The Blog! It's moving! Run for your lives!

My blog is now at

isaiah543.wordpress.com


One reason I like wordpress is that there is a "recent" comments module that lets you know when someone comments even on an ancient post. I hope that this feature will encourage you to start up conversations on things that are old news. That's one of my least favorite things about blogging so far. It seems like if you don't get in on the conversation in the first 12 hours after posting, you've missed the party. Let's revive some old conversations.

Supposedly there are many other features that I will come to appreciate over at wordpress, but I don't know what they are yet. The main reason I'm moving is that mathuaerknedam said he'd buy me a beer if I left blogger, and hey, you don't have to tell me twice.

Astonishing

Today in my "morning watch" I came again to Galatians 1. There is something verse 6 that Paul calls astonishing, he wonders, he marvels at it. He is amazed at how people who have so recently been called by the grace of Christ could so quickly be led into legalism.

I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ. (1:6)

But when God, who had set me apart from my mother's womb and called me through His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood, (1:15-16)

You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? (3:1-3)

Why would we think that we need to keep the law in order to be saved when our own conversion experience witnesses to the contrary? Anybody out there receive the Holy Spirit as a reward for years of diligent law keeping? There's a good chance I was high on drugs when I received the Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul was on his way to persecute Christians when he received the Holy Spirit. I think Paul's point is that understanding effectual calling by his grace should be an antidote to being suckered by the legalists. Consider your calling. So let's do this together. I ask you, did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law? Do you remember when you were effectually called? Tell us about it. Tell us how he called you by his grace.


P.S. need a definition of effectual calling? Here's one:

Westminster Larger Catechism, Question 67

What is effectual calling? A. Effectual calling is the work of God's almighty power and grace,(1) whereby (out of his free and special love to his elect, and from nothing in them moving him thereunto(2) ) he doth, in his accepted time, invite and draw them to Jesus Christ, by his word and Spirit;(3) savingly enlightening their minds,(4) renewing and powerfully determining their wills,(5) so as they (although in themselves dead in sin) are hereby made willing and able freely to answer his call, and to accept and embrace the grace offered and conveyed therein.(6)

(1)John 5:25; Eph. 1:18-20; 2 Tim. 1:8,9
(2)Tit. 3:4,5; Eph. 2:4,5,7,8,9; Rom. 9:11
(3)2 Cor. 5:20 compared with 2 Cor. 6:1,2; John 6:44; 2 Thess. 2:13,14
(4)Acts 26:18; 1 Cor. 2:10,12
(5)Ezek. 11:19; Ezek. 36:26,27; John 6:45
(6)Eph. 2:5; Phil. 2:13; Deut. 30:6

The Vision Thing

A coupla quotes:

"Most evangelicals overestimate what they can accomplish in five years and underestimate what they can accomplish in twenty." -James Montgomery Boice

"The only things worth doing take longer than a lifetime." - Augustine

And a sermon excerpt:

Where did we get the idea that leadership in the church means mapping out measurable objectives for ministry and a blueprint for church growth? Why can’t our vision just be to pray for his kingdom to come, to pray for boldness to preach the gospel, to make the most of every opportunity, to keep in step with the Spirit, to put to death the misdeeds of the flesh? Last week we read in Paul’s conclusion to 2 Corinthians, “Aim for restoration” or aim for perfection, aim for maturity. Is that an acceptable vision?

Those who would argue for the critical importance of a clearly defined vision for the ministry of the church often bring forth one verse as their rallying cry to form focus groups. It’s the verse on the front of your bulletin, Proverbs 29:18 which in the KJV says “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” I have long suspected that this word vision in Proverbs 29:18 surely can’t mean what Dilbert’s pointy haired boss means when he says the word vision, but this week I looked at the verse in Hebrew for the first time and confirmed my suspicions.

It turns out the Hebrew word for vision in this verse is the word used for the visions of the Old Testament prophets. In fact, the ESV translates the verse “Where there is no prophetic vision, the people cast off restraint.” The point is not that people need carefully crafted vision statements. The point is that people need a word from God. Where there is no word from God, society crumbles. When there is a famine for hearing the word of the Lord, the people fall apart. This word vision is the same word used in Isaiah 1:1 “The vision of Isaiah” That’s the title of the book. The vision of Isaiah. God says to the church through Isaiah “Get you up on a high mountain…O herald of good news…say to the cities of Judah, Behold your God!” That’s the vision we need. A vision of God.

See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power, and his arm rules for him. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him. He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young. Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance?... He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in. He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing…Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing…Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.

That’s the vision without which we perish. That’s the vision we need, that’s the vision for which the people truly hunger, that’s the vision for which the people should be clamoring.

And so just before he dies Paul writes to Timothy, “In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage-- with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.”

