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To the Jew First and Also to the Greek

Mollymullery — Fri, 04 May 2012 19:20:43 GMT

Mollymullery: Protected "To the Jew First and Also to the Greek" ([edit=sysop] (indefinite) [move=sysop] (indefinite))

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Romans 1:16
<blockquote>For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. </blockquote>
'''Everyone!'''

Paul has just used that wonderful word "everyone" in Romans 1:16, "The gospel is the power of God unto salvation to ''everyone'' who believes." O, what an exhilarating word to those of us in this room who feel that there is something about us that rules us out! Wrong family, wrong background, wrong education, wrong language, wrong race, wrong culture, wrong sexual preference, wrong moral track record. Then to hear the word, "''Everyone'' who believes." Everyone! One thing can rule you out: unbelief. Not trusting Jesus. But nothing else has to. The good news that Christ died for our sins, and that he rose from the dead to open eternal life, and that salvation is by grace through faith – all that is for ''everyone who believes''. Not just Jews and not just Gentiles and no one race or social class or culture, but ''everyone'' who believes.

'''Then in What Ways Do the Jews Have Priority?'''

So why then does he follow this exhilarating word "everyone" with a word that seems to give priority to Jews? "The gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes, ''to the Jew first and also to the Greek''." How does he mean, "To the Jew first"? What kind of priority, what kind of "firstness" do they have? And why does he say this? What effect does he want this to have on us?

To answer this let me suggest six ways that the Jews are first in experiencing the salvation of God. And then we will look at a few ways that they are not first. Finally we will see what effect this should have on us today.

'''First, then, how are the Jews "first"?'''

1. The Jews have a priority over Gentiles as the chosen people of God

How do they have priority over Gentiles? In Genesis 12, God chooses Abraham and his descendants freely from all the peoples of the world to bless with his covenant and promise. Nehemiah 9:7 says, "God . . . chose Abram, and brought him out from Ur of the Chaldees." Then Deuteronomy 14:2 says about the whole Jewish people, "The LORD has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth." And Amos 3:2 says, "You only have I chosen among all the families of the earth." And here in Romans 11:28-29, Paul says, "From the standpoint of the gospel they [the Jews] are enemies for your sake [you Gentiles], but from the standpoint of [election, or] God's choice, they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable."

The Jews have a priority over Greeks (that is, all Gentiles, by implication) because of their special role as God's elect or chosen people. He set his favor on them and set them apart from all the peoples. Freely! Not because of any virtue or special value in them, but simply on the basis of his free choice: "The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the LORD loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers" (Deuteronomy 7:7-8, See ''The Pleasures of God'', pp. 128-133).

2. The Jews have a priority over Gentiles as the guardians of God's special revelation, the Old Testament Scriptures

In Romans 3:1, Paul asks our question: "What advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision?" And he answers in verse 2, "Great in every respect. First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God." In other words, God gave his special revelation and promises to Israel by Moses and the prophets. Romans 9:4 puts it like this: "[They] are Israelites to whom belong . . . the covenants and the giving of the Law . . . and the promises." All the great expressions and foreshadowings of the gospel of salvation were given to the Jews in the Word of God, the Old Testament. So the Jews had priority in having the Scriptures.

3. The Jews have a priority over the Gentiles in that the Messiah himself, Jesus Christ, came first as a Jew to the Jews

In Romans 9:5, Paul brings his list of privileges to a climax with these words: "From [the Jews] is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen." The Messiah, Jesus, was a Jew, a Son of David (Romans 1:3). And he focused his earthly ministry on the Jews. They had a priority in his work. In Matthew 10:5-6, Jesus said to the twelve apostles as he sent them out during his life, "Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans; but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." And in Matthew 15:24, Jesus said, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." So during his earthly life, Jesus was focused on the Jews. They had priority in his ministry.

4. The Jews have a priority over the Gentiles in that salvation is from the Jews

These are the very words of Jesus in John 4:22. Jesus says to the Samaritan woman at the well, "You worship what you do not know; we [Jews] worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews." This simply sums up all that we have seen so far. They are the chosen nation; the nation with God's special revelation; and the nation with the Messiah, the Savior. So, clearly, salvation is "from the Jews."

Another way to see that salvation is from the Jews is found in Romans 11:17-24 where Paul compares the Jewish nation to an olive tree. He says that natural branches are broken off and unnatural branches were grafted in, meaning that Jews by birth were unbelieving and so cut off from the covenant of promise; and Gentiles who were believing were grafted in and saved by the covenant of promise. Verses 17-18 are crucial for us: "If some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree, [then] do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you." In other words, salvation comes to us Gentiles from the root of God's covenant with the Jews. We are simply grafted in like wild olive branches that have no historical claim at all on being God's people. And God saves us by reckoning us children of Abraham by faith, as Paul says in Galatians 3:7, "It is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham."

So Jews have priority because "salvation is from the Jews." All salvation is salvation through God's covenant with Abraham!

5. The Jews have a priority over the Gentiles in that Paul evangelized Jews first when he brought the gospel to a new place

For example, in Acts 13:46 Paul and Barnabas are preaching in Antioch of Pisidia, and the Jews will not listen to the gospel, so they say, "''It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first;'' since you repudiate it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles." In other words, just as God chose Israel and revealed himself to Israel and sent the Messiah and Savior to Israel so that salvation is from Israel, it is fitting that in the spread of the Gospel to new places, the Jews hear first of their Messiah and the good news of his salvation. So Jews have a priority in the order of frontier missions when the gospel comes to a new place.

6. The Jews have a priority over the Gentiles in final judgment and final blessing.

In Romans 2:9-10, Paul says, amazingly, "There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, ''of the Jew first and also of the Greek'', but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, ''to the Jew first and also to the Greek''." In other words, the priority that the Jews have, if it is rejected and squandered will result in a priority in judgment. And if they are grateful for their priority and trust in the mercy of their Messiah, then they will go first into the final blessing of God. There are definite dangers in having this priority. "From everyone who has been given much, much will be required" (Luke 12:48).

So when Paul says in Romans 1:16, "The gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes,''to the Jew first and also to the Greek''," we should call to mind these six ways that the Jews have a priority over the Gentiles.

They are the historic chosen people of God.

They are the guardians of God's special revelation, the Old Testament Scriptures.

The Messiah and Savior, Jesus, comes to the world as a Jew to Jews.

Salvation is from the Jews, since everyone who is saved is saved by being connected to the covenant with Abraham by faith.

The Jews are to be evangelized first when the gospel penetrates a new region.

The Jews will enter first into final judgment and final blessing.

'''In What Ways Do the Jews Not Have Priority?'''

Now before we ask why Paul says this and what effect it should have on us, let's be sure we see several ways that the Jews do not have priority. This is extremely important.

1. The Jews do not have priority in righteousness or merit

Nor do Gentiles. We are on the same footing. That is one of the main points of the first two chapters of Romans. Paul concludes in Romans 3:9-10, "What then? Are we [Jews] better than they [Gentiles]? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; as it is written, 'THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE.'" He makes the same point in Romans 3:22-23, "There is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

2. The Jews do not have priority in how they are saved

They are saved exactly the way Gentiles are. This is clear from Romans 3: 29-30, "Is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also . . . God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith." And from Romans 10:12, "There is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; (13) for 'WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.'" So neither Jews nor Gentiles have priority in how they are saved: both are saved by faith in Christ, not in any ethnic or religious distinctives.

3. The Jews do not have priority in participation in God's covenant blessings

The mystery of the gospel that Paul preaches, he says, is that Gentiles now are full partners in the blessings of Jewish salvation. Listen to Ephesians 2:12-13 and 18-19, "You [Gentiles] were . . . separate from Christ [the Messiah], excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ . . . (18) for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household." Again in Ephesians 3:4-6, "When you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, . . . that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus [the Messiah Jesus] through the gospel."

So Jews do not have priority in participation in God's covenant blessings. Gentiles are full fellow heirs of all the promises of God.

'''Why Did Paul Mention the Priority of the Jews?'''

So we come to a close with the question: Why did Paul mention this priority of the Jews in Romans 1:16? "The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation, to the Jew first and also to the Greek"? What effect should it have?

Being influenced by Romans 11:17-32, I think the answer is that Paul wants to humble both Jew and Greek and make them deeply aware that they depend entirely on mercy, not on themselves or their tradition or ethnic connections. To the Gentiles he says, in essence, salvation is of the Jews. You are not being saved by your Greek culture – or any other culture. You are being saved by a salvation that comes through the despised Semitic people called the Jews. "You do not support the root [of the Abrahamic covenant], the root supports you." So do not boast over the branches (Romans 11:18). We Gentiles are saved by becoming, as it were, spiritual Jews (Romans 2:28-29). This should humble us and strip us of any arrogance and boasting in any presumed ethnic superiority. It also should vanquish anti-Semitism and fill us with zeal for evangelism to Jews.

Similarly, Paul says to the Jews, your salvation is not your own. It is God's and he gives it to whom he pleases. He can raise up from stones – even Gentile stones! – children to Abraham (Matthew 3:9). The words "also to the Greek" in Romans 1:16 would have been as offensive to the Jews as the words "to the Jew first" were to the Gentiles. What they thought were Jewish prerogatives are, in fact, shared by the lowliest Gentiles who believe. Both of us are being humbled. We Gentiles must humble ourselves to be saved through a Jewish Messiah and a Jewish covenant. Jews must humble themselves to receive unclean Gentiles into full covenant membership and share all the blessings of the promise of Abraham.

The whole point is that God is the One who has mercy. Ethnicity is not decisive here. There is no merit with him. We are all sinners. So the real emphasis falls back on that wonderful word "everyone" that we started with: "The Gospel is the power of God to everyone who believes." So, whether Jew or Gentile, believe! And receive the power of God to save you from your sins and guilt and death and judgment and hell, and bring you home to ever-increasing joy in his presence forever and ever.

To the Jew First and Also to the Greek

Mollymullery — Fri, 04 May 2012 19:20:33 GMT

Mollymullery:

To the Jew First and Also to the Greek

Mollymullery — Fri, 04 May 2012 19:16:49 GMT

Mollymullery: Created page with '{{info}} Romans 1:16 <blockquote> For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek...'

{{info}}

Romans 1:16
<blockquote>
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
</blockquote>
'''Everyone!'''

Paul has just used that wonderful word "everyone" in Romans 1:16, "The gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes." O, what an exhilarating word to those of us in this room who feel that there is something about us that rules us out! Wrong family, wrong background, wrong education, wrong language, wrong race, wrong culture, wrong sexual preference, wrong moral track record. Then to hear the word, "Everyone who believes." Everyone! One thing can rule you out: unbelief. Not trusting Jesus. But nothing else has to. The good news that Christ died for our sins, and that he rose from the dead to open eternal life, and that salvation is by grace through faith – all that is for everyone who believes. Not just Jews and not just Gentiles and no one race or social class or culture, but everyone who believes.

Then in What Ways Do the Jews Have Priority?

So why then does he follow this exhilarating word "everyone" with a word that seems to give priority to Jews? "The gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek." How does he mean, "To the Jew first"? What kind of priority, what kind of "firstness" do they have? And why does he say this? What effect does he want this to have on us?

To answer this let me suggest six ways that the Jews are first in experiencing the salvation of God. And then we will look at a few ways that they are not first. Finally we will see what effect this should have on us today.

First, then, how are the Jews "first"?

1. The Jews have a priority over Gentiles as the chosen people of God

How do they have priority over Gentiles? In Genesis 12, God chooses Abraham and his descendants freely from all the peoples of the world to bless with his covenant and promise. Nehemiah 9:7 says, "God . . . chose Abram, and brought him out from Ur of the Chaldees." Then Deuteronomy 14:2 says about the whole Jewish people, "The LORD has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth." And Amos 3:2 says, "You only have I chosen among all the families of the earth." And here in Romans 11:28-29, Paul says, "From the standpoint of the gospel they [the Jews] are enemies for your sake [you Gentiles], but from the standpoint of [election, or] God's choice, they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable."

The Jews have a priority over Greeks (that is, all Gentiles, by implication) because of their special role as God's elect or chosen people. He set his favor on them and set them apart from all the peoples. Freely! Not because of any virtue or special value in them, but simply on the basis of his free choice: "The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the LORD loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers" (Deuteronomy 7:7-8, See The Pleasures of God, pp. 128-133).

2. The Jews have a priority over Gentiles as the guardians of God's special revelation, the Old Testament Scriptures

In Romans 3:1, Paul asks our question: "What advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision?" And he answers in verse 2, "Great in every respect. First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God." In other words, God gave his special revelation and promises to Israel by Moses and the prophets. Romans 9:4 puts it like this: "[They] are Israelites to whom belong . . . the covenants and the giving of the Law . . . and the promises." All the great expressions and foreshadowings of the gospel of salvation were given to the Jews in the Word of God, the Old Testament. So the Jews had priority in having the Scriptures.

3. The Jews have a priority over the Gentiles in that the Messiah himself, Jesus Christ, came first as a Jew to the Jews

In Romans 9:5, Paul brings his list of privileges to a climax with these words: "From [the Jews] is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen." The Messiah, Jesus, was a Jew, a Son of David (Romans 1:3). And he focused his earthly ministry on the Jews. They had a priority in his work. In Matthew 10:5-6, Jesus said to the twelve apostles as he sent them out during his life, "Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans; but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." And in Matthew 15:24, Jesus said, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." So during his earthly life, Jesus was focused on the Jews. They had priority in his ministry.

4. The Jews have a priority over the Gentiles in that salvation is from the Jews

These are the very words of Jesus in John 4:22. Jesus says to the Samaritan woman at the well, "You worship what you do not know; we [Jews] worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews." This simply sums up all that we have seen so far. They are the chosen nation; the nation with God's special revelation; and the nation with the Messiah, the Savior. So, clearly, salvation is "from the Jews."

Another way to see that salvation is from the Jews is found in Romans 11:17-24 where Paul compares the Jewish nation to an olive tree. He says that natural branches are broken off and unnatural branches were grafted in, meaning that Jews by birth were unbelieving and so cut off from the covenant of promise; and Gentiles who were believing were grafted in and saved by the covenant of promise. Verses 17-18 are crucial for us: "If some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree, [then] do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you." In other words, salvation comes to us Gentiles from the root of God's covenant with the Jews. We are simply grafted in like wild olive branches that have no historical claim at all on being God's people. And God saves us by reckoning us children of Abraham by faith, as Paul says in Galatians 3:7, "It is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham."

So Jews have priority because "salvation is from the Jews." All salvation is salvation through God's covenant with Abraham!

5. The Jews have a priority over the Gentiles in that Paul evangelized Jews first when he brought the gospel to a new place

For example, in Acts 13:46 Paul and Barnabas are preaching in Antioch of Pisidia, and the Jews will not listen to the gospel, so they say, "It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first; since you repudiate it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles." In other words, just as God chose Israel and revealed himself to Israel and sent the Messiah and Savior to Israel so that salvation is from Israel, it is fitting that in the spread of the Gospel to new places, the Jews hear first of their Messiah and the good news of his salvation. So Jews have a priority in the order of frontier missions when the gospel comes to a new place.

6. The Jews have a priority over the Gentiles in final judgment and final blessing.

In Romans 2:9-10, Paul says, amazingly, "There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek." In other words, the priority that the Jews have, if it is rejected and squandered will result in a priority in judgment. And if they are grateful for their priority and trust in the mercy of their Messiah, then they will go first into the final blessing of God. There are definite dangers in having this priority. "From everyone who has been given much, much will be required" (Luke 12:48).

So when Paul says in Romans 1:16, "The gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek," we should call to mind these six ways that the Jews have a priority over the Gentiles.

They are the historic chosen people of God.

They are the guardians of God's special revelation, the Old Testament Scriptures.

The Messiah and Savior, Jesus, comes to the world as a Jew to Jews.

Salvation is from the Jews, since everyone who is saved is saved by being connected to the covenant with Abraham by faith.

The Jews are to be evangelized first when the gospel penetrates a new region.

The Jews will enter first into final judgment and final blessing.

In What Ways Do the Jews Not Have Priority?

Now before we ask why Paul says this and what effect it should have on us, let's be sure we see several ways that the Jews do not have priority. This is extremely important.

1. The Jews do not have priority in righteousness or merit

Nor do Gentiles. We are on the same footing. That is one of the main points of the first two chapters of Romans. Paul concludes in Romans 3:9-10, "What then? Are we [Jews] better than they [Gentiles]? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; as it is written, 'THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE.'" He makes the same point in Romans 3:22-23, "There is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

2. The Jews do not have priority in how they are saved

They are saved exactly the way Gentiles are. This is clear from Romans 3: 29-30, "Is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also . . . God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith." And from Romans 10:12, "There is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; (13) for 'WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.'" So neither Jews nor Gentiles have priority in how they are saved: both are saved by faith in Christ, not in any ethnic or religious distinctives.

3. The Jews do not have priority in participation in God's covenant blessings

The mystery of the gospel that Paul preaches, he says, is that Gentiles now are full partners in the blessings of Jewish salvation. Listen to Ephesians 2:12-13 and 18-19, "You [Gentiles] were . . . separate from Christ [the Messiah], excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ . . . (18) for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household." Again in Ephesians 3:4-6, "When you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, . . . that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus [the Messiah Jesus] through the gospel."

So Jews do not have priority in participation in God's covenant blessings. Gentiles are full fellow heirs of all the promises of God.

Why Did Paul Mention the Priority of the Jews?

So we come to a close with the question: Why did Paul mention this priority of the Jews in Romans 1:16? "The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation, to the Jew first and also to the Greek"? What effect should it have?

Being influenced by Romans 11:17-32, I think the answer is that Paul wants to humble both Jew and Greek and make them deeply aware that they depend entirely on mercy, not on themselves or their tradition or ethnic connections. To the Gentiles he says, in essence, salvation is of the Jews. You are not being saved by your Greek culture – or any other culture. You are being saved by a salvation that comes through the despised Semitic people called the Jews. "You do not support the root [of the Abrahamic covenant], the root supports you." So do not boast over the branches (Romans 11:18). We Gentiles are saved by becoming, as it were, spiritual Jews (Romans 2:28-29). This should humble us and strip us of any arrogance and boasting in any presumed ethnic superiority. It also should vanquish anti-Semitism and fill us with zeal for evangelism to Jews.

Similarly, Paul says to the Jews, your salvation is not your own. It is God's and he gives it to whom he pleases. He can raise up from stones – even Gentile stones! – children to Abraham (Matthew 3:9). The words "also to the Greek" in Romans 1:16 would have been as offensive to the Jews as the words "to the Jew first" were to the Gentiles. What they thought were Jewish prerogatives are, in fact, shared by the lowliest Gentiles who believe. Both of us are being humbled. We Gentiles must humble ourselves to be saved through a Jewish Messiah and a Jewish covenant. Jews must humble themselves to receive unclean Gentiles into full covenant membership and share all the blessings of the promise of Abraham.

The whole point is that God is the One who has mercy. Ethnicity is not decisive here. There is no merit with him. We are all sinners. So the real emphasis falls back on that wonderful word "everyone" that we started with: "The Gospel is the power of God to everyone who believes." So, whether Jew or Gentile, believe! And receive the power of God to save you from your sins and guilt and death and judgment and hell, and bring you home to ever-increasing joy in his presence forever and ever.

Training the Next Generation of Evangelical Pastors and Missionaries

Mollymullery — Fri, 04 May 2012 18:51:14 GMT

Mollymullery: Protected "Training the Next Generation of Evangelical Pastors and Missionaries" ([edit=sysop] (indefinite) [move=sysop] (indefinite))

{{info}}

'''The Thesis: Knowing God and Enjoying Him is the Greatest Need'''

The greatest need of the next generation of pastors and missionaries is exactly the same as the greatest need of every generation of pastors and missionaries that has ever or will ever exist. And therefore the central task of those who would train them never changes.

In fact, this great need is so central to all of life, and so definitive for all ministry, and so relevant to all cultures, and so ultimate compared to all other values, that it should be the all-absorbing passion of every Christian scholar and teacher,especially those who train pastors who shepherd the church and missionaries who plant it among the unreached peoples of the world.The need that I have in mind is the need of pastors and missionaries to know God and to find in him a Treasure more satisfying than any other person or thing or relationship or experience or accomplishment in the world—more satisfying than the honor or speaking to a plenary session of the ETS, more satisfying than the publishing of articles and books, more satisfying than the preciousness of friends. The greatest need of every pastor and every missionary is to know God better than they know anything and enjoy God more than they enjoy anything.

Therefore the supreme challenge of every scholar and teacher who would prepare these pastors and missionaries is: How shall I study,how shall I teach, and how shall I write, and how shall I live—how shall I give my seminar paper in Orlando, how shall I speak of sacred things over supper tonight, what will be my vigilance regarding television in the privacy of my room, will I rise early enough to pray concerning the magnitude of truth that is at stake in the workshops of this meeting—how shall I study and teach and write and live, so as to help pastors and missionaries know God better than they know anything, and delight in God more than they delight in anything? That is the supreme challenge of your life.

I know that there are other demands on us in the pastorate and on the mission field, if we are to do our job well. There are hundreds of them. And they change from year to year, even month to month, and from city to city, and church to church, and mission to mission, and people to people, and culture to culture. But there is one demand that never changes, and it is the main demand, and it is the hardest demand of the ministry to fulfil, and it is the most crucial demand if we are to do our jobs well—pastors and missionaries need to know God better than we know anything and must be more satisfied in all that God is for us in Jesus than we are in anything else—including our wives or husbands or children or ministries.

There are hundreds of other things to talk about in the ministry if we are to do our job well, but nothing comes close to the magnitude of the importance of this. I stress it for at least five reasons.

'''Five Reasons for Focusing on the Primacy of Knowing and Enjoying God'''

'''1.''' One is that doing our job well as pastors and missionaries means mainly bringing more and more people, among more and more peoples, to know God and to delight in him above all things. That's what our job is. And therefore the most fundamental,essential, pervasive need of our lives and our ministries is that we ourselves know God and enjoy God above all things. The absence of other skills and knowledge in ministry may hinder this job. But the absence of this all-pervasive necessity destroys our job.

'''2.''' The second reason I stress this is that when pastors and missionaries know God better than they know anything and delight in God more than they delight in anything, all the other important relationships and practices of ministry are sustained by God-exalting motives, and refined in the fire of God-centered truth, and empowered by the energy of God-saturated spiritual life. All that is secondary and good and important in ministry is sustained and refined and empowered by focusing on something else, namely, God. God does not destroy secondary things when he is known and loved above them.

'''3.''' The third reason I stress the centrality of knowing and enjoying God is that there is a tremendous, relentless,almost irresistible pressure in the churches today, and in the academy, and in mission agencies, to take God for granted, while we give ourselves to other things that are perceived to be more strategic or urgent or practical. There is a strange tendency today to say, "Yes, yes, of course, knowing and loving God is supremely important. How could anybody disagree?" And then to say, as if it were a tribute to God, "We take that for granted in all of our seminars and courses and syllabi and lectures and books and mission conferences and leadership gatherings. It is foundational for all we do."

But the problem with this is that you can't take it for granted that students or pastors or missionaries or teachers know God better than they know anything and find more satisfaction in him than in anything else in their lives. You can't assume that. The foundation simply isn't there.

The evidence for this is the emergence of the spiritual formation movement. It would not have occurred to anyone to add courses in spiritual formation if students were walking out of their Biblical classes aflame with a passion for the glory of God standing forth in the exegesis of his Word. It would not have occurred to anyone to add courses in spiritual formation if students were coming out of systematic theology and church history with their minds amazed at the majesty of God and their heart burning within them like the men on the road to Emmaus (Luke24:32).

In 1905, J. Gresham Machen experienced something in Germany that almost swept him away from orthodox Christianity. He wrote home from Germany about the incredible impact of Wilhelm Hermann, the systematic theologian at Marburg. Hermann represented the modernism that Machen would later oppose with all his might. But that wasn't all. Machen wrote:
<blockquote>
My chief feeling with reference to him is already one of the deepest reverence. . . . I have been thrown all into confusion by what he says—so much deeper is his devotion to Christ than anything I have known in myself during the past few years. . . . He believes that Jesus is the one thing in all the world that inspires absolute confidence, and an absolute, joyful subjection; that through Jesus we come into communion with the living God and are made free from the world. . . . His trust in Christ is (practically, if anything, even more truly than theoretically) unbounded. It simply would have been unintelligible to Machen if someone had said: What the seminaries need is courses in spiritual formation so that students can experience communion with God and learn about unbounded trust in Jesus and see examples of absolute,joyful submission to the purposes of Christ. Machen would have simply said, "You don't need special courses. Just take systematic theology with Wilhelm Hermann." If that could be said of a course from the likes of Hermann, what should be said of ours who esteem the Scriptures so much more highly? The spiritual formation movement in our day is a symptom of failure, as much as a sign of hope.
</blockquote>
So when we hear this response: "Yes, yes, knowing God better than we know anything and delighting in God more than we delight in anything is foundational, we take that for granted—in our seminary courses and in our church growth seminars and in church planting workshops, and in our cross-cultural missionary training—yes, yes, that is foundational, we assume that, we take that for granted," we may very calmly say, "It is not to be taken for granted, because it isn't there."

And even if it were there as a foundation, there is a deeper reason why we shouldn't take it for granted, namely, God does not like being taken for granted, and he never intended that knowledge of himself or delight in himself be the quiet, hidden foundation for something else. The problem with the metaphor of "foundation"is that foundations are unsightly structures, out of sight and forgotten, while they hold up all the rooms where we do what we like to do: the kitchen where we like to eat, and the den where we like to watch television, and the bedroom where we like sex, and the living room where we like to meet with friends. They all depend on the foundation. But who ever thinks about the foundation?

The metaphor is a Biblical one. It is true. And it is utterly inadequate. God is not just our foundation. He is the food we eat.He is the entertainment of the eyes of our hearts. He is the lover of our souls. And he is the all-satisfying friend for our deepest loneliness. He does not mean to be taken for granted as the ground of our being while we enjoy other things. He means to be pervasive in every room and every course and every syllabus and every book and lecture and sermon and seminar and workshop and conference."Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" (1Corinthians 10:31). "Whoever serves, let him serve in the strength that God supplies that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom belongs the glory and the dominion for ever and ever" (1 Peter 4:11).

