A Blog Fast: Going Somewhere Warm with Wifey

Since Em and I will be going somewhere warm, the blog will be on hold for a week or so. We're going to spend some time seeking the Lord's face for the new year ahead, and we're going to practice a good bit of covenant renewal (that's code for lots of lovemaking). We're calling our time away "honeymoon round two." Isn't marriage good? Who thought this thing up? All praise, glory, and honor be to him.

Still Pressing on with Pilgrim by Faith

Pressing on in the journey we set about weeks back with Christian through our reading plan, we've come to rockier road. This has happened, strangely, after Christian lost his load (about which I posted). Many a Christian is surprised at this, thinking that the unburdened abundant life would bring earthly comforts and ease. But it is not so for the one who has embraced the cross, as Christian has found out and is teaching us in his trek.

And yet, whatever cross-bearing or trials and temptations the pilgrim faces, these all are wonderfully overcome by looking to the cross, not our cross. And so it happens as it did at the first: all burdens and loads along the way are loosened and laid on the the living Lord who was crucified. He continues to bear them in his body. And his cross-work continues to provide power for persevering.

So we read this when Christian was at the house of Discretion (he's relating his experience to Piety):

I saw one, as I thought in my mind, hang bleeding upon the tree; and the very sight of him made my burden fall off my back (for I groaned under a very heavy burden) but then it fell down from off me. 'Twas a strange thing to me, for I never saw such a thing before; yea, and while I stood looking up . . . three shining ones came to me: one of them testified that my sins were forgiven me; another stript me of my rags, and gave me this broidered coat which you see; and the third set the mark which you see in my fore-head, and gave me this sealed roll . . . (p. 53).

Of course here he's referring to when his load was first taken from him. And the "three shining ones" testify to the pilgrim's pardon, imputed perfection, and secure election. At that time, they also hand him a book to remember these things, needful because the journey's just begun.

A little further on, still at Discretion's house, Christian tells how "annoyances" (afflictions, trials, and temptations) along the way, after the load was loosened, are sometimes vanquished. Prudence had asked him, "Can you remember by what means you find your annoyances at times, as if they were vanquished?" Christian replies,

Yes, when I think what I saw at the cross, that will do it; and when I look upon my broidered coat, that will do it; and when I look into the roll that I carry in my bosom, that will do it; and when my thoughts wax warm about whither I am going, that will do it (p. 54). 

Prudence then queries Christian further, "And what is it that makes you so desirous to go to Mount Zion?" Christian beams and says,

Why, there I hope to see him alive, that did hang dead on the cross; and there I hope to be rid of all those things, that to this day are in me an annoyance to me; there, they say, there is no death, and there I shall dwell with such company as I like best. For to tell you truth, I love him, because I was by him eased of my burden, and I am weary of my inward sickness . . . (p. 54).

So, thus instructed, we too press on with Christian just as we started our journey at the very first. That is to say, we continue by faith in the Son of God who loved us and gave himself for us; we continue to look to him who bore our burdens and robed us with his righteousness; we move onward and forward in the hope of glory held forth in the Gospel preached to us in the beginning; we are borne along by a weariness of inward sickness which reaches for the remedy and rest purchased and promised; and more, and most of all, seeing him dimly but still seeing him truly, we press on for love of our Lord toward the goal of seeing and knowing and enjoying fully him who bled and died in our stead, him who is our everlasting rest and refreshment at journey's end.

Father, Here's Our Commendation Amid Temptation

A Lutheran prayer commending all against temptations:

Heavenly Father, may we commend to you all who strive and work against great and many temptations. Strengthen those who still stand. Restore those who have fallen and given up. Grant all of us your grace in a miserable and uncertain life, and though surrounded constantly by so many enemies, may we persistently fight with a valiant and firm faith and finally obtain the eternal crown. Amen. 

—Martin Luther, Luther's Prayers (ed. Herbert F. Brokering; Augsberg: Minneapolis, 1994), 37.

The Christmas Spirit

From J. I. Packer's classic Knowing God (pp. 63-64):

We talk glibly of the "Christmas spirit," rarely meaning more by this than sentimental jollity on a family basis. But . . . the phrase should in fact carry a tremendous weight of meaning. It ought to mean the reproducing in human lives of the temper of him who for our sake became poor at the first Christmas. And the Christmas spirit itself ought to be the mark of every Christian all year round.

It is our shame and disgrace today that so many Christians—I will be more specific: so many of the soundest and most orthodox Christians—go through this world in the spirit of the priest and the Levite in our Lord's parable, seeing human needs all around them, but (after a pious wish, and perhaps a prayer, that God might meet those needs) averting their eyes and passing by on the other side. That is not the Christmas spirit. Nor is it the spirit of those Christians—alas, they are many—whose ambition in life seems limited to building a nice middle-class Christian home, and making nice middle-class Christian friends, and bringing up their children in nice middle-class Christian ways, and who leave the submiddle-class sections of the community, Christian and non-Christian, to get on by themselves.  

The Christmas spirit does not shine out in the Christmas snob. For the Christmas spirit is the spirit of those who, like their Master, live their whole lives on the principle of making themselves poor—spending and being spent—to enrich their fellow humans, giving time, trouble, care and concern, to do good to others—and not just their own friends—in whatever way there seems need. 

There are not as many who show this spirit as there should be. If God in mercy revives us, one of the things he will do will be to work more of this spirit in our hearts and lives. If we desire spiritual quickening for ourselves individually, one step we should take is to seek to cultivate this spirit. "You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich" (2 Cor. 8:9). "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus" (Phil. 2:5).

May the Spirit of this spirit be given to all who love the real Christmas, not the cultural accretions that have accumulated in our tidy little Middle American culture. May God be pleased to revive his churches to bear the likeness of the incarnate Christ who gave away his glory to give us glory, who became poor to make many rich.

The Son Took Flesh and Bone to His Person

Anselm on the person of Christ ("On the Incarnation of the Word" in Anselm of Canterbury: The Major Works; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998):

For one who correctly understands the Son's incarnation believes that the Son assumed a human being into the unity of his person and not into the unity of his substance. And my adversary foolishly thinks that the Son assumed a human being into the unity of his substance rather than into the unity of his person (p. 249).

The glorious doctrine of the person of Christ is worth celebrating with all the might: and so it also one of those doctrines worth fighting over when it is under attack.

Why December 25th?

Tim Challies links to a Christianity Today article written by Elesha Coffman that answers this question.

Update: See also Justin Taylor's post on this question, which provides an article from Andreas Köstenberger's website.

Guard Us, O God, from Greed

A Lutheran prayer against greed and cosmic treason:

Preserve us from a corrupt desire and greed for the wealth of the world. Guard us from seeking the power and glory of this world and succumbing to its views. Protect us from the treachery of the world, so that its deception and wealth may not entice us to follow it. Amen. 

—Martin Luther, Luther's Prayers (ed. Herbert F. Brokering; Augsberg: Minneapolis, 1994), 36.

Atomism and Authoritarianism in Scholarship

In his excellent discussion on textual criticism in Interpreting Galatians, Moisés Silva says that "the textual discussions one finds in a commentary amount to little more than a guess or a mildly informed opinion" (43). And the central problem, he says, is atomism:

When NT scholars cite the reading of a manuscript, they almost never assess that reading in the light of the scribal peculiarities of that manuscript as a whole. As a result, statements about whether one type of change is more likely than another are usually based on very general and vague principles (such as "the shorter reading is preferred," a valid criterion that must however be used with awareness of some important qualifications), not on familiarity with the scribal tendencies found in specific manuscripts. Moreover, variants are most often evaluated without attention to parallel variations in other passages (44). 

I've often wondered why I'm supposed to submit to these general principles (such as "the shorter reading is preferred," or "the more difficult reading is preferred"). While there may be some validity in such principles, as Silva points out, I still often find myself asking, "Why?" "On whose authority?" "Why should I bow to these principles?" "Are they inspired?" Textual criticism is not a hard science like chemistry, and no set of principles can infallibly guide one through textual difficulties.

So in addition to the problem of atomism, I'd add the problem of authoritarianism. And I'm glad that a solid scholar like Silva has given us permission to ignore much of what the scholars have to say. But I confess, I probably would have done the ignoring without that permission. Scholars are getting easier and easier to ignore. And most should not give a second thought to what the mass of them thinks.

