework for lust, and then tomorrow look into the heart of lust and Thursday conclude with the answer to lust. The answer to lust may surprise some, but it is the answer and frankly the only answer to lust that ultimately works.
What is lust?
The word translated lust in the New Testament is epithumia. The word simply means ‘desire’. This desire can be good or bad; whether it is good or bad depends upon how it aligns with God’s revealed will.
For example, we do not understand a potential elder candidate to be in sin who is desiring (epithumia) to the work of an overseerer (1 Tim. 3.1). In this case the desire is a God-honoring desire therefore it is not a sinful lust.
On the other hand, we have the sin of lust. In our greed we crave or desire something that is not consistent with what God has revealed or provided. Simply put sinful lust is to desire something that we believe to be ‘good’ outside of what God has called good. It is to put our own will and pleasure above God’s.
This is seen quite clearly through the example of sexual lust. God has said that sex is to occur within the framework of marriage (between a male and a female). Therefore, any lustful craving to experience the intimate pleasures reserved for the marriage apart from this sacred institution is to pursue enjoyment apart from God’s clearly revealed will. When a man sits and quietly fixes his eyes and heart upon a woman (whether it be on a computer, television, photo, in person or in his imagination) and then begins to desire her sexually, this is sinful lust. The man has lustfully craved sexual satisfaction apart from divine sanction.
We pick an awful lot on men with this issue (and rightly so) but the truth is women struggle just as much with lust as men (we’ll cover this as we go).
Some biblical observations:
So with this basic introduction and framework of lust established, let’s make some biblical observations about lust.
>We understand from Scripture that sinful lust is as much a part of our unbelieving lives as breathing (Eph. 2.3; Tit. 3.3) and that it is not to be characteristic of the Christian life (1 Pet. 1.14; 2.11; 4.2-4)
>Jesus tells us that the nature of lust is demonic (John 8.44)
>The Bible reiterates that this lust is sourced in our own hearts and it fastens itself on stuff; people, things and other expressions of vain glory (Jam. 1.14-16)
>A desire for, a lust for stuff chokes out the gospel seed (Mar. 4.19)
>The lusts of the world are clear, succinct and doomed (1 John 2.16-17)
Lord willing, tomorrow we will consider the DNA of lust: the exchange of attributesYesterday I briefly looked at what lust is and simply defined it as a desire for something that we believe to be ‘good’ outside of what God has called good. It is to put our own will and pleasure above God’s.
So why do we lust?
Everyone yells in unison “Sin!” or “Pride!” or “Greed!” or some other answer that we know to be true but to often do not understand how it works.
My contention here is that if you do not know why and how your heart works you will not effectively wage war against its fleshly passions.
Why do we sit and meditate about how successful we will be? Or how people will like us? Why do we strain our necks to covet and long for what we do not have? Why do women envy other women’s beauty, style, wardrobe, sense of humor, mothering skills, or professional skills? Why does a man find himself sinfully staring at a woman who is not his wife? Why do we find ourselves daydreaming and fantasizing about how we would orchestrate our lives if we were sovereign?
There is an appraisal that takes place. Each one of us, whether a Christian or not, are governed by our hearts [it is this same heart that is described in the Scriptures as the most deceitful thing in the world (Jer.17.9) I do not want to draw a false line so as to somehow conclude that the heart and the person are separate, for your heart is you…it is bad because we are bad].
Our hearts then confront us with stuff and the natural fallen tendency is to appraise stuff through the lenses of self-exaltation rather than divine exaltation. We naturally fasten our lust upon that which exalts self through the demotion and insult of God. Is this not your experience? It is also the testimony of Scripture (1 Jn. 2.16-17).
When we are confronted by our hearts we are forced to make a choice between that which God calls beautiful and what the sinful heart calls beautiful.
For an example, and I am going to pick on men, specifically in the area of sexual lust (fill in the blank: from pornographic images to that which men execute upon modestly clothed women).
