The Long Awaited RESOLVED PART II

Resolved

Ok, so Sunday morning started off with a bang. After a yummy breakfast of a nectarine, snack bar, raisin bread and coffee I made my way over to the conference center with a group from my Bible study: Jesse & Deidre, Chelsea & Billy, Jordan & Jenny. I think we sat down about 15 minutes before the session started. I had been looking forward to this day for forever, knowing that CJ would preach first. I've only heard CJ in person twice before, and both times his messages were life-changers. The first one I heard from him, on legalism, is one that still comes up in my mind on a regular basis and which encourages me to change my thinking frequently.

Finally the session began. Worship was awesome, as usual. It brought our minds back to the glories of the gospel.

I don't know if there's anything I could say to introduce CJ's message. So I won't. Here are my notes.

Title: The Suffering Servant
Text: Isaiah 53
"Who has believed what they heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgement he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.
Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors."

Charles Spurgeon said that Isaiah is the Bible in miniature and the Gospel [in whole? (not sure I caught the last part of that..)].
It looks as if it had been written beneath the Cross at Golgotha.
All of Scripture is bloodstained, but this passage is acutely descriptive of His death.
In this passage Isaiah tells us what it all means; what His death means.

I. The Appearance
a. Suffering
b. Observed
c. Misunderstood
Prior to illumination, we were among those described at the end of verse 3: "we esteemed him not." Verse 1 & 2 leave one saying, "Can any good come from that?" From a human perspective, He was unimpressive.
Who would know that this was the promised Savior?

II. Reality (What it all means)
Ten times "we," "us," or "our" appear in verses 4 to 6. He suffered for us, because of OUR sins (griefs, sorrows, transgressions, iniquities, gone astray). Feel the force of repetition. Isaiah is aware of the temptation to deny responsibility, to behold the suffering Savior and say, "I didn't do it." So he pointedly makes us aware that we DID do it. This verse extends to all history, and it includes ME. HE died as our substitute. He took OUR place. (Borne, carried, wounded, crushed, stripes, laid on him). He paid my punishment while I was straying in my sin.

What happened next reduced me to tears for the rest of the message. CJ showed us the following quote from Jim Elliff:

"One is taken aback by the emphasis upon the Cross in Revelation. Heaven does not ‘get over’ the cross, as if there are better things to think about; heaven is not only Christ-centered, but cross-centered, and quite blaring about it."

Isn't that an amazing quote? I guess I mean the truth of that quote is amazing. I've read through Revelation before, but it never hit me like it did at that moment that no, Heaven NEVER forgets about the Cross! We'll be singing about the Lamb who was our perfect sacrifice for forever! I'm so thankful that God let me see this Truth, because I wept and wept as I remembered the way that I had previously been thinking/feeling about salvation and the Cross of Christ, as if the Cross was something that was exciting for a time but would be forgotten as time went on. NO! We will forever be praising our God and our Savior, Jesus Christ the Lamb of God, for taking the righteous and frightening wrath of God upon Himself!

CJ proceeded to expound on the truth of that quote, in a passionate, fiery monologue. I forget whether it was before or after this that he, too, was reduced to tears and had to ask for a tissue. When he got his tissue, he praised the people who had done such a flawless job working the sound system, and asked them to please protect the audience from the following. That made everyone chuckle a little...it was a nice little comedy relief after the intensity of the message so far and before the rest of the heart-wrenching/uplifting sermon. He then turned away from us and blew his schnase, turned back around, and in a sniffly voice said "Thank you." Now, back to the message.

III. Significance
The Father's love didn't originate on the Cross; it was the Father's love that sent Him to the Cross.
By crushing His own Son, God persuades us that He loves us.

I kept saying to God over and over again, "Yes, Lord, You have persuaded me." God CRUSHED His Son. It wasn't just physical pain that Jesus endured...it was the crushing wrath of God on account of MY sin.

Rick Holland always introduced the speakers and then said the final prayer whenever they were done. When he walked up the stage after CJ's message, Rick simply told God that after such a clear depiction as what we just experienced, all we can say is a meek "Thanks." I think he went on to pray more, but I hung on to that and cried and cried as I sat with my eyes closed in my seat. After all we had just heard, I knew how Rick felt when all he could muster up was a simple "thanks." After being taken to the sight of the crucifixion, and after witnessing more than just the physical suffering of Christ, it seems we were all in such a position where we were so frozen with awe that all we could muster up was a faint and simple "Thanks." I was weak after that sermon, but so, so grateful. And happy. Such a deep, resounding happiness.

