Reading Challenge, Book 5

The fifth book of Tim Challies’ reading challenge for 2019 is “a book about Christian living.” I read Sinclair Ferguson’s Devoted to God: Blueprints for Sanctification (The Banner of Truth Trust, 2016).[1]

Each chapter examines a particular section of New Testament Scripture that describes the growth of a believer in Christ. A lot of times you hear people denigrate confessions or theology as “systems imposed upon the Bible.” Ferguson’s work here reveals the shallow ignorance of such claims. While Ferguson is confessional and holds to a rich theological tradition, the exegetical theology in each chapter of this book shows that the confession and theology grow up out of the Bible, and are far from being imposed on it from the outside.

“Sanctification” (the Christian’s life-long growth in holiness) is in the very title of the book, and it’s to that holiness I turn now by way of personal admission.

For me personally, the most impactful moment in my reading of the book came in the middle. Ferguson asks several rhetorical questions: “What do we want Christ to do for us? Do we really want to grow in holiness? Or has our failure left us content with mediocre levels of sanctification?” (pg. 146). In answering those questions, I realized I couldn’t recall ever once praying that God the Holy Spirit make me holy as He is holy. It’s certainly possible I have prayed in this way at some time or another and just don’t remember, but this request is not one that I regularly make in prayer. This grieved me. I have preached and taught that we should be students of the Bible’s teaching about holiness, but have never made that a matter of prayerful attention. I have lifted up holiness as the highest attribute of God according to the Bible, but have not desired it enough for myself to make it a matter of regular request.[2]

“Pray, then, in this way:

‘Our Father Who is in heaven,
Hallowed [ἁγιασθήτω, cause to be holy] be Your name’” (Matthew 6:9).

It is the first petition. How can I pray for anything else or in any other way until I have first entreated Him for His holiness in me? If I truly want to be conformed to Christ (which is God’s purpose for me, Romans 8:29), how can I not desire His holiness above all else?

How can we be “praying in the Holy Spirit” (Jude 20) if His holiness is not our highest longing?

For the last weeks, I have made the prayer “Lord, make me holy as You are holy” one that I pray many times throughout the day. The Holy Spirit’s working through that prayer in my life has been significant.

Ferguson defines holiness from the starting point of the eternal Trinity, a devotion of infinite love between the three Persons of the one true God: “Holiness is the intensity of the love that flows within the very being of God, among and between each of the three persons of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” (pg. 2). It is this mutual devotion among the Persons that undergirds the title of the book, Devoted to God. Once reconciled to God in Christ, we are to grow in a devotion to God throughout our lives into completion in Christ alone, according to the Bible, by the Holy Spirit, to the glory of God. This devotion of all that we are to God is holiness.

Chapter 8, “The Law Goes Deep,” was a very helpful meditation on God’s Law and the Christian’s growth in Christ.

• “The law is fulfilled by love, but it is not replaced by love. This fulfillment means that law is love-shaped and that love is law-shaped…love was always at the heart of God’s law. It was given by love to be received in love and obeyed through love…love provides motivation for obedience, while law provides direction for love” (pg. 162-163).

• “The law-maker became the law-keeper, but then took our place and condemnation as though he were the law-breaker” (pg. 179).

Believers, influenced by the world and their own innate sinful desire for autonomy from God, are woefully unable to understand the Law of God in the context of the Gospel. This topic should be the regular meditation of the Christian, keeping us from falling into either legalism or antinomianism (the Gospel is lost in either). This was a very helpful chapter.

I could speak of many other parts of the book that I think are so important (the necessity of holiness through a renewal of our thought-life is one), but I’ll stop short of saying too much and thereby muddying a great work. One of many things I like about Sinclair Ferguson is that he wastes no words in his writing. There is no filler in Devoted to God. It is a rich, thoughtful, and useful meditation on sections of the New Testament which are vital to growth in Christ.

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[1] I started out ahead on this reading challenge, but am lagging a bit…

[2] When I say holiness is “the highest attribute of God,” don’t mean that there is a hierarchy of attributes or that the attributes can be divided into unmingled categories. I mean that all of the attributes of God can be seen as a revelation of His holiness. All the attributes are revealed for our benefit and understanding by His gracious revelation of Himself. He has no parts. He is one.