Paul’s vision is for the church is to preach the word, to proclaim the vision of God, even when such preaching goes out of season. And we live in a time when preaching is out of season. Most people don’t want a vision of God so much as they want a purpose driven life.

Why does this always happen to me?

I was contemplating a silly blog rant about why my links are suddenly down at the bottom of the page (anybody know how to fix it?) when I remembered this great Weird Al song about whinyness...

I was watching my TV one night when they broke in with a special report
About some devastating earthquake in Peru
There were thirty thousand crushed to death, even more were buried alive
On the Richter scale it measured 8.2

And I said, "God, please answer me one question?"
"Why'd they have to interrupt 'The Simpsons' just for this?"
What a drag, 'cause I was taping it and everything
And now I'll have to wait for the rerun to see the part of the show I missed

Why does this always happen?
Why does this always happen to me?
Why does this always happen?
Why does this always happen to me?

Turn or Burn

If that seemed at times the theme of this morning's sermon, it was no coincidence. It was from Psalm 7:12 that Spurgeon once preached a sermon of this title. Here's an excerpt:

Baxter used to say, “Sinner! turn or burn; it is thine only alternative: TURN OR BURN!” And it is so. We think we can show you why men must turn, or else they must burn.

First, we cannot suppose the God of the Bible could suffer sin to be unpunished. Some may suppose it. They may dream their intellects into a state of intoxication, so as to suppose a God apart from justice but no man whose reason is sound and whose mind is in a healthy condition can imagine a God without justice. Ye cannot suppose a king without it to be a good king; ye cannot dream of a good government that should exist without justice, much less of God, the Judge and King of all the earth, without justice in his bosom. To suppose him all love, and no justice, were to undeify him, and make him no longer God.

Persevering Through the Pain of Relationships for the Sake of Joy

From a sermon on 2Corinthians 1:23-2:4...

Three principles so far for persevering through painful relationships.
1) Fear God. Speak as in his presence, for you are.
2) Don’t try to control others, but work with them for their joy.
3) Be wise about your choice of timing and methods of communication

and finally now #4) Have an optimistic and hopeful long-term perspective.

I see that in verse 3. In the midst of Paul’s sorrow and anguish, he is still confident. He says “I felt sure of all of you, that my joy would be the joy of you all” In other words, he believed that their relationship would get over this hump. He believed that the day would come when they would again rejoice together in the Lord, when they would again share a common joy in the gospel.

But this long-term confidence doesn’t mean that he doesn’t feel a lot of anxiety about the short-term outcome of this conflict. We will see him be very transparent and vulnerable about that concern as we go through this book. He was not sure that the Corinthians would respond favorably to his severe letter. So what was his confidence? As we saw two weeks ago, his hope was anchored in heaven. He knew that the Lord would keep those who were his. He knew that in heaven he would see the fruit of his labor. He wrote to the Thessalonians in 1Th 2:19-20, “For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy.” True, the wheat and the tares grow together in the church so we can’t have any guarantee that specific people will respond favorably to our efforts to help them find their joy in the Lord, but nevertheless, as he wrote in First Corinthians, he knew that his labor in the Lord was not in vain.

I believe the Lord has done something in my own heart this week through the writing of this sermon. I am hopeful that this is a breakthrough for me. The Lord gave me many years ago a high view of his sovereignty that has substantially delivered me from excessive anxieties about physical suffering. I really do trust that whatever happens to me will abound for my good and His glory and through this God has granted me a measure of peace.

But this week it occurs to me for the first time to apply this confidence in the sovereignty of God over suffering to relational pain. Two weeks ago we read in the opening verses of 2Corinthians about God’s comfort in affliction and that he lets us suffer affliction so that we might no longer trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead. And at that time I encouraged you to “hope in God who raises the dead and to abandon any confidence in our ability to make for ourselves a pain-free life. Accept the inevitability of affliction, and trust in God to use it to make you a person of deep faith who can comfort others.”

So this morning I say to myself and to you, “Stop hoping for a relationally pain free life. Accept the inevitability of relational pain. Don’t try to avoid it at all costs. See it as an opportunity to grow, to love, to work through it for the sake of greater long-term joy, probably even in this age, but if not, then certainly in the next.

How might this change our church if we really grasped this principle? We’re going to hurt each other’s feelings from time to time, it’s inevitable in any family. But are you holding a grudge? Are you harboring an evil suspicion? Is there a difficult conversation that you need to have that you’ve been avoiding? Don’t let this sermon be a license to come out swinging. Don’t pick up the phone and let your tongue start wagging aimlessly, think about timing, methods of communication. Think about the fear of God and the other person’s joy, but then…have that conversation. Persevere through the pain of relationships for the sake of rejoicing together again in the Lord.