'''4.''' Which leads me to the fourth reason why I am stressing that the greatest need of pastors and missionaries is and enjoy God above all things. When you smile and moan with delight at the Thanksgiving table next Thursday, you will not be glorifying the chair that holds you up, but the turkey in your mouth. And if you multiply your pleasures that evening with the ecstasies of your marriage bed, these delights will not be attributed to the mattress on which you lie, but to the person in your arms.

The point is this: The purpose of God in all pastoral labor and all missionary service is to be glorified publicly. God's aim is to be admired and magnified and honored in all the churches and in all of culture and among all the nations. And God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him. This is the overarching point of all the Scriptures. I was struck again with this truth a few days ago in reading the prophet Ezekiel. Sixty times he tells us that God does what he does so that Israel and the nations will know that he is the Lord.

For example, in chapters 38 and 39—the prophecies concerning Gog and Magog—God says to this mysterious ruler, Gog, "I will bring you against my land that the nations may know me, when through you, O Gog, I vindicate my holiness before their eyes"(38:16). Notice the zeal of God that the nations "know" him and that his holiness be vindicated "before their eyes." Not in a corner or quietly or secretly, not taken for granted, but publicly and for all to see.

Then when Gog has done his work against Israel, the wrath of God will turn and be kindled against Gog himself. So the Lord says, "I will summon every terror against Gog, says the Lord. . . . So I will show my greatness and my holiness and make myself known in the eyes of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord"(38:21,23). "I will send fire on Magog and on those who dwell securely in the coastlands; and they shall know that I am the Lord"(39:6). "And my holy name I will make known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let my holy name be profaned anymore;and the nations shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel" (39:7). "And I will set my glory among the nations; and all the nations shall see my judgment which I have executed, and my hand which I have laid on them. The house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day forward" (39:21f).

I cite the witness of God in Ezekiel as typical of all the Bible. The uniform witness of Scripture is that the ultimate aim of God in all judgment and all mercy is that his glory might be magnified publicly among all the peoples of the earth. This the very meaning of missions and it is the ultimate aim of all pastoral labor—to display the glory of God in all things for the joy of all peoples.

Now, of course, I am assuming something. I am assuming that knowing the glory of God and enjoying the glory of God is the way that God intends for us to display and magnify the glory of God. My great guide among the mountain ranges of the Scriptures on this matter has been Jonathan Edwards. Here is the way he says it:
<blockquote>
God glorifies Himself toward the creatures . . . in two ways: 1. By appearing to . . . their understanding. 2. In communicating Himself to their hearts, and in their rejoicing and delighting in, and enjoying, the manifestations which He makes of Himself. . . . God is glorified not only by His glory's being seen, but by its being rejoiced in. When those that see it delight in it, God is more glorified than if they only see it. His glory is then received by the whole soul, both by the understanding and by the heart. God made the world that He might communicate, and the creature receive, His glory; and that it might [be] received both by the mind and heart. He that testifies his idea of God's glory [doesn't] glorify God so much as he that testifies also [of] his approbation of it and his delight in it.
</blockquote>
The greatest need for pastors and missionaries today is that we know and enjoy God—that we see and savor the glory of God. This is essential for displaying the glory of God. And that is the goal of all ministry and missions. Let me illustrate the need.

Charles Misner, a scientific specialist in general relativity theory, expressed Albert Einstein's view of preaching like this:
<blockquote>
I do see the design of the universe as essentially a religious question. That is, one should have some kind of respect and awe for the whole business. . . . It's very magnificent and shouldn't be taken for granted. In fact, I believe that is why Einstein had so little use for organized religion, although he strikes me as a basically very religious man. He must have looked at what the preachers said about God and felt that they were blaspheming. He had seen much more majesty than they had ever imagined, and they were just not talking about the real thing. Einstein died in 1955, when I was nine years old. If he were alive today, his indictment would be even stronger, because today we have the Hubble telescope sending back infrared images of galaxies (of the 50 billion that may exist) from as far away, they say, as 12 billion light years (twelve billion times six trillion miles). And over against this majesty we have a steady diet on Sunday morning of practical "how to's" and psychological soothing and relational therapy that betrays, sooner or later, that the preachers do not know God as they ought and do not regard him as infinitely glorious and worthy of one focused hour a week. "They are just not talking about the real thing."
</blockquote>
Even though God himself has spoken to them and said, "To whom then will you compare me? . . . [I] bring out their host [all the stars—in all 50 billion galaxies] by number, calling them all byname; by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power not one is missing" (Isaiah 40:25-26). Einstein felt instinctively: If the God of the Bible exists, and if pastors and missionaries really know him and count him their greatest treasure,then something is profoundly wrong. "They are just not talking about the real thing."

What's wrong is that knowing God better than we know anything else and treasuring God more than we treasure anything else is not the passion of many pastors and missionaries. We have been driven and deceived into feeling that reading the next book by Barna or Drucker or Schaller is more crucial for ministry than understanding the visions of Ezekiel or the mysteries of God in Romans 9-11 that catapult Paul into song:
<blockquote>
O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! "For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?" "Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?" For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory for ever. Amen.
</blockquote>
The aim of the pastorate and the aim of missions is the glory of God. And knowing God and enjoying God above all things is the indispensable and all-important pathway to this end. That's the fourth reason for making it the centerpiece of my message.

'''5.''' One final reason (out of many!): knowing God and being satisfied in him above all earthly pleasures frees us for the kind of love that will suffer the loss of all things for the sake of every good deed and for the sake of finishing the great commission. The great commission will not be finished without martyrs (Revelation 6:11). And churches will not make God look like our all-sufficient, all-satisfying treasure if pastors and people have all the same values and priorities and lifestyle commitments that everybody around them has. Unless we become a lot more radical in the risks we take and the suffering we embrace, why should anyone believe that our treasure is in heaven—in God—and that he is more valuable than anything here?

The key is being utterly certain and utterly satisfied that "in his presence is fullness of joy and at his right hand are pleasures for evermore" (Psalm 16:11). Or as Paul said, that "to live is Christ and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21). This is the key to the sacrifices demanded by love. No sequence of texts in the Bible makes it plainer than Hebrews 10-13. Here is a portrait of the people we need in the pastorate and on the mission field today.

First, the case of the early Christians in Hebrews 10:34, "You had compassion on the prisoners, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one." They suffered the loss of their property with joy in order to show compassion to the prisoners. How? What released such love?—"Since you knew that you had a better possession and an abiding one." They treasured God more than anything.

Then the case of Moses in Hebrews 11:24-26, "By faith Moses,when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to share ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered abuse suffered for the Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he looked to the reward." He suffered the loss of all that Egypt could offer in order to embrace suffering as a leader of the people of God. How? What released such love?—"For he looked to the reward." He treasured God more than anything in Egypt.

Then the case of Jesus Christ himself in Hebrews 12:2, " . . .who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." Jesus embraced the suffering of the cross and gave shame no sway in his life so that he might die for his people. How? What released such love?—"For the joy that was set before him."

Finally, the case of the readers—you and me—in Hebrews13:12-14, "Jesus suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go forth to him outside the camp and bear the abuse he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city which is to come." Here is a call to every Christian, but especially to every pastor and every missionary: Let us go to him outside the securities and comforts of the camp and bear abuse for the sake of his name. How? What will release such love? For "here we have no lasting city, but we seek a city which is to come." The city of this world is not our satisfaction, God is.

Where does the love come from that can suffer the loss of all things and make plain to the world that God is gloriously more to be desired than life itself? It comes from being certain and being satisfied that God is a better possession than all our goods, and that the reward of his presence is vastly better than the fleeting pleasures of Egypt, and that the suffering of our cross is not worth comparing to the joy set before us, and that the city which is to come will last forever and will be the habitation of God.

In other words, the lever that unstops the river of love for pastors and missionaries is knowing God better than you know anything and delighting in God more than you delight in anything.This is the greatest need in the next generation of pastors and missionaries, just as it has always been the greatest need of every generation of pastors and missionaries.

'''Concluding Exhortations'''

Someone might ask me now, "Why didn't you talk about your assigned topic, training the next generation of pastors and missionaries?" If I took the few minutes that I have to talk to you—and I may never stand before you again—and devoted my time to giving you my list of practical ideas about how I think theological education should be done, I would betray one of my basic convictions, namely, that knowing and being comes before doing and shapes doing. The problem we face in theological education is not technique, it's not curriculum, it's not time, it's not the busy-ness of our students; it's not pragmatic administrators; it's not lack of funds for research. The problem is that we don't have an all-consuming passion to know God in the fullness of his perfections and to enjoy him more than we enjoy anything in the world. Until your studies of God's word and God's ways fill your head with wonders and fill your heart with joy and your life with love, students will probably leave your classes feeling like they need some course on spirituality or some church experience to make the magic thing happen.

So I would only close with three exhortations and look to God to do the rest.

'''1.''' First, in all your studies seek to know God,the Creator of the universe, the Ruler of all things, the Savior of the world, the Sustainer of all being, the Guide of all history.Seek to know him as a Person with a character. Labor not to treat him as an idea. Fix your gaze on his glory in the face of Christ. Resist the vague, cloudy image and strive for a clear, sharp spiritual portrait with lines and contours that make him this and not that. Ask with every chapter of Scripture and every article and every book you read: what can I learn of my God from this? Where is God in this? And resist the addiction of methodological narcissism,that never finds the treasure because you never look up from the map.

'''2.''' Second, saturate your studies with the prayer of Psalm 90:14, "Satisfy us in the morning with thy steadfast love,that we may rejoice and be glad all our days." Plead with God that he not leave you unmoved by the glories revealed every day in the sky, and in the Scriptures. When you are drawn away from the greatness of your work by some silly financial scheme, pray earnestly the words of Psalm 119:36, "Incline my heart to thy testimonies, and not to gain!" When you feel the page go blank in your hand, plead the words of Psalm 119:18, "Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law."

Paul said in 2 Corinthians 1:24 that he was a worker with them for their joy. Spiritual joy—joy in God—is not native to the fallen human heart. It is a fight from start to finish. So be like Warfield when it comes to mingling prayer and study. When he was challenged that "ten minutes on your knees will give you a truer, deeper, more operative knowledge of God than ten hours over your books." "What!" he responded, "than ten hours over your books, on your knees?"

And be like John Owen who knew the secret of communion with God in the very act of study and theological controversy:
<blockquote>
When the heart is cast indeed into the mould of the doctrine that the mind embraceth—when the evidence and necessity of the truth abides in us—when not the sense of the words only is in our heads, but the sense of the thing abides in our hearts—when we have communion with God in the doctrine we contend for—then shall we be garrisoned by the grace of God against all the assaults of men."
</blockquote>
And I would add, then will our students be set aflame by the authenticity of our knowledge of God and the intensity of our delight in him.

'''3.''' Finally, "take your share of sufferings as a good soldier of Christ Jesus" (2 Timothy 2:3). Do not begrudge the day of your affliction. Luther noticed that, in Psalm 119, there were three rules for understanding the Scriptures and knowing God: Oratio, meditatio, tentatio (Prayer, meditation, trial). And trials (Anfechtungen) he called the "touchstone." Psalm 119:67, 71, "Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Thy word. . . . It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I may learn Thy statutes."Do not begrudge your sufferings in the school of Christ, he said,"[They] teach you not only to know and understand but also to experience how right, how true, how sweet, how lovely, how mighty, how comforting God's word is: it is wisdom supreme."

He proved the value of trials over and over again in his own experience. "For as soon as God's Word becomes known through you,"he says, "the devil will afflict you, will make a real doctor of you, and will teach you by his temptations to seek and to love God's Word. For I myself . . . owe my papists many thanks for so beating, pressing, and frightening me through the devil's raging that they have turned me into a fairly good theologian, driving me to a goal I should never have reached."

And have not most of us in this room seen our God more clearly and loved him more dearly because of the meditations and prayers and sufferings of this great man! And so it can be with you. May God make it so—for the sake of the pastors and the missionaries and the churches and the nations, who need to know God and enjoy him above all things.

Training the Next Generation of Evangelical Pastors and Missionaries

Mollymullery — Fri, 04 May 2012 18:50:50 GMT

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Two Ministries in Search of Two Ministers

Mollymullery — Fri, 04 May 2012 18:41:12 GMT

Mollymullery: Protected "Two Ministries in Search of Two Ministers" ([edit=sysop] (indefinite) [move=sysop] (indefinite))

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O how we need to share the weight and the wonder of ministry. The weight is halved and the wonder is doubled when we “stand side by side for the sake of the gospel” (Philippians 1:27).

Our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, deliberately suffered and died to purify for himself a people ''zealous for good deeds'' (Titus 2:14). It staggers the mind to think that the God who says, I am who I am, gave himself to die so that you and I would have strength and incentive to do good deeds. Just think of the value God must put on good deeds done in the strength of his cross!

Christ died to change the goals of your life. When you come to the cross you are given a quest. The quest for good deeds. “We are created in Christ Jesus for good works” (Ephesians 2:10). Can you imagine anything more satisfying at the end of the day than the feeling that you have devoted your time and effort to fulfilling the purpose of the cross?! Can you think of any better way to enjoy sweet fellowship with the living Christ than to say to him, “For this you died. For this I live”?

May I invite some of you to consider one of the following ministries? Perhaps the Lord has given you a desire recently to do something like this.

1. ''Coordinator of transportation.'' The possibilities of doing good for elderly and children are almost endless. A dreamer could really magnify the cross in this ministry. You would work in consultation with Rollin Erickson, our minister of visitation, and Greg Zdechlik’s new 20:20 group and Char Ransom. It would be a significant time commitment, but the joy fulfilling the purpose of the cross would be huge. If you think this may be your ministry, call me or Char.

2. ''Manuscript Coordinator''. Each week we send out about 70 copies of sermons to people around the country who have subscribed to receive them regularly. We need someone who would faithfully take the responsibility of copying, collating, stapling and mailing the weekly sermon. It would also involve handling the billing. If this sounds like a ministry for you, call me or Carol Steinbach.

Side by side for the sake of the gospel,

Pastor John

Two Ministries in Search of Two Ministers

Mollymullery — Fri, 04 May 2012 18:40:03 GMT

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Two Ways to Be Silent Before Majesty

Mollymullery — Fri, 04 May 2012 18:37:11 GMT

Mollymullery: Protected "Two Ways to Be Silent Before Majesty" ([edit=sysop] (indefinite) [move=sysop] (indefinite))

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Before 1980 the eastern face of Mount Everest had never been climbed. Then Andrew Harvard was asked by an American mountaineering group to survey the possibility. The July ''National Geographic'' records his findings and the subsequent five week climb in 1983. As usual I saw more of God in this story than the editors intended.

There are two ways to be silent before majesty: the silence of beauty and the silence of blindness.

Andrew Harvard wrote: “Nothing prepared me for that first unforgettable view. As I rounded a slope overlooking Tibet’s great Kangshung Glacier, I suddenly faced an immense mass of ice and rock thrusting toward the vault of the sky. For many moments I stood ''motionless at the majesty of the scene''—the virtually unknown East Face of Mount Everest.”

I crave motionless moments like this before the majesty of God who carved Mount Everest with his penknife. “O Lord, open my eyes that I may behold majestic and wondrous things out of your word and your world. My people and I are starved for the silence of magnificent beauty. Feed us with vistas of your glory.”

But there is another kind of silence before majesty. The silence of blindness. There is a magnificent photograph of three mountain climbers trudging to the top of a 24,000 foot ridge with clouds below them and gigantic peaks around them. They are silent. But the caption says, “''Oblivious of majesty around them'', weary climbers trudge the steep slopes above the Buttress.”

This is the great and tragic silence of the Christian Church in the drudgery of “worship”. The silence of blindness before the majesty of a Mount Everest God. “O Lord, open our eyes! Help us as we enter the hour of worship to round some Tibetan slope of revelation and stand silent before the infinite Glacier of God.”

Rounding the corner with you,

Pastor John

Two Ways to Be Silent Before Majesty

Mollymullery — Fri, 04 May 2012 18:35:12 GMT

Mollymullery:

Two Ways to Be Silent Before Majesty

Mollymullery — Fri, 04 May 2012 18:24:06 GMT

Mollymullery: Created page with '{{info}} Before 1980 the eastern face of Mount Everest had never been climbed. Then Andrew Harvard was asked by an American mountaineering group to survey the possibility. The J...'

{{info}}

Before 1980 the eastern face of Mount Everest had never been climbed. Then Andrew Harvard was asked by an American mountaineering group to survey the possibility. The July National Geographic records his findings and the subsequent five week climb in 1983. As usual I saw more of God in this story than the editors intended.

There are two ways to be silent before majesty: the silence of beauty and the silence of blindness.

Andrew Harvard wrote: “Nothing prepared me for that first unforgettable view. As I rounded a slope overlooking Tibet’s great Kangshung Glacier, I suddenly faced an immense mass of ice and rock thrusting toward the vault of the sky. For many moments I stood motionless at the majesty of the scene—the virtually unknown East Face of Mount Everest.”

I crave motionless moments like this before the majesty of God who carved Mount Everest with his penknife. “O Lord, open my eyes that I may behold majestic and wondrous things out of your word and your world. My people and I are starved for the silence of magnificent beauty. Feed us with vistas of your glory.”

But there is another kind of silence before majesty. The silence of blindness. There is a magnificent photograph of three mountain climbers trudging to the top of a 24,000 foot ridge with clouds below them and gigantic peaks around them. They are silent. But the caption says, “Oblivious of majesty around them, weary climbers trudge the steep slopes above the Buttress.”

This is the great and tragic silence of the Christian Church in the drudgery of “worship”. The silence of blindness before the majesty of a Mount Everest God. “O Lord, open our eyes! Help us as we enter the hour of worship to round some Tibetan slope of revelation and stand silent before the infinite Glacier of God.”

Rounding the corner with you,

Pastor John

Unless You Repent You Will All Likewise Perish

Mollymullery — Fri, 04 May 2012 18:11:54 GMT

Mollymullery: Protected "Unless You Repent You Will All Likewise Perish" ([edit=sysop] (indefinite) [move=sysop] (indefinite))

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Luke 13:1–5
<blockquote>
There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
</blockquote>
If this text were taking place today, we would come to Jesus and say, "Did you hear about the miners last week who were buried 300 feet underground by an explosion north of Frankfurt, Germany?" And Jesus would look into our eyes like nobody has ever looked before, and he would say, "Do you think this happened to these miners because they were worse sinners than the other Germans? Or that busload of church young people that were killed in Kentucky, do you think that they were worse sinners than the other Americans who escape every day? I tell you, No; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."

Have you ever had an encounter with anybody like that? You come to them with a concern or with a puzzling theological question, and they look you right in the eye and say, "The most urgent issue is your own soul. If you don't get right with God, you are going to perish." No one ever spoke like this man. He was always blood-earnest about person commitment. When presented with a problem, he dealt with a person. His speech was salted with fire. Nobody slept through a conversation with Jesus.

'''What Is At Stake: Four Words'''

These five verses are filled with awesome implications about the way the world really is. And it is not the way people think it is. My main aim today is to impress upon our consciences that people are perishing. If we are going to be the kind of witness for Christ that we ought to be, we need to know and feel what is really at stake. And what is at stake is that unrepentant people are perishing.

To unfold this text I simply want to focus on four words in the key sentence in verses 3 and 5. The sentence is, "Unless you repent you will all likewise perish." The four words I want us to focus on are "all," "likewise," "perish," and "repent."

'''1. "All"'''

"Unless you repent you will ALL likewise perish." A group of people come to Jesus and tell him about how Pilate had murdered some worshiping Galileans and taken their blood and mixed it with the blood of their sacrifices—their sheep and pigeons and doves. It's as though some anarchists should break into our church this morning during the Lord's Supper, cut the necks of a few worshipers, and pour their blood into the communion cups. It was a horrible thing that Pilate did.

The people don't say it, but Jesus hears it in their voices—these slain Galileans must have done something horrible for God to allow something so horrible to happen to them. In other words extraordinary tragedy must signify extraordinary guilt.

Now ponder for a moment what you would have answered at this point. What does your theology of suffering and sin call for in the face of this kind of tragedy?

What Jesus said was this. He said, "No, their sin was not extraordinarily horrible. It was ordinarily horrible, just like yours. And if you don't repent, you too will experience a horrible end, all of you." In other words instead of saying that they are no more sinful than we are and being amazed at their death, he says that we are just as sinful as they are and should get ready to die like they did.

What Jesus teaches, then, is that all of us are extremely sinful. We are so sinful that calamities and disasters should not shock us as though something unwarranted were coming upon innocent human beings. There are no innocent human beings. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). "There is none righteous, no not one" (Romans 3:10). And what should amaze us in our sin is not that some are taken in calamity, but that we are spared and given another day to repent. The really amazing thing in this universe is not that guilty sinners perish, but that God is so slow to anger that you and I can sit here this morning and have one more chance to repent.

'''2. "Likewise"'''

"Unless you repent you will all likewise perish." Does this mean that all unrepentant people will be murdered in the act of worship? No, it can't mean that because in verse 5 Jesus says that we will all perish like those who were killed by a falling tower. We can't all die just like the Galileans who were murdered and just like those on whom the tower of Siloam fell. "Likewise" must mean something else.

It can't just mean die, since that's going to happen to those who repent to. Everybody dies until Jesus comes again. But Jesus says implies that if we repent, we will not perish.

So what does Jesus mean when he says that all unrepentant people will likewise perish? I think he means something like this: you see what a horrible end those people came to; they didn't think it was going to happen. O they knew they were going to die someday; but they didn't know what that would mean. The horror of their end took them by surprise. Well unless you repent, that is the way it is going to be for you. Your end will be far more horrible than you think it is. You will not be ready for it. It will surprise you terribly. In that sense you will LIKEWISE perish.

The parallel between you and them is that there was something dreadful about the way they ended, and there will be something dreadful about the way your life ends. They were not expecting that kind of end and you will not be expecting it either (Luke 17:27–30). Only repentance can make you ready to meet God.

'''3. "Perish"'''

"Unless you repent you will all likewise PERISH." Now what does "perish" mean? Sometimes the word simply means die in the sense that we all will die physically. But that would not fit here since Jesus implies that if we repent, we will not perish. "Unless you repent you will all likewise perish." If you DO repent, you won't perish. So perish is something more than simply die a physical death.

Here's what I think it means. Since Jesus connects it directly to sin and since he says it can be escaped by repentance, I take it to mean final judgment. He is referring to something beyond death. Those Galileans were taken unawares and experienced a horrible end. Unless you repent, you too will be taken unawares and experience a horrible end—the judgment of God beyond the grave.

'''"Perish" in the New Testament'''

The word perish often refers to this terrible judgment in the New Testament. For example in John 3:16 it says, "For God so loved the world that whosoever believes on him shall not perish but have everlasting life." So perishing is the alternative to having everlasting life. The same thing turns up in John 10:28. Jesus says, "I give them eternal life, and they shall not perish for ever." Perishing is what happens to you if you don't have eternal life.

In 1 Corinthians 1:18 Paul says, "The word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." Perishing is the opposite of being saved by the cross of Jesus. And in 1 Corinthians 15:18 Paul says, "If Christ has not been raised . . . those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished." In other words perishing is something that happens beyond the grave.

Hebrews 9:27 says, "It is appointed unto men once to die, and after that comes judgment." And Jesus describes that judgment in Matthew 25 as a separation of the sheep from the goats, and says, "The one will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life" (v. 46). Perishing is the eternal punishment that people fall into when they die if they have not repented. That's how serious sin is. And we have all sinned, and sin every day. "Unless you repent you will all likewise perish."

'''A Practical and Utterly Urgent Message'''

Now don't treat this as mere church talk. Write it on a card and use a rubber band to bind it on the visor of your car. All those people out there will perish if they do not repent. Tape it in your wallet to see it every time you buy something—that clerk will perish if she does not repent. Your children will perish, you parents will perish, your neighbors will perish, your colleagues will perish if they do not repent. This is not irrelevant church talk. This is just as practical as the AIDS brochure we all got in the mail from Dr. Koop. And it is a thousand times more urgent and more important.

In fact let us learn from the surgeon general's office how the world expects people to respond to their fellow men when they know they are in danger of perishing. All you can lose when you get AIDS is your earthly life. And Jesus said, "Do not fear what kills the body and after that can do nothing. Fear what can cast both soul and body into hell" (Luke 12:4–5). Sin is an infinitely more dangerous disease than AIDS. And if the world is willing to spend millions and millions of dollars to wake this country up to its danger of AIDS, how much more should we, who know the cure, spend whatever it costs to wake this city up to the danger of sin!

'''C.S. Lewis' Burden as a Literary Scholar'''

C. S. Lewis, the brilliant English scholar and Christian writer, died the same day President John Kennedy did. This November will be the 25th anniversary of his death. Even today his books on the Christian faith are being reprinted by the thousands. One of the reasons I think God so greatly blessed the ministry of C. S. Lewis, and still blesses it, is that Lewis never had an elitist, artsy love for fine literature or fine music or fine culture in any form, though he himself was a great artist. In his life everything is subordinate to the salvation of lost sinners.

