Words of Grace

Moving Day

2008-06-23T15:25:00.003-05:00

After spending a couple of weeks trying to decide which blog site works better for me, I've decided to move.

I'll keep everything I've written to this point here, but will make no new additions on this page.

All new posts will now be made at the Words of Grace site hosted by WordPress.

That site also contains a full archive of everything posted on this site. It's all there. And now, so am I.....

Sunday Leftovers (6/15/08)

2008-06-17T08:35:00.002-05:00

Galatians says much about the Fatherhood of God, but not everything. One more truth that is found elsewhere is this: God loves and is (and always will be) “well-pleased" with His Son (2 Pt. 1:17); we are in His Son (Eph. 1:17; Col. 2:20) — therefore He loves us with a Son-like love!

The pleasure that He finds in His sons is found in the familiar parable of the waiting father and the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). Of that story, author Philip Keller writes this:

…despite all that the profligate son did to dismay his father, the parent's attitude toward him never deviated. In spite of all the shame, suffering, scandal, and loss, the father's love never minished. Instead there went out from him forgiveness, compassion, love, and concern.…[But the older brother's] pride and self-esteem prevented him from enjoying all the benefits at his disposal. This was simply because he did not believe what his father said. He was trying so hard to earn and merit by diligent service what was already rightfully his as the elder son. His plight is almost the more pathetic of the two. It shows us a man who really never got to know his father. The picture painted for us is that of a person who sees God as his Father, as someone harsh and hard and very demanding. He has never sensed His love, compassion, generosity, and fantastic forgiveness. And because he keeps his father at arm's length there has never been that wondrous sensation of feeling those open arms flung about him. He has never felt accepted. He has never felt wanted.

A few more thoughts about God and His holiness

2008-06-11T11:27:00.001-05:00

As I reflected on last night’s study, along with the tension of covering much material far too quickly, I believe I left some confusion about the sovereignty of God. So let me attempt to un-muddy the waters for you.

When we speak of the sovereignty of God, we are saying that God is in control, governing every circumstance of life. There is nothing that escapes His control and dominion. The life of Nebuchadnezzar was an excellent illustration of this truth (Dan. 4:35). We find this truth throughout the pages of Scripture:

God is sovereign over nations (Ex. 12:35-36; Ezra 1:1; Mt. 2:14-15; Rom. 13:1-4).
God is sovereign over nature (Job 37:3, 6, 10-13; Is. 45:7; Amos 4:7).
God is sovereign over physical health, life and death (Job 2:9-10; Mark 1:33-34).
God is sovereign over Satan (Mt. 4:10-11; Jn. 16:33; Rev. 20:7-10; note also that while Satan was the one who afflicted Job with illness, He attributes that illness as being from God).
God is sovereign over individual’s lives (Prov. 16:9; 19:21; Eccl. 7:13; 2 Cor. 8:16-17; Js. 4:13-15).
God is sovereign over salvation (Rom. 8:28-30; Eph. 1:3-6).
God is sovereign over sin (Gen. 50:20; Acts 4:27-28; Rev. 17:17; John Piper’s sermon series “Spectacular Sins and Their Global Purpose in the Glory of Christ” is particularly helpful in understanding this truth).

All these verses, and many more combine to paint a picture of the absolute control, authority, and governance of God over all His created world. (Another very helpful resource on this topic is Jerry Bridges’ book, Trusting God; I have read and referred to it many times and am always challenged and encouraged by it.)

That was what I was trying to say last night. And where I got side-tracked, creating confusion, was how men attempt to discover and know that sovereignty, which is where the terms “preceptive (moral) will” and “decreed will” entered the discussion. I should have just left that out — while a related topic, it is not central to the discussion of God’s sovereignty. [If you wish to read more about how to discover God’s will, read either Garry Friesen’s Decision Making and the Will of God (the older version is better than the newer version) or Garry Gilley’s Is That You, Lord? (a more concise explanation of the same topic covered by Friesen).

I hope that helps a little.

Then as I was reading my Bible this morning, I was struck by the repeated emphasis in the passages I was reading on the holiness of God. They are not inherently connected to each other, yet the themes of the greatness of God and His holiness run through them. This is what I wrote in my journal about God’s holiness as it was revealed in what I was reading

The motive for obedience to God is because His people have been set apart to Him (Dt. 14:21). The reason Israel had strict dietary laws was because they were holy to Him — set apart to His purposes, which is still true for believers (and me!) today.
In a similar vein, Isaiah notes that God says, “I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness…” (42:6). The purpose of His calling is to produce righteousness (cf. also Titus 2:14); the authority for His calling men to that righteousness is His position as Lord (Yahweh — the covenant God of Israel). Yet in His authoritativeness, He also provides the ability for His people to be righteous.
His holiness is revealed to His people to evoke praise and gratitude (Ps. 99:8-9; 100; 103:1). We dare not come to His Word or presence only with a desire for knowledge and not also a corresponding zeal for worship and gladness in Him.

Lord, give me a yearning for You today — not for Your benefits alone, but because You have created me to enjoy You and Your perfections.

Sunday Leftovers (6/8/08)

2008-06-08T22:29:00.002-05:00

Why is substitutionary atonement so important? Two reasons — one theological and one applicational.

For the first, J. I. Packer offers a summary definition of the atonement in his article, "Sola Fide: the Reformed Doctrine of Justification":

This is the characteristic doctrine of the Reformation concerning the death of Christ. It was an act of obedient substitution on his part, an acceptance in his own person of the penalty due to us, in virtue of which the holy Judge declares guilty sinners immune from punishment and righteous in his sight. The great exchange is no legal fiction, no arbitrary pretense, no mere word-game, on God's part, but a costly achievement. The divinely established solidarity between Christ and his people was such that he was in truth "made sin" for us, and "bore in his soul the dreadful torments of a condemned and lost man," so that in our souls the joy of knowing God's forgiveness and favor might reign forever. This, to the Reformers, was the heart and height of the work of divine grace, not to be wrangled over, but to be trusted and adored.

For the latter, Milton Vincent, in his book A Gospel Primer, offers a summary application of the gospel — preach it to yourself every day:

There is simply no other way to compete with the forebodings of my heart, and the lies of the world and the Devil than to overwhelm such things with daily rehearsings of the gospel.…As long as I am inside the gospel, I experience all the protection I need from the powers of evil that rage against me. It is for this reason that the Bible tells me to "take up" and "put on" the whole armor of God…

That God would tell me to "take up" and "put on" this gospel armor alerts me to the fact that I do not automatically come into each day portected by the gospel. In fact, these commands imply that I am vulnerable to defeat and injury unless I seize upon the gospel and arm myself with it from head to toe. And what better way is there to do this than to preach the gospel to my self and to make it the obsession of my heart throughout each day?

A few more thoughts about God's attributes

2008-06-04T10:36:00.001-05:00

A couple more thoughts after last night's study of the attributes of God —

No, we didn't get finished with the notes, but I'm okay with that, even if it means that we won't be able to cover some other things in as much detail at the end of the summer. There is nothing more important than getting right our understanding of the Godhead. We struggle spiritually because we don't think rightly about God and His Word. [I read this morning that God let the nation of Israel be hungry in the wilderness for the express purpose of teaching them that "man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord" (Dt. 8:3). We need more of God, not less.]

Twenty years ago, R. C. Sproul summarized the problem of man well: "The root problem is that man lives in an environment where many human beings experience a profound sense of the absence of God." Perhaps the reason so many (even more today than when Sproul wrote that sentence) live without God is because they are seeking the wrong kind of God:

Many people, both believers and unbelievers, are confidently gripping an image of God that simply doesn't square with the God of the Bible. One of the most common of these images is that of a God who is only love and kindness, a kind of deified Mister Rogers. C. S. Lewis said it well:

We want, in fact, not so much a Father in Heaven as a grandfather in Heaven — a senile old gentleman who, as they say, 'liked to see young people enjoying themselves,' and whose plan for the universe was simply that it might be truly said at the end of each day, 'A good time was had by all.' [Dwight Edwards, Revolution Within.]

So if we take an extra week or two or three talking about God, the Trinity, Christ and His work of salvation, and the transforming, indwelling work of the Spirit, I'm okay with that.

Finally, as I studied, I found that invariably the best synthesizing quote I had on a given attribute of God was penned by A. W. Tozer, and most of those statements came from The Knowledge of the Holy. What a gift of God's grace that book is to the church. So last night I ordered several copies of it for the book cart — hopefully they will arrive in time for next week's study.

The Decline of Evangelicalism

2008-06-02T09:12:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, Christine Wicker wrote an interesting piece published in the Dallas Morning News entitled, "The Great Evangelical Decline.

The basic theme of the piece is that evangelicals are not as prominent in America as published reports indicated (i.e., there aren't really as many believers in America as most people suppose). That's something I've been suggesting for a long time.

Wicker then offers three reasons why that is so:

Alcoholics Anonymous and all its 12-step offspring…
The second attack came within the church as American evangelicals themselves became less willing to proclaim that they are the only ones saved.
And along comes The Pill. It's merely one of the insidious attacks science has launched against traditional religious faith, but it is surely the most successful. Nothing in history has changed human relations as much as that little white pill.

These surely are not the only reasons, but I would agree that they are contributing causes; and I don't agree with all her conclusions:

Evangelical leaders defend their stance by claiming that God doesn't change and that neither does sin. But sin does change. Slavery wasn't sin once. Now it is. Taking a wife and a concubine wasn't sin once. Now it is. And God – or our understanding of what God is, which is all we actually have – changes, too.

I think that the Scriptures are quite emphatic that neither sin nor God are mutable. Nor were slavery, adultery and fornication once right in the eyes of God and now they are wrong. They have always been sin and always will be.

However, the piece is worth reading for the thought it provokes about what has gone wrong in the evangelical church.

Thinking about a blog change

2008-06-01T16:21:00.002-05:00

I'm thinking about changing my blog address.

I've set up the new page at Wordpress already. Would you let me know what you think? Is one easier to navigate than the other? Both have features that I prefer; neither have all the features I want. Hmmm.

What thinkest thou?

Sunday Leftovers (6/1/08)

2008-06-01T15:25:00.002-05:00

Communion is remembrance and celebration not only of what Christ has accomplished already at the cross, but also an anticipation of what will yet be fulfilled completely. Thinking about the themes concerning the cross we have already talked about the last several weeks, that means:

we recall His work of salvation and anticipate salvation from all the consequences of sin.
we recall the necessity of His death and anticipate the necessity of our own death — and the necessity of our glorification.
we recall the willingness of His sacrifice as the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world and anticipate the complete removal of the flesh of sin.
we recall His sparing us from judgment and anticipate His full work of righteous judgment.
we recall His fulfillment of the Law and await the completion of His imputed righteousness.

A remembrance of Christ's work on the cross is incomplete without also remembering His future work, and trusting it completely.

That is, remembering the past with gratitude will become a stimulant to anticipating the future with trust. One reason believers fail to persevere in trust is that they have failed to cultivate gratitude in the past. They are ungrateful for the past (and don't see God's graciousness at work), so they worry about the future (fail to see the potential for God's sovereign ability to act with grace).

John Piper says it this way:

…the great redemptive works of past grace — for example, the death and resurrection of Jesus — are indispensable foundations for our faith in future grace. But their power resides precisely in that — they purchase and certify future grace in which we hope. The life and death of Jesus were God's Yes to all his promises (2 Corinthians 1:20). Christ came into the world 'to confirm the promises given to the Fathers' (Romans 15:8). Because of Christ's death, God will 'with him freely give us all things' (Romans 8:32). Those whom God has justified, he will most certainly glorify (Romans 8:30). Past grace is the foundation of life-transforming faith in future grace.…True gratitude exults in the riches of God's grace as it looks back on the benefits it has received. By cherishing past grace in this way, it inclines the heart to trust in future grace. [Future Grace]

Communion is valuable not only because it is an act of obedience to Christ, and not only because it stimulates us to remember Christ's past work, but also because it stimulates us to trust Him for His future provision.

A few more thoughts about the Bible

2008-05-28T20:46:00.003-05:00

A few more thoughts (from people who said it better than me) about the Bible (these are "leftovers" from the theology Bible Institute class last night):

"I am a Bible-bigot. I follow it in all things, both great and small." [John Wesley.]

"Contemporary evangelicalism has been beguiled and sabotaged by a ruinous lack of confidence in God's Word. I'm not talking about the question of whether God gave us an inerrant Bible. Of course He did. And the great majority of evangelicals accept that without question. But many who would never doubt the Bible's authenticity as God's Word or distrust its essential authority as a guide for righteous living have nevertheless accepted the notion that Scripture simply does not contain all we need to minister well in these complex and sophisticated modern times." [John MacArthur, Our Sufficiency in Christ.]

"The whole Bible maintains this insistence that God's word is His exclusive instrument in all human affairs. Of Him, as of no one else, it is true that what He says goes. It is in truth the word of God that rules the world, and that fixes our fortunes for us." [J. I. Packer, Knowing God.]

"Wherever in the church biblical authority has been lost, Christ has been displaced, the gospel has been distorted, or faith has been perverted, it has always been for one reason: our interests have displaced God's and we are doing his work in our way. The loss of God's centrality in the life of today's church is common and lamentable. It is this loss that allows us to transform worship into entertainment, gospel preaching into marketing, believing into technique, being good into feeling good about ourselves, and faithfulness into being successful. As a result, God, Christ and the Bible have come to mean too little to us and rest too inconsequentially upon us." ["The Cambridge Declaration," from the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals.]

"It's always best to drink at the well and not from the tank. You shall find that reading the Word of God for yourselves, reading it rather than notes upon it, is the surest way of growing in grace. Drink the unadulterated milk of the Word of God, and not of the skim milk, or the milk and water of man's word." [Charles Spurgeon, Counsel for Christian Workers.]

"For some years now, I have read through my Bible twice every year. If you picture the Bible to be a mighty tree and every word a little branch, I have shaken every one of these branches because I wanted to know what it was and what it meant." [Martin Luther.]

"The Scriptures are not provided to feed our gossipy curiosity or legislate our barnyard morals: they examine our lives and invite our faith." [Eugene Peterson, Working the Angles.]

"It's not so much what we read in the Bible that changes us, but what we remember. Doubtless there are many believers who should increase their daily intake of Scripture, but many others are devoting all the time they can. If you cannot possibly add meditation to the time you already spend reading, then read less in order to meditate more. The goal is not just to 'get through' a certain amount of pages, but to meet God and hear from Him." [Don Whitney, Simplify Your Spiritual Life.]

Why we like the Psalms

2008-05-28T20:38:00.004-05:00

In his most recent sermon, "Songs that Shape the Heart and Mind," John Piper notes the variety of emotions that are contained in Psalms — one of the reasons that we are all drawn to them, whether glad or sad:

One of the reasons the Psalms are deeply loved by so many Christians is that they give expression to an amazing array of emotions. Listen to this list of emotions I pulled together:

Loneliness: “I am lonely and afflicted” (Psalms 25:16).
Love: “I love you, O Lord, my strength” (Psalms 18:1).
Awe: “Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him” (Psalms 33:8).
Sorrow: “My life is spent with sorrow” (Psalms 31:10).
Regret: “I am sorry for my sin” (Psalms 38:18).
Contrition: “A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (Psalms 51:17).
Discouragement and turmoil: “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me” (Psalms 42:5)?
Shame: “Shame has covered my face” (Psalms 44:15).
Exultation: “In your salvation how greatly he exults” (Psalms 21:1).
Marveling: “This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes” (Psalms 118:23).
Delight: “His delight is in the law of the Lord” (Psalms 1:2).
Joy: “You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound” (Psalms 4:7).
Gladness: “I will be glad and exult in you” (Psalms 9:2).
Fear: “Serve the Lord with fear” (Psalms 2:11).
Anger: “Be angry, and do not sin” (Psalms 4:4).
Peace: “In peace I will both lie down and sleep” (Psalms 4:8).
Grief: “My eye wastes away because of grief” (Psalms 6:7).
Desire: “O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted” (Psalms 10:17).
Hope: “Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you” (Psalms 33:22).
Brokenheartedness: “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” (Psalms 34:18).
Gratitude: “I will thank you in the great congregation” (Psalms 35:18).
Zeal: “Zeal for your house has consumed me” (Psalms 69:9).
Pain: “I am afflicted and in pain” (Psalms 69:29).
Confidence: “Though war arise against me, yet I will be confident” (Psalms 27:3).

Sunday Leftovers (5/25/08)

2008-05-25T14:38:00.001-05:00

Sunday afternoon I began reading a book I bought about a month ago — Jesus Made in America: A Cultural History from the Puritans to the Passion of the Christ. The author, Stephen Nichols, is attempting to trace the history of American thought towards Jesus Christ and how that thinking was heavily influenced by contemporary cultural values. It has not made for a healthy understanding of Christ at the end of the first decade in the 21st century. It is that unhealthy and unbiblical thinking about Christ that has motivated my current sermon series, seeking to give us a more complete view of the magnitude of Christ's atoning work on the cross.

The last paragraph of his introduction sounded the warning for today's American church particularly well:

The history of the American evangelical Jesus reveals that such complexities as the two natures of Christ have often been brushed aside, either on purpose or out of expediency. Too often his deity has been eclipsed by his humanity, and occasionally the reverse is true. Too often American evangelicals have settled for a Christology that can be reduced to a bumper sticker. Too often devotion to Jesus has eclipsed theologizing about Jesus. Today's American evangelicals may be quick to speak of their love for Jesus, even wearing their devotion on their sleeve, literally in the case of WWJD bracelets. But they may not be so quick to articulate an orthodox view of the object of their devotion. Their devotion is commendable, but the lack of a rigorous theology behind it means that a generation of contemporary evangelicals is living off of borrowed capital. This quest for the historical Jesus of American evangelicalism is not just a story of the past; it perhaps will help us understand the present, and it might even be a parable for the future. This parable teaches us that Jesus is not actually made in America. He is made and remade and remade again. What will next year's model look like?

More on being God- and Christ-centered

2008-05-21T11:03:00.004-05:00

A few minutes after posting the quotation from Martyn Lloyd-Jones, I received this short, but helpful blog entry from John Piper, "What Does God-Centered Mean?"

Lloyd-Jones on emotions and happiness

2008-05-21T09:53:00.005-05:00

To finish reading Martyn Lloyd-Jones' classic work, Spiritual Depression, I am trying to read a couple chapters a week in conjunction with my morning devotional time. In my reading this morning, he wrote this (I don't agree with all of what he says, but the focus on making Christ the object of our affections when we are tempted to discouragement and despair is very helpful):

Better still, let me put it like this. If you want to be truly happy and blessed, if you would like to know true joy as a Christian, here is the prescription — 'Blessed (truly happy) are they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness' — not after happiness. Do not go on seeking thrills; seek righteousness. Turn to yourself, I turn to your feelings and say: 'I have no time to worry about feelings, I am interested in something else. I want to be happy but still more I want to be righteous, I want to be holy. I want to be like my Lord, I want to live in this world as He lived, I want to walk through it as He walked through it. You are in this world, says John in his First Epistle, even as He was. Set your whole aim upon righteousness and holiness and as certainly as you do so you will be blessed, you will be filled, you will get the happiness you long for. Seek for happiness and you will never find it, seek righteousness and you will discover you are happy it will be there without your knowing it, without your seeking it.

Finally, let me put it in this way: 'Do you want to know supreme joy, do you want to experience a happiness that eludes description? There is only one thing to do, really seek Him, seek Him Himself, turn to the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. If you find that your feelings are depressed do not sit down and commiserate with yourself, do not try to work something up but — this is the simple essence of it — go directly to Him and seek His face, as the little child who is miserable and unhappy because somebody else has taken or broken his toy, runs to its father or its mother.

So if you and I find ourselves afflicted by this condition, there is only one thing to do, it is to go to Him. If you seek the Lord Jesus Christ and find Him there is no need to worry about your happiness and your joy. He is our joy and our happiness, even as He is our peace. He is life, He is everything. So avoid the incitements and the temptations of Satan to give feelings this great prominence at the centre. Put at the centre the only One who has a right to be there, the Lord of Glory, Who so loved you that He went to the Cross and bore the punishment and the shame of your sins and died for you. Seek Him, seek His face, and all other things shall be added unto you.

Sunday Leftovers (5/18/08)

2008-05-18T21:51:00.003-05:00

What does it mean that God is a righteous judge? John Piper offers this explanation:

God’s righteousness is essentially his unswerving allegiance to his own name and his own glory. God is righteous to the degree that he upholds and displays the honor of his name. He is righteous when he values most what is most valuable, and what is most valuable is his own glory. Therefore God’s justice, his righteousness, consists most fundamentally in doing what is consistent with the esteem and demonstration of his name, his glory. God would be unrighteous if he did not uphold and display his glory as infinitely valuable.

