Finding and Enjoying the Riches in Christ

Christ is the greatest treasure that anyone can find in this world, and all who seek him find him, and all who find him find far more than they ever imagined.


One of the saddest headlines of 2017 was Man hunting treasure found dead in New MexicoIt was made all the sadder by the fact that the dead man was a pastor from Colorado who died in search of hidden treasure worth $2m that had been hidden in the Rocky Mountains by millionaire Forrest Fenn. Fenn hid the chest in 2010 and wrote a poem he claimed led to the treasure. Since then, over 65,000 people have searched the area in New Mexico for the 22lb bronze chest containing gold and jewels with many suffering injury as they traversed the dangerous topography. And still no treasure has been found.

Join me on a treasure hunt that results in life not death, and that will produce true riches for every treasure hunter. In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col. 2:3).

The Map

To help us find this treasure, God has provided a map called the Bible which is:

Accurate: Because God is the ultimate author of the Bible, it is 100% accurate both in its Old and New Testament versions.

Accessible: God has made it available in hundreds of different languages.

Varied: Some parts are history, some poetry. Some parts are songs, some laws. Some parts look forward, some parts look backwards. Some parts are close ups, some are birds-eye view. There’s something for everyone here.

If you haven’t found the treasure yet, don’t blame the map.

The Treasure Hunter

So, if the map is so good, why haven’t more people found the treasure? Because the treasure hunters have many problems:

Disabilities: They are spiritually blind, deaf, and lame.

Confused: They don’t really know what they are looking for.

Distracted: They are easily diverted by the cares of this world and other minor matters.

Dying: The treasure hunters are dying but don’t usually appreciate how limited their time is and how urgent the hunt is

The Dangers

As the Colorado pastor found out, treasure hunting comes with many dangers. In this case, the dangers include:

False maps: False religions, false science, false philosophies, false psychologies, and many other falsehoods attack God’s map and substitute their own.

False promises: Many pleasures promise happiness and satisfaction if we dig into them. Gamblers put a big “X marks the spot” over casinos. Other X’s can be found on alcohol, sex, money, popularity, and so on. But all who have tried to dig in these places have only come up with dust no matter how deep they’ve dug.

A prowling lion: The devil goes about as a roaring lion whose full-time job is to divert you or kill you before you find the treasure (1 Pet. 5:8).

Given the dangers, is this treasure hunt worth even trying?

The Clues

Thankfully, God offers many helps and clues to overcome the dangers, such as:

His promises: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him” (James 1:5)

His people: Most treasure hunters want the treasure for themselves and don’t want anyone else to find it or get any of it. But Christians who have found the treasure of Christ desperately want to help others find it and enjoy it too. Sharing this treasure actually multiplies it.

His treasure seminars: He offers weekly seminars where expert treasure hunters explain the map and offer direction and guidance to motivate and guide.

There are so many valuable helps that if you haven’t yet found the treasure it’s only because you haven’t really looked for it yet. “Seek and you shall find” (Matt. 7:7).

The Treasure

So, what is the treasure? It is knowledge and wisdom about:

God: Christ is the image of God, so much so that he who has seen Christ has seen God (John 14:9)

Yourself: Christ reveals your sinful heart and your spiritual need.

The Cross: Christ makes sense of the cross and shows how although some call it weakness and foolishness, it is actually the power and wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1:18)

Life: Christ sets before us a wise life, the best way to live.

The World: Christ gives a new worldview, a new way of looking at the world’s history, people, ways, and purpose.

The Future: Christ gives knowledge of what happens after death and how to prepare for the judgment in such a way that we go to heaven rather than hell.

This and so much more demonstrates why in Christ are hidden all the riches of wisdom and knowledge. All that is valuable, precious, useful, is found in him. He is an unsearchable, inexhaustible, unfathomable treasure chest.

The Digging

“Hidden in Christ” does not mean that God wants to make it hard to unearth this golden wisdom. So what does it mean?

You have to dig: You have to go out of your way to seek it and get it. It’s not going to just land on your lap. Faith in Christ is the spade with which we dig and by which we discover more and more spiritual knowledge and wisdom.

You don’t get the wisdom and knowledge without Christ. You don’t get the treasure without the treasure chest.

You will be surprised: There’s so much more in him than we can ever imagine. No matter how long we have been digging, there will be more to discover. Ahead lie years of unpacking and discovering new jewels of knowledge, and gold of grace in unlimited supply.

No one has ever truly hunted for this treasure and failed to find it. And all who have found it have exclaimed: “I did not believe the words until I came and saw with my own eyes; and indeed the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame of which I heard” ( 1 Kings 10:7).


