Ascol on True Church Discipline

Pastor Tom Ascol responds to the recent Wall Street Journal article on church discipline. He notes the always-extreme nature of their news coverage and includes this direction for churches seeking to practice truly Biblical and loving church discipline:

One of the first things a faithful pastor must do when he finds that a church has neglected the practice of corrective church discipline is teach. He must carefully explain passages like the one cited above [Matthew 18] and 1 Corinthians 5. Then he must teach some more. And then some more. He must lead the membership to see and embrace what the Bible says about the integrity of a church's identity and testimony as the body of Christ. Only after a congregatoin has been adequately taught can they be expected to properly carry out the practice of church discipline.

May the Lord bring His Word and His purity back into our local churches.

Another Encouragement to Read the Bible

Last night, while reading Jeremiah, I made an interesting connection to the Gospels and realized that I had not done that in quite some time. God hadn't been giving me that same illumination because I hadn't been reading His Word as often. And it was a strange, saddening thought . . .

Until I realized that I ought only to be encouraged to read the Bible more, because the Bible is then what I remember and the Bible is then what God uses. The more I read it, the more I love it and the more I remember. The more I love it and remember it, the more I love and honor and remember Him.

Since I want to know Jesus, I should read His Word more. Can you say the same?

Luther on Christian Truth

Martin Luther's response in Bondage of the Will to Erasmus describing himself as one who was "far from delighting in assertions":

For not to delight in assertions, is not the character of the Christian mind: nay, he must delight in assertions, or he is not a Christian.

To clarify his use of the term "assertions," Luther goes on to write:

But, (that we may not be mistaken in terms) by assertion, I mean a constant adhering, affirming, confessing, defending, and invincibly persevering. Nor do I believe the term signifies any thing else, either among the Latins, or as it is used by us at this day. And moreover, I speak concerning the asserting of those things, which are delivered to us from above in the Holy Scriptures.

Letter to a Persecuted American Family

My brother and sister,

Hey, I was getting ready to send you an email about something totally different when I realized that something R. told me tonight was indescribably encouraging. He mentioned that his sister offered to help ya'll with a down payment on a house, then added that the money came with a certain condition - that you would have no more children. This certainly meant that this family member disapproved of your life's path in any number of ways, but most likely because of missions and family size. And you turned the money down! Without a second thought! What a beautiful testimony to Jesus! He is more important than anyone's money! He is better than the so-called "wisdom" of our world!

It reminded me of Luke 6:22-23, where Jesus says, "Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets." Make no mistake about it - your sister is excluding you from her money because of your choice to follow Jesus down the hard road of family-building and missions. And Jesus says that you are "blessed" - happy - because of her exclusion of you and reviling of your name. So leap for joy today, because great is your reward in heaven. You are just like the prophets! How encouraging is that?

We love you (it's amazing to see how fast God is growing your family),

B.

Our House is in Boxes, and We Have Nowhere to Go

God has been wonderfully gracious to us in this whole house-buying process. We found one we liked, it was even next-door to our friends, our offer was accepted, and we were on our way. Or so we thought.

Then the appraisal came back too low, the seller didn't want to budge, and now we're in a waiting cycle. So we have continued to pack, believing that God is able to work it out, but also knowing that He may not choose to do that. He may be doing something else. Our house is in boxes, and we have nowhere to go . . . yet.

This situation is frustrating on many levels, but for believers it should be less so. I was reminded of this yesterday as I talked to a friend, and we remembered that we are "exiles, always exiles," until our King comes to take us home.

What a glorious day! Let us sing of it! We will rejoice in that day, and let us hope for it right now.

Two New (Old) Resources

At community group last night, I mentioned two resources you might be interested in.

1. The speech from which I plucked Pastor John Piper's thesis, "the doctrine of glorification is in the Bible to help you suffer well on the path of love to show that Jesus is more valuable than life," is called "Man as Glorified" and was given at the 2002 Mid-Atlantic Founders Conference in Raleigh, NC. It is, unfortunately, not available online, but it can be ordered here.

If you live near me, though, just ask me for it and I'll burn you a copy. As a sermon, it is biblical-theological gold.