I find what he says a tremendous inspiration to keep the perishing before our eyes as we do our work and pray how God would use us to wake them up. Listen to Lewis for the sake of your own ministry.
<blockquote>
It is hardly possible for [us] to think too often or too deeply about [the glory] of our neighbor . . . It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilization—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit—immortal horrors or everlasting splendors. (''The Weight of Glory'', pp. 14f.)
</blockquote>
So he says of his own scholarly discipline,
<blockquote>
The Christian will take literature a little less seriously than the cultured Pagan . . . The Christian knows from the outset that the salvation of a single soul is more important than the production or preservation of all the epics and tragedies in the world. (''Christian Reflections'', p. 10)
</blockquote>
This tips us off to what C. S. Lewis' life was really devoted to. In 1952 an American liberal theologian criticized Lewis for using simple analogies to try to shed some light on the Trinity. Lewis' response was passionate and shows where his heart really was in all his work.
<blockquote>
Most of my books are evangelistic, addressed to [those outside]. I was writing to the people not to the clergy. Dr. Pittinger would be a more helpful critic if he advised a cure as well as asserting many diseases. How does he himself do such work? What methods, and with what success, does he employ when he is trying to convert the great mass of storekeepers, lawyers, realtors, morticians, policeman and artisans who surround him in his own city? (''God in the Dock'', pp. 181–183)
</blockquote>
That was Lewis' burden as a literary scholar. I hope it is your burden whatever your profession. You have never talked to a mere mortal. They will all last forever. And unless they repent, they will perish.

'''4. "Repent"'''

Luke gives us three illustrations of repentance in the face of judgment.

Luke 10:13–15
<blockquote>
Woe to you, Chorazin! woe to you, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it shall be more tolerable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades.
</blockquote>
Luke 11:32
<blockquote>
The men of Nineveh will arise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.
</blockquote>
Jonah 3:5, 7–9:
<blockquote>
The people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them . . . The king made proclamation . . . "Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence which is in his hands."
</blockquote>
Luke 16:29–31

After his death the unrepentant rich man is in torment. He asks Abraham to send someone to warn his brothers, so they don't perish in this place of torment. But . . .
<blockquote>
Abraham said, "They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them." And he said, "No, father Abraham; but if some one goes to them from the dead, they will repent." He said to him, "If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead."
</blockquote>
I conclude that repentance involves believing God (Jonah 3:5) rather than the Satan's claim that more joy can be found in sin than in obedience. It is a "being persuaded" about the danger of impenitence (Luke 16:31) and the way of escape through repentance for the forgiveness of sins (Luke 24:47). It involves grief over past sins and present sinful tendencies. This is the significance of the sackcloth and ashes (Luke 10:13; Jonah 3:5). And it involves turning from evil ways (Jonah 3:8).

So faith and repentance are not properly two separate things. The turning of repentance is a turning from trusting in other things to a trusting in God. And with a new trust in God as counselor and protector and provider there is also a turning to a new life of joyful obedience.

Unless You Repent You Will All Likewise Perish

Mollymullery — Fri, 04 May 2012 18:11:15 GMT

Mollymullery: Created page with '{{info}} Luke 13:1–5 <blockquote> There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he ans...'

Urban-Suburban Partnership

Mollymullery — Fri, 04 May 2012 17:54:34 GMT

Mollymullery: Protected "Urban-Suburban Partnership" ([edit=sysop] (indefinite) [move=sysop] (indefinite))

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 Colossians 3:8–17
<blockquote>
But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. 11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. 12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
</blockquote>
Our ''mission'' and ''Spiritual Dynamic'' declare that the all-satisfying supremacy of God shines most brightly through sacrificial deeds of joyful ''love''. The cry of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of our people is for a fresh, decisive emphasis on ''relationships of love''.

Therefore we eagerly embrace God's call for new, visible manifestations of love toward each other, our guests, and our neighbors. With a fresh openness and outgoing spirit to each other and to all new people, we henceforth put understanding above accusation, forbearance above faultfinding, and biblical unity above the demand for uniformity.

2. ''Urban-Suburban Partnership''. We will strive to forge a mutually enriching urban-suburban partnership, in which a significant range of racially, educationally, and economically diverse people feel at home, as they grow in their passion for the supremacy of God.

'''Introduction and Review'''

I invite you to turn in your Bibles to Colossians 3:8–17. We will read this in a few minutes to bring God's Word to bear on our thinking. First, let me set the stage.

In recent weeks we have been unfolding the meaning of our mission as a church which the elders and Master Planning Team formulated over the past year. The Mission is on page one. The reaffirmed vision of 2000 by 2000 is on page seven. The Spiritual Dynamic that drives this Mission and Vision is on page two. And the Fresh Initiatives for the immediate future of our mission are on page three. These six Fresh Initiatives are the focus of my messages in these next several weeks.

'''Rock-Solid Foundations at Bethlehem'''

The very term "Fresh Initiatives" is unsettling for some of us. We love having things stay the same. It is comfortable and we feel at home. That's a normal and innocent bent in our nature. But the danger is that we will harden in our bent. And when even good and needed change comes, it feels threatening—as if it would break us, rather than mold us and help us be what God is calling us to be.

I have tried in these weeks this fall to unfold the Mission Statement and the Spiritual Dynamic of our life together so that you could see that some things are rock solid at Bethlehem. The ground under our feet is not shaking. God's Word is sure. God's glory is central. God's grace is all-sufficient. Our affirmation of faith is not wavering. Our Reformed-orientation on the sovereignty of God is as strong as ever. Our openness to the whole work of the Holy Spirit is as wide as ever. Our desire for all the fullness of God is unchanged. Our commitment to world evangelization is undiminished. The combination of head and heart is still a priority. Our longing to see this city awakened with the reviving power of the gospel is as strong as ever. And the list could go on and on. Read the values (pages 4–6) and you will see dozens of old and cherished priorities that remain unchanged.

If you need that to maintain your equilibrium in these days, do it. By all means, do it.

'''A Call for Change'''

But the point of page three—the Fresh Initiatives—is to call for change—change within the large, unshakable commitments we have been talking about, but change nevertheless. What this will look like, only God knows for sure. No mere human is managing the prayers and thoughts and dreams of the 17 task forces that are working to flesh out these things into practical suggestions. And my prayer and confidence is that God is so overruling in this whole process that what will emerge will be the unique ministry design that he promises to bless at Bethlehem.

The Fresh Initiatives don't define programs. They adjust direction. Programs may or may not follow. The Initiatives call for new intentions and new efforts. The first Fresh Initiative (looked at last week) calls for new efforts in developing an atmosphere where personal, deepening, supportive, faith-building relationships are highly valued as an expression of our passion of the supremacy of God. The newness here is not in desire or value, but in intentionally and priority. What this will look like I don't know. It may not look like anything. It may only feel radically and wonderfully right.

'''Urban-Suburban Partnership'''

The second Fresh Initiative (urban-suburban partnership) is what we take up today. It says, "We will strive to forge a mutually enriching urban-suburban partnership, in which a significant range of racially, educationally, and economically diverse people feel at home, as they grow in their passion for the supremacy of God."

'''The Relationship Between the "Urbs" and the "Burbs"'''

We are going to get to our text. But let me give a word about the background of this Initiative first. The background demands that you read this initiative in two ways. First, there are some members and regular attenders of Bethlehem who live in the suburbs and some who live in the urban center. Specifically, from our last year's survey 12% of our people live within a five minutes' drive of the church—these are our urban dwellers. 21% live between 5 and 15 minutes. 35% live between 15 and 25 minutes. And 11% live over 25 minutes away. So you can see that, though we are located here in the center of Minneapolis, our people come from all over the cities and suburbs. Last year 88% lived outside the urban center. 46% lived over 15 minutes' drive away.

Ever since I came to Bethlehem in 1980 and moved to be a part of the church's neighborhood we have said that "proximity implies accountability." The church's gathering here means something. Within a short time we called a full time associate for urban ministry. Dozens of families have moved into the city as part of the challenge to come make a difference in the city. Ministries of all kinds have sprung up over the years. And we have clearly put a priority on urban ministry. This is where we come and meet, and proximity implies some accountability. The rich man in Luke 16 was not rebuked for ignoring all the poor in his city, but for ignoring Lazarus whom he passed by every day (vv. 19–26).

But one of the upshots of this focus on urban ministry—and urban living as part of that ministry—is that the urbs and the burbs sometimes feel estranged or put off by each other. It becomes easy to point the finger and think unkind thoughts. Initiative #2 is a call for these two groups to see their presence here as mutually enriching and not as competitive or threatening. That is one way of seeing the background of Initiative #2.

'''The Desire to Broaden Bethlehem's Range'''

The other way of seeing the background of Initiative #2 is that the make up of the people we live among and want to reach for Christ and his kingdom is not the same in the suburbs and in the urban core. For example, in Minneapolis (not just the urban center, but the whole city) in 1990 13% of the population was African American and 3.3% was Native American. In the suburban Metro area outside Minneapolis and St. Paul 1.3% of the population was African American and .04% was Native American. And of course if you considered only the area within five minutes of this building the proportion of the people of color would be dramatically higher. And the same disparity between the urban center and the suburbs could be shown in economic and educational terms as well.

This means that the challenges of local evangelism and disciple making and assimilation into fellowship are radically different depending on where you live. That is the other way of thinking about the background of Initiative #2. We must not only see each other in a mutually enriching partnership; we believe, more and more, that God is calling us to broaden the range of people—racially, educationally, and economically—who feel at home here. And that both urban and suburban people should feel good about that.

The Master Planning Team and Elders are not completely naïve at this point. We know that there are limits to whom you can make feel at home. For example there are language limits. We are committed in this service to speaking English. That eliminates most of the world's population from feeling at home here. Other churches must help. The point of Initiative #2 is not to say that we have to make every potential urban and suburban attender feel at home. The point is that in the past 15 years the range of who fits was, we believe, too narrow. Thus we call for a "significant range" and leave it undefined. This is a direction, not a program. But the direction is important. That's the background of Initiative #2.

Now it is time to read God's Word, Colossians 3:8–17
<blockquote>
But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him—a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all. And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. And beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.
</blockquote>
'''Choose Where You Live for Christ's Sake'''

I want to make two points from this text. One is that Christians should choose where they live for Christ's sake. If you choose to live in the suburbs, it should be because you have thought it through with a view to honoring Christ more this way. If you live in the urban center, it should be because you have thought it through with a view to honoring Christ more this way. I get this conviction from verse 17 and others in the New Testament like it: "Whatever you do in word or deed [like buying a house or renting an apartment], do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father."

'''Don't Simply Absorb the Values of the Culture'''

One of the great dangers in American Christianity is that we will simply absorb the values of our culture. We will think of Christianity as an ethic that relates to certain moral issues (adultery, alcohol, abortion, stealing, lying, violence, foul language, etc.), and forget that being a Christian means that everything—everything—is under the rule of Christ. Our mission is "to spread a passion for the supremacy of God IN EVERYTHING." Including choosing where we live.

So verse 17—do all (do everything!) in the name of the Lord Jesus—means: urbs and burbs, be sure that you have made your choice of where to live for Christ-exalting reasons. "In the name of the Lord Jesus" means with his authorization and by his strength and for his glory. In other words it means that all we do, we do with a view to honoring him as the Lord and the strength and the goal of our lives.

When that decision is made, then live where you live with all your might for the glory of the Lord Jesus, and let your brother or sister stand or fall before their own Lord—in the city or in the suburb. There are good, Christ-exalting reasons for living in the suburbs and good, Christ exalting reasons for living in the urban center. If I served a church in the suburbs, I have little doubt that I would live in the suburbs near the building, just like I live near the center of our church's life here in the city.

Test your motives. Why do you live where you live? How did you make that choice? Did you buy on the outer ring in the hope of fast appreciation? Did you buy in the city in hopes of catching the front end of regentrification? Not the best of motives, either one. It is possible to move to the city for wrong reasons, and to move to the suburbs of the wrong reasons. And it is possible to stay in the one or the other for the wrong reasons—fear, apathy, pride, greed, inordinate love of things, etc. Why do you live where you live, that is the question.

'''Clarifying My Calling in This Church'''

I need to clarify the meaning of what you will hear in the years to come, lest you take it wrongly. The choice to live in the suburbs is the easier choice. It's the one that most people take, if they can afford it—black or white or Asian. If you can afford it, you leave. That's the natural thing to do. I don't know of any church that has developed a program to help their urban people be willing to move to the suburbs. Such programs are not necessary. Almost all the natural gravity pulls in that direction. There never has been a white flight—or any other colored flight—from the suburbs to the center of the city. Downward mobility is un-American.

Therefore, I take as part of my calling in this church to so preach and to so live as to persuade some Christians to move to the city to spread a passion of the supremacy of God in all things. Not because I think it is wrong to live in the suburbs, but because it is most definitely right—and gloriously right—to live for Christ and his kingdom in the city, and almost nothing in our materialistic, security-driven, fun-seeking culture is going to motivate you to consider it. In short the church doesn't need as much help to spread itself as salt through the suburbs as it does to spread itself as salt through the decaying inner city.

When Fresh Initiative #2 calls for a partnership between these two groups, it is calling for the urban folks not to be proud and arrogant over what God has done to bring them here. And it is calling for the suburban folks to glory in their appointed ministry and not to resent the necessary focus and effort to swim against the tide to help people survive in the city. I hope that Bethlehem will be a place where more and more suburban people are saved and love to be a part of a church that is committed to the city, while staying right where God calls them.

'''The Supremacy of Christ Unifies Diverse Peoples'''

The second thing to see in this text is that what holds the range of diversity together in the church is the supremacy of Christ. In verse 11 Paul says that in the new people that God is creating, "''there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all''." Now this is amazing. Fresh Initiative #2 calls for "a significant range of racially, educationally, and economically diverse people." That is what we have in verse 11. Jews and Greeks did not dress the same or eat the same or entertain themselves the same or worship the same or share the same family or social customs. They were worlds apart. Scythian, Lightfoot says, represents "the lowest type of barbarian." It had become a name almost synonymous with the slave class because so many slaves were taken from the Scythian tribes around the Black Sea. They were destitute of education and refinement and were foreigners to the city of Colossae.

Now how could Paul say that in the church of Colossae these differences—this "significant range of racially, educationally, and economically diverse people"—how could he say that these deep differences were overcome in unity? Answer (verse 11b): "Christ was all and in all." Christ was in them and he was everything to them. That is, Christ was in them all by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9) through faith, and Christ was their highest value—he was supreme. He was so valuable and so preeminent and so supreme that in relation to him and his will and his presence, dividing preferences defused. The grip of these preferences on our hearts is overcome by the all-pervading supremacy of Christ. So at the end of Fresh Initiative #2 we point to the unifying element in the widening range of diverse people—they will be people who are growing in their passion for the supremacy of God. If that supremacy does not exist in your heart, the diversity will only be seen as a burden and not as a beauty.

'''Conclusion'''

So there are two words from God for us this morning—two biblical keys that unlock the treasure of an urban-suburban partnership: 1) do all that you do (including deciding where to live and minister) in the name of Jesus; and 2) open your heart to the truth that Christ is all and in all. Ask yourself as you go this morning: what kind of church, according to Colossians 3:11, will be the best witness to the truth that Christ is all and in all—or the best witness to the truth that here reigns a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for all peoples?

Urban-Suburban Partnership

Mollymullery — Fri, 04 May 2012 17:54:03 GMT

Mollymullery: Created page with '{{info}} Colossians 3:8–17 <blockquote> But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another...'

Urgent Call for Teachers in Cameroon

Mollymullery — Fri, 04 May 2012 17:35:45 GMT

Mollymullery: Protected "Urgent Call for Teachers in Cameroon" ([edit=sysop] (indefinite) [move=sysop] (indefinite))

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On Thursday, May 18 one of our Wycliffe missionaries, Steve Anderson, called from Cameroon with an urgent call for reinforcements. The need is crucial and the Cameroon branch of Wycliffe is turning to Bethlehem for help. Here’s the need. Please read on and pray.

There is an American international school in Yaounde near the Wycliffe center. The missionaries send their children to this school at little or no cost because American Christian teachers are willing to go out and teach as Wycliffe support personnel by raising their own support. The teachers work for the American school and teach not only the missionary kids but many other English speaking international students whose parents are working in Cameroon.

We are praying that as hundreds of people read this article God will call two teachers to go for one year to teach in Yaounde beginning this fall. Just recently two of the teachers had to cancel their commitment. This means that Wycliffe parents will have $260 a month extra cost per child if no new teachers are found.

'''Details''': One teacher needed for 2nd grade and one needed for 3rd grade. (But any grade school experience would be sufficient.) Starting time: September 4. Support needed: about $1,200/month for singles or $1,800-2,000/month for a couple. But: Steve stressed on the phone that if, on this short notice, there was difficulty raising the support, special plans could be worked out with the Wycliffe center there in Yaounde.

Be a dreamer! Might it be possible for you or someone you know of to take this challenge? Bible translation is supremely important. Could this be the challenge you have been waiting for?

Call Tom Steller or me. I’m sure Dennis and Jane Richter would be happy to give a first hand insight on the basis of their two years in Yaounde. Or to get info first hand call Al Adan, the Wycliffe contact in Yaounde, by dialing straight to Cameroon sometime during our morning hours.

God loves his word. He loves to see it believed. Recruits may therefore be sure that God will look with great favor on this willing service! Let’s all pray.

--

Closer to home consider this: Our new summer worship schedule running 12 weeks from June 18 to September 4 is going to cause scheduling difficulty for the Laotian congregation. We will have two worship services, one at 9:00 AM and one at 10:30 AM with children’s Sunday school during the first service and adult classes during both services.

The Laotian congregation cannot adapt to this new schedule without jeopardizing their ministry. So we want to help them stay at the schedule they have now. This means we need four teachers for kids who are willing to give 45 minutes each week for those 12 weeks following our second service until the Laotians finish their service. If you hear God’s tug in this need, call Laurel or Jennifer. The ongoing life and vitality of the Laotian congregation is one of the great challenges of our church.

Pastor John

Urgent Call for Teachers in Cameroon

Mollymullery — Fri, 04 May 2012 17:35:34 GMT

Mollymullery: Created page with '{{info}} On Thursday, May 18 one of our Wycliffe missionaries, Steve Anderson, called from Cameroon with an urgent call for reinforcements. The need is crucial and the Cameroon...'

Viewing History

Mollymullery — Fri, 04 May 2012 17:29:33 GMT

Mollymullery: Protected "Viewing History" ([edit=sysop] (indefinite) [move=sysop] (indefinite))

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''The Shape of the Christian Past: A Christian Response to Secular Philosophies of History'' by John Warwick Montgomery, Bethany Fellowship, Minneapolis, 1976 390 pp., $4.95

"If the historian holds the view expressed by…Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy, that 'man is incapable of sin, sickness, and death' and 'evil is but an illusion, and error has no real basis,' he will almost certainly be incapable of adequately interpreting Hitler's career." This sentence illustrates the first half of Montgomery's thesis, namely, that the historian's view of human nature and his set of values "stem from his 'sovereign decision'-and from his general religio-philosophical beliefs-and these views always precede and influence his historical studies." The second half of this thesis is this: "If we would have a sound philosophy of history, our 'sovereign decision' must be a decision for Jesus Christ."

Montgomery's book has two parts. Part I ("Philosophical Historiography") attempts to define history and historiography, to set forth and criticize the major views of historiography from Heroditus down to Niebuhr, Tillich, and Voegelin (but not so far as Moltmann and Pannenberg), and finally to validate the Christian worldview and summarize "scriptural principles of historiography." Part II ("Critical and Epistemological Essays") is a loose collection of eight essays "for the clarification, expansion, and support of positions take in Part I." They include critiques of Giovanni Vico, William James, Emil Brunner, and Karl Marx. Other subjects treated are "Constructive Religious Empiricism," the dependability of the gospels (by F. J. Barnes), and the meaning of Matthew 16:13-19. The only difference between this edition and the original 1962 edition of this book is the addition of a defense of Montgomery's view of history by Paul Feinberg.

If, as Montgomery says, one's "religio-philosophical beliefs" influence one's writing of history then the first task of the historian is "to evaluate the evidence presented in behalf of the most compelling philosophical systems, and then to make a choice among them." Montgomery has chosen the Christian worldview because it is "accessible to science" and rests upon "an objective foundation which will stand up under the most exacting criticism." The "most fundamental issue of all" and, therefore the heart of Montgomery's book is "the validation of the Christian worldview."

Validation does not mean "absolute proof" since "the very nature of empirical investigation precludes absolute proof." "The basis is only one of probability not certainty, but probability is the sole ground on which finite human beings can make any decisions… Since it does not keep us from making decision in non-religious matters, it should not immobilize us when religious commitment is involved." Therefore, "the rational man must decide on his worldview in terms of empirical probability."

Accordingly, Montgomery argues from empirical data (1) that the gospels are reliable historical sources for the life and words of Jesus, (2) that the evidence for the resurrection of Christ (as E. Stauffer has shown) is convincing, (3) that the divinity of Christ is thus verified so that "He speaks truth concerning the absolute divine authority of the Old Testament, and of the soon to be written New Testament." The crucial conclusion, then, for historiography is that "all Biblical assertions bearing on philosophy of history are to be regarded as revealed truth, and that all human attempts at historical interpretation are to be judged for truth-value on the basis of harmony with scriptural revelation."

Montgomery's great strength is his power of critical analysis which penetrates incisively to a system's weakness. Hence his survey of historiography and his critique of contemporary thinkers is very valuable. The weakness of his book lies in the oversimplified demonstration of his own position. The seven objections he raises to his own conclusion are all of a general and philosophical nature, and as long as he speaks in philosophical generalities about the nature of history and faith he does well. But what he seems not to realize is that the real objections to his conclusions today are coming from the specific finds of gospel criticism and exegesis. It is doubtful whether generalizations about the date and authorship of the gospels will be sufficient to answer the concrete findings of form- and redaction-criticism. A more detailed interaction with these findings is needed.

Viewing History

Mollymullery — Fri, 04 May 2012 17:29:14 GMT

Mollymullery: Created page with '{{info}} ''The Shape of the Christian Past: A Christian Response to Secular Philosophies of History'' by John Warwick Montgomery, Bethany Fellowship, Minneapolis, 1976 390 pp.,...'

Walk in Wisdom Toward Those Outside

Mollymullery — Fri, 04 May 2012 17:09:25 GMT

Mollymullery: Protected "Walk in Wisdom Toward Those Outside" ([edit=sysop] (indefinite) [move=sysop] (indefinite))

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Colossians 4:2–6

I hope that by the time we are done this morning you will sense a refreshing wind blowing through this text. Paul has a remarkably positive and happy angle on personal evangelism. I hope we can see and it and feel it before we are done.

The text (Colossians 4:2–6) falls naturally into two parts: verses 2–4 are the first part, and verse 5 and 6 are the second part. The first part has to do with our indirect involvement in evangelism through prayer for God's specially called spokesmen. The second part has to do with our direct involvement in evangelism through wise conduct and seasoned speech.

Let's focus first on verses 2–4—our indirect involvement in frontline evangelism through prayer.

'''INDIRECT INVOLVEMENT THROUGH PRAYER '''I have often said that one of the reasons we feel so weak in our prayer lives is that we have tried to make a domestic intercom out of a wartime walkie-talkie. Prayer is not designed as an intercom between us and God to serve the domestic comforts of the saints. It's designed as a walkie-talkie for spiritual battlefields. It's the link between active soldiers and their command headquarters, with its unlimited firepower and air cover and strategic wisdom.

This is the picture that I think helps capture the spirit of prayer in Colossians 4:2–4.
<blockquote>
Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving; and pray for us also, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison, that I may make it clear, as I ought to speak.
</blockquote>
Here's one way to picture what is going on here. Paul and Timothy (1:1) and Aristarchus (4:10) and Epaphras (4:12) are a unique team of storm troopers in the spiritual battle to recapture the hearts of men for God. They have made a strike at the enemy lines and met a tremendous counterforce. Paul and Aristarchus are prisoners of war. And it looks as though the enemy has a tactical victory in his pocket.

But Paul manages to smuggle a letter out of the prison camp to some fellow soldiers stationed to the rear—that's the Colossians. In the letter he asks them to get on their walkie-talkie, call command headquarters, and ask headquarters to fire a missile that will blast open a door in the prison wall and in the enemy's front line so that Paul and his squad can get on with their mission to release people from the power of Satan and bring them to God.

So the point that we are most interested in here is this: the soldiers to the rear with the walkie-talkie of prayer are very crucial in the frontline successes of evangelism. If they weren't, this text would be a sham.

'''How to Pray: Three Aspects'''

But of course all analogies are imperfect. So let's look straight at the text for a few minutes. I see at least three things that tell us how to pray and three things that tell us what to pray in this context of frontline evangelism support.

'''1. Persistently'''

Verse 2: "Continue steadfastly in prayer." Or: "Devote yourselves to prayer."

Prayer is not like these remote control telephones that you can buy nowadays. They store up energy when you are not using them, and they run down while you use them. Prayer is just the opposite. It increases in power the more it is used, and when you hang it up, the power drains out of it. If you want to have a crucial role in the great spiritual warfare of these days, and not just be passed over as a useless soldier, you need to keep the walkie-talkie with you all day, keep it in the on position and ask again and again for God to give you your bearings and guide you through the mine fields of temptation and make you alert to every opportunity to witness to his promised victory.

'''2. Watchfully'''

The second answer to how we pray is watchfully. Verse 2: "Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it."

This means that the enemy knows the danger of these walkie-talkies. He will try to jam the airwaves or steal the transmitter or just put you to sleep with some drug. He jams the airwaves by filling the atmosphere of our lives with the clutter of nonessentials. He steals the transmitter by deceiving us that it is broken and won't work. He puts us to sleep by tempting us to stay up to late so that we are so tired we cannot concentrate. The only way to get victory over Satan's devices is to be watchful. The reason I stress the wartime analogy of the Christian life so often is because I don't know of a better way to keep this utterly crucial truth before us—namely, that vigilance must mark spiritual lives every day. Without it we are sitting ducks for Satan's constant barrage of flaming darts.

'''3. Thankfully'''

The third answer to how we are to pray is thankfully. "Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving."

In case the wartime analogy gives you the jitters, this word is added to take them away. Watchfulness and vigilance might signify a lot of nail biting and perspiration and heart thumping. But this would be a big mistake. Sometimes our hearts do thump and the hands get clammy, but that is not supposed to be the normal feeling of the Christian soldier.