Check out

Blogs

Finding Our Place: Our Family’s Long Quest for Calling and Home
This is a longer post but contains a testimony to God’s faithfulness that’s well worth reading:

“We’ve been home for almost six years now. We’ve passed out of the honeymoon phase into a state of faithfulness and commitment. One of the side effects of our frequent relocation was that we never stayed in one place long enough to build the kind of relationships necessary for a mature life. We never reached a point in relationships that would test and grow us. We have here, and at times, it’s been excruciating. Someone asked me recently why we stay. Our church is small and, like so many other congregations in rural communities, struggling. The answer is a simple, albeit difficult, one. We stay because there are people here, and we believe we’ve been placed here. We stay because this is our community, this is our home.”

A Simple Plan for Congregational Scripture Memory
Barry York shares a congregational memorization plan that’s impacted many lives. What a difference this would make to the church if implemented widely.

Feeding on Christ The Genesis of Theology
And if you’re about to start reading the Bible from Genesis 1 again “here are a few theological themes that emerge when we meditate on the opening two chapters of the Bible in light of the fullness of biblical revelation.”

How To Be Happy This Year (Hint: It’s Not Complicated)
Lots of excellent counsel in this one:

Even though God allows me to struggle with depression and anxiety, I do believe that God wants me to have happiness in my life (which can be hard). And I think we tend to overcomplicate and over-spiritualize this whole happiness business. It’s relatively straightforward.”

62 Gospel-Centered Books on Marriage, Marriage Counseling, and Pre-Marital Counseling
Yes, you read that right. 62!

“I love her more”
What would you do if the women you hoped to marry revealed she was born without a womb?

“I found myself wrestling with a trade-off that in no way seemed fair to me: would I give up my dream of fathering my own biological children to be with the woman I love with all my heart?”

Does Jeremiah 29:11 Apply to You?
Russell Moore replies: “Does Jeremiah 29:11 apply to you? If you are in Christ, you can count on it. The passage doesn’t promise you the kind of future American culture prizes, and maybe even promises a future you would tremble at it if you saw it in a crystal ball. Short-term, you may suffer. But long-term, your future is co-signed with Christ. That’s a future for your welfare, and not for evil; a future of hope, not of despair.”

Kindle Books

Three quality books today.

What’s Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way You Get Things Done by Matt Perman $3.99.

The Gospel at Work: How Working for King Jesus Gives Purpose and Meaning to Our Jobs by Sebastian Traeger and Greg D. Gilbert $2.99.

Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions by Gregory Koukl $3.99.

Video

DNA 101: How It Works and Why It’s Astounding

DNA 101: How It Works and Why It’s Astounding from Crossway on Vimeo.


Christ’s Dependence on the Holy Spirit

Christ needed the Holy Spirit at his birth, in his growth, in his ministry, in his suffering, and in his exaltation.


What was the role of the Holy Spirit in Christ’s life on earth?

1. The Holy Spirit in Old Testament predictions

There are three ways in which the Old Testament indicated that the Messiah would be filled with the Holy Spirit while on earth:

Old Testament offices: The typical Old Testament offices of prophet, priest, and king were anointed with oil. This signified their need and God’s supply of the Holy Spirit’s gifting and empowering (Isa. 61:1)

Old Testament vocabulary: The future Savior was called the Messiah, meaning the Anointed One.

Old Testament prophecies: The Old Testament predicted that the Christ would be filled with the Holy Spirit (Isa. 11:2; 42:1; 61:1).

The Old Testament offices, vocabulary, and prophecies indicate the indispensable necessity of the Holy Spirit in the future Messiah’s person and work.

2. The Holy Spirit in Christ’s Birth (Luke 1:35)

The Holy Spirit was involved in Christ’s birth in two ways:

Christ’s Conception: The Holy Spirit framed, formed, and conceived the body of Christ in the womb of the virgin Mary and using part of Mary’s body.

Christ’s Sanctification: Christ’s human nature was sanctified at moment of his conception. His humanity never existed for one second without perfect holiness. As soon as he was human, he was holy.

How much do we trace our physical and spiritual life to the Holy Spirit, the giver of life?

3. The Holy Spirit in Christ’s Growth (Luke 2:40)

As Christ grew, he depended on the Holy Spirit in these ways:

His Communications: The divine nature did not communicate directly with his human nature but only via the Holy Spirit.

