Sola Church Website Has Gone Live!

 Well after about 3 years in the making, Sola church has finally launched their website. You can check it out here at this address. Sola church is the church I attend, we're a reformed Baptist church based in Sydney Australia. There's a lot of content there including links to past sermons, our YouTube channel as well as what it is that we believe. We also have a gospel presentation there if you want to show your friends and family. www.solachurch.org.au

Enduring Faith

Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, ³ knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. ⁴ But endurance must do its complete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing. James 1:2-4

It is very fitting that James begins his epistle by saying in verse 2 “consider it great joy” in relation to the experience of trials. We get a hint in verse 1 that James is writing to Jews of the 12 tribes in the Dispersion. The Dispersion relates to Jews who have been scattered and perhaps driven out of their homes and villages from various persecutions and trials. But why consider this joy? Why is this a joyful occasion? The backbone of why James tells the Jews to consider it joy is based on verse 3 “knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.” It should give us great joy knowing that our faith is refined through many kinds of trials!

James goes on to giving us reason why endurance of faith is important. He mentions that it must complete its work resulting in maturity and completion, lacking nothing (verse 4). Endurance within trials builds maturity. I could tell you a few times when I personally have been without work for months, relying entirely on God to provide. This is not to say that I wasn’t working or not willing to work, but that for a time I was simply without work. And given that the Lord had placed me in such a situation, I am able to trust Him even more so if I am without work again.

Perhaps though your trials are far more distressing, having lost a loved one or having been excommunicated by your own family for your faith. Consider the premise of who James is writing the letter to, Jews who have been scattered because of their faith. God places us in the most difficult of circumstances at times in order that our faith may be refined in fire that we may be complete, lacking nothing and growing in maturity. In a single year I personally lost both of my grandparents, lost my job and my parents lost their jobs during 2009. I suffered depression on a scale that I’d never felt before. The Lord had brought me to such a lowly state that I cried out to Him “I cannot do anything without you!” This was the beginning of when I became a Christian. The Lord refined me through the fire; I endured suffering on an unfathomable scale. But He did this so that I could endure through the faith He’s provided. All praise goes to Him through endurance of trials so that we may grow in maturity and rest on His strength in knowing how to deal with these circumstances.

The Christian walk is obviously filled with many trials as we progress through life. Consider the apostle Paul who mentions all of what he endured for the sake of the gospel.

Are they servants of Christ?
I’m talking like a madman—I’m a better one:
with far more labors,
many more imprisonments,
far worse beatings, near death^[h] many times.
²⁴ Five times I received 39 lashes from Jews.
²⁵ Three times I was beaten with rods by the Romans.
Once I was stoned by my enemies.^[i]
Three times I was shipwrecked.
I have spent a night and a day
in the open sea.
²⁶ On frequent journeys, I faced
dangers from rivers,
dangers from robbers,
dangers from my own people,
dangers from the Gentiles,
dangers in the city,
dangers in the open country,
dangers on the sea,
and dangers among false brothers;
²⁷ labor and hardship,
many sleepless nights, hunger and thirst,
often without food, cold, and lacking clothing. 1 Corinthians 11:23-27

I doubt many of us could match Paul’s list of trials. But this gives us an idea of how he valued the gospel so much and was willing to endure suffering. O how we ought to learn from Paul and to consider the depth he went to in order to share the treasure that is the gospel! If only the gospel gripped us so much that we would toil night and day like he did with joy knowing that our faith is being refined, growing in maturity. Dear brothers and sisters let us have a greater value for the gospel for it is the power of salvation unto those who believe! (Romans 1:16) Let us not shrink back into a ‘lukewarm’ state but press on knowing that whatever lies ahead, God is good to guide us through the valley of death or remove us out of it entirely!

To Judge or Not to Judge…

Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another Proverbs 27:17

More frequently I’ve been noticing many Christians particularly through social media websites like Facebook mention that “we ought not to judge!” As if judgment is strictly for God to issue. It seems right though on a surface level, given that as Christians we know that God is holy, righteous and perfect in every way, therefore it does appear right for God to judge the sinner and the righteous one. Scripture does mention the topic of judgment and like all passages we ought to look at what it says of the topic in context.

“Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged. ² For with the judgment you use,^[a] you will be judged, and with the measure you use,^[b] it will be measured to you. ³ Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye but don’t notice the log in your own eye? ⁴ Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and look, there’s a log in your eye? ⁵ Hypocrite! First take the log out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. ⁶ Don’t give what is holy to dogs or toss your pearls before pigs, or they will trample them with their feet, turn, and tear you to pieces. Matthew 7:1-6

Now usually some Christians might stop at Matthew 7:1, but given that our God is not a God of confusion, He immediately explains what He means by the premise of His statement. Much like John 3:16 cannot be explained without the preceding verses nor can you explain Matthew 7:21-23 without the following explanation. So that said let’s examine what Christ is saying on the matter of judgment. From verses 1 – 5 Christ is mentioning that we ought not to judge hypocritically, that is for example to judge a brother whilst secretly engaging in the same sin. This isn’t to say we can’t judge at all, but that we shouldn’t judge hypocritically. An example of not judging hypocritically would be to say something like “hey brother, I love you and I need to tell you this. I noticed recently you’ve been engaging in lust. I personally know how difficult this is; let’s encourage one another in purity.” Now the person who engages in a judgment like this is not a hypocrite, rather someone who loves their brother and wants to encourage them in pressing on in the faith whilst using a biblical form of purity to strengthen one another.

