The Way the Wind Blows

“Two priests came round our house tonight:
One young, one old, to offer prayers for the dying,
To serve the final rite.
One to learn, one to teach
Which was the cold wind blows,
Fussing and flapping in priestly black
Like a murder of crows.”

Sting, “All This Time” (from The Soul Ages, ©1991, A&M Records)

I’ve had this song playing in my mind lately, and it’s been a psychical irritant. The place of the album in my life is poignant (it came out in January the year I graduated high school), and I have always deeply appreciated Sting’s song-writing abilities. But these lines rumple me in spirit.

Earlier this week I made the drive to the middle of our incredible (and incredibly large) state to visit someone in a rehabilitation hospital there. It was a long trip (roughly 280 miles one-way), and one of the men I’ve been mentoring for several years was off work, so I asked him to come along.

The Lord has granted me the opportunity to play the role of mentor many times over the years, sometimes even in an official capacity as some of these brothers were pursuing seminary degrees. It’s mostly been a joy to me (though there has been heartbreak), and that’s probably why Sting’s been annoying me with his singing recently. The discipleship of the people of God, those who “learn” and those who “teach,” does not have as its content “which way the cold wind blows.” He is anything but “cold.” Sting makes reference to the Bible’s play on the single word (Hebrew in the O.T., Greek in the N.T.) for “breath,” “wind,” and “Spirit.” He is the Spirit of Whom Jesus speaks in His nighttime encounter with the Pharisee: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:4-8).[1] The Person of the Holy Spirit, Who is as mysterious and invisible as the wind, causes our new life in Christ to become a reality in His continued participation in the creative work of God (this is how He’s introduced to us in the second verse of the Bible). He is not a “cold wind.” He is the very warmth of the true life of God in all those who believe in the resurrected and glorious Son. And this Monday, though we both coincidentally wore Batman t-shirts, we were not quite comparable to “a murder of crows” in “priestly black” (and there are no crows in New Mexico – only ravens). If you don’t know the joyful weight of pouring your time, heart, struggles with sin, experience with a gracious God, and life itself into a fellow believer for their (and your) continued growth, pray earnestly that the warm, living wind Who is the Holy Spirit brings you to this place.[2]

On our way back we were talking of false teachers. My brother mentioned that he had caught a reference I made to one several weeks early in the morning Lord’s Day service at our local church. Without mentioning the preacher’s name, I had pointed to his Gospel-denying, theology-twisting recent proclamation that God had broken His own Law out of love. Horrible. The Song of Moses praises God with these soaring lines: “The Rock! His work is perfect, for all His ways are just; a God of faithfulness and without injustice, righteous and upright is He” (Deuteronomy 32:4). The Spirit says this of God’s commitment to a just upholding of His Law: “He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous, both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD” (Proverbs 17:15). It is this unchangeable character of God in righteousness that leads to the sacrifice of His perfectly righteous, holy, and obedient Son in our place. It, not the breaking of His own Law, was the only way “He would be just and the Justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:26). Sin had to be punished according to God’s Law. He is a perfectly righteous Judge. He is also Savior. Someone had to pay. The Son, one in will with the Father, fulfilled this role by offering Himself in our place. No Law was broken, no eternally unchanging righteousness compromised – but salvation is accomplished, praise His holy name.

Our conversation then moved to another teacher who, on Christmas Eve last year, had announced to his congregation that the Ten Commandments weren’t commandments at all, but promises. His argument was that they are not “commandments,” since this Hebrew word is not used to describe the Ten. They are the Ten “Words.” From this he argued, via a look at dubious connections between Hebrew words, that they were not commandments but promises. There are several problems here. Context is the greatest.

“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Write down these words [הַדְּבָרִים], for in accordance with these words [הַדְּבָרִים] I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.’ So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did not eat bread or drink water. And he wrote on the tablets the words [דִּבְרֵי] of the covenant, the Ten Commandments [הַדְּבָרִֽים, lit., “words”]…then Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers in the congregation returned to him; and Moses spoke [וַיְדַבֵּר] to them. Afterward all the sons of Israel came near, and he commanded [וַיְצַוֵּם] them to do everything that the Lord had spoken [דִּבֶּר] to him on Mount Sinai” (Exodus 34:27-31).