As Per Your Promise, Father, Silence All Slander

A Lutheran prayer in the face of false accusations:

As you have promised, give us your goodness in place of our wickedness. Silence all cruel slanderers and accusers, those who magnify our faults, and the devil. Do so now and whenever our conscience is worried. Keep us from all backbiting and from exaggerating the sins of others. Judge us not by the evidence of the devil and by our own depressed consciences. Hear not the cry of our enemies who accuse us day and night before you, just as we would not listen to the slandering and accusing of others. Take from our souls the heavy burden of all our sins, so that with a clear, joyful, and sincere conscience we may endure and do all things, and live and die fully confident of your mercy. Amen. 

—Martin Luther, Luther's Prayers (ed. Herbert F. Brokering; Augsberg: Minneapolis, 1994), 35-36.

The Temple Motif in Ezekiel

The temple motif pervades Scripture. And I am willing to argue that it is one of the main theological realities that holds the whole together. If one understands the biblical theology of the temple, one really does understand a great deal of how Scripture, how history, and how theology are unfolding.

Ezekiel's prophecy provides no small witness to that biblical theology. The temple teaching in Ezekiel, however, cannot be understood solely on its own terms (which approach would be hermeneutically unsound, since that's not the way Scripture works). Unless one already grasps a good deal of the sweep of the Bible's temple teaching, one will likely simply be befuddled by Ezek. 40-48, or just flatly misunderstand it and do damage to the glory of Christ.

Consider the broad-brush painting of Ezekiel produced by the palette of William Dumbrell, a man who has labored in the canon for many years and understands its interconnectedness.This portrait gives only a hint of the scope of the temple teaching in the Bible, but one can hear and see Genesis to Revelation in this brief word focusing on Ezekiel:

Yahweh is depicted in Ezekiel 1 as enthroned and accompanied by ministrant attendants. . . . They function only as bearers of the throne. Yahweh is moving from his heavenly palace, in judgment against the Jerusalem temple. The book thus commences with Jerusalem and her temple under imminent judgment. Yet the covenant faithfulness of Yahweh has led us to expect a movement beyond judgment. So the book of Ezekiel concludes with the magnificent conception of Yahweh enthroned in what must be the New Jerusalem, permanently located among his people in a new city from which, in Eden terms, the waters of life flow.

—The Faith of Israel: A Theological Survey of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2002), 153.

Dear Father, Grant Grace for the "Three Tempters"

A Lutheran prayer for the Father's assisting grace against the "three tempters":

We have the three tempters: the flesh, the world, and the devil. Therefore, dear Father, we ask you to give us the grace to expel the lusts of the flesh. Help us to avoid excessive eating, drinking, and sleeping, and to resist laziness.

Grant that by fasting, careful eating, and proper clothing and care for the body we may watch and toil to become useful and fitted for good works. Help us to kill and to crucify with Christ's help all evil inclinations and lusts of the flesh, with all its cravings and temptations, so that no one will concede to its temptations or follow them. 

Help that when we see a beautiful person or creature we may not be led to temptation but to admiration and to praising you through your creation. Grant that when we hear something pleasant and perceive something lovely we may not seek lust in it but rather praise and glory. Amen.

—Martin Luther, Luther's Prayers (ed. Herbert F. Brokering; Augsberg: Minneapolis, 1994), 34.

Christ Plus Nothing Equals Everything: Enough!

Today's New Covenant Church sermon was simply stellar. Pulling back the cosmic curtains with Col. 1:15-20, Pastor Andrew Fulton unveiled the glory of the Son of God in a sermon entitled Enough. My wife and I said to each other that it was one of the best Christmas sermons we've ever heard.

Like a master workman with great God-given skill, Andrew weaves the infinitely glorious Christology of Colossians into the twenty-first century fabric of fallen Naperville lives. Bringing the Word of God to bear upon our contemporary culture and concerns by bringing us face to face with Infinity incarnate, what can we do but respond with faith, joy, and worship? Christ plus nothing equals everything! Christ is all, and all is ours!

Emily and I feel so liberated and satisfied by the cosmic Christ of this preached word. You may listen to it at NCC's website. Enjoy. Marvel. Believe. Rest. And have a very Merry Christmas!

Would Make for a Good Study

Follow this link for a table comparing the Westminster Confession of Faith (1646) and the London Baptist Confession of Faith (1689). These two confessions are very similar, the latter dependent on the former: but the differences, even at a glance, are telling. Probing those differences, and asking why they are there and where they are going, would make for a good study.

HT: Justin Taylor

Be Killing Sin, Or Else

An important word to remember from Tim Challies and John Owen on the importance of mortifying sin.

Teach, Preserve, and Protect, O LORD

A Lutheran prayer for instruction, preservation, and protection of the home:

Teach us by your Spirit to manage our homes well and to rule our households in a Christian manner, to your service, praise, and glory. Preserve our children and all in our household from sin and shame, as well as from danger and harm to body and soul. Protect the fruits of the fields and all cattle from lightning, poison, wild beasts, and every possible injury. Amen.

 —Martin Luther, Luther's Prayers (ed. Herbert F. Brokering; Augsberg: Minneapolis, 1994), 34.

Separation of Church and State?

How does our notion of the separation of church and state stand up to Jer. 50:14 (and countless other places in the prophetic word)? Does the word of the Lord care what we think? Does it care what we've got enshrined in law? Consider also Jer. 51:5. Is the political arena neutral? Are not even the pagan politicians and potentates (and parliaments and congresses) held responsible to YHWH?

Preacher: Have Something to Say

C. H. Spurgeon's counsel on being interesting enough to be heard:

Your subject must weigh so much upon your own mind that you dedicate all your faculties at their best to the deliverance of your soul concerning it; and then when your hearers see that the topic has engrossed you, it will by degrees engross them.

And,

Romaine used to say it was well to understand the art of preaching, but infinitely better to know the heart of preaching; and in that saying there is no little weight. The heart of preaching, throwing of the soul into it, the earnestness which pleads as for life itself, is half the battle as to gaining attention. . . . Have something to say, and say it earnestly, and the congregation will be at your feet.  

—“Attention,” in Lectures to My Students, Book I, 146.

Give Grace to Preach, to Lead, to Hear

A Lutheran prayer for preachers and hearers alike, and for all in authority: 

Give grace to all preachers to proclaim Christ and your Word in all the world profitably and gladly. Grant that all who hear your Word preached may learn to know Christ and actually improve their lives through him. Exclude from your holy church all strange doctrines and preaching in which Christ is not made known. Be merciful to all bishops and ministers and all in authority, that they may be enlightened by your grace and rightly teach and lead us by good word and good example. Protect all who are weak in the faith that they may not be misled by the wickedness of any in authority. Amen.

—Martin Luther, Luther's Prayers (ed. Herbert F. Brokering; Augsberg: Minneapolis, 1994), 33.

What to Expect at a CREC Church

Here you may find Pastor Wilson's ongoing explanation (who knows how much longer he'll go) of what to expect at a CREC church. As I've said before, this is a growing communion that has impressed me a great deal. And you should probably consider visiting one if one has been planted in your area.

Supping with the Savior One Day; Sinning with Satan by Monday?

At my local church, we sat done with Jesus yesterday at his table. We partook of his body and blood together, and we renewed fellowship with him and with one another. And I have one question, mainly for myself, before the Lord himself, as I begin this week, but also for all who regularly sit down to sup and cup with the living Lord Jesus:

We just sat down at supper with Jesus yesterday: how then can we dine with the devil today?

Loosening the Load and Bearing It No More

Journeying along with Christian through our reading plan is proving to be steadying and stabilizing, or at least reminding me, when not steady and stable, of the need for perseverance. I'm enjoying Buynan's masterpiece immensely. Through the first bit of reading, however, I've had a quibble with the dream. Christian carries quite a load on his back for quite a way before he reaches the burden-bearer. Along the way, he's not directed straightaway to his relief. Even Evangelist seems to be too slow to lighten Christian's load. And Goodwill urges Christian to "be content to bear it, until thou comest to the place of deliverance . . . (31).

Yet finally, after Christian had encountered a number of poor traveling companions, Interpreter sends him on his way toward his deliverance. Still burdened, Christian runs, not without difficulty, up the highway called Salvation. Ascending he sees a place with a cross and, a little below, a grave. Approaching the cross, the load loosens and shortly falls from his back, tumbling into the mouth of the grave, so that he saw it no more. We then read: "Then was Christian glad and lightsome, and said with a merry heart, 'He hath given me rest, by his sorrow; and life, by his death'" (41). Christian then looked and wondered awhile, "for it was very surprising to him, that the sight of the cross should thus ease him of his burden" (41).

