Spurgeon on the cross

Charles Spurgeon, in "Mourning at the Sight of the Crucified:"

Is there not one among you who can play the man, and insult the Man of Nazareth to his face? No, not one! Like cowardly dogs, they slink away! The infidel's bragging tongue is silent! The proud spirit of the atheist is broken; his blusterings and his carpings are hushed for ever! With shrieks of dismay, and clamorous cries of terror, they entreat the hills to cover them, and the mountains to conceal them from the face of that very Man whose cross was once the subject of their scorn. O take heed, ye sinners, take heed, I pray you, and be ye changed this day by grace, lest ye be changed by-and-by by terror, for the heart which will not be bent by the love of Christ, shall be broken by the terror of his name. If Jesus upon the cross do not save you, Christ, on the throne shall damn you. If Christ dying be not your life, Christ living shall be your death. If Christ on earth be not your heaven, Christ coming from heaven shall be your hell.

I came across this sermon in the collection of sermons by Spurgeon entitled, The Power of the Cross. And of course the best source for Spurgeon resouces on the web is Phil Johnson's site.

Sunday Leftovers (6/24/07)

The cross is God's "foolish" work to extricate pride from our lives.

Now don't misunderstand; by that it is not meant that men should not boast. Not only do all men boast, but all men should boast. The question is not whether or not we should boast. The question is whether we are boasting in the right thing. So God's "foolish" work is to remove all ungodly boasting.

And all ungodly boasting is any kind of boasting that does not have God as its object. Or put another way, there is nothing any man can do to commend himself before God (1 Cor. 1:29), so the objective of the "foolish" cross is to remove any such boasting.

Most men will readily acknowledge, at least superficially, that they are prideful. But most of us do not recognize the extent of our pride and what that pride really is and looks like. John Piper has some helpful insights about our pride:

• Pride is boasting in self and not the Lord.
• Pride is taking credit ourselves for what God alone can do.
• Pride is relying on self and not God.
• Pride is feeling sufficient in our own strength and not in God's.
• Pride is the disinclination to admit that we are mere earthen vessels so another gets the glory.
• Pride is the unwillingness to admit weaknesses that may accent the power of God.

And when you combine all these "attributes," what you find is that pride is a source of confidence and trust — that which we boast about (ourselves, usually) is that which we trust. And that is why most boasting is idolatrous sin. And that is why God is so faithful to ruthlessly and "foolishness" uproot it from our lives.


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A helpful resource in understanding the concept of the cross from the eyes of Jews and Greeks is Donald Green's article, The Folly of the Cross.

How a Boy Becomes a Man

In a two-part commentary two years ago, Al Mohler noted 13 marks of manhood — 13 qualities that not only signify that transition has taken place from boyhood to manhood, but also 13 targets for fathers to take aim at in the process of discipling their children.

While he provides comment with each one, simply reading the list itself is instructive. A boy has become a man when he has:

1. Spiritual maturity sufficient to lead a wife and children.
2. Personal maturity sufficient to be a responsible husband and father.
3. Economic maturity sufficient to hold an adult job and handle money.
4. Physical maturity sufficient to work and protect a family.
5. Sexual maturity sufficient to marry and fulfill God's purposes.
6. Moral maturity sufficient to lead by example of righteousness.
7. Ethical maturity sufficient to make responsible decisions.
8. Worldview maturity sufficient to understand what is really important.
9. Relational maturity sufficient to understand and respect others.
10. Social maturity sufficient to make a contribution to society.
11. Verbal maturity sufficient to communicate and articulate as a man.
12. Character maturity sufficient to demonstrate courage under fire.
13. Biblical maturity sufficient to lead at some level in the church.

A Father's Encouragement

This morning I read a quotation from Thomas Fuller (1608-1661). It is a succinct reminder both of the weight of our influence on and the extent of God's grace on our children as we seek to father them to the glory of God.

Lord, I find the genealogy of my Savior strangely checkered
with four remarkable changes in four generations.

Rehoboam begat Abia:
a bad father begat a bad son.
Abia begat Asa:
a bad father and a good son.
Asa begat Jehoshaphat:
a good father and a good son.
Jehosaphat begat Joram:
a good father and a bad son.

I see, Lord, from hence, that my father's piety cannot be entailed;
that is bad news for me.
But I see also that actual impiety is not hereditary;
that is good news for my son.