You don’t have to know Hebrew to see the three-letter root: דבר. It is a flexible word, translated “word”/“words,” “Commandments,” and “spoke”/“spoken.” I don’t remember exactly how my Hebrew professor in seminary explained it, but I always describe Hebrew words as something like Swiss Army Knives. Words can have a widely varied and large semantic range. This, sadly, opens the door for interpretive malpractice. Sometimes teachers use the original biblical languages as a means of giving the text a new meaning, usually falling into what is called a root fallacy. We don’t discover new or deeper understandings of texts by looking up a word in a Hebrew (or Greek or English) dictionary. That’s not how language works. You don’t get to isolate a word in a sentence, look it up in a dictionary, and choose a definition apart from how the word is used in its context. In this case, the “Ten Words” can be rightly understood as the “Ten Commandments” because they are “the words of the covenant,” that is, commandments that represent the boundaries of the covenant relationship. We see this earlier as Israel meets the LORD at the mountain: “In the third month after the sons of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that very day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. When they set out from Rephidim, they came to the wilderness of Sinai and camped in the wilderness; and there Israel camped in front of the mountain. Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, ‘Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel: “You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself. Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant [obedience is part of being in covenant!], then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.’ So Moses came and called the elders of the people, and set before them all these words which the Lord had commanded him. All the people answered together and said, ‘All that the Lord has spoken we will do!’” (Exodus 19:1-8). With the establishing of covenant, God doesn’t give guideposts or mere words or promises – as Lord of the covenant He gives commands, and the people understand this. He commands obedience, and they response with a commitment to obey. The words that will come off of the mountain through the mediator Moses are understood to be commandments. Context tells us this, not a dictionary definition (or a Jewish Christian expert).

Returning to Exodus 34:34, the verb “command” is used in the midst of his presenting the “Ten Words,” or Ten Commandments, to the people. The people didn’t understand the words to be mere “promises.” They are “words” commanded by God.

The same language is used with the generation after the Exodus: “…the Lord spoke to you from the midst of the fire; you heard the sound of words, but you saw no form - only a voice. So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded [צִוָּה] you to perform, that is, the Ten Commandments [הַדְּבָרִים]; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone. The Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that you might perform them in the land where you are going over to possess it” (Deuteronomy 4:13).

In case this evidence is unconvincing, I submit evidence from the Son of God Himself, Who, in naming five of the Ten, calls them “commandments” (Matthew 19:17-19; Mark 10:19; Luke 18:20).

To be fair, I don’t think what was said about the Ten “Words” was all bad.[3] What was bad was blaming God for this redefinition of the tablets of God’s Law (the preacher claimed the Lord laid this on his heart hours before the sermon was delivered). If this pastor would have taken to the pulpit and said, “here are the blessings in the life of a believer in Jesus Christ when they, by the power of the Holy Spirit, obey God’s Ten Commandments,” the ten points of this preacher’s Christmas Eve sermon would have been a wonderful, God-glorifying feast for the Church. What was bad was teaching his congregation that English translations are all wrong and the truth can only be learned from Jewish Christians with innovative definitions of Hebrew words. While they may provide insight that supports what the text as a whole clearly says, the original languages are not sources for secret knowledge accessible to a special few. Translation teams for our English translations have labored mightily to tell us what the Lord has spoken, and, as the saying goes, “context is king,” not selective and creative word-studies or etymological journeys into the previously unknown.[4] What was bad was minimizing the cover-to-cover demand by God that those who believe in Him and love Him also obey what He has commanded in His all-sufficient and clear Word.

The warm, eternal life-giving wind Who is the Holy Spirit moved through our discussion, even as we drove home through the powerful spring winds of New Mexico. By way of reminder to us all, it’s always important to return to rejoice in His truth after reading/refuting false teaching. So I conclude with the reality that the Ten Words commanded by God begin with a statement of gracious, supernatural, historical salvation for His covenant people: “I am the LORD your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (Exodus 20:2//Deuteronomy 5:6). This salvation foreshadowed the greater one accomplished by the Father in the new covenant: “He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son” (Colossians 1:13). And, just like grace preceded the Ten Words commanded by God in the Old Testament, the New Testament also follows gracious salvation with an adjuring to obey the God of salvation.[5]

This upcoming Lord’s Day I hope to speak of the Christian’s graciously-given ability to love God’s Law. Only in Christ, with the penalty of the Law against our lawlessness forgiven, can we sing: “The Law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul” (Psalm 19:7), “I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart” (Psalm 40:8), “the Law of Your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces” (Psalm 119:72), “Your Law is my delight” (Psalm 119:77b; 119:174b), “I love Your Law” (Psalm 119:113b; 119:163b), and “Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and Your Law is truth” (Psalm 119:142). Only in Christ, with the penalty of the Law against our lawlessness forgiven, can we confess with the apostle: “…the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good…the Law is spiritual” (Romans 7:12,14).

