CHARLIE WINGARD

Peter Jensen on the Offense of the Cross

2012-01-31T05:20:00.000-06:00

Dr. Peter Jensen is Anglican Archbishop of Sydney (Australia). He writes forthrightly on the offense of the cross:

[T]he contemporary church uses three strategies to soften the offence caused by the cross. The first is to cloud the whole thing with mystery. We are permitted to say that Jesus died for us but we are not permitted to say what this means and how it relates to sin and wrath and judgment. Second, is to offer some other explanation for the cross than what the Bible itself says. We are told that the cross occurred solely to demonstrate the solidarity of God with us in our suffering. Third, is to ignore the cross altogether and find the centre of Jesus' mission in the incarnation or even worse in his present friendship for us, sung about in endless trivial songs.

The wrath of God is as real as your sin. The only thing which can satisfy the wrath of God is a satisfaction paid for your sin provided by God himself. Jesus has done this by dying for you on the cross, saving you 'from the wrath to come'. Whether we like it or not, that is the heart of the gospel. Turn the wrath of God into something else, or ignore it, and you will not have Christianity, but some other religious look-alike. That is our choice." (Thanks: Al Mohler)

Sermons on Exodus (20:18-26)

2012-01-31T04:51:00.001-06:00

(The fiftieth in a series of sermons on Exodus, preached January 15, 2012.)

Exodus 20:18 Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off 19 and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” 20 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” 21 The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.

20:22 And the LORD said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the people of Israel: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven. 23 You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold. 24 An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you. 25 If you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stones, for if you wield your tool on it you profane it. 26 And you shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness be not exposed on it.’[1]

Was your New Year’s resolution to read through the Bible in one year?

As far as resolutions go, it’s good one, and, if it’s yours, I wish you well. But in your trip through the Bible, it’s where we’re at right now – at the foot of Sinai, the Ten Commandments given – it seems that our tires go flat and our trip through the Bible grind to a halt. For the next three-and-a-half books, we read laws after law after law, and, honestly, it’s tough.

Most biblical laws seem as helpful for navigating modern life as the horse and buggy. For example, what are we to make of laws governing the treatment of slaves, or establishing religious feasts and special diets, or constructing tabernacles? Maybe there was a time when these things were important, but surely not today.

And some commandments seem downright bizarre. Read far enough, and you’ll scratch your head, wondering why Israelites mustn’t “boil a young goat in its mother’s milk” (Exodus 23:19) or “wear cloth of wool and linen mixed together” (Deuteronomy 22:11). One reason why so many Christians neglect to read the Bible is that they don’t know how to make sense of the Old Testament. Maybe we have better things to do with our time than read the last half of Exodus.

Or, maybe not. Let me give you two reasons why you should be not only curious, but fiercely attentive to the Law of Moses.

First, they are God’s words. When Paul declared, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,” he meant the Old Testament with its law, history, prophecies, and wisdom literature. He meant Exodus.

Second, the Law of Moses proclaims Christ. Didn’t our risen Lord, on the road to Emmaus, come alongside two disciples, and, “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27). Exodus 20-40 proclaims Christ.

I suspect that many Christians leave their Bibles closed, not because they’re lazy, but because large parts, like the Law of Moses make no sense to them. In the coming weeks, I’ll do my best to correct that. What we read in Exodus 20-40 is God’s word, his word about Christ.

Let me say now a word about the Law. Before we jump in and look at specific laws, keeping in mind the three categories of biblical law.

First, there are political or civil laws. These laws governed only ancient Israel and structured its national life – not Egypt’s, not Assyria’s, not Babylon’s, not the United States’, only Israel’s. Starting next week, we will look at some of these political laws. In many of them, such as the laws requiring restitution of stolen or damaged property, we observe a basic principle of fairness that we would do well to imitate. But, taken as a whole, they no longer function as a body of law for any nation and were intended to be the law of the land for Old Covenant Israel alone. Still, as we’ll see next week, they are God’s word, and I repeat, they will teach us basic principles of fairness – a fairness we owe to those created in the image of God.

Occasionally, you will hear someone argue that specific Old Testament laws must be incorporated into American law. This teaching is called theonomy, or Christian reconstruction, and it’s wrong. Theonomy’s error fails to see the uniqueness of ancient Israel (no other nation ever was or shall be in a covenant relationship with God).

Second, there are ceremonial laws. These laws obliged Old Testament Israel to sacrifices, the observance of holy days, purification ceremonies and a special diet. These laws separated Israel from the surrounding nations, gave it a distinct identity, instructed the people in holiness, and prepared them for the coming Messiah. Once he came, these laws were fulfilled, and do not bind believers today (see Ephesians 2:15-16 and Hebrews 10:11-14).

Frequently, in evangelical circles you will hear Christians talk about reinstating Old Testament sacrifices in a rebuilt temple in Jerusalem after the so-called secret rapture of the church. This error is known as dispensationalism. Dispensationalism sends us in the wrong direction, backward, imagining that there will be a time when some believers will practice the faith in the way Israel did before the cross. This is very sad, very wrong, and a very poor way to read the Bible.

The third category of biblical law is moral law, which is permanent, obligating, and unchanging. It binds man to perpetual obedience, both before and after the fall. It obligates both believers and unbelievers. And God’s moral law is summarized in the Ten Commandments. Think of the Ten Commandments as the abiding principles that are worked out in the civil law, then it’s these commandments that serve as the moral foundation for the civil laws we will study in Chapter 21. The Ten Commandments – God’s abiding moral principles – are applied to the specific laws governing life in ancient Israel.

Now to our text, and what a text it is: “Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off” (Exodus 20:18). We Alabamians, especially those of us over in the Harvest area, should have some feel for Israel’s experience. Remember the spring tornadoes? Howling winds - houses shaking – the locomotive rumbling - trees snapping like toothpicks – the furious lightening bolts unleashed.

That’s what Israel sees, feels, and hears the entire time the Lord speaks the Ten Commandments at Sinai (see Exodus 19:16ff). Don’t trifle with Yahweh and his word. In awe, Israel stands before its Creator and Redeemer. This is not a contemporary worship scene. No coffee cups in hand, no idle banter, no Israelites asleep in the pews. Nothing is more serious and solemn and awe-inspiring than meeting with the omnipotent God. In the Ten Commandments he demands their absolute loyalty, and proclaims total authority over their worship, their words, their time, their marriages, their bodies, and their thoughts and desires.[2] They must fear him and obey him.

He is so fearful, in fact, that Israel is desperate for a covenant mediator, one to act as a go-between them and their holy God: “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” One Bible teacher says: “Fear of God, fear of the law and fear of judgment were just too much for them to bear . . . they realized their guilt and unholiness, and they knew they were deserving of his condemnation.”[3]

A leader must be poised in crises and not lose their bearing. Even if fear courses through his veins, a leader must show courage. Moses leads. Look at verse 20: Moses assures the people: “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” The vast drama unfolding at Sinai shouldn’t leave you shaking like a leaf and incapacitated by terror. Rather, it is the Lord testing. His holy presence restrains sin.

That said, Moses, too, shook with fear. How do we know? The writer to the Hebrews tells us on that dreadful day at Sinai that “[s]o terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” Moses trembled. Not out on the open for all to see. But alone. Like the people he represented before God, he was a sinner. Yet, trembling in fear, he pressed on: “[t]he people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was” (Exodus 12:21).

Our New Testament lesson this morning comes from Hebrews 12. Some things have not changed since Israel gathered at Sinai. God’s holy character hasn’t: he is “a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29). Our duty hasn’t: “acceptable worship, with reverence and awe” (Hebrews 12:28).

But O how we thank God for the changes the New Covenant has brought us! Moses, Israel’s covenant mediator was a great man, but like us, he was a great sinner. We now have a new covenant and a new mediator. Jesus, the holy, perfect, and righteous Son of God is “the mediator of a new covenant” (Hebrews 12:24).

His blood shed on the cross has achieved for us perfect forgiveness. He doesn’t lead us back to Sinai and Sinai’s terrors, but to another mountain – Mt. Zion – the heavenly Jerusalem. Our citizenship resides in the city of the living God, an assembly that is not marked by terror, but marked by joy (Hebrews 12:22).

What security we have in Christ! No one puts it better than the hymnwriter:

The terrors of the law and of God
With me can have nothing to do;
My savior’s obedience and blood
Hide all my transgressions from view.[4]

In the shelter of his obedience and blood you worship with joy.

And it is the assembly of worship that we turn our attention in Exodus 20:22-26, which begins a section of Exodus called the Book of the Covenant and extends to chapter 24. After the Ten Commandments, it’s not surprising that the first laws applying to the life of ancient Israel begin with worship. Do not the Ten Commandments begin: “You shall have no other Gods before me?” (Exodus 20:3) Banish every idol.

And the second commandment teaches us that the one God must be worshipped in the right way: “You must not make for yourself a carved image” and bow down to it or serve it. Go astray in worship, and all is lost.

So, in verses 22 and 23 the Lord reiterates the first two commandments: here we find a blanket condemnation of idols. “And the LORD said to Moses, ‘Thus you shall say to the people of Israel: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven. You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold.’” (Exodus 20:22-23)

Instead of making idols, the pilgrim people of Israel must construct altars as God leads them through the wilderness. Later, sacrifices will be offered in one place – the Tabernacle and later the Temple. But for now, as it continues its journey, they must remember the Lord and honor his name in worship that is plain and simple and full of thanksgiving. To that place of worship, God will come and bless his beloved people.

On the altar two kinds of sacrifice are offered, burnt offerings and peace offerings. “An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you” (Exodus 20:24).

In burnt offerings, writes John Mackay, “the animals were totally consumed in the fire (29:15-18), turning aside God’s wrath from the worshipper.”[5]

Let’s think, for a moment, about sacrifices for sin. What’s going on with all these animal sacrifices? What’s their purpose?

Think about a sacrificial lamb. According to biblical law, priests took a sacrificial lamb without spot or blemish, which represented the moral purity of the victim. Then they laid their hands on the lamb, confessing the sins of God’s people. By that act, guilt was transferred from the people to the lamb. The lamb was killed, the morally innocent in the place of the unrighteous. All of this pointed God’s people to the coming of his Son, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). Jesus dies, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might reconcile us to God. He bears our guilt, and removes our shame. In Christ, God’s mercy comes to us. Through these sacrifices, the Law of Moses leads us to Christ.

After the sacrifice for sin was accepted, there were peace offerings. In fellowship God shared a meal with his friends, all their sins atoned for.[6] When at the Lord’s Supper we eat the bread and drink the wine, we do more than remember Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the cross. By the Spirit’s power, our hearts are raised to where Christ is, seated at the Father’s right hand, and we share fellowship with our Savior as his friends.

Notice the simplicity of the altar in verse 25: “If you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stones, for if you wield your tool on it you profane it.” If that seems odd to you, just think about the finally chiseled altars of stone built by Israel’s pagan neighbors. These were part of ancient fertility cults. All across the ancient near east, carefully crafted, high quality altars celebrated encounters with their deities through sexual relationships that included cult prostitutes and orgies. That sort of vile behavior must not mark Israel’s relationship with the holy Lord of Israel. Israel’s altars must be simple, not resembling in the slightest way these immoral places.

Which explains the dress of Israel’s priests: “And you shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness be not exposed on it” (Exodus 20:26). The worship of the true and living God must not be marked by sexual immorality.

In our own age, when sexually explicit material floods us, we must be different. Take to heart Paul’s exhortation: “But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints” (Ephesians 5:3). Or, as the New International Version translates: “But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people” (Ephesians 5:3).

Biblical worship, biblical churches, and biblical ministers must be marked by holiness.

By God’s grace, you’re his New Covenant people, his joyful assembly. In response to God’s word and by the power of his Spirit, let your worship be filled with reverence and awe and purity.
__________

            [1] All Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

            [2] Ryken 678-679.

            [3] John D. Currid, Exodus, vol. 2 (Evangelical Press, 2001), 53.

            [4] August M. Toplady, “A Debtor to Mercy Alone,” Trinity Hymnal (revised), selection 463.

            [5] John Mackay, Exodus (Mentor: 2001), 361.

            [6] Mackay, 361.

Charles Simeon on Preaching

2012-01-30T06:11:00.000-06:00

Charles Simeon is one of my heroes of the faith. He served as pastor of Trinity Church, Cambridge, England for 54 years (1782-1836), and upheld the highest standards for expository preachers.

Click here to read J.I. Packer's thoughts on Simeon's preaching, and what Simeon would say to preachers today.

" . . . Simeon would remind us that expository sermons will have an evangelical content. Always in some way they will set forth the gospel in its double aspect as a revelation and a remedy; always in some way they will throw light on the twin themes of sin and grace; for these are the things that the whole Bible is about. Always, therefore, their tendency will be threefold— 'to humble the sinner; to exalt the Saviour; to promote holiness' — for that is the tendency of the Bible, and of every part of the Bible. Whatever part of the counsel of God they deal with, expository sermons will relate it to 'Christ, and Him crucified', for the Christ of Calvary is, so to speak, the hub around which the whole Biblical revelation revolves. It was in this sense that Simeon, following Paul, insisted that 'Christ, and Him crucified' was the whole of his message. And the preacher is not handling his texts biblically, Simeon would say, unless he is seeing and setting them in their proper relation to Christ. If the expositor finds himself out of sight of Calvary, that shows that he has lost his way."

Noah Webster on "Economy"

2012-01-25T08:59:00.000-06:00

At our 2009 Missions Conference, Dr. Cortez Cooper reviewed Noah Webster's 1828 multiple definitions of the word economy: ECON'OMY, n. [L. oeconomia; Gr. house, and law, rule.]

1. Primarily, the management, regulation and government of a family or the concerns of a household.

2. The management of pecuniary concerns or the expenditure of money. Hence,

3. A frugal and judicious use of money; that management which expends money to advantage,and incurs no waste; frugality in the necessary expenditure of money. It differs from parsimony, which implies an improper saving of expense. Economy includes also a prudent management of all the means by which property is saved or accumulated; a judicious application of time, of labor, and of the instruments of labor.

4. The disposition or arrangement of any work; as the economy of a poem.

5. A system of rules, regulations, rites and ceremonies; as the Jewish economy.

6. The regular operation of nature in the generation, nutrition and preservation of animals or plants; as animal economy; vegetable economy.

7. Distribution or due order of things.

8. Judicious and frugal management of public affairs; as political economy.

9. System of management; general regulation and disposition of the affairs of a state or nation, or of any department of government.

Dr. Cooper observed that we reserve the word almost exclusively for the ninth definition, the management and regulation of a nation's financial and commercial system. Had our nation paid more attention to the earlier uses of the word perhaps we would not currently face enormous national deficits and debt. I suspect imprudent national spending reflects the disordered economic life of American households.

We would do well to recover this use of the word: economy is "a frugal and judicious use of money; that management which expends money to advantage, and incurs no waste; frugality in the necessary expenditure of money . . . Economy includes also a prudent management of all the means by which property is saved or accumulated; a judicious application of time, of labor, and of the instruments of labor."

Westminster Debate Team

2012-01-22T06:24:00.002-06:00

Congratulations to Westminster Christian Academy's Debate Team, who competed this weekend at the winter Milestones Debate and Speech Club Tournaments. Nick Kromann took second place in Lincoln/Douglas Policy Debate; Nick Kromann and Michelle Story took third place in Team Policy Debate; and Eric Ewing was a Lincoln/Douglas octofinalist.

This year's resolution, “Resolved: That the United States Federal Government should substantially reform its revenue generation policies.”

The Commanding Power of the Law

2012-01-12T16:27:00.002-06:00

"Though a Christian is not under the condemning power of the law, yet he is under its commanding power. To love God, to reverence and obey him, is a law which always binds and will bind in heaven."

- Thomas Watson, The Ten Commandments (Banner of Truth, 2009; orig. pub. 1692), 44.

Charles Hodge on Repentance

2012-01-11T09:59:00.001-06:00

Charles Hodge lived a life of remarkable piety and learning, and in Andrew Hoffecker he has a biographer who tells his story well.

Here's Hodge on repentance:

Our repentance needs to be repented of, unless it leads us to confession and restitution in cases of private injury; unless it causes us to forsake not merely outward sins, which attract the notice of others, but those which lie concealed in the heart; unless it makes us choose the service of God, as that which is right and congenial, and causes us to live not for ourselves but for him who loved us and gave himself for us.

- W. Andrew Hoffecker, Charles Hodge: The Pride of Princeton (P&R: 2011), 224.

Happy Millard Fillmore Day!

2012-01-07T00:01:00.000-06:00

Today is the 212th anniversary of the birth of Millard Fillmore, our 13th president.

Perhaps unjustly, his 2 1/2 year administration is frequently evaluated as a failure (at worst) or mediocre (at best). Let's be charitable and call it mediocre. If for no other reasons, we can be grateful for his establishment of the White House Library and providing the nomenclatural inspiration for the comic strip Mallard Fillmore.

Should America be appreciative of its mediocre leaders? Nebraska Senator Roman Hruska thought so. (The "h" in Hruska is silent, so what a wonderfully alliterative name!) The year was 1970. Richard Nixon nominated G. Harrold Carswell to serve on the United States Supreme Court. Many found Carswell a mediocre judge, and opposition quickly mounted. Nonetheless, Hruska leapt to the Senate floor in Carswell's defense, arguing: "Even if he were mediocre, there are a lot of mediocre judges and people and lawyers. They are entitled to a little representation, aren't they, and a little chance?"

In any case, Hruska's impassioned plea in defense of mediocrity fell on deaf ears, and Carswell's nomination was rejected. But what if Hruska were right? What if mediocre people do deserve a little representation, a little chance? Why not let them (us) rise up and claim Millard Fillmore as their (our) own? Millard Fillmore Day - a grand celebration in praise of mediocrity!

Happy Millard Fillmore Day!

J.C. Ryle on Sanctificaiton and Scriptural Means

2012-01-04T16:48:00.002-06:00

In his classic book Holiness, Bishop Ryle observes:

Sanctification . . . is a thing which depends greatly on the use of Scriptural means. When I speak of "means," I have in view Bible-reading, private prayer, regular attendance on public worship, regular hearing of God's Word, and regular reception of the Lord's Supper. I lay it down as a simple matter of fact, that no one who is careless about such things must ever expect to make much progress in sanctification. I can find no record of any eminent saint who ever neglected them. They are appointed channels through which the Holy Spirit conveys fresh supplies of grace to the soul, and strengthens the work which He has begun in the inward man. Let man call this legal doctrine if they please, but I will never shrink from declaring my belief that there are "no spiritual gains without pains." I should as soon expect a farmer to prosper in business who contented himself with sowing his fields and never looking at them till harvest, as expect a believer to attain much holiness who was not diligent about his Bible-reading, his prayers, and the use of his Sundays. Our God is a God who works by means, and He will never bless the soul of that man who pretends to be so high and spiritual that he can get on without them.

- J.C. Ryle in J.I. Packer's Faithfulness and Holiness: The Witness of J.C. Ryle (Crossway, 2002), 124-125. The book includes an appreciation by J.I. Packer and the full text of the first edition of Ryle's Holiness, which was published in 1877.

2012 Theology Conference (January 6-8)

2012-01-03T09:46:00.002-06:00

Each year our Theology Conference provides us the opportunity to devote special attention to some aspect of the Christian life.

This year Dr. John V. Fesko will lead our studies in "Sanctification and the Christian Life."

We are justified by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Now what? How do we grow in holiness? What is a proper biblical understanding of the doctrine of sanctification?

This conference explores answers to these questions by examining different doctrinal trends in the church today, by identifying the biblical doctrine of sanctification, and by exploring how we put doctrine into practice.

Join us as we think together about what it means to die to sin and live to righteousness.

Dr. Fesko is a minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and served as a church planter and pastor for almost 11 years before becoming the Academic Dean at Westminster Seminary California. He also serves as an Associate Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology. Dr. Fesko is the author of a number of books and articles. He and his wife, Anneke, and their two sons, Rob, 2, and Val, 4, reside in Escondido, California.

Friday – January 6, 2012

            6:00 p.m.           Barbecue Dinner

            7:00 p.m.           Session 1 - “Different Approaches to Sanctification”

Saturday – January 7, 2012

            9:00 a.m.            Donuts and Coffee

            9:30 a.m.            Session II – “Understanding Sanctification”

            11:00 a.m.          Lunch

            11:30 a.m.          Session III – “Living Out Your Sanctification”

Sunday – January 8, 2012

            9:30 a.m.            Morning Worship – “The Vine and the Branches” John 15:1-17

            11:00 a.m.          Session IV – “Sanctification and the Fruit of the Spirit”

            12:00 noon          Lunch - All Church Pot Luck

            6:00 p.m.            Evening Worship – Alien Conduct” 1 Peter 2:11-12

There is no charge for the conference. Please contact the church office at 256.830.5754 to register for meals and childcare.