That Prayer for Unity

I woke up this morning with Jesus’ prayer from John 17 on my mind.

“Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, ‘…I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me’” (John 17:1,14-21).

The oneness that Jesus prays for (17:21) is not in isolation from what comes before; the oneness, in fact, weaves together several strands in this section of Jesus’ prayer.

It is the possession of the divine Word that seems to be the trigger for the hatred of the world (17:14-16). To have the Word makes believers alien to this world even as we pilgrimage deeper into the world. The world hates the revelatory intrusion of its Creator. God’s Word is a threat to their satanic freedom and self-sovereignty.[1] The possessors of this threatening must conform to the world or suffer the hatred of the world.

Instead of conformity, Jesus prays that the Word brings greater holiness as His Church pursues the mission He has given us (a mission which mirrors the one given the Son by the Father): “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth” (17:17-19). This sanctifying is a setting aside from the agenda and ways of the world to an absolute commitment to the truth, character (“name” in 17:6,11,12,26), and purpose of the Father through the Son by the apostolic Word in the Church through the succeeding generations. “Sanctify” means an ever-increasing non-world life in the midst of the world.

Jesus doesn’t pray for unity for unity’s sake. Mere unity is not evangelistic witness. Unity in Word-treasuring holiness and Father-given, Jesus-imitating, Spirit-empowered Gospel mission (20:21,22) is Jesus’ prayer for the disciples and those who would believe their Word (the New Testament is their Word).

Father, hear our ever-living Intercessor as He prays

For our non-conformity

For our holding to the Word

For our holiness in that Word

And the alien and unique

Unity that will result.

Give us the Son’s desire for this.

Spirit, we confess that without You

This will never happen. Help us.

Son of God, keep praying,

And lead us to pray

Your prayer after You.

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[1] I am reminded of the line we sang last Lord’s Day, “we are free in ways that we never should be” (MercyMe’s “God With Us”).

Lord, Teach Us to Pray

“It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.’ And He said to them, ‘When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed [αγιασθητω, “let it be made holy”] be Your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation”...if you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?’” (Luke 11:1-4,13).

I’ve always been fascinated by the Gospel of Luke. The divinely-inspired compiler (1:1-3) is often “moved [φερομενοι, lit., “carried”] by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21) to record his material in a way that requires some careful consideration. That’s why I love this Gospel. It’s easy to read for all who come to it, but also invites us to meditate on the theme-relationships of the larger structure.

This week I was reading Jesus’ teaching on prayer in chapter 11 (which contains Luke’s recording of the “Lord’s Prayer”). In addition to the model prayer, the Lord also gives two illustrations highlighting the importance of perseverance in prayer and the willingness of the Lord to give to us through the means of prayer. Matthew records these elements separately from each other. This doesn’t confound me like it seems to confound others. I have no problem believing that Jesus taught similarly-worded material at different times and in varied contexts. Anyway, Matthew tells us that the Father gives “what is good to those who asked Him” (Matthew 7:11). Why does Jesus change the wording in His teaching recorded in Luke 11 from “what is good” to “the Holy Spirit”?

I think the answer to this question, and the key to a larger coherence in Luke 11:1-13, is found in the new covenant promise recorded by the prophet Ezekiel:

“Then the word of the LORD came to me saying, ‘Son of man...say to the house of Israel, “Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘...I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD,’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight. For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God’”’” (Ezekiel 36:16,17,22-28).

Just as Jesus begins His teaching on prayer with a concern for the holiness of the Father’s name and ended it with the giving of the Holy Spirit, Ezekiel does the same (“hallowed [αγιασθητω, “let it be made holy”]...Holy [αγιον] Spirit”). Jesus’ teaching on prayer is built upon the foundation of the Scriptures. He teaches us to pray the promises of the Word. I know that’s not a unique statement. There are a lot of teachers out there urging us to pray the promises of Scripture, and that’s good. I can appreciate anyone motivating us to get into the Word. However, there’s a nuance here that’s usually overlooked when we’re told to “pray the promises of the Word.” The promise of the Lord in Ezekiel is not individualistic, focused on the desires of the individual in their private life – their own self-centered world. The prophet records God’s Self-centered (capital “S”) plan to be glorified in the salvation of His people before the witness of the all the nations. It’s a world-wide Gospel plan about Him.