(HT: Gordon MacDonald)

Sunday Leftovers (6/17/07)

One writer has noted that "there is a 'father hunger' in every one of us — an insatiable desire to know our fathers."

I believe he is right and I believe that produces at least two clear implications. One, it behooves a father to do all he can to fulfill that hunger by being intentional with his children. Some would point to the social implications of fathers being fathers as the reason that is so important. Yet there are also spiritual reasons that fathers should fulfill their function in the home: because that is the calling of God on their lives. Yes, it is hard work. But it is also a primary means God has designed by which new disciples of Christ are brought into the world.

A second implication of a broadly-experienced father hunger is that every person's hunger for a father will be, at best, only partially satisfied by an earthly father. Only the satisfaction of God, the Father can ultimately satisfy. Every other father, will at times (volitionally or accidentally) give his children snakes or stones instead of fish and bread. Every father, wittingly or unwittingly, will occasionally provoke his children to anger. It must be so because of indwelling sin. Try as he might, desire as he does, he will sin and he will sin against his children.

Not so with God. Not so with our Father in heaven.

He will not sin against his children. He cannot sin against His children. So the wisest thing one can do in seeking a father to fulfill that "father hunger" is to seek God. Find satisfaction in Him and you will never be dissatisfied.

Father's Day Meditation

Today is Father’s Day.

For some that is a glad and easy celebration and remembrance. For others it is a day mixed with sorrow and regret for a relationship that once was and now is gone or for a desired relationship that was never possessed. That makes worship easy for some and difficult for others.

So whether Father's Day is either glad or sad, we must find the object of our worship to be greater than our earthly relationships. And that is why I have grown fond of the oft-told story of Jonathan Edwards who wrote the following to his daughter Lucy shortly before his death:

Dear Lucy, it seems to me to be the will of God that I must shortly leave you; therefore give my kindest love to my dear wife, and tell her, that the uncommon union, which has so long subsisted between us, has been of such a nature as I trust is spiritual and therefore will continue forever: and I hope she will be supported under so great a trial, and submit cheerfully to the will of God. And as to my children you are now to be left fatherless, which I hope will be an inducement to you all to seek a father who will never fail you.

Who is this Father in heaven that will never fail that a dying man can take great comfort in Him and offer Him as an encouragement to his children?

On one occasion, the disciples heard Jesus praying, and the significance of that prayer so impressed them that their immediate response was: “Teach us to pray!” [Wouldn’t you like to have heard that prayer!]

So Jesus taught them. What followed was not a formula for us to pray, but a model to teach us how to pray. And it begins not with confession, not with a petition for our needs, and not with thanksgiving, but with a recognition of and commitment to our relationship with God — our Father.

Those two little words “our Father” (Mt. 6:9) are so commonly used in prayer today, that the significance of Jesus’ use of them is now lost. But the turn of a few pages in the Bible back to the Old Testament quickly reveals that with this phrase, Jesus was inaugurating a radical understanding of God. In the Old Testament, God is never directly called “Father,” and in fact there are less than seven references to Him as Father!

So to the ears of His listeners, not only did it appear presumptuous that Jesus should call God “Father,” but it was preposterous to suggest that anyone could have such an intimate relationship with the sovereign Creator and Sustainer of the universe that He could be called “Father.”

Then something even more amazing happened. Following the resurrection of Christ and His appearances, which were delightfully shocking in themselves, He spoke words to Mary in the garden which were equally as shocking as His appearance.

“…go to My brethren and say to them,
‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’”

Throughout the gospel of John, the emphasis had been made that Jesus was singularly unique because of His heavenly authority that had been granted by the Father, and that He had been sent as an emissary of the Father. [Aside: search for the word “Father” in the gospel of John, and see how many times Jesus alludes to the supremacy of His relationship with God the Father.] And then, after the resurrection, He astounded Mary and the disciples with this truth — they have the same Father! They have the same eternal security, they have Christ as their brother, they have the same indwelling Spirit. They do — and so do all believers!

Further, by not only being allowed, but encouraged to call Him “Father,” God demonstrates that He has a Son-like love for us. Not only are we called His sons, but we are His sons (1 Jn. 3:1). No longer is there a love that needs to be earned, or an angry father to be appeased. As believers in Christ, we are eternally secure in His love for us, content that His wrath has forever been appeased by Christ’s work on the cross.