This episode stands at the head of a number that recount the loosened load and the cross's continuing freeing influence in Christian's journey. For example, on page 43, "Christian gives three leaps for joy, and went on singing":

Thus far I did come loaden with my sin,
Nor could ought ease the grief that I was in,
Till I came hither: what a place is this!
Must here be the beginning of my bliss?
Must here the burden fall from off my back?
Must here the strings that bound it to me crack?
Bless'd Cross! Bless'd sepulchre! Bless'd rather be
The man that there was put to shame for me.

A little later in the journey, being a weary traveler, Christian seeks and finds rest at "a pleasant arbour, made by the Lord of the hill, for the refreshing of weary travellors" (46):

Thither therefore Christian got, where also he sat down to rest him. Then he pull'd his roll out of his bosom, and read therein to his comfort; he also now began afresh to take a review of the coat or garment that was given him as he stood by the cross.

Here we see Christian, post-conversion, pulling out of his chest (probably Bible memorization, but perhaps just a Bible itself) the good news of a garment (no doubt Christ's righteousness) given to him when he first looked to Christ on the cross. This is walking, traveling by faith, pressing on in the journey in the same way it began.

And so must be the whole of our journey to our heavenly homeland. We walk by faith, not by sight. And, as Buynan eloquently reminds us, that faith pre-eminently eyes the Christ of the cross, risen and exalted, Lord of all, interceding for his own, mediating in heaven as the Christian's robe of righteousness. "Bless'd Cross! Bless'd sepulchre! Bless'd rather be / The man that there was put to shame for me."

The Fathers and Pistis Iēsou Christou

It is probably of no interest to most to know how much ink has been spilled over the Greek phrase pistis Iēsou Christou (πίστις Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ). So I'll just say it's been a lot. But it is probably of interest to many what that phrase means, since it comes in crucial texts, such as Gal. 2:16, that expound how we are justified.

Until the 1970s, the universal view took it as an objective genitive: "faith in Jesus Christ." But since then many have taken it as a subjective genitive: "the faithfulness of Jesus Christ." Since Greek genitival constructions are inherently ambiguous, how can one know which is in view? (Before pressing on, let it be said that, theologically speaking, both are true. We are saved by faith in Christ and by the faithfulness of Christ.)  Well, the way to get at the meaning in a given context is to heed the flow of thought and compare the same or similar constructions in the near and more distant contexts. 


However, there is another consideration as well, like asking how native Greek speakers took the phrase. Fortunately, in this instance, we know the answer. As  Moisés Silva points out in Interpreting Galatians, the Greek fathers of the early church oftentimes, like exegetes of today, had differing opinions about the rendering of a word or construction. In discussing this, he uses Chrysostom as an example (p. 30):

When Chrysostom is aware of a problem—that is, a difference of opinion about the meaning of a word or a construction—we should take his opinion as only that, an opinion to be weighed and evaluated. However, in cases where we are aware of an ambiguity, while Chrysostom simply assumes that one of the possible meanings is the right one, that fact can become highly significant. In other words, his use of Greek at that point is very strong evidence for the way a native speaker would naturally understand the language.

He then discusses the bearing of this phenomenon on how we take pistis Iēsou Christou:

A recognition of this phenomenon can have substantive implications. Chrysostom and the other Greek fathers, for instance, evidently assume that πίστις Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ is an objective genitive ("faith in Jesus Christ," rather than "faith/faithfulness of Jesus Christ"), but the commentaries fail to point out the significance of that fact. Surely, very weighty arguments are needed to counter this evidence. In spite of it, however, some scholars argue that a subjective genitive is the more "natural" interpretation.

So maybe one of the lessons we might learn from Silva is not to be too impressed by scholarly statements like "the natural reading is thus and such." We probably also ought to be slow to move away from the way the Church has traditionally interpreted a text because of some recent scholarly innovation unless we really do have sufficient reason for doing so.  

The Church's Mission: Maturity in Christ

Köstenberger and O’Brien on Paul's missionary commission: “The activities in which Paul engaged as he sought to fulfill his missionary commission included not only primary evangelism, through which men and women were converted, but also the founding of churches and the bringing of believers to full maturity in Christ” (italics mine).[1]

In the push for the Church’s mission to evangelize the lost, which I hear a lot about today, there can oftentimes be no push toward Christian maturity, which I hear less about today. Get 'em in, keep 'em in (usually with programs), and get 'em bringing more in (usually with programs). We ought to make sure that we don’t lose the apostles’ mission and focus.

Paul wanted nothing short of maturity in Christ (Eph. 4:13-16; Col. 1:28-29), for which he labored and suffered in word and deed. Churches whose mission does not aim for converts and local churches to mature into the fullness of Christ fail to come up to the fullness of apostolic mission. For apostolic ministry, Christian maturity fits into conversion like hand in glove. No Christian maturity, no fulfilled mission. No push toward maturity, no real push in Christian mission. No matter how many people show up at church on Sunday.

---

[1] Andreas J. Köstenberger and Peter T. O’Brien, Salvation to the Ends of the Earth: A biblical theology of mission (ed. D. A. Carson; Downer’s Grove: Intervarsity Press, 2001), 184.

The Center of John Owen's Life and Theology

I heartily agree with the perspective of this post on Owen at Between Two Worlds. I've not got through Owen's entire corpus yet (still plodding away!), but this suggestion of an Owenian center rings true: "the doctrine that in the gospel we behold, by the Christ-given Holy Spirit, the glory of God 'in the face of Christ" and are thereby changed into his image" (Richard Daniels, The Christology of John Owen, 92).

In truth, before ever I knew there was talk about a center in Owen, I myself was gripped by this. I believe it's on the face of his writings. In fact, I lectured on Owen for a Sunday school class about a year ago and gave the same center as I expounded the heart of his theology and life. Another plausible center (or at least a dominant emphasis), though, in my judgment, could be something like this: true and full Christian experience consists in a continual holy communion with the God of triune glory, by the power, wisdom, and delight of the Gospel. But I'll let the scholars quibble over these matters. I simply exult and glory in them as I experience them.

Another point made in Taylor's post that I appreciate is the one about who Owen fundamentally was: he was first and foremost, above all else, whatever else he was, a pastor. That's inescapable, as I read him. And for this I love him, especially as one who is often nauseated by academic and professional puffery and posturing among scholars and pastors. O for more pastors like Owen, who love the flock of God up into the glories of Christ!

If you've never read Owen, what a treasure you've yet to find. My recommendation: start with either volume 1, 2, or 6 of his Works, published by Banner of Truth. Take up and read!

CREC: Baptism and Christian Education

Here is one of the many reasons (not the only reason, nor the main) why I've been so impressed with the CREC churches. If there is one in your area, you should probably visit it.

The Voice and Presence of Christ in His People

Consider John Owen's teaching on the voice of Christ in his apostles: "The epistles of the apostles are no less Christ's sermons than that which he delivered on the mount" (vol. 5, Works, p. 59).

I wonder: Do you agree with this? Do you believe this? I do. And I believe I've got scriptural reason to do so. And by due and necessary consequence, I'll even go a little further.

Consider two texts:

"The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me" (Lk. 10:16).

And,

"He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near" (Eph. 2:17).

Now, ask yourself just two questions:

First, considering that first clause in Lk. 10:16, ask yourself if our Christology and ecclesiology can really hear a text like this aright? You know, head and body theology, Christology and ecclesiology organically and vitally connected, as in like not separated by 200 pages in a systematic theology, as in the body not being decapitated. We are Christ's body, his presence, including his mouth. In the first instance, this has reference to the apostles, but it goes beyond them as well, as the apostolic Word is spoken by believers, and especially his appointed spokesmen.

Second, ask yourself who the "you" refers to in Eph. 2:17. Presumably, the Ephesians, right? And they never saw or heard Jesus in the days of his flesh. They never saw him with bodily eyes or heard his actual unique voice. But nevertheless they heard his voice (see Eph. 4:21—in Greek if you can—they heard him, not about him). Jesus himself preached to the Ephesians in his Spirit-indwelt ministers.

Now recall Acts 1:1, where Luke says that in his first volume, the Gospel according to Luke, he dealt with "all that Jesus began to do and teach." What does this imply about what Acts records and bears witness to? Well, naturally, that Acts testifies to all that Jesus continued to do and teach—by his indwelling Spirit, through his apostles.

Have you heard his voice? He still speaks. Let us hear him.

Deeply Grateful for Matter

Happy Thanksgiving to all! So much to be thankful for! To highlight one that covers a lot of ground and includes turkey and pie, I'm deeply grateful for matter. Yes, that is, solid stuff.