The Mind: Watchman of the Soul

2012-01-02T14:39:00.000-06:00

"[T]he mind is the watchman of the soul, commanded to judge and determine whether something is good and pleasing to God, so the affections can long for it and the will can choose it. If the mind fails to identify a sin as evil, wicked, vile, and bitter, the affections will not be safe from clinging to it, nor the will from giving consent. This is one side of the castle wall, the first line of defense: to keep in mind that every sin is a forsaking of God (Jeremiah 2:19), to never forget the polluting, corrupting, defiling power of sin - to be shaken to the core by how much God loathes sin."

- Kris Lundgaard

The Enemy Within: Straight Talk about the Power and Defeat of Sin, (P&R: 1998), p. 63

A Leader's Mature Judgment

2011-12-31T09:10:00.001-06:00

This excerpt comes from a 1774 speech by Edmund Burke after his election to represent Bristol in Parliament. He argues that a representative, as he makes laws in a deliberative assembly, is not bound to vote the mandates of those who elected him. Instead, he must exercise his mature judgment, which may lead him to vote contrary to the wishes of his constituency. If he is unable to persuade his constituency of the merits of his action, they may remove him. Accepting the risk of electoral defeat, the representative must lead.

Certainly, gentlemen, it ought to be the happiness and glory of a representative to live in the strictest union, the closest correspondence, and the most unreserved communication with his constituents. Their wishes ought to have great weight with him; their opinion, high respect; their business, unremitted attention. It is his duty to sacrifice his repose, his pleasures, his satisfactions, to theirs; and above all, ever, and in all cases, to prefer their interest to his own. But his unbiassed opinion, his mature judgment, his enlightened conscience, he ought not to sacrifice to you, to any man, or to any set of men living. These he does not derive from your pleasure; no, nor from the law and the constitution. They are a trust from Providence, for the abuse of which he is deeply answerable. Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion.

Observes David Broomwich:

Burke's strictures here contain the germ of a theory of representation that would later be invested with much authority by the American authors of the Federalist Papers. The theory holds that a legislator may gain, from experience in making laws, a knowledge hardly available to those who elect him. The people remain the source of ultimate power since they can turn a representative out of office. Meanwhile the representative is to follow the public good and bring to bear his understanding of the pragmatic means to attain that good. Answerable to the suffrage of opinion, he should be its guide and to its follower.

- Edmund Burke, "Mr. Burke's Speech to the Electors of Bristol" in On Empire, Liberty, and Reform: Speeches and Letters, ed. by David Broomwich (Yale University Press, 2000), 50-57.

"You Led and I Will Follow"

2011-12-28T05:30:00.000-06:00

At this time last year Lynne and I visited Monticello Cemetery with our good friends, Matt and Rebecca Harness. I found this poignant grave marker in the Monticello Cemetery, Charlottesville, Virginia.

Lucian King Truscott, III (1921-2000): "A SOLDIER. WE HAD A WONDERFUL LIFE TOGETHER AND RAISED FIVE CHILDREN."

Anne Harloe Truscott (1922-1998): "AFTER 52 YEARS TOGETHER, THIS TIME, DEAR, YOU LED AND I WILL FOLLOW."

Happy Anniversary, Lynne!

2011-12-27T00:02:00.000-06:00

"She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her."
Proverbs 31:10-11

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, LYNNE!

Charles Hodge (1797-1878)

2011-12-27T00:01:00.000-06:00

Today is the anniversary of the birth of Charles Hodge, a prominent figure in American Presbyterianism. We do well to pursue biblical studies and theology with his disciplined passion.

We live in an age that separates head and heart. Careful study of the Bible and exploration of theology are considered chilling intellectual activities that threaten a fervent, heart-felt relationship with God. No better example of this tendency is the sea change in American worship during the last 30 years. In many places, systematic and expository preaching gave way to motivational talks. Short choruses sung over and over again to affective music frequently replaced classic Christian hymns and psalm singing, which require serious and sustained thought. Truth saturated preaching and congregational singing suffer, we are poorer for it.

Sadly, we are becoming strangers to what Christians of previous eras called “the force of truth.” Paul observes that the Romans “obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered” (Romans 6:17). Notice the union of will (obedience), affections (heart), and intellect (form of doctrine). In his Word, God appeals to our hearts through the mind. By the presentation of truth – never apart from truth – are emotions engaged and behavior transformed.

Charles Hodge knew the force of truth upon the emotional lives of believers.

December 27 is the anniversary of his birth. His teaching career at Princeton Seminary spanned 58 years (1820-1878). His direct contact with six decades of ministerial students at Princeton, his participation in the ecclesiastical courts of the church, and an extensive written ministry made him the most influential Presbyterian of the 19th century.

His commentaries, journal articles, and three-volume Systematic Theology powerfully and persuasively present biblical truth. The Way of Life, prepared for the American Sunday School Union in 1841, exemplifies the type of devotional writing that understands the indissoluble union between the theological exposition of Scripture and holiness of life.

A February 13, 1820 diary entry reveals Hodge’s approach to teaching: "May I be taught of God that I may be able to teach others also. It is only the heart that has been deeply exercised in divine things which can enable us to preach experimentally to others. Piety is the life of a minister.”

Here are a few selections from the last chapter of The Way of Life. I hope they will provide some material for meditation as you think about the relationship between head and heart:

• "The secret of holy living lies in this doctrine of the union of the believer with Christ. This is not only the ground of his hope of pardon, but the source of the strength whereby he dies unto sin and lives unto righteousness. It is by being rooted and grounded in Christ that he is strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man, and is enabled to comprehend the breadth, and length, and depth, and height of the mystery of redemption, and to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge, and is filled with all the fullness of God. It is this doctrine which sustains him under all his trials, and enables him to triumph over all his enemies; for it is not he that lives, but Christ that lives in him, giving him grace sufficient for his day, and purifying unto himself as one of his peculiar people zealous of good works.”

• “ . . . One hour’s communion with God produces an impression never to be effaced; it renders the soul forever less susceptible of evil, and more susceptible of good. And as the Holy Spirit is ever exciting the soul to the exercise of holiness, and bringing it into communion with God, he thus renders it more and more holy, and better fitted for the unchanging and perfect holiness of heaven.”

• “It is most unreasonable to expect to be conformed to the image of God, unless the truth concerning God be made to operate often and continuously upon the mind. How can a heart that is filled with the thoughts and cares of the world, and especially one which is often moved to evil by the thoughts or sight of sin, expect that the affections answer to the holiness, good, or greatness of God, should gather strength within it? How can the love of Christ increase in the bosoms of those who hardly ever think of him or his work? This cannot be without a change in the very nature of things; and, therefore, we cannot make progress in holiness unless we devote much time to the reading, hearing, and meditating upon the word of God, which is the truth whereby we are sanctified. The more this truth is brought before the mind; the more we commune with it, entering into its import, applying it to our own case, appropriating its principles, appreciating its motives, rejoicing in its promises, trembling at its threatenings, rising by its influence from what is seen and temporal to what is unseen and eternal, the more we expect to be transformed by the renewing of our mind, so as to approve and love whatever is holy, just, and good. Men distinguished for their piety have been men of meditation as well as men of prayer; men accustomed to withdraw the mind from the influence of the world with its thousand joys and sorrows, and to bring it under the influence of the doctrines, precepts, and promises of the word of God.”

This Christmas season may we contemplate with renewed interest the birth of our Savior who is “full of grace and truth” (John1:14). Jesus said, “For this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me” (John 18:37).

As the old year concludes, we prepare ourselves for a new year of devotion to Jesus and his truth. May the mind of Jesus so fill us that, like him, we say: “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work (John 4:34) and “I have come to do your will, O God” (Hebrews 10:7).

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T05:26:00.001-06:00

Merry Christmas!

Two collects from the 1928 Book of Common Prayer:

"Almighty God, who hast given us thy only-begotten Son to take our nature upon him, and as at this time to be born of a pure virgin; Grant that we being regenerate, and made thy children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by thy Holy Spirit; through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Spirit ever, one God, world without end. Amen."

"God, who makest us glad with the yearly remembrance of the birth of thine only Son Jesus Christ; Grant that as we joyfully receive him for our Redeemer, so we may with sure confidence behold him when he shall come to be our Judge, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen."

"Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!" (2 Corinthians 9:15)

P.D. James on Tradition

2011-12-20T09:10:00.001-06:00

Justin Taylor posts these reflections from my favorite mystery novelist, P.D. James:

We live in an age notable for a kind of fashionable silliness and imbued with a restless desire for change.

It sometimes seems that nothing old, nothing well-established, nothing which has evolved through centuries of experience and loving use escapes our urge to diminish, revise or abolish it.

Above all every organisation has to be relevant—a very fashionable word—to the needs of modern life, as if human beings in the twenty-first century are somehow fundamentally different in their needs and aspirations from all previous generations.

A country which ceases to value and learn from its history, neglects its language and literature, despises its traditions and is unified only by a common frenetic drive for getting and spending and for material wealth, will lose more than its nationhood; it will lose its soul.

Let us cherish and use what we still precariously hold.

Let us strive to ensure that what has been handed down to us is not lost to generations to come.

- from P.D. James, "Through All the Changes Scenes of Life: Living with the Prayer Book," in The Book of Common Prayer: Past, Present and Future: A 350th Anniversary Celebration, ed. Prudence Dailey (Continuum, 2011), p. 51.

The Marriage Gap and Income Inequality

2011-12-20T07:18:00.001-06:00

"The steadily dropping marriage rate both contributes to income inequality and further entrenches it," concludes Ruth Marcus in a Washington Post opinion column.

A Sermon on John (1:14-18)

2011-12-19T11:46:00.001-06:00

(A sermon on John, preached December 18, 2011.)

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) 16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.[1]

Do you understand what you just heard? Do you understand what it means that “the Word became flesh?” That phrase commemorates the most amazing event in human history – what we celebrate at Christmas: for us and for our salvation “the Word became flesh.” We call it the incarnation, from the Latin “made flesh.” Listen to our catechism on the incarnation; it summarizes the scriptures well: “Christ, the Son of God, became man, by taking to himself a true body and a reasonable soul, being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost in the womb of the virgin Mary, and born of her, yet without sin.”[2]

“Word” - one of the names of God’s Son, and the second person of the Trinity. After his incarnation, God’s Son will be called Jesus and Lord. But first, “in the beginning was the Word” (John 1:1).

John leaves no suspense about the Word’s identity; he settles that in the very first verse: “The Word was God” (John 1:1) The Word is fully God. Therefore, everything that makes God God we find in his Son. In the words of our catechism God’s Son is “infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth.”[3] With the Father and the Holy Spirit, he is “the same in substance, equal in power and glory.”[4] From passages like this emerge our doctrines of the Trinity and the deity of Christ.

The Word was God. What a jolt, then to read, “the Word became flesh.” This is shocking language. Because we’ve read the verse many times it loses its punch; it shouldn’t. The language, if not crude, is at least blunt.[5] “The Word became flesh.”

No doubt, John could have put it more delicately: “The Word became man,” or, “the Word assumed a body.”[6] Both would do. But flesh – that’s tough. In the Bible, flesh is associated with weakness, the devastating consequences of the fall. Weakness and divine omnipotence don’t seem to belong together.

To live in the flesh is to be subject to the miseries of a world infected by sin.[7] The eternal Son of God becomes flesh. From cradle to tomb he experiences what men and women experience. To name a few – piercing hunger and thirst, weariness, tearful sorrow, bereavement, rejection, and the victim of physical violence and a judicial injustice that ends in death. God’s Son is no stranger to the suffering and hardships and temptations of life - he experiences them all, but without sinning.[8]

The Word becomes flesh. If the term “Word” indicates the Son’s full deity, then the term “flesh” indicates his full humanity. He becomes fully man in the incarnation. The Lord Jesus, our Savior, has a divine nature and a human nature, fully God and fully man, one person forever.

Today we meditate on the incarnation of God’s Son, and five words come to my mind – humility, sympathy, glory, power, and dignity.

Think with me now about the humility of the Lord’s incarnation.

Humility is an ugly word! Or, so most Romans thought. Weakness, the groveling of the defeated before his victor, a human doormat – that’s what it means to be humble. Ancient warriors took their cues from Homer’s Achilles, who as C.S. Lewis points out, “knows nothing of the demand that the brave should also be the modest and the merciful. He kills men as they cry for quarter or takes them prisoner to kill them at leisure.”[9] What of the humble man? Perhaps we should pity him – but admire him? Never!

But Christ’s incarnation turns Roman values upside down. In humility he rescues a hell-deserving people from eternal punishment. A word that Rome despises becomes a cornerstone virtue in the church of God. The word humility no longer conjures up images of defeated foes groveling in the dirt, or human doormats, but the selflessness, strength and courage of the incarnate Christ.

Paul describes the incarnation this way: Christ, “who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:6-7). No clinging to his favored position as the Father’s beloved – no pleading to avoid Bethlehem and the cross – no protecting himself from humiliation and suffering – no pleasing himself.

Instead, with his mind firmly fixed on your salvation and mine, God the Son adds to himself a human nature, and being conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary and born of her, he placed himself in the most vulnerable position imaginable. As Dick Keyes observes,

He could not roll over in his borrowed manger without assistance, and he could not hold up his head without a supporting hand. He had to have his swaddling clothes changed for him . . .

Although Jesus was the only one who ever got to decide what family he would be born into, he did not choose the Roman royal family, nobility, or even the Jewish priesthood. He was born into a poor carpenter’s family amid rumors of illegitimacy that persisted all his life.[10]

The humility of Christ’s incarnation.

Today we meditate on the incarnation of God’s Son, and five words come to my mind – humility, sympathy, glory, power, and dignity.

Think with me now about the sympathy of Christ’s incarnation.

I don’t know about you, but the people I cherish most are those who’ve stood beside me in trials, who have endured hardship with me. Adversity only makes these friends all the more loyal. Sadly, we have fair weather friends – they’re beside us when things go well, but when trouble comes they melt away faster than snow in Alabama.

Our Savior is no fair weather friend. He sees better than we do the ugliness of our sin, yet his devotion to us remains firm. We fail him, but he remains true to us. Our behavior tarnishes the reputation of his name, but he won’t disown us. None of our enemies frightens him. He refuses to leave us broken and without hope.

Look at verse 14: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” The verse could read, “The Word became flesh and pitched his tent among us.” Or, “the word became flesh and tabernacled among us.” The Greek word for “dwelt” can be translated either way. God was present with his Old Covenant people in the Tabernacle, or as it’s also known, the Tent of Meeting.

What a journey that Tabernacle made! Along torturous roads and winding wilderness paths, the Lord is with Israel every step of the way. In barren and harsh places, there’s the Lord in the midst of his people.

In the incarnation of his Son, God comes among his people, journeying with them, subjecting himself to their knocks and bruises, sharing their hardships along the way. God with us – Immanuel – that’s what we celebrate in our Christmas confession, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”

The incarnation assures us of Christ’s sympathy, and especially the sympathy he has for us as we face temptation. He has been touched with the feeling of our temptations. [11] Because our Lord is sinless, we wonder: how can the divine Son of God, the sinless one, understand temptation? Did he face real temptations? Most certainly he did.

A Scottish Presbyterian cautions:

It is completely misguided to imagine that the agony of temptation overcome is less than the agony of temptation yielded to. On the contrary, to yield to temptation is to escape its full ferocity. The devil never has to do his utmost to secure our fall. A little of his power and cunning will suffice. But Christ did not yield and this made it necessary for the tempter to increase the pressure. Far from being the one who escapes temptation because he is sinless, he is the one who precisely because he is sinless alone experiences temptation in its full intensity. He alone took all the devil could throw at him."[12]

From his incarnation to his death, Jesus was tempted to turn from the road to the cross, to save himself from suffering, and to forsake the Father’s will. But on he pressed, his heart fixed on the Father’s glory and our salvation. “He learned,” says the writer of Hebrews, “obedience through what he suffered” (Hebrews 5:8). Most mercifully, the writer concludes, “we do not have [in Christ] a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:16).

The sympathy of Christ’s incarnation.

Today we meditate on the incarnation of God’s Son, and five words come to my mind – humility, sympathy, glory, power, and dignity.

Think with me now about the glory of Christ’s incarnation.

Of the incarnate Christ John writes: “we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.” In the Old Covenant, the glory cloud was a visible manifestation of God’s presence among his people – it led Israel through the wilderness. And that glory cloud “covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle” (Exodus 40:34). Now, in the incarnation, the Word tabernacled among us, and the glory of the Lord filled him. John and the other apostles behold his glory.

“We have seen his glory,” says John the Apostle. He and his fellow apostles witness Jesus’ foes – deprivation, hostile enemies, a family ashamed of him, undependable disciples, unjust judges – whatever happens, his step never falters – John says, “we have seen his glory!” Miracle after miracle – we have seen his glory! A tantalizingly brief moment on the Mountain, Christ’s body transfigured – we have seen his glory! The shame and suffering of the Cross for man’s salvation – we have seen his glory! And Easter morning – we have seen his glory! Every step of his life, divine glory rested on Christ.

The other John, John the Baptist, knew also of the glory of Christ. “John bore witness about him, and cried out, 'This was he of whom I said, “He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me”’”(John 1:15).

Think about Jesus and John. John was born first; his ministry came first. But there’s no comparison and John knew it! John – bold and courageous and esteemed – was only part of Jesus’ advance team. Besides, the Word, being eternal, existed before John, and is incomparably greater. All glory must go the Word. Later, as the crowds that once flocked to John leave him and go to Jesus, John says of his Lord: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).

The glory of Christ’s incarnation.

Today we meditate on the incarnation of God’s Son, and five words come to my mind – humility, sympathy, glory, power, and dignity.

Think with me now about the power of the incarnation - God’s power to save.

Earlier we thought about sympathy. How encouraging is the sympathizing friend! But there’s one thing a minister learns quickly: having sympathy is one thing, having power is quite another. I can sympathize with the chronically ill, but I cannot heal them. I can have sympathy toward a man whose behavior is destroying himself and his family, but I cannot change him. I have sympathy, but no power.

The Lord Jesus has both sympathy and power. Look again at verse 14: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Grace and truth are powerful; they are an omnipotent combination that saves sinners. Grace – God’s salvation given to those who’ve done nothing to deserve it. Truth – God’s absolute faithfulness to fulfill his promises to save. He is a promise-making and promise-keeping Savior.

The Word is full of grace and truth, and “from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace” (John 1:16). Grace upon grace – an inexhaustible supply of grace, never diminishing, always increasing. This grace is sufficient to save everyone who believes – this grace is sufficient to sustain every believer in every trial. Boundless grace for you and me.

If the Word, our Lord Jesus Christ, is incomparably greater than John the Baptist, so too is he incomparably greater than Moses and the law. Look at the contrast in verse 17: “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17).

Mind you, there’s nothing wrong with the law given through Moses. The law is holy, righteous, and good (Romans 7:12). The law displays God’s perfect character and reveals our duty. But the law is powerless to save.

With its threats of punishment, it can restrain bad behavior, but it can’t change the human heart.

Some have said that the law is like a mirror – it can expose dirt, but you can’t wash bathe in it. Others have said the law is like a thermometer – it can measure your temperature, but it can’t generate heat. The law cannot make you fervent to do God’s will.

The law is powerless to save. The law is powerless to change the human heart. The law condemns; only the work of Christ justifies sinners.

Grace and truth – God’s merciful promise of salvation - come only through Jesus Christ. Therefore, we must see him and hear him as he reveals himself in the gospel. John writes, “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known” (John 1:18).

Not enough time remains to give this profoundly moving verse the care and attention it deserves. I’ll only say that it carries us into the mystery of the Trinity. The Word – God’s Son – here called “the only God, who is at the Father’s side,” it is he and he alone that makes the invisible God known. The incarnation demands that we listen to Christ’s words, study his deeds, submit to his commands, and trust the saving power of his life, death, resurrection and ascension.

Today we meditate on the incarnation of God’s Son, and five words come to my mind – humility, sympathy, glory, power, and dignity.

Think with me, finally, about the dignity of the Lord’s incarnation. As Bishop Ryle observes, “Vile and weak as our body may seem, it is a body which the Eternal Son of God was not ashamed to take upon Himself, and to take up to heaven.” And his promise to us is to raise our bodies from the grave to be like his, glorious and without sin.[13]

Now, it stands to reason that if the Lord’s incarnation testifies to the dignity of the human body, we must not defile it by sin.[14] Indeed, your body is the temple of Christ’s Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19), and your life must be characterized by a fierce determination to guard the body that Christ has chosen to redeem and to make his dwelling place.