That righteousness to uphold and defend and honor His name and person as the most glorious treasure also necessitates the judgment of God — that is, His judgment of sin and unrighteousness (or "undelight" in Him — treasuring other possessions or people above Him) is right for Him.

So He pours out His wrath on unbelieving people.

And He pours out His wrath on Christ so that all who believe in Christ are spared His wrath and given His righteousness.

Do not miss this: there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:1). No condemnation. No disparaging looks. No regrets for His saving work. No further judgment. The lexicon for the Greek New Testament says that the word condemnation "does not denote merely a pronouncement of guilt, but the adjudication of punishment." This is Paul's very point in Rom. 8 — there is no longer any punishment to be passed down by the Judge. Judgment is done. We are free.

This is why we can say in response to the Biblical truth of the gospel — be joyful!

--------------------------------

In one of my illustrations Sunday morning, I made passing reference to the number of believers now in China. Later in the day, I picked up my latest copy of Christian History & Biography and found that the entire issue was devoted to China and the influence of Christianity in that country, particularly over the past 100 years. I am a long way from finishing it, but it looks to be very interesting (at the moment, none of the articles are yet posted online, but over the next few weeks, they will post them).

California Supreme Court Decision on Homosexuality

2008-05-16T15:00:00.002-05:00

Yesterday the California Supreme Court made a decision to legalize gay marriages. The chief justice of the court, Ron George, wrote in the majority opinion, "In contrast to earlier times, our state now recognizes that an individual's capacity to establish a loving and long-term committed relationship with another person and responsibly to care for and raise children does not depend upon the individual's sexual orientation."

This is obviously a highly significant decision, that has long-term consequences.

Al Mohler offers a brief, but worthy commentary on the subject.

John MacArthur offers a broader perspective, God's Plan for the Gay Agenda.

Both are worth reading.

Missions and children

2008-05-13T13:35:00.003-05:00

Do you ever wonder how to stimulate your children (or yourself) to a greater love for missions?

A few weeks ago, Desiring God offered a list of 10 ways to help kids love missions. [These ideas might work for adults, too.]

Here is the list, without the additional notes of explanation:

1. Pray for missionaries as a family.

2. Read missionary biographies to your children.

3. Draw the whole family into supporting missionaries financially.

4. Find your child a missionary kid pen pal.

5. Entertain missionaries in your home.

6. Take risks as a family.

7. Affirm and nurture qualities in your children which could serve them on the mission field.

8. Teach your children to be world Christians.

9. Read missionary prayer letters to your children.

10. Use missions fact books and resources such as Operation World, the Global Prayer Digest, the Joshua Project, and Voice of the Martyrs (VOM). Kids of Courage is the youth-oriented arm of VOM and offers activity books, spotlights on the persecuted world, and more.

Sunday Leftovers (5/11/08)

2008-05-13T10:05:00.002-05:00

A few thoughts about various items in Sunday's sermon —

Ransom is release from sin. And I need release from sin (though you and I are both want to admit it). In a recent blog post on Desiring God, Abraham Piper helped me think clearly about this issue. We usually think ourselves to be more righteous than others who have more obvious demonstrations of inherent unrighteousness. But, reflecting on the story of the woman caught in adultery, Piper notes,

[Jesus] seems to have two categories in this story: perfect and not perfect. So what Jesus really suggests is, if you are in the latter category, what in the world do you think you’re doing judging other people who are also imperfect just like you?

The fact that I’m imperfect in a different way—that I don’t sin the same as the guy who gave me the old highway salute—is totally irrelevant to Jesus. As long as I’m any kind of sinner, no matter how benign my faults might seem, I am still just that—a sinner, the same as an adulteress or a gesticulatively angry driver.

There is only one place I belong, and it’s not standing with stones in my fists, threatening someone else in the “not perfect” category. No, the only place I belong is crouching in hope at the feet of Jesus with the adulteress, and hopefully, with that other guy on the interstate, too.

Jesus is right: worldly leadership is proud, authoritative and "tyrannical," and not servant-hearted. I thought much about verse 42 in this passage, and thought about numerous secular books on leadership that often tout something akin to what we would recognize as servant leadership. Is Jesus' statement accurate?, I wondered. Then I thought of the implications of the words are recognized and lord it over them and great men and exercise authority. What Jesus is pointing to is the issue of pride and self-exaltation (and not Christ-exaltation) and self-dependence (and not Christ-dependence).

And then I thought of a book written 20 years ago by historian Paul Johnson, in which he sought to examine the personal lives of those who have significantly influenced intellectual thought in Western culture. He examined the lives of men like Rousseau, Shelley, Marx, Tolstoy, Hemingway and Sartre, asking the question, "How did they run their own lives? With what degree of rectitude did they behave to family, friends, and associates? Were they just in their sexual and financial dealings? Did they tell, and write, the truth? And how have their systems stood up to the test of time and praxis?"

This is how he concludes The Intellectuals:

What conclusions should be drawn? Readers will judge for themselves. But I think I detect today a certain public scepticism when intellectuals stand up to preach to us…The belief seems to be spreading that intellectuals are no wiser as mentors, or worthier as exemplars, than the witch doctors or priests of old. I share that scepticism. A dozen people picked at random on the street are at least as likely to offer sensible views on moral and political matters as a cross-section of the intelligentsia. But I would go further. One of the principal lessons of our tragic century, which has seen so many millions of innocent lives sacrificed in schemes to improve the lot of humanity, is — beware intellectuals. Not merely should they be kept well away from the levers of power, they should also be objects of particular suspicion when they seek to offer collective advice. Beware committees conferences and leagues of intellectuals. Distrust public statements issued from their serried ranks. Discount their verdicts on political leaders and important events. For intellectuals, far from being highly individualistic and non-conformist people, follow certain regular patterns of behaviour. Taken as a group, they are often ultra-conformist within the circles formed by those whose approval they seek and value. That is what makes them, en masse, so dangerous, for it enables them to create climates of opinion and prevailing orthodoxies, which themselves often generate irrational and destructive courses of action. Above all, we must at all times remember what intellectuals habitually forget: that people matter more than concepts and must come first. The worst of all despotisms is the heartless tyranny of ideas. [my emphasis]

Those who serve as worldly leaders — those who are esteemed as "great men" — are, in fact, unworthy as leaders because they are unworthy servants. Just as Jesus said.

Because Christ paid such a great price to redeem us from sin, our hearts should abhor that sin. Yet so often we are inclined to and even love the very thing Christ has redeemed us from. Spurgeon said it well —

Do you roll sin under your tongue as a sweet morsel and then come to God's house on Sunday morning and think to worship Him? Worship Him! Worship Him, with sin indulged in your life! If I had a dear brother who had been murdered, what would you think of me if I valued the knife that had been crimsoned with his blood?...Sin murdered Christ; will you be a friend to it? Sin pierced the heart of the incarnate God; can you love it? Oh, that there was an abyss as deep as Christ's misery, that I might at once hurl this dagger of sin into its depths, whence it might never be brought to light again! Begone, 0 sin! You are banished from the heart where Jesus reigns!

A few verses on the sacrifice of Christ

2008-05-05T17:03:00.003-05:00

Here is the list of verses that I came up with from the Gospels that either directly stated or implied the sacrificial work of Christ (these are the verses that were the foundation for yesterday's message):

Matthew 16:21ff
Matthew 17:9-12
Matthew 26:26-29
Luke 2:34-35
Luke 17:31
Luke 22:37
Luke 23:15
Luke 23:28
Luke 24:6ff, 26ff
John 1:29, 36
John 1:39
John 2:19ff
John 10:11-18
John 16:17ff
John 18:32
John 19:11
John 12:7
John 19:30

Audio on the cross

2008-05-05T16:49:00.002-05:00

I have recently come across several audio sermons that deal with themes related to the cross that I have found exceedingly helpful and encouraging.

At the recent Together for the Gospel conference, virtually all the speakers dealt with topics related to the cross and the atonement; I found particularly helpful the messages by Al Mohler, R. C. Sproul, and John MacArthur (though they were all excellent and worth listening to more than once).

I have also listened to a couple sermons lately by C. J. Mahaney, and been reminded how effectively he communicates themes about the cross. One three-part series that he did at Covenant Life Church is "Christ and Him Crucified."

Sunday Leftovers (5/4/08)

2008-05-05T16:48:00.000-05:00

Since I didn't quite finish my sermon, here are a couple of thoughts that remain in my mind from this great passage:

What is interesting to note is that not only does the NT picture Christ as the lamb sacrificed, but also as the priest who offers Himself as that sacrifice (Heb. 9:10ff). It is a reminder that Scripture uses as many different pictures as possible for us to understand the depth of Christ’s work. There is no one image that is adequate for portraying the infinite wonder of Christ's atoning work (in fact, Eph. 2:7 suggests that it will be our eternal preoccupation and that the Lord will eternally unfold the riches of His grace extended through the cross).

Not only is Jesus Christ the Lamb of God, but He is the eternal Lamb. Revelation 13:8 tells us that there are names that have been written in the Lamb's book of life from the foundation of the earth. That is, already in the eternal past, God had ordained the coming of Christ and the sacrifice of Christ and the salvation of those who would trust in Christ — the Lamb of God. The sacrifice of Christ was not an afterthought on God's part, nor was it a secondary plan after the intrusion of sin "messed up" His plan. That Christ would be the sacrificed Lamb has always been God's eternal plan and purpose. John Piper said it this way:

…before the world was created there was a book called the “book of life of the Lamb who was slain.” The Lamb is Jesus Christ crucified. The book is the book of Jesus Christ crucified. Therefore, before God made the world he had in view Jesus Christ slain, and he had in view a people purchased by his blood written in the book. Therefore, the suffering of Jesus was not an afterthought, as though the work of creation did not go the way God planned. Before the foundation of the world God had a book called “the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.” The slaying of the Lamb was in view before the work of creation began.

And one final implication of Christ's sacrifice: If I am in conflict with another believer, or if I do not "like" (or love!) another believer, or if I am harboring unkind thoughts and judgmental attitudes toward another believer, I must recognize that the person I dislike is the person that was loved by the Triune Godhead in eternity past to the point that Christ joyfully and willingly endured the sacrifice on the cross to redeem and save that person for His glory! So on what basis might I say that it is acceptable to be purposefully out of fellowship with such a person. Yes, that person may think and act very differently than me, may have different priorities and desires than me, and may even be difficult to engage in conversation, but that is the very person that is the object of God's eternal and divine affections. How can I remain out of fellowship with Him and in fellowship with Christ?

Sunday Leftovers (4/27/08)

2008-04-28T16:19:00.001-05:00

As I mentioned in my message, I have long been struck by the repeated emphasis on the necessity of Christ's death.

He had to go to the cross. It was not optional.

Why is it important to stress the necessity of the cross? Because there is a connection between what we believe about the cross and the way we live. And if we preach the necessity of the cross as, well — necessary, then we will be dependent on Christ for everything.

But if we do not recognize His necessary death, then we will be prone to two different kinds of temptations: 1) the assumption that we are satisfactory in our spiritual state and not dependent on God. He is good and helpful, but we do not need Him or His work. And, 2) in opposition to that idea, we might be subject to legalism as a means of spiritual life, with the resultant joylessness of a life that is completely dependent on our own work and merit, knowing that in no way do we measure up to the divine standard of holiness.

Interestingly, as I was preparing for this sermon on Sunday evening, I did a little surfing on the internet and found a series of five sermons on the necessity of Christ's death, preached by S. Lewis Johnson. His concluding statement to the series reflects what I have just noted: "Come to Christ, trust him, and rest on what he’s done. And know, by virtue of the fact, that he’s paid that penalty in full. Your debts paid. You’re free. Enjoy your forgiveness of sins."

Christ had to go to the cross. And now we live in liberty!

Sunday Leftovers (4/20/08)

2008-04-20T15:43:00.003-05:00

Since Sunday morning, I've been thinking more about my message and the implications of sin and salvation on our spiritual life. I've even listened to the sermon again myself. Did I say what I wanted to say, the way I wanted to say it?

I was intentional in attempting to front-load the sermon with a number of Scriptures to demonstrate the weight of our sin. It is no small thing to say we are sinners. It is to acknowledge we are dead. In every way we are helpless before God (which is the point of Jesus in the initial Beatitudes).

I have always appreciated the distinction which I mentioned Sunday morning that no one is as bad as he could be (even the worst sinner can always sin in even more heinous ways); however, every person is affected in every part of his being by sin. That is, there is nothing in him that is perfectly righteous. Everything is tainted by his sin nature. He can do nothing good (read Romans 3). The unsaved man cannot please God in anyway because He cannot do anything for God's glory (1 Cor. 10:31), because He does not love God.

Our problem is that we tend (even as believers in Christ) to minimize both the extent and the effect of sin. Because of our propensity to compare ourselves favorably with others — and believing that God grades on a scale and that there are acceptable scores that fall short of perfection — we do not believe that our sin merits the wrath of God. We do not think that the short flash of anger in our eyes at another driver, a derogatory word mumbled under our breath at our co-worker, a bitter complaint about a late newspaper or slow internet connection, a fleeting lustful glance at a woman in the store, or a covetous glance through the Sunday sale papers is enough to merit hell. They are enough. They fall short of the glory of God. Each one of them is enough to condemn us eternally. We must feel that weight.

[Aside: since Sunday I have listened to several of the sermons from the Together for the Gospel conference held last week. Each of the messages have been outstanding, but the ones by John MacArthur ("The Sinner Neither Able Nor Willing: The Doctrine of Absolute Inability") and R. C. Sproul ("The Curse Motif of the Atonement") both related well to this very topic; together they painted a picture of our complete inability to save ourselves and God's righteous wrath to judge those who cannot save themselves.]

But we must likewise feel the weight of Matthew 1:21 — Jesus ("God Saves") came to rescue us from that very condemnation and hell. That is the wonder of the advent of Christ and the cross. God saves means that though we deserve every power that God can exert through His wrath, we get none of it if we trust Christ. God saves means He saves entirely and fully. Previously there was nothing within us that was righteous and for His glory. Now, having trusted Christ, we have His full righteousness and nothing that can condemn us. The transformation is remarkable.

And that transformation means that while we do well to examine our hearts, the foundation of our life and the focus of our life is to live each day grateful and trusting that what He has done is sufficient and He no longer harbors any animosity towards us and that He offers His grace and love with joy, not begrudgingly.

How glorious and significant that brief sentence, "He shall save His people from their sins is!"

Sabbatical Reflections

2008-04-19T11:44:00.002-05:00

I have a bachelor’s degree in print journalism and I always have considered it a good thing to have a little newspaper ink on my hands each day. Yet I have also long had the conviction that newspapers are often a poor source for evaluating the relative importance of any given story or event because of the lack of time available for reflection and assessment before the morning edition must go to print. [And that is all the more true for television news and internet pundits.]

Only with time are we able to discern with greater clarity and accuracy what is important and what the significant factors in an event were. And because of that state of immediacy I am still in the process of attempting to evaluate my recently concluded sabbatical. I’m still “sorting through” my activities during that time and trying to discern all the spiritual benefits I accrued during that time. My suspicion is that in six months or a year, I will evaluate some of those benefits somewhat differently than now.

Nevertheless, I have seen God working in my heart in a number of areas, and desire to maintain a number of changes that I began during the sabbatical. Here are some things (in no particular order) that have increased in significance because of my time away:

a commitment to reading books more than the internet. I spent more time reading than I had initially planned (I read somewhere in the neighborhood of 25 books and journals). I kept the email off during the day, and checked it and my internet RSS feeds only sporadically.

There were at least two benefits to that change in practice: 1) I began controlling my email (and time!) more effectively, and 2) I was able to read things that were significant, instead of urgent. There is a reason that good books stay in print for hundreds of years and internet pages are regularly changed or removed. One is enduring; the other is not. I want to pursue the most valuable treasures.

So, in renewing my regular schedule this month, I have made a concerted effort to check email no more than once a day (hence, I will likely be responding more slowly than previously!). Email and the internet are tools that can be used for much good and benefit, and I want to make sure they are tools that are used to stimulate me to accomplish the best things, not distract me from those things. [Aside: you may think reading a book a daunting task, but reading only 5-7 pages each day will allow you to read an average-length book every month!]

a commitment to journal regularly. In one of his books, Don Whitney advocates spending one minute meditating on Scripture for every two minutes spent reading. That can be hard to do without a plan.

One means by which I have accomplished that in the past weeks is to spend some time journaling about what I have read that morning and how I desire that to change me. My thoughts are generally focused around two kinds of questions: 1) what have I learned about God and His Word? and 2) how should that change me?

The benefit of that plan became quickly obvious to me. I am not only thinking more deeply about Scripture at the time I am reading it, but I am also thinking about it more often during the day, and using it as a stimulant for my prayers. Journaling is not the only means by which one can stimulate meditation on the word of God, but it is a means God has been using in my life, and I am grateful.

an increasing satisfaction prayer. Three things are contributing to this, I believe: 1) my time journaling (and meditating) about God’s Word is preparing my heart to pray as well as informing my prayers — giving me guidance in the content of my prayers; 2) reading good books (including good books about prayer) is giving me instruction and discipleship from other godly men about my devotional life; and 3) initiating a more detailed plan for my personal prayer time has given me more to pray about and is stimulating more prayer throughout the day as well.

a renewed passion for the cross. It was my intention to spend a significant time thinking about the cross and justification during my sabbatical. And it proved to not only be a great refreshment to me, but also a stimulant to a sermon series that was not even in my mind when the sabbatical began.

The cross is the foundation of our life in Christ. Remove the cross or misunderstand its import and your spiritual life will inevitably suffer. The church is the guardian of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15), and we likewise have been made guardians of the gospel (1 Tim. 6:20; 2 Tim. 1:14). I not only want to be faithful to those callings, but yearn to have its power known increasingly in my life, and see that power evidenced in the life of our church body and the unbelieving community around us. It is the cross that is the power and wisdom of God for righteousness, sanctification, and redemption (1 Cor. 1-2). So it is the cross which we must cling to, protect, and proclaim.

a continued encouragement about the priority of the local church. Apart from all the things I observed in the way church ministry is being done in the various churches I visited, being away from this church made me all the more grateful for you and made me recognize afresh the significance of the local church.

For all the benefit of observing other ministries and being fed spiritually by other pastors, I was not in regular fellowship with my church family, which was a significant detriment to me spiritually. It is not spiritually healthy to be disconnected from church involvement for an extended period of time. God has created us to be in dependent fellowship with each other. And being away from each other removes one of the instruments of God’s grace to stimulate us to sanctification (“love and good deeds,” Heb. 10:24 calls it). That’s not good. And that means I’m glad to be back home at Grace!

an increased awareness of the impact of time spent with family. I had happily anticipated that I would spend more time with Raye Jeanne and Elizabeth and Emily. What I did not recognize was the impact that would have on them. While I do all I can to minister to them and serve their needs, a work schedule will always place some restrictions on our ability to serve our families. Being much more available to them these two months was a real means of grace for them, which in turn gave me much joy and satisfaction.

I am so very grateful for this church. The people of Grace Bible Church have been a great instrument of God’s grace in my life. I have received so very much from you, and the opportunity to be away from the daily aspect of church ministry for these two months has been another means of grace from you to me, and additionally, a great means of refreshment to my heart.

Shepherds' Conference Live Stream

2008-03-03T12:16:00.004-06:00

Tomorrow a number of men from our church will be leaving to attend the Shepherds' Conference at Grace Community Church in California. Registration recently closed, but it is still possible to "attend" the conference via live streaming. Details for how to avail yourself of that ministry (free of charge!) is below (taken from an email sent to participants a few days ago):

We are once again extending the opportunity for those who are not registered to take advantage of the live stream of the conference via the Internet. You can view every general session with our keynote speakers, as well as select sessions from various seminar speakers from your own home or office.

This year, we are pleased to extend this offer to you free of charge. The live stream will be available on the Shepherds' Conference website.

Once at the live stream page, you will need to login using your Shepherds' Fellowship account information or create a new account if you are not yet a member. After you login, you will be able to view the conference schedule, stream options, as well as other important viewing information. Our first session to appear on the live stream will be at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, March 5, with John MacArthur speaking.

A Man's Man

2008-02-29T15:32:00.002-06:00

What are the characteristics of a man in leadership? What does a man who is really a man look like? Generally, we look to 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 to consider that answer, yet 1 Cor. 16 also offers several qualities of the godly man (in leadership).

We know that Paul is talking about leader issues in verses 13-14 (though undoubtedly he is not referring directly of elders and/or deacons, because they are not mentioned or even implied) because of two things he says: 1) the readers of this epistle were to be in subjection (v. 16) to these men — i.e., they were to follow their leadership; 2) some men in the Corinthian church who were exhibiting such qualities were Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus — these devoted themselves to the ministry in Corinth (v. 15), supplied what was lacking in the Corinthians (v. 17), and were to be acknowledged (implying, "acknowledge their leadership") by the entire body (v. 18). Paul saw these men as fulfilling a role of leadership.

