Just a Nobody

A great line for a preacher:

“Just tell ’em I’m a nobody tryin’ to tell everybody about Somebody who can save anybody.”

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Him We Proclaim

Ray Ortlund:

“Him we proclaim.” Colossians 1:28

Him. Paul summarized his ministry in one word: “Him.” Not “Christ + _________” but Christ as the only focus. All other topics of interest had to fit in around Him and promote Him and make Him clearer. If they didn’t serve that purpose, Paul got bored quickly.

We. Whatever others may do, this is what we do. Whatever message others may shout out, we’ll shout louder about Jesus Christ. We are responsible to Him and will give an account to Him only and finally.

Proclaim. Not beg, as if He were poor. Not suggest, as if He were doubtful. Not propose, as if He were the premise of something larger. But proclaim as the only life that is truly life, accessible to everyone on terms of grace, received with the empty hands of faith, giving all, demanding all.

Liberalism

H. Richard Niebuhr's definition of liberalism:

A God without wrath

brought men without sin

into a kingdom without judgment

through the ministrations of Christ without a cross.

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Homesick for Heaven

Don Carson:

Is not some of the pain and sorrow in this life used in God’s providential hand to make us homesick for heaven, to detach us from this world, to prepare us for heaven, to draw our attention to himself, and away from the world of merely physical things?

In Psalm 90 we see that as Moses stares at death, he thinks through its relation to life, to sin, to God, and strives to understand what death means. And then he asks for wisdom to live his life in light of that death. He would have utterly scorned the modern mood that wants to live life as if death were not there waiting for us at the end. Moses wants us “to number our days,” that is, to recognize the limit that is imposed on us, and to live with that limit in full view. Only in this way can we “gain a heart of wisdom.”

Now let us suppose that your spouse comes home from a medical checkup with fearful news: there are signs that a vicious melanoma has taken hold. The hospital runs emergency tests during the next few days and the news comes back all bad: the prognosis is three months’ survival at best, and all that modern medicine can do is mitigate the pain.

I do not want to minimize the staggering blow such news can administer to any family. There are many forms of practical comfort and support that thoughtful people can show. But it must be said that if you are a Christian who has thought about these things in advance, you will recognize that this sentence of death is no different in kind from what you and your spouse have lived under all your life; that you have been preparing for this day since your conversion; that you have already laid up treasure in heaven, and your heart is there.

We are all under sentence of death; we are all terminal cases. The only additional factor is that in this case the sentence, barring a miracle, will certainly be carried out sooner than you had anticipated. I am not pretending that this bare truth is immensely comforting. Our comfort turns on other factors. But full acceptance of this truth can remove a fair bit of unnecessary shock and rebellion; for we will have escaped the modern Western mind-set that refuses to look at death, to plan for death, to live in the light of death, to expect death.

For the believer, the time of death becomes far less daunting a factor when seen in the light of eternity. Although death remains an enemy, an outrage, a sign of judgment, a reminder of sin, and a formidable opponent, it is, from another perspective, the portal through which we pass to consummated life. We pass through death, and death dies. And the more a Christian lives in the consciousness of God’s presence here, the easier it is to anticipate the unqualified delight that will be experienced in God’s presence there.

From Be Still, My Soul

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Found

C. S. Lewis:

It is always shocking to meet life where we thought we were alone. 'Look out!' we cry, 'it's alive'. And therefore this is the very point at which so many draw back - I would have done so myself if I could-and proceed no further with Christianity. An 'impersonal God' - well and good. A subjective God of beauty, truth and goodness, inside our own heads - better still. A formless life-force surging through us, a vast power which we can tap - best of all. But God Himself, alive, pulling at the other end of the cord, perhaps approaching at an infinite speed, the hunter, king, husband - that is quite another matter. There comes a moment when the children who have been playing at burglars hush suddenly: was that a real footstep in the hall? There comes a moment when people who have been dabbling in religion ('Man's search for God!') suddenly draw back. Supposing we really found Him? We never meant it to come to that! Worse still, supposing He had found us?