Humility, sympathy, glory, power, and dignity – these are words of the incarnation, of Christmas. Cherish each of them as you celebrate the mystery of godliness – God was manifested in the flesh.

____________

[2] Westminster Shorter Catechism, answer 22.

[3] Westminster Shorter Catechism, answer 4.

[4] Westminster Shorter Catechism, answer 6.

[5] Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John (Eerdmans, 1971), 102.

[6] Morris,102.

[7] John Calvin, Commentary on the Gospel of John, vol. 1. Translated by William Pringle (Baker: reprinted 2009), 45.

[8] Hebrews 4:15

[9] C.S. Lewis, Present Concerns (Harcourt: 1986), 14.

[10] Dick Keyes, True Heroism In a World of Celebrity Counterfeits (NavPress, 1995), 151.

[11] Ryle, 27.

[12] Donald Macleod in Michael A.G. Haykin, “The Impeccability of Christ,” Evangelical Times (May 1995), 11.

[13] Ryle, 27-28.

[14] Ryle, 27.

Air France 447

2011-12-17T07:58:00.001-06:00

A fascinating article chronicling the final minutes that led to the tragic loss of Air France 447.

Sermons on Exodus (20:17)

2011-12-15T18:01:00.001-06:00

(The forty-ninth sermon in a series of sermons on Exodus, preached December 11, 2011.)

Exodus 20:1 And God spoke all these words, saying, 2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. . . . 17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”

Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

10 I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. 11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me. [1]

A wise professor says, “The heart of the matter is the matter of the heart.”[2] He’s right.

A man renounces the Christian faith, but only after cherishing in his heart a way of life forbidden to a disciple of Christ. A murderer robs a woman of her life, the culmination of his heart rage. Only after lust overtook his heart long ago does an adulterer take another man’s wife. The thief’s work begins not by taking, but by fixing his heart on what belongs to another.

“The heart of the matter is the matter of the heart,” and the tenth commandment takes aim at the heart of the matter. Coveting begins in the sinful human heart.

What does it mean to covet? Noah Webster defines, “To desire that which it is unlawful to obtain or possess.”[3] Says one writer, “wrong desires enthrone in the heart what God has forbidden.”[4] Therefore, the Lord thunders, “you shall not covet.”

The commandment begins, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.” The word “house” does not mean just “dwelling place,” but a man’s family and possessions.[5]

The commandment continues by spelling out details. A man’s house includes his family, and especially his wife. Domestic happiness and godliness depend upon a man’s faithfulness to his wife, and a wife’s faithfulness to her husband. Therefore, “you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.”

A man’s house includes his possessions, and especially those essential for economic success, namely, his servants and work animals. An Israelite mustn’t crave in his heart what belongs to his more affluent neighbor.

The final words of the tenth commandment spell out the radical heart holiness God commands: “you shall not covet . . . anything that is your neighbor’s.”

Were it possible to banish covetousness from the heart, the desire to sin would end. Our lives would be marked by satisfaction – satisfaction with God and his commands, his provision, and his gifts – this would mark the life of the Christian man or woman. We call that satisfaction contentment, and a contented heart is the sole cure for covetousness.

Sadly, perfect contentment can’t be ours this morning. True, we’re redeemed, but we’re redeemed sinners. Our perfection – and that includes our perfect contentment - awaits Christ’s second advent. But here’s the good news - a considerable measure of contentment can be yours right now. Why? Contentment can be learned. Does Paul not say as much when he writes: “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content” (Philippians 4:11)?

Contentment is learned. No one has to learn how to be discontented. You and I know too well how to stoke the fires of bitterness and complaining. Human misery begins with discontentment. Our first parents are placed in a perfect environment. Yet, the serpent comes to Eve and insinuates that God’s not really so good. He offers her a “better deal.”[6]

Think about your discontentment: never enough money, your spouse never measures up (and neither do your children); you complain about your church, you complain about your job, and when unexpected gifts come your way, you wonder why you didn’t get more and sooner. Hardship comes and past kindnesses are quickly forgotten. Complaining, grumbling, worry, and bitterness mark the life of the discontented man. No one had to teach him how to be discontented.

But how do we learn contentment? That’s the question of the hour.

Contentment means, first, learning to live by faith in Christ.

Consider this morning’s New Testament lesson from Philippians, a prison letter. Paul, under arrest in Rome, writes without self-pity. Instead, he bids Christians to do what he does: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say rejoice” (Philippians 4:4). Paul’s joy is non-circumstantial, that is, his joy doesn’t depend on his geographical location. After all, God ordained Paul to serve him in a prison, not a choice assignment by anyone’s standard.

But what counts is not where Paul is, but where Jesus is - risen from the dead, ascended into heaven and seated at God’s right hand. Wherever Paul is, he knows that he is in the Lord. Justified by faith, he has peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. He rejoices in the Lord.

Right now, believer, you are in Christ; you are “in the Lord.” Justified by faith in Christ, your sins are forgiven. Rejoice in the Lord!

Contentment means learning to live by faith in Christ.

Contentment also means learning to trust our heavenly Father’s provision.

Focus on Philippians 4:13, one of the most misused and abused verses in the entire Bible. Paul writes: “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” I have heard people, especially youth leaders and motivational speakers, claim this verse as the basis for the conviction that you can overcome any problems that you face if you just have enough faith. Have faith and all obstacles will fall before you, like a line of dominoes. It’s not true.

If you believe that faith will vanquish every obstacle in your path, you’ll one day be disheartened. There is no promise of this kind here, or anywhere else in Scripture. The promise is that when mountains on every side hem you in, God will neither leave you nor forsake you. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,” says David, “I will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4). Wherever God places you, he provides; his care and comforts are at hand.

You may find yourself in intractable situations - circumstances that won’t change. A chronic illness – a rebellious child – an uncaring spouse – a difficult job you can’t leave. Most Christians find themselves at one time or another in painful circumstances impervious to change. When you do, go ahead, pray for God to change the situations; he may well do it – his mercy and compassion are great. But for his glory, and the good of his kingdom and your own good, he may say “no.” Whether yes or no, he provides, and contentment can be ours.

Don’t you feel Paul’s confidence in God’s provision? “I can do all things through him who strengthens me?” Still in prison; nevertheless, content.

No trace of coveting appears in these verses. Paul doesn’t resent the freedom of others, as if their liberty came at his expense. No grudges against those enjoying the comforts of life while he faces the hardships of prison. His joy doesn’t depend on the family and possessions of his neighbor. He’s content in his heavenly Father’s provision.

Listen to his testimony. “Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.” (Philippians 4:11-12)

How remarkable!

Godly contentment must be learned in times of want. “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low . . . I have learned the secret of facing . . . hunger . . . and need.” When there is little or no money - when a relationship seems irreparably broken - when our life circumstances weigh us down - when we pray and nothing changes – that’s when we must learn contentment.

Learning contentment in times of hardship doesn’t mean we don’t try to improve our circumstances, but it does mean we will not complain. We choose to trust God. And if circumstances do change for the better, we fervently pray that the lessons of contentment learned by suffering will not be forgotten.

Trusting and complaining don’t go together. We can either trust God or complain against his provision. It’s either one or the other. Times of want reveal just how much we trust.

But just as remarkable is the other half of Paul’s testimony. Godly contentment must be learned in times of plenty. “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. . . . I know how to abound. . . . I have learned the secret of facing plenty [and] abundance.” Wealth and health do not make a heart content. No matter how favorable our circumstances, we can always complain that things aren’t better. Remember the famous financier who was asked, “How much money is enough?” He replied, “One more dollar than I have.” Our appetites, unless controlled, will always exceed our capacity to fulfill them. Truly, “the heart of the matter is the matter of the heart.”

Contentment can be learned, and it is learned as we live by faith in Christ, and trust in our heavenly Father’s provision. Next, contentment is learned by submission to God’s sovereign will.

The Bible assures us that God ordains whatever comes to pass, that he “works all things according to the counsel of his will” (Ephesians 1:11). When God’s obedient people find themselves in hard places, they can count on one truth: the situation is no accident; it is the good will of their heavenly Father who works in all things for his glory, the good of his church, and the good of his people. For his glory and your good and the good of God’s church, he may speedily deliver you from your trial, in a seemingly miraculous way. Praise him for your deliverance!

Or, he may choose to leave you where you are and as you are, but again for his glory, and the good of the church and our good. Praise him for his sustaining grace!

Think about Paul in prison. In his hardship, he rejoices in Christ. A dark place is turned into an arena of God’s grace. Paul learns that Christ is sufficient, and those who watch him see Christ’s sufficiency too. There is evangelistic power in godly contentment. How many Christians have turned their hospital rooms or difficult marriages or chronically poor health into an occasion for powerful Christian testimony?

My Aunt Martha struggled with poor health for the fifty years I knew her. I never heard her complain. A teacher, the time came when she could not spend an entire day in the classroom. So, she found work as a part-time GED instructor, helping poor dropouts obtain the equivalent of a high school diploma.

Eventually, the government could not longer fund her position. She met with her supervisor, and told him she would continue to teach without pay – if she could invite the students to come an hour earlier for a voluntary meal and Bible study. He agreed and students came. When her health required her to leave her position, some of her students continued to come to her home for tutoring. My Aunt Martha turned every setback into an opportunity to witness - something contented people do instinctively.

As we wrap things up this morning, two words to keep in mind as you learn contentment”

First, adversity – expect it. “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). We are delivered through tribulation, not from it.

No small part of the discontentment pervasive in modern America emerges from our conviction that we are entitled to a trouble-free life. David Wells puts it like this:

In the older world we left behind, people thought of adversity as inevitable. Adversity was a consequence of the fall for those of a Christian outlook. But even for non-Christians it was never seen as an unexpected intruder in life. It was never thought that life should be without pain. Pain, disease, setbacks, disappointments, and wrong done to us were all seen as part of our life in this world, part of its texture, a thread woven with all the other threads through the fabric of our daily experience. Adversity was seen, even, as a necessary component in life. Today we resent adversity as an interruption in our pleasure seeking, a rude disruption of our opportunities and our sense of calm. It is a gross injustice. Why should bad things happen to good people? Where is the justice of that? We are entitled to better. Indeed, we are demanding better! Adversity of any kind is unacceptable.[7]

Unless we acknowledge – even embrace – adversity, we cannot be content. We have no reason to expect that it won’t be our constant companion.

In adversity, we’re tested. When the pressure’s on - when the pain is intense – that’s when we put our faith to work. Things get tight, and we choose to entrust ourselves to God in Christ, convinced that he is at work in us and through us.

Jeremiah Burroughs writes, “Exercise faith, not only in the promise that all shall work together for good to them that fear God, but likewise exercise faith in God himself; as well as in his Word, in the attributes of God . . . What can you do by your faith? I can do this: I can in all states cast my care upon God, cast my burden upon God, I can commit my way to God in peace: faith can do this.”[8]

Two words to keep in mind as you learn contentment. First, adversity. Next, envy – don’t envy the good that comes to your neighbor. Our catechism reminds us that the tenth commandment forbids “the envying or grieving at the good of our neighbor.”[9] How easy it is to become bitter when we see others receive what we desperately want.

Make no compromises with envy; slay it before it rules your heart. And the best way of slaying it is by rejoicing with others. “Rejoice with those who rejoice” (Romans 12:12). Are you struggling to find employment? Rejoice with those who find work. Do you have a rebellious child? Then rejoice with other parents whose children are godly and mature. The remedy for envy is celebrating the joy of others.

Are you hurting because you’re childless? Don’t be ashamed of the hurt; take your cares before the Lord in prayer. But by all means – rejoice at the birth of every child; celebrate with happy parents. The remedy for envy is celebrating the joy of others.

Are you sad because you’ve wanted to marry, but the years have gone by, and it hasn’t happened? You be sure to rejoice with your friends as they marry. The remedy for envy is celebrating the joy of others.

Embracing adversity and repudiating envy are indispensable in winning the war against covetousness.

Three and a half centuries ago a Puritan pastor, Jeremiah Burroughs, wrote The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment. It was rare then and it is rare now. But by God’s grace may it be found more and more in our congregation as we learn the great secret of godly contentment. Only contentment drives covetousness from the human heart. And it’s the heart that counts, for now as always, “the heart of the matter is the matter of the heart.”

__________________

[2] Dr. Henry Krabbendam of Covenant College, Lookout Mountain, Georgia.

[3] Noah Webster, American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Retrieved on December 6, 2011 at http://1828.mshaffer.com/d/search/word,covet

[4] John L. Mackay, Exodus (Mentor: 2001), 355.

[5] Mackay, 354.

[6] I’m certain I owe this observation to someone else, but I’m not able to identify the source.

[7] David F. Wells, The Courage to Be Protestant: Truth-lovers, Marketers, and Emergents in the Postmodern World (Eerdmans, 2008), 161.

[8] Jeremiah Burroughs, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth), first published 1648, reprinted by Banner of Truth 1992), p. 219]

[9] Westminster Shorter Catechism, answer 81.

Sermons on Exodus (20:16)

2011-12-13T11:05:00.001-06:00

(The forty-eighth in a series of sermons on Exodus, preached December 4, 2011.)

Exodus 20:1 And God spoke all these words, saying, 2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. . . . 16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.[1]

False witness is the malicious work of the human tongue, and the Lord forbids it. “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord” (Proverbs 12:22).

Sometimes we make the commandment read: “You shall not lie.” This is wrong. “False witness” is correct. True, the Bible condemns lying; there’s no mistaking that. But the commandment’s immediate concern is not lying in general, but a particular form of lying, namely, the lie that is told in the courtroom. “Courtroom justice” is the focus.[2] When you go to court to testify, you must tell the truth. You mustn’t be a false witness.

As one writer points out, the administration of justice in ancient Israel was a simple process.[3] No DNA samples, no fingerprints, no forensic teams, no video recordings. What counted was eyewitness testimony. In the witness’s hand rested the fate of the accused. The stakes in capital trials could not be higher: the witness’s words meant life or death. To give false testimony was a monstrous violation of the law of love.

In our own day, the courtroom is a remote and mysterious place. Most of us will never stand accused of a crime, nor will we ever testify or face cross-examination.

Ancient Israel’s system of justice was neither remote nor mysterious, but a public event, visible to all. Cases were decided at the city gate. Strolling in and out of town you watched justice administered. First-hand, you witnessed what was at stake in legal proceedings – accusation, testimony, judgment, and, if the crime’s severity merited it, execution. Every bit of the process unfolded before your eyes.

Joachim Douma asserts that two principles must govern our thinking.[4]

Principle number one: we must hate false testimony. No one should suffer at the hands of a false witness. In the Old Testament, Naboth was found guilty and killed, on the basis of false testimony (1 Kings 21:13; Matthew 26:59-61). In the New Testament, Jesus’ judges found false witnesses, and on the basis of their false testimony, handed our Lord over to death.

The false witness destroys lives. We must hate false testimony.

Principle number two: we must protect our judicial system by prizing the truth.

In the 1990s an American president lied under oath. His lie was one of the exploits that brought about his impeachment and, potentially, his removal from office. Many Americans were dismayed. Why? After all, his lying covered up private personal behavior that was none of our business.

What these Americans failed to recognize is that he lied under oath. There were certainly other issues, but none more important than false testimony. Any lie, any false testimony, strikes at the heart of our legal system; its punishment is justly severe.

Legal systems are corrupted in numerous ways, but the outcome is always the same: falsehood supplants truth. If we love our neighbor as ourselves, we won’t let this happen.

Let’s think briefly about the biblical legal system. Justices must not pervert justice by showing partiality or by accepting bribes (Deuteronomy 16:18-20, nor give preferential treatment either to the rich or to the poor (Leviticus 19:15). If an accuser bears false witness and his perjury is discovered, then he must receive the punishment that would have fallen on the falsely accused, even if it means his death (Deuteronomy 19:16-19). No mercy for the malicious witness.

If we are to be just, our courts – civil, criminal, and church – must prize the truth. “The whole truth and nothing but the truth” characterizes the godly witness.

But now we move from truth in the courtroom to truth in every area of life. Christians are God’s witnesses to the world (Acts 1:8). Because we have believed “the word of the truth, the gospel,” we are saved (Colossians 1:5). Only as we speak the truth do we have the integrity to declare the truth about God’s character, the God who cannot lie (Hebrews 6:18). We are witnesses to the gospel of God’s Son, who is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). So, of all people, Christians must use their tongues to speak God’s truth. Nothing compromises a Christian’s witness or tarnishes the reputation of God’s church more than a lie. A lie, any lie, betrays the God who delivered us from the dominion of falsehood. How can a liar represent the God “who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4)?

Let’s begin by looking at the assumption that underlies the ninth commandment, which is this: we should strive to protect the good name of our neighbor. His reputation should be of paramount concern. As Martin Luther warned, “reputation is something quickly stolen, but not quickly returned.”[5]

So, our duties include not bearing false witness against our neighbor, refusing to participate in gossip that is false, and, just as steadfastly, refusing to participate in gossip that is true.

Whoa! Wait a minute, you say. Of course I shouldn’t spread untruths about our neighbor. But what’s wrong with telling unpleasant truths about my neighbor? After all, it is the truth.

Here’s where we must stop and think about our duty to love our neighbor. A loving Christian must be able to say hard things. Love motivates him to speak to him about some of his sins. “Brother, if you can’t control your anger, you’re going to lose your job.” “My dear friend, if you don’t stop wasting money you will hurt your family.” “Sister in Christ, I’m concerned about your bitterness. Let’s talk.”

Love also moves us to overlook many of the sins of others, because life would be unbearable if we made a major issue over each of our sins and shortcomings.

Love compels us to confront the particularly destructive sins of others, even as we hope our neighbors would have courage to speak if we were putting ourselves into harm’s way. But love never compels us to talk about the sins of others to third parties in gossip sessions.

Think carefully before you decide it’s no big deal whether you participate in gossip sessions where the truth about another is being exposed. Don’t you have sins that you don’t want broadcast to the world? Don’t you have weakness that you would rather not see trumpeted in the streets? You expect discretion on the part of your friends. Therefore, you be discreet.

Our Larger Catechism puts it beautifully: We are required by God’s law to maintain a “charitable esteem of our neighbors; loving, desiring, and rejoicing in their good name; sorrowing for and covering of their infirmities; freely acknowledging of their gifts and graces, defending their innocency; a ready receiving of a good report, an unwillingness to admit of an evil report, concerning them” (Westminster Larger Catechism, answer 144). We wouldn’t want less than this from our neighbors, and we shouldn’t give less to our neighbors.

One of my Christian heroes is Charles Simeon, Anglican minister of Holy Trinity Church in Cambridge, England from 1782-1836. Throughout his adult life he contended with two great temptations to ungodly speech. On the one hand, he was quick to anger, and in the heat of the moment was tempted to say things that could damage the reputation of Christ and his church. On the other hand, he continually faced hateful criticism because of his deep commitment to the evangelical faith. What a volatile situation: a man with a short fuse in a hostile environment!

Well aware of the temptation to what he called "evil speaking," Simeon wrote in a July 1817 letter words immediately relevant to you and me.

"The longer I live, the more I feel the importance of adhering to the rules which I have laid down for myself in relation to such matters.
"1st To hear as little as possible what is to the prejudice of others.

"2nd To believe nothing of the kind till I am absolutely forced to it.

"3rd Never to drink into the spirit of one who circulates an ill report.

"4th Always to moderate, as far as I can, the unkindness which is expressed towards others.

"5th Always to believe, that if the other side were heard a very different account would be given of the matter.

"I consider love as wealth; and as I would resist a man who should come to rob my house so would I a man who would weaken my regard for any human being."

The ninth commandment also forbids rash judgments.[6] Too often we make judgments about another person based upon scanty information. This sin can be as simple as taking sides in a troubled marriage, uncritically accepting the complaints of one marriage partner, and demonizing the other. We hear only one part of the story, and that part is probably intended to put your friend in the most favorable light and his spouse in the most unfavorable.

Rash judgments are tempting during political campaigns. The You-Tubing of American politics: A small part of a candidate’s speech is captured on video by his opponents, and put on the Internet. Do a little research and find that the words have been lifted out of context. We need to withhold judgment until we have the facts.

Church elders, civil judges, and employers are among the many who hold positions that require the careful evaluations of the words and behaviors of others. Duty demands we listen and refrain from snap decisions based on shoddy research.

