Be Swift my Soul to Answer Him; Be Jubilant my Feet

1 Samuel - The King Chosen by God

2012-01-11T11:30:00.001-05:00

This entry is in the series of Thirty-Nine Reasons Jesus Came to Die, concerning the Book of First Samuel.

First Samuel records the prophetic ministry of Samuel, the transition from the time of judges to the time of kings, the calling and rejection of Saul as king, and the enmity which Saul has towards David. Within this book are many beautiful pictures of Christ; he is seen when David defeated Goliath with his own sword when Christ defeated death with death (1 Samuel 17:51). He is seen when Abigail (joy of the father) becomes the bride of David after her husband, a boorish, foolhardy, worldly man dies (1 Samuel 25:36-39); the church is seen in Abigail striving to see her family reconciled to the Messiah. Christ is evident when David goes out in order to rescue his bride and family who have been taken captive by the world (1 Samuel 30:18), and the grace of his victory is overflowing when all of David’s fellows partake in the spoils of the battle even if they weren’t involved in the battle (1 Samuel 30:24).

But the main point of First Samuel is that a king chosen by men will fall, but that a king chosen by God will stand, and that God is the true King of Israel (1 Samuel 12:12). Christ is that established and chosen king, of his kingdom there is no end.

Now behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked; behold, the LORD has set a king over you. But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king. – 1 Samuel 12:13,25

Grace to you and peace…from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. – Revelation 1:4-6

Ruth - A Nearer Kinsmen Redeemer

2011-12-23T00:00:00.003-05:00

This entry is in the series of Thirty-Nine Reasons Jesus Came to Die, concerning the Book of Ruth.

Set in the middle of Judges, most likely around the beginning of Judges 10, the Book of Ruth contains amazing prophecies for Christ and that his church would be larger than just Israel. The most obvious link to Jesus in this book is that Ruth is Jesus' great-grandmother several generations removed, and also a Gentile (Matthew 1:5). Her assimilation into not just Israel, but the salvation of God, looks forward to a time when Jesus would say, "And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd." (John 10:16)

Other important themes are the rigidness to the law (Ruth 4:4), the caring for the poor (Ruth 2:7), and the price paid for a bride who was in servitude (Ruth 4:10, 1 Corinthians 7:23).

But the main prophecy of Jesus in the book of Ruth is that of Kinsmen Redeemer. This person was able and compelled to purchase a family member out of slavery (Leviticus 25:47-49), to purchase land sold (Leviticus 25:25), and to perpetuate a lineage of a dead brother (Deuteronomy 25:5-6, Ruth 2:20). Boaz is a kinsmen redeemer of Naomi (Ruth's mother-in-law), and also Naomi's dead husband and dead sons, but he is honest that there is a nearer redeemer. In the book, the nearer redeemer waves his right in order for Boaz to be able to be both redeemer and husband to Ruth.

Jesus Christ is our Nearer Kinsmen Redeemer, a brother by our adoption (Romans 8:14-15,29), the God who created us (Colossians 1:15-16), and the one who paid the price for our ransom from slavery (1 Peter 1:18-19).

Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God. – Psalm 31:5

For I know that my Redeemer lives and at the last he will stand upon the earth. – Job 19:25

Judges - To Turn us to God

2011-12-22T23:30:00.003-05:00

This entry is in the series of Thirty-Nine Reasons Jesus Came to Die, concerning the Book of Judges.

The book of Judges is ripe with prophecy for Jesus; he is clearly seen in the humble origins of Gideon (Judges 6:15, John 7:41), questions about the legitimacy of birth like Japheth (Judges 11:2, John 9:29), and, for the first time in this study, in an anti-type, that of Samson.

Jesus is seen most beautifully in this book in his role of turning people back to God. The book of Judges has a running theme, that where there is no king or judge acting for the people, they quickly run off into idolatry. This is seen over and over and over, then a judge is appointed and routes the enemy and turns hearts back to Heaven, and then dies, and it all starts over again, until in the later chapters where no judge is rising, until Samuel comes (but that's another study for another day). The book of Judges is a narrative of straying people being led back to God.

Jesus Christ fulfills this role emphatically perfectly, and even moreso, because he lives forever, there is no occasion for his church to look for, or need, another Saviour.

For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. – 1 Peter 2:25

God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. – Acts 5:31

Joshua - Our Leader into the Promised Land

2011-12-20T13:30:00.005-05:00

This entry is in the series of Thirty-Nine Reasons Jesus Came to Die, concerning the Book of Joshua.

Joshua is an especially easy book to see Jesus in, since in Hebrew both are spelled, Jeshua. Joshua is an undeniable type for Jesus, leading his people into the promised land (John 14:6), Moses brought the people close, but the law does not lead to salvation, it only leads to Jesus (Galatians 3:24 KJV; The ESV terribly translates this verse). This is the primary prophecy for Christ in the book of Joshua, though it is certainly not the only prophecy. Jesus is seen in the scarlet cord which protected Rahab from wrath, in the leading of armies to accomplish God's purposes perfectly (Joshua 5:13-15), and once again in the new cities of refuge which provided salvation for lawbreakers.

Joshua as the leader of Israel to lead them into the promised land, both as military leader, and covenant maker (Joshua 24:25), is a beautiful look at Jesus who leads his church into Heaven, and the one who makes a perfect covenant with God for a rebellious people, so that they are saved in spite of their failure to keep the covenant.

Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long. – Psalm 25:5

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. – Hebrews 12:1-2

Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. – Hebrews 8:6-7,13

Deuteronomy - A Curse for Us

2011-12-20T08:30:00.004-05:00

This entry is in the series of Thirty-Nine Reasons Jesus Came to Die, concerning the Book of Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy is a collection of three of Moses' sermons, giving a summary of the history, laws, and covenant of Exodus through Numbers. Jesus is seen in this book as the fulfilment of the law, as the city of refuge which the lawbreaker may flee to for salvation, and in the festivals which point towards atonement with God.

Jesus is most prevalent in Deuteronomy in regards to the blessings derived from keeping the law and the curses which are wrought by breaking the law, whereby he kept the law perfectly and yet faced the curse of lawlessness. Deuteronomy is especially concerned with the consequences of sin and the justice of God. A cursory look at Deuteronomy will crush the sinner under his sin and the enmity that is put between him and God for his transgression, indeed every person who reads Deuteronomy should see that he is under great condemnation for his sins against Heaven.

Jesus Christ came to see that his people will be blessed by obedience, not their obedience, but by his obedience. "The law is not of faith, rather 'The one who does them shall live by them.' Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree'—so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith." – Galatians 3:12-14 (Deuteronomy 21:23)

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. – 2 Corinthians 5:21

Numbers - God With Us

2011-12-19T08:00:00.004-05:00

This entry is in the series of Thirty-Nine Reasons Jesus Came to Die, concerning the Book of Numbers.

Numbers tells of the wanderings of Israel in the desert for forty years; prophecy of Jesus is evident throughout, from Moses being a type of a mediator (Numbers 14:11-20), to salvation through faith (Numbers 21:9, John 3:14-15), to the promised Star and Scepter of Israel (Numbers 24:17).

Jesus Christ is most evident, however, in being an everpresent help to the people of Israel in their wanderings in the desert. He was their guide by day, their light by night, their protection in battle, and their daily provision.

"On the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony. And at evening it was over the tabernacle like the appearance of fire until morning. So it was always: the cloud covered it by day and the appearance of fire by night." – Numbers 9:15-16

"Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." – Matthew 28:20

Leviticus - The Fulfillment of the Law

2011-12-18T16:30:00.002-05:00

This entry is in the series of Thirty-Nine Reasons Jesus Came to Die, concerning the Book of Leviticus.

The book of Leviticus is exceedingly detailed in giving the laws of God; this is especially important for us because it shows us how holy and righteous God is, that he is intimately concerned with matters of morality and ceremony. He is not a God who can be worshipped in any way, and he is not a God whom can be in fellowship with sin.

For this reason the book of Leviticus is one of the most crushing books of the Bible, it shows mankind how unrighteous they are, and how righteous God is; mankind's sin has made a separation between him and God. This book, while containing viable and useful means for understanding man's role in the Mosaic Covenant, is much more relevant in pointing us to Jesus Christ.

The New Testament tells us that we "have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth" and that Jesus Christ is the "end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes." (Romans 2:20, 10:4) He himself declared, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." (Matthew 5:17)

The Bible tells us that sin is transgression against the law (1 John 3:4), this law is almost exclusively contained in the book of Leviticus, Jesus Christ was impeccable in keeping the law, as the Bible says that Jesus is, "one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin." (Hebrews 4:15) He was baptized for the reason that, "it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." (Matthew 3:15)

In the book of Leviticus we see our Saviour as the perfect fulfillment of the law, fulfilling the conditional parts of the Covenant so that we are found righteous in him, justified in our faith, for as it is written, "the righteous shall live by faith." (Romans 1:17)

Exodus - The Redeemer from Slavery

2011-12-18T16:00:00.005-05:00

This entry is in the series of Thirty-Nine Reasons Jesus Came to Die, concerning the Book of Exodus.

Exodus picks up where Genesis ends, with Israel falling into slavery to the Egyptians for several hundred years. Their bondage is harsh and with no hope in sight. Exodus describes several events, the calling of Moses, Moses' glimpse of God, the Burning Bush, the Ten Plagues, the Passover Lamb, the Escape from Egypt, the Parting of the Red Sea, Manna from Heaven, Water from a Rock, the Giving of the Law, the Tabernacle details; all of these point at Jesus Christ, but none is the main point of the book.

Jesus Christ is the Redeemer who sets the captives free (Psalm 107:1-3, Luke 4:18-19), who says, "you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" and "if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." (John 8:32,36)

In Exodus we see a people completely in bondage, without hope without God, but led out of slavery by their God. Jesus Christ is the one who leads the captives free, who calls us out of darkness into his glorious light (1 Peter 2:9).

Genesis - The Promised Offspring of Eve

2011-12-18T15:30:00.004-05:00

This entry is in the series of Thirty-Nine Reasons Jesus Came to Die, concerning the Book of Genesis.

Genesis describes the Creation Event, the Fall, the Flood, and the Dispersion of mankind, and the calling of Israel. All of these are hugely important parts of the book, but Jesus is seen most clearly in fulfilling the following prophecy,

I will put enmity between you (Satan) and the woman (Eve),
__and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
__and you shall bruise his heel. – Genesis 3:15

Throughout Genesis we see this offspring anticipated. Cain is the first expected Messiah, "I have gotten a man with the help of the LORD", but hope in him is dashed when he murders his brother. Seth comes into the world with such a declaration, "God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him." Seth, in time, proved not to be the Messiah either (Genesis 5:8).

Throughout Genesis it continues:
Noah? No.
Abraham? No.
Isaac? No.
Esau, Jacob? No and no.
Joseph? Nearly, but no.

Luke shows this expectation in his gospel by taking us straight up the lineage of Jesus to Adam (Luke 3:23-38); Jesus is the promised offspring, the perfect Son of Man, who crushed the head of Satan by the power of his Resurrection.

"Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the Accuser of our brothers has been thrown down..." – Revelation 12:10

Thirty-Nine Reasons Jesus Came to Die

2011-12-18T15:00:00.010-05:00

I was talking to a good friend recently about how to teach children the books of the Old Testament. I think it is fruitless to just teach them the names, or a song, because these books contain so much more than just the prophet who wrote them, everyone of them points to the Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Of himself, he gave this study, "he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself." (Luke 24:27)

An American POW during World-War II gave this testimony, "Chapter after chapter gripped my heart. In due time I came to the books of the prophets, and found that their every writing seemed focused on a divine Redeemer from sin, one who was to be sent from heaven to be born in the form of a human babe." - Jacob DeShazer

This series then will strive to give a brief summary of Christ from the 39 books of the Old Testament; my intention is not to find Jesus in every corner of every book, because in some books, like Zechariah, Jesus is priest, king, conqueror, shepherd, and temple; my intention will be to give the clearest and most definite prophecy for Jesus Christ from each book, in an easy and memorable way, that you, dear reader, will be able to see Christ in every book of the Old Testament.

This entry will be the table of context for these. I intend to post at least one a day, sometimes more. This table of contents will provide for a simple summary of each post:

1. Genesis - The Promised Offspring of Eve
2. Exodus - The Redeemer from Slavery
3. Leviticus - The Fulfillment of the Law
4. Numbers - God With Us
5. Deuteronomy - A Curse for Us
6. Joshua - Our Leader into the Promised Land
7. Judges - To Turn us to God
8. Ruth - A Nearer Kinsmen Redeemer
9. 1 Samuel - The King Chosen by God

Christopher Hitchens - God is Pleased to Cut Down Some to Warn Others

2011-12-16T17:30:00.001-05:00

Christopher Hitchens was NOT surprised when he stepped out of this world, he knew there was a God (Romans 1:21-23), his conscience knew it was wrong to transgress the law of God (Romans 1:24-25).

Sinner, you know also (Psalm 94:8-9), take the expiration of Hitchens as your warning to stop suppressing the truth in unrighteousness (Romans 1:18), it is NOT a matter of evidence, it never was and it never will be (Psalm 10:4), you cannot make your Creator go away by pretending he doesn't exist (Psalm 2:4-5).

Jesus Christ is your Lord (Philippians 2:9-11). The question then is, Is he your Lord and Saviour, or your Lord and Executioner? (John 10:27-28, Hebrews 10:31)

I bid you, as does Christopher Hitchens at this very moment, most likely from the very torment he warns against, "Flee from the wrath to come!" (Luke 16:27-28)

Far in the deep where darkness dwells,
The land of horror and despair,
Justice has built a dismal hell,
And laid her stores of vengeance there.

Tremble, my soul, and kiss the Son;
Sinners, obey the Saviour's call;
Else your damnation hastens on,
And hell gapes wide to wait your fall. - Isaac Watts

Conscientious Christmas Objections

2011-12-06T13:00:00.003-05:00

After my last post, A Defense of Christmas, I want to make sure that the conscientious objectionable parts are outlined so it does not seem that I defend all of Christmas. We must recognize that there are two ways to look at this, first is between Christian and non-Christian, and second between Christians; this article will focus exclusively between Christians. The reason that this distinction is so important is because for the unbeliever, all of Christmas is impure; they are NOT glorifying God in their observance of this holy-day (holy as in set-apart, not as a means of grace). See Titus 1:15 and Romans 8:7-8 for scriptural justification of this stance.

Between Christians it is possible to have two entirely different views on a matter of conscience, especially concerning things that one believer may have a past in. The prime example in scripture is food which was prepared as an offering to a false god. Some believers believe this food is a sin to consume, while others see no sin. The law says it is not sin, and therefore neither the one who abstains nor the one who partakes are sinning. Scripture is clear that someone MUST not go against their conscience and be careful not to go against the conscience of their brother (1 Corinthians 8:1-13).

Christmas is a prime target for this sort of matter of conscience discussion. Some see Christmas as sinful, while others see no sin. The scripture calls for the one who abstains and the one who partakes to be fully convinced as to their position. As my last post addressed, some (most) who abstain do so from utterly fallacious arguments, and these should be addressed, as God absolutely forbade Peter from calling any food unclean since God had made them clean (Acts 10:14-16).

This post will address several parts of Christmas which are lawful and logical reasons for abstaining from Christmas altogether. As my previous post attests, I love Christmas, but I willfully and completely abstain from the following parts of Christmas.

Consumerism

On the shopping-day following Thanksgiving, commonly called “Black Friday”, we were blessed to hand out over 2,000 gospel tracts to people who willingly stayed up all night, or arose very early in the morning, to patronize various businesses. Several times throughout the eight hours we were active in evangelism, I looked on the crowd and was overwhelmed by the insatiability of it all; that the crowds were longer than last year, and that the same people would be in the line again next year, and were buying and selling only because of the season.

I find no way in this exercise in greed to honor Christ; this holiday should not be about things or shopping or debt. The Bible says that the borrower becomes slave to the lender (Proverbs 22:7), and that we ought not store up our treasures here on earth (Matthew 6:19-20, 32-33), since we can only serve materialism or Jesus, it is absolutely impossible to serve both (Matthew 6:24).

On Black-Friday a man asked what the card I gave him was, I said, “It’s a gospel tract.” He said, “I’d rather have a TV.” It provided the subject of my open air sermon for that store where I preached that our greatest need is not televisions, iPads, or money, it is salvation from sin; things of this world are transient, we must seek the one who is immutable.

Unbalanced Affection

But then one may say, “But the things I go into debt for are to make others happy.” The idea that you can justify one sin with its positive outcome is probably my least favorite part of the Christmas season. Many become Machiavellians (the ends justify the means, even if the means are deplorable) during the Christmas season; people were shot and pepper-sprayed this year during shopping, last year people were trampled to death; yet the long-lines and great deals justify the violence and greed in the minds of many.

But worse than the unlawful justification is the idea that the ends are good; is going into debt in order to shower someone with presents on one day the loving and good thing to do? Isn’t it more loving and affectionate to teach children the principles that will lead to a joyfilled, fulfilling, sustainable, responsible life?

If you love someone, show them that more than one day a year, and not because the traditions of that day expect you to. Christians ought to be celebrating the Advent of their King every day of the year, remembering and honoring his humility and lovingkindness daily by loving their neighbors daily as themselves. One day of gift-giving does not make up for a year of absent charity.

Exchanging of Gifts

Let me be absolutely clear, I am not against gift giving; it is a viable and often excellent means of telling someone that you care about them. Consider, “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son” (John 3:16), “Christ loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). We see in Matthew 2:11 that gifts were given to the Lord Christ as he entered human existence.

What I am against is the compulsive giving of ‘gifts’, which is why I am against the exchange of gifts.

Beloved, if you are only getting someone something because you know they are going to get you something, your tradition is one I despise. You’ve entered into a complicated and unrewarding system of barter, one that quenches love and cheapens the definition of love. Give out of your abundance, and do so for affection, not because you are paying someone back. Remember, “the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

Santa Claus

Depending on which tradition of Santa Claus you follow, there may be something redeemable in this character, but as he is celebrated by most today, I reject him totally. Santa Claus has become an antichrist, a false idol, with many of the attributes of God. He is omniscient, all knowing (he knows when you’ve been bad or good), he is omnipresent, present everywhere (he sees you when you’re sleeping), and he is set up as the judge of goodness, rewarding niceness with presents and naughtiness with disappointment.

Even his name is blasphemous, Santa, directly derived from the German “Sinter” which means “Saint”, or Christian. But if that weren’t bad enough, he even shares a name with Jesus. When Martin Luther was trying to wrestle the focus of Christmas from Saint Nicolaus, he pointed at the “Christkindle”, or Christ-Child, as the purpose of Christmas. Today if you ask most people who Kris Kringle is, you will be told that he is Santa Claus.

The Santa myth is one with absolutely no redeeming traits. He steals children’s affections from their parents, he takes the credit for presents he didn't give, he provides a convenient lie which sounds suspiciously like the truth of Christ, and his overemphasis during the Christmas season drags the affections away from the one they should be on, which is the Christ who gives the ultimate and everlasting gift of life.

Heretical Music

Some of the all time best hymns were written for Christmas. The best hymns focus both on Christ’s humility in being born a baby, and his saving work on Calvary. Consider from “Joy Has Dawned”, which is an archetypal great Christmas song:

Gifts of men from distant lands
Prophesy the story:
Gold—a King is born today,
Incense—God is with us,
Myrrh—His death will make a way,
And by His blood He'll win us.

Son of Adam, Son of Heaven,
Given as a ransom;
Reconciling God and man,
Christ, our mighty champion!
O What a Savior! O What a Friend!
What a glorious mystery!
Once a babe in Bethlehem,
Now the Lord of history.

But the part of Christmas music that I loathe are the ones that have absolutely nothing to do with Christ’s nativity or purpose of his advent, but rather focus on consumerism, joy without purpose, fleeting pleasure, and/or Santa Claus. I am utterly torn on heathens singing Christmas songs, because as we looked at earlier, the unbeliever cannot be pleasing to God (compare Isaiah 64:6), but I rejoice that they hear the gospel in the songs they are singing.

Granted, there is a place for secular music that is just fun, but when it claims to celebrate the birth of Christ I take an offense. I’ll sing “Winter Wonderland” or “Jingle Bell Rock” with you, provided we’re not doing so in church or listening to a “Christian” radio station, but we must keep it distinctly separate from any semblance of Christ worship, except to recognize that we are free to love life and fun and even silliness on occasion.

Conclusion

There is a call for every believer to be fully convinced why they are doing something or abstaining from something. I am fully convinced that most of Christmas is God glorifying and a valid means of honoring the Christ who is celebrated; I abstain from the consumerism, gift-bartering, Santa Claus myth, and bad music. But, I fully understand how someone could abstain completely from Christmas due to the debacle that it has been turned into by these traditions.

However you celebrate your Saviour, honoring him in your life, I pray that he will give to each of us a more tender conscience, one that is fully convinced we are living for eternity, one that hates sin and loves righteousness, that loves people and recognizes that stuff is perishable. Beloved, if you are convinced that any of these can be used to honor Christ, then by all means tell me, or if all of Christmas offends you, let us bear together, and may the God of endurance and encouragement grant us to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together we may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 15:5-6).

I feel that we can do so through Christmas, and so I once again echo the sentiments of the hymn, “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”, that even though so many have defaced Christmas, it is still a viable and wonderful celebration of the Lord of History.

Now to the Lord sing praises,
All you within this place,
And with true love and brotherhood
Each other now embrace;
This holy tide of Christmas
All other doth deface.

O Tidings of Comfort and Joy,
Comfort and Joy,
O Tidings of Comfort and Joy.

A Defense of Christmas

2011-11-30T19:30:00.008-05:00

I love Christmas. I am fully convinced that I love Christmas, and that it is a viable and wonderful means of showing honor to the Lord Christ (Romans 14). I had intended this season to refrain from pressing too hard on those Christians who are offended by Christmas, after all, if they are convinced in their mind, and it grieves their conscience, then it is neither right nor safe to press them. However, as the antiChristmas rhetoric has started this year, much worse than in previous years, it has become apparent that this misplaced zeal is only meant to tear down the love and joy of the brethren, and therefore must be rebuked. I am praying to convert you to "this holy tide of Christmas, all others doth deface" (God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen), and encourage you to build up the church this advent season.

First of all, we must recognize that we are not living in sixth century BC Babylon, or seventh century AD Saxony, or first century Corinth, or any other place and age where paganism is indigenous. We live in "Post-Christian America", the verse that sums up this country the best is that they, "have the appearance of godliness, but deny its power." (2 Timothy 3:5) Raised under a Judeo/Christian system of law, no-one this Christmas season in America will be bowing down to trees or expecting that their yule log is anything more than a log, and definitely not a means of grace. I've asked thousands of people why they think they are going to Heaven, and I've gotten some outrageous answers, but not a single wrong answer has remotely dealt with observing Christmas or anything to do with Christmas.

Second of all, my friend Willem pointed out that the antiChristmas sentiments are taking on a definitive KJVO feel, chasing after every manner of myth that remotely supports their position. Everytime I've logged onto Facebook over the past week it's like I'm reading a Gail Riplinger novel...Strawmen seem to be the order of the day, ridiculous caricatures of facts are presented that are easily knocked down, the truth stands against the arguments. I'll leave the name out, because I really respect this pastor, but one pastor set up "Yule" as a Babylonian infant son, only to knock it down with ridiculousness; it sounds legitimate and of course you have to say, "I reject the Yule Log altogether!" But the problem is that it's utterly untrue; Yule means winter in German, I could go deeper into its awesome origins, but I just want to point out that KJVO superstitions are outside of the KJVO controversies, and we must forever be on the lookout for strawmen. Now, I've saved the best superstition for last; did you know that Christmas ends in MASS? It is clearly a celebration of the recrucifixion of Jesus and the Romanists are trying to get us to participate! Ok, let's apply your logic, it ends in Mass, true, which meant festival before it meant recrucifixion, and Christmas was around a lot longer than its name (earlier, Navity, Noel, Advent), but look at what it starts with, "Christ". It doesn't start with Winter, it doesn't start with Babylon, it doesn't start with Solstice, it starts with Christ. Every Papist recrucifixion ceremony is centered around their wrong interpretation of Christ, so ALL masses should be called Christmas, but they're not. The term, Christmas, means "Celebration of Christ", we're loving that God became a man, and dwelt among us.

So what of the date? I'm utterly convinced that my Saviour was born on the Winter Solstice (December 25th on the Roman Calendar, December 21st on the Gregorian Calendar); what better way for the King of Light to explode into the darkness rather than on the darkest day of the year? It's almost like he created it to be so. Were other pagan deities supposedly born on Christmas? Yes, but imitation is the greatest form of flattery. Jesus was born on Christmas. But if he wasn't, then you MUST be celebrating his birth somewhere else, because, beloved, you lose so much doctrine if you refuse to celebrate the Advent of your King. The coming of Christ is spoken of repeatedly in the scriptures, your assignment is to read: John 12:46, Luke 19:10, John 18:37-38, Galatians 4:4-5, Luke 5:32, John 3:16, 2 Corinthians 8:9, and especially Philippians 2:1-11; this list is not exhaustive, but it will give you a good start; your King is your example, he is King and Creator, yet he HUMBLED himself to pass into the world through his own creation, born in abject poverty in a stable.

The early church labeled Mary the "Theotokos", it's a word that really makes Protestants squirm, but it's not a term that venerates Mary, it's a term that defines Christ, it means, "God-Carrier", it's directly against the Eusebian heresy which said Jesus was born a man and only later became God at his baptism; the church invented the word Theotokos to say that Jesus is God now, was God in the womb, and forever will be God; it's a glorious term and I love it, even if it makes you squirm. This Christmas, you'd better remember that your Saviour is the Eternal God, even if you don't celebrate Christmas. Your God came not to be served, but to serve, and give his life a ransom for many (Mark 10:45; another Christmas verse).

Christmas really became popular when a terrible heresy was beginning, one we deal with today under the name, "Jehovah's Witnesses", they were originally called Aryans, and they denied the divinity of Christ; they were a major enemy of Christ in the 4th century. In Nicaea, in Turkey, in AD325, it was overwhelmingly agreed upon by the scriptures that Jesus is God the Son; so much so that Santa Claus (Nicolas of Myra, a great saint) punched Arius, the leader of the heretics, in the head. Christmas, or more accurately, the Feast of the Nativity, was a desperately needed festival to combat Aryanism, and another great saint, Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, wrote several great hymns to preach Christ in song. The KJVO people in his day were radically against his music, but it's beautiful.

O come, Redeemer of the earth,
and manifest thy virgin-birth.
Let every age in wonder fall:
such birth befits the God of all.

Begotten of no human will
but of the Spirit, Thou art still
the Word of God in flesh arrayed,
the promised fruit to man displayed.

All praise, eternal Son, to Thee,
whose advent sets Thy people free,
whom, with the Father, we adore,
and Holy Ghost, for evermore.

Speaking of music, it's this time of year that people remember that Calvin advocated the "Regulatory Principle", that if it's not in scripture, we're not doing it. They forget that for the rest of the year they follow Luther's "Normative Principle", if it's not prohibited in scripture and it's useful, we're doing it (do you drive a car or use a computer?).

Very few of us are, like Calvin, Psalm only singers. The greatest hymns of the Christian faith are Christmas hymns, and the only gospel that most unbelievers are going to get this year are in the hymns. I wish I could make every unbeliever sit down and seriously contemplate the lyrics of "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" and I rejoice that they are so thoroughly immersed in a gospel presence through song during this season.

Unbelievers undoubtedly associate this season as Christian; for a Christian to attack it is both confusing and destructive. We love that our Saviour put on flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14; another Christmas verse!), and we love that a whole nation is confronted with a God who so loved the world that he gave, as a gift, his only begotten Son (John 3:16, Romans 6:23), so I propose, neigh, demand, that we shine the light of Christ during this season, doing our best to ensure that people do not just honor Christ with their lips, but that they actually participate in his grace and are given a new heart which strives to obey his commands.

But is that what the regulatory principle calls for? Are you still holding to it? Then read John 1 and Luke 1-2 and Matthew 1 and Isaiah 9 and Genesis 3 and see that the birth narrative is a VERY real part of scripture, that Jesus having a birthday is hugely important. Like I said, if you reject the December 21st, 25th, or January 6th birthdates, then just make sure you're preaching that the Messiah came into the world in the most humblest way possible, that he held the universe together even as he was being held as a baby.

Do you celebrate birthdays? Did you know that in a PAGAN culture, they thought that birthdays were arrogant and that only kings were arrogant enough to celebrate their birthdays? Do you live in that culture? I don't. I celebrate the birthdays of the ones I love; a dear sweet lady I know and love is celebrating her birthday right now, and I have such affection in my heart towards her and her family that I am telling you that I love her; later this month, and over the whole of the year, I will do the same for my Bethlehem born Nazarene King. Something major happened 2000 years ago in Bethlehem, it was only important because of what happened thirty-three years later when the King of Glory gave his life as a ransom then defeated death; as John Calvin said, "If the gospel be not preached, Christ is, as it were, buried. Let us stand therefore as witnesses, and do him this honor." Let us celebrate and preach the great events of our Saviour, and their theological implications. There are some hugely important events in scripture which we ought celebrate, but they aren't commanded in scripture.

In the Old Testament there is a command to raise ebenezers, or commemoration stones, to great events. Truly, Christians are only commanded to keep Passover (in the month of Easter), but has the regulatory principle so damaged you that you refuse to raise ebenezers? Jesus went to Hanukkah (John 10), which is not in scripture, and therefore I love to stand by ebenezers and preach the great events that happened there: Christmas, Easter (Passover), Reformation Day, John Calvin's birthday (I love birthdays), Columbus Day, etc. etc. My King breached human history on December 25th, 6BC; I'm going to tell you about it, here I raise my ebenezer.

I love Christmas, I hope you will also.

Messiah born so small, asleep in cattle stall
Come to redeem our fall, nailed to a tree
This tiny, helpless child
Through death would reconcile
The holy God and vile, His grace so free
O come, let us adore. - Sovereign Grace Music

Thankful for Pro-Life - Abortion in America

2011-11-24T13:00:00.004-05:00

This is the third of three articles on abortion in America.
Click for Article 1 and Article 2

There are a lot of people in this world who are not happy, who are not fulfilled, and who see very little reason to live or purpose for being here. There is one major reason that these things happen, because sin is an affection stealer, it breaks things, it breaks people, relationships, nations, worlds, universes. It is reprehensible and something we should all hate. But we don't; Andrew Fuller put it this way:

Though you be what is called a sinner, yet, if sin were your misfortune, rather than your fault, you might fly for refuge.

Our pride blinds our eyes to the effects of sin, because we feel we deserve the pleasure derived from sin, and that after all, when I'm doing it, it's really not that bad. We have no difficulty rationalizing sin, and unfortunately we pay the consequences afterwards.

As a pastor, I am always on the look-out for people who are feeling down and need a kind word, or an encouragement, or intervention. As I watch, I hear comments that really get me down, things like, "I hate drama," or, "I don't like people," or "I wish somebody loved me." It should be no secret to you, dear reader, that I love drama, I love people, and I am so thankful for so many people to love and be loved by, and in all of that, there is only one person to thank, the God and man Christ Jesus, who gives life, and an overabundance of it.

God is using all things for good to those who love him and are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28). All things? Even drama? Even broken relationships? Even, as this article is about to transition into, abortion? All things. Not all things are good, but all things are used for good for the saint. Drama allows us to know each other better, to break our undue trust in mankind, and place it in God. Drama builds character and, thankfully, crushes pride.

