In the Fall of man, both man and earth became subject to futility. The Earth began to produce thorns and thistles, man was divided against man and murder entered into the heart of Cain. While the glory of God on the Earth remains, the first glory of true unity in the midst of God’s vast creation, was shattered. And so we live in a divided world where there is trouble from every side. We have trouble with the environment, trouble with our neighbors, trouble within our families and trouble in our own hearts. But Christ came to save us from all of this and to save us in the midst of all of this.
That peace must first begin in your own heart and flow out from there. If God has called you His own, and He has, then He has called you to peace and to a ministry of peace. Where there is strife and division, there you will find the devil. But we who belong to Christ do not have to obey the devil, the world or the flesh. We are Christ’s workmanship created for good works in Christ.
So, where is your strife? Is it with spouse? Boss? Neighbor? Friend? Foe? But where does this strife come from? Does it not come from your own heart that is not at peace with God and with what God is doing in the world and in your own life?
Put aside the strife. Confess your sins. Repent of your divisions. Be reconciled to God and man. And receive the peace of Christ.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Thursday, August 04, 2011
Communion- Table Fellowship and Love
As we eat the Lord’s Supper together each week, we should be mindful of what is going on. We remember the Lord’s death and we show the power of His death in gathering us as the people of God. We are a gathered body of forgiven sinners.
But this meal does even more than that. For some, what I just said would be controversial, that the meal actually ‘does’ anything. But it does. We are not merely remembering or showing, we are also becoming. Eating together is a formative action. When families eat together, they grow up together, knowing one another, loving and serving one another, partaking of one another.
Those same things are going on here as we eat the Lord’s Supper. The breaking of the bread and the sharing of the wine gathers us together, unifies us, strengthens us and binds us together.
Close table fellowship is at the center of what it means to love one another.
But this meal does even more than that. For some, what I just said would be controversial, that the meal actually ‘does’ anything. But it does. We are not merely remembering or showing, we are also becoming. Eating together is a formative action. When families eat together, they grow up together, knowing one another, loving and serving one another, partaking of one another.
Those same things are going on here as we eat the Lord’s Supper. The breaking of the bread and the sharing of the wine gathers us together, unifies us, strengthens us and binds us together.
Close table fellowship is at the center of what it means to love one another.
Exhortation- Love is the Thing
We are learning about God’s Covenant with His people. The main thing we should remember is that at the center of the Covenant is a love relationship. This is true of the persons in the Godhead. The Father, Son and Spirit love one another and are completely unified. Even when the Son is required to submit to the Father, the love relationship remains intact. The Son loves to submit to the Father and the Father’s commands are giving in love to the Son.
So, we must learn to rule in love as well as submit in love. This sort of understanding leaves no room for tyranny and it leaves no room for a grudging submission. Parents, husbands, employers use real authority but it is an authority that is wielded in love. Children, wives, and employees submit but their submission, as long as it can be fully given without sin, is given wholeheartedly and without envy or any root of bitterness.
To the extent that our ruling is done in a heavy handed and tyrannical way,we must confess our sin. To the extent that our submission is done grudgingly, we must confess our sins. We must learn to both rule and submit in love.
So, we must learn to rule in love as well as submit in love. This sort of understanding leaves no room for tyranny and it leaves no room for a grudging submission. Parents, husbands, employers use real authority but it is an authority that is wielded in love. Children, wives, and employees submit but their submission, as long as it can be fully given without sin, is given wholeheartedly and without envy or any root of bitterness.
To the extent that our ruling is done in a heavy handed and tyrannical way,we must confess our sin. To the extent that our submission is done grudgingly, we must confess our sins. We must learn to both rule and submit in love.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Exhortation- Umbrella Man
I was recently told a good analogy by my sister-in –law about different kinds of people. Some are like umbrellas and everything runs off of them. Others, though, are like inverted umbrellas and everything runs into them and builds up over time.
We confess sins regularly and that is so that we have a clear conscience before God and men. For some of you, this is relatively easy, as your sins as well as other’s sins against you tend to run off as you move forward. But for some, it is difficult for you to rid yourselves of sins, grievances, bitternesses, or envy because you are that inverted umbrella.
I’d like to tell you to simply turn your umbrella over but it may not be possible. Maybe God gave you that sort of demeanor or maybe it is just too full to flip over. But at the least, you have got to get rid of some of those grievances before they sink you completely.
If you have a good memory about wrongs that others have committed against you, you are probably that inverted umbrella. You have two options. The first, do not be offended. That is, do not let stuff get in your umbrella. But if you are a sensitive person and just cannot seem to keep stuff out of your umbrella, then you have to deal your other option and deal with the sins against you. You can only do this by going to the brother or sister and confronting the sin, so that the relationship can be restored.
Confess your grievances now to God, whether bitterness for a wrong against you, or envy, or even a real and deep wound that should be confronted and has not been confessed to you. Afterwards, you will know if you can let love cover that sin or if you must go and confront that sin to your brother or sister. When you deal with these sins maybe you can get your umbrella light enough so that you might even be able to flip it over.
We confess sins regularly and that is so that we have a clear conscience before God and men. For some of you, this is relatively easy, as your sins as well as other’s sins against you tend to run off as you move forward. But for some, it is difficult for you to rid yourselves of sins, grievances, bitternesses, or envy because you are that inverted umbrella.
I’d like to tell you to simply turn your umbrella over but it may not be possible. Maybe God gave you that sort of demeanor or maybe it is just too full to flip over. But at the least, you have got to get rid of some of those grievances before they sink you completely.
If you have a good memory about wrongs that others have committed against you, you are probably that inverted umbrella. You have two options. The first, do not be offended. That is, do not let stuff get in your umbrella. But if you are a sensitive person and just cannot seem to keep stuff out of your umbrella, then you have to deal your other option and deal with the sins against you. You can only do this by going to the brother or sister and confronting the sin, so that the relationship can be restored.
Confess your grievances now to God, whether bitterness for a wrong against you, or envy, or even a real and deep wound that should be confronted and has not been confessed to you. Afterwards, you will know if you can let love cover that sin or if you must go and confront that sin to your brother or sister. When you deal with these sins maybe you can get your umbrella light enough so that you might even be able to flip it over.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Ordinary Time
This coming Sunday is Trinity Sunday. In the Church calendar this marks the beginning of ordinary time. The ordinary here is not in the sense of mundane or simple but rather, in the sense of ordinal numbers, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. and is the time counted after Pentecost and up to Advent when we start the Liturgical year again.
The naming of the time as ordinary time is a fitting misunderstanding of that word. It is the time in which we count until we start over again but we should rethink this. We are not caught in a perpetual cycle of a Church Year in which we relive the same events, same liturgy and same sermons over and over. In our tradition, we appreciate the Church Year, and expressly celebrate the High Church days of Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, Ascension and Pentecost, but we would be mistaken to think that our year or our lives revolve around simply looking to these high days as our high moments.
The truly great thing about ordinary time is that it is so ordinary, lasts so long and takes up most of the church year. And it is all kicked off on this day we call Trinity Sunday. You see, normal life in Christ is walking before the Father, in Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. We do this day after day, week after week, year after year, and in the age to come, for millennia without end.
It is good for us to celebrate the Church Year as a constant reminder of what the Lord has done for us in coming to Earth, in redeeming us through the cross, in rising from dead, and in ascending up to heaven to rule Heaven and Earth and finally, in sending us His Holy Spirit. We need constant reminders of these things, just like we need the reminder of weekly covenant renewal worship, hearing God’s promises to us and renewing our promises to Him.
But all of those reminders are so that we can move forward from grace to grace and from glory to glory as Jesus fills the Earth with His Spirit. This is extraordinary but should be the constant every day experience of God’s people. It just goes on day after day and year after year. God is filling up time with His Holy presence. This is a great reminder to us as we start Trinity Sunday and Ordinary Time.
The naming of the time as ordinary time is a fitting misunderstanding of that word. It is the time in which we count until we start over again but we should rethink this. We are not caught in a perpetual cycle of a Church Year in which we relive the same events, same liturgy and same sermons over and over. In our tradition, we appreciate the Church Year, and expressly celebrate the High Church days of Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, Ascension and Pentecost, but we would be mistaken to think that our year or our lives revolve around simply looking to these high days as our high moments.
The truly great thing about ordinary time is that it is so ordinary, lasts so long and takes up most of the church year. And it is all kicked off on this day we call Trinity Sunday. You see, normal life in Christ is walking before the Father, in Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. We do this day after day, week after week, year after year, and in the age to come, for millennia without end.
It is good for us to celebrate the Church Year as a constant reminder of what the Lord has done for us in coming to Earth, in redeeming us through the cross, in rising from dead, and in ascending up to heaven to rule Heaven and Earth and finally, in sending us His Holy Spirit. We need constant reminders of these things, just like we need the reminder of weekly covenant renewal worship, hearing God’s promises to us and renewing our promises to Him.
But all of those reminders are so that we can move forward from grace to grace and from glory to glory as Jesus fills the Earth with His Spirit. This is extraordinary but should be the constant every day experience of God’s people. It just goes on day after day and year after year. God is filling up time with His Holy presence. This is a great reminder to us as we start Trinity Sunday and Ordinary Time.
Commencement Address at Oak Hill Christian School
Oak Hill Christian School
Commencement Ceremony
June 10, 2011
By Virgil Hurt
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, greetings graduates, parents, family, faculty and staff. This is a good and joyous day and I am blessed to be a part of your celebration.
Commencement is a beginning and so I shall begin. But too often we tend to think of the commencement ceremony as an ending and thus in an anticipation to geth the party started, we eagerly await the end of the commencement speaker’s rapidly forgettable speech. Not so fast. I’ve got a thing or two to say first.
You may not remember what I am going to say today. Chances are that in the days, and weeks and months and certainly years ahead, you won’t remember much, if any, of this speech. But that does not unduly distress me. At least, as long as what I say becomes a part of the fabric of who you are. If that happens, and it really must, then it won’t matter if you remember what I say, you will have come to know it with certainty, which is better by far.
What are my qualifications to be here before you today? Well, they are most august, indeed. I have been a much sought after commencement speaker for several years now. Well, at least to those near and dear to me. My first speech, three years ago, was to a class of one, my daughter Rebecca, graduating from our home school. My most recent, second, and last speech was to a graduating class of two, my daughter Elizabeth and her brother, Zachary. And now, I am brought to this place, with your graduating class of 7 and I am hopeful that you are glad to be in such august company.
What do my qualifications have to do with your graduation? Well, only everything. Let me explain. The only reason that I am here today is because your Headmaster, Mr. Thoburn, asked me to come and speak to you. He has heard me speak on a few occasions, perhaps heard a sermon or two, and apparently, maybe even obviously, could not get anybody else to come. So he asked me. Was I qualified for such a privilege? No. Was I the best choice? No. Did he really have no other options? No, with some tremendous effort, he likely could have got somebody to come and talk to you. Knowing that he was making a mistake, did I refuse? Again, and somewhat emphatically now, No!
And why not? Why not just tell Mr. Thoburn that it would likely be a disappointment to the students to invite me? Why not say to him that I’ve been around the Classical Christian education circles for a while now and I know of many much more qualified men for you to choose?
That would have been the smart thing and the safe thing to say but in my case, just not the obedient thing to say. And furthermore, I could have refused without doing much disrespect to Mr. Thoburn and without making room for damage to my own fragile reputation. I could have said no, but to do so would have been a slap in the face of my Lord who had brought me to just such a place and had prepared me for just such a question.
I may not have thought so but apparently God did and who am I to argue with Him? He is even more important and more authoritative than Mr. Thoburn! And this is why I do not want you to remember what I say today, but why you must, in fact, grasp, believe, know and live, what I say today.
Dear Graduates and dear friends, Do what God calls you to do. Do so with all the vigor you can muster. Do so with all the motivation of the call of duty. But do so resting in God’s goodness, wisdom and Providence.
I am not one prone to volunteer. Many years ago, I was a branch manager in several Kinko’s Copy Center stores. A regional manager once told me that the quickest way to the top was “don’t say much, just keep your head down and don’t volunteer.” It struck me as a bit odd at the time but the wisdom of his statement has grown on me.
Many years ago I made a deal with God. No, He didn’t talk to me but I talked to Him and made a personal commitment. The commitment was this. I felt that the Lord was calling me into ministry. Thus, I determined that whenever I was asked to do something related to my duties as a minister that was clearly a good thing to do, that I would not refuse to do so. That’s it, plain and simple. Do whatever is asked of you that is commensurate with your duties. You don’t have to volunteer but when asked, don’t refuse.
I pass it on to you here, as long as you do not tell anyone that is making big plans who might take advantage of me. But I put to you that if you leave your honors and advancement in the Lord’s hands, having taken your responsibilities seriously and having not taken yourself seriously, then the Lord will give you honor, honor greater than you deserve and honor that befits a true child of the Father. And there is more than enough honor to go around.
And since I had made the commitment to do whatever good thing was asked of me, I figured I would take my manager’s advice and not say much, keep my head down and not volunteer. My guess was that taking such a posture would enable me to lay low and be safe. But I am not writing my story. And what is pertinent to you is that you are not writing your story either. God is writing both of our stories and tonight, in the height of our mutual comedy, our paths meet.
You see, not volunteering did not keep me from being asked. And people do ask. And Mr. Thoburn asked. And God bestows honor as He sees fit. And dear graduates, it is most certainly an honor for me to be here tonight.
Am I qualified? No, not really. Did I deserve to be honored so? No, not at all. Earlier, I joked about my high qualifications, as if I was so great. But is it true? No, just a little lie to get the speech rolling along.
And the fact that I can laugh at myself with the joke that God is playing on everyone else is, by God’s standard, one of my greatest qualifications. Please do not misunderstand me. I am not offering a false humility, nor am I claiming to be somebody that I am not. I am a small time pastor in a small time denomination. But even in that, God has raised me far above my station and to God be the glory for it. But you have invited me here, to give me a name, to put another honor on my resume. Who cares if it is all a cosmic joke? God is the author of all such jokes and I tend to find Him consistently hilarious.
And while the honor is a gift, in God’s Providence he has sent me here to say something to you that will change your lives. You may not remember what I have to say but do not refuse to hear His voice. How can I say such things without extreme hubris? Well, because it is simply God’s way of doing things. He prefers to use the base things to oppose the proud. And if we are up to speed on the inside joke, God can use us for His glory even more.
And it is a privilege and an honor and a duty to be here tonight. And this is where I hope you can remember a little of what I am saying and how you can make what I am saying here become an integral part of your life.
As I said earlier, I am not so great. I have come to realize that this is true and it no longer bursts my bubble. But I am afraid that I must try to burst yours. You have already accomplished much. You have made your way through a challenging high school career. You have earned honors and scholarships, have earned some degree of academic respectability.
You have accomplished much and no doubt, in a group like this, from the background like yours, the list of your accomplishments will be long and your honors will be many.
But you have grown up in a world where your own self-esteem and your own sense of self-worth have become part of the air of the culture that we breathe. And this is most certainly a handicap on the road to godliness.
And while all the accomplishment are true and even wonderful, I ask you, “Are you really so great?” No, not really.
But, you say, “What about this great education you just mentioned? What about my great family? My great school? My great church? What about what my parents told me? What about what my teachers said about me?”
Well, the cold hard facts answer is that you really are not that great. It is not greatness that makes you, but rather, grace. You are not great but you are all evidence of great grace.
If you can grasp this truth of God’s grace, embrace it, relish in it, marinate the bones of your soul in its truth, live it and breathe it, then the Lord will raise you up and highly exalt you. But if you cannot grasp this one great truth, though you be high and lifted up in the eyes of men, the Lord’s favor will not shine upon you. And in light of all of the gifts and the honors, and the accomplishments of this day the one needful thing that you, as Christians, must possess, is the favor of the Lord.
Grace is gift. You have been given much and I hope you have all received it well, giving the glory and the credit where they are due. God has been exceedingly kind to you.
What will you do with His kindness? Will you reject it? I hope not. Will you plagiarize and try to put it off as your own? I hope not. Will you reflect His kindness, referring the glory to Him who has blessed you bringing you here to this day? I hope so.
But I am not calling you to a groveling worm theology, “I’m unworthy, I’m unworthy, I’m unworthy.” That will not do, either. Besides, most of the folks who say this don’t believe it anyway. They are just searching for somebody to say, “Oh, yes you are worthy!”
But what if the truth is, that you really are not worthy of all of this honor and trust and reward and glory and yet all of this has come to you anyway? What if you are actually painfully honest and know how much you really do not deserve all the accolades, responsibility and authority that have come your way? What if that were all true and yet you simply receive them all gladly as a faithful response to an all-seeing, all-knowing, all-wise, all-hilarious God?
I need to make one side comment about that last statement. I called God the all-hilarious God. I mean no disrespect to Him and am not being flippant. God is holy and we should worship and serve Him in reverence. But God most certainly loves a divine joke and has built a great deal of irony into His Word. If we do not understand this we cannot even understand our Bibles. Our very lives are an ironic assault on the powers of darkness. In this reverent sense, God is hilarious.
