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The Mechanics of Meditation

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This Sunday, we continued a break from our series in Ephesians to focus on meditation. You can view the sermon here.

Meditation is the bridge from our Bible reading to applying God’s word in our lives. Psalm 1 and Joshua 1:9 are pivotal texts on meditation.

The past two weeks have made the case for the importance of meditation, and how it is the norm and not the exception of the Christian life. Those who meditate are not super Christians, but normal, ordinary Christians. The Scriptures give us examples of this from the life of David, Isaac, Joshua, and Jesus.

Now that we know the importance of meditation, we need to know how to do it, the mechanics of it. We accomplished this by answering three questions.

When Should I Meditate?

Does the Bible prescribe a time that is best for me to meditate? When is the best time to meditate?

The answer is, it depends. The Bible is not dogmatic about when meditation should happen so much as that it should happen. Psalm 1 describes the godly person as meditating on Scripture day and night. The practice is commended as something we do continually. Scripture should never be far from our mind.

The practice of meditation is more important than when we do it.

But we do want to be practical here. We should meditate when our minds are at their best. If you are a morning person, then you should make and take time to do this then. If you are a night owl, and you do your best work in the evening or at night, meditate then.

There are two keys here. First, you must plan for it. If you use a paper or digital calendar, make sure this time is blocked off and guard it. Second, be consistent. The goal is to have meditation become normal in your life so that you might know God more. This happens through consistency.

Where is the Best Place to Meditate?

Like our first answer, the answer to this is one is going to be what works best for you. Find a place where you are free from distractions. For me, this means going to my office early in the morning. No one is awake and I know my phone will not be a distraction.

Our phones are something we must guard against if we are going to meditate. If you are on your phone often, as many are, it would be wise to leave it in another room so you can meditate.

Being alone so you can focus is important as well. Do whatever you can to be as distraction-free as possible, so you can focus on God’s word.

How Long Should I Meditate?

Is there a magic set amount of time we should meditate to get the most fruit from it? No. But the time we spend doing it should be sufficient. There will be times when the Holy Spirit impresses upon you quickly the meaning of the passage you are meditating on, and how it applies to your life.

The key is to know yourself. I know that fifteen minutes to meditate will never be sufficient for me. I am a slow thinker when it comes to meditation and the norm is that I need anywhere from thirty minutes to an hour for meditation to be fruitful.

Don’t rush your mediation. The goal is to know our great God more intimately and to live a holier life before Him. We should take our time and pour over the words God has given to us.

Additionally, we should not put too much pressure on ourselves. In meditating we are not trying to figure out the deepest mysteries of the universe. God knows those, and we can leave them to Him. The goal is knowing God. As we meditate, we love Him more and desire to obey Him more.

We should meditate until we know our minds have been informed, our emotions (affections) have been stirred, and our will has been inclined to obey the passage we meditated on.

Are you anxious and worried about the details of life? Then meditate on Scripture. Stay there until God has shown you His character and that He can be trusted. He is faithful, He will do it.

Where Do We Go From Here?

What’s next?

Now is the time for action. Begin meditating today. We started this short series because of what Scripture taught us in Ephesians 5:18, to be filled with the Spirit. This command is impossible to obey if the words of Christ do not dwell in us richly. And the words of Christ dwell in us richly when we meditate on Scripture.

If you desire to live a life that honors God (The Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit), then you must meditate. God has given us His word and His Spirit to help us in this task. He has issued the command and He has given us the tools to obey the command. The question is, will you obey?

The Way of the Wise

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This Sunday we took a break from our series in Ephesians to focus on meditation, which will continue for the next three weeks. You can view the sermon here.

Meditation is the bridge from our Bible reading to applying it in our lives. Psalm 1 is a pivotal text on meditation.

A Messianic Psalm

If we, and the preacher, are not careful, we can turn this Psalm into a moralistic Psalm. That is, we mainly make it about what we should and should not be doing.

We are not to walk in the counsel of the wicked, stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of scoffers. But we are to delight in and meditate on God’s law; His word. And while it is true that we are not to do those actions, and we are to delight in and meditate on God’s law, that is not the complete picture.

The psalm begins with a pronunciation of blessing, “Blessed is the man.” The definite article “the” is important in this case. The Psalmist is not talking about any man but a specific man. In the sermon, we heard that this is a messianic Psalm. The man described in this passage is Jesus Christ, the Messiah of God and Savior of His people.

Jesus is the blessed man who did not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers. He delighted in God’s word and He meditated on it.

Did Jesus Meditate?

It is easy enough to find examples of Jesus living out the commands against specific actions in this text. Jesus was sinless, therefore we know He did not join the wicked in their pursuits.