Even the most careful and godly person will err in some of his judgments, which all the more points to the need for every Christian to be serious about the words he speaks. If the wisest among us fail, how cautious should that make the rest of us! How much each of us needs Christ’s forgiveness and the renewing work of the Spirit of truth to be at work in our life.

The ninth commandment also requires accuracy in what we say. Inasmuch as possible, our words must be accurate, conforming to the reality they describe.

One pastor reminds parents how important it is to demand accuracy from our children. He writes:

The temptation to lie is always present; the opportunities surface very early in the life of a child. Once a child begins to lie, habits of lying develop quickly. And not just telling outright lies, but also sinful words that distort the truth, such as exaggeration, flattery, and self-disparagement for personal advantage. Distorting the truth becomes second nature to the child. Therefore, it is imperative to teach young people to describe events clearly and accurately - always. [7]

Like every other virtue, accuracy of speech is a habit that is acquired through careful practice. And it’s a habit we should prize, for God has redeemed us to be a truth-telling people. His word commands: "Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another" (Ephesians 4:25). We have been saved to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15)!

Finally, the ninth command requires that we keep the promises we make. We talked about this obligation more extensively when we studied the third commandment. So, only a brief review here.

We must keep the promises we make, and teach our children how important promise keeping is. It’s not easy. Few children learn quickly that every promise made is a point of honor. Their reputation and the reputation of God in the eyes of unbelievers depend upon their keeping them.

Without habits of truth telling, words like honor, integrity, and virtue are hollow indeed, and the course of one's life is set toward moral and spiritual destruction. Promise keeping is indispensable to the life that pleases God.

This concludes a very brief study on the obligations of truth. Control of our tongues may well be the most difficult demand of God’s law. I’m left with gratitude for my Savior - for his life of obedience and his cross. Aren’t you? His unyielding obedience to the obligations of truth he was won our righteousness. His shed blood God’s provision for the repentant lawbreaker, including the liar and those careless with the truth.

Forgiven people are changed people. As we trust in God’s grace, let us renew our own commitment to truth and to our neighbors whom God has called us to love. Join the Psalmist as he prays, "Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips" (Psalm 141:3).

___________

[2] For this observation and much of what follows I am much indebted to J. Douma, The Ten Commandments: Manual for the Christian Life. Translated by Nelson D. Kloosterman. P&R: 1996.

[3] Douma 314.

[4] Douma, 315.

[5] Douma, 317.

[6] Douma, 317.

[7] Kent Hughes, Disciplines of Grace.

2011 Huntsville Marathon

2011-12-10T16:01:00.001-06:00

Thomas and I ran our third Huntsville Marathon together today. It was a pleasant day for a run. I met my two goals - finishing before the course was shut down and not being transported by HEMSI.

Brian, Daniel and Michael McFadden showed up at the starting line to encourage me. What a surprise! Go Army!

I saw fellow Rotarians Jeff and Christine Jones and Sandy Patel as I passed the Jones' house at mile 5. I almost quit the race when Jeff offered me breakfast.

I was satisfied with my performance today, which I attribute to my life coach, Lynne Wingard, who fed me fantastic lasagna last night. I also found Katy Kirkwood's chocolate ginger bread toffee cake to be a performance enhancing dessert.

As always, I met interesting people. A couple from Cabot, Arkansas celebrated their 20th anniversary today by running the marathon together. Their son attends school in Conway, the city where I was born.

I also met a retired school teacher from Fayetteville, Tennessee. Today's marathon is her 62nd since 1994. She has run at least one marathon in every state.

December 7, 1941

2011-12-07T00:02:00.000-06:00

Seventy years ago today Japanese forces bombed American military installations in Hawaii. A day later President Franklin Roosevelt requested Congress for a declaration of war with Japan.
Listen to his speech.

His speech concludes:

Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory, and our interests are in grave danger.

With confidence in our armed forces- with the unbounding determination of our people- we will gain the inevitable triumph- so help us God.

I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire.

The Halifax Explosion - December 6, 1917

2011-12-06T00:02:00.000-06:00

Ninety-four years ago today the largest man-made explosion prior to World War II occurred in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Two ships collided in the harbor, one carrying 2,300 tons of wet and dry picric acid, 200 tons of TNT, 10 tons of gun cotton and 35 tons of benzol. The subsequent blast killed 1,900 people, and 10% of the city's population was injured. Read more about a tragedy that is largely forgotten in the United States. (Photos courtesy of CBC.)

47 - Sermons on Exodus (20:15)

2011-11-30T16:43:00.001-06:00

(A sermon on Exodus, preached November 27, 2011.)

Exodus 20:1 And God spoke all these words, saying, 2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. . . . 15 You shall not steal.[1]

The eighth commandment forbids stealing. In a moment we will examine ways we steal. But before we do, we should pause and think about what the commandment assumes - the private ownership of property. The thief takes what belongs to another. As one person puts it, I mustn’t steal your car because it is your car, not my car. Forbidding theft makes sense only if private ownership of property is a given.[2]

Wayne Grudem has an excellent little book called Business for the Glory of God: The Bible’s Teaching on the Moral Goodness of Business. He writes that:

ownership of possessions is a fundamental way that we imitate God’s sovereignty over the universe by our exercising ‘sovereignty’ over a tiny portion of the universe, the things we own. When we take care of our possessions we imitate God in his taking care of the whole universe, and he delights to see us imitate him in this way. In addition, when we care for our possessions, it gives us opportunity to imitate many other attributes of God, such as wisdom, knowledge, beauty, creativity, love for others, kindness, fairness, independence, freedom, exercise of will, blessedness (or joy), and so forth.[3]

Parents teach their children to care for their possessions. Waste isn’t just bad because it’s harmful; it reflects poorly on the image of our heavenly Father, who governs his creation wisely. We want our children to reflect our Father’s wisdom by wisely ordering their time, wisely employing their gifts, and wisely managing their possessions.

But even as we talk about private ownership of property, we mustn’t lose sight of the bigger picture: “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein” (Psalm 24:1). You and I talk to each other about your property and my property, but we must never speak that way to the Lord. Everything belongs to him. We’re God’s stewards, using what belongs to him the way he commands. We enjoy his world as we provide for our families, care for the poor, advance the work of his church, and pay the taxes the government requires to perform its God-given functions. Our possessions always belong to God. We must say, “I manage my possessions as God’s property.”[4]

In America, any conversation about the private ownership of property and accumulation of wealth raises questions about our capitalist economic system and the morality of American business. So, a few words about Christians and business.

At two of the graduate schools I attended some students railed against the evils of American business and corporate America, which were declared to be morally bankrupt, cruel, and exploitive. I confess that I was confused. My confusion was not because I don’t believe businesses can do terribly evil things; they most certainly can and do. Indeed, all institutions, including the government, family and church, are capable of inflicting injury and death. Sinners treat fellow sinners horribly. This isn’t a news flash.

No, what concerned me about my fellow students’ opinion was not that businesses at times act recklessly and wickedly, but their assumption that businesses are inherently wicked. It struck me that the schools they attended depended heavily upon the wealth generated by businesses and corporations and would not exist without them. Moreover, the students themselves received financial aid and scholarships made possible by corporate generosity and profitable business investments. It seemed to me a case of biting the generous hand that feeds you, a failure to appreciate the moral complexities of life in a fallen world.

Later I worked for a very successful businessman who belonged to a mainline church. With broad brushstrokes his pastor denounced greedy American businesses. Then the same pastor would show up at his office soliciting funds for the next church project. My friend wondered whether his pastor was hypocritical or mentally incapable of connecting the dots.

Sadly, a gnawing suspicion about the morality of business persists, especially on college campuses and universities. Even if business is not roundly condemned as immoral, many believe that is a less than desirable place for young men and women to invest their lives. For example, the wife of a prominent American politician said about her and her husband: “We left corporate America, which is a lot of what we're asking young people to do. Don't go into corporate America. You know, become teachers. Work for the community. Be social workers. Be a nurse. Those are the careers that we need, and we're encouraging our young people to do that.”

Her words are disturbing. Don’t misunderstand me: I am all for young Christians becoming teachers, social workers, and nurses. But these can be treated as selfless professions, and then pitted against the greed-motivated men and women of business. That’s wrong. Any profession has its share of incompetents and manifestly wicked people. However, business performs a necessary function as it creates and builds wealth. Businessmen are at their best when they seek to glorify God in the building of wealth. Christians can honor God in business in many ways – by providing financially for their families and for those they employ; by contributing to the well-being of communities; by the financial support of Christ’s church in the world; and by managing their businesses in a way that reveals God’s attributes of kindness, prudence, care for people, and humane workplaces and communities.

Money can be terribly abused. We can love it, and make it our god. The things money buys can become all consuming, stealing our hearts from God and stopping our ears to the needs of the world. But money is also a powerful tool in kingdom service. I believe it was Margaret Thatcher who said: “No one would have remembered the good Samaritan if he hadn’t had money.”

The eighth commandment assumes ownership of private property. We should encourage young men and women to be responsible stewards of what God has given them. And, should God prepare them to undertake work that allows them to create and build wealth in business, they should have our blessings.

Now to what is forbidden by the eighth commandment.
The eighth commandment forbids robbery.

Biblical law demands more than the thief’s punishment. The one who steals must restore what is taken, and also pay additional compensation to the victim. “If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and kills it or sells it, he shall repay five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep” (Exodus 22:1). Tax collector Zacchaeus comes to faith in Jesus, and is a changed man. He declares: “If I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold” (Luke 19:8). Restoring what was taken, and more – that is the biblical pattern of restitution.

I’ve known parents who’ve found stolen property in their child’s possession and their actions impressed me. It may have been a five-year-old who snatched a candy bar in the checkout line and was only found out later in the car, or more serious infractions. Embarrassment did not paralyze these parents. Little Johnny was taken back to meet the storeowner or manager. A confession was made, the property returned, and an extra penalty added. The child was encouraged to acknowledge his sin to the Lord who died for sinners, including thieves, that they might be forgiven and experience eternal life. So, the child was corrected in an atmosphere of personal responsibility and grace.

I remember one young man who went joy riding and did figure eights on a local ball field. Fortunately, the police nailed him. (By the way, we want our children caught. Don’t you see the Lord’s mercy when our children are caught red-handed, and we can deal both with their behaviors and the defiant motivations of their hearts? When a child gets away with sin after sin, he can begin to think he’s not accountable for his actions. If he doesn’t experience ruin in this life, he will in the life to come as he faces God’s judgment, a fate we want our children spared.) But back to our young vandal, who was caught. His church’s elders expected him not only to pay for the damages he caused, but also to do some of the repair work. Oftentimes young people need these hard lessons to learn responsibility for their behaviors. Our children need parents and elders who care enough to confront them, and demand personal responsibility for theft and property damage.

Don’t be your child’s defense attorney. In one town where I lived, a young lady who was hanging out late one night with a group of her friends. They decided to vandalize the door of a local recreation center. Let’s just say they weren’t America’s “best and brightest.” They made a videotape of themselves destroying the door. The police apprehended them, and, videotape in hand, took them to their parents and told them what their children had done. The young lady’s mother protested: “My daughter would never do anything like that!” The policeman then asked, “Do you have a VCR?” Case closed. Don’t be your child’s defense attorney.

Don’t defend your kids when what they need is accountability – a gospel-rich accountability – one that not only seeks confession and correction, but also sends them to the Lord for his mercy, his forgiveness and his empowerment to walk obediently to his commandments.

I move on to other violations of this commandment: the commandment forbids plagiarism. We must not take the thoughts and ideas of others and pass them off as our own. The cut-and-paste features on computers make this so easy. We must respect the intellectual property of others.

Failure to return borrowed money is theft. Unless the loan agreement is renegotiated, we must repay money under the terms it was borrowed.

You’ve run up huge credit card debts, and now complain: “The credit card companies are predatory lenders.” Maybe so. But no one held a gun to your head while you purchased items you couldn’t afford. We can talk about corporate greed and economically irresponsible government policies all we want, but the biggest culprit in the current mortgage scandal is people buying homes they could not afford with borrowed money they could not repay. The crisis we face is first of all moral. Without thinking, we are in danger of becoming a nation of thieves. Individual Christians can do nothing to resolve a national scandal, but what we can do is witness to God and his righteousness by being responsible stewards of the wealth he entrusts to us.

Sometimes we fall on hard times because of unexpected sickness or job loss. Even careful savers and planners can be put on the financial ropes by overwhelming challenges. We need our family, friends and churches in such times. They help get us back on our feet.

But most of us who get into financial trouble and run the risk of defaulting on our debts because we have failed to be responsible stewards. We’ve coveted, we’ve bought what we don’t need, and we’ve paid for it with money we don’t have. Is that where you are? In our own church, there are mature people who can help you set a budget, live within your means, hold you accountable, and advise on how to get out and stay out of debt.

Some forms of theft are subtler, and we must be alert, lest we thoughtlessly violate the eight commandment. We steal from our employers when we use their time to conduct our personal business; when we surf the Internet instead of work; and when we extend our breaks. There’s much written today about workplace evangelism. Nothing commends the faith better than Christians who are serious stewards of the time their employers entrust to them.
Withholding your tithe is theft. It is stealing from God. In the book of Malachi, God confronts his people. He asks: “Will man rob God?” Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions.” (Malachi 3:8) When we withhold our tithes we keep for ourselves what belongs to God. We deprive his church of the resources it needs to accomplish its mission.

Tithing may seem beyond your reach. You say, “I don’t know how I can tithe, it seems almost foolish. I already spend every dollar I get, and it’s not enough.” Tithing isn’t foolish. In fact, it establishes a habit that, over time, changes lives. In faith, begin tithing. Discipline yourself, root out excess spending, trim what’s inconsequential, stick to a plan of paying off your debts. You will join the many others who find that as you tithe the remaining 90% goes much further than the 100% did before.

Why? I believe the Lord’s promise that accompanies his challenge: “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.” (Malachi 3:10)

Moreover, I know that when we discipline ourselves in one area of life, we begin to discipline ourselves in other areas of life, too. Habits form. We learn to make kingdom priorities our priorities, and there is nothing more satisfying than striving for those things that please the Lord. Moreover, we experience the joy of giving, and giving in a bigger way than we ever thought possible.

Tithing is not a burden; it is one of the Christian’s joyful duties.

Finally, be careful not to steal hearts. Joachim Douma makes this point in his brilliant exposition of the Ten Commandments.[5] Far and away his book is the most helpful I’ve ever read on this portion of God’s word.

He gives examples of those who steal hearts: Adolph Hitler used his extraordinary oratorical gifts to steal the hearts of many Germans and led his country to destruction. Advertisers steal hearts when they convince people that they are missing out on life if they don’t purchase a product. I would add that a man who makes promises and raises expectations of marriage and commitment in order to obtain physical intimacy with a woman wrecks a life. He obtains what he wants, abandons his human prey, and moves on to his next victim.

Don’t steal hearts. But don’t let your hearts be stolen. We have a responsibility to guard our hearts against those who would take them away.

The eighth commandment forbids theft. But it obligates us to so much more. As we cultivate a life of obedience, we will use all that we have to the glory of God, day-by-day living as responsible stewards whose true and eternal treasure resides in King Jesus and his priceless kingdom.

Moreover, a life of obedience to the eighth commandment is a life content with God’s benevolence and providence. He gives us enough.

We abhor stealing because very theft insults the benevolence of God. To steal is to declare God’s provision unsatisfactory. The thief’s creed has many articles of unbelief, two of which are that God isn’t good and can’t be trusted.

Finally, we enter into the time of the year when the incarnation of the Son of God is especially on our mind. How unlike Adam our Savior is. Idolatrously pursuing equality with God, Adam took what was not his – he plunged the human race into darkness, depravity and ruin.

The eternal Son of God, equal with his Father in power and glory, surrenders his privileged position at the Father’s right hand, and for us and for our salvation assumes the position of a servant, becoming obedient to death on a cross. His perfect life is our righteousness; his death, our redemption; his life, our example. In view of who we are in Christ, our duty is clear: “Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:3-5).

The thief takes what’s not his, and gratifies himself – leaving others hurting and wanting and fearing. The servant of Christ takes what’s been giving him and looks to the interests of others, so that among God’s people hardships are relieved, the hurting comforted, and the fearful protected.

“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.”
__________

[1] All Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

[2] Wayne Grudem, Business for the Glory of God: The Bible’s Teaching on the Moral Goodness of Business (Crossway: 2003), 19.

[3] Grudem, 19-20.

[4] J. Douma, The Ten Commandments: Manual for the Christian Life. Translated by Nelson D. Kloosterman (P&R: 1996), p. 298.

[5] Douma, 289-290.

46 - Sermons on Exodus (20:14)

2011-11-26T04:59:00.001-06:00

(The forty-sixth in a series of sermons on Exodus, preached November 20, 2011.)

Exodus 20:1 And God spoke all these words, saying, 2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. . . . 14 “You shall not commit adultery.

Matthew 5:27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.[1]

Marriage is the one flesh union of a man and a woman joined by God. The union demands jealous protection and absolute loyalty. Therefore, “you shall not commit adultery.” Adultery betrays trust and repudiates faithfulness.

Christopher Ash writes, “Faithfulness is the heart of marriage, because it is the heart of God.”[2] Throughout the scriptures, God reveals himself as a husband to his people, always faithful, always jealous for our uncompromising affection.

Understandably, some will say that love is the heart of marriage. I certainly won’t object, but the word “love” has devolved into a word with all the firmness of jello. It frequently refers to a transitory feeling, and is confused with romance, a beautiful word itself, but hardly one that captures the single-minded determination and fierce loyalty God demands in marriage.

Marriage is a one “flesh” union between a man and a woman joined by God. That union demands jealous protection and absolute loyalty. Therefore, “you shall not commit adultery.”

Think about this commandment. There is never any reason for adultery. At times, killing is justified, such as in cases of war, self-defense, and the execution of murderers. At times, lying is justified in order to protect human life. But adultery is never justified.

Let’s look at this morning’s New Testament lesson. He says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’” (Matthew 5:27). Do you see the quotation marks? Jesus quotes the teaching of the Pharisees who incorrectly interpret the commandments. In this instance, the Pharisees are quoting scripture, specifically the seventh commandment: “You shall not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14). What’s wrong, then, with the Pharisee’s teaching? The problem is not what the Pharisees say, but what they don’t say. They miss the full extent of the law: just as the commandment “you shall not kill” forbids both murder and the sinful anger that leads to murder, so the seventh commandment forbids both adultery and the lust that leads to it. The Pharisees have ignored the attitudes of the heart.

Adultery begins by breaking other laws. There is the sin of idolatry - a person makes sexual pleasure the one thing he will stop at nothing to get; sex is his functional god. There is the sin of coveting another’s spouse, of stealing another’s spouse. And to compound the problem, as many Pharisees produced more and more reasons for divorce, they made the law forbidding adultery almost irrelevant. Why be concerned with adultery when you can move from spouse to spouse?

Jesus’ words are a reality check. No matter how diverse adulterers are and how different their stories, there is one thing that every adulterer has in common: their behavior begins with sinful lust, and that lust is subject to God’s righteous judgment. “But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28). And Jesus’ point is clear: better to deal with lust now than in hell later. The lust that leads to adultery leads to hell.

Clearly, Jesus is moving in one direction, our culture another. Seldom in a book or movie is lust portrayed in all its deadliness. Instead, if mentioned at all, it’s harmless, no big deal.

Kent Hughes deplores tat a well-known advice columnist:

regularly tells her correspondents that sexual fantasy is normal and harmless – and even beneficial so long as the imagined illicit relationships are not carried out. She goes even further, blasphemously saying that the teaching of Christ on lust is one of the most damaging religious teachings ever put upon the human race. But what she ignores is that faithfulness is an act of the mind, not merely the body. Intimacy, commitment, and mutual trust are first violated in the mind. To imagine intimacy with someone else is to break unity and assault the divine metaphor – and to begin to erode one’s marriage.[3]

According to Jesus, what is at stake? Your eternal destiny. Last week we looked at sinful anger; today lust. Anger and lust defile our souls and deface the image of God we bear. Walter Chalmers Smith states our need eloquently:

One thing I of the Lord desire –

For all my way has darksome been –

Be it earthquake, wind or fire,

Lord, make me clean. Lord, make me clean!

We need our records cleansed by the shed blood of Jesus’ Christ, our guilt removed. We need the Spirit’s work that makes our hearts and our hearts’ desires clean. Lord, make us clean!

Now is a good time to pause, and ask: What does the Bible say about sexual love? Three things:

1. Sexual love consummates a pledge of life-long unity. No longer two independent lives, but one. Each belongs to the other, and lives for the other.