This is the trick, dear graduates, to understand the bit of sleight of hand from the Almighty as He says to you, “You know that you don’t deserve all this goodness and favor.” “No, I mean it,” He says, “You know it, don’t you? You have come to know that you really do not deserve this. Right?” And having been caught by Him, you might droop your head a little bit and say, “Yes, I know Lord. I admit it. I don’t deserve it at all.” But surprise and here is the sleight of hand! He says, “And so, based upon that knowledge, and based upon My Goodness, I am going to give it to you anyway!”
This is the joy of gift. Graduates you have been given much; fine families, excellent education, Classical Christian Curriculum, honor from on high and all because God is good. You really don’t deserve any of it which makes it all twice as good and double the laughter.
James 1:16-18 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
We need to get this down in our bones as we are blessed. The goodness of God needs to be the foundation of how we understand and receive the honors of men. God is the bestower of gifts, the great ring-giver. He dispenses them at His will. We also know that whatsoever comes to pass is a gift from His hand because all things work together for our good.
In that sense, even sorrow and suffering are gifts, perhaps the greatest gifts of all. All of you gathered here have received or will receive such gifts and one day will come to know that such hard providences are great gifts, indeed. But today we focus on the gifts of joy, of honor, of reward.
Let’s look briefly at things that I mentioned that you have been given. We start with your
Fine Family- What did you have to do with that? Did you choose your parents? You might be proud of them but you had absolutely nothing to do with choosing them or with their choice of you. It was given to you.
Your Excellent Education- I suppose you could argue that you made a go of it and produced all the brain cells that are now bulging from your information filled heads by your own vigorous studies. But the reality is, you could have just as easily received a second rate education or no education as the one that you have been given. It was given to you. It was a gift. Are you thankful?
The Classical Christian Curriculum- How did that happen? Well, it was as much a fluke as anything. You could have been educated in any number of ways. But, by God’s chance, that we call Providence, you were blessed with an education that is full of the Western tradition, the Classics but is thoroughly critiqued and understood with a Biblical World view. Only few Americans these days are educated in this way. You probably do not even comprehend the power in all of this. But the fact is that you did not choose it. It was a gift to you. Are you thankful?
Honor from on High- The truth is that all honor is from on High, from the God of honor. But only those who recognize this fact and give the honor back to God are truly blessed with His favor. This is another one of those seeming Christian paradoxes. We do not shrink away from God’s honor. We recognize that He actually gives it to us. Once He gives it to us, it is ours and recognized by everyone. The Valedictorian will receive just such an honor tonight and no doubt other honors will be bestowed. We do not diminish the true worth of the honor or of the relative merit of the one who receives it. But to be favored of the Lord and not merely honored by men, the receiver of the honor must know that it is his only because God is good and kind. To say this is one thing but to know it to be true is double honor and joy unspeakable.
How can you rejoice in God’s good gifts to you? First of all, you need to know God. And knowing Him you come to know yourself. And this leads us to a deeper understanding of God. It cycles on itself. God knows you, so you know Him, then you come to know yourself and this enables you to know Him ever deeper.
I have often said that to know yourself is to be comfortable in your own skin. That is, you understand who you are and you are okay with it. I am not talking about everyone having to accept you just the way you are, no matter what you do. The Bible has clear standards of behavior and they ought to be enforced in His Church. But what are you like? Who are your parents? What is your fundamental identity?
If you own who you are, then there is little that can said about you or done to you that will harm you. As you go away from here into the world as adults, many of you to various colleges, your values and identity are going to be challenged. What will you do with that challenge? Well, much of what you do with it depends on whether or not you can own up to who you are.
Well then, who are you? Let us answer that question in the most fundamental way. You are a Christian. No amount of sarcasm, including much guilt by association, should harm you. Do you own being a Christian? Do you own your own heritage in the Bible and throughout the course of history? Are you glad to be in the stream of the historic Christian faith and own it without wincing? We do not have to claim we have done all things well but we should be willing to claim our brothers and sisters through the ages as our very own kin. And we should be able to do so without caring what the establishment thinks or says.
Being a Christian, you are a Bible person. The Bible is your only ultimate and infallible authority. Do you believe that? Really? Even when some professor, colleague or coworker is chiding you about the age of the Earth, the genocides of the Old Testament and all those messy miracles of Jesus? Even when your so-called academic integrity is at stake? You mean that you even believe that Jonah was swallowed by a great fish?
Are you going to try to reason all of that out, get on the defensive, make compromises, refuse to answer, or are you simply going to stand on the authority of Scripture? If you know who you are and you remember who you are before the questions come, it will be easy to answer. Many a Christian has jettisoned the faith because he did not want to look silly in his freshman biology class.
But if we understand who we are, we can laugh at ourselves just as much as they do and in the end we will be laughing with God when their laughter has ended.
If you are comfortable in your own skin, and the truth about you is made know you would not be hurt by the revelation and the undeserved honors you have received would simply redound doubly to the glory of God.
And this brings us full circle. If God is the giver of gifts and the One who bestows honor, then we can receive them and confidently embrace whatever He has in store for us.
I said earlier that you should know yourself and be comfortable in your own skin but even that statement has a sardonic twist. I tell you to know yourself knowing that you cannot really do so. It is so like a father or a teacher or a commencement speaker to speak in riddles. Why can’t they just speak plain English? Well, I suppose the answer to that question would be that the simplicity of the world is so amazingly complex.
You cannot really know yourself or know whether you can even do that thing the Lord has called you to do. If you are like me, I am sure you often simply walk forward somewhat blindly, truly simply hoping for the best. You may have a smashing success at your endeavors, or you may fail miserably in the trying.
The point is not to know yourself, whether or not you are able to succeed. The point is to know yourself in relation to this great and terrible God. Do you belong to Him? Has He given you a name? Has He brought you to this point or that honor or such a calling or a seemingly impossible task? If so, then your only way is forward in Him. And in such knowing, you are called to place explicit trust in the only One who really does know you, in the hands of the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. At that point, it doesn’t matter what the world says. It doesn’t matter even what you think. The only thing that matters is to be the subject of a great High King. If you know that you are such a loyal subject, then you have come to know who you are.
And one final twist. You cannot even really know if you are such a loyal subject. As soon as you find yourself convinced of this, your loyalty will be immediately challenged and you may wonder if you will be able to stand. And by God’s grace, your only option at that point is to fall at His feet in divine worship and call upon Him to keep you in His grace.
And God is ever full of grace and is quick to dispense it. He will raise you up with the words of the Apostle, 1 Cor 16:13 Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. And your strength will be renewed. And He will lift up the hands that hang down and strengthen your feeble knees. And knowing His grace, you will have come to know that even if you are not as loyal as you thought, He always is.
So, what will you do with all of this? You who are highly honored and highly favored. This is no doubt a good and glorious thing.
Will you own up to the truth that God is the one who bestows gifts at His pleasure? Will you receive all such gifts as from His hand? Will you go out from here, this commencement, this beginning, and engage the world, with whatever it brings your way because God is the one who is sending it to you?
Will you receive the duties that are set before you because they are set there by the hand of Almighty God? And when they are presented to you, along with all the honor, prestige, and earthly reward that come with such gifts, will you laugh with God?
Commencement Ceremony
June 10, 2011
By Virgil Hurt
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, greetings graduates, parents, family, faculty and staff. This is a good and joyous day and I am blessed to be a part of your celebration.
Commencement is a beginning and so I shall begin. But too often we tend to think of the commencement ceremony as an ending and thus in an anticipation to geth the party started, we eagerly await the end of the commencement speaker’s rapidly forgettable speech. Not so fast. I’ve got a thing or two to say first.
You may not remember what I am going to say today. Chances are that in the days, and weeks and months and certainly years ahead, you won’t remember much, if any, of this speech. But that does not unduly distress me. At least, as long as what I say becomes a part of the fabric of who you are. If that happens, and it really must, then it won’t matter if you remember what I say, you will have come to know it with certainty, which is better by far.
What are my qualifications to be here before you today? Well, they are most august, indeed. I have been a much sought after commencement speaker for several years now. Well, at least to those near and dear to me. My first speech, three years ago, was to a class of one, my daughter Rebecca, graduating from our home school. My most recent, second, and last speech was to a graduating class of two, my daughter Elizabeth and her brother, Zachary. And now, I am brought to this place, with your graduating class of 7 and I am hopeful that you are glad to be in such august company.
What do my qualifications have to do with your graduation? Well, only everything. Let me explain. The only reason that I am here today is because your Headmaster, Mr. Thoburn, asked me to come and speak to you. He has heard me speak on a few occasions, perhaps heard a sermon or two, and apparently, maybe even obviously, could not get anybody else to come. So he asked me. Was I qualified for such a privilege? No. Was I the best choice? No. Did he really have no other options? No, with some tremendous effort, he likely could have got somebody to come and talk to you. Knowing that he was making a mistake, did I refuse? Again, and somewhat emphatically now, No!
And why not? Why not just tell Mr. Thoburn that it would likely be a disappointment to the students to invite me? Why not say to him that I’ve been around the Classical Christian education circles for a while now and I know of many much more qualified men for you to choose?
That would have been the smart thing and the safe thing to say but in my case, just not the obedient thing to say. And furthermore, I could have refused without doing much disrespect to Mr. Thoburn and without making room for damage to my own fragile reputation. I could have said no, but to do so would have been a slap in the face of my Lord who had brought me to just such a place and had prepared me for just such a question.
I may not have thought so but apparently God did and who am I to argue with Him? He is even more important and more authoritative than Mr. Thoburn! And this is why I do not want you to remember what I say today, but why you must, in fact, grasp, believe, know and live, what I say today.
Dear Graduates and dear friends, Do what God calls you to do. Do so with all the vigor you can muster. Do so with all the motivation of the call of duty. But do so resting in God’s goodness, wisdom and Providence.
I am not one prone to volunteer. Many years ago, I was a branch manager in several Kinko’s Copy Center stores. A regional manager once told me that the quickest way to the top was “don’t say much, just keep your head down and don’t volunteer.” It struck me as a bit odd at the time but the wisdom of his statement has grown on me.
Many years ago I made a deal with God. No, He didn’t talk to me but I talked to Him and made a personal commitment. The commitment was this. I felt that the Lord was calling me into ministry. Thus, I determined that whenever I was asked to do something related to my duties as a minister that was clearly a good thing to do, that I would not refuse to do so. That’s it, plain and simple. Do whatever is asked of you that is commensurate with your duties. You don’t have to volunteer but when asked, don’t refuse.
I pass it on to you here, as long as you do not tell anyone that is making big plans who might take advantage of me. But I put to you that if you leave your honors and advancement in the Lord’s hands, having taken your responsibilities seriously and having not taken yourself seriously, then the Lord will give you honor, honor greater than you deserve and honor that befits a true child of the Father. And there is more than enough honor to go around.
And since I had made the commitment to do whatever good thing was asked of me, I figured I would take my manager’s advice and not say much, keep my head down and not volunteer. My guess was that taking such a posture would enable me to lay low and be safe. But I am not writing my story. And what is pertinent to you is that you are not writing your story either. God is writing both of our stories and tonight, in the height of our mutual comedy, our paths meet.
You see, not volunteering did not keep me from being asked. And people do ask. And Mr. Thoburn asked. And God bestows honor as He sees fit. And dear graduates, it is most certainly an honor for me to be here tonight.
Am I qualified? No, not really. Did I deserve to be honored so? No, not at all. Earlier, I joked about my high qualifications, as if I was so great. But is it true? No, just a little lie to get the speech rolling along.
And the fact that I can laugh at myself with the joke that God is playing on everyone else is, by God’s standard, one of my greatest qualifications. Please do not misunderstand me. I am not offering a false humility, nor am I claiming to be somebody that I am not. I am a small time pastor in a small time denomination. But even in that, God has raised me far above my station and to God be the glory for it. But you have invited me here, to give me a name, to put another honor on my resume. Who cares if it is all a cosmic joke? God is the author of all such jokes and I tend to find Him consistently hilarious.
And while the honor is a gift, in God’s Providence he has sent me here to say something to you that will change your lives. You may not remember what I have to say but do not refuse to hear His voice. How can I say such things without extreme hubris? Well, because it is simply God’s way of doing things. He prefers to use the base things to oppose the proud. And if we are up to speed on the inside joke, God can use us for His glory even more.
And it is a privilege and an honor and a duty to be here tonight. And this is where I hope you can remember a little of what I am saying and how you can make what I am saying here become an integral part of your life.
As I said earlier, I am not so great. I have come to realize that this is true and it no longer bursts my bubble. But I am afraid that I must try to burst yours. You have already accomplished much. You have made your way through a challenging high school career. You have earned honors and scholarships, have earned some degree of academic respectability.
You have accomplished much and no doubt, in a group like this, from the background like yours, the list of your accomplishments will be long and your honors will be many.
But you have grown up in a world where your own self-esteem and your own sense of self-worth have become part of the air of the culture that we breathe. And this is most certainly a handicap on the road to godliness.
And while all the accomplishment are true and even wonderful, I ask you, “Are you really so great?” No, not really.
But, you say, “What about this great education you just mentioned? What about my great family? My great school? My great church? What about what my parents told me? What about what my teachers said about me?”
Well, the cold hard facts answer is that you really are not that great. It is not greatness that makes you, but rather, grace. You are not great but you are all evidence of great grace.
If you can grasp this truth of God’s grace, embrace it, relish in it, marinate the bones of your soul in its truth, live it and breathe it, then the Lord will raise you up and highly exalt you. But if you cannot grasp this one great truth, though you be high and lifted up in the eyes of men, the Lord’s favor will not shine upon you. And in light of all of the gifts and the honors, and the accomplishments of this day the one needful thing that you, as Christians, must possess, is the favor of the Lord.
Grace is gift. You have been given much and I hope you have all received it well, giving the glory and the credit where they are due. God has been exceedingly kind to you.
What will you do with His kindness? Will you reject it? I hope not. Will you plagiarize and try to put it off as your own? I hope not. Will you reflect His kindness, referring the glory to Him who has blessed you bringing you here to this day? I hope so.
But I am not calling you to a groveling worm theology, “I’m unworthy, I’m unworthy, I’m unworthy.” That will not do, either. Besides, most of the folks who say this don’t believe it anyway. They are just searching for somebody to say, “Oh, yes you are worthy!”
But what if the truth is, that you really are not worthy of all of this honor and trust and reward and glory and yet all of this has come to you anyway? What if you are actually painfully honest and know how much you really do not deserve all the accolades, responsibility and authority that have come your way? What if that were all true and yet you simply receive them all gladly as a faithful response to an all-seeing, all-knowing, all-wise, all-hilarious God?
I need to make one side comment about that last statement. I called God the all-hilarious God. I mean no disrespect to Him and am not being flippant. God is holy and we should worship and serve Him in reverence. But God most certainly loves a divine joke and has built a great deal of irony into His Word. If we do not understand this we cannot even understand our Bibles. Our very lives are an ironic assault on the powers of darkness. In this reverent sense, God is hilarious.
This is the trick, dear graduates, to understand the bit of sleight of hand from the Almighty as He says to you, “You know that you don’t deserve all this goodness and favor.” “No, I mean it,” He says, “You know it, don’t you? You have come to know that you really do not deserve this. Right?” And having been caught by Him, you might droop your head a little bit and say, “Yes, I know Lord. I admit it. I don’t deserve it at all.” But surprise and here is the sleight of hand! He says, “And so, based upon that knowledge, and based upon My Goodness, I am going to give it to you anyway!”
This is the joy of gift. Graduates you have been given much; fine families, excellent education, Classical Christian Curriculum, honor from on high and all because God is good. You really don’t deserve any of it which makes it all twice as good and double the laughter.
James 1:16-18 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
We need to get this down in our bones as we are blessed. The goodness of God needs to be the foundation of how we understand and receive the honors of men. God is the bestower of gifts, the great ring-giver. He dispenses them at His will. We also know that whatsoever comes to pass is a gift from His hand because all things work together for our good.
In that sense, even sorrow and suffering are gifts, perhaps the greatest gifts of all. All of you gathered here have received or will receive such gifts and one day will come to know that such hard providences are great gifts, indeed. But today we focus on the gifts of joy, of honor, of reward.
Let’s look briefly at things that I mentioned that you have been given. We start with your
Fine Family- What did you have to do with that? Did you choose your parents? You might be proud of them but you had absolutely nothing to do with choosing them or with their choice of you. It was given to you.
Your Excellent Education- I suppose you could argue that you made a go of it and produced all the brain cells that are now bulging from your information filled heads by your own vigorous studies. But the reality is, you could have just as easily received a second rate education or no education as the one that you have been given. It was given to you. It was a gift. Are you thankful?
The Classical Christian Curriculum- How did that happen? Well, it was as much a fluke as anything. You could have been educated in any number of ways. But, by God’s chance, that we call Providence, you were blessed with an education that is full of the Western tradition, the Classics but is thoroughly critiqued and understood with a Biblical World view. Only few Americans these days are educated in this way. You probably do not even comprehend the power in all of this. But the fact is that you did not choose it. It was a gift to you. Are you thankful?