We also know that Jesus placed a high priority on God’s word. This is seen throughout His teaching in the Gospels. Jesus quoted Isaiah when beginning His public ministry and He quoted Genesis when the religious leaders of his day asked Him about divorce.

So, Jesus had a high view of Scripture and they played an important part in His life. But how do we know Jesus meditated on Scripture? It is admitted that we do not have an account in the Gospel that explicitly says, “and Jesus went off and meditated on Scripture for three hours”, such as we have where Jesus did go off to pray.

The Fruit of Meditation

We do not have an explicit example of Jesus’ meditation of Scripture, but we do see the fruit of meditation in His life.

One example will do for now, you can listen to the sermon for more. In Matthew 4 (and Luke 4) the Gospel writers record Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness by Satan. Each time that Satan tempts Jesus to do something, Jesus responds by quoting Scripture to him.

It does not appear from the text that Jesus had a scroll for each place of Scripture He quoted. Jesus did not tell Satan, “Wait one minute, I am looking for a verse that I know will rebut what you’ve said.”

No, Jesus quotes it. He hid those truths in His heart, He memorized them and He was able to pull them out when He needed them the most. This happens through meditation. Jesus absorbed the truth of Scripture to the point where He could use it to fight temptation and He could apply the truth in the moment to fight sin.

We underestimate what Jesus did as a man. Jesus was filled with the Spirit, which is shown by His Scripture saturated life. Jesus’ life is an example for us. In His life we see the fruit of meditation.

Meditation as a Means of Grace

How does Psalm 1 apply to you and me?

Jesus lived this Psalm, and if we are in Him we now have the ability to do so as well. We do this because we are in Christ. Because the Spirit has regenerated us and placed us in union with Christ, we can delight in and meditate on God’s word so that we will not be joined with the wicked in their pursuits.

There are two positive truths here. First, we are to delight in God’s word. When you read the Bible you are not reading some ordinary book. What you hold in your hands is the very word of God. It is the same as if God were right in front of you talking.

We love God, therefore we should love His word. His word should bring us joy because they are His very words.

Second, we should meditate on His word. Meditation is intentionally and purposely thinking through a verse or passage of Scripture, with a view of applying the truth extracted. Meditation is a means of grace. This means that God reminds us of His grace through meditation. As we meditate on Scripture, we will be freshly reminded of God’s lavish grace toward us in Jesus Christ.

Our affections and our minds are engaged in this process. This is why the Psalm says we delight in and we meditate on.

Bearing Fruit

The blessed man is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields fruit in its season. In John 15, Jesus taught that we bear much fruit and glorify our Father when we abide in Him.

The Psalm teaches that through meditation we bear fruit, the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23). Our responsibility is to delight in God’s word and to meditate on it; God will supply the fruit. This is much like our responsibility in John 15 to abide or remain in Jesus, through which God gives the fruit.

Meditation and abiding in Christ produce the same results in our lives; bearing fruit. Without meditation we will not get on in the Christian life as God would have us do. We will not grow, or mature, in our faith apart from meditation.

Meditation is a gift from God, for our joy in Him! Let’s use it to our fullest advantage so that God is glorified and we become more like Christ.

How to be Filled with the Holy Spirit

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This Sunday we continued our series in Ephesians, you can view the sermon here.

Being filled with the Spirit = Letting the word of Christ dwell in you richly = Abiding in Jesus.

This Sunday, our sermon began unpacking how to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 5:18 is a command from God through the pen of the Apostle Paul. God always gives us commands for our good. As the one who drinks the wine and becomes drunk is under its influence, we are responsible to obey the command to be filled with the Spirit and continually under His influence.

Compare Scripture With Scripture

Is there another place in Scripture we can compare with the context of Ephesians 5:18 and the results of being filled with the Holy Spirit in verses 19-21?

Colossians 3:16 is another passage where the results of Paul’s command result in our being thankful, singing, and encouraging one another. There the command is to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly.

As we are responsible to be filled with the Spirit, we are likewise responsible for the words of Christ dwelling in us richly. The results are the same. To be filled with the Spirit we must immerse ourselves in the Scriptures, the word of Christ.

Apart from Scripture, it is impossible for us to be filled with the Holy Spirit or for Him to work in us and through us. Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the Spirit of truth, and in His beautiful prayer in John 17 He says God’s word is the truth. The Bible can never be separated from the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit does not separate His work from Scripture.

Therefore, if we are to obey the command to be filled with the Spirit we need to live in the Bible. Paul captures this with the word dwell. Our dwelling place is our home. It is a place we are comfortable with and know very well. I’m reminded of a quote from Charles Spurgeon, “Visit many good books, but live in the Bible.” In order to be filled with the Spirit, we need to know Scripture. This happens through memorization and meditation.

More than Bible Reading

Reading our Bible is essential for the Christian life. This is where we need to start but we must go deeper than that.