So what were to be the qualities of these leaders (vv. 13-14)?

they were to be alert — often this word "alert" is used in the context of watching for the second coming; it also is used to refer to watchfulness against sin and temptation (Mt. 26:41; 1 Pt. 5:8).
they were to stand firm in the faith — generally "stand" is used to refer to guarding and protecting the faith — making sure the gospel is uncompromised.
they were to act like men — the word "act like men" occurs only here in the New Testament, but according to one source also has the meaning of "conduct oneself in a courageous way," that is, "be brave!"
they were to be strong — not just “be strong,” but "be strengthened (by the Holy Spirit)" — cf. Lk. 1:80; Eph. 3:16.
they were to do all things in love — everything (emphatic in the clause) was to be born (which is the sense of the verb "do") out of love.

So what kind of man are we called to be as we attempt to lead others around us? Men who are alert to the temptation of sin (in our own lives!), who are faithful to the faith and defensive of it, who are brave in our actions, being renewed by the Holy Spirit, and demonstrative in love.

Lord, our hearts are sleepy instead of alert, faithless when we should be faithful (or abrasive in our defense of you), cowardly when we should be brave (Eph. 6:18), too often “renewed” according to the power of the flesh rather than the power of the Spirit, and self-loving rather than Christ-exalting in love towards all others and all things. Help us to be real men of God!

Book Review: Uprooting Anger

2008-02-28T13:14:00.006-06:00

"Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity"(Eph. 4:26-27; NASB).

This pair of verses is familiar. Very familiar. To parents (who use the verses in exhorting their children). And husbands and wives (who use them to attempt to resolve their differences). And pastors (who instruct with them when people in their church [sometimes the pastors themselves!] remain stuck in conflict with others). And friends (who may attempt to disciple others who struggle with anger).

Yet for their familiarity, the instruction in these verses too often eludes us. We know there is righteous anger and unrighteous anger, and that most of what we demonstrate is unrighteous anger. (I won't say that all our anger is unrighteous, but I know my own heart and what I have seen in it and what I have observed superficially with others is that righteous anger is rare — very rare.)

So do we just give up? Do we just reckon that we are stuck in sin and that one day God will remove the sin when we arrive in glory, but until then we will just have to succumb to it? May it never be!

In his book, Uprooting Anger: Biblical Help for a Common Problem, Robert Jones provides not only sound Biblical instruction, but also offers hope and helpful exhortation to those who remain stuck in their sinful and ungodly wrath and anger.

Sometimes help comes just in an honest appraisal of what something is. So in the first chapter, Jones identifies the nature of anger with this definition: "our anger is our whole-personed active response of negative moral judgment against perceived evil." What was striking to me in his explanation was that the sin of unrighteous anger is often based on the sin of a critical spirit and judgmentalism and the perception of superiority and self-importance by the one who is angry. If I am unrighteously angry, is it because I am supposing moral and spiritual superiority over another and passing judgment on him (the judgment could be of either a believer or an unbeliever)? This is a significant thrust at getting to the root of the sin.

Jones also covers topics like:

Is your anger really righteous?
The role of repentance and confession in ridding our hearts of anger
How anger is expressed in two different manners: public revelations (outbursts, hostile words, etc…) and private concealment (bearing grudges, private rebukes and judgments, and failing to bless others)
Is anger against God ever appropriate? (the short answer is, "no")
What about anger against yourself (either for genuine sin or "missed opportunities)?
How to help others with their anger.

I have often been struck by the connection that Paul seems to make in his discussion of the mortification of sin in Colossians 3 between anger (and related sins of the tongue) and sexual sin. I've never made the full connection between the two, other than to make the interesting observation that the two dominate the discussion of what kinds of sin demand mortification. But what the exact connection between the two was had eluded me to some degree.

Jones makes the observation that those trapped by anger "must realize that uncontrolled venting invites invasions from their spiritual enemies. The angry man or woman is easy prey for the world, the flesh, and the devil." In other words, the sin of anger not only impacts the lives of those surrounding me, but it also bears the "fruit" of further sin in my own life. Anger is not a solitary sin. It sins in pairs and triplicate!

While this may not be the completely definitive book on anger, it is one that is very helpful in beginning the process of identifying underlying, root sins in our anger, and helping us to remove those sins by the grace and strength of God.

A good sermon...

2008-02-28T13:14:00.005-06:00

What is the basic assumption of the God-honoring pastor as he begins to preach, and the God-honoring hearers as they actively listen to that same sermon? In other words, what is the intention of the pastor in delivering his sermon? Alistair Begg answers, in his sermon, "The Pulpit: It's Power and Pitfalls:"

From the pulpit of our country, we are supposed to hear not the bright ideas of men, not their rambling thoughts, not their theorizing or their speculation. We assume that the pulpit is not a place for sloganeering or for manipulation; that it's not the place for tall stories and emotionalism. But it is the place for Spirit-filled, Christ-exalting, Bible-based, life-impacting instruction and direction from God, through the words of a spokesman, which impresses upon the listeners the power of [the] text, and not the performance of the preacher. That is the foundational assumption…

Book Review: Memoirs of an Ordinary Pastor

2008-02-28T12:33:00.003-06:00

Everyone wants to be somebody.

By that I don't mean that everyone is necessarily seeking his identity or that he is muddled in some measure of a mid-life crisis. But I do mean that everyone wants to achieve some measure of measurable and recognized success. They want to do something so that they will be recognized by others, acclaimed as high achievers, generously successful, and gracious "winners." We recognize that in a country of 300 million people, only one individual attains to the position of President, so we rarely strive for such a lofty goal. But most individuals would like to hear "well done," at least in their own circle of friends or even just from their families.

This includes all individuals — even pastors.

But what most people get is far less than that (if you're not a pastor, adapt the following description to your scenario; it likely will fit in some way) —

Most pastors will not regularly preach to thousands, let alone tens of thousands. They will not write influential books, they will not supervise large staffs, and they will never see more than modest growth. They will plug away at their care for the aged, at their visitation, at their counseling, at their Bible studies and preaching. Some will work with so little support that they will prepare their own bulletins. They cannot possibly discern whether the constraints of their own sphere of service owe more to the specific challenges of the local situations or to their own shortcomings. Once in a while they will cast a wistful eye on 'successful' ministries. Many of them will attend the conferences sponsored by the revered masters and come away with a slightly discordant combination of, on the one hand, gratitude and encouragement and, on the other, jealousy, feelings of inadequacy, and guilt.

Most of us — let us be frank — are ordinary pastors.

Dad was one of them…

So begins the new book, Memoirs of on Ordinary Pastor by D. A. Carson (he recently spoke at the Desiring God Conference for Pastors, "The Pastor as Father and Son," illustrating his three messages with passages from this book). The book is a biographical and spiritual tribute to his father Tom, who pastored for many years in a bi-lingual church in Quebec — serving congregations that generally numbered between 20 and 40.

Memoirs is a history of Tom Carson and the time and place in which he served — when Tom was most active in ministry there were approximately 40 evangelical churches in the predominantly Catholic province of Quebec. By the time he retired, that number had grown ten times, and the size of many of those congregations had individually grown many times over as well. But Tom Carson never experienced that kind of growth in his ministry. And many of the journal entries cited by his son, demonstrate the overly critical self-examination and sorrow over the lack of growth and the lack of response to the gospel.

Where the book shines, though, is in D. A. Carson's honest and insightful analysis of what was transpiring in the life of his father and the ministry in Quebec. Why did his father struggle inwardly with discouragement? Or what kind of qualities did he evidence that enabled him to persevere when discouraged? These are the kinds of questions that Carson insightfully addresses and are an encouragement not only to a pastor, but to anyone who struggles from discouragement.

What D. A. constantly reminds the reader of, through recounting the life of his father, is that the value of an individual life is not based on the number or kind of accomplishments, but on the value of the Savior followed and the merit of the blood applied. The eternal value of all men is found only in their relationship with the eternal God-man, Jesus Christ. And the one who is in Him, has all things, though on earth he may have few things.

The concluding paragraphs to the book not only provide a fitting conclusion to the book, but also offer a correcting encouragement to those who may be frustrated by their ordinary status in life (this is a long citation, but it's worth reading):

Tom Carson never rose very far in denominational structures, but hundreds of people in the Outaouais and beyond testify how much he loved them. He never wrote a book, but he loved the Book. He was never wealthy or powerful, but he kept growing as a Christian: yesterday's grace was never enough. He was not a far-sighted visionary, but he looked forward to eternity. He was not a gifted administrator, but there is no text that says, 'By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you are good administrators.' His journals have many, many entries bathed in tears of contrition, but his children and grandchildren remember his laughter. Only rarely did he break through his pattern of reserve and speak deeply and intimately with his children, but he modeled Christian virtues to them. He much preferred to avoid controversy than to stir things up, but his own commitments to historic confessionalism were unyielding, and in ethics he was a man of principle. His own ecclesiastical circles were rather small and narrow, but his reading was correspondingly large and expansive. He was not very good at putting people down, except on his prayer lists.

When he died, there were no crowds outside the hospital, no editorial comments in the papers, no announcements on television, no mention in Parliament, no attention paid by the nation. In his hospital room there was no one by his bedside. There was only the quiet hiss of oxygen, vainly venting because he had stopped breathing and would never need it again.

But on the other side all the trumpets sounded. Dad won entrance into the only throne room that matters, not because he was a good man or a great man — he was, after all, a most ordinary pastor — but because he was a forgiven man. And he heard the voice of him whom he longed to hear saying, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; enter into the joy of your Lord.'

Atonement sermons

2008-02-25T21:28:00.003-06:00

Stimulated by the book Pierced for Our Transgressions, Mark Dever and Michael Lawrence (pastors at Capitol Hill Baptist Church) began a series at Christmas that will culminate at Easter on the penal substitutionary work of Christ. I've only listened to the first two messages, but it appears that it will be a very helpful and encouraging series on the value of the cross of Christ.

Book Review: Pierced for Our Transgressions

2008-02-23T16:19:00.003-06:00

Earlier this week, Keith asked me, "what's the best book you've read on your sabbatical, so far?"

I offered several different titles that I enjoyed, but none stood out as "the best." Now I have a title for him.

Not only is Pierced for Our Transgressions the best book I've read on sabbatical, but it's the best book I've read in a year. Maybe more. It may be on the top ten of most important books I've ever read. It's that good. And it's that important.

When I was in seminary, and then the first few years after seminary, questioning the truth of the penal substitutionary work of Christ just didn't exist (at least not widely and openly). Today the attacks on the cross are widely embraced. So statements like the following (from the worst book — Proclaiming the Scandal of the Cross — I've read so far) are considered acceptable:

"It will not do, therefore, to characterize the atonement as God's punishment falling on Christ…or as Christ's appeasement or persuasion of God."

"…ethically, this model [penal substitution] has little to offer.…In the end, a penal satisfaction presentation of the atonement can too easily lead to a situation in which we might conclude that Jesus came to save us from God."

"…[the] penal satisfaction theory…has significant problems and does not cohere well with biblical teaching on salvation."

The misunderstanding of the meaning of penal substitution — that through His death, Christ bore our sin, pain and death, enduring and satisfying the wrath of God in our place — is evidenced throughout the various contributors to Proclaiming the Scandal. And the great value of Pierced for Our Transgressions is that it provides a clear Biblical and theological corrective.

After providing a brief overview of the opposition to penal substitution (and something of its genesis and history), the authors provide a lengthy discussion of many Biblical passages that not only support penal substitution, but explicitly teach it. They consider passages like Exodus 12, Leviticus 16, Isaiah 53, the Gospels, Romans, and Galatians 3. The Biblical weight of evidence is great, and the 70 pages of careful exposition of numerous passages makes that abundantly clear. Then, the authors offer 50 pages in which they demonstrate how penal substitution not only fits within a Biblical framework of theology, but how penal substitution alone provides a Biblical and theological reason for the death of Christ. And they follow that with both the positive implications of penal substitution, and a historical overview of this understanding of Christ's death, demonstrating that this has always been the dominant view concerning Christ's death, and not some relatively new theory, as books like Scandal suggest.

This first half of Piercing is weighty and helpful for creating a Biblical framework for understanding Christ's death. In the last 130 pages or so, the authors then do the difficult work of answering the myriad objections to this view. Its difficulty arises not from the trouble of answering the questions — most of them are adequately precluded and answered in the first 200 pages — but from the task of accumulating and reading all the dissensions to penal substitution. So these authors have graciously provided the church for years to to come a great gift of addressing all the various objections (the consider 26 different, specific denials of substitution) in a systematic, Biblical and clear manner.

This book addresses a complex and important issue to the church. It provides sound Biblical exposition of important passages, articulates involved theological issues, and answers complex objections — and does all these things very clearly and concisely. It may not be a book that I will ever read from cover to cover again, but it is a book that I will often recommend and will often use as a reference as I meditate on the greatness of our Savior's work on the cross.

Reflection on God's work in salvation

2008-02-21T17:37:00.004-06:00

The past couple of days I've been doing a fair bit of reading in the recently published book, Pierced for Our Transgressions. It is an important book because of it is a clear and definitive defense of the penal substitutionary work of Christ on the cross.

I'll have more comments when I finish the book (hopefully tomorrow a.m.), but for now was particularly struck by an extended section where the authors discussed the work of the triune God in salvation. There is much here for meditation and reflection:

God the Father gave his Son to save rebellious, God-hating people, knowing that he would be despised and rejected by those he had made, that he would be a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. He spared sinful people from condemnation, death and punishment, but he did not spare his own beloved Son, with whom he was well pleased.

God the Son gave himself, willingly undertaking the task appointed for him by his Father. He veiled his glory in a human body, experienced every temptation we face without succumbing to any, and lived a perfect human life. Yet he took our sin and guilt upon himself and died a cursed death, suffering in his human nature the infinite torment of the wrath and fury of his Father. After three days he was vindicated in his resurrection before being exalted to his heavenly throne. From there he rules his kingdom, awaiting the day of his glorious appearing when every eye shall see him, every knee bow before him, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

God the Holy Spirit, having been sent by the Father and the Son, now works in our hearts through the proclamation of the gospel to convict us of sin, righteousness and judgment, to draw us to Christ in repentance and faith, and so to unite us to Christ that we may share in every blessing he has won for us.

God the Holy Trinity thus turned aside his own righteous wrath against sinful humanity; endured and exhausted the curse of the law that stood against us; cleansed us of our sin and clothed us in Christ's righteousness; ransomed us from our slavery to sin, the world and the devil by paying our debt, cancelling the devil's power of accusation against us, and liberating us to live new lives empowered by the Spirit; triumphed over all evil powers by punishing evil in the person of the Son; and reconciled us with himself by removing the barrier of sin and enmity between us; in order that we may stand blameless and forgiven in his glorious presence, credited with the perfect righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, as adopted children of God, gazing upon his face for all eternity.

God vindicated his truthfulness by remaining faithful to his promise that sin will be punished; he manifested his justice by punishing sin and acquitting righteousness; he glorified his name by exalting his Son and placing all things under his feet; and he demonstrated his love by dying for sinners and reconciling to himself those who were once his enemies.

How to love your enemy

2008-02-19T12:38:00.005-06:00

Do you ever wonder how to love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you (Mt. 5:44)?

John Piper, contemplating that command of Christ, relates it to the familiar pattern for prayer that follows in Mt. 6 —

It would be unwarranted to think that the loving prayer for our enemy should ask for less important things than we are told to pray for ourselves. So I assume this prayer is what we should pray for our enemies.

This means that we should ask God that our enemy first and foremost come to hallow God’s name, that he value God above all and reverence him and admire him in proportion to God’s worth.
We should pray that our enemy come under the saving sway of God’s kingly rule and that God would exert his kingly power to make our enemy his own loyal subject.
We should pray that our enemy would love to do the will of God the way the angels do it in heaven with all their might and without reservation and with purest motives and supreme joy.
We should pray that God would supply our enemy with all the physical resources of food and clothing and shelter and education and health care and transportation, etc. that he needs to fulfill God’s calling on his life. We should want this for him the way we want it for ourselves.
We should pray that his sins would be forgiven and that he would be a forgiving person.
And finally we should pray that God protect him from temptation and from the destructive powers of the devil.
This is what love prays.

It is pathetic to see love stripped of God. Even some Christians are misled into thinking you can love someone without longing for and praying for and aiming at the exaltation of God in the heart of their enemy. What is so sad about this is that it not only betrays the diminished place of God in the heart of the Christian, but also implies that there can be real love where we don’t care if someone perishes eternally, as long as they prospered here on earth. It is true that our love and prayer may not succeed in wakening our enemy to faith in Jesus and to the hallowing of God’s name. Love is the aim of our sacrifice, not its success. We may or may not succeed in the Jesus-exalting, God-hallowing transformation we aim at. But a heart that does not aim at our enemy’s eternal joy in Jesus is not the full-orbed, robust love that Jesus demands. It is a narrow and pathetic substitute, no matter how creative and sacrificial and media-admired the labor is for our enemy’s earthly welfare. Love prays for our enemy with all the aims and longings of the Lord’s Prayer. [my emphasis]

Catching up on some blogs

2008-02-19T11:11:00.003-06:00

Here are some blogs of interest from the past few days —

In the past two days, Al Mohler has written two articles that all parents ought to read. Yesterday he wrote, "The Death Culture Strikes Again," addressing the role of the internet in increasing suicide rates among teens, concluding with yet another admonition to parents to be wary of what their children are consuming digitally.

And this morning he wrote, "Are We Teaching Our Children to Lie?" addressing not only the issue that our children lie (they do — "In the end, 98 percent of the teens admitted lying to parents. At the same time, 98 percent of the same teens said that lying is wrong. Add to this the fact that many of these kids admitted lying a great deal. It turns out that children begin to lie very early. As a skill, lying seems tied to intelligence. The smarter kids lie earlier and more skillfully. Really smart kids can lie at 2 or 3."), but that they may be learning to lie from their parents! As people of the truth, this is an issue worth considering some honest self-evaluation.

And Terry Mattingly writes an interesting column on adultery, offering some data that hopefully suggests adultery may not be as pervasive as is commonly reported, but still concluding with this disheartening comment: "When it comes to matters of infidelity, Christian Americans act more like Americans than they do like Christians."

Book Review: Spirit-Empowered Preaching

2008-02-18T19:43:00.007-06:00

In the last year or so, I became aware of the ministry of Art Azurdia, and the treasure of sermons available from his ministry as a pastor for some 20 years. Having heard a number of his sermons, I purchased his book, Spirit Empowered Preaching.

After hearing a broad variety of other preachers and kinds of preaching over the past three Sundays, I picked the book up this morning, and devoured it in two sittings. The reason I picked it up was the reason articulated in the Foreword to the book:

Preaching, in our time, has clearly undergone significant change. Often the preacher, even the evangelical preacher, is not more than a dispenser of new data (biblical or otherwise), or a motivator and spiritual counselor for spiritually starved and confused people. What is most obviously missing is 'the burden'. There is no 'woe' to be felt int he preacher's tone or spirit.

This is the malady addressed by Azurdia's book. It is no "how-to" book of preaching. It is an appeal that "the efficacious empowerment of the Spirit of God is indispensable to the ministry of proclamation." In other words, we don't need preachers with more style or gimicks or tighter outlines or more impassioned pleas or detailed application. We need men more full of the Holy Spirit.

Men full of the Holy Spirit will accomplish "greater works" than Christ (Jn. 14:12)
Men will accomplish those greater works by means of the the Spirit of God communicating through the Word of God — "the burden of the preacher is to experience the power of the scriptures in his own life before he stands at the sacred desk. 'The Word must become flesh again; the preacher must become the vehicle of the Holy Spirit, his mind inspired and his heart inflamed by the truth he preaches.'"
The communication of the Holy Spirit is centered on Jesus Christ — the Spirit is given for the express purpose of revealing and glorifying Christ, which in turn is also the framework for all Spirit-empowered preaching. "…the vitality of the Spirit is His effectual work of glorifying Jesus Christ through fallible men who faithfully proclaim the Christocentric scriptures."
An apostolic ministry (1 Cor. 2:1-5) is "characterized by a determination to (1) proclaim a foolish message; (2) appropriate a foolish method; and, (3) rest upon a foolish means. That is, the message is the "foolishness" of the cross (the gospel is not for unbelievers only), the method is preaching and proclamation because the method must correspond to the message, and nothing else — not drama, not music, not video — fits the message of the Word like preaching, and the means of accomplishing this evangelical ministry is through dependence on the power of the Holy Spirit of God alone.
To minister in the Spirit's power, "the preacher must devote himself to a consistent pattern of fervent intercession,…prepare himself by the means of the diligent study of the scriptures,…[and he] must recognize, and even revel in, his own human inabilities.

And Azurdia also notes how important the listener and congregant is int his process:

"the congregation must consciously refrain from any kind of attitude or activity that might contribute to a withholding of the effects of the Holy Spirit."
"the congregation must earnestly take up its mandate to make intercession for the effects of the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the word of God."

