“These two days [John 1:29-34] witnessed the beginning of the greatest institution in the world, – the Christian Church, – and the end of prophecy, which reached its goal when its last representative stood in the presence of Jesus, and, with pointing finger, designated Him as the Lamb of God. To outward seeming they were but a little knot of poor Jews. How kings and Caesars would have scoffed, if told that they were the nucleus of a movement which would shatter their thrones and reshape the world! ‘The kingdom of God cometh not with observation.’”
Alexander Maclaren, The Gospel of John (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1893), 12.
“He Hears Us”
First John 5:14 gives us a powerful assurance in prayer: “he hears us.” This is our “confidence” John says. Yarbrough’s discussion of this truth is moving & instructive.
“The loftiest attainment of errant mortals petitioning before the heavenly throne is not to gain God’s compliance but to be fully assured of his listening ear – whatever external results our prayers do or do not precipitate from God’s side. ‘If we know that he hears us, whatever we request,’ it is enough. The highest divine response to the petitioner is not to put human prayer in the driver’s seat of destiny but to assure the one who prays that all requests are duly considered and acted on so as to maximize the coming of God’s kingdom and the fulfillment of his will – the attitudinal common denominator that Jesus taught should characterize all his disciples’ prayer.
Therefore, when John writes that ‘we know that we have the requests that we have requested from him,’ he is affirming that to know that God hears, to trust that he always acts in a wise and timely fashion, and to commune prayerfully with him in that settled assurance is in itself the deepest gratification of those who have eternal life in his Son (cf. 5:11 …).”
R. Yarbrough, 1-3 John, 302
Read, Pray, Sing
April 12-13, 2013 the Ryan Center for Biblical Studies will be hosting the conference, “Read, Pray, Sing: The Psalms as an Entryway to the Scriptures.” The conference theme captures two key points about the Psalms. First, the Psalms have been given to us to use in reading, praying and singing. Too often, all we do with them is read. Reading the Psalms is wonderful, but there is no need for us to miss these others uses which have been such a rich blessing to the church through the ages. The psalms give us words to express ourselves to God, tutoring us in growing in a rich relationship with God.
Secondly, the Psalms teach us the rest of the Bible. Martin Luther was fond of calling the Psalter a “mini-Bible” saying that all the themes of the Bible are summarized here in miniature. In fact as we seek to use the Psalms in our prayers and song, we are schooled in reading the scriptures in light of Christ, as Jesus himself taught us (Luke 24:27).
So, we will pursue this theme together being led by plenary speakers Andy Davis and Heath Thomas with breakout sessions from several Union faculty members. Also on Friday night we will have a Psalm-sing, taking the opportunity to sing a variety of Psalms in different styles.
The conference is intended for pastors, bible study leaders and anyone who wants to enhance their own study of the Scriptures. Until March 11 (the early registration deadline) the cost is only $50.
Pastors, Seek Souls not Fame
“they who are called to preach the gospel, to teach the flock of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to lead them, cannot do their duty, unless they lay all ambition aside and seek not to please men, not to be seen, nor to be in reputation. They must account all this as vanity, and content themselves to build the Church, to procure the salvation of souls, to magnify the Majesty of our Lord Jesus, and cause all to submit themselves obediently to God. To be short, let it suffice them to put forth the simplicity of the Gospel, to enrich those who desire to be satisfied with God’s blessings. Let them content themselves herein, and not covet as many do to be exalted, to be esteemed for their showy babbling and lofty speech, for their subtleties, for their fine and sharp wits, for their fleeting, pretentious displays. All these things (he says) must be laid underfoot, or else we can never serve God and his Church. And therefore this knowledge that men so much seek for is but a mere vanity, because there is no soundness nor substance in it.”