2. The band I used to be in has old websites here, here, and here. We were called Fairbanks, and our last recorded music is on purevolume. If you want our anthology of hard grungy rock, just ask me for a copy.

We didn't always ride mowers, but we sure did rock.

Male Leadership in the Family, Church, and Culture: Pt. 1

Last weekend, a well-loved family member brought up some thoughts about gender roles in the church, and it got me thinking all over again about the need for male leadership in the family, church, and culture. I say all three for several reasons: one, because they necessarily go together and one would be hypocrisy without the others; two, because they are generally the three spheres in which we operate; three, we men need reminders that our proper leadership is needed in all three.

It's often said that exclusively male leadership is a thing of the past, a relic of a bygone age, and a vestige of the oppression of women by the male majority. I've even heard it said, and staunchly defended, that commands in the Bible like 1 Timothy 2:12-15 apply not to every culture and age but mainly the one to whom Paul was writing. This could not be further from the truth.

When God the Holy Spirit, through His apostle Paul, wrote,

I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. Yet she will be saved through childbearing - if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.

He neither framed it as a time-sensitive command nor intend it as such. The reasoning of the context simply does not permit it. It's more straightforward and universal than that.

So God says, "I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet," then what is the reason? Why does He say such a preposterously chauvinistic thing?

Because "Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor." In couching these commands in (1) creation and (2) fall, God makes them as universal and straightforward as possible. There is no pandering to that particular culture or ours. There is no yellow-bellied wimpery in God's decree. He says, "I made man first, therefore woman cannot, by My design, be the leader."

And all who disagree - men and women - are rebelling against God. God made the man to be the servant leader of his family, church, and culture; just look at the way Jesus live and led and spoke and died. He lived and breathed the servant leadership God placed upon Him; who are we to question God's call?

Octavius Winslow on Following Christ's Example

Pastor Tom Ascol is always raving about how good Octavius Winslow's Morning and Evening Devotions are, so I decided I should read them for myself.

Today's morning devotion just happens to be on John 13:15, "For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you."

After noting Matt. 11, Rom. 15, and Phil. 2 as places the Bible calls us to follow Christ's example, Winslow has come lucid applications:

• Look not every man on his own circle, his own family, his own gifts, his own interests, comfort, and happiness; upon his own Church, his own community, his own minister. Let him not look upon these exclusively.
• Let him not prefer his own advantage to the public good.
  
• Let him not be self-willed in matters involving the peace and comfort of others.
• Let him not forLm favorite theories, or individual opinions, to the hazard of a Church's prosperity or of a family's happiness.
• Let him yield, sacrifice, and give place, rather than carry a point to the detriment of others.
• Let him, with a generous, magnanimous, disinterested spirit, in all things imitate Jesus, who "pleased not Himself."
• Let him seek the good of others, honoring their gifts, respecting their opinions, nobly yielding when they correct and overrule his own.
• Let him promote the peace of the Church, consult the honor of Christ, and seek the glory of God, above and beyond all private and selfish ends.

He explains in closing:

This is to be conformed to the image of God's dear Son, to which high calling we are predestinated; and in any feature of resemblance which the Holy Spirit brings out in the holy life of a follower of the Lamb, Christ is thereby glorified before men and angels.

I found it especially helpful that Winslow points out the danger of forming one's own opinions and doctrines. "Let him not form favorite theories, or individual opinions, to the hazard of a Church's prosperity or of a family's happiness," he writes. It is for lack of following Christ that people come up with hazardous doctrines. It is their failure to submit themselves to His own Word that allows their minds to invent false teachings.

And it is our job as His followers to follow Him in life and thought, teaching what He teaches and protecting those whom He protects.

The Glory of God in Family Worship

Leading Our Families to Treasure Jesus Christ by Faith
(taught last Wednesday for some of our community group men)

God is worthy of all of our worship. Ps. 117 aptly says, “Praise the LORD, all nations! Extol him, all peoples! For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD! “ The beginning of Ps. 145 reads,

I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness. They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

I am thrilled to be able to commend to you God's own vision of His worship in the home, because it is so true and right and good and helpful and because it gives great and true glory to God. God wants His name – His very character and glory – known and treasured in families, not simply individuals, across the globe. There is a real reason that the Scriptures compare the church to the family. Family matters to God. God assumes that families will be worshiping Him. Indeed, God is deeply honored when families stop their so-called “busy-ness” to sit down together to study God's Word, sing His praises, and pray in Jesus' name.