The Worthlessness and Worldliness of Human Regulations

from a 1997 sermon on Colossians 2:20-23

"If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations- 21 "Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch" 22 (referring to things that all perish as they are used)- according to human precepts and teachings? 23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion [KJV: will worship] and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

An austere disciplined denial of all earthly pleasure is not the way to live the Christian life. It is the way to live the gnostic life and it looks impressive for a while, but it is not the Christian life. Lightfoot describes in this way the ascetic discipline of the gnostics that fails to touch the springs of action. "By their fatal transference of the abode of sin from the human heart within to the material world without, they had incapacitated themselves from finding the true antidote."

A Prayer for the SBC

Father,

I pray for my brothers who lead the SBC.
Teach them that the flesh can't kill the flesh.
May they mortify sin by Your Spirit instead.
May they walk in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.
May they believe that preaching grace promotes holiness.
Forgive them their unbelief.
Put Fear in their hearts to convict them of binding the consciences of your children with extrabiblical resolutions.
Show them the Hellward tendency of their good intentions.
Raise up leaders who are men of both grace and truth.

In the name of Jesus who will surely build His church and wash her with the Word,

Amen.




Feel free to cut and paste this whereever it will edify and/or possibly be prayed.

Shame

The Southern Baptist Convention, the largest denomination in America, is no longer walking in the truth of the gospel. Note it well, I didn't say their leaders were not real Christians or that they were heretics or false teachers. I said what the apostle Paul said of the apostle Peter in Galatians 2: they are not walking in accordance with the truth of the gospel.

They passed this resolution at their national conference last week:

WHEREAS, Years of research confirm biblical warnings that alcohol use leads to physical, mental, and emotional damage (e.g. Proverbs 23:29-35); and

WHEREAS, Alcohol use has led to countless injuries and deaths on our nation’s highways; and

WHEREAS, The breakup of families and homes can be directly and indirectly attributed to alcohol use by one or more members of a family;

And
WHEREAS, The use of alcohol as a recreational beverage has been shown to lead individuals down a path of addiction to alcohol and toward the use of other kinds of drugs, both legal and illegal; and

WHEREAS, There are some religious leaders who are now advocating the consumption of alcoholic beverages based on a misinterpretation of the doctrine of “our freedom in Christ”; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Greensboro, North Carolina, June 13-14, 2006, express our total opposition to the manufacturing, advertising, distributing, and consuming of alcoholic beverages; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we urge Southern Baptists to take an active role in supporting legislation that is intended to curb alcohol use in our communities and nation; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we urge Southern Baptist to be actively involved in educating students and adults concerning the destructive nature of alcoholic beverages; and be it finally

RESOLVED, That we commend organizations and ministries that treat alcohol-related problems from a biblical perspective and promote abstinence and encourage local churches to begin and/or support such biblically-based ministries.

-------------------------

and quoted from this story...

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,199440,00.html

"Also Wednesday, the SBC unofficially barred members who drink
alcohol from serving as trustees or members of any SBC entity.

The ban, part of a larger anti-alcohol resolution that was
easily approved by delegates, was proposed by Jim Richards,
executive director of the Southern Baptists of Texas
Convention. While stopping short of officially preventing
drinkers from serving, it "urges" that no one be elected or
appointed to SBC offices if they are "a user of alcohol."

-----------------------------

Let us pray for our tragically deceived brothers and the 16 million church members they represent. In the early 1990s a group of liberals within the SBC tried to take over and were smacked down by a wonderful conservative Reformed resurgence. Let us pray for a backlash to this new resolution. Let us pray fervently that the legalists would be as ashamed by 2010 as the liberals were in 1990. Amen. Let us drink together.

Secret Video of Italian Soccer Training Camp

Click here.
[ht:Steve L.]

A Sober Assessment of Reformational Drinking

There was a great article by this name that appeared about six years ago in a issue of Modern Reformation magazine. I've lost my copy and have searched several times online for it in vain. But today it has been located for me (ht: fruittart).

It's a church history piece. Here's a favorite quote that perhaps someone will act on at the next budget meeting...

"Calvin's yearly salary in Geneva included several barrels of wine. The Town Council recognized the large number of guests he would be expected to entertain, thus he was given "the substantial annual salary of 500 florins, together with twelve measures of wheat and two bossets (perhaps 250 gallons) of wine."

Click here and scroll down just a bit to the May 9th post and click "continue reading"...

Two Innumerable Things in Psalm 40

I had a great time last week praying with some of you at the Green St. Coffee House. (Sorry, I'm never going to warm up to its new name, Bar Giuliani, that's goofy. But dumb name or not, you're invited to join us Wednesday at 7am.) Last week we prayed through Psalm 40 and I decided to linger there a few more days.