What we are supposed to feel normally is a sense that the command headquarters in heaven is in control, progress is being made on all the strategic fronts, the battle is the Lord's, the decisive engagements of Christ and Satan in the wilderness and in Gethsemane and on the cross and at the empty tomb have all been won by Christ, and he is leading his church in triumph to a great day of worldwide consummation. And so woven through all our walkie-talkie requests for fire cover, are sentences like: "Nice shot, Sir, thank you." "The door blew open wide, Sir, thank you." "We made it through, Sir, thank you." "Aristarchus' arm has healed, Sir, thank you." "Coming now in with 20 happy captives, Sir, thank you."

When Paul says that our praying is to be done with thanksgiving, he means that we should keep our eyes on the victory of God. We do not fight as losers or even as those who are uncertain. We know God will win. And if we have eyes to see, we will recognize the path of his power again and again.

'''What to Pray: Three Things'''

Now in verses 3 and 4 Paul tells us at least three things about what to pray in our support of frontline evangelism.

'''1. For the Storm Troopers'''

Pray for the storm troopers. Verse 3: " . . . and pray for us also . . . "

God has called some people to give most of their time to direct gospel warfare. All Christians are soldiers. All have walkie-talkies (priesthood of all believers!). But there is a differentiation of assignment on the battlefield. He has given some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastor-teachers (Ephesians 4:11). We can call these the storm troopers.

Paul's point here in verse 3 is that all Christian soldiers should use their walkie-talkies for the sake of the storm troopers. Every one should have some missionaries and pastors that they focus on specifically.

'''2. For Openings for Gospel Opportunities'''

Pray for gospel opportunities to open in the world for these storm troopers. Verse 3: "Pray for us also that God may open to us a door for the word." Paul is aware that there is a difference between regular, ordinary speaking about Christ to those he is with, and periodic, extraordinary opportunities for effective proclamation. In 1 Corinthians 16:9–10, he says, "I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries." And in 2 Corinthians 2:12 he said, "When I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, a door was opened for me in the Lord." And in Revelation 3:8 Jesus says to the church at Philadelphia, "Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut."

This should be our constant request going over the walkie-talkie for the storm troopers here in Minneapolis and among the unreached peoples of the world—"O God, blow the door off the hinges in Albania, Guinea, Japan, China, Downtown Minneapolis!"

'''3. For the Mystery of Christ to Be Made Plain'''

Pray for the whole mystery of Christ to be made plain when God opens a door. Verse 3b–4: " . . . to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison, that I may make it clear, as I ought to speak."

Put together the two words, "clear" and "mystery." The goal of evangelism is to make a mystery clear. The gospel is not a mystery because it is confusing or obscure like a tricky riddle. It's a mystery because no one would ever know it or think of it unless God had made it plain.

*That the Son of God should become man.
*That he should live a life of poverty and love.
*That he should die in the place of sinners and bear the curse of the law though he was sinless.
*That he should rise from the dead and reign in heaven today.
*That the ungodly should be justified by faith.
*That Jew and Gentile, red and yellow, black and white should be reconciled in one body to God.
*And that Christ should dwell in our hearts and seal us for glory.

These things no one would have ever dreamed of. They are the mystery hidden from the ages in God, but now to be revealed and made plain to the world—that is evangelism. And that is what we should pray would be happening all over the world, and right here.

'''DIRECT INVOLVEMENT THROUGH WISE CONDUCT AND SEASONED SPEECH'''

So I want to turn now to verses 5 and 6 and shift our focus off of our indirect involvement in evangelism through prayer for the storm troopers, to the daily direct involvement in evangelism that every soldier is supposed to have where we live and work and play.
<blockquote>
Conduct yourselves wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer every one.
</blockquote>
I said at the beginning that Paul has a remarkably positive and happy angle on personal evangelism in this text. There is a refreshing wind that blows through these two verses.

These verses answer the question how all of us believers are supposed to relate to the unbelievers in our lives. Paul has in view accomplishing as much spiritual good as we can in these relationships. That's what he means in verse 5 when he says to "make the most of the time." Literally it says, "Buy up the opportunity."

In other words life is a series of never to be repeated opportunities for buying up spiritual blessings. This is a thrilling way to look at life. It's a perfect continuation of last week's point about detours. Whether on course or on a detour, every hour of your life brings a situation that can be bought up for eternity or missed.

Jesus said, "Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven . . . " The kingdom of God is like a man who went on a long journey and gave money to each of his servants to deal with while he was away. What are we to do? Buy up the opportunities of life for eternity. There is never a dull or insignificant moment for the Christian who is radically devoted to shrewd purchasing of life's moments for eternity.

'''How Can We Buy Up Every Opportunity?'''

So the question Paul answers in these two verses is how can we buy up every opportunity as we relate to the unbelievers in our lives? He gives three answers.

#Wise behavior,
#salty speech,
#and individual attention.

'''1. Wise Behavior'''

Verse 5: "Conduct yourselves wisely toward outsiders." Wisdom is knowing what to do for the glory of God when the rule book runs out. It's knowing how to become all things to all men without compromising holiness and truth. It is creativity and tact and thoughtfulness. It's having a feel for the moment, and having an eye for what people need and want. In order to buy up opportunities for God, we have to be wise in our behavior.

There are four sources of wisdom.

#Meditation on the Scriptures: Psalm 19:7, "The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple."
#Prayer: "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God."
#Sound counselors (the book of Proverbs!).
#The practice of principles in real life experience (Hebrews 5:14).

'''2. Salty Speech'''

The second answer to how we buy up opportunities for eternity is salty speech. Verse 6: "Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt."

I take this to mean that what we say about Christ and about the Christian life should be made as appetizing as possible. When food is not salted, its taste is bland. People don't want to eat it. It's unappetizing. Our speech is not supposed to be like that.

This is one of the most refreshing things I have ever heard anyone say about personal evangelism. Think about it for a moment. How can you develop the ability to speak about Christ so that there is an appetizing flavor to it? How do you learn to talk about Christ in a way that makes people's mouth water?

I think the answer is simply to spend time every day reminding yourself from Scripture why the gospel tastes good to you. Some of us who have been Christians for a long time begin to neglect the crucial business of enjoying Christ. Then an opportunity comes along to commend him to someone and we realize that all the reasons he is wonderful have been neglected and the keenness of our own taste buds has grown very dull. It's hard to salt your speech with the deliciousness of Jesus when you haven't been enjoying the taste yourself.

So the wonderful thing about Paul's advice here is that the best way to prepare to be an advertisement for the satisfying taste of Jesus is to enjoy him yourself. Every day we should go to the Bible and look for reasons why knowing Christ is the greatest thing in the world. And when we get up off our knees with our hearts happy in him, we will be in the best position to make our speech appetizing for Christ. (See Jesus' example in John 4:14; 6:35; etc.)

'''3. Individual Attention'''

The final answer to the question how to buy up every opportunity for God is that a person should get individual attention. Verse 6b: " . . . so that you may know how you ought to answer every one."

The point is simple: each person is different and each situation is different. The gospel is the same, and Christ is the same, but there are countless ways to serve the meal. We need wisdom how to serve and wisdom how to season it.

'''CONCLUSION'''

So let's pick up the walkie-talkie and support the storm troopers with persistence and watchfulness and confident gratitude. And let's buy up every opportunity for eternity with wise conduct and salty speech and individual attention.

And beneath it all let's set our eyes on Christ in the gospel until we taste how appetizing and satisfying he is for our own souls. "I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst."

Walk in Wisdom Toward Those Outside

Mollymullery — Fri, 04 May 2012 17:09:05 GMT

Mollymullery: Created page with '{{info}} Colossians 4:2–6 I hope that by the time we are done this morning you will sense a refreshing wind blowing through this text. Paul has a remarkably positive and ha...'

Was Jonathan Edwards a Christian Hedonist?

Mollymullery — Fri, 04 May 2012 16:38:41 GMT

Mollymullery: Protected "Was Jonathan Edwards a Christian Hedonist?" ([edit=sysop] (indefinite) [move=sysop] (indefinite))

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I begin with a definition of Christian Hedonism and an explanation of why it matters (at least to me) what Jonathan Edwards thought about it.

'''What is Christian Hedonism?'''

Christian Hedonism teaches that all true virtue must have in it a certain gladness of heart. Therefore the pursuit of virtue must be, in some measure, a pursuit of happiness. It's not enough to say that happiness will be the eventual result of virtuous choices. Rather, since a certain gladness of heart belongs to the nature of true virtue, that gladness must be pursued, if virtue is going to be pursued.

And it follows that if we try to deny or mortify or abandon that pursuit of happiness, we set ourselves against virtue. And that would mean we set ourselves against the good of man and the glory of God.

But what sort of happiness is essential in all virtuous acts?

The answer of Christian Hedonism: it's the happiness of experiencing the glory of God. In all virtuous acts we pursue the enjoyment of the glory of God, and more specifically, the enjoyment of the presence and the promotion of God's glory.

A word on these two terms!

'''The Presence of the Glory of God'''

When I say that a Christian Hedonist, in all his virtuous behavior, pursues the enjoyment of the presence of God's glory, I have in mind mainly the experience of being the target of God's grace, which is the pinnacle of his glory (Ephesians 1:6). To be targeted by God's grace is to be in the presence of his glory.

And the effect of that presence in the life of us sinners is to purify us from sin and empower us for holiness. And the enjoymnent of this experience is the joy of knowing ourselves conquered by God, taken over by God, filled with God.

It's the experience Paul was describing when he said, "I am what I am by the grace of God, and his grace toward me was not in vain (there's the idea of being a target!). On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God which is with me (there's the idea of being conquered by God!)" (1 Cor. 15:10).

A Christian Hedonist knows that he is the target of God's grace and that he is conquered by God's grace. And so grace gets the credit for his work. And what I am saying is that the enjoyment of this experience is an essential part of all true virtue. A person becomes a Christian Hedonist to the degree that he becomes addicted to that that joy. He makes all his choices with a view to maximizing his enjoyment of the presence of the glory of God's sovereign grace.

So in all acts that are truly virtuous we must pursue the enjoyment of the presence of the glory of God's grace.

'''The Promotion of the Glory of God?'''

But Christian Hedonism also teaches that true virtue includes the enjoyment of the promotion of God's glory not just the presence of his glory. What I have in mind here is the pleasure of seeing the perfections of God put on display for the universe. This is the experience Paul commanded us to pursue in 1 Corinthians 10:31, "Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."

The enjoyment of this promotion of God's glory is really just an extension of our enjoyment of his presence. If you want to maximize your enjoyment of someone's greatness, then you seek for other hearts where your joy will find an echo. And so the delight in seeing God's glory promoted is simply an extension and completion of the delight we already have in his presence.

This is the heart of Christian Hedonism as I use the term.

'''Summing up Christian Hedonism'''

Christian Hedonism teaches that all true virtue must have in it a certain gladness of heart. Therefore the pursuit of virtue must be in some measure a pursuit of happiness. And the happiness, which makes up an essential part of all virtue, is the enjoyment of the presence and the promotion of the glory of God. Therefore, if we try to deny or mortify or abandon the impulse to pursue this hapiness, we set ourselves against the good of man and the glory of God. Rather we should seek to stir up our desire for this delight until it is white hot and insatiable on the earth.

'''Why Does it Matter What Jonathan Edwards Thought?'''

Now why should we care what Jonathan Edwards thought about these things —a pastor, who died 230 years ago, and never travelled outside his native New England, and got voted out of his church after 23 years of ministry, and served as a missionary to a handful of Indians for seven years and died when he was 54 years old with about 300 books in his library? Why do I care what Edwards thought about Christian Hedonism?

I care, first of all, because he is one of the greatest Biblically based thinkers the world has ever known. When you force yourself to come to terms with the likes of Jonathan Edwards two good things happen.

One is that the Biblical truthfulness and accuracy of your ideas are tested. Edwards' grasp of Biblical thought is simply phenomenal. It's true that Scripture itself is the plumbline for all our doctrinal edifices. No man can take it's place. But I hope you would agree that reading the great Biblically based thinkers outside of our own era is one of the best ways to test whether we have a right hold on the plumbline and are using it correctly. So Edwards is important to me as a test of the Biblical faithfulness of Chrisitan Hedonism.

And second, Edwards' understanding of the human heart along with the depth of his doctrinal insight means that every effort to struggle with his writing is rewarded with increased wisdom. Edwards has simply proved himself to me again and again over the last 20 years as the most profitable (dead) teacher I have ever had. I stand so much in his debt that any thought of teaching something he would disapprove of is a great concern to me.

So when I got a letter from Pete Sommer last November suggesting that Edwards may not be the Christian Hedonist that I claimed him to be, I set myself to rereading Edwards on this matter. Pete is one of the people who has been a kind of reluctant defender of Christian Hedonism in the upper echelons of Inter-Varsity.

What troubled him was the introduction to the 1935 edition of selections from Edwards' works by Clarence Faust and Thomas Johnson. Pete summed up his concern with Faust and Johnson's interpretation of Edwards like this:
<blockquote>
The force of the excerpt. . . is that Edwards saw self-love as confirmation of man's depravity, never a proper motive for "virtue." According to the authors, "true virtue" was "disinterested benevolence," a creation and gift of God's grace. . .
</blockquote>
Of course whether Edwards is a Christian Hedonist or not depends on what he means by "self-love" and "disinterested benevolence." If Edwards taught that self-love is the essence of depravity and that it only refers to a person's love for his own happiness, then he was not a Christian Hedonist, because that would make the love of happiness the essence of the fall.

And if he taught that "disinterested benevolence" is the essence of virtue and that it refers only to an indifference to my own happiness, then he is not a Christian Hedonist, because that would mean that the pursuit of virtue cannot be the pursuit of happiness but must be accompanied by forsaking of my pursuit of happiness.

Faust and Johnson, who wrote the introductory essay for the Edwards selections in 1935 are very careful in their treatment of this matter, and I didn't come away with the same sense Pete did that they had removed Edwards from the camp of Christian Hedonism. They make some very fine distinctions in the definition of self-love and disinterested benevolence that leave open the possibility that Edwards was indeed a Christian Hedonist. But I don't think this essay settles the matter for us. We do best to go straight to the writings of Edwards themselves.

'''Letting Edwards Speak for Himself'''

What does Edwards mean by self-love? It was a hot topic in his day, and any twentieth century reader that dips into this issue should be very wary of importing contemporary ideas. Not only does the 18th century debate have very little resemblance to the contemporary talk about self-love as self-esteem and a positive self-image, it also demands of the reader a very discriminating effort to make distinctions between different kinds of self-love.

An unsympathetic reader would be tempted to accuse Edwards of inconsistency in his treatment of self-love, because he criticizes the adequacy of a certain definition of it in one place and uses it in another. But I chalk this up not to an inconsistency in thought, but to a deep frustration with the adequacy of language.

I've found three places in his Miscellanies, for example, where he complains about the limitations of language to express reality (Townsend, 139, 209, 244). For example, in #4 he says, "O, how is the world darkened, clouded, distracted, and torn to pieces by those dreadful enemies of mankind called words!"

At the beginning (Mind, Yale VI, 337) and end (NTV, 42f) of his career Edwards pointed out the impropriety of calling our desire to be happy "self-love". In the Nature of True Virtue (written 1755, published 1765) he said,
<blockquote>
[Self-love] may be taken for. . . [a person's] loving whatsoever is pleasing to him. Which comes only to this, that self-love is a man's liking, and being suited and pleased in that which he likes, and which pleases him; or, that it is a man's loving what he loves. For whatever a man loves, that thing is. . . pleasing to him. . . And if this be all that they mean by self-love, no wonder they suppose that all love may be resolved into self-love. (NTV, 42f)
</blockquote>
In other words, Edwards recognizes that there are people who define self-love simply as the love of happiness and who then say that all love goes back to this source (that is what a Christian Hedonist would say). Edwards doesn't deny that all love does go back to this source, but he says that there is "an impropiety and absurdity" of using the term self-love this way if what you are really trying to find out is why a person loves one thing and not another thing.

And that was the bigger question that Edwards was interested in. You can say that the reason one man finds his happiness in God and another finds his happiness in money is that both are driven by the desire for happiness, that is, both are governed by self-love. Edwards would agree but would say that you haven't said anything very significant. It is not significant to say that one man loves God and another man loves money because both have a capacity for love—that both are seeking happiness.

Edwards goes on like this: "That a man in general loves. . . happiness. . . cannot be the reason why such and such things become his happiness" (NTV, 44). What was drivig Edwards here was the passion to prove that true virtue could never be accounted for without reference to the special grace of God. What man was by nature could never give rise to true virtue. And so if all virtue—all love—does resolve into this self-love, which is simply a natural capacity, then God is on his way out as a necessary reference point in the nature of true virtue.

Edwards saw this very clearly, and he set himself to strive with all his might against the secularizing of morals in his day, that put man at the center, and made virtue native to his own powers. And so he forced the question beyond whether all virtue resolves into a natural desire for happiness (that is into self-love in this sense), and asked, why one person would be made happy only in God while another finds happiness in created things.

We will see his answer to that question in a few minutes. But first notice how Edwards preferred to use the term self-love when dealing with the moralists of his day. He says in the Natue of True Virtue (45),
<blockquote>
Self-love, as the phrase is used in common speech, most commonly signifies a man's regard to his confined private self, or love to himself with respect his private interest.
</blockquote>
In other words self-love was ordinarily used, he said, with a very negative connotation. And the evil of it lay in its narrowness. It was virtually synonymous with selfishness, in the sense that what makes a selfish person happy is not when others are benefited but when his own private happiness increases without consideration for others.

In 1738 Edwards preached a series of expositions on 1 Corinthians 13 later published under the title, Charity and its Fruits. His sermon verse 5, "Charity. . .seeketh not her own," is entitled, "The Spirit of Charity the Opposite of a Selfish Spirit." In it he describes the fall like this:
<blockquote>
The ruin that the fall brought upon the soul of man consist very much in his losing the nobler and more benevolent principles of his nature, and falling wholly under the power and government of self-love. . . Sin like some powerful astringent, contracted his soul to the very small dimensions of selfishness; and God was forsaken, and fellow creatures forsaken, and man retired within himself, and became totally governed by narrow and selfish principles and feelings. Self-love became absolute master of his soul, and the more noble and spiritual principles of his being took wings and flew away. (157f)
</blockquote>
So self-love in this sense is the same as the vice of selfishness. People who are governed by self-love
<blockquote>
place [their] happiness in good things that are confined or limited to themselves, to the exclusion of others. And this is selfishness. This is the thing most clearly and directly intended by that self-love which the Scripture condemns. (164)
</blockquote>
So self-love is a natural trait that man has after the fall and it is evil because of its narrowness and confinement. But that raises the question, How broad can the benevolent effects of self-love be before it ceases to be evil by virtue of its narrowness? Edwards knew quite well that benevolence for many others besides ourselves can be rooted in a confined and narrow self-love, because of natural affinities that unite others to ourselves.

That was 1738. By the time Edwards wrote the Nature of True Virtue 17 years later he had gone on to answer that question with an extraordinarily radical answer. When can the breadth of the benevolent effects of self-love be broad enough so that it can be called true virtue, and no longer selfish and sinful? Answer: only when it embraces the good of the whole universe of being. Or more simply, self-love is confined, narrow selfish and sinful until it embraces God. For until then self-love embraces "an infinitely small part of universal existence" (NTV, 77) because it does not embrace God.
<blockquote>
If there could be a cause (like self-love) determining a person to benevolence towards the whole world of mankind, or even all created sensible natures throughout the universe, exclusive of union of heart to general existence and of love to God—not derived from that temper of mind which disposes to a supreme regard to him, nor subordinate to such divine love—it cannot be of the nature of true virtue. (NTV, 78f)
</blockquote>
Norman Fiering said of this statement, "We may admire the audacity of such a statement. . . But it is also open to obvious criticism." (Jonathan Edwards's Moral Thought in its British Context, 196) Then he proceeds to critique Edwards in a way that, in my judgment misses the aim and achievement of Edwards in the Nature of True Virtue, namely, to make God indispensable in the definition of true virtue—to keep God at the center of all moral considerations, to stem the secularizing forces. Edwards could not conceive of calling any act truly virtuous that did not have in it a supreme regard to God.

And I hope that you can see immediately that this is almost identical to the cornerstone of Christian Hedonism, namely, that all true virtue must have in it a certain gladness of heart in the glory of God.

So what Edwards was trying to do by focusing on the negative, narrow, confined sense of self-love was to show in the end that all love is this kind of love and therefore is no true virtue unless God is included. In other words his treatment of self-love like everything else he wrote was aimed at defending the centrality and indispensability of God. And that is precisely the aim of Christian Hedonism as well.

But now that we understand why Edwards focused on the negative sense of self-love, we are free to return to the positive sense without misunderstanding and let it have its full impact on behalf of Christian Hedonism, which is very considerable.

You remember that Edwards thought in his day that it was insignificant to say that all things are done out of self-love if self-love merely means our love of happiness. Edwards just took this for granted. That is simply a description of the way God constituted the will. But today it's not insignificant or pointless to say that all our acts are motivated by the desire for happiness and that this is good. Edwards took this premise of Christian Hedonism for granted, everything we do we do in order to maximize our happiness as we understand it, and this is not evil. But today this isn't taken for granted. And if you talk this way you come under suspicion, because people don't see the connection between love for happiness and the centrality of God the way Edwards saw it and the way that Christian Hedonism envisions it.

So let's back up now and take up the positive use Edwards makes of the definition of self-love which in one sense he regarded as improper. In Charity and Its Fruits Edwards says,
<blockquote>
It is not contrary to Christianity that a man should love himself, or, which is the same thing, should love his own happiness. If Christianity did indeed tend to destroy a man's love to himself, and to his own happiness, it would therein tend to destroy the very spirit of humanity. . . That a man should love his own happiness, is as necessary to his nature as the faculty of the will is and it is impossible that such a love should be destroyed in any other way than by destroying his being. The saints love their own happiness. Yea, those that are perfect in happiness, the saints and angels in heaven, love their own happiness; otherwise that happiness which God hath given them would be no happiness to them. . . (159).
</blockquote>
Edwards took all this for granted the way he took the very existence of man for granted. But my experience is that it hits people today as though it were a new religion—which I think shows just how far we have come from the Biblical religion of Jonathan Edwards.

I suppose it may be a slight overstatement to say that Edwards took all this for granted because he seems to feel the need to argue for it somewhat. For example, he says,
<blockquote>
That to love ourselves is not unlawful, is evident also from the fact, that the law of God makes self-love a rule and measure by which our love to others should be regulated. Thus Christ commands (Matt. 19:19), "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself," which certainly supposes that we may, and must love ourselves. . . And the same appears also from the fact, that the Scriptures, from one end of the Bible to the other, are full of motives that are set forth for the very purpose of working on the principle of self-love. Such are all the promises and threatenings of the word of God, its calls and invitations, its counsels to seek our own good, and its warnings to beware of misery. (Charity, 160)
</blockquote>
But now how does all this relate to our love for God? The quest for happiness seems self-centered to most Christians today. But in fact Edwards can help us see that the attempt to abandon that quest in relation to God results in a much worse self-centeredness and a failure to honor God as the infinitely satisfying fountain of joy that he is and intends to be.

Edwards clears a lot of fog away when he poses the question, "Whether or no a man ought to love God more than himself?" He answers like this:
<blockquote>
Self-love, taken in the most extensive sense, and love to God are not things properly capable of being compared one with another; for they are not opposites or things entirely distinct, but one enters into the nature of the other. . . Self-love is only a capacity of enjoying or taking delight in anything. Now surely 'tis improper to say that our love to God is superior to our general capacity of delighting in anything. (Miscellanies, #530, p.202)
</blockquote>
In other words you can never play off self-love against love to God when self-love is treated as our love for happiness. Rather love to God is the form that self-love takes when God is discovered as the all satisfying focus of our happiness. Norman Fiering catches the sense here perfectly when he sums up Edwards position like this:
<blockquote>
Disinterested love to God is impossible because the desire for happiness is intrinsic to all willing or loving whatsoever, and God is the necessary end of the search for happiness. Logically one cannot be disinterested about the source or basis of all interest. (Jonathan Edwards's Moral Thought in its British Context, 161)
</blockquote>
This is very important because Edwards does use the word "disinterested" when he talks about love to God (e.g. Original Sin, 144; Charity, 174). And you remember back at the beginning that Pete Sommer was troubled that the term "disinterested benevolence" was Edwards' ideal and that this removed him from the ranks of Christian Hedonism.

But the same ambiguity exists with the term "disinterested" as with the term "self-love". When Edwards speaks of a disinterested love to God he means a love that is not grounded not in a desire for God's gifts, but in a desire for the glory and excellency of God himself. This absolutely crucial for understanding Edwards' relation to Christian Hedonism. "Disinterestedness" is not an anti hedonistic word as Edwards uses it. It is simply his way (a common 18th century way of stressing that we must seek our joy in God himself and not in the health, wealth and prosperity he gives. It is a word designed to safeguard the God-centeredness of Christian Hedonism, not to oppose Christian Hedonism.

You know immediately that you have not left the realm of Christian Hedonism when you listen to Edwards describe, of all things, disinterested delight! It sounds contradictory. But that just shows us how careful we have to be not to jump to conclusions when we see apparently non-hedonistic terms. This quote comes from the Religious Affections:
<blockquote>
As it is with the love of the saints, so it is with their joy, and spiritual delight and pleasure: the first foundation of it, is not any consideration or conception of their interest in (understand: "natural benefit from") divine things; but it primarily consists in the sweet entertainment their minds have in the view or contemplation of the divine and holy beauty of these things, as they are in themselves. And this is indeed the very main difference between the joy of the hypocrite, and the joy of the true saint. The former rejoices in himself; self is the first foundation of his joy: the latter rejoices in God. . . True saints have their minds, in the first place, inexpressibly pleased and delighted with the sweet ideas of the glorious and amiable nature of the things of God. And this is the spring of all their delights, and the cream of all their pleasures. . . But the dependence of the affections of hypocrites is in a contrary order: they first rejoice. . . that they are made so much of by God; and then on that ground, he seems in a sort, lovely to them. (249f)
</blockquote>
A paragraph like this puts an end once and for all to the thought that the term disinterested in Edwards means that we should not seek the deepest and highest pleasures in God and be driven on by them so that we do not rest until we get to the fountain and are never satisfied with any of the tributaries of his blessings. It is a radically hedonistic paragraph!