Here is the scenario, men, you are looking at your computer and you desire to look at porn. So you open up a web browser and go to a filthy site in attempt to satisfy your lust. You have just declared that these images are chiefly beautiful and worthy of your desire. You have elevated your selfish lust to a position of supremacy above what God has called beautiful. You have exchanged the beauty of God for the beauty of a fleeting image. Your sinful heart has just robbed the glory of God of what is due to him by ascribed glory and beauty to this woman. God has not willed that you have expend your sexual passions on this image but rather to sanctify your passions and employ within the context of a marriage.
The heart is so tricky. You will tell yourself that it is harmless because you are just looking. However, Jesus says that one who lusts is as guilty as the one who has actually engaged in the action (Matt. 5.27-28).
Men always like to blame everyone else, but the truth of the matter is that it is our own fault. Everyone who succumbs to lust does so on their own accord:
James 1:14-15 4 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. 15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.
Notice here that we are tempted when we are carried away and enticed by our own lust. We are drawn and lured after our own lusts. We are enticed by our unbiblical appraisals of stuff.
How serious is this? What does a full grown seed of lust look like?
Notice that the result of this lust is death. Our unbiblical appraisal of and pursuit of stuff has a declared end and it is death. Men, how would you change your viewing habits if as soon as you thought an impure thought you knew that you were going to simultaneously explode? I wonder how often ladies would sit and talk about how they wish they looked like so and so if they at once were to be struck dead?
The ultimate picture of this is the Lord Jesus Christ. The passage everyone needs to meditate upon when dissecting their lustful habits is Isaiah 53.
Isaiah 53:2 For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.
Here comes the Lord Jesus, all of the beauty of God in bodily form, dwelling among human flesh and he is, from a human perspective, devoid of beauty and unworthy of attraction.
This is a blessed and providential pull upon our leash. How does the incarnate Son of God compare with the beauty of this world? In heaven we will engage in unhindered worship of this same Jesus and as sure as truth is in Jesus there will be no longings for this present world, for all of our desires and longings will be terminating on their chief end before the very source and expression of goodness, Jesus himself, at who’s right hand there are pleasures forevermore (Ps. 16.10).
So what happened? He was not very attractive to men. So what happened?
Isaiah 53:3, 5 He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him…But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.
As a result of this lack of esteem, desire and attraction, there was a barbaric crucifixion. It is no different today. When you and I fasten our lust upon something that God has not sanctioned we weigh the Savior upon the scales against our desires and he is found wanting. We measure the object of our lusts as beautiful and the infinitely beautiful Son of God to be…unattractive.
You need to think in these terms as you quietly employ the lusts of your flesh. Your ‘innocent’ desires that are the offspring of your glory starved heart have a target in mind and it is the slaying of Jesus.
No matter what setting you find yourself in you must battle your heart. You may say “I don’t struggle with porn.” Praise God! But friend, you do struggle with lust. Everyone of us struggles with the continual waywardness of our own hearts and our insatiable desire for supremacy, worship and glory. I believe it was John Calvin who said that the human heart is an idol factory.
This is why Peter barks out the divine command:
1 Peter 1:14-16 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, 15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16 because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”
If we do not know what our former lusts were perhaps they are not former. The Christian life is a battle that is characterized by a tenacious, fanatical, and relentless pursuit of holiness. If we are not walking against the worldly and fleshly current in pursuit of holiness than perhaps we are lifelessly floating downstream.
Lord willing, tomorrow I will aim to provide the biblical answer to lust :: the beauty of Jesus.
clinging to grace,
In the previous two posts we looked briefly at what sinful lust is, seeking ‘goodness’ apart from God and where it is sourced, in our own hearts. In conclusion today I want to equip you with the chief auxiliary in combating lust.
The title of this series may strike some as odd and it is intended to make us think. As we considered in part one, lusts are desires, and in the Scriptures these desires can be good or bad, this depends on how they line up with the will of God. So how do we fight these desires? We do it with desires. Your chief defense against sinful lust is an all out offensive of sanctified lust, if you will. It is to set our hearts upon the supremacy, sufficiency and beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ; and it is in this posture of continual satisfied delight in Jesus that the lusts of our flesh and this world evaporate into vapors like the steam on our morning coffee.
