Sermon Leftovers
February 15, 2010
In my studies last week I came across a wonderful quote from Martin Luther on how Christ has turned the Law, sin, and death upside down.
Thus with the sweetest names Christ is called my Law, my sin, and my death, in opposition to the Law, sin, and death, even though in fact He is nothing but sheer liberty, righteousness, life, and eternal salvation. Therefore, He became Law to the Law, sin to sin, and death to death, in order that He might redeem me from the curse of the Law, justify me, and make me alive. And so Christ is both: While He is the Law, He is liberty; while He is sin, He is righteousness; and while He is death, He is life. For by the very fact that He permitted the Law to accuse Him, sin to damn Him, and death to devour Him He abrogated the Law, damned sin, destroyed death, and justified and saved me. Thus Christ is a poison against the Law, sin, and death, and simultaneously a remedy to regain liberty, righteousness, and eternal life.
Martin Luther, Luther’s Works
Introducing Genesis in Blog Posts
January 13, 2010
This is the genesis of what I hope to be a long-running, continuous series of posts. To correspond with my current Sunday evening sermon series in Genesis, I would like to make a series of blog posts. My aim is to post a summary of the sermon with appropriate application, go deeper into issues not covered in the sermon, and explore people and actions in a deeper manner. By doing these things, I can explore the history of redemption as it unfolds in Genesis both in word and print. The task of preaching or teaching through a book like Genesis is daunting given the hot-button issues of creation as well as some of the strange behavior by the patriarchs. The blog posts will aid me in this task so that I can further elucidate passages by going a bit deeper in explanation or pointing to further reading. I will attempt to answer legitimate questions to the best of my ability. I hope that this undertaking will help you as you seek to hear and apply the Word of God. So, feel free to comment or ask questions in response to the posts.
Co-Belligerence and the Manhattan Declaration
December 10, 2009
On November 20, 2009, the Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience was released. The Declaration addresses several key moral issues and it was signed by numerous leaders within the Christian tradition, from men in the PCA (our own denomination) to Roman Catholic Archbishops. A summary statement from the document highlights their key concerns:
Because the sanctity of human life, the dignity of marriage as a union of husband and wife, and the freedom of conscience and religion are foundational principles of justice and the common good, we are compelled by our Christian faith to speak and act in their defense. In this declaration we affirm: 1) the profound, inherent, and equal dignity of every human being as a creature fashioned in the very image of God, possessing inherent rights of equal dignity and life; 2) marriage as a conjugal union of man and woman, ordained by God from the creation, and historically understood by believers and non-believers alike, to be the most basic institution in society and; 3) religious liberty, which is grounded in the character of God, the example of Christ, and the inherent freedom and dignity of human beings created in the divine image.
While the declaration affirms many important truths, and while it properly highlights the dangers of neglecting our moral duties as Christians and human beings, it also seems to make some errant assumptions about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We can see this in the following statement:
We are Christians who have joined together across historic lines of ecclesial differences to affirm our right—and, more importantly, to embrace our obligation—to speak and act in defense of these truths. We pledge to each other, and to our fellow believers, that no power on earth, be it cultural or political, will intimidate us into silence or acquiescence. It is our duty to proclaim the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in its fullness, both in season and out of season. May God help us not to fail in that duty.
First, the declaration appears to assume unity around this gospel, and this of course begs the questions, “Are Protestant Christians really speaking of the same ‘Gospel’ as Catholic Christians?” Second, the declaration also appears to suggest that to proclaim the message of the gospel is to speak and act out against these moral issues. Again, this raises a question about the very nature of the biblical gospel. Is the gospel a message and declaration about what God has done on behalf of man in history, or is the gospel about what man does?