His Education: The Holy Spirit was responsible for all Christ’s mental development in his human nature (Isa. 50:4-9). This involved not just accumulating facts but an ability to use them.

His Communion: He communed with his Father in his human nature by the Holy Spirit and received the comforts and joy of that communion via the Holy Spirit.

His Graces: The Holy Spirit enabled Christ to exercise trust, love, and all other necessary holy affections and graces. His personality was heavy with the fruits of the Spirit.

His Work: Christ needed the Holy Spirit for every act that took place in his life. In his human nature, he was entirely dependent upon the Holy Spirit.

How much do we depend upon the Holy Spirit for our growth in knowledge, communion, grace, and work?

4. The Holy Spirit in Christ’s Ministry (Luke 3:22)

If Christ needed the Holy Spirit in his early life, he needed him even more through his three years of ministry.

Equipping: The Holy Spirit was incessantly active in conferring every conceivable gift upon him and in increasing them as needed.

Assuring: The Holy Spirit gave Christ an assuring sense of his Sonship and divine calling to his work (Luke 3:21-22)

Overcoming: The Holy Spirit enabled Christ to overcome temptation (Luke 4:1-13).

Guiding: Christ was led by the Spirit in his daily life and everyday decisions (Luke 4:14-15)

Empowering: It was by the power of the Holy Spirit that Christ worked miracles, raised the dead, healed the sick, and saved the lost (Matt. 12:28; Luke 11:20; Acts 10:38)

Teaching: The Holy Spirit gave Christ what to say, how to say it, when to say it, and who to say it to. Nothing was said or done without Spirit’s prompting (Luke 4:18).

How much do we seek the Spirit in ministry—to equip, assure, overcome, guide, and empower?

5. The Holy Spirit in Christ’s Sufferings (Heb. 9:14)

If Christ needed the Holy Spirit for his entire ministry, he needed him most for his work of suffering.

Submission: It was the Holy Spirit that enabled Christ to submit to God’s will, even though it was so painful and hard.

Motivation:  The Holy Spirit motivated Christ for his suffering by filling him with love for God and people

Suffering and offering: It was through the Holy Spirit that Christ suffered and offered himself a perfect sacrifice to God (Heb. 9:14)

Preservation: The Holy Spirit preserved Christ’s body in the grave (Acts 2:27).

How much do we ask for the Spirit’s help to submit to our sufferings and motivate us to persevere through them?

6. The Holy Spirit in Christ’s Exaltation

The Holy Spirit’s work in Christ did not end with his perfect offering and his body being perfectly preserved in the tomb.

Resurrection: The Holy Spirit raised him from the dead (Rom. 1:4; 8:11; 1 Tim. 3:16)

Glorification: The Holy Spirit glorified the human nature of Christ and made it ready for eternal residence with God (Acts1:2-3).

Donation: He gives the Spirit to others (John 14:17-18). The Lord Jesus is the cause, source, and pattern of the Spirit’s ministry in the believer (John 16:7).

Question: If Christ needed so much of the Spirit’s presence and work throughout his earthly life, how much more do we?


Check out

I’ve been in Florida with my family the last week or so, but as I resume the usual daily blog service, let me take this opportunity to thank you for visiting this blog in the past year and also to wish you all a blessed 2018.

Blogs

What Expository Preaching Is Not
Here are fifteen myths about expository preaching that should be exposed to help the preacher rightly understand and faithfully practice expository preaching.

Are You Having Trouble Focusing? These Simple Strategies Will Help
“We’ve surveyed and assessed more than 35,000 leaders from thousands of companies across more than 100 countries, and found that 73% of leaders feel distracted from their current task either “some” or “most” of the time.”

Tips to Mitigate the Effects of Performance and Sleep Decline Associated with Shift Work
This from an ex-SEAl and now MD:

Regardless of what you are hoping 2018 will bring, I promise you that everything that I have learned in my life has led me to this statement: Nothing will improve your 2018 more than making sleep one of your highest priorities. I wish you all the best.

Break the Cycle of Stress and Distraction by Using Your Emotional Intelligence
Stress is toxic for the brain both in short-term cognitive tasks and in its long-term contribution to Alzheimers and other forms of dementia.

What if cancer is a gift? | ERLC
“Four months ago I found a lump in my breast. And the Spirit clearly prompted, “This lump is a gift.”"

6 Tactics Narcissists Will Use To Silence You
“How do you avoid this type of manipulation? For starters, if you feel like someone is treating you badly, pay attention to that feeling, and to the ways someone may be orchestrating your breakdown. That’s easier if you know the tactics that manipulative people use on their friends, family, and colleagues.”