Is Jesus’ teaching on prayer any different than Ezekiel’s revelation of the Gospel?

“Your [not “our” or “my”] kingdom come.

Give us each day our daily bread.

And forgive us our sins,

For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.

And lead us not into temptation” (Luke 11:2-4).

We (second-person plural pronouns, never first-person singular) pray for ourselves (again, as the Church) as a subset of praying for God’s coming Kingdom. This coming Kingdom is also the message preached by the Church (9:2; 10:9,11).

The Lord Jesus teaches us to pray the Gospel plan for the gathering of God’s people (the Church) from among the nations, the forgiveness of their sins, and their filling with the Holy Spirit – all for the making-holy of His name and the magnifying of His great glory. Even “our daily bread” falls under this heading. It’s all about His glory through His Son, the Savior-King.

“Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1). May we be willing to hear His teaching, drawn from the Prophets, and make our regular petition the glory of the Father through the Gospel of His Son among all the nations by the power of the Holy Spirit.

"Praying at Gethsemane," by He Qi (1999)

I Want It More Than I Want It

“Lord, Your testimonies are completely reliable; holiness is the beauty of Your house for all the days to come” (Psalm 93:5, HCSB).

That forever-house is where we will experience the holy Father (John 17:11), holy Son (Mark 1:24//Luke 4:34; Luke 1:35; John 6:69; Acts 2:27; 13:35), and holy Spirit fully and eternally, hearing and joining in the heavenly song, “holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty!” (Isaiah 6:3; Revelation 4:8). It is where the battle against sin will be ancient legend, and the command to be holy as He is holy (Leviticus 11:44; 19:2; 20:7; 1 Peter 1:14-16) will be as natural and free and exhilarating as breathing in rain-scented air in the desert.

I want it more than I want it.

That was my first thought when I read Psalm 93:5 yesterday morning. It was my thought when one of our men read it in the call to worship at the gathering of the saints later that same morning. Some part of me wants that unending beautiful holiness more than my distracted, stressed, and usually confounded mind wants it. I want it more than my often-divided and tempted heart wants it. I definitely want it more than my flesh wants it (Psalm 63:1...can my flesh realize this one day, please?). But there is something (Someone) in me that desires with a longing alien to this earthen vessel for that holiness which it barely knows or comprehends. I want it.

I understand the incredible promises of no more night (Revelation 21:25; 22:5), no more tears (Revelation 7:17; 21:4), no more pain, the banquet table (Matthew 8:11), the peaceful rest (Hebrews 4:9), and even to some extent the glory of heaven promised to us. I marvel at the thought of seeing Him face-to-face (Revelation 22:4)...but maybe even more that in seeing Him I will somehow, unimaginably, be like Him (2 Corinthians 3:18; 1 John 3:2). Even in His beautiful holiness.

Holiness. Do you know what it is to be holy, or that He Himself is infinitely holy? Can you comprehend what it means for that holiness to be the beauty of our forever-home, Church? As the Holy Spirit makes us holy, He is preparing us for that wedding Day when the beauty of the Bride will be the beauty of holiness (Ephesians 1:4; 5:27; Colossians 1:22). Beautiful holiness is our destiny.

Until then I will want it more than I want it, and by the grace found in Christ alone will sing and pray the psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs of the ages about His beautiful holiness.

“Ascribe to Yahweh the glory of His name; bring an offering and come before Him. Worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness” (1 Chronicles 16:29).

“Ascribe to Yahweh the glory due His name; worship Yahweh in the splendor of His holiness” (Psalm 29:2).

“Your people will volunteer on Your day of battle. In holy splendor, from the womb of the dawn, the dew of Your youth belongs to You” (Psalm 110:3).

The Desire for Holiness and the Presence of Christ

How do we experience the presence of Christ in the gathering of the Church? Prayer? Music?

How about Church discipline?

“For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst” (Matthew 18:20). We often quote this verse, usually out of its context. Church discipline. Read Matthew 18:15-20. This promise is attached to the revelation of “stumbling blocks” in the congregation. We have no right to attach it to something more to our liking.