We sang The Glories of the Cross after the message. Very appropriate. We had about a ten minute break, during which I could not stop tearing up and as I stood in line for the restroom. A girl behind me wept and wept as another held her. Our Savior endured so much for us.

Steve Lawson preached next.

Title: The Cost of Discipleship (or, It Will Cost You Everything)
Text: Luke 14:25-35
"Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, 'If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, "This man began to build and was not able to finish." Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple."

Jesus never sugar-coated the message. We need to ask, "Are verses 26 & 27 true of my life?"
A true disciple is a true believer in Jesus Christ; a learner; someone who sits at His feet and follows Him.

I. A Supreme Devotion (26)
There must be no competing devotions, affections. This is our Lord's clarification of true saving faith. The issue is who you love the most. And love for Christ is not just emotions and feelings. It is with the mind that all love begins. He addresses how we become so self-centered, motivated, etc. If you love your own life, you cannot be one of His.

II. A Self-Denial (27)
How easy it is to blend in with the rest of the crowd without completely surrendering your own life! The cross symbolized excruciating pain and guilt, shame and humility. You had to carry your cross from the judgement seat to the place of execution, in shame and humility. The streets of Jerusalem would be filled. Everyone would see that Rome is in charge and that Rome has brought Judea into submission. We must come into a place of submission under the Lordship of Christ. I have come to the end of myself, I do not have a life any more.
There are no qualifications to this statement, He does not tell us where He is going. You must follow step for step, stride for stride.
And this is how you grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ.
You cannot live until you die. You cannot live to Christ until you've died to self.
Jesus does not begin until you end.

III. A Sober Calculation (28-32)
Parable: Earthly story with a heavenly meaning.
a. First Parable: Construction (28-30)
Whatever it takes along the path, I would give my life to Christ relentlessly.
b. Second Parable: Confrontation (31-32)
The assumption here is, "Well, what if you're not willing?" This other greater King is none other than the One who is telling the parable.
c. The Bottom Line: Total Commitment (38)

IV. A Searching Examination (34-35)

After those two messages, I was so grateful that I ended up in a group with Jesse, my Bible study shepherd, and his wife, Deidre, for lunch, because I had a lot of questions. The extremist inside of me was pounding my heart after Lawson's message. I was convicted mostly in the area of evangelism and giving of my time and money to people in greater need than me, both physically and spiritually. I felt that was the biggest area where I had not surrendered my life to the Savior who gave His ALL for me. As a result, even before we walked off to lunch, I pressed Deidre with my question (which I admit...now seems a little extreme to me :): Why is it okay to just walk off after a message like that in search of our tasty, expensive food, enjoying each other's company, when all we would have to do to find someone in need both spiritually and physically is walk a few blocks? Deidre passed the question to Jesse who firmly said, "Let's talk about it at lunch, Hayley." Jordan also had a question for Jesse (to which Jesse gave the same response he had given me): "How can you listen to a message like that and still think you're a Christian?"

We walked off to Panda Express, me a happy, teary girl in response to CJ's message, but also feeling a little convicted. I was so grateful that Jesse had been so firm with me, or else I would have worried myself to death over why I wasn't more willing to give more of myself to the needy.

That lunch ended up being the best meal I had all weekend, because of who I was with and the conversations we had. Jesse started out asking me the question Jordan had given to him. I gave the best answer I had at the moment, though I think it was quite lame. I just said, well, I think we can still be confident we're Christians because there are so many other clear passages in the Bible that tell us that salvation is by grace alone and faith alone, so when we see our shortcomings in other passages, we should allow ourselves to be changed by the Holy Spirit, but not worried about our salvation.

Jesse went on to say that he was always surprised that the people whose salvation he's most assured of always have the most urgent questions resulting from their conviction over messages. He said that almost always, the people who the messages were supposed to reach just walk off from them with a light heart and give no further thought to it.

I protested. I said that what I see in the New Testement is that those who love and follow Christ will suffer and endure shame for His name. My Christian life has been so EASY...when does the suffering come? It made me think that I have not put myself in the places and situations that God wants me to put myself in for His name...