This book is a petition for holy men to preach a holy Word. Azurdia is thoroughly biblical in his approach and explanation, and penetrating in his challenges. He not only provides a lens through which to view and evaluate preaching, but offers a seldom-spoken model of how to do preaching to the glory of God. It made me yearn to both get back into the pulpit, and to fill my mind and ears with good preaching.

Solus Christus Audio

2008-02-14T13:05:00.005-06:00

The audio from the Solus Christus conference held at Countryside Bible Church last weekend is now online. Here are the links to the various sermons:

Christ: Our Only Mediator (Al Mohler)
Christ: Our Only Righteousness (Tom Pennington)
Christ: Our Only Advocate (Phil Johnson)
A Tale of Two Covenants (Phil Johnson)
Christ Alone: The Heart of Our Evangelism (Mike Gendron)
Our Daily Bread: Applying "In Christ Alone" to Life (Rocky Wyatt)
Christ: The Only Remedy for Original Sin (Phil Johnson)
Christ: Our Only Master (John MacArthur)
Christ: The Only Sovereign of His Church (John MacArthur)

As I have been spending some time on my sabbatical reading and thinking about issues related to the atonement, I particularly appreciated Tom Pennington's message on Friday evening, though all the messages were thought-provoking and helpful.

Book Review: The Truth War

2008-02-14T12:56:00.002-06:00

I finished reading John MacArthur’s book, The Truth War this morning — on the same day that the main headline in my newspaper (referring to the question of Roger Clemens’ supposed steroid usage) was, “Testimony hits no closer to the truth.”

The headline is a revelation of the time in which we live. We tear down the walls of truth, supplanting them with relativism and subjectivism and then are indignant when someone is lying. We publicly decry the harshness of objective standards, yet we inherently understand our reliance on truth and the necessity of standards. There is something called truth; the opposite of truth is deceit, and — as the headline in today’s paper implicitly acknowledged — a culture cannot exist on that deceit.

Neither can the church. There is a truth, and we need that truth.

Yet there are many within the church who, echoing the seductive call of the culture, are repeating historical errors and doctrinal deviations and embracing postmodern thought and deviation. MacArthur’s book is a warning about straying down that path and an exhortation to cultivate afresh the practice of biblical discernment.

MacArthur is explicit in his illustrations of the current state of the church, making the argument in the introduction, “why the truth is worth fighting for.” He then demonstrates how the church-at-large arrived in its current place, tracing its movement from modernity to postmodernity (chapter 1), and also showing how postmoderns are really just advocating the old theological heresies of the Judaizers, Gnosticism, Sabellianism, and Arianism (chapters 4-5), and simple licentiousness (chapter 6). The entire book is framed around an exposition of the book of Jude and the admonition to “contend earnestly for the faith.”

This is an important book — the clarity and frankness of the admonition needs to be heard by leaders in the contemporary church, because as MacArthur notes,

…the church today is quite possibly more susceptible to false teachers, doctrinal saboteurs, and spiritual terrorism than any other generation in history. Biblical ignorance within the church may well be deeper and more widespread than at any other time since the Protestant Reformation. If you doubt that, compare the typical sermon of today with a randomly chosen published sermon from any leading evangelical preacher prior to 1850. Also compare today’s Christian literature with almost anything published by evangelical publishing houses a hundred years or more ago. [p. 165.]

The church of Jesus Christ is the instrument God has designed to be the pillar and defense of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15). We must contend (Jude 3) and live for that truth. This book is a great help in identifying the subtle errors that are leading us away from the truth, and not just a call to return to the truth, but a map to lead us back to the truth.

Mohler on the new atheism

2008-02-12T17:15:00.000-06:00

Last week, Al Mohler presented the W. H. Griffith Thomas lectureship at Dallas Theological Seminary, speaking on the new atheism. If you are wondering what men like Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett and Richard Dawkins are saying and writing (and millions of people have purchased their books, so someone is wondering), then you will find these lectures helpful:

There are also many links to commentaries and blogs on Al Mohler's website about the new atheism.

Need more time?

2008-02-10T20:05:00.000-06:00

Rare is the day when someone doesn't say something to me like, "I just need a little more time…" I say it too.

Near the end of his biography on Whitfield, Arnold Dallimore offers this personal observation that is both an encouragement and exhortation:

When the present author is stirring at 7 in the morning, he frequently reminds himself that Whitfield had been active since 4. Arising at that early time, he spent the first hour in communion with God, reading and praying over a portion of the Scriptures, praising God and also interceding with Him for lost souls in general, and several in particular.

At 5 he preached, and virtually always to a host of men and women. John Newton, the converted slavetrader, stated, 'I have seen Moorfields as full of torches at 5 in the morning as the Haymarket is on a theatre night.' And by 7 Whitfield had often set out on an evangelistic journey or was writing letters or meeting the first number who came seeking spiritual advice.

Book Review: George Whitfield

2008-02-10T19:02:00.001-06:00

Arnold Dallimore has written numerous biographies, including ones on Spurgeon, several on the Wesley family, and the definitive two-volume work on George Whitfield, which he latter summarized into a more manageable, one-volume, 200-page book: George Whitfield: God's Annointed Servant in the Great Revival of the Eighteenth Century. (This latter book also may be accessed through Google Books.)

While he only lived for 56 years (1714-1770), Whitfield led a remarkable life. Like Spurgeon, he was involved in a variety of activities (an orphanage, several churches, the founding of the Methodist movement, and extensive travel, including seven cross-Atlantic trips to the United States). He spoke to thousands of people at a time in the open air (prior to amplification systems) — in fact, it is estimated that during the course of his lifetime, his voice was personally heard by more people than anyone in the history of mankind. Benjamin Franklin (yes, that Franklin), estimated that on one occasion while preaching in Philadelphia, Whitfield was heard by more than 30,000 people!

Dallimore points to a number of accomplishments in Whitfield's life, including:

the breadth of his appeal to various listeners (he was embraced by both the poor, like coal miners and slaves, and the sophisticated nobility of both England and America, including the Prince of Wales and Benjamin Franklin).
his ability to be readily understood and appreciated by both the educated and uneducated and children.
the steady course of his life — unwavering and uncompromising in his doctrine, and his ability to avoid pitfalls of pride, asceticism, legalism, and mysticism.

As I read the book, however, I found myself encouraged and challenged by a man who regularly faced opposition, both theological (from both believers and unbelievers) and physical (several times he faced murderous attacks). Multiple times in my reading I made notes in the margin like "conflict," "more conflict," and "opposed again." Yet in spite of the criticism and personal attacks he faced, he maintained an attitude of grace toward his adversaries and strove to effect reconciliation, as much as he could.

On multiple occasions, those whom he left in charge of his church in England while he traveled to America abdicated their position and turned against him (to varying degrees) while he was away. Likewise, those who were his closest friends in ministry — the Wesleys — were estranged from him for many years over doctrinal issues. It is a testimony that at the end of his life, Charles Wesley wrote a 536-line elegy to his memory. Included in that work were these lines, that bespeak of friendly admiration and honor of a godly man:

Such for a length of years his glorious race
He ran, nor e'er looked back, or slack'd his pace,
Forgetting still the things already done,
And reaching forth to those not yet begun,
Eager he press'd to his high calling's prize,
By violent faith resolved to scale the skies,
And apprehend his Lord in paradise.

That Charles Wesley in particular was restored to fellowship with Whitfield is attributable to the grace of God working through Whitfield's repeated attempts to produce that reconciliation, and his humility in confession and his willingness to defer to others in non-essential matters.

When first picking up this book, I thought, "surely this will give me all I want about Whitfield — what more could be said in several hundred more pages?" Yet having now finished, I find myself yearning for more information about his relationship with Jonathan Edwards (a scant two pages in this book), the nature of his marriage (Doreen Moore offers far more information — and seemingly a more open and honest evaluation — of his marriage in Good Christians, Good Husbands? : Leaving a Legacy in Marriage and Ministry), and more samplings of the actual content of his sermons.

I suppose that's the mark of a good book, however: enough information written well, without producing excessively-bored yawning, and stimulating a yearning for more pages. Perhaps another year will induce me to attempt Dallimore's full treatment of Whitfield's life.

Book Review: The Cross He Bore

2008-02-08T11:09:00.000-06:00

I regularly look for and purchase and read books about Jesus Christ — and particularly Christ and the cross.

The cross is of first importance for the believer. We cannot think about it too much. We often think about it too little.

So when I read an encouragement by Tim Challies to purchase The Cross He Bore, I was intrigued. When he wrote about it again, I got online and ordered a copy.

I finished reading it yesterday. I will look to it and read it again.

The size of the book is unimpressive (exactly 100 pages, divided into 13 chapters that each stand alone in their content).

But the writing is superb. In each chapter, Leahy contemplates a single verse, focusing on some aspect of the preparation for or the crucifixion of Christ itself. The texts are all familiar, but his insights are almost always unique, sobering, and helpful for worship and communion preparation.

An example. In the chapter, "The Butt of Mockery," considering Matthew 26:67-68, he writes this:

Many hands were raised against him, both human and demonic, but Christ knew that there was one hand above all others that smote him. And as he bore our sins that hand did not spare him. 'It was the will of the Lord to bruise him; he has put him to grief…' (Isa. 53:10).

In the same chapter, he later he adds,

…in many ways all Christians fail to be as sensitive to the presence of evil as they should be. But the sinless one was totally sensitive to the presence of evil. We must not, therefore, limit his redemptive sufferings to the last few days of his life before the crucifixion and to his actual agony on the cross. William Symington rightly affirms, 'In every case He suffered for us, never for Himself'; and he adds, 'Not one throb of pain did He feel, not one pang of sorrow did He experience , not one sigh of anguish did He heave, not one tear of grief did He shed for Himself. If not one of His sufferings was personal, it follows that they were all substitutionary…'. During the whole period of his [earthly] life the Saviour 'was a-slaying'.

And writing about the cup of judgment given to Him by the Father, Leahy says this:

The cup that the Father placed in the Son's hands was brimful of wrath and judgment. Its every drop brought torment. Yet this cup he would drink to the glory of God! This cup he would drink in honour of God's holiness and righteousness. This cup of death he would drink in order that not one of his people might ever taste a single drop of it. 'Shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?' (John 18:11). Yes, indeed! He would drink it to its dregs. He would drain that cup. Not one drop would be left.

Similar insights abound throughout the book. Not only does Leahy instruct the mind, but he stimulated my heart into deeper gratitude and affection for Christ — the very thing a book about the cross should do!

What makes a good home?

2008-02-08T10:58:00.000-06:00

In his sermon, "The Pastor as Son of an Earthly Father," D. A. Carson says this:

"The worst kind of home to be brought up in is the one with many pretensions and low performance.
The best kind of home to be brought up in is the one with few pretensions and high performance."

The entire sermon is well worth hearing, as are all the messages at the Bethlehem Conference. (Crawford Loritts' sermon — "The Call to Courage" — is now in my "favorite sermons" folder on my .mp3 player.)

Why I (and others) appreciate Piper’s preaching

2008-02-06T19:34:00.000-06:00

Mark Dever wrote this about John Piper in the Introduction to Preaching the Cross (which C. J. Mahaney also quoted in his recent interview of Dever):

What a gift John is to the church. While too many of us are saying a lot of things quickly and running on to the next, John stops. And stands. And stays. And stares at God’s Word. Sometimes he stares at something that seems so obvious, but he keeps staring until it begins to expand and fill the horizon of his sight. It becomes rich and detailed and luscious and intricate and full and demanding and hope-giving and life-affirming and sin-denying and sacrifice-requiring and adjective-adding. John prays and thinks until the part of God’s Word which seems simple and obvious becomes fresh and powerful.

What are you giving up for Lent?

2008-02-06T19:20:00.000-06:00

As today is Ash Wednesday, this is a common question — “what are you giving up for Lent?”

I’ve heard a variety of answers — from the sublime to the ridiculous (but mostly ridiculous) — cole slaw, eye-liner, premarital sex with a fiancé, running yellow lights among them. Even giving up Lent. Hmmm.

I am no expert of liturgical faith that emphasizes a significant personal sacrifice in order to prepare for Easter — and ostensibly to merit the favor of God.

But as I think about righteousness and the relationship between faith in Christ and works, the connection between what we do and what we have from God, two Biblical passages come to mind:

If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!” (which all refer to things destined to perish with use) — in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence. [Col. 2:20-23; NASB]

He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit… [Titus 3:5; NASB]

In the former, God says that while there are those who suggest that there is merit to be found in self-denial, in fact, such things are headed for an eternal deterioration and dissolution. They have the appearance of wisdom and commendation from God, but they will not survive, nor are they any help in producing righteousness or the mortification of the flesh (Col. 3:5; Rom. 8:13). Jesus said that the force of the Law was to bring people to the place that they understood that they could not be as perfect as God (Mt. 5:48) — nothing they could do would produce an ability to stand before the One with whom we all have to do (Heb. 4:13).

And the latter verse also affirms that there is no deed — nor any amount of deeds — done even as an act of our very greatest righteousness which will produce eternal righteousness, new birth, or regeneration before God. We cannot change ourselves. We can only be — we must only be — changed by Christ. [Piper makes this point exceedingly well in this week’s sermon, “Through the Washing of Regeneration.”]

Giving up eye-liner — or even pre-marital sex— for 6 weeks — or even for a lifetime, is not enough to assuage the wrath of God against the sin our hearts. For our affront against God is not a single sin that a single external act for a brief amount of time can warrant His decree of “RIGHTEOUS” over our lives. Our sin against Him is massive, not minor, and internal, not external (Mk. 7:20-23) — such that nothing we do will ever atone for our own sin. In fact our very attempts to achieve righteousness apart from the only One who is righteous is further sin against Him and leaves us in even greater debt to Him and in further merit of His wrath.

This is not to say, “Don’t worry about sin in your life,” but it is to say, “Address (attack! kill!) sin in your life by the means God has provided:”

…make sure that you attack the flesh with God’s weapons and not your own. You’ll find lots of teachers in churches who offer remedies that don’t come from God. When we try to offer them to God he says to us, ‘Who has asked this of you?’ (Isaiah 1:12). The Pharisees, for example, were notorious for piling high the works and duties that would win God’s pleasure, yet few of those works came from God. And the church has added its share of fastings, pilgrimages, abstinence, prayers, and rituals that have little or no basis in God’s Word.…

But what does God require of us for our spiritual recovery? Simple: renewed obedience in his means of killing the flesh. His means are those outlined throughout his Word and they’re familiar: constantly reading his Word, hearing it preached, and reflecting on it; fervent prayer; careful watching against temptation; and fixing the mind always on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.…

And when we attach the flesh in our own strength, the worst thing that can happen is anything that might smell of success — because our pride will jump to make a merit badge out of it. We’ll begin to justify ourselves before God, and that will lead us away from sincere faith, away from the gospel, away from Christ. But faith clings to Chris tin everything and won’t move an inch without his help. Faith won’t read a chapter, sing a hymn, say a prayer, or offer a gift, without calling on the strength of Christ by the Spirit. This is what it means to live by faith in the Son of God (Galatians 2:20). And when we live this way, God always revives us. [Lundgaard, Through the Looking Glass]

What are you giving up for Lent? Maybe the better question to ask is, What are you taking up and who are you following?

Answer? I am taking up my cross to follow Christ and ask for His righteousness to be both given to me and formed in me.

The sacrifice of Christ

2008-02-06T19:06:00.000-06:00

I was introduced to the poetry of George Herbert 25 years ago in a college literature class. In fact, I had to purchase a textbook comprised almost entirely of his poetry. I didn’t have an appreciation for his writing at the time — even after reading a significant amount from that book.

Now I do.

In Through the Looking Glass, Kris Lundgaard quotes one of Herbert’s poems at length. It’s worth reading.

Book Review: Through the Looking Glass

2008-02-06T16:02:00.000-06:00

I stumbled onto Kris Lundgaard’s first book, The Enemy Within, at a second-hand book store. I was unfamiliar with the book, but knew the reputation of the publisher, and seeing the commendation from J. I. Packer on the back, I ventured the few dollars for the book on the hope they would be worthwhile. They were. I have referred to the book numerous times, and been encouraged and challenged by it.

Subsequently, Lundgaard wrote another book, entitled Through the Looking Glass. The premise was similar to the first book — he took the ideas and theology of the Puritan writer John Owen (this time he borrows from The Glory of Christ) and wrote a book on the same themes with contemporary language and illustrations.

The premise of this book is similar to my purpose in recently preaching John 1-12 — to exalt the person of Christ and to make Him more known: “This book is about Christ. It’s for reflecting on Christ through the looking glass of the Scriptures, relishing everything about him we can know, all his loveliness and wonder.”

Mission accomplished.

His premise is that there is nothing greater than desiring Christ, and that most of us love and yearn for Him too weakly. To counteract that tendency and to stimulate our best God-ward hunger, Lundgaard paints great pictures of Christ. Though sometimes handling Old Testament passages with too much freedom and a careless and inconsistent hermeneutic (my only significant complaint with the book), yet he does ask penetrating questions and offers hopeful help.

Perhaps his concluding chapter offers the best example:

…when we answer the question, “How do I recover from spiritual decay?” we find ourselves right back where we started this book. You see, there can’t be any real revival apart from the glory of Christ.

Every ounce of grace we receive comes from Jesus Christ.…without him we can’t lift a finger.…

Are you stirred by a conviction that your spiritual life is languishing? Do you yearn for a renewal of spiritual strength that will flourish in faith, love, and holiness? Then drive a stake into this solid ground: you won’t have a bit of it apart from Jesus. You can claim every promise in the Book and screw up your courage to carry out the toughest spiritual disciplines — but you won’t find a breath of relief unless Christ breathes on you. And if we can only be renewed though Christ, isn’t he glorious?

Every ounce of grace we receive comes by faith. By faith we come to Christ, are planted in Christ, and live in Christ to bear fruit for him. By our faith he lives in us and acts in us, so that we live by faith in the Son of God. You won’t find a jot or tittle in the Scriptures to suggest that you’ll receive anything from Christ other than by faith. Faith points away from us and our strength to Christ and his glory.

This faith is in the person of Christ, his grace, all his work to bring us to God, and his glory in everything.…

Spiritual recovery begins and continues when we gaze on the glory of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18). [pp. 199-200; his emphasis.]

Overloaded?

2008-02-03T14:38:00.000-06:00

I first saw the link to this web article on another blog, somewhere, sometime in the last week. Don't know who, don't know when. I just remember seeing it, and then seeing it referenced again by Desiring God today.

I don't have 157 books to read like Phil Ryken, but I do have over 100 on my "to read" list. And a half dozen journals. And too many blogs and web articles each day.

Just yesterday when I was late in calling my Dad for a regular visit I said, "As usual, it took me longer to do what I wanted to do." Actually, that should have been, "it took me longer to do less than I wanted to do." I know that sounds familiar. It is the world in which we live.

So, of all the things clamoring for your attention, take 5-8 minutes to read and think about Ryken's article "Overloaded." Here is a quote that I thought important:

"The more we watch the lives of men, the more we see that one of the reasons why men are not occupied with great thoughts and interests is the way in which their lives are overfilled with little things." [Phillips Brooks]

Three conferences this week

2008-02-03T13:51:00.000-06:00

This week I will be attending three conferences (kind of).

The first is in Minneapolis, hosted by Bethlehem Baptist Church (pastored by John Piper). The theme of this pastor's conference is "The Pastor as Father and Son." And while I won't actually be in physical attendance, Desiring God generally makes the audio from each session available within hours of the actual session. So I plan on listening to as many of those messages as quickly as I'm able. One of the highlights of the Bethlehem Pastor's conferences are John Piper's biographical sermons; this year he will pay tribute to his father.

The second conference is not actually a conference, but a lecture series delivered by Al Mohler at Dallas Theological Seminary this week (Tues - Fri). While I won't be in attendance for the chapel messages, DTS likewise makes their chapel messages available online, so I'm excited to hear Mohler addresss some of the contemporary issues of the day.

The third conference I will actually be in attendance. The Solus Christus conference is being held at Countryside Bible Church and features Al Mohler, John MacArthur, Phil Johnson (Grace to You), and Tom Pennington (pastor of Countryside). This is the second of their planned five Sola conferences (Sola Scriptura, Sola Fide ['09], Sola Gratia ['10], Soli Deo Gloria ['11]), and promises to be an excellent declaration of the supremacy of Christ.

Books on the cross

2008-02-01T11:06:00.000-06:00

C. J. Mahaney, who himself has written a book or two about the cross (The Cross-Centered Life and Living the Cross Centered Life) today posted his list of favored books on the cross.

I concur with his choice of Stott's book, and am looking forward to beginning to read this weekend Pierced for Our Transgressions — if the reviews I've read are indicative, it will probably be on my list as well.