So on Father’s Day, whether you are sad or glad, let this be your deep satisfaction and joy — God in heaven, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Eternal Father, the Prince of Peace, He is your Father! You are completely secure in His unchanging love. He delights in your fellowship and in giving abundantly all that you need (be sure to understand that your great need is for spiritual food not refrigerator food). He is your Father.


Sermons on fatherhood worth hearing…

• Alistair Begg, “Redirecting Our Families” (a number of very helpful sermons about fatherhood and manhood are on the website www.cbmw.org).
• Alistair Begg, “Missing in Action: The Failure of Men in the Modern Church”
• Al Mohler, “Being Men, Raising Men”
• Al Mohler, “The Seduction of Marriage and the Integrity of Christian Marriage” (manuscript)
• John Piper “Marriage Is Meant for Making Children...Disciples of Jesus” (part two of that sermon was preached today and should be posted within a day or two).

Something about fatherhood and manhood worth reading…

• R. Kent Hughes, Disciplines of a Godly Man.
• R. Albert Mohler, “From Boy to Man — The Marks of Manhood” (part one | part two)

Seven Facts About Fatherhood

A couple of years ago, Alistair Begg noted seven facts about fatherhood that are good reminders that will help every father shepherd his family with more wisdom and grace:

• Fact 1: I am a Dad - even on the mornings when I don't feel like it; even when I know I blew it, even when I think I'd rather be doing something else, the central fact of my existence is that I am a husband and a father.
• Fact 2: The home is the single most important influence on my family. I can delegate my responsibilities at work, but I can't delegate the hopes for my family.
• Fact 3: Because of its inherent difficulty and importance, fathering is the most dignified role I will ever play.
  
• Fact 4: Being a parent is one of the greatest sources of joy we can ever know.
• Fact 5: We all can improve - for there isn't a father this morning on Father's Day when we get the card…you don't feel a bit of the heel ("Oh honey, why did you write that nice thing about me?"). And you get in your car and you say, "If only I could be what it says in the card. If only I could live according to their approximation [of me]."
• Fact 6: Everyone is unique. You can't be the father down the street, you can't be the Dad up the road…You're unique. Just be yourself.
• Fact 7: It is difficult to be a good parent. There are no magic potions, no special formulas. One of the myths of our society is that we can be great parents without the real investment of our time and energy. And the great truth is that there is no substitute for time and effort.

Permanence and Marriage

For all that was said in three sermons on marriage from 1 Peter 3:1-7, little was said about a commitment to the permanence of marriage. These three statements are an encouragement and exhortation to keep on practicing godly disciplines within the context of marriage.

We only regard those unions as real examples of love and real marriages in which fixed and unalterable decision has been taken.…If men or women contemplate…an escape, they do not collect all their powers for the task. In none of the serious and important tasks of life do we arrange such a 'getaway.' We cannot love and be limited." [Alfred Adler.]

"Before marriage, each by instinct strives to be what the other wants. The young woman desires to look sexy and takes up interest in sports. The young man notices plants and flowers, and works at asking questions instead of just answering monosyllabically. After marriage, the process slows and somewhat reverses. Each insists on his or her rights. Each resists bending to the other's will.
"After years, though, the process may subtly being to reverse again. I sense a new willingness to bend back toward what the other wants — maturely this time, not out of a desire to catch a mate but out of a desire to please a man who has shared a quarter-century of life. I grieve for those couples who give up before reaching this stage." [Philip Yancey, on the occasion of his 25th anniversary.]

"When Hyung Goo and I were deciding whether we wanted to marry each other, I noticed how everybody, Christians included, thought that the only sane way to step into marriage was if you could maintain your fantasy that everything will be fine forever. That meant we shouldn't do it because marriage is supposed to be this pathway strewn with rose petals. And you have to be able to pretend that it will be only that way for the foreseeable future. But it's not. And knowing that is actually helpful for making marital decisions.
"You're not choosing a particular future when you decide to get married, you're choosing a partner for whatever the future brings. And you're choosing to look upon a potential marriage partner as the person that, no matter what happens, I want to do this together with you. That can help to lay a more solid basis for a marriage. You're always going to be hit by curve balls and even the things that you expect are always going to be more challenging when they arrive than what you had imagined." [Margaret Kim Peterson, reflecting on her decision to marry a man dying of AIDS.]

