What Do You Rejoice In?

D. A. Carson:

THE STORY IS TOLD of Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, one of the most influential preachers of the twentieth century. When he was dying of cancer, one of his friends and former associates asked him, in effect, “How are you managing to bear up? You have been accustomed to preaching several times a week. You have begun important Christian enterprises; your influence has extended through tapes and books to Christians on five continents. And now you have been put on the shelf. You are reduced to sitting quietly, sometimes managing a little editing. I am not so much asking therefore how you are coping with the disease itself. Rather, how are you coping with the stress of being out of the swim of things?”  

Lloyd-Jones responded in the words of Luke 10: “Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (10:20 – though of course Lloyd-Jones would have cited the King James Version).

—D. A. Carson, For the Love of God, Volume 1 (Wheaton: Crossway, 1998), February 24.

A Unified Salvation History on Display in the Gospels

"Even a cursory survey indicates that each of the Gospels is firmly yet distinctively embedded in Israel's story through its respective selection and use of OT texts."

—Brian Rosner, "Salvation, History of," DTIB: 714–717.

They Never Know a Moment's Peace

Commenting on Isa. 57:20 in a sermon on Mt. 5:5-7 and Lk. 6:20-21, Calvin remarks:

Only those blinded by vanity, lies, and prejudice will fail to see how true Isaiah's prophecy is. We all know how it is with those who prey like wolves upon their fellow-men, who rob and devour and who, out of arrogance and pride, try to gain all they can. They never know a moment's peace. They may own the earth, they may be mighty lords, yet, wherever they tread, they are like dead men. For all their castles and fortresses and well-armed guards, the fact remains they are in prison. In the open field and with a numerous escort, they are insecure, in a constant state of fear and trembling.

—John Calvin, Sermons on the Beatitudes, transl. Robert White (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 2006), 35.

How the Early Church Multiplied

Acts 9:31 states one of a handful of summary statements that Luke provides periodically throughout the book of Acts. And I just wish to point out a simple observation about the biblical balance of the work wrought by the Spirit of the risen Lord Jesus among those earliest of disciples.

Take a look at what we're told about how the church multiplied in Acts 9:31. It did not multiply merely "in the fear of the Lord." Nor did it multiply merely in "the comfort of the Holy Spirit." But "walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, [the church] multiplied."

And that is the biblical balance we must pray down and seek. If we say what we need is "the fear of the Lord," that's well and good. But if "the comfort of the Holy Spirit" is missing, something huge is missing for multiplication. If we say what we need is "the comfort of the Holy Spirit," well and good as well. But if "the fear of the Lord" is missing, something crucial is missing for multiplication of the church of God.

So it's a both/and, not an either/or thing. Biblical balance. Let's seek it.

The Apostolic Proclamation

A good friend and I have been noting for years the centrality of the resurrection in apostolic preaching (particularly in Acts). And yet Evangelicals tend to stress the cross in the proclamation (not that the cross ought not to be right at the heart of preaching!).

Craig Blomberg notes the apostolic focus as well:

Throughout the book of Acts, early Christian preachers announce not the crucifixion, as we might have expected from Mark, but the resurrection as the central feature that gives Jesus' life and death significance (e.g., Acts 2:24-36; 13:30-37; 17:18; 23:6).

—Craig Blomberg, Jesus and the Gospels: An Introduction and Survey (Nashville: B&H, 2009), 162.

Far Too Easily Pleased

C. S. Lewis:

The New Testament has lots to say about self-denial, but not about self-denial as an end in itself. We are told to deny ourselves and to take up our crosses in order that we may follow Christ; and nearly every description of what we shall ultimately find if we do so contains an appeal to desire. If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

—C. S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory (SanFrancisco: HarperCollines, 2001), 25–26.

Sons of Abraham from All Eternity

It is well known and often pointed out that Luke 19:10 states the great theme (or at least one of the great themes) of Luke's account of the gospel of the kingdom. "The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." That's a dominant element, if not the dominant element, in Luke's message.

Just before this verse there is a peculiar and striking word from Jesus about Zacchaeus' salvation. Zacchaeus repents of his sin (Lk. 19:8) and manifests that repentance with "fruits in keeping with repentance" (Lk. 3:8). Then Jesus says, "Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham" (19:9).

Now take careful notice of the order. The dependent clause beginning with "since" gives the reason salvation comes to Zacchaeus' house. To say what it is not saying, in order to see what it is saying, Zacchaeus does not become a son of Abraham because salvation comes to his house. No. It's the other way around. Salvation comes to Zacchaeus' house because he is a son of Abraham. His being a son of Abraham is why Jesus came to seek and save him.

So it's clearer now why Jesus says in v. 5 that he "must stay at [Zacchaeus'] house today." He had to stay at his house because it was the next stop in seeking and saving the lost—the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

So we better take this to heart, and let it deeply move and affect us inwardly right the way to the bottom of our beings. Jesus seeks and saves, and salvation comes to us not because of anything we've done—but because we're chosen from all eternity as sons of Abraham.

Incidentally, note well the tension between 19:9 and 3:8, and engage in doing theology to figure out what this must imply. It seems it must mean one of two things. Either this man was a Jew, and so there is an "Israel within Israel" (cf. Rom. 9:6). Or, if Zacchaeus was a Gentile, then there are true Jews who are Jews, not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit, that is, who are circumcised in heart (Rom. 2:28-29; cf. 9:8; Phil. 3:3).

The Synoptic Problem, Questioning Q, and Satan

Peter Leithart:

If the view of the church fathers explains the gospels, and does so fairly simply, why do scholars have to invent a complicated "synoptic problem" and resolve it with a mythical document called "Q"? 