Honor from on High- The truth is that all honor is from on High, from the God of honor. But only those who recognize this fact and give the honor back to God are truly blessed with His favor. This is another one of those seeming Christian paradoxes. We do not shrink away from God’s honor. We recognize that He actually gives it to us. Once He gives it to us, it is ours and recognized by everyone. The Valedictorian will receive just such an honor tonight and no doubt other honors will be bestowed. We do not diminish the true worth of the honor or of the relative merit of the one who receives it. But to be favored of the Lord and not merely honored by men, the receiver of the honor must know that it is his only because God is good and kind. To say this is one thing but to know it to be true is double honor and joy unspeakable.
How can you rejoice in God’s good gifts to you? First of all, you need to know God. And knowing Him you come to know yourself. And this leads us to a deeper understanding of God. It cycles on itself. God knows you, so you know Him, then you come to know yourself and this enables you to know Him ever deeper.
I have often said that to know yourself is to be comfortable in your own skin. That is, you understand who you are and you are okay with it. I am not talking about everyone having to accept you just the way you are, no matter what you do. The Bible has clear standards of behavior and they ought to be enforced in His Church. But what are you like? Who are your parents? What is your fundamental identity?
If you own who you are, then there is little that can said about you or done to you that will harm you. As you go away from here into the world as adults, many of you to various colleges, your values and identity are going to be challenged. What will you do with that challenge? Well, much of what you do with it depends on whether or not you can own up to who you are.
Well then, who are you? Let us answer that question in the most fundamental way. You are a Christian. No amount of sarcasm, including much guilt by association, should harm you. Do you own being a Christian? Do you own your own heritage in the Bible and throughout the course of history? Are you glad to be in the stream of the historic Christian faith and own it without wincing? We do not have to claim we have done all things well but we should be willing to claim our brothers and sisters through the ages as our very own kin. And we should be able to do so without caring what the establishment thinks or says.
Being a Christian, you are a Bible person. The Bible is your only ultimate and infallible authority. Do you believe that? Really? Even when some professor, colleague or coworker is chiding you about the age of the Earth, the genocides of the Old Testament and all those messy miracles of Jesus? Even when your so-called academic integrity is at stake? You mean that you even believe that Jonah was swallowed by a great fish?
Are you going to try to reason all of that out, get on the defensive, make compromises, refuse to answer, or are you simply going to stand on the authority of Scripture? If you know who you are and you remember who you are before the questions come, it will be easy to answer. Many a Christian has jettisoned the faith because he did not want to look silly in his freshman biology class.
But if we understand who we are, we can laugh at ourselves just as much as they do and in the end we will be laughing with God when their laughter has ended.
If you are comfortable in your own skin, and the truth about you is made know you would not be hurt by the revelation and the undeserved honors you have received would simply redound doubly to the glory of God.
And this brings us full circle. If God is the giver of gifts and the One who bestows honor, then we can receive them and confidently embrace whatever He has in store for us.
I said earlier that you should know yourself and be comfortable in your own skin but even that statement has a sardonic twist. I tell you to know yourself knowing that you cannot really do so. It is so like a father or a teacher or a commencement speaker to speak in riddles. Why can’t they just speak plain English? Well, I suppose the answer to that question would be that the simplicity of the world is so amazingly complex.
You cannot really know yourself or know whether you can even do that thing the Lord has called you to do. If you are like me, I am sure you often simply walk forward somewhat blindly, truly simply hoping for the best. You may have a smashing success at your endeavors, or you may fail miserably in the trying.
The point is not to know yourself, whether or not you are able to succeed. The point is to know yourself in relation to this great and terrible God. Do you belong to Him? Has He given you a name? Has He brought you to this point or that honor or such a calling or a seemingly impossible task? If so, then your only way is forward in Him. And in such knowing, you are called to place explicit trust in the only One who really does know you, in the hands of the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. At that point, it doesn’t matter what the world says. It doesn’t matter even what you think. The only thing that matters is to be the subject of a great High King. If you know that you are such a loyal subject, then you have come to know who you are.
And one final twist. You cannot even really know if you are such a loyal subject. As soon as you find yourself convinced of this, your loyalty will be immediately challenged and you may wonder if you will be able to stand. And by God’s grace, your only option at that point is to fall at His feet in divine worship and call upon Him to keep you in His grace.
And God is ever full of grace and is quick to dispense it. He will raise you up with the words of the Apostle, 1 Cor 16:13 Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. And your strength will be renewed. And He will lift up the hands that hang down and strengthen your feeble knees. And knowing His grace, you will have come to know that even if you are not as loyal as you thought, He always is.
So, what will you do with all of this? You who are highly honored and highly favored. This is no doubt a good and glorious thing.
Will you own up to the truth that God is the one who bestows gifts at His pleasure? Will you receive all such gifts as from His hand? Will you go out from here, this commencement, this beginning, and engage the world, with whatever it brings your way because God is the one who is sending it to you?
Will you receive the duties that are set before you because they are set there by the hand of Almighty God? And when they are presented to you, along with all the honor, prestige, and earthly reward that come with such gifts, will you laugh with God?
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Communion Meditation- God the Giver
As we eat this Communion meal let us remember that communion with God is to be known and then to know . God first knows us, we are known by Him, and then we can know Him. We thank Him for revealing Himself to us and then drawing us into sweet communion with Him, His Son and His Spirit.
This is also true of the brotherhood. We seek to understand and then we can be understood. We always give first and then we receive.
This is true of our children. We give them to God and then He gives them back to us.
God gives to us and then we can give to Him. He brings us into the body of Christ as a gift and then we can give to one another. God has given to each of you and brought you here to give yourself back to Him. Furthermore, He brings us here so that we learn to share this Table fellowship with one another. This is the fellowship of the saints that reveals the glory of God to the world. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
This is also true of the brotherhood. We seek to understand and then we can be understood. We always give first and then we receive.
This is true of our children. We give them to God and then He gives them back to us.
God gives to us and then we can give to Him. He brings us into the body of Christ as a gift and then we can give to one another. God has given to each of you and brought you here to give yourself back to Him. Furthermore, He brings us here so that we learn to share this Table fellowship with one another. This is the fellowship of the saints that reveals the glory of God to the world. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Exhortation- Simple Faith
Today is another blessed day in God’s Kingdom. We formally receive two new children into the Kingdom of God, trusting that God will be as faithful to them as He has been to us.
We also take a look at Psalm 128 which pronounces blessings on those that fear the Lord.
Our faith is not complex. It does not take a mastery of logic to figure it out. If you fear God, then you will be blessed. That blessing will flow to your wife and to your children and to their children.
Today is also my son’s eighteenth birthday. Happy Birthday Zach! And I must say that I have been deeply blessed by God in him. And by God’s grace, Zachary and my other children have been blessed by the fear of the Lord of their mother and father. We have believed God for them and God has been faithful to us to make them faithful to Him. Fear God and He will not disappoint you.
Take hold of God’s promises. Confess when you fail to believe them and when you fail in following His commands in the way you treat your wife or husband, children or parents. God is quick to forgive, cover over sins, return the years the locust has eaten and then grant you blessings. We earnestly desire God’s blessings and they start here in confession, repentance and forgiveness.
We also take a look at Psalm 128 which pronounces blessings on those that fear the Lord.
Our faith is not complex. It does not take a mastery of logic to figure it out. If you fear God, then you will be blessed. That blessing will flow to your wife and to your children and to their children.
Today is also my son’s eighteenth birthday. Happy Birthday Zach! And I must say that I have been deeply blessed by God in him. And by God’s grace, Zachary and my other children have been blessed by the fear of the Lord of their mother and father. We have believed God for them and God has been faithful to us to make them faithful to Him. Fear God and He will not disappoint you.
Take hold of God’s promises. Confess when you fail to believe them and when you fail in following His commands in the way you treat your wife or husband, children or parents. God is quick to forgive, cover over sins, return the years the locust has eaten and then grant you blessings. We earnestly desire God’s blessings and they start here in confession, repentance and forgiveness.
Biblical Manhood- A Recent Talk
This talk is titled Biblical Manhood. I may be a bit hard-pressed to present to you what a Biblical Man looks like. The specimen is getting more and more difficult to locate and there is some concern that he may, in fact, be extinct. But I will try to describe him to you so that if you happen to see one you may notify the authorities that the report of his demise is slightly pre-mature.
In fact, I think the Biblical Man is not extinct. He is rare but he exists. I suppose he ought to be on the endangered list. If you find one, then make sure you stick close to him, take notes, learn his ways and makes sure he reproduces before we lose his particular strain of DNA. Our churches are full of progesterone but we really need the testosterone of the Biblical Man. Let us see if we can find one.
Where are the Biblical men of our day?
Men like Noah, who withstood the ridicule of the people because God had spoken and built a boat for 100 years while everyone laughed him to scorn. Noah, who was fruitful, multiplied and filled the Earth.
Men like Abraham who went out not knowing where he was going. Abraham, who pursued five kings and overthrew them all, then paid his tithes to Melchizedek, the priest of Yahweh.
Men, like Moses, who led the people out of Egypt, and in the name and Spirit of the Living God, destroyed the great giant kings Og, King of Bashan and Sihon, King of the Amorites. Moses who fell on his face before the Lord interceding for even a stubborn and rebellious people.
Men like Joshua, the son of Nun, who foresaw victory when others predicted defeat. Joshua, who was not afraid of the giants but simply saw a bigger target, knowing that his God would give him victory.
Men like David, a shepherd boy who killed a lion and a bear protecting his Father’s sheep. David, the killer of Goliath, the enemy of God. David, who soundly defeated all of God’s enemies. David, who like our Great High King, was a ruler and defender of God’s people.
Where are our Biblical men of today? Have they all become like gentle Jesus, meek and mild, an invention of the American psyche, the Jesus who is tenderly and sweetly calling? But where do we see this meek and mild Jesus in the pages of Scripture? We are told that Moses was the meekest man in the Earth and as we turn to Moses we do not find weakness and gentility but we find boldness as the herald of God, strength of word and of action. We need men like him.
And a greater prophet has arisen, one like Moses from among the brethren. He is Jesus the Son of God.
Where are men like Jesus, who even as a youth was found in the Temple doing His Father’s business? Jesus, who called the Pharisees a brood of vipers and white-washed tombs. Jesus, who drove the money changers from the Temple with a whip, overturning their tables in a righteous angry zeal. Jesus who said to Peter, Get behind me Satan! Jesus, who told the woman at the well that her live in man was not her husband. Jesus, who withstood insults, suffered ridicule, and set His face to the cross because of the joy on the other side, and perfectly accomplished the Father’s will. Where is this meek and mild Jesus? The Jesus of the Bible is a man, a man full of boldness, strength, decision, perseverance, fortitude and fearlessness. Would that we had such men as Him.
And the men He trained were also bold and strong. Through the power of the Spirit, they proclaimed the truth of Christ in the face of enemies, fearing God rather than men.
Men like bold Peter who preached the first Christian sermon, calling men to repentance, reminding them that they had crucified the Lord Jesus. Peter who preached the gospel, even to Gentiles. Where are such bold men today, men with chests, willing to stand against the tide, to preach unpopular truths, to call men everywhere to repentance?
Men like Stephen, a man full of the Spirit of God, who faced his accusers and boldly proclaimed both God’s covenant faithfulness and Israel’s stubborn rebellion. Stephen who paid the price with his own life.
Men like Paul, many times persecuted for proclaiming the truth of the gospel, the reign of the Lord Jesus Christ over all men everywhere. Paul, the aged, the chief of all sinners, who withstood the beasts at Ephesus.
A biblical man is fearless in the face of opposition because his one great fear drives him ever onward. He has learned that to Fear the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. He has also learned that the fear of man is always a threat to this great wisdom.
Peter learned this lesson and was forced to repent at the admonishment of St. Paul. He wilted under the pressure of the Jewish men from Jerusalem, choosing their wisdom over God’s. Paul rightly confronted Peter because He saw that the gospel of freedom in Jesus was at stake.
Men, we are not unlike Peter. We long to be the true servants of Jesus, standing fast in the midst of a crumbling Christian culture that is increasingly compromised. We are told to mind our business and to play along, to play nice. This is not only true in politics and in American Christianity but it is also true within the ever emptying shell of the Modern American Evangelical Christian culture.
We are evangelicals, the Confederation of Reformed Evangelical Churches and The Evangelical Presbyterian Church. An evangelical emphasizes salvation by faith in the atoning death of Jesus Christ through personal conversion, the authority of Scripture, and the importance of preaching as contrasted with ritual.
But the authority of Scripture is under fire, and evangelicals are capitulating to the pressure of the unbelieving culture to play nice. They tell us that we should not make sharp distinctions. We should not preach an exclusive gospel of Jesus. We should not speak against the sins of homosexuality, the grotesque nature of abortion on demand, the inclusion of Muslims as the people of our God, and lately not even the scary prospect of eternity in hell for those who reject Jesus Christ.
Is it any wonder to us that our conservative politicians capitulate in all of these areas when Christ’s Church, itself, is unable to stand with Jesus and the Bible on such topics? Our politicians are simply a mirror into the soul of the Church. If you do not like what you see in them, you must realize that what we see in them is us.
We need to stop worrying so much about what is going on in Washington Monday through Friday and focus on what is going on in our own churches on Sunday morning.
Once we get a critical mass of Biblical men back in our churches, then we can have some hope for Biblical men in the corridors of power. Until we do this, our fight in Washington will continue to look exactly like what it is, a losing battle.
The crumbling authority of the Scripture has been accompanied by an ever increasing incursion of the world into the Church. We now worship in multi-purpose facilities rather than churches. Our music, dress, and speech has become worldly in an attempt to win the world. This is justified by a weak appeal to Scripture, ‘I have become all things to all men.’ A more accurate version would be “when in Rome, do as the Romans”, and we look more and more like them.
God calls the world to the Church. He does not call the church to the world. We are told to go out into the world and make them disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Triune God and then bring them into a holy church, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, the bride of Christ. But, instead, we invite them in to the church on their own terms to a Church that looks just like their computer screens, pulsing out sounds and images of entertainment that do not fully transform the person into Christlikeness.
I am thankful that you and I are here to push back. We have been pushed and are being pushed. As your church grows and even as it has success in bringing in new members or gaining new converts, the pressure will mount. ‘Do not be so dogmatic. Do not be judgmental. Do not be so exclusive. Do not be intolerant.’
But God calls us to dogmatism. Judgment begins in the household of God. Jesus is the only way to the Father and God hates sin and stands against those who will not submit to the Lordship of Christ.
Jesus is in heaven, ruling heaven and Earth at the right hand of the Father and all men, everywhere, will submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Jesus, and you and me, have real enemies, those who hate God, His Son and His Spirit. We call upon God to rise up and defend us and we are to stand and fight with Him until every knee bows and every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord.
In fact, I think the Biblical Man is not extinct. He is rare but he exists. I suppose he ought to be on the endangered list. If you find one, then make sure you stick close to him, take notes, learn his ways and makes sure he reproduces before we lose his particular strain of DNA. Our churches are full of progesterone but we really need the testosterone of the Biblical Man. Let us see if we can find one.
Where are the Biblical men of our day?
Men like Noah, who withstood the ridicule of the people because God had spoken and built a boat for 100 years while everyone laughed him to scorn. Noah, who was fruitful, multiplied and filled the Earth.
Men like Abraham who went out not knowing where he was going. Abraham, who pursued five kings and overthrew them all, then paid his tithes to Melchizedek, the priest of Yahweh.
Men, like Moses, who led the people out of Egypt, and in the name and Spirit of the Living God, destroyed the great giant kings Og, King of Bashan and Sihon, King of the Amorites. Moses who fell on his face before the Lord interceding for even a stubborn and rebellious people.
Men like Joshua, the son of Nun, who foresaw victory when others predicted defeat. Joshua, who was not afraid of the giants but simply saw a bigger target, knowing that his God would give him victory.
Men like David, a shepherd boy who killed a lion and a bear protecting his Father’s sheep. David, the killer of Goliath, the enemy of God. David, who soundly defeated all of God’s enemies. David, who like our Great High King, was a ruler and defender of God’s people.
Where are our Biblical men of today? Have they all become like gentle Jesus, meek and mild, an invention of the American psyche, the Jesus who is tenderly and sweetly calling? But where do we see this meek and mild Jesus in the pages of Scripture? We are told that Moses was the meekest man in the Earth and as we turn to Moses we do not find weakness and gentility but we find boldness as the herald of God, strength of word and of action. We need men like him.
And a greater prophet has arisen, one like Moses from among the brethren. He is Jesus the Son of God.
Where are men like Jesus, who even as a youth was found in the Temple doing His Father’s business? Jesus, who called the Pharisees a brood of vipers and white-washed tombs. Jesus, who drove the money changers from the Temple with a whip, overturning their tables in a righteous angry zeal. Jesus who said to Peter, Get behind me Satan! Jesus, who told the woman at the well that her live in man was not her husband. Jesus, who withstood insults, suffered ridicule, and set His face to the cross because of the joy on the other side, and perfectly accomplished the Father’s will. Where is this meek and mild Jesus? The Jesus of the Bible is a man, a man full of boldness, strength, decision, perseverance, fortitude and fearlessness. Would that we had such men as Him.