 Learn this and teach this. Warmly.

                                          

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[1] Jesus is alluding to wisdom inspired by that Spirit through Solomon centuries earlier: “Just as you do not know the path of the wind and how bones are formed in the womb of the pregnant woman, so you do not know the activity of God Who makes all things” (Ecclesiastes 11:4).

[2] Mentorship (a contemporary word for discipleship) is also the fulfillment of the Great Commission – not baptism alone. READ Matthew 28:18-20. Teaching someone to observe all the commands of the Lord Jesus Christ is a life-long process.

[3] #1 – You do not have to live in constant disappointment anymore. #2 – You can be free from rituals and religion and trust in a relationship. #3 – You can trust in a Name that is above every Name. #4 – You can rest. #5 – Your family does not have to fall apart. #6 – You do not have to live in a constant state of anger because you will be motivated by love and not hate. #7 – You do not have to live a life dominated by the guilt, pain and shame associated with sexual sin. #8 – I will provide. #9 – You do not have to pretend. #10 – I will be enough. Found at Pastor Noble's blog. Again, if presented as blessings resulting from obedience to the Commandments, these are rich. Sadly, a day later, while apologizing for parts of this teaching, he addresses those who “still cannot wrap your mind around what I taught and disagree with it.” We can wrap our minds around it, and find that, according to Scripture, his redefinition of the Ten Commandments is wrong.

[4] D.A. Carson calls this “the root fallacy,” which is “the search for hidden meanings bound up with etymologies.” Exegetical Fallacies (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1996), pgs. 28-33.

[5] John 14:15,21; 15:10; 1 John 5:2,3; 2 John 6; Revelation 12:17. True faith leads to obedience (Romans 1:5; 16:26; Acts 6:7; Hebrews 5:9).

The End of the Earth

I had another reminder yesterday of the importance of the church in extreme rural areas. A younger couple recently moved to a nearby ranch, had met one of our congregation’s members at the post office, and had accepted the invitation to Sunday worship. Let me make this less normal: “nearby” is 45 miles. The ranch was down near a border port-of-entry. 45 miles away. There is no town, no other church between us and them. They would have had to travel 30 miles from us to the west and 45 miles from us to the east to find another congregation.

This is my Sunday afternoon passion.

I love Tim Keller, even with his passion for the large city. My denomination’s North American mission organization has made its focus cities on our continent with 1,000,000+ residents. I agree that cities are important (it’s where the people are), but cannot, cannot, cannot forget the nowheres.

“…you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). The Lord has graced me with a “remotest part of the earth” in which to serve on my Sunday afternoons, and a congregation I serve full-time in a small city of 10,000 residents 90 miles away which not only allows, but encourages my service elsewhere.

The risen and glorified Christ sings about my beautiful nowhere: “From You comes my praise in the great assembly;
I shall pay my vows before those who fear Him.
The afflicted will eat and be satisfied;
Those who seek Him will praise the Lord.
Let your heart live forever!
All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord,
And all the families of the nations will worship before You.
For the kingdom is the Lord’s
And He rules over the nations” (Psalm 22:25-28).

One of our men called us to worship yesterday morning with Psalm 98 in the “city church” in which I serve. It was his last Sunday with us – he and his wife had to move to a “big city” in another state for medical services. He read to us:

“O sing to the Lord a new song,
For He has done wonderful things,
His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him.
The Lord has made known His salvation;
He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations.
He has remembered His lovingkindness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel;
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth” (98:1-4a).

Isaiah shares this witness:

“Sing to the Lord a new song,
Sing His praise from the end of the earth!” (Isaiah 42:10).

“I will also make You a light of the nations
So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth” (49:6).

“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” (52:10).

Pastors, deacons, Sunday School teachers, seminary students…got three or four hours free (like on a Sunday afternoon)? I’m willing to wager there’s a nowhere within reach of you who cannot afford a full-time (or even part-time) pastor. But there are souls there. Souls which need the Gospel. Souls who know Jesus and therefore need the latter part of the Great Commission: “…teaching them to observe all that I commanded you” (Matthew 28:20). Small church buildings need to stay open, casting light over towns that are nearly ghost towns and further, 45 miles away and beyond. The Church must gather, even in the beautiful nowhere where God still walks. Can you give that kind of time to a nowhere? “Big city” churches, can you support and encourage such efforts to keep the lights on where very, very few will see them?