So here are some helpful tools in fighting lust:
Admit you have issues
Too many of us walk around thinking we are glorified. We are sinners who are saved by and absolutely dependent upon divine grace. We need this grace every second of every hour. Our hearts are continually fighting for airtime; we are to be continually waging war on our hearts.
I love to ask people, “How is the battle going?” The battle is for holiness and against the exaltation of self through our own sin. The Christian life is not a stroll through a field to pick flowers and sip lemonade, instead it is a battle; we should be dressed in the armor, progressing through the battlefield, with a single-minded resolve and fully dependent upon our commanding officer.
Agree with God about his beauty
This is the key. God is the very source of beauty. Furthermore, he defines what beauty is. We have God revealing himself in the Scriptures to be the very pinnacle of beauty and in his beauty he eclipses all things. Contemplate the reality that God does not decay or fade, but he is just as fresh, beautiful and glorious today as he was when Paul preached the glories of Christ, when Jesus walked the earth, when David penned his songs of praise, when Moses cried out for a glimpse of his glory, when Abraham believed, when Adam and Eve walked with him in the garden, when the angels sang of his glory during creation, and when the Trinity enjoyed their eternal fellowship and worship prior to the creation of the world. Now add to that that his beauty will never fade away…he will always be this glorious, this beautiful, this appealing, this attractive!! He is the eternal God who’s beauty is eternally untarnished.
The Father has spoken from heaven as to his appraisal of Jesus. We have read of this divine endorsement of the Savior at his baptism,
Matthew 3:17 “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”
Further, Matthew writes that Jesus is the eternal delight of the Father with whom the he is “well pleased” (Matt. 12.18).
Friends can we not find ourselves in agreement with God as to his beauty? We must come to the word of God to have our minds shaped and conformed by God. He says he is infinitely beautiful and worthy to be the unceasing object of our satisfaction and delight. Do you agree?
If you do then your cravings and lust for things of this world and of your flesh will be starved out by your relentless enjoyment and pursuit of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
You can throw your computer out the window, but that won’t kill your lust. You can never go to the mall (the vanity fair :/), but that won’t kill your lust. You can cut out your eyes, but that won’t kill your lust. You can move to a cave in Montana, but that won’t kill your lust. You can employ legalism, but that won’t kill your lust. All of these things fall short because they are external amputations when we need a heart transformation.
This is how the Apostle Paul tells believers to put off such things as lustful cravings (Col. 3.5-8). Did you notice what the great word that is used in v.5? “Therefore” Based on what are we to put to death these passion? It is what is found in verses 1-4:
Colossians 3:1-4 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.
You are putting to death lustful passions with your ceaseless passion for Jesus Christ, “keep seeking the things above”… “Set your mind on the things above..” It is this seeing and savoring of Jesus Christ (as Piper would say) that brings about the holiness that is required.
But there is more here. In Colossians 3.1 there is another “Therefore” statement. What did he just pivot out of? Chapters 1 & 2 declare the absolute supremacy and sufficiency of Jesus over and against everything. Therefore the Christian (and everyone else for that matter) is backed up and all of the apparent competition and rivals to Jesus are completed eclipsed by the resume of Jesus Christ. He is seen to be absolutely supreme and sufficient and so therefore the only choice for your worship. He is it.
To see Jesus as supreme and sufficient is to see everything else as lacking. To see stuff as worthy of your lust (coveting, craving, etc..) is to see Jesus as lacking. To seek goodness outside of what God has called good is to appraise Jesus and find him lacking. We need to think like this. Our lust for selfish pleasure does have consequences. Whether we are talking sexual lust, material lust, professional lust, or whatever, we are talking about the removal of attributes of God and the imputation of the attributes of supremacy and sufficiency to stuff, and this is the height of idolatry (Col. 3.5).
This is why it is so critical to be in the word of God daily. To find ourselves in subjection to the divine word, that we might have our minds transformed and renewed according to the will of God, that we would think his thoughts after him, appraising that which is excellent and rejecting that which is sinful (Rom. 12.1-2; Eph. 5.1-2). Furthermore, we are to drive the word deep into our hearts through prayer and contemplative meditation; for we are people who need are hearts broken and reminded of the absolute beauty and attractiveness of God that we might see and savor his supremacy and sufficiency in all things. There is little doubt that this is what Paul had in mind as he writes these words in Colossians 3:
Colossians 3:16-17 16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.