Sunday Leftovers (6/10/07)

Call this, "How to listen to a sermon about marriage (or any sermon)."

There is a temptation when a pastor announces his sermon topic as being "the roles of husbands and wives in marriage," for a husband or a wife to inwardly cheer, thinking, "Wonderful! I am so glad we came this morning for my wife/husband to be able to hear this. She/he needs to change…"

Is this profitable listening and worship?

I am struck by the fact that God approaches the subject of marital roles and attitudes in the same way through two different pens: Paul and Peter. In Ephesians 5:22ff and 1 Pt. 3:1-7, both writers address both husbands and wives separately and distinctly. Both write in this manner: "In the same way, you wives…" (1 Pt. 3:1). And, "Husbands, love your wives…" (Eph. 5:25). With those particular addresses, God is not only drawing the attention of both husbands and wives to their particular responsibilities and calling them to be especially attentive to the words, but is also affirming that the words are for husbands or wives alone. The wife is not responsible to obey the words to the husband, nor is the husband responsible to follow the words to the wife. That's obvious enough.

But this is also true: nor are these words written to give the husband a figurative hammer to hold over his wife's head (nor a wife over the head of the husband). The husband should be encouraged that God has clearly written about the role of the wife, but it is not his "responsibility" to enforce her obedience. That is not worshipful listening to a sermon.

Worshipful listening to a sermon says, "This word is being spoken to me. How can I take this truth and use it to be transformed into greater Christlikeness this week?"

The Word of God is powerful and able to do at least four things in the life of the believer. As we listen to sermons, we should always be asking at least these four questions:

• Is there some truth being revealed which I did not know? (Learn it!)
• Is there some sin in my life which needs to be addressed? (Confess it!)
• Is there some spiritual weakness which needs correction? (Obey it!)
• Is there some righteousness which I need to put on and in which I need training? (Put it on!)

So, go back to the moment when a husband and wife, who are struggling in their marriage, here this topic announced by the pastor: "This morning's sermon addresses a Biblical understanding of how a husband graciously leads and a wife humbly submits in a godly home." How shall they respond? "Wonderful! I am so glad we came this morning, because we are struggling in our marriage, and I know that the primary responsibility is mine. I want to hear this word so that I can be changed and honor God more righteously in my home. Lord, will you give me ears to hear and a heart to obey the truth that I hear this morning?"

That will be both profitable listening and worship!

Trouble Arising Early to Pray?

Do you have trouble arising early in the morning to pray?

This word of encouragement and exhortation from John Calvin is a good encouragement to continuance in the discipline of prayer:

“Although we ought always to raise our minds upwards towards God, and pray without ceasing, yet such is our weakness, which requires to be supported, such our torpor, which requires to be stimulated, that it is requisite for us to appoint special hours for this exercise, hours which are not to pass away without prayer, and during which the whole affections of our minds are to be completely occupied; namely, when we rise in the morning, before we commence our daily work, when we sit down to food, when by the blessing of God we have taken it, and when we retire to rest. This, however, must not be a superstitious observance of hours, by which, as it were, performing a task to God, we think we are discharged as to other hours. It should rather be considered a discipline by which our weakness is exercised and stimulated.…

“It must be our anxious care, whenever we are ourselves pressed, or see others pressed by any trial, instantly to have recourse to God. And again, in any prosperity of ourselves or others, we must not omit to testify our recognition of God's hand by praise and thanksgiving. Lastly, we must in all our prayers carefully avoid wishing to confine God to certain circumstances, or prescribe to him the time, place, or mode of action. In like manner, we are taught by [the Lord’s] prayer not to fix any law or impose any condition upon him, but leave it entirely to him to adopt whatever course of procedure seems to him best, in respect of method, time, and place. For, before we offer up any petition for ourselves, we ask that his will may be done, and by so doing place our will in subordination to his, just as if we had laid a curb upon it, that, instead of presuming to give law to God, it may regard him as the ruler and disposer of all its wishes.”

(HT: CQOD)

These words echo the chapters I read this week in Spurgeon's Lectures to My Students ("The Minister's Private Prayer," and "Our Public Prayer"). They are both well worth reading.