Spurgeon’s 15 Tips for a Deep and Effective Prayer Life
All prayer tips gratefully received.

Kindle Books

For your non-Kindle book buying needs please consider using Reformation Heritage Books in the USA and Reformed Book Services in Canada. Good value prices and shipping.

The Practice of Godliness by Jerry Bridges $3.99.

Wednesdays were Pretty Normal: A Boy, Cancer, And God  by Michael Kelley $0.99.

Apologetics Study Bible for Students by Sean McDowell $2.99.

New Book

Theistic Evolution: A Scientific, Philosophical, and Theological Critique by J. P. Moreland and others .

Video

2 Ways the Church Can Help Women who are Burned Out


How Great (and Gentle) is our God!

Enter 2018 beholding the awesome greatness and awesome gentleness of our God. Then feel the strength and courage returning to your weary and fearful soul.


As we enter 2018, news headlines warn us about North Korean nuclear missiles, terrorists using drones to launch chemical and biological attacks, artificial intelligence taking over the human race, another housing bubble bursting and the stock-market crashing, and on and on it goes. The dangers are great and our defenses are weak.

So let’s turn from media headlines to biblical headlines in order to correct our worldview and enter 2018 in a more peaceful and trusting spirit. The prophet Isaiah knew that tough times lay ahead for God’s people. He spent 39 chapters warning them about it. But, in chapter 40 of his prophecy, he turned from earth to heaven and called God’s people to “Behold your God!” (v. 9). And what a reassuring sight that is.

Behold God’s Hand
How much water can you hold in the hollow of your hand? Turn the tap on and try it. It’s pitifully small isn’t it. What about God’s hand? Isaiah says God can hold all the water in the world in the hollow of his hand (12). That’s 332,519,000 cubic miles of water. How great is our God!

Behold God’s Ruler
What’s the longest measuring tape in your home? Perhaps 100 feet? Maybe 500 feet at the most. It can’t measure very far before running out. But God measures the heavens with only the span of his hand (12). The distance to the nearest star is 4.5 light years. That means that if light were to leave it now, it would take 4.5 years to reach the earth traveling at 186,000 miles per second. That’s a total of 26 trillion miles….and God can measure it easily with only his hand-span. How great is our God!

Behold God’s Cup
Your kitchen cupboard probably has different cups for measuring out ingredients. The biggest might be two or three cups. Again, even if we fill them to the top, they can’t hold very much. Now look at God’s cup; it can hold all the sand in the world. Go around all the beaches of the world, pour them into God’s cup, and there’s still space (12). How great is our God!

Behold God’s Scales
Staying in the kitchen, take out God’s scales and see if you can break them. He puts all the mountains and hills on his scales and they still don’t break (12). The Rockies are there, so are the Alps, the Himalayas, the Pyrenees, the Andes, and many more. Yet God’s scales aren’t even straining. How great is our God!

Behold God’s Teacher
Eh…he doesn’t have one (13-14). So different to the Babylonian gods that God’s people were about to be surrounded by in exile, all of whom needed outside counsel and help to overcome hostile forces. But our God has never learned anything or taken advice from anyone. He’s never sat down and asked someone, “Well, what do you think?” “Can you help me?” How great is our God!

Behold God’s Bucket
Over the past few weeks we’ve seen lots of activity at the United Nations. Lots of self-important people making self-important speeches. Each nation flexing its muscles and puffing out its chest. But God looks down and sees all the nations of the world as a drop in (or from) a bucket, and as dust on the scales (15). It’s as if he’s carrying a bucket when a little drop spills out. Look closely enough and you’ll see 195 nations in that tiny drop. He sees some dust on his scales and blows it off. Oh, there goes Russia, and there goes North Korea, and that speck is the USA floating to the floor. How great is our God!

Behold God’s Sacrifice
In verse sixteen, Isaiah envisages the biggest sacrifice in the world. There’s a pile of wood reaching to the sky. It’s made up of all the beautiful and valuable cedars of Lebanon. On top of this mountain of wood are all the animals of the world. Everyone looking at this altar says, “It’s too much!” But Isaiah looks at it and says, “It’s too little!” Anyone who knows how great God is, knows how insufficient this sacrifice is (16). How great is our God!

Behold God’s Calculator
Nations love to compare their GDP (Gross Domestic Product) to show how successful they are. If we were to add up all the GDP’s in the world, most of our calculators would run out of digits. But on God’s calculator it all comes to zero; in fact less than zero. Just emptiness (17). How great is our God!