Meditation is somewhat of a lost art in our day. To meditate on Scripture means we think about it with intention, with the purpose of thinking through how it applies to my life today.

Psalm 1 is a key passage for meditation. The blessed person meditates on God’s word day and night. This is not an occasional activity but a continuous one, as the command to be filled with the Holy Spirit is a continuous command. Meditation makes us strong in our faith and keeps us from following the course of this world.

Meditation is a means to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly. Without this intentional effort, we will not get what God wants us to get from His word.

One More Passage

John 15 is a wonderful passage. For many of us, it is a familiar one. Jesus tells His disciples that He is the vine and they are the branches. There is a vital and living union between Jesus and His disciples. So much so that Jesus tells us that apart from Him we can do nothing.

In John 15:7 Jesus makes the statement, “if you abide in me and my words abide in you.” A key part of abiding in Christ is His words abiding in us. If we remain in Christ His words will remain in us.

This is similar to allowing the word of Christ to dwell in us richly. Jesus’ words must abide in us if we are to abide in Him. If we want nothing to do with His word we will have a much harder time abiding in Him, indeed it is most likely impossible.

One and the Same

We end where we began.

To be filled with the Holy Spirit means the word of Christ dwells in us richly. It means that we are abiding in Christ and in His word. We cannot separate Christ from the Holy Spirit as we cannot separate the Holy Spirit from Scripture.

As Sinclair Ferguson put it; filled with the Spirit equals the word of Christ dwelling in us richly equals abiding in Jesus.

These three together provide a summation of how we live the Christian life in a way that glorifies God. They are one and the same. You cannot have one without the other. If we do not have the words of Christ richly dwelling within us then we are not filled with the Spirit. If we are not filled with the Spirit we are not abiding in Christ as we should. They work in unison and in beautiful harmony.

Application

The main action many of us will need to take from this is to meditate on Scripture. We need to live in Scripture more than we live in any other book. Without the intense, practical thinking about Scripture, we will not be filled with the Holy Spirit

The good news is we can all do this. We have Scripture and it is clear. God has revealed Himself because He wants to be understood. The Bible is clear.

We have the Bible and the Holy Spirit living within us. It brings the Holy Spirit delight to use Scripture to make us more like Christ. As we meditate we need to ask for His help. This is a prayer we can count on being answered.

The result of our meditation will be that we are filled with the Spirit and can pursue Christ-likeness in every situation God brings us to.

May we all be like the Psalmist and meditate on God’s word continuously.

Be Filled with the Spirit

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This Sunday we continued our series in Ephesians, you can view the sermon here.

In last week’s post, we discussed using our time wisely with the wisdom God has given to us. Paul next gives the command to be filled with the Spirit.

This is a Command

God’s commandments are for our good and His glory. God, through Paul, issues a command to His beloved children to be filled with the Spirit. We must understand this is not an option or an add-on for the Christian. We must be filled with the Holy Spirit. We cannot live the Christian life apart from it.

The placement of this command is instructive. Paul places it after the commands to be wise, to imitate God, and to walk as light (not to mention the commands of chapter 4). Without the Holy Spirit, we do not have a chance of obeying these commands.

But Paul also places it before his teaching on relationships: marital, familial, and those with our employers. We cannot and will not experience relational harmony or peace without being filled with the Holy Spirit.

Note: This is not a command to be indwelt by the Holy Spirit. If we are in Christ, this has already happened and can never be undone.

Under the Influence

Being filled with the Spirit is to be filled with a person, not an experience. Paul is not issuing an imperative to seek continually after experiences. He commands us to seek the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit.

We are to literally be under the influence of the Holy Spirit. If we get drunk with wine, we are under its negative influence. Conversely, we are to be under the positive influence of the Holy Spirit, a person. He is the driving force in our lives. He leads us to fight sin and pursue holiness. But we can only do this if we are filled with Him.

How?

How can we be filled with the Holy Spirit? God never issues a command to His children without telling us how to follow or giving us the ability to follow.

How are we to be filled with the Holy Spirit?

In this sermon, we focused on how not to be filled, and next week we will look at how to be filled.

There are two main ways in which we act against being filled with the Holy Spirit.

  1. Grieving the Holy Spirit: We grieve the Holy Spirit when we sin. Our sin diminishes His work in our lives and we lose the sense of His presence we should have. When we do this, we should repent and pursue holiness again through the power of the Holy Spirit.
  2. Quenching the Holy Spirit: We quench the Holy Spirit when we live in habitual, unrepentant sin. When this happens, the Holy Spirit withdraws the sense of His presence from us. We remove the “heat” of His work in our lives through our rebellion.

As mentioned before: we are not filled with the Holy Spirit by seeking spiritual experiences. Experiences are not lasting and it is hard to command someone to experience something.