Oh how glorious is the ground under our feet and the sensory receptors to perceive it! How glorious is the gift of 10,000 flavors and 10,000 taste buds to enjoy them! Oh how glorious is this creation and the creature inhabiting it!—human beings, the crown of creation, are mind-blowingly amazing! Oh how glorious is the wisdom and power, infinitely so, of the Creator who thought this stuff up and spoke it all into being! And here we are, flesh and bone, careening around the sun, really fast, on this ball of dirt in this vast universe, enjoying 10,000 mercies and gifts, moment by moment. Glory!

We cannot be too thankful! All praise and thanks be to the triune God of glory—Father, Son, and Spirit—the three-in-one, and one-in-three.

Planking: The Provena True Stretch

To prove I'm not a Gnostic. To prove that, after all, I love my culture. To prove I don't just study theology. To prove to my wife that I really do have a job.

A Prayer for Charity and Trust with Our Tongues

A Lutheran prayer for a charitable disposition:

Give us true obedience and perfect resignation in all things temporal and eternal. Preserve us from the cruel vice of slandering, defaming, judging, and condemning others. Oh that the great misery and harm caused by such tongues were far from us! When we see or hear anything of others that seems blamable and disagreeable to us, teach us to cover it up and to keep silent about it. Help us to complain to you alone and leave all to your will, and so gladly to forgive all our debtors and sympathize with them. Amen. 

 —Martin Luther, Luther's Prayers (ed. Herbert F. Brokering; Augsberg: Minneapolis, 1994), 32.

A Leaky Brain and The Four Causes

If you're like me, you regularly experience frustration for forgetting things you shouldn't. For me, it's almost a way of life and, I confess, a great grief. In the Bible, remembering, particularly when it comes to God's deeds,  promises, and warnings, is a duty and virtue. We don't get to say to God as an excuse for disobedience, "But I forgot." That's just self-indictment. Forgetting God's works and words and ways is damning (e.g., Ps. 78:10-11).

Now although I don't want to overdue a recent episode of forgetfulness and make it some moral monster in my life, yet not being able to recall Aristotle's four causes in some recent reading, which causes I'd reviewed a dozen times in times past, feels like a character flaw. At the least, it's a weakness and grief to me. I've tried to lay up the four causes because in theology and philosophy the terms come up so often.

So, for the sake of review and attempting to make the four causes permanent furniture in my brain, here they are, stated simply by R. C. Sproul in The Consequences of Ideas (Wheaton: Crossway, 2000, p. 48):

Aristotle posited four distinct types of causes that produce changes in things. These causes are 1) the formal cause, which determines what a thing is; 2) the material cause, that out of which a thing is made; 3) the efficient cause, that by which a thing is made; and 4) the final cause, that for which a thing is made, or its purpose.

There they are, on the screen, perhaps still not in my brain. But now I have easier reference at my desk when my leaky brain leaks again.

A Due Apprehension of the Mystery of Grace

In the first part of Owen's work on justification (vol. 5 of Works), Owen pursues "general considerations" for a right apprehension of the doctrine. In a section in pursuit of exposing Socinian errors, which did not allow for embracing revealed truths that seemed contradictory to reason, Owen speaks of "a due apprehension of that harmony which is in the mystery of grace, and between all the parts of it" (49). He then says this:

This comprehension is the principal effect of that wisdom which believers are taught by the Holy Ghost. For our understanding of the wisdom of God in a mystery is neither an art nor a science, whether purely speculative or more practical, but a spiritual wisdom. And this spiritual wisdom is such as understands and apprehends things, not so much, or not only in the notion of them, as in their power, reality, and efficacy, towards their proper ends (49).

This is huge. The last thing we should want is a head stuffed with notions, even if true, without a Spirit-wrought and Spirit-taught apprehension of the mysteries held forth in the Gospel, an apprehension of "their power, reality, and efficacy, towards their proper ends." Enlighten the eyes of our hearts, O Lord! (Eph. 1:18).

Help Us, Father, to Honor Your Name

Luther praying for God's help to glorify and honor God's name:

Help that no one may perjure, lie, or deceive by your name. Preserve us from every false comfort fabricated under the disguise of your name. Guard us against all spiritual pride and vanity of earthly glory or distinction. Help us to call upon you in all our needs and weaknesses. Assure us that in the distress of our conscience, and in the hour of death, we may not forget your name. Help us that with all our possessions, words, and works we may praise and honor only you, and not through them seek to win a name for ourselves. We glorify you alone to whom all things belong. Guard us against the shameful evil of ingratitude. Amen (28).

And again:

Help us so that by our lives and good works others may be prompted not to exalt us but to praise you in us and to honor your name. Grant that no one may be offended by our evil works or shortcomings, and so dishonor you and praise you less. Keep us from desiring anything temporal or eternal that does not praise and honor your name. If we should ask you for any such things, we pray that you would not hear our foolishness. Help us so to live that we may be found true children of God, and that your fatherly name may not be used falsely or in vain because of us. Amen (29). 

 —Martin Luther, Luther's Prayers (ed. Herbert F. Brokering; Augsberg: Minneapolis, 1994), 28-29.

Promised Restoration: The Nations Shall Come!

Yet another word deluged me this morning about the nations streaming to YHWH in the latter days. This stuff courses through the prophets and Psalms. It's unavoidable; it's everywhere. And it ought to fire confidence within us as we consider how many still have yet to come to King Jesus and pay tribute with their very lives. But today I want to point to only one instance of this sure coming of the nations: "to you shall the nations come, from the ends of the earth . . . (Jer. 16:19). This one word (oh don't miss it!) is like a tidal wave of sovereign grace, casting up upon the shores of the nations, deluging, drawing, wooing, effectually moving idolaters to forsake their idols and foreswear their worthless ways.

Now briefly consider the context of this confident confession to feel its force: Jer. 16:14-15. It is restoration! Of Israel! Seamlessly the godless Gentiles are woven into the promise. One can almost miss it. But oh don't miss it! When YHWH calls forth his people for his name from exile, back to the land of promise, Jew and Gentile both come from the ends of the earth. Israel comes back to inherit the land and consists of those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation! "Oh the depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!" (Rom. 11:33).

To further fire your faith (I know I said I'd point to only one text, but I can't hold a few others back), see also these mighty missions texts: Isa. 2:2-4; Mic. 4:1-2; and Hab. 2:14. As I confessed—"Oh the depths!"

Domesticating the Untamable Word of God

In his Interpreting Galatians: Explorations in Exegetical Method, in a section on original meaning versus contemporary application, Moisés Silva surveys some of the history of exegesis. He then says this (p. 24):

We see, then, that the attempt to recognize both the importance of historical meaning (authorial intention) and the need for relevance (contextualization) characterized biblical interpreters from ancient times to the beginnings of the modern period. In the post-Enlightenment Age, when the grammatico-historical method definitively "triumphed," what really happened was that the task of application was severed from that of exegesis. The new ideal for interpreters was to set aside and forget their own context so that only the mind of the biblical author would be present.

Further on, he continues (p. 25):

The decision to sever "what it meant" form "what it means" also had some grave implications for the study of Scripture. Ironically, the better a commentary was, the less useful it became for the church. . . . Here [in Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer, as an example] truly was scientific exegesis come into its own—and even today his notes can be consulted with great profit. In the process, however, the biblical text tended to become an antiquarian curiosity, a lifeless object needing dissection. 

This treating of the biblical text as "an antiquarian curiosity, a lifeless object needing dissection," I do not doubt, has infected Protestant evangelical scholarship. I've experienced it firsthand. And even if you have no formal education, if you've read commentaries at all, you know what I'm talking about. And what has followed this infection of scholarship? Well, I think it's fair to say, the church became infected with the same. If you don't believe me, ask yourself why it's so hard for those with seminary or graduate training to move from academics to actually preaching to real people with real lives and to using the Word to shepherd the flock. Ask yourself why the professing Christian church in America struggles to know how to live out the Word of God in all of life. Something has gone wrong when Christian pastors and leaders continue to be trained with post-Enlightenment methods. Blows me away.

And that the divine Word does not penetrate ever inch of the church's soul and life probably owes, at least in part, to this severing of which Silva speaks. But the untamable Word let loose in pastors' and scholars' hearts and lives and through them in the people of God—that Word above all earthly powers produces profound change and effect and influence everywhere. Inevitably! That is, unless we've domesticated the text in our laboratories of scientific inquiry. 