Six years ago my “city church” gave one of its vans to a small church in a town on the other side of the state (population 300). The older man who was serving that congregation at the time was an experienced church planter. He knew of my Sunday afternoon work in the nowhere. He looked at me, squinted his eyes, and said, “I used to do what you’re doing – it made me old.” I think of that often. Thought of it - or rather, felt it - yesterday as I drove the 98 miles back for evening service.

But it’s worth it. God has blessed me through that ghost-town congregation more times than I can count over the last nine years. We have baptized new believers and buried saints who have graduated to glory. We have reached out to help this shrinking town (70 residents when I started, 30 now) several times a year. I learned how to preach to 2 to 3 people here (that’s how we started). Souls for whom Jesus died. Souls that need the Word taught and explained and fed to them.

Do you have time? There are nowheres with souls out there. Don’t forget them. Please. When I travel I am sensitive to these little isolated collections of people - especially when there's no church in their midst. They are a mission field as surely as the isolated African village or the North American metropolis. Who will serve them?

A young couple drove 45 miles to worship yesterday afternoon. And, in the middle of nowhere, there were open doors and a welcoming congregation ready to receive them.

Slice

“As if you could kill time without injuring eternity.”

Walden; or, Life in the Woods, by Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

I saw this title on our electronic reader (or whatever they’re called). It had been since grade school since the last time I read it, so I opened it and remembered. I’m sure I thought it deep once, but it was only this quote that grabbed my attention this time. Sadly, Thoreau didn’t spend enough time thinking about eternity.

“I have seen the task which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves. He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end. I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime; moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor - it is the gift of God.  I know that everything God does will remain forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it, for God has so worked that men should fear Him” (Ecclesiastes 3:10-14). I got to speak at a Christmastime memorial service at a children’s hospital once, and spoke from 3:11. God “has also set eternity in their heart.” Our longing beyond our capability to grasp or even comprehend. A desire made even more bittersweet and acute when we are forced to sense just how brief time is. How could we ever purposefully aim to “kill time,” as the saying goes?

Where is the only peace in this often confounding tension between time and eternity? God’s got eternity in His grasp. For us. In Christ.

He was for us before time in Christ in eternity past: “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, Who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher” (2 Timothy 1:8-11).

He will be for us in Christ after time into eternity future: “…according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen” (2 Peter 3:13-18).

But what about now? What about Thoreau’s warning?

I’m mindful of this paradox: with eternity on either side extending forever, all of this thin slice which is time itself is so infinitely small that I don’t see logically how it can exist. But it obviously does (which is why I am no philosopher). I’m not the only one to think on this. Paul speaks of time’s smallness compared with eternity: “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18). I’m tempted to quote the whole chapter. In it the apostle and cohorts (Timothy, and perhaps others – 1:1) speak of having “this mercy” and “not [losing] heart” (4:1) despite the opposition of false teachers (4:2) and “the god of this world” himself, who through the false teachers blinds “the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, Who is the image of God” (4:3,4). Ah, but the Gospel. It is what Paul teaches, what motivates him to be a “bond-servant” to the Church (both current members and the lost who will be brought into it through the preaching of the Gospel). It is for this that he is willing to be “afflicted…perplexed…persecuted…struck down…always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus” (4:8-10). “Death works in us” (4:12), he says. What’s Paul’s goal in this sliver of time? He tells the association of churches in Achaia that “all things are for your sakes, so that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God” (4:15). This is the goal. God’s glory. It’s worth making the most of this infinitely brief moment.

Westminster Shorter Catechism Q1. What is the chief end of man? A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.

Forever. And ever. And ever.

I’ll end as I began – with a quote from a classic (this time from a work I love and from a writer who has always moved me deeply).

“Do I dare 

Disturb the universe? 

In a minute there is time 

For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse. 

For I have known them all already, known them all: 

Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons, 

I have measured out my life with coffee spoons…”

“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” by T.S. Eliot (1888-1965)

Over this momentary cup of coffee, it’s time to begin this day, not to “kill time” (for eternity approaches faster than light) so as to make for an injurious eternity, but for thanks and glory to the One Who holds it all in His hand as if it were as brief as the blink of an eye.

Mmmmm...pizza.

Wives of Preachers, Be the Prophetess

Early in our marriage, my bride asked me what the most important thing she could do to help me in ministry. I appreciated this question, for I am one who is in constant need of help. Further, I believe that – in a Christian marriage – the wife is a means of God’s grace to a husband (Proverbs 18:22). God knows I need a lot of grace. I told her that she needed to be a woman of the Word, and that I felt such people would become fewer and fewer in days to come. She was already devoted to her Bible (this was how she was raised), so this wasn’t a request for anything to change. It was an encouragement to keep walking on the same path.