Read 1 Corinthians 5:1-13; 2 Corinthians 2:1-11. In these passages on Church discipline, there is a similar implication that Christ is present in this action: “In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus...but one whom you forgive anything, I forgive also; for indeed what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did it for your sakes in the presence of Christ” (1 Corinthians 5:4; 2 Corinthians 2:10).

Finally: “If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that person and do not associate with him, so that he will be put to shame. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother. Now may the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance. The Lord be with you all!” (2 Thessalonians 3:14-16).

Three times the New Testament tells us that Christ the Lord is present when His people take a stand for His holiness and disassociate from unrepentant sinners. His holiness is the boundary line for true, biblical, peaceful fellowship. “Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). In our desire for peace in the congregation, we are not to sacrifice the process of being made holy (“the sanctification”). If we do, we are promised that we will not see the Lord. He will not be present in our gatherings, no matter how good the music is or how sincere the prayers are. We do not dictate the terms of the presence of the King.

The unrepentant sinner has no place in the gathering of the people of the King of kings. We do not fool Him by modifying, watering down, or simply ignoring His commandments. They are the conduit of His love (John 14:15,21,23,24; 15:10). They are the purpose of our mission (Matthew 28:20). Further, obedience is the mark of the true people of God (Acts 6:7; Romans 1:5; 6:16,17; 10:16; 15:18; 16;26; 2 Thessalonians 1:8; Hebrews 5:8-10; 11:8; 1 Peter 1:2,14,22).

Do we desire the presence of Christ in His Church? Then we must humbly, repentantly desire His holiness. Together.

Holiness and High Places

• “In the seventh year of Jehu, Jehoash became king, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Zibiah of Beersheba. Jehoash did right in the sight of the LORD all his days in which Jehoiada the priest instructed him. Only the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places” (2 Kings 12:1-3).
• “In the second year of Joash son of Joahaz king of Israel, Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah became king. He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jehoaddin of Jerusalem. He did right in the sight of the LORD, yet not like David his father; he did according to all that Joash his father had done. Only the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places” (2 Kings 14:1-4).
• “In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Azariah son of Amaziah king of Judah became king. He was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. He did right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. Only the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places” (2 Kings 15:1-4).
• “In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel, Jotham the son of Uzziah king of Judah became king. He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Jerusha the daughter of Zadok. He did what was right in the sight of the LORD; he did according to all that his father Uzziah had done. Only the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places” (2 Kings 15:32-35).

Hear the refrain: “Only the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.” Doing right but still loving the world is never enough.

“Now it came about in the third year of Hoshea, the son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah became king. He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. He did right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father David had done. He removed the high places and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah. He also broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel burned incense to it; and it was called Nehushtan. He trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel; so that after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who were before him. For he clung to the LORD; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the LORD had commanded Moses” (2 Kings 18:1-6). For the people of God, a love unto obedience (Exodus 20:6; Deuteronomy 5:10; 7:9; 11:1,22; 30:6; Joshua 22:5; Nehemiah 1:5; Daniel 9:4; John 14:15,23; 1 John 5:3) must be joined with a holy refusal to love the things of the world (2 Corinthians 6:16-7:1; 1 John 2:15-17).

A people passionate for obeying God from His Word and remaining faithful to Him alone says, "I love you" louder to our Lord than a hundred thousand crying and singing the latest worship tune in a stadium.

Jeremiah's Turning #2: Love without Holiness

Following the word “turn” (שוב) through Jeremiah’s prophecy.

“In vain I have struck your sons; they accepted no chastening. Your sword has devoured your prophets like a destroying lion. O generation, heed the word of the LORD. Have I been a wilderness to Israel, or a land of thick darkness? Why do My people say, ‘We are free to roam; We will no longer come to You’? Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet My people have forgotten Me days without number. How well you prepare your way to seek love! Therefore even the wicked women you have taught your ways. Also on your skirts is found the lifeblood of the innocent poor; you did not find them breaking in. But in spite of all these things, yet you said, ‘I am innocent; surely His anger is turned [שוב] away from me.’ Behold, I will enter into judgment with you because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’ Why do you go around so much changing your way? Also, you will be put to shame by Egypt as you were put to shame by Assyria. From this place also you will go out with your hands on your head; for the LORD has rejected those in whom you trust, and you will not prosper with them” (Jeremiah 2:30-37).