The Imputation of Adam's Sin: A Gospel Fundamental

Satan seeks to overthrow the Gospel through various devices. Many of them seek to produce denial of the Gospel through denials of prerequisites for understanding the Gospel aright. John Owen exposes one of those schemes, namely, the denial of the imputation of Adam's fall and sin to humanity, a welcome denial in the modern world, sadly, even among so-called brothers.

He says this in The Doctrine of Justification by Faith (vol. 5, Works, Banner of Truth, p. 21):

By some the imputation of the actual apostasy and transgression of Adam, the head of our nature, whereby his sin became the sin of the world, is utterly denied. Hereby both the ground the apostle proceedeth on in evincing the necessity of our justification, or our being made righteous by the obedience of another, and all the arguments brought in the confirmation of the doctrine of it, in the fifth chapter of his Epistle to the Romans, are evaded and overthrown.

Obviously denying a historical Adam would do the job as well. And many seek to do just that. But if Owen gets it right, and I'm convinced he does, how then do we need to think about defending and contending for the faith once for all delivered to the saints? What are the fundamentals? (Essentials would be different.) What needs to be regarded as foundational because it supports the superstructure of the Gospel? After all, Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection make no gospel sense in the biblical sense without biblical foundations and a certain story line.

The Doers of the Law Will Be Justified

Will future justification depend on our works? That depends in part on how one defines the term justification and what one means by depend on our works. Works will not function as the ground or basis of a right standing or acceptance with the holy God of perfect rectitude who demands utter essential righteousness. The blood and righteousness of the risen Jesus alone provide that all-sufficiently. But works will be necessary to be declared just on the Last Day, the day of reckoning and reward or punishment. One text in particular makes this crystal clear: Rom. 2:13.

I know that good commentators and Gospel lovers think that Paul is speaking hypothetically (the same sort of thing is often said of the warning passages in Hebrews). But such does not consider evenhandedly Paul's plain language and the flow of thought. Without spending time on the exegesis here, I'll simply commend what I think the text is saying. Romans 1 indicts the Gentiles, those without the law. Romans 2 turns toward indicting the Jews, the "keepers" of the law. And Rom. 2:12-16 functions as part of that indictment, showing that some Gentiles will be justified apart from the law. That is, those Gentiles who are doers of the law, having "the work of the law written on their hearts" (Rom. 2:15; cf. Jer. 31:33; Ezek. 36:26-27)—they will be justified.

To understand what is being asserted here, let me say what is not being said. Romans 2 is emphatically not saying that the deeds of these doers of the law function as the basis or ground of this future justification in view. Future justification, in the sense of being declared righteous justly before a holy and righteous God, depends wholly on Jesus' blood and righteousness (Rom. 1:17; 3:21-26; 4:1-8; 5:18-19; 10:4). But what is being asserted is that only those who are doers of the law, who are fulfilling it (Rom. 13:8-10)—they alone will be declared righteous (and will be declared so for Jesus' sake), but not because they are doers of the law, and certainly not because they are mere possessors of the law.

Yet this doing of the law (doing deeds of love flowing from vital union with Jesus in the Spirit of love), since it necessarily flows from the faith that does justify—this doing is necessary (it has to be there or there is no saving faith), and it authenticates the justified. Good deeds therefore are necessary for salvation, but not at all as the ground or basis of God's giving the gift of salvation. That gift is free, received by faith alone apart from works of the law, purchased at infinite cost by Christ's atonement, offered freely to the sinner in Jesus' blood and righteousness. And this receiving of the gift through faith alone will be the way the justified sinner enters heavenly reward at the judgment as well—receiving God's free acceptance and "well done" in Christ as total gift. No ground for boasting! None! Whatever!

Consequently, there will be no one on the day of judgment who will be justified who has not in some measure been a doer of the law. For only those who truly believe, and are justified by faith alone, do what the law calls for, namely, reborn deeds of love in conscious dependence on the grace of Jesus alone. So the doers of the law, and the doers alone (not those who merely possess it)—they will be justified. And in Romans 2 this functions as a polemic against those Jews who thought that mere possession of the Torah guaranteed a right standing in covenant with God.

More Resources on the Reformation

Justin Taylor recently posted again on Reformation resources at Between Two Worlds. Click here for books and here for a lecture.

Jesus' Last Sermon

This Lord's Day sermon at NCC should be compulsory listening in the evangelical world as a model of how Matt. 25:31-46 needs to be understood and applied. In the hands of many sinners and preachers and teachers, who should be ashamed, it's been mangled almost beyond recognition in our day. But O'Donnell brings the clear teaching of Jesus with clear instruction as a workman who need not be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.

"A Wild Ass" Sniffing About

Commenting on Jer. 2:24, Raymond Ortlund Jr. says this:

The harlot of Judah is "a wild ass," such as roams untamed in the wilderness. Restlessly sniffing for the scent of a male, her lust is out of control. The males of the species may spare themselves any effort, for when she is in heat she is the one who initiates the pursuit. The disgusting image of the covenant people driven with animal craving to be sexually satisfied by someone, anyone, shocks and offends. It was meant to.

—Raymond C. Ortlund Jr., Whoredom (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996), 87-88.

Where are American churches whoring about today? Under what trees do we spread our legs? What are we sniffing after? We ought not to kid ourselves. We need to understand our times and historical location. There is idolatry—whoredom!—virtually everywhere. So let's heed: "Repent! For the kingdom of God is at hand!"

Resources on Depression

Here are some good resources for battling depression.

Ron Paul, Enemy of Liberty?

There's a lot to like about Ron Paul. But we ought not to be naïve. There's a lot to like in part because he gets so much right; but there's also a lot to like just because the alternatives are so bad. Here's a good post that points out why unqualified support of Paul makes little scriptural sense. I point to this not because I don't think we should respect the man, nor because I don't believe he's a good man. Regarding the former: I think we should; and about the latter: I think he is. Yet, one can see and hear and feel the hitches and catches in his political machine. So, as Wilson says, if you're going to vote for him, as I may well do, do so with your eyes open. But don't vote for him with the same kind of naïveté that accompanied the vote for the guy we're now stuck with—stuck with, that is, with eyes wide open, mouths agape, aghast. 

Buynan's Apology

Well, I've stepped onto the path with Buynan. And I'm eager to move forward. The introduction was helpful orientation. And two things grabbed me in the "Author's Apology" and make me want to journey forward: First, the poetry there arrests me as I recall that Buynan was a tinker with no formal education. There's a lesson here for us, for those who think too much of credentials (namely, all Americans): don't despise God's good gifts that come without the world's "letters of recommendation." Second, he tells us why he felt free to write a theological allegory when criticism was coming his way for doing so: he simply gets his method from the nature of the Bible. The Bible overflows with figurative language; Scripture courses with typology and parables; Holy Writ contains mostly narrative and poetry. It is not mainly discursive! (Important as that is!)

Here's a sample reason Buynan gives for his approach (p. 6):

Solidity, indeed becomes the Pen
Of him that writeth things Divine to Men:
But must I needs want solidness, because
By Metaphors I speak? Were not God's Laws
His Gospel-Laws, in olden times held forth
By Types, Shadows, and Metaphors?
Will any sober Man be to find fault
With them, lest he be found for to assault
The highest Wisdom: No, he rather stoops,
And seeks to find out what by Pins and Loops,
By Calves, and Sheep, by Heifers, and by Rams;
By Birds and Herbs, and by the blood of Lambs,
God speaketh to him; and happy is he
That finds the Light and Grace that in them be.

And here's the effect, he says, of such powerful language (p. 7):

Some Truth, although in Swadling-clouts, I find,
Reforms the Judgment, rectifies the Mind;
Pleases the Understanding, makes the Will
Submit: The Memory too it doth fill
With what doth our Imaginations please;
Likewise, it tends our Troubles to appease.

Buynan, an uneducated man, was a biblical and theological giant. Already I can see why C. H. Spurgeon said of him that if pricked he'd bleed bibline. And so in Buynan's shadow on the path to paradise I'm ready to make the journey, trodding where he and so many others have trodden, one step at a time: right, and then left; right, and then left; and so on to the celestial city.

Once again, you may find the text we're reading here.

Resources for Reformation Day

Here are some resources for Reformation Day.

Blessed Is the Man Who Fears YHWH

Psalm 112 calls God's people to praise! For it describes the lot of the righteous. And the righteous, we are told right away, are those who fear YHWH: "Blessed is the man who fears YHWH, who greatly delights in his commands" (Ps. 112:1). As so often in Scripture (e.g., Prov. 8:13), so also here we are told what the fear of YHWH is. Here the coloring of what it means to fear is full of delight, delight in the commands of God.