To Mahaney's list, I'd also add the following books:

Leon Morris, The Atonement (also published in slightly different forms under the title, The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross).
J. Dwight Pentecost, Things Which Become Sound Doctrine — it's brief, but provides a good synthesis of cross-themes, like grace, regeneration, imputation, substitution, redemption, reconciliation, and propitiation, among others.

As I pursue thinking about the significance of the cross on my sabbatical, all those books are on the shelf behind me, along with Jerry Bridges' The Great Exchange, J. C. Ryle's, Regeneration, Frederick Leahy's The Cross He Bore, and John Piper's The Future of Justification.

Pray that as my mind is filled with the cross of Christ, that my life will be more cross and Christ-centered.

Book Review: Is That You Lord?

2008-02-01T09:38:00.000-06:00

Fleeces, open and closed doors, impressions, "peace" (or a lack of it) — all these are common means for believers attempting to discover the sovereign will of God for their lives.

To that idea, pastor Gary Gilley counters in his book Is That You Lord? that there is a better, more God-exalting, Scripture-trusting, and freedom-giving way.

Following the lead of Gary Friesen (Decision Making and the Will of God [be sure to purchase the first edition of this book]), Gilley explains that there are three kinds of God's will — His sovereign (inter-Trinitarian, unknowable to man, Dt. 29:29) will, His moral (revealed in His commands and instruction in Scripture) will, and His individual will. As Gilley demonstrates, most people are attempting to find the latter, but their quest is actually an attempt to discover His sovereign will — "The real question people are asking when it comes to the individual will is, 'How can I know God's sovereign will for my life?' They want to know if God has given them a means whereby they can storm the gates of heaven and unlock the secret counsels of God."

That quest, Gilley argues, has lead to a mystical quest for God in which believers are tempted to place as much or more trust in extra-Biblical revelation from God than in the revealed Word of God.

…revelation from God, no matter what format or venue, is still revelation from God. It is not possible for God to give revelation that is not authoritative and demanding of obedience. All revelation from God carries the authority of Scripture.…Today many are claiming to hear from God, but what they are hearing, they say, does not have the status and significance of Scripture. This is logically impossible. Either God has spoken or he has not. If he has spoken, that message is as authoritative as Scripture. [pp. 60-61]

Rather than trusting impressions, Gilley argues briefly but convincingly, that the Bible's own counsel about making decisions is:

always begin with Scripture — "When you begin with Scripture, in the realm of decision making, you will be able to make your decisions on the basis of solid biblical precepts, commands and principles. The Bible will not tell you what house you are to buy, but it will frame that decision with financial, ministerial and family guidelines."
pray for wisdom — "we are not told [Js. 1:5-8] that the Lord will specifically make the decision for us through some form of prompting, only that he will provide wisdom for making a wise decision."
[seek] wise counsel — "The counsel of wise, godly and scripturally knowledgeable people is an important source for making wise decisions, but we must keep in mind that such counsel is not infallible. It is a piece but it does not solve the puzzle."
circumstances and opportunity — "[These] offer us options — options that should be carefully examined. But again these options are not obligatory mandates from God."
desire — "God often works through our desires. What is it that we want to do? is a good question to ponder. [E.g., 1 Tim. 3:1]"
freedom — "Surrounded by these principles, and others found within the New Testament, we are given freedom to make choices that we believe will glorify God (1 Cor. 10:31).…the good news is that God, within biblical parameters, has given us freedom and ability to make wise choices that honour him." [pp. 56-59.]

It is that last statement that makes many believers uncomfortable, yet Gilley does a good job surveying the Biblical landscape and demonstrating the normative pattern for God's interaction in people's lives to accomplish His sovereign purpose. God does not speak in "still, small voices" — when He speaks, it is articulate, clear, loud, unmistakable and carries a divine imperative that must always and unhesitatingly be obeyed.

The goal, as expressed in the New Testament, is not to find the will of God but to do the will of God. Since God wants you to do his will, be assured that he has not hidden it and then sent us on some kind of cosmic treasure hunt to find it. He is not daring us to discover the clues which will lead to his plan for our lives. Rather, his will is clearly imprinted on the pages of Scripture. It was to this end that Paul told Timothy to 'be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth' (2 Tim. 2:15). Many are simply unwilling to do the 'diligent' work necessary to accurately handle the word of truth and are looking for shortcuts. The Lord does not call for shortcuts; instead 'diligence' is prescribed. [p. 80.]

Are you still puzzled about the will of God for your life — which job? which house? which person to choose as a marriage partner? which church or ministry? where to vacation? who to disciple? This book will begin to give you an ability to make decisive, confident, God-exalting choices. If you want more detailed answers, read Friesen's book. If you want the concise answer, pick up this book.

Another testimony for permanent marriages

2008-01-29T19:50:00.000-06:00

In yesterday's blog, Al Mohler, citing a recent article from the Washington Post, articulates a downside to divorce that has rarely been mentioned. We speak often of the impact of divorce on young children, and the detriment it is to the marriage partners, but after decades of increased divorce rates, the influence on divorce for aging parents is also being realized.

The strained relationships that result from divorce when the children are young carry over to adulthood so they are disinclined to visit their aging parents often, cultivate a meaningful relationship, or care for them in their illness.

Mohler concludes his commentary this way:

Almost 40 percent of adults have divorced parents. The bonds of family and kinship have been strained over the last century by advanced industrialization, career mobility, and a host of developments that have subverted family intactness and intimacy. But none of these can equal the total impact of easy divorce and the divorce culture that is now simply taken as a fact of life.
The impact of divorce on children has been a controversial issue for decades now. Marquardt and Glenn now point to a challenge that will explode in significance in years to come. They warn of "lonely grief" as a common experience.

In Marquardt's words:

As the generation that ushered in widespread divorce ages, an epidemic of such lonely grief may well sweep in behind it. Much of the expert literature on death and dying implicitly assumes an intact family experience. It assumes that people grow up with their mothers and fathers, who are married to each other when one of them dies. Some scholars are beginning to investigate aging and dying in families already visited by divorce. But most scholars and the public still give scant attention to the loss of other parent figures or to the deeply complicating, long-lasting effects of family fragmentation.

Here is yet another warning and reminder of what divorce represents and what happens when marriage is undermined by a social and legal revolution of this significance. This will challenge churches as well as families. "The New Alone" is a very troubling report.

The believer is not committed to marriage because of social implications or statistical surveys which might reinforce the benefits of a permanent marriage. We are committed to marriage because God is committed to His marriage to His people Israel, because Christ is committed to His marriage with His bride, the church, and because Scripture consistently teaches the righteousness of permanence in marriage.

This report does not change the reason why we are committed to marriage; but it does offer testimony to God's good and eternal plan for the family.

The great "I am" and a correction

2008-01-27T21:43:00.000-06:00

Tozer said it well when he wrote the following in The Pursuit of God:

There must be somewhere a fixed center against which everything else is measured, where the law of relativity does not enter and we can say "IS" and make no allowances. Such a center is God. When God would make His Name known to mankind, He could find no better word than "I AM".…Everyone and everything else measures from that fixed point. "I am that I am," says God, "I change not."

As the sailor locates his position on the sea by "shooting" the sun, so we may get our moral bearings by looking at God. We must begin with God. We are right when and only when we stand in a right position relative to God, and we are wrong so far and so long as we stand in any other position.

Much of our difficulty as seeking Christians stems from our unwillingness to take God as He is and adjust our lives accordingly. We insist upon trying to modify Him and bring Him nearer to our own image.…It is no use. We can get a right start only by accepting Goad as he is. As we go on to know Him better we shall find it a source of unspeakable joy that God is just what He
is.

And, the quote in Sunday's outline should have read as follows: "Not only do we now know God except through Jesus Christ; we do not even know ourselves except through Jesus Christ." [Blaise Pascal; it's amazing the difference in meaning one small word makes!]

Sunday Leftovers (1/27/08)

2008-01-27T20:14:00.000-06:00

The gospel of John was written to introduce the readers to Christ in such a way that they would be stimulated to believe Him. John accomplishes this through the seven-fold declaration of Christ's "I am's," through the seven miracles of Christ, and even through the very names that John uses to refer to Christ. Each distinct name and usage reveals something about John's theology, but even more about the glory and character of Christ and God.

What names does he use?

Word. This title is used only 4 times (1:1, 14), but it is significant, nonetheless. The emphasis is obviously on His deity: He is eternally pre-existent, lives in "co-ordination" with God, and yet possessing His own identity, and in fact being God Himself.

Christ is used 16 times in the first 12 chapters of the book, and only twice after that. The word is designed to point to the truth that Jesus is the promised Messiah of God. After His ministry becomes private (beginning in chapter 13), that is not nearly as important. That this name refers to His Messianic work is clear from 1:41; 10:24; 11:27; 17:3. Moreover, those who rejected Jesus as the Messiah understood the implication that He claimed to be Messiah (e.g., 3:28; 7:26-27).

Jesus. This is the most common name, being used more than 200 times. It is a reference to His genuine manhood.

Jesus Christ. Used only 2 times in the book (1:17; 17:3), both times it emphasizes the divine nature of Jesus, emphasizing in 17:3 that he came from "the only true God." One of the favorite titles of the epistles "Christ Jesus" appears in none of the Gospels.

Son of God. The title is used 9 times in John, several times in conjunction with "Christ" (1:49; 11:27; 20:31), and once with "only begotten" (3:18). These alone suggest that the title is designed to emphasize the divine nature of Jesus. He is not merely a man, but God Himself.

Son of Man (1:51; 3:13-14; 5:27; 6:27, 53, 62; 8:28; 9:35; 12:23, 34) and "the Son" (3:17, 35-36; 5:19-23, 25-26; 6:40; 8:36; 14:13; 17:1). These two terms are used interchangeably, and likely are a reference to Daniel 11. Interestingly, they are used almost exclusively of Jesus during His public ministry (chs. 1-12), and only twice during His private ministry (chs. 13-21). They refer to His purpose and mission as the Redeemer.

Lord is used of Jesus 53 times in this gospel, with nearly an even split between the public and private ministries of Jesus (25 times in chs. 1-12; 28 times in chs. 13-21). However, 12 of the references in chs. 1-12 are in chs. 11-12! This title was often used generically to demonstrate respect for another human, being translated more simply as "sir" or "master" (e.g., 4:11, 15, 19). However, Christ used this title to refer to Himself (e.g., 13:14), and it is used also with a sense of the recognition of Christ's deity or power (e.g., 6:68; 9:38; 13:37; 14:5, 8; 20:28; 21:17). It is after the resurrection that this name gets to be used more commonly of Christ.

Only Begotten. John is the only NT writer to use this word of Jesus (1:14, 18; 3:16, 18; 1 Jn. 4:9). However, Hebrews 11:17 uses the same word to refer to Isaac as the "only begotten" of Abraham, and from that use we gain understanding about its meaning. Hebrews 11 cannot be a reference to Isaac's status as the "only" child of Abraham, as Abraham had other children, both through Hagar and his concubines. "But Isaac was unique: he was the son given to Abraham and Sarah as the result of the promise of God. The people of God were to be descended from him and not any of the other sons of Abraham. That Jesus Christ is God's [only begotten] then means that he is 'Son of God' in a unique way. Others may be called 'sons of God', but the are not 'sons' in the same sense.…[John] is saying that no one else stands in the same relationship to God the Father as does Jesus Christ. Christ is the Son of God not only in the sense that he is the object of God's love, but also in the sense that his being is bound up with the being of the Father." [Morris, pp. 92-3.]

In every passage in John, Jesus Christ is presented in numerous ways — through His own words, through the record of His activity, through the responses of both those who believe and those who do not believe, and through a variety of descriptions of Him. And all these things declare: "believe Me!"

The belief called for is not just an initial saving faith, but the ongoing faith of sanctification that continues in and with Christ. There is no one else like Christ. We can not think too much or too often of Him. This is the message of John's gospel.

On Sabbatical

2008-01-25T10:50:00.000-06:00

In September of 1990 at my installation service at the beginning of my ministry at Grace, my father (a seminary professor and pastor) spoke, and in giving a charge, described the man that some have called “the perfect pastor:”

The perfect pastor preaches exactly fifteen minutes. He condemns sin, but never embarrasses anyone. He works from 8 a.m. until midnight and is also the church janitor. He makes $60 a week, wears good clothes, drives a new car, and gives $50 a week to the poor. He is 28 years old and has been preaching for 25 years, and is wonderfully gentle and handsome. He loves to work with teenagers and spends countless hours with senior citizens. He makes fifteen calls daily on church families, shut-ins and hospital patients, and he is always in the office when needed. That’s the perfect pastor.

I laughed when my Dad told the story, and I still chuckle when reading it.

But after having now experienced 17+ years of pastoral ministry, I understand more realistically the privileged demands of the task for one who will shepherd the flock of God. And those responsibilities have renewed in my heart a commitment to the encouraging words of Paul to his young pastor protégé, Timothy:

“Pay close attention to yourselves and to your teaching; persevere in these things [showing yourself an example, using your spiritual gift, working hard], for as you do this you will ensure salvation for both yourself and for those who hear you” (1 Tim. 4:16).

With these things in mind, I am exceedingly grateful for the kindness and extravagant grace bestowed on me by this church body in granting me a sabbatical for the next two months. I am thankful for Keith, who has graciously exhorted me to take this opportunity and has happily invited an increased workload to make it possible for me to step away. Likewise, the other elders have not only made this possible, but have established some benevolent ground rules that will facilitate my ability to really be away and study, even though I will still be at home in Granbury. And so many in the church body have offered encouraging words and promises to pray and been willing to take on additional tasks to make this possible. These are all manifestations of the work of God’s grace in our church body, and I thank you exceedingly for it.

Now you may be wondering, “just what does a pastor do when he goes on sabbatical?” I initially wondered the same thing — “what can I do to refresh myself in Christ and the work of the ministry so that I will be more effective in serving God in this flock when I return?”

My primary work will be to do what Paul exhorted Timothy to do: pay attention to my life and teaching — examine and build up my heart to be solely devoted to God and dig deeper in the Word of God so I will be a more capable and effective teacher and preacher of His truth. As I have reflected on that, here are some specific things I am planning on doing:

Personal reading and edification: I have already awaiting me in several piles at home a number of books I want to read to encourage my own heart and stretch me spiritually in some areas that my heart needs transformation. And for that same reason, I also have a number of sermons that I want to listen to while I’m away.
I have long been intrigued by the implications of the cross for my daily life. So I am going to pursue that theme by reading a couple new books about the atonement, and doing some additional study about the themes of the cross and how Christ and the New Testament writers viewed how we should live in light of Christ’s death.
I intend to finish the NANC exam. I am excited about the beginning of the counseling ministry this fall, and my part in preparing myself for that is to complete this exam as the next step in the certification process (you’ll be hearing more from Keith about this ministry in the coming weeks).
Several years ago, I began writing weekly devotionals for email, and now I am maintaining a blog site. I would like to write some new devotionals and perhaps collate some previously written devotionals into a thematic series.
I want to begin preparation for my next sermon series.
One of the fundamental tasks of the preacher is to pray (Acts 6:4); I have a couple plans in place that I want to implement to deepen my prayer life.
I plan to visit a variety of other churches to hear other preaching and to see how others are doing ministry. So I will occasionally worship here at Grace, since our family will be remaining in Granbury during this sabbatical, but most Sundays I will be worshipping with other believers in other places.
Have regular dates with Raye Jeanne and with Elizabeth and Emily.
Purge my file cabinets of some unnecessary and unused clutter!

Knowing that these are some of the things that I desire to do, you can most minister to me during these two months by praying for these specific things for me:

Pray for Keith, as he shoulders and increased workload and carries out tasks on a regular basis that he has only carried irregularly until now. By praying for Keith, you are also praying for this church body and encouraging and ministering to me.
Pray that I will be disciplined with my time and affections and do the things that will make me more joyful in Christ and stimulate me to increasing genuine Christ-likeness — and that in all the things I do, I will “pay attention to myself” (genuinely and accurately engage in self-examination).
Pray that I will do the best things, not just anything. And that the things I study will make me a more able teacher of God and His Word.
Pray that the Lord will grant me eyes to see and understand His Word and to be transformed by it as I read and study.
Pray that I will pray.

One more thing: this church is the ministry of Jesus Christ. It is His church. You are His people. These are His purposes being carried out here. So I can think of nothing better than upon my return at the beginning of April that we find that the church has grown in both affection and effectiveness for Christ. What will honor Christ the most is that there would have been numerous conversions in my absence. What will give you and me both the greatest joy is to see that not only has the ministry continued in my absence, but that it has flourished. Not only do I look forward to God’s work in my heart while I am away, but I anticipate what God will richly do within you while I am away.

[While I am on sabbatical, I will attempt to update this blog regularly (several times a week), interacting with Biblical passages and theological books I am reading, sermons I’m listening to, and general thoughts on what I’m learning and thinking about.]

God cares

2008-01-23T07:23:00.000-06:00

There are a variety of reasons we don't speak the truth of God (sometimes we don't speak the gospel truth to unbelievers, sometimes we don't speak Biblical truth to believers — maybe even failing to pray with someone who obviously needs the comfort and encouragement of prayer).

But one fundamental reason we don't speak is fear. And underneath that fear is an underlying belief that God is incapable of or unwilling to care for us if our speaking produces harsh consequences. If you've ever experienced that fear, then hear this word:

"…don't fear to speak the truth, but be courageous and speak clearly and openly because God is giving close and intimate attention to all you do. Matthew 10:30 means at least that much. Jesus says, 'even the hairs of your head are numbered.' In other words, the suffering you may undergo in speaking the truth is not because God is disinterested in you or unfamiliar with your plight. He is close enough to separate one hair from another and give each one a number. Fear not; he is close. He is interested; He cares. Be of good courage, and speak the truth whatever the cost." [Piper, What Jesus Demands From the World, p. 123.]

Discernment needed

2008-01-22T08:54:00.001-06:00

On my upcoming sabbatical, I want to read a number of books. One of those is one just published by blogger Tim Challies, called The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment. It is an important book on an important topic. Al Mohler explains why.

Sunday Leftovers (1/20/08)

2008-01-21T06:39:00.001-06:00

Christ and the Father are unified in all their purposes — including their purpose in hardening unbelievers. Yet there is a mystery remaining — the sovereign will of God negates neither God's compassion for the unbelief of unbelievers, nor their responsibility as they will one day stand under His judgment.

So, here are one more verse and two additional quotations that help clarify God's sovereignty over unbelief and unbelievers.

After entering the city of Jerusalem triumphantly, Jesus said this about His city:

"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling" (Mt. 23:37)

He hardened them, and yet He had extensive compassion in which He longed to gather them to Him, and the only thing that prevented that fellowship was their own unwillingness. So, at the end of time, all men will be judged with righteousness: those who enter into eternal intimacy with God will do so not because of their work or merits, but Christs; and those who are banished eternally from God into everlasting condemnation will do so on the basis of their own rejection of and hatred for God.

The statements that I found helpful are as follows:

The present passage [John 12:39-40] ascribes everything to the will of God. Unless His hand is in it nothing is possible. But when John quotes 'he hath blinded the eyes…' he does not mean that the blinding takes place without the will or against the will of these people. So with the hardening of their heart. These men chose evil. It was their own deliberate choice, their own fault. Make no mistake about that. [Leon Morris]

[Speaking of 1 Pt. 2:7-8:] We must note that while Scripture is willing to affirm God's ultimate 'destining' of wrongful actions…the blame for these actions is always given to the moral creatures (men and angels) who willingly choose to do wrong; the blame is never given to God (Cf. Jb. 1:22). If we ask how God can 'destine' that something happen through the wilful choice of his creatures, yet himself remain free from blame (and not be the 'author' of sin in the sense of actually doing wrong himself), then we approach Paul's questions in Romans 9: 19, 'Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?' Yet here Scripture gives us no answer except to say, 'But who are you, a man, to answer back to God?' (Rom. 9:20).

…[Furthermore,] 'reprobation' (the passing over of those who are not chosen, and justly leaving them in their rebellion) is viewed as something which brings God sorrow, not delight (note Ezk. 33:11, and cf. Paul's sorrow in Rom. 9:1-2), and in which the blame is always put on the men or angels who rebel, not on God (Jn. 3:18-19; 5:40).

[Finally,] Peter intended this text as a comfort for Christians in the midst of persecution by hostile unbelievers.…It can best be applied that way today also (even as Rom. 8:28 and 1 Pet. 1:7) by any Christian facing any kind of abuse from non-Christians (note David's response to Shimei's cursing in 2 Sa. 16:10-12). [Wayne Grudem]

Missing joy?

2008-01-21T06:38:00.000-06:00

In today's devotional, Oswald Chambers said this:

"There is no joy in the soul that has forgotten what God prizes."

Another way to say that might be, you will not be happy (joyful, content, satisfied, peaceful) if you attempt to find happiness in things that God deems unworthy of His happiness — or avoid the things that are happiness to Him.