But, in some ways, I am ashamed to have to explain and commend to you the practice of family worship. Its regular practice seems so manifestly obvious in Scripture that its wholesale decline grieves me seriously. It makes me sad to say that, as a child, neither my immediate nor extended family ever once worshiped God together in the home, though most all of them profess Christ.

Apparently, we have this artificial divide between what happens "at church" and what happens "at home." Our cultural background blinds us to the necessity of family worship. We think that "church" is there in a building, and "home" is here in our houses. But, as one professor taught me, the family is meant to be a "domestic church." This is exactly why the New Testament compares a church to a family! If the family wasn't worshipping God, how would this comparison work? Therefore, all of the Bible's instruction about church and worship can rightly be applied to the family.

The Bible speaks often of family worship. Tonight, we will look at the two key OT passages and note some NT support in closing, and I pray that God would write these words on your hearts and teach you how to apply them specifically in your family context.

Deut. 6:4-9

"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

So we note a few things here: first, the opening line calls for spiritual hearing because of God's unity. Second, we are told to love God with our entire being. Then third, His words are to be on our hearts. Fourth, the very next application is that we would teach God's words to our children at all times - lying down, rising up, sitting, and walking - and have them written all over our minds and hands and houses. This, then, is truly a vision of the full-on, life-consuming enjoyment of God.

Ps. 78:1-12

1 A Maskil of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth! 2 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, 3 things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. 4 We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done. 5 He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, 6 that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, 7 so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments; 8 and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God. 9 The Ephraimites, armed with the bow, turned back on the day of battle. 10 They did not keep God's covenant, but refused to walk according to his law. 11 They forgot his works and the wonders that he had shown them. 12 In the sight of their fathers he performed wonders in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.

Note two main things here:

• the purpose of the teaching - that children and children's children and unborn children would put their hope in God (v. 5-7)
• the effects of not teaching your children - these often omitted verses show that untaught, unbelieving children will turn back in the day of battle (v. 9-12)

Now we turn briefly to some supporting verses in the New Testament. Though there are many, we will only note three.

• Eph 6:4 "Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord."
• 2Ti 3:15 "and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus."
• Acts 20:20f "how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ."

These verses point out that Paul tells us to raise our children by teaching them about the Lord Jesus, that Timothy read the Scriptures as a child, and that Paul and the apostles taught in houses. So why wouldn't we?

Application
So this necessity of family worship is written on your heart, now what? These notes have proved helpful to me:

1. Keep it simple.
This means in time, parts, and manner. Keep the same time (after dinner, before bed, after breakfast, etc), the same order (Bible, prayer, song, etc.), and the same speech (simple, God-honoring, applicable).

2. Keep it short.
At least at first, it is hard even for adults to get used to 30-45 minute Bible studies late in the evening. Yes, this is more important than television, but no, we don't want to bludgeon our families with Greek exegesis of Hebrews. Believe me, I tried.

3. Keep pressing on.
Starting and continuing family worship, especially from the historical-cultural places from which we come, is difficult. I've found it, indeed, quite difficult. Sin, Satan, and silliness will try to keep you from worshiping Jesus together with your family. Don't give in; and don't let anyone but God win in your family. There really is nothing our enemies would rather see than our families drifting away from God into weak affections and unbelief. When you mess up and forget, or forget to plan, just admit it, ask God and family for forgiveness, and press on. Persevere. “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work,” (2 Cor. 9:8). Let us press on together, brothers. God is infinitely worthy and infinitely sufficient.

Final Notes
You may have situations - work, school, unexpected occurences - that don't allow for this kind of practice every night, but try to do it every night that you can. And once you have this written on your heart, God will remind you and show you and give you the urge to carry it out. Remember, God is able to make all grace abound to you, including the grace to lead and serve your family in worshipping Him together.