“Surely.” In 2:35 the people assume that God’s mercy and love trump His holiness and justice. The fiery serpents (seraphs) around the throne of God don’t eternally, unceasingly cry, “love, love, love,” or “mercy, mercy, mercy.” They cry, “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY” (Isaiah 6:3; Revelation 4:8). I would get in trouble from classic systematic theologians for saying this, but it is from His holiness that all other divine attributes flow. We cannot understand His love apart from His holiness. It is His consistent command to His people: be holy as I am holy (Leviticus 11:44; 19:2; 20:7; 1 Peter 1:14-16). Have mercy on us, Lord, for assuming that the incarnation and closeness of the God-with-us Immanuel means that You are no longer holy. Forgive us, Lord, for blaspheming You in our understanding and worship by thinking the King of kings, the eternal Son of God, is anything less than absolute holiness.

Jesus, the risen and glorified King over all, is holy. He has anger and hatred over sin.

“But of the Son He says, ‘YOUR THRONE, O GOD, IS FOREVER AND EVER, AND THE RIGHTEOUS SCEPTER IS THE SCEPTER OF HIS KINGDOM. YOU HAVE LOVED RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HATED LAWLESSNESS; THEREFORE GOD, YOUR GOD, HAS ANOINTED YOU WITH THE OIL OF GLADNESS ABOVE YOUR COMPANIONS’” (Hebrews 1:8,9; quoting from Psalm 45:6,7).

“Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place - unless you repent. Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate” (Revelation 2:5,6).

The people of God should never assume that His gracious love in Christ is a license to live however we “feel led” to live (read Romans 6!!). The Lord Jesus, through Whom the love of God comes to the Church, is also the “Holy One” (Mark 1:24; Luke 1:35; 4:34; John 6:69; Acts 2:27; 3:14; 4:27,30; 13:35; Hebrews 7:26; Revelation 3:7). The Spirit Who is the very love of God in Christ poured out freely upon is Himself the “Holy Spirit” (Romans 5:5; Galatians 5:22).

May we become careful students and practitioners of the holiness of the Trinity, not daring to wash away His holiness in an attempt to make Him more like us, but instead grasping fearfully and hungrily for His holiness that it may be the power of our lives for His glory. And, through His holiness, we will begin to truly understand His love.

His goal and purpose for His Bride, the Church, is holiness (Ephesians 1:4; 5:26,27). This is the Bridegroom's love.

"Seraph," in the Matrix Trilogy

The Song of the Waking Dream

“A Song of Ascents. When the LORD brought back the captive ones of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue with joyful shouting...the LORD has done great things for us; we are glad” (Psalm 126:1-3, New American Standard).

“We were like those who dream.” This phrase has a strong pastoral-emotional impact to me. It reminds me of the many times I have read Scripture to those on the verge of leaving this life, those whose consciousness was not full; for them it truly is “a song of ascents.” Despite my heart’s reaction to this Psalm, I don’t want to lapse into a mystical emotionalism. So we go to other Scripture to see how this home-going Psalm of dreamy wonder fits in with the testimony of “all the counsel of God” (Acts 20:27, Geneva Bible).

This isn’t a pure mysticism that fails to impact our lives. It is a waking dream that moves us homeward in holiness and ever-increasing dedication to both the Law of the Lord and the Good News of His absolute reign over all: “Awake, awake, clothe yourself in your strength, O Zion; clothe yourself in your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city...shake yourself from the dust, rise up, O captive Jerusalem; loose yourself from the chains around your neck, O captive daughter of Zion...therefore My people shall know My name; therefore in that day I am the One Who is speaking, ‘Here I am.’ How lovely on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who announces peace and brings good news of happiness [quoted in Romans 10:12-15], who announces salvation, and says to Zion, “Your God reigns!” Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices, they shout joyfully together; for they will see with their own eyes when the LORD restores Zion. Break forth, shout joyfully together, you waste places of Jerusalem; for the LORD has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem. The LORD has bared His holy arm in the sight of all the nations, that all the ends of the earth may see the salvation of our God. Depart, depart, go out from there, touch nothing unclean; go out of the midst of her, purify yourselves [quoted in 2 Corinthians 6:16-18], you who carry the vessels of the LORD. But you will not go out in haste, nor will you go as fugitives; for the LORD will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard” (Isaiah 52:1,2,6-12, NAS).