Abortion is being used for good, because it is a constant reminder to the saint that the world is evil, and that life is precious, and that sin is abhorrent but the Saviour from sin is magnificent. This year I am thankful for people who love life, who love people, and who love Jesus. I am thankful that they will be ministers of reconciliation tonight to thousands who are crushed under the burden of materialism and the American Dream. I am thankful that God has called so many out of the darkness of hatred and indifference, quickening them in the love of Christ, and that he is using them to reconcile sinners to himself.

I pray that this Thanksgiving you will awake from slumber to hate sin and love life, to abhor the evil but hold fast to the good. 3300 babies lost their lives yesterday, those babies are held safe in the arms of God, for God saves little ones out of pagan places, "Blessed shall he be, [O Babylon], who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock!" (Psalm 137:9) But, 3300 mommies and 3300 daddies, 6600 sinners from one sin yesterday, remain dead in their sins and trespasses, the wrath of God abides on them for their sin.

It is estimated that 1 in 4 women have had an abortion in this country, that's 1 out of every 8 people you meet. Abortion is not a victimless crime, it murders the baby and wounds the mother, it robs a nation of citizens, and it blasphemes the name of the one who gives life. But even while we were a nation of murders and accomplices, while sin was utterly our fault, and the wages of sin were ready to be paid out, Jesus Christ in his great love gave himself to save us from this present evil age; while we had an surplus of death, he gave life, and an overabundance of it. In his resurrection he has secured a place in Heaven for everyone who trusts in him, whose faith becomes like a little child.

So, beloved, this thanksgiving, give thanks to the one who gave the free gift of life, then take his saving message out into a dying world who refuse to give thanks for even the breath they steal from their Despot. Show them their danger, show them the anger they have kindled in the Lifegiver, and then show them the cross where love and mercy met, where sin was atoned for and death was crushed by death.

Those who hate God love death; it doesn't take much looking to find people to prove that fact, so take the message of love of life and righteousness to them. One method to do this is by first letting them condemn the actions of Nazi Germany, then showing them they are as guilty as those soldiers, for failing to stand up for the helpless and oppressed. Living Waters has a great movie describing this method, and I hope you'll take time this long weekend to watch it, and send it into the world, for the message of love, hope, and life that it contains is sure to change hearts and minds, and save lives both in this world and the world to come.

Visit their website, and the Pro-Life section of their website

Pro Choice - Abortion in America

2011-11-23T13:30:00.011-05:00

This is the second of three articles on abortion in America.
Click for Article 1 and Article 3

In the 8th century a missionary named Wynfred Boniface breached the darkness of Germany and converted a nation to Christianity. His adventures and exploits, recorded by his biographer, are quite entertaining and edifying.

In one story a young boy runs to Boniface and implores him for help, “Boniface! Boniface! They are going to sacrifice my sister!” Boniface and the boy make haste to the place of sacrifice just in time for Boniface to stop the sacrifice of the fifteen year old vestal virgin by shoving the pagan priest into the nearest tree.

Now, I’m all about choice, I think you should have the choice to be a missionary to America or Germany, you have a choice this Thanksgiving of turkey or ham, the choice is yours to eat apple or pumpkin pie, you have the choice to imbibe in alcoholic beverages or not. But I will not advocate choice in all situations, you DO NOT have the legal choice to drink and drive this Thanksgiving. If you do, I hope you get caught and it costs you $20K in legal fees and cab fare over several years.

Because, like Boniface, I am against your choice to put someone in harm’s way because of what you want to do. It’s illegal to drink and drive, but not all dangerous choices are against mans' law. In this country, it is legal to kill someone before they are 9 months old; in pagan Saxony, where Boniface ministered, it was legal to kill someone in their teens if they were specifically prepared for the purpose; I hope you at least cringe at the thought of a girl having her youth cut short because of some pagan tradition. But in Saxon law it was perfectly legal, which is why we should always defer to the higher and more perfect law of God, which is what Boniface did.

I pray you cringe when you think about babies during gestation cut short because of some pagan tradition. God’s law says so clearly, “Thou shalt NOT murder.” When I think of Boniface’s action, I applaud, thankful that he moved quickly and saved a life; and I pray that if I were in a similar situation I would do likewise. But, beloved, Boniface stopped one immoral killing, today in America over 3300 will be immorally ended. We cannot, and even should not (Romans 12:19), shove every pagan priest of convenience into a tree.

So how do we act? After Boniface helped the girl from the altar, he stood atop it and proclaimed Christ to the crowd; he implored them to flee from idols, to recognize that a sacrifice has been made once for all that saves from death, that Jesus Christ is the righteous given for the unrighteous. When that town was converted, not a single other sacrifice needed to be stopped, because a converted person will not offer their children on the altar of any god, but will love and cherish them (Psalm 127).

We must act by ensuring we preach Christ, that we strive to turn a child-sacrificing nation from idols to the Living God. One way (among many) that you can do this is by watching the 180 Movie and sharing it with everyone you know. Take the world's idols, not their priests, and crush those idols with the truth, and implore them to love the one who gave his life as a ransom for every manner of sin, even the sin of murdering a child. Beloved, be bold, don't worry about what the crowd thinks, think of the little girl on the altar, and act in her behalf while she doesn't have a choice.

Visit their website and the Pro-Choice section of their website

Let us stand fast in what is right and prepare our souls for trial. Let us neither be dogs that do not bark nor silent onlookers, nor paid servants who run away before the wolf. Instead, where the battle rages, let us find ourselves. Run towards the roar of the lion! Run towards the roar of battle! That is where Christ’s most glorious victories shall be won.
– Boniface, Missionary to the Germanic tribes AD672-754

Abortion in America

2011-11-22T09:00:00.003-05:00

This is the first of three articles in a series on abortion in America.
Click for Article 2 and Article 3

Anyone who has made anything more than a cursory study of the Old Testament has noticed that there are markers for how bad sin has gotten in Israel. For example, when the king has set up altars for strange gods (1 Kings 3:3), or when false prophets beat the true prophets (Jeremiah 20:2), or both (1 Kings 22:24), you know it has to be bad in Israel. Another marker that cannot be missed is when things get bad in Israel, the children suffer mightily (2 Kings 6:28-29, Deuteronomy 28:53).

But without a doubt, the worst marker of rebellion in the Old Testament is a nation that sacrifices its children to false gods. During the Babylonian exile, an exile in which God is punishing Israel’s heinous sins, here is one indictment against them,

And you took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your whorings so small a matter that you slaughtered my children and delivered them up as an offering by fire to them? - Ezekiel 16:20-21

In the history of the world, there are no lack of cultures that have practiced child sacrifice for cheap reasons. The Aztecs sacrificed children in hopes that their tears would bring rain, the Moabites sacrificed sons to earn favor in battle, the Inca sacrificed children to end famines, the Pawnee sacrificed girls to appease one of their god’s anger, and the Phoenicians sacrificed babies in return for monetary blessings. This is only a smattering of examples from all over the globe, and in places like China and Uganda child sacrifice is still a horrifying and real means of infant mortality.

It is a tremendous indictment on a nation when God gives them over to child sacrifice. No reason is legitimate, but the worst reason for murdering a baby is for convenience. Are sexual sins such a prize that a child should be offered in order to ensure they can continue? Is the death of a child a means for covering the sin of rape? In a nation that thinks it has evolved past the barbarism of the past, the blood of fifty-million cries out in witness to the stolid nature of mankind’s love of sin and self-interest, and indicts to the hatred of life and willingness to murder others to perpetuate contemptible crimes against God and humanity for the fleeting pleasure of sexual deviance.

Child sacrifice is the marker of a reprobate nation. The souls of its inhabitants are the cost, for God punishes nations in time, but individuals in eternity. Heaven and earth bear witness to our sins, therefore repent towards God, life and death are set before you, therefore choose life that you AND your offspring may have life (Deuteronomy 30). There is no fortune in sacrificing your children (for they cannot cover their own sins, let alone yours), but if you return to the Lord your God, he has made an atonement in the WILLING sacrifice of his Son for sin, then he promises to restore fortunes and give mercy.

But, America, if you continue in the curse, your sacrificed children will see Heaven, but you will face the wrath of a God who hates baby-sacrificers and who will ensure they be adequately punished for offering his sons and daughters as sacrifice. They cry out today against you, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” (Revelation 6:10) As of now, God says, “Wait a little longer.” But today is the day of repentance, turn from sexual sin to the Living God, repent of idols and self-interest, and worship the God who gives life and mercy, his Son is your only hope.

Visit their website and read an amazing story of a near abortion

Witnessing Technique - Love God & People

2011-11-17T23:00:00.000-05:00

The following is a basic transcript of another way to witness; I often hear people who use Living Waters' "The Way of the Master" method of evangelism accused of reciting a script. I know that is not true in most cases, but the following method will provide another method of "The Way of the Master", using Law followed by Grace, to share the gospel. More rationale for this method is located here: Condemned by Love

Evangelist: What do you think happens when someone dies?

Person: (potential answers) Heaven or Hell / Reincarnation / Nothing / Whatever you believe.

Evangelist: If Heaven is real, do you think you're going?

Person: I hope so / Yes / Maybe. (Proverbs 20:6)

Evangelist: Ok, imagine you die tonight, (crazy unlikely scenario, ie. This building falls on us; you get hit in the head by an errant football; you get run over by a bus; etc.) and you stand before God at the gates of Heaven and he asks, "Why should I let you in?" How are you going to answer?
Note: This is not at all a scenario found in the Bible, God will never ask this, but it gets the person thinking about their own righteousness (Romans 3:19).

Person: Because I've done more good than bad / because I'm a good person / because I love God / Because I do things (church, charity) / because I'm saved

Evangelist: The Bible says in order to go to Heaven you have to keep the law (Galatians 5:3, Matthew 5:48), which is found in the first five books of the Bible, in fact there are 613 of them, and they can be summed up in 10 Commandments, and even further, Jesus says they can be summed up in two: Love God, and Love Your Neighbor (Matthew 22:38-40); have you loved God and people?
Alternate: even further, Jesus says the law is summed up in one sentence, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." (Matthew 7:12) Have you done that?

Person: (confidently) Yes.

Evangelist: Ok, I'm going to give you a short test to see how loving you've been. First question, have you ever lied to anyone?

Person: Yes.

Evangelist: Is it loving to lie to people? Would you like it people lied to you?

Person: No.
Note: I do my best not to argue discretion here, if the person wants to say the loving thing was to lie, I ask if they've ever purposefully told a lie that lifted them up and put someone else down. Almost always the person will say yes.

Evangelist: Have you ever stolen from someone? Regardless of value: music on the internet, something from a brother or sister?

Person: Yes.

Evangelist: Is it loving to steal from someone who worked hard for something?

Person: No.
Note: At this point their countenance almost always starts to change as they are convicted, do your best to not accuse, but continue asking questions.

Evangelist: Have you ever murdered anyone?

Person: (Laughingly/Relieved) No!

Evangelist: Would you agree it's not at all loving to murder someone?

Person: Yes.

Evangelist: Listen to what Jesus said: If you hate someone or call them an idiot or a curse word, you're in danger of judgment as a murderer. (Matthew 5:21-22) Have you ever done that?
Alternate: Use Matthew 5:27-28.

Person: Yes!

Evangelist: So that's three questions regarding people, and just like me, you haven't done very well. Let's look at a question about the love God part: Have you ever taken God's name in vain?

Person: Yes.

Evangelist: That is pretty serious, it's called blasphemy. The Bible says the reason we do that is to set our mouths against Heaven (Psalm 73:9), to declare war on the God who made us (Psalm 139:20). The Bible says we are at war with God in our minds (Colossians 1:21), so we take his blessed name and turn it into a curse word (Psalm 102:8). I've done that too. So we haven't done very well in either the love God or love people categories, have we?

Person: No.

Evangelist: So, if that is the requirement for Heaven, keeping in mind that we've only gone over four of 613 laws, do you think God will let you into Heaven?

Person: No / Probably not by that standard.

Evangelist: Actually the Bible says some really harsh things, it says that all liars will have their place in the Lake of Fire (Revelation 21:8), it says no thief, no blasphemer, no murderer (and/or adulterer) will have any inheritance in the Kingdom of Heaven (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). Most people set their hope on their love, but in fact we've all sinned and fallen far short of the glory of God. Does it concern you that if you died tonight you'd be judged guilty as a lawbreaker?

Person: Yes / Definitely / A little bit.

Evangelist: It concerns me too, which is why I'm talking to you, the Bible says the loving thing to do is to go out and compel others to flee from the wrath to come (Jude 22-23, 2 Corinthians 5:11-15). The bad news is that we've failed miserably at keeping the law, even in its most basic summation of loving God and loving people, but the good news is that we have a loving God who has done the most amazing thing to provide a way of escape from his judgment. Do you know what he did?

Person: Sent his Son / Gave his Son / Died for us / I don't know.

Evangelist: God, in the great love by which he loved us, gave his Son, Jesus Christ, who is God the Son. He was born of the Virgin Mary, he became God manifest in the flesh (1 Timothy 3:16). He lived a perfect sinless life, tempted in every way we've been tempted, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15). He reacted perfectly in every situation, always doing the most loving thing for people, which sometimes is correction, he said, "Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline." (Revelation 3:19) He also said, "Love hath no greater man than this, that he would lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13) In the most amazing act of love, Jesus Christ gave up his life to die on a cross bearing the wrath of God for you (Isaiah 53:10). It was the great exchange, he who knew no sin became sin for us, so that may become the righteousness of God in him (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus lived the most perfect loving life, but died as though he had lived our self-centered life, so that we can inherit his righteousness.

Three days later Jesus defeated death, for he had said that one reason his Father loved him was for his obedience, because he would lay down his life and take it back up again (John 10:17). His resurrection proved he was exactly who he said he was: God in the flesh, he proved his payment was accepted by his Father, and he proved that he in no wise will cast out anyone who draws near to God through him (Romans 4:24-25).

It was not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and gave his Son to be the propitiation, the atonement, the satisfaction, for our sins (1 John 4:10). What is required of you to partake in the love of God in Jesus Christ is to repent of your sins, turn away from selfishness to God, and then put your full trust in Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone.

The way that this all works out is if we're all in Heaven someday, and somebody, maybe an angel, asks, "How did you get in here?" We're not going to have the faintest inclination to say, "Because I was so amazingly loving!" No, we'll be compelled to say, "Because Jesus Christ is amazingly loving, and he sought me, and he bought me, and to him belongs the honor and power and glory forever and ever." and everyone there will say? Amen. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Do you have a Bible at home?

Person: (Almost always yes; make sure they have a Bible or have access to one on the internet: http://www.biblegateway.com/ or http://www.esvbible.org/)

Evangelist: Good, don't take my word for any of this, though everything I've told you is true. Always trust the Word of God over a man. Open up that Bible and read it for yourself. A great place to start is the Gospel of John, it's been called the "Love Gospel" because it was written to fix a church (Ephesus) that was having some serious love problems (Revelation 2:4). It will really show you how much God loved the world, what he did about it, and what it means for you.

So in conclusion, in order to get to Heaven, you have to be perfectly loving; you won't make it that way. Fortunately, we have a perfectly loving God who gave his life for his church. You must repent and put your trust in Jesus, and in his love he will save you.

Make sense / any questions?

Guy Fawkes Open Air

2011-11-05T20:00:00.001-04:00

Reformation Day, an Eye-Witness Account

2011-10-30T16:32:00.002-04:00

A sermon preached last year:

Text – Romans 1:17

Good morning, isn’t it a beautiful Wednesday October 31st, Anno Domini 1517? My name, for today, is Reverend Scherer, Augustinian Monk in Wittenburg, electorate of Saxony, Confederation of the Rhine, which is in Deutchland. Something is going to happen today, I fear, for Brother Martin has been complaining of the validity of some of the practices within the Papacy. I share some of his concerns, but he has written 95 charges against the Church and the Pope, surely this will bring great dissension and maybe even cost Brother Martin his life! I mean, a few may start a dialogue, but 95 will start a war!

Let me give you some background. The year is 1517, Anno Domini, which means 1,517 years after the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, as estimated by a Scythian Monk named Dennis the Short in AD 525. Throughout this time the Lord has had a church on earth, a representative of his kingdom, an ambassador to the heathen.

This church has had such great saints in it as Peter, Paul, John, Polycarp bishop of Smyrna who remained true to Christ in such great persecution, Augustine of Hippo who wrote that great systematic theology, Nicholas bishop of Myra who stood up to that antichrist Arius who denied Christ as God, Patrick who converted Ireland, Boniface who converted our beloved Germany, Francis who preached directly out of God’s Word in the open air and called men to repent and trust in Jesus Christ, Savonarola who fought corruption within the Church, and Christopher Columbus who has just recently taken the gospel to previously undiscovered heathen lands; time would fail me to tell of all of the great men and women who stood and even died for the one true faith delivered once for all.

But alas, there is great corruption within the Church, just last year John Tetzel came to Wittenberg to sell men tickets to sin, called indulgences! Only a hundred years ago there were two Popes operating in Christendom…at the same time! It is said that there is a prostitute in Rome for every ten men, and some of them even dress as nuns! It is a sad day in the Church, surely something must be done.

I have here a Bible authorized by the Papacy, translated by that godly man Jerome of Stridonium. Beloved, I would that you could read this book, but it is in Latin, and you speak German, and most of you cannot even read that language. I could read it to you, but I am untrained in how to interpret it for you, and the true meaning seems to be veiled to my eyes; from Rome comes the message of which I will preach to you on Sunday, and even then I will deliver this message to you in Latin, a language I hold a masters degree in from Erfurt, but still find difficult to understand.

This Book is God’s Word to us, and the German language is too harsh for us to dare translate it into, lest we blaspheme our Creator. Two men whom the Church leaders hate, Jon Hus and John Wycliffe, did presume to translate this Book into the vernacular, the common language, of the people. Wycliffe into the English language, and though sentenced to death by burning escaped only by natural death, a stroke most likely. Hus into the Bohemian language, and he was burned at the stake for it. Aha, Wycliffe did not escape the fire though, for they burned his bones along with Hus’. Oh how the Church hates these men!!! But…I am not so sure they were in the wrong, for I have been reading this Book in a new light ever since I have been talking to Professor Luther.

Brother Martin asked me to read Romans 1:17, which was strange because my Bible does not have numbers in it, which won’t be added until 1558, but he asked me to read this verse.

Romans 1:17 Iustitia enim Dei in eo revelatur ex fide in fidem sicut scriptum est iustus autem ex fide vivit.

Isn’t that beautiful! How have we missed that until now? It means things that we have not been taught by the Church, it says that our greatest fears are relieved by our amazing God, it sets my heart at ease! It attacks those who say we can buy our way into Heaven, it rejects our Prince’s relics which we look upon to hope for Heaven, and it rejects that wolf Tetzel who comes and steals from our widows and orphans by selling them a license to sin. Oh how I hate that extortioner Tetzel, who uses religious ignorance and our sinners’ heart to deprive us of us sustenance and sends the money to Rome to build that worthless Basilica of St. Peter.

Oh beloved, this verse in Romans is so beautiful; Brother Martin says when he read it a light broke forth over him! He felt that he was instantly born again, and that he entered into the kingdom of paradise through open gates! Oh the beauty of this verse, don’t you agree? What? You don’t understand it! Oh, forgive me, I forgot that you do not speak Latin.

Oh beloved, in order to translate this for you I put my own ordination at risk, I break Roman law not to preach the Word of God in the vernacular of the people! Oh, but is it wise to obey men or God? I must speak that what I have seen and heard of this Christ!

Romans 1:17 Sintemal darin offenbart wird die Gerechtigkeit, die vor Gott gilt, welche kommt aus Glauben in Glauben; wie denn geschrieben steht: "Der Gerechte wird seines Glaubens leben."

Now you must see it! Surely you see it?! No? Oh, we’re not German, we’re only pretending, let us try one more time!

Romans 1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith."

The righteous shall live by faith! We are not saved by indulgences, or prayers, or offices, or relics, or Sabbaths, or priests, or baptisms, or Church membership, or communion, we are saved by the Gospel of Jesus Christ, received through faith, for, righteousness is revealed from faith for faith! Beloved, you have no idea how this puts my soul at rest, I had tried so hard to keep the laws of God, but in my body I feel that I am slave to sin, that I have no ability to choose good nor God, and that my sin had utterly separated me from Heaven! But thanks be to Jesus Christ who paid for my sins, who bore my condemnation, who indeed paid it all, and now beloved, all to him I owe.

And now Brother Martin is going to start a theological war with the Papacy, he has detailed how Rome has failed to adhere to the Bible, he has placed the Bible as his sole authority. I would like to take some credit for this, for Brother Martin was once an amazing priest of the Roman Church, a better priest could not be found. He took his ordinances seriously, he spent hours in confession boring the confessional priests with peccadillo, or petty sins, and he became exceedingly angry on that day when he heard me joke in my duties. For you see, when we Roman priests take the bread for communion and lift it in thanks, we are required to say, “Hoc Est Corpus Meum” and declare the bread to be the very body of Jesus Christ, but beloved, in my boredom and God feeling so distant, once I said, “Panis es, et panis manebis,” which is certainly the truth, that “Bread thou is, and bread thou shalt remain.” Dear Brother Martin overhead and became irate, but ever since then he has diligently studied the scriptures and has genuinely become a new man! I wish that I could take credit for his conversion, but I know that all honor and power belong to the Holy Spirit of God.

At this very moment Brother Martin is on his way to nail his list of grievances to the door of the Cathedral where all public announcements are made. Ninety-five grievances, no more, no less, all vehemently attacking the corruption of the Church. Are these Theses perfect? No, by no means, I see a great many errors even in my early reading of the Holy Scriptures, but I have no doubt that Brother Luther will grow much in the following years, that is, if he survives this war he is about to declare. I have no doubt that he will grow greatly in his understanding of the Word, especially as he has confided that he would like to translate the Bible into the German language. But as for these Theses, some are quite good and accurate, I have here a few of his theses which I would like to read,

#1 When our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, said "Repent", He called for the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.

#21 Therefore those preachers of indulgences are in error, who say that by the pope's indulgences a man is freed from every penalty, and saved.

#27 There is no divine authority for preaching that as soon as the coin in the coffer clings, a soul from purgatory springs.

#32 All those who believe themselves certain of their own salvation by means of letters of indulgence, will be eternally damned, together with their teachers.

#52 It is vain to rely on salvation by letters of indulgence, even if the commissary, or indeed the pope himself, were to pledge his own soul for their validity.

#62 The true treasure of the church is the Holy gospel of the glory and the grace of God.

#82 To wit: -- "Why does not the pope empty purgatory, for the sake of holy love and of the dire need of the souls that are there, if he redeems an infinite number of souls for the sake of miserable money with which to build a Church? The former reasons would be most just; the latter is most trivial."

These are the statements which Brother Martin has taken to the church. I tried to stop him, asking him if his life and the unity of the Church were worth him making his statement. He replied to me that he sought peace if possible, but truth at all costs.

Today, I see that Martin Luther is birthing a veritable Reformation of the Church! I see that unless God does a mighty work in the hearts of the Papists, we must split and become two churches, one following the truth, and the other a lie. Oh that this division would not have to happen, for many of my friends are loyal to the Papist cause, and it is my fervent hope and prayer to God that they may be saved. But see that there are great distinctions which will grow out of Martin Luther’s call for truth, something which some day may be called the Solas of the Reformation.

Sola Fide – Faith Alone, we see this preached oh so clearly in Romans 1:17, that we are saved not by works plus faith, but by faith alone. We trust in Christ, and it is counted to us as righteousness.

Solo Christo – Christ Alone, that our salvation was accomplished totally by our great God and Saviour on the cross and in his resurrection, not that he opened a way or made it possible for us to be saved, but that he has forever secured for us salvation, if we trust in him. Would someone please read for us Hebrews 10:14, in English, please,

Hebrews 10:14 by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

Sola Gracia – Grace Alone, of course we see now that it is not Christ plus our good deeds, but Christ alone that has saved us. Beloved, I have thought on this long and hard, and it seems that we must view grace in light of justice. For justice is when we get what we deserve, and having transgressed the laws of Heaven, what we deserve is the punishment of God. If God were to merely commute our sentence and give us mercy, we would be freed from punishment, but we would still miss Heaven. Here is grace, that what we did not deserve, entrance into the very kingdom of Heaven, God has given us as a free gift, purchased at so great a cost on Calvary’s cross.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Sola Scriptura – Scripture Alone, no-one can or should speak for God apart from his Word, it is how he speaks, it is what he intends for us to know about him. The Archbishop of the Roman Church, known as the Pope, has claimed to be able to speak for God, but we have seen him fail time and time again, and it has become clear to those of us reading our Bibles that the Word is how God speaks to us, not through prayers, not through funny feelings, not through hunches, not through dreams, not (dare I say it) through Popes; but by the very Word of God.

Romans 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Soli Deo Gloria – Brother Martin has put it so well, The true treasure of the church is the Holy gospel of the glory and the grace of God. The purpose of our salvation is not primarily for our benefit, it is to exalt our Sovereign Lord, demonstrating the extent of his justice by punishing sin so violently on the cross, and magnifying his grace by giving us the righteousness of his Son freely; truly this is a gospel worthy of all acceptation.

1 John 2:12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake.

Sola Sacerdos – One of the reasons I became an Augustinian Friar is because of the things which the Papists believe the priest, the Sacerdote, is able to do. For example, you saw earlier that it is believed that I have the power to turn bread into the very body of Christ. The priest in the confessional is able to forgive sins, it is believed, and a priest can turn your money into a pardon for sin in paper form.

The Church, and I myself, have become guilty of Sacerdotalism, of worshipping the priesthood instead of God! It is tragic, beloved, and if what Brother Martin has deduced from the Bible is true, it is just a matter of time before this separation of priests and laity fails and we become a church of Sola Sacerdos, of one priesthood, where there is no distinction in God’s eyes between male and female, slave and free, Jew and Greek, and priest and parishioner.

In a Sacerdotal religion, only priests can approach God to receive grace, but in a religion of priests, everyone can enter into the holiest of places, for Christ has made us a congregation of priests, and now we all can enter into his holiest of places.

Hebrews 10:19-22 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

This has huge implications for me beloved, for I stand before you in this priests’ frock, a manner for separating me from you and identifying myself as having more grace and favor than you. But if this Christ esteems us all the same and gives to us all of the same privileges, then this outfit means nothing.

These things, beloved, that I have said to you are radical to the Church at Rome, truly I could be defrocked just for saying them, that is ejected from their priesthood, but to reject the tradition of men and be welcomed into the priesthood of Christ is gain, for though it took so long and so much effort to earn this frock, I count it as rubbish compared to the gain I have in Christ, being found in him with a righteousness not my own, but one received through faith, knowing the power of his resurrection. This may mean that I must suffer many things for his name’s sake, but I know that I will be made like him in his death, with a full assurance of partaking in his resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:8-9)

Beloved, I perceive that in the future as this Reformation of the church continues, the wearing of vestments, of robes, will become a matter of greater and greater contention. Men ordained to the gospel ministry, having read their Bible, will refuse to put on a robe, and some of them will even die for it. Others will attempt to redefine the purpose of this robe, stating that it is to take the emphasis off of the pastor and put the emphasis on the Word. Those that redefine this robe will begin to refer to it as a Geneva Gown, named in honor of the Geneva Reformation which will be sparked in only a few years. Two-hundred years in the future George Whitefield will preach in a robe very similar to this one for 18,000 sermons, calling two entire nations, England and America, to repentance in the Living Christ.

But as for me, beloved, I will be reminded that this Reformation is born in Sola Fide, and it is growing in Sola Scriptura, and these two are vitally important, as are the rest, but if this Reformation survives until Christ returns, it will be sustained in Sola Sacerdos, with every believer knowing that they are a priest of the most high God, Christ our overseer of the church, and these priests will take their duties seriously, knowing the scriptures, and carrying the gospel of grace to all peoples. For beloved, there is great darkness in the world today, even in the Church, but this Reformation will preach under a banner of “Post Tenebras Lux”, that after darkness comes light. This world is set to explode in light, for the Word of God has been revealed. Within fifty years, a man burned in Britain will say to his companion, “Play the man, Ridley, for we this day shall light such a candle in England as I trust shall never be put out.”

In just a few years a new believer, William Tyndale, will translate the Bible into English, and he will say of the Roman priesthood, “A boy behind a plow will know more scripture than you.” He will lose his life, burnt at the stake, for his belief in the priesthood of believers, but his prediction will come true. Brother Martin, starting this war, will spend years in seclusion hidden in a castle as he translates the Old and New Testaments into German, and God will mercifully spare his life and bless his efforts. The printing press, invented less than 100 years ago, will ensure that these Bibles are disseminated, and that gospel tracts containing the glorious gospel of Christ will flood throughout the continent and the British isles.

I represent any number of reformed believers, my name is lost to history, but my labor in the Lord was not in vain. I will remove this robe and preach no longer in Latin, but in the vernacular of the people, for faith comes by hearing, and hearing the Word of Christ. I will not submit to a man acting vicariously in the place of Christ, but my affections and loyalties will only be to the King of kings. Many whom I represent will be hunted and killed by the Papal Church, but this gospel of Christ will not fail before it accomplishes its purpose, that someone from every nation and tongue will praise the name of Christ for his grace and sacrificial death on the cross.

Beloved, as you hear this message, I implore you first and foremost to be reconciled to God through faith in Christ and Christ alone. Then know your Bible, for it has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth without any mixture of error for its content. Men have bled and died so that you can own this Book and read it in English. They have given their lives in the gospel ministry, knowing that any gain apart from Christ is utter rubbish, and that each of us has only one life, and it will soon be past, and only what is done for Christ will last.

Protect Your Kids From Jesus

2011-10-27T09:30:00.004-04:00

The world hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. – Jesus (John 7:7, 15:18)

Tuesday was an amazing day in America. Nearly 200,000 copies of the new documentary, 180, were distributed on over 100 campuses in the United States and Canada. Most of these were college campuses, some were high schools. There was not as much opposition as I expected, but there was definitely much. Several police reports were filed, four citations were given, and many people were detained while police checked the legality of the hand-out.

Elsewhere, prayer is banned from public schools and football games, and evangelism is non-existent. As we evangelize at local high-school football games, police make up laws to seek to stop us.

Students were successfully protected from the message of Eternal Life. While we were prohibited from our free-speech rights, students were being taught evolution, homosexual agendas, communism, sports idolatry, sexual lascivious and irresponsibility, a blurring of the judicial/executive branches as police make up laws on the spot, and Islam is lauded as a religion of peace. I regularly preempt fights at football games and seek to witness to both parties involved. The world does its best to protect your children from Jesus Christ. He makes radical demands, so the world is quick to promise freedom, but they don’t admit to you that they are themselves slaves of corruption. They cry out, “Let us throw his laws off of us, ignoring his commands.” But in rejecting the freedom of Christ, they sink into the bondage of sin, and ensure that all around them fall headlong into the mire.

Martin Luther ominously said,

I am afraid that the schools will prove the very gates of hell, unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures and engraving them in the heart of the youth.

This isn’t just happening in schools, this is happening in churches. Within every denomination, even the orthodox ones, you’ll find people protecting children from Jesus. Within several denominations, the hymnals have been rewritten to remove references to the cross, and especially to blood. Blood is clearly offensive not just to children, but to everyone who should recognize that blood is offensive for a reason, that something is wrong in the universe and death is a constant reality. These denominations (PCUSA, Episcopal, United Church of Christ, etc.) have successfully protected their children from Jesus and forgiveness, for there is no forgiveness of sin without the shedding of blood, as Jesus said, “This is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for the forgiveness of sins of many.” (Hebrews 9:22, Matthew 26:28)

To be fair, the United Methodist Church has come out against this editing, and I want to applaud them in that regard. They write,

In Wesley hymns, the blood “pleads,” “avails,” “washes,” “purifies,” “saves,” “cleanses” and is “applied.” In the 80 Wesley hymns originally considered for inclusion in the 1989 hymnal, the word “blood” appears 31 times. Twenty-five of the hymns have a clear reference to the atonement. Whether or not blood atonement is taught in the seminaries or preached in the pulpit, it is still sung in the pews.