Tom Ascol sums it up like this:

Make family worship a priority. Don’t let pride keep you from asking for help. Ask men and women who are doing it to give you suggestions. Get Don Whitney’s booklet on the subject (now available as a message on CD, as well) and read it together. Don’t be intimidated with unrealistic goals or visions of what family worship ought to be. Start simple. Read the Bible, sing a song or a chorus or a verse of a song, and pray. Then do it again the next day. Recognize that there will be days that you are not able to worship together as you like. Recognize that there wiil be days that you are able and you simply choose not to due to laziness, neglect or blatant sin. When that happens, repent, believe the Gospel, and start over, and do that the rest of your life. Once you incorporate family worship into the regular pattern of your life, don’t let house guests divert you from your schedule. Include them, or at least invite them to join you. Evangelism happens during such times. So does discipleship. Your example and testimony can be powerfully used by God in the lives of others who witness it.

One final helpful point: Your formal times of family worship (where you sit down together after dinner, for instance, to read the Bible and pray and sing to Jesus) will drive your informal times of conversation and worship (like conversing as you walk with your children, or talking before bed, or breaking into song). And those are wonderful and glorious as well, because all believers want their entire lives to be filled with songs and meditations and prayers from and through and to Jesus Christ. And so we desire for our families as well. May the God of glorious grace make it so. He is more than able.

Web Resources:
Vision Forum Ministries - a wonderful website and ministry dedicated to "rebuilding the Christian family, one household at a time."

John Gill's commentary on Deut. 6:7

Matthew Henry's commentary on Psa 78:1-8

Pastor Tom Ascol on Family Worship

Joe Thorn on Family Worship

Between Two Worlds - The Key to the Spiritual Health for Your Family

Books:
Family Worship by Donald Whitney
Thoughts on Family Worship by J.W. Alexander
The Godly Family by various authors
The Bible and the Closet by Thomas Watson and Samuel Lee (see the very back for “The Family Altar”).

Joel: God Never Finally Opposes His Children

We were talking in community group last night about our pastor's sermon on Joel last Sunday, and we stopped to linger over the idea and application of God's opposition of His people. In using the word "opposition," we determined from Joel that often the Sovereign Lord makes life difficult, quite difficult (Paul says in 2 Cor. 1 that he "despaired of life itself"), for His children. God "opposes" them for a season, so that He would work humility and repentance by His grace.

Consider the book of Joel. Its three short chapters speak often of weeping and wailing, of locust plagues, of repentance, and of the day of the Lord. That's some pretty sobering, apocalyptic stuff. But note the renewal and repentance that comes to those who follow God's command to "Put on sackcloth and lament, . . consecrate a fast, call a solemn assembly, . . . cry out to the Lord," (1:13f, 2:15f). God then says to His people in Joel 2:19-3:1,

"Behold, I am sending to you grain, wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied; and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations. I will remove the northerner far from you, and drive him into a parched and desolate land . . . Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice, for the LORD has done great things! Fear not, you beasts of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness are green; the tree bears its fruit; the fig tree and vine give their full yield.

Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God, for he has given the early rain for your vindication; he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the latter rain, as before. The threshing floors shall be full of grain; the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you. You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame. You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God and there is none else. And my people shall never again be put to shame.

And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit. And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls. For behold, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem. . ."

Grain and new wine! Enemies driven away! Rejoicing in God! Vats overflowing with wine and oil! Land restored! Plenteous, satisfying food! Dwelling with God! Knowing Him! No more shame! The fullness of His Spirit! Calling on His name for salvation! Escape from judgment! What blessings He promises after repentance! What happiness heaven will hold for those who repent and believe!

God's opposition, then, is never finally against His own children. "He disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness," says Hebrews 12:10. But we must understand His discipline correctly. It is not easy, and it not happy at the time. It is much like how our parents disciplined us when we were young, except that God is wiser and more loving than our earthly parents. He even works locusts and plagues and disaster and famine for the good of His chidren.

Consider one more text with me - Romans chapter eight. 8:28-29 reads, "For we know that God works all things together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose, for those whom He foreknew He predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren." So each and every thing in the life of God's child is meant for their good, which is growing in and exalting Jesus Christ. Later Paul writes that nothing in all of creation can separate believers from the love of God in Christ Jesus - not tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword. And what God means here is, those things are coming! Don't be dismayed when they do! He still loves you who are in Christ!