God's commands are not burdensome, that is, for those who love and delight in the One who gives them. See that they are his commands. That pronoun is not a throwaway word! It's worth meditating on! The godly never forget the Giver of the imperative. The godly ever rivet their attention on the Giver, looking through every command to the Lord, Maker, and Redeemer of all as the Delight and Satisfaction of the soul. With Augustin, in rapturous joy and brokenness, the godly cry out to God, "Command what you will, and grant what you command!"

As you consider Psalm 112, consider two additional things: first, the blessings that come in the path of fearing YHWH; second, the character of those who fear YHWH. Pleasant surprises await you in this short, powerful psalm.

Not My Will, but Yours Be Done

Another Lutheran prayer, this time for God's will to guide and govern ours:

Give us grace to willingly acknowledge and bear all sickness, poverty, shame, suffering, and misfortune as coming from your divine will to crucify ours. Grant that we may gladly suffer injury, and guard us against seeking revenge. Let us not repay evil for evil, nor oppose force with force. But let us have pleasure in your will which permits these to come upon us, and let us give praise and thanks to you. 

When something opposes our will, let us not attribute it to the devil or wicked people, but to your will that regulates all things that they might hinder our will and that your kingdom may be blessed. According to your will, help us not to be disobedient through impatience and despair but to leave this life cheerfully and obediently. 

Help that our eyes, tongue, heart, hands, feet, and bodily organs may not be left to their own inclinations but be held, bound, and controlled by your will. Guard us against our own stubborn, cruel, obstinate, selfish will. Amen. 

 —Martin Luther, Luther's Prayers (ed. Herbert F. Brokering; Augsberg: Minneapolis, 1994), 31.

Preacher: Avoid Being Too Long

C. H. Spurgeon's counsel on the sermon's length:

A man with a great deal of well-prepared matter will probably not exceed forty minutes; when he has less to say he will go on for fifty minutes, and when he has absolutely nothing to say he will need an hour to say it in.

—“Attention,” in Lectures to My Students, Book I, 145.

The Age of the Screen

Al Mohler's recent post on the influence of media on children, particularly the television, really should be read by all Christian parents. It's a quick read, too, just a few minutes. But it's undoubtedly worth mulling over the implications every day and setting wise trajectories in the home that make a difference for generations. Of particular interest in this post is the concern of the American Academy of Pediatrics about the effects of screens on children.

God's Actions in Human Actions

In his chapter on Ezra in Theological Interpretation of the Old Testament, John J. Bimson says this about God's sovereign actions:

Ezra 6:14 is particularly telling. The writer informs us that the temple was completed by "command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia." Araxerxes actually reigned after the period mentioned in vv. 14-15, but he is included because all three Persian kings fulfilled the command of the God of Israel. The eye of faith does not sharply divide the acts of God from the actions of human rulers (136).

—John J. Bimson, "Ezra," in Theological Interpretation of the Old Testament (eds. Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Craig G. Bartholomew, and Daniel J. Treier; Grand Rapids: Baker, 2008), 132-136.

Justification Is for Distressed Sinners

Owen says this "To The Reader" in the beginning of his work The Doctrine of Justification by Faith (vol. 5, Banner of Truth, p. 3):

It is in vain to recommend the doctrine of justification unto them who neither desire nor endeavor to be justified. But where any persons are really made sensible of their apostasy from God, of the evil of their natures and lives, with the dreadful consequences that attend thereon, in the wrath of God and eternal punishment due unto sin, they cannot well judge themselves more concerned in any thing than in the knowledge of that divine way whereby they may be delivered from this condition. And the minds of such persons stand in no need of arguments to satisfy them in the importance of this doctrine; their own concernment in it is sufficient to that purpose. And I shall assure them that, in the handling of it, from first to last, I have had no other design but only to inquire diligently into the divine revelation of that way, and those means, with the causes of them, whereby the conscience of a distressed sinner may attain assured peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. I lay more weight on the steady direction of one soul in this inquiry, than on disappointing the objections of twenty wrangling or fiery disputers.

I love that John Owen, world-class scholar though he was, was more of a pastor than anything else. As I've just begun reading this book on justification, I'm struck straightaway with Owen's concern that his defense and exposition of the doctrine not degenerate into ugly disputation, academic posturing, sophisticated distinctions, and one-upmanship. He wants sinners who know themselves to be sinners to walk in the path of peace and obedience, cleansed from their guilty consciences, freed from the power of canceled sin. The "Christian" academician (and pastor) in North America and Europe today should sit at his feet, get converted, and learn how to defend the faith and feed the lambs.

Crybabies in the Wealthy West

Follow this link for some sober perspective on Occupy Wall Street.

Preacher: Spread Your Table Quickly

C. H. Spurgeon's counsel on the preacher's introduction:

As a rule, do not make the introduction too long. It is always a pity to build a great porch to a little house. . . . Spread your table quickly, and have done with the clatter of the knives and the plates. . . . I prefer to make the introduction of my sermon very like that of the town-crier, who rings his bell and cries, "Oh, yes! Oh, yes! This is to give notice," merely to let people know that he has news for them, and wants them to listen. To do that, the introduction should have something striking in it. It is well to fire a startling shot as the signal gun to clear the decks for action. Do not start at the full pitch and tension of your mind, but yet in such way that all will be led to expect a good time. 

 —“Attention,” in Lectures to My Students, Book I, 143.

Joining Together to Journey with Christian

Emily, her brother Ruslan, and I will soon begin our journey with Christian through that immortal classic The Pilgrim's Progress by John Buynan. Being as we are on pilgrimage in this world toward our heavenly abode, faced with fierce trials and temptations, acutely aware our own weaknesses, as well as the surpassing worth of the reward for finishing in faith, it has seemed urgently fitting to us to get help for each step along the way. One way to do this is to look to those who've gone before and finished the course well. What follows then is the plan we'll be following as we sit at the feet of Buynan, listening and learning how to press onward. Please feel free to join us for the journey. Even more, we compel you with love to do so. We'd love to make the trek with you. The more, the merrier.

The Pilgrim’s Progress (Reading Schedule)

Read the following pages by the dates listed:

Oct. 31—Introduction and the author’s apology
Nov. 14—pp. 11-36
Nov. 28—pp. 37-62
Dec. 12—pp. 63-88
Jan. 2—pp. 89-114
Jan. 16—115-139

Jan. 30—pp. 140-165 (end of part 1)
Feb. 13—pp. 166-176 (beginning of part 2)
Feb. 27—pp. 177-202 (part 2)
Mar. 12—pp. 203-228
Mar. 26—pp. 229-254
Apr. 9—pp. 255-279
Apr. 23—pp. 280-298
May 7—pp.299-314

Reading the whole book will take a little over six months. The pace is typically about 25 pages every two weeks, though there are a few times when the pace is slower, and during the Christmas season the reading is spread over three weeks. In other words, this pace is very manageable. You’ll quickly notice, no doubt, that the allotted readings probably do not round off narrative sections very well. So it’s okay to read to a point that seems like a more natural break. With a book like this, I judged it best simply to apportion sections for digestion that are roughly equal. In any case, Buynan himself does not break the book up nicely for us. The Penguin Classics edition we'll be reading may be found here.

Here’s my recommendation for how to read this. Try to read the scheduled reading either in one sitting, trying to see the whole flow of the narrative. Or, read it devotionally and prayerfully in smaller portions early in the morning along with your Bible reading, especially for those sections that seem to be speaking most to your soul.

Also, try answering a few questions: 1) What is the main point or theme or movement in the scheduled section? 2) Does the story told, or the instruction embedded within it, disagree at all with biblical teaching? 3) What are the immediate applications for your journey toward our heavenly homeland?

Lastly, I urge you to commit your life and soul to God afresh with each reading according to what the Lord has been pleased to teach you. Meditate on the instruction, hold communion with God in it, and pray for his heavenly help to press on in the pilgrimage. The journey is hazardous, the path is long and hard, his reward at the end is very great, and he will never leave you or forsake you along the way.

Missionalotry

Here is a good post on missionalotry that is worth pondering. Not all of it hits home; in fact, much of it won't if you're not among a certain slice of the YRR, for example. But, as I said, it is definitely worth pondering, and not least the discussion about overlooking personal holiness within the church because of an outward focus.

How Could a Good God Allow Suffering?