And the men He trained were also bold and strong. Through the power of the Spirit, they proclaimed the truth of Christ in the face of enemies, fearing God rather than men.
Men like bold Peter who preached the first Christian sermon, calling men to repentance, reminding them that they had crucified the Lord Jesus. Peter who preached the gospel, even to Gentiles. Where are such bold men today, men with chests, willing to stand against the tide, to preach unpopular truths, to call men everywhere to repentance?
Men like Stephen, a man full of the Spirit of God, who faced his accusers and boldly proclaimed both God’s covenant faithfulness and Israel’s stubborn rebellion. Stephen who paid the price with his own life.
Men like Paul, many times persecuted for proclaiming the truth of the gospel, the reign of the Lord Jesus Christ over all men everywhere. Paul, the aged, the chief of all sinners, who withstood the beasts at Ephesus.
A biblical man is fearless in the face of opposition because his one great fear drives him ever onward. He has learned that to Fear the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. He has also learned that the fear of man is always a threat to this great wisdom.
Peter learned this lesson and was forced to repent at the admonishment of St. Paul. He wilted under the pressure of the Jewish men from Jerusalem, choosing their wisdom over God’s. Paul rightly confronted Peter because He saw that the gospel of freedom in Jesus was at stake.
Men, we are not unlike Peter. We long to be the true servants of Jesus, standing fast in the midst of a crumbling Christian culture that is increasingly compromised. We are told to mind our business and to play along, to play nice. This is not only true in politics and in American Christianity but it is also true within the ever emptying shell of the Modern American Evangelical Christian culture.
We are evangelicals, the Confederation of Reformed Evangelical Churches and The Evangelical Presbyterian Church. An evangelical emphasizes salvation by faith in the atoning death of Jesus Christ through personal conversion, the authority of Scripture, and the importance of preaching as contrasted with ritual.
But the authority of Scripture is under fire, and evangelicals are capitulating to the pressure of the unbelieving culture to play nice. They tell us that we should not make sharp distinctions. We should not preach an exclusive gospel of Jesus. We should not speak against the sins of homosexuality, the grotesque nature of abortion on demand, the inclusion of Muslims as the people of our God, and lately not even the scary prospect of eternity in hell for those who reject Jesus Christ.
Is it any wonder to us that our conservative politicians capitulate in all of these areas when Christ’s Church, itself, is unable to stand with Jesus and the Bible on such topics? Our politicians are simply a mirror into the soul of the Church. If you do not like what you see in them, you must realize that what we see in them is us.
We need to stop worrying so much about what is going on in Washington Monday through Friday and focus on what is going on in our own churches on Sunday morning.
Once we get a critical mass of Biblical men back in our churches, then we can have some hope for Biblical men in the corridors of power. Until we do this, our fight in Washington will continue to look exactly like what it is, a losing battle.
The crumbling authority of the Scripture has been accompanied by an ever increasing incursion of the world into the Church. We now worship in multi-purpose facilities rather than churches. Our music, dress, and speech has become worldly in an attempt to win the world. This is justified by a weak appeal to Scripture, ‘I have become all things to all men.’ A more accurate version would be “when in Rome, do as the Romans”, and we look more and more like them.
God calls the world to the Church. He does not call the church to the world. We are told to go out into the world and make them disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Triune God and then bring them into a holy church, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, the bride of Christ. But, instead, we invite them in to the church on their own terms to a Church that looks just like their computer screens, pulsing out sounds and images of entertainment that do not fully transform the person into Christlikeness.
I am thankful that you and I are here to push back. We have been pushed and are being pushed. As your church grows and even as it has success in bringing in new members or gaining new converts, the pressure will mount. ‘Do not be so dogmatic. Do not be judgmental. Do not be so exclusive. Do not be intolerant.’
But God calls us to dogmatism. Judgment begins in the household of God. Jesus is the only way to the Father and God hates sin and stands against those who will not submit to the Lordship of Christ.
Jesus is in heaven, ruling heaven and Earth at the right hand of the Father and all men, everywhere, will submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Jesus, and you and me, have real enemies, those who hate God, His Son and His Spirit. We call upon God to rise up and defend us and we are to stand and fight with Him until every knee bows and every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Naughty Tongue
Wisdom from Proverbs
Proverbs 17 has a general theme about those who cause strife and division and those who follow peace and wisdom. There is much here for maintaining peace in a home but also in a particular congregation.
Consider v. 4, a wicked doer giveth heed to false lips; and a liar giveth ear to a naughty tongue.
We tend to condemn the one of false lips. He ought not to be speaking things that are untrue. Thus, also with the one of a naughty tongue, stirring up strife in the brotherhood. But who is this warning to? It is to the one who listens to false lips. If you listen to and give heed to false lips, the Bible calls you an a wicked doer! Beware what you listen to!
The Bible also condemns you if you are one who likes to hear questionable bits of information about your neighbors. If you do not like to gossip so much but you do like to listen to the local gossip, that one lady in your church who just cannot resist telling all the latest scandalous news, the Bible calls YOU a liar!
Do not give false lips and gossip an ear to sound off. They corrupt not only the speaker but the hearer, too. In fact, the fact that you want to hear such things shows that the corruption has already found a place in your heart. Confess. Repent. Turn away the person of a false and naughty tongue.
Proverbs 17 has a general theme about those who cause strife and division and those who follow peace and wisdom. There is much here for maintaining peace in a home but also in a particular congregation.
Consider v. 4, a wicked doer giveth heed to false lips; and a liar giveth ear to a naughty tongue.
We tend to condemn the one of false lips. He ought not to be speaking things that are untrue. Thus, also with the one of a naughty tongue, stirring up strife in the brotherhood. But who is this warning to? It is to the one who listens to false lips. If you listen to and give heed to false lips, the Bible calls you an a wicked doer! Beware what you listen to!
The Bible also condemns you if you are one who likes to hear questionable bits of information about your neighbors. If you do not like to gossip so much but you do like to listen to the local gossip, that one lady in your church who just cannot resist telling all the latest scandalous news, the Bible calls YOU a liar!
Do not give false lips and gossip an ear to sound off. They corrupt not only the speaker but the hearer, too. In fact, the fact that you want to hear such things shows that the corruption has already found a place in your heart. Confess. Repent. Turn away the person of a false and naughty tongue.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
The Fine Art of Preaching- Blackwood
"The preacher's aim should be to guide the hearer to the place where he will see a certain truth and perform a certain duty."
Preaching truth without application falls short. "Yes, I see the Bible declares that truth, now tell me what to do about it."
Preaching application without truth undermines one's authority. "I hear what you are telling me to do but why must I do so?"
Some preachers assume the Holy Spirit will automatically make application without him having to take the effort. Not so, nor is such a man a true preacher.
Some preachers assume they can simply proclaim the truths they have accumulated for themselves, oftentimes even from the Scriptures, without grounding these truths in specific texts. But a thoughtful congregation will want to hear, "Thus saith the Lord" before he commits to submit to such application.
Preaching truth without application falls short. "Yes, I see the Bible declares that truth, now tell me what to do about it."
Preaching application without truth undermines one's authority. "I hear what you are telling me to do but why must I do so?"
Some preachers assume the Holy Spirit will automatically make application without him having to take the effort. Not so, nor is such a man a true preacher.
Some preachers assume they can simply proclaim the truths they have accumulated for themselves, oftentimes even from the Scriptures, without grounding these truths in specific texts. But a thoughtful congregation will want to hear, "Thus saith the Lord" before he commits to submit to such application.
True Authority
Another good quote from The Black Swan.
"We no longer believe in Papal infallibility; we seem to believe in the infallibility of the Nobel, though."
I would want to take a Protestant twist on this. I do not believe in the infallibility of the Pope, either, but I do believe in the infallibility of the Bible. And I would further say that the infallibility of the Bible enables me to take great courage over the presumed authority of the Nobel, whether in Science, Literature or any other discipline.
I am still of the opinion that the Queen of the Sciences is Theology. All disciplines must bow to her.
"We no longer believe in Papal infallibility; we seem to believe in the infallibility of the Nobel, though."
I would want to take a Protestant twist on this. I do not believe in the infallibility of the Pope, either, but I do believe in the infallibility of the Bible. And I would further say that the infallibility of the Bible enables me to take great courage over the presumed authority of the Nobel, whether in Science, Literature or any other discipline.
I am still of the opinion that the Queen of the Sciences is Theology. All disciplines must bow to her.
Madness
In the book Black Swan by Nassim Taleb, he quotes Locke on the definition of a madman as "someone reasoning correctly from erroneous premises."
This is a helpful definition for many reasons. Our standard madman "one who continues to do the same things while expecting different results" is certainly a cousin of the madman arguing well from false premises.
The latter madman continues to do this over and over, expecting his hearers to agree with him, even while he produces no new arguments and fails to realize that he, himself, is arguing in such a way that he can never be right,no matter how sound his argument.
This is why being ground in presuppositional apologetics is so vital. We often find ourselves listening to men of the world, men of science, presenting valid and beautifully crafted arguments that fail to convince us of their truth. And what is worse, many Christians then fall to the temptation to participate in these arguments, applying the false premises, in an attempt to convince the opponent.
But a man who is only willing to apply true premises is the only one that come up with the consistently correct answers. Incidentally, this is why deductive reasoning is always superior to inductive reasoning.
So, where do we start? Where are our infallible first principles, first premises? Of course, they are in the only place were we can find ultimate and infallible authority, God's Word, the Holy Bible.
There is a third madman and he is our Christian brother, "one who argues using the premises of his opponent in an attempt to convince him that he is wrong."
The Christian brother who simply borrows the unbeliever's premises for a moment to show him how quickly they devolve into absurdity is not mad. He is wise. But the Christian brother who has adopted the premises of unbelief should just as soon hit himself in the head with a hammer as assume he can convince an unbeliever of truth by using the tools of unbelief.
But how can we start with the Bible if we have to prove the Bible is true in order to convince men to believe it? That is just the point. He has first principles, too, and he makes no attempt to prove them, spontaneous creation, evolution, survival of the fittest, the good of mankind. And when you push him to prove them, he has no place to turn.
But we simply admit that our first principles are God's specific revelation to us. We start there without embarrasment or apology and we move towards man's response to God. We are willing to appeal to our authority and they are unwilling to appeal to their authority.
Let us not be like these madmen, appealing to good arguments with false premises but standing on the Word of God, let us learn to argue faithfully from true premises.
This is a helpful definition for many reasons. Our standard madman "one who continues to do the same things while expecting different results" is certainly a cousin of the madman arguing well from false premises.
The latter madman continues to do this over and over, expecting his hearers to agree with him, even while he produces no new arguments and fails to realize that he, himself, is arguing in such a way that he can never be right,no matter how sound his argument.
This is why being ground in presuppositional apologetics is so vital. We often find ourselves listening to men of the world, men of science, presenting valid and beautifully crafted arguments that fail to convince us of their truth. And what is worse, many Christians then fall to the temptation to participate in these arguments, applying the false premises, in an attempt to convince the opponent.
But a man who is only willing to apply true premises is the only one that come up with the consistently correct answers. Incidentally, this is why deductive reasoning is always superior to inductive reasoning.
So, where do we start? Where are our infallible first principles, first premises? Of course, they are in the only place were we can find ultimate and infallible authority, God's Word, the Holy Bible.
There is a third madman and he is our Christian brother, "one who argues using the premises of his opponent in an attempt to convince him that he is wrong."
The Christian brother who simply borrows the unbeliever's premises for a moment to show him how quickly they devolve into absurdity is not mad. He is wise. But the Christian brother who has adopted the premises of unbelief should just as soon hit himself in the head with a hammer as assume he can convince an unbeliever of truth by using the tools of unbelief.
But how can we start with the Bible if we have to prove the Bible is true in order to convince men to believe it? That is just the point. He has first principles, too, and he makes no attempt to prove them, spontaneous creation, evolution, survival of the fittest, the good of mankind. And when you push him to prove them, he has no place to turn.
But we simply admit that our first principles are God's specific revelation to us. We start there without embarrasment or apology and we move towards man's response to God. We are willing to appeal to our authority and they are unwilling to appeal to their authority.
Let us not be like these madmen, appealing to good arguments with false premises but standing on the Word of God, let us learn to argue faithfully from true premises.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Easter Communion Meditation
Dear Saints, what a day to partake of Jesus. Do not doubt but believe. The Lord is risen and sin and death will never be the same. They are liars from the beginning like their father, the devil. But their usurped power and authority have been gutted of their boasts. Sin cannot control us now. Death cannot defeat us now. Our elder brother has arrived on the scene and the bullies of darkness have been driven to the brink of utter defeat.
We are partakers of this life, now, through the Resurrection of Jesus and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. This is grand and glorious but it is going to get even better. Jesus is the first fruits of the Resurrection. He is alive in Heaven with the Father and is no longer subject to death. One day, we, too will receive Resurrected bodies, never to die again, and then we will be able to heartily laugh at sin and death, for they will be no more.
For now, let us rejoice in hope, even the hope of the joy that is on the other side of sin, sorrow and death. Let us thank our heavenly Father for raising Jesus from the dead, for defeating the devil, sin and death and for giving us a Spiritual down payment of even better things to come.
Jesus was dead but is now alive. Let us eat in His honor.
We are partakers of this life, now, through the Resurrection of Jesus and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. This is grand and glorious but it is going to get even better. Jesus is the first fruits of the Resurrection. He is alive in Heaven with the Father and is no longer subject to death. One day, we, too will receive Resurrected bodies, never to die again, and then we will be able to heartily laugh at sin and death, for they will be no more.
For now, let us rejoice in hope, even the hope of the joy that is on the other side of sin, sorrow and death. Let us thank our heavenly Father for raising Jesus from the dead, for defeating the devil, sin and death and for giving us a Spiritual down payment of even better things to come.
Jesus was dead but is now alive. Let us eat in His honor.
Easter Exhortation
What a great and glorious day! The Lord is risen, indeed! On this joyous day it is almost difficult for us to abase ourselves and confess our sins so great is our joy. The gloom of the dark Friday and Saturday is over and we come into His presence with singing and great joy. But we must also remember that the Lord Jesus died for sinners and rose again to bring them to life.
Our great sin this day would be failing to believe that the Lord Jesus is really alive and that we are really alive in Him. Do not be subject again to the ordinances of men that have no power to overcome the flesh. Rather, walk in the new life and power of Jesus Christ.
Are you overcome? Are you sad? Are you defeated? Are you gloomy? Are you of ill health? Are you of little hope? Are you weak of faith?
Our Lord suffered for all of these frailties and He rose to give you victory over them all. Be not unbelieving but peer into the empty tomb and believe.
Our great sin this day would be failing to believe that the Lord Jesus is really alive and that we are really alive in Him. Do not be subject again to the ordinances of men that have no power to overcome the flesh. Rather, walk in the new life and power of Jesus Christ.
Are you overcome? Are you sad? Are you defeated? Are you gloomy? Are you of ill health? Are you of little hope? Are you weak of faith?
Our Lord suffered for all of these frailties and He rose to give you victory over them all. Be not unbelieving but peer into the empty tomb and believe.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Good Friday Homily
Homily-This Friday is Good
We have come to Friday before Easter, the remembrance of the night of the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus. The long penitential season is drawing to a close, winter has passed, Spring has arrived, and we find ourselves, weak and weary before the Lord.
But, just when we are in our greatest need of relief, we find the greatest barrier. Just when we need to hear that we are forgiven, we are reminded of our complicity with the death of the Lord Jesus. Just when we need to be absolved from our sins, we see them loom menacingly before us in the aspect of a great Roman cross. And our Lord Jesus, who we need to save us, is suffering and dying before us. What are we to do?
We have made it to the day we call Good Friday but there seems to be nothing good in it, except, perhaps, for the fact that it is one day closer to Easter. We want to hurry past this day, past Saturday, and emerge in the victory of Easter, that really Good day. This Friday does not seem so good after all, so why call it good?
These are all very good questions. We find ourselves wondering what could possibly be good about a horrendous murder. What could be good about the rejection of the Son of man? What could be good about suffering, misunderstanding, rejection, betrayal, desertion, fear, despair? We come to this day to call it good but we find ourselves with grief and shame weighed down.
But the day really is good. Hear what the scriptures say.
2 Cor 5:14-15 14 For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: 15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
Why is this day good? It is good because not only has Jesus died but you have died. It is good because you are dead with Jesus on the cross. But, we protest, how can it be good that we are dead with our Lord?
Hear the Word of the Lord, again.
Col 2:13-15 13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; 14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; 15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
This day is good because when Christ died, we died with Him. He died to sin and we died to sin with Him. And that means that sin no longer holds us. All the sins that we were guilty of have also been nailed to the cross with Jesus. The guilty verdict against us was nailed to the cross with Christ.