One final note - these things are taught in plenty in the Old Testament. So let us read it and enjoy the God who loves His children so wisely and so fully.

Reading for Free and Reading for Freedom

Everyone should read. Reading is thought-provoking, mind-building, imagination-freeing, and boredom-curing. If you can read and you're not reading regularly, then you are wasting your mind and time and life on other, far less important things. You also are failing to work your brain-muscle like the rest of your muscles and failing to use the faculties God has so graciously given you.

Wonderfully sharp blogger Tim Challies posted the other day about this very subject, and I found his post and the one he links to (Bob Kauflin's) very encouraging. They note the edifying nature not only of the content of reading, but also of the very act itself. The point out helpful tips and treasures from their own reading experiences, and give exhortations and encouragements to read all the more.

But not only is reading a freeing exercise, reading is also free. More free books, even good books, are available online than ever before, and the number is only growing as copyrights continue to expire. I want to highlight two of these sites for you:

• CCEL.org - a vast, well-indexed, searchable site full of Christian writers (not just theologians and pastors), includes writers like Athanasius, Chesterton, Luther, Calvin, and Spurgeon
• GraceGems.org - a simple "treasury of ageless sovereign grace devotional writings," mostly by the Puritans
  

Without writing and books and reading, we would know very little about the world around us or the God who created us. Sadly, though, we would often rather watch mind-numbing television or play brain-slushing video games than sit down and read a good book. This simply must change - our minds are dying and our language simplifying, and we can't figure out how to understand or explain the the God of the Gospel or His world in which we live. Let's get back to reading. May the God who speaks help us.

God: In Charge But Not In Control?

Baylor theology professor Dr. Roger Olson,

In response to your recent essay directed against the "Calvinist view" of God's character over at the Baylor Lariat Online, I must ask, how can God be "in charge but not in control"? We are talking about the God of the Bible, aren't we? The God who brings calamity, who exalts kings and takes them down, who burned whole cities with fire from heaven, who exercised His wrath on His only-begotten Son - this is the God of the Scriptures.

You say concerning "the God of Calvinism" that you're "not sure how to distinguish him from the devil," but are you sure how to distinguish your own understanding of God from a mere man? How can the God of the universe, Creator of the ends of the earth, the Sovereign over all creation, not be in control of all things that happen in His universe? He is still GOD, isn't he?

You address the Minneapolis bridge disaster, but the Bible says in Amos 3:6, "Does disaster come to a city, unless the Lord has done it?" So God clearly ordains and brings disasters upon cities, and it is right for Him to do so for at least three reasons:

1. This is His world, so He can do with it as He pleases.
2. This world is full of wicked sinners, so He can judge us - even using disasters - as He pleases.
3. God uses the frailty of this world to point people in repentance to His never-failing Son.
   

It seems as though you've sacrificed God's true sovereign control at the altar of your false conception of His goodness. Your theological concerns are mainly relieving "God of responsibility for sin and evil and disaster and calamity," but those four things are not the same. God bringing disaster and calamity, like the Minnesota bridge collapse, isn't the same as Him doing sin and evil. He does bring disaster and calamity, and yet He does not sin or do evil. We must affirm both truths about God's character and therefore His work in the universe.

Again I say, it is totally right and good and holy for God to bring disasters upon this world.

Unlike your article, Jesus doesn't tell the worried people in Luke 13:1-5, "Oh, it's okay, God didn't do those terrible things;" He says, "No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." He then offers another disaster as an example!

You, especially, Dr. Olson, have a special charge in this world of helping train those who will teach His Word to the church and to the world. How can you so deny His abundant truth? How can you give your students such hurtful, deceptive answers? I love Jesus and His people, so it hurts my heart to read your article.

You close your essay by commenting about God's sovereignty that, "In light of all the evil and innocent suffering in the world, he must have limited himself." But it seems that the LORD would instruct us first to consult Him on matters of His own character, before we go building conclusions on what our faulty, frail, fallen eyes see in this world.