(Calvin, preaching on 1 Timothy 6:20)
This quote is challenging and helpful in a variety of ways. In spite of mischaracterizations to the contrary, we see here Calvin urging pastors to labor in order to “procure the salvation of souls.” Also, here we are reminded that we cannot pursue God’s glory and our own glory at the same time. We cannot simultaneously build the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of self, though it is so easy to build the kingdom of self and simply rename it, “Kingdom of God.” To be useful to God in the salvation of souls and the building up of his church and thus to hear Him say “Well done,” is of so much more value than winning the applause of our contemporaries- despite the inner clamor of our hearts for the immediate gratification of the praise of man.
Calvin on the Free Offer of the Gospel
“For so often as we preach the doctrine of salvation, we show that God is ready to receive all who come to him, that the gate is open to those who call upon him, and to be assured that their inheritance is prepared for them there above, and they can never be deceived of it.”
-Sermon on 1 Timothy 6:20-21
The Looking Glass of The Gospel
Tornado & Providence, Union University & William Cowper
Today is the fifth anniversary of the tornado that devastated so much of the campus of Union University. You can see a nice news story from a Tennessee TV station here.
Five years ago tonight my family sat down to dinner with Bob Cali, a Union student and a fellow church member. Dinner was interrupted as the sirens went off, and we gathered into our laundry room. We sang hymns as we waited, and occasionally Bob & I slipped out to get another taste of the dessert which was interrupted (that pie has now been dubbed by my kids as “storm pie”). Then, my wife and I heard the sound we had often heard described but had never before experienced- a sound like a train, which we realized meant a tornado was just then passing very near our home. We huddled with our crew and waited, not knowing we were entering a defining moment in our lives and the life of our community.
The story has been told in full elsewhere, most notably in Tim Ellsworth’s book, God in the Whirlwind: Stories of Grace from the Tornado at Union University. To reflect back on that time, the fact that everyone survived, that the university survived, the amazing leadership of the university administration, and the various fruit which came from it all is a lesson in providence.
Reflecting on that today, my mind returned to this poem by William Cowper, which captures our experience quite well. The biblical truths expressed here are a great comfort and a spur to move ahead boldly with great confidence in a great God.
Light Shining Out of Darkness
God moves in a mysterious way,
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never failing skill,
He treasures up his bright designs,
And works his sovereign will.Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take,
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings on your head.Judge not the LORD by feeble sense,
But trust him for his grace;
Behind a frowning providence,
He hides a smiling face.His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding ev’ry hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flow’r.Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan his work in vain;
GOD is his own interpreter,
And he will make it plain.
Cherish a Holy Warmth
I really appreciated this excerpt from Spurgeon, finding that it both challenged and encouraged me personally and expressed what I am aiming for in teaching and preaching. It is so easy to become the overly cautious person he rebukes here. I think he is exactly right that the failure to be loving and gracious often arises from a failure to revel in the reality of God’s grace.
I hope the quote encourages you as it has me.
“Next to that, cherish a holy warmth. Do not repress your emotions and freeze your souls. You know the class of brethren who are gifted with refrigerating power. When you shake hands with them, you would think that you had hold of a fish: a chill goes to your very soul. Hear them sing. No, you cannot hear them! Sit in the next pew, and you will never hear the gentle hiss of mutter which they call singing. Out in their shops they could be heard a quarter of a mile off, but if they pray in the meeting, you must strain your ears. They do all Christian service as if they were working by the day for a bad master and at scanty wages: when they get into the world, they work by the piece as if for dear life. Such brethren cannot be affectionate. They never encourage a young man, for they are afraid that their weighty commendation might exalt him above measure. A little encouragement would help the struggling your mightily, but they have none to offer. They calculate and reckon and move prudently; but anything like a brave trust in God they set down as a rashness and folly. God grant us plenty of rashness, I say, for what men think imprudence is about the grandest thing under heaven. Enthusiasm is a feeling which these refrigerators do not indulge. Their chant is, ‘As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen’; but anything like a dash for Christ and a rush for souls they do not understand. Mark this, if you trace such brethren home, you will find that they have little joy themselves and make very little joy for others. They are never quite certain that they are saved, and if they are not sure of it we may readily guess that other people are not. They spend in anxious thought the strength which ought to have gone in hearty love. They were born at the north pole and live amid perpetual frost: all the furs of Hudson’s Bay could not warm them. About them you see none of the rich tropical flowers which bedeck the heart upon which the Sun of Righteousness shines with perpendicular beams. These chilly mortals have never traversed the sunny regions of heavenly love where the spices of holy delight load the air, and apples of gold are everywhere within the reach of glowing hearts. The Lord bring us there!