We tend to look to the cross and continue in our guilt and shame. Our sins, that put him there, rise up against us, too. But that is NOT the story of the cross. Our sins do not rise up against us there. Our sins are there crucified with Christ, our sins are killed and death is killed.
We should admire the work of Jesus. Imagine the superhero stepping in for the less than deserving citizens, undergoing the wrath of his arch- enemy, all for the sake of saving a few unworthy citizens who do not really understand his calling as a superhero. They look on with admiration and thanksgiving because they know that they could not defeat the enemy. They know that they do not have the power to do so. Even if they died in the trying, the enemy would rage on.
Jesus’s work on the cross is like that. He took away the weapons of the enemy. He trampled down their usurped power and proved it on Sunday.
Instead of thinking, what a shame He had to die, we should be thinking, “Thank God one was found willing to sacrifice Himself for His people, for me, one who was an unworthy citizen.”
O, blessed Jesus! O, blessed cross! It is good that You have died and saved me. I will serve you all my days!
1 Thess 5:9-11 9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. 11 Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.
Comfort yourselves, not just in the fact that Sunday is coming but also in the fact that Jesus died for you. This should be a comfort and not a burden. Perhaps we cannot fully see the comfort in it until Sunday but Sunday is coming. And now, knowing that Jesus rose from the dead, we can see that in the cross, in His death, He paid for our sins. So, while the cross is a solemn place, it should be one of great relief. All our debts are paid for there. All of our sins are covered there. Our forgiveness is made, there at the cross. And this being the case, we look forward to the Resurrection of our Lord and the life that He brings, having taken out the debt of sins and death on the cross.
So, let us comfort ourselves, finding peace in the blessed cross of Christ and this Friday that we call Good.
We have come to Friday before Easter, the remembrance of the night of the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus. The long penitential season is drawing to a close, winter has passed, Spring has arrived, and we find ourselves, weak and weary before the Lord.
But, just when we are in our greatest need of relief, we find the greatest barrier. Just when we need to hear that we are forgiven, we are reminded of our complicity with the death of the Lord Jesus. Just when we need to be absolved from our sins, we see them loom menacingly before us in the aspect of a great Roman cross. And our Lord Jesus, who we need to save us, is suffering and dying before us. What are we to do?
We have made it to the day we call Good Friday but there seems to be nothing good in it, except, perhaps, for the fact that it is one day closer to Easter. We want to hurry past this day, past Saturday, and emerge in the victory of Easter, that really Good day. This Friday does not seem so good after all, so why call it good?
These are all very good questions. We find ourselves wondering what could possibly be good about a horrendous murder. What could be good about the rejection of the Son of man? What could be good about suffering, misunderstanding, rejection, betrayal, desertion, fear, despair? We come to this day to call it good but we find ourselves with grief and shame weighed down.
But the day really is good. Hear what the scriptures say.
2 Cor 5:14-15 14 For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: 15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
Why is this day good? It is good because not only has Jesus died but you have died. It is good because you are dead with Jesus on the cross. But, we protest, how can it be good that we are dead with our Lord?
Hear the Word of the Lord, again.
Col 2:13-15 13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; 14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; 15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
This day is good because when Christ died, we died with Him. He died to sin and we died to sin with Him. And that means that sin no longer holds us. All the sins that we were guilty of have also been nailed to the cross with Jesus. The guilty verdict against us was nailed to the cross with Christ.
We tend to look to the cross and continue in our guilt and shame. Our sins, that put him there, rise up against us, too. But that is NOT the story of the cross. Our sins do not rise up against us there. Our sins are there crucified with Christ, our sins are killed and death is killed.
We should admire the work of Jesus. Imagine the superhero stepping in for the less than deserving citizens, undergoing the wrath of his arch- enemy, all for the sake of saving a few unworthy citizens who do not really understand his calling as a superhero. They look on with admiration and thanksgiving because they know that they could not defeat the enemy. They know that they do not have the power to do so. Even if they died in the trying, the enemy would rage on.
Jesus’s work on the cross is like that. He took away the weapons of the enemy. He trampled down their usurped power and proved it on Sunday.
Instead of thinking, what a shame He had to die, we should be thinking, “Thank God one was found willing to sacrifice Himself for His people, for me, one who was an unworthy citizen.”
O, blessed Jesus! O, blessed cross! It is good that You have died and saved me. I will serve you all my days!
1 Thess 5:9-11 9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. 11 Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.
Comfort yourselves, not just in the fact that Sunday is coming but also in the fact that Jesus died for you. This should be a comfort and not a burden. Perhaps we cannot fully see the comfort in it until Sunday but Sunday is coming. And now, knowing that Jesus rose from the dead, we can see that in the cross, in His death, He paid for our sins. So, while the cross is a solemn place, it should be one of great relief. All our debts are paid for there. All of our sins are covered there. Our forgiveness is made, there at the cross. And this being the case, we look forward to the Resurrection of our Lord and the life that He brings, having taken out the debt of sins and death on the cross.
So, let us comfort ourselves, finding peace in the blessed cross of Christ and this Friday that we call Good.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Envy Burns
Envy is almost always at the center of problems: problems among siblings, problems among employees, problems among church members. We tend to look around and see God blessing our neighbor only to have the very next thought be something like, “Why am I not blessed like that?” Then, the really crippling thought, “He doesn’t deserve such blessing.” Then, the fatal thought, “I am going to expose the fact that he does not deserve that blessing.”
You may not let yourself think these thoughts so clearly. After all, you are a Christian. You probably disguise your wicked thoughts and dress them up in some form of righteous zeal to make them decent in good company. Your envy probably looks like better theology, a better understanding of the covenant, a more knowing maturity, or even a high-minded tolerance of such simple and sinful creatures.
Please do not fool yourself. If you are anything but blessed by God’s blessing of others, then you are fighting the temptation to envy or you have already succumbed to the sin. God does not have to consult you before He blesses other people. Let Him determine who is worthy of His blessing and then bless God for it. Any other response comes from a heart that needs to be on its knees in confession.
You may not let yourself think these thoughts so clearly. After all, you are a Christian. You probably disguise your wicked thoughts and dress them up in some form of righteous zeal to make them decent in good company. Your envy probably looks like better theology, a better understanding of the covenant, a more knowing maturity, or even a high-minded tolerance of such simple and sinful creatures.
Please do not fool yourself. If you are anything but blessed by God’s blessing of others, then you are fighting the temptation to envy or you have already succumbed to the sin. God does not have to consult you before He blesses other people. Let Him determine who is worthy of His blessing and then bless God for it. Any other response comes from a heart that needs to be on its knees in confession.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Lent Suggestions
Lent has begun as of Wednesday. In many church traditions, Lent is an important part of the church year, leading up to Holy Week, the dark evening of Good Friday and finally the glory of Easter. It has not been our tradition to practice a great deal of religious observance of Lent. But it is certainly good for us to think about and prepare for our High Feast Day and Season of Easter. A couple of reminders are in order.
First, the spiritual disciplines are always helpful. Prayer, Bible Reading, and Worship are at the foundation of faithful Christian living. We ought to be practicing our discipline on a regular basis. Perhaps this Lenten season is a good time to develop some better habits along these lines. Be faithful and diligent in prayer. Read your Bible on a regular basis, preferably daily. Prepare for corporate Worship and attend expecting God to meet you there in the liturgy, in the sermon, in the Meal and in His saints.
Second, if you choose to purge something from your life as a means of discipline, it would be helpful if the thing you purged was actually sinful and not just delicious. Of course, it is possible to partake of delicious things in a sinful way.
Here are some suggestions of some things to do for Lent.
1. Read the entire New Testament- There are 40 days in Lent. If you read 7 chapters per day, you will read the entire New Testament during Lent. You can easily read 7 chapters in 30 minutes. That would make for a much better informed body at Providence Church and would be a great blessing to each of you.
2. Memorize a passage of Scripture with your family. Just read a few verses after dinner until you all have it down. Pick a passage that is a giant from Scripture. Heb. 11, 1. Cor 15, Rom. 8, John 1, etc.
3. Sundays are not part of Lent. Sunday is always a feast day, not a fast day. So, if you are abstaining from something, maybe something delicious, during Lent, then you should probably partake of that thing on Sunday. (unless that thing is sinful, of course-in which case, STOP all the time!)
4. Look forward to Easter. It is good to do self-examination from time to time. But I would suggest that you do so closely and seriously and especially BRIEFLY. The longer you rummage around down there in the deep recesses of your heart, the more likely you are to get discouraged. But Christ came to strengthen the weak knees and the arms that hang down. So, be honest in confession and repentance and then look away from yourself and to Christ for forgiveness and new life.
First, the spiritual disciplines are always helpful. Prayer, Bible Reading, and Worship are at the foundation of faithful Christian living. We ought to be practicing our discipline on a regular basis. Perhaps this Lenten season is a good time to develop some better habits along these lines. Be faithful and diligent in prayer. Read your Bible on a regular basis, preferably daily. Prepare for corporate Worship and attend expecting God to meet you there in the liturgy, in the sermon, in the Meal and in His saints.
Second, if you choose to purge something from your life as a means of discipline, it would be helpful if the thing you purged was actually sinful and not just delicious. Of course, it is possible to partake of delicious things in a sinful way.
Here are some suggestions of some things to do for Lent.
1. Read the entire New Testament- There are 40 days in Lent. If you read 7 chapters per day, you will read the entire New Testament during Lent. You can easily read 7 chapters in 30 minutes. That would make for a much better informed body at Providence Church and would be a great blessing to each of you.
2. Memorize a passage of Scripture with your family. Just read a few verses after dinner until you all have it down. Pick a passage that is a giant from Scripture. Heb. 11, 1. Cor 15, Rom. 8, John 1, etc.
3. Sundays are not part of Lent. Sunday is always a feast day, not a fast day. So, if you are abstaining from something, maybe something delicious, during Lent, then you should probably partake of that thing on Sunday. (unless that thing is sinful, of course-in which case, STOP all the time!)
4. Look forward to Easter. It is good to do self-examination from time to time. But I would suggest that you do so closely and seriously and especially BRIEFLY. The longer you rummage around down there in the deep recesses of your heart, the more likely you are to get discouraged. But Christ came to strengthen the weak knees and the arms that hang down. So, be honest in confession and repentance and then look away from yourself and to Christ for forgiveness and new life.
Lenten Poem
Lenten Observance
The first day of lent came and went
And all good men should flee from sin
And come to Jesus and repent.
But should the day be a season?
And if so, have you a reason?
Jesus died and rose again.
And rising thus, we live in Him.
To die with Him is all His pain
To live with Him is all our gain.
And in this season of repentance
Let us live in this new sentence.
"Redeemed, justified, and free!"
Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee.
But what ought we to do for Lent?
Should we not give up some thing?
What has a hold upon your heart?
To which muse would you sing?
Would it be to love divine?
Or, is it mostly the stuff of "Mine!?
If to love you bow your knees,
Then in Christ is joy and peace.
But if "Mine!" is the god you seek
Wash in Christ from that foul reek.
And then to love in love proclaim
"Set free from death and sin and shame!"
And with the host of saints around
Rejoice in Christ our Lord, and crown.
The first day of lent came and went
And all good men should flee from sin
And come to Jesus and repent.
But should the day be a season?
And if so, have you a reason?
Jesus died and rose again.
And rising thus, we live in Him.
To die with Him is all His pain
To live with Him is all our gain.
And in this season of repentance
Let us live in this new sentence.
"Redeemed, justified, and free!"
Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee.
But what ought we to do for Lent?
Should we not give up some thing?
What has a hold upon your heart?
To which muse would you sing?
Would it be to love divine?
Or, is it mostly the stuff of "Mine!?
If to love you bow your knees,
Then in Christ is joy and peace.
But if "Mine!" is the god you seek
Wash in Christ from that foul reek.
And then to love in love proclaim
"Set free from death and sin and shame!"
And with the host of saints around
Rejoice in Christ our Lord, and crown.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Pray what you mean
This was my Minister's Prayer of Confession in our last worship service.
Minister Prayer of Confession- Our Father, we praise You for sending Jesus to us. Forgive us Lord if we express any disappointment in Him and His gifts to us through a lack of gratitude. Teach us to plan and anticipate the future but to learn to rest in whatsoever comes to pass. We rejoice in Your goodness to us and pray that You will enable us to see it at every twist and turn of the events in our lives.
I am challenged to see God's goodness to us and to me, in every twist and turn of the events of our lives.
Since I prayed that prayer, I crashed my car and my ribs. It was two separate incidents. All good things come in threes. What is next? Neither the car nor the ribs are too painfully damaged but painfully enough to have to respond to God's Providence. Oh, perhaps my ego and pride are damaged but that always does them good. Is God's Providence good? Is it full of joy, somehow, through the wreckage of unforeseen events? Or, more accurately, through the shadowed veil of unfortunate events? Unfortunate? Maybe God's good fortune is precisely through such events?
But God is good and He would have us see His goodness, even through expensive wrecks and stupid falls on the sledding hill. He is overseeing our lives and the seemingly unimportant and unlucky events are all part of His plan to lead us in and onto glory. We do grow from glory to glory, from day to day, from crash to crash.
Many of you have had events this last year that caused you stop and wonder if God is planning anything at all. How come you can so easily seem to interrupt and alter his plans? I'll bet He didn't see this coming? No? And if not, is that not unsettling? It unsettles me. Then I have to deal with the fact that God does know what is happening, what is necessary for me and how to turn it all to my good and to His glory. And so we honor Him and rest in His goodness and His Providence, the bitter as well as the sweet, for our good God is a consuming fire. He is our Father and is lovingly producing in us a vessel of honor, tried and purified. To God be the glory.
Minister Prayer of Confession- Our Father, we praise You for sending Jesus to us. Forgive us Lord if we express any disappointment in Him and His gifts to us through a lack of gratitude. Teach us to plan and anticipate the future but to learn to rest in whatsoever comes to pass. We rejoice in Your goodness to us and pray that You will enable us to see it at every twist and turn of the events in our lives.
I am challenged to see God's goodness to us and to me, in every twist and turn of the events of our lives.
Since I prayed that prayer, I crashed my car and my ribs. It was two separate incidents. All good things come in threes. What is next? Neither the car nor the ribs are too painfully damaged but painfully enough to have to respond to God's Providence. Oh, perhaps my ego and pride are damaged but that always does them good. Is God's Providence good? Is it full of joy, somehow, through the wreckage of unforeseen events? Or, more accurately, through the shadowed veil of unfortunate events? Unfortunate? Maybe God's good fortune is precisely through such events?
But God is good and He would have us see His goodness, even through expensive wrecks and stupid falls on the sledding hill. He is overseeing our lives and the seemingly unimportant and unlucky events are all part of His plan to lead us in and onto glory. We do grow from glory to glory, from day to day, from crash to crash.
Many of you have had events this last year that caused you stop and wonder if God is planning anything at all. How come you can so easily seem to interrupt and alter his plans? I'll bet He didn't see this coming? No? And if not, is that not unsettling? It unsettles me. Then I have to deal with the fact that God does know what is happening, what is necessary for me and how to turn it all to my good and to His glory. And so we honor Him and rest in His goodness and His Providence, the bitter as well as the sweet, for our good God is a consuming fire. He is our Father and is lovingly producing in us a vessel of honor, tried and purified. To God be the glory.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Original Intent- David Barton
Original Intent by David Barton is a must read for every Christian. Barton recounts numerous founding documents and cases that establish the blatantly Christian heritage of our nation. Only in recent times, mainly the last 50 or 60 years, have Americans been willing to jettison our heritage and acquiesce to the whims of liberal historical revisionists and cow tow to the activist judicial system.
This book will give renewed courage and an unapologetic apologetic for our Christian roots, the place of Christian religion in the public sphere both in the courts and in our education system, and hope that the liberal interpretation of America's past is patently refutable.
This book ought to be required reading in every law school. That is unlikely, but our Christian law schools must insist that their students know this history and are able to articulate it in the face of a culture seeking to cut the past off from the present and the future. Such a tactic is sure to bring God's ire and it appears that this has already begun.
One of the great national sins in the Scriptures is forgetting; forgetting God's blessings, forgetting to honor His name, forgetting to count on Him for the future. In recent years, our national leaders, especially in the executive and judicial branches, have self-consciously cut God off from the public sphere. Christians must once again stand for the truth that Jesus Christ is the rightful ruler of these united States of America. We must remember and repent and then take action, standing confidently on God's Word and in the public square. Perhaps God will see fit to rain down His blessings upon us anew.
This book will give renewed courage and an unapologetic apologetic for our Christian roots, the place of Christian religion in the public sphere both in the courts and in our education system, and hope that the liberal interpretation of America's past is patently refutable.
This book ought to be required reading in every law school. That is unlikely, but our Christian law schools must insist that their students know this history and are able to articulate it in the face of a culture seeking to cut the past off from the present and the future. Such a tactic is sure to bring God's ire and it appears that this has already begun.