Perhaps the best proof that the love of God can never be played off against the pursuit of happiness is Edwards' answer to the question whether we should be willing to be damned for the glory of God.
<blockquote>
'Tis impossible for any person to be willing to be perfectly and finally miserable for God's sake, for this supposes love to God is superior to self-love in the most general and extensive sense of self-love, which enters into the nature of love to God. . . If a man is willing to be perfectly miserable for God's sake. . . then he must be willing to be deprived [not only of his own natural benefits, but also] of that which is indirectly his own, viz., God's good, which supposition is inconsistent with itself; for to be willing to be deprived of this latter sort of good is opposite to that principle of love to God itself, from whence such a willingness is supposed to arise. Love to God, if it be superior to any other principle, will make a man forever unwilling, utterly and finally, to be deprived of that part of his happiness which he has in God's being blessed and glorified, and the more he loves Him, the more unwilling he will be. So that this supposition, that a man can be willing to be perfectly and utterly miserable out of love to God, is inconsistent with itself. (Miscellanies, #530, Townsend, 204)
</blockquote>
Edwards realizes that he has used the language of benevolence toward God in this paragraph—he spoke of God's good and God's being blessed and the saints desire that this be, which a love of benevolence toward God.

But Edwards is very sharp, and realizes also that beneath such a love of benevolence to God which wills his good and his glory, there is a love of complacence, which means a love that delights in the good and the glory of God, because these are beautiful and pleasing. This is implied when he said that God's being glorified is part of the saint's happiness. (See Treatise on Grace, 49f)

So Edwards goes on in this Miscellany and says,
<blockquote>
This love of complacence is a placing of his happiness . . . in a particular object. This sort of love, which is always in proportion to a love of benevolence, is also inconsistent with a willingness to be utterly miserable for God's sake; for if a man is utterly miserable, he is utterly excluded [from] the enjoyment of God. . . The more a man loves God, the more unwilling will he be to be deprived of this happiness. (Miscellanies, #530, Townsend, 204f; see Fiering, 160)
</blockquote>
So there is no such thing in the thought of Edwards as the ultimate abandonment of the quest for happiness. Self-love is rejected only when it is conceived of in a narrow sense that excludes God as the object of all-satisfying joy. In the words of Norman Fiering,
<blockquote>
The type of self-love that is overcome in finding union with God is specifically selfishness, not the self-love that seeks the consummation of happiness. (Jonathan Edwards's Moral Thought in its British Context, 162)
</blockquote>
Why then do some people put their happiness in God and others don't? Edwards' answer was the miracle of regeneration. And with this answer Edwards safeguarded the supernatural uniqueness of true virtue by making God the indispensable first ground of it. You recall that the battle he was fighting was against the secularizing tendencies that he saw in the ethical theories of his day that resolved all virtue into powers that man has by nature. Edwards saw this as a naive estimation of man's corruption and as an assault on the centrality of God in the moral life of the soul.

How then do people come to have God as their true happiness? (Which the same as asking, How is a Christian Hedonist created?)

Edwards observed that a love to God that arises solely from self-love
<blockquote>
cannot be a truly gracious and spiritual love . . . for self-love is a principle entirely natural, and as much in the hearts of devils as angels; and therefore surely nothing that is the mere result of it can be supernatural and divine. (Religious Affections, 242)
</blockquote>
So he goes on to say that those who say that all love to God arises solely from self-love
<blockquote>
ought to consider a little further, and inquire how the man came to place his happiness in God's being glorified, and in contemplating and enjoying God's perfections. . . How came these things to be so agreeable to him, that he esteems it his highest happiness to glorify God? . . . If after a man loves God, and has his heart so united to him, as to look upon God as his chief good . . . it will be a consequence and fruit of this, that even self-love, or love to his own happiness, will cause him to desire the glorifying and enjoying of God; it will not thence follow, that this very exercise of self-love, went before his love to God, and that his love to God was a consequence and fruit of that. Something else, entirely distinct from self-love might be the cause of this, viz. a change made in the views of his mind, and relish of his heart whereby he apprehends a beauty, glory, and supreme good, in God's nature, as it is in itself. (Religious Affections, 241)
</blockquote>
So Edwards says that self-love alone can't account for the existence of spiritual love to God because prior to the soul's going after happiness in God the soul has to perceive the excellency of God and be given a relish for it. This is what happens in regeneration.
<blockquote>
Divine love . . . may be thus described. 'Tis the soul's relish of the supreme excellency of the Divine nature, inclining the heart to God as the chief good. The first thing in Divine love, and that from which everything that appertains to it arises, is a relish of the excellency of the Divine nature; which the soul of man by nature has nothing of. . .
</blockquote>
When once the soul is brought to relish the excellency of the Divine nature, then it will naturally, and of course, incline to God every way. It will incline to be with Him and to enjoy Him. It will have benevolence to God. It will be glad that He is happy. It will incline that He should be glorified, and that His will should be done in all things. So that the first effect of the power of God in the heart in REGENERATION, is to give the heart a Divine taste or sense; to cause it to have a relish of the loveliness and sweetness of the supreme excellency of the Divine nature; and indeed this is all the immediate effect of the Divine power that there is; this is all the Spirit of God needs to do, in order to a production of all good effects in the soul. (Treatise on Grace, 48f)

Very simply a capacity to taste a thing must precede our desire for its sweetness. That is, regeneration must precede self-love's pursuit of happiness in God. Thus Edwards speaks of the natural power of self-love being regulated:
<blockquote>
The change that takes place in a man, when he is converted and sanctified, is not that his love for happiness is diminished, but only that it is regulated with respect to its exercises and influence, and the courses and objects it leads to. . . When God brings a soul out of a miserable state and condition into a happy state, by conversion, he gives him happiness that before he had not [namely, in God], but he does not at the same time take away any of his love of happiness. (Charity, 161f)
</blockquote>
So the problem with our love for happiness is never that its intensity is too great. The main problem is that it flows in the wrong channels toward the wrong objects (Charity, 164), because our nature is corrupt and in desperate need of renovation by the Holy Spirit (Miscellanies, #397, Townsend, 249).

But once that renovation happens through the supernatural work of regeneration, the pursuit of the enjoyment of the glory of God becomes more and more clearly the all-satisfying duty of the Christian. And indifference to this pursuit, as though it were a bad thing, appears like an increasingly great evil.

The heart is more and more gripped with the essence of Christian Hedonism, namely that God created the world for his own glory and that this glory echoes most clearly in the enjoyments of the saints. And that therefore all true virtue has it an enjoyment of the presence and promotion of the glory of God.

Listen to Edwards now on the very heart and fountain of Christian Hedonism:
<blockquote>
God is glorified within Himself these two ways: 1. By appearing . . . to Himself in His own perfect idea [of Himself], or in His Son who is the brightness of His glory. 2. By enjoying and delighting in Himself, by flowing forth in infinite love and delight towards Himself, or in his Holy Spirit.
</blockquote>
So God glorifies Himself toward the creatures also in two ways: 1. By appearing to . . . their understanding. 2. In communicating Himself to their hearts, and in their rejoicing and delighting in, and enjoying, the manifestations which He makes of Himself. . . God is glorified not only by His glory's being seen, but by its being rejoiced in. When those that see it delight in it, God is more glorified than if they only see it. His glory is then received by the whole soul, both by the understanding and by the heart. God made the world that He might communicate, and the creature receive, His glory; and that it might [be] received both by the mind and heart. He that testifies his idea of God's glory [doesn't] glorify God so much as he that testifies also his approbation of it and his delight in it. (Miscellanies, #448, Townsend, 133; see also #87, p 128 and #332, p 130 and #679, p 138)

In other words, the chief end of man is to glorify God BY ENJOYING HIM for ever, and this is the essence of Christian Hedonism. The gospel of Christian Hedonism is that there is no final conflict between God's passion to be glorified and man's passion to be satisfied.

As Edwards put it,
<blockquote>
Because [God] infinitely values his own glory, consisting in the knowledge of himself, love to himself, and complacence and joy in himself; he therefore valued the image, communication or participation of these, in the creature. And it is because he values himself, that he delights in the knowledge, and love, and joy of the creature; as being himself the object of this knowledge, love and complacence. . . [Thus] God's respect to the creature's good, and his respect to himself, is not a divided respect; but both are united in one, as the happiness of the creature aimed at, is happiness in union with himself. (Dissertation concerning the End for which God Created the World, Banner of Truth,I, 120)
</blockquote>
It follows from all this that it is impossible that anyone can pursue happiness with too much passion and zeal and intensity (Charity, 161). This is not sin. Sin is pursuing it where it cannot be lastingly found, or pursuing it in the right direction with lukewarm, half-hearted affections.

Virtue on the other hand is to do what we do with all our might (Resolution #6, Banner of Truth, p.xx) in pursuit of the enjoyment of the presence and promotion of the glory of God. And therefore the cultivation of spiritual appetite is a great duty for all the saints. Edwards says, "Men . . . ought to indulge those appetites. To obtain as much of those spiritual satisfactions as lies in their power" (Unpublished sermon on '''Canticles 5:1''', with the doctrine stated: "That persons need not and ought not to set any bounds to their spiritual and gracious appetites.")

Was Jonathan Edwards a Christian Hedonist?

Mollymullery — Fri, 04 May 2012 16:38:16 GMT

Mollymullery: Created page with '{{info}} I begin with a definition of Christian Hedonism and an explanation of why it matters (at least to me) what Jonathan Edwards thought about it. '''What is Christian He...'

Watch Out for the Wolves Within

Mollymullery — Fri, 04 May 2012 16:15:45 GMT

Mollymullery: Protected "Watch Out for the Wolves Within" ([edit=sysop] (indefinite) [move=sysop] (indefinite))

{{info}}

Acts 20:28–31
<blockquote>
Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God which he obtained with the blood of his own Son. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears. One way to summarize the first part of Paul's message to the Ephesian elders is this: he is emphasizing that he has done all he can do for their salvation. He has lived a life of lowliness and labor and tears and trials and utter dedication. And he has taught them the whole counsel of God. He didn't shrink back from any demand or any danger or any doctrine. He has done all he can do to deliver them from the destruction of unbelief and disobedience and lead them to everlasting life and joy.
</blockquote>
'''Perseverance and the Role of Elders'''

But Paul knows well that in order to be saved in the end—in order to inherit the kingdom and enter life—a believer has to persevere. For example, in 1 Corinthians 15:1–2 Paul said, "I preached to you the gospel, which you received, in which you stand, by which you are saved, if you hold it fast—unless you believed in vain." Paul knew that there was such a thing as believing in vain—false starts in the Christian life.

That means very practically that once you've poured part of your life into a ministry—into a group of people—you can't ever walk away and glibly say, "Well, I've taught them all they need to know. They accepted it. So they are now safe and secure. Onto a new work."

The reason you can't say that is because God has ordained that his people persevere to the end through the faithful ministry of teaching, prayer, and care. And so when Paul is done with his three-year investment in the church of Ephesus—teaching, praying, caring day and night with tears—he does NOT say, "So long, hope you make it." He makes sure that there are elders who will stay behind and who will pick up where he left off and teach and pray and care the way he did. Because if they don't, the church will not survive. And many would-be saints will perish. (See Revelation 2:5–7.)

So in this next section of his message to the elders of Ephesus (verses 28–31) Paul tells them how utterly crucial their role is in the survival and health of the church when he is gone. He gives them a general command. Then he applies the command to themselves and to the flock. Then he gives them four incentives to throw themselves into this work with the same dedication he did.

As far as I can tell, virtually nothing has changed between the day this was written and today that would change the teaching at all for our own elders. So let's listen very carefully to what this means for Bethlehem.

'''The General Command for Vigilance'''

First, let's notice the general command.

Verse 28 starts, "Take heed . . . " Or: "Be on guard . . . " Then verse 31 (at the end of this paragraph) starts, "Therefore, be alert . . . " Or: "Be on your guard . . . " So the paragraph begins and ends with a call to vigilance. Elders must be alert, awake, open-eyed, watchful.

This is Paul's way of saying that the church is always a threatened church. Satan never takes vacations. Sin lurks at the door waiting for the moment of doctrinal or moral carelessness. The command for the elders, therefore, is: Stay awake. Be alert. Watch.

But watch what? Paul applies our vigilance in two ways: Elders must watch themselves; and the elders must watch the church.

Verse 28 starts, "Take heed to yourselves." Now that could mean two things. It could mean, "Elders, take head of each other's needs and weaknesses and faults." Or it could mean, "Elders, each of you take heed to his own heart and doctrine and behavior." Probably it means both.

It's not surprising that Paul says this first, is it? He spent half his message talking about his own life and work. The point was: it matters what kind of person the elder is, not just what he believes. So the first command to the elders is to watch over themselves. Robert Murray McCheyne said, "What my people need most from me is my personal holiness." I think Paul agrees. That's why it comes first: "Elders, take heed to yourselves. Your first duty to the church is to be a certain kind of person."

'''Application to the Elders' Oversight of the Flock'''

Then Paul applies the command for vigilance to the elders' oversight of the flock. Verse 28 goes on, "Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock." Notice three things here that are very important for our life as a church.

#First, the church is like a flock of sheep in need of shepherds.
#Second, the elders are the shepherds.
#Third, it is the duty of shepherds to care for the sheep.

All of this is set out in verse 28: "Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock [so the church is like a flock], in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers [so the elders are the overseers or shepherds of the flock], to care for the church of God [so it is the duty of the overseers or shepherds to care for, or tend, the sheep—to see that they have food, like Jesus said: "Feed my sheep," and to see that they are protected from wolves, as we will see in a moment]."

If we had the time we could show from other passages (e.g., 1 Peter 5:1–3; Titus 1:5, 7; and 1 Timothy 3:1; 5:17; Philippians 1:1; Acts 15:22; etc.) that this was not just the way things were organized at Ephesus but in virtually all the New Testament churches.

'''Pastors/Elders in the New Testament'''

If you ask, Where does the title "pastor" fit into this, the answer is that the word "pastor" is based on a Latin word that simply means shepherd. Pastors are the shepherds being spoken of here. The New Testament does not distinguish between elders and pastors and overseers—they are all the same. The term "Elder" highlights their maturity and respect in the church. The term "Shepherd" or "Pastor" highlights the responsibility to the church as a flock. And the term "Overseer" makes that same role even clearer without using the image of sheep and shepherd. In summary then, "elder," "pastor," "shepherd," and "overseer" (sometimes translated "bishop," 1 Timothy 3:1) all refer to the same person in the New Testament church. They aren't separate people or separate rolls.

And in the New Testament, churches always had more than one elder or pastor or overseer. A one-pastor church is unknown in the New Testament. This is true whether the churches are small and new or older and large. In Acts 14:23, as Paul and Barnabas returned from their first missionary journey, it says, "And when they had appointed elders [plural] for them in every church, with prayer and fasting, they committed them to the Lord in whom they believed."

'''The Duty of Caring for All the Flock'''

I point this out because the duty of elders is to "take heed to all the flock." Notice: ALL the flock. Not just the healthy sheep, but also the sick. Not just the strong, but also the weak. Not just the responsive, but also the unresponsive. Not just the faithful, but also the wayward.

If you want to feel how overwhelming that is, listen to Richard Baxter, in his book on this text entitled ''The Reformed Pastor'' (1656):
<blockquote>
It is you see, all the flock, or every individual member of our charge. To this end it is necessary, that we should know every person that belongs to our charge; for how can we take heed to them, if we do not know them? . . . Doth not a careful shepherd look after every individual sheep? a good schoolmaster after every individual [student]? a good physician after every particular patient? . . . Paul taught his hearers not only "publicly but from house to house": and in another place he tells us, that he "warned every one, and taught every one, in all wisdom, that he might present every one perfect in Christ Jesus." Many other passages of Scripture make it evident that it is our duty to take heed to every individual of our flock. (pp. 90f.)
</blockquote>
What would he say of Bethlehem? And of my ministry? You can see perhaps why a text like this, along with the struggle to think through the future staffing configuration of the church, has caused a great deal of heart searching for Noël and me.

'''The Number of Elders Proportionate to the Flock'''

Of course, one answer in a church this size is to have enough elders (that is, overseers or pastors) so that every single church member is known by name and is fed and helped and disciplined according to his or her own particular need.

Baxter says, rightly I think,
<blockquote>
O happy Church of Christ, were the laborers . . . proportioned in number to the number of the souls; so that the pastors were so many, or the particular churches so small, that we might be able to "take heed to all the flock." (p. 90)
</blockquote>
So we have seen so far that Paul gives the elders a general command to be alert and awake and on guard—to be vigilant in their spiritual life and ministry. Then he applies that general command specifically to the elders themselves—they should take heed to themselves, their doctrine and their life—and then to the flock of God—ALL the flock.

'''Four Incentives for Shepherding the Flock'''

Now what Paul does is to give four incentives, or motivations or encouragements to the elders to do their work with great diligence and seriousness. It is not merely a job. It is not a profession among other professions like lawyer, doctor, engineer, etc. There is laid upon the elders of the church of Christ a responsibility unique in all the world. And Paul really stresses how high the stakes are in this work.

'''1. The Flock Purchased by the Blood of God's Son'''

The first incentive for the elders is that the flock they are to serve cost God the blood of his Son. Notice the end of verse 28: "to care for the church of God which he obtained with the blood of his own Son."

It's clear that Paul wants the elders to be shocked by this. The argument is plain: if God almighty—sinless and free and high above all things—was willing to shed the blood of his Son for a sinful, messed up, unworthy church, then the shepherds must be willing to pour out blood, sweat, and tears in season and out of season for the flock of God.

Suppose I am a single dad with four sons. And you and your spouse and my family are deep-sea fishing off the Florida coast. My youngest son gets too close to the edge, and when a wave tilts the boat, he loses his balance and falls into the water and disappears beneath the surface. In a split second I dive in after him. After about ten seconds of breathless suspense I burst out of the water and I've got him. I hand him up over the side and just as I am getting into the boat a shark cuts out of nowhere and hits me from behind and takes away half my side. You pull me into the boat and just before I bleed to death I look up into your face and say, "Take care of the boy for me."

That's a pretty strong incentive. Jesus "loved the church and gave himself for her" (Ephesians 5:25). An elder who is not willing to pour out blood, sweat, and tears for the faith and holiness of the church of Christ does not know the worth of the blood of the Son of God.

'''2. Shepherds Chosen by God for This Work'''

The second incentive Paul gives to the elders is that they have been chosen for this work by God not themselves. Verse 28 says, "Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers." The Holy Spirit chooses who should be the elders in the church.

It's hard to imagine incentives that are more gigantic, more powerful, and more awesome in scope than these two. The sheep are gathered by the blood of God's Son. And the shepherds are given by the call of God's Spirit. How can they not pour themselves out with every ounce of energy and life that they have for the faith and holiness of the church!

'''3. Great Danger Always Awaits the Church'''

The third incentive Paul gives to the elders is that great danger always awaits the church. Verse 29–30, "I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them."

The incentive for vigilance here is the danger that inside the church men will aspire to the eldership who are wolves in sheep's clothing (Matthew 7:15). They will slowly begin to speak twisted and distorted things about Scripture. And unless the elders are spiritually alert and thoroughly biblical in their vigilance, the wolves may decimate the flock.

Let me just mention one feature to watch out for in the recognition of wolves. As I have watched the movement from biblical faithfulness to liberalism in persons and institutions that I have known over the years, this feature stands out: An emotional disenchantment with faithfulness to what is old and fixed, and an emotional preoccupation with what is new or fashionable or relevant in the eyes of the world.

Let's try to say it another way: when this feature is prevalent, you don't get the impression that a person really longs to bring his mind and heart into conformity to fixed biblical truth. Instead you see the desire to picture biblical truth as unfixed, fluid, indefinable, distant, inaccessible, and so open to the trends of the day.

So what marks a possible wolf-in-the-making is not simply that he rejects or accepts any particular biblical truth, but that he isn't deeply oriented on the Bible. He is more oriented on experience. He isn't captured by the great old faith once for all delivered to the saints. Instead he's enamored by what is new and innovative.

A good elder can be creative. But the indispensable mark when it comes to doctrinal fitness is faithfulness to what is fixed in Scripture—disciplined, humble submission to the particular affirmations of the Bible—carefully and reverently studied and explained and cherished. When that spirit begins to go, there's a wolf-in-the-making.

So the third incentive for elders is the ever-present danger of wolves in sheep's clothing who twist the truth and lead the people away to destruction.

'''4. Paul's Personal Example'''

The last incentive for elders to be vigilant is Paul's personal example. Verse 31: "Therefore, be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears."

If the great apostle worked night and day; if he worked with everyone; if he worked with tears; then how much more should little peons like me and the other elders of Bethlehem pour out our lives day and night with tears for this church!

Watch Out for the Wolves Within

Mollymullery — Fri, 04 May 2012 16:15:33 GMT

Mollymullery: Created page with '{{info}} Acts 20:28–31 <blockquote> Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God which he obt...'

What God Has Cleansed Do Not Call Common

Mollymullery — Fri, 04 May 2012 16:06:14 GMT

Mollymullery: Protected "What God Has Cleansed Do Not Call Common" ([edit=sysop] (indefinite) [move=sysop] (indefinite))

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Acts 10:1–11:18

This story about Cornelius and Peter has a lot to say about the winds of racism that are blowing on the University campus these days. They have a lot to say about our natural tendency to think of other ethnic groups besides our own as unclean and common and corrupt. They have a lot to say about world missions and our commitment as evangelical Christians to take the gospel of Christ to every ethnic group in the world so that people may be saved from the coming wrath of God. So I hope you will listen carefully and help me unpack the powerful truth of this story for our lives.

'''The Story About Cornelius and Peter'''

Let me try to sum up the whole story for us. Cornelius is a Gentile, not a Jew. But he feared God as best he knew him and he prayed and he gave alms and walked in an upright way (10:2, 22). God sent an angel to him and told him to send for Peter to hear what he has to say.

'''Peter's Vision'''

At about the same time God gave Peter a vision of animals that the Jews regarded as unclean because of the ceremonial law of the Old Testament. The voice from heaven said, "Rise and eat." But Peter protested that they were unclean. And the voice came back with these decisive words in verse 15: "What God has cleansed you must not call common!"

In other words, with the coming of Jesus into the world and with the final cleansing sacrifice of Christ now offered and with the command to take the gospel to all ethnic groups in the world now given, the old ceremonial laws about foods are lifted and that barrier to the Gentile world is removed.

And so Peter's vision has two points: the food laws are fulfilled and ended in Jesus (Mark 7:19), and the people they kept you separate from (the nations, the Gentiles) are not to be considered unclean or common.

'''Cornelius Sends for Peter'''

God makes this clear to Peter right away, because while he is still pondering the meaning of the vision on the roof in Joppa, three Gentiles from Cornelius knock at his door. The fact that verse 16 says the vision about unclean animals happened three times and verse 19 says that three men (Gentile men, ordinarily thought unclean) are at the door is no accident. Peter is supposed to get the message: people that you have formerly regarded as common and unclean and separated from your fellowship are not to be viewed that way. Go with these men.

So Peter goes with them to Caesarea. There he finds Cornelius ready with his whole household to hear the gospel. Peter preaches, they repent (11:18), and the Holy Spirit falls on them (11:14) and they are saved (11:14). After Missions Week I will give a whole message to what Peter preached and why it was that the Holy Spirit fell the way he did.

'''Was Cornelius Already Saved?'''

But today I want to ask two questions that are really pressing in this story. One is this: Was Cornelius already saved before Peter preached Christ to him? The reason this is so pressing is that verses 34–35 have led many to say that he was. This would have a big impact on the way we think about world missions.

Peter begins his sermon to the Gentiles at Cornelius' house like this: "Truly I perceive that God shows no partiality, but in every nation any one who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him." You can see how readers would easily conclude: Well, then, Cornelius was already accepted by God since verse 2 said that he feared God and prayed and gave alms. So Peter's visit just informed him of the acceptance and salvation that he already had. And so the conclusion is further drawn out: many people in all the unreached peoples of the world are truly born again and accepted by God and saved without hearing or believing in Christ.

So my first question is: Does verse 35 mean that Cornelius and people like him are already justified and reconciled to God and saved from the wrath of God? My second question assumes the answer to this first one and brings us to the very pointed applications of this story to racism and world missions. I save it and ask it after answering the first question.

Does verse 35 mean that Cornelius and those like him are already in God's family, justified, reconciled, saved? Is that Peter's point in saying this and Luke's point in writing it?

'''Four Reasons for Answering No'''

Let me give you four reasons from the text for answering NO.

'''1. Peter's Description in Acts 11:14'''

Acts 11:14 says that the message Peter brought was the way Cornelius was saved. Look at 11:13–14 where Peter tells the story of the angel's appearing to Cornelius: "He told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, Send to Joppa and bring Simon called Peter; he will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household."

Notice two things. First, notice that the message is essential. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. Then notice that the tense of the verb is future: " . . . a message by which you will be saved . . . " In other words, the message was not simply the informing of Cornelius that he already was saved—which is what some people say world evangelization is for. If he sends for Peter and hears the message and believes on the Christ of that message, then he WILL be saved. And if he does not, he won't be.

This surely is why the whole story is built around God's miraculously getting Cornelius and Peter together. There was a message that Cornelius needed to hear to be saved (vv. 22, 33).

So Acts 10:35 probably does not mean that Cornelius is already saved when it says that people in unreached ethnic groups who fear God and do right are acceptable to God. Cornelius had to hear the gospel message to be saved.

'''2. Peter's Declaration in Acts 10:43'''

Peter makes this point at the end of his sermon in 10:43. He brings the message to a close with these words: "To him [i.e., to Christ] all the prophets bear witness that every one who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name."

Forgiveness of sins is salvation. No one is saved whose sins against God are not forgiven by God. And Peter says that forgiveness comes through believing in Christ, and it comes through the name of Christ.