Elsewhere, practically all denominations protect their children from Jesus by retelling Bible stories. The story of Noah’s Ark has become a story of fuzzy animals, not the wrath of God against millions of reprobates or the salvation of a relative few through means provided and prescripted by God. The anathema Veggie Tales have removed death, destruction, wrath, and judgment from the biblical accounts, and have turned sin into a mild inconvenience that might result in you being covered in pie. They do a fantastic job of protecting kids from Jesus by not even mentioning him.

Any means of teaching that removes offense is necessarily against God. False prophets in the Old Testament protected people from Jesus by declaring PEACE, PEACE, when there really was no peace. They appeased the offense, they settled consciences, and the people faced the severe consequences of the wrath of God against their sin.

Undoubtedly one of the people Jesus hates the most are those who preclude the little ones from coming to him. He threatens them explicitly in Matthew 18:6. The danger is great for protecting a child from Jesus. Both the child and the protector will face God as his enemy. The one who stands between men and God will be judged with greater strictness. Jesus cries out to those protecting people from him, “Woe to you! You shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces! You neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in!”

So, reader, wherever you stand in relation to this blog, repent of protecting kids from Jesus. Preach the entire message of the entire Bible, which is that mankind is fallen, God is angry, and something radically drastic was required to appease the wrath of God and reconcile men. The Son of God himself put on a body, because heretofore Jesus was a spirit, and spirits don't have blood, so Jesus put on a body, he lived a perfect life, and he poured out his blood on a cross. He was beaten beyond human recognition, the hatred of men against God was demonstrated on a cross, and the hatred of God against sin was demonstrated on a cross, and Christ bore the indignation of both men and God, giving his life as a ransom, glorifying God in his obedience. Three days later he defeated death, he will deliver everyone who trusts in him from their bodies of death into perfected bodies in Heaven. In Heaven he will wipe away every tear of his saints as death, suffering, and sin become a thing of the past.

You can only protect yourself and others from Christ for so long, for we all have an appointment to meet him. I pray that on that day you meet him as a friend and a Saviour, and not as an enemy and Executioner. If you refuse to come, then stand aside and let evangelists preach the message to those who will, do not stand in the way of the salvation of some-one else.

In conclusion, once while we were preaching in Tampa, Florida, a woman cried out, "Please wait until we leave, I don't want my seven year old exposed to this!" I responded with a George Whitefield paraphrase, "Ma'am, if you won't go to Heaven, then for your son's sake, don't prevent him! Young man, come to Jesus apart from your parents if need be!"

Come then, ye little children, come to Christ; the Lord Christ shall be your righteousness. Do not stay for other people! If your fathers and mothers will not come to Christ, come without them! Let children lead them, and show them how the Lord may be their righteousness. – George Whitefield

A New Movie Worth Watching

2011-10-24T02:16:00.008-04:00

Visit 180movie.com

Beautiful Feet - Beautiful Saviour

2011-10-19T00:00:00.006-04:00

Isaiah 59 is one of the most frightening chapters in the Bible, this chapter contains information that God is not waiting for people to find him, he is not benevolent or even neutral towards his avowed enemies, but that he is radically against them for their sins. He has hidden his face from sinners, he has separated himself from their fellowship, he has stopped his ears from hearing their cries. The list of indictments against each individual sinner is not short, take a moment to read Isaiah 59:1-15, the action taken is terrifying, read Isaiah 59:16-19.

But verses 20-21 speak of a Redeemer, a glorious Covenant Maker and Keeper, who saves his people perfectly. The first 19 verses seem so radically contradictory to the last two verses, but that is where grace enters. I want to focus on a single line from Isaiah 59 to make this point:

Their feet run to evil. – Isaiah 59:7

One line from one verse, but it is the beginning of an utterly amazing gospel truth. This verse applies to every sinner, it applies to me, it applies to you dear reader, and because of our sinful flight to sin, we are indicted with the rest of mankind for our rebellion against God. If you don’t believe me, turn to Romans 3:15 where this verse is used by the Apostle Paul to demonstrate that you and I are locked under the law.

As if it couldn’t get worse, Proverbs 6:16-19 mirrors this verse,

…the LORD hates…feet that make haste to run to evil…

O! Reader! These implications are serious, for our sins we have earned the hatred of God, the wrath of God abides on us. He has declared an utmost hatred for the things our feet have taken us to do. What then, should we blame our appendages for our sins? Jesus says,

If your foot causes you to sin, cut if off and throw it away! It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. – Matthew 18:8

We cannot blame our hands, feet, eyes, or bodies for our sins, for these are but highly complex machines that are operated by our souls. We cannot blame our feet for taking us to sin, because our soul is the culprit for its destinations and its actions, and we will be held accountable. I hope that you see just from this one line in one verse in Isaiah 59 that you fall completely indicted with all of mankind and stand in danger of judgment. To quote Al Mohler, “Everything the Father has against you is true.”

But, beloved, I told you this is the beginning of an amazing gospel truth. Follow me to John 13, the night of the Last Supper, the night before Jesus Christ made his payment on a cross to prove himself the Redeemer spoken of in Isaiah 59:20-21. He gathered a basin of water, knelt down before his disciples, and began to wash their feet; an act of abject humility, of doing the work of a slave, of not being served, but serving, for within a day he would give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45).

He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” – John 13:6-8

O Beloved! Do you see it? Your king has in one act of love atoned for your sins, appeased the wrath of God, and cleansed you from all iniquity. Take a moment to think on your own sins, where have your feet taken you and what have you done there that would have equaled your eternal ruin had it not been for the obedience of your Redeemer to seek and save you? Beloved, now think on your Saviour, think on his feet, at this very moment he is in Heaven making intercession for you, he will stand to welcome you home (Acts 17:55-56), and when he stands, he will stand on feet with the scars of crucifixion forever emblazed as reminders of his faithfulness. Saint, you have heard the lyric, “Amazing love, how can it be, that you my King should die for me?” I can scarce hold back tears to add, “Amazing love, how can it be, that you my King should wash my feet?”

This is an amazing gospel truth, but let me make it utterly amazing for you,

How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!
– Romans 10:15

Your Lord and your King looks on your feet, feet that heretofore had been covered in filth and had made haste to fly to sin, and he declares them to be beautiful. Not by anything we’ve done, but because we have a Redeemer who came and walked among us, who washed not only our feet but our hands, head, and soul as well (1 Corinthians 6:11), who took every indictment of Isaiah 59 and declared himself guilty of every charge while declaring us innocent. His hands, his side, and his feet were pierced for our iniquities, but his is the chastisement that has brought us peace in his glorious gospel. His prophet Nahum proclaimed the gospel of the beautiful feet of Jesus this way,

Behold! Upon the mountains, the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace! – Nahum 1:15

Now beloved, with your cleansed, holy, beautiful feet, imitate your Saviour who loved you, humbled himself, and gave himself for you. Walk in the paths of righteousness he has prepared before time for you to walk (Ephesians 2:10, Psalm 23:3), for shoes for your feet put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace (Ephesians 6:15), and stand proclaiming to the nations, “Your God, though he was dead, yet he lives! He reigns!” (Isaiah 52:7)

For beloved,

Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” – Romans 10:14-16

Amazing love, how can it be, that my King would wash my feet?

Christopher Columbus

2011-10-09T18:00:00.007-04:00

This will be a topical look at Christopher Columbus. His day is the 12th of this month and his life has been so ignored and misrepresented that I think it will benefit us all to look into his life.

What is Christopher Columbus famous for? The world will tell you it is for discovering the New World, and that's true, but what he is famous for in Heaven is his devotion to Jesus Christ and desire to see the gospel spread.

Columbus was born in Genoa Italy in 1451, his father was a wool-worker, which Columbus trained to follow, but Columbus wanted to be a sailor. His education is fairly spotty in detail, we do know that he learned Latin because all of the best nautical books were in Latin. Which other great book was in Latin at this time? The Bible. Columbus was put in an interesting privileged position to read the book that most people at his time could not read, and he took it very seriously. On one of his first trips he was in Greece, here was all sorts of political and religious unrest and if I had to put my finger on where Columbus got saved, I'd say it was either in Greece, or because of Greece that he would have looked deeper into his Catholic faith.

Ironically, his first voyage, which was to Greece, was the closest he would ever get to India.

His profession of faith is, "I am a most noteworthy sinner, but I have cried out to the Lord for grace and mercy, and they have covered me completely. I have found the sweetest consolation since I made it my whole purpose to enjoy His marvelous Presence."

He took his name, Christopher, exceedingly literally; this name means "The Christ Bearer" and he made it his life's goal to see Jesus Christ glorified through his life. His last name seems to have some Jewish roots, albeit we're not really sure what it means. Columbus claimed to be able to trace his lineage all the way up to King David. This may seem strange, but it is totally plausible, conservative Jews take lineage very seriously, and while David, Jesus, and subsequently Christopher would have been from the line of Judah, if you ever meet someone from the line of Levi, they can take you straight up the list of their genealogy to Aaron. Paul said don't get caught up in this, but it's neat that people are able to do it.

Columbus shares a similar last name with Columba who was a missionary to Scotland in the sixth century who converted the Picts. I wanted to mention him because with Columbus we're going to be discussing lots of science and the Bible, and Columba has writings about him that he encountered huge lizards, aka dragons, in Scotland. One of them almost ate his friend. Today we call them dinosaurs, and they certainly didn't live millions of years ago, but only recently vanished from the earth.

So, back to Columbus, the Italian. He was a Catholic, but his letters and journals are very biblical and I have very little doubt that he was saved. On the other hand, he went to Spain to try to get funding for a Western expedition to the Indies. The king and queen of Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella, were thoroughly Catholic and almost guaranteed not to be saved. One evidence is that they hated Jews, and they kicked all of the Jews out of Spain, which is ironic because Columbus was a Jew, albeit a Christian Jew.

If you research this, and I always encourage you to look into these things, you'll find some very flattering language to a "Queen" who many Catholics will want you to believe was Mary, but you'll find if you search it in context, that it was about Queen Isabella and her support of Columbus. One reason I feel that Columbus was actually saved is because even though he was a Catholic, he only worshipped and prayed to Jesus Christ and his Father. One of the ships they gave him was the Santa Maria, Saint Mary, but he didn't name her, she was named after her home port, which was called El Puerto de Santa Maria. Various crew members named her various things, the devout Catholics called her Elegant Mary, the heathens called her Dirty Mary, and others called her by the city she was made in, La Gallega. Interestingly, the name of the Santa Clara was changed to the Niña, which means little girl; the captain of this ship's name was Juan Niño, so it was a play on words.

While God can use pagans (Catholics and others) to do amazing things, I'm certain that Columbus disagreed with much of the Catholic faith and held to a more orthodox Christianity, albeit not perfectly orthodox.

In the 1400's, practically no-one believed the world was flat. Text books lie to us, because they hate God and the truth. We're going to talk about that more later. Columbus started to research a different route to China and Indonesia, a straight shot rather than going around Africa; few people believed it was impossible, but most felt that it was way too far to sail. And, if there was no land-mass between Spain and China, it would have been way too far to sail.

Columbus heard of a land possibly to the West so he decided to research it, and he did so both from the Bible, and from secular history. It started off when he heard of a body that was found in Ireland floating across the Atlantic Ocean that was neither black nor white but seemed oriental. At this point, he realized that winds around the equator blew West, and winds farther north blew East, and he felt he could sail West on one and home on the other, no-one purportedly had thought of that before.

In his research he discovered a writing by Diodorus Siculus, a first century BC Greek historian, who recorded that he had heard of a very great island many days journey from Africa. A great scientist and a Catholic named Dr. Mirabilis in the 1200's believed that the sea between Spain and India would be navigable if the winds were right, albeit he never tried it.

Columbus started to search the Bible to see what it said on the matter. He had absolute authority that the world was round,

Isaiah 40:22 It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in...

Job 26:10 He has inscribed a circle on the face of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness.

A circle of light would require a sphere, and so there was no doubt in Columbus', or most people of his day, that the world was round.

I'm fairly certain Columbus' favorite book was Isaiah, he loved and held to the frequent mention of all types of people in all different locations following after the Living God. Columbus felt like he was divinely guided by God to sail West to fulfill a prophecy in Isaiah 60. I don't know exactly how he picked this prophecy, because looking back, I don't know if I would ascribe him to it, but it's very interesting and it very well may be a direct prophecy of Columbus.

Isaiah 60:9 Surely the islands look to me; in the lead are the ships of Tarshish, bringing your sons from afar, with their silver and gold, to the honor of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor.

Where is Tarshish? Tarshish is in Southwestern Spain. Where did Columbus sail from? Spain, specifically Palos, which is very near to where Tarshish was in Jonah's day, albeit they are not exactly the same place so it is dangerous to force this prophecy.

Columbus had seen enough islands in his travels; Ireland, Iceland, the Aegeans, the Azores, the Canaries to believe that there would be islands across the whole ocean until he reached India. He wasn't looking for the land mass that is the Americas, but he fully expected to find islands across the ocean. He also believed that along with the winds, he would have help by ocean currents which were largely unknown of at the time, and this would keep the distance from being too long because the speed of the ships would be faster.

Psalm 8:8 ...passes along the paths of the seas.

Similarly, in the 1800's, a sailor named Matthew Fontaine Maury read this verse and started to map the ocean currents and do more research on them. He is known today as the Father of Oceanography.

No one could accuse Columbus of lack of research, he would write, "I have met and I have had discussions with wise people, ecclesiastics and laymen, Latins and Greeks, Jews and Moors and with many others of other sects. To this I found our Lord very favorable to my desire and I received from Him the spirit of intelligence: in seamanship he made me abundant, of astrology he gave what was needed, and so of geometry and arithmetic and ingeniousness in the soul and hands to draw the sphere..."

Columbus approached the King of Portugal first, and after hearing his proposal, the king turned him down. People thought he was crazy for wanting to try. Columbus would later write/pray, "At this time I both read and studied all kinds of literature: cosmography, histories, chronicles, and philosophy and other arts, to which our Lord opened my mind unmistakably to the fact that it was possible to navigate from here to the Indies, and He evoked in me the will for the execution of it; and with this fire I came to Your Highnesses. All those who heard of my plan disregarded it mockingly and with laughter. All the sciences of which I spoke were of no profit to me nor the authorities in them; only in Your Highness is my faith, and my stay. Who would doubt that this light did not come from the Holy Spirit, anyway as far as I am concerned, which comforted with rays of marvelous clarity and with its Holy and Sacred Scriptures."

So he went to Spain and they were all for his voyage, mainly for evangelization purposes, but also they wanted whichever islands that Columbus might discover. Queen Isabella sought monetary help from the Vatican, stating the purpose of the voyage "To bear the light of Christ west to the heathen undiscovered lands." There was also a lot of money to be made, and certainly that is why some people were all for the expedition.

But, the king and queen couldn't pay for it because Spain was broke fighting a war against Muslim invaders. Columbus was going to head for France to seek financing there, which would mean whichever lands he discovered would belong to France, and also Portugal seemed to be changing their minds and were going to finance Columbus, but before that happened three wealthy Spanish men, all nominally Christian Jews, decided to fund Columbus' exploration for Spain. Ironically, it seems that one of their purposes was to seek a new land in which to evade the Catholic church. It is not clear whether they were born-again Christians, non-Messianic Jews, or atheists, however it happened, their goal was to get away from the Roman church.

So Columbus sailed West to go East. They found no islands for a long time and the crew wanted to give up. Columbus told them three more days and if they hadn't spotted land, they would turn-around; land birds at this time appeared in the distance and spirits were raised. At the end of the second day, October 12th, 1492, they spotted land, an island in the Bahamas. They named it San Salvador, the Sacred Saviour. When they landed they met, after a brief search, a people that looked quite oriental, and so Columbus decided they were in India and named the people Indians. I don't understand how he thought he had sailed all the way, when he was less than half way.

Columbus instantly set out to making friends with the natives, giving them gifts and learning to communicate with them. His first journal entries after landing on October 12th were how important it was for Spain to send missionaries to these people. By November his journaling had changed slightly, he stated that he had begun to try to convert them, and he persuaded six Indians to return to Spain with him to learn Spanish, and possibly to return to their people as missionaries.

I can't sum it up better than Columbus the joy and monumental event that took place when the gospel was introduced to the new world, "Let Christ rejoice upon earth as he does in heaven, to witness the coming salvation of so many people, heretofore given over to perdition."

Columbus is the exact opposite of religious tolerance, he sought a direct route to send missionaries to a people who very much needed Christ. And while much evil came about to the American Indians because of the discovery, many have been saved by Christ and went to Heaven, which they never would have if the New World wasn't discovered. And America wasn't a utopia where everything was peachy. The people that Columbus first met, the Arawak, were in imminent danger from cannibals, the Carib, who were systematically working their way around the Bahamas causing the extinction of whole people groups by eating them.

Likewise, later the Spaniards were able to conquer the Mayans and the Aztecs with very little manpower and violence, even though they were outnumbered by ridiculously huge armies. The reason was because many of the Mayans and Aztecs wouldn't fight for their leaders because their leaders were wicked and violent and made human sacrifices. Columbus did infinite good for the kingdom of God and for souls.

But in terms of tolerance, people hate him. One Indian Chief said of him in 1992, "Columbus makes Hitler look like a juvenile delinquent." So the Columbus they teach about in school, who loved wealth and titles more than anything, is not the Columbus of history who loved Jesus Christ and sought to see souls saved from perdition, Hell, for eternity. Columbus did like money, and sometimes he would go on mini-expeditions just in search of gold and spices. However, he used a great deal of his wealth to fund missionaries not to the New World, but to Jerusalem, and at the end of his life he had very little wealth remaining, but that is how he intended it. On money he would say, "He who has gold makes and accomplishes whatever he wishes in the world, and finally uses it to send souls to paradise."

So what do we learn?

First of all, the Bible is all about science. It is not science versus the Bible, it is science and the Bible versus enemies of God.

Second of all, education is great if you are putting it to action for glorifying God. Trigonometry was reasonably new in Columbus' day, yet without it there is no way he would have been able to find the same islands on his return voyage. Magellan would also use Trigonometry when he sailed around the world.

Third, Columbus used what he was good at to glorify God. He was a great seaman and navigator. It is said that his handwriting was fantastic, so much so that he was offered jobs to be a scribe. He also could have become a wool-worker like his father, but he took what God had made him best at and used it for eternity and the glory of God.

Forth of all, Columbus was a great Christian whose main goal was the evangelization of new people who had never heard of Jesus Christ. He took verses likeMatthew 24:24, 28:19-20, andMark 16:15 literally and seriously.

Fifth of all, tolerance is stupid. Lest people repent and turn to Jesus Christ, they will perish, and we need to be doing the same as Columbus did, seeking to convert everyone we run into, and refusing to compromise on the absolute truth of the scriptures.

Sixth of all, you can do pretty much whatever you want to with your money. The best place to invest it is in the kingdom of Heaven, where you use it to win souls into paradise. This is a running theme in the Bible, that we only have one life, and it will soon be past, and only what's done for Christ will last.

Seventh of all, and probably most important, I'll let Columbus sum up, "No one should fear to undertake any task in the name of our Saviour, if it is just and if the intention is purely for His service."

In conclusion, after it became apparent that what Columbus had discovered was not India or China, but was indeed something quite different, he would sum up his whole life in one pithy statement, "God made me the messenger of the New Heaven and the New Earth."

God has likewise made you a messenger of the New Heaven and the New Earth, for without Christ, souls will perish. Find what you are best at and use it to glorify God in your body and your speech. Preach Christ at every opportunity, and trust in his sovereignty that the works you are walking in were prepared before time began so we rightly represent Christ to all the world, for until the gospel is preached to every nation, the end will not come. We want 1 Peter 2:10 to be true for all people groups.

1 Peter 2:10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Finally, challenge teachers when they try to teach that Columbus was only in it for wealth, and that people thought he would sail over the edge of the world and die, tell them that is stupid and is willfully being ignorant of the truth.

Youth is Like a Flower Cut Down

2011-10-07T17:00:00.002-04:00

With the death of Steve Jobs, we are reminded that something is not right in the world, that God has put speed bumps in our daily path to declare to us that all is not as it should be in regards to life and health. Death entered into the world through Adam, but beloved, don't be quick to blame Adam, for it is the soul that sins that shall die, and death has passed from Adam to all men because all sin.

The following is an excerpt from Jonathan Edwards' sermon "Youth is Like a Flower Cut Down", preached twice in his life, once for a friend's son, and second for his own daughter, in order to use their deaths to point others to the Lifegiver, Christ Jesus.

'So youth is an age wherein persons are commonly full of hopes and promises to themselves of the good and prosperity they shall see in the world. They are just entering upon the stage of the world, and they promise themselves much that they shall see and enjoy afterwards. And their parents and friends are also ready to promise themselves much future comfort in them, and are full of hope of seeing them settled, and oftentimes are full of hope of the figure they will make in the world.

What you have heard from the Word of God, you have lately seen verified in the providence of God. There have been several instances of it in this town. God tells you in his Word, and has now been telling you, how that man "cometh forth as a flower, and is cut down"; and he has not only told you so, but he has been showing of you that it is so. He has cut down one flower after another of those that were but lately come forth, that were as it were just in the blossom. He has spoken not only once, but twice, nigh thrice. God is pleased to cut down some to warn others. It would be a stupid hardness and provoking obstinancy in you to disregard one such warning; but God has repeated his witness and has called to you with so awful and solemn a voice once, and again, and again.

He was young as you are. He was in like circumstances with many of you. A little while ago he appeared as likely to live as you. But yet now he is gone. And you are yet spared. You as yet have an opportunity to prepare for death.'

This sermon was alternately titled, God is pleased to cut down some to warn others. Was Steve Jobs a more wicked man than you? Are you better than him? In God's eyes we are as debase as we can be, Jobs had an amazing creativity and imagination, but God says that the intents of all of our imaginations are only evil continually (Genesis 6:5). We cannot speculate as to why Jobs lived so long or died so young, this is a secret thing of God, but we do know why he died, because he was a son of Adam and a sinner himself.

But beloved, you yet live, you as yet have an opportunity to prepare for death! A death has occurred that redeems from the transgressions committed by Adam and his descendants! Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, lived a perfect life, did nothing deserving of death, and yet gave his life as a ransom to pay for the transgressions of his people. He defeated death three days later, proving to be God and proving to have the power over death and sin. He did not come to condemn the world, the world is condemned already, but that through him the world may be saved.

Look to the cross where the King of Life died, it is empty, his work is finished. Look to the tomb where the Lord of Light lay, it is empty, he is risen. Put your faith in the one who took on death and crushed it underfoot, he is your only hope, he is your only salvation. Prepare for death while you yet have time!

The Disappearing Bible

2011-09-08T03:30:00.002-04:00

Introduction

The year is 2,347BC, the ground is still soggy, but plants are starting to spring up left and right, grass is thriving in the new topsoil, and little baby animals frolic in the bright sun. New mountains rise majestically above the plain, in the far distance a thunderclap announces a rain storm, which quickly gives way to a perfect rainbow.

In a tent supported by gopher wood scaffolding, a wise old man studies the scriptures with his three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. He ensures they are well versed in the Genesis event, in the fall of mankind, the promise of a Redeemer born of woman, the increasing reprobation of mankind and of warnings ignored, the call to their father to build an ark in the midst of dry land, and the wrath of God coming when no-one on earth expected it. Above all, they knew that God was a gracious God and one who kept covenant with all those who trust in him. From these three men, all of the people of the whole earth were dispersed (Genesis 9:18-19).

The Bible Lost

The year today is AD2011, over 4,300 years have elapsed since that faithful man Noah instructed his sons in the scriptures. Then they went out throughout the whole earth, splashed to the four corners of the compass with their languages confused. Today you can go throughout this terrestrial ball and find people who today have utterly no recollection of the God who deluged the world in wrath, but chose to save just eight of their ancestors. Today legends and traditions and mysteries abound of a monotheistic Creator God who accepts atonement, who flooded the earth, and/or who is the first cause and self-existent one, but the details are lost, his name is veiled, his character is blurred, his communication is less than a memory, and his salvation is unknown.

How can there be so many nations, tribes, and tongues who descended from Shem, Ham, and Japheth who are ignorant of the God of their forefathers? Was it because God forgot them? No, for he promises to save a saint from every one of these peoples, even writing his first Gospel accounts to them, Matthew to the Semites, Mark to the Hamites, and Luke to the Japhethites. Then it must have been that the knowledge of God was lost by some hapless teachers in the past, those who felt that transmitting the Word of the Living God, the very words of eternal life, was not important, and by so doing condemned both themselves, and their hearers.

Not Many of You Should Become Teachers

Jesus tells us that the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. An ancestor of every person on that broad way at some time in the past knew how to find the narrow path, but failed to teach it. They led their entire progeny down the wrong road and great will be their destruction.

This is why James, the brother of Jesus, says so emphatically, “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” (James 3:1) One bad teacher can condemn an entire church, an entire city, an entire people group. There is no more overpaid or overappreciated person than the one who teaches little ones to sin by ignoring the Bible. Truly Jesus was clear when he said, “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.” (Matthew 18:6)

The teacher who fails to teach the Bible, or fails to teach it faithfully, is setting themselves up for a great fall, and are doing immense damage not only to themselves but also to the souls of those whom they teach and those whom those will teach and so on.

You Ought to Be Teachers

The Apostle says to the Hebrews, “by this time you ought to be teachers”, speaking to a group of Christians who had been saved for some time, who had heard much truth and been instructed in the basics of the faith (Hebrews 5:12-6:3).

I am finding a sad trend in my area of people who read their Bibles, but don’t take them seriously and who certainly don’t tell others about what they’ve read. They read their Bibles through such a lens of tradition that they are not transformed or even interested in being transformed. They read verses like Matthew 22:7, Hebrews 1:9, and Revelation 14:10-11 and refuse to believe that God hates anyone or that Hell is eternal conscious torment inflicted by him. Others claim that free-will is the running theme of the New Testament, yet don’t realize that the word is never used in the New Testament, or that the Bible is violently against the concept. Others read the Bible to find the promises of health, wealth, and happiness, or trying to puff up their own self-esteem by overemphasizing their worthiness to save. They are much more interested in what the Bible means to them, than what the Bible actually means.

I am not lying one bit to say that these genuinely read their Bibles often. One recent conversation I had was with a young lady, a homosexual and communist advocate, who is on a strict reading plan of a chapter a night. But they perish for lack of knowledge, no-one has ever taught them how to read their Bibles or what the main theme is, no-one has ever confronted them in their errors.

Beloved, if you are a Christian, if you know what the Bible says, and you know how to rightly exegete a passage, declaring what the original author intended, then you ought to be a teacher. If you can’t do all of those things, then you ought not be a teacher, you should run from that role. Dan Phillips, author of the excellent book, The World-Tilting Gospel, gives the best advice, “Scripture meant one thing before you were born, means the same now, and will mean the same, should you die. Preach that meaning.”

Strive to Speak For God

Perhaps, dear Christian, you do not feel called to teach, or you do not feel equipped, or you just plain don’t want to. Then I call you to submit to the command of the Bible, “Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.” (1 Corinthians 14:1) Prophesy in the Old Testament occasionally dealt with new revelation, but more often than not was an exhortation to love God and love your neighbor, repenting of sin. Prophesy in the church deals exclusively with speaking for God out of the closed canon of the scriptures. When you quote John 3:16 or Romans 5:8, you become a prophet, because you are speaking for God.

Not only so, but as a herald and priest of the King (1 Peter 2:9), you ought to love to proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of the darkness into his glorious light. You are commanded to strive for the ability to speak for God faithfully and with love.

And beloved, in so doing, you will perpetuate the words of eternal life, your students and hearers won’t be left in the dark as to who God is, what he demands of humanity, and how he is saving a remnant from every nation, tribe, and tongue by sending his Son to be the propitiation for their sins. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing the Word of Christ (Romans 10:17).

Conclusion

Your church, your city, your people group is potentially only one generation away from complete spiritual darkness, all you have to do is fail to teach the Bible. If you claim to be a teacher in any capacity, then for the love of Christ and his church, teach that he has made himself known and can be known in perfect fellowship through the power of his resurrection revealed in the inerrant and infallible words of the Bible. Please do not face a stricter judgment by failing to teach the love of Christ, but open up your Bible and proclaim it in Spirit and in truth, living it in deed and in truth.

In an age when Bibles are available in every hotel, at every book store, in any library, for free at any festival, online in every translation and with an overabundance of explanatory notes, handheld in most phones, the Bible is being lost to future generations for lack of solid teaching. I beg you to not be guilty of condemning future generations by not caring enough about God’s Word or the message of the Word Incarnate to teach it faithfully and put your love into action.

Beloved, preach your Bible, declare the truth of Christ and him crucified, stand on the firm foundation of scripture; I pray you will, and I pray that the audacious words of Paul will be true of you, “Devote yourself to the public reading of scripture, to exhortation, to teaching…Practice these things, immerse yourself in them…Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.” (1 Timothy 4:13,15,16)

Practical Atheists

2011-09-02T01:00:00.004-04:00

There is an inevitable awkwardness coming in my life when I will run into people who really don’t like me. It’s unavoidable, it will happen at a supermarket, or a gas station, or a restaurant; it’s a peril of advocating “local” churches, where members don’t have to drive an hour to get to church, and where fellow members are also neighbors.

I’m not too worried about this point, in fact, let me quote a secular sitcom,

“I hate drama!” [pause]
“No you don’t, you love drama.”
“I know; you’re right! I love drama!”

But something struck me recently, that there is one place I am safe from such awkwardness, where I can be sure not to run into certain people. That place is anywhere where ministry can be done, anywhere where people can be talked to about the gospel. They have told their Father that they will go to the nations and publish the peace of the gospel, but then have not (Matthew 21:30). It reminded me of some very harsh verses, verses like,

“They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works.” (Titus 1:16)

and,

“Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me…’” (Mark 7:6, Isaiah 29:13)

There is a very unfortunate theology ingrained in the church today of a people who fail to learn or love, but simply take the name of Christ without considering any of its implications. I thought long and hard on Hebrews 12:14 this morning, which calls Christians to strive to be set-apart, for without holiness, no-one will see the Lord. This is not works-righteous, it is a way to test ourselves, if we have no desire for holiness, it is most likely because we are not holy as Christ as holy, for he states very clearly, “You shall be holy, as I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:16) It’s not works-righteous at all, it is a joy to be set-apart for the gospel, but so many are failing to strive for holiness, and are perfectly content living a worldly life while naming the name of Jesus Christ.

It is not nominally atheistic, indeed, many proclaim Christ to be God, but practically it is exactly atheism, because the life which most of the professing church lives today would be no different if tomorrow Christianity were to vanish from the face of the earth. How is it that Paul could wish an imprecation on himself, “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel.” (1 Corinthians 9:16) and yet most of the church today would say the opposite, “Woe to me if I would offend someone with intolerance or exclusivity or the cross of Christ.” Though their beliefs may be orthodox, their lives betray their beliefs.