Jesse said he thinks that is a result of the blessing of growing up in a Christian home. All my life I've grown up looking forward to Church, Bible study, mission trips, quiet times, etc. While I appreciated what he was trying to say, I'm still not sure if it makes much sense to me. Why wouldn't you look forward to those things, why wouldn't you want to be involved in missions world wide when the God you are serving is so awesome, and His gift is so precious! And those seem like the easy things to look forward to! Even though his answer didn't make complete and perfect sense to me, it was encouragement enough to get me through the rest of the afternoon, continuing to focus on and get teary-eyed over the cross of Christ. Even to this moment, though...I wonder. Because that message wasn't only made for unbelievers. It was made for me, wasn't it? I don't just want to push the thought out of my mind that maybe I need to give much more of myself to the spiritually needy, and the physically needy...I want to pray through it fully. I bet its one of those things that as you grow older in the Lord, you can't help but spread the message wherever you go. I hope that's the truth. In the mean time I need to continue to pray for help.

Also, one thing that my family and Jesse and Deidre (ok, maybe practically every other Christian that I've ever talked through this with) say is that its wrong to think that you need to force yourself into hardship. Instead, follow Christ. If He leads you in His sovereign will into hardship and suffering, go with Him for the glory of His name.

We stayed at Panda Express for a while discussing theology...lots of fun. Then we walked across the street to Starbucks and...sat down again and just talked. Jordan actually started off a conversation with a man in Starbucks and the whole time we were there he was hardcore sharing the gospel with him. Praise God!

Here's our group:When we got back to the hotel I got to spend some time with my brothers again, just talking about stuff. They're great.

I also got to hang out with one of my very best friends, Marietjie. The greatest thing I found out about her during that hang out time is that when she eats an apple, she eats the WHOLE apple. I'm talking everything but the stem. She says that the core is the tastiest part!!!! It made me laugh almost until I cried when she popped the last middle bit into her mouth with a look of satisfaction. :)

Another exciting aspect of that day was teasing Clint Archer for having been beaten at chess by my friend Jordan more than just a few times already that weekend. As long as I've known Clint he's prided himself in his chess-strategizing abilities. :)

The session that evening was....can I even describe it with adjectives? I'll just say I'm SO grateful to God for what went on that evening. It was the evening of the long-awaited message by John Piper. I still remember my thrilled anticipation.

During worship before the message, we sang "Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken." Steve Lawson's message was fresh on my mind during that song, and I have to tell you that my attitude while singing it was one of somberly trying to ask God, "Let me please be willing to suffer for You."

Dr. John Piper:

Title: God is the Gospel

Habbakuk 3:17-18 captures the idea, "God is the Gospel:"
"Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation."

What's the relationship between God is the Gospel and...

...the glory of God?
Philippians 1:18b-21 "Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."
God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. How do we make Christ look great when we die?

...the love of God?
John 11:1-6 "Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, 'Lord, he whom you love is ill.' But when Jesus heard it he said, 'This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.'
"Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was."

It is more loving that Lazarus die and God be displayed more glorious than Lazarus not die and God not be displayed more glorious.
The love of God toward us is not Him making much of us, but [Him enabling us to enjoy Him?]. (The brackets mean I'm not sure that I caught the last part of that sentence...he moved quickly!)

...my conversion?
2 Corinthians 4:3-6 "And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."
Your heart changes and you see for the first time.

...the gospel as it is usually preached rightly? ((He was very particular about the way he stated this question.))
5 Elements of the Gospel:
1. Event (1 Cor 15:3, "Christ died for our sins." Death, an event. No event, no gospel. Achievement of His death: absorbment of the wrath of God.
2. Righteousness provided.
3. FREE offer.
4. Application of all this in my experience. *Why do we want forgiveness? Because we want GOD!!! Romans 5:11, "More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation." Also John 17:3, "And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."
5. All four are not the gospel unless there's a GOD to enjoy! 1 Peter 3:18!!! "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit."

...salt and light?
Matthew 5:11-16 "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
"You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.
"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."

...to evangelism?
Its written on our hearts. We're made for GOD!!!

I think it must be kind of clear that towards the end I was more desirous of just sitting and letting it all sink in than taking notes. The last statement under evangelism has to do with him pointing out that every human, believer or unbeliever, was designed to marvel at and enjoy God. One of his illustrations was this, "No one goes to the Grand Canyon to build their self-esteem." Why do you go to the Grand Canyon? You enjoy the sense of your insignificance and the sense of something so much greater than yourself on display. This truth could be used as a good evangelism tool.

One story he told was that after he had been picked up from the airport that day, the man who picked him up took him to get an In-N-Out burger. While he was waiting for his food, he went to the restroom. When he came back out, he told his escort that the In-N-Out bathroom reminded him of Heaven. When prodded, he said it was because the bathroom had no mirrors! He pointed out that the main point of Heaven isn't our glorified selves. He said that he doesn't think that Heaven will have any mirrors; instead he thinks WE'LL be the mirrors! We'll enjoy each other, but only because of the characteristics of God that we will reflect. Cool, huh?