Sunday Leftovers (6/3/07)

A fundamental means of surviving — no, thriving — in marriage is by cultivating love in that marriage.

Husbands are called to love their wives (Eph. 5:25-30).

Wives are called to love their husbands (Titus 2:4).

In the classic passage on love, all believers (including both husbands and wives) are called to a life of love and self-sacrifice (1 Cor. 13:4-8a).

And in Peter's summation of the responsibilities to each other, both husband and wife are to be "brotherly" in their love for each other (1 Pet. 3:8).

So how might we define love?

I have always liked a sdefinition provided by Tim Kimmel that I slightly modified:

"Love is a commitment of my will and my affections to your needs and best interests, regardless of the cost to me."

Every word of that definition is important.

• Love is a commitment of the will. It is not something that just happens to someone, but love is intentional and volitional. It is a decision made repeatedly and constantly.
• Love is a commitment of the affections. Love is not just a cold decision, but is a decision that is made with a commitment to be warm and tender. Someone once asked me, "I know I have to love her, but do I have to be her friend?" Scripture knows no such distinction. To love is to be fully engaged and tender towards another.
• Love is a commitment to the needs of another. To love is to say that I am committed to suppressing my needs in order to meet the needs of another. Her needs are more important than my own.
  
• Love is a commitment of the other's best interests. That is, not only are we committed to serving the one we love to provide what she needs, but also things that may not be a "need," but will be in her best interests — to stimulate her love for Christ, to encourage her heart, to demonstrate gratitude, to equip her for service.
• Love is a commitment, regardless of what it costs me. This is where many marriages fail — there is a limit to how far one will commit his will, affections, or service. But love that is genuine has no limitations. It always forgives, it is always kind, it always is patient, it always perseveres. Love never fails. [You might read 1 Cor. 13:4ff again.]

So survival in marriage is rooted in a love that is ever upheld and practiced with full joy and faithfulness. That will produce a marriage that not only "makes it," but one that also thrives!

Sunday Leftovers (5/27/07)

As is often the case, I didn't finish my sermon on Sunday.

Not only did I not complete the sermon, but I left unsaid a number of things along the way. Here are a few of them (saving still a few for this coming Sunday)…

Peter's words to wives and husbands in 1 Peter 3 is in the immediate context of how to persevere in difficult and even unrighteous circumstances, answering the question, "How can a believer live a holy life as light to a dark world when treated unjustly?"

But these words also sit in the broader context of all Scriptural instruction on marriage. And particularly, these admonitions are rooted in the account of creation and the creation of the institution of marriage. There is no understanding 1 Peter 3 (or any other injunction on the home) without understanding Genesis 2.

So when Peter commands husbands to "live with your wives…" (3:7), it is with the backdrop of Genesis 2 in mind. To live with your wife means that the husband lives with her in such a way that reflects their oneness and unity. They are not two separate identities with two different objectives and two different purposes and passions who just happen to have the same address. A husband and wife are two people who have been brought together in the most unique relationship with a singular objective, purpose and passion. In every sense of the word, they are one, and everything the husband does in leading his wife demonstrates that he is one with her.

This will be reiterated in v. 8, when Peter exhorts both husband and wife to let every aspect of their lives be harmonious — reflecting that unity of heart.

How might a husband demonstrate his unity with his wife? Writing in a different context, Samuel Logan Brengle wisely noted that:

"[Spiritual leadership] is not won by promotion, but by many prayers and tears. It is attained by confessions of sin, and much heartsearching and humbling before God; by self-surrender, a courageous sacrifice of every idol, a bold, deathless, uncompromising and uncomplaining embrace of the cross, and by an eternal, unfaltering looking unto Jesus crucified. It is not gained by seeking great things for ourselves, but rather, like Paul, by counting those things that are gain to us as loss for Christ. That is a great price, but it must be paid by him who would be not merely a nominal but a real spiritual leader of men, a leader whose power is recognized and felt in heaven, on earth, and in hell."

One final observation of the exhortation given to the husbands. Genesis 2 says that husband and wife are one flesh. And this passage emphasizes that the husband is to love his wife by living with his wife, while Ephesians 5 emphasizes that he is to love his wife by giving himself up (like Christ) for his wife. So in all he does — in both life and death — the husband demonstrates by word and deed that he is for his wife and the unity of their marriage.