So the bible doesn’t condemn the idea of using judgment altogether. In fact in the same passage I quoted, Jesus mentions in verse 6 “don’t give your pearls to pigs…” requiring us to make a judgment of who the proverbial pigs are and not to throw our pearls out to them. If we look further down the same chapter Jesus makes another statement about judgement.

“Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravaging wolves. ¹⁶ You’ll recognize them by their fruit. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree can’t produce bad fruit; neither can a bad tree produce good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ So you’ll recognize them by their fruit. Matthew 7:15-20

Here Jesus is making a clear statement that false prophets are presently out to deceive people with their teaching. So Christ gives us a way to measure them knowing the fruit of what they produce. We’re called to make a judgment and to recognise good fruit from the bad.

The last form of judgment is possibly the most criticised of them all. That’s often because there’s generally a lack of understanding the biblical form of rebuking and what it means to rebuke in the first place. The one thing people ought to know about biblical rebuking is that it begins with love. The reason why anyone should come to a brother or sister and say “we need to talk about your sin…” should rest on the foundation of loving Christ and loving the individual. Christ himself gives us a model of what it means to rebuke.

“If your brother sins against you,^[h] go and rebuke him in private.^[i] If he listens to you, you have won your brother. ¹⁶ But if he won’t listen, take one or two more with you, so that by the testimony^[j] of two or three witnesses every fact may be established.^{[k] 17} If he pays no attention to them, tell the church.^[l] But if he doesn’t pay attention even to the church, let him be like an unbeliever^[m] and a tax collector to you.  Matthew 18:15-17

Christ gives us a command to make a judgment on sin within the congregation. We’re called to be set apart and to be holy as our Lord is Holy (1 Peter 1:14-16). Therefore we as fellow believers ought to know this high calling by encouraging each other in the faith to press on in holy living. Now before anyone says “legalist!” so quickly I want to make it clear that we’re in the covenant of grace as Christians. But that in itself doesn’t give us a right to sin up a storm so to speak. Romans 6:1-4 is where Paul destroys that argument.

What should we say then? Should we continue in sin so that grace may multiply? ² Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it? ³ Or are you unaware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? ⁴ Therefore we were buried with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in a new way^[a] of life.

Our churches should be filled with biblically minded Christians who are ready to judge out of love for each other. These are Christians who are ready to call sin for what it is and to not be afraid to say “brother, we need to talk.” Let’s not leave judgment up to God on the final day; He’s called us to live a holy and pleasing life to Him. Let us sharpen each other as ‘iron sharpens iron’ and press on knowing that by judging one another out of love, we’re ultimately doing it all for His glory and to see a brother or sister repent.

There's only one TRUE gospel message...

Have you heard the gospel message similar to this? All things should be tested with scripture. Praise God we have the gospel in its complete form within the book of Romans.

The Perseverance of the Saints

This demands the perseverance^[a] of the saints, who keep God’s commands and their faith in Jesus. Revelation 14:12

Perseverance is a word that requires a deeper understanding. In fact the bible gives us a number of passages that reveal what biblical perseverance looks like. Let me start by explaining what perseverance is not. Perseverance is not about committing yourself to church every Sunday. Biblical perseverance has nothing to do with simply calling yourself a Christian, when the scriptures demand so much more with such an incredible title.

One passage I often keep bringing up with friends is Ephesians 6:10. “Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by His vast strength.” Given Paul’s historic ministry to many people, it’s easy to say that he most certainly provided an example of what it means to rest on his vast strength. But there are countless situations where we could apply the strength of the Lord to rest upon. In these trying times, our world’s moral values are decaying around us. And the social influences are easily making their way into the church. This is where we ought to rest on the vast strength of the Lord, seeking His counsel in all things. But what does it look like to rest on the strength of the Lord? I’ll give you a number of examples.

²¹ Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord drove the sea back with a powerful east wind all that night and turned the sea into dry land. So the waters were divided, ²² and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with the waters like a wall to them on their right and their left. Exodus 14:21-22

This has got to be one of the most prime examples of what it means to rest upon the Lord’s strength. It must have been a terrifying experience to step foot on dry land in the Red Sea, only to see that a chasm of water had been formed perfectly. What choice did they have? Pharaoh’s men were in hot pursuit of the Israelites, it was a ‘do or die’ situation for them.  And this is fitting why Paul mentions in Romans 8:13 “for if you live according to the flesh, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” Consider the typology of the Israelites facing the Red Sea as it’s just been parted. Turn around and you will die, but go forward in the strength of the Lord and you shall live.

Perseverance is not always about having a ‘peace’ about something. I doubt very much that the Israelites had a peace during the exodus. But their trust in the Lord out weighted the desire to turn back when they faced the parted Red Sea! And this is what it means to persevere and to press on, not that we will have an ‘easy life’ but that God provides a chasm of sanctuary in Him. He is our source of strength and our refuge in times of overwhelming distress. In Romans 7 Paul mentions the inner battle that he has with sin. He mentions “I do what I don’t want to do; I don’t do what I do want to do!” This is repeated, most likely emphasising his frustration over the battle with his personal sin. But the finale, his conclusion is most fitting for the situation at hand.

²⁴ What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this dying body? ²⁵ I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord!^[k] So then, with my mind I myself am a slave to the law of God, but with my flesh, to the law of sin. Romans 7:24-25

Let us press on like good soldiers, brothers and sisters. Let us make war on the flesh, let us not be influenced by worldly desires. Let us make certain that the church keeps her purity, undefiled from worldly influences. We are fighting a battle, there’s no peace but we rest on His strength who gave us the sword.

Don’t assume that I came to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. Matthew 10:34