For answers to these questions (and for reasons why they didn’t sign the declaration) consider the thoughts of the following men:
We can be thankful for the healthy debate that has arisen over the nature of the gospel and the proper way to understand co-belligerence. We should pray, work, and fight toward the end of the evils and moral depravities that the Manhattan Declaration addresses, but we should never think of the gospel as a message about what man does, nor should we assume unity around it in the midst of significant historical and theological differences. R.C. Sproul summarizes his position well, “While I would march with the bishop of Rome and an Orthodox prelate to resist the slaughter of innocents in the womb, I could never ground that cobelligerency on the assumption that we share a common faith and a unified understanding of the gospel.”
Spurgeon, the Bible, and the Blood of Martyrs
September 11, 2009
By the time Charles Spurgeon was 22 years old, his preaching ministry in London was enormously successful, and with that success came controversies of various kinds throughout his life. The first serious public controversy he dealt with was over a small hymnbook named, “The Rivulet,” published in 1855 by Thomas Lynch. Soon after its publication the hymnbook’s theology was criticized for being contrary to evangelical religion, and Spurgeon himself saw the hymnbook as an affront to the biblical gospel. The controversy soon faded, but Spurgeon’s sermons, of course, live on. During that controversy Spurgeon preached a message on 1 Timothy 3:15, “the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of truth,” and here Spurgeon makes a compelling appeal for pastors and churches to stand firm in the truth of God’s Word.
He opens the sermon saying:
This is a day of strife, a day of division, a time of war and fighting between professing Christians. God be thanked for it! Far better that it should be so than that the false calm shall any longer exert its fatal spell over us.
What follows is a powerful appeal to the Church to remember its vital calling to defend the truth at all costs. As I read this sermon, I couldn’t help but think about how important Spurgeon’s message is for today’s church, where so often biblical doctrine, theology, and truth have taken a backseat to lesser ends. So this evening I thank God for Spurgeon, but more importantly, for the eternal Word, and for the Church, which is a “pillar and buttress of truth.” May we heed Spurgeon’s words well…
Remember how your fathers, in times gone by, defended God’s truth, and blush, ye cowards, who are afraid to maintain it! Remember that our Bible is a blood-stained book; the blood of martyrs is on the Bible, the blood of translators and confessors. The pool of holy baptism, in which many of you have been baptized, is a blood-stained pool: full many have had to die for the vindication of that baptism which is “the answer of a good conscience toward God.” The doctrines which we preach to you are doctrines that have been baptized in blood, swords have been drawn to slay the confessors of them; and there is not a truth which has not been sealed by them at the stake, or the block, or far away on the lofty mountains, where they have been slain by hundreds. It is but a little duty we have to discharge compared with theirs. They were called to maintain the truth when they had to die for it; you only have to maintain the truth when taunt and jeer, ignominious names and contemptuous epithets are all you have to endure for it. What! Do you expect easy lives? While some have led through seas of blood, and have fought to win the prize, are you wearied with a slight skirmish on dry land? What would you do if God should suffer persecuting days to overtake you? O craven spirits, ye would flee away, and disown your profession! Be ye the pillar and ground of the truth. Let the blood of martyrs, let the voices of confessors, speak to you. Remember how they held fast the truth, how they preserved it, and handed it down to us from generation to generation; and by their noble example, I beseech you, be steadfast and faithful, tread valiantly and firmly in their steps, acquit yourselves like men, like men of God, I implore you! Shall we not have some champions, in these times, who will deal sternly with heresies for the love of the truth, men who will stand like rocks in the center of the sea, so that, when all others shake, they stand invulnerable and invincible? Thou who art tossed about by every wind of doctrine, farewell; I own thee not till God shall give thee grace to stand firm for his truth, and not to be ashamed o fhim nor of his words in this evil generation.
And all that, over a little hymnbook.
O, for more champions of truth, like Spurgeon, today!
From Around the Web…
September 1, 2009
Some interesting, fun, informative, challenging, and edifying links for a Tuesday:
- Listen to Alistair Begg’s powerful pleading to adopt a “two-kingdom” theology for the practical benefit of Christ’s church (don’t let the music fool you – this is excellent).