There are many answers to that question, but at base the answer is that much of modern New Testament scholarship is a Satanic attack on the truth and reliability of the gospel of Jesus. . . . This is not to say that New Testament scholars themselves are demonic. They aren't. But New Testament scholarship is an arena of spiritual battle, where we fight not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers and rulers of wickedness. 

—The Four: A Survey of the Gospels (Moscow, ID: Canon Press, 2010), 101.

God's Father-Love in the School of Prayer

A good lesson in the school of prayer:

The knowledge of God's Father-love is the first and simplest, but also the last and highest lesson in the school of prayer. Prayer begins in a personal relationship with the living God as well as a personal, conscious fellowship of love with Him. In the knowledge of God's Fatherliness revealed by the Holy Spirit, the power of prayer will root and grow. The life of prayer has its joy in the infinite tenderness, care, and patience of an infinite Father who is read to hear and help.

—Andrew Murray, With Christ in the School of Prayer (Springdale: Whitaker House, 1981), 31.

Dear Father, Deliver Us From All Evil

A Lutheran prayer for God's protection from all evil:

Dear Father, give us our daily bread, good seasons, and health. Protect us from war, disease, and drought. If you would tempt me a bit by withholding your blessings for a while, then your will be done. If my time is up and my hour has come, deliver me from all evil. If not, give me strength and patience. Amen.

—Martin Luther, Luther's Prayers (ed. Herbert F. Brokering; Augsberg: Minneapolis, 1994), 95.

Meekness Is not Weakness

"Meekness is not weakness, but is what you get when a powerful wild horse has been tamed (all the same power, but now under control)."

—N. T. Wright, Paul for Everyone: The Prison Letters (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2002), 182.

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.

Calvinism Everywhere, Part 34

A striking recounting of Saul's death is retold in 1 Chronicles 10. Striking, because we're told two truths side by side: that Saul killed himself (1 Chr. 10:4); and that YHWH took his life (1 Chr. 10:13-14). Saul's breach of faith with the LORD ultimately ends in suicide—a suicide wherein YHWH is said to have put Saul to death! That's what the text says! Read it carefully, and again I say, Behold your God! And again I say, Bow low in worship before him! He is Lord of all, or he's not Lord at all.

We read of the same sort of thing again in the case of Judas. He went out and hung himself after betraying the Son of God (Mt. 27:5). For the Scriptures had predicted this, and the Scriptures must be fulfilled (Jn. 13:18-19, 25-27; cf. Acts 1:16). This all happened that we might know that Jesus is YHWH (Jn. 13:19; see the Greek), and YHWH is the uncontested Lord who alone rules human history.

What is Necessary for a Good Prayer

Martin Luther was a man who knew how to pray. And so it is good to listen to his counsel on this matter. It is especially good for those of us who, with undoubtedly virtually every last modern American, scarcely know what it means to be devoted to prayer.

What follows is from the introduction to a sermon Luther preached in 1519 called "On Rogationtide Prayer and Procession":

Two things are necessary so that a prayer is good and so that it is heard. First, we must have a promise or a pledge from God. We must reflect on this promise and remind God of it, and in that way be emboldened to pray with confidence. . . . No one obtains anything from God by his own virtue or the worthiness of his prayer, but solely by reason of the boundless mercy of God. . . . Second, it is necessary that we never doubt the promise of the truthful and faithful God. . . .

Sounds like 1 John 5:14-15. Now meditate on Mk. 11:24; Lk. 11:9-13; Jas. 1:5-8. And pray.

Marriage as Manifest Glory

Some years back, I believe in 2004, Doug Wilson preached 40 sermons on marriage.  Well, my wife Em and I have been listening to some of those in the evening as we relax before bed.  The third one in the series titled "The Leaden Rule" is an exposition of the golden rule applied to marriage.  Wonderfully helpful, theologically rich.  I highly commend it and the whole series. 

This is my third time through these sermons.  The first time made me want to get married (I'm serious; prior to sermon 39 in the series I had by and large strenuously resisted the idea).  The second helped prepare me for marriage (and all those invovled by extension).  The third time, now with my wife, is helping us continue to mature in our one-flesh union in order to put the gospel on display.  It is all about the gospel of the glory of the grace of God.  Pastor Wilson's sermons are theologically charged toward this end.  So have a listen!  You can get these at Canon Press.

Hallowed Be Your Name

Luther's 1519 exposition of the Lord's Prayer in volume 42 of his writings is wonderful stuff.  For the exegete and biblical theologian, elements of it may not be satisfying.  But for the pastorally and theologically minded man, it is satisfying and then some.  (Incidentally, probably no one should read Luther for precision and carefull exposition, but for theological insight and depth and pastoral sensitivity and concern, one could hardly do much better.)

In summarizing the petition "Hallowed be your name," Luther says:  The sum and substance of the petition is this:  "O dear Father, may your name be hallowed in us; that is, I confess and am sorry that I have dishonored your name so often and that in my arrogance I still defile your name by honoring my own.  Therefore, help me by your grace so that I and my name become nothing, so that only you and your name and honor may live in me." 

And so a person who accords great honor and glory to God, ascribing all to him, "will not be disturbed when dishonor and contempt are heaped on him, for he knows that it is right.  And if no one else wants to dishonor and despise him, he will do this himself.  He dislikes being lauded and exalted.  In that respect he is just, giving to God what is God's and to himself what is his, to God honor and everything else, to himself dishonor and nothing else."

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.  Amen.