One of the great national sins in the Scriptures is forgetting; forgetting God's blessings, forgetting to honor His name, forgetting to count on Him for the future. In recent years, our national leaders, especially in the executive and judicial branches, have self-consciously cut God off from the public sphere. Christians must once again stand for the truth that Jesus Christ is the rightful ruler of these united States of America. We must remember and repent and then take action, standing confidently on God's Word and in the public square. Perhaps God will see fit to rain down His blessings upon us anew.
Dismissed with Prejudice- Christopher Meyerhoeffer
Just finished a novel by an old acquaintance of mine from Twin Falls, Idaho. The book is Dismissed with Prejudice and the author is Christopher Meyerhoeffer.
It was Christopher's first novel and he does a good job. The book is in the John Grisham genre, a legal and criminal thriller. One of the intriguing aspects of the book for me is that it was set in Southern Idaho, where both Christopher (he was a few years older than me) and I grew up. The places and scenes are familiar.
The novel is about a long history of manipulation of the court system by two ambitious lawyers and a couple of cops willing to be bought for a price.
The main character is a civil lawyer, Nick Jelaco, with a Delta Force military background. He is capable of handling himself with his hands and his gun. His wife is murdered and his three year old daughter is abducted. The story is about his desperate attempts to find his daughter and the sordid story that unravels as he does so. The chase involves an interesting character, an enormous Sioux Indian, that Meyerhoeffer paints as a somewhat sympathetic character, even though his actions are despicable. It works. You want to hate the man but find yourself sympathetic due to the pathetic history that created such a beast.
Although I have not read many books in this genre (a few Grisham books and a few others), I appreciated Meyerhoeffer's comparative tastefulness in the book. He could have filled the pages with gory descriptions that would have made entertaining reading for many in our voyeuristic culture. He refrained and did the reader a kind service.
I got the book for Christmas (given by my brother-in-law, longtime close friend of the author's brother) and finished it today. Obviously, the story held my attention. The writing was good for a first published novel. I'd say Christopher acquitted himself quite well. There were lucid chapters and I kept turning pages. I am sure his subsequent forays will be even better.
It was Christopher's first novel and he does a good job. The book is in the John Grisham genre, a legal and criminal thriller. One of the intriguing aspects of the book for me is that it was set in Southern Idaho, where both Christopher (he was a few years older than me) and I grew up. The places and scenes are familiar.
The novel is about a long history of manipulation of the court system by two ambitious lawyers and a couple of cops willing to be bought for a price.
The main character is a civil lawyer, Nick Jelaco, with a Delta Force military background. He is capable of handling himself with his hands and his gun. His wife is murdered and his three year old daughter is abducted. The story is about his desperate attempts to find his daughter and the sordid story that unravels as he does so. The chase involves an interesting character, an enormous Sioux Indian, that Meyerhoeffer paints as a somewhat sympathetic character, even though his actions are despicable. It works. You want to hate the man but find yourself sympathetic due to the pathetic history that created such a beast.
Although I have not read many books in this genre (a few Grisham books and a few others), I appreciated Meyerhoeffer's comparative tastefulness in the book. He could have filled the pages with gory descriptions that would have made entertaining reading for many in our voyeuristic culture. He refrained and did the reader a kind service.
I got the book for Christmas (given by my brother-in-law, longtime close friend of the author's brother) and finished it today. Obviously, the story held my attention. The writing was good for a first published novel. I'd say Christopher acquitted himself quite well. There were lucid chapters and I kept turning pages. I am sure his subsequent forays will be even better.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Contest books are gone
Hey Folks,
The Slave books by MacArthur are all claimed. Thanks for participating!!
The Slave books by MacArthur are all claimed. Thanks for participating!!
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Communion Meditation-His name is Jesus
Jospeh called His name Jesus because He was to be the Savior of His people. At Christmas, the baby Jesus, wise men worshiping, shepherds watching and angels singing are all a part of the glory and beauty of Christmas.
But innkeepers turning out pregnant women and Herod killing the babies is part of the Christmas story, too. How could God’s good world become so wretched? Because the people worshiped and served that which is not God. They exchanged the truth for a lie and that resulted in envy and murder and every other conceivable sin.
God had the answer, though. He would come as Emmanuel and dwell with His people. He would teach them of His ways. He would die to pay for their sins. He would send the Holy Spirit to keep them from lurching back into idolatrous rebellion. God would be their champion and save His people from their sins and the death that their sins bring.
Jesus is indeed the Savior. He saves us from our sins. His perfect life and death are the means by which we gain this great salvation. Glory be to God in the highest.
But innkeepers turning out pregnant women and Herod killing the babies is part of the Christmas story, too. How could God’s good world become so wretched? Because the people worshiped and served that which is not God. They exchanged the truth for a lie and that resulted in envy and murder and every other conceivable sin.
God had the answer, though. He would come as Emmanuel and dwell with His people. He would teach them of His ways. He would die to pay for their sins. He would send the Holy Spirit to keep them from lurching back into idolatrous rebellion. God would be their champion and save His people from their sins and the death that their sins bring.
Jesus is indeed the Savior. He saves us from our sins. His perfect life and death are the means by which we gain this great salvation. Glory be to God in the highest.
Exhortation-Christmas is Coming!
Christmas is coming! It will be here on Saturday. The presents are under the tree, or will be, and the children are having a hard time restraining themselves. Anticipation is growing and everyone wonders what the morning will bring.
And then it finally happens, Christmas Eve arrives, we finally get to bed, try to sleep or try to stay awake, and then the morning finally comes. It’s Christmas, Christmas presents, Christmas breakfast and Christmas feast.
This is all wondrous and glorious and we are reluctant to even interrupt the moment with the remembrance of sin. But the glory of it all is that Jesus came to Earth to save us from our sins.
Israel had waited for the Savior for many ages past. He finally arrived and He was just the baby boy of a carpenter, so it seemed, and of a young woman with a recent questionable past. They may have been disappointed with such a Savior, not understanding how He could save them from their sins. But God revealed it all in due time.
God gives us Jesus and we must not be disappointed with Him. He is all that we need and we are to be completely satisfied with this Savior. Our hearts must be filled with gratitude for Him and we must learn to extend such gratitude into all the corners of our lives.
And then it finally happens, Christmas Eve arrives, we finally get to bed, try to sleep or try to stay awake, and then the morning finally comes. It’s Christmas, Christmas presents, Christmas breakfast and Christmas feast.
This is all wondrous and glorious and we are reluctant to even interrupt the moment with the remembrance of sin. But the glory of it all is that Jesus came to Earth to save us from our sins.
Israel had waited for the Savior for many ages past. He finally arrived and He was just the baby boy of a carpenter, so it seemed, and of a young woman with a recent questionable past. They may have been disappointed with such a Savior, not understanding how He could save them from their sins. But God revealed it all in due time.
God gives us Jesus and we must not be disappointed with Him. He is all that we need and we are to be completely satisfied with this Savior. Our hearts must be filled with gratitude for Him and we must learn to extend such gratitude into all the corners of our lives.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Slave-Free Books!
Thomas Nelson has graciously provided some free books to help promote MacArthur's new title, Slave, The Hidden Truth About Your Identity in Christ.
I highly recommend this book.
To receive your book, answer the following question in an email to vrhurt@hotmail.com.
I only have five books to give away so the first five responders, (all five of you who read this blog!) will receive a book!
How many times does the Greek word 'doulos' appear in the New Testament?
I highly recommend this book.
To receive your book, answer the following question in an email to vrhurt@hotmail.com.
I only have five books to give away so the first five responders, (all five of you who read this blog!) will receive a book!
How many times does the Greek word 'doulos' appear in the New Testament?
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Slave by John MacArthur
MacArthur's newest title, Slave-The Hidden Truth About Your Identity in Christ, is a must read.
The main thesis of the book is that we ought to identify with Christ primarily as His slaves. This identification has profound implications in our relationship to the Lord as well as to sin.
The opening pages of Slave put forth a strong argument that the Greek 'doulos' should always and only be rendered as the English 'slave.' The Geneva Bible and the KJV generally render 'doulos' as 'servant'. There were perhaps compelling reasons for doing so in the 16th and 17th centuries. It was thought that 'slave' would not adequately represent ancient Roman slavery. In the late medieval world, servants, were not much better than slaves. However, in our modern vernacular, 'servant' does not carry the weight of slavery, at all. Servants are voluntary, come for their hire, are independent and so forth.
So, while our conceptions of slavery may not perfectly fit the Roman idea of slavery, it is much more akin to that idea than to the modern idea of servant.
We are, in fact, bought by Christ. We are His slaves. We have no personal rights of our own. We are not free men. Furthermore, our ownership has been transferred. We used to be slaves of sin. We had to serve that master. But now, we are slaves of Christ, having to serve Him. In this paradoxical way of thinking, the slave of sin is not free. But the slave of Christ, the slave of righteousness is the only one who is free.
This changes the meaning of many passages in the New Testament that are rendered servant. Of the 124 appearances of 'doulos' in the New Testament, the KJV translates it 'slave' only one time. The rest are servant. We must dramatically rethink our connection to Christ.
Having set this stage, MacArthur moves on to examine a great deal of Scripture in light of this change of meaning. He does this while walking through the doctrines of grace. In fact, this process creates an entirely new and refreshing way of thinking about how we relate to God as totally depraved, unconditionally chosen by Him, related to Christ by His atonement, called to Him by His powerful grace, and kept by Him until the day of redemption of our bodies.
MacArthur does not forget that the New Testament also describes us as the children of God, adopted into His family and kingdom. He does this, while also pointing out that the writers of the Epistles still regularly use the slave language, long after Jesus has raised us up from slaves to children and joint heirs. Furthermore, he gives a wide testimony of the early Church that also prolifically used slave language to describe our standing in Christ.
Many early Christians held the statement, "I am a Christian" to be nearly synonymous with the idea that "I am Christ's slave." When we think of Christ as Lord, Kyrios, we should think of Him as Master, a slave owner. So, in addition to the manifold number of times we see 'doulos', slave, in the New Testament, we also see Jesus as Lord, Kyrios, the Master. The New Testament is full of this language of Master and Slave.
If we understand ourselves as the adopted children of God, we do so, understanding also that we have been raised to that position, from the position of being abject slaves. This ought to produce in us a far greater level of gratitude to the One that is both our Savior and our Lord and Master. It is a privilege to be His slave.
This book would be an exceptional group study for discussion. I highly recommend it.
The main thesis of the book is that we ought to identify with Christ primarily as His slaves. This identification has profound implications in our relationship to the Lord as well as to sin.
The opening pages of Slave put forth a strong argument that the Greek 'doulos' should always and only be rendered as the English 'slave.' The Geneva Bible and the KJV generally render 'doulos' as 'servant'. There were perhaps compelling reasons for doing so in the 16th and 17th centuries. It was thought that 'slave' would not adequately represent ancient Roman slavery. In the late medieval world, servants, were not much better than slaves. However, in our modern vernacular, 'servant' does not carry the weight of slavery, at all. Servants are voluntary, come for their hire, are independent and so forth.
So, while our conceptions of slavery may not perfectly fit the Roman idea of slavery, it is much more akin to that idea than to the modern idea of servant.
We are, in fact, bought by Christ. We are His slaves. We have no personal rights of our own. We are not free men. Furthermore, our ownership has been transferred. We used to be slaves of sin. We had to serve that master. But now, we are slaves of Christ, having to serve Him. In this paradoxical way of thinking, the slave of sin is not free. But the slave of Christ, the slave of righteousness is the only one who is free.
This changes the meaning of many passages in the New Testament that are rendered servant. Of the 124 appearances of 'doulos' in the New Testament, the KJV translates it 'slave' only one time. The rest are servant. We must dramatically rethink our connection to Christ.
Having set this stage, MacArthur moves on to examine a great deal of Scripture in light of this change of meaning. He does this while walking through the doctrines of grace. In fact, this process creates an entirely new and refreshing way of thinking about how we relate to God as totally depraved, unconditionally chosen by Him, related to Christ by His atonement, called to Him by His powerful grace, and kept by Him until the day of redemption of our bodies.
MacArthur does not forget that the New Testament also describes us as the children of God, adopted into His family and kingdom. He does this, while also pointing out that the writers of the Epistles still regularly use the slave language, long after Jesus has raised us up from slaves to children and joint heirs. Furthermore, he gives a wide testimony of the early Church that also prolifically used slave language to describe our standing in Christ.
Many early Christians held the statement, "I am a Christian" to be nearly synonymous with the idea that "I am Christ's slave." When we think of Christ as Lord, Kyrios, we should think of Him as Master, a slave owner. So, in addition to the manifold number of times we see 'doulos', slave, in the New Testament, we also see Jesus as Lord, Kyrios, the Master. The New Testament is full of this language of Master and Slave.
If we understand ourselves as the adopted children of God, we do so, understanding also that we have been raised to that position, from the position of being abject slaves. This ought to produce in us a far greater level of gratitude to the One that is both our Savior and our Lord and Master. It is a privilege to be His slave.
This book would be an exceptional group study for discussion. I highly recommend it.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Communion Meditation- And the Government is upon His Shoulders
And the government shall be upon His shoulders. We embrace the crucified Jesus. But that is not the same thing as embracing the dead Jesus. We are not loyal to Jesus that way some people are still loyal to Elvis.
One of the glories of communion is the testimony that we give each Lord’s day. We show the Lord’s death, till He come. For the early disciples, there may have been a temptation to cover up the death of Jesus.
You serve Jesus? We saw Him crucified on Calvary.
But the correct Christian response is, “I am not ashamed of the cross of Christ.” It was necessary that He die but He is not dead.
That second part is what is hard to believe. He is not dead. But dead is dead. So, the cross becomes, to Greeks, foolishness, to Jews, a stumbling block, but to those who believe, the power of a changed life.
We are not ashamed of the death of Christ. In that death, He defeated sin and death. He conquered principalities and powers. He bought the salvation of His people. We are not holding on to some nostalgic era, dead and gone. We embrace the cross because He lives and has ascended to His throne until all dominions also recognize and believe.
And the government is upon His shoulders.
One of the glories of communion is the testimony that we give each Lord’s day. We show the Lord’s death, till He come. For the early disciples, there may have been a temptation to cover up the death of Jesus.
You serve Jesus? We saw Him crucified on Calvary.
But the correct Christian response is, “I am not ashamed of the cross of Christ.” It was necessary that He die but He is not dead.
That second part is what is hard to believe. He is not dead. But dead is dead. So, the cross becomes, to Greeks, foolishness, to Jews, a stumbling block, but to those who believe, the power of a changed life.
We are not ashamed of the death of Christ. In that death, He defeated sin and death. He conquered principalities and powers. He bought the salvation of His people. We are not holding on to some nostalgic era, dead and gone. We embrace the cross because He lives and has ascended to His throne until all dominions also recognize and believe.
And the government is upon His shoulders.
Communion Meditation- Witness
Once the Holy Spirit came in power at Pentecost, the disciples were emboldened to declare the gospel message to the world. They went out proclaiming the Lordship of Jesus Christ. And everywhere they went, their message was attested to with accompanying signs. The gospel is not just a message, words on paper, but it is a message with power. In the early days of the Church, that power was miraculous, in healings, casting out demons, power over vipers. And now that the attesting miracles have ceased, the power is the power of changed lives; men and women turned from darkness to light. power to resist sin and temptation, power to stand against the world’s schemes for education, child-rearing, marriage, and power to stand in holiness in a life transformed by Jesus Christ.
We are called to be witnesses. And what we do here in this meal, testifies to the world that we are Christians and that we believe, not only in a risen Savior, who gives us victory over death, but also in a crucified savior, who died on our behalf. We do not shrink from the foolishness of the cross but embrace it because it means that we have been set free from our sins to live new lives in the risen Savior. To God be the glory forever. Amen.
We are called to be witnesses. And what we do here in this meal, testifies to the world that we are Christians and that we believe, not only in a risen Savior, who gives us victory over death, but also in a crucified savior, who died on our behalf. We do not shrink from the foolishness of the cross but embrace it because it means that we have been set free from our sins to live new lives in the risen Savior. To God be the glory forever. Amen.
Exhortation-Third Sunday of Advent
On this Third Sunday of Advent, we are still waiting. We have begun our celebrations and look forward to the festivity and the fellowship. We are thinking of presents, both giving and receiving and we are hoping to please those we give to and are reminding ourselves to be pleased with the gifts that we are given.
As we prepare for Christmas, we should be doing some soul searching of our own. What has God given us? And what have you given Him?
We all know that God has given His own dear Son. He gave Him to us as the greatest gift the world has ever known. It was a gift, the gift that saved the world, darkened in sin. For only God could take away the sins of the world. And He has done so. Amen!
But what have you given Him? Have you given Him your time? Your money? Your actions? Your words? Your hopes? Your good deeds? Your hidden sins? Your spouse? Your children? Your troubles? Your solutions?
The fact of the matter is that the Lord owns you. You are bought with a price and have become His slave. All rights are relinquished to the King of Heaven who has come to Earth to establish His kingdom here and rule His subjects.
Have you given Him the only thing that your really have to offer? Have you completely given Him yourself?
As we prepare for Christmas, we should be doing some soul searching of our own. What has God given us? And what have you given Him?