A mere glance at any ministry opportunity in the area shows a field white for harvest, a people who are exceptionally far from Christ, who are without hope and without God in the world, a nation of idol worshippers and mammon lovers, worshippers of their bellies and sundry lusts. I lamented recently looking at a set of mammoth bleachers filled with people, thinking that with only fifty Christians we could have witnessed to all of these people in a matter of hours; but in scanning for Christians doing the will of their Father, three were found. The church was absent in its commission.

Beloved, if this is you, I pray that you are insulted. There is a very real call in Christianity to act as a priest of God, to minister in his name, to do something to proclaim his kingdom and the great love by which he loved us. I pray my attitude has not insulted you, but the words which I have conveyed. Let me quote a Psalm that hopefully will cut you to the heart; nothing is added or removed, this is God speaking to you:

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds,
there is none who does good.

The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man,
to see if there are any who understand,
who seek after God.

They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
not even one.

Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers
who eat up my people as they eat bread
and do not call upon the LORD?

There they are in great terror,
for God is with the generation of the righteous.
You would shame the plans of the poor,
But the LORD is his refuge.

Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
When the LORD restores the fortunes of his people,
let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad. – Psalm 14:1-7

So many professing Christians are still in this unregenerate state; all true Christians at one time were in this state, but they have been washed, justified, and sanctified by Jesus Christ. They have been made to bear fruit through his life, and to love one another through his Spirit; they will never fall.

Notice that it doesn’t say they believe there is no God, but that they say there is no God. There is a difference, a person can utter the name of Christ and still live like Christ is neither Sovereign nor Judge. A person can believe that mankind is in desperate danger and in need of redemption, but a life that never does anything about it is proclaiming peace when there is no peace. Many study the Word of God, believing everything it says, but by failing to be doers of the Word, they make it just a book-club and a hobby.

Beloved, the Bible exhorts you to study and work that you may not be ashamed (2 Timothy 2:15); you may believe it, but if you don’t act on it, Christ threatens to remove the light from you (Revelation 2:5). This weekend myself and a small group of laborers will be going out into the harvest, we will be at a football game one night, a concert the next, and a festival the last; we will be calling as many as we can find to come into the kingdom to honor the Son. I unfortunately do not expect to see many, if any, other Christians doing the same.

Those who it would be very awkward to run into at the supermarket are among the top list of those I do not expect to encounter living their faith. But if they were to be proclaiming Christ with their life instead of just with their lips, and I were to run into them, then that inevitable meeting would certainly be much less awkward.

So, dear reader, how about you? Will you name the name of Christ only to be called a fool, a fraud, and a hypocrite? Or will you live a life worthy of his call, studying yourself approved, a workman who needs not to be ashamed? Will you be a practical atheist, one who claims to know the true God, but who lives like God has lain dead in a tomb for 2,000 years?

The call is clear, if you love Christ, you will obey his commandments. You will go into the highways and the hedges, you will go into the hospitals and the prisons, you will love the unlovable, and preach the gospel to all.

If you won’t, then I echo the sentiments of both Christ in Matthew 23 and Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:

Woe to you. Woe to you, indeed.

Hear the Call of the Kingdom

2011-08-23T10:30:00.000-04:00

The Reformation was born in Sola Fide (salvation by faith alone), it spread in Sola Scriptura (God speaks in this age only through his Word), but it was sustained in Sola Sacerdos (every believer in the New Covenant is a priest/sacerdote). This is an exceptionally amazing privilege for the Christian, we are allowed to do things that most people cannot ever dream of doing, we can pray and have God hear us, we can approach his throne of grace, we can preach of his atonement in Jesus Christ, and our whole life becomes a sacrifice to the Lord of heaven and earth.

But recently many have forgotten or ignored Sola Sacerdos, they have begun to build a hierarchy of believers, a sacerdotal religion, one that dotes on the super-spirituals. In Seattle a witch claims that God spoke audibly and authoritatively to tell him to "marry [a certain girl], preach the Bible, to plant churches and train men." In Charlotte a minor antichrist has set himself up in this way, "[Our church] is built on the vision God gave Pastor Steven. We will aggressively defend our unity and that vision." If these were based in the Bible they would not be as destructive as they have been. Other more subtle sacerdotal religions say to listen for God, he might want you to sell all your stuff and give it to the poor. Others listen for "a still small voice" or a "leading" into ministry. All of these have utterly wrecked the church, because they are everything but biblical. Witches and hirelings run throughout spreading heresy and speaking for God where God has not spoken.

As professed Christians, professed priests of the Living God, their condemnation is tremendous, as it is written,

Yet let no one contend,
--and let none accuse,
--for with you is my contention, O priest.
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge;
--because you have rejected knowledge,
--I reject you from being a priest to me.
And since you have forgotten the law of your God,
--I also will forget your children. - Hosea 4:4,6

Dear Christian, if you are not terrified by this prospect, then I beg you to test yourself to see if you are even in the faith. Let us be sure that before our mouths open that we are not misrepresenting God, let us pray that before we could dishonor God with our words that our tongues would fall out or cleave to the tops of our mouths (Psalm 137:6). I am writing this to motivate you to obey the call that you received when you first heard of Christ and believed on his name. There is no special sacerdotal call to the ministry, you are called to present your body as a living sacrifice, to take up your cross and follow Christ, to live a life worthy of his calling, yours is the priestly duty of preaching the gospel of forgiveness of sins; as a Christian, favored by God, you are a minister in his kingdom.

He gave you a command two millennia ago to preach the gospel, and he has never rescinded nor altered that commission. Therefore, dear Christian, do as it says in Jesus' parables, go to the highways and hedges and compel as many as you find to come into the wedding feast so that the wedding hall is filled with guests, whether good and bad; yours is the invitation, not the discernment. Your call is to be the herald of good news, the messenger of the kingdom. This is not a silent job; while it does not require a trumpetous voice, it does require you to open your mouth and proclaim to humanity the excellencies of him who called you out of the darkness into his glorious light.

Under our modern sacerdotal religious system, many sit back and say, "I haven't been called to share my faith." This excuse is wicked and lazy, for any Christian who has ever read the New Testament knows they are called to share their faith. Over a century ago William Booth put it this way,

'Not called!' did you say?

'Not heard the call,' I think you should say.

Put your ear down to the Bible, and hear him bid you go and pull sinners out of the fire of sin.

Put your ear down to the burdened, agonized heart of humanity, and listen to its pitiful wail for help.

Go stand by the gates of hell, and hear the damned entreat you to go to their father's house and bid their brothers and sisters, and servants and masters not to come there.

And then look Christ in the face, whose mercy you have professed to obey, and tell him whether you will join heart and soul and body and circumstances in the march to publish his mercy to the world.

Beloved, if you are in the kingdom, then you are called. Do not fall for some ridiculous hierarchal call to share your faith. You are a priest of the Living God, you have the same authority as if you were God's Son himself to publish peace and call mankind to repent, because you are in his righteousness and seen as though you had lived his life. He came to seek and save the lost, and he has commissioned and prayed for you to do the same, calling all to repent and trust in his saving work on the cross and in the empty tomb.

You may live in an exceptionally godless place, or like me, in a place that is so hardened to the gospel through the wicked free-will message that most won't know they are God's enemies until he casts them into Hell, but who knows, perhaps you have come into the kingdom for just such a time as this. If you remain silent, then relief and deliverance for God's saints will rise from another place, but you put yourself in tremendous danger that you may be found false, and in such a terrible judgment you will perish.

Jesus says that if his followers do not declare who he is, that the rocks will cry out. Beloved, I refuse to be outpreached by a rock, and I pray that you will open your mouth and proclaim the excellencies of Christ. Hear the call of the kingdom and proclaim Christ and him crucified for the forgiveness of sins! Don't wait for something mystical; it is revealed: he calls you to be a priest and a herald of the kingdom, to open your mouth, and call lost sheep home.

Beloved, don't be outpreached by a rock.

Being a Good Person

2011-08-15T16:30:00.000-04:00

Facebook has informed me that on this day last year I preached one of my favorite messages ever. I feel this is worthy of reposting, because I think it is missed in much of Christendom today:

Text – Acts 11:24, Romans 15:14-17

One of my favorite things to do is brag on the church and especially youth who are living their faith. The Apostle Paul did likewise with the church at Thessalonica saying that they were his crown of boasting and his joy because they had so thoroughly evangelized Macedonia and stayed firm in the faith and loved one another.

In the past six months or so I’ve bragged about student's school performance, preaching to their peers, being on fire for sharing the gospel, discipling younger people, and their theological depth; namely one of the most profound things I’ve ever heard from anybody, even adults, with, “Christ died on a tree of death to give us access to the tree of life.” There are many others, time would fail me to recount them all.

I wrote our whole lesson plan on a Tuesday morning, on Wednesday I was telling someone about an awesome song I’d heard sung by a teenager on Sunday. I’ll brag on the person I was telling this too as well, his name is Patrick and he is always excited to hear what’s going on at church and tell me what is going on at his church, I really look forward to talking to him, because he stirs me up for good works. He asked about the song and it led to me being able to brag about the quality of the teenager. Afterwards it got me thinking about a passage in scripture that I’ve read several times but never spent too much time on, the reason I started thinking about it was because I didn’t have the faintest urge to tell Patrick, “She’s an absolutely horrible person, but she sure can sing and play the piano.” No, when I brag on students it’s always on their love and faith and amazing things they do in the name of Christ. So I changed the lesson plan to look at an amazing verse in the Bible, maybe my favorite.

Let’s read that verse:

Acts 11:24 [Barnabas] was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.

Does this seem backwards from what we talked about last week? Let’s read some other verses that say what we learned last week,

Genesis 6:5 The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Romans 3:12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.

Luke 18:17 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.”

So if that’s true that no-one is good, how then can Barnabas be good? Is he God? No, because in Galatians 2 we see that he at one point was a great sinner. Does he have God in him? Aha, there is our answer, he was full of the Holy Spirit.

What are the fruit of the Spirit? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.

Aha! If we are being sanctified, then we should be able to be labeled a good person. What is the definition of sanctification? Being conformed (changed) closer and closer to an image of Jesus Christ, loving what he loves and hating what he hates and reacting and interacting with the world the same way he would.

Let’s look at another scripture that supports the idea that the Christian has been redeemed from being a bad person to being a good person:

Romans 15:14 I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another.

Now, we have to make sure we’re making a distinction between being good and being filled with goodness, with having an innate goodness and having, as Dr. John MacArthur calls it, an alien goodness. Left to ourselves, we are not good, our goodness comes from above. There is no verse that says verbatim we’re good because Christ was good, but there are many scriptures which say basically that,

2 Corinthians 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

1 Peter 1:15 As he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy."

We are good not because of anything in ourselves, but because Christ has given us his Spirit who is goodness and righteousness.

Romans 8:7-10 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

How do we receive the goodness of Christ? Through faith. What else was Barnabas filled with? Faith. Check out this verse,

Hebrews 11:5 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Now, let’s look at how this goodness plays out. What is the definition of goodness? Is it always being nice and not offending someone or always being upbeat and happy? No, we’ll look at Paul’s example in just a minute, but before we do I want to show you sometimes being nice or happy or positive isn’t the right response,

Proverbs 25:20 Whoever sings songs to a heavy heart is like one who takes off a garment on a cold day, and like vinegar on soda.

Goodness is reacting rightly to all situations; virtue. Sometimes being nice is not the right response to a situation, check out what Paul kept saying,

Romans 15:14-15 I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another. But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder,

Sometimes being good requires a direct rebuke, a correction, abrasiveness to smooth out a problem by bringing a person to the truth. In Proverbs it says that an enemy will tell you you’re wonderful when you’re not, but a friend will tell you the truth, James says we may save a person’s soul by confronting them in their sin, namely pride. There was a massive movement in the 20th century, which I’m sure isn’t dead yet, to convince people that they should have massive amounts of self-esteem and consider themselves to be the best person on the planet just waiting to find a place to express themselves. It led to several completely wrecked generations; in fact many teachers have found that the students with the highest self esteem have no interest in learning anything or improving in any way, because they think they’re already perfect.

So let me give you some advice. Students, you may do great in school, but you’re not as smart as you someday will be; keep pressing forward. Evangelists, you may be awesome at sharing your faith but if you’re at the same level you are now in ten years, I’d be embarrassed. Theologians, you may have made totally awesome statements about the Bible, but our effort isn’t finding little jewels of theology, but in having a firm foundation and a complete knowledge able to instruct others. Musicians, for your age you are amazing, but you’re not there yet and you still need to practice hard to master the gift God has given you.

Christ and his Spirit should be doing the same thing in our lives, because Christ who is full of goodness is always working our sanctification:

Revelation 3:19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.

If God is not exposing and killing sin in your life and driving you towards good, then you ought to wonder if you’re in his grace, and if not then you must make sure you’re trusting in his goodness and not your own, because we bring no goodness to this equation.

Paul then says he is a priest of God preaching the gospel, bringing people (Gentiles) to Christ, the way he concludes the thought is AMAZING.

Romans 15:17 In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God.

What an amazing privilege we have entered into in this covenant. Not only has Jesus saved us from Hell and sin and death and ultimately from himself, but he has also saved us from unfruitful and wasted lives, giving us reason to boast. How did he do that? By dying in our place and defeating death, Paul gives one of the most awesome doxologies in the Bible concerning this in

1 Corinthians 15:54-58 "Death is swallowed up in victory." "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

So then, who are we proud of? Ourselves or the work that God is doing through us? John the Baptist, who Jesus called the greatest man ever to live, knew that he wasn’t actually the one who would get the glory, here is his response,

John 3:27-30 John answered, "A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, 'I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.' The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease."

So we see that we were once great sinners, but Christ has redeemed us and has given us his Spirit and through that Spirit we can be called good, not us in ourselves, but the Holy Spirit living in us. Now, are you good all the time? Do you sin as a Christian?

The Apostle Paul ran into this same problem, and he writes one of the most amazingly awesome passages in scripture, these are my favorite verses,

Romans 7:13-8:2 Did [the law] which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

So in conclusion, are there any good people apart from Christ? No. But will people think they are good apart from Christ? Proverbs 20:6 says that almost all people will proclaim their own goodness, their own awesomeness, but then it asks, “Where can we find such a person?” Apart from Christ this person doesn’t exist, they are either so self-centered as to make their deceitfulness transparent, or they are doing nice things for people apart from God and pointing them away from Heaven. For example, there are plenty of non-Christian organizations feeding starving people in Africa and India, and they've found that just by feeding people they see a resurgence in births which leads to more mouths to feed and greater infant mortality rates and so many of these organizations stop feeding people all together. Other organizations provide free medical and dental care, which is awesome but it's only a temporal fix, and what they are doing by helping people apart from Christ is telling them to put their trust in men and not in God, which is utterly the most wicked thing they could be doing. I just finished a hugely vitriolic book on Mother Teresa and that woman believed everyone goes to Heaven provided they believe in a god or gods and so she made no effort to introduce people to Jesus.

There are no lack of organizations making this world a nice place to go to Hell from.

Apart from the Holy Spirit we are unable to do good for someone’s eternity, but in Christ we are washed, sanctified, and justified, given a holy calling accomplished by Christ working in us. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us; so we see a war working in ourselves, desiring to serve Christ with our minds, but locked into sin in our bodies, knowing that ultimately we will have full victory in Heaven, we live a life worthy to be called good by all outsiders so that they will see our deeds in the name of Christ and glorify him on the final day. Let’s conclude with two of my favorite verses,

Galatians 2:19-20 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Book Review - The World-Tilting Gospel

2011-08-08T08:30:00.002-04:00

Introduction

Only a few months ago I suggested to a student to step away from brand new books and read some books from men of antiquity who have proved to be useful, orthodox, non-heretical, and able to stand the test of time; instead of a flash in the pan. This was in response to infatuation with the "radical", "mystical", "save the world", "the Holy Spirit looks just like me", "be the most innovative and relevant pastor ever" books that are flooding out of christianity like a broken sewer line. I have read my fair share of those books, fortunately from a need to know basis on what heresy is being peddled in print so as to be able to head it off to students; but I decided to then take my advice to this student personally, and planned to not read any new authors for a while. Beloved, I can tell you that my recent dive in the works of John Owen have been hugely edifying and quite a jump from writers who "almost" get-it, to a man who has been motivating Christians towards holiness and good works for centuries.

But then I saw that Dan Phillips was releasing a new book (books actually, but I've only read his first one), on one of my favorite verses, turning the world upside down. The book is called The World-Tilting Gospel. I was hesitant to buy it, based on my previous advice, but then the news came out that it was released on Kindle quite a bit earlier than the planned release date, and I read some excerpts and then I was compelled to buy it and read it. I'm very glad I did, and I recommend everyone who is reading this review to do likewise, it is a fantastic book, and one that I pray finds its way into the libraries of many pastors, teachers, evangelists, and those who should be.

The Good

I honestly expected this book to have a flavor somewhat like David Platt's Radical, only much better. I had that expectation solely on the title, I thought it would include things like, "How are you going to turn the world upside down if you've built your future on it?" or things like that, I don't know why I had those expectations, since I'm a long time reader of Phillips' blog, but I definitely expected things like that based on a solitary verse in Acts 17:6 and a similar one in Acts 4:31. I expected great things from Phillips, and honestly, he far surpassed my expectations in ways I could never have expected.

First of all, this book is a rock-solid polemic for Calvinism. Phillips spends just the right amount of time showing how hopeless Adam is, how hopeless mankind is in Adam, and how hopeless we are in ourselves, then he exalts Christ as the Saviour who entered hostile territory to seek and save that which was lost. Dan's look at the gospel, utterly scriptural, is Calvinism, and if you don't understand either the gospel or Calvinism, this book will give you a firm foundation in both, because as Spurgeon said, "Calvinism is the gospel, and nothing else."

Second, Phillips masterfully defines the differences between justification (being declared righteous), forgiveness, and regeneration. I knew the difference going in, but the way which Phillips describes each edified me and I gained both sermon-illustrations and a clearer understanding of the amazing things Christ did for believers on the cross. Everyone from a new believer to a seasoned pastor will benefit from this section.

Third, this book contains great expositions of texts, mainly Genesis 3 and John 3, both of which I've already used in my own ministry. Beloved, if the only thing this book contained was these amazing expositions, I would recommend it, and it contains so much more.

Fourth, Phillips doesn't make an error it seems almost every Christian writer is making recently, to tell his readers what they should be doing with the information in their books with selfish detail. Phillips keeps it nice and broad, recognizing that the gospel pours forth good works, but that different Christians are equipped and gifted to work in different ways. Refreshingly Phillips doesn't tell his readers to sell their house, fight the sex-trade, dig wells in third world countries; he tells his readers to preach the gospel, specifically one of my favorite quotes from the book, "It is that Gospel, and not our methods or programs, that is the saving power of God for everyone who believes (Rom. 1:16). It is the best you have to give anyone. Grasp it firmly. Live it robustly. Give it profligately, in Christ's name. And just watch things start to shake and shift." (Kindle Location 5776) Readers will certainly be motivated to do more good with the gospel by Phillips' book than similar books that tell people where they should be working, regardless of their gifting.

Fifth, this book goes after the "Let go and let God" error with zeal for the truth and shreds errors that probably every reader will have heard without recognizing their danger. I always knew I didn't like the "Let go/let God" language but I had never really thought about why. Phillips shows that the gospel is a call for action and that you as a believer ought to, "bless those who curse you, serve one another, go out from the unclean, love your wives, love one another strenuously, flee immorality, work out your salvation, train yourself for godliness, keep yourselves in God’s love, hold fast what you have . . . Does any of that sound like 'Let go and let God'?" (Loc. 4112) The message of this book, which is really the message of the Bible, will strengthen believers and send them out to minister the true gospel to the world. I pray that through this book the following will be true for all who read it,

Show me a person focused on the person and work of Jesus Christ—never tiring of learning about Him, thinking about Him, boasting of Him, speaking about and for and to Him, thrilled and entranced with His perfections and beauty, finding ways to serve and exalt Him, tirelessly exploring ways to spend and be spent for Him, growing in character to be more and more like Him—and I will show you a person who is filled with the Holy Spirit. (Loc. 5120)

The Bad

I don't want this to sound like just a commercial for this book, so I do have to include a nitpick I have. Over the past few years the Christian community has had its discernment piqued to multiple Bible translations used in a single book. When an author steps away from a single translation, red flags should appear everywhere to the reader. This is usually a sign that the author is making an unbiblical point which he needs a bad translation to support, and so jumps from the KJV to the CEV to the AMP to the Message to the NIV and occasionally to their own translation (think N.T. Wright).

Phillips jumps around a lot, but it's for a totally different reason. He genuinely knows what the Greek says, and he wants the point of the passage to be transmitted most accurately to the reader. I did not disagree a single time with any of his translations, and I checked most of them, because honestly, red flags shot up everywhere for me when I saw multiple translations being used.

While I commend Phillips for his desire to get the biblical author's point across, I am worried that readers may be inclined to doubt the veracity of their translation, wondering if they need to learn Greek just to understand their Bibles; wondering if any translation is correct.

Honestly, Phillips says things in this book that most modern authors are not saying; they are great things, biblical things, world-tilting things, things which the "radical" crowd utterly misses, and I would hate for a reader to think Phillips had arrived at those things because he found them in the original languages, things which had been lost in translation. In actuality, these things are actually included quite perspicuously in your ESV Bible, your KJV Bible, your (1st gen) NIV Bible, your NASB Bible, RSV, NRSV, NKVJ, Holman, NLT...etc. etc, you only need to read your Bible looking for the author's intention to see them.

If there is one opportunity for major improvement in The World-Tilting Gospel, my opinion is that a writer does much better to stick to a single translation, only correcting its translation when it is blatantly wrong or ambiguous, so as to ensure lay readers that their Bible translation is trustworthy, because most are.

Conclusion

The World-Tilting Gospel is a masterful summary of the message of the Bible and Christianity. It makes an amazing case for the importance of recognizing man's hopelessness, God's saving grace, the extent of that grace, and the motivation for Christians to be preaching and living this message while being strengthened by the Holy Spirit.

There is really nothing new in Phillips' book, but the straightforward way in which he presents this message is sure to open the eyes of readers to the veracity of the Sovereignty of God and the bonded will of man; to the utter perfection of God's plan and his power to save. The cross of Christ comes alive to be not just be an afterthought in a Christian's past, but first it radically impacts the believer's life, and then the world in which that believer lives.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wonders why their Christianity has not turned their life or community upside down and who wants to see the gospel make a difference in their life and the lives of those around them, and to anyone who wants to understand the message of the Bible.

In an age where most new Christian books are anything but Christian, The World-Tilting Gospel is a light shining in the darkness, exalting Christ, making grace amazing, and motivating Christians to take the true gospel and impact their world with it. Dear reader, I hope you will do just that.

A Prayer for Students: Part II

2011-08-05T08:00:00.000-04:00

Last year I wrote A Prayer for Students as they transitioned between major events in their lives. This year I have grappled with reposting that prayer, or writing another. As I read through that prayer, I realized that the circumstances this year are considerably different, and so a different prayer would be fruitful.

One of my favorite verses came to mind, 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3, “We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” As I prayed for dozens upon dozens of students by name, a continual theme of the rest of 1 Thessalonians came to mind, and I’ve structured this prayer closely to that Epistle, since Paul, Silas, and Timothy were praying and instructing people they were absent from. My prayer is for people who are scattered throughout several churches, throughout the country, and even throughout the world, some I'll see again, some not until Heaven, so I felt that this was a perfect endeavor.

Invocation

Lord of Hosts, God of Ages, I give thanks to you for the exceeding joy of knowing your Son Jesus Christ and his glorious church of saints. I thank you that you have chosen a remnant out of every people and shown us who those people are by equipping them in faith, love, and hope in the work and person of your Son, it’s in his name that I approach your throne of grace to receive help for my fellow saints as they walk through this world.

Conviction in the Word

Strengthen these students in your Bible, let it not just be letters on a page to them, but bring it in power with full conviction of your Holy Spirit. Let them see it for what it is, not the words of men, but the very Word of God, which is at work in all believers. If any of these students have not yet been called into your kingdom, have not repented and placed their faith in the Resurrected Christ, then I ask you to call them into your kingdom and glory.

Boldness

Father, give them boldness and wisdom to take the Word into every corner of their worlds. Give them the words to speak, the people to speak them to, and the boldness to speak them. May they stand as priests, prophets, and ambassadors of the Living Christ, walking worthy of this call and making disciples of all nations, beginning with their own neighbors.

Character

Be growing these students to be worthy of imitation of all who see them, let them be examples in love and faithfulness. May they never come with words of flattery, or a pretext for greed, or seeking their own glory, but let them be affectionately desirous that everyone who knows them will glorify Christ on their behalf, first through conversion and then through life.

May you be motivating them towards good words and works, that they would be a burden to none. Especially towards the church may they prove to be holy, righteous, and blameless in all of their conduct.

May they prove to be the hope, joy, and crown of boasting for myself and all who have ministered to and among them, that at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ we may all be presented mature. May they have the joy of being able to say the same of their own disciples.

Faithful Shepherds

Father, appoint faithful ministers over these students, ministers that will with confidence be able to say, “Be imitators of me as I am of Christ,” let them stand firm on the Word and carry it outside of the camp. If they are content to sit within the walls of the church then Father chase them out. Let them supply what is lacking in these students’ faith.

Send your Comforter to calm my anxiety that the tempter will tempt these students and my labor will have been in vain. You promise that when your Spirit begins a good work in someone, he will see it to conclusion, and I pray that you will be doing just that for these students through your Spirit.

Perseverance

Send these students through the purifying fire, knowing that your Son has walked that path and promises to be with us until the end of the age. May they not be surprised when persecution comes, but let them welcome it as partaking with Christ in his suffering. Let them see the benefits of these afflictions, may they not be moved by them. May these persecutions open opportunities for them to abound in love for one another and for all, and establish their hearts blameless in holiness, eagerly awaiting the coming of Christ.

Purity

Father, what joy it is to know that your will for us is our sanctification. I pray that you would be progressing these students to be more and more like Christ every day. Father, keep them from sin, deliver them from temptation, especially concerning sexual immorality. They see daily the passions of lust which the world walks in, so I pray that they would learn from a young age how to control their bodies in holiness and honor.

Concerning these young men, that you would show them how to make a covenant with their eyes, that they would not look upon anything which they ought not, that they would be concerned with honor and wholesomeness in all of their interactions, and that they would exercise self control which will keep them, their future wives, and your Son from being ashamed.

Concerning these young ladies, Father, you have outdone yourself in giving them the gift of beauty. I ask for mine and their sake that you would blind the eyes of every boy in their schools towards them. Let these young ladies’ adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in your sight is very precious.

Hope

Father, set these students’ affections firmly on Heaven, let them know that whether they are alive or dead in the flesh, they have nothing to fear, for you have destined them for salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Fully clothe them in the faith, love, and hope that this produces, so that they will live as children of the light.

May they go into every situation knowing that you are a God who works all things for good to those who love you and are called according to your purpose. May this confidence motivate them to preach to every person they encounter, and edify them in the truth of your Sovereignty. May they forever know that free-will is a myth and that while we were slaves to sin, you called us into the freedom of your Son so that we are not destined for wrath.

The Good Fight

Let everything these students do be done in love, let them love their churches, and especially those who minister the truth over them. Let them see that these are not just their pastors, but their parents as well; let them honor them in everything they do. May their lives on this earth both be long and abounding in the fruit of the Spirit.

Let their love be one that strives for holiness, correcting those who are in sin. Grant them patience and an overabundance of charity. How true it is that bad company ruins good morals, so Father I ask you to surround these students with only those who are able to stir them up for good works through accountability and striving for holiness, or those who are open to listen, who are impressionable, and whom your Spirit will call to yourself through the good word and works of these students. Let these students never be content with lazy or impenitent acquaintances, but give them the boldness to confront sin in every manifestation.

Let them rejoice in the work you are doing in and around them. May they be frequent in prayer, giving thanks in all circumstances, knowing that Christ has prepared this path beforehand for them to walk. May they never quench the Spirit by hating godly preaching, but let them recognize bad preaching and reject it, holding only to that which aligns with your Word. Train their powers of discernment through constant practice to distinguish good from evil. In everything they do, may they be holding to the good, but hating and avoiding every form of evil.

Benediction

God of peace, sanctify these students completely, may their whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of their Lord Jesus Christ. You are faithful, Father, I know you will surely do it.

You have loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, now comfort our hearts and establish them in every good work and word. Establish us and guard us against the evil one, direct our hearts to your love and to the steadfastness of Christ.

I ask all of these things in the name of our righteous and resurrected Redeemer, Jesus Christ, for his is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is his. He is exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from him, and he rules over all. In his hand is power and might, and in his hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name. Amen.

Youth Ministry - Response to Divided

2011-07-23T16:30:00.009-04:00

Introduction

In insurance, there is a statistic that 100% of men will have an automobile accident by the time they turn 21. Of course, there are young men who beat this statistic, but they are so rare and far between that they don't drag the statistic down even 1%.

That is why I can say with confidence that 100% of youth ministries are useless and unbiblical. I can point to a very select few youth groups that are very useful and biblical, but they are so rare that they don't even dent the fact that 100% of youth ministries are useless. Most youth ministries do far more damage than good, and must be revamped or scrapped. I know that is an exceptionally harsh and direct statement, but I will back it up with the Bible, personal experience, and scholarly research.

Scholarly Research

This article was born when a new documentary was released, called Divided (http://www.dividedthemovie.com/), which has caused huge amounts of discussion on Facebook and elsewhere on whether youth ministry is biblical or useful. I have a history in youth ministry, not as a youth pastor, but gravitating towards youth in my pastorate (evangelism) since they were the ones who were eager to learn and put to practice what they learned. Divided is amazingly well researched and presented, and while I agree with many of their issues, I don't agree at all with their conclusions as to the next step.

The issues they have found are amazing, without a doubt are backed up in truth, and the biggest thing is that as Ken Ham has found and published in his book, Already Gone, that youth ministry is actually detrimental to the spiritual health of young people, making them more hostile to God and less likely to believe important biblical truths. Very few, if any, are ever born-again.

Another issue is that the Bible is taught as stories for children instead of absolute truth, turning the application into cute moral ideas instead of pointing hearers at the cross of Christ. Youth ministries are supposed to be teaching the Bible, but they do that poorly, and they teach nothing else, leaving it to the public-indoctrination schools to take care of things that are not the Bible. Divided makes the point of showing that students in youth ministries are very unlikely to hold to the truth of a six-thousand year-old earth created in six-literal days. I will focus a bit more on this in my personal experience.

Other issues are a huge lack of parental involvement and a lack of youth pastor maturity. The youth pastor position in and of itself tells parents that someone else is more qualified to raise their children in the faith than themselves. This is directly against biblical exhortation, obviously.

Personal Experience

I have not kept track of which church's students I've witnessed to, that was never my intention. But in hindsight I've realized that I have witnessed to students from most churches in my area that have youth ministry, and even one that has rejected youth ministry. Of these groups I have met literally less than 1% who had any clue as to the biblical teaching on salvation or why Jesus Christ died, and even of those who somewhat understood it, almost none had actually been born again. These students were harder than any other to witness to, because they are inoculated to true Christianity by the squishianity which they've been fed in youth group.

John MacArthur says to this effect, "In the history of the church and in my experience, no one has been harder to reach for Christ than a false Christian." I agree wholeheartedly and see most youth ministries doing a fantastic job for Satan in searing consciences and murdering souls.

I've watched students who were once moving strongly in the right direction hindered hugely by emotionalism, American hinduism, and of course, sin. It is not my intention in this article to really make a huge confession of my mistakes and sins, though I have made many, but I must say that one of my worst was that I assumed that if the youth pastor and a few select teachers were teaching the truth, that the students would be fine. My old church had far fewer bad teachers in it than most, but they were and are present, and have done inconceivable damage to students by failing to teach the Bible faithfully, or even at all.