Have you given thought to this subject before? Have you heard a sermon on this before? Next week we will look at the Bible’s teaching on how we can obey the command to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Forgive as God Forgives

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Forgiving People

Jesus and the Apostle Paul root our forgiving of people in our being forgiven by God.

In Ephesians, Paul writes, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

God has forgiven us in Christ, and the proper response is to forgive those who have sinned against us.

Jesus, teaching on prayer in Matthew 6, instructs us to pray to our Father for forgiveness, as we forgive those who trespass against us (6:12). Concluding His teaching, He says: “if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (6:14-15)

Being a forgiving person is a sign that we are forgiven. A lack of forgiveness is a telling sign of the condition of our heart; withholding forgiveness shows that we have an issue with our heart. We need the Holy Spirit to work through His word and change our hearts.

When forgiveness is requested, we must grant it.

Restoration and Choosing not to Remember

A critical component of forgiveness is restoration. This has two key components.

One, we restore the relationship to what it was. This does not happen automatically. If I say something unkind to my wife, we can restore our relationship pretty quickly. But, if I am living in a web of lies and keeping parts of my life hidden from my wife, she can forgive me while we take steps to restoring our relationship.

Forgiveness without restoration is incomplete. Imagine, as a child of God, if you asked Him to forgive you for the sin you committed today, and you heard from heaven; “Son, I forgive you, but I am not ready to be close to you. What you have done will be hard for me to overcome.” (Credit to The Peacemaker for this idea).

How would you feel in this case? Would you feel forgiven? I would venture to say that you would not. Why? God, in this example, is not willing to restore His relationship with you. The words of forgiveness would ring hollow because the relationship is still broken.

Sin breaks and disrupts our relationships. When we sin against someone or they sin against us, the relationship is fractured for a time. This is why we need to ask for forgiveness. Forgiveness deals with our sin and acknowledges that we have sinned against God and that person. Restoration is critical because forgiveness deals with the sin and restores the warring parties.

Paul gives an example of this in Ephesians, when we are originally saved through Christ. In 1:7 he writes that we are forgiven through the blood of Christ. But in our salvation, God does not only forgive us, as awesome and wonderful as that is, but He also makes us His sons and daughters through Christ (1:5). We are forgiven and the relationship we had broken is reconciled through Christ.

Second, we must choose not to remember the sin of the one who offended us. I’m sure you have heard the phrase, “forgive and forget”. Or, on the contrary, you’ve heard someone say, “I will forgive them but there is no way I can forget what they have done to me.” There is not a shred of evidence in Scripture that says we are supposed to do this. This is a passive activity, and forgiveness is always active.

Rather, we are to make an intentional commitment not to remember the wrong they have done against us. We must make an effort not to bring up the wrong someone has done against us, especially the next time there is friction in our relationship.

Choose not to Remember

God chooses not to remember our sins; we must do the same. Isaiah 43:25, “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.” God forgives us, but Isaiah does not say God forgets our sins. God has perfect knowledge; if He were to forget something, He would not be all-knowing.

God chooses not to remember our sins. He forgives us and then actively chooses not to remember our sins or bring them up against us.

We are to be imitators of God as beloved children (Eph. 5:1). Therefore, we must forgive in the same way God does. We forgive the sin against us and choose not to remember the person’s sin. We fight against this and the temptation to bring it up against them once again.

If you are like me, this can be very hard. I am not sure why, but I have a mind that remembers everything. And most of it is honestly not worth remembering. But in this case, when I have friction in a relationship with someone who has sinned against me in the past, I am tempted to bring the wrong up again. In my own strength that’s what I would do. I must ask the Holy Spirit to help me be like my heavenly Father in character, and continue to practice forgiveness as He does.

Guilt and Shame

This could be a product of the connectedness of our Social Media world, but there seems to be a lot of people who struggle with guilt and shame. I wonder if perhaps people struggle with feelings of guilt and shame because they were not properly forgiven.

Maybe their parents would bring up their wrongs when they made yet another mistake. Or the wife whose husband would bring up every wrong when she made another mistake.

Our choosing to remember someone's sins against us not only affects our own souls, but the soul of the person we are not truly forgiving. Continually bringing these up will inevitably lead to guilt and shame on their part.

Christ calls us to a higher standard. He calls us to imitate Him. Jesus is kind and compassionate; He will not break the bruised reed and a smoldering wick He will not blow out. When we are sinned against again we are to start the forgiveness process anew. We forgive them and we choose to forget.

How we forgive those who sin against us is an opportunity to glorify God. This brings God honor and pleases Him. The world will know we are Jesus’ disciples by our love for one another, and our love is shown in how we forgive. Our forgiveness must look different than the world’s.

May the Father grant us the grace and mercy needed to forgive others as He has forgiven us.