This isn’t, though, a being spiritually awake that ceases to be mystical or spiritual at all. It comprehends the truth revealed by the Spirit in the Word of God that shows us the Son to the glory of the Father. In the waking dream of pilgrimage home, it sees clearly yet doesn’t lose the wonder of the dream. It knows truth, but marvels at it: “I cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, that Father of glory, might give unto you the Spirit of wisdom, and revelation through the knowledge of Him, that the eyes of your understanding may be lightened, that ye may know what the hope is of His calling, and what the riches of His glorious inheritance is in the Saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us, which believe, according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and domination, and every Name, that is named, not in this world only, but also in that that is to come, and hath made all things subject under His feet, and hath given Him over all things to be the head to the Church, which is His body, even the fullness of Him that filleth all in all things” (Ephesians 1:16-23, Geneva Bible). There is no conflict between real intellectual knowledge of spiritual, mystical truth: “...we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hid wisdom, which God had determined before the world, unto our glory. Which none of the princes of this world hath known: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, ‘The things which eye hath not seen, neither ear hath heard, neither came into man’s heart, are, which God hath prepared for them that love Him.’ But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for the spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of a man, which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have receiveth not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit, which is of God, that we might know the things that are given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the holy Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual things” (1 Corinthians 2:7-13, Geneva Bible). The way home is definite, according the Word alone. Yet it is wondrous and Spirit-given.

Holy Spirit, open our sleepy eyes wide enough to see the true home to which we journey, but not so wide that we lose our wonder in its truth. “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart” (Deuteronomy 6:5,6, NAS). Full love is founded upon the Spirit-inspired Word.

“I was asleep but my heart was awake. A voice! My beloved was knocking” (Song of songs 5:2, NAS).

P.S. David Crowder* Band's album A Collision (sixstepsrecords, 2005) was a powerful soundtrack in my ministry through a dark time of death. The song "Come Awake" seems an appropriate postscript to this entry.

Gather with the Jealous, Wrathful, Sovereign, Holy God of Truth

“Again the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, ‘Thus saith the Lord of hosts, “I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great wrath [cf. 1:14].” Thus saith the Lord, “I will return unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth, and the Mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy Mountain”’” (Zechariah 8:1-3, Geneva Bible).

-          Be zealous for the Gathering of His people. He is. Be jealous for a faithful dedication to Him alone. He is.

-          He does not gather us because we are perfect, but as a display of His forgiving grace and mercy to an unworthy people.

-          When He is present with His people in the Gathering, may we see Him in the fullness of Who He has revealed Himself to be in Scripture, including the attributes we are tempted to hide in our remaking Him into our image. You cannot have a true vision of the glory of the Gospel without a vision of His wrath (Romans 5:9; Ephesians 2:1-10; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 5:9).

-          The One present at the Gathering is the “Lord of hosts,” sole sovereign Commander of the armies of heaven and earth. Be humbled before Him yet strengthened before all who oppose Him and His people in this world.

-          May the Gathering be marked clearly and obviously by a dominating concern to make His truth and holiness known.

Gather, Church, to the glory of the Lord of hosts in His righteousness, truth, and holiness!

My 5% Spandex Holiness

“Adiaphora” (αδιάφορα) is a word used to describe things that are “indifferent” to God’s commands or laws (or things not mentioned, not forbidden in Scripture). With how much of the surrounding unregenerate culture are believers permitted by God to participate? In certain areas this is definitely not an easy question (not as easy as some would make it seem, for sure). It does seem, however, that believers will expend much more emotional energy in defending their right to watch a “Twilight” movie, read “Harry Potter,” overindulge in poor (but socially acceptable) health choices, or engorging themselves in the cultural (and highly materialistic) expressions of Easter, Halloween, or Christmas, than they do in defending and delighting in the “the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints” (Jude 3). Doctrine may divide, as the bumper-sticker-esque wisdom of today’s Church goes (and therefore should be eschewed), but “Walking Dead” or our costly and time-consuming hobbies are a far more reasonable basis for fellowship (and makes us look more normal to our lost friends)?! Are they "adiaphora," though? Well, we’ll sure make a lot of noise against those who would dare suggest they’re not.