The teaching of the Bible cannot be just done from the pulpit, it must be done in small groups, in homes, by pastors, by fathers. There is a faithful saying that "only two types of student will continue in the faith; those whose family is so strong that they don't need a youth pastor, and those whose family life is so wrecked that the youth pastor practically adopts them." The preferable standpoint is a church has such strong families that it is able to adopt, spiritually or literally, those (and their family) who do not have a strong family to raise them in the fear and admonition of the Lord.

One of my greatest blessings was in teaching the Word verse by verse. We covered topics that most youth ministries would never even consider. The primary subject of any church related event should of course be Jesus Christ, and probably the biggest mistake of youth ministry is the assumption that Jesus Christ is only found in the first-century and only in the Bible. Jesus Christ was, and he is, and he is to come, he is the Creator of physics, chemistry, and music; history belongs to him, biology and astronomy declare his glory and show his handiwork. In my time as a pastor and teacher, I taught biblical biology, history from 6,000BC to AD2011, Christ in Christopher Columbus' journal, and of course I taught the Bible verse by verse with an application towards students and the world today. John Calvin said, "People come not to the preaching merely to learn what they do not know, but to be incited to do their duty."

Youth ministry fails most spectacularly when they pretend that Jesus Christ is not the Creator, Sustainer, and Saviour of history and the present. A youth ministry that only teaches how someone is saved but ignores the vast corpus of scripture on every other topic is a failure. They would do better, as Ken Ham's research attests, to not even meet as a church, and definitely not to speak for God. The Bible speaks on many topics and Jesus said, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!" (Luke 11:28, cf. James 1:25)

Biblical Youth Ministry

My dear friend and a great pastor, Dave Snyder, coined the phrase, "Biblical, not Cliquical." Meaning that a good youth ministry will be one which loves the whole church instead of just the ones who are closest to their personal preferences. An unbiblical church will have youth cliques and singles cliques and young married cliques and senior cliques, and cliques within cliques, and this of course is not biblical. Biblically the entire church is seen meeting and taking communion together frequently, remembering and celebrating the great love of God demonstrated in the sacrifice of Christ.

My massive disagreement and distaste with the Divided movie is that there is practically a complete lack of Jesus Christ; an inappropriate overemphasis on just the bride while ignoring the Bridegroom. I'm not saying that no-one in that movie loves Jesus, in fact I know that many of them do, but the emphasis of that movie, if followed as it is presented (and many will) will result in youth that are just as wrecked as those coming out of unbiblical youth ministries, because all I see in that movie is moralism and preference.

Biblically we know that God has given different gifts to different people within the church. Some of these are evangelistic gifts, some are pastoral gifts, some are teaching gifts, and if every father was gifted with each of these, the Divided movie would work fine, but they aren't, which is why we have churches that encompass all gifts; some fathers, through sin or career or gifting or a blend of these, do not have the time or ability to disciple their children in the way in which a whole church can.

Biblically there is a call for older men and women to be discipling younger men and women, not just in their own families, but in their own churches. A few months ago I actually bribed two such older people to have lunch with a group of students in order to share their wisdom and insight. Elders (in the Titus 2 sense) should not be fleeing from the youth, but rather should be training them up using their gifts to best edify these young people, so that when these youth are old, they can turn right around and do the same, and point whole generations to the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross.

Biblically who did Timothy and Mark learn from? Their fathers, or their pastor/apostle? In Timothy's case explicitly his father was a pagan, yet Timothy was raised to be a capable pastor and evangelist by his spiritual father Paul. Let me make another confession, I should have been much more pressing in asking fathers to come evangelizing with me and their children, but while I am certain I sinned in that area, it was not to such extent to cause an unbiblical outcome. Our youth spent hundreds and hundreds of hours evangelizing the lost and have grown in ways that most churches could never dream of. I am gifted in evangelism, and so on the church model, I should be the one teaching evangelism. In this regard the youth ministry can be as biblical as anything else the church does.

The church should be a place where believers, both young and old, are stirred up for good works. The biblical call for teachers is that they have a firm grasp of the faith; that they are able to teach. So many teachers in churches today don't have a clue what the Bible says, and they are neither able to teach, nor do they teach, the Bible. The church that fails to teach the scripture becomes as godless as the public-indoctrination schools, and Martin Luther said this, "I am afraid that the schools will prove the very gates of hell, unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures and engraving them in the heart of the youth."

Many Christians and churches don't think a youth ministry can be biblical, but let me be so brash as to quote myself, "A youth group will grow in one of two ways, either a whole lot of fun, or a whole lot of truth; preferably both." Youth ministries don't have to be gross-out sessions and bouncy castles to be successful in drawing others, for a solid biblical curriculum will produce students who are biblically stronger than most adults, and send them out into their schools (that's right, students in public schools yet still strong in their faith) and communities to draw others, and proclaim the excellencies of their Saviour who called them into the light from the darkness.

Conclusion

Youth ministry is by and large a tool of Satan, but so are most churches. There are wonderful youth ministries, and there are wonderful churches, but they are becoming fewer and farther between every day. Research shows that most churches produce worse people who are farther from the kingdom than those who never stepped inside of a church, and I readily back that up through personal experience.

The church as a whole has stepped away from the Bible, and a broken youth ministry is only a symptom of a much deeper problem, which is the rejection first of Christ, and second of his Word. The call is not to get rid of youth ministry, though I will never purposefully have a youth ministry in a church, but the call is to preach the gospel and the whole counsel of scripture, so that we may present every member mature in Christ.

Let me turn this towards you; Divided makes some great points, and I pray it wakes you up to the danger that the church and youth face, literally God is in the process of striking many of your children dead (Revelation 2:23), and you must repent of all sin, and hold firmly to the whole Bible, and not just the feel good portions that you like. If Jesus Christ is not at the center of everything you do, and you are not being exhorted to obey him by loving his Word and ministering in your world, then everything you do will fail; don't blame youth ministry, blame the rejection of truth and the embracing of sin.

Are modern youth ministries the gates of Hell, as Luther said? Yes, they are, but only because they exist in churches where Christ is rejected and the Word is forsaken, which is the true gate of Hell. I always weep when I remember that John Bunyan observed that there is a way to Hell even from the gates of Heaven. Church members should be the most godly and sure members of Christ's universal church, but most are no nearer than those who have never heard of Christ. Many are far off, without hope, and without God in the world.

Your exhortation, dear reader, is to repent towards Heaven and trust wholly in Jesus Christ. Know that he promises blessings (not in any way which the world would consider blessing) for those who hear and do his Word. So train up your children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, carry one another's burdens, use your gifts to edify the saints and equip them for every good work. Love the brotherhood, love the Word, and hold fast to Christ. If you do these things, then even if you have a dedicated youth ministry, it will flourish, because a healthy church makes healthy believers, and healthy believers make a healthy church, from the top to the bottom.

Don't chase band-aids like doing away with your youth ministry and/or youth pastors, when the problem is a gushing wound of lack of biblical belief in Jesus Christ, and an epidemic that follows of unconverted and worldly members. Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, and the only way to the Father is through him; it's not through family integrated worship, it's not through awesome youth groups, it's not through house-churches, it's not through mega-churches with great pastors, it is through Jesus Christ.

So seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and everything else will be taken care of; even your youth.

Jesus called Christ

2011-07-20T12:00:00.001-04:00

Jesus Christ: Creator, Sustainer, Saviour; God manifest in the flesh, God with us, God the Son, the Sovereign of History, the King of Righteousness, the Lord of Glory, the Prince of Peace; the Judge of the living and the dead, the Just and the Justifier, Faithful and True, the Firstborn from the Dead; the Way the Truth the Resurrection and the Life, Mighty to Save; he was and he is and he is to come, the same yesterday today and forever, he was dead but he yet lives, he laid down his life and took it back up again; he is holy blameless and undefiled, able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him; he loves righteousness and hates wickedness, he exalts the humble but casts the proud to the ground, he is a friend to the contrite but a terror to evildoers. I implore you, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, be reconciled to God.

Explanation of Leaving

2011-07-16T20:30:00.001-04:00

After months of prayer and endless hours of meetings, I came to a painful decision last week. That decision was to leave my church. This blog post is to answer questions and hopefully encourage church members to call for a godly change in their leadership.

Introduction

There has always been a disdain towards my theology, but I thought that over the years I would show that the truly God-honoring theology is that of Sovereign grace; I sought to do so through evangelism, teaching, discipleship, and charity within the bride. Unfortunately this did not accomplish my desired end among the leaders and influential persons of the church, but rather did the opposite. I never sought to make Calvinism vs. Arminianism a topic of debate and purposefully sought to teach the Bible expositionally instead of in light of the tradition of Calvinism, even using the term as sparingly as I could, which was very very rarely. Of course, this always produces Calvinists, and several of my disciples discovered through listening to Paul Washer and others, that they and I were Calvinists.

Tensions got a little heated in light of theology and the making of disciples who actually were born-again and fulfilling the Great Commission. Deeper study followed, and the first time I remember really ruffling feathers was for quoting a single Bible verse, "You [God] hate all evildoers." (Psalm 5:5) As a person who has always sought to teach the true intention and meaning of the Bible, I did the unthinkable, I taught what the Bible says, that God hates all evildoers.

Not much later I quoted Psalm 58:10-11 in precisely the right context, and was radically opposed by those who did not know their Bibles; including similar events in the New Testament. This began a painful few months of opposed preaching of the whole counsel of scripture, showing that true love is actually holding fast to the good, and abhorring evil (Romans 12:9). I began at this point harder than ever to push for biblical evangelism and discipleship, taking students on local missions trips weekly, and rejoicing in the growth they were showing in both holiness and grace. Making radical disciples exposed an idol which when agitated turned and rent us; we had insulted comfort-driven Christianity and we could not be allowed to continue. We had engaged our culture and made our neighbors think that we were a church body that cared where people spent eternity; this could not be allowed to continue.

Over several months I continued to preach the gospel and sustain disciples, which infuriated many. I refused to edit the Bible to make it pretend you can live anywhich way you want and preach any message you want and still be ok. Over the past five months I have rarely heard the gospel preached from the pulpit, and even rarer is a genuine exposition of a text. Three sermons especially were as heretical as if Satan himself had preached them, yet those in leadership refused to acknowledge that sin is deadly and did not confront nor prohibit these men from defiling the pulpit again.

Myself on the other hand was prohibited from teaching, disagreeing, or discipling. Let me exceptionally clear in this point: If I were not muzzled, then I would not be leaving, I would be fighting as hard as ever to turn the rudder towards Christ and would face any consequences of this action. But, I have found myself in an interesting dilemma that my tongue within the church is required to be in agreement with the leadership, however I desperately do not want to sin with my tongue by agreeing to such sin.

So I am writing this to list a few grievances, I am leaving out personal affronts and will keep this to just three major areas, in hopes that these issues will be addressed and the church can continue the work she began several years ago to be a gospel-driven church.

No Gospel and No Ministry

My major concern as of late is that when the gospel is not preached and the Word is not exposited, a church ceases to be a church. Literally over the past three months or so I have not felt I was going to church in the morning, but to a funeral. I implore you to call your elders to do the job they are entrusted to do, to train you in the fear and admonition of the Lord. On Sundays I want to go to a church that loves Jesus and seeks to do his will in the community instead of a Sunday-morning social club with outrageous dues.

John MacArthur recently preached a fantastic sermon on why young children must not be allowed to eat whichever foods they want, because they can't distinguish between what is good food and what is not even food; it's up to those appointed over them to ensure they have a healthy diet. It is not necessarily your fault that when outright heresy spews from the pulpit that you do not discern it, since discernment comes through constant practice, and we have not had that constant practice in a long time.

Lack of Church Government

In the history of the church-universal there have been three main governments that work well, episkopol, presbyterian, and congregational. Unfortunately, we have a sort of congregation inside of a presbytery with no episkopos (bishop); it's confusing and so I won't try to explain it here, but while it's not an unworkable system, it is a system that currently does not work. After five months without a pastor, you should have a new pastor, not just now be deciding on whether the pastor search criteria is adequate. Beloved church, call your elders to appoint an episkopos, a senior-pastor, who will lead you in the truth. With a senior-pastor in place, the rather unorthodox government which the bylaws call for actually can work, even if the titles and positions are strange. Call this group to lead you in the truth, to preach and teach the word faithfully, and to worry more for your souls than the financial future of the church.

Lack of Fruit

I was once under the impression that we produced fewer false-converts than most churches, but in May I watched a mostly apostate senior class walk out the doors of our church; most of them never to return. Their blood is on our hands (yours and mine) for failing to teach them about the God of the Bible. I was once delusional to think that if a few select teachers were teaching the truth, that it would make up for those who taught opinion and vegetable stories, but I have realized that a healthy church must have a commitment to teach the Bible in a way that exalts Christ and deflates man, and this must be a decision from the top and not from the bottom.

Several times over the past year I have been puffed up by my disciples, thinking that I had discovered something that the rest of the church had missed, but I was quickly humbled in realizing that every Christian is to be making disciples who make disciples, and so I ask, where are they? I was required to stop making disciples because I showed that in the Bible Christians are passionate, can get angry, and make a difference in their world, being the means of grace by which God calls lost sheep home. Disciple making is hard, but it is the greatest joy a person can have (3 John 4).

It's a radical thought, making biblical disciples, but I encourage you to try it. The church is not to sit around its whole life and never offend anyone! Let's take the message to the nations, let's go outside the camp like Christ did, let's endure the reproach of him who loved us and died for us. I will be in the area for about the next year, I will be going on mini-missions trips regularly, and I would love to have you come with me. Very few ever did while I was your pastor of evangelism, many students did and were edified (Philemon 6), so I pray that you will realize you are both being disobedient in this matter towards your King, and also robbing yourself of the joy of labor (Psalm 126:5-6).

Conclusion

I cannot sit in a building that does not preach the gospel, that does not care for the souls of its people, and which sends its children out into the world without the faintest idea of who Jesus Christ is. None of these are unfixable problems, or even problems that are very hard to fix, but they are currently unresolved. I implore you to call those who are responsible to repentance, to tell them you want the Word preached faithfully, and that you want to be a witness for Jesus Christ in your community, and not just a presence.

The Lamb who was slain is worthy, he is faithful. Beloved, I call you to be hearers and doers of the Word, to be a church once again, and to proclaim the excellencies of Jesus Christ who called us out of the darkness into his marvelous light.

With love and hope for the future,
Canyon

Biblical Fidelity

2011-07-14T13:30:00.007-04:00

Introduction

If there is one point of contention that rises more often than any other in opposition to myself and my ministry, it is that I hold too many doctrines as essential. I do not deny this, I readily state that every doctrine has a level of essentiality, and I would even state that the division between essential and non-essential doctrines can be an essential doctrine.

Let me give some examples, eschatology is generally considered to be a non-essential doctrine, and I agree, I have no problem calling everyone from pre-mil to a-mil to pre-trib to post-trib my brothers. However, full-preterists have stepped away from biblical teaching and should be confronted as to their sin; similarly, arch-heretic Mike Bickle has an “over-realized” eschatology which calls for believers in this age to be the John the Baptists who will usher in Christ’s Second Coming.

The second example is the relationship between God’s love and hatred of sinners. There are varying views on how God can simultaneously hold wrath and charity towards the same person, and by and large this is a non-essential doctrine. But when someone denies that God has any enmity towards sinners, then they deny the essential nature of God’s Word (Psalm 1:5, 3:7, 5:5, 7:11, 11:5), and thus God’s love and hatred becomes an essential.

The third and last example is the phenomenology of prayer, which is another doctrine generally considered a non-essential, but if someone claims that prayer can be heard apart from Christ or that prayer earns favor with God, then they have associated the doctrine of prayer with the essentials of soteriology and Christology (John 9:31, Psalm 34:15-16, Isaiah 59:1-2, compare: Privilege of Prayer), and prayer becomes an essential doctrine. Generally when someone elevates a non-essential into blatant heresy, it is not their only heresy; a non-essential gone terribly awry usually points to much deeper problems in essential doctrine.

As I’ve written recently here, what we ought to be looking for is not a check-list of doctrinal beliefs, but rather we ought to be looking at the fruit borne out of such beliefs. We can declare Mike Bickle to be a heretic because of his cult-like organization. He is not just wrong on one doctrine, but on the corpus of his beliefs, and these are a result of his lack of regeneration. He claims to be fleeing from the wrath to come, hastening the day of Christ, but he is not bearing fruit keeping with repentance, and so on biblical authority, we can declare that his religion is worthless and that he is a false-prophet and deceiver.

But not every wrong belief should be looked at so strongly, for there are sins that do not lead to death, there are non-essential doctrines that if wrong (such as dispensationalism) do not instantly mean that the holder of such doctrine is unregenerate and a false teacher. Does that mean that we ought to just let these errors go unaddressed? By no means, we ought to be seeking biblical fidelity in every facet, and call those who believe wrongly to conform their beliefs to match the Bible. For example, those who baptize babies are WRONG, but they will not lose their souls for such wrong belief, but the result of their wrong belief often results in future generations thinking baptism saves and thus losing their souls for lack of faith in Christ. Therefore this non-essential, or any other, should not go ignored.

So what does the Bible say about biblical fidelity? Why should we preach the truth? There are several reasons why we must not allow small heresies into our churches, these range from damage to man, to an affront to God. Some of these cost their hearers their souls, some merely damage growth in grace, but all are damnable, worth crying over, and to be avoided at all costs.

A Little Does a Lot

Jesus tells the parable, “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.” – Matthew 13:33

This parable is twice exposited by the Apostle Paul to say, “A little leaven leavens the whole lump,” (Galatians 5:7-9, 1 Corinthians 5:6-8) describing the leaven as sin and false teaching; elsewhere leaven is always allegorically representative of sin. Recently I heard the worst sermon I’ve heard in person in a church, it attacked the doctrine of scripture, God’s sovereignty, Christ’s glory, and salvation by grace alone. It was truly a wicked sermon, but seemingly I am the only one alarmed to the danger that such sin can have on a church. It was only one bad sermon, but there is no telling what sort of heresy will flow out of those who heard and embraced it, or the preacher who preached it.

Probably the best example of the power of sin to corrupt and destroy is the heresy of free-will. A belief in free-will does not preclude a person from being regenerate, but every great heresy in history has its foundation in free-will, of desiring to do something to earn God’s favor. Whether that thing be choice, religious service, or humanitarian service, the leaven of free-will is found worldwide, inside and outside of the church. Some claim to be inside, but are clearly outside, one needs only to look at the Roman Catholic Church, the Mormon Church, the Jehovah’s Witnesses as examples; these are all utterly captured by the lie of man’s free-agency.

It Spreads

“Avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene.” - 2 Timothy 2:16-17

Not only does false teaching lead away from holiness and Christ, but it also quickly infects those who hear it. These hearers see that their teachers approach the Bible flippantly and with disregard to teaching it faithfully, and have no problem doing likewise. This sickness will lead to crippled church bodies and members who are unable to function and are actually a hindrance to ministry.

False Teaching Hinders Service

“You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?” – Galatians 5:7

False teaching puts the focus everywhere but where it should be. When the focus is on an idol, then work done towards that false-god is directly contradictory to obeying Christ, for he says that you are either gathering with him, or scattering (Matthew 12:30).

When the focus is on the individual, then selfishness ensues, and loving God and loving neighbor fails. The Bible contains great and lasting promises that the believer may know that they are saved (1 John 5:13); one of the reasons it does this is so that the believer can stop fretting over his own self, and set his affections fully on Christ. When I teach on how to know you are saved, I conclude with, “Once you know you are saved, you can stop worrying about your salvation and start focusing on seeing others saved.”

False Teaching Quenches Love

“Many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.” – Matthew 24:11-12

The pendulum swings two ways under false teaching, either to legalism, which will be discussed in a moment, or to libertinism, the throwing off of the law, living for oneself, and lacking the charity and lovingkindness towards others to seek their highest and best benefit.

This lawlessness masquerades under the titles of love and tolerance, claiming that it just wants people to be happy, but it ignores skyrocketing depression rates, decreased lifespans, and Christless eternities.

False Teaching Crushes

“They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.” – Matthew 23:4

Legalism imposes laws upon hearers that cannot possibly be kept. Instead of recognizing that the law is perfect and holy and good, that it points to an infinitely holy God, they edit it to be attainable, changing commands and imposing strange requirements for those unfortunate enough to be burdened by an impossibly righteous law. The end of the law is ignored, for the law is meant to lead the hearer to Christ and exhort them to shoulder his burden, which is light.

For if the Son sets you free, you shall be free indeed.

False Teaching Enslaves

“They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption.” – 2 Peter 2:19

Perfect love drives out all fear, for fear has to do with punishment. All of the false religions claim that if you do good, something good will happen to you. But under these religions is that nagging question of whether or not you have truly done enough. These efforts can never cleanse a conscience, for how thoroughly must you wash your hands in order to cleanse your soul? (cf. Mark 7:20-23)

Idolatry Stifles Growth

“I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.” - 1 Corinthians 3:1

Elsewhere it says that certain people should have been teachers by now, but that they were still babes (Hebrews 5:12-13). False teaching that exalts man, wisdom, eloquence, free-will, or any false doctrine will result in spiritually immature members who cannot articulate their faith, nor go among unbelievers to seek to persuade them to trust in Christ. Like a ship without an anchor these will be blown about by every wind of false doctrine, human cunning, and deceitful scheme.

False Teaching Shipwrecks Faith

“They are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach.” - Titus 1:11

Elsewhere it says that these teachers make shipwreck of their faith (1 Timothy 1:19); biblical infidelity does not strengthen a church in unity, but destabilizes it in disunity. It may claim to have noble intentions, but its end-result betrays this claim. Jesus prayed, “Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.” (John 17:11) This can only happen through the sanctification of the Word of Faith (John 17:17,20-21, Romans 10:8-17), therefore the person who misrepresents the Word of Christ destroys unity, and leads hearers down a dangerous path.

Their Last State is Worse than their First

“For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.” – 2 Peter 2:20-21

Many believe they are rejecting Christianity, when what they have actually rejected is not Christianity at all, but a weak counterfeit of it. The false teacher says, “Come to Jesus so you can be healthy, wealthy, and powerful,” but when such things do not happen, the sinner flees from Christianity. When powerless free-will sermons are preached and the person “asks Jesus into their heart” twenty-three times and nothing happens, they have no qualms with walking away from the Bible and their perception of God forever.

These false-converts, backsliders, and cold-coal have been effectively murdered by those who claim to represent God but who have no part nor lot in his kingdom.

God is Dishonored and His Name Blasphemed

“If you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth—you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. For, as it is written, ‘The name of God is blasphemed among the nations because of you.’” – Romans 2:19-24

False teachers profess to represent God and his law, but in so doing they fail to show how transcendent God is, that he is high and lifted up, holy and righteous, just and justifier. They usurp some of his glory, teaching salvation and/or sanctification by works, and in so doing are looked at as being failures in such works, and hence the God they represent is looked at as unjust and inept.

Conclusion

The truth is precious, because it points at the only begotten Son of God; Christ promises that his saints will know the truth and the truth will set them free. Every Christian ought to be concerned with rightly representing Jesus Christ in thought, word, and deed: never speaking or doing anything that may bring him reproach.

There are such things as essential and non-essential doctrines, but beloved, always err towards essential, looking for the ramifications of heresy and whether the doctrine in which you are in disagreement over radically misrepresents God or points hearers towards destruction. When the issue is non-essential, look at it again to be sure that it is not a symptom of a larger problem. Many a humanist betrays his heart by preaching Christ merely as a means to the happiness and eternal bliss of man, instead of as the only God and Saviour, just and justifier, righteous and true, faithful, gracious, and sovereign. In you confronting this person it could be that God peradventure grants him repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth.

For the sake of Christ and his church: preach the truth, confront error, correct in love, strive to present every member mature in Christ. Proclaim Christ as a firm anchor of the soul, strive to present every member in the full measure of stature in Christ, that they may not be blown about like a ship adrift.

Augustine said, “In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, charity.” Let us keep these in mind, recognizing that true love strives for maturity in Christ. The most unloving thing we can do is let someone continue in a grievous error, knowing that potentially the soul of the fallacious teacher is on the line, and certainly the souls of his hearers.

“Therefore let us put away falsehood, and share the truth with our neighbor.” – Ephesians 4:25

Man of God: Stand Firm

2011-07-11T14:00:00.011-04:00

There is a long running history of godly men standing against error, heresy, and false-teachers throughout history and in the Bible. These have all believed they were standing fast on the Word of God, and I will focus this article on those we know were standing fast on the Word of God, for they are recorded in that very Word. For our sake, though, we ought have the mindset of Martin Luther,

I am a man, and I can err. But unless I am convinced by Scripture and by plain reason and not by Popes and councils who have so often contradicted themselves, my conscience is captive to the word of God. To go against conscience is neither right nor safe. I cannot and I will not recant. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me.

Let us do as these six millennia of witnesses have done, heeding the Apostle’s words, “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.” (1 Corinthians 16:13) Let us look at some of these men who considered the reproach of Christ as greater wealth than the treasures of the world.

In 1 Kings 13:1-6, a prophet confronts Jeroboam in his sin of offering sacrifices to idols, and temporarily ceases that evil king’s sin. In 1 Kings 18:17-19 Elijah confronts that evil king Ahab, to which Ahab calls Elijah the sinner, but it is more than evident that Ahab is the idolater and sinner. In 1 Kings 22:5-28 that great prophet Micaiah stands against not only the evil king Ahab, but also against four-hundred false prophets; he is hated and beaten for telling the king the truth. In Nehemiah 5:5-13 the governor-prophet Nehemiah learns that the nobles were crushing the poor under oppression, and brings charges against them, requiring repentance. Years later in Nehemiah 13:11-18 he confronts them again for their sins and forsaking the house of God. In 2 Chronicles 26:16-20 Uzziah sets himself up as king and priest, to which the prophet Azariah confronts him, saving his life. In 2 Kings 22:8-23:23 King Josiah stands against lawlessness in Israel and makes great reforms towards the keeping of the law. In Galatians 2:11-14 when Peter falls into the Judaizer camp, Paul confronts him to his face and calls him to repent, resulting in Peter’s continued ministry in the truth. In Matthew 14:4-12 John the Baptist stands against evil king Herod and loses his head for it. And of course is that great prophet Nathan, who in 2 Samuel 12:1-15 stands against the very king of Israel, David, the closest thing that Israel had ever received to a messiah, and Nathan, with no fear for his own life, stands for the truth and calls the king to repent.

Time would fail to tell of all of the prophets who “through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.” (Hebrews 11:33-38)

There is really only one common theme in all of these men, for some of these prophets were paupers, some were kings, some were priests, some were Pharisees, some were boys, some were old, some are famous, some are not even named, some were rich, some were poor, some spoke well, some did not, but they all brought the same message: the Word of God. They did not waver, they did not temper the message, they preached what God had said and did amazing things and faced amazing consequences.

Many after the first century have held to this very Word (Hebrews 1:1-2) and have done things that are just as amazing; even, Christ says, greater things than he had done (John 14:12). They have also faced many of the same consequences as prior prophets, ranging from ex-communication, to slander, to libel, to loss of property, to loss of life. John Owen, a Puritan man of God, stood against luke-warm efforts to conform the church to the state, and was regularly accused of causing schism. He responded in his treatise by stating, “those churches which, by their corruption or tyranny, rendered separation necessary, were the true schismatics.” He is most certainly right, when anyone steps away from the Word of God, they will begin sinking in shifting sand and must be confronted, no matter their rank (compare Acts 4:19-20, Galatians 1:7-9), in order that the way of truth is not blasphemed. Like watchmen on a wall, the prophet must not be guilty of failing to warn of approaching danger.

Jesus tells of a time when those who silence and murder the prophets will think they are doing God a favor (John 16:2), that time has been the last two-thousand years. Jesus says to those who will be rebuked by men wielding the Word of God, “Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town,” (Matthew 23:34) yet those who do so will say that they would not (Matthew 23:30).

In light of these dire times and circumstances, Timothy, who was martyred under the Diocletian persecution, is exhorted thusly, “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.” (1 Timothy 4:13-16)

Christianity has no lack of prophets who stood against false teaching, against those who would substitute their opinions for truth while forsaking the Word of Truth. Prophets now, as prophets then, must stand against every hint of biblical infidelity, for the Bible is either absolute or it is obsolete. In so doing, Paul tells Timothy that salvation will come both to the preacher, and his hearers; for we know that faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word of Christ (Romans 10:17).

If such a rebuke comes your way, do not be brash to oppose these men, but search the scriptures diligently and see if such things are so. These men come with authority and are often quite harsh, but they do so in love, for love seeks to regain a brother and save sinners from the fire; the authority they come in is not their own, but is from God who sent them, and their offense is coming from the Word of Righteousness and not from their own delivery. When their words toward you align with God’s Word, then repent towards Heaven, and preach the whole counsel of scripture, knowing that in doing so, you will save both yourself and your hearers.

Do not forsake the Word of Eternal Life, nor the Christ to whom that Word points; for at the right time he gave his life a ransom, and was raised for the justification of many. We know these things by the Word and will lose these things if we forsake the Word. Stand for the Word, even to death, and receive a crown of life.

Pseudodelphia; False Brothers

2011-07-05T10:00:00.004-04:00

If there is one point of naïveté within the modern church that astounds me to no end, it is the lack of recognition that false prophets and false brothers not only exist, but abound. The existence of false teachers and professors is a major theme throughout the Bible, especially in the New Testament, many of the parables which Jesus told directly relate to the existence of false converts (good/bad soil, good/bad fish, wise/foolish wedding attendants, wheat/tares) and his express statement concerning the end of the age is that, “Many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold” (Matthew 24:11-12).

Jesus gives no hint as to how many “many” is, but it’s clearly more than one or two, it’s not just Joel Osteen and Ergun Caner. Paul says that people will accumulate teachers to themselves to scratch their itching lusts (2 Timothy 4:3), and it is more than clear that in many churches today, there is at least one lead false prophet per congregation. Four of seven churches in Revelation 2-3 are teeming with false teachers.

This was not unexpected by God, it is not even against his plan, for he promises for his predestined saints to use all things for good; not that all things are good, but that God has the power to use what is evil for good (Romans 8:28, Genesis 50:20). Paul warned his beloved flock at Ephesus, “I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears” (Acts 20:29-31). If we wonder the veracity towards which Paul prophesied these things, within only a few years Paul had no friends in Ephesus (2 Timothy 1:15). Jesus said likewise, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves” (Matthew 7:15).

Beloved, Paul said that in order to have our powers of discernment honed, we must be using them constantly (Hebrews 5:14). In my own geographical community I regularly witness to “christians” who sit weekly under the teaching of such wolves. It is an unbelievably sad thing to be the first to share Christ with someone who has sat in a church their entire lives. This past Sunday I witnessed to a group of students who go to a local mega-church who believed that they must confess their sins to a man in order to be forgiven (this is not even a distinctive of their apostate mega-church, but strange heresies creep in where truth is absent). The lost person this weekend who was nearest to some semblance of truth was actually a back-slidden Catholic who recognized that most of the doctrines he grew up with in the Roman cult had no basis in the Bible. A recent study by Answers in Genesis shows that growing up in a modern evangelical church has a discernable detriment to the soul compared to those who never attended Sunday School; these things ought not be. But by denying the possibility of false brothers, the church has opened the door for every manner of false teaching, rotten fruit, and inane babble from the pulpit to appease these carnal and condemned members who spread like gangrene in their unregenerate state.