After his message we sang again the song, "Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken." It was sung by me to my God with quite a different attitude than I had before the message. I sung it joyfully, cheerfully and willingly because of the God I was singing it to. It seemed like the three messages I had heard that day were all coming together in my mind. Of course I'll take up my cross and follow You, You who died for me and brought me to the eternal, enjoyable and awesome God, my heart was saying!

My Bible study went to Bubba Gumps for dinner that night. We were all so pumped up from the combinations of the messages that day!

The next morning it was saddening to realize that the conference was two messages away from being over, but we had realize that this conference started for the ending. It would be when it was all over and we were back to our "normal" lives that the Truth of what was taught at the conference would be carried out.

Here are some pics in the conference center before the session began:


CJ started us off. He began by chuckling about how he was clearly not in the planning commitee when they were scheduling when the different speakers would speak. He sarcastically said, "Today I have the privelege of speaking both before and after John Piper." That got a laugh from the whole auditorium. He said that they must have seen that John Piper was available for the last session on Sunday night and the second session of Monday, so they must have said, "Well, lets give this middle slot to the guy who wrote the book on humility!" :)

Title: Deflating the Puffed Up Church
Text: 1 Corinthians 4:6-13
"I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another. For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?
"Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you! For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things."

In this passage, Paul intentionally uses sarcasim to address the pride of the church. The church was proud of their spirituality, their leaders, and their giftedness.

Two effects of grace:

I. Grace produces humility (verse 6).
1 Cor 8:2
The right question can make all the difference. These questions are Divinely designed to change everything.
"For who sees anything different in you?"
They have no grounds for being puffed up, for any differences in the Corinthian church are because of GOD. Chapters 1 & 2 make it clear.
"What do you have that you did not receive?"
The obvious answer: NOTHING.
"If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?"

II. Grace prepares us for suffering (8-13)
Their understanding did not include hardship and suffering. The genuinely humble aren't surprised when they suffer.

And, the last message of Resolved, given by John Piper:

The supreme motive of missions is the glory of God. AND (or), a passion to rescue the people is driving us to the nations.

Are the two motives one? If so, how? Emotionally they don't seem to fit together.

The ultimate end of God's work is God's glory.

God doesn't have defincies He needs to fix; He has majesty He wants to display.

Missions don't take the glory of God to people who have not seen it. Everyone sees and will be responsible.

Missions exist because worship doesn't.

WORSHIP:
Matthew 15:8-9 Heart TREASURY
John 4:23 Head TRUTH
Matthew 5:16 Bodily SACRIFICE

Will their hearts prize Christ? That should be our desire!

Don't think geography; think PEOPLE GROUPS.

How does compassion relate to all of this?

A passion for the glory of God, compassion for people plummeting into everlasting suffering.

1. Compassion pursues rescue of perishing sinners.
2. Fear of Hell (by itself) saves nobody.
3. Compassion must not merely warn, but must LURE people to the pleasures of knowing Christ.
4. The key: Satisfaction in Christ is the essence of saving faith, and it IS what glorifies God.
5. The aim of compassion and the aim of our passion to see God honored are not different in the way they come about.

I think the last song we sang when Piper had finished was "Let Your Kingdom Come," so totally appropriate.

I was so thankful that God worked it out so that my big brother could drive my little brother and me back to where my Dad could pick us up, in the quiet and relaxing atmosphere of being with my brothers rather than the hustle-bustle of the metro. After such an intense weekend where God had shown me so much about who He is and what He really designed life and salvation to be, I needed time to just sit and think about it all and pray and thank God. Driving home with Harrison was really cool, because though I was so overcome with emotion that all I could do was cry, Harrison was so overcome with emotion that all he could do was talk and talk and talk and talk and talk about God. It was so good to just listen and thank God and consider the depths of the ways He had shown Himself to me over the weekend.

The conference did stick to the basics. But I think I'm learning that God teaches me the most by having me go over and over the basics so that I see that the basics of the faith really aren't basics at all. When you first hear these things and believe, it seems pretty easy to say, "K, cool, 've got that. What else do I need to learn?" But man....if I had known the great, deep, endless, sometimes dark ocean that I was dipping my toe into when the Holy Spirit first opened my eyes to see, I think my knees would have buckled.

I guess I would most like to leave you all with an encouragement to continue diving into the riches of our Great God!