2. Sexual love strengthens the covenant of marriage. Mutual tenderness, giving, affection, and patience are all bound up in the sexual intimacy that strengthens a marriage and pleases the Lord.

3. Sexual love produces children of promise who will know, love, and serve the Lord.

That’s what the Bible says about the sexual relationship. What does it say about sexual lust?

1. Sexual lust includes any thought that would be immoral to act out. A man does not act immorally because he finds a woman beautiful, but because he cultivates a sexual relationship in his mind with a woman who is not his wife. He’s mentally mistreats her, which is wrong.

2. Sexual lust seeks sexual gratification without the pledges of marital faithfulness. It determines to take sexual pleasure from another without the responsibilities of marriage – responsibilities well summarized in the traditional vows in which husbands and wives, promising to forsake all others, pledge to love, comfort, honor and protect each other for as long as they live.

3. Lust is pursuing sexual pleasure without concern for a person. Think about the difference between lust and marital faithfulness. Lust fantasizes about women in general; marital faithfulness commits to a specific woman. Lust exploits; marital faithfulness gives, and gives sacrificially, and gives willingly. Lust distrusts and refuses to commit; marital faithfulness entrusts and pledges one’s life to another.

In light of both the beauty of marital faithfulness and the danger of sinful lust, what is our duty? Our duty is that self-control that is the fruit of God’s Holy Spirit. The Spirit produces in us that disciplined life that pursues purity.

I love the old saying:

Sow an act,

and you reap a habit.

Sow a habit

and you reap a character.

Sow a character

and you reap a destiny for yourself

your family,

your church,

your world.

But, you ask, how do I deal with my ongoing battle against lust? Treat it like a cancer.

Act decisively. Look at Jesus’ words. “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.” (Matthew 5:29-30) This is the language of amputation. The eye is chosen because it leads to covetousness; the hand because of theft. Amputation is painful. But it saves lives.

When Jesus uses these strong words, he does not command physical disfigurement. However, you must sever yourself from the person who fuels your lust. Or, it may be pornography and romance novels that fuel it; you must rid yourselves of them.

I recall one pastor offering helpful advice: don’t offer God substitutes for obedience. Don’t try to negotiate with him. Don’t say, “I’ll work harder in the church, or give more money.” God wants your heart; he wants it pure.

Also, don’t surrender to self-pity, looking to pornography or an adulterous as consolations for the hardships you face at home. Agree with God that lust and adultery are sin, and repent.

In every spiritual battle, we forget what we should remember, and the battles against lust and for faithfulness are no exception. Remember that your commitment to people is more important than your personal desires. You define yourself by the promises you make and keep. There’s no heroism without this principle. Heroism requires perseverance when your desire is to give up. The fool defines his life by his desires; he’ll give up most anything for pleasure. He makes his decisions based solely on what he wants. If a commitment becomes tiresome, he breaks his promise. The fool is the loneliest of people – if he persists in his folly he ends up rejected by God and abandoned by men. He lives and dies alone. Don’t be a fool.

Remember, too, what you will throw away. Are you ready to lose your spouse and your children as lust gives way to adultery?

And remember the gospel. Have you committed adultery? Don’t wallow in self-remorse. God delights in forgiving the repentant; a broken and contrite heart he will not despise (Psalm 51:17). Christ died that adulterers might be forgiven. God says to the repentant adulterer, “You are mine. At a price I have bought your forgiveness from sin’s penalty and freedom from sin’s power. I have made you a temple of my Holy Spirit. Go and sin more.” The gospel promises are for you, the adulterer.

And to the spouse who has been sinned against. Trust the God who forgives the repentant, and find in him the grace to forgive and to reconcile and to move forward. Trust the Lord who promised to his repentant people in the Old Covenant, “I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten” (Joel 2:25). By his grace shattered lives can be rebuilt, marital trust restored, and Christ honored in marriage and home.

The law commands, “You shall not commit adultery.” God forbids both the act and the lusts of the heart that lead to it. Therefore, we pray: “Lord, make me clean. Lord, make me clean.”

Pray for purity. Pray too: “Lord make me faithful!” For it’s true: “faithfulness is the heart of marriage, because it is the heart of God.”[4]

[2] Christopher Ash, Married for God: Making Your Marriage the Best It Can Be (IVP: 2007), 144.

[3] R. Kent Hughes, Disciplines of Grace.

[4] Ash, 144.

Charles Hodge

2011-11-23T07:40:00.001-06:00

Andrew Hoffecker talks about his new book on 19th century Princeton theologian and professor, Charles Hodge.

A Marriage Remembered

2011-11-22T05:16:00.001-06:00

Two of America’s odder contemporary historians are Eugene Genovese and his late wife, Elizabeth (Betsey) Fox-Genovese, who died in 2007.

Although the couple’s scholarly works cover a diverse range of subjects, it is the antebellum South’s story, told through the eyes of slave and slave owner, for which the Genoveses will be long remembered. Distinguished by a comprehensive examination of the era’s primary source materials, their scholarship never fails to impress and enlighten. Only 150 years have passed since the War Between the States, but the Old South is truly another world, one to which the Genoveses skillfully introduce students with the single most valuable gift great historians bestow – understanding of a people and their culture. As a minister, I especially appreciate the thoroughness and sensitivity with which they treat Southern religious life. Through the years, Eugene Genovese has become one of the premiere expositors of the Southern conservative intellectual tradition.

But what’s odd about this couple is not their first-rate scholarship, but their intellectual and spiritual journey, from atheistic Marxism to their conversions to Roman Catholicism in the 1990s. This was not your ordinary marriage.

Miss Betsey: A Memoir of Marriage is Gene Genovese’s moving, provocative, and humorous tribute to his beloved wife, an extended reflection on the rich life they shared – from their first date to her death in 2007 after many years of physical decline and debilitating sickness.

Gene and Betsey’s first date was their first meeting. His first impression of her was “Death Warmed Over,” the effects of her battle with hepatitis and anorexia evident. He describes the evening:

When I arrived at five p.m., Betsey looked terrible. At six or so, she wasn’t all that bad. At seven she had become sort of nice-looking. By eight, sitting across a table at Restaurant le Maïtre Jacques, she had blossomed into lovely. When I left her at one a.m. with a kiss on her forehead, she was radiantly beautiful. Almost forty years later, she was in immeasurably worse shape than when I first laid eyes on her. Physically broken and fighting for life, she was unable to get out of bed by herself; barely able to walk; wracked by relentless, searing pain. Still radiantly beautiful. (7)

Campus run-ins with fellow Marxists were not uncommon. The Genoveses deplored intellectual sloppiness and political correctness. On occasion, when debating or speaking to ostensibly Christian audiences, they found themselves - two atheists - articulating Christian doctrine for the sake of intellectual honesty.

While teaching at the University of Rochester in the early 1970s, Gene and Betsey were invited to a public forum by two Catholic chaplains, liberation-theology Marxists. Quickly the chaplains had cause to regret the invitation. While confessing their commitment to work with the priests toward common political goals, the Genoveses asserted the incompatibility of materialistic Marxism and Christianity. Things grew hot. The author recalls,

In the end, we were driven to defend Catholic theology against ‘dissident Catholics’ who had no time for the fundamentals of Catholic theology, Church doctrine, and the teaching of the Vatican. So there we were, nonbelievers and committed Marxists, fervently defending the doctrines of original sin and human depravity against professed Catholics who replaced the ostensibly dated teachings of St. Paul, St. Augustine, and St. Thomas Aquinas with those of Jean-Jacques Rosseau and the Karl Marx of the utopian Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts –the jejune ‘early Marx’ whom neither Betsey nor I ever took seriously. (71)

In 1975, after speaking at a Unitarian church on the subject of slavery, members eagerly invited him to join their congregation. His atheism was no obstacle. Most of the congregation didn’t believe in God! After all, how could anyone believe in a God who permitted natural disasters, like the recent earthquake in Nicaragua, which claimed the life of baseball star and humanitarian Roberto Clemente?

I gasped. How could well-educated and intelligent people talk such rubbish? Stunned and momentarily forgetting my atheism, I responded with an impassioned defense of Christian theology. I may not have believed in God, but I considered their objections an insult to my intelligence. I interpreted their remarks as meaning that God, to be worthy of worship, had to do whatever they wanted Him to – that God had to follow the dictates of their various consciences. I reminded my Unitarian hosts of the words of Genesis 23:50 [sic]: ‘The thing proceedeth from the Lord. We cannot speak unto you bad and good.’ (73)

I confess that I am fascinated by the Genovese intellectual pilgrimage and turbulent campus adventures, told within the context of a moving love story. Their marriage was marked by mutual devotion, affection, tenacity and cheerful perseverance in the face of trials.

With thanksgiving the author concludes:

Betsey was the love of my life, and I have had no prouder yet more humbling sense of fulfillment than the knowledge that I was the love of hers.

With Betsey, my life was blessed. (137)

Are We Abandoning Our Musical Tradition?

2011-11-19T10:32:00.001-06:00

Peter Leithart observes:

"Beginning with the charismatic revival and the Jesus movement, the most theologically conservative Protestant churches abandoned the tradition of Christian music and took on musical styles adapted from popular music. It has been an astonishingly rapid and thoroughgoing change. Praise songs routed gospel hymns, and today Reformation-era Psalms and chorales are unknown in wide swathes of American Protestantism. Presbyterian theologian T. David Gordon captures the shift with an anecdote about a theology student at a Protestant seminary puzzled by a professor’s reference to Luther’s 'A Mighty Fortress.' Musically, evangelicals are all charismatics now."

Read the entire article.

45 - Sermons on Exodus (20:13)

2011-11-17T13:39:00.001-06:00

(The forty-fifth in a series of sermons on Exodus, preached November 13, 2011.)

Our catechism teaches that “the sixth commandment forbids the taking away of our own life, or the life of our neighbor unjustly, or whatsoever tends thereunto.”[1] Last week we looked at what the commandment forbids, and this week we are looking at the attitudes of the heart that lead to murder.

Exodus 20:1 And God spoke all these words, saying, 2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

. . . 13 You shall not kill.

Matthew 5:21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. 23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. 26 Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.[2]

Some readers of the New Testament think Jesus is on to something new. We have the Ten Commandments, which deal with behavior . . . don’t murder. Now Jesus presses deeper . . . don’t even toy with the anger that leads to murder, for that too falls under God’s severe judgment. So, the Ten Commandments speak to the external, Jesus’ words to the internal. Jesus gives the commandments a deeper meaning.

This is most certainly wrong for two reasons:

First, a list of commandments that ends with “you shall not covet” tips you off that the heart is of great concern. You don’t have to be an Old Testament scholar to figure that God’s commandments deal with matters of the heart. Moses exhorts Israel: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5).

Second, the law forbids heart hatred. “You shall not hate your brother in your heart” (Leviticus 19:17). In fact, heart hatred is almost as old as the human race. Cain, furiously jealous of his brother, sulks in anger. God says to him: “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” (Genesis 4:6-7)

No, Jesus’ teaching is not new. Rather, he authoritatively interprets the Old Testament text, expounding what the law has always forbidden, both murder and the anger and heart hatred that lead to it.[3]

You may say, “Anger’s a problem, but it’s not my problem. I’m not an angry person. I never yell, or even raise my voice. I don’t get angry.” Let me ask you a few questions: Has someone ever offended you, and you chose to avoid him, giving him the cold shoulder? Well, that’s anger. There are many tactics we angry people can deploy, and withdrawal is one of them. When we are angry, some of us blow up; some of us clam up. Some of us fight; some of us flee. But it’s anger all the same.

Or, have you dreamed that harm would come to another? That’s heart hatred, one of the shapes sinful anger takes. And, according to Jesus, sinful anger is a form of murder.

Anger takes many forms, and wears many masks. But peel away the masks, and anger is exposed for what it is - ugly and deadly. Confronting our sinful anger makes us cry out for help. We need the blood of Christ that atones for our sinful anger; we need the righteousness of Christ that justifies; and we need the sanctifying power of the Spirit that subdues the evil lurking within us.

Jesus’ warning is clear: our sinful anger is subject to God’s righteous anger. Won’t you hear him?

Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment’” (Matthew 5:21). Look at the text: see the quotation marks? This is a quotation, but not from scripture. These words are a teaching of the Pharisees. And the Pharisees are right: the sixth commandment forbids murder. The one who unlawfully spills the blood of an image- bearer of God faces God’s righteous fury.

The problem is not what the Pharisees say, but what they don’t say. They don’t expound God’s law thoroughly; they stop short of declaring the whole counsel of God. Don’t expect God’s pat on the back because you manage to go through life without murdering someone - no merit badge awaits you in heaven. Yes, God’s law forbids murder, but it also forbids murdering people in your hearts. It forbids the bitterness, jealousy, resentment, and anger that may lead to murder. The law is clear: “You shall not hate your brother in your heart” (Leviticus 19:17).

Hatred, then, is a form of murder. After all, every murder begins with rage in the heart! Look at Jesus’ words. “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.” (Matthew 5:22) Unspoken contempt, character assassination, and abusive language – all fall under God’s judgment. Anger is spiritually deadly. Think hard before you nurture it; look at what’s coming if you refuse to deal with it.

Is all anger sinful? Some anger is; some isn’t. Regardless of whether our anger at a particular time is righteous or unrighteous, let’s think about what happens when we’re angry.

When we are angry, our anger speaks; it tells us what we love, what we’re willing to fight for. We become angry because we’re in danger of losing something we cherish. Do you want to know what you love? Then take a look at your anger.

Your child is physically threatened, and you angrily jump to fight his attacker. That’s good anger. You love your child enough to defend her. Your anger says to you, “I love this child. I’ll fight for her.”

But when your child bothers you while you’re reading the paper, and you explode, it’s because you love your comfort - and anyone that threatens it – even your child – becomes an object of your wrath. That’s sinful anger. Your anger says to you, “I love my comfort. I’ll fight for it.”

Your anger speaks. Listen.

Three truths about human anger:

First, not all anger is sinful. There is, of course, God’s righteous anger. “God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day” (Psalm 7:11). Just as our anger tells us what we love, so God’s anger tells us what he loves. He loves righteousness, the righteous man, and his church, which is righteous by faith in Jesus Christ. He loves his creation. God is justly angry when his reputation is insulted, his majesty mocked, and his people threatened. God’s anger tells us much about his character.

Second, anger is a God-given emotion. If you’re never angry, then you don’t love anything. There’s nothing worth fighting for. When anger warns you that there is a problem and leads you to deal with that problem in a godly way, then anger plays its God-given function in your life.

Think of two examples of righteous anger in the New Testament. Jesus is angry with the temple moneychangers. They turn God’s house into a place of business. Instead of being the place where God’s people pray, the temple becomes the place where greedy men prey upon God’s people – and the Lord drives them from the temple. That’s godly anger.

Paul is angry when he sees the idols that fill ancient Athens (Acts 17:6). His anger leads him to preach the gospel of God’s love to idolaters. He announces the salvation that comes to every person who turns from idolatry to the living and true God. That’s godly anger.

But if your anger moves you to do harm or withdraw, then it is sinful. Which leads me to a third truth about sinful anger: Most human anger is sinful.

Many passages command us to refrain from sinful anger. “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil” (Ephesians 4:26-27). If you are angry – and Paul recognizes that there are times you must be – then don’t stay angry long; move on quickly.

Other verses command us to be slow to anger. “Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, for the anger of man (i.e., sinful anger) does not produce the righteousness that God requires” (James 1:19-20). Sinful anger may get you what you want. But it will never get you what God wants.

In a world full of angry conflict, be a peacemaker. “So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” (Matthew 5:23,24) Do you see Jesus’ point? Reconciliation among Christians is so crucial that it takes precedence even over worship.

“Who should take the initiative when conflict separates Christians?” Always, the answer is, “You should!” Whether you are the offended or the offender, you should seize the initiative and pursue reconciliation.

In Matthew 5, the believer who has sinned against another leaves the place of worship, and goes to his brother to set things right. In Matthew 18:15, the person who is sinned against takes the initiative, and goes to his brother to set things right. You get the picture, don’t you? The two should bump into each other on the road as they make their way to reconcile.

Are there times when we shouldn’t be pursuing peace? Yes, there are. The Bible is clear that there are some people we will never be at peace with. That’s why Paul writes, “If possible, so far is it depends on you, live peaceably with all” (Romans 12:18). There is a clear recognition that our peacemaking will not always prove successful. The writer of Proverbs warns, “Make no friendship with a man given to anger nor go with a wrathful man, lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare (Proverbs 22:24-25). When your attempts at peacemaking continually provide another the occasion to sin, then you are dealing with the kind of person that Proverbs calls a fool, and your attempts at peacemaking must stop. They won’t have a good ending.

I once worked with an extremely talented colleague. He was one of the best in his field. Highly competent, but he was without good character. Management repeatedly warned him about his angry outbursts at fellow employees. They encouraged counseling. But the time came when they could do no more, and the man was released.

How do we know when our attempts at peacemaking should end? When all they do is give someone one more occasion to sin. When your attempts at peacemaking fuel another person’s sinful behavior instead of fostering repentance, attempts at peacemaking must cease. Your patience merely encourages repetitiously sinful behavior.

But ordinarily, we will be zealous in our peacemaking. Just how urgent is it? Sinful anger is a ticking time bomb. Jesus continues, “Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.” (Matthew 5:25-26) Once again Jesus holds the scepter of judgment. Abiding grudges and an unforgiving spirit will keep us out of heaven. They are clear evidence that we have not experienced God’s forgiveness in Jesus Christ. We cannot be emotion-driven people. We must trust that God is working for us.

So what should we do when we are sinfully angry? Six things:

First, look at your own heart. What idols is God revealing? If you begrudge someone because he received a promotion and you did not, your jealousy is exposed. You have made personal success an idol. Thank God - he is giving you opportunity to repent. Put your repentance to work, rejoicing with those who rejoice (Romans 12:15).

Second, remember Jesus’ finished work on the cross and his heavenly intercession for you. Daily you sin against the Lord who bought us at the price of his own blood. No one ever has or ever will sin against you with anywhere near the same magnitude that you have sinned against the Lord. Yet, he forgives. He intercedes for you, praying that all the benefits purchased on the cross will be yours. If you know his forgiveness, you must not only forgive others.

Third, trust that God is working in the life of the one who offends you. Don’t you have sins that test the patience of others? People that try us need the grace of God, too. Can’t you be patient as the Lord works in their lives?

Fourth, trust that God works in your own life. He is molding you in righteousness; he is shaping you in Christ-likeness. The fiery furnace consumes your heart’s impurities - if you walk by faith and if you trust that God’s providence is at work sanctifying you.

Fifth, when you have suffered horrible injustice, and the offender is unrepentant, remember that God’s justice will prevail. He sees the injustice more clearly; he feels it more intensely. And on that awesome Day of Judgment, the great judge of the world will do right. Trust him. Vengeance is his, not yours (Romans 12:19).

Sixth, understand that that anger is like a flood-swollen river, overflowing its banks, impossible to contain. Let hatred for one person take hold of your heart, and eventually you’ll find yourself hating others – your husband or wife, your child, your brother or sister in Christ, even God. Hatred becomes a way of life – so deal with it quickly and decisively. Once loose, hateful anger is all but impossible to contain.

But what if you are the offender? Your anger has led you to sin. Thank God that you see your sin clearly. There is hope for you. The blood that Christ shed for his people at Calvary was shed for angry men and women. Salvation is for all who turn from their sin and put their hope in him. The Holy Spirit who transforms lives is God’s gift to everyone who comes to Christ in faith. As you trust Christ, he is at work in you, “clothing you with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience” (Colossians 3:12).

We don’t have to look far to see the devastation sinful anger causes. Nor must we think deeply to discern our urgent need for self-control. The Proverb tells us, “Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city” (Proverbs 16:32). Join me in praying, “Lord, subdue our sinful anger, and make us men and women mighty in waging peace.”

[1] Westminster Shorter Catechism, answer 69.

[2] Unless otherwise noted, all scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

[3] J.V. Fesko, The Rule of Love: Broken, Fulfilled, and Applied (Reformation Heritage: 2009), 84.

44 - Sermons on Exodus (20:13)

2011-11-17T03:39:00.001-06:00

(The forty-fourth in a series of sermons on Exodus, preached November 6, 2011.)

Our catechism teaches that “the sixth commandment forbids the taking away of our own life, or the life of our neighbor unjustly, or whatsoever tends thereunto.”[1] This morning we look at what the commandment forbids, and next week the attitudes of the heart that lead to murder.