So what ought be done with these pseudodelphia, these false brothers? Should we search them out and cast them away? Jesus shares a parable of weeds amongst the wheat, he declares that the weeds were purposefully spread by the enemy (compare Galatians 2:4), and that the church ought not tear up the weeds for fear of damaging the wheat (Matthew 13:24-30). These false brothers have snuck in; they often have a form of godliness, so that by seeking them out, the true believers may be damaged. Jesus says that he knows the wheat from the weeds, and that he has appointed a day in which to separate them, and that day is not today. However, he says nothing of tolerating them and leaving them to the fire to come; rather letting scripture interpret scripture, there is a definite call for rebuke, silencing, and correction, striving for conversion of the false (Titus 1:10-16), snatching them in pity from the flames (Jude 22-23). To Timothy Paul writes, in light of false prophets and brothers, that he “ought to always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry” (2 Timothy 4:5).

The Christian seeks to be pious within his own congregation in order not to offend, but he cannot be so naïve to think that this plague has not affected even his own flock. Within my own experience I have only encountered two blatantly false converts preaching different gospels. Do not, dear brother, if you are reading this, assume this is you unless I have personally confronted you; both of these men know my opinion of their unregeneracy. One of these began writing poetry “given to him from God” which was both full of heresy and also quite awful; in confrontation he became divisive and fled from truth, and is currently studying witch-craft under Andrew Wommack. The other has been a constant sower of discord and strange doctrine, calling other religions brothers, and claiming that God is the God of all. Within other churches I have found those who doubt and even deny the deity of Christ, who deny Christ as the only way to Heaven, who embellish their conversion stories, who utterly disregard the poor and perishing in their communities, and who exalt the creature above the Creator, et al; I would exhaust my imagination before I could name all of their errors.

Why would God allow these weeds to tarnish his church? Paul gives the reason in his Epistle to the damaged church at Corinth, “there must be factions (kjv/koine-heresies) among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized” (1 Corinthians 11:19). Paul blatantly states that the false are allowed in with the true in order that the true may shine all the brighter.

So beloved, the first thing I pray that you have seen is that there is such thing as a false brother and a false prophet, and that unfortunately neither of these are rare. Their terrible teachings will upset the faith of whole families (Titus 1:11), the love of many will grow cold (Matthew 24:12), and even suffering and death (1 Peter 4:19) will result for those who stand the gap opposing lawlessness and preaching truth (Ezekiel 22:22-31). Worst of all, the name of God is blasphemed among the nations because those who bear his name teach shameful and licentious things (Romans 2:24, Titus 1:16).

Secondly, beloved, I implore you that you would not just assume that you are not one of these false converts, but that you would test yourself to see if you are in the faith, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, knowing that if you are a true Christian, Jesus Christ is alive in you. The Bible contains several good tests, I would encourage you to take the long one in 1 John 1-5, or the shorter ones in 2 Peter 1:5-10 and Galatians 5:16-24. Only if you are bearing fruit will you be assured that you will never fall. Whatever you do, do not look at those around you as tests for your salvation, for they may be utterly against Christ and walking in darkness; test yourself against biblical standards, trusting in Christ, striving in sanctification for perfection, setting your affections on Heaven, fleeing from sin and unrighteousness.

Third, these false brothers exist, but unless their sin is blatantly manifest in ways that make the pagans blush, you are not to cast them out of your church (1 Corinthians 5:1,9-13). But they also must be silenced as to their heresies; Paul calls for a firm rebuke and a desire to see them converted (Titus 1:11,13). Dear Christian, I must leave it to your own conscience as to how this should be done, it seems that this is the duty of the senior pastor and his undershepherds, though this also may refer to every lay member, every priest of the Most High God; your own conscience must judge.

For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And “If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” (1 Peter 4:17-18)

In all of this, know that apostasy and false teachers will increase as the end of the age comes closer than it has ever been. Christ calls you to follow him and love the brothers, to test the spirits, to hold fast to good and abhor evil, and to persevere to the end. Love those who hate you, pray for those who persecute you, emulate Christ that while you were against him, he loved you and gave himself for you. Call all to repentance, rejoice when lost sheep return, weep when goats fall into the hands of the Living God, and in all things give glory to the One who is the Faithful and True Witness, who was dead, but yet lives forevermore. His purposes will be accomplished perfectly, so trust wholly in him, knowing that he is working all things for good to those who love him and are called according to his purpose.

Promising Freedom

2011-07-03T15:00:00.002-04:00

The military has a long tradition of being seen as more important than the masses. In Hindusim the military is in the caste directly below the king, within the Catholic Church those slaughtered in war are often beatified, in Sikhism the soldier-saint is seen as especially righteous, in Sparta the best soldiers were instantly vaulted to the highest class, and of course, in Islam the soldier who dies in battle not only earns himself instant heaven, but also earns merit for his family members. The soldier has long been a savior who will die for you without expecting you to live any differently.

This is a harsh concept, but it is one that must be addressed, since "democracy" has become the goal of military endeavor, since the truth of Christ is utterly abandoned, since Bibles are burned in army camps to appease the enemy. We spread humanism and condemn nations by failing to spread what it was that truly made America great. It was John Adams who said, "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." And yet we spread the idea of "democracy" which is even against the "republic" for which we used to stand.

I regularly preach on the street, and know many around the country who do likewise. We see that as Christianity fades, so do the freedoms of speech, assembly, and protest; I wrote this a while ago, but am finally fed up enough to post it:

It is the pastor, not the soldier,
who has given us freedom of religion:
Saudi Arabia has soldiers.

It is the pastor, not the soldier,
who has given us freedom of the press:
Iran has soldiers.

It is the pastor, not the soldier,
who has given us the freedom of speech:
The Soviet Union had soldiers.

It is the pastor, not the soldier,
who has given us the freedom to protest:
Bahrain has soldiers.

It is the pastor, not the soldier,
who has given us the right to a fair trial:
Nazi Germany had soldiers.

It is the pastor, not the soldier,
who has given us the right to vote:
Afghanistan has soldiers.

It is the pastor, not the solider,
who will enslave a nation in bondage

by failing to stand and preach the truth.

Almost no history books of today will draw a link between the true Founding Father of the United States and what brought about a moral and political revolution which blessed people and nations for generations. That Founding Father is George Whitefield, who preached 18,000 sermons in his lifetime and called England and America to repentance. It is estimated that 80% of the people living in the colonies became religious under the preaching of George Whitefield and of those whom he inspired to do likewise. Without the preaching of George Whitefield, uncompromising in the truth, there could have been no unity among those in New England.

Recently I've heard a number of "christians" insist that the church ought not be confrontational, that we ought not be against heresy or sin, but that in loving everyone they will see that Christianity is better and will come to our position. I had a conversation recently where we came to the exact opposite conclusion, men like Finney, Moody, and Graham have locked the nation in bondage by preaching half a gospel, preaching a democratic humanistic message. It has produced what used to be called, "Cold Coal", a populace utterly against Christianity; today it might be called "Post-Christian Europe" or "Post-Christian America". The unfortunate irony of this is that Christian values are still held to (though more and more sparingly every day) without realizing from whence they have come.

We see that through this bad preaching, this lack of truth, and this anemia to engage the culture with anything resembling Christianity, the nation has slipped from blessing to cursing. We have become a nation of baby-sacrifices, of money worshippers, of inept leaders, of boy leaders, of woman leaders, of Sodomites, of adulterers and fornicators; children rule their parents, and leaders rob the people blind. A fall is coming, no nation could possibly stand under such sin and judgment, America will fall and be just like every other godless nation, robbed of rights and blessing, crushed under a lack of biblical preaching.

For one of the greatest curses God ever sent on Israel was not starvation, war, or plague, but a famine of godly preachers. That famine is here, and has been for a long while. God's major contention is with the priesthood, the Christians who became idolaters to comfort and did not notice, care, or complain when the Bible and Christ became bywords in the pulpit. A crushing curse rests on the land, and should God be gracious and raise up preachers to bring the Word of Life, they must not ignore the call. They must not preach only what they want to preach, but must preach the true words of Christ. They must not ignore verses that say God hates the sinner, nor verses that say there is wrath and fury, tribulation and distress for every human who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek. They must not ignore that God is against certain lifestyles, or that he has a plan for marriage. They must not ignore that Christ is king and the Constitution, not a man, is meant to guide the nation by God's authority. They must not remove crosses from their churches because of the offense, and they must preach Christ crucified and resurrected for the justification of only those who repent and believe.

The preacher must preach Christ and him crucified, calling all to a total repentance. He must be a Christian on a crusade, not for blood, but for souls. He must be confrontational, firm, and truthful. He must not temper the message, but know that it is foolishness to some, a stumbling block to others, but to others it is the power of God to salvation. He must preach in season and out of season. He must bear the reproach for the One who loved him and went outside of the camp to suffer and die for his sins.

Apart from this preaching, the nation will perish and the peoples will die in their sins. Many promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption; those who declare freedom in anything but Christ are the most enslaved, they are called waterless wells and mists driven by a storm; they do more damage than good and God has prepared the gloom of Hell for them.

Dear Christian, there is one freedom from sin, it is Christ who created, sustains, and saves men. Apart from the freedom of Christ, there is only slavery. Preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, do not temper it to men, fear God and preach his Word, and watch God do amazing things through the foolishness of the cross. Do not face God with the blood of a dying nation on your hands, preach the gospel, call sinners from darkness to light, death to life, and corruption to freedom. If the Son sets them free, they shall be free indeed. He is the only way.

Arise, shine, for your light has come,
__and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.
For behold, darkness shall cover the earth,
__and thick darkness the peoples;
but the LORD will arise upon you,
__and his glory will be seen upon you.
And nations shall come to your light,
__and kings to the brightness of your rising. - Isaiah 60:1-3

The Reality of Hell

2011-06-16T09:00:00.002-04:00

With the effort of those both inside and outside of Christianity to redefine Hell, and do away with the concept altogether, I’ve been thinking on the concepts which Hell impresses upon those who fear God, and why Hell is a perfectly acceptable topic for evangelism. I believe that Hell is an exceedingly useful topic, provided it encompasses the following four principles;

1. The Authority of God’s Law
2. The Perfection of God’s Judgment
3. The Severity of God’s Wrath
4. The Amazing Alternative to God’s Anger

One of my favorite songs is a redeaux of a Fanny Crosby hymn, called, Rescue the Perishing, sung by Billy and Cindy Foote. In this song the singer asks, “Have we forgotten the lost, the reality of Hell?” The answer to both in mainline Christendom is yes. I would draw a direct line from losing the reality of Hell, the necessity of Hell, to the forsaking of the lost, and I pray that this article will at least do a little to curtail that movement.

The Authority of God’s Law

Even among those who reject Hell, with a little probing they can usually be made to admit that REALLY bad people probably do go to Hell, or at least not to Heaven. Among these are the obligatory references to Adolf Hitler, Saddam Hussein, Joseph Stalin, and can generally be easily expanded to include serial rapists and pedophiles. Even the most God-hating heathens recognize that there is a call for justice, the problem is that their standard of sin does not match God’s standard of sin.

God’s law is perfect, it is complete, and it carries the same punishment for every infraction, for the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Even if we’ve kept every law and broken only one, we are guilty of all (James 2:10). A cursory look through the Old Testament shows that the same penalty exists for gross sexual sins to lies, from murder to dishonoring of parents.

Sin is transgression against the law (1 John 3:4), and every sinner, from the most prolific genocidal tyrant to the liar, will be judged against it (Revelation 20:13, 21:8). The reality of Hell shows that God’s law is a pedestal of his perfect standard of righteousness and of the justice by which he upholds the universe.

The Perfection of God’s Judgment

Mankind does an incalculable amount of work to uphold justice, everything from lawmakers who write thousands of laws a year, to enforcement officers who know the law and ensure it is carried out, to judges who hear infractions against the law and punish lawbreakers. And yet, with all of this work, lawlessness abounds, and humanity suffers.

The incompetence (either partial or complete) of mankind’s justice is setting up a comparison for when God judges perfectly. A verse which the unrighteous hate with a passion is at the end of Psalm 58, it says, “The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance; he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked. Mankind will say, ‘Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth.’”

The reality of Hell shows that God is able to judge justly and completely, that no lawbreaker will escape. Any and every sin has been remembered by God and will be dealt with, for a sin against an infinite God requires an infinite retribution.

The Severity of God’s Wrath

Throughout the Bible it describes God as the only Saviour (Deuteronomy 6:4, Isaiah 45:14-15, John 14:6, Acts 4:12, 1 Timothy 2:5, Jude 25, et al.). The salvation of God extends far past the agonies of Hell, but the hearer must realize that this salvation does include being saved from Hell. There are no lack of verses that explain that God hates the sinner (Psalm 1:5-6, 2:12, 3:7, 5:4-5, 7:11, 10:3, 11:5, Proverbs 12:22, 6:16-19, Hebrews 1:8-9, etc. etc.), but most people miss this fact as they live in his patience (Romans 2:4).

The Psalmist in Psalm 73 complains for the lack of temporal punishment on the wicked, but then he perceives their end, an end of terror; despised by God. Every person who has ever lived has an appointment to stand before God and give an account, and of that day Isaiah asks, “Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?” (Isaiah 33:14) The fullness of God’s wrath, of his hatred in action, is an incomprehensible rage against lawbreakers and enemies of righteousness. He promises to pursue his enemies into the darkness, and torment them in his own presence forever (Nahum 1:8, Revelation 14:10-11), for his vengeance is complete, and his wrath infinite. Any reprieve from Hell through abatement or annihilation would be another savior, and there is no Saviour but Christ (Philippians 2:9-11).

The reality of Hell shows that God truly does hate sin, sinners, and the results of sin. The extreme severity of Hell demonstrates both the crushing judgment on the lost, and the amazing grace which has been shed on so many.

The Amazing Alternative to God’s Anger

The Apostle Paul asks, “What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy?” (Romans 9:22-23) The saint, saved from God, by God, for God, looks at Hell and sees a place for sinners, a place from which none can escape, and a place in which every grace of God is removed; it is truly a terrifying concept, and truly it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the Living God (Hebrews 10:31).

On a cross, the very Son of God endured the full wrath of God, for towards his church who had transgressed him in every way, his Father held in his hand “a cup with foaming wine, well mixed, and he pours out from it, and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs.” (Psalm 75:8) In his amazing love, Christ laid down his life, he drank that cup of wrath, he endured the full fury of God against sin, and it pleased his Father to crush him. In three hours on a cross, Jesus suffered more than any sinner ever will in Hell, for as he drained the cup, as he absorbed the full wrath of God, he declared, “It is finished.”

There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1), that condemnation was met on a cross, justice crushed the perfect substitutionary Christ, and he endured it for his church, who have received grace upon grace upon grace, a salvation from sin, from Hell, from condemnation, from punishment, from separation, and from wandering. The vessels of wrath prepared for destruction show the saint what he has been saved from, what his Saviour endured, and that God truly is mighty to give compassion to whom he pleases and condemn others of his own volition.

The reality of Hell demonstrates the exceeding depths of God’s grace, that while no favor was merited, he chose to save a remnant, that while his anger burned against sinners, he accepts the propitiation of his Son, who bore the weight of condemnation, but whom was raised in glory for his obedience. When we lose the danger of Hell, we lose the grace of Heaven, or as Alistair Begg puts it so well, “Unless you have a real wrath, a real anger, the biblical concepts of long-suffering, of mercy, and of grace, are robbed of their meaning.”

Conclusion

Losing Hell in Christendom is much more dangerous than just losing punishment and eternality; the very nature of God is distorted. Without the reality of Hell, God’s law loses its authority, his justice fails in time, his hatred of unrighteousness and sin’s consequence is mute, and his grace becomes less amazing. An alternate savior arises, and Christ becomes a liar; his work on Calvary was in vain (Galatians 2:21, Matthew 26:42).

There is a very real danger in rejecting Hell, it is quite literally Hell that gapes wide to catch your fall (Isaac Watts). In rejecting Hell, you reject the creator of Hell, the one who sees fit to punish perfectly the damnable sinfulness of sin, and who loves righteousness and hates wickedness. With no threat of punishment, evangelism fails, because everyone will be alright anyways, they are just missing the opportunity to live their best life now. With no threat of penalty, the prophet does not tremble when speaking for God, does not consider whether his words may have an eternal detriment to the souls of his hearers, and even to his own soul lest he turn to Christ.

The reality of Hell is that God is angry with the wicked every day, he is against the practitioner of sin, he is not slack concerning his promises, but will judge sinners and will see fit that they pay for their sins. The grace is that God’s own Son has paid for sin, he stands ready to forgive, reconcile, and save all who draw near to him in faith, magnified by a glimpse at what was the alternative. Christianity is so much more than escaping Hell, but a healthy fear of the God who can kill both body and soul in Hell should be a driving point in every believer’s life.

If we say we love God,
want to see his will done,
will we offer our lives,
or the just the songs we have sung? – Billy and Cindy Foote

Jonah Chapter 1.5

2011-06-09T12:00:00.000-04:00

Prelude
The Book of Jonah is far more than a story about a big fish and a wayward prophet. It contains God’s sovereignty, his grace, his lovingkindness, and his transforming power. As I preached through Jonah last year, two questions piqued in my curiosity and I mulled over them for the full ~40 hours or so that I spent in study. Finally I was able to answer both. These two questions were

1. Why was Ninevah so open to Jonah’s terrible sermon in chapter 3 verse 4?
2. Why does the book end the way it does, with a seemingly unanswered question?

I can answer question two quite succinctly and accurately: the entire Book of Jonah is the answer to Jonah 4:10-11. Jonah, through writing this book, answers God’s question and demonstrates the fullness of his repentance for his uncompassionate response to God’s mercy and Ninevah’s salvation. Jonah beautifully bears witness to God’s goodness and kindness to both himself and Nineveh, showing his alignment to God's character.

The first question is not so easily answered, though I have formulated an answer, and this article will seek to expand a bit on why I believe Ninevah responded so fully to a sermon that didn’t even call for a response. I will take certain liberties, but will do my best to stay true to the text. Many of the details in this note are fictional, and I am not saying this is definitely how it happened, though I am quite certain it happened something like this:

Joppa, 770BC
Our crippled craft transitioned into the calm waters of Joppa Harbor. Riding high in the water our ship looked ready to sink at any moment. She had endured winds and waves more than twice what any ship in the Mittelmeer could be expected to endure, but by some miracle we had made landfall.

Emotions on board were mixed. We were relieved to be alive, we were saddened to have lost a friend in the voyage, we were anxious for the fate of our captain and ourselves for having jettisoned our precious cargo. But under it all was an amazing sense of joy, a peace that none of us had ever known before.

Let me introduce myself, my name is Amarna, the son of an Egyptian mother and Assyrian father. My father was a soldier who was stationed in Joppa in order to secure this vital military access to Southern Judea. I grew up on the sea, fishing from an early age, then transitioned to cargo vessels, taking my first voyage to the Balkans at the age of 9. Over the years, I have become an accomplished sailor. My preferred deity was my namesake, Aten, the Sun God, the God of Egypt and my forefathers; but in my travels (as far West as Tarshish and as far East as Colchis) I have encountered and worshipped many foreign gods. Some of these have seemed quite trite, gods for property, gods for catching fish, gods for curing ulcers and the like, but none seemed so powerful as Aten, who by his (or her/it) power was said to have created the world and was sustaining all life. Could Aten have been an attempt by the Egyptians to worship the True God who delivered Moses and the Jews from Egypt? I cannot say for sure, but this is my belief (at the time of this writing, not when I was an Aten follower, for Aten, though similar to Yahveh, is certainly not the same).

The strangest God I have ever encountered was just a few days ago. A Hebrew prophet by the name of Jonah had boarded our vessel bound for Tarshish. He had paid dearly for passage and we were glad to have a religious person on board who could teach us more ways to be blessed by the deities. That is, until he told us who his God was. Our captain, a polytheist if ever there was one and exceptionally superstitious, was especially insulted when Jonah told him that "Yahveh eloheinu Yahveh ehad." or translated "The Lord is God, the Lord is One." They finally broke company when Jonah declared without compromise, "Yahveh is THE God (Jonah 1:6), besides him there is no other."

This Jonah, who possessed great knowledge of the Words of his God (cf. Jonah 2), was rather strange, for he was fleeing from this God (Jonah 1:10). When we asked him why, he told us that his God was gracious and merciful and a forgiver of sins (none of us had even considered whether our gods could just forgive sins, and we regularly sacrificed all manner of things to them to earn their favor), and had commissioned him to go to Nineveh to declare God's anger with that city. Jonah was certain without any doubt that God intended to forgive the entire city, and he was not at all pleased about this (Jonah 4:2). After Jonah retired below deck we joked amongst ourselves that even if we wanted to, we couldn't sail him to Nineveh, since a sea-fairing boat was the last way you'd get to that desert city.

Then our troubles began, a storm hit us with such ferocity that it had to have been supernatural (Jonah 1:4). We called General Quarters and took our positions to keep the boat leeward and afloat. The captain called out for prayers of intercession to be made to every deity who could possibly help us (Jonah 1:5). I prayed fervently to Aten, but the darkness of the clouds gave me little hope of his help. Several times during the gale I thought we were done for, the ship rocked violently and tipped dangerously, and the call was made to throw overboard our cargo of valuable Arabian, Assyrian, and Egyptian wares. About this time we noticed that Jonah was nowhere to be found. After a brief search the captain came back on deck with Jonah in tow. We feared for our lives, and saw no end to the storm.

I was not the only one who felt this storm was not natural, for the crew called for lots to be cast to determine which deity should be prayed to. The lot fell on Jonah, and a hush fell across the deck, for none of us had thought to pray to Yahveh. Jonah's words pierced my heart, he declared that Yahveh, not Aten, was the creator of earth and sea. He commanded us to cast him overboard to appease his God, but we could not, for as strange as our gods were, we all abhorred human sacrifice, especially when the sacrifice appeared to be innocent of anything deserving of death. After rowing hard for land, but making no headway, we recognized that no other option presented itself. The storm grew worse; one moment we were at the summit of a mountainous wave, and the next we were in danger of being swallowed up in the valley. We prayed a prayer to Yahveh and cast his prophet into the sea.

Instantly the storm subsided, the sun came out, and our tattered sails on broken masts fluttered in a gentle breeze. We rushed to the stern and looked helplessly at the foundering prophet, wondering if we should drag him back aboard. Before we could finish the thought, the largest fish that any of us had ever seen engulfed Jonah; and then both ixthys and preacher were gone.

In Joppa I was shocked and pleased that our captain bore such strong witness to the power and sufficiency of the One-God, Yahveh, as he stood accused before our benefactor. I will forever remember him saying, “I count everything as loss in comparison to gaining God, my Saviour.” What will be his fate, I do not know, but his soul is secure in the Anointed One.

The rest of the crew expressed their desire to meet with a Rabbi and learn about the God of Israel, but as for myself, I could not shake a conviction I had. Jonah had been commissioned to warn the city of Nineveh of impending doom, but had not. God had bestowed such grace upon myself that I could think of nothing else but delivering Jonah’s message to Nineveh. Luckily, or probably more providentially, a caravan was leaving for Nineveh in the morning, and I made sure I was in it.

Over the three weeks or so it took to travel to Nineveh, I learned that the animosity between Israel and Assyria was greater than I had ever fathomed. Joppa was firmly held by the Assyrians, and so we never saw any fighting there, but I learned that fighting had been fierce elsewhere. Though we lived in a relative time of peace, a time of tributes paid from Israel to Assyria, we were beset several times by Israelite and Assyrian patrols who harassed us and searched us for spies and weapons. We passed burned out cities in Northern Israel and Syria, and passed unspeakable tributes to the Assyrian war-machine’s violence. It was during this time that I at least could empathize with Jonah’s resistance to offering Assyria forgiveness, for truly their atrocities were heinous and prevalent, but I saw that each person is in great need of forgiveness and would not and could not presume that I was in any less need of forgiveness than anyone in Assyria. I was blessed to be able to bear testimony to my fellow travelers about the God who accepted intercession, who received propitiation and who saved our lives and souls off the coast of Joppa. My Assyrian companions were riveted by the story, and one man, a native of Nineveh, canted his head when he heard of the great fish that swallowed Jonah. I do not know if they will repent towards the True and Faithful God or not, but they have been presented with the truth of the Creator and Judge of the world.

Nineveh, 770BC
The grandeur of Nineveh was awe-inspiring. As we came upon it on the bank of the Tigris River, I was astonished by the high walls, the beautiful façade, the armada of fishing boats, and the towering palm trees which did not reach anywhere near the top of the walls. As we neared the Quay Gate I could not help but notice a proliferation of bronze and golden fish statues adorning the gate. One especially stood out, the largest, engraved, “City of Nina, Beloved of Ishtar”, and I couldn’t help but think it looked strikingly similar to the fish I had seen less than a month in the past.

Entering Nineveh as a foreigner seeking audience with the city's officials was not an easy task. I pled my case to governors, to sergeants, to priests of Nina, to anyone who would listen, to no avail, and finally, as my welcome in Nineveh was all but worn out as a doomsday prophet, I was invited to speak to the king. I explained to him who I had been, a non-Jew living in Judea, a faithful servant of Assyria, a journeyman fisherman, and a faithful follower of Aten among other gods. Then I explained who I had become, a follower of the God of Israel, a messenger of his grace and a herald of his sovereignty, a sinner saved by grace and one desperately calling all who would listen to turn from dead idols to the Living God. The king’s anger became evident when he heard this, he clawed the armrests of his throne, which I realized were carved into the shape of the idol of the city, a fish.

Sensing that my appointment with the king was quickly nearing its end, I continued, explaining that the wrath of the God of Israel had been kindled against Nineveh for her sins against Heaven, against humanity, and against the Jewish people, that God was prepared to curse the nation which had cursed his chosen people. I recounted the story of Jonah who was the commissioned prophet to warn the city, and told of how he had been swallowed by a fish in his disobedience. I cried out that I had seen the power of Yahveh and against it no man or beast or city could stand, that lest Nineveh repent, she would be in ruins.

The king exploded in anger, calling me a spy and a liar and a false prophet, he thundered that just has Nina had taken care of Jonah, she would take care of me. He called for his guards to seize me immediately, and had me locked in stocks in the central square of the city. In a mocking voice he told me that if my warning were true, that I would perish among the rubble of that great city. My punishment endured for weeks, given only minimal water and occasionally a bit of rotten refuse for sustenance. At first I was not given any chance of respite; then a priest of Nina offered me amnesty if I would only worship the fish goddess, to which I replied in a weak and broken voice, “Yahveh eloheinu Yahveh ehad.”

After weeks and weeks of this torturous captivity, I had become a spectacle, a derision, the scum of the earth, for I would preach to any person who would listen to turn to my God; I was able to bear witness regularly every day from my chains. It was apparent that I was not long for the world, for the authorities had grown tired of me and were setting a date for my execution; all that remained was to find a proper way to make an example of me to any that would preach against the gods of Assyria. I cringed at the thought of being flayed alive and nailed to the wall of Nineveh. My faith began to falter, calls for recantation came more and more frequently, and I considered praying to Aten for help, I considered praying to Nina for reprieve, but in my weakness I found an unexpected strength in Yahveh.

Then a murmur arose in the square, followed by a supernatural silence, and through eyes blurred by dehydration, I made out a figure walking to the stairs overlooking the crowds numbering in the thousands. Struggling to focus, I saw that this disheveled man looked familiar; he was clearly a Hebrew by his dress, though his skin and his clothing were bleached white, as if by acid. I can't tell you why, but I got the distinct impression that he had been inside of a fish; he certainly looked like he had been to death and back. It seemed as though all of Nineveh gave him ear and waited for him to speak. He looked towards Heaven, and then preached that famous short sermon,

“Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”

The rest is history.

Forgiven and Commissioned

2011-05-27T09:30:00.010-04:00

As I watch certain churches explode into apostasy, I have been spending time meditating on a passage that has always greatly encouraged me, John 21:15-17, which I’ll post in a moment. I love this passage because it points that the goal of the church-universal is not to win souls or save the world or combat social ills, it is to love Christ by loving the flock first and foremost, everything else is an incidental. I was encouraged once again by this passage, but as I read, I saw something I’ve never seen before.

One of the reasons I believe the Bible is the Word of God is because of the layers of depth that it contains in every passage; truly it is shallow enough for babes to play in, and deep enough for scholars to drown. A few days ago I would have probably been so arrogant as to state that I had plumbed the depths of John 21:15-17; but last night I saw an even deeper message, at least as beautiful as the surface message.

In order to get there, let me give you some context. This passage revolves around the Apostle Peter, the most vocal of Christ’s followers. His mind was set as to exactly how Christ would ascend to Prophet, Priest, and King of Israel, and he had to be corrected continuously, often quite sharply, over the three years that Christ discipled him. The peak of his errors occurred on the night that Christ was betrayed, Peter said, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.” Jesus told Peter that before daybreak (the rooster’s crow), Peter would deny him three times (Matthew 26:33-35, Luke 22:33).

Here is where my recent discovery began, for immediately before this, Christ had commanded Peter, “when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” (Luke 22:32) I realized that Christ had given Peter a command even before Peter was restored; indeed, even before he fell. It reminds me of Isaiah’s amazing prophecy of the rebuilding of Jerusalem, for when that prophecy was made Jerusalem didn’t yet need to be rebuilt, because it was still standing, but the prophecy came to pass perfectly (Isaiah 44:26).

Peter did indeed flee from Christ, he did indeed betray him three times, and he recognized that his sin was grievous to Christ, and he wept bitterly. There is no doubt in my mind that at this time, Peter felt he himself was the Son of Perdition of whom Christ had spoken. Peter would have felt irredeemable and unforgiveable. But even as Peter was a grievous sinner, his God and Saviour is faithful, and Peter says it better than I can as to how he was restored, “[Jesus] himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” (1 Peter 2:24-25) The word for returned is the same word that Jesus used to tell Peter, “when you’ve turned-again (re-turned), strengthen your brothers.” Peter knew by experience and by word that Christ seeks and saves the lost.

So that brings me to the Sea of Galilee in John 21. Christ was raised a few weeks in the past, he has appeared to the Apostles twice before, and they are overjoyed that the Messiah has come, that he has reconciled them to God, he has put their sins away, and he has defeated death. But Peter’s blatant oath that, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away...even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” (Matthew 26:33,35) goes unaddressed, unresolved. On the Sea of Galilee, starting at verse 15, Jesus, sitting next to Peter, looks at his disciples and motions, asking Peter, “Peter, do you love me more than they do?” Jesus’ question is pointed, it is meant to drive Peter’s conscience into introspection, for Jesus doesn’t just ask, “Peter, do you like me?” He asks with a very specific word, agape, a sacrificial love that extends all the way to death, for agape has no greater man than this, that he would lay his life down for his friends (John 15:13). Jesus’ question literally asks, “Peter, would you die for me, even more than these?”

I can’t tell you exactly what Peter’s countenance did, but I imagine that it fell significantly. He responds, “Yes Lord, you know that I philo you.” Peter does not answer Jesus’ question, he can’t, because the last time he told Jesus he would die for him and never leave him, he failed miserably. So Peter says in effect, “I don’t dislike you, there is a genuine brotherly affection (philo) between us; but as to the extent of my faithfulness, I cannot say.” Jesus does the most amazing thing, something that I am hoping this article is building towards; he commissions Peter, “Feed my lambs.”

Jesus asks again, “Peter, do you agape me?” And Peter once again responds, “I philo you.” Jesus commissions Peter again, “Tend my sheep.”