From Miracles

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Idolatry Redeemed

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The Most Logical Thing in the Universe

James Montgomery Boice, on Matthew 25:

First, there is to be a day of future reckoning for all people. That is so obvious both from the stories of Jesus and from our experience of life that it seems almost juvenile to stress it. But it must be stressed, if only because most people think in precisely opposite categories. Jesus spoke of judgment being obvious, but they think of judgment being the most irrational and least-to-be-anticipated thing in the world. What do most people think of when one speaks of dying? Most probably do not want to think of it at all, of course; they are not certain what, if anything, lies beyond death's door. If they do speak about it, assuming that something does lie beyond this life, most people today think of the afterlife in good terms. At the very least they think of something like a continuation of life as we know it. Or, if it will not be that, it must be something better. Very few consider that it may be something worse. They cannot imagine God to be a God of judgment.

That relatively new development has caused R. C. Sproul to speak of the current doctrine of "justification by death." It used to be that Protestants and Catholics argued over justification. Protestants said that it is by faith alone (sola fide). Catholics said that justification is by faith plus works (fide et operae). But today that disagreement is outmoded in the minds of most people. To get to heaven all one has to do is die. One is "justified" by death alone.

In that our contemporaries are irrational, as they are in most other spiritual matters. This is an evil world. All sins are not judged in this world, nor are all good deeds rewarded. The righteous do suffer. The guilty do go free. If this is a moral universe, that is, if it is created and ruled by a moral God, then there must be a reckoning hereafter in which those tables are balanced out. The good must prosper, and the evil must be punished.

In most theological volumes on eschatology (the last things) there are three great points of emphasis: the return of Christ, the resurrection of the body, and the final judgment. But of the three, the only one that is truly reasonable is the last. There is no reason why Jesus should return again. He came once and was rejected. If He should write us off and never again give so much as a thought to this planet, it would be totally understandable. It is the same with the resurrection: "Dust you are and to dust you will return" (Gen. 3:19). If that is all there is, who can complain? We have had our lives. Why should we expect anything more? There is nothing of logical necessity in either of those two matters in and of themselves. But judgment? That is the most logical thing in the universe, and both of these stories say quite clearly that there will be a final day of reckoning.

From The Parables of Jesus

Next Sermon - Matthew 25:31-46 on 02/28/10

This is the text for this coming Sunday's sermon.

Matthew 25:31-46

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal
punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Killing Sin

John Owen:

Be killing sin, or it will be killing you.

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Ravi Zacharias at Trinity

Good news from the seminary of the Evangelical Free Church of America (and my alma mater), Trinity Evangelical Divinity School:

Ravi Zacharias, who earned his MDiv at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in 1976, is coming home to Trinity to teach. Recently named a university professor at large for Trinity International University, Ravi will again visit Trinity's Deerfield campus to address the community and to inaugurate his new role with the university on April 12, 2010.

Ravi’s professorship is one facet of a recent partnership announced between Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM) and Trinity. Trinity and RZIM are in the midst of developing an educational initiative that takes advantage of the strengths of the institution for the preparation of leaders in ministry for the worldwide church. Ravi and his team from RZIM will have a regularized presence on campus, focusing on education in the areas of apologetics and cultural engagement. According to Research Professor of Church History and the History of Christian Thought, Dr. John Woodbridge (MDiv ’71), "Ravi's choice to partner with Trinity is an affirmation of Trinity's devotion to the gospel, a high view of Scripture, and cultural engagement."

The partnership includes a new masters degree at Trinity that will focus on preparing students for cultural engagement and for communicating the gospel through Spirit-filled apologetic presentations and dialogs. Cooperation between the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics and Trinity will also enable exchanges of professors and students. Additionally, as university professor at large, Ravi will participate annually in Trinity's new masters degree program.

Working together in creative new ways, Ravi Zacharias International Ministries and Trinity seek to equip godly, skilled global evangelists to effectively communicate the gospel of Jesus Christ in this complex world.

Grace Is Not a "Thing"

From an interview with Sinclair Ferguson...

In the preface to the book, you write that grace is not a “thing.” What do you mean by this statement?