Jesus Christ loves warm people; he never shines on an iceberg except to melt it. His own life is so full of love that its holy fire kindles the like flame in others, and thus he has fellowship with those whose hearts burn within them. The fitness for love is love. To enjoy the love of Jesus we must overflow with love. Pray for earnest, eager, intense affection. Lay your hearts among the coals of juniper till they melt and glow.”
(Charles H. Spurgeon, Sermons on Men of the Bible, 237-238)
Encouragement for Discouraged Preachers
As we approach the anniversary of John Calvin’s last sermon (February 6, 1564) I am posting comments from his sermons on 1 Timothy. In the section below, from a sermon on 1 Tim 6:12-14, Calvin provides powerful encouragement for those times of discouragement, opposition and despair. Appropriately, Calvin points us to God drawing especially on the fact that Paul’s charge is rooted in “the God who quickens [makes alive] all things.”
I pray you may be encouraged in your labors today and persevere knowing your labor is not in vain (1 Cor 15:58).
As we see a great number who when they consider what they have to do, their hearts fail them if it be weightier than they are able to perform and go through with. ‘Ho, is it possible that I can do this? I feel myself weak, I see that this is a great burden, and a burden that I am not able to bear.’ No, no, only let us take pains, although the things be hard for us, God will work for us. And since we see that Saint Paul, naming things that surmount the strength of men, ceases not, notwithstanding, to exhort men to do them, know we that it will be no excuse for us to allege that we were astonished and amazed when he saw that we were not able and fit for that charge which God laid upon our shoulders. For he knows what we can do- that is to say, nothing at all. And moreover, he will not be lacking to us, nor ever fail us, so long as we walk humbly and learn to submit ourselves to him, and commit ourselves wholly into his hands.
This is what we have to mark. And because these things might discourage us let us mark well also the circumstance which Saint Paul adds. And let it be to shut up the matter withal when he says, That God quickens all things, for he shows us hereby, though it seem that we are poor and miserable wretches, that our condition is accursed, that as touching the world we are despised and reviled, that men mock at us, that they put out their tongues at us, that others torment us, that we are taken as castaways, that nevertheless we must not faint for all that, for God does quicken. Therefore let us cast our eyes upon that life which God keeps hidden with himself, and which he opened when he revealed it by the Holy Ghost and gave good witness of it in his Gospel. So then, when the world has conspired our death a hundred thousand times, and we are taken for condemned persons, and reviled, let us go on, for our lives stand not here below. It hangs not upon men, neither upon their reputation, nor upon their credit. Let us not think so, but let us surmount all grief that the devil casts in our way to make us faint-hearted, considering that it is God who quickens all things. He holds our life in his hand. He will keep it safely and securely, and it is his pleasure that we should bend to him and content ourselves therewith, knowing that he will not deceive us in that which he has promised us.
Now God does not quicken anything but that which seems to be dead. Therefore when we walk as we ought, and as we are called, it cannot be but we must be as it were cast away in the sight of the world, and that death itself threatens us and compasses us about on every side. And why so? Otherwise God would not do that which he challenges to himself in this place, namely, to quicken us; but in the midst of death we may hope for life, knowing that no man can molest us when the invincible power of God is for us; and that they who now trouble us shall abide confounded, and God will cause us in the end to triumph with our Lord Jesus Christ.