I was struck by the repetition of the phrase "beyond number".

verse 5: Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders which Thou hast done, And Thy thoughts toward us; There is none to compare with Thee; If I would declare and speak of them, They would be too numerous to count.

verse 12: For evils beyond number have surrounded me; My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see; They are more numerous than the hairs of my head; And my heart has failed me.

Our iniquities are innumerable. Notice David says this even after he has been lifted out of the miry pit and had his feet planted on the rock. Still his iniquities overtake him. But thank God that there is something even more innumerable than our iniquities--God's wonderful and gracious thoughts toward us. As Sibbes said, there is more mercy in Christ than sin in us.

Meta

So I'm still pretty new to blogging. Why am I doing it? It's my effort to keep up a conversation with people I care about. Why have I closed comments to non-members? Because I don't want to be burdened by the need to respond to people I don't know. If you want to be a member and I know you, all you have to do is ask and I'll add you to the conversation.

But there's a downside to keeping our community small. I realize that I can't really keep the conversation going unless I post every day. But I don't think of postworthy things every day. So, I'm going to try a new thing. On days when I have nothing new to say, I will post a paragraph from one of my old sermon manuscripts. Here's today's installment...

What is the gospel? There is much in just these first four verses of Romans to begin an answer to that question, but let me begin by examining the word itself. What does the word “gospel” mean? It means good news. It’s a compound word in Greek meaning a good proclamation, a good announcement. When I think of the word proclamation, I think of a herald riding into town with news from the king and he blows a trumpet. Hear ye! Hear ye! The King has spoken… and he delivers his message. Now when he does that, that’s not an invitation to dialog. It’s just an announcement. You can believe it or not believe it but it remains a stubborn fact. The gospel is not an argument to be debated, it’s an announcement to be delivered. The gospel is not a world-view. The gospel is not a philosophy, it’s a proclamation. The gospel is not a list of demands about what you must do, it is a declaration of what God has done.

That’s why it’s called here in verse 1 “the gospel of God” It’s God’s gospel. It’s about Him. It announces good news of salvation for you, but ultimately it’s not about you. It’s about God, it’s about his glory, his salvation. Salvation is of the Lord. The reason why many people are frustrated and confused when they read the Bible is that they do not read it in a God-centered way. They don’t come to the Bible to learn of God, they come to the Bible constantly asking it to tell them what they must do. But you don’t need to be told what to do, you need to be told what God has done. When you understand what God has done it will change your life to be sure. But it’s not a self-help manual. The whole point is you can’t help yourself. You need to receive God’s help, so be still and listen to the good news of what God has done for you and quit trying to use the Bible’s teaching to save yourself. If you just want to be told what to do so that you can go do it for yourself, Romans is going to drive you nuts, because there is not a single command in the book of Romans until chapter 6:11, and then you know what he commands you to do? Think!

So I’m probably going to be preaching this book for a year or more before you ever get told what to do. But that’s OK, because, as we’ll see in verse 16, the gospel is the power of God. This message has power to save you all by itself quite apart from your moral striving. So just listen and receive and believe and soak in the good news of the gospel and trust God to change you through it.

Quote of the Day

Just a few minutes ago I finished listening to the panel discussion/gigglesnort between the speakers who were at the Together for the Gospel conference some weeks ago in Kentucky. Glad I listened all the way to the end because CJ Mahaney closed the time by citing out of nowhere his favorite Richard Sibbes quote.

"There is more mercy in Christ than sin in us."

Wow, that got me. Snuck right up through my spine and out my eyes. Did you feel it? Read it again.

I think it's time to read Richard Sibbes, The Bruised Reed.

More Romans Reflections

Romans 8:13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!"

In verse 13, I don't believe that "living according to the flesh" is the same thing as doing "the deeds of the body". "Flesh" in Paul doesn't always mean debauchery. It means anything that is merely human and not of the Spirit. It can even include human moral striving, cf. Philippians 3. That seems to be what Paul means here, because when he does speak of putting to death our sins, he changes his term to "deeds of the body" instead of the expected "deeds of the flesh". So if living according to the flesh doesn't mean debauchery here, what does it mean?

The point of the verse is that there are two ways to fight against the [mis]deeds of the body. One is by the flesh, the other is by the Spirit. Living according to the flesh is trying to overcome the sins of the body by law plus willpower. Try this and you will die.

What then is doing it by the Spirit? Check out the parallelism between verses 13 and 15.

living according to the flesh = the spirit of slavery
putting to death by the Spirit = the Spirit of adoption as sons.

Fight sin like a son, not like a slave. Don't say "No" to sin because you're afraid of the master's whip. Say "No" to sin because Papa loves you very much. Only love conquers sin. Legalists are dead meat.