The Puritan Richard Baxter (1615-1691), in the memoir for his late wife Margaret (1631-1681), speaks of her passion for the ministry of the Word of God - even when it came with great cost: "When warrants were out (from Sir Thomas Davies) to distrain [i.e., confiscate and sell] my goods for fines for my preaching, she did without any repining encourage me to undergo loss and did herself take the trouble of removing and hiding my library awhile (many scores of books being so lost), and after she encouraged me to give it away, bona fide, some to New England, and the most at home to avoid distraining on them. And the danger of imprisonment and of paying a fine of £40 for every sermon was so far from inclining her to hinder or discourage me from any one sermon, that if she did but think I had the least fear, or self-saving by fleshly wisdom, in shrinking from my undertaken office work, it was so great a trouble to her that she could not hide it (who could too much hide many others). She was exceeding impatient with any Nonconformist minister that shrank for fear of suffering or that were overquerulous and concerned about their wants or dangers, and would have no man be minister that had not so much self-denial as to lay down all at the feet of Christ and count no cost or suffering too dear to serve Him. She greatly hated choosing or using the sacred ministry for wealth, ease, or honor, or any worldly end serving the flesh under the name of serving Christ, and looking to be reverenced and honored in this taking of God's name in vain" (A Grief Sanctified, pg. 101).

I have heard personal property rights described as the foundation of the U.S.A.'s law and economy. In so many camps of American Christianity, the "American" and "Christianity" are so melded that it is difficult to discern the difference. Would we choose the Word over personal property, as Margaret Baxter did? The early Christians "accepted joyfully the seizure of [their] property, knowing that [they had] for [themselves] a better possession and a lasting one" (Hebrews 10:34). There's a testimony that demands attention. "Joyfully." Why? Because the hope of heaven was exponentially greater than any loss experienced here.

As I've been thinking about Mrs. Baxter's courage for the ministry of the Word, the words of a hymn we sang last Lord's Day have repeatedly echoed as a prayer in my mind: "O, for grace to trust Him more" (words by Louisa Stead, 1882, after seeing her husband drown trying to rescue a boy).

"Joyfully."

As I've shared before, one of my favorite chapters in the Old Testament is Isaiah 8. The great prophet ministers the Word in a dark, dark day in Judah's history. He, his wife (the "prophetess," 8:3), his children, and his disciples take a stand on that Word: "Bind up the testimony, seal the Law among my disciples. And I will wait for the LORD Who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob; I will even look eagerly for Him. Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are for signs and wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, Who dwells on Mount Zion...to the Law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this Word, it is because they have no dawn" (8:16-18,20). What do we know about Mrs. "Prophetess" Isaiah? Well, her title points to a Spirit-empowered ministry of speaking the Word (this is my definition of “prophecy”).[1] She is willing to let her children be named "Maher-shalal-hash-baz" (8:3) and "Shear-jashub" (7:3) just because it made for great sermon illustrations for her husband. That says a lot by itself. While she is not mentioned in the latter part of chapter 8, we can assume she is part of the family and disciples standing with Isaiah for the Word against a world which denied it.

I am thankful the Lord has given me a Mrs. Baxter and Mrs. “Prophetess” Isaiah in my bride. She has been a means of grace used of God to strengthen me for the task more times than I can say. Her valuing of the Word above all comforts me; I do not stand alone. Ever.

Preacher's wives, whatever you think of the life, keep your heart on the Word that is this life's fruit. Regularly remind yourself of that which is of actual worth, and let that transcendent treasure become your treasure.

“A voice says, ‘Call out.’
Then he answered, ‘What shall I call out?’
All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower fades,
When the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
Surely the people are grass.
The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the Word of our God stands forever.

Get yourself up on a high mountain,
O Zion, bearer of good news,
Lift up your voice mightily,
O Jerusalem, bearer of good news;
Lift it up, do not fear.
Say to the cities of Judah,
‘Here is your God!’
Behold, the Lord God will come with might,
With His arm ruling for Him.
Behold, His reward is with Him
And His recompense before Him.

Like a shepherd He will tend His flock,
In His arm He will gather the lambs
And carry them in His bosom;
He will gently lead the nursing ewes.

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand,
And marked off the heavens by the span,
And calculated the dust of the earth by the measure,
And weighed the mountains in a balance
And the hills in a pair of scales?
Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord,
Or as His counselor has informed Him?
With whom did He consult and who gave Him understanding?
And who taught Him in the path of justice and taught Him knowledge
And informed Him of the way of understanding?
Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,
And are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales;
Behold, He lifts up the islands like fine dust” (Isaiah 40:6-15).