Think About It

Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote these words in application of Ephesians 2:2 a generation ago, but they sound just as true today as in the day in which he wrote them:

Their little life is entirely controlled by the organization of the world. They think as the world thinks. They take their opinions ready-made from their favourite newspaper. Their very appearance is controlled by the world and its changing fashions. They all conform; it must be done; they dare not disobey; they are afraid of the consequences. That is tyranny, this is absolute control — clothing, hair style, everything, absolutely controlled. The mind of the world!…Most lives are being controlled by it and governed by it, all their opinions, their language, the way they spend their money, what they desire, where they go, where they spend their holidays; it is all controlled, governed completely…by this world, the mind of the world, the age of propaganda, the age of advertising, the mass mind, the mass man, the mass individual, without knowing it. Is it not tragic? But that is man in sin…he is controlled by the mind of the world.

(HT: DG Blog)

Lies We Believe

John MacArthur makes the good point that man likes to live according to five dominant lies — lies that constitute the attempt of man to rid himself of the influence and authority of God. These lies are:

• Life is random. We are all products of evolutionary chance with no purpose and no creator and no accountability. Nobody is in charge, no one put us here, and we are accountable to no one.
  
• Truth is relative. There are no absolutes and no standard. We are all free to possess our "own" truth and live our lives according to that truth which is of our own invention.
  
• People are basically good. If they go bad, someone else is to blame — they lack self-esteem or have psychological problems due to environmental failures.
  
• Everyone can change his own life. He can take control, take charge and become anything he wants to be.
  
• The goal of life is self-satisfaction.

But the truth is opposite that.

• God is sovereign and nothing random.
• The Bible is absolute truth.
• All people are basically sinful.
• Only Christ can change your life.
• Selfless submission to Jesus Christ is the goal of life.

People in the world have it completely backwards. And it is these lies that pull at the heart of every man.

Justification and Catholicism

With the reconversion last week of Francis Beckwith, the President of the Evangelical Theological Society, to Roman Catholicism, questions have arisen again about the relationship between Catholicism and Evangelicalism. Beckwith said (among a number of other things) that the reason for his reconversion centered around his understanding of justification:

I became convinced that the Early Church is more Catholic than Protestant and that the Catholic view of justification, correctly understood, is biblically and historically defensible. Even though I also believe that the Reformed view is biblically and historically defensible, I think the Catholic view has more explanatory power to account for both all the biblical texts on justification as well as the church’s historical understanding of salvation prior to the Reformation all the way back to the ancient church of the first few centuries.

Elsewhere he affirms declares that "I still consider myself an evangelical, but no longer a Protestant." In other words, the Catholic view of justification does not contradict the evangelical view of justification. As with the attempts over the past few years to minimize the distinctions between Catholicism and Evangelicalism (Evangelicals and Catholics Together), this kind of statement ignores a number of key issues. In fact, it is not possible to be both evangelical and Catholic because (this is a short, but critical list):

1. To accept the Roman Catholic doctrine of justification is to accept the role of Mary as co-redeemer with Christ.
2. To accept the Roman Catholic doctrine of justification is to accept the Roman Catholic practice of communion, which emphasizes that Christ is literally present in the elements of the bread and cup, meaning that the initial sacrifice of Christ was inadequate (invalidating passages like Heb. 10:11-14).
3. To accept the Roman Catholic doctrine of justification is to accept the doctrine of purgatory, which teaches that there is no security in salvation and that there is a dependence on works to produce salvation -- even the works of others can produce my salvation.
   
4. To accept the Roman Catholic doctrine of justification is to accept the Roman Catholic view of Scripture, which embraces the Apocrypha as Scripture; believes the Pope to be able to speak infallibly on theological issues, such that his words supersede the words of Scripture; and accepts tradition as having more authority than Scripture.
   

In fact, the second statement, "The Gift of Salvation," produced by Evangelicals and Catholics Together includes this statement:

While we rejoice in the unity we have discovered and are confident of the fundamental truths about the gift of salvation we have affirmed, we recognize that there are necessarily interrelated questions that require further and urgent exploration. Among such questions are these: the meaning of baptismal regeneration, the Eucharist, and sacramental grace; the historic uses of the language of justification as it relates to imputed and transformative righteousness; the normative status of justification in relation to all Christian doctrine; the assertion that while justification is by faith alone, the faith that receives salvation is never alone; diverse understandings of merit, reward, purgatory, and indulgences; Marian devotion and the assistance of the saints in the life of salvation; and the possibility of salvation for those who have not been evangelized.