He has not limited Himself in any way, sir, and I pray that you see and love God in truth, not lies, for His sake and for yours and for the people you serve,

Britt Treece

Eternity Forgotten?

Over at the 9Marks Blog, Matt Schmucker has so kindly and thoughtfully blogged about the loss of "the idea of eternity and the believer's ultimate end." The whole post is worth reading, but here are his 6 reasons why the idea of eternity may be forgotten in our churches:

1. We’re distracted by baubles. We don’t long for and speak of eternity because in our hyper-connected, wealth-soaked, desires-driven world we remain suspended in a state of EXTREME DISTRACTION --by baubles—showy ornaments of little value. Music, drink, golf, houses, cars, IPODS, DVDs ESPN, HBO or MTV. These things are not necessarily bad. But too often mere baubles. Meaningless. They are nothing in light of eternity. But, boy, are they powerful.

2. We’re too content. Living in America is to be comfortable. I know there are exceptions, but even the poor in America (according to recent studies) live better than most of all of human history. We’re content. Why long for something else when things are fine -- here? Our wealth buys us out of hard labor. Our healthcare buys us out of extreme pain. We are content/comfortable with this world, not eager for the next. And so we don’t speak of eternal matters.

3. We may not be Christians. We don’t speak of eternity because we don’t know the eternal God. Jesus said, “Out of the mouth comes that which fills the heart (Matthew 12:34). It’s a nice little test the Lord of the Universe came up with. You want to know what’s on your heart? Check what comes out of your mouth. Sports? Work? Relationships? Money? Politics? Does anything eternal ever make it out? I have a special concern here for you who are or have grown up in a Christian home. You learn early how to talk the talk. You know the Christian buzz words and adopt the Christian culture, but is what you say you believe real to your own soul?

• You talk about mysteries without standing in awe.
• You talk about zeal without any passion.
• You speak of sin in the absence of sorrow.
• You even speak of heaven without any eagerness.

Be on your guard that you are not playing the role of the Pharisee. We may not be Christian and so we don’t speak about eternity.

4. We’re Christian, but our holy desires may be too slight. About John Owen (leading Puritan preacher) it was said, “holiness…shined in his whole course [his whole life], and was diffused through his whole conversation.” Owen in his own words: “If the word does not dwell with power in us, it will not pass with power from us.” Owen desired all things holy and it came out. Our holy desires may be too slight. And so we don’t speak.

5. We don’t understand our role as Christians. We don’t “get saved” then do what we want and see God sometime way off in the future. When you come to Christ, you get a new identity and with that a new role, if you will. When John the Baptist comes on the scene, the Jewish leadership sent priests out to find out who this guy was. “Who are you?” “Are you Elijah?” “Are you the Prophet?” “What do you say about yourself?” What is John’s description of himself? I AM A VOICE. I’m not a lawyer or a nurse or a federal worker. I’m not a teacher, homemaker, student or pastor. I’m not a painter or a journalist. I AM A VOICE. That’s your role! I believe and therefore I speak (2 Cor 4:13). We don’t understand our role and so we don’t speak for our eternal God.

6. We’re too fearful. We fear the reproach of men. We fear being rejected by family. We fear the loss of friends. We fear looking different/acting different/being different. Friends, we need to be willing to have every part of this life look stupid if it means being faithful to God and preparing to stand in His presence in the next.

I found #3 particularly convicting. If we forget to think about eternity, are we really Christians? Have we truly been converted by the eternal God in our eternal souls?

Arminianism is a Path to Universalism

And I mean this in a philosophical sense - Arminianism is a primrose path to universalism.

Why?

I know tons of believing Arminians, who hold that God saves man, somehow through is own free choices, while still trying to attribute all the glory to God (which free-will "theology" can never do). But still, they try. But I also know several questionable Arminians, who struggle so much with their conception of God's "love" and man's "free will" that they concoct and erect theologies of universal love and salvation.

So what is the link between Arminianism and universalism? The answer is quite simple: their failure to understand of Biblical grace.