So whether I am happy or sad, my heart needs examination:

am I joyful for the same kinds of things and reasons that God is joyful?
am I sad for the same kinds of things and reasons that God is sorrowful?

There is nothing like a concordance to help reveal the happiness of God. You might start your own search, but here are a few that come quickly to my attention:

God and Christ are joyful:

God and Christ are sorrowful:

These are just partial lists, and abbreviated lists of passages. As an exercise, what other truths can you add to these lists? And what do the joys of your heart reveal about what you prize (are you really joyful, or are you self-deceived)? And what does your treasure reveal about the condition of your fellowship with God?

A new blog of interest

2008-01-19T10:22:00.000-06:00

Bible.org has a wealth of exceedingly helpful Bible study tools. They have also begun posting a number of blogs, and this week initiated another one that looks to be helpful — Primetime Jesus . The intent of the blog is to "," and to that end, they are employing the services of a number of Biblical sholars, including men like Darrell Bock, Craig Blomberg, Mike Wilkins, and Ben Witherington. This should be a helpful resource on the inevitable attacks against the person and work of Christ.

You may also have the most recent articles fed to your favorite blog reader with this link.

(HT: Darrell Bock)

The cross and preaching

2008-01-13T17:20:00.000-06:00

God did not ordain the cross of Christ or create the lake of fire in order to communicate the insignificance of belittling his glory. The death of the Son of God and the damnation of unrepentant human beings are the loudest shouts under heaven that God is infinitely holy, and sin is infinitely offensive, and wrath is infinitely just, and grace is infinitely precious, and our brief life — and the life of every person in you church and in your community — leads to everlasting joy or everlasting suffering. If our preaching does not carry the weight of these things to our people, what will? Veggie Tales? Radio? Television? Discussion groups? Emergent conversations?

God planned for his Son to be crucified (Rev. 13:8; 2 Tim. 1:9) and for hell to be terrible (Matt. 25:41) so that we would have the clearest vision possible to what is at stake when we preach. What gives preaching its seriousness is that the mantle of the preacher is soaked with the blood of Jesus and singed with the fire of hell. [John Piper, in Preaching the Cross.]

Sunday Leftovers (1/13/08)

2008-01-13T16:29:00.001-06:00

When the request "We'd like to see Jesus" came, His response was that the hour had finally come for the Son of Man to be glorified. He would be revealed and seen like no time previously. For 33 years, Mary had contemplated and treasured the activities concerning Christ and done by Christ. For three years, Jesus had ministered in public — He had taught, healed, confronted, corrected, prayed, and fed.

But for all those revelations of Christ (and in all those activities and words, He was revealed), nothing would reveal (glorify) Him like the event that was about to come — the cross. No where is Christ seen like He is seen at the cross.

Nothing is more fundamental for the joy of undeserving people than the cross of Christ. The fight for joy is a fight to grasp and marvel at what happened in the death of Christ — and what it reveals about our suffering Savior. If it were not for the death of Jesus in our place, the only possible joy would be the joy of delusion — like the joy on the Titanic just before it hit the iceberg. Without the cross, joy could be sustained only by denying (consciously or subconsciously) the inevitability of divine judgment. In fact, that's the kind of joy that drives most of the world — a joy that preserves the power of its pleasures by being oblivious to the peril just ahead. If the passengers were suddenly made aware that in a matter of hours most of them would drown in the icy ocean, all their merrymaking would cease. Their joy depends on their ignorance. [John Piper]

Nothing is more important about Christ than the gospel. It is the most important truth we can proclaim to those who do not believe, and it is the most important truth that we live day by day. It is, as Paul says, "of first importance."

When life is bitter....

2008-01-10T17:46:00.000-06:00

…trust promises, not providences.

This week I've had multiple conversations with people who have family or friends who are walking through the valley of the shadow of death. And the shadow is dark and foreboding, filled with more questions and uncertainties than just the matter of death.

One writer says that when the bitter experiences of life emerge, trust promises, not providences.

That is, don't come to conclusions about the love of Christ for you based solely on the circumstances of your life, but base your conclusions on the absolute promises of God.

It reminds me of the hymn written by poet William Cowper:

God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;…

Judge not the lord by feeble sense,
But trust him for his grace;
behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.

Into our lives, God regularly brings darkness, affliction, and even the sins of others to shape us into His image. No matter the harshness of the darkness, He is working a gracious plan to effect His grace in our lives. That is a truth I need to hear and heed when death is interjected into my life — and when any form of "discomfort" afflicts me.

Brainerd on spiritual desires

2008-01-10T11:30:00.000-06:00

This short treasure from David Brainerd's journal remained in my in-box from a couple weeks ago:

Oh, how precious is time, and how it pains me to see it slide away, while I do so little to any good purpose. Oh, that God would make me more fruitful and spiritual.

(HT: CQOD)

Book Review: Battling Unbelief

2008-01-09T10:10:00.000-06:00

“I do believe; help my unbelief.”

This cry from the father of the mute, demon-possessed boy is in some way the genuine condition of the hearts of all who believe in and follow Christ. There are areas in our lives in which we know the truth of God and believe that truth is sufficient and efficient to accomplish transformation, but that confidence in God wavers.

The root of that wavering is that we really don't believe the promises of God. What we need, John Piper suggests, is faith in future grace. That is, we need faith to believe that as God has given past grace to provide spiritual life and sustenance, so He will give future grace that will equip us to adequately battle the sins of unbelief in its various forms — sins like anxiety, pride, misplaced shame, impatience, covetousness, bitterness, despondency, and lust.

This new book, Battling Unbelief, is a shortened version of his book Future Grace. The latter book provides more Biblical foundations for his reasoning, and then applies truth to a number of areas of sin. This book is a compilation of those chapters on the various sins.

What is future grace, and why do we need it?

Being satisfied with all that God promises to be for us in Jesus Christ is the essence of faith in future grace.…Sin has power because of the promises it makes to us.…No one sins out of duty. We sin because we believe the deceitful promises that sin makes.…Battling unbelief and fighting for faith in future grace means that we fight fire with fire. We throw against the promises of sin the promises of God. We take hold of some great promise God made about our future and say to a particular sin, "Match that!" In this way we do what Paul says in Romans 8:13, "By the Spirit…put to death the deeds of the body." [pp. 15-16]

Like Respectable Sins, which I was reading at the same time as this book (which was actually a good thing to do, as the messages are very similar, though Piper has more Biblical content and Bridges is more readable), Battling Unbelief is a book that I will come to again and again to help me in my battle with the flesh.

The Reading List

2008-01-07T20:20:00.000-06:00

I'm always on the lookout for good new books. Sometimes it can be a daunting task to walk into a bookstore and try to determine which book is worth reading and which is not.

Al Mohler has begun a new feature called "The Reading List" on his web/blog site. I have always found him to be an excellent resource for thinking Biblically about cultural events. This book review list should be equally helpful. It's worth bookmarking in your RSS reader and perusing regularly.

Sunday Leftovers (1/6/08)

2008-01-06T20:51:00.000-06:00

The triumphal entry of Christ prior to His crucifixion testifies to His Messiahship and Kingship, and prefigures His victory at the cross. What is not understood by the massive crowds and even the disciples that day was the significance of the triumphant Christ.

He came as Messiah. He came as the One appointed by God in eternity past to rectify man's problem. Not man's problems, but man's problem. He did not come to solve economic depression, social ills, moral failures, physical infirmities, or social injustices (though in His grace He did on occasion minister to people in those ways). He did come to demonstrate His victorious sovereignty over sin. He came as the triumphant victor over sin. William Hendriksen delineated a number of ways in which Christ demonstrated His authority and victory:

He was victorious over Satan in the wilderness of temptation
He was victorious in binding the power of Satan
He was victorious in repeatedly casting demons from people
He was victorious in preventing Satan from carrying out his plan until it became God's time
He was victorious by taking away Satan's right to accuse believers
He was victorious by sealing Satan's fate of death and stripping his power

The effect of this work by Christ is that the believer can hear the words "fear not" and be confident that God has provided everything he needs not to fear. In fact, more than 100 times in Scripture God commands His followers to "fear not." And the reasons why this is possible are rooted in the triumph of Christ — and a host of other reasons:

We will not die apart from God’s gracious decree for his children.
Curses and divination do not hold sway against God's people.
The plans of terrorists and hostile nations do not succeed apart from our gracious God.
Man cannot harm us beyond God’s gracious will for us.
God promises to protect His own from all that is not finally good for them.
God promises to give us all we need to obey, enjoy, and honor him forever.
God is never taken off guard.
God will be with us, help us, and uphold us in trouble.
Terrors will come, some of us will die, but not a hair of our heads will perish.
Nothing befalls God's own but in its appointed hour.
When God Almighty is your helper, none can harm you beyond what he decrees.
God’s faithfulness is based on the firm value of his name, not the fickle measure of our obedience.
The Lord, our protector, is great and awesome.

Christ is victor. Do not fear.

The transforming power of Scripture

2008-01-06T20:16:00.000-06:00

R. C. Trench —

Lord, what a change within us one short hour
Spent in Thy presence will prevail to make!
What heavy burdens from our bosoms take,
What parched ground refresh as with a shower!
We kneel, and all around us seems to lower;
We rise, and all, the distant and the near,
Stands forth in sunny outline brave and clear;
We kneel, how weak! we rise, how full of power!
Why, therefore, should we do ourselves this wrong,
Or other, that we are not always strong,
That we are ever overborne with care,
That we should ever weak or heartless be,
Anxious or troubled, when with us is prayer,
And joy and strength and courage are with Thee!

[Christian Quotation of the Day, 1/1/08]

Questions to ask when reading your Bible

2008-01-03T09:24:00.000-06:00

Practical Tips for Reading Your Bible and Submitting to the Spirit —

Read with the intent of knowing God and His mind, not “solving problems.”
Establish a time and place that you will meet God every day — e.g., in the blue chair at 6:30 a.m.
Keep a Bible, pad & pen (and maybe a devotional book) at that location.
Read the Bible systematically & with balance (history, poetry, prophets, gospels, epistles). Links to several Bible reading plans are in the previous post, "A new year of Bible reading."
For every two minutes you read, meditate for one minute. [Don Whitney has helpful tips for meditating on Scripture.]
Keep a log of what passage you read.

What is the main idea/central truth?
What does this passage reveal about God?
What is one key verse that you can think about today?
Pray the passage.
Commit to do (at least) one thing that day that will reinforce what you learned.

A new year of Bible reading

2008-01-01T10:26:00.000-06:00

The spiritual life is simple, though it is not easy.

It is simple in that the means to growing in Christ is not complicated; it is not easy in that the discipline required to apply God’s grace is difficult (discipline requires self-control, which is not natural for the natural man).

So how does one grow in Christ?

We grow in Christ the same way we came to be identified with Christ — by grace through faith. This is the very point Paul made with the Galatians, who were attempting to be saved by grace and kept through works —

You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? (Gal. 3:1-3; NASB)

In other words, “having heard and been taught the crucifixion of Christ and the truth of salvation by faith — with the resulting empowerment of the Holy Spirit — how can you possibly think about being sanctified by the flesh? That’s utter foolishness!”

To such a statement, we readily offer our agreement. Yet in practice, many of us are closely aligned to the legalistic Galatians. We attempt to prove our “goodness” to God by our various spiritual disciplines and activities, without relying on His transforming Spirit. We know we must be saved by grace, but we like to live by law.

That kind of spiritual life is not only foolish, but also deadly — the mind set on the flesh is death (Rom. 8:6) and the deeds of the flesh cannot please God (Rom. 8:8). Yet if you are putting the deeds of the body to death by means of the power of the Spirit, you will live (Rom. 8:13). So life in Christ is dependent on living in the Spirit. And living by the power of the Spirit means that we will fill our minds with the Spirit’s sword — the Word of God.

To live by faith is to saturate our minds, find joy in, lean and depend on, be guided by, trust in, be reproved, corrected, and trained for righteousness by the Word of God. The means to a godly spiritual life is simple — it is to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Word of God (2 Pt. 3:18) to the point that our lives are controlled by the Word of God so that we increasingly grow in hatred of sin and increasingly move towards God in Christlikeness. As John Piper has noted,

This Word…cuts through he fog of Satan’s lies and shows me where true and lasting happiness is to be found. And so the Word helps me stop trusting in the potential of sin to make me happy. Instead, the Word entices me to trust in God’s promises.…

The role of God’s Word is to feed faith’s appetite for God. And, in doing this, it weans my heart away from the deceptive taste of lust. At first, lust begins to trick me into feeling that I would really miss out on some great satisfaction if I followed the path of purity. But then I take up the sword of the Spirit and begin to fight. I read that it is better to gouge out my eye than to lust. I read that if I think about things that are pure and lovely and excellent, the peace of God will be with me (Philippians 4:8-9). I read that setting the mind on the flesh brings death, but setting the mind on the Spirit brings life and peace (Romans 8:6). I read that lust wages war against my soul (1 Peter 2:11) and that the pleasures of this life choke out the life of the Spirit (Luke 8:14). But best of all, I read that God withholds no good thing from those who walk uprightly (Psalm 84:11) and that the pure in heart will see God (Matthew 5:8).

As I pray for my faith to be satisfied with God’s life and peace, the sword of the Spirit carves the sugar coating off the poison of lust. I see it for what it is. And by the grace of God, its alluring power is broken. [Battling Unbelief, pp. 141-3.]

How shall you fill your mind with the Word of God so as to be increasingly controlled by it? By reading, studying, meditating on, memorizing, and listening to it as much as you can, as often as you can. In a word, read the Word. There is no short cut to transformation. It comes by the hearing (reading) of the Word (Rom. 10:17).

How then shall you read? The best means to reading is to have a systematic plan for reading Scripture on a regular basis. Some can discipline themselves to some form of regular reading on their own, but most of us need a system that will help us. Of course there are dangers with following a formal plan, as Robert Murray M’Cheyne has noted:

Formality (legalism) — this is the tendency of “having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof” (2 Tim. 3:5).
Self-righteousness and self-complacency — the temptation to be content with reading without embracing conviction, repentance, and transformation.
Careless reading — “Few tremble at the Word of God.”
A yoke too heavy to bear — allowing the duty of discipline to distract us from the joy of the privilege.

But there are also advantages! Again, M’Cheyne summarizes:

The whole Bible will be read through in an orderly manner in the course of a year — “If we pass over some parts of Scripture, we shall be incomplete Christians.”
Time will not be wasted in choosing what portions to read.
Parents will have a regular subject upon which to examine their children and servants.
The pastor will know in what part of the pasture the flock is feeding.
The sweet bond of Christian love and unity will be strengthened – “We shall be often led to think of those dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, here and elsewhere, who agree to join with us in reading those portions.…We shall pray over the same promises, mourn over the same confessions, praise God in the same songs, and be nourished by the same words of eternal life.”

Several different plans are available (this is far from a complete list, but I have found these to be helpful):

M’Cheyne’s Plan (4 daily readings; OT once per year, NT and Psalms twice per year)
Through the Bible in a year (this is the orginal Discipleship Journal reading plan; it has four daily readings)
Book at a time reading plan (two daily readings)
Chronological Bible reading plan
Through the NT in a year

What is important is not so much what plan you choose or if you even choose a plan, but that you use some means for systematically filling your mind with the Word of God so that it can deepen its transforming work in your life.

It’s not complicated. It will require strenuous discipline — a discipline that God has equipped you to accomplish through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. Read the Word.

Bridges on Respectable Sins

2007-12-29T21:52:00.000-06:00

Jerry Bridges has been writing thought-provoking, challenging, stimulating, exhorting books for believers in Christ for about 25 years.

Several of his books have been at the top of my "recommended reading" books for many years:

The Pursuit of Holiness
The Practice of Godliness
Trusting God (republished in a shorter version as Is God Really in Control?; the first book is better because it is more comprehensive).
Transforming Grace

And in the past couple of months, he's written another book that is sure to remain on that reading list for years to come: Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins We Tolerate.

The book was written because of his observation that

…the concept of sin among many conservative Christians has been essentially redefined to cover only the obviously gross sins of our society. The result, then, is that for many morally upright believers, the awareness of personal sin has effectively disappeared from their consciences. But it has not disappeared from the sight of God. Rather, all sin, bot the so-called respectable sins of the saints, which we too often tolerate, and the flagrant sins of society, which we are quick to condemn, are a disregard for the law of God and are reprehensible in His sight. Both deserve the curse of God. [p. 22]

So what kinds of sin does he address as being overlooked as insignificant?

ungodliness
anxiety and frustration
discontentment
unthankfulness (even in difficult circumstances)
pride (evidenced in moral self-righteousness, pride of correct doctrine, pride of achievement, and an independent spirit)
selfishness (with our interests, time, and money, producing inconsiderateness)
lack of self-control (with our eating an drinking, temper, finances, television and hobbies)
impatience and irritability
anger (ultimately, towards God)
weeds of anger (resentment, bitterness, enmity & hostility, grudges)
judgmentalism (over differing convictions and doctrinal disagreements, producing a critical spirit)
envy and jealousy (and their related sins of competitiveness and a desire to be controlling)
sins of the tongue (like gossip, slander, lying, and harsh words, sarcasm, insults, and ridicule)
worldliness (in relation to money, vicarious immorality, and idolatry)

I approached this book with anticipation, selecting a few things from that list that I thought might be of some help to me. Yet as I read, I found in each chapter insights that convicted me of lazy attitudes and sloppiness towards sin. And in the discussion of each sin, he is careful to offer hope (chapter six — "Directions for Dealing with Sins" — offers a six-fold direction to apply to all subtle sins), and to also deal with the sin at a root level, not just superficial circumstance or action (e.g., anger is ultimately not just anger, but anger and discontentment with God, and must be confessed as anger against Him).

In spite of the number of topics addressed, the book is very readable devotionally (21 chapters, 181 pages) — reading one chapter a day along with one's regular Scripture reading is very doable. In fact, the brevity of the book is related to my only mild criticism of it — it's too short! Often after concluding a chapter I would find myself thinking, "tell me more — I need to hear more of the Biblical truth on this subject!" Yet the book's brevity also makes it accessible to virtually every believer in Christ.

In the plethora of new books being continually published, this is an important one, worthy of being read by any follower of Christ wanting to initiate serious confrontation of sin in his life. If you were to read only one book this next year, should this be the one? I'm not sure — there are many worthy candidates. But if you were to read only five books this next year, should this be on the list? Absolutely.

Book Review: Spurgeon - a New Biography

2007-12-27T09:24:00.000-06:00

While in seminary, I remember a classmate (who will remain nameless for the simple reason that I cannot remember who it was) saying that it was his goal to go for his entire ministry without quoting Charles Haddon Spurgeon in a single sermon.

Not knowing much about Spurgeon at the time, I remember being neither particularly impressed nor discouraged. Yet a couple of decades later I am now proud to say that I have not succumbed to that temptation.

There is a reason that Spurgeon is oft-quoted in sermons and Christian writings — he really is the "Prince of Preachers."

And in the years following his death, multiple books and articles have been written about him. I acknowledge that I have not read enough biographical material about him to make a pronouncement like, "the best Spurgeon biography written," but one that is readable, interesting, concise, and informative is Arnold Dallimore's, Spurgeon: A New Biography. It may not be a creative title, but it is a well-written and interesting read.

Providing a balanced overview of his early (growing-up) years, his early ministry, and the extensive London ministry, Dallimore offers ample information without getting bogged down in tedious details. He provides significant anecdotal corroboration that helps the pace of the book and leaves the reader interested in reading more. While the book includes some of Spurgeon's frailties so that he is not "deified" (e.g., the reality of his bouts with depression, and his curious extended absences from his wife as he recovered from those bouts), those explorations are somewhat limited, and could have been profitably pursued more deeply.

Some summary notes about Spurgeon's life:

He was a man of godly character. "The chief element of Spurgeon's entire career was his walk with God.…Amidst a success so great that it would have driven many a man to unbounded pride, he remained humble and was often utterly broken before the Lord."
He was a man with deep convictions about the sufficiency of Scripture and a love for Calvinistic doctrine. "My daily labour…is to revive the old doctrines of Gill, Owen, Calvin, Augustine, and Christ."
He was a man of remarkable natural and spiritual gifting. To this day, he remains the most prolific author in history (aside from the 62 volumes of his sermons, he also penned more than 40 additional books and it was estimated that in the first 50 years of publishing his material, between 200 and 300 million of his sermons had been distributed!); he not only preached multiple times weekly, but oversaw the weekly publication of his sermons, was the primary pastor of a church of 4000 attenders (doing things like conducting all the interviews for baptism personally), directed the Pastor's College, oversaw an orphanage and a school of 400 students, answered personally with his own pen 500 letters weekly, was personally involved with or instituted some 66 different institutions, and had a part in forming some 40 different mission ventures.
He was a man unafraid of challenges when biblical truth was at stake. "The pain [that the Down-Grade controversy] has cost me none can measure. I can never compromise the truth of God.…It is not a matter of personalities, but of principles. And where two sets of men are diametrically opposite in their opinions upon vital points, no form of words can make them one."