It is legitimate to speak of “receiving grace,” and sometimes (although I am somewhat cautious about the possibility of misusing language) we speak of the preaching of the Word, prayer, baptism, and the Lord’s Supper as “means of grace.” That is fine, so long as we remember that there isn’t a thing, a substance, or a “quasi-substance” called “grace.” All there is is the person of the Lord Jesus — “Christ clothed in the gospel,” as Calvin loved to put it. Grace is the grace of Jesus. If I can highlight the thought here: there is no “thing” that Jesus takes from Himself and then, as it were, hands over to me. There is only Jesus Himself.

Grasping that thought can make a significant difference to a Christian’s life. So while some people might think this is just splitting hairs about different ways of saying the same thing, it can make a vital difference. It is not a thing that was crucified to give us a thing called grace. It was the person of the Lord Jesus that was crucified in order that He might give Himself to us through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

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What God Did to Save Us

Theopedia:

Penal substitutionary atonement refers to the doctrine that Christ died on the cross as a substitute for sinners. God imputed the guilt of our sins to Christ, and he, in our place, bore the punishment that we deserve. This was a full payment for sins, which satisfied both the wrath and the righteousness of God, so that He could forgive sinners without compromising His own holy standard.

Michael Wittmer:

Consider what God did to save us. He didn’t hand us a brochure or ask us to attend a seminar, as if our problem was merely ignorance. He didn’t hold an intervention or send us to boot camp, as if our problem was merely stubbornness. He answered our need with the cross, which can only mean that we have really messed up. If the cross is necessary to save us, then What did we do?

The cross is a dagger through the happy talk of "you’re okay, I’m okay" and if we just try harder we can get past our issues and change the world. The center of history is a weapon of torture—imagine holding hands around a guillotine or electric chair and you’ll get the idea. The cross informs us that things have gone horribly wrong, and they won’t be right unless somebody dies.

That somebody is Jesus. It’s fashionable to deny that Jesus died to pay the debt which we owed to God (the penal substitution view of the atonement). I agree that penal substitution doesn’t explain everything that happened on the cross (Jesus also defeated Satan and left us an example), but it does express the most important thing. Take away penal substitution, and you can’t explain what happened there.

Looking for Friends

This is related to the previous post on the friendliness of churches. I don't have a citation for this quotation; the source simply states, "I heard a wise man say..."

People are not looking for a friendly church; they're looking for friends.

I think this is true, but it makes the challenge greater to truly welcome people into the church.

Friendly Enough?

Mark Galli has considered a survey that compared churches with other community venues as to their "friendliness," and he is concerned that we might be overly concerned about whether we're friendly enough when there is more at stake.

The whole column is worth reading, but here's the conclusion:

Maintaining a sense of belonging is not easy. You will find yourself worshipping with people who irritate you, people with whom you disagree, people you find difficult to forgive at times. But the very reason you put up with their flaws and stupidities, and they with yours, is that you both belong to a family you cannot escape.

Furthermore, you don't really belong to a group until people feel free enough to tell you what they really think of you and free enough to talk about the deepest, most troubling realities.

In a place where people really belong, they are free to talk about the most uncomfortable things—sin and salvation, hate and forgiveness, suffering and hope, death and life. And they learn the fine art of forbearance and forgiveness. Merely friendly churches avoid such unpleasantness. But churches that take people seriously cannot avoid it.

God forbid that we would become cold, aloof, and rude to one another! And what a delight it is to walk into a church and to be greeted with warmth and befriended in practical ways. May our churches be known for their hospitality—but also so much more.

It is startling, in fact, how little emphasis the Bible puts on friendliness as such. One of the few times the idea comes up explicitly, Jesus says this: There is no greater love than that a man should give up his life for a friend (John 15:13).

You cannot take another more seriously than that.

Counsel from 1 Corinthians 10:13

1 Corinthians 10:13

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

Paul David Tripp:

When someone comes to you for counseling, you will often find that part of their problem is that they believe some lie about God and his work. First Corinthians 10:13 provides a helpful framework for a homework assignment that can uncover these lies.