He does not say, "I am here to announce to you that those of you who fear God and do right are already forgiven." He says, "I am here so that you may hear the gospel and receive forgiveness in the name of Christ by believing in him." So again it is very unlikely that verse 35 means that Cornelius and his household were already forgiven for their sins before they heard the message of Christ.

'''3. What Devout Jews Need Elsewhere in Acts'''

Elsewhere in the book of Acts even those who are the most God-fearing and ethical, namely, the Jews, are told that they must repent and believe in order to be saved. The Jews at Pentecost were called "devout men" (2:5) like Cornelius was called a devout man (in 10:2). But Peter ended his message in Acts 2 by calling even devout Jews to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins (2:38). Same thing in 3:19 and 13:38–39.

So Luke is not trying to tell us in this book that devout, God-fearing people who practice what's right as best they know how are already saved and without any need of the gospel. The gospel got its start among the most devout people in the world, namely, the Jews. They had more advantages in knowing God than any of the other peoples of the earth. Yet they were told again and again: devoutness and works of righteousness and religious sincerity does not solve the problem of sin. The only hope is to believe on Jesus. It was true then, it is true today!

'''4. The Apostles' Reaction in Acts 11:18'''

The fourth reason for saying that verse 35 does not mean Cornelius and others like him are already saved is found in Acts 11:18. When the apostles hear Peter tell the story about Cornelius, their initial misgivings are silenced, Luke says, "And they glorified God, saying, Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance unto life."

"Repentance unto life" means that their repentance led to eternal life. They did not already have eternal life. They received it when they heard the message about Christ and turned to believe and follow him.

So I conclude that Acts 10:35 does not mean that Cornelius was already saved because he was in some sense God-fearing and did many right and noble things. That's the answer to my first question.

'''What Is This "Acceptability" Before God?'''

The second is simply: What then does it mean when Peter says, "In every nation any one who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to him"? And what does this have to do with our racist tendencies and our ethnocentrism and our commitment to world evangelization?

'''All People Are Acceptable Candidates for Salvation?'''

My first thought was that what Peter means in verse 35 is what God meant in the vision about the unclean animals, namely, the lesson of verse 15: "What God has cleansed, you must not call common." But something stopped me and made me think again.

Look at verse 28. Peter is explaining to the Gentiles why he was willing to come and says, "You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit any one of another nation; but God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean."

What this means is that Christians should never look down on a person from any race or ethnic group and say: they are unfit to hear the gospel from me. Or they are too unclean for me to go into their house to share the gospel. Or they are not worth evangelizing. Or they have too many offensive habits to even get near them.

But the phrase that makes verse 28 so powerful is the phrase "any man" or "any one": "God has shown me that I should not call any human being common or unclean." In other words, Peter learned from his vision on the housetop in Joppa that God rules no one out of his favor on the basis of race or ethnic origin or mere cultural distinctives or physical distinctives. "Common and unclean" meant rejected, despised, taboo. It was like leprosy.

And Peter's point here in verse 28 is that there is not one human being on the face of the earth that we should think about in that way. Not one. That's the amazing thing in this verse. Not one. Our hearts should go out to every single person whatever the color, whatever the ethnic origin, whatever the physical traits, whatever the cultural distinctives. Don't write off anybody. Don't snub anybody. Don't check them out like the priest and the Levite in the parable of the Good Samaritan and then pass by on the other side. "God has shown me that I should not call any one—not one—common or unclean."

'''Not Simply a Matter of Clean and Unclean'''

Now that is not what Peter says in verse 35. This is what kept me from assuming that verse 35 simply meant: all people are acceptable as candidates for salvation, no matter their ethnic background. In verse 35 Peter says, "In every nation [note those words!] any one who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to God." Here he is not talking about every person like he was in verse 28. Here he is talking about some IN every nation. IN every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to God.

So the acceptability Peter has in mind here is something more, it seems, than merely not being common or unclean. That's everybody. Peter said, "Call NO ONE common or unclean." Here he says that only some in every nation fear God and do right. And these are acceptable to God.

So now we know two things verse 35 does NOT mean. (1) It does not mean that these God-fearing doers of good are saved. We saw four reasons why it can't mean that. And (2) it does not mean merely that they are acceptable candidates for evangelism (not common or unclean, not taboo), because verse 28 already said that's true of everybody, not just some. But verse 35 says that only some are God-fearing, doing what is right, and thus acceptable.

'''Somewhere in Between'''

So the meaning probably lies somewhere between these two: between being saved and being a touchable, lovable human candidate for evangelism.

Here's my suggestion. Cornelius represents a kind of unsaved person among an unreached people group who is seeking God in an extraordinary way. And Peter is saying that God accepts this search as genuine (hence "acceptable" in verse 35) and works wonders to bring that person the gospel.

I get this especially from verse 31 where Cornelius says that the angel said to him, "Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God. Send therefore to Joppa and ask for Simon who is called Peter." Notice: Your prayers have been heard . . . therefore send for Peter. This implies that the prayers were for God to send him what he needed in order to be saved.

So the fear of God that is acceptable to God in verse 35 is a true sense that there is a holy God, that we have to meet him some day as desperate sinners, that we cannot save ourselves and need to know God's way of salvation, and that we pray for it day and night and seek to act on the light we have. This is what Cornelius was doing. And God accepted his prayer and his groping for truth in his life (Acts 17:27), and worked wonders to bring the saving message of the gospel to him.

'''Two Lessons'''

So there are really two lessons in this text for today. One is that no human being is common or unclean. None is to be spurned, shunned, rejected, despised because of his ethnic origin or race or culture or physical traits. Christians should have no part in the kind of renewed racism that is cropping up around our land, for example, in the white supremacist groups on the university campus.

The second lesson from the text is that in every nation—that is, every ethnic people group around the world (v. 35)—there are people being prepared by God to seek him with acceptable prayer. This means two things for us as we approach our annual Missions Fest.

One is that many of us should go. Cornelius would not have been saved if no one had taken him the gospel. And no one will be saved today without the gospel.

The other is that we should be full of hope and expectancy that this is the sort of wonder God is willing to work in making connections between the groping of unreached peoples and those willing to take the gospel to them.

So let us wash our minds and our mouths of all racial slurs and ethnic put-downs and be done with all alienating behaviors. And let's be the good Samaritan for some ethnic outcast, and let's be the Christ for some untouchable leper, and let's be the Peter for some waiting Cornelius.

What God Has Cleansed Do Not Call Common

Mollymullery — Fri, 04 May 2012 16:04:43 GMT

Mollymullery: Created page with '{{info}} Acts 10:1–11:18 This story about Cornelius and Peter has a lot to say about the winds of racism that are blowing on the University campus these days. They have a l...'

What Unites Us in Worship at Bethlehem?

Mollymullery — Fri, 04 May 2012 15:13:34 GMT

Mollymullery: Protected "What Unites Us in Worship at Bethlehem?" ([edit=sysop] (indefinite) [move=sysop] (indefinite))

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<blockquote>
''As a supplement to the two messages I am preaching on worship (September 28 and October 4 and 5), here is a list of "marks" that define us in worship at Bethlehem. I wrote these ten years ago and have only changed them slightly. The reason they are the same, even though we have changed in many ways, is that they deal with deeper issues than style and form. I pray that we will always define ourselves with deeper issues than style and form. "The hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him" ''(John 4:23). - Pastor John
</blockquote>
'''1. God-Centeredness.''' We put a high priority on the vertical focus of our Sunday morning service. The ultimate aim is to experience God in such a way that he is glorified in our affections.

'''2. Expecting the powerful presence of God.''' We do not just direct ourselves toward him. We earnestly seek his drawing near according to the promise of James 4:8. We believe that in worship God draws near to us in power, and makes himself known and felt for our good and for the salvation of unbelievers in the midst.

'''3. Bible-based and Bible-saturated.''' The content of our singing and praying and welcoming and preaching and poetry should always conform to the truth of Scripture. But more than that, the content of God's Word should be woven through all we do in worship and will be the ground of all our appeal to authority.

'''4. Head and heart.''' The elements of our worship service should aim at kindling and carrying deep, strong, real emotions toward God, especially joy, but should not manipulate people's emotions by failing to appeal to clear thinking about spiritual things based on shareable evidences outside ourselves.

'''5. Earnestness and intensity.''' We will try to avoid being trite, flippant, superficial, or frivolous, but instead will aim to set an example of reverence and passion and wonder and broken-hearted joy.

'''6. Authentic communication.''' We utterly renounce all sham, deceit, hypocrisy, pretense, affectation, and posturing. We do not pursue the atmosphere of artistic or oratorical performance, but the atmosphere of a radically personal encounter with God and truth.

'''7. The manifestation of God and the common good.''' We expect and hope and pray (according to 1 Cor. 12:7) that our focus on the manifesting of God is good for people and that a spirit of love for each other is not incompatible with, but necessary to, authentic worship.

'''8. Undistracting excellence.''' We will try to sing and play and pray and preach in such a way that people's attention will not be diverted from the substance by shoddy ministry nor by excessive finesse, elegance, or refinement. Natural, undistracting excellence will let the truth and beauty of God shine through. We will invest in equipment good enough to be undistracting in transmitting heartfelt truth.

'''9. The mingling of historic and contemporary music.''' No church or service can be all things to all people. But we do not value stylistic narrowness. We believe there are affections owing to God that different tunes and different texts and different genres may awaken better than others. We will strive to be who we are without exalting our own tastes as the standard of excellence or power. We will see God's guidance in each worship setting to be both indigenous and stretching.

What Unites Us in Worship at Bethlehem?

Mollymullery — Fri, 04 May 2012 15:13:26 GMT

Mollymullery: Created page with '{{info}} <blockquote> ''As a supplement to the two messages I am preaching on worship (September 28 and October 4 and 5), here is a list of "marks" that define us in worship at ...'

What Wonderful and Wild Thing Might God Be Up To?

Mollymullery — Fri, 04 May 2012 15:04:18 GMT

Mollymullery: Protected "What Wonderful and Wild Thing Might God Be Up To?" ([edit=sysop] (indefinite) [move=sysop] (indefinite))

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We were just told, to our utter surprise, that the entire '55 building will not be habitable during construction of the new building this next school year. That's the building where the offices are and where almost all the Sunday School happens – plus a hundred other things. This message came from the contractor on the basis of how torn up the building will be. For example, the roof comes off in order to build the new fourth floor, and much of the Fellowship Hall gets ripped up as they move the bathrooms to different locations.

This means that there will be no children's Sunday School onsite on Sunday mornings next year, until we are in the new building on (Lord willing) Labor Day, 2003. It also means that all the other events that usually happen in the '55 building will have to cease or move out of that building – including children's programs for Wednesday nights. In other words, it will be a radically different year.

We are devoting a lot of time and energy these days dreaming about what we should focus our energies on next year. Our attitude as a staff is one of hope-filled expectancy, because when God evicted his people from Jerusalem it was because he wanted the gospel to spread in new ways (Acts 8:1, 4; 11:19). We are an inveterately optimistic staff (because of Romans 8:28).

Yes, we must find office space offsite for about 30 people. That is a given. No, it was not budgeted for this year. But God will provide the space and the funds. And with them, great blessing in ways we cannot now see. We will keep you posted on what we find. Little has been decided at this time with regard to children's ministries. Pray for us and share your ideas.

My own confidence is that God is up to something good. Whatever else we plan for next year, it seems very likely to me that a tremendous new emphasis will fall on small groups and home meetings and parent-based children's ministry in homes. For many of us, this looks very healthy. Not that we think programs are wrongheaded. Rather we believe that there is so much more that can be done and should be done in homes and in small groups.

Everyone knows that in a large church to build and maintain friendships requires effort. A healthy network of relationships does not happen without some intention. Is God pressing us to work harder at this? For example, if you do not have Sunday School on Sunday morning, what will you do with the extra time? God forbid that you will go home and watch TV! What about families doing something creative together that would be as good as Sunday School? What about couples and singles (and couples with singles!) doing brunch together in a "sermon-discussion-setting" and praying for each other. What about bringing an unbeliever to worship service and then going out to lunch? What about calling your own family together before worship and having a time of prayer for the service before you come?

We are not sure what the ministry will look like during the week. So I ask again, please pray for us. Let's live out our theology of confidence in the goodness and sovereignty of God. That means: "Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world. (Philippians 2:14-15).

Steady with Christ at the wheel,

Pastor John

What Wonderful and Wild Thing Might God Be Up To?

Mollymullery — Fri, 04 May 2012 15:03:58 GMT

Mollymullery: Created page with '{{info}} We were just told, to our utter surprise, that the entire '55 building will not be habitable during construction of the new building this next school year. That's the ...'

What Would Power Look Like?

Mollymullery — Fri, 04 May 2012 14:59:20 GMT

Mollymullery: Protected "What Would Power Look Like?" ([edit=sysop] (indefinite) [move=sysop] (indefinite))

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I take it as beyond dispute that all Christians should live and minister in the power of God.

*“Stay in the city until you are clothed with ''power'' from on high” (Luke 24:49).
*“You shall receive ''power'' when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” (Acts 1:8).
*“The kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in ''power''” (1 Corinthians 4:20).
*“I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the ''power'' of Christ my rest upon me” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
*“Consider what is the exceeding greatness of his ''power'' at work in us who believe” (Ephesians 1:19).
*“Now to him who by the ''power'' at work within us is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think…” (Ephesians 6:10).
*"Be strong in the Lord and in the ''power'' of his might" (Ephesians 6:10).
*“Some hold the form of religion but deny the ''power'' of it” (2 Timothy 3:5).

What might it look like at Bethlehem if God clothed us with the fullness of power that many of his servants have known? Consider one possibility from the life of John Wesley six months after his new birth:
<blockquote>
Monday, January 1, 1739. Mr. Hall, Kinchin, Ingham, Whitefield, Hutchins, and my brother Charles were present at our love-feast in Fetter-lane, with about sixty of our brethren. About three in the morning as we were continuing instant in prayer, the power of God came mightily upon us, insomuch that many cried out for exceeding joy, and many fell to the ground. As soon as we were recovered a little from that awe and amazement at the presence of His majesty, we broke out with one voice, “We praise thee, O God, we acknowledge thee to be the Lord.”
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This experience was a turning point in Wesley’s ministry. From then on there was a new power and anointing. For example on April 25, 1739, as he was preaching immediately one and another and another sunk to the earth; they dropped on every side, as if thunderstruck. People were gripped with an awesome revelation of God and of the sinfulness of their sin. Critics standing by were suddenly gripped by similar conviction and converted on the spot.

May I ask that you take the Scriptures cited above and spend some time praying through them, asking God to clothe us with power at Bethlehem? Let it not be said of us, “You have not because you ask not.”

Pursuing all the fullness of God,

Pastor John

What Would Power Look Like?

Mollymullery — Fri, 04 May 2012 14:59:07 GMT

Mollymullery: Created page with '{{info}} I take it as beyond dispute that all Christians should live and minister in the power of God. *“Stay in the city until you are clothed with ''power'' from on high...'

What Your Love Means to Me

Mollymullery — Fri, 04 May 2012 14:54:33 GMT

Mollymullery: Protected "What Your Love Means to Me" ([edit=sysop] (indefinite) [move=sysop] (indefinite))

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Abraham came into the bedroom just before he went to bed Sunday evening after all the anniversary festivities and took me around the waist and said, “I’m glad you’ve been a pastor for ten years.” Karsten’s embrace after the evening service was firm and eloquent. Barnabas drew a picture of me shaking hands with him. Ben, I am sure, sank his pick and laid a brick with some extra zeal in Papua New Guinea.

One of the things that make this so precious is that I have met young men and women who are estranged from the church because of the way churches have treated their fathers who were pastors. They tell me horror stories of contention and meanness. I listen and I groan for the body of Christ. And then when I am alone, I get down on my knees, like I did again this morning, and thank my Father for Bethlehem. Nowhere in my life have I been treated with such grace and kindness—perhaps with the exception of the home I grew up in.

Everyone can imagine that this is a great encouragement. But maybe everyone doesn’t realize what it means to me that my sons can watch their father treated with such honor and love and mercy by a church full of people. Do you realize the power for good that this has in their lives? They went to bed thinking—and will go on thinking—people love my father; people value what my father has done with his life; people say they have been changed by my father’s ministry; people say the Word of God has power. Therefore, if my sons ever forsake the church, if they ever turn on their father and squander their goods in the pigpens of the world, it will not be your fault. You have loved them in loving me. And my heart is full of love to you for it.

Not only that. You gave them a golden occasion to hear their grandfather preach. Not to mention the pleasure it was for me. It was like the old days when I would go with him in the summers to hear him preach in evangelistic crusades. He has lost none of the fire. As far as I know he chose his own topic without anyone telling him what to focus on. This was God’s word for us I believe, telling us again what the need of the hour is. He called it the “upon ministry” of the Holy Spirit—the “enduement” with the Spirit, the filling of the Spirit. Beginning September 9 I plan to begin a series of messages from the book of Acts that will inevitably take up this theme of Spirit and Power as the Lord presents it to us in his word. So I believe God’s hand was in the planning of the 10th anniversary celebration in many ways, pointing us forward and strengthening us for the great work.

Very personally and earnestly Noël and I want to thank you all for how powerful and precious the day was last Sunday. A very special thanks to Liane Laurion for so much TLC with so many details right down to the symbolism of the magnificent flower arrangement in the sanctuary. (You and David are precious partners in the joy of this service.) And thanks to Marilyn and Randy and Rick and Marty and the deacons and Leah (for "A Mighty Fortress"!) and all who spoke and wrote letters. Now let’s keep doing this kind of encouraging for each other. If love can cover the multitude of my faults so completely, it can for all the rest of us too.

Affectionately,

Pastor John

What Your Love Means to Me

Mollymullery — Fri, 04 May 2012 14:54:16 GMT

Mollymullery: Created page with '{{info}} Abraham came into the bedroom just before he went to bed Sunday evening after all the anniversary festivities and took me around the waist and said, “I’m glad you...'

What the New Testament Church Prayed For

Mollymullery — Fri, 04 May 2012 14:47:21 GMT

Mollymullery: Protected "What the New Testament Church Prayed For" ([edit=sysop] (indefinite) [move=sysop] (indefinite))

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'''They called on God to vindicate his people in their cause. '''And will not God vindicate his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? (Luke 18:7).

'''They called on God to save unbelievers. '''Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved (Romans 10:1).

'''They called on God to direct the use of the sword. '''Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying through all prayer and supplication on every occasion . . . (Ephesians 6:17-18)

'''They called on God for boldness in proclamation. '''Pray at all times in the Spirit . . . and also for me, that utterance may be given me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel (Ephesians 6:18-19) And now, Lord, look upon their threats, and grant to thy servants to speak thy word with all boldness (Acts 4:29).

'''They called on God for signs and wonders. '''And now Lord . . . grant your servants to speak thy word with boldness . . . while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of thy holy servant Jesus (Acts 4:30). Elijah was a man of like nature with ourselves and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth its fruit (James 5:17-18).

'''They called on God for the healing of wounded comrades. '''Let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord, and the prayer of faith will save the sick man and the Lord will raise him up (James 5:14-15).

'''They called on God for the healing of unbelievers. '''It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery; and Paul visited him and prayed, and putting his hands on him healed him (Acts 28:8).

'''They called on God for the casting out of demons. '''And he said to them, "This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer" (Mark 9:29).

'''They called on God for miraculous deliverances. '''So Peter was kept in prison; but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church . . . When he realized [he had been freed], he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying (Acts 12:5,12). But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake (Acts 16:25-26).

'''They called on God for the raising of the dead. '''But Peter put them all outside and knelt down and prayed; then turning to the body he said, "Tabitha, rise." And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up (Acts 9:40).

'''They called on God to supply his troops with necessities. '''Give us this day our daily bread (Matthew 6:11).

'''They called on God for strategic wisdom. '''If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all men generously and without reproaching, and it will be given him (James 1:5).

'''They called on God to establish leadership in the outposts. '''And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they believed (Acts 14:23).

'''They called on God to send out reinforcements. '''Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest (Matthew 9:38). While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off (Acts 13:2-3).

'''They called on God for the success of other missionaries. '''I appeal to you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints (Romans 15:30-31).

'''They called on God for unity and harmony in the ranks. '''I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me (John 17:20-21).

'''They called on God for the encouragement of togetherness. '''[We are] praying earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith? (1 Thessalonians 3:10).

'''They called on God for a mind of discernment. '''And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ (Philippians 1:9-10).

'''They called on God for a knowledge of his will. '''And so, from the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding (Colossians 1:9).

'''They called on God to know him better. '''[We have not ceased to pray for you to be] increasing in the knowledge of God (Colossians 1:10; cf. Ephesians 1:17).

'''They called on God for power to comprehend the love of Christ. ''' I bow my knees before the Father . . . that you may have power to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge (Ephesians 3:14,18).

'''They called on God for a deeper sense of assured hope. ''' I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers . . . that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints (Ephesians 1:16,18).

'''They called on God for strength and endurance. ''' [We have not ceased to pray for you to be] strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy (Colossians 1:11; cf. Ephesians 3:16).

'''They called on God for deeper sense of his power within them. ''' I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers . . . that you may know . . . what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe (Ephesians 1:16,19).

'''They called on God that their faith not be destroyed. ''' I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren (Luke 22:32). Watch at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of man (Luke 21:36).

'''They called on God for greater faith. ''' Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, "I believe; help my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24; cf. Ephesians 3:17).

'''They called on God that they might not fall into temptation. '''Lead us not into temptation (Matthew 6:13). Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak (Matthew 26:41).

'''They called on God that he would complete their resolves. '''To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his call, and may fulfil every good resolve and work of faith by his power (2 Thessalonians 1:11).

'''They called on God that they would do good works. ''' [We have not ceased to pray for you that you] lead a life worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work (Colossians 1:10).

'''They called on God for forgiveness of their sins. '''Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors (Matthew 6:12).

'''They called on God for protection from the evil one. '''Deliver us from evil (Matthew 6:13)

What the New Testament Church Prayed For

Mollymullery — Fri, 04 May 2012 14:28:07 GMT

Mollymullery: Created page with '{{info}} '''They called on God to vindicate his people in their cause. '''And will not God vindicate his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? ...'

What would you say to a pastor who is considering blogging?

Mollymullery — Fri, 04 May 2012 14:18:39 GMT

Mollymullery: Protected "What would you say to a pastor who is considering blogging?" ([edit=sysop] (indefinite) [move=sysop] (indefinite))

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The following is an edited transcript of the audio.

'''What would you say to a pastor who is considering blogging?'''

1. I would say, "Get on your knees and ask the Lord to clarify your motives." That's the first thing I'd say: "Why are you considering this?" and, "How much of the desire for notoriety is in it?" because we all battle that. There's not a human being on the planet that doesn't love the praise of man, or doesn't like being known, or doesn't like being considered intelligent or wise or helpful.

And I'm not just indicting blogging here. I'm talking about preaching and doing what I'm doing right now. It is all possibly contaminated with a desire for the praise of man. And Jesus said, "How can you believe when you seek the praises of man and don't seek my glory." So pride and the desire for praise is a deadly thing.

So that's the first thing I'd say: search your heart--on your knees, in the word, and in prayer--as to whether or not there is a contamination that will make blogging more hurtful for you and for your people than otherwise. That's the main thing.

2. Probably the next thing I would ask is, "Will it draw you away from something that would be more valuable for you to do? Is your gifting such that you would be better off visiting your people, doing personal evangelism, preparing better sermons, or planning better elder meetings than sitting at your desk and contemplating what to write on a blog?"

3. A third question I'd ask is, "Who is the audience you're trying to touch? And why that audience? Is it your people?"

When I came to Bethlehem I immediately instituted what we call The Star, because there was no internet at all in those days. It's a weekly news mailing, and I write an article for it. You could call it written blogging. And my main reason for writing it is that I have more to say to my people than I can say on Sunday. And I really want to say it! So now with blogging you can say it to your people and anyone else who wants to look in.

What would you say to a pastor who is considering blogging?

Mollymullery — Fri, 04 May 2012 14:18:30 GMT

Mollymullery: Created page with '{{info}} The following is an edited transcript of the audio. '''What would you say to a pastor who is considering blogging?''' 1. I would say, "Get on your knees and ask the...'

What's It Like To Write Narrative Poems?

Mollymullery — Fri, 04 May 2012 14:13:51 GMT

Mollymullery: Protected "What's It Like To Write Narrative Poems?" ([edit=sysop] (indefinite) [move=sysop] (indefinite))

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People ask me about the advent poems. How long does it take? Where do you get the ideas? Is it hard?

The first thing I want to say is that the advent poems are NOT Scripture. They are not inspired in the sense that the Bible is inspired. They have no authority in themselves. Nor are they infallible. For example, one sharp person pointed out last year that I had Naomi's sons Mahlon and Chilion married to the same person in two different poems.

Every line has eight syllables and four accents, one on every other syllable starting with the second. Each line rhymes with its partner in the couplet. Most of the internal rhyme is happily unintentional, and most of the alliteration is (I think) intentional ("He will unbind and bring the captives from their chains").

'''Why, for fifteen years, have I used this particular form?'''

Part of the answer is that I like trying to make one form better and better and discover all it can do. Also a shorter line of six syllables would form a rhyme scheme almost impossible to manage, because rhyming words would come so fast and furious I wouldn't be able to think of enough natural words. A longer line of ten syllables (a very famous form) results (for reasons too hard to explain now) in a complexity of sentence structure that is not as suitable for oral comprehension, and makes the rhymes more difficult to hear. The rhyming couplet is easier for me to manage than say, the rhyming of every other line, and I think is simpler to hear and enjoy. In the end: I like it and I think it makes for good listening— and I write them mainly to be ''heard'', not read.

'''Why do I put such rigorous formal limits on the poem?'''

A river without banks is a flood, not a river. A gymnastic floor routine without a mat with borders is just exercise, and not art. Throwing balls across a plate or kicking a ball through uprights or slapping a puck into a goal is more exhilarating than throwing and kicking and slapping every which-a-way then trying to dignify it by calling it "free." The most passionate book in the Bible is Lamentations, and it is the most rigorously limited in form: three of the five chapters of gut-wrenching agony are poured into the narrow container of four acrostics, each verse beginning with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet. There is something glorious about the freedom and power of truth flowing deep, and somehow naturally, between the banks of rhyme and meter.