Hear God’s word:

Exodus 20:13 You shall not kill.[2]

In 2001, Holland became the first country to legalize euthanasia. Doctors were permitted to administer drugs that would kill their patients.

What a difference a generation makes. During World War II, courageous Dutch doctors refused Nazi orders to let the elderly and terminally ill die without further treatments. Doctors stood for life. But that was then. According to Malcolm Muggeridge, today’s Holland achieved the morally unthinkable; the nation managed “to transform a war act into an act of compassion.”[3]

Christians do not destroy innocent life. It’s a bedrock principle of the faith: “You shall not kill.”

Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10) The crowds brought to him suffering family and friends. Jesus did not kill them; he cared and he healed. He gave his own life to gain eternal life for us. His resurrection guarantees ours, and he promises to lead us into a new heaven and new earth without death, its brutal instruments banished forever. Only the wicked steal and kill and destroy. Jesus is life for the world.

A word about the translation, “You shall not kill.” Many modern translations, including the English Standard Version, translate, “You shall not murder.” Killing or murder: what’s the difference? Any fair reading of the Bible forces us to conclude that in certain situations killing is lawful. It’s impossible to read the Bible carefully, and conclude that it forbids capital punishment, all war, and the taking of human life as an act of self-defense. I’ll look at each of these in a moment.

When modern translators use the word “murder” instead of “kill,” they attempt to distinguish between lawful and unlawful killing, the killing that God requires and the killing that he forbids. In these distinguished translators’ estimation, murder, which is always wrong, is a more accurate word than the broader term killing, which includes acts that may or may not be lawful.

True, murder is always sinful, never right. But there are forms of killing that are not murder but still wrong, and this commandment forbids even the carelessness that leads to loss of life. For example, it is wrong to drive recklessly, cause an accident, and deprive another of his life. It’s wrong but it is not murder. There is no premeditation or even intention to take a life.

A doctor mistakenly prescribes the wrong dosage, killing his patient. The doctor’s carelessness is a sin forbidden by the sixth commandment, but it’s not murder.

A family installs a swimming pool without a fence, and a little child falls in and drowns. The family is negligent, but not murderers.

See the point? Yes, the sixth commandment forbids murder, but it also forbids carelessness and negligence results in the death of another. You shall not kill is by far the best translation.

Let’s now look at three occasions when the taking of life is lawful.

First, capital punishment is lawful for murder and certain other crimes. “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image” (Genesis 9:6). As strange as it may seem at first, the Lord affirms the sanctity of human life by commanding the execution of murderers.

Murder is not just an assault on human life or a devastating attack on community, as horrific as these are. Murder is ultimately an attack on God, for God made man in his own image. To murder a man who bears God’s image is to assault man’s Creator. The only appropriate punishment for so grave a crime is death.

In Genesis 9:6, God lays the foundation for capital punishment. Capital punishment protects human life by assigning to the murderer suitable punishment for the one who takes the life of God’s image. God entrusts to man the responsibility for executing the murderer. “If the degenerating character of man is to be stopped short of total self-destruction, adequate curbs of the advancement of wickedness must be erected. In the wisdom of God, the execution of the manslayer provides a major curb to overflowing wickedness.” [4]

In the New Testament, Christians are warned not to take revenge on those who do evil to them (Romans 12:19). Why? The answer is found in Romans 13. Vengeance belongs to him; God has given civil government the authority to execute the evildoer. The authority to take life is symbolized by the sword, the weapon that takes life (Romans 13:4). Capital punishment preserves life by entrusting the enforcement of death penalty crimes to civil authorities. Vigilante justice is forbidden.

Capital punishment is “an obligation, not an option” (Bruce K. Waltke, Genesis (Zondervan, 2001), p. 158). “Because God’s own image is stamped in man, the murderer must die” (Robertson, 115). Proper administration of the death penalty protects human life.

But we must not end on this note of solemn justice. God’s mercy is directed to all kinds of sinners, including murderers. Just as God forgave the repentant David, so he makes provision in the death of Christ for every sinner, including the repentant murderer. Biblical truth requires boldness. Christians proclaim the rectitude of the death penalty in an age that is skeptical of its morality, while at the same time, proclaiming the grace of God to all sinners – the gospel that promises forgiveness of sin and eternal life to all who turn in repentance and faith to Jesus Christ our Lord.

Capital punishment is a lawful form of killing. So also is just war. Leaders of a nation have the God-given authority and duty (Romans 13:4) to defend its citizens, and to do so by war if necessary.

War is abhorrent, and every responsible effort must be employed to avoid it. The last thing a nation needs is leaders who thirst for war. But most Christians have understood that war is, at times, necessary, and its greatest thinkers have thought long and hard about how to wage it in a manner that avoids needless bloodshed and destruction.

Just war language appears in Christian theology from at least the time of Augustine, the great fourth and fifth century church leader. Its goal is to help people think biblically about war. Many of you make your living by supporting America’s armed forces, and so it’s worth your time to become familiar with just war doctrine. Let me review quickly, and with very little comment.

• War may only be waged after all peaceful options have been exhausted.

• War must be waged solely by legitimate authorities. People in one community might feel wronged by another community, but they can’t go to war against each other. The Hatfields feel the McCoys have done them wrong, but they mustn’t grab their guns and start shooting. The authority to wage war is not vested in private citizens.

• War must be waged only when a grave wrong is committed, and ordinarily only in response to a military attack.

• War must be waged only if there is a reasonable expectation of victory. Lives should not be thrown away in a war that can’t be won.

• Peace must be the ultimate goal of a war.

• The violence used in the war must be proportional to the injury suffered. No more suffering may be inflicted than is necessary to bring a war to its conclusion.

• The weapons of war must distinguish, inasmuch as possible, between combatants and civilians.

Certainly, these traditional just war criteria leave many gray areas. For example, in a nuclear age, how can we distinguish between civilians and soldiers? Nevertheless I am grateful that the great minds of the church have thought long and hard about war, and have tried to limit severely the occasions in which it may be legitimately waged.

When you see our defense experts trying to manufacture missiles that can destroy a military communications center without damaging the hospital next to it, you see the fruits of just war doctrine. Most nations don’t discriminate between combatants and non-combatants.

Third, it is lawful to take human life in self-defense. It is not only our right but our duty to protect our lives and the lives of our family.

Now let’s look briefly to several acts of violence prohibited by the sixth commandment.

First, the sixth commandment forbids murder. No matter the wrong, murder is never justified. No private citizen has the authority to track down a person and kill. That power belongs solely to the civil authorities.

Second, the sixth commandment forbids abortion. Abortion is the unlawful killing of innocent human life.

Contrary to a statement made by our Speaker of the House of Representatives, abortion is not an issue upon which the church has held divergent opinions - at least not until the mid-20th century. From the first century until relatively recently, all orthodox Christians, when confronted by abortion practice, condemned it.

Abortion is nothing new. Prevalent in the ancient Roman world, Christians were united in opposition to it. Today’s affirmation of abortion rights by many mainstream denominations is a return to the culture of death that marked ancient Rome, and the rejection of a core tenet of Christian morality.

Ethicist John Jefferson Davis gets it right, “The personal history of the Son of God on earth begins not when he was ‘born of the Virgin Mary,’ but when he was conceived by the Holy Spirit.’ His history, like ours began at conception.”

Third, the sixth commandment forbids euthanasia - so-called mercy-killings. We are never to kill the elderly, or the handicapped, or the terminally ill. No person has the right to determine that another life has no value. The intrinsic value of a person’s life does not come from what he does but from who he is, an image bearer of God.

Fourth, the sixth commandment forbids suicide. Just as we must not unlawfully take the life of another, so we must not take our own life. Our hearts go out to men and women who feel they have no hope, and who contemplate suicide. We must minister to them with sympathy and understanding. But condone suicide? Never.

Fifth, the sixth commandment forbids killing to spread the Christian faith. On the night Jesus was betrayed, Peter attempted to defend him. He swung his sword widely, attempting to behead one of the members of the party, but missed, cutting off the ear of the high priest’s servant. (John 18:10-11, Luke 22:50-51) Jesus commanded Peter to put away the sword, and the church must, too. The gospel of salvation in Christ spreads not by the sword, but by the preaching of the gospel.

Sadly, this is a message the church has been slow to learn. Since the fourth century, it has at various times enlisted the government’s aid in compelling people to identify themselves with Christ, or to take sides on various doctrinal disputes that have divided the church. This is wrong. The church must not ask for special treatment from the state. Our cause is advanced by preaching and not by the sword of the state’s power. Some of the saddest eras of church history took place when the authority of the state had been enlisted to advance the cause of the church. Nothing corrupts a church more quickly than mingling its mission with the state’s.

The sixth commandment obligates us to preserve human life. Human beings are not obstacles to be overcome by murder, abortion and euthanasia; they are image bearers of God - just like us. And like us, they are sinners in need of the Savior; they need our invitation for them to share with us the blessings of eternal life in Christ.

Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” In Jesus is life!

[1] Westminster Shorter Catechism, answer 69.

[3] Edmund P. Clowney, How Jesus Transforms the Ten Commandments (P&R: 2007), p. 79.

[4] O. Palmer Robertson, The Christ of the Covenants (P&R: 1980), p. 116.

43 - Sermons on Exodus (20:12)

2011-11-15T14:20:00.001-06:00

(The forty-third in a series of sermons on Exodus, preached October 30, 2011.)

Exodus 20:12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.”[1]

Men and women, boys and girls - honor your parents. You may be six or sixty years old - it makes no difference - honor your parents. Honor them “that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.” Unless you honor your parents, you can’t honor God.

The Hebrew word for honor has to do with weightiness. When something is weighty it’s of great value or worth. Therefore, the fifth commandment forbids taking our parents for granted or treating our parents lightly. Instead we must give them the respect worthy of the position God has given them.

This is a tough commandment if you’re trying to act your way through the Ten Commandments. Faking love for the Lord is possible; if you’re good at it, you can convince everyone but him. A murderous, adulterous, and covetous heart can be masked. But to pretend to honor your parents while despising them in your heart: well, that’s a role almost impossible to pull off, one that requires Academy Award winning skills.

Here’s why: we are born with sinful hearts, stubborn and defiant, right out of the starting gate. By God’s design, parents correct disobedience and enforce submission, and they do it in close quarters, day after day, until a child leaves home. There’s no room for retreat. Year by year parents and children live together. The opportunities for children to resent their parents’ discipline, question their judgment, and buck their authority are beyond counting.

Furthermore - and I hope no one faints when I say this - parents are sinners, too, struggling to be submissive to God, something every child sees, and can and will use against them in the court of the of his own mind.

So, some may fake honor, but most children can’t fake honoring their parents, at least not convincingly. Each day there are just too many chances for anger to surface, and the true character of the heart is revealed.

But as strange as it may sound, the home, with all of its opportunities for grudges and defiance and conflict, is just the place where young people learn to serve God in a broken world. As godly parents seek their child’s hearts, the home becomes the great classroom in which young boys and girls learn, first, submission to a perfect God, and, second, submission to very imperfect people – like the imperfect teachers they must learn from, the imperfect leaders they must respect, and the imperfect employers they must serve. Unless you honor your parents, you can’t honor God.

On the other hand, a child who fails to honor his parents will leave the home embarked on a course that will take him from one combative relationship to the next, his life ruined because he can’t submit to God ordained authority.

This morning let’s explore what honoring parents looks like. Let’s begin with young children: honor your parents by obeying them.

It is so imperative for children to learn submission to their parents that Paul can put it bluntly: “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right” (Ephesians 6:1). Why obey? It is right!

Let’s think about what a child’s obedience looks like. The way it’s exercised differs depending on a child’s age. You don’t parent a five-year-old like a fifteen- year-old. Both must submit to a parent’s direction; let me be clear about that. But a five-year-old obeys simply at the command of his parent; when he’s told to do something it’s not appropriate to sit down with him for consultation and negotiation. If you do, you’ll raise a child who thinks his opinions are too important, putting him on a path to self-centeredness.

Older children should also obey promptly, but parents must work with them in different ways from younger children. Discussion may precede a command. The young person’s input may be solicited. After discussion, a parent may reconsider his decision. A teenager may be given options that would be inappropriate for a five-year-old. We want our older children to gradually assume their freedom - but we want them to exercise that freedom under our parental supervision.

As children grow, much wisdom and grace is required. Raising a child is not computer programming. The right input doesn’t guarantee the right outcome. Disappointments, frustrations, and misfires are a part of parenting. Both our children and we are sinners. We must anticipate problems and prepare for them lest we be frustrated all the time, and our frustration will provoke our children to anger. The happiest homes are those where both parents and children understand their need of God’s forgiving and renewing grace.

Honoring your parents means obeying them. Next . . .

Honoring your parents means respecting them. Respect can be a tricky thing. We respect some people because of their position. You may think the judge is a scoundrel, but when he walks into the courtroom you stand up. You respect his office even if you despise his character. If you have any common sense, you speak to him carefully, appear in his courtroom dressed appropriately, and accept his verdict respectfully. By God’s design we must submit to our nation’s rulers, giving respect and honor to whom it is owed (Romans 13:1-7).

We also respect those who have no official position of authority over us. We respect them because their force of character compels respect. I can think of men and women who influenced me for good and yet never had any authority over me. Their personal example demanded respect

We should always respect our parents’ position, and inasmuch as possible, respect them as persons.

Unfortunately, there are some parents who imperil their children’s lives; others are abusive verbally. Our hearts break for children of evil parents. The gospel offers hope to children who grow up this way; they need not follow in their parents’ footsteps. But most of us don’t have parents who are deadbeats.

What we do have are parents who are sinners. Our respect of them is not based on their perfection. We respect our parents; first of all, because of the position of authority God gives them. By God’s design they are responsible to protect, provide and lead us. We honor them when we respect the position God has given them.

Every parent is flawed, and we do well to remember it. I’ve never met any father arrogant enough to claim he excels at everything, or a mother who believes herself an unerring model of parental excellence. Most parents know all too well their failings, and wise children must come to understand their parents’ frailties as well as their own. That’s why the Heidelberg Catechism exhorts us to “patiently bear with their weaknesses and infirmities, since it pleases God to govern us by their hand” (Question 104). Although parents make many mistakes, we should not be bitter toward them. The world would be a very dark place without parents to protect, nurture, and restrain children. A society where children are free to do as they please would quickly self-destruct. Whatever the foibles of our parents, thank God for them. God does not leave little children to fend for themselves. Parents are gifts from God, and unless you honor your parents, you can’t honor God.

For some of us, being patient with our parents means abandoning the critical, self-righteous view we have toward them, attitudes that continues long after we grow up and leave home. Most of us will have children one day, and find ourselves confronting the same challenges. If we want our children to hold gracious opinions of us, we should think and speak graciously of our parents.

But no small part of maturity is the dawning realization that our parents were much wiser than we once thought. Have you read the journalists and essayists who led the sexual revolution of the 1960s? Throwing off the sexually repressive views of their parents was their goal. But most mercifully they didn’t remain young. They became parents themselves, and startlingly developed views more conservative than their oppressive parents! Becoming a parent launched a second revolution that left many of them just as or even more conservative than their parents.

Honoring our parents means obeying and respecting them.

Honoring our parents also means being loyal to them.

Our parents protect us when we’re young; often we have to protect them when they are old. We mustn’t abandon them. Nailed to the cross, death fast approaching, Jesus did not forget his mother; he entrusted her to the Apostle John, who took her into his home (John 19:27). Some of our parents will need our financial help. Others will need a place to live as they grow old. Many others need our companionship, because old age brings the loss of friends and loneliness.

Loyalty means speaking carefully about our parents. Have you ever been stuck in a hospital waiting room or car dealership with the television tuned into one of the confrontational talk shows? Parents rail against their kids, and kids denounce their parents. Now I don’t want a ride on someone else’s emotional roller coaster, and don’t understand people who enjoy the pains of others. But what strikes me the most is how disloyal this is. I have looked at blogs where people run down their families for the entire world to see. That’s abhorrent. Families should fight for each others’ reputations, defend each others’ honor, and guard each others’ weaknesses. Venting about your parents’ failings is never right; it never pleases the Lord. When you’re frustrated with your parents, find a trusted friend to help you respond with grace. But if your decision is to air your family’s dirty laundry, you dishonor your parents and sin against God, and unless you honor your parents, you can’t honor God.

Honoring our parents means obeying them, respecting them, being loyal to them, and next . . . .

Honoring your parents means being courteous to them. Regardless of your age or your parents’ ages, there should be a courtesy of speech and behavior that demonstrates appropriate deference to their person and authority. “Yes, ma’am” and “no ma’am”, and “yes, sir” and “no, sir” are more than just quaint Southern customs. They provide our culture with a manner of speech that demonstrates outward respect for those in authority over us.

Standing up when our mothers or, for that matter, any woman entering a room, is a visible demonstration of honor. Giving up our seats for them in crowded places, waiting at meals until they are seated and begin their meal are acts of courtesy that foster a lifestyle of respect.

We mustn’t treat our parents as buddies. They are not our peers, and we are not their equals. With the exception of Lynne, I had no more trusted conversation partner and advisor than my Dad. But he was still my Dad, and not my peer. I owed him appropriate deference. It’s one of the ways we honor our fathers and mothers.

Now let me shift gears. I’ve spoken about how we must honor our parents. Now I want to urge parents to exercise parental authority without fear.

Exercise your parental authority regarding your child’s education. Parents have the fundamental responsibility of ensuring that their children are well educated. They can enlist the help of others - like school teachers - but responsibility for their education belongs solely to them.

Three areas of education need our attention.

First, we need to teach our children life skills - how to work, how to handle money, how to follow through on commitments, how to resolve conflicts, and the like.

Second, we need to teach our children manners. Manners put people at ease when they are in each others’ company. Manners promote civility, and teach us to treat even our adversaries with the respect that is due to humans created in the image of God. A humane society cannot exist without manners.

Third, we have the specific responsibility of teaching our children the truths of God’s word. “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” (Deuteronomy 6:5-7) Again, we can enlist others to help us - other parents, teachers, and extended family. But if a child’s education in God’s word does not take place or is inadequate, the parent is responsible. Choose very carefully how you educate your children.

Exercise your authority consistently. Children know if you pretend to be righteous in public but live like a pagan at home. Kids know if fake calmness and serenity at church, but spew angry and violent words at home. Bad spiritual fruit accompanies notoriously inconsistent parenting.

Exercise your authority firmly. There is an arrogance that young people are particularly susceptible to. Many people disdain the received wisdom of earlier generations. “Our parents are wrong. We need to start over and get everything right.” The generation gap is nothing new.

Our television programming fuels the discontent of youth. Family sitcoms often have as their theme stories about how the insights of children overcome the foolishness of their parents. Marketing experts know the pride of youth and appeal to it. How different this is from the Christian worldview. By living in submission to godly parents and imitating their example, we acquire wisdom. Biblical wisdom is passed along to the next generation. When young men and women cut themselves off from their parents and older believers, they cut themselves off from adult lives governed by biblical maturity.

Our children need parents and church leaders who will not lose their nerve when tension emerges between younger and older generations. The going might be rough at times, but our commitment must be to pass along the wisdom of biblical worship and life to the generation that follows us.

May we be parents who can say with Paul, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1).

Now let’s look for a moment at the motivation for obeying this commandment. Why honor and mother and father? “[T]hat your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:12).

In the Old Testament, Israel would remain in the Promised Land so long as children honored their fathers and mothers by receiving from them God’s word, cherishing it in their hearts, and practicing in our lives. There is no security in disobedience.

In the New Testament we stand outside the Promised Land. We are pilgrims waiting to enter the new heavens and new earth. If we rebel against the Lord and his commandments, we will not enter that rest. We prove ourselves disobedient sons, like Adam in the Garden, like spiritually compromised Israel.

But if we seek to be obedient to God’s commandment, it is evidence that we are his children, living by faith in his perfectly obedient Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. In Christ we can be confident the promised inheritance will be ours forever.

As we wrap up, a few comments about the language of our catechism. Answer 64 reads: “The Fifth Commandment requires the preserving the honor, and performing the duties, belonging to every one in their several places and relations, as superiors, inferiors, or equals.” The words were written almost four centuries ago, and reflect a view of the world that is not common in the West today. In family, marriage, work, and society we find ourselves in various spheres. In some cases we exercise authority over others (and thus are superiors over them with respect to authority); in other cases we are under the authority of others (and thus are inferior with respect to authority); and in other cases we are equals with respect to authority.

In earlier generations Christians understood that when you were in a position of authority you were not to exercise your authority to satisfy your self-interest, but that you were to provide for and protect those under your care. Just as a father provides protection and seeks the well being of his children, so a ruler, employer, teacher or church elder must protect, defend, and provide for those under his care. And, if we find ourselves under the authority of someone, we are to show that person respect. We would do well to rediscover our spiritual ancestors.