I’m not an expert on the culture and am probably worthless as a social commentator (I’ve long suspected that I’m mentally/emotionally disabled and all my friends and family take care of me, laugh at my jokes, pretend what I’m saying is coherent, etc., out of their loving pity for my condition...of which I’m blissfully unaware!), but let me make a few observations.

I saw the trailer for “Promised Land” (Focus Features, 2012) recently on television. I noticed that it was rated “R” for “Language.” Wow. Given the kind of language that now is not only passable for a “PG” or “PG-13” rating (or for prime-time television), I could only imagine...my point being that there’s little that is taboo in the language of the entertainment offered and consumed from the world’s culture by the Church. Is this adiaphora? Maybe not, since it’s increasingly popular for some of this language to find its way into our pulpits.

Read these two versions of Article VIII of the Baptist Faith & Message (one of two confessions that define the bounds of my personal conviction and Church membership):

• “The first day of the week is the Lord's Day. It is a Christian institution for regular observance. It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should be employed in exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private, and by refraining from worldly amusements, and resting from secular employments, work of necessity and mercy only being excepted” (1963).
• “The first day of the week is the Lord's Day. It is a Christian institution for regular observance. It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should include exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private. Activities on the Lord's Day should be commensurate with the Christian's conscience under the Lordship of Jesus Christ” (2000).

Well, what happened? Did we get deeper in our study of the Scripture and meditation together on the doctrine contained therein? Or did our love for things (and the need to work more to pay for them and the need for more time to shop for them) move us to proclaim a major distinctive attitude of Christianity for centuries suddenly “adiaphora”? Would we have come to this conclusion apart from the influence of the world on the Church? I know that defining the continuity/discontinuity between the Fourth Commandment and new covenant Church practice is not easy, but can we really say what we do on the day dedicated to the Lord in a week is not governed by Scripture at all, but “should be commensurate with the Christian’s conscience under the Lordship of Jesus Christ” (I’ve seen Christians do a lot of very unscriptural things that they claimed were permissible to their “Christian conscience”)? Our theology seems to have been molded to accomodate, not shape as “a city set on a hill” (Matthew 5:14).

I, of course, am just as guilty in all these things, and do not claim a lofty place from which to make these judgments. I will, however, offer this passage for consideration which came to my attention a few days ago: “Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: ‘Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, “You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy...you are to keep My statutes. You shall not breed together two kinds of your cattle; you shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor wear a garment upon you of two kinds of material mixed together”’” (Leviticus 19:1,2,19, NASB). Non-believers and liberal Christians love this verse. When we argue against homosexuality or some other sin clearly defined by the whole of the Bible (though less and less is “clear” to some these days), those who oppose us (contrarians from a culture which doesn’t need their efforts to accomplish its purpose) love to then point out that we’re wearing a cotton-poly blend or some such thing. But is the point of this passage to be found in selective breeding or textile composition? No. The great point of this passage transcends its temporal/cultural context, and is definitely not “adiaphora.” God expects His people to reflect His holiness (separateness, uniqueness unto God) in everything, every aspect of our lives. Nothing, in other words, is “adiaphora” in God's will for His covenant people. Nothing.

Can we really say that Leviticus 19 is invalid for our consideration when its great refrain, “be holy for I am holy,” is quoted and applied to the Church by the Apostle Peter? “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, ‘YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY’” (1 Peter 1:14-16).

It is never easy to draw the lines between how we are to live together in Christ and how we are to live in this world. It requires a careful, humble, corporate consideration of the Scriptures. May God give us illumination of how we are to reflect His holiness. May God give us a willingness to die to the things for which we now argue so passionately, and, instead, just let them go, choosing to “err” (if that’s the right word) on the side of holiness rather than conformity.

For His glory, not our entertained assimilation.