We all know that God has given His own dear Son. He gave Him to us as the greatest gift the world has ever known. It was a gift, the gift that saved the world, darkened in sin. For only God could take away the sins of the world. And He has done so. Amen!
But what have you given Him? Have you given Him your time? Your money? Your actions? Your words? Your hopes? Your good deeds? Your hidden sins? Your spouse? Your children? Your troubles? Your solutions?
The fact of the matter is that the Lord owns you. You are bought with a price and have become His slave. All rights are relinquished to the King of Heaven who has come to Earth to establish His kingdom here and rule His subjects.
Have you given Him the only thing that your really have to offer? Have you completely given Him yourself?
Exhortation- Second Sunday of Advent
On this Second Sunday of Advent, we have become more aware of waiting for Christmas. Waiting is something that many of us don’t do well. One way we fail is to be impatient. Our time clock is ticking at a different pace than everyone else’s. Time bothers us so people who mess with time bother us, too. We call that impatience and impatience is NOT a virtue.
But another response about time is simply not to care. You are only concerned about yourself and are oblivious to everything that is going on around you. Frankly, it doesn’t even matter to you as long as you are doing exactly what you want to be doing, right now.
Both responses are unacceptable. Impatience won’t do, nor will a selfish complacence. So, what are we to do?
We are called to wait upon the Lord. We do this with our eyes wide open, hastening for the day of good things. We prepare ourselves for His advent, ready to embrace Him and whatever He brings to us. But part of that preparation is learning to operate on the Lord’s time and not on our own time frame. We have to learn to wait, eagerly, yes, but patiently, trusting that the Lord does all things well and at just the right time.
We learn much about waiting in our own personal lives and we can apply this to waiting on the Lord. We should learn the lessons and repent and change when we fail. But God is at work in us in this as well.
But another response about time is simply not to care. You are only concerned about yourself and are oblivious to everything that is going on around you. Frankly, it doesn’t even matter to you as long as you are doing exactly what you want to be doing, right now.
Both responses are unacceptable. Impatience won’t do, nor will a selfish complacence. So, what are we to do?
We are called to wait upon the Lord. We do this with our eyes wide open, hastening for the day of good things. We prepare ourselves for His advent, ready to embrace Him and whatever He brings to us. But part of that preparation is learning to operate on the Lord’s time and not on our own time frame. We have to learn to wait, eagerly, yes, but patiently, trusting that the Lord does all things well and at just the right time.
We learn much about waiting in our own personal lives and we can apply this to waiting on the Lord. We should learn the lessons and repent and change when we fail. But God is at work in us in this as well.
Exhortation-First Sunday of Advent
Today is the first day of Advent. This time marks a period of waiting for God’s promises to come. This is a good practice. I am thankful that we all look forward to Christmas with eager anticipation. God’s people have always done so and God has always fulfilled His promises.
He promised children to Adam and Eve and a son to replace Abel after the murder by wicked Cain. He promised children to Noah’s sons. Isaac was a child of promise to an old and empty womb. Hannah believed God and He gave the barren woman a son. But Israel grew old again, not believing the promises, unable to bear true sons, a barren womb in a dwindling kingdom.
But yet some waited for the consolation of Israel and God was faithful to His promise. Elizabeth believed God and He gave her a son, the forerunner of the Lord. Mary believed and the virgin bore a Son, One who would take away the sins of God’s people.
Always, God’s people wait upon Him to fulfill His promises and He always does. The Savior has come but comes again to us every time we call upon Him to save us from our sins. He is ever faithful. Only believe.
He promised children to Adam and Eve and a son to replace Abel after the murder by wicked Cain. He promised children to Noah’s sons. Isaac was a child of promise to an old and empty womb. Hannah believed God and He gave the barren woman a son. But Israel grew old again, not believing the promises, unable to bear true sons, a barren womb in a dwindling kingdom.
But yet some waited for the consolation of Israel and God was faithful to His promise. Elizabeth believed God and He gave her a son, the forerunner of the Lord. Mary believed and the virgin bore a Son, One who would take away the sins of God’s people.
Always, God’s people wait upon Him to fulfill His promises and He always does. The Savior has come but comes again to us every time we call upon Him to save us from our sins. He is ever faithful. Only believe.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Exhortation to Augustine Presbytery
Exhortation from the Presiding Minister
Ephesians 3:20-4:32
Lynchburg, Virginia
October 21, 2010
Gentlemen,
We have many things to discuss today. This passage gives us some insight into how these things ought to be done. The apostle has just spent three chapters climbing the theological high ground. And then that theological high ground leads to his assertions of practical Christianity. Not just doing things decently and in good order. The theological high grounds lead to the intensely practical Christian behavior of being kind, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.
Brothers, what are we doing here? We must be reminded. We are shepherds of God’s people. The reason we are here is so that we may be equipped in Christ’s Church to care for His sheep. Do not lose sight of that.
Pastor Douglas Wilson was just in Lynchburg for a debate and conference and he told us about a famous essay of G.K. Chesterton. Calls had gone out for essays to address the question, “What is wrong with the world?” There were numerous submissions and I want to read Chesterton’s short response to you. What is wrong with the World? Chesterton answers in two words. I am.
Gentlemen, the sooner we get to that answer the better we will be equipped to serve the Lord, the world and our own congregations. St. Paul understood this, St. Paul, the aged, the chief of sinners.
Brothers, I cannot speak for you but what is wrong with the world? What is wrong with husbands? What is wrong with fathers? With Pastors? With Sons? With friends? I know the answer. I am.
We have some important items on our agenda today. We are receiving churches into the CREC. This is joyous. We are to support them and keep them accountable. We have overtures that call the Presbytery to look at itself and its actions. We are considering a name change for the CREC.
Emotions and opinions run at different levels on all of these things. Some of these actions and decisions have large ramifications. Others, not so much. And we must confess our own ignorance as to whether these things are even truly important in the long view of Christ’s Kingdom. We will know in 10 or 20 or perhaps 100 or 500 years, when you are all dead and gone. Humility is in order.
But if we be humble men, and we must be, then we will be able to treat all of these things and the men that present them, as we should. We should be able to speak the truth in love. Let us show true Christian maturity in our actions and attitudes towards one another.
In closing, Let me ask you this question. What is wrong with Augustine Presbytery? I know the answer to that question. Do you?
Ephesians 3:20-4:32
Lynchburg, Virginia
October 21, 2010
Gentlemen,
We have many things to discuss today. This passage gives us some insight into how these things ought to be done. The apostle has just spent three chapters climbing the theological high ground. And then that theological high ground leads to his assertions of practical Christianity. Not just doing things decently and in good order. The theological high grounds lead to the intensely practical Christian behavior of being kind, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.
Brothers, what are we doing here? We must be reminded. We are shepherds of God’s people. The reason we are here is so that we may be equipped in Christ’s Church to care for His sheep. Do not lose sight of that.
Pastor Douglas Wilson was just in Lynchburg for a debate and conference and he told us about a famous essay of G.K. Chesterton. Calls had gone out for essays to address the question, “What is wrong with the world?” There were numerous submissions and I want to read Chesterton’s short response to you. What is wrong with the World? Chesterton answers in two words. I am.
Gentlemen, the sooner we get to that answer the better we will be equipped to serve the Lord, the world and our own congregations. St. Paul understood this, St. Paul, the aged, the chief of sinners.
Brothers, I cannot speak for you but what is wrong with the world? What is wrong with husbands? What is wrong with fathers? With Pastors? With Sons? With friends? I know the answer. I am.
We have some important items on our agenda today. We are receiving churches into the CREC. This is joyous. We are to support them and keep them accountable. We have overtures that call the Presbytery to look at itself and its actions. We are considering a name change for the CREC.
Emotions and opinions run at different levels on all of these things. Some of these actions and decisions have large ramifications. Others, not so much. And we must confess our own ignorance as to whether these things are even truly important in the long view of Christ’s Kingdom. We will know in 10 or 20 or perhaps 100 or 500 years, when you are all dead and gone. Humility is in order.
But if we be humble men, and we must be, then we will be able to treat all of these things and the men that present them, as we should. We should be able to speak the truth in love. Let us show true Christian maturity in our actions and attitudes towards one another.
In closing, Let me ask you this question. What is wrong with Augustine Presbytery? I know the answer to that question. Do you?
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
The Seven Deadly Sins- John T. Mabray
Just finished The Seven Deadly Sins by my friend and fellow Lynchburg pastor, John T. Mabray. The book was the outgrowth of a sermon series delivered by Pastor Mabray at Rivermont EPC here in Lynchburg.
Mabray does an excellent job of exploring this classic set of sins. In doing so, he thoroughly covers the second table of the law. The writing is very good.
Pastor Mabray shows an infectious zeal for the grace of Christ. He preaches strongly against sins while exhorting the reader to the ever abundant grace of Christ both for forgiveness as well as the strength of the Holy Spirit for daily faithful living.
Each chapter has an extremely helpful list of confessions that really leaves no stone unturned and no excuses reserved for sinning against God in the areas of Pride, Envy, Anger, Sloth, Greed, Gluttony and Lust.
I think this is an excellent Biblical, Pastoral and Practical book.
You can find it here.
Well done.
Mabray does an excellent job of exploring this classic set of sins. In doing so, he thoroughly covers the second table of the law. The writing is very good.
Pastor Mabray shows an infectious zeal for the grace of Christ. He preaches strongly against sins while exhorting the reader to the ever abundant grace of Christ both for forgiveness as well as the strength of the Holy Spirit for daily faithful living.
Each chapter has an extremely helpful list of confessions that really leaves no stone unturned and no excuses reserved for sinning against God in the areas of Pride, Envy, Anger, Sloth, Greed, Gluttony and Lust.
I think this is an excellent Biblical, Pastoral and Practical book.
You can find it here.
Well done.
Wednesday, June 02, 2010
Home School Commencement Address 2010
Commencement Address 2010
Elizabeth and Zachary Hurt
It is my privilege and honor to be speaking to you today. I’ve only got so many kids and so many opportunities to pontificate. My children are even conspiring against me, lumping two opportunities into one and reducing my number of captured audiences. You can thank them after the ceremony but you will still have to sit through my comments.
Bringing up children is no easy task. To do it well is harder still. This talk is not about ringing my own bell, or for trumpeting the great virtues and abilities of my lovely wife. But having demurred for a second, I do offer you the proof that we have accomplished the task that was set before us. I give you the proof, the fruit of our efforts, Elizabeth and Zachary. I commend them to you as fine examples of Christian virtue and academic excellence. At first hearing, this may seem like self-serving braggadocio. WE must be really smart. Look at our great kids!
And while we are very proud of them, bragging about ourselves is not the point at all. As I have tried to teach the members of our church, acquiring wisdom is something that is expected of all Christians and Christian parents in particular. Getting wisdom is a command from the Lord. Wisdom cries from the streets, “Come in here. I will teach you.” Wisdom is not something out there for the supper smart, the highly educated, the wonderfully advantaged. Wisdom is granted by God to all those who will seek her diligently and having found wisdom, will love her, obeying her ways.
We do have great kids. I am not afraid to say that. As parents, our greatest delight is to see our children, to see them love the Lord, to see them love books, to see them learn wisdom, to watch them grow up, and thus, to receive the fruits of our labors.
Did we expect anything less than this? No, we did not. We have received that which we hoped for. We have been given the desires of our hearts. Having got what we expected, does this make us arrogant, prideful, or even super successful? No, it does not. Remember, we have been given the desires of our heart. Given. It is a gift from God. All that we have, our marriage, our home, our children, our joy, is a gift. And these children, these good children are also a gift. Who would brag about a gift, except to laud the Giver? We did not give ourselves this gift. God gave it to us. So, our task is to thank Him, not bask in the glory of such wonder.
But how does this affect you? What is the purpose of such an address to those who hear these words? Well, wisdom cries out. Can you hear her? Wisdom wants to give you the gift. Will you take her up on it? God has given us the way to joy and to see our children walking in the blessedness of His glory. What will you do?
Please do not misunderstand me. I am not advocating a vending machine approach to God. You don’t just buy wisdom, or bribe God into keeping His promise by doing what is right. He is not obligated to be manipulated by you. Many try that route only to find great frustration in having done everything right, at least in their own minds, only to be forced to eat rotten eggs at the end of the day. How can God’s gift of wisdom be spoiled into something so rancid?
The key is faith, not works. But don’t we have to do what God told us to do in order to receive the rewards that He promised? Well, yes and no. God has made promises to you. He makes covenant with you and with your children, even to a thousand generations. He has also told you to train up your children. He has told you to bring them up in Christian nurture and admonition. So, which is it? Does God bless me because of His promises or because I train my children according to His rule. And I would want to say to you, “Yes” but there is a chicken and an egg.
The chicken came first, we all know that. And God’s Chicken is Faith. Do you believe God’s promises? Yes? How do we know? Well, if you believe Him, then you do what He tells you to do. And, having done so, you receive the promised blessings. So, is the gift then of Works? God forbid you should say such a thing. Works don’t create faith but faith works. This may sound a bit riddle-ish but it really is not that hard. If you really believe God, then you will do what He has told you to do. Granted, you will not do it perfectly but believing God includes confessing and repenting for your shortcomings and sins. He blesses those who do so.
We must believe God when it comes to raising our children. It is the central thing in giving them a Christian education. Do you love God? Do you trust in His promises? Is your home a place where trust, peace and rest are the central identifying qualities? If so, then you are already receiving the gift, the blessing of children, education, wisdom, and joy.
If not, then what is the problem? Do you need more rules? Higher expectations? A better liturgy of the school day? Are you boiling your children in their mother’s milk? Is what they ought to love a dread to them? Or is it a delight? If it is a delight, then you are accomplishing the goal of educating your children in the Lord. If it is not a delight, then you do not need to clamp down with more life straining rules. You must believe God. You must bolster your faith. You must take Him at His promises. As you do this, you will find that the rest and peace necessary to make a house a home begins to flow into or back into your household.
You cannot grasp this gift of faith. It is a gift. It must be given. But our Heavenly Father is not stingy. He gives to those who humbly ask. He gives, pressed down, shaken together, overflowing.
The bottom line in this talk, well preaching (indulge me, I’m a preacher) is that God is good. He is good and He has been very good to us.
Elizabeth and Zachary, your mother and I are very proud of you. You are young but you have accomplished a great deal. Although you are our children, we think of you as a young woman and a young man. It may be awhile before you feel comfortable with those titles, man and woman, but you have shown yourselves worthy of the honor. You have both been diligent, hard-working, self-motivated, honest, godly, cheerful, respectful, kind, gentle, patient, full of love for your God, your parents, your siblings, your church and your friends. You have already shown yourselves steadfast in the faith and I have every reason to believe that you will continue to do so. All of these things are marks of Christian maturity. God has blessed you and in doing so, He has blessed your mother and me.
You have been steady students, loving learning and learning how to learn. You seek knowledge and wisdom, acquire and maintain it. Having got this lesson, you have earned the right to be where you are today.
Where is that? It’s funny. We tend to think of commencements as endings. I suppose a good many people today even think that is what the word means. They think commencement means graduating, moving up, achieving the goal, getting to the finish line. But only a moment’s reflection makes us realize the error. As soon as we see the error, we shall commence to put it right.
Where are you? What right have your accomplishments earned you? The right to commence. You get to commence your education in earnest. You get to commence living like an adult. You commence your journey to your goals. You commence leaving our home, slowly, as you become your own person, in your own skin, on your own terms, under God’s authority. All this hard work has got you to the very wonderful place that we call the starting line. You’ve worked hard. Great! Now you are qualified to begin.
I am thankful that you are here. I have faith in God that at as He has upheld you in the past, passing on the gift of faith in Him, that you will remain ever faithful to Him. Although the world may not be ready for you, you are ready for the world. God bless you both.
Elizabeth and Zachary Hurt
It is my privilege and honor to be speaking to you today. I’ve only got so many kids and so many opportunities to pontificate. My children are even conspiring against me, lumping two opportunities into one and reducing my number of captured audiences. You can thank them after the ceremony but you will still have to sit through my comments.
Bringing up children is no easy task. To do it well is harder still. This talk is not about ringing my own bell, or for trumpeting the great virtues and abilities of my lovely wife. But having demurred for a second, I do offer you the proof that we have accomplished the task that was set before us. I give you the proof, the fruit of our efforts, Elizabeth and Zachary. I commend them to you as fine examples of Christian virtue and academic excellence. At first hearing, this may seem like self-serving braggadocio. WE must be really smart. Look at our great kids!
And while we are very proud of them, bragging about ourselves is not the point at all. As I have tried to teach the members of our church, acquiring wisdom is something that is expected of all Christians and Christian parents in particular. Getting wisdom is a command from the Lord. Wisdom cries from the streets, “Come in here. I will teach you.” Wisdom is not something out there for the supper smart, the highly educated, the wonderfully advantaged. Wisdom is granted by God to all those who will seek her diligently and having found wisdom, will love her, obeying her ways.
We do have great kids. I am not afraid to say that. As parents, our greatest delight is to see our children, to see them love the Lord, to see them love books, to see them learn wisdom, to watch them grow up, and thus, to receive the fruits of our labors.