Also, we must see what previous generations saw clearly: the home is the building block for both church and nation. If a child does not learn to honor authority at home, then he will carry his bitter resentment of authority wherever he goes. So a child who doesn’t honor his mother and father most likely will not honor the church’s elders, his teachers, policemen or employers.

One of your primary responsibilities, moms and dads, is to teach your children to respect authority. When your child has a problem at school, don’t become his defense attorney and his teacher’s prosecutor. Even if you disagree with the teacher, don’t let your child think for a moment that he owes his teacher anything less than honor and obedience. If you treat your child as a victim, you will raise an insensitive child who blames others for his problems.

By God’s grace may we have homes and churches where we honor the authorities God has placed over us, and exercise the authority given to us with grace and humility. Only then will God’s name be honored. Only then will we have any expectation of living forever in the land he will give us.

Honor your parents, and in honoring them, honor God.

[1] Unless otherwise noted, all scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Happy Birthday, Andy!

2011-11-15T05:30:00.001-06:00

We're proud of you!

42 - Sermons on Exodus (20:8-11)

2011-11-15T00:30:00.000-06:00

(The forty-second in a series of sermons on Exodus, preached October 23, 2011.)

Exodus 20:8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh Day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.[1]

Lynne and I love to celebrate big events – birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays. As much as possible, we clear our schedule on those days, and enjoy them together with the people we love. Don’t you? What kind of man would rather hit the gym than spend a joyous birthday dinner with his wife? What kind of mother would spend Thanksgiving, locked away in her room, surfing the Internet rather than enjoying the company of her family?

And of all the peoples of the world, Christians should know the most about celebrating. We’ve got the time, and we’ve got the motivation.

We’ve got the time because the Lord stamps it on our calendars, one entire day in seven, each week.

We’ve got the motivation because on it we celebrate God’s Lordship over creation, and the redemption that he won for us in Christ. In our worship, prayer, and hearing his word, we give our loving attention to him who saved us. On that day of celebration, why would we want to turn our attention anywhere else – to work or sports or shopping?

Today I’m going to talk with you about the fourth commandment and Sabbath keeping. If you’re new to our congregation, it is quite possible that you’ve never heard a sermon on Sabbath keeping or honoring the Lord’s Day. You may find what I say strange and meddlesome. But most of what I say is mainstream Protestantism. I don’t have many original ideas, and nothing this morning is even remotely original. So, if my sermon seems odd, it’s not because I’m preaching a novelty; it’s because much of today’s church is out of step with what the Bible teaches about the distinctiveness of the Lord’s Day.

In previous generations, Protestants may have disagreed about some of the finer points of how the Old Testament Sabbath and New Testament Lord’s Day relate to one another, but almost all agreed that Sunday is special, different from the other days of the week. You’d be hard pressed to find a serious Protestant who didn’t believe that all unnecessary work should be avoided on Sundays. Forget about finding one who enrolled their kids in Sunday sports leagues.

The consensus was broad and deep – Sunday is special. That consensus is now gone. Christians may fight for the other nine commandments, but about the fourth commandment the church keeps silent. I, for one, think we should speak up for the Lord and for his day.

With that said, let’s think about what it means to keep the Sabbath day holy. After all, that’s how the fourth commandment begins: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.”

A good place to begin our thinking is by receiving the Sabbath as a gift. God gives many gifts, and few are more precious than the Sabbath. This morning it makes no difference to me whether you call today Sunday, the Sabbath, or the Lord’s Day. I am aware that Christians have debated the significance of these words for generations. I think the debates are interesting and important, but I will not pursue them now. What I will do is celebrate this wonderful gift that God has given you. I’ll use Sabbath, Lord’s Day, and Sunday interchangeably to designate that one day in seven God gives us as a holy day of rest and worship.

When you think of the gift of the Lord’s Day, I want five words to come to mind:

First, think rest. The Lord’s Day is a day of rest. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God.” (Exodus 20:8-9) This pattern of six days of work and one day of rest goes all the way back to creation. We are told “on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.” (Genesis 2:2-3) God is the model worker, completing his work in six days and resting on the seventh. You are his renewed image bearer - follow his example. Complete your work in six days and rest on the Lord’s Day.

But resting on Sundays won’t happen without forethought. You must plan to rest on Sundays, or you’ll find yourself spending the day like any other.

Now, before we proceed too far - I know some work must be done on Sunday. Doctors, nurses, policemen, and soldiers - please don’t abandon us to disease and criminals and our nations enemies! Some work is absolutely necessary, 24x7, and it is not a sin to do it when you’re on the schedule. But Christians who work in fields that require Sunday work must redouble their efforts to find time to be at one of the Sunday services if possible, and, when they can’t attend, to make sure that their families are squared away to worship without them.

Still, even though we acknowledge that some work is necessary on Sundays, I plead with you to guard the day. Don’t let this precious gift of God slip from your hands. Your body and mind needs rest, so God puts the day of rest on your weekly calendar.

Many Americans are exhausted, always tired, never rested, and struggle to remember the last time they were truly relaxed and refreshed. It’s not just work that tires us; it’s also our play. We seem bent on packing as much activity into our calendars as we can.

Sports is one example: As someone who has played competitive sports for much of my life and who still enjoys time in the gym, I have a deep appreciation for the benefits sports and exercise brings - health, discipline, leadership training for the young, and together time for families. But like any beneficial thing, we can get too much. For some families, sports programs for kids and adults are on the schedule every late afternoon and evening on weekdays and much of the day Saturday. It’s detrimental to family life: hectic meals on the run replace family meals; little if any time is made for children to have meaningful conversations with adults around the dinner table; homework is done hastily; tired and cranky children make life difficult for teachers; and opportunities for families to do housework together become non-existent, leaving many young people without an indispensable habit of working together as a family. The week concludes, Sunday comes, and it’s no different from any other day. Big surprise - we’re tired, stressed, and burned-out.

Often we think that the remedy for our weariness is weekends away. We need a vacation! But often we return to work exhausted on Monday.

Are you tired? God has an answer for you. It’s simple and cost-effective: he has built into your calendar a weekly day of rest. Fight to guard it. Don’t let the world steal it from you.

Sundays have a wonderful way of exposing our idols. If you can’t put your ordinary recreations and employment aside, then they mean too much to you; they’ve come to take a place in your life they shouldn’t.

As I have struggled to keep the Sabbath holy, I have had good examples to follow: honor students who never opened a text book on Sundays (even when tests came Monday), and businessmen who ran profitable businesses, closing their stores on Sunday while their competitors remained open. I conclude that Sabbath keeping is a fundamental issue of trust: “Can I trust God to provide for me if I rest as he commands?”

Keeping the Sabbath is similar to tithing. Tithing, too, demands trust. “If I start tithing, I’ll be ruined financially,” says a skeptical Christian. However, he chooses to trust the Lord, and, sure enough, he finds the 90% that remains goes farther than the 100% did without tithing.

Sabbath keeping involves planning. Plan to complete your work in six days. Clear your Sunday schedule of work and formal recreations. One of the side benefits will be a more efficient six days of work. Dads, plan to help your wives with the children. Strive to make her Sunday restful too.

Sometimes you must work Sundays. But before you do, ask, Is it necessary? If not, don’t.

When you think of the fourth commandment and Sunday, think rest. Also . . .

Think worship.

The Ten Commandments appear a second time in the Old Testament. In Deuteronomy 5 Israel is on the verge of entering the Promised Land. Moses restates the fourth commandment, and an adds an additional motivation for keeping it holy: “Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work . . . You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.” (Deuteronomy 5:12-15). In Exodus 20, the motivation for keeping the Sabbath holy is God’s pattern of work and rest at creation. In Deuteronomy 5 the motivation for keeping the Sabbath is God’s work of redemption. On the Sabbath we celebrate God’s saving work for us.

In Moses’ day, the mighty act of redemption that stands front and center was Israel’s deliverance from cruel bondage in Egypt. In the New Testament, the crowning redemptive event is Christ’s death and resurrection for our sins. Christ secures our freedom from sin’s tyranny. So momentous is his resurrection that the church begins to gather on the first day of the week - Sunday - to worship. Sunday is the Lord’s Day, the day of resurrection.

Every service of Christian worship is a covenant renewal service. God calls us to worship, meets with us, and assures us that we are his people. We call upon him for his gracious help, give him thanks for our redemption, and place ourselves under the teaching of his word, the very tool God uses to purify and shape our character. A good Father, our Lord feeds us from his table. God’s reaffirms his omnipotent promises, and in Christ we reaffirm our weak and fragile promises of devotion to him.

Let me say a word about Sunday evening worship: Westminster’s elders and deacons don’t believe that there is a commandment obligating believers to worship twice on Sundays. However, we do believe it is commendable. Here’s why:

First, morning and evening worship are like two sentinels placed at the beginning and end of each Lord’s Day. The services stand watch, guarding the character of the day. The day begins and ends in worship, and morning and evening services shape the time in between. We need to remember that it is the Lord’s Day, not the Lord’s hour. Morning and evening worship set the tone for the entire day.

Second, morning and evening worship permit us to gather for praise, prayer, and the reading and preaching of the word twice on the Lord’s Day. Twice we enjoy together the inestimable benefits of public worship.

Too often contemporary Christians look to special programs, concerts and seminars to jump-start their Christian lives. I don’t deny these may have some benefit, but historic Presbyterians have offered a biblical pathway to Christian maturity that includes the disciplined use of the Christian Sabbath and the public worship of God. We do well to follow in the footsteps of the faithful Presbyterians who have gone before us. They knew of no substitute for the discipline of Sabbath keeping. Anytime we believe ourselves spiritually unfruitful, a good place to take personal inventory is our diligence in Sabbath keeping.

On Sundays - think rest, think worship and next . . .

Think sanctification.

The Heidelberg Catechism summarizes scripture well when it requires that “all the days of my life I cease from my evil works, and yield myself to the Lord, to work by his Holy Spirit in me” (answer 103).

One of the motivations for keeping the fourth commandment is to celebrate God’s mighty work of redemption. In Moses’ day, the children of Israel were pinned against the Red Sea, helpless to turn back the approaching army of Pharaoh. But God did for them what they could not do for themselves: he opened a pathway of salvation through the sea, and destroyed Pharaoh’s army. All Israel needed to do was rest in the Lord alone for salvation.

And that is how we are saved. Not by our works, but resting in the Lord alone for salvation, by transferring our hope of salvation from what we do to what Christ has done. As we rest on the Sabbath Day we have a visible reminder that salvation is not won by our efforts, but by God’s victorious work for us in Christ. Salvation means renouncing trust in our own sinful works, and resting completely in the Lord Jesus Christ.

On Sundays - think rest, think, worship, think sanctification and next . . .

Think witness.

Sabbath keeping is a visible and public demonstration of our Christian faith. We choose to spend the Lord’s Day differently from unbelievers.

Much of our Christian witness is communicated without words. We glorify the Lord as we work six days a week, laboring hard and cheerfully, desiring first of all to please the Lord.

And we glorify the Lord, too, as we make the Sabbath day unlike the other days of the week, cheerfully delighting in our gift of rest and worship. Not a word spoken, but our actions speak volumes about the Lord we claim to love, and his day.

Sabbath keeping is a powerful witness.

On Sundays - think rest, think worship, think sanctification, think witness and, finally . . .

Think heaven.

The writer of Hebrews tells us that there “remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God” (Hebrews 4:9). Our weekly Sabbath points to an eternal Sabbath rest.

Life now is a struggle. Amid its joys are many disappointments, heartaches, and frustrations. The weekly Sabbath reminds us that the life we currently experience will not go on forever. In the new heaven and new earth, all things will be made new and “neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4).

Sabbath keeping makes us look forward to the eternal rest God will give us.

I’ll wrap things up by coming full circle. Sabbath keeping may seem a strange notion to you. If so, I am delighted to be the pastor to introduce it to you. What a gift God has given you!

So, “remember the Sabbath Day.” Linger on that word “remember.”

How easily we forget the Sabbath. It comes only once a week, and if we haven’t prepared for it, it will likely pass forgotten.

Remember the Sabbath day. All God’s laws are bound up in the keeping of this one commandment. If we neglect the worship of the Lord’s Day, with its reading of God’s law, we’re likely to forget the entire law.

Remember the Sabbath day. A people who forget the Sabbath will one day forget the Sabbath’s God. Today Madison County is full of churches, but don’t count on it tomorrow. The future of Christianity in our region is dark if Christians treat Sunday like any another day. When the Lord’s Day is forgotten, it won’t be long when the Lord is forgotten, too.

The Sabbath is God’s gracious gift and our priceless treasure. Remember the Sabbath day. Celebrate the Sabbath’s Lord and strive to keep his day holy.

Augustine of Hippo (354-430)

2011-11-13T00:01:00.000-06:00

No person contributed more to the development of Western Christianity than Augustine of Hippo, born November 13, 354. On this anniversary of his birth, why not read John Piper's excellent biographical sketch?

If you would like to read some of Augustine's works, start with his Confessions. I don't believe I exaggerate when I say it is the world's greatest theological and spiritual autobiography. My favorite biography is Augustine of Hippo by Peter Brown.

Some Augustine quotes: “Two cities have been formed by two loves: the earth by the love of self, even to the contempt of God; the heavenly by the love of God, even to the contempt of self. The former, in a word, glories in itself, the latter in the Lord . . . The one [city] delights in its own strength, represented in the persons of its rulers; the other says to its God, ‘I will love Thee, O Lord, my strength.’"

"Give me the grace [O Lord] to do as you command, and command me to do what you will!”

"Faith is mighty, but without love it profits nothing. The devils confessed Christ, but lacking charity it availed nothing. They said, 'What have we to do with you?' They confessed a sort of faith, but without love. Hence they were devils. Do not boast of that faith that puts you on the same level with devils."

"If We Ain't Got It, You Don't Need It"

2011-11-12T23:18:00.000-06:00

Floyd "Pete" Prince (1905-2000) bought this store in 1943. Those attending our annual Men's Retreat enjoyed shopping in the store until it closed several years ago. The two hundred or so citizens of Estillfork, Alabama gathered here to play dominoes, vote, and read notes for one another left in the store window.

I love its classic motto: "If we ain't got it, you don't need it!"

2011 Men's Retreat

2011-11-12T12:47:00.001-06:00

Every year I look forward to our Men's Retreat at Paint Rock Valley Lodge. Stephen Hooks led two excellent devotionals on mentoring young men and the importance of friendships among men.

Veterans Day 2011

2011-11-11T00:00:00.000-06:00

On this Veterans Day, I am proud and grateful for my immediate family who serve or have served in the United Stated Armed Forces:

My Dad, George Thomas Wingard (U.S. Army, 1943-1946)

My stepson, Thomas Dowd Prettyman (U.S. Marine Corps, 2000-2004)

My son, Clayton Thomas Wingard (Alabama Army National Guard, 2009-present)

Martin Luther (1483-1546)

2011-11-10T13:00:00.000-06:00

Martin Luther was born November 10, 1483. On this anniversary of his birth enjoy these reflections of John Piper on Luther's life and work.

If you are interested in reading one of Luther's works, I would recommend starting with Bondage of the Will.

Far and away my favorite biography of Luther is Luther: The Reformer by James M. Kittelson (and, yes, I've read Bainton's and Oberman's).

Martin Luther exhorted ministers of the word:

"Some pastors and preachers are lazy and no good. They do not pray; they do not read; they do not search the Scripture ... The call is: watch, study attend to reading. In truth you cannot read too much in Scripture; and what you read you cannot read too carefully, and what you read carefully you cannot understand too well, and what you understand well you cannot teach too well, and what you teach well you cannot live too well ... The devil ... the world ... and our flesh are raging and raving against us. Therefore, dear sirs and brothers, pastors and preachers, pray, read, study, be diligent ... This evil, shameful time is not the season for being lazy, for sleeping and snoring." (cited by John Piper in the link above)

Five centuries later his words remain timely.

Westminster Debate Team

2011-11-04T17:57:00.002-05:00

Today the Westminster Christian Academy Debate Team attended an all-day seminar on federal tax policy, the subject of this year's policy debate at Milestones Speech and Debate Club. This year's topic is a bit arcane for me, so I have appreciated the economic expertise Ron Klein contributes in our class lectures. In addition to serving as our team photographer, Lynne Wingard offers the team excellent elocution coaching. I'm grateful to be a part of the lives of these outstanding young men and women.

My Training Partner, Cooper

2011-10-27T10:44:00.000-05:00

It's fall, and as usual, I'm training for the Huntsville marathon. This year my training partner has been Cooper, a magnificent Weimaraner and the obedient covenant canine of Matt and Rebecca Harness.

After many miles of road work together, Cooper and I are so besties now. We're true soul mates. He, too, is an Old School Presbyterian, a Burkean conservative on matters political and social, and looks forward to the day when Vanderbilt dominates SEC football.

Thanks, Cooper, for making the miles pleasant!

Carl Trueman on "Trivial Messiahs"

2011-10-21T09:13:00.003-05:00

From Carl Truman: "Watching clips from the Steve Jobs memorial at the Apple HQ, I was struck once again by how we have imputed messianic significance to him."

Read the entire article.

41 - Sermons on Exodus (20:7)

2011-10-18T11:47:00.000-05:00

(The forty-first in a series of sermons on Exodus, preached October 16, 2011.)

Exodus 20:7 “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.”[i]

Listen to these names: Paul . . . Judas . . . George Washington . . . Benedict Arnold . . . Florence Nightingale . . . Lindsey Lohan . . . Margaret Thatcher . . . Bill Clinton. To each we react differently. Some names evoke admiration; others a shrug of indifference; others disgust. Some make us think of lives well-lived; others of lives squandered. Some names serve almost as synonyms for stability, maturity, and honor; others of recklessness, immaturity and betrayal.

Names identify us, enabling us to distinguish, say, Charlie from Eric, or Lynne from Susan. But names are more than just a way to distinguish people. Names also stand for the reputations behind them. The reputations of George Washington and

Benedict Arnold couldn’t be more different. For many decades, George was the one of the most popular American male names; our admiration for Washington’s achievements is limitless. I suspect that after the Revolutionary War, the name Benedict was not quite as popular as before. Behind a name stands a reputation.

How many boys do you know named Paul? How many adorable little Judases do you see bouncing on proud fathers’ knees? Behind a name stands a reputation. That is why Proverbs tells us to seek a good name: “A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold” (Proverbs 22:1). Few things count more than a good name and a good reputation.

What does all this have to do with the third commandment? Everything! “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.” Honor his name by the way you speak and by the way you act. Turn his name into a joke or a swear word or deploy it as a punctuation mark and you’ve broken this commandment. Moreover, if you or I behave badly, we defame the name into which we were baptized. The third commandment covers just about everything.

So, honor the name. Honor God’s name by your speech. Don’t dishonor the name by taking it in vain.

To take God’s name in vain is to treat it with anything less than the absolute reverence it deserves. The Psalmist commands us: “Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name” (Psalm 96:8). The word “glory” is bound up in the reality of weightiness. God’s name is weighty and substantial, and must never be spoken lightly or used trivially. Every time God’s name is on our lips we should use it with the utmost respect possible. We ascribe glory to the Lord when we honor his name.

We love our mothers and fathers. Let someone slander them, and the gloves come off. We’re furious. To assault their character is to assault us. Our parents gave us life; they cared for us and protected us.

Or, to be more specific, through your parents, the Lord gave you life, care and protection, and the third commandment won’t let you forget that the Lord is your God. “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.” He delivered you out of sin’s grotesque bondage. He saved you by the blood his own Son. If you would never treat your parents’ name lightly, then be all the more devoted to the reverent use of God’s name.

Honor the name of the Father. Treat it with reverence and fear. If you pray in his name without thinking, if you sing his name without thanksgiving, if you praise his name without love, and if you listen inattentively to the word that comes in his name, then you’ve failed to honor his name.

Honor the Father’s name. And honor the Son’s name. Paul writes, “God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11). Jesus, the Savior’s name, who died for our sins, is fully man. He is also fully God, the second person of the Trinity. He bears the divine name “Lord.” To him we owe obedience and worship. Only in Christ are we right with God; only in his name do we worship the Father. Why would we ever want to do anything less than honor his beloved name?

Honor the name. Honor the name of God by guarding your theology. Remember, the name stands for both the person and his reputation. Our theology must do justice to the way God reveals himself in scripture. If we deny, for instance, the miracles, or the deity of Christ, or the infallibility of God’s word, then we have said that God is not who he says he is in his word. Our theological statements must do justice to the truths God reveals about himself in the Bible.