Have a listen to D. A. Carson's message on suffering for solid biblical foundations, wisdom, and hope for the coming day of your pain. Carson is one of those rare scholars with pastoral sensitivities, and so he's worth reading and hearing above most. His book on suffering, How Long, O Lord: Reflections on Suffering and Evil, should be compulsory reading in our churches. I devoured that book years ago and have never regretted spending so much time in it.

Your Kingdom Come!

Another Lutheran prayer, this one for the coming of God's kingdom:

Help us to remain so steadfast that your coming kingdom will include and complete your kingdom begun here. Lead us out of this sinful and dangerous life. Help us to be willing to let go of this life and to long for the life that is to come. Enable us not to dread death but to welcome it. Release us from the love and attachments of this life, so that your kingdom may be totally completed in us. Amen. 

 —Martin Luther, Luther's Prayers (ed. Herbert F. Brokering; Augsberg: Minneapolis, 1994), 30-31.

Vigilant Virgins

This last Lord's Day, Pastor Doug O'Donnell preached from Mt. 25:1-13 on the King's coming. The upshot of the sermon was this: "Watch!" "Stay awake!" "Don't grow sleepy!" "Be ready!" "Persevere!" "Take heed!" "For you know neither the day nor the hour" (Mt. 25:13).

So the Church's watchword is: "Watch!" Would we be like the vigilant virgins? If so, we must "watch and pray, lest we enter into temptation. The Spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Mt. 26:41).

A Divided Kingdom Cannot Stand

The Lord Jesus teaches us this about kingdoms (and countries and congresses and so on): "If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand" (Mk. 3:24-25). How does our overweening confidence in ourselves as Americans stand up to the word of Jesus? "Yes we can!" Sound familiar? But, no we can't! Not divided as we are, having forsaken the one true and living God. How does our "exceptionalism" stand up to Jesus' words? Well, either we believe Jesus or we believe ourselves. Who's it going to be? As for me and my house. . . .

America, divided as it is, no longer one nation under the true and living God whose name is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, cannot stand. She will fall. On the authority of the risen Christ I confidently make this assertion. The only question is, "How long, O Lord?" And about this I have no confidence. That is in the Lord's hands.

I still also cherish a hope in God's mercy that he may grant repentance to our land beyond all we could ask or think, starting with repentance in his faithless church, starting with her disobedient leaders. Do it, O Lord, for the sake of your great name! Have mercy upon us, O God, for we have forsaken you. Leave us not to ourselves, King of the nations, for vain is the help of man. Save us, O Savior, for we cannot save ourselves.

Courageous

Well, Em and I went and saw the film Courageous. We both thought it was good and fairly well done (much better than other films we've seen in recent years with overtly Christian themes). It's worth seeing. In fact, a group of men from our church are going to see it together for a men's outing. It'd be a good one to do with kids, too, and then follow it up with a lunch or dinner to talk about it. Manhood issues are huge today, among the greatest concerns of our day, I believe, and we need to think about these things much more than we are accustomed to doing. This is but one tool toward repairing the ruins.

We ought to pray and labor for more of this sort of thing being done, and being done better and better. Christians are only beginning to make a go at using all manner of media to the glory of Christ and the edification of his Church. For it to reach full bloom, however, we desperately need revival and reformation within the languishing North American church. To move us away from a truncated and privatized faith, and toward a worldviewish and all-encompassing faith, we need the Spirit to blow through our hearts, homes, churches, and (not insignificantly) our schools. (On second thought, we need the Spirit to create new schools to blow through.) We need worldviewish preaching and teaching that exalts Jesus as Lord of all. As Abraham Kuyper once famously said, there is not one square inch of the universe over which the risen Christ does not say, "Mine!" So come, Holy Spirit, come.

Till then, let us be thankful for efforts like Courageous. But let's pray and labor and long for more of the same, and even greater works than these. There's far more work to be done.

A Woman's Place in Christ's Kingdom

I love the passion narratives of the Gospel accounts. And here's one reason why: they're shot through with delightful and powerful irony. One I'm currently enjoying from Mark 16 is how the resurrection of Jesus was first revealed to women. Now you say: So what? What's so ironic about that? Well, in the first century, a woman's testimony would not be accepted in Jewish courts, and Greco-Roman society placed women in a lowly place.[1] But God's kingdom is an upside-down kingdom. God loves to invert our order. And so the risen Jesus appears first to women. And it is upon their testimony, at least in part, that we depend for access to history about Jesus. I love it.

This is also, incidentally, a powerful apologetic point. That women are among the eyewitnesses, when their testimony was not valued in first century civil society, powerfully attests to the veracity of the recorded history. Why else would Mark have recorded the women as the first eyewitnesses unless it was true?

Now consider an example from the Gospel according to Mark where he presents the revelation of the resurrection of Christ (Mk.16:1ff). Notice how prominently Mary Magdalene figures in the story. She is mentioned four times (Mk.15:40, 47; 16:1, 9). Why the repetition? Well, simply stated, Mary’s prominence points out her importance. Stated more fully, Mary, a social and moral outsider (a scandalously sinful woman who had been demon-possessed), becomes an insider with a privileged place at the dénouement of the narrative. And why? Surely to say something about the kind of kingdom King Jesus brings. Since, as noted, a woman’s testimony would not have been accepted in Jewish courts, and Greco-Roman society placed women in a lowly place, Mark does something strange, something unexpected, something ironic. 

Well, what does he do? He turns the status quo on its head. Would not all expect the king, if he really did rise from the dead, to show himself to the male religious and political elites of the day? But he does not do that, for he came not for the righteous, but for sinners (Mk. 2:17); he came to plunder the strong man’s house (Mk. 3:27); he came for the leper, the lame, the loser (Mk. 1:40; 2:3, 14); he came for the social outsider. He came for Mary. And the epithet given to her—“who had had seven demons” (Mk.16:9)—shows that she is not the woman she was. Following Christ's cross-work and resurrection, she is a redeemed, renewed woman in Christ’s kingdom—new creation! And she even has a prominent and pivotal place in that kingdom. 

Oh bless God for the blessed irony of the Gospel!

---

[1] James A. Brooks, Mark (Nashville: B & H Publishing, 1991), 271.

A Lutheran Prayer for a United Church

I've been reading, almost every morning, a prayer written by Martin Luther (1483-1546). Here was a man who went after the heart of God! He prayed boldly, persistently, and believingly. And his confidence to be heard was that he came in the name of God's Christ, in whom the Father calls his children to come and promises to hear their pleas.

So here's a Lutheran prayer, prayed for a united love, which I pray for my local church, New Covenant Church in Naperville. The spirit of this prayer accords wonderfully with the Spirit of love.

Luther addressing God the Father:

It is also your will that we should not individually name you Father but together call you our Father and united pray for all. So give us a united love that we may know and consider all to be brothers and sisters. United we ask you, our beloved Father, for each and all, even as one child speaks for another to its father. Amen.   

—Martin Luther, Luther's Prayers (ed. Herbert F. Brokering; Augsberg: Minneapolis, 1994), 27.

Praying Confidently in Faith

Luther praying confidently in faith:

O God and Father, I do not doubt that the things for which I have prayed are promised, not because I prayed for them, but because you have commanded me to pray and have surely promised to grant them. God, I am certain that you keep your promise and cannot deceive us. It is not the worthiness of my prayer but the certainty of your truth that makes me firmly believe beyond doubt that it will be and remain yes and amen. Amen.

—Martin Luther, Luther's Prayers (ed. Herbert F. Brokering; Augsberg: Minneapolis, 1994), 26.

Finish the Mission Conference Messages

The audio and video from "Finishing the Mission" are now available at Desiring God. Sessions 2, 4, and 7 are particularly worth watching or listening to. Em, Ruslan, and I were agreed, I think, that these were the best messages and worth listening to again and again.

What Is Worldliness?

David Wells on worldliness:

Worldliness is not simply an innocent cultural escapade, still less a matter merely of inconsequential breaches in behavior or the breaking of trivial rules of the church or the expected practices of piety. Worldliness is a religious matter. The world, as the New Testament authors speak of it, is an alternative to God. It offers itself as an alternative center of allegiance. It provides counterfeit meaning. It is the means used by Satan in his warfare with God. To be part of that "world" is to be part of the Satanic hostility to God. That is why worldliness is so often idolatrous and why the biblical sanctions against it are so stringent. "Do you not know," asks James, "that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God" (James 4:4).  

Today, evangelicalism reverberates with worldliness. In first impressions, this worldliness does not appear ugly at all. Quite the opposite. It maintains a warm and friendly countenance, parading itself as successful entrepreneurship, organizational wizardry, and a package of slick public relations insights that are essential to the facilitation of evangelical business.