With so many key issues left unresolved, there is and can be no "togetherness." The Roman Catholic doctrine of justification is far from an evangelical understanding of justification. And for Beckwith to minimize those issues is, frankly, foolish.

Additionally, for Beckwith to suggest that Catholicism teaches a Biblical view of justification is to ignore the Reformation and all those who died in defense of Protestantism. The central issue for Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, and all the Reformers (many of whom died in defense of this) was the very issue of how a man comes to be declared righteous before God. To say that there is no distinction is to invalidate that entire movement as irrelevant and even wrong.

The issues that have been placed "on the discussion table" by Beckwith's return to Catholicism are of central importance to our faith. They must not be ignored. Our very faith depends on it.

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

Other helpful responses:

• John MacArthur, "Explaining the Heresy of Catholicism"
  
• Carl Trueman, "Thoughts on the Return to Rome of Professor Beckwith"
• James White, "Head of the Evangelical Theological Society Swims the Tiber"
• Pulpit Magazine, "Mother Church?"
• ETS statement

Encouragement and Help for Parents

Christian parents sometimes undergo the sorrow of watching their children stray from the truth of Christ. How should they respond to that sinful waywardness? Abraham Piper (John's son), offers some counsel that serves as both an encouragement (there is hope for repentance!) and some help (what can I do??). Read it here.

In addition, there are a number of helpful resources here, including a helpful summary by John MacArthur, "8 Ways Parents Provoke."

An Example of and an Exhortation to Endurance

In thinking about ministry and the role of the pastor and the role of the people in relation to 1 Thess. 5:12-24, I came across a story a read a few years ago and a statement about the importance of perseverance in ministry.

The story concerns a pastor, John Newton, and a troubled parishioner in his church, William Cowper. In order to minister to Cowper, a poet, Newton collaborated on a hymnal with him (which is how we came to possess "Amazing Grace" from Newton's pen and "There is a Fountain Filled with Blood" by Cowper, and approximately 250 more hymns). Newton spent much time with Cowper while he was his pastor, counseling, exhorting and encouraging. And that relationship continued even after Newton moved to another church in Olney.

What was the fruit of that relationship? Cowper told a friend about Newton, saying, "A sincerer or more affectionate friend no man ever had." And he would also write these words to Newton himself:

I knew you; knew you for the same shepherd who was sent to lead me out of the wilderness into the pasture where the Chief Shepherd feeds His flock, and felt my sentiments of affectionate for you the same as ever.

This is not only a high personal compliment, but a testimony to the value of endurance in ministry, which is affirmed by John Piper in When I Don't Desire God:

We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone. See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus (I Thess. 5:14-16)

Admonishing, encouraging, helping, being patient, not repaying evil for evil, seeking to do good to all - this is a fruitbearing life. [Paul] is telling us to be like trees planted by streams of water that bring forth fruit. This is the effect of delighting in the Word of God in Psalm 1:3. Look at all these needy people draining you. The 'idle' are provoking you; the 'fainthearted' are leaning on you ' the 'weak' are depleting you. But you are called to encourage and help and be patient and not return evil for evil. In other words, you are called to have spiritual resources that can be durable and fruitful and nourishing when others are idle and fainthearted and weak and mean-spirited

How? Where do we get the resources to love like that? Verse 16 answers, 'Rejoice always.' That corresponds to 'delight' in Psalm 1. Presumably, this rejoicing is not primarily based on circumstances, but on God and his promises, because the people around us are idle and fainthearted and weak and antagonistic. This would make an ordinary person angry, sullen, and discouraged. But we are supposed to have our roots planted somewhere other than circumstance. The roots of our lives are supposed to be drawing up the nutrients of joy from a source that cannot be depleted - the river of God and his Word. The one who delights in the Lord is 'like a tree planted by streams of water.'

What then is the key to this rejoicing, or this delight, which sustains the life of fruit-bearing love? Verse 17 says, 'Pray without ceasing.' And verse 18 says, 'Give thanks in all circumstances.' So the answer seems to be that continual prayer and thanksgiving is a key to joy in God that makes a person durable and fruitful in relation to all kinds of people. Therefore one biblical key to maintaining joy in God and his Word is to pray without ceasing. [pp. 155-6.]