That commitment cost him much. But it was that kind of commitment that made Spurgeon "The Prince of Preachers." He was worth hearing then, and he is worth reading today. If you do not know much about him, reading this biography this coming year would be a worthy starting point.

-----------------------------------------------

Two other helpful resources on the web are:

The Spurgeon Archive (the finest repository of all-things-Spurgeon on the web).
"Charles Spurgeon: Preaching Through Adversity "

Favored Christmas quotes

2007-12-25T19:59:00.000-06:00

Some favored statements about the significance of this Christmas day —

What can I give Him,
Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd,
I would bring a lamb,
If I were a Wise Man,
I would do my part,
Yet what can I give Him?
Give Him my heart.
[Christina Rosetti]

"If the story were a fable or even an event that merely had happened 2,000 years ago (or even 100 years ago) and then ended, it would have had no hold upon us. What does it really matter that somebody died long ago in a far-off land? I have my problems. You have your problems. So what? But if the One who came then still comes, if He comes to the individual through His Spirit to bring the results of the salvation accomplished 2000 years ago to where you and I stand and act now, then this story lives and enables us to live also." [James Montgomery Boice, The Christ of Christmas.]

"The Christian story is precisely the story of one grand miracle, the Christian assertion that what is beyond all space and time, what is uncreated, eternal, came into nature, into human nature, descended into His own universe, and rose again, bringing nature up to Him. It is precisely one great miracle. If you take that away there is nothing specifically Christian left." [C. S. Lewis, God in the Dock.]

"The holiday itself is nothing, and observing it is not a question of right or wrong.…Everyday — including Christmas — is a celebration for us who know and love Him. How we observe Christmas is the central issue." [John MacArthur, God With Us.]

"The hands that had made the sun and stars were too small to reach the huge heads of the cattle.…And God who had been only a circumference was seen as a center." [G. K. Chesterton.]

"He became what we are that He might make us what He is." [Athanasius.]

"Separate Christmas Day from Good Friday and Christmas is doomed — doomed to decay into a merely sentimental or superstitious or sensuous 'eat-drink-and-be-merry' festivity of December. Bethlehem and Golgotha, the Manger and the Cross, the birth and the death, must always be seen together, if the real Christmas is to survive with all its profound inspirations; for 'the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister; and to give His life a ransom for many.'" [J. Sidlow Baxter]

Sunday Leftovers (12/23/07)

2007-12-23T14:53:00.000-06:00

It is well-known and well-recited that the theme of the gospel of John is belief. The word occurs 98 times in the gospel, always as a verb, and more than 50% of the time as a present tense verb, indicating that genuine, saving faith is not a one-time act only, but an ongoing, continual act of belief and faith in Christ as Savior.

What has surprised me in preaching these first 12 chapters of John is the emphasis not only on belief, but on unbelief.

In John 1-12 (there is a significant shift in emphasis beginning in chapter 13, as the ministry of Christ is private with the disciples in the upper room and garden in chs. 13-17, followed by the culmination of Christ's ministry with the crucifixion and resurrection) unbelief in Christ is alluded to in 121 verses! The case can actually be made that the theme of the book is also unbelief — "what does unbelief in Christ look and act like?"

The theme begins in 1:11 ("He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him"), and runs throughout each of the next 12 chapters (1:11; 2:18, 24-25; 3:4, 9, 12, 19-20; 4:1, 43-44, 48; 5:9-10, 15-16, 18, 42-47; 6:26-27, 36, 41-43, 52, 60-61, 64, 66, 70-71; 7:1, 5, 7, 11-12, 15, 19-20, 23, 26, 30, 32, 34, 36, 43-44, 45-48; 8:13, 19-20, 21-25, 33, 37, 40-41, 44-49, 52-53, 55, 59; 9:16, 18-22, 24, 27-34, 40-41; 10:6, 19-20, 24-26. 31-33, 37-39; 11:46, 47-50, 53, 57; 12:4-6, 10-11, 19, 37-40, 42-43, 48).

So when the opposition to Christ is particularly strong and evident just prior to the crucifixion, the reader should not be surprised. He was opposed at the beginning of His ministry, He was opposed all throughout His ministry, He was opposed at the end of His ministry, and He is opposed today.

He said it would be that way — "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you" (15:18).

The problem is not that there are self-proclaimed atheists. The problem is that there are people who are a-Christological. It is not that they are fundamentally opposed to God, but that they are fundamentally opposed to Christ (note that atheism consistently opposes all forms of the Judeo-Christian faith, but rarely attacks the ideas of God rooted in other faiths such as Hinduism or Islam). The dividing point for all men is Jesus Christ — they do not want to acknowledge faith in the one who demands allegiance and conformity to His desires (cf. Mt. 6:24).

And that means that if you believe in the power of the gospel message, we must pray for people to become aware of their lostness and hostility to Christ — and act and teach and proclaim accordingly. For a man cannot believe in Christ ("saved") until he acknowledges His willful unbelief ("lostness").

When the Bible is attacked

2007-12-16T18:01:00.001-06:00

I haven't looked at the newsstands recently, but my suspicion is that since it is a holiday season, there is soon coming a questioning of some measure of Biblical faith. Perhaps it will be another new gospel, or perhaps the discovery of a lost ossuary, or perhaps another tomb of Jesus, or another fiction book purporting some new truth about Christ.

Darrell Bock has written "When the Media Became a Nuisance" (subtitle: "How to respond to the next blockbuster book/documentary/movie that questions traditional Christianity") anticipating such an event, and how individuals and the church can respond in God-honoring ways instead of much emotional hand-wringing.

His summary:

We need to understand that public discussion of the Christian faith has changed—permanently. So the next time you hear an earth-shattering announcement about Jesus from the media, don't get angry. Rather, take three deep breaths, sit down with your Starbucks coffee, and watch how the announcement is treated on blogs and other media. Above all, prepare yourself for the opportunities it presents.

The Golden Compass

2007-12-16T17:17:00.000-06:00

Philip Pullman has an agenda. He is not merely attempting to tell a good story, but he is attempting to tell as story in a creative way that will be appealing to children, and lead them away from an interest and trust in Christ.

Before going to see this movie, or allowing your children to see the movie or read any of Pullman's books, familiarize yourself with His intentions with His works. A number of helpful resources are availalble:

Mars Hill Audition
Al Mohler commentary
Al Mohler radio program (Part 1 | Part 2)

Free MacArthur .mp3 sermons

2007-12-16T17:11:00.000-06:00

Grace to You, the radio and audio ministry of John MacArthur, is making available free .mp3 audio downloads. It appears that new downloads are being posted on a weekly basis.

This is certainly a freebie to take advantage of!

Sunday Leftovers (12/16/07)

2007-12-16T16:23:00.000-06:00

Unwittingly, Caiaphas prophesied about the great work of Christ on the cross — the substitutionary atonement, not only for Israel, but for all who would trust in Christ. R. C. Sproul notes well the import of Christ's substitutionary work —

Christ's supreme achievement on the cross is that He placed the wrath of God, which would burn against us were we not covered by the sacrifice of Christ. So if somebody argues against placation or the idea of Christ satisfying the wrath of God, be alert, because the gospel is at stake. This is about the essence of salvation — that as people who are covered by the atonement, we are redeemed from the supreme danger to which any person is exposed. It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of a holy God Who's wrathful. But there is no wrath for those whose sins have been paid. That is what salvation is all about. [The Truth of the Cross.]

This is the great truth not only of Easter, but of Christmas and the Advent — which is why so many of the great Christmas hymns culminate in exulting in the cross. Consider, for example,

"O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel…"
"Come, Thou long-expected Jesus, born to set Thy people free…born Thy people to deliver…"
"…with mocking scorn and with crown of scorn, they bore Thee to Calvary…"
"Born that man no more may die, born to raise the sons of earth, born to give them second birth…"
"[He] hath made heaven and earth of naught, and with His blood, mankind hath bought…"

The message of Christmas is not simply the Advent, but that the Advent has culminated in the cross and resurrection. "O come, let us adore Him."

Not good, not bad

2007-12-12T07:01:00.000-06:00

D. A. Carson writes about the life of Rehoboam (2 Chron. 11-12),

There is a kind of evil that is not very bad and not very good, not too terribly rebellious yet not hungry for righteousness, a stance that drifts toward idolatry and hastily retreats at the threat of judgment. What it lacks is David's heart, the heart of a man who, despite failures, sets himself to pursue God with passion and delight. The final verdict on Rehoboam's reign explains the problem, 'He did evil because he had not set his heart on seeking the Lord' (12:14).

It is the kind of attitude that isn't necessarily opposed to God, but neither does He delight in God. He finds ritualistic worship acceptable, but is unmoved by transformational worship. Read the Word of God? Okay. Just don't take it too seriously. This is a place of danger not only for the unbeliever, but for the believer too. It is possible not only for the unregenerate to be uncaring about life with God, but the same is also possible for regenerated believers. Wise is the man who heads the warnings that come from the lives of men like Rehoboam.

Sunday Leftovers (12/9/07)

2007-12-09T17:56:00.000-06:00

It is the shortest verse in the English Bible (in the Greek text, it has three words, while both 1 Thess. 5:16 and 17 have only two words), yet there is much profoundness in the simple words, "Jesus wept." They reveal His empathetic compassion towards His friends. And they illustrate His grief and righteous anger over sin.

As S. Lewis Johnson noted, this is not the only occasion when Christ wept:

Three times we read that Jesus in the course of life and ministry wept. He wept as Lazarus' loving friend at his graveside. Later He wept as He looked out over His beloved city just before His triumphal entry. We might refer to that instance as the weeping of the promised Prophet, as He reflected upon the coming judgment upon the city and the generation that turned its back upon Him. And, finally, the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews, drawing upon some true tradition regarding Him, mentions His weeping in the Garden of Gethsemane. This was the weeping of the ultimate Priest of God, the true Substitute, who offers the atoning sacrifice for the people of God. On this last occasion it was appropriately the weeping of "strong crying and tears" to the One who was able to save Him out of death (cf. Heb. 5:7). Three times He wept, and on each occasion it was a solemn, touching, and deeply significant outpouring of tears.

And, finally, He wept, although Lazarus was safe in the bosom of God and eventually to be raised by God in newness of resurrection life. And He wept, although He knew that Lazarus was soon to be brought to this life again! It is truly a remarkable illustration of the deep sympathy that Jesus felt for His friends and their experiences. It is no wonder, then, that we read in the very next verse, "Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him!" (cf. v. 36). Two misinterpretations must be avoided. This was not the love of human pity alone, nor was it frustration over the power of death, for He would deal with that soon. Also included was the love that is eternal, that special love that He has for his redeemed. He loves as the unseen Sovereign of the universe, although for a time dwelling in unglorified bodily form. Charles Wesley wrote of this instance,

"There for me the Savior stands,
Shows His wounds, and spreads His hands;
God is love! I know, I feel;
Jesus weeps, but loves me still." ["Lazarus Loved and Raised"]

Jesus' tears and Lazarus' resurrection both point to the merciful and extensive love of Christ for His people. It is tempting to look for grandiose demonstrations of love. But as Paul notes, it is often the simple expression of joy or grief that demonstrates brotherhood and love for another believer. So it is with the tears of God. They communicate His grace and hint at His willingness to do that which will remove the pain of sorrow.

Grab bag of links

2007-12-03T07:16:00.000-06:00

Here is a list of a number of resources on various topics that I've been accumulating over the past couple of weeks:

A mother's Thanksgiving plea for the permanence of marriage.
"A Reason to Hate Sin"
Simple questions to evaluate the spiritual progress of your children.
Too many choices to make…
Thankful for books and libraries.
Simple principles for interpreting your Bible.
Death, hell, evangelism, and missed opportunities (I suspect every believer has had an experience like this).

Quote of the Day - Carson

2007-12-03T07:07:00.001-06:00

From volume one of D. A. Carson's book, The Love of God:

Pity the person whose self-identity and hope rest on transient things. Ten billion years into eternity, it will seem a little daft to puff yourself up over the car you now drive, the amount of money or education you have received, the number of books yoiu owned, the number of time you had your name in the headlines. Whether or not you have won an Academy Award will then prove less important than whether or not you have been true to your spouse. Whether or not you were a basketball star will be less significant than how much of your wealth you generously gave away. The one 'who does the will of God lives forever' [1 John 2:17]. (My emphasis)

Sunday Leftovers (12/2/07)

2007-12-02T20:06:00.000-06:00

I had been pastoring for just a couple months when the funeral home called and asked me if I was available to do a funeral for a woman who had died and didn't have a church home. I agreed to do it, met with the family, planned the service with them, and at the appropriate time went to the funeral home and got in the car to drive to the cemetery with the funeral director.

In planning the funeral, I had been struck by how much the family wanted to minimize the service — no church or chapel service, no music, "does it have to be 20 minutes long?" Curious, I asked the director for his perspective — why such a short remembrance for someone this family loved? "What they're doing is not unusual. People are uncomfortable with death and if they can minimize the time at the funeral, it's less time they have to think about the reality of it."

While many people may attempt to minimize the time they are forced to think about death, apart from the return of Christ, death is something that will have to be considered and endured by all men. So how shall we think about it in Biblical ways?

In preparing for this sermon, I came across a number of statements about death, particularly the death of believers, that I found helpful. Among them:

Noting that the death and difficulty in the life life of the believer does not mean the absence of the love of God for that believer, Jerry Bridges writes,

"When we begin to question the love of God, we need to remember who we are. We have absolutely no claim on His love. We don't deserve one bit of God's goodness to us. I once heard a speaker say, 'Anything this side of hell is pure grace.' I know of nothing that will so quickly cut the nerve of the petulant, 'why did this happen to me?' attitude as a realization of who we are before God, considered in ourselves apart from Christ."

Though God is under no requirement to love anyone, He does in fact love His own with an amazing, infinite love: "We usually find within ourselves reasons to think God should not love us. Such searching is…unbiblical. The Bible is quite clear that God does not look within us for a reason to love us. He loves us because we are in Christ Jesus. When He looks at us, He does not look at us as 'stand alone' Christians, resplendent in our own good works, even good works as Christians. Rather, as He looks at us, He sees us unified to His beloved Son, clothed in His righteousness. He loves us, not because we are lovely in ourselves, but because we are in Christ."

[ASIDE: I put this book by Bridges in my top 10 of "must read" books for all believers.]

While the salvation of a believer is eternally safe (1 Pt. 1:3-9), that does not mean that the believer's earthly life is always safe:

"We have no promise that mortal danger shall never plunge us into death merely because we are Christ's own. In the counsel of God it may be his will that we die; we should then die with the mighty assurance that God's will sends us what is best." [R. C. H. Lenski]

That life on earth is merely a foreshadow of life to come in heaven is evidenced by the words of John Owen as he lay on his deathbed. His secretary was writing to a friend of Owen [in his name], saying, "I am still in the land of the living." Owen interjected, "Stop. Change that and say, I am yet in the land of the dying, but I hope soon to be in the land of the living."

Reminding us that death also is from the hand of God, R. C. Sproul writes,

"When the summons [of death] comes we can respond in many ways. We can be angry, bitter, or terrified. But if we see it as a call from God and not a threat from Satan, we are far more able to cope with its difficulties."

And commenting on the relationship between death and fear, John Piper says,

"Death is a threat to the degree that it frustrates your main goals. Death is fearful to the degree that it threatens to rob you of what you treasure most. But Paul [in Phil. 1:20] treasured Christ most, and his goal was to magnify Christ. And he saw death not as a frustration of that goal but as an occasion for its fulfillment."

Jesus and Genealogies

2007-11-15T07:03:00.000-06:00

This week my Bible reading took me to the book of 1 Chronicles.

For many, these are the books that are difficult to read, particularly early in the morning. What is the purpose of these genealogies? is it really worth reading them? Don Carson provides helpful insight:

…biblical genealogies accomplish many things besides the obvious one of recording genealogical descent. If one were reading the Bible through, at this point the lists of names would serve, in part, as a review: the beginnings up to David, with 1 and 2 Chronicles taking the reader to the end of the active Davidic dynasty. The genealogy also sets out in brief compass some of the branches that can easily be lost to view in the tangle of reading the narratives themselves. How are Abraham's descendants tied to Noah? Abraham himself had children by three women: Hagar, Keturah, and Sarah. Where did they end up?

Of course, the genealogy does not aim to be comprehensive. It is heading toward Judah, toward the Davidic dynasty. And this is the point: There is movement and change, there are developments and fresh covenants, but from the beginning the Bible's story line has been a unified account heading toward the Davidic line, and ultimately toward 'great David's greater Son'…

Security and assurance

2007-11-11T16:59:00.000-06:00

When thinking about the permanence of salvation, two words are commonly used: security and assurance. While they are related terms, they are not the same thing.

John MacArthur summarizes the difference well:

Many people lack assurance because they do not understand that salvation is an utterly divine, totally sovereign operation. Assurance is built on the historical reality of what Jesus Christ accomplished. It is not a feeling without reason, and you will never have the subjective feeling of assurance until you comprehend the objective truth of the gospel.

In other words, if you are a genuine believer, you are secure, whether you have the feeling of assurance or not. On the other hand, it is also possible for someone to mistakenly assume personal assurance, when he is not actually secured (saved). Genuine assurance is the result of confidence in the finished work of Christ on the cross.

Piper: the importance of justification

2007-11-11T16:02:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I received a copy of John Piper's new book, The Future of Justification.

Is it important to write a 225-page book on the doctrine of justification? In his acknowledgments, Piper notes why it really is:

From the moment we believed until the last day of eternity God is 100 percent for us on this basis alone — the sin-bearing punishment of Christ, and the righteousness-providing obedience of Christ.

Which is another way of saying, "Christ is our life."

Sunday Leftovers (11/11/07)

2007-11-11T15:39:00.001-06:00

It is enough that no one can snatch a believer from the hand of Jesus Christ.

It is enough that no one can snatch a believer from the hand of God the Father.

It is enough that the Holy Spirit is given as a pledge (guarantee) of our salvation and inheritance.

Any one of those is enough to secure our salvation eternally. Yet all of these statements are true. The entire Godhead is working in unity and harmony to keep believers secure.

The Holy Spirit regenerates believers, lives in the believer, places and seals the believer into Christ's body.

The Father chose believers in the eternal past, and keeps us in eternal life.

Christ's death makes life possible, removed the wrath of God from believers, justified every believer, provided forgiveness, sanctifies the believer, is constantly interceding on behalf of the believer, and will present every believer without fault before Him.

And all that combines to make the believer in Jesus Christ secure — eternally secure.

Why don't we evangelize?

2007-11-08T08:58:00.000-06:00

In his recent book, The Gospel and Personal Evangelism, Mark Dever begins by asking the question, "why don't we evangelize?" Part of his answer is that we don't plan to evangelize. And to that he offers 12 steps to take to counteract that mindset:

Pray (for opportunities)
Plan (to put ourselves in positions to share the gospel)
Accept (that this is our job)
Understand (that not having the spiritual gift of evangelism doesn't mean we don't have the duty to evangelize)
Be faithful (to share the gospel)
Risk (by obeying, even when uncertain of the response)
Prepare (by knowing the gospel…)
Look (for opportunities)
Love others (because you will give the gospel to those whom you love)
Fear (God, who is our merciful redeemer and savior)
Stop (blaming God and excusing ourselves on the basis of His sovereignty)
Consider (what God has done for us in Christ)

On the reasons for great sin

2007-11-08T08:02:00.000-06:00

Dwight Edwards was the pastor of Grace Bible Church in College Station, TX until he failed morally and resigned several years ago. In the great grace of God, repentance was wrought in his heart, as he recently shared in his testimony (search using his last name to find the audio).

What contributed to his failure? Lack of gratitude:

This, for me, has been very important. Cultivating a grateful spirit to the Lord is not important. It’s critical. It is so critical. If I had to pinpoint one thing where I would go back, is that somewhere in the craziness of my thinking I became angrier and angrier at God for what I thought He owed me, I thought He wasn’t giving me, and increasingly I lost gratitude and thankfulness for the immense blessings that were there and I just wasn’t seeing.…We either go through life grateful to God or angry at God…for me it’s a very short step when I stop being grateful to God for what I had to being angry at God for what I [thought] He wasn’t coming through with.…Romans 1 makes a lot more sense to me…“when they knew God they glorified Him not as God nor were thankful,” and then it’s just a slide right down into sin — that’s what happened to me.

As we approach the holiday of Thanksgiving, we do well to be intentional in cultivating gratitude because, 1) it is the fitting response to the recognition of God's work in our lives, and 2) it is difficult to sin when we are genuinely grateful.

(HT: Unashamed Workman)

What about Halloween?