The message beginning the “Comfort” section of Isaiah doesn’t much sound like the comforting words proclaimed and written today. It begins with a message reminding us of our temporary mortality. We are a moment before the breath of the Lord withers us. What is the true forever we desire to reach in our youth-imitative measures? The “Word of the Lord.” That’s the true forever. It gives us the “good news” of the Presence of God we are to announce to the people of God. It is the doorway to knowing God as righteous Judge and Vindicator (we all desire for things to be made right), the way into His loving arms as a Shepherd, and the eye-opening vision of Him as Creator of this massive universe. Experience of God comes through the proclamation of the ever-enduring Word. Be about this, my sisters. You do not carry the title “pastor,” and you may not stand behind the pulpit, but your life is the greatest it can be when it is rich with the Word in your evaluation, discernment, speech, relationships, priorities, passions, etc. Be the prophetess – that sister who is Spirit-reliant and Word-centered without compromise. Your husband the pastor needs it more than you know. Your sisters in Christ need it. The Church needs it.

Be the prophetess.

"Miriam the Prophetess," by Chava Devorkin

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[1] And she is far from the only one in the Bible: Exodus 15:20; Judges 4:4; 2 Kings 22:14; Joel 2:28,29; 2 Chronicles 34:22; Nehemiah 6:14; Luke 2:36; Acts 2:17,18; 21:9; 1 Corinthians 11:5. Of course, there are false prophetesses just as there are false prophets (Revelation 2:20). A claim to the gift is not a confirmation of the gift (in fact, I have found that folks who claim to have this gift are the ones who absolutely do not have this gift).

The Glorious House

“For thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Once more in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land. I will shake all the nations; and they will come with the wealth of all nations, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine,’ declares the Lord of hosts. ‘The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘and in this place I will give peace,’ declares the Lord of hosts” (Haggai 2:6-9).

I had the joy of speaking during the last session of a women’s conference at our church yesterday morning. We looked at the great contrast between Solomon’s Temple, destroyed in 586 B.C. by the Babylonians, and the second Temple, completed in 515 B.C. At the dedication of its foundation, the weeping of the folks who remembered the splendor of the first Temple blended with the joyful shouts of the young folks, who were excited to be rebuilding the Temple, even if it were much smaller (Ezra 3:10-13). The LORD, aware of the temptation to discouragement, asks, “who is left among you who saw this temple in its former glory? And how do you see it now? Does it not seem to you like nothing in comparison” (Haggai 2:3). He spoke the thoughts of many of them, no doubt. He then gives them a triple “take courage…take courage…take courage” (2:4), reminding them of the promise of His presence rooted in the Exodus itself (2:5). He ends the sermon with a foreshadowing of a greater glory.

That glory is the global Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. I didn’t have time to trace this out in yesterday’s sermon (I was focusing on taking courage for God’s glory), but Haggai’s prophecy here fits into a cover-to-cover theme in the Bible. The “wealth of the nations” will be brought into God’s “house,” and He will fill it with a glory that will make Solomon’s Temple look like nothing. And there, He promises, He “will give peace.”

Let’s go back.

Noah, after the Flood and after his being sinned against by “Ham, the father of Canaan” (Genesis 9:20-24), gives this prophecy:

“Blessed be the LORD,
The God of Shem [father of the Semites, the Jews];
And let Canaan be his servant.

May God enlarge Japheth [the father of the nations],
And let him dwell in the tents of Shem;
And let Canaan be his servant” (Genesis 9:26,27).

The LORD is blessed. His old covenant relationship with the children of Shem (and Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) is foretold (“the LORD, the God of Shem”). Here’s the awesome part: God’s plan to bring the Gentiles into the new covenant is also foretold! God will cause the nations to grow, and will bring them into the “tents” of His covenant people. This is the new covenant, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It’s the glory described in Ephesians 2:11-22. As Peter the apostle (a Jew) said at the first Church Council in Antioch, “God…made no distinction between us [Jewish believers in Christ] and them [Gentile believers in Christ], cleansing their hearts by faith…we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are” (Acts 15:9,11).

The nations are brought into the house of God.

Eleven generations after Noah, Abraham shows the depth of his faith and almost sacrifices his son Isaac on Mount Moriah. After God provides “for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering” (22:8), another Gospel promise is made by the LORD to Abraham: “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 22:18). The nations will find their blessing “in [Abraham’s] seed.” The apostle Paul will tell us this “seed” (singular) is Christ (Galatians 3:16) – Jesus, Jewish descendant of Shem and Abraham. In Shem’s descendant the descendants of Japheth will be blessed.