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- Ask yourself if your spouse and family are idols – and consider how the church sometimes promotes a “picket fence” idolatry.
- Listen to Derek Webb repent of just this sort of idolatry.
- Consider with T. David Gordon why the decline of cultural Christianity in the West may be good… really good.
- Take a seminary course from Covenant Theological Seminary’s Worldwide Classroom.
- Pray for the people of Thailand.
- Watch, as John Lennox talks about the Christian use of the mind and the problems of anti-intellectualism.
- Listen to recent episodes of The White Horse Inn, such as their excellent discussion on “Boredom and Entertainment.”
- Attend the Reformation Society of Pittsburgh conference, Mystery of the Kingdom.
- Read a very thoughtful review of the new American Patriot’s Bible.
- Read John and Noel Piper talk about why they keep their children in worship and offer helpful practical suggests on how to make it work.
How a Two Kingdom Theology Can Help You Drive a Bus
August 25, 2009
On August 19, 2009 the Des Moine Register carried a story about a city bus driver who refused to drive her bus because it carried a pro-atheist advertisement. According the article, the bus driver’s husband said, “to me, it’s kind of wrong to deny a person of their job because they have a belief.”
And it is precisely here where a solid biblical understanding of two-kingdom theology can help.
I appreciate the Christian commitment of the bus-driver and her sincere desire to do what she believe right. However, it seems to me that she did the wrong thing. Here’s why…
To begin, Jesus himself makes it very clear that it is God’s will for Christians to remain in this world. Specifically, in his high priestly prayer Jesus prays, not that God would take Christians out of the world, but that he would simply protect them from the evil one (John 17:15). Practically, this means that God has called Christians to live in a broken world that is infiltrated with sin and the influence of the evil one, and the challenge for the Christian (thus Jesus’ prayer) is to live a sanctified life in this world in testimony to the truths of the Gospel.
For our sake, what is important in Jesus’ prayer is the significance of this calling to remain in the world. Since we’ve not been taken out of the world this means that our normal expectation of life is daily encounters with corruption, sin, and evil as we live in the world. All people, even Christians, ride buses with racy, anti-Christian, or otherwise sinful advertisements – and as Christians we do this precisely because we are called by our Lord to live in the world.
Jesus makes the point most clearly when he was asked, “Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or not?” (Luke 20:22). The debate would have been, “Can a faithful believer really give money in support of such a corrupt, sinful, blasphemous government?” Jesus answer? “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Luke 20:25). In other words, understand that you live as a citizen of two kingdoms, and you have distinct responsibilities within each. As a citizen of the world, you’ve got to pay taxes, even if the money goes to a corrupt government. And, as a city employee, you’ve got to drive that bus, even if the advertisements on it are corrupt. In fact, a strong argument could be made that to not drive that bus is the true sin – failing to do your job well, failing to serve your fellow man who needs to get to work on time.
The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come”
August 14, 2009
The last reference in the Bible to God’s people (the Church) is as a bride, and the last word credited to this Bride, in reference to Christ her Bridegroom, is simply, “Come” (Rev. 22:17). Ray Ortlund Jr. explains the powerful significance of this culminating passage in the book of Revelation:
John’s pastoral purpose in setting forth this great vision of the end is focused into one sharply defined point in 22:17, where he calls the church to the single, essential response appropriate to all that has been shown: The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come.’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come’ (RSV). The suffering church militant of this present evil age is to cultivate one great impulse throbbing in her soul, viz. an aching longing for the Bridegroom to come to her, to take her in his arms, with nothing within herself to wrest her away, and to be held there for ever. Until such time as he is pleased to come, she is to centre her life around ‘the love of Jesus Christ, the King, Bridegroom, and Husband of his church….
Ray Ortlund Jr., God’s Unfaithful Wife: A Biblical Theology of Spiritual Adultery (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2002), 168-169.