Sunday Leftovers (5/6/07)

Numerous factors in the culture of the church have led too many churches and too many people to believe and practice a theology that places the work of ministry on the shoulders of trained professionals and absolves untrained servants of ministry responsibilities. Yet the New Testament has a different view of ministry.

Ministry is the work of every believer.

That statement is supported by passages teaching about the gifts of the Holy Spirit that are given to every believer (e.g., Rom. 12:3-8; 1 Cor. 12; Eph. 4:7-13). And it is either directly stated or strongly implied throughout the rest of the Epistles.

For instance, when the NT writers use the term "brothers," they are affirming that what follows is for every believer in Christ, not merely the trained pastors. So when Paul urges his Thessalonian brethren to "admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, and be patient with everyone" (5:14) his words obviously are addressed to pastors. And they are also addressed to everyone else who is a believer in Christ — his brothers.

Ministry is the joyful and privileged work of every believer.

Kent Hughes points out a couple of truths related to God's use of "ordinary" people to accomplish His divine purposes:

"[God] can use a very small thing if it is committed to him. It has been said: 'God must delight in using ordinary people with ordinary gifts because he made so many of us!'"

"God chooses to use ordinary people to serve him! He chooses them so there will be no mistake where the power comes from and so human boasting will be excluded."

So be encouraged that God not only can use you in the work of ministry — but He has actually even designed you for His ministry.

The Holiness of God

The holiness of God is an oft-repeated theme in Scripture. It is demonstrated in His choice of Israel as His people (Dt. 7:6), the sanctification of that people (Lev. 21:8); His jealousy for that people and His holiness that would not allow Him to overlook their sin (Josh. 24:19); His unique character (1 Sam. 2:2); His physical salvation of men (1 Chron. 16:35); His omniscience (Ps. 11:4); His authority over all mankind (Ps. 47:8); His fatherly care of the fatherless (Ps. 68:5); His pure nature (Ps. 99:5, 9); his glorification in all the earth (Is. 6:3); His inability to dwell with sin in any form (Is. 6:5); and a host of others passages and circumstances.

Yet as we try to understand the holiness of God, A. W. Tozer rightly noted that

We cannot grasp the true meaning of the divine holiness by thinking of someone or something very pure and then raising that concept to the highest degree we are capable of. God's holiness is not simply the best we know infinitely bettered. We know nothing like divine holiness. It stands apart, unique, unapproachable, incomprehensible and unattainable. The natural man is blind to it. He may fear God's power and admire His wisdom, but His holiness he cannot even imagine. [The Knowledge of the Holy]

One resource that has helped me immeasurably in growing in my minuscule understanding of God's holiness is R. C. Sproul's book, The Holiness of God. And just yesterday I listened to the message he preached at the Bethlehem Conference for Pastors this year on that topic and was again moved toward worship and convicted of my weak understanding and presumption upon His holiness. It is well worth your time to listen to this message.

Sunday Leftovers (4/29/07)

God has gifted every believer with at least one spiritual gift and at the same time He is also producing His fruit in that believer through the working of the Holy Spirit.

So the longer a believer walks with Christ, more and more fruit is produced. And the longer a believer serves Christ in the church, the more he uses his gift and the more refined the use of that gift becomes, and inevitably the more effective he becomes in the use of that gift. And when that happens, he also becomes more and more susceptible to believing that his adequacy is in himself and not in God.

When that temptation arises, he needs to hear again the words of the apostle Paul —

• For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things? (2 Cor. 2:15-16)
  
• For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin. (Rom. 7:18-25)
  
• It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life. (1 Tim. 1:15-16)
  
  

It is undoubtedly those kind of words that drove William Carey to write to his father:

I see more and more my own insufficiency for the great work I am called to. The truths of God are amazingly profound, the souls of men infinitely precious, my own ignorance very great, and all that I do is for God who knows my movies and my ends, my diligence or negligence. When I (in short) compare my self with my work, I sink into a point, a mere despicable nothing.

So there is a balance to be had for the believer — recognize our own inadequacy, and recognize the strength and provision that God is working in and through us to accomplish His purposes.