Jesus asks a third question, but he changes it from the previous two, “Peter, do you phileis me?” This question crushes Peter, I can tell you that definitively because verse 17 says, “Peter was grieved because he asked the third time, ‘Phileis me?’” Here is a minor aside from the point I am making, but Peter changes the word he’s using for “knowledge”, previously he had said Jesus was “aware” of all things, but now Peter says, “Lord, you have perfect knowledge, you are omniscient, you know I philo you.” Jesus commissioned Peter a third time, “Feed my sheep.”

In the following verses, Jesus shows Peter that though Peter couldn’t say it, that he would indeed die for Christ. This passage has always strengthened me in my ministry of the gospel. In an age of imaginary ordinations, manmade titles, and worldly governments, I have been strengthened that if there is any affection from me towards Christ, my commission is to love the church; not the building, but the flock inside. I always remember that it is not I who loved God, but God who loved me first, and sent his Son to be a propitiation for my sins (1 John 4:9-11). Apart from Christ, I can do nothing (John 15:5). This is the strength that I received from meditating on this passage, but I wonder if you’ve seen the deeper layer which I so now love?

It was D.L. Moody who said, “The world has yet to see what God can do with a man who is fully committed to him.” Moody said a lot of stupid and unchristian things, but I believe this was the worst. In a synergistic world, a world where we’re all working with God to accomplish his will, we would all fail even more spectacularly than Peter. The world has never, and will never, see a mere human committed to God accomplishing anything. I’ve heard a sermon by Mark Spence that showed how dangerous this thinking was, for Mark was told by a seminary professor that a sinful past would ruin a life of ministry. Fortunately Mark has realized the full reconciliation in Christ and is now an accomplished evangelist and preacher.

But look at Peter, you’d be hardpressed to sin worse than him, breaking a direct promise to the Lord of Glory. Peter was forgiven, and more than forgiven, he was entrusted and commissioned. If you forgive someone, but refuse to trust them again, you have not really forgiven them. Christ forgives perfectly, he entrusts, he gives his followers who are the greatest failures the biggest responsibility. He works in us to accomplish his will perfectly, building his church masterfully. His grace is magnified in the fact that he turns his enemies into his closest of trusted ministers and friends. He states that those who have been forgiven much, love much (Luke 7:47).

Peter, that grand failure, was fully forgiven, fully entrusted, fully commissioned to take care of Christ’s most precious asset, his church. Elsewhere Peter puts it this way, “As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:4-5) Then, “you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Peter 2:9-10)

It was an unexpected find, but one that has greatly edified me, that Christ has chosen to forgive and commission his saints before even they have asked for forgiveness; even before they need forgiveness. It does not matter the extent of your sin, or the gravity of your betrayal, for the blood of Christ cleanses from all unrighteousness. He restores the fallen, he builds his church out of the least likely materials, and he strengthens and empowers his ministers to love his church.

One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

– Philippians 3:13-14

Preaching in Season

2011-05-21T21:31:00.003-04:00

Today the world didn't end. I didn't expect it to, but everyone with a television or radio had at least pondered whether May 21st 2011 could be the end of the world. For this reason, I took this open opportunity to proclaim the excellencies of Christ in Marietta Square, a small but popular park about two miles from where I work. This weekend is my "duty" weekend where I work a 12 hour shift as support.

My first sermon at 3pm closely followed my gospel-tract about May 21st, 2011, which can be read here, I spent a great deal of time on what the gospel is that will be preached to the nations that will precede the end. Normally when I preach in Marietta Square, I'll lose on average 25% of my crowd immediately, and another 25% before I conclude; they wander off in various degrees of disgust. Today surprised me to no end, my crowd increased; people crossed the street, took iPods out of their ears, sat down, and listened as I exposited the Bible on eschatological signs.

Immediately afterwards I had a very intellectual debate with Church of Christ students, they were not interested in the rapture, they were upset that I had not preached that baptism was necessary for salvation. As we continued the conversation these students showed to be much more heretical than just thinking baptism is the first step of obedience in salvation; one denied the eternality of Hell, another affirmed universal salvation, and one was adamant that God does not hate sinners (Psalm 5:4-5), and walked off when I told him God hated him most of all since he had made himself a false prophet proclaiming a lie about God (Proverbs 6:19). He came back later and I was able to tell him that not everyone who believes the Bible that God hates sinners is a member of the Hypercalvinistic Westboro baptist Church.

I then went home, just in time for my phone to ring with a completely unexpected phone call, so I had to head back for work. I did not even think about preaching again, but as I drove past the Square, I was amazed at how many people were there, and determined in my heart to preach on my way home. I completed my work, and headed for the Square at 8pm; two hours after the rapture was supposed to happen. I prayed for three things: a crowd, a parking space, and no band on stage. All three were answered.

I parked and headed for the Square, just as a group of kids started playing on the stage. I felt this might be providential and I took a moment to prepare a sermon based on Matthew 24:14, that this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Having prepared my sermon, even more kids were playing on the stage, far too many to ask to move. At this point I considered not to preach, but thought I'd give the kids a few more minutes to disperse. So I opened up my Kindle to a book I've been reading called the Memoirs of the Life, Time, and Writings of the Reverend and Learned Thomas Boston.

Providentially I opened to, and was greatly encouraged by, "My soul cried out for accomplishing of that [Matt 4:19, fishers of men] to me, and I was very desirous to know how I might follow Christ, so as to become a fisher of men." I prayed for God to make the kids leave the stage, and went back to reading, and within five minutes the stage was mine.

I addressed a crowd of thirty or so people, explaining that I wanted "to talk to you about something that happened today, or more accurately did not happen today." A brief summation of Camping's failed prophecy followed, and I was shocked that no-one left, and I even gained about ten listeners almost immediately, with others trickling in as I preached a bit longer than 10 minutes.

I dove into the gospel at Matthew 24:14, explaining that the end cannot come until someone from every nation, tribe, and tongue worships Christ as Saviour. I took them to the Garden of Eden where man was expelled from Paradise and the Tree of Life, I took them to Heaven where they must be sinless to stand in the Holy Place, and then I took them to the cross where the Lord of Glory died, and finally I took them to the gates of Heaven where Christ opened them for all nations (Psalm 24), and I concluded with Revelation 21:25-27, imploring my hearers to be reconciled to God. During this preaching I did not lose a single listener (at least that I perceived), indeed some in the distance even moved closer, and when I concluded I received applause, which is not odd, but where it was coming from was, for a balcony behind me had people clapping.

Normally I preach out of season, I address people in their normal lives, bothering them, and have to make a transition from the natural to the spiritual realm. But days like today are a real blessing, for everyone is already thinking about the spiritual, especially when you can tell them that had the world ended two hours ago, they would have died without hope and without God, but that they may still seek the Lord while he may be found.

Beloved, now is where I try to take a jab at you. Have you been preaching in season? How about out of season? Have you been preaching at all? Harold Camping has set up an opportunity for you like a tennisball on a tee, and I parrot Paul when he said, "Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel." (1 Corinthians 9:16) Beloved, I see the apostasy happening every-which-where, in churches that don't believe the Bible, in churches that do believe the Bible but don't do anything about it, and in those who believe the Bible but are not making disciples.

The gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Proclaim it in season and out of season.

Three Reasons the World Can’t End Tomorrow

2011-05-20T08:00:00.011-04:00

With the coming of yet another doomsday prediction, the faith of many is yet again to be tested and shaken. This is by no means a new phenomenon, for two-millennia ago two very disliked men had this written about them,

Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. – 2 Timothy 2:17-18

In recent years there have been no lack of false dates set as the end, and all of them have passed without any incident from Heaven. Unfortunately, the toll on lives and souls in these failed prophecies has been horrendous, including suicides and hardened hearts. Worst of all, the name of God is blasphemed among the nations, tarnished by those who bear his name, yet do not bear his Spirit.

The Bible gives us several signs to look for to know the end is near. These were largely given because of an end-times scare in Thessalonica, and they give us some signs to know just how near the end is.

For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. – 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4

In my study of the Bible, I have found three main reasons why the world cannot end anytime soon.

Reason 1 – No Apostasy

Paul tells us here that the rebellion, the apostasy, from the one true faith given once for all to the saints, must take place. Undoubtedly this rebellion is well underway, as the Presbyterian Church USA has just exalted themselves above scripture by allowing Sodomites to preach in their churches, but this rebellion is not yet complete. There are Christians to be found around the world, no major city is yet without a gospel presence. My church is not the only church which still loves the truth, standing firm on the rock that is Jesus Christ.

Reason 2 – No Antichrist in the Temple

Paul’s second sign of the end is far more objective than his first sign. He alludes to a man who will set himself up as God, seated in the Temple of God, and will do all sorts of amazing signs and wonders to deceive those whom the true God is deluding (vv.9-11).

Reason 3 – The Number of Saints is Not Yet Complete

Jesus gives us a definitive statement in the Olivet Discourse on when the end will come.

This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
– Matthew 24:14

Based on predictions by the Joshua Project and the Wycliff Bible Translators, this date is still somewhere far off in the future. Over 5,000 people groups are yet to be reached, and over 2,000 languages do not currently have a Bible in their own language, comprising at least 340 million people.

If Jesus returned tomorrow, then it would not be that every nation, tongue, and tribe would worship him as Saviour. He is not willing that even a single one of his saints should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

What Can You Do?

In 2 Peter 2:12 it says the saint both waits for, and hastens the day of Christ’s return. There is a call for the Christian to be working in the world to do the works which he has prepared beforehand for them to do. In the three reasons above, we can be working towards their completion, though only one of them is truly the best way to glorify your Saviour.

Way 1 – Increase the Apostasy

As we’ve seen recently in the PCUSA, the rejection of the Bible as the final authority on faith and practice is a sure way to see a denomination’s demise, its sheep sold for slaughter, and its goats coddled and catered. Another great way to prompt the apostasy is to make ridiculous end-times predictions that will harden the hearts of many to the preaching of the Bible. Many will hear Harold Camping’s self-proclaimed Bible scholarship and assume that because he is clearly deluded and incompetent to exposit the scriptures, that no-one is capable and that the Bible is dead-letter.

Hymenaeus and Philetus were shaking the faith of many, in another place Paul explains that this Hymenaeus was making shipwreck of his own faith, and of the faith of others (1 Timothy 1:19-20). This is not a recommended way, because Christ tells you that it would be better for you to be cast into the sea than to lead someone astray (Matthew 18:6).

Way 2 – Build a Temple

Currently the temple which the Son of Hell will sit in does not exist. It is very difficult to exalt yourself as God, sit on the throne of God, and proclaim yourself to be God on earth seated in his temple, if there is no temple. The third temple, which this Antichrist will sit in, will be built on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, but is currently occupied by a Moslem mosque.

There have been no lack of effort in the past to destroy or deport this mosque so that a temple may be built. The wildest of these was a conspiracy to airlift, via helicopter, the entire building. A campaign last year called for Israelis to petition for a new temple. This movement is nearing fever-pitch, but has not yet accomplished anything. If you want to hasten the end in this way, then you need to exalt a false God, and build a building from which he will deceive many and lead them down the broad road to destruction. Another option, which I very much do not recommend, is to declare to both Moslems and Jews that they worship the same false god and that the Moslems should allow the Jews to renovate their mosque to make it into a temple.

Way 3 – Call Lost Sheep Home

Even if the first two are completed perfectly, Christ will not return until his very last saint has reached repentance. The Lamb who was slain will receive the full reward of his suffering. At the exact moment that the last saint reaches repentance (according to Zechariah 12:10 and 14:5, this person will very likely be a Jew in Jerusalem) then the sky will explode, Christ will ride triumphantly from Heaven, and utter destruction will follow. Anyone who is not a saint at the moment that the church leaves the earth will face Christ as a Saviour scorned, and his vengeance will be swift and complete.

Therefore, dear Christian, the preferred and commanded way for you to hasten the return of Christ is to preach the gospel to every person, making disciples of all nations, calling all to repent and trust in the One who was dead, but is yet alive. If they are to reject the only Mediator between God and men, then let them do so in the face of the truth and not because of a lie. Jesus said,

Because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God. - John 8:45,47

Conclusion

William Varner says, “prophecy is not given to form a calendar, but to form a character; a character of prayerfulness, watchfulness, honesty, and holiness.” Beloved, know that the end is near, but also know that it will not be tomorrow. At least three major things need to happen before Christ returns, and those three major things are at least a few years from happening.

Knowing this, it is your Christian duty to proclaim the excellencies of Christ, to call the world to seek him while he may be found, to not trample his blood underfoot in their rebellion. We see trials and tribulations around the world in the form of floods, earthquakes, wars, rumors of war, and we know that these are just the birthpangs of a creation that eagerly awaits the return of its Creator; the end is nearer than ever (Romans 13:11), but because Christ has not yet returned, we know that there is still work to be done.

There is so much to be done, and beloved, you cannot do it all, but you can do your part. Peter was walking with Jesus on the shore of the sea of Galilee and learned the surprising truth that he was to be crucified upside down and would glorify God through it. His immediate response was to ask, “Well what about John?” Jesus replied, “What is that to thee? Thou follow me.” (John 21:18-25)

What is it to you that there is no temple yet in Jerusalem? What is it to you that many are falling away in the rebellion, following false prophets like Harold Camping to their doom? What is it to you that God is still restraining the Antichrist? If you love Christ, you will obey his commands, you will love his church, you will strive to call his lambs and sheep home; calling all to repentance, knowing that many will come, but others will harden their hearts.

God is in control, he has given you a command, and so beloved, take this gospel of the kingdom to all nations, and then the end will come.

Soft Answers

2011-05-17T19:30:00.000-04:00

A verse that has always intrigued and even perplexed me is Proverbs 15:1,

A soft answer turns away wrath,
but a harsh word stirs up anger.

This verse is so often quoted as a command that I've had difficulty placing it with any certainty into many New Testament contexts. It is so often quoted that a soft answer is always commanded, that the converse is lost. This proverb is more of a statement of fact than a suggestion for tone and directness.

Recently I was preaching with a group of students in the middle of a festival. This is without a doubt my least favorite place to preach, and it has gotten me into trouble in the past, and likely will get me into trouble in the future. But there were so many people within earshot, and students to encourage, that I took a moment to expound on the narrow road to life versus the broad road to destruction (I was preaching on Main Street). When I concluded the sermonette two ladies were vocally upset. The first screamed, "What gives you the right to bother everyone?!" I responded in a soft voice, but not at all a soft answer, "Umm, the Constitution?" She quickly ran off to find a police officer (who was totally on our side). To the second lady, who was nearly as upset, I said, "I apologize for disrupting your business, we're through now, thank you for listening." Her demeanor changed quickly and she said almost apologetically, "I don't mind, it was just very loud." And we parted on good terms.

For a while afterwards I felt as though I had sinned in my response to the first lady, because I had done nothing to turn away her wrath. But then I took the time to read this verse and ponder it, and several like it in the rest of Proverbs 15 and in James 3. I am not the first to respond to wrath in less than a soft tone, the chief example is the Lord Christ himself.

On the night before his crucifixion, every manner of anger and lies were directed towards him, he was sold for the price of a slave, a veritable army of soldiers came to arrest him, witnesses lined up to testify against him, his greatest enemies had him right where they wanted him (Read Mark 14). But the Chief Priest realized that he had no legal right to crucify Christ, he had to face the fact that the witnesses against Christ did not agree. Had Christ returned a soft answer, or no answer at all, he would have walked free, so the Chief Priest asked as direct a venomous question as has ever been asked, seeking to trap the man who claimed to be God, he asked,

Art thou the Christ? The Son of the Blessed?

Jesus, being truly the Anointed of God, Immanuel, God with Us, the Saviour of mankind, the Son of the Good-Word, answered truthfully, he asserted his divinity with the phrase, Ego Eimi, intending to say literally, I am the God who spoke to Moses on Sinai, I AM. It was received as severely as it was meant, and he was condemned to be crucified.

His answer did everything BUT turn away wrath.

Besides the perfect example of the Perfect Man and God, another quote that has always encouraged me is by Martin Luther, seeking, "Peace if possible, truth at all costs." Our words have the ability to start a fire, they can steer both our body and our congregations into truth or even sin, they are the vessels of faith by which the saving message of the Risen Christ are received (Romans 10:8,14,17). We ought to be speaking softly when peace in Christ is possible, but a harsh word is more than capable of revealing sin.

In an age of Laodicea (Revelation 3:14-20), I run into about 98% of people who profess Christ, I find that 98% of those have no part nor lot in Christ. A harsh word brings about their anger, showing an unregenerate spirit, a self-justifying demeanor, and a hatred of God and godly rebuke. The first lady mentioned above wanted to know why the balloons and food services of other churches weren't enough religion at the festival, the second lady professed her Christianity, yet both were against the public proclamation of the gospel. I pray that all of those who claim Christ as Saviour will test their salvation, making their calling and election sure, pondering in themselves why they are angry that the excellencies of Christ are preached. Christ said so unsubtly that you are either with him, or against him; you either gather into his kingdom, or you scatter among the lost.

So beloved, be preaching the full counsel of scripture; through the sharing of your faith may you become effective in when to use soft words, and when to speak harshly, may you never be in sin in your responses, may your tongue proclaim without any error the Word of Eternal Life, the Good Word of whom Christ is the Son, for in the beginning was this Word of Offense, he was with God, and he is God, and he became flesh and he dwelt among us. His words led to his crucifixion, but they also led to the salvation of many, may our words be as powerful, as he speaks through us, and calls his saints home through our ministries.

Are you seeking to please God, or men? If you are seeking to please men, you are not a servant of Christ. - Galatians 1:10

The Death of the Wicked

2011-05-05T08:00:00.005-04:00

With the justifiable death of any great criminal (Genesis 9:6), under the authority of a recognized government (Romans 13:1), the Christian’s heart ought to rejoice in truth (1 Peter 2:14). We love justice, it is an innate and unalienable emotion that each of us possesses. Think back to the last time you said, "That's not fair!" Who was it not fair to? Our love of justice drives our life because we count ourselves far better than we ought.

It is then no surprise when mankind dances in the street over the death of a manifestly evil person. It is also not much to be faulted, if the celebration is done from a pure motive. After all, the Psalmist says, “The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance; he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked. Mankind will say, ‘Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth.’” (Psalm 58:10-11) I will certainly save my outright rejoicing for Judgment Day in order to ensure that I have interpreted that verse, and about a dozen like it, correctly.

Where this rejoicing goes askew is from the motive of human exaltation. When an enemy of peace is removed from the land of the living, it can be a very dangerous event spiritually because we have the tendency to see their death as proving our own goodness. Just like a natural disaster can convince survivors that they have the favor of God, so can the justice poured out on a single man as an example lead the survivor to see themselves as safe from the judgment of the Almighty (Luke 13:1-5).

One of my favorite contexts in the Bible is oft overlooked because we've become convinced that the Bible is a collection of verses and not of coherent thoughts. Take a moment today to read Romans 1:16 through to at least Romans 3:23. In this contextual progression we see that Paul describes in chapter 1 something we all already know, that those who do not worship God are evil and reprobate (fit to be thrown away). Many in the world who have some foundation in a Judeo/Christian worldview can, and do, look at those people, like Muslims, Animists, Evolutionists, and we can easily condemn them as enemies of righteousness. But the progression does not stop there, in chapter 2 Paul turns it towards the person who follows the living God, and he shows them to be as evil (even moreso possibly because of their rebellion in light of their knowledge of God) as anyone in chapter 1. And in chapter 3 he puts it all together, that there is not a single person alive who lives up to God's standards, we have all gone astray, our souls are the proclaimer and proliferation of death, and none of us fears God; indeed we have ALL sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

If, then, everyone is a rebel to good, and an active participant in destruction of creation, justice would mean a complete end to mankind. From here we must look to God as an example, for he declares, "I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord GOD; so turn, and live." (Ezekiel 18:32) A myriad of attributes of God are on display in this short sentence; his patience, kindness, forbearance, justice, grace, lovingkindness, and authority. Above all, we see that God desires for sin to cease, he has two ways of accomplishing his will; death or conversion. Clearly this passage points that the preferred way is through conversion, though equally as clear is that a very viable option is death.

Pause for a moment and contemplate one of the most radical verses in scripture, "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints." (Psalm 116:15) Have you thought about it? On this day the Christian is loosed both from the power of sin, and the ability to sin; he has ceased sinning forever (1 Peter 4:1). Now pause on the death of a reprobate, they have stepped out of any measure of grace straight into the hand of an angry and living God, which is a terrifying thing which no man can stand (Hebrews 10:31, Psalm 7:11, Isaiah 33:14). This person too has ceased from sinning (1 Peter 4:1, Philippians 2:10-11), but there is no pleasure in God for this person (Psalm 5:4-6).

What then ought to be our response to such people while they still live, while salvation is still at hand (Acts 17:31)? The New Testament is filled with commands to go and take the gospel to them, to proclaim the forgiveness of sins in Christ's name, to immerse them in the saving power of the Holy Spirit, to turn them from the world to the Risen Christ, and to snatch them in pity from the flames, loathing both them and anything they've touched (Jude 23), but knowing that if they turn we have delivered a brother from death (James 5:20). It sounds hard. It is hard, we need an example. While we were yet sinning, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). While we were enemies (Colossians 1:21), usurpers (Psalm 58), destroyers (Romans 3:15-17, 6:23), Christ loved us and gave himself for us. It is a gospel worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief (1 Timothy 1:15). He is our perfect example. He has put away our sins.

What then should be our response? Should we turn from justice and forgive every wrong? By no means (against ourselves, yes (Matthew 5:38-41), against God and humanity, no (Romans 13:3-4)). In Psalm 69 it says we look at the cross and are glad. On that cross the justice of God was met perfectly; every sin we have ever or will ever commit was repaid in full by the Lord of Glory. In Psalm 85 it says that two radically different things met, kissed, each other on the cross, the wrath of God and the love of God. We are not saved from the justice of God, we're saved by the justice of God proving Christ to be both just and justifier, therefore we uphold the law, knowing that through Christ's perfect obedience we have received grace to stand in the presence of God as though we had lived the most perfect of upright lives. The Son of Man, the Son of God, was accursed and cut off from God for the sake of his brothers, crushed for our iniquities, and raised for our justification.

What then shall we do? Perfect saints in Heaven have given us an excellent example, they pray, "O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" (Revelation 6:10) We see that the perfected saint has the mind of Christ, just as we have here on earth, though not perfectly; the saint in Heaven desires justice and for sin to cease. We ought to be praying likewise, that God would be hastening the day of justice, when sin will cease, and that prior to that that he would be saving many from every nation, tribe, and tongue.

While we have different spiritual fathers, all of mankind has a single lineage to the man Adam. We are, in the most literal of senses, all relatives, kinsmen, according to the flesh. We may be able to trace this to different lines, lineages, and differentiate ourselves into ethnicities, for I am Saxon/Nordic, Paul was an Israelite, Osama Bin Laden was an Ishmaelite, but we are all in the lineage of Adam. So then, let us have the mind of Paul, imitating him as he was of Christ, as he stated, “I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.” (Romans 9:3) Let us have such compassion on the perishing that they would be earnestly compelled to turn to Christ and live. Charles Spurgeon put it this way, "If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our dead bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped about their knees, imploring them to stay. If Hell must be filled, let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go unwarned and unprayed for."

But when God’s patience runs out, when he puts an end to a sinner, not through conversion, but through crushing, we rejoice that there is indeed a God who judges on earth, a God who will not contend with men forever, a God who loves righteousness and hates wickedness. While someone lives under the wrath of God, we pray, we love, we hope for their conversion, but as soon as they fall into the hands of the Living God (Hebrews 10:31, Deuteronomy 32:39), they step out of hope, and we praise the One who saved us from so great a condemnation, and bless his name for preparing such vessels of wrath so that the riches of his glory and grace are made known to his vessels of grace (Romans 9:22-23).

Apart from the love of God, each of us would glorify God only through his justice, but by the amazing grace of the Just and the Justifier, we glorify God through the justice that was poured out on Calvary’s cross for our sins, and for the grace that abounds in the love of the Righteous and Resurrected Saviour. He has proved beyond a doubt that he is the Only God, the Only Living Saviour, and the Perfect Judge, there is no other;

Vengeance is mine, and recompense,
for the time when their foot shall slip;
for the day of their calamity is at hand,
and their doom comes swiftly.
For the LORD will vindicate his people
and have compassion on his servants,
Then he will say, ‘Where are their gods,
the rock in which they took refuge?’ – Deuteronomy 32:35-37

Do Something

2011-05-02T09:30:00.009-04:00

It was the walking dictionary himself, Charles Spurgeon, who said so masterfully, “Do something, do something, do something.” He was expressly talking about soul winning, motivating his people to put their talents into use to take the gospel of life to a dying world.

His command to do something was purposefully ambiguous. He didn’t say, do open-air preaching, he didn’t say, do friendship evangelism, he didn’t say, do go pass out gospel tracts, he didn’t say, do help at the homeless shelter, he didn’t say, do work in the orphanage, he didn’t say, do be an overseas missionary, he did say, do something. Spurgeon was, and is, a man who motivated men to work towards the goal of soul winning, and one of his greatest gifts was recognizing that his gifting was not the only gift given, his ministry was not the only ministry, and his method(s) of evangelism were not the only methods of evangelism.

Unfortunately, in Christendom today we have seen this recognition of a myriad of gifts forgotten, and many of the most popular ministers today are forcing their ministries and pet-projects on their followers, even when their followers are not best suited for these tasks. I won’t name names, not for the sake of sparing feelings, but because I don’t want you, dear reader, to think that there are only a handful of ministers making this mistake. If you read today’s most popular books you will be told that you must be a missionary to unreached people groups, you must be fighting the sex-slave-trade, you must be digging wells in third-world nations, you must be adopting half a dozen orphans, you must be giving all of your possessions to the poor, you must be going on short-term missions trips to provide disaster relief…you must look precisely like the one you’re reading, or you’re doing it wrong.

After reading a recent book I was wondering, am I really being as useful as I can be in my current role in the midst of a slipping Bible Belt? Is my time best spent working amongst students who are, in majority, utterly consumed with the world and so inoculated to Jesus Christ through powerless free-will messages that most will die in their sins having never realized that there was enmity between them and God? Should I listen to one or more of these Pharisaical commands to cross land and sea to fight great evils in other lands? The Georgia community has the gospel, am I really being effective toward the fact that, “this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14)?

These questions were heavy on my mind this past week, but by the grace of God, the gospel is self-correcting, for Paul prayed for his friend Philemon, “I pray that in the sharing of your faith you become effective for every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ” (Philemon 6). On Sunday we went into our Samaria (Acts 1:8), which is a town about twelve miles away, Marietta, and shared the gospel with probably about fifty people. The age range was 11 (a former attendee of our church) to probably 65, and not a single one of the people I talked to personally showed any understanding of the gospel of grace, though most professed at least some understanding of the Bible.

My young friend and brother, Grant, shared the gospel with three students roughly his age, one of whom had been to church earlier in the day, another who was a Buddhist. These three all professed their own goodness, utterly clueless to the fact that Christ came to seek and save the lost. After Grant did a fantastic job sharing the gospel, the Buddhist was still adamant that she would be reincarnated. I took a moment to show her that every religion says if you’re good, something good will happen to you when you die, but I pointed out that as a self-admitted liar, thief, blasphemer, and murderer at heart, if reincarnation were true she would not be coming back as anything good, nor would anyone, for we have all sinned and the thoughts and intents of our hearts are only evil continually. These students went away thinking; realizing that the King himself stepped out of Heaven to rescue them from their assured condemnation, for it is appointed once for a person to die, and then the judgment. We could go to Tibet to find Buddhists, but we've found them in our own backyard speaking our own language.

A little while later we approached a group of late-teens and began to take them through the good person test to show them their standing before God. A young lady, probably 17 or 18, came up right at the end of the test, and wanted to know what we were talking about. I gave her a condensed version of the good-person test to bring her to the point in the conversation that we were at. Long before I could get to the gospel, these girls attempted to justify themselves as better than me (and most likely they are better than me), asking questions of my past, and then they turned inward willing to give up some sins, but not others. The young lady who walked up late took control of the conversation, saying, “I’m willing to repent of lying and stealing, but what about lesbianism, I’m not going to repent of girls.” I’m not sure that she was sincere, or just looking to shock us, but it’s pretty hard to shock me (I work with students weekly) and I instead gave her the test in Matthew 5:27-28, asking her if she had ever looked with lust on someone she was not married to. Her haughty countenance disappeared. Another girl asked, “So, we’re hopeless?”

One of my favorite verses recently for evangelism is Ephesians 2:12, it exactly says that we are hopeless. I explained to them that we are indeed without hope, nothing we can do can rectify the danger we’ve put ourselves in through rebelling against God, by blaspheming his name by operating as images of God yet showing all of creation that God must be a liar and adulter, because the images of God are liars and adulterers. This thought sunk in and they were more than ready for the gospel at this point. I asked what God had done in love so that they can be forgiven? A young lady who had previously professed to be a drug-user, spouted out, “He gave his Son.” She had probably heard that before, she may have even said it before, but you could tell by the look on her face that she was understanding it for the first time. I gave a synopsis of Christ’s life and death, and resurrection, and two of them looked surprised when they heard that Jesus was God in the flesh. It was truly a joy to tell these contrite young people that while we were without hope or God in the world, he willingly gave himself up to die on a cross in their place to reconcile them to God. What happened next was not just a “thank you for talking to us,” it was a series of serious questions from them asking how to partake in the forgiveness, righteousness, and reconciliation offered by Jesus Christ. They all promised to go home and read their Bibles, one girl said she had tried, but couldn’t even get through Genesis; I encouraged them to read the Gospel of John first to understand who Christ is, why he came, and why it is important for them. Had we instead gone to Haiti, we would have missed the opportunity to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom to this group of pierced, tattooed, drug-using, sexually active high-schoolers.

On Sunday we talked to professing Baptists, Pentecostals, Catholics, Buddhists, Agnostics, Atheists, Hedonists, youngsters, seniors, men, women, boys, girls, civilians, marines, drug-users, homosexuals, gluttons, drunkards, and even a girl who very likely was a prostitute. There is no lack of ministry in this world, I encourage you to find a place to serve, to do something.

Beloved, I have a gift for talking to students, I have the ability to easily approach them, strike up a conversation, and present the gospel in terms they understand. I will not stand here and tell you that if you are not ministering to this lost and dying generation that you are wrong, I will not tell you that if you have gone to Haiti or Tibet or anywhere and shared the gospel that you are wrong, or if your ministry is elsewhere, I will not tell you are wrong. The only way I will tell you that you are wrong is if you are doing nothing to preach this true gospel of forgiveness of sins.

Beloved, I will tell you to do something. Find a place where your gifting fits, something you enjoy, something you are good at, and preach the gospel. For the end will indeed come when this gospel of the kingdom is proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, but it also will not come until every saint of Christ comes to repentance. These future saints live in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth, both literally and figuratively in how those relate to your location. So be preaching the gospel in your capacity, with your gifts, demonstrating the love of a Saviour who loved you first, not forcing your ministry on others, but finding needs and filling them, proclaiming the excellencies of Christ to a lost and dying world, for faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the Word of God.

Do Something, Do Something, Do Something. – Charles Spurgeon

Judging All Things

2011-04-27T10:30:00.015-04:00

The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. – 1 Corinthians 2:15

I often, when I open air preach, include a segment on judging. As a blood-bought, sanctified, set-apart priest of Jesus Christ, the Christian should not preach from a “holier-than-thou” platform of self-righteousness, but must remember that he is actually holier-than-most-of-his-audience, for Christ says, “You are holy, for I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:16) Because the minister of Jesus Christ bears the light of the Judge, he is sure to be seen as judging his audience, and rightly so, because we all judge, all the time.