Behold God’s Mirror
Soon, Isaiah’s compatriots were going to be surrounded by Babylonian gods all claiming superiority to the God of Israel. But God says, “Don’t even try! Don’t even begin to compare other gods with me. These man-made gods don’t belong in the same frame as the God who made man. I am the incomparable God.” How great is our God!

Behold God’s Seat
It’s far grander than the most impressive royal throne. He sits on the entire horizon (22). Go to the shore or to the desert and look as far east as you can, then look as far west as you can. You’ve only seen a small part of God’s seat. How great is our God!

Behold God’s Grasshoppers
The world’s Presidents, Prime Ministers, Kings, Queens, and Dictators look so big and powerful to us. So do the business tycoons and media moguls. But God looks down on them all and says, “Oh, there’s little grasshopper Trump, and there’s little grasshopper Clinton. Over there is grasshopper Kim Jong Il. And was that grasshopper Weinstein that just fell of his perch? How great is our God!

Behold God’s Sky
Isaiah then lifts our eyes from earth to the heavens and says, Behold your God in the planets, stars, and galaxies. He created them all, numbers them all, names them all, and supports them all. And do you know how many of them are there? Latest estimates are that the universe contains 10 trillion galaxies each one containing 100 billion stars. How great is our God!

Do we really have any cause to fear and tremble? Do we lack reasons for peace and trust? Behold the awesome greatness of our God. As Isaiah asks us in his challenging summary: “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable” (28)

Behold God’s Gentleness
But Isaiah also wants us to think of the awesome gentleness of our God. He frames this survey of God’s awesome greatness (12-28) with two bookends of God’s awesome gentleness (10-11, 29-31). Our great God is also our gentle God who feeds his sheep like a shepherd, gathers his lambs into his arms, carries the weak, and gently leads the vulnerable.

He gives power to the weak,
And to those who have no might He increases strength.
Even the youths shall faint and be weary,
And the young men shall utterly fall,
But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.

Enter 2018 beholding the awesome greatness and awesome gentleness of our God. Then feel the strength and courage returning to your weary and fearful soul.


Further Reading

The three books on God that have revived me most through the years have been:

The Pleasures of God: Meditations on God’s Delight in Being God by John Piper.

The Holiness of God by R C Sproul (RHB)

The Sovereignty of God by A W Pink (RHB).


Exploring the Bible Videos

Want to help your kids read the Bible? Use Exploring the Bible: A Bible Reading Plan for Kids and play these videos at the end of each week’s expedition to encourage your kids and to keep them on track.

Videos are released every Friday in 2018. You can also access the videos at YouTube and on the Exploring the Bible Facebook page.

If you haven’t started your kids on the book yet, you can begin anytime and use it with any Bible version. Here are some sample pages.

You can get it at RHBWestminster BooksCrossway, or Amazon. If you’re in Canada use Reformed Books Services.

Introduction Video

Expedition 1: A Beautiful World

Expedition 2: A Ruined World

Expedition 3: A Flooded World

Expedition 4: A Special Promise of a Special Son

Expedition 5: A Long and Painful Test

Expedition 6: Saved from Slavery

Expedition 7: A New Nation

Expedition 8: Blood and Dust

Expedition 9: Look Backwards, Forwards, Upwards

Expedition 10: Entering the Promised Land

Expedition 11: A Bad King and a Good King

Expedition 12: A Special Promise of a Special King

Expedition 13: Songs of Sadness

Expedition 14: A Captive Nation

Expedition 15: A Rebuilt Nation

Expedition 16: The Devil Attacks

Expedition 17: Songs about the Coming King

Expedition 18: Songs about the Coming Kingdom

Expedition 19: A Fork in the Road

Expedition 20: The Choice

Expedition 21: A Dangerous Detour

Expedition 22: Love Songs

Expedition 23: Looking into the Distance

Expedition 24: The Growing Excitement

Expedition 25: A Strange Place

Expedition 26: A Temple and a River

Expedition 27: A Church on a Mountain

Expedition 28: Enemies

Expedition 29: Heavenly Treasure

Expedition 30: Two Houses

Expedition 31: A Sad Wedding and a Dirty Temple

Expedition 32: A Night Time Visitor

Expedition 33: Water in the Desert

Expedition 34: Wonders of the World

Expedition 35: Lost and Found

Expedition 36: Foolish Sheep and a Good Shepherd

Expedition 37: The Darkest Night

Expedition 38: The Darkest Trial

Expedition 39: The Darkest Death

Expedition 40: The Brightest Morning

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