In this verse, Paul here seems to address four common lies about God. I set up the homework this way:

1. Declaration: No temptation has seized you except what is common to man.

Question: Where have you been tempted to think that your situation is unique and that you have been singled out for particular suffering?

2. Declaration: God is faithful.

Question: Where have you tended to believe that God has been unfaithful to his promises to you?

3. Declaration: He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.

Question: Where have you thought that you have been given more than you can handle or that the extreme pressures of the situation have caused you to sin?

4. Declaration: He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

Question: Where have you felt trapped, with no reasonable way to deal with your situation?

Adapted from Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands

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We're All Theologians

Even though it's a promo for a book, the video stands on its own.

DugDownDeep_Carnahan.mov from Covenant Life Church on Vimeo.

Feed My Lambs

Charles Spurgeon:

If there be any doctrine too difficult for a child, it is rather the fault of the teacher’s conception of it than of the child’s power to receive it, provided that child be really converted to God. It is ours to make doctrine simple; this is to be a main part of our work. Teach the little ones the whole truth and nothing but the truth; for instruction is the great want of the child’s nature. A child has not only to live as you and I have, but also to grow; hence he has double need of food. When fathers say of their boys, ‘What appetites they have!’ they should remember that we also would have great appetites if we had not only to keep the machinery going, but to enlarge it at the same time. Children in grace have to grow, rising to greater capacity in knowing, being, doing, and feeling, and to greater power from God; therefore above all things they must be fed. They must be well fed or instructed, because they are in danger of having their cravings perversely satisfi ed with error. Youth is susceptible to evil doctrine. Whether we teach young Christians truth or not, the devil will be sure to teach them error. They will hear of it somehow, even if they are watched by the most careful guardians. The only way to keep chaff out of the child’s little measure is to fi ll it brimful with good wheat. Oh, that the Spirit of God may help us to do this! The more the young are taught the better; it will keep them from being misled.

From Come, Ye Children: Practical Help Telling Children about Jesus

[I love this cover, by the way.]

Exercising Power

If you understand our text (in the previous post) to focus on issues of stewardship and our responsibility as servants of God, then I believe this is very pertinent.

Lord Acton:

Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Mark Earley, commenting on Acton's famous quotation:

But remember this: power corrupts, but power itself is not necessarily corrupt. God has given power to the state to be used to restrain evil and maintain order. It is the use of power, whether for personal gain or for the state’s ordained function, that is really at issue.

David T. Koyzis chimes in:

All of us, as God’s image-bearers, are gifted with various capacities (i.e., powers) enabling us to fulfil the responsibilities of the authoritative offices in which God has placed us, the most basic of which is that of divine image-bearer.

These God-given capacities are not themselves corrupting. However, like everything else in God’s good creation, they are capable of being misused by sinful human beings. It’s not power that corrupts; it’s our own rebellious nature that does so. Acton’s saying might be closer to the truth if turned around: Human sin corrupts the otherwise legitimate use of power.

Next Sermon - Matthew 24:45-51 and 25:14-30 on 02/21/10

Here is the text for this coming Sunday's sermon. I take Jesus' discussion about being unable to know the time of his return and the implications of that fact to run from 24:36 to 25:30. Last week, we focused on 24:36-44 and 25:1-13. While there certainly are connections between those parts to the others, it seemed good to me to put 24:45-51 and 25:14-30 together in one sermon.

Matthew 24:45-51

45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 47 Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. 48 But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ 49 and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, 50 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know 51 and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 25:14-30

14 “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. 17 So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18 But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 22 And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.’ 23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ 26 But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? 27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29 For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Single and Lonely

Here's a booklet that may come at just the right time for some who don't exactly look forward to Valentine's Day tomorrow.

Here is the author's concluding statement:

Whether we are single or married, we will experience loneliness in this fallen world. But God wants to enter into our loneliness and transform it. He unites us to himself and each other in Jesus as we submit our lives to him; and he calls us to enter into the loneliness of those around us. I look forward to the day when we will be delivered completely from loneliness to oneness in him.

You can read it online in its entirety here.

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