That two examples of the beginning of the Book. Let’s go the end of the Book.

“I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (Revelation 21:22-27).

What is brought into the city? The “glory” of “the kings of the earth” (21:24). This is paralleled with “the glory and honor of the nations” in 21:26, but it is not until 21:27 that we get a third parallel that makes clear what this “glory and honor” is. Just as “glory” is brought “into it” (21:24) and “the glory and honor” is brought “into it” (21:26), “those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life” come “into it” (21:27). The “glory and honor of the nations” are the saved from out of the nations, “whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”

God has brought the wealth, the glory, the honor of the nations into His house, making it glorious. We know that the “house of God” in the New Testament is the Church, the people of God in Christ (1 Corinthians 3:9-17; 6:19,20; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Ephesians 2:19-22; 1 Timothy 3:15; Hebrews 3:6; 1 Peter 2:4,5). Seeing all of this, then, we know that God’s house is global – all believers in Christ throughout the nations. He dwells with them through His Holy Spirit. While Solomon’s Temple was on Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the new covenant House of God covers the planet. It is greater than the kingdoms of this world – God’s shaking of “the heavens and earth” is an overthrowing of kingdoms and their powers during His gathering to “fill this house with glory” (Haggai 2:21,22). Solomon’s Temple was visited by those faithful old covenant Jews who obeyed the pilgrimage feasts, but the new covenant House of God is filled with Jews who believe in Christ and those “from every tribe and tongue and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9).

“Arise, shine; for your light has come,

And the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.

For behold, darkness will cover the earth

And deep darkness the peoples;

But the LORD will rise upon you.

Nations will come to your light,

And kings to the brightness of your rising.

Lift up your eyes round about and see;

They all gather together, they come to you.

Your sons will come from afar,

And your daughters will be carried in their arms.

Then you will see and be radiant,

And your heart will thrill and rejoice;

Because the abundance of the sea will be turned to you,

The wealth of the nations will come to you…

…and I shall glorify My glorious house” (Isaiah 60:1-5,7).

She is beautiful. Rejoice!

Seeing Christ in the Spirit

I preached from Job on Resurrection Day. He makes a gutsy statement of faith while walking through the valley of the shadow of death: "Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God; Whom I myself shall behold, and Whom my eyes will see and not another" (Job 19:26,27).

Moses' request is equally surprising: "I pray You, show me Your glory!" (Exodus 33:18).

Then there's Philip. The Greeks had come to him, requesting audience with Jesus: "Sir, we wish to see Jesus" (John 12:21) . Not long after this, he asks Jesus to see the Father (14:8). Jesus responds, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father" (14:9).

The Bible teaches that God (the Father) is invisible (Deuteronomy 4:15; John 1:18; Romans 1:20; Colossians 1:15; 1 Timothy 6:16; Hebrews 11:27; 1 John 4:12). He is Spirit, and has not a body like men (Catechism for Young Children, Q.9). But some of the greatest moments of faith displayed in the Bible have great saints proclaiming either a belief that they will see God or making request to see God. Seeing the invisible God. The Bible has no problem with tensions that drive us apart from each other in intramural battle.

Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15). I suspect He is all we will ever see of God the Father. In the Revelation (a very descriptive book), the Father is only described as "the One sitting on the throne" (4:2,9,10; 5:1,7,13; 6:16; 7:10,15; 19:4; 20:11; 21:5). When we look at the Son, we see the Father.

But what about now? The Son has ascended to the right hand of the Father. We cannot see Him. This does not hinder our relationship with Him, of course. "Though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory" (1 Peter 1:8).

In my meditation on 1 Peter this week, I've paid attention to how the apostle speaks of the Holy Spirit.