—David Wells, God in the Wasteland: The Reality of Truth in a World of Fading Dreams (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994), 54. 

(Written almost twenty years ago, Well's analysis still holds profound relevance and insight for our worldly world. And I do not think that this indictment of evangelicalism has been adequately heeded. Worldliness so pervades the "evangelical" church that it is hardly ever identified as worldliness anymore.)

Luther's Prayers Against Temptation

Luther praying for help against temptation:

We are weak and sick, O Father, and the temptations of the flesh and the world are great and many. O Father, keep us, and let us not fall again into temptation and sin. Give us grace that we may remain steadfast and fight bravely to the end. Without your grace and help we can do nothing. Amen.

And again:

Since evil blocks our way with temptation and brings us in conflict with sin, dear Father, deliver us from it. Redeemed from all sin and evil according to your will, may we belong to your kingdom to praise, honor, and hallow you forever. Amen.

—Martin Luther, Luther's Prayers (ed. Herbert F. Brokering; Augsberg: Minneapolis, 1994), 25.

Finish the Mission Conference

Em and I are taking a short vacation with Em's brother in Minneapolis this weekend. The occasion: the global glory and cause of Christ. It's Desiring God's national conference: Finish the Mission. Em and I have gone for years now. It's been our main vacation. Beats the beach any day!

Living in the suburbs of Chicago surrounded by Middle America concerns 24/7, this weekend should prove to be a corrective. Surrounded by worldliness, a vision of the Church's mission should prove salutary. At least that's my prayer. And I also pray that my brother-in-law Ruslan will be stirred to persevere toward the goal of one day doing missionary work in the Ukraine, his birthplace.

The Beautiful and the Ugly

See Pastor Steve Brandon's post on these two views of marriage when the going gets tough. Here we have the ugly over against the beautiful, infidelity versus faithfulness, lies face to face with the gospel. (Be sure to watch the two videos.) Which will yours be? By the grace of God, as for us, we already settled this one at the altar. As we declared then—all to the glory of God, whose faithfulness in Christ endures forever!

Literary Criticism: What Is Plot?

What is plot? According to Aristotle, it is a continuous sequence of events or actions with a beginning, middle, and end. He says, "A beginning is that which does not itself follow necessarily from something else, but after which a further event or process naturally occurs. An end, by contrast, is that which itself naturally occurs, whether necessarily or usually, after a preceding event, but need not be followed by anything else. A middle is that which both follows a preceding event, and has further consequences" (Aristotle, Poetics 7 (1450 27-31; trans. Halliwell, LCL)).

According to James Resseguie, plot "is the designing principle that contributes to our understanding of the meaning of a narrative. More concretely, the plot is the sequence of events or incidents that make up a narrative (James L. Resseguie, Narrative Criticism of the New Testament: An Introduction (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2005), 198).

Who Is the Holy Spirit?

Expounding the doctrine of the Spirit from 1 Cor. 2, John Owen asks, "Who is this Spirit?" He answers, of course, with scriptural clarity (unlike so many fuzzy, cloudy claims to truth today):

The apostle [Paul] tells us that the "judgments of God are unsearchable, and his ways past finding out' (Rom. 11:33); and he asketh, "Who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?" (Rom. 11:34). And yet this Spirit is said to "search all things, yea, the deep things of God" (1 Cor. 2:10), such as to all creatures are absolutely unsearchable and past finding out. This, then, is the Spirit of God himself, who is God also; for so it is in the prophet from whence these words are taken: "Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him?" (Isa. 40:13).

—John Owen, "Pneumatologia," Works, vol. 3, p.79.

Christ's Infinite Purchase

Q: What did the crucified Christ purchase for his people?

A: "The Holy Ghost immediately communicates to us the thing purchased by communicating himself, and he is the thing purchased. The sum of all that Christ purchased for man was the Holy Ghost. . . . What Christ purchased for us, was that we have communion with God in his good, which consists in partaking of the Holy Ghost. . . . All the blessedness of the redeemed consists in their partaking of Christ's fullness, which consists in partaking of that Spirit which is given not by measure unto him (Jonathan Edwards, "Discourse on the Trinity," Works, vol. 21, Yale, p. 136).

Filial Boldness Modeled by Luther

One of Luther's prayers:

Lord God, heavenly Father, I ask for and need assurance that my petitions may be nothing less than yes and amen. Otherwise I will not pray or have intercession made for me. Not that I am righteous or worthy, for I know very well and confess that I am unworthy. With my great and many sins I have earned your eternal wrath and hell fire. 

But because you command and constrain me to pray in the name of your dear Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, I am still somewhat obedient. Not because of my own righteousness, but because of your infinite goodness, do I kneel or stand before you. I pray for what is upon my heart concerning those in need of your help. If you do not help them, O Lord, you will offend and dishonor your name. Surely you will save your reputation so that the world will not say you are an ungracious and a dreadful God. Preserve us from such misfortune. 

Remember, dear heavenly Father, how you have at all times supported and helped your people. I will not stop knocking but will continue crying aloud and pleading to the end of my life. Amen.

—Martin Luther, Luther's Prayers (ed. Herbert F. Brokering; Augsberg: Minneapolis, 1994), 17-18.


(Incidentally, note how much Scripture has informed and shaped this prayer! It's everywhere. Luther was full of Scripture. I don't think he was looking up verses when he composed these prayers. I think they just came out reflexively as he expressed his desperate need and sincere faith.) 

The Business of Ministers

C. H. Spurgeon on the ministry of ministers of the Gospel: "Our business as ministers, when the young lambs are brought in, is to remember the injunction, 'Feed my lambs'; take care of them; give them plenty of meat" (Spurgeon's Sermons, vol. 3, Baker, 238).

Can this be accomplished in our churches with one thirty-five minute shot per week, however good that message may be? What else must a minister do to ensure a steady diet of the Word of God in the life of his flock? What else must he do by way of caring for his people to see to it that the Word of God nourishes and strengthens each and every lamb?

Calvinism Everywhere, Part 36

Well, I'm rounding off the series on "Calvinism Everywhere" with this post. We shall never leave our subject matter, however; how could we? We'd have to cease existing to get away from it, that is, away from the sovereignty of God everywhere.

As I said in an earlier post, much of Chronicles covers the same ground that was covered trekking through Judges, Samuel, and Kings. This is certainly true for 2 Chronicles. With this final post, I'm simply going to cite the starkest texts that highlight what we've been going on about. In part I'm doing this feeling the press of other responsibilities (I do hope to expand and refine this brief study on Calvinism, Lord willing, at a later date). In some cases, the verses cited alone will not give you enough sense of what is going on in context unless you know 2 Chronicles well. I hope you will peruse the texts in their contexts and be moved to bow low, knees knocking, before your mighty Maker. He is the Holy One of Israel, Lord of all.

Now, Calvinism everywhere in 2 Chronicles: 2 Chr. 7:13; 10:15; 11:4; 12:2, 7-8; 13:16; 15:6; 20:37; 21:14-18; 22:7; 24:24; 25:20; 26:20; 28:5; 28:20; 30:12; 33:10-11; 35:22; 36:17, 22.

Behold your God!

The Infinite Society or Family of the Three

Speaking of "the society or family of the three," Jonathan Edwards speaks of realities with which we should all be caught up with with rapturous joy and delight (Works, vol. 21, Yale, 135):

They [the holy Trinity] are equal in honor besides the honor which is common to 'em all, viz., that they are all God; each has his peculiar honor in the society or family. They are equal not only in essence. The Father's honor is that he is as it were the author of perfect and divine wisdom. The Son's honor is that he is that perfect and divine wisdom itself, the excellency of which is that from whence arises the honor of being the author or generator of it. The honor of the Father and the Son is that they are infinitely excellent, or that from them infinite excellency proceeds. But the honor of the Holy Ghost is equal, for he is that divine excellency and beauty itself. 'Tis the honor of the Father and the Son that they are infinitely holy and are the fountain of holiness; but the honor of the Holy Ghost is that he is that holiness itself. The honor of the Father and the Son is, they are infinitely happy and are the original and fountain of happiness; and the honor of the Holy Ghost is equal, for he is infinite happiness and joy itself. The honor of the Father is that he is the fountain of the Deity, or he from whom proceed both divine wisdom and also excellency and happiness. The honor of the Son is equal, for he is himself the divine wisdom, and is he from whom proceeds the divine excellency and happiness. And the honor of the Holy Ghost is equal, for he is the beauty and happiness of both the other persons.

Oh to be swallowed up in the life of this holy and happy society!