'''How do I keep it from sounding monotonous, when the same meter and rhyme are sustained for almost 300 lines?'''

Mainly by not ending sentences at the end of lines.

'''How long do they take?'''

On average 18 hours.

'''Is it hard?'''

Yes.

'''Where do I get the ideas?'''

First from meditating on the Bible. Then I read background material, for example, about Cyrene. Then I try to put myself in the situation and let the imagination create possible scenarios. Then, when I start writing, the demands of the form often take the story in an unexpected turn. For example, the demand of a rhyme may create a scene.

'''Why do I do them?'''

They are a way of seeing God and life in new and powerful ways. They are a way of building faith. They are a way of celebrating the glory of a Christian worldview. They are a way of helping us flourish in suffering. They are a way of spreading a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples. They are a way of saying, "I am a happy pastor and love being here." They are my Merry Christmas to your souls when life is hard.

What's It Like To Write Narrative Poems?

Mollymullery — Fri, 04 May 2012 14:11:39 GMT

Mollymullery: Created page with '{{info}} People ask me about the advent poems. How long does it take? Where do you get the ideas? Is it hard? The first thing I want to say is that the advent poems are NOT S...'

When God Says, "Not Now"

Mollymullery — Fri, 04 May 2012 14:04:24 GMT

Mollymullery: Protected "When God Says, "Not Now"" ([edit=sysop] (indefinite) [move=sysop] (indefinite))

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'''Luke 11:1-13''' </blockquote>
==== God's "Not Now" to Bethlehem ====

Last Sunday I stood here and prayed publicly that the Lord would give us $1.4 million dollars in pledges toward ''Freeing the Future''. That was $300,000 more than we needed to end the $1.1 million debt on this building. It seemed to me that this was where God was leading us. And I still find myself praying toward that number. I claim no divine authority for it. I could be wrong. But until I see a different cloud to follow, that is the direction I will pray.

God's response last Sunday and in this week was to bring in, not $1.4 million in pledges, but about $850,000 in pledges. Which means that our goal of debt elimination in 1996 calls for an additional $250,000 in pledges in the next six months. The Resource Task Force of the Master Planning Team is meeting tomorrow to seek God's leading in how to complete what we have begun. I'm sure they would appreciate your prayer and input (Tim Johnson is the chairman).

==== A Word from the Lord About Prayer ====

My sense of what we need to hear from the Lord today is a word about prayer. I prayed, and many of you prayed, that we would reach our goal last Sunday, and we didn't reach it last Sunday. How are we to understand this? Over 700 cards came in. That is staggering. We've never had 700 cards or pledges on anything before. There are only about 600 giving units in this church. So a lot of children have done exactly what we asked, and pledged. So old and young—we all need a word from God about the (temporary!) shortfall.

The word I think he wants us to hear is Luke 11:1–13. This whole section is about prayer.
<blockquote>1 And it came about that while He was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples." </blockquote><blockquote>
2 And He said to them, "When you pray, say: 'Father, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread. 4 And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.'"
</blockquote><blockquote>
5 And He said to them, "Suppose one of you shall have a friend, and shall go to him at midnight, and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves; 6 for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him,' 7 and from inside he shall answer and say, 'Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you ''anything''.' 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him ''anything ''because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
</blockquote><blockquote>
9 "And I say to you, ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it shall be opened.
</blockquote><blockquote>
11 "Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? 12 Or ''if ''he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?"
</blockquote>
Notice that, as this section on prayer begins in verse 1, Jesus is praying, "And it came about that while He was praying in a certain place . . . " Jesus didn't just teach on prayer. He prayed. In fact, Luke emphasizes the praying of Jesus more than any other gospel. He records nine prayers of Jesus, and seven of the nine are only in his gospel. So let's let Jesus teach us about prayer. He knows about it from both ends: he prayed as a full human; and he receives and mediates prayer as God himself. There is no better teacher on prayer.

What does Jesus have to say about all the prayer that went toward last week's pledging and the $850,000 that was pledged instead of $1.1 million? I want to draw out four lessons on prayer.

==== Lesson #1 ====

'''Prayer is always supposed to be God-centered and God-exalting.'''

I see this in verse 2. The disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray and the first thing he does is give them a sample prayer—a kind of summary prayer. It begins (verse 2), "When you pray, say: 'Father, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come.'" Notice two things.

The name of God is the first and main thing to pray about in prayer. "Hallowed by thy name." That is, "Lord, I ask that your name—your reputation and your character and your honor—be reverenced and worshiped and glorified and exalted and esteemed and cherished." First and foremost in prayer, we ask God to work in human hearts to cause them to hallow his name.

And notice that we are to pray this "when" (literally: "whenever," ''hotan'') we pray. In other words, this isn't a formal prayer that we pray every now and then, like on a Sunday morning when we pray the Lord's Prayer. This is the summary content of normal daily prayer. "''Whenever ''you pray," express a desire for the name of God to be valued more in your own heart and in the church and in the world. "Hallowed be thy name" is a prayer for passion in the soul and revival in the church and awakening in the world. And we desire this "whenever" we pray.

So last weekend, when we gathered to pray on Saturday night, we spend most of our time praying not about money, but about our hearts and our church and the mission of God in the church and the world. And when I chose my sermon for '''last Sunday''', I chose a text not about money but about magnifying God, "Let those who love thy salvation say continually, 'The Lord be magnified!'" The whole point of the weekend was, "Hallowed be thy name." Or: Supreme be thy name in all things for the joy of all peoples. That is the aim of ''Freeing the Future''—the removal of debt for the sake of the Name.

==== Lesson #2 ====

'''God answers prayer for penitent sinners, not perfect people.'''

I am emphasizing this as a balance to the other side of the truth, namely, that unconfessed sin can shut the door of heaven. Psalm 66:18 says, "If I regard wickedness in my heart, The Lord will not hear." This truth should make us search our hearts after every prayer that doesn't get answered the way we hoped. Did we fall short last weekend because of sin in our midst—attitudes or actions that are displeasing to the Lord and hinder our prayers?

We put a high premium on getting our hearts ready for last Sunday, and I know some difficult things were done and God was honored in many relationships.

But I want to make sure that we not elevate the condition of answered prayer more highly than the Bible does. God answers the prayers of sinners, not perfect people. And you can become perfectly paralyzed in your praying if you do not focus on the cross and realize this. I could show it from numerous Old Testament texts where God hears the cry of his sinful people, whose very sins had gotten them into the trouble from which they are crying for deliverance (for example, Psalm 38:4, 15; 40:12–13; 107:11–13).

But let me show it from this text—in two ways:

In this version of the Lord's Prayer (verses 2–4) Jesus says, "When you pray say" . . . and then in verse 4 he includes this petition, "and forgive us our sins." So, if you connect the beginning of the prayer with the middle, what he says is, "Whenever you pray say . . . forgive us our sins." I take this to mean that this should be as much a part of all our praying as "Hallowed be thy name." Which means that Jesus assumes that we need to seek forgiveness virtually every time we pray. In other words, we are always sinners. Nothing we do is perfect. As '''Martin Luther''' said, on his deathbed, "We are beggars, this is true." It doesn't matter how many relationships we made right last weekend, we came to the Lord last Sunday as sinners—all of us. And God does not turn away the prayers of sinners when they pray like this.

The second place I see this taught here is in verse 13: "If you then, ''being evil,'' know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?" Jesus calls his disciples "evil." Pretty strong language. And he did not mean that they were out of fellowship with him. He did not mean that their prayers could not be answered. He meant that as long as this fallen age lasts, even his own disciples will have an evil bent that pollutes everything they do, but doesn't keep them from doing much good. We are simultaneously evil and redeemed. We are gradually overcoming our evil by the power of the Holy Spirit. But our native corruption is not obliterated by conversion. We are sinners and we are beggars. And if we recognize this sin, fight it, and cling to the cross of Christ as our hope, then God will hear us and answer our prayers.

==== Lesson #3 ====

'''Our Father in heaven never gives us a snake when we ask for a fish.'''

The key verses here are verses 11–13:
<blockquote>Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? 12 Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him? </blockquote>
Jesus says that ordinary dads will not give snakes and scorpions to their children when they ask for fish and eggs. And then he adds, neither will God our heavenly Father. In fact, he goes further and says, "How much more . . . " will God respond positively to your prayers, since he is a perfect Father and not a defective father like all the rest of us dads are. Even we won't give snakes and scorpions to our children. How much less will God!

From this I conclude that God did not give us a scorpion or a snake last Sunday. The $850,000 pledged instead of $1.1 million or $1.4 million is not a snake in the grass or a scorpion in the bed.

What was it then? It was what a perfect Father always gives to his asking children: it was what is good for us. We must keep this simple fact before us: God is Father and we are children. The Father always keeps the right to do what is best for the children even if they don't understand why it is best. If this were not so, then we would be saying that we should run the Father's house. We should be the Father and he should be the child. Which in this case would mean we should rule the universe and God should learn from us how to do it.

Prayer has never meant that God should stop being God. We do not have the wisdom or the grace to run the universe. God is God. And he will continue to decide how to run the universe in the best way. If we ask him for a fish, he will not give us a snake, but he may give us Pepto Bismol or ibuprofen or grapefruit. He will give us what is good for us.

The utterly amazing thing is that he has ordained to include us in running the universe. He really does respond to our prayers. They are woven into the fabric of causes that God wills to be moved by. We do not pray in vain. He is our Father. And when he hears his children, he responds. He is not deaf or indifferent or powerless. He hears and he acts.

How then should we respond to last Sunday? That comes from . . .

==== Lesson #4 ====

'''Persistence in prayer will prevail where giving up won't.'''

This comes from verses 5–8. Jesus tells a parable to illustrate exactly this point.
<blockquote>And He said to them, "Suppose one of you shall have a friend, and shall go to him at midnight, and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves; 6 for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; 7 and from inside he shall answer and say, 'Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you ''anything''.' 8 "I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him ''anything ''because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs." </blockquote>
What's the point of this parable? The point is given in verses 9 and 10: Keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking; keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking.

Why compare answered prayer to a friend who is unwilling to get out of bed for the sake of friendship, but willing to get out of bed to stop the knocking on his door? Is it to say that God is tired or irritable or stingy? That can't be, because he is so ready and able to give in verse 13. Then what's the reason for this parable?

I think it is simply a striking, shocking way of saying, God has his reasons for waiting that for us may seem as strange and provocative as a friend who doesn't want to get out of bed but then does. At first he doesn't give the $1.1 million, and then he will—if we keep knocking. If we keep knocking—that is clear. If the friend had gone home after the first refusal, he would not have gotten the bread he needed. But since he stayed and kept on knocking, he got "as much as he needed" (verse 8). The point for Bethlehem: Keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking.

This is a hard lesson about prayer. But it is clearly biblical: ''Persistence in prayer will prevail with God where giving up won't''. It is so biblical and so important that Wesley Duewel wrote a whole book on it called ''Mighty Prevailing Prayer ''(Zondervan Publishing House, 1990). In his chapter on this text called "The Dynamic of Importunity," he quotes Andrew Murray,
<blockquote>[Importunity] begins with the refusal to at once accept a denial. It grows to the determination to persevere, to spare no time or trouble, till an answer comes. It rises to the intensity in which the whole being is given to God in supplication, and the boldness comes to lay hold of God's strength. (p. 80) </blockquote>
Thomas Watson, a Puritan pastor from 350 years ago, asked in his book, ''Body of Divinity'', "Why does God delay an answer to prayer?" In other words, why would God ever keep us asking and seeking and knocking when he could respond sooner? He gives four answers (Baker Book House, 1979, pp. 399–400). I give these to you for your pondering as we press on in prayer for ''Freeing the Future'':
<blockquote>
#Because he loves to hear the voice of prayer. "You let the musician play a great while before you throw him down money, because you love to hear this music."
#That he may humble us. We may too easily assume we merit some ready answer, or that he is at our beck and call like a butler, not as sovereign Lord and loving Father.
#Because he sees we are not yet fit or ready for the mercy we seek. It may be he has things to put in place—in us or in our church or in the world. There are a million pieces to the puzzle. Some things go first to make a place for the others.
#Finally, that the mercy we pray for may be the more prized, and may be sweeter when it comes.
</blockquote>
If you belong to the Lord Jesus, if you trust his Word, and if you love Bethlehem, join me in "mighty prevailing prayer" and do not grow weary, for we shall reap if we do not faint—the elimination of debt for the sake of the Name.

When God Says, "Not Now"

Mollymullery — Fri, 04 May 2012 14:04:14 GMT

Mollymullery:

I'm Sending You to Open Their Eyes

Mollymullery — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 17:12:30 GMT

Mollymullery: Protected "I'm Sending You to Open Their Eyes" ([edit=sysop] (indefinite) [move=sysop] (indefinite))

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2 Corinthians 4:1–7
<blockquote>
Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. (2) But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. (3) And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. (4) In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (5) For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. (6) For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (7) But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.
</blockquote>
Today we end our series on regeneration—the biblical teaching about the reality of being born again. We’re ending on the ground. On the street. In the car. At Dunn Brothers. In the back yard. In school. At work. Over lunch. On the phone. On Facebook and My Space. And text messaging. And Skyping. And blogging. And airplanes. And a hundred ordinary conversations. We’re ending with personal evangelism—an old-fashioned commitment in new contexts for the sake of new birth in thousands of spiritually dead people for the glory of Jesus Christ.

'''Born Again Through the Gospel'''

Last week we reaffirmed the biblical truth of 1 Peter 1:23, “You have been born again . . . through the living and abiding word of God”—followed by the explanation in verse 25: “This word is the good news that was preached to you.” In other words, God brings about the new birth through the gospel—the good news that God sent his Son into the world to live a perfect life, die for sinners, absorb the wrath of God, take away our guilt, provide the gift of righteousness, and give eternal joy through faith alone apart from works of the law.

People are born again through hearing that news, and never born again without it. “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). So when we asked, what should we do to help people be born again, the biblical answer was plain: Tell people the good news from a heart of love and a life of service.

Now today what I hope to do is underline that main point with a couple new texts and then give you a collection of encouragements and practical helps.

'''Our Condition Without Christ'''

Look with me at today’s text from 2 Corinthians 4. Start with the condition people are in without Christ. Verse 4: “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” People who don’t believe in Christ are blind. They can’t see Christ as supremely valuable, and so they won’t receive him as their Treasure and so they are not saved. A work of God is needed in their lives to open their eyes and give them life so they can see and receive Christ as Savior and Lord and Treasure of their lives. That work of God is called new birth.

'''The Solution: New Birth'''

Then look at the solution to this condition of blindness and perishing. Verse 6: “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” This is a description of the new birth, even though that term is not used. The God who created light in the beginning does the same thing in the human heart. Only the light this time is not physical light, but “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” Or as verse 4 calls it “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God.”

He causes the human heart to see the truth and beauty and worth of Christ—the glory of Christ. And when we see him for who he really is, we receive him for who he is. And to as many as received him he gave power to become the children of God (John 1:12). That’s what we want for our children—at six or sixteen or twenty-six—and for our parents and our spouses and our neighbors and colleagues and our friends at school. We want the light to shine in their hearts so they see and receive Christ. We want them to be born again.

'''The Human Means God Uses: Gospel-Telling'''

Then, third, look at the human means God uses to make this happen. Verse 5: “What we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.” Paul’s role was to proclaim Christ from a heart of love and a life of service. That proclamation is called the gospel in verse 3: “Even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing.” It’s the gospel that spiritually blind people can’t see and spiritually deaf people can’t hear. So our answer to the question, “What should we do to help people be born again?” is: ''Tell them the good news of Christ from a heart of love and a life of service.''

'''“I Am Sending You to Open Their Eyes”'''

Let me give you one more picture of this before we turn to the collection of encouragements and practical helps. In Acts 26, Paul is telling King Agrippa about his conversion and his call to the ministry. He reports the spectacular encounter with Christ on the Damascus Road. Then he reports the commission that Christ gave him. It’s the words of the commission that are so amazing and relevant for our concern with evangelism.

He tells us in versed 15-17 what Jesus told him: “‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you . . . .” Now listen carefully to what Jesus says he is sending Paul to do in his gospel-telling ministry. Verse 18: “I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.”

According to 2 Corinthians 4, people are spiritually blind until God gives them eyes to see, that is, until God causes them to be born again. But here Jesus says in verse 18, “I am sending you to open their eyes.” The point is not hard to see. God opens the eyes of the blind to see the truth and beauty and worth of Christ. But he does by sending people to tell the good news from hearts of love and lives of service.

That is what I find myself praying or more and more. Lord, fill our church with a passion to open the eyes of the blind. Fill us with a passion to do what God uses to bring about the new birth. I say to you what Jesus said to Paul in Acts 26:18: I send you to open their eyes. Don’t stop because you can’t. Of course you can’t. But the fact that you can’t make electricity or create light never stops you from flipping light switches. The fact that you can’t create fire in cylinders never stops you from turning the car key. The fact that you can’t create cell tissue never stops you from eating your meals. So don’t let the fact that you can’t cause the new birth stop you from telling the gospel. That is how people are born again—through the living and abiding word, the good news of Jesus Christ.

'''Ten Encouragements to Gospel-Telling'''

So here are a few encouragements that I hope will help you.

'''1) Know This: God Uses Clay Pots'''

Back in our text, consider 2 Corinthians 4:7. We don’t usually read it in context. So let’s do that this time. Verse 6 has just said that the God who created light does the same kind of thing to bring about in blind sinners like us the “light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” In verse 4, this light is called the “light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.”

That’s the context. Now we read verse 7: “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” We have “this treasure.” What treasure? “The knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” Or, “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.” In short: We have the gospel with its light-giving power.

Now the encouragement is this: “We have this treasure in jars of clay.” Jars of clay is a reference to us. We are the jars of clay. That is, compared to the treasure that is in us, we are clay. We are not gold. The gospel is gold. We are not silver. The news about Christ is silver. We are not bronze. The power of Christ is bronze.

This means that if you feel average or below average in your fitness to share the gospel treasure, you are closer to the truth that someone who feels powerful and wise and self-sufficient. Paul wants us to realize that we are clay pots. Not gold or silver or crystal. He wants us to realize that from the most sophisticated to the most average, we are all clay pots when it comes to containing and sharing the gospel. It is so valuable and so powerful that any thought of its container being something special is foolish.

How does Paul talk about himself and Apollos, the two most eloquent Christians in the first century? “What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth” (1 Corinthians 3:5-7).

So what’s the point of being a clay pot? Back to 2 Corinthians 4:7: “We have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” God’s aim is that his own power through the gospel be honored, not us. Which means that if you feel average or less than average in your sense of fitness to tell the gospel, you are the person God is looking for—a clay pot, who simply shares the treasure of the gospel, not the glitzy intellect, not the glitzy eloquence, not the glitzy beauty or strength or cultural cleverness. Then God will do his work through the gospel, and the surpassing power will belong to him and not to us.

Be encouraged, ordinary Christian. You are appointed, precisely in your ordinariness, for the greatest work in the world: showing the Treasure of Christ.

'''2) Get Resources to Share'''

After these services, there are tables with some evangelistic resources: ''For Your Joy, Quest for Joy, Quest for Joy CD''. These are things we’ve developed here at Bethlehem as a way of extending our personal conversations with people by giving them something to take away—or to read with them. There are many other things equally useful.

The point is: Think this way. Think: Wherever I can I want to commend Christ. I want to tell the story that God uses to give people life. Put them in your pocket, your purse, your briefcase, your car (John Sather said he carries a box of resources in his car). And pray every day,''Lord, make me a saving blessing today to someone''.

'''3) Know that God May Use Many Influences'''

Keep in mind that what you say to someone about Jesus may be supplemented by a half dozen others that God is providentially lining up to speak to this person as God pursues him for salvation. You may feel your word was wasted. It is never wasted (1 Corinthians 15:58). Your word may be the beginning of the influences. Or the final decisive word that God uses to bring a person to faith. Speak your word. The smallest word about Christ is not wasted.

'''4) Be a Lavish Giver'''

Be a lavish giver. Be known as a generous person, not a stingy person. Jesus said, “Lend, expecting nothing in return” (Luke 6:35). Combine this reputation with giving books, if you know someone is a reader. Give a Christian book that cost you seven or ten or fifteen dollars. Tell them what it meant to you and that you would love to talk about it some time. If you don’t know the person, ask for their permission to give them a book that meant a lot to you.

This is what I regularly do on the plane. Sometimes conversations are easy to get into about Christ because I am a pastor. Other times they’re not. But in either case, I often say, “I wrote a book that I would love to give to you. May I give you one?” They almost never say no. I have written two books mainly with unbelievers in mind: ''Seeing and Savoring Christ'' and ''Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die''. These are the ones I carry in my briefcase on the plane. Develop the habit of thinking this way: How can I commend Christ today? Be lavish in your giving.

And, of course, give away the Bible. I happened to open a biography of the missionary Henry Martyn this afternoon and read this about the author, B. V. Henry. “Henry came to personal faith in Christ at the age of 17 through reading a New Testament given to him by an elderly lady” (B. V. Henry, ''Forsaking All for Christ: A Biography of Henry Martyn'' [London: Chapter Two, 2003], p. 167). Be lavish in giving away Bibles and portions of the Bible.

'''5) Find People Interesting'''

Be encouraged that simply finding people interesting and caring about them is a beautiful pathway into their heart. Evangelism gets a bad reputation when we are not really interested in people and don’t seem to care about them. People really are interesting. The person you are talking to is an amazing creation of God with a thousand interesting experiences. Very few people are interested in them. If you really find their story interesting, and care about them, they may open up to you and want to hear your story—Christ’s story.

'''6) Be Encouraged You’re Not Alone'''

Be encouraged that on Tuesday nights at the Downtown Campus and Thursday nights at the South Campus there is evangelism training and frontline action. Here’s the letter I got from Justin Hoover this week:
<blockquote>
Pastor John,
</blockquote><blockquote>
. . . Our mission is to ignite and spread a passion for Jesus Christ through the joy of evangelism. We meet on Tuesday nights, downtown, at 6:30 p.m. in the Commons for worship, Word, and prayer, and on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the South Site, Building 501, Suite 110 with Elijah Layfield.
</blockquote><blockquote>
We will train new evangelists and then team them up with experienced evangelists. This is an excellent opportunity to learn how to better articulate and share the Gospel of Christ.
</blockquote><blockquote>
. . . Our deepest desire and prayer is that the gospel of Jesus Christ would be spread through the lives of the saints at Bethlehem. We’re here to help make that vision and desire of God a reality in the lives of those at Bethlehem. This is an opportunity to be equipped, impassioned, emboldened, and filled with joy for the gospel of Jesus Christ. May many of us come and ignite and spread a passion for Christ's glory in our families, our neighborhoods, our cities, our nation, and our world.
</blockquote><blockquote>
Again: Tuesday at 6:30 in the Commons and Thursday, South Site, Building 501 Suite 110 at 6:30 p.m.
</blockquote><blockquote>
We'll be ready and praying for more laborers to ignite and spread a passion for Jesus Christ through the joy of evangelism.
</blockquote><blockquote>
For Christ's glory and the joy of the saints, Justin Hoover
</blockquote>
'''7) Invite People to Church'''

In your relationships, invite people to church even before they are Christians. Some of the sheer strangeness of what it means to be a Christian can be overcome by a growing familiarity with how we sing and talk and relate in church. And the preaching of the word of God has a unique power.

Or, nowadays with the internet, if they are hesitant to come to church, invite them to www.desiringGod.org or www.hopeinGod.org. Tell them you would like to have them hear the five-minute greeting from your pastor at the church website and give them the link.

'''8) Fill the City with Gospel Teaching'''

When the apostles were put on trial in Jerusalem the high priest said, “You have filled Jerusalem with your teaching” (Acts 5:28). That is what I dream for the churches of the Twin Cities. If all the Christians were talking about Christ, and giving out literature about Christ, and sending emails about Christ, and inviting people to church for Christ, and being lavishly generous to others for Christ, then someone might say, “Those Christians have filled the Twin Cities with their teaching.” May it be so.

'''9) Use Your Giftings'''

Be encouraged that we all have different gifts and should not try to imitate everything about anyone. Every Christian should be a servant (Galatians 5:13), but some have a gift of service (Romans 12:7). Every Christian should have heart of mercy (Luke 6:36), but some have a gift of mercy (Romans 12:8). Every Christian should speak to others about Christ (1 Peter 2:9), but some have a gift of prophecy and exhortation and teaching (Romans 12:7). The point is: We are all in this together, but some are gifted one way and some another. Find where you fit and stoke the flames of your effectiveness there. Grow in every area, but don’t paralyze yourself because you are not like someone else. God made you and means to use you in evangelism.

'''10) Read Books on Evangelism'''

Finally (and you would expect this at Bethlehem), here are three books that you can get from the bookstore (or sign up for there) to carry this message on for the rest of your life: Will Metzger, ''Tell the Truth''; Mark Dever, ''The Gospel and Personal Evangelism''; J. I. Packer, ''Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God''.

'''Speaking the Word of God with Boldness'''

Would you make Acts 4:31 your dream and prayer for all of us at Bethlehem? “And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:31).

I'm Sending You to Open Their Eyes

Mollymullery — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 17:11:29 GMT

Mollymullery: Created page with '{{info}} 2 Corinthians 4:1–7 <blockquote> Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. (2) But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways....'

Why Are People Reluctant to Go into Missions?

Mollymullery — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:53:24 GMT

Mollymullery: Protected "Why Are People Reluctant to Go into Missions?" ([edit=sysop] (indefinite) [move=sysop] (indefinite))

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When I spoke at Missions in the Main Hall Sunday night, I tried to give a biblical response to possible obstacles that are in the way for some people that may keep them from moving forward toward missions. My prayer is that God would use these responses to call more of you to go. Here are eight objections and a biblical response.

'''1. “I am not smart enough.” '''

“Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.” (1 Corinthians 1:20-21)

“Consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise.” (1 Corinthians 1:26-27)

'''2. “My body and my personality are not strong enough.”'''