The Bible teaches that, because we are all wicked rebels before God, He would be completely just to send anyone to eternally painful punishment. But He chooses to save those whom He will, and that act is all of grace. It is the very definition of grace that He saves some underserving - antideserving! - sinners and does not save others. Both groups, all people, are rebels; yet God chooses whom He will graciously save and whom He will justly damn. It is the heart of Biblical grace.

But Arminians and universal-leaning Christians fail to realize that everyone, whether they "have the opportunity to hear the Gospel" or not, is a God-hating sinner. God has not promised that we will all hear the Gospel. Hearing the Gospel is not a prerequisite for damnation, but it is a prerequisite for salvation.

True theology, then, should push us on to carrying the happy news of God's happy Son to all who will listen, even to the ends of the earth. Universalism, however, is rather lazy. It would rather stay at home and save everyone through a lie than do the hard work to preach the Gospel and see God save people through His truth.

Let us reject the laziness of lies and instead take hold of one Man, singing His truth the world over.

Romans: God is the Only God-Worshipper

Reading Romans 1-3 yesterday made something very clear to me: God is the only God-worshipper. Let me repeat that: God is the only God-worshipper.

How can I say that? It sounds just crazy. Millions of people throughout the ages have worshipped the one true God through Jesus Christ His Son, so how can I say that God is the only Being who worships God?

Well, it becomes clear from chapters 1 and 2 that everyone - Jew and Gentile - not only fails to worship God rightly, but also angers Him by their unrighteous unbelief and ugly idol-worship. As 1:18 says,

"For the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth."

The wrath of God is coming upon all the unrighteous. 3:9-10 explains,

"For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: 'None is righteous, no, not one.' "

The whole world is thus in a terrible state.

Unless God intervenes.

Magnificently, this He does in 3:21-24,

"But apart from law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed to by the Law and the Prophets, the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe, for there is no distinction, for all sinned and are falling short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation in His blood through faithfulness . . ."

What a gracious, enemy-saving God! At the cost of His own Son, He redeemed angry, weak, laughable God-haters! He made us worshippers!

Therefore, as 2:29 tells us,

"But a Jew [a God-worshipper] is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God."

Paul tells us that God effects His own worship - totally, effectively, finally. God loves His own glory, and wants man to love Him rightly, too, because that is what is best for man and most glorifying to God. God, then, is the only God-worshipper, because He is the only One who, through Jesus Christ, can bring others into a right, happy, worshipping relationship with Himself.

Recent Reading

Some good recent articles in the world of blog:

• Honest to God - Michael McKinley at the 9Marks Blog, Church Matters, takes a look at the pride and hypocrisy in his own heart, challenging us to take a look at our own, finally pointing us to the cross of Christ where we find the grace and forgiveness that empowers us to be truly honest with ourselves, each other, and God Himself.
• Thabiti's series on The Mereness of Church - Thabiti takes a look at how the Church must be simple and clear in her mission and message. These are convicting, challenging, helpful posts, as most all of Thabiti's are.
• Martin Graham's two most recent full-length posts - Fathers, Be Your Child's Advocate! and the Greatness of God and the Meaning of Tender Mercy - are both devotional and God-centered. I am often helped by this dear brother.
• Justin Taylor's three recent devotional articles - one and two from Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones on the Christian's inner life and one from Jerry Bridges on legalistic fences - are all worth the short, thoughtful read.
• Tom Ascol at the Founders Blog is keeping us up-to-date on the life of the SBC in Florida. Powerful convictions and heartfelt love abound.

Praise God for the internet! I learn so much from so many more learned men than myself, all while pointing me to the Bible and the Central Character of it!

The Shepherd and the Flock

By the providence of God, I have met several older pastors in my recent days here at my job. These genuine, God-loving men tend to be "walking the mall" to stay in shape in their latter years. It got me thinking: What does it look like to be a minister of God? So many men (and women, unfortunately) do it poorly that we have forgotten most of what it means to be an earthen vessel with the treasure of the Gospel and an undershepherd of God's flock, especially in the midst of such theologically-troubled and misguided church in a crooked and perverse generation.