Honor the name. Don’t put words into God’s mouth.

A simple example: you may say to me, “God told me to join your church.” Now don’t get me wrong: I’m glad you’re here. Still, God didn’t tell you to join my church, or anyone else’s, for that matter. What he does command is that you identify with a church, placing yourself under the preaching of God’s word, the administration of the sacraments, and the discipline of elders. You can know with certainty that God tells you to identify with the church; his word is unambiguous. But no place in scripture tells you which congregation to join. You must heed the general principles of the word regarding church membership, seek the advice of godly friends and family and elders, pray for wisdom, and trust God’s providential leading as you make your decision. But God never tells you which church to join.

You will never hear a voice from heaven telling you whom to marry. So it’s wrong to say that God told me to marry this person. Again the resources of the word, godly friends, prayer, and trust in God’s providence are available as you decide whom to marry. You’re going to have to think: Am I the kind of man or woman the Bible commands me to be? Is my potential spouse pursuing godliness? Do we share common spiritual and material goals? Can we solve problems together? God will not speak verbally to you or send signs or write a message in the sky. He gives the biblical principles, but you will have to apply them prayerfully and carefully. There are no shortcuts. As an image bearer of God, you must think, evaluate, and reach a decision.

I have seen people deeply hurt because a theologically illiterate man or woman claimed to speak for God. “God told me your dad will be healed of cancer,” and he died. “I received a word of knowledge that your child will become a believer,” and faith never came. “You will get pregnant,” and the years of childlessness continued. We violate the third commandment when we put words in God’s mouth. We claim he speaks when he hasn’t.

Honor the name. Don’t swear falsely or recklessly. Oaths are serious. What is an oath? “The oath is swearing with appeal to the name of God, who serves as witness that a person is speaking the truth or intends to fulfill a vow.”[ii] In an oath, we assert something to be true or make a promise to do something. We call upon God, who alone knows our hearts, to be our witness that what we say is true and that our resolve is pure. Godly oaths honor because they confess that his knowledge is limitless; his penetrating gaze extends to the hidden thoughts and desires of our heart.[iii] The wise man refuses to take an oath casually, because he believes God’s threat: “the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.” Oaths should not be commonplace, but reserved for the most solemn and serious occasions.

There is ample biblical support for oath taking. In the Old Testament, oaths were not only permitted but also commanded. A little biblical background: “You shall fear the Lord your God. You shall serve him and hold fast to him, and by his name you shall swear.” (Deuteronomy 10:20) In the New Testament, we find Jesus responding to the high priest under oath in Matthew 26:63. Paul often employed oaths (Romans 1:9, 2 Corinthians 1:23, 11:31, Galatians 1:20, Philippians 1:20). God confirmed his promise to his people with an oath (Hebrews 6:17).

What’s at stake for you when you take an oath is the fact that you live before the face of God. Nothing you say escapes his holy scrutiny.

In Psalm 15, the Psalmist asks, “O Lord, who shall dwell on your holy hill?” (Psalm 15:1) A good question! You should want to know what kind of person stands under God’s favor in his holy presence. The Psalmist answers, “[he] who swears to his own hurt and does not change” (Psalm 15:4). Let the words sink in. “[He] who swears to his own hurt and does not change.” A Christian keeps his word not only when honoring a commitment that is advantageous to him, but also when it will cost him dearly.

Contrast that with many pagan religions and cults: keep the commitments you make to fellow members of your group, but you can break vows made to those of other religions. The Bible knows nothing of such duplicity. As Christianity has spread into pagan cultures it has brought along with it a commitment in principle to telling the truth, and legal systems with severe penalties for perjury.

Now you may ask, “What about today’s New Testament lesson? Doesn’t Jesus forbid all oath taking?”

Let’s look again at the passage: “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.” (Matthew 5:33-37)

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus both explains and applies the law of God and corrects common abuses of the law in Israel. He does not forbid all oath-taking. He does not say “Don’t ever swear by God.” He does take aim at oath-taking that deceives.[iv] He forbids swearing by some created object in order to avoid using God’s name. After all, anything you swear by, he made. Foolish men thought that if God’s name were not included in an oath, then the oath’s seriousness was diminished. Some oaths were counted binding; others were not. Jesus loathes such trickery. One writer says well, “The implication seems to be that if the name of God is dwelling in a believer by the Spirit, then the believer’s word should be as good as God’s and need no extra swearing.”[v] Let your yes be yes, and your no be no. Ordinarily, that’s enough.

Honor the name. Honor it by keeping your promises. Every promise made is a point of honor, and your reputation and the reputation of God depends upon your keeping them. Christians who bear God’s name must keep their word.

Listen to the words of another generation: “The preservation of integrity should be superior to all other considerations, and it is a miserable confession of weakness that the love of life or limb has been stronger than the love of virtue . . . It cannot be too earnestly inculcated upon the young that to break a pledge is apt to be followed by the total ruin of one’s virtue. Transgression is not a transitory thing. The single act is soon done and over, but it leaves an influence behind, which, like the adder’s poison, may grow and operate and spread until it reaches the seat of life and triumphs in the ruin of the victim.”[vi] This writer knew what so many of us don’t. Sins are not isolated acts; they set in motion behavior patterns that propel one’s life down a road to destruction. Promise-breaking becomes a soul-destroying way of life. God’s name is dishonored, a life is ruined, and the reputation of the church scandalized.

What does a person who makes and keeps promises look like?

A person who makes and keeps promises is consistent. He’s not always changing his core commitments depending upon his physical impulses, circumstances, and public opinion. Consistency is harmony of character, and a desire to keep our promises regardless of circumstances.

A young person has integrity when she keeps her promises to the Lord when she’s with the youth group, and when she’s in a crowd that pressures her to immoral behavior.

A husband is a man of integrity when he’s committed to his wife when he’s at home, and when he’s alone in a motel room on the other side of the country. He lives by the promises he made to her before the Lord.

A businessman is a person of integrity when he discloses his full tax obligations, even when it jeopardizes his business. He lives out his commitment to be a person of truth.

A person who can’t make or keep promises lacks consistency. No core commitments govern him. He’s conflicted: in one situation he acts like a follower of Christ, and in another it’s as if he’s never even heard of Christ. He is driven by feelings, dominated by the passion of the moment and not by the word of God.

When we are tempted to break our word, we should remember whose reputation is on the line. Ours is, of course, and how terrible to forfeit it! But of far greater consequence is the name we bear by election and baptism, the name of the true and living God. You have been baptized in his name. Throw away your reputation, and certainly, you hurt yourself. But you also damage the reputation of the One whose name you bear. And you run the risk of making his church the subject of ridicule and mockery.

There’s much to think about when we hear God’s command: “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.” These words break our hearts because of the many times we have spoken and acted carelessly, sending us to the cross for God’s forgiveness. And this commandment sends us to the throne of grace to obtain courage to defend God’s name.

Honor the name!

[i] Unless otherwise noted, all scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible,English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

[ii] J. Douma, The Ten Commandments: Manual for the Christian Life, trans. by Nelson D. Kloosterman (P&R, 1996), 87-88.

[iii] Douma, 90.

[iv] Douma, 93.

[v] Clowney, How Jesus Transforms the Ten Commandments, edited by Rebecca Clowney Jones (P&R: 2007), 41.

[vi] James Henley Thornwell, The Collected Writings of James Henley Thornwell, vol. 2 (Banner of Truth, 1986; first published 1875), 559.

40 - Sermons on Exodus (20:4-6)

2011-10-11T08:58:00.001-05:00

(The fortieth in a series of sermons on Exodus, preached October 2, 2011.)

Exodus 20:4-6 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.[1]

Don’t expect to see the likes of it today. In October 1854 Stephen Douglas sat down after his three-hour speech on the political controversies of the day. His audience? An Ivy League classroom? The Congress of the United States? No, just the farmers and laborers and merchants of Peoria, Illinois. Sound taxing? Abraham Lincoln, Douglas’ debate opponent, thought so. That’s why he suggested to the crowd that it break for dinner at 5:00, go home, and return refreshed for the remaining four hours of debate, which included his lengthy responses to Douglas’ arguments.[2]

Lengthy speeches and debates were not uncommon in Lincoln’s day. No power points, no video clips, no 30-second sound bites. Only the spoken word. The prevailing assumption was that debaters could speak at length intelligently, and that their audiences, informed by newspapers, could follow their arguments.

The culture of Lincoln and Douglas was word-based. That’s no longer true. Don’t expect to see the Republican nominee and President Obama in a seven-hour debate. Instead of word-based, we are an image-based culture. The majority of Americans do not value careful reading and careful listening. Attention spans are not measured by hours, but by minutes.

And that’s a problem for Christians, because Christianity is a word-based religion, a religion that teaches that where the eye is open to idols, the ear is shut to the word of God.

Right from creation words are critical. God, who is invisible, creates by his omnipotent word. He speaks the cosmos into existence. Eight times the first chapter of the Bible records: “And God said.” “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light… And God said, ‘Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters’…And God said, ‘Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.;” And God goes right on speaking until he finishes his work of creation. “God said”…“And it was so,” the refrain of Genesis 1.

Whether it’s the millions of stars in the heavens or the animals and plant life of the world or the rivers that sustain them – everything we see is the handiwork of our good and skillful Creator. The first of the Ten Commandments says, “You shall have no other gods before me,” so don’t you dare make a god out of something he’s created.

The second commandment reads, “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, you shall not bow down to them or serve them” so don’t you dare worship him in a way he does not command. Every other nation worships its gods with images, but Israel mustn’t make an image of Yahweh. When the eye is open to idols, the ear is closed to the word of God. The Lord’s religion is word-based.

The first and second commandments forbid different sins. The first commandment forbids worshiping false gods. “You shall not have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). The second commandment forbids false worship. You may not worship an image of the true God. The first commandment requires worship of the true God only. The second commandment requires worship of the true God only in the way he commands.

You and I must worship our Creator and Redeemer – that’s our joyful duty. But it’s worship without images. When the eye is open to idols, the ear is closed to the word of God. The Lord’s religion is word-based.

Notice how comprehensive this commandment is: “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.” The heavens, the earth, the seas - the whole creation - nothing may be used as a symbol for the one true God.

Instead of devoting themselves to visual images, believers must devote themselves to listening. Our Savior says that man lives “by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). Paul writes to the young minister Timothy: “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16,17). The word directs the life that pleases God, and the word directs the worship that pleases God.

So, serious Christians ask, What kind of worship pleases God? The answer: only worship given to him through Christ and commanded by his word. We are not given the liberty to worship him in any way we choose, but only in the way he chooses.

Historic Protestant worship emphasizes the hearing of God’s word read and preached. As we joyfully submit ourselves to God’s word we are made more and more into the likeness of Christ, who is the perfect image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15, Hebrews 1:3). In him “the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” (Colossians 2:9), and in him we see the Father (John 14:9). The one image of God men and women are commanded to worship is Jesus.

But even as I say that Jesus is the one image of God men and women are commanded to worship, I quickly add that doesn’t mean we make a statue or image of him, like a crucifix, and use them in worship. The ancient church synod that met in Constantinople in 753 A.D. correctly said: "The only admissible figure of the humanity of Christ, however, is bread and wine in the holy Supper. This and no other form, this and no other type, has he chosen to represent his Incarnation.”[3]

We need to think more deeply about why idolatry is dangerous. We resemble what we worship. The Psalmist declares, “Those who make [idols] become like them; so do all who trust them” (Psalm 115:8). An idol is deaf to the word of God, and those who make them are also spiritually deaf. Think about the golden calf Israel later worships. In ancient cultures, bulls were symbols of sexual potency and fertility. The worship of them always included lewd and sexually immoral behavior.

We resemble what we worship. With Israel, we must make no room for images of God.

Since we always, always resemble what we worship, let us worship Christ, not by an image of him, but as he reveals himself in the word: As we worship Christ we will be renewed in his image - in knowledge, righteousness and holiness (Colossians 3:10; Ephesians 4:24).

I’ll note several ways common ways we violate the second commandment.

The first is by using images to worship the living God. I enjoy reading church history. As I read the history of Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy I find much that I admire and benefit from, but also much that troubles me. There are, after all, reasons why I am a Protestant.

One aspect of Catholic and Orthodox practice that troubles me is the use of statues and images of Christ in worship in these two traditions. I know that the best theologians in these traditions seek to distinguish between the respect and veneration given to images and the worship given to the true God, but I think these distinctions fail in practice. The bowing before statues and pictures of Christ, the kissing of them and praying before them blurs any distinction between devotion to the image and the supposed reality behind it. They become objects of worship. Besides, it seems to me that these statues and images in worship are clearly what the commandment forbids. Both history and personal observation that where the eye is open to these images in worship the ear is likely to be shut to the word of God. Strong, expository preaching by ministers and a broad knowledge of the Bible by the church’s membership seldom mark these traditions. When the eye is open to images, the ear is closed to the word of God.

Sometimes it is argued that the statues and pictures of Jesus are books for the uneducated. I dispute that claim. If a person is uneducated, he needs to listen to the word of God read and preached, and to learn to read it for himself. The early Puritans in New England achieved a male literacy rate of 90% compared to 40% in England. The Puritan determination that men and women read the word of God for themselves drove these high literacy rates. They wanted ears open to the word of God.[4]

But we are neither Catholic nor Eastern Orthodox, so I will quickly move on to a form of violating this commandment that is common to Protestants. We break this commandment when we carve out in our mind an image of the God that is not faithful to how God has revealed himself in scripture.

I’ll supply three examples.

Many professing Christians find themselves uncomfortable with what God says about his wrath against sin, so they conveniently refuse to think about this aspect of his holiness. After all, to think about hell is frightening. So, God becomes an indulgent Father, ever ready to grant our requests regardless of whether they promote his glory and our good. This is carving in our minds an image of God that is manifestly false.

Others find the biblical standard of ethics restrictive. What could be inherently wrong with cohabitation and homosexual marriages, especially if two people are in love? When the Bible talks about God’s judgment on these lifestyles then it must not be his word, but the unenlightened views of earlier generations. This is carving in our minds an image of God that is manifestly false.

Others dismiss the abundant scriptural testimony, and conclude that God never visits us with adversity, sickness, and trials. A loving God, after all, would never do anything to bring pain into the lives of his children. His single goal is our personal happiness, safety and comfort. Again, this is carving in our minds an image of God that is manifestly false.

I could multiply these examples, but you get the point: We can manufacture in our mind views about God that are wrong, and turn the God of the Bible into something other than what he has revealed himself to be in scripture. We end up worshiping a false image of God, and have violated the second commandment. We need to abandon the false images, and allow the word of God read and preached to shape our minds.

Now I will turn our attention to why we find forbidden images and idols attractive. Whether they are idols of wood and stone or idols in our minds, what about them appeals to us?

First, they are easily approachable. Read those accounts in the Old Testament where men are confronted with the glory of the Lord (e.g., Isaiah 6, Exodus 40:34-35). They are filled with fear; the glory of the Lord is overwhelms. To this very day men and women are visibly moved when they are confronted by God’s holiness in his word. Yet, an idol is safe. It strikes no terror. If we are not careful, we can construct a mental concept of God that is devoid of the power of his glory and holiness.

Next, idols make no demands. We tell them what we want, but they do not speak and make no claims.

Finally, idols are comforting. Some wear or carry around religious symbols as if they were good luck charms. And many professing Christians comfort themselves with a view of God that thinks him never angry and always affirming, and he would certainly never do anything that would bring pain and suffering upon one of his children.

What must distinguish us is our repudiation of idols. Not the human imagination but the word of God is the sole rule to teach us what we are to believe about God and what duties he requires of us. More than a thousand years after Moses, God sent his own perfect image into the world to redeem us from our sins and to manifest in his incarnation the glory of the invisible God.

Exodus 20:5 provides one reason why we must abstain from employing man-made images of God in worship. We must repudiate idols because God is jealous. “You shall not bow down to [idols] or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God” (Exodus 20:5). God is jealous for our exclusive allegiance and pure worship.

We meditated on jealousy last week. Human jealousy may be sinful. We are jealous of someone because God has given them things he declines to give us, and we resent it. Sinful jealousy is ugly: it’s never content with God’s providence and is unwilling to delight in the good things God gives others.

But there is a righteous jealousy. Husband - be jealous for your wife’s exclusive marital devotion. Wives - be jealous for your husband’s unrelenting loyalty to your marriage covenant. Anything less than fervent jealousy is sinful.

God’s jealousy is, of course, good, righteous, and holy. He commands our exclusive allegiance. He will not have us take the glory, honor, and worship that belong to him alone and transfer it to a man-made image, even if it purports to be an image of him.

Worship idols and the consequences are severe. God threatens to visit “the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me” (Exodus 20:5).

This verse does not mean that God punishes children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren for the sins of the father. Sometimes ungodly parents find their children walking faithfully with the Lord. God’s grace is greater than the bad example they set.

But the principle stands firm: fathers must be ever so careful how they lead because idolatrous parents ordinarily raise idolatrous children, and the consequences of the father’s godless leadership can devastate a family. In the ancient word, three or four generations of a family often lived in a household. The warning is clear: be careful fathers; your idolatry can wreak havoc upon the children under your care.

God’s judgment is great; God’s mercy is greater. God promises to show “steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments” (Exodus 20:6). Blessings abound where our eyes are shut to idols and our ears are open to the word of God. By God’s grace we establish a church and home environment marked by godly obedience, and in that godly environment blessings flow to our children and our children’s children. This does not mean that every child of godly parents will become a believer and grow strong in the Lord; grace is not inherited. But we must never underestimate the influence of godly parents on their children and grandchildren as they worship faithfully and patiently according to God’s word.

I believe it was James Boice who observed that the church tends to overestimate what it can accomplish in a few years and underestimate what it can accomplish in 20 years. Substantial changes require substantial commitments that last more than a brief time. They demand what one writer calls “a long obedience in the same direction.”

My challenge to you is not to underestimate what God can accomplish in and through our church as we give ourselves to him year after year - saturating our minds with scripture, filling our worship with hymns, prayers, and preaching steeped in the language of the Bible. As we do the word of Christ will dwell in us richly (Colossians 3:16), and he who shows “steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments” will continually refresh us – his promise to believers who shut their eyes to idols, and open their ears to his word.

[1] Unless otherwise noted, all scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible,English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

[2] Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business (Penguin Books: 1985), 44.

[3] The Synod of Constantinople, 753 A.D. Retrieved at http://www.ewtn.com/library/COUNCILS/NICAEA2I.HTM on May 11, 2011.

[4] Postman, 31-32.

Alabama in Between

2011-10-10T11:33:00.000-05:00

A spirited defense of the electoral college, but I especially enjoyed this sentence: "Not since 1988 has a Republican carried Pennsylvania, a state described as Philadelphia in the east, Pittsburgh in the west and Alabama in between."

Read the entire article by George F. Will.

Time to Man Up

2011-10-07T10:55:00.000-05:00

From Bill Bennett:

"The Founding Fathers believed, and the evidence still shows, that industriousness, marriage and religion are a very important basis for male empowerment and achievement. We may need to say to a number of our twenty-something men, 'Get off the video games five hours a day, get yourself together, get a challenging job and get married.' It's time for men to man up."

Read the entire article.

Evangelicals, Anti-formalism, and Worship

2011-10-04T10:17:00.000-05:00

“Evangelical anti-formalism helps to account for one of the odder aspects of the recent culture wars. On the one hand, born-again Protestants are publicly committed to standards of decency and propriety in popular culture and to a basic, no-frills curriculum in education that is sympathetic to the classics of Western civilization. They want cultural and artistic expressions that will nurture and support wholesome values. On the other hand, in worship evangelical Protestants are among the least traditional of Christians. Their most popular services rely upon a soft version of the rock music whose lyrics are devoid of the historic prayers, rites, and creeds that have informed Christian worship, whether Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, or Protestant. In effect, for six days of the week evangelical Protestants are cultural warriors doing battle against artistic deviancy, but on their holy day of rest and worship they are on the opposite side in the so-called worship wars, doing to liturgical norms what their political opponents do to cultural standards. Anti-formalism is an important factor in this glaring inconsistency. In worship, experience is foremost, and liturgical forms, as opposed to contemporary worship music, are incapable of producing the experience so many evangelicals desire. Consequently, while evangelicals are conservative about the most obvious aspects of cultural deviancy, their conservatism has not extended to worship.”

- D.G. Hart, From Billy Graham to Sarah Palin: Evangelicals and the Betrayal of American Conservatism (Eerdmans: 2011), 199.