Did we expect anything less than this? No, we did not. We have received that which we hoped for. We have been given the desires of our hearts. Having got what we expected, does this make us arrogant, prideful, or even super successful? No, it does not. Remember, we have been given the desires of our heart. Given. It is a gift from God. All that we have, our marriage, our home, our children, our joy, is a gift. And these children, these good children are also a gift. Who would brag about a gift, except to laud the Giver? We did not give ourselves this gift. God gave it to us. So, our task is to thank Him, not bask in the glory of such wonder.
But how does this affect you? What is the purpose of such an address to those who hear these words? Well, wisdom cries out. Can you hear her? Wisdom wants to give you the gift. Will you take her up on it? God has given us the way to joy and to see our children walking in the blessedness of His glory. What will you do?
Please do not misunderstand me. I am not advocating a vending machine approach to God. You don’t just buy wisdom, or bribe God into keeping His promise by doing what is right. He is not obligated to be manipulated by you. Many try that route only to find great frustration in having done everything right, at least in their own minds, only to be forced to eat rotten eggs at the end of the day. How can God’s gift of wisdom be spoiled into something so rancid?
The key is faith, not works. But don’t we have to do what God told us to do in order to receive the rewards that He promised? Well, yes and no. God has made promises to you. He makes covenant with you and with your children, even to a thousand generations. He has also told you to train up your children. He has told you to bring them up in Christian nurture and admonition. So, which is it? Does God bless me because of His promises or because I train my children according to His rule. And I would want to say to you, “Yes” but there is a chicken and an egg.
The chicken came first, we all know that. And God’s Chicken is Faith. Do you believe God’s promises? Yes? How do we know? Well, if you believe Him, then you do what He tells you to do. And, having done so, you receive the promised blessings. So, is the gift then of Works? God forbid you should say such a thing. Works don’t create faith but faith works. This may sound a bit riddle-ish but it really is not that hard. If you really believe God, then you will do what He has told you to do. Granted, you will not do it perfectly but believing God includes confessing and repenting for your shortcomings and sins. He blesses those who do so.
We must believe God when it comes to raising our children. It is the central thing in giving them a Christian education. Do you love God? Do you trust in His promises? Is your home a place where trust, peace and rest are the central identifying qualities? If so, then you are already receiving the gift, the blessing of children, education, wisdom, and joy.
If not, then what is the problem? Do you need more rules? Higher expectations? A better liturgy of the school day? Are you boiling your children in their mother’s milk? Is what they ought to love a dread to them? Or is it a delight? If it is a delight, then you are accomplishing the goal of educating your children in the Lord. If it is not a delight, then you do not need to clamp down with more life straining rules. You must believe God. You must bolster your faith. You must take Him at His promises. As you do this, you will find that the rest and peace necessary to make a house a home begins to flow into or back into your household.
You cannot grasp this gift of faith. It is a gift. It must be given. But our Heavenly Father is not stingy. He gives to those who humbly ask. He gives, pressed down, shaken together, overflowing.
The bottom line in this talk, well preaching (indulge me, I’m a preacher) is that God is good. He is good and He has been very good to us.
Elizabeth and Zachary, your mother and I are very proud of you. You are young but you have accomplished a great deal. Although you are our children, we think of you as a young woman and a young man. It may be awhile before you feel comfortable with those titles, man and woman, but you have shown yourselves worthy of the honor. You have both been diligent, hard-working, self-motivated, honest, godly, cheerful, respectful, kind, gentle, patient, full of love for your God, your parents, your siblings, your church and your friends. You have already shown yourselves steadfast in the faith and I have every reason to believe that you will continue to do so. All of these things are marks of Christian maturity. God has blessed you and in doing so, He has blessed your mother and me.
You have been steady students, loving learning and learning how to learn. You seek knowledge and wisdom, acquire and maintain it. Having got this lesson, you have earned the right to be where you are today.
Where is that? It’s funny. We tend to think of commencements as endings. I suppose a good many people today even think that is what the word means. They think commencement means graduating, moving up, achieving the goal, getting to the finish line. But only a moment’s reflection makes us realize the error. As soon as we see the error, we shall commence to put it right.
Where are you? What right have your accomplishments earned you? The right to commence. You get to commence your education in earnest. You get to commence living like an adult. You commence your journey to your goals. You commence leaving our home, slowly, as you become your own person, in your own skin, on your own terms, under God’s authority. All this hard work has got you to the very wonderful place that we call the starting line. You’ve worked hard. Great! Now you are qualified to begin.
I am thankful that you are here. I have faith in God that at as He has upheld you in the past, passing on the gift of faith in Him, that you will remain ever faithful to Him. Although the world may not be ready for you, you are ready for the world. God bless you both.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Feed My Sheep- A Passionate Plea for Preaching****
Feed My Sheep- A Passionate Plea for Preaching, is a compilation of essays from various preachers. The book is published by Reformation Trust, a division of Ligonier Ministries.
The book includes essays on preaching from many prominent reformed preachers. The topics include The Primacy of Preaching by Al Mohler, Preaching to the Heart by Sinclair Ferguson, Preaching with Authority by Don Kistler, Preaching to Suffering People by John Piper, and A Reminder to Shepherds by John McArthur. There are also other essays, including chapters by RCs Sproul, Sr and Jr.
I highly recommend these essays for preachers. All the articles are excellent reminders of the purposes of preaching, before God, to the congregation and in the life of the minister.
The book includes essays on preaching from many prominent reformed preachers. The topics include The Primacy of Preaching by Al Mohler, Preaching to the Heart by Sinclair Ferguson, Preaching with Authority by Don Kistler, Preaching to Suffering People by John Piper, and A Reminder to Shepherds by John McArthur. There are also other essays, including chapters by RCs Sproul, Sr and Jr.
I highly recommend these essays for preachers. All the articles are excellent reminders of the purposes of preaching, before God, to the congregation and in the life of the minister.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
The Day God Made- Glen Knecht****
If you want a short, concise and convincing book on the power of the Lord's Day as the Christian Sabbath, then you should read Pastor Glen Knecht's book The Day God Made. He gives a clear and sound argument for the day as continuing into the New Covenant era. Furthermore, he points out the need for the day as a day of rest, delight, worship, instruction and works of mercy.
Many of our troubles can be traced to the contempt that most Christians today show for the Lord's Day. As one day in seven that is put aside and holy, consecrated to the Lord, we have a simple way to show our allegiance to our Father in Heaven and to restore our souls for the work that He has called us to do.
The neglect of the Lord's Day is both a symptom of our spiritual emptiness as well as a cause of our further decline. We need to repent and restore the day that the Lord has given to man.
Many of our troubles can be traced to the contempt that most Christians today show for the Lord's Day. As one day in seven that is put aside and holy, consecrated to the Lord, we have a simple way to show our allegiance to our Father in Heaven and to restore our souls for the work that He has called us to do.
The neglect of the Lord's Day is both a symptom of our spiritual emptiness as well as a cause of our further decline. We need to repent and restore the day that the Lord has given to man.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
The Prodigal God- Timothy Keller****
Just finished The Prodigal God- Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith by Timothy Keller, pastor of Redeemer PCA Church in New York.
This was an excellent handling of the story of the two sons and the Prodigal Father. His telling of the story is very good and forces some important and very biblical paradigm changes.
God is lavish. The two brothers are both pursuing dead end courses. The Father goes out to both of them. One responds, the other rejects. While we tend to relate to the younger brother, much of the problem in our own midst and in our own churches is that we are in danger of being the older brother, the one who fails to respond to the Father. The younger brothers besetting sin is his bad deeds. The older brother's besetting sin is his good deeds. Which brother are you?
The answer is to turn to the true Elder Brother, the Lord Jesus, who fulfills His calling before the Father. He will find the profligate brother and bring him home. He will remind the cold elder brother that he must serve the Father out of love, not pursuing the self-righteousness of his own good deeds. Jesus, our true elder brother is eminently faithful. When we respond to Him in true gratitude for the great price of His serving us, we will find peace like a deep river.
Furthermore, we will be transformed by this kind of love so that our own profligate lives or our own self-righteous pride are annihilated in the deep, deep, love of Jesus. This is nothing less than walking in the New Creation, in our hearts first and in our lives and the lives around us in this world, thereafter.
Highly recommended book.
This was an excellent handling of the story of the two sons and the Prodigal Father. His telling of the story is very good and forces some important and very biblical paradigm changes.
God is lavish. The two brothers are both pursuing dead end courses. The Father goes out to both of them. One responds, the other rejects. While we tend to relate to the younger brother, much of the problem in our own midst and in our own churches is that we are in danger of being the older brother, the one who fails to respond to the Father. The younger brothers besetting sin is his bad deeds. The older brother's besetting sin is his good deeds. Which brother are you?
The answer is to turn to the true Elder Brother, the Lord Jesus, who fulfills His calling before the Father. He will find the profligate brother and bring him home. He will remind the cold elder brother that he must serve the Father out of love, not pursuing the self-righteousness of his own good deeds. Jesus, our true elder brother is eminently faithful. When we respond to Him in true gratitude for the great price of His serving us, we will find peace like a deep river.
Furthermore, we will be transformed by this kind of love so that our own profligate lives or our own self-righteous pride are annihilated in the deep, deep, love of Jesus. This is nothing less than walking in the New Creation, in our hearts first and in our lives and the lives around us in this world, thereafter.
Highly recommended book.
Communion Meditation- Jesus is Good
At this table, we are called to peace. Jesus has called us friends and has seated us for a special meal with Him. This should do wonders for our assurance of peace and salvation in Christ. But where does your assurance lie? I hope that no one gathered here is assured of peace and friendship with Christ based upon how well you are doing. You should not feel blessed at this table because the Lord has thought so highly of you that He invited you here.
It is not because you are so great that you are here. If you think that, then you need to be humbled. But for those of you who are weak of conscience and feel as if you are too bad to be here, there is a message of peace and hope for you. Jesus knows you. He knows what you think. He knows what you say. He knows what you do. He knows you even better than you know yourself. He knows your good deeds and He knows your many failings.
So, being at peace here is not a matter of how good you are but of how good Jesus is. He has not only invited you here. He has given you new clothes through forgiveness of sin. He has cleansed you with the fire of His Holy Spirit. He has given you a soft heart of flesh in place of a hard heart of stone. He has been very good. There is nothing that you can do to match His goodness, so your only faithful response is to simply and exuberantly give thanks.
It is not because you are so great that you are here. If you think that, then you need to be humbled. But for those of you who are weak of conscience and feel as if you are too bad to be here, there is a message of peace and hope for you. Jesus knows you. He knows what you think. He knows what you say. He knows what you do. He knows you even better than you know yourself. He knows your good deeds and He knows your many failings.
So, being at peace here is not a matter of how good you are but of how good Jesus is. He has not only invited you here. He has given you new clothes through forgiveness of sin. He has cleansed you with the fire of His Holy Spirit. He has given you a soft heart of flesh in place of a hard heart of stone. He has been very good. There is nothing that you can do to match His goodness, so your only faithful response is to simply and exuberantly give thanks.
Pluck Out Your Eyes
How do we pluck out our eyes or chop off our hands or feet? Could we even do such a thing? Why would we want to? After all, we need our eyes. We need our hands. We need our feet. But Jesus is talking about those sins that stumble you, that keep you from pressing on in obedience with Him.
We are Christians and we say that we hate sin. But the fact is, we really love some of our sins. Are you in battle against those things that keep you from adequately loving Jesus? Or have you embraced them and are you unwilling to let them go? Could you be like one of C.S. Lewis’s characters in The Great Divorce that chooses your pet sin and hell rather than choosing to repent and go to heaven? Be honest now. What keeps you from really repenting, turning away, letting go? What causes you to stumble? Is it the comfortable desire of your body? The sensual desire of your eyes? The irrational desire of accumulation?
Learn to hate every unlawful desire that competes with your love for Jesus. Turn away now, kill it, don’t look back and press on to the higher calling in Christ Jesus.
We are Christians and we say that we hate sin. But the fact is, we really love some of our sins. Are you in battle against those things that keep you from adequately loving Jesus? Or have you embraced them and are you unwilling to let them go? Could you be like one of C.S. Lewis’s characters in The Great Divorce that chooses your pet sin and hell rather than choosing to repent and go to heaven? Be honest now. What keeps you from really repenting, turning away, letting go? What causes you to stumble? Is it the comfortable desire of your body? The sensual desire of your eyes? The irrational desire of accumulation?
Learn to hate every unlawful desire that competes with your love for Jesus. Turn away now, kill it, don’t look back and press on to the higher calling in Christ Jesus.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Sackett's Land- Louis L'Amour***
Stupid is as Stupid Says. Guess I didn't know any better. Like Peter, I didn't know what to say, so I spoke. Live and learn.
I just finished my first Louis L'Amour book. I think I had read a few pages in the past but never stuck with a book. I had always thought L'Amour was dime store novels of the Old American West and perhaps some of his books are just that. I should not have pronounced on a topic of which I knew little, if anything.
But I found this first of the Sackett series quite good. L'Amour is a good writer, go figure, he's only sold about 300 million books! He has obviously done a great deal of research and so there is good historical data to be gleaned from these adventure stories, as well.
I needed some true leisure reading and found this just the ticket. I am currently reading the next book in the series. It is a bit long and wordy but I am still finding it enjoyable. In my small experience with L'Amour, he likes his men to be men and in mostly the right sort of ways. I find that a welcome remedy to our effeminate minded modern culture.
I just finished my first Louis L'Amour book. I think I had read a few pages in the past but never stuck with a book. I had always thought L'Amour was dime store novels of the Old American West and perhaps some of his books are just that. I should not have pronounced on a topic of which I knew little, if anything.
But I found this first of the Sackett series quite good. L'Amour is a good writer, go figure, he's only sold about 300 million books! He has obviously done a great deal of research and so there is good historical data to be gleaned from these adventure stories, as well.
I needed some true leisure reading and found this just the ticket. I am currently reading the next book in the series. It is a bit long and wordy but I am still finding it enjoyable. In my small experience with L'Amour, he likes his men to be men and in mostly the right sort of ways. I find that a welcome remedy to our effeminate minded modern culture.
The Mystery of the Lord's Supper-Robert Bruce****
The Mystery of the Lord's Supper by Robert Bruce is an excellent presentation of various aspects of the Lord's Supper.
There is a fair amount of emphasis on self-examination but it is not too introspective. He presents a good balance of simply heeding God's promises, recalling your own good experiences with God, and living in real assurance of God's goodness. While self-examination ought to occur in order that we honestly confess our sins before the Lord, there is a perverse introspection that will never see God's grace in our own fallen heart. So, we must strike a healthy and biblical balance. I think Bruce does that quite well.
The final chapter is quite good in this regard although he makes a great blunder in the end. He says that a child or a mad man cannot examine themselves, therefore they should not partake of the Lord's Supper. To which I respond, if a child or mad man is baptized and is seeking Christ, confessing sins, or not outwardly rebellious, then the Lord's Supper is just what the mad man needs to restore his sanity and what the child needs to grow in maturity.
Otherwise, though, a sound book and recommended.
There is a fair amount of emphasis on self-examination but it is not too introspective. He presents a good balance of simply heeding God's promises, recalling your own good experiences with God, and living in real assurance of God's goodness. While self-examination ought to occur in order that we honestly confess our sins before the Lord, there is a perverse introspection that will never see God's grace in our own fallen heart. So, we must strike a healthy and biblical balance. I think Bruce does that quite well.
The final chapter is quite good in this regard although he makes a great blunder in the end. He says that a child or a mad man cannot examine themselves, therefore they should not partake of the Lord's Supper. To which I respond, if a child or mad man is baptized and is seeking Christ, confessing sins, or not outwardly rebellious, then the Lord's Supper is just what the mad man needs to restore his sanity and what the child needs to grow in maturity.
Otherwise, though, a sound book and recommended.
Friday, May 07, 2010
Communion Meditation- Eat, Drink, Digest
We enjoy food long before it gives us nourishment. We see it and it is a delight to the eyes. We smell it cooking and it wets the appetite. We may even hear it, think of bacon cooking, or enjoy the texture as you peel an orange. Finally, we taste it. We can do this with little or no nourishment. You can simply put something savory on your tongue. Or you can chew food, receiving some of the pleasure, then spit it out, receiving little or no benefit. In order to receive the nourishment of the food, we must take, eat, take, drink, chew, swallow, digest.
Many people see Christ in some measure of belief. They hear the Word of God and assent to the truth. They may taste of His benefits in the church. They may feel the love of the saints. They may even sense the sweet aroma of the bread of God’s people. Yet, they never really partake. They do not eat the Word of God. It does not enter them in a meaningful or saving way, giving life and health to their body and soul.
So, we come to this meal of thanksgiving. Let us take and eat in faith, not simply eating bread and wine, but by faith, laying hold of the Word of God, chewing on it and being transformed by its power. Let us not simply look with approval from a distance but rather, being seated at the table of the Lord, let us be fed and nourished by His life-giving food.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)