Then, again by the providence of God, I stumbled across an excerpt of an interview with Joel R. Beeke, who is "pastor of the Heritage Netherlands Reformed Congregation in Grand Rapids, MI, president and professor of systematic theology at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, and author of numerous books including The Quest For Full Assurance and Meet The Puritans."

Here are several points worth pondering:

How should a minister keep his own heart, mind, and will from theological error?

• Keep yourself deeply immersed in the Scriptures, and pray daily to be willing to surrender all to their inerrant truth.
• Surround yourself with sound, godly colleagues and lay people who love you sufficiently to be honest with you, so that iron will sharpen iron.
• Read the best, sound, scriptural, classic books, especially those by the Reformers and Puritans, that address your mind with clarity, convict your conscience with poignancy, bend your wills with conviction, and move your feet with passion.
• Meditate on those truths preached that do your people the most good; in every case, you will discover that they are biblical truths.
• Develop the hide of a rhinoceros so that you won’t be tossed about with every criticism and wind of doctrine while maintaining the heart of a child, so that you will be a tender undershepherd to the needy.

Calvin said that ministers have two voices. One is for the sheep and the other for warding off the wolves. How have you struck the right balance in this regard in your pulpit ministry?

I suppose that one can never be absolutely certain that he is striking the right balance on this critical subject, but here are four guidelines that I find helpful:

• Pray daily for biblical balance in all areas of ministry.
• Love your sheep. Love has a way of balancing out our often imbalanced personalities. Those in error can receive much more from a minister who obviously loves them than from one who comes across as combative.
• Be patient with your sheep. Be willing to teach them the same truth repeatedly, just as the Lord has done with you (cf. Phil. 3:1; 2 Peter 3:1–2).
• Let your "voice for the sheep" always receive the primary accent of your ministry. Truth must ultimately be positive in nature to win the day with a congregation. Many ministers have focused too much on polemical and apologetical theology, often setting up and beating upon straw men in their congregation to the detriment of the flock. Polemics and apologetics must have the proper place of a minor accent in the ministry, so that no error is left unexposed.
• But the minister must expose error wisely, forthrightly, humbly, compellingly, not by lording it over the sheep (2 Tim. 4:1–2; 1 Pet. 5:2–3).

This is sound, Scriptural advice for loving the Lord Jesus and loving His people put under our care. And every believer, not just "pastors," has a ministry to hurting people who need God, be it in the church body or outside.

Is Inclusivism Compassionate?

John G. Stackhouse Jr. is a professor of theology and culture at Regent College in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. He writes in a recent Christian Vision Project essay that, "it is obvious that one does not have to know about Jesus to adopt this posture that results in salvation." Doug Wilson's response to John Stackhouse's inclusivist essay is excellent. In it, he makes the strong point that:

Ironically, this is why the inclusivist position requires us to start minimizing (in our own imaginations) how screwed up the world actually is. If we believe that millions of Hindus, Muslims, and Buddhists are groping their way to God in the dark, then we have to look out at the world as though it were jammed full of good intentions. And the problem is that it isn't.

So we don't proclaim Jesus because we are fixing the problem of "not having heard about Jesus." We proclaim Jesus because we are addressing the problem of death, genocide, hatred, murder, rape, slave prostitution, senseless war, snarling greed, and as they say on television, much, much more. The problem with the inclusivist position is not that it is eager for the people to be included -- every Christian wants that. The problem is that when we define the standard downward like this, at the end of the day we find that we have included much more than the people -- we have opened the door to great wickedness as well. This may sound outlandish, but there it is. Tender-hearted accommodation leads to great hardness of heart. And a hardline conservatism at this point, ironically, is tender-hearted.

So when I feel like being compassionate, do I point people to Jesus, or do I pander around their sin? What do you do? What do you believe? Let's expose the heretic inclusivist within and kill him by the Spirit of Jesus.

(HT: JT)

PS - Stackhouse's essay is just another reminder that not every writer (especially on the internet) who has cool graphics, an ultra-hip swagger, and a penchant for nifty God-monikers is telling the truth. Deceivers can take all kinds of forms. Emergent readers beware.

For Your Reading Edification

This is a great post on how and why Mark Dever reads through his favorite theologians every year. It includes notes on each.

Print this one out.

Seriously.

(HT: JT)