2007-10-31T11:23:00.001-05:00

How should a Christian (or should he) recognize and participate in Halloween?

I have often said that when the girls were little, we viewed it as a quest to get as much chocolate as quickly as we could. I have always understood this as an issue where a Christian may exercise Biblical liberty (and must practice Biblical judgment in exercising that liberty).

The issue is complex. Blogs by Tim Challies, Grace to You (John MacArthur) and Al Mohler offer perspectives that are well-thought and discerning. As you consider this issue, they are worth taking the time to read.

It's Not Halloween. It's Reformation Day.

2007-10-31T10:39:00.000-05:00

The great event of October 31, when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses on the door of the Wittenburg Church.

We do well to remember what Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, Cranmer, Hooper, Ridley, Latimer, and a host of others fought for.

J. C. Ryle's book, Five English Reformers helps us do just that:

Let men say what they will, or pick holes where they may, they will never succeed in disproving these facts. To the Reformation, Englishmen owe an English Bible, and liberty for every man to read it. To the Reformation, they owe the knowledge of the way of peace with God, and of the right of every sinner to go straight to Christ by faith, without bishop, priest, or minister standing in his way. To the Reformation, they owe a Scriptural standard of morality and holiness such as our ancestors never dreamed of. For ever let us be thankful for these inestimable mercies. [HT: CQOD]

Elsewhere, he also says:

Let us thank God that the foundations of the Reformed Church of England were laid by such men as John Bradford. Let us clearly understand what kind of men our martyred Reformers were, what kinds of doctrines they held, and what kind of lives they lived. Let us pray that the work they did for the Church of England may never be despised or underrated. Above all, let us pray that there never may be wanting among us a continual succession of English clergy, who shall keep the martyr's candle burning brightly, and shall hand down true Reformation principles to our children's children. [p. 138.]

That is a worthy goal on this day — that we remember the cost and benefits of the work of god through the Reformers, that we give thanks to God for them, and that we continue to stand in such a way that the gospel of God is honored and upheld. Perhaps a way to begin that is by reading a good biography on the reformation or one of the reformers. Ryle's book is a good place to start, as are a number of books authored by Stephen J. Nichols.

Last year I also noted several resources for information about Luther, and the Reformation in general. Or read some short quotes ("Reformation quotes") about the Reformation.

Sunday Leftovers (10/28/07)

2007-10-28T16:20:00.001-05:00

In today's passage, Jesus refers to two familiar figures of speech to explain who He is —

I am the door of the sheep (vv, 7, 9)
I am the good shepherd (vv. 11, 14)

Jesus and the rest of Scripture frequently use such images to help us understand the character of God and His relationship with His people. John MacArthur has accumulated a long list of these images:

He is called the Amen (Rev. 3:14; cf. 2 Cor. 1:20), the Alpha and Omega (Rev. 22:13), the Advocate (1 John 2:1), the Apostle (Heb. 3:1), the Author and Perfecter of faith (Heb. 12:2), the Author of salvation (Heb. 2:10), the Beginning (source, origin) of the creation of God (Rev. 3:14), the Branch (Jer. 23:5), the Bread of Life (John 6:35), the Cornerstone (Eph. 2:20), the Consolation of Israel (Luke 2:25), the Counselor (Isa. 9:6), the Deliverer (Rom. 11:26), the Door of the sheep (John 10:7), Eternal Father (Isa. 9:6), the Faithful Witness (Rev. 1:5), the First and the Last (Rev. 1:17), the Firstborn (Preeminent One) of the dead (Rev. 1:5) and over all creation (Col. 1:15), the Forerunner (Heb. 6:20), the Great High Priest (Heb. 4:14), God blessed forever (Rom. 9:5), the Guardian of souls (1 Peter 2:25), the Head of the church (Col. 1:18), the Holy One of god (John 6:69), I AM (John 8:58), Immanuel (Isa. 7:14), the King of Israel (John 1:49; cf. Zech. 9:9), King of kings and Lord of lords (1 Tim. 6:15), the last Adam (1 Cor. 15:45), the Lamb of God (John 1:29), the Light of the World (John 8:12), the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Rev. 5:5), Lord (John 13:13), the Lord of glory (1 Cor. 2:8), the Mediator (1 Tim. 2:5), the Messenger of the covenant (Mal. 3:1), the Messiah (John 1:41; 4:25-26), the Mighty God (Isa. 9:6), the Morning Star (Rev. 22:16), the Only Begotten (Unique One) from the Father (John 1:14), our Passover (1 Cor. 5:7), the Prince of life (Acts 3:15), the Prince of peace (Isa. 9:6), the Resurrection and the life (John 11:25), the Righteous One (Acts 7:25), the Rock (1 Cor. 10:4), the Root and Descendant of David (Rev. 22:16), the Root of Jesse (Isa. 11:10), the Ruler in Israel (Micah 5:2; Matt. 2:6), the Ruler of the kings of the earth (Rev. 1:5), Savior (Luke 2:11; Titus 1:4), the Servant (Isa. 42:1), Shiloh (Gen. 49:10), the Son of the Blessed One (Mark 14:61), the Son of David (Matt. 12:23; 21:9), the Son of God (Luke 1:35), the Son of Man (John 5:27), the son of the Most High (Luke 1:32), the Sun of Righteousness (Mal. 4:2), the Sunrise from on high (Luke 1:78), the True God (1 John 5:20), the True Vine (John 15:1), the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6), the Word (John 1:1, 14), the Word of God (Rev. 19:13), and the Word of Life (1 John 1:1).

Justification and Imputation

2007-10-27T17:05:00.000-05:00

At the Gospel Coalition earlier this year, Phil Ryken gave an excellent defense of the importance of imputed righteousness. Both the text of his message and the audio are available.

"I am not accepted on my own merit, but I am fully accepted in Christ and that is the basis of my acceptance before God — [I am] as fully accepted as God's own beloved Son. Only perfect righteousness can bring assurance in the aftermath of sin and in the face of death."

And only Christ provides that righteousness. In a church culture that is finding the death of Christ and imputed righteousness increasingly distasteful, this is an important message to help us defend the truth of Christ's substitutionary work.

Piper on Biblical Masculinity

2007-10-25T12:53:00.000-05:00

In a recent message, "Some Sweet Blessings of Masculine Christianity," John Piper defined Biblical masculinity this way:

By “masculine Christianity,” I mean (though words are inadequate): The theology and the church and the mission are marked by over-arching male leadership and an ethos of tender-hearted strength and contrite courage and risk-taking decisiveness and readiness to sacrifice to protect and provide for the community—the feel of a great, majestic God making the men lovingly strong and the women intelligently secure.

From that statement, he made the following observations and conclusions (which I've abbreviated):

1. Men are freed to have feminine traits without being effeminate and women are freed to have masculine traits without being tomboys.
2. Men are more properly attracted to the Christian life when it does not appear that he must become effeminate to be a Christian.

3. Women are more properly drawn to a Christian life that highlights the proper place of humble, strong, spiritual men in leadership.

4. We are freed to celebrate strong, courageous women of God who love the biblical vision complementarity, without and sense of compromise.

5. Men are awakened to their responsibilities at home to lead the family and protect the family and provide for the family.
6. Youth leaders and parents will catch a clearer definition of how to answer the question of a boy: “Daddy, what does it mean to grow up and be a man and not a woman?” And a clearer definition of how to answer the question of a girl: “Mommy, what does it mean to grow up and be a woman and not a man?”

7. The meaning of masculinity and femininity in singleness will be clearer and a lifetime of singleness without sexual intercourse will be more understandable and livable.

8. The corporate worship teams are not dominated by women and the songs chosen are not dominated by a one-sided feel of intimacy or majesty.
9. The God of the Bible will be more fully portrayed and known than where the tone is more feminine.

10. Preaching is more readily prized.…The fear of strong preaching is part of the effeminizing of the church, and the full range of the way God is and appears on the Bible is not known where preaching is simply casual and conversational.

11. A wartime mindset and a wartime lifestyle will feel more natural. And that is what the world needs from us—a readiness to lay our lives down for a great and global cause making all the sacrifices necessary to push the word of Christ into the most inhospitable places.

The entire sermon is worth hearing for men who want to be Biblical in their manhood.

Born to Reproduce

2007-10-25T09:43:00.000-05:00

Dawson Trotman, the founder of The Navigators, was a uniquely gifted and effective evangelist and discipler.

His heart for the latter is demonstrated in his sermon, "Born to Reproduce." It's the first time I've heard a recording of one of his sermons, and I found it personally challenging. It's worth a listen.

Reading Tips

2007-10-25T09:33:00.000-05:00

You know how to read. I know that. But sometimes a little guidance on how to get control over that growing stack of books on your night stand (or wherever your favorite place to stack things is) would be helpful.

Here are six tips from Al Mohler:

Maintain regular reading projects.
Work through major sections of Scripture.
Read all the titles written by some authors.
Get some big sets and read them through.
Allow yourself some fun reading.
Write in your books.

To that, I would also add, don't be afraid to leave a book unfinished. If it's not worth the time to read, then don't read it. No one will give you a test on whether or not you finished. It's fair to walk out of bad movies, and it's appropriate to leave inadequate books uncompleted.

Read all of Mohler's comments.

Worship and Transformation

2007-10-24T09:02:00.000-05:00

Tim Keller on the role of worship in transformation:

A Christian, if you looked into the Mirror of Erised [Desire] you would see yourself perfectly enjoying God and if you could have one perfect act of worship in which you perfectly valued Him, in which you perfectly enjoyed Him, if you completely enjoyed Him as He is, you'd be perfect. Nothing would get you down. Nothing would destroy you. You could face anything. But of course, all of our acts of worship are imperfect, and therefore bit by bit by bit, as we worship and as we get better and better at worship, we change where our heart looks. We reassign the ultimate value to the One that will satisfy us if we get Him and forgive us if we fail Him. If you're living for achievement and you fail that god, it'll never forgive you; you'll hate yourself forever. If the thing you are really looking for is love and romance or family, and somehow you fail that god, it will never forgive you; you'll hate yourself forever. This is the only God who's a shepherd. This is the only God — we're the people of His pasture, we're the flock of His hand. He's the one God who forgives you; He's the only God who died for you. So why do we need to worship God? Because we're going to worship something and anything else but the real God will distort our life.…Worship is the ultimate need of your heart. It's the ultimate need of your life.

Listen to the complete message here.

The difference between Catholicism and Protestantism

2007-10-22T06:16:00.000-05:00

Greg Bahnsen articulates clearly and well the fundamental differences between Catholicism and Protestantism. We are not one with Catholics; they do believe a different gospel; and we must not (for the sake of their eternal destiny) suppose that we believe the same work of Christ.

Listen to "The Road to Rome: Was the Reformation Right?"

Sunday Leftovers (10/21/07)

2007-10-21T16:24:00.000-05:00

Some leftover quotations after thinking about God's purposeful (read: sovereign) intention to use all circumstances to make worshippers out of unbelievers:

"Our trials reveal the measure of our affection for this earth — both its good things and bad things. Our troubles expose our latent idolatry." [John Piper, Life as a Vapor.]

"In order to trust God, we must always view our adverse circumstances through the eyes of faith, not sense. And just as the faith of salvation comes through hearing the message of the gospel (Rom. 10:17), so the faith to trust God in adversity comes through the Word of God alone. It is only in the Scriptures that we find an adequate view of God's relationship to and involvement in our painful circumstances. It is only from the Scriptures, applied to our hearts by the Holy Spirit, that we receive the grace to trust God in adversity.

"In the arena of adversity, the Scriptures teach us three essential truths about God — truths we must believe if we are to trust Him in adversity. They are:
God is completely sovereign.
God is infinite in wisdom.
God is perfect in love.
"Someone has expressed these three truths as they relate to us in this way: 'God in His love always wills what is best for us. In His wisdom He always knows what is best, and in His sovereignty He has the power to bring it about.'" [Jerry Bridges, Trusting God.]

"We are all idealists. We picture to ourselves a life on earth completely free from every hindrance, a kind of spiritual Utopia where we can always control events, where we can move about as favorites of heaven, adjusting circumstances to suit ourselves. This we feel would be quite compatible with the life of faith and in keeping with the privileged place we hold as children of God.

"In thinking thus we simply misplace ourselves; we mistake earth for heaven and expect conditions here below which can never be realized till we reach the better world above. While we live we may expect troubles, and plenty of them. We are never promised a life without problems as long as we remain among fallen men...." [A. W. Tozer, 12/18.]

"I would not have you think that any strange thing has happened to you in this affliction: 'Tis according to the course of things in this world, that after the world's smiles, some great affliction soon comes. God has not give you early and seasonable warning not at all to depend on worldly prosperity. Therefore, I would advise…if it pleases God to restore you, to lot [count] upon no happiness here. Labour while you live, to serve God and do what good you can, and endeavour to improve every dispensation to God's glory and your own spiritual good, and be content to do and bear all that God calls you to do in this wilderness, and never expect to find this world anything better than a wilderness." [Jonathan Edwards, writing to his daughter Esther after she had been seriously ill.]

"Behind a frowning providence he [God] hides a smiling face. We may see it in our lifetime, or we may not. But the whole Bible is written, and all the swans [great men of God who have gone before us] are singing, to convince us it is there, and we can and should 'exult in our tribulations' (Rom. 5:3)." [John Piper, The Hidden Smile of God.]

Enduring with Christ When Others Sin Against You

2007-10-06T19:16:00.000-05:00

At the recent Desiring God Conference, "Stand: A Call for the Endurance of the Saints," Jerry Bridges addressed the topic of how to endure, even when others sin against you:

“Life is frequently difficult, and it’s sometimes painful. And if you live long enough, you will experience both difficulties and pain. And if you want to endure to the end, if you want to stand firm in the face of life’s difficulties and pain then you must have a firm belief in the sovereignty and love of God, and we could add, the wisdom of God. Not only believe that God is in control of every event in His universe and specifically every event in your own life, but God in exercising that control does so from His infinite love for you. [In Lam. 3:37] the prophet says, ‘who has spoken and it came to pass unless the Lord has commanded it?’ This verse affirms God’s sovereignty over the actions of other people. So much of life’s pain is caused by the sinful actions of other people. And if you do not believe that God is sovereign and in control of those, then you’re tempted to become bitter, and when you become bitter, then you begin to peel off, and you will not stand firm. You will not endure — if you let other people’s sinful actions cause you to be bitter. And one of the ways that we can keep from becoming bitter…is to realize that God is in sovereign control, even over the sinful actions of other people.”

The rest of this message, along with the others from that conference are well worth hearing and heeding.

Sunday Leftovers (9/30/07)

2007-09-30T22:04:00.001-05:00

The truth that not all who claim to believe Christ are genuinely believers in Christ is not a popular message. The common assumption is that all who profess Christ possess Christ.

Yet it wasn't that way in the day of Christ, and it isn't that way now.

The people of Galilee were interested in Christ — but only to a point (John 6:60, 66). And the people of Jerusalem likewise were curious, but not enough to make a commitment (John 8:30-31, 44).

In response to curious, half-hearted, unconvinced belief, Jesus offers a number of marks of genuine belief —

true believers remain (live and abide in) His truth (Bonhoeffer's statement is helpful — "Only he who believes is obedient, and only he who is obedient believes.")
true believers know the truth (and are in fellowship with the Truth)
true believers are liberated from sin
true believers progressively grow in Christ

Yet even before making these statements in vv. 31-37, Jesus distinguishes Himself and His fellowship with the Father from those who are following Him —

"He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him" (8:29).

Because of the eternal unity between the Father and the Son as members of the Godhead, the Son lives for the pleasure of the Father. Living for the pleasure of the Father is what honors and glorifies the Father. So it is for all who are sons of God — we live for His pleasure (not our own) —

"Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him" (2 Cor. 5:9)

A mark of a believer in Christ is one who has as his ambition, whether in heaven or absent from heaven (still living on earth), to please God in all things. This is what gives glory to God, and this is a fundamental mark of believing in Christ — we live for His pleasures more than our own.

By saying we treasure Christ above all things, we say that we have no idols or desires above the desire for Him. Conversely, if we say we have any pleasure higher than the pleasure of living for Him, we acknowledge that we are idolaters. We desire a repaired marriage or a drink of beer or an .mp3 player or a $10,000/year raise or approval from others more than we want God.

That is unbelief.

And that is why Christ died — to release us from that sin and to give us a new affection.

Sunday Leftovers (9/23/07)

2007-09-27T19:21:00.000-05:00

See the deplorable condition of all ungodly people! In the other world, they shall have a life that always dies and a death that always lives. [Thomas Watson, The Godly Man's Picture.]

Most people — whether they trust in Christ or not — think too little of hell.

Believers think too little of hell, not because they are afraid of it for themselves, but because 1) it has ceased to be a danger to them so they fail to see its danger for others; or 2) because self-righteous pride provokes them to see sinners with contempt and they fail to consider it a tragedy for anyone to enter the horror of hell.

Unbelievers think too little of hell for a variety of reasons, but most excuses for inattentiveness to hell are rooted in an overestimation of their "righteousness" and underestimati0n of the true righteousness and wrath of God. Even if they believe in hell, they either do not see it as a danger in general (it won't be so bad), or they do not see it as a danger for themselves.

Concerning hell, the rich man (Luke 16:19-31) thought too little until it was too late.

And then he discovered that —

For all eternity in hell he will comprehend something of what he is missing in heaven — he will be tormented by wanting what he can never have. [Conversely, based on the silence of Lazarus, there does not appear to be comprehension by those in heaven of what they have been spared.]
For all eternity there is a longing for even tiny expressions of mercy, with no hope they will ever be satisfied.
For all eternity there is an acknowledgment that while the suffering being endured is great, it is just (there are no justified complaints in hell).
Hell is eternal. It is a final destiny — there is no escaping it ever.
There is no repentance in hell. Even in the experience of God's wrath, there is only self-justification, no contrition. There can be no repentance, because there will be nothing good in hell — only the full extent of evil in all its horrid forms.
There is unrelenting, horrible pain — and it is not only appropriate for the sin committed, but it is just — even in its eternal judgment.
Those who reject Christ have no excuse — if they reject the Word of God as inconsequential, they will believe nothing else. (Which brings to mind the great tragedy of those who in the name of "Christianity" reject the authority and power of Scripture.)
What is currently being experienced will only get worse (2 Pt. 2:9).

For years I have said — at funerals and in private conversations — of those who have died and gone to heaven: "if they had an opportunity to leave heaven and come back to earth, they would never choose on their own to leave the presence of God. Never. Not for anything."

This week it struck me that for those in hell the opposite is true: if given the opportunity, they would never choose to stay in hell one moment longer. They would return to earth — even to endure the most horrid kinds of earthly suffering — rather than stay in hell one moment longer.

Three more statements to stimulate us to consider the real horror of hell:

Satan is full of rage against mankind and will show no mercy. As he puts forth all his subtlety in tempting man, so he puts out all his cruelty in tormenting man. This is not all; there are two more things to set out the torments of hell. These agonies and hell-convulsions shall be forever.…They would die but they cannot. The wicked shall be always dying but never dead.…After millions of years, their torments are as far from ending as the first hour they begun. Another aggrevation of hell torment is that the damned in hell have none to pity them. It is some comfort, some ease to have our friends to pity us in our sickness and want, but they have no friends. [Thomas Watson, "The Righteous Man's Weal and the Wicked Man's Woe."]

"A multitude of tears cannot extinguish [hell]; length of time cannot annihilate it…there can be no coming out." [Thomas Watson, "The Crown of Righteousness."]

"Remember this, grievous is the torment of the damned for the bitterness of the punishments, but most grievous for the eternity of the punishments. For to be tormented without end, this is that which goes beyond the bounds of all desperation. Ah, how do the thoughts of this make the damned to roar and cry out for unquietness of heart, and tear their hair, and gnash their teeth, and rage for madness, that they must dwell in 'everlasting burnings' for ever!" [Thomas Brooks, Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices.]

And one statement to use those considerations to stimulate us to grieve over the lost and give them a reason for the hope that is within us:

When the heart no longer feels the truth of hell, the gospel passes from good news to simply news. The intensity of joy is blunted and the heart-spring of love is dried up. But if I remember these horrible things and do believe them in my heart; if I let every remaining sin and every moment of indifference to spiritual things remind me of the smell of hell lingering in the remnants of my corruption; if I let my knees become weak as on the day when I tottered on the cliff of my doom; if I recall that, apart from absolutely free grace, I would be the most hardened sinner and now in the torments of hell; if all this I remember and believe in my heart, then, oh, what a contrition, what a lowliness, what a meekness will be effected in my heart. [John Piper, "Brothers, We Must Feel the Truth of Hell."]

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Two more resources I neglected to include:

"Universalism and the Reality of Eternal Punishment" (audio; listen especially to the three sermons by Sinclair Ferguson).
"Hell: Never, Forever, or Just for a While?" (journal)