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” (2 Corinthians 4:7)

“[Christ] said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

'''3. “I am not a good speaker.” '''

“Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.” (1 Corinthians 1:17) “Moses said to the Lord, ‘Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.’ Then the Lord said to him, ‘Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” (Exodus 4:10-12)

'''4. “I am afraid of the horrors I read about in the newspapers.”'''

“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore (katartisei—“mend” or “repair” your horribly disfigured body when the lions in the coliseum are through with you), confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” (1 Peter 5:8-10)

'''5. “I am afraid I won’t be fruitful”'''

Your responsibility is not to be fruitful but to be faithful. “And [Jesus] said, ‘The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” (Mark 4:26-29)

“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” (1 Corinthians 3:6-7)

'''6. “There is plenty to do here.”'''

True, but there is a division of labor and God calls some to MISSIONS, not just evangelism. The difference is seen in Romans 15:19-24: “So that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I [Paul] have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named. . . Now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions . . . I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain.”

How could Paul say there was no room for work when there were millions in that region to be evangelized? Because evangelism is not missions.

'''7. “I am not married.”'''

The best spouse is found on the path of obedience. “An excellent wife [or husband!] who can find? She [and he!] is far more precious than jewels” (Proverbs 31:10). The finding is exceedingly hard. It will happen on the road of obedience.

'''8. “I fear that when I get there it might turn out I made a mistake and will come home with shame.”'''

Which is worse, shame for having endeavored to follow Christ in missions, or fear to venture? Shame before others for making a mistake will not hurt you; it will humble you and can make you more useful in a new situation. But fear will make you useless everywhere.

Consider Ecclesiastes 11:4 and what it says about risk: “He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap.” Meaning: without taking the risk of sowing when the seed might be blown away and reaping when the rain might ruin the harvest, you will starve.

Oh, how precious is the freeing word of God,

Pastor John

Why Are People Reluctant to Go into Missions?

Mollymullery — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:53:08 GMT

Mollymullery: Created page with '{{info}} When I spoke at Missions in the Main Hall Sunday night, I tried to give a biblical response to possible obstacles that are in the way for some people that may keep the...'

Worship and World Missions: A Pastoral Strategy

Mollymullery — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:39:08 GMT

Mollymullery: Protected "Worship and World Missions: A Pastoral Strategy" ([edit=sysop] (indefinite) [move=sysop] (indefinite))

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My pastoral strategy for the kindling of missions fervor and the recruiting of missions candidates and the building of missions budgets and the cultivation of a missions lifestyle is fairly simple. I would sum it up like this—to teach and preach and live the centrality and supremacy of God in everything.

When you put the supremacy of God at the top of your pastoral agenda, and when you aim to be radically God-centered in all that you do and preach, it's almost inevitable that deep, earnest, heartfelt, passionate, worship takes on tremendous importance in the life of the church. Because worship is the echo of the supremacy of God in the heart of the believer.

Another way to express our strategy at Bethlehem to kindle a heart for missions is to say that missions for us is not the ultimate goal of the church. The ultimate goal of the church is worship. The only reason missions exists is because worship doesn't. Worship is ultimate and missions is penultimate. Because God is ultimate, and man is penultimate. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of the God and of the Lamb, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides for ever.

Until we see the greatness of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ and until we bow stunned at the majesty of God's power and the freedom of his grace, we have no lasting mission in the world. So worship is the fuel of missions. And all we want to do in mission is to bring men and women from every people and tribe and tongue and nation to the enjoyment of that same vision of God in Jesus Christ. So worship is the goal of missions.

We say it all the time around Bethlehem: worship is the fuel and the goal of missions. Which is just another way of saying that "from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory for ever and ever."

But what makes this really get a hold of a person and a church is to see the unfamiliar truth that the same thing is true for God. Missions is not his ultimate goal either. Worship is. And when this truth sinks into the heart of a seminary student or a pastor or a layman, everything changes. The world is often turned right on its head. And everything looks different—including the missionary enterprise.

The ultimate foundation for our passion to see God glorified is his own passion to see himself glorified. When I said that I make it my aim to teach and preach and live the centrality and supremacy of God in everything, I meant for everything to include God. He is central and supreme in his own affections. And he will brook no competition for the supremacy of his glory in his own delight. God is not an idolater. With all his heart and all his soul and all his strength and all his mind he delights in the glory of his manifold perfections reflected back to him in the image of his Son.

The reason this may sound strange is that we tend to ask questions from the bottom up, and not from the top down. We ask why we exist, and answer, "To glorify God and enjoy him forever." But do we ever ask, "Why does God exist? What is the chief end of God? What should he love with all his heart and soul and mind and strength? Whom should he worship?" Or will we deny him that highest of pleasures? It matters a lot what God's ultimate allegiance is!

God does not leave us to guess in this affair. He answers the question at every point in redemptive history from creation to consummation. Let's survey some of the high points to see what he says.

'''Why did God create us?'''

Isaiah 43:6-7 - "Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth (says the Lord), everyone who is called by my name, whom I created ''for my glory''."

'''Why did God choose a people for himself and make Israel his possession?'''

Jeremiah 13:11 - "I made the whole house of Israel ... cling to me, says the Lord, that they might be for me a people, ''a name, a praise and a glory''."

'''Why did God rescue them from bondage in Egypt?'''

Psalm 106:7-8 - "Our fathers when they were in Egypt did not consider thy wonderful works ... but rebelled against the Most High at the Red Sea. Yet he saved them ''for his name's sake that he might make known his mighty power.''"

'''Why did God spare them again and again in the wilderness?'''

Ezekiel 20:14 - "''I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned'' in the sight of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out."

'''Why didn't God cast away his people when they rejected him as king and asked for a king like the nations?'''

1 Samuel 12:20-22 - "Fear not, you have done all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following the Lord ... For the Lord will not cast away his people ''for his great name's sake''."

'''Why did God use his sovereign power to bring back his people from exile after punishing them for generations of sin?'''

Isaiah 48:9,11 - "''For my name's sake'' I defer my anger, ''for the sake of my praise'' I restrain it for you ... ''For my own sake, for my own sake I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.''"

'''Why did the Son of God come to earth and to his final decisive hour?'''

John 17:1 - "Father, the hour has come; ''glorify thy Son that the Son may glorify thee.''" A beautiful conspiracy to glorify the Godhead in all the work of redemption!

'''And why will Jesus come again in the great day of consummation?'''

2 Thessalonians 1:9-10 - "[He will come] on that day ''to be glorified in his saints and to be marveled at in all who have believed''..."

From beginning to end, the driving impulse of God's heart is to be praised for his glory. From creation to consummation his ultimate allegiance is to himself. His unwavering purpose in all he does is to exalt the honor of his name and to be marveled at for his grace and power. He is infinitely jealous for his reputation. "For my own sake, for my own sake I act," says the Lord. "My glory I will not give to another!"

This doesn't sit well with run of the mill evangelicals today. We are not used to hearing that God is at the center of his own affections. We are much more used to hearing that this is where we are. None of my four sons has ever brought home a Sunday School paper with the lesson title: "God loves himself more than he loves you." But it is profoundly true. And so generation after generation of evangelicals grow up picturing themselves at the center of God's universe.

But there is an apparent biblical objection to this teaching that God seeks his own glory in all he does. 1 Corinthians 13:5 says, "Love seeks not its own." So if God makes it his ultimate goal to be glorified and praised, how then can he be loving? On the one hand we read, "Love seeks not its own." And on the other hand we read, "For my own sake, for my own sake I act. My glory I will not give to another" (Isaiah 48:11). Is then God for himself or is he for us?

The answer which I want to try to persuade you is true is this: since God is unique as the most glorious of all beings and totally self-sufficient, he must be for himself if he is to be for us. If he were to abandon the goal of his own self-exaltation we would be the losers. His aim to bring praise to himself and his aim to bring pleasure to his people from all the nations are one aim and stand or fall together. I think we will see this if we ask the following question.

In view of God's infinitely admirable beauty and power and wisdom what would his love to a creature involve? Or to put it another way: What could God give us to enjoy that would show him most loving? This is only one possible answer, isn't there? ''Himself''! If God would give us the best, the most satisfying; that is, if he would love us perfectly, he must offer us no less than himself for our contemplation and fellowship and joy. "In ''thy'' presence is fullness of joy. In ''thy'' right hand are pleasures for evermore" (Psalm 16:11).

But now we are on the brink of what for me was a grand discovery. To be supremely loving God must give us what will be best for us and delights us most; he must give us himself.

But what do we do when we are given or shown something excellent, something we enjoy? We praise it. And the reason we praise it is because the praise is the completion of the joy we have in it. I learned this from C. S. Lewis.
<blockquote>
But the most obvious fact about praise--whether of God or anything--strangely escaped me. I thought of it in terms of complement, approval, or the giving of honor. I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise ... The world rings with praise--lovers praising their mistresses, readers their favorite poet, walking praising the countryside, players praising their favorite game--praise of weather, wines, dishes, actors, horses, colleges, countries, historical personages, children, flowers, mountains, rare stamps, rare beetles, even sometimes politicians and scholars ... My whole, more general difficulty about the praise of God depended on my absurdly denying to us, as regards the supremely Valuable, what we delight to do, what indeed we can't help doing, about everything else we value.
</blockquote><blockquote>
I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. It is not out of complement that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are, the delight is incomplete till it is expressed. (''Reflections on the Psalms'', pp. 93-95)
</blockquote>
There's the key: we praise what we enjoy because the delight is incomplete until it is expressed in praise. If we were not allowed to speak or show what we value and celebrate what we love and praise what we admire, our joy would not be full.

Therefore, if God is truly for us, if he would give us the best and make our joy full, he must make it his aim to win our praise for himself. Not because he needs to shore up some weakness in himself or compensate for some deficiency, but because he loves us and seeks the fullness of our joy that can only be found in knowing and praising him, the most beautiful of all Beings.

God is the one Being in all the universe for whom self-centeredness or the pursuit of his own glory is the ultimately loving and virtuous act. For him, self-exaltation is the highest virtue. When he does all things "for the praise of his glory," he preserves for us and offers to us the only thing in all the world which can satisfy our longings. God is for us, and therefore has been, is now, and always will be first for himself.

*Now we return to contemplate for a moment the pastoral strategy that I mentioned at the beginning—a strategy for
*the kindling of missions fervor,
*the recruiting of missions candidates,
*the building of missions budgets, and
*the cultivation of a missions lifestyle.

It is namely a strategy to teach, preach, pray and live the centrality and supremacy of God in everything—everything, including his own affections.

In other words, right at the heart of this strategy is the commitment to hold up as the banner over all we do

*God's love for his own glory,
*his overflowing joy in the eternal fellowship of the Trinity,
*and, therefore, his absolute self-sufficiency,
*and his all-pervading zeal to fill the earth with his glory, do all for his name, and win praise from all nations (all of which is love!).

It took about three years of preaching under this banner before the implication for world missions really hit home at Bethlehem.

In the fall of 1983, Tom Steller, who was then our associate pastor for students and education, couldn't sleep one night. And so he got up at about 2 AM and lay on the living room couch and put on a tape of John Michael Talbot. At one point Talbot sang the words of a song about the glory of the Lord filling the earth, about his saving power being known among all the nations, and about all the peoples of the earth one day knowing, and praising and enjoying and fearing the true God of glory.

Tom is a great lover of the glory of God, but he had not been missions oriented at all up to this time. He began to weep, he told me. And for an hour he cried, with a mingling of joy at the vision of God's glory filling the earth and penitent longing to be involved in that great purpose of God.

At the same time God was doing something in my own heart as well. For the first time in four years the missions board of our church asked me to speak at our annual Fall Missions Conference.

I was in the midst of a series of nine messages on what I was calling Christian Hedonism. And as I thought and prayed it became clearer and clearer that missions was the battle cry of Christian Hedonism. I was coming on a slightly different route to the same place Tom Steller was coming. Tom was coming on the road of glory and I was coming on the road of joy.

What hit us both in November of 1983 with life changing force was this:

God does everything he does for the glory of his name. He loves his glory above all things. He is committed radically and unswervingly to preserve and display that glory throughout the universe and to fill the earth one day with nothing but the echo of his glory in the lives of the redeemed—that is, with worship. And the knowledge of the glory of the Lord will fill the earth as the waters cover the sea.

But God has conceived a universe in which the magnifying of his own glory is accomplished in the delight and joy and satisfaction that the redeemed find in Him. And therefore God's pursuit of his glory and my pursuit of my joy are not finally in conflict. They are in fact one pursuit.

If our passionate joy in the glory of God is the very thing in which his glory is most fully reflected in this world, and if our joy is multiplied as God extends the praise of his glory among the peoples, then how could Tom and I, as a lover of God's glory and a Christian Hedonist, not give ourselves to the global cause of God in world missions?

Worship and World Missions: A Pastoral Strategy

Mollymullery — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:38:46 GMT

Mollymullery:

Worship and World Missions: A Pastoral Strategy

Mollymullery — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:13:53 GMT

Mollymullery: Created page with '{{info}} My pastoral strategy for the kindling of missions fervor and the recruiting of missions candidates and the building of missions budgets and the cultivation of a missio...'

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My pastoral strategy for the kindling of missions fervor and the recruiting of missions candidates and the building of missions budgets and the cultivation of a missions lifestyle is fairly simple. I would sum it up like this—to teach and preach and live the centrality and supremacy of God in everything.

When you put the supremacy of God at the top of your pastoral agenda, and when you aim to be radically God-centered in all that you do and preach, it's almost inevitable that deep, earnest, heartfelt, passionate, worship takes on tremendous importance in the life of the church. Because worship is the echo of the supremacy of God in the heart of the believer.

Another way to express our strategy at Bethlehem to kindle a heart for missions is to say that missions for us is not the ultimate goal of the church. The ultimate goal of the church is worship. The only reason missions exists is because worship doesn't. Worship is ultimate and missions is penultimate. Because God is ultimate, and man is penultimate. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of the God and of the Lamb, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides for ever.

Until we see the greatness of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ and until we bow stunned at the majesty of God's power and the freedom of his grace, we have no lasting mission in the world. So worship is the fuel of missions. And all we want to do in mission is to bring men and women from every people and tribe and tongue and nation to the enjoyment of that same vision of God in Jesus Christ. So worship is the goal of missions.

We say it all the time around Bethlehem: worship is the fuel and the goal of missions. Which is just another way of saying that "from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory for ever and ever."

But what makes this really get a hold of a person and a church is to see the unfamiliar truth that the same thing is true for God. Missions is not his ultimate goal either. Worship is. And when this truth sinks into the heart of a seminary student or a pastor or a layman, everything changes. The world is often turned right on its head. And everything looks different—including the missionary enterprise.

The ultimate foundation for our passion to see God glorified is his own passion to see himself glorified. When I said that I make it my aim to teach and preach and live the centrality and supremacy of God in everything, I meant for everything to include God. He is central and supreme in his own affections. And he will brook no competition for the supremacy of his glory in his own delight. God is not an idolater. With all his heart and all his soul and all his strength and all his mind he delights in the glory of his manifold perfections reflected back to him in the image of his Son.

The reason this may sound strange is that we tend to ask questions from the bottom up, and not from the top down. We ask why we exist, and answer, "To glorify God and enjoy him forever." But do we ever ask, "Why does God exist? What is the chief end of God? What should he love with all his heart and soul and mind and strength? Whom should he worship?" Or will we deny him that highest of pleasures? It matters a lot what God's ultimate allegiance is!

God does not leave us to guess in this affair. He answers the question at every point in redemptive history from creation to consummation. Let's survey some of the high points to see what he says.

Why did God create us?

Isaiah 43:6-7 - "Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth (says the Lord), everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory."

Why did God choose a people for himself and make Israel his possession?

Jeremiah 13:11 - "I made the whole house of Israel ... cling to me, says the Lord, that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise and a glory."

Why did God rescue them from bondage in Egypt?

Psalm 106:7-8 - "Our fathers when they were in Egypt did not consider thy wonderful works ... but rebelled against the Most High at the Red Sea. Yet he saved them for his name's sake that he might make known his mighty power."

Why did God spare them again and again in the wilderness?

Ezekiel 20:14 - "I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out."

Why didn't God cast away his people when they rejected him as king and asked for a king like the nations?

1 Samuel 12:20-22 - "Fear not, you have done all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following the Lord ... For the Lord will not cast away his people for his great name's sake."

Why did God use his sovereign power to bring back his people from exile after punishing them for generations of sin?

Isaiah 48:9,11 - "For my name's sake I defer my anger, for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you ... For my own sake, for my own sake I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another."

Why did the Son of God come to earth and to his final decisive hour?

John 17:1 - "Father, the hour has come; glorify thy Son that the Son may glorify thee." A beautiful conspiracy to glorify the Godhead in all the work of redemption!

And why will Jesus come again in the great day of consummation?

2 Thessalonians 1:9-10 - "[He will come] on that day to be glorified in his saints and to be marveled at in all who have believed..."

From beginning to end, the driving impulse of God's heart is to be praised for his glory. From creation to consummation his ultimate allegiance is to himself. His unwavering purpose in all he does is to exalt the honor of his name and to be marveled at for his grace and power. He is infinitely jealous for his reputation. "For my own sake, for my own sake I act," says the Lord. "My glory I will not give to another!"

This doesn't sit well with run of the mill evangelicals today. We are not used to hearing that God is at the center of his own affections. We are much more used to hearing that this is where we are. None of my four sons has ever brought home a Sunday School paper with the lesson title: "God loves himself more than he loves you." But it is profoundly true. And so generation after generation of evangelicals grow up picturing themselves at the center of God's universe.

But there is an apparent biblical objection to this teaching that God seeks his own glory in all he does. 1 Corinthians 13:5 says, "Love seeks not its own." So if God makes it his ultimate goal to be glorified and praised, how then can he be loving? On the one hand we read, "Love seeks not its own." And on the other hand we read, "For my own sake, for my own sake I act. My glory I will not give to another" (Isaiah 48:11). Is then God for himself or is he for us?

The answer which I want to try to persuade you is true is this: since God is unique as the most glorious of all beings and totally self-sufficient, he must be for himself if he is to be for us. If he were to abandon the goal of his own self-exaltation we would be the losers. His aim to bring praise to himself and his aim to bring pleasure to his people from all the nations are one aim and stand or fall together. I think we will see this if we ask the following question.

In view of God's infinitely admirable beauty and power and wisdom what would his love to a creature involve? Or to put it another way: What could God give us to enjoy that would show him most loving? This is only one possible answer, isn't there? Himself! If God would give us the best, the most satisfying; that is, if he would love us perfectly, he must offer us no less than himself for our contemplation and fellowship and joy. "In thy presence is fullness of joy. In thy right hand are pleasures for evermore" (Psalm 16:11).

But now we are on the brink of what for me was a grand discovery. To be supremely loving God must give us what will be best for us and delights us most; he must give us himself.

But what do we do when we are given or shown something excellent, something we enjoy? We praise it. And the reason we praise it is because the praise is the completion of the joy we have in it. I learned this from C. S. Lewis.

But the most obvious fact about praise--whether of God or anything--strangely escaped me. I thought of it in terms of complement, approval, or the giving of honor. I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise ... The world rings with praise--lovers praising their mistresses, readers their favorite poet, walking praising the countryside, players praising their favorite game--praise of weather, wines, dishes, actors, horses, colleges, countries, historical personages, children, flowers, mountains, rare stamps, rare beetles, even sometimes politicians and scholars ... My whole, more general difficulty about the praise of God depended on my absurdly denying to us, as regards the supremely Valuable, what we delight to do, what indeed we can't help doing, about everything else we value.

I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. It is not out of complement that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are, the delight is incomplete till it is expressed. (Reflections on the Psalms, pp. 93-95)

There's the key: we praise what we enjoy because the delight is incomplete until it is expressed in praise. If we were not allowed to speak or show what we value and celebrate what we love and praise what we admire, our joy would not be full.

Therefore, if God is truly for us, if he would give us the best and make our joy full, he must make it his aim to win our praise for himself. Not because he needs to shore up some weakness in himself or compensate for some deficiency, but because he loves us and seeks the fullness of our joy that can only be found in knowing and praising him, the most beautiful of all Beings.

God is the one Being in all the universe for whom self-centeredness or the pursuit of his own glory is the ultimately loving and virtuous act. For him, self-exaltation is the highest virtue. When he does all things "for the praise of his glory," he preserves for us and offers to us the only thing in all the world which can satisfy our longings. God is for us, and therefore has been, is now, and always will be first for himself.

Now we return to contemplate for a moment the pastoral strategy that I mentioned at the beginning—a strategy for

the kindling of missions fervor, the recruiting of missions candidates, the building of missions budgets, and the cultivation of a missions lifestyle. It is namely a strategy to teach, preach, pray and live the centrality and supremacy of God in everything—everything, including his own affections.

In other words, right at the heart of this strategy is the commitment to hold up as the banner over all we do

God's love for his own glory, his overflowing joy in the eternal fellowship of the Trinity, and, therefore, his absolute self-sufficiency, and his all-pervading zeal to fill the earth with his glory, do all for his name, and win praise from all nations (all of which is love!). It took about three years of preaching under this banner before the implication for world missions really hit home at Bethlehem.

In the fall of 1983, Tom Steller, who was then our associate pastor for students and education, couldn't sleep one night. And so he got up at about 2 AM and lay on the living room couch and put on a tape of John Michael Talbot. At one point Talbot sang the words of a song about the glory of the Lord filling the earth, about his saving power being known among all the nations, and about all the peoples of the earth one day knowing, and praising and enjoying and fearing the true God of glory.

Tom is a great lover of the glory of God, but he had not been missions oriented at all up to this time. He began to weep, he told me. And for an hour he cried, with a mingling of joy at the vision of God's glory filling the earth and penitent longing to be involved in that great purpose of God.

At the same time God was doing something in my own heart as well. For the first time in four years the missions board of our church asked me to speak at our annual Fall Missions Conference.

I was in the midst of a series of nine messages on what I was calling Christian Hedonism. And as I thought and prayed it became clearer and clearer that missions was the battle cry of Christian Hedonism. I was coming on a slightly different route to the same place Tom Steller was coming. Tom was coming on the road of glory and I was coming on the road of joy.

What hit us both in November of 1983 with life changing force was this:

God does everything he does for the glory of his name. He loves his glory above all things. He is committed radically and unswervingly to preserve and display that glory throughout the universe and to fill the earth one day with nothing but the echo of his glory in the lives of the redeemed—that is, with worship. And the knowledge of the glory of the Lord will fill the earth as the waters cover the sea.

But God has conceived a universe in which the magnifying of his own glory is accomplished in the delight and joy and satisfaction that the redeemed find in Him. And therefore God's pursuit of his glory and my pursuit of my joy are not finally in conflict. They are in fact one pursuit.

If our passionate joy in the glory of God is the very thing in which his glory is most fully reflected in this world, and if our joy is multiplied as God extends the praise of his glory among the peoples, then how could Tom and I, as a lover of God's glory and a Christian Hedonist, not give ourselves to the global cause of God in world missions?

World Missions: The Purpose, the Promise, and the Price

Mollymullery — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:08:27 GMT

Mollymullery: Protected "World Missions: The Purpose the Promise and the Price" ([edit=sysop] (indefinite) [move=sysop] (indefinite))

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The purpose of world missions is to spread a passion for the supremacy of God into people groups where there is no indigenous, evangelizing church. This assumes something about “disciples” and something about “nations.” These terms are used in Matthew 28:19: “Go therefore and make ''disciples'' of all the ''nations''.” My assumption about “disciples” is that they are people who have seen “the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6), and who cherish “God in Christ” as the supreme value of their lives (Philippians 3:8). My assumption about “nations” is that they are not geographic, political countries but “tribes, languages, peoples and ethnic groups” (Revelation 5:9; 7:9). Based on these two assumptions, then, the purpose of world missions is to spread a passion for the supremacy of God into people groups where there is no indigenous, evangelizing church.

According to one research group (Joshua Project 2000), in June of this year there were 579 peoples in the world with populations over 10,000 which did not have any church planting missionary effort in them. In July, the Global Consultation on World Evangelization (GCWE ’97) met in Pretoria, South Africa with the result that all but 172 of these peoples were targeted by mission agencies. This is a remarkable progress toward finishing the real missionary task of the church. (If you want to keep up on things like this, subscribe—free—to ''Mission Frontiers'', US Center for World Mission, 1605 Elizabeth St. Pasadena, CA 91104.)

But the real source of hope in world missions is not the statistics of man; it’s the promise of God. Namely, Matthew 24:14—“This gospel of the kingdom ''shall'' be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations.” The “shalls” of God are backed by omnipotence. This great work of spreading a passion for God into people groups where there is no indigenous, evangelizing church cannot fail. This is the great hope of the missions enterprise. The word of God will not fail.

But the price will be very high. Not so high that it is not worth it. But very high. Jesus expresses it in Matthew 24:9: “You will be ''hated'' by all the nations because of my name.” The purpose and the promise will not happen without the price of opposition and suffering. In fact, the price is not just the result but the strategy of the purpose. God has a certain number of martyrs appointed (Revelation 6:11). Jesus said that when you are arrested and taken before governors, “this will be a time for you to bear testimony” (Luke 21:13). The purpose, the promise and the price are all bound together.

Did you notice the phrase, “''all the nations'',” in the purpose, the promise and the price?

“Make disciples of ''all the nations''.” '''Purpose '''

“This gospel…shall be preached…to ''all the nations.''” '''Promise '''

“You will be hated by ''all the nations''.” '''Price '''

I call all of you with Hebrews 13:13 (again!) to “go out to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach.” What will this mean for you? It will have to do with “all the nations.”

Seeking a full heart for this with you,

Pastor John

World Missions: The Purpose, the Promise, and the Price

Mollymullery — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:08:20 GMT

Mollymullery: Created page with '{{info}} The purpose of world missions is to spread a passion for the supremacy of God into people groups where there is no indigenous, evangelizing church. This assumes someth...'