I was recently judged and called platitudinous; maybe I am, and one of my remarks to that effect goes like this, “We all judge all the time, for example, he’s tall, she’s pretty, the preacher guy yelling at us is fat and stupid. It is impossible not to judge, just by you finding me judgmental is you judging that I’m judgmental. Here is where you’ve secured your judgment, for Christ says, ‘Judge not, lest ye be judged! For by the same judgment you measure others, you shall be judged!’”

It is to this effect that the Apostle Paul makes one of his most audacious claims, stating, “If we judge ourselves rightly, we will not be judged.” (1 Corinthians 11:31) Is recognizing our rebellion toward God, and our iniquity concerning his standards, the magic way to clemency with God? Of course not, a criminal who stands before a judge and declares his guilt will only save the prosecution time and effort, and move the trial more quickly towards sentencing. The reason that Paul can say that ‘if we judge ourselves rightly we won’t be judged’ is because having judged ourselves as rebels towards God, desperately in need of forgiveness and salvation, we will seek the Man who is both just and justifier, who came into the world to die for sinners, and who grants forgiveness to everyone who draws near to him in faith with a contrite spirit. Judge yourself in need of rescue, judge Christ to be the Risen Saviour, and you shall not be judged.

Having then the massive weight of his own sin removed, the saint is then more than capable of helping to point out the sin in other’s lives (Matthew 7:3-5). This spiritual person judges all things, because his judgment was met on Calvary’s cross.

Of course then, the one being judged cries out! “Only God can judge me!” Indeed, only God can judge you permanently, but that has not saved you, for Paul continues the thought in 1 Corinthians 2:16, “We have the mind of Christ.” We are privy to the standard of judgment that God will use, we are ministers and priests of the Most High, we strive to see sinners judge themselves as fallen and in need of Christ, and so judge them to be sinners, using the standard of the perfect law to show their despondent state. Your ultimate Judge calls you to repent, for he has fixed a day in which to judge the world in righteousness, by a man whom he has appointed by raising him from the dead (Acts 17:31). The spiritual person likewise calls you to repent, seeing the danger that your soul is in for your warfare against Heaven.

And the Apostle Paul says this relates to both those inside and outside of the church, leaving final judgment to those outside. There is a great error within the church today that the Christian ought never judge anyone at all, especially within the church. The belief is that a profession of faith ought to be enough to declare someone a Christian; this mistake is destroying ministries, churches, and individuals, because there is a definite call to judge within church matters that may lead to someone’s condemnation.

The judgmentalism that ought to be scorned is judging someone and calling them a Christian or not because of what they believe within Christianity. After all, many can preach the true gospel while being not a Christian (Philippians 1:15-18, Romans 10:18), but this does not mean they are a Christian. Similarly, it cannot be judged someone’s standing with God on whether or not they believe in the truth of a young earth. Neither can a person who is totally wrong concerning baby-wetting and believers-baptism be condemned on that belief alone.

In the Air Force our aircraft have what is called a MESL (pronounced Measle), which is the Mission Essential Subsystem List and an MEL, which is a Minimum Equipment List. Both are vital to safe and effective operations of an aircraft. For example, on these lists for every single one of our aircraft is a UHF radio, if an aircraft does not have, or has an inoperative, radio, then it is forbidden to fly. You can inspect an aircraft according to this list and determine it is safe for flight and ready to accomplish its mission. If one is missing, the aircraft is grounded. Many in Christianity have begun to treat doctrine like check marks on a MESL, stating, well he believes in the virgin birth, that’s good, he believes in expository preaching and the inerrancy of scripture, and of course he believes that Jesus is the only way to the Father, therefore based on these three, he must be a Christian.

That is not at all the way which the Bible tells us to judge someone. James explicitly says, “You believe that God is one, and you do well…” (James 2:19), but he does not declare this person to be a believer, instead he says, “but even the demons believe-and tremble.” The judging comes from fruit, or works borne out of faith; you don’t look at a tree, examine the wood, determine the height, width, canopy, and locale and declare it to be a peach tree, you look at the fruit and can accurately and definitely declare a tree producing peaches to be a peach tree, and not an apple tree.

So beloved, as you go into the church and seek to determine whether someone is a Christian or not, don’t look at their list of orthodoxy (though when they are unorthodox attempt to convert them to the truth), rather look to their fruit. A sexually immoral person should be considered to be outside of the faith and is not to be gently prodded to reconsider their beliefs, but commanded to repent and be converted. Conversely, a person who lacks a bit of generosity should not be condemned, but exhorted to give since Christ first gave himself. Remember that a person does not become a Christian because they believe a list of essential doctrines, they become a Christian when they are born of the Spirit, transformed into a new creature by Jesus Christ himself. It is extremely evident when a person is still in their flesh, and learning to judge rightly will allow for a healthy, Spirit-filled church, the evil purged and the good embraced.

Be not deceived, for many will claim the name of Christ, but without fruit of the Spirit, they are merely hirelings that will flee when danger approaches or money dries up, they have not been converted and they are still in their sins. Nothing is to be gained from tolerating or following such worthless shepherds.

Dear Christian, you are appointed to judge the world, even angels, how much then should you be striving to be accurate in your judgments? Do not judge by yourself, use the mind of Christ, read his Word, love his law, call unbelievers to judge themselves rightly and seek the Saviour who was judged for them. Judge the one who claims the name of brother but who is indulging the thoughts of the flesh, for by doing so you may save his soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.

Judge not their words just for orthodoxy, look at motives and the fruit they are bearing. In all things, remember that nothing you have was not received, neither gifts, salvation, nor sanctification, so be giving all glory to Jesus Christ, who though he was blameless stood condemned, so that he can present his church holy and blameless before himself on the final day.

Judge yourself rightly, knowing that apart from the grace of Christ Jesus, the judgment and condemnation of God would still be upon you.

Our Selfless Self-Centered God

2011-04-21T22:00:00.000-04:00

Introduction

In my review of David Platt’s first book, Radical, I noted some fatal flaws in an outright dangerous book. I felt that Radical strayed far from Platt’s beliefs and actions, and was inconsistent with his philosophy of missions and ecclesiology (how he does church). I would not be exaggerating one bit to say I hated Radical and was seriously worried about the future of David Platt’s ministry direction and his disciples.

It is, then, with great joy, that he has released his newest book, Radical Together. This book recants several mistakes of Radical and addresses several points that were addressed in critique of his book. At location[1] 654-2180 he says, “I began sensing a tendency in our people to define holiness by how much we do for God. Amid all our talk of radical obedience, we were losing sight of gospel grace.” In another place he says, “I get frightened when I think about Radical in [a legalist’s] hands.” (loc. 396)

While I sent Dr. Platt two e-mails about this book, the first my critique, and second a plea to reconsider his humanistic leaning, I never received a reply. As a lightly-read mostly unknown bivocational volunteer associate pastor, I didn’t expect a response, but it is nice in Radical Together that there is some evidence that Platt read my e-mails. I began my critique with 1 Peter 2:9, and early in the book (loc. 143) Platt introduces the purpose of his book with 1 Peter 2:9; later in the book he quotes a story from Paris Reidhead’s sermon against humanism (loc. 1517), which I posted both in my review and sent in my e-mail. Whether these are coincidences or not, I am quite glad that Platt is making strides in Radical Together to correct the mistakes he published in Radical.

Having read Radical Together, I am now much more comfortable with Platt’s ministry and theology, and am glad for the work he is doing both abroad and locally. I am glad for his emphasis on the church body, the Bible, and local missions and discipleship. Unfortunately Radical Together still has some serious mistakes concerning humanism, and just a touch of mysticism, though both are considerably better than Radical. It is also a bit light on Jesus (not on God, but on the cross of Christ), and tends to make mankind more a victim of sin than a practitioner of it.

This review will focus on three major topics in Radical Together, starting with Platt’s best point, Ecclesiastical Accountability, then moving to a major improvement in Platt’s writing, concerning Mysticism, and will conclude with a look at Platt's humanism. In my prior review I mentioned that Radical was horrendously written with almost no continuity; Radical Together is written considerably better, definitely with more movement. As the reader will see later in this review though, from topic to topic there are some major contradictions in Platt’s writing from chapter to chapter. What is important in this point is that his writing and theology have improved drastically from Radical to Radical Together. By far the best improvement is in how he presents the believers role in a church body.

Ecclesiastical Accountability

In my original review I made the point that Platt presented the individual Christian as one “who saves the world of their own accord,” Platt agrees with this individualistic assessment, stating, “In my first book, Radical, I explored how the biblical gospel affects individual Christian lives.” (loc. 99) In Radical Together Platt focuses much more on the role of the church in missions and the role of the individual in the church. This is obviously his main point, as the title attests, that Christians ought to be together with other believers in order to form a working body. The introduction of Radical Together points out that Christians drastically decrease their effect when they “journey alone.” (loc. 99)

One of my major contentions with Radical was that, “the local church is overlooked”, in Radical Together Platt puts a much better emphasis on local missions and the local church, giving a multitude of examples of how his church ministers in Birmingham’s poorest communities (loc. 315), adopts children both locally and abroad (loc. 492), and focuses on God-centered worship (loc. 1489). Platt shares a story (loc. 1489) of a young man who was called to repentance by seeing the church worship a holy and righteous God who is both just and justifier. It is a powerful call to the church to focus on making disciples of Christ rather than trying to meet their earthly and/or sinful desires; Platt doesn’t explicitly quote Matthew 6:34, but no doubt he would give a hearty amen to it, “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

In order to seek first the kingdom of God in everything, Platt calls the church to focus much more on people than performances, places, programs, or professionals (chapter 4). This call requires looking at what the church is doing, and instead of asking, What is wrong with what we are doing? it is better to ask, What is right with it? (loc. 236) This question leads to doing away with things that are not inherently wrong, but which are not using the resources and people of God to their highest and best usefulness.

There is a wonderful movement within Christendom recently to call for greater church oversight of evangelists, missionaries, and small group leaders; not telling them what to do or how to do it, but ensuring they are orthodox and striving for holiness. There are rogue evangelists and missionaries operating every-which-where preaching every sort of heresy, and so every call for better oversight is wonderful, and Platt’s book does so with tact and biblical support.

Churches and church-members who are encumbered by things that are not “wrong” but are also not right will be challenged and improved by taking Radical Together seriously. However, Platt’s ecclesiastical call is not all good.

Ecclesiastical Errors

Another of my greatest contentions with Radical was that David Platt was forcing his ministry focus on everyone, I put it this way,

This all plays out most damnably in Platt’s application, that this radical lifestyle should be true of everyone. What makes him think that someone who won’t volunteer at the homeless shelter in Birmingham will sell their Mercedes and volunteer at the homeless shelter in Mozambique? Why does David Platt’s ‘thing’ have to be my ‘thing’? Are not some called to be evangelists, others pastors, some teachers?

Platt has somewhat improved on this point, but not completely, he points at many ways in which his flock are ministering for Christ, but he continues to perpetuate his error of projecting his own desires on the whole church, stating,

So for you and me not to be intentionally engaged in taking the gospel to unreached people groups is disobedience to the command of Christ. Our churches are in the wrong before God if we are not prioritizing the spread of the gospel to every people group. (loc. 1178)

This error continues to think that the goal of Christianity is to save one person from every nation, tribe, and tongue, and not to call all saints to immersion in Christ. I’m sure Platt would disagree with the following ludicrous statement, “Because Anglo-Saxons, Pontians, and Afrikaners have seen someone repent and come to Christ, missions to these people groups should cease.” But the way he has made his call to world evangelization makes it seem like it is more important to call uncalled peoples to repentance than it is to call everyone to repentance.

Platt seems to misunderstand that the Lamb’s Book of Life, penned before eternity began, includes a certain number of names of people who will certainly come to repentance (Revelation 13:8, 2 Peter 3:9). Radical Together contains far fewer heresies (please note that not all heresy is damnable to the preacher) than Radical, but probably the one that bothered me the most was “What we need to understand is that Jesus did not command us simply to take the gospel to as many individual people as we can.” (loc. 1152) I refute that, even the "simply", because Christ commanded his followers to go and compel everyone they met to come in (Matthew 22:9), Christ cares and prayed for each individual saint (John 17:20), therefore the church must be in the business of spreading the gospel in their hometown, in the surrounding area, to the end of the country, and even to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8).

David Platt’s fruit speaks for itself, I love him as a brother; even so, I must make a harsh statement. These errors would be easily avoided through a cursory study of the Book of Acts or the doctrine of predestination, or just letting the Bible speak instead of forcing a hermeneutic of radical world evangelization on every passage.

Mysticism Revisited

Evangelicalism has many great enemies, both external and internal, and one of the most dangerous I see is a slippery slope towards extrabiblical revelation, or operating off of "feelings", or "callings", or "hearing from God in prayer". David Platt's first book was bursting with mysticism, David Platt's second book is almost devoid of it.

There is only one blatant example of mysticism in the book, and it is very oddly placed and seemingly out of context since it is never expanded upon. Platt, when speaking of cutting "not-right" programs within the church, gives a list of very good questions, then states mystically, "And then wait for God to answer." (loc. 185) Platt gives no indication how to hear from God, how he may answer, or how to know that it is God actually answering. This is one of Platt's only single sentence paragraphs in the book, and I have to wonder if it was a point he meant to expand upon. Whatever the reason for this sentence is entirely a mystery to me, and I am glad that it was the only blatant example of a dangerous heresy infecting Evangelicalism.

Not long after that statement Dr. Platt dives into a beautiful defense of the sufficiency of scripture. He starts by attacking ideas that the Bible is insufficient, then states that an effective church must, "be competent to communicate and faithful to follow the Word of God." (loc. 592) Platt makes a lengthy defense for holding to the Bible, rejecting unbiblical ideas that the Bible cannot address modern congregations, and calling more churches to preach the Word instead of trying to be innovative. He makes a cutting statement that is sure to wound many pastors and teachers operating today, "Even among those who stand by the spoken word, many lack confidence in the sufficiency of God's Word." (loc. 672)

I hope and pray that this is the future of Dr. Platt's ministry, rejecting mysticism and holding fast to the revealed Word of God in the Bible. It is, after all, the Word of Eternal Life, by which faith comes to men by which they may be saved by the grace of the Resurrected Christ (John 6:68, Romans 10:17, Ephesians 2:8-9). Platt somewhere claims that this view is by no means new, and I readily affirm that statement, holding to scripture alone is an essential and I am glad he is gravitating towards that belief.

How then, does Platt make such mistakes concerning certain doctrines? I believe it is because of his extrabiblical exaltation of the salvation of men over the glory of God. He asks early in the book for the reader to be willing to look at the Word and the world with a "fresh, honest, and open perspective." (loc. 116) This unfortunately implies that in the past the church has failed, has stagnated, has corrupted, and has become intolerant to the Word; this may certainly be true in many so-called modern churches, but it unfortunately rejects millennia of Christ-exalting missions. What Platt wants us to be open to is not a better Christianity, it is called humanism.

Platt's Great Heresy: Humanism

I am not a textual critic, I don't claim to know for sure what an author was thinking when they wrote a book, but within Radical Together there is such a radical contradiction between the synergism of the beginning parts of the book and the monergism of the latter parts that something major must have happened to Platt in the middle of the book. For that reason, I must break this section into two parts, the first dealing with Platt's heresy, and the second with Platt's orthodox views.

Humanism states that the chief end of God is the happiness of man, that God is doing everything toward mankind towards their greatest good, desiring them to reach a state of eternal bliss, even to the detriment of himself. Platt is right in many places to state, "We are selfless followers of a self-centered God." (locs. 87, 129, 565, 1434, 1653, et al) However, as the title of my review is meant to convey, God is God-centered, but that does not require God to be selfish, afterall, in Philippians 2 we see that Christ was selfless, he poured himself out, he died on a cross counting others as worth more than himself. His selflessness led to something amazing, his exaltation, as God has given him a name above every name. The biblical position is that God is explicitly using men to glorify himself; I have not had the opportunity to speak with Platt on this or any other topic, but I expect we would disagree greatly on this topic.

On location 398, Platt warns legalists reading his book that it is impossible for them to be good enough to be right before God. While this is true in our current inherited depravity, it is not entirely a true statement. The Bible teaches throughout its pages that a perfect person who abstains from evil and does what is right will stand before God blameless and accepted (Psalm 24:3-5, Galatians 5:3, for example). There are two ways to Heaven presented in scripture, one, the way which Jesus attained Heaven, by being totally righteous, and two, the only way by which men may be saved, the righteousness of Christ attributed to them, their sinfulness having been attributed to him. Dear reader, I am not sure that I can fully convince you of the dangers of humanism, often Christianity and humanism seem indistinguishable, but I assure you they are polar opposites, and presenting Christ as merely a justifier without showing him to be just as well is a great error, he is not just redeemer, he is also righteous. He does not merely try to save people, he perfects them in a single sacrifice.

Where humanism becomes most dangerous, in my opinion, is that it presents God as having done everything he possible can to save someone, and is desperately hoping that they will complete what is lacking in his effort. Modern Christianity (not Platt) puts it this way, “Accept Jesus,” “Ask God into your heart,” “Give your life to Christ,” "Surrender to God," etc etc. It makes man sovereign over God, and in it the name of God is blasphemed among the nations.

Let me convince you that this is Platt’s belief, he says, “Until they get a right understanding of the gospel, they will never be a part of accomplishing the purpose of God.” (loc. 390) Elsewhere he says, “I am convinced that in the church we can actually prevent God’s people from accomplishing God’s purpose. If we are not careful, our activities in the church can hinder the advancement of Christ’s kingdom.” (loc. 116) This can be lumped into a heresy called Synergism that God is working with man, both for salvation and for his purposes. Christ states explicitly that he is building his church (Matthew 16:18), Peter asks, “Who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” (Acts 11:17) Christ doesn’t work WITH us, he works THROUGH us (Ephesians 2:10, 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17, et al), so to think that we can impede the progress of the kingdom is foolish, and shows a deeper problem.

The Bible describes mankind as worthless (Romans 3:12), but Platt says, “[the local and the foreigner] are equally valued by God and equally lost without God.” (loc. 1266) Platt writes a nice piece of prose from location 1493 to 1511 on why we ought to be motivated by seeing people rejecting God to their own detriment to take the truth to them. As nicely as it is written, it is utterly humanism because it assumes that the animistic tribes are looking for the Creator, the Mohamadian factions are looking for a graceful God, and the followers of Buddha are desiring a better prophet. This thinking was directly refuted by Paris Reidhead, by experience, in his sermon, “10 Shekels and a Shirt.” The unbeliever is hostile in their mind towards God, with their mind set on the flesh it is impossible for them to seek God. The Christian is not doing them a favor by taking the gospel to them, the Christian is actually waging spiritual warfare on their soul, calling them to commit treason with the world and turn to their greatest enemy, who is God, for grace and mercy.

Platt frequently points the purpose of the gospel at the glory of God, but in effect he is still striving to see the happiness of man perfected in God. The Christian is called by Platt to save animists (all things, living and dead, have souls) from idols in Africa (loc. 1502), and calls the American materialist to trade their possessions for God (loc. 194). The man in Matthew 22:1-14 who came into the party for personal gain was rejected by the King, it is imperative that we focus on Christ’s glory and not the eternal happiness of men, for the glory of Christ as the end goal will result in the eternal happiness of men, but the eternal happiness of men as the end goal will never reach that goal.

An important point against humanism is that if Christ never saved another person ever, he would still be glorified for his past work of grace and for his current work of justice. Platt overwhelmingly made salvation a contingent to success in Radical, and unfortunately continues that motive in Radical Together, stating, “It is worth it for billions of people who do not yet know that Jesus is the grave-conquering, life-giving, all-satisfying King.” (loc. 150, emphasis mine) This humanistic belief leads to a direct contradiction of scripture in Platt’s recent book. Jesus said, “Pray for laborers…for the laborers are few.” (Luke 10:2) Platt on the other hand, assuming the church is working with Christ instead of him working in the church, says, “We will always have enough people.” (loc. 1067) It was without surprise when Platt prints a misinterpretation of 2 Peter 3:9, quoting a missionary, “God is not willing that any should perish, and neither am I. He wants all people to know him, and that’s why I am going.” (loc. 1537) This humanistic doctrine blasphemes God, making him impotent to save everyone whom he desires to save, making humanity in charge, and it impugns faithful ministers who have very small, or even non-existent, conversion rates (think Noah and Jeremiah for example).

Humanism is dangerous, it has cost at least one man his soul (Matthew 22:13), it will undoubtedly cost many others theirs, it presents God as imperfect and incapable of accomplishing his will, it demeans his sovereignty, and it discourages missionaries who do not see mass conversions. Christ knows exactly who he is praying for, he knows exactly how it will be accomplished, and he knows that it will be perfect (John 6:44, 10:28-29, 17:20). God is willing that many shall perish, since many do perish, he is as glorified through demonstrating his wrath on a reprobate as he is in lavishing his grace on a saint.

Humanism is to be rejected in total, it is not to be dabbled in, it is not to be perpetuated. I sincerely pray that Dr. Platt will soon repent fully of following this man-centered error.

Rejecting Humanism?

Late in the book, Dr. Platt rants AGAINST humanism; I do not know whether or not he realizes how much the rest of the book contradicts his tirade, but it does give me great hope that he will soon be Christocentric instead of anthropocentric. At location 1678 he states,

God does not need me.
God does not need my church.
God does not need you.
God does not need your church.
God does not need our conferences, conventions, plans, programs, budgets, buildings, or missions agencies….
…all the stuff we have created could turn to dust, and God could still make a great name for himself among the nations.

Elsewhere Platt describes a man telling communists that if he is forbidden to speak, then rocks would preach (loc. 1028). Platt understands, at least a little, that God is not synergistic (working with us), but monergistic (working all things by himself), and I look forward to a day when Platt writes a book from the monergistic side of missions and ecclesiology.

Conclusion

Jesus told Peter that if Peter loved him, he ought to tend and feed Christ’s flock (John 21:15-17). Radical Together has done a much better job than Radical towards this goal, recognizing that the church is the way in which Christ is accomplishing his goals. Overall I was edified by the call for the church to work together, for Platt's adherence to the Bible as the final rule of faith and practice, and in his later refutation of man-centered missions.

Radical Together is sure to produce more gospel-centered and graceful ministers than Radical, I am pleased with the direction of Platt's ministry and am hoping that his next book will have nothing radically wrong with it. I pray that he, and you dear reader, will see the dangers of mysticism and humanism and reject both outright. I pray that we can stand together and pray, "May the Lamb who was slain receive the reward of his suffering." (loc. 1517, Revelation 5:12)

David Platt's church is a model of both local and overseas missions, and I hope that by his example many churches will engage the world, strengthened and upheld by Jesus Christ himself. We have such a great and lasting promise from God that he will not lose even a single one of his saints, not willing that even one should perish, and that when the gospel of the kingdom is preached in every nation, every saint reaching repentance, then the end will come. So let us go into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in to honor the One who was dead, but yet lives, who is always making intercession for his saints.

[1] All citations are Kindle locations; in order to convert these to page numbers, the reader ought to divide roughly by 16.7.

Redeeming the Time

2011-04-06T13:00:00.001-04:00

One of my favorite teachers growing up was my fourth grade teacher, Mr. Sanchez. Mr. Sanchez was unabashedly religious, I cannot judge his message because I was unregenerate then and for more than a decade later, but I do remember him openly speaking about his Baptist church and the conversion of his Jewish wife to Christianity. What I do remember is that he loved life and loved his students. I don’t remember anything explicitly that I learned in fourth grade, except for this one thing, a quote Mr. Sanchez quoted often,

“Anything Worth Doing, is Worth Doing Well.”

I would credit this one statement above anything else I learned in school as making me the person I was and even am. This statement carried me through nearly straight A’s in high school, it made me a competent mechanic by sixteen, it allowed me to have some hotrod cars and motorcycles, and it carried me into the Air Force where I was able to do some amazing things. I must note that while this statement drove my adolescence, it was also greatly reinforced by the work-ethic of my father who lived this statement out in his own life.

Where this statement fails, is that it doesn’t give any objectivity towards what is worth doing. I took this motto and pointed it as much at sin as I did towards vocation. I know by experience as well as instruction that the Apostle Paul is correct when he says, “The age is evil” (Ephesians 5:15-16). Now that I have met the Ancient of Days, the Sovereign of History, I am much more concerned with doing everything worth doing well. And this is magnified all the more by how evil the age is, which Paul tells us to watch how we operate in the world,

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. – Ephesians 5:15-16

I am certainly a great sinner in this area, that though I use a lot of my time wisely, I also squander just as much of it. Recently this has been my great point of conviction and an item that I am working to correct. For one example, I have been working on my doctorate now for six months, and have yet to finish the first class. I recently, with the grace of the Seminary, reordered my plan of completion and hopefully will, along with this command in Ephesians, make the best use of my time.

Do not confuse this with busyness though, we are not to just use our time, but to use our time for the best purposes, making the light of Christ visible as we have been called to awake and rise from the dead. The current age is evil, I notice in many areas that people are able to surround themselves in all sorts of activities that are certainly not their best use of time. Phil Johnson recently made an amazing point on why Open-Air Preaching is so obnoxious to the culture, “People have always been offended by it, because it tends to confront them with the truths they least want to think about at precisely the moment they are trying to do something to avoid thinking about things like eternity and accountability to God.” I believe it is exceedingly prevalent in our culture to cocoon ourselves into activity so we don’t need to stop and think about whether we’re being good stewards of our time, afterall, when I was even more guilty of this sin than I am now, I could think, I did so much surely it had to have been worthwhile.

But that is not at all a biblical viewpoint. In fact, at least two different biblical examples point to people who were doing a whole lot, but weren’t well received by Jesus; for sake of brevity I’ll only give you the addresses (Matthew 7:21-23, Revelation 2:19-20).

How then do we redeem the time? The Apostle Paul, in his second letter to Corinth, gives the best advice in this battle for our usefulness, explaining that we ought to do just what he does, “we take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). This requires more thinking, it requires knowing why we are doing things, it requires us considering whether things are sinful, righteous, or even indifferent. Stopping to think seems like such a waste of time in our fast moving culture, if you don’t think so, turn on a TV or Radio, they are experts at removing dead air, making sure you never have to think about what you’re seeing or hearing. This impacted me recently as I was watching an interesting show in the History Channel, which I intended to think about after it was over, but the very next show enthralled me so much that I completely forgot about the last show. It was not I who had captured my thoughts, but by the media which I was watching.

Therefore, we must think more on our actions, we must be considering where our affections are pointed, we must strive to point every thought towards obedience in love towards Christ. The Bible is more than clear in many places that sin starts in the heart. Murder doesn’t just happen, it is born in disdain, moves to dislike, towards hatred, and finally manifests itself in action. So then must our love begin in our thoughts, taken captive to Christ, and pointed outwards for good in action. Jesus says that out of our mouths, our hearts profess.

Before conversion our curse words and insulting speech show a sick and sinful heart, after conversion we are privileged even to preach the words of eternal life. We can even look at our words to determine the affections of our hearts, as Jesus said, “on the day of judgment people will give account for every idle word they speak…” (Matthew 12:36). I have so much work to do, such an idol to kill in my time wasting; taking every thought captive to obedience to Christ.

But I give thanks to God, who sent his Son, who made the absolute perfect use of his time, who never spoke an idle or careless word, was the epitome of obedience to his Father, and yet who died in my place to redeem me from this present evil age, who was raised and makes the Christian’s labor never in vain. So then, please join me in repenting of idleness, of time wasting, of careless thoughts, and so much useless action.

Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. - Colossians 3:17,23-24

Let us press forward towards Christ, repenting of every sin which weighs us down. Let us walk wisely in the light. Let us forever remember that we have only one life, and it will soon be past, and only what is done for Christ will last.

Let us redeem the time, for the days are evil.

The Least of Sinners and the Chief of Saints

2011-03-31T22:00:00.013-04:00

It was the Apostle Paul who said both, “of sinners I am chief” (1 Timothy 1:15) and “I am the very least of all the saints” (Ephesians 3:8). Put together we can say this quite pithily and powerfully, “The chief of sinners and least of saints.” I love word play, and so recently I reversed these in order to make a point on humility, and I said, “I am the least of sinners and the chief of saints…What? Somebody’s gotta have those titles.” It made for some interesting conversations and hopefully caused some introspection into each of our own perceived wonderfulness (Compare Proverbs 20:6).

In my own life it is evident that the Apostle Paul had not considered me when claiming the title, “chief of sinners." Had he done so he would have substituted my name in First Timothy, which would have made for a strangely confusing prophecy for roughly 1940 years, and claimed himself to be lieutenant of sinners.

Todd Friel recently made an amazing point on his television show, Wretched (Episode 663), where he showed two clips of human depravity on display. The first was a woman who proved Romans 1:31, which says the reprobate mind will be astorge, or lacking familial love (a-without storge-familial love), who left her husband and two boys, aged 3 and 5, because she decided she didn’t want to be a mother and they were keeping her back from being the person she wanted to be. The second video was a man who spoke plainly about his pro-abortion beliefs with utter disregard for the babies he was condemning. Friel afterwards asked the question (paraphrased for lack of a direct quote), “If, and I hope this isn’t being blasphemous, if it were up to you to judge, would you save either of those two?” His point was to emphasize the grace of God that even while we were worse in our minds (Colossians 1:21), still sinning (Romans 5:8), and unrepentant (1 John 4:10), God saved us anyways. It was a powerful point, because while all of mankind is patently wicked (Romans 3:10-18), these two were manifestly wicked, and much easier to judge than just looking at the thoughts and intents of men (Compare Genesis 6:5).

It was to this effect that I remembered that I am certainly the least of saints, because though I was never as outwardly sinful as these two, I know that the depravity of my rebellion was deeper than I can even fathom, and I can fathom quite deeply, and it reminded me of the amazing grace that the statement doesn’t end at, “chief of sinners,” but continues into the most glorious of statements, “least of saints” or an alternate translation, “least of those who are sanctified.”

Now how did this happen? How did God the Just pass over our sins so that we can be counted saints, sanctified, declared innocent and spotless from sin, in his sight? It was because the one who truly is the least of sinners, whom was so much the least of sinners that he never committed even a single one; he was always spot on in his righteousness, totally obedient, and totally faithful. It was because of the one who is truly chief of saints, for he prayed such a beautiful prayer, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you…for their sake I sanctify myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth” (John 17:1,18). This title belongs to the Christ, the Son of God, Jesus of Nazareth, the Faithful and True Witness, the Saviour of mankind. He did, for the joy that was set before him and for the sake of his Father’s name, endure the cross.

He did so in order to sanctify his greatest enemies, he despised the shame, absorbed their taunts, was afflicted by their violence; and in all of this he would turn them from enemies to friends, sinners to saints, so that while we stand in the knowledge that we are the chief of sinners and least of saints, he grants us to sit with him on this throne, more than conquerors, full heirs of the kingdom. He has proven in the power of his marvelous resurrection that our sins are paid for, his righteousness is ours, and that we are raised with him in the newness of eternal life.

When we look at our sins, knowing that we are completely devoid of any merit, woefully lacking of deserving any favor from God, he gives such a promise, “By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything” (1 John 3:19-20). For in Christ Jesus there is no condemnation; while we were the chief of sinners, we have been totally sanctified, each partaking in the perfect sainthood purchased for us by the Nazarene.

In my eyes I am the chiefest of chief sinners, and the very lowest of saints, but in the eyes of God, seen through the righteousness of the Saviour, I am participating in his sinlessness and sanctified even to the heavens. Oh what grace.