How do we fight lust? With a ceaseless pursuit of the delight of God, which is, a delight in God, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
I have in mind men and women. For men it’s obvious. The need for warfare against the bombardment of visual temptation to fixate on sexual images is urgent. For women it is less obvious, but just as great if we broaden the scope of temptation to food or figure or relational fantasies. When I say “lust” I mean the realm of thought, imagination, and desire that leads to sexual misconduct. So here is one set of strategies in the war against wrong desires. I put it in the form of an acronym, A N T H E M.
A – AVOID as much as is possible and reasonable the sights and situations that arouse unfitting desire. I say “possible and reasonable” because some exposure to temptation is inevitable. And I say “unfitting desire” because not all desires for sex, food, and family are bad. We know when they are unfitting and unhelpful and on their way to becoming enslaving. We know our weaknesses and what triggers them. “Avoiding” is a Biblical strategy. “Flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness” (2 Timothy 2:22). “Make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires” (Romans 13:14).
N – Say NO to every lustful thought within five seconds. And say it with the authority of Jesus Christ. “In the name of Jesus, NO!” You don’t have much more than five seconds. Give it more unopposed time than that, and it will lodge itself with such force as to be almost immovable. Say it out loud if you dare. Be tough and warlike. As John Owen said, “Be killing sin or it will be killing you.” Strike fast and strike hard. “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” ( James 4:7).
T – TURN the mind forcefully toward Christ as a superior satisfaction. Saying “no” will not suffice. You must move from defense to offense. Fight fire with fire. Attack the promises of sin with the promises of Christ. The Bible calls lusts “deceitful desires” (Ephesians 4:22). They lie. They promise more than they can deliver. The Bible calls them “passions of your former ignorance” (1 Peter 1:14). Only fools yield. “All at once he follows her, as an ox goes to the slaughter” (Proverbs 7:22). Deceit is defeated by truth. Ignorance is defeated by knowledge. It must be glorious truth and beautiful knowledge. This is why I wrote Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ. We must stock our minds with the superior promises and pleasures of Jesus. Then we must turn to them immediately after saying, “NO!”
H – HOLD the promise and the pleasure of Christ firmly in your mind until it pushes the other images out. “Fix your eyes on Jesus” (Hebrews 3:1). Here is where many fail. They give in too soon. They say, “I tried to push it out, and it didn’t work.” I ask, “How long did you try?” How hard did you exert your mind? The mind is a muscle. You can flex it with vehemence. Take the kingdom violently (Matthew 11:12). Be brutal. Hold the promise of Christ before your eyes. Hold it. Hold it! Don’t let it go! Keep holding it! How long? As long as it takes. Fight! For Christ’s sake, fight till you win! If an electric garage door were about to crush your child you would hold it up with all our might and holler for help, and hold it and hold it and hold it and hold it.
E – ENJOY a superior satisfaction. Cultivate the capacities for pleasure in Christ. One reason lust reigns in so many is that Christ has so little appeal. We default to deceit because we have little delight in Christ. Don’t say, “That’s just not me.” What steps have you taken to waken affection for Jesus? Have you fought for joy? Don’t be fatalistic. You were created to treasure Christ with all your heart – more than you treasure sex or sugar. If you have little taste for Jesus, competing pleasures will triumph. Plead with God for the satisfaction you don’t have: “Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days” (Psalm 90:14). Then look, look, look at the most magnificent Person in the universe until you see him the way he is.
M – MOVE into a useful activity away from idleness and other vulnerable behaviors. Lust grows fast in the garden of leisure. Find a good work to do, and do it with all your might. “Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord” (Romans 12:11). “Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58). Abound in work. Get up and do something. Sweep a room. Hammer a nail. Write a letter. Fix a faucet. And do it for Jesus’ sake. You were made to manage and create. Christ died to make you “zealous for good deeds” (Titus 2:14). Displace deceitful lusts with a passion for good deeds.
Fighting at your side,
Pastor John
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