He is "the Spirit of Christ" (1:11). The Son and the Spirit are distinct Persons of the one true God. The angel tells Mary "the Holy Spirit will come upon" her, causing her to conceive "the Son of God" (Luke 1:35). The Holy Spirit did not become the Son in her womb, but was the power that caused the virgin to conceive. The "Holy Spirit descended upon [Jesus] in bodily form like a dove" (3:22) at His baptism. Jesus teaches His disciples to pray to the "heavenly Father" to ask for "the Holy Spirit" (11:13). The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one God, but three distinct Persons. And yet, despite the distinction, there is such a unity in essence, an inter-penetration (the theological term is perichoresis - an eternal dance of the Three-in-One). The Son and Spirit are distinct Persons of one God, so we can speak of "the Spirit of Christ" without confusing the two Persons or separating them into heterodoxy. Paul proclaims of the risen Christ that "the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit" (1 Corinthians 15:45). The Son and Spirit are distinct, but they are One. In Romans 8:9, the Holy Spirit is "the Spirit of God" and "the Spirit of Christ" (a parallel underlining the fact that "God" and "Christ" are One). In Philippians 1:19, Paul tells the Church he is resting in "the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ." The Spirit in us "intercedes for the saints according to the will of God" (Romans 8:26,27) and the Son "Who is at the right hand of God...intercedes for us" (8:34). The Spirit Who is in us is One with the Son Who saves us.

He is "the Holy Spirit" (1:12), and the One Who makes us holy (1:2). Just as the heavenly praise of God focuses on His holiness (Isaiah 6:3; Revelation 4:8), Jesus is described throughout early Christian preaching as "the holy One" (Acts 2:27; 3:14; 4:27,30; 13:35). "By [the Father's] doing you are in Christ Jesus, Who became to us...sanctification" (1 Corinthians 1:30). How does the holiness of the Father mediated through the Son come to us? Through the presence of the Holy Spirit.

He is "the Spirit of glory and of God" (4:14). Likewise, the Son "is the radiance of [the Father's] glory" (Hebrews 1:3). When Jesus was present, the apostles (and all the other witnesses) "saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father" (John 1:14). It is the glory of Yahweh, the very glory Isaiah saw (John 12:41; see Isaiah 6:1-5). The divine Spirit Who glory Who fills believers brings the glorious Son, Who is the glory of the Father, to us by His presence. It is in the Person of the Holy Spirit that we are made to "see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, Who is the image of God" (2 Corinthians 4:4).

"...you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (2:5). We need to remember: the adjective "spiritual" should have a capital "S." While you and I have countless friends, co-workers, family members, and neighbors who would describe themselves as "spiritual" with a lower-case "s," the Bible doesn't have this category. If you are truly spiritual, it is because of the presence and work of the Person of the Holy Spirit in your life. A "spiritual house" is a house for the Holy Spirit, not a vaguely spiritual attitude or awareness or leaning. It is Personal (capital "P"). "You are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit" (Ephesians 2:22). And, as I've pointed out before, we may need to have a more carefully nuanced reading of a passage typically used to teach the stewardship of our personal physical bodies: "...do you [plural] not know that your [plural] body [singular] is a temple [plural] of the Holy Spirit Who is in you [plural], Whom you [plural] have from God, and that you [plural] are not your [plural] own? For you [plural] have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your [plural] body [singular]" (1 Corinthians 6:19,20). Paul uses "bodies" (plural) in 6:15. I think he's transitioned into a bigger statement here. He is speaking of a different Body at this point, a Body elaborated on further later in the letter (10:16,17; 11:24,27,29; eighteen times in chapter 12!). A "spiritual house" (to bring us back to 1 Peter 2:5) is the collected group of believers fit together, cleansed, and sanctified to be the very place the Presence of God is manifested. It is built and dwelt in by the Holy Spirit, and that alone makes it "spiritual." Peter also speaks of "spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." This is a statement of Trinity. "Spiritual sacrifices" are "Holy Spirit-empowered and -originated sacrifices." They are "acceptable to God," Who is identified as "God the Father" in 1:2,3. They are offered through "Jesus Christ," the Son. These are not three separate acts, but a single Mind and Will operating simultaneously as three Persons for His eternal glory and our eternal joy.

The Father, the invisible One Who has given us the saving Son and relationship-sealing Spirit, receives for His glory.

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The Son, Who is High Priest and Mediator between us and God (and is the visible image of the invisible God), is the One through Whom we offer ourselves completely.

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The Holy Spirit, Who indwells us, holds us in relationship with God, and "fits us for heaven to live with Him there" (to paraphrase "Away in a Manger"), is the One Who works the Word He authored through us by His power and wisdom, so that our actions are "Spiritual sacrifices." He also reveals the Son, Who is the invisible image of the invisible God, to us through the Word He has authored. We see the Father by seeing the Son through the Word illuminated to us by the Holy Spirit.

These days 36 days before Pentecost (a day we should consider as importantly as Easter, if we want to value what the early Church valued in the N.T. - the work of Christ was unto the giving of the Spirit), let us take the time to think carefully through these biblically-revealed truths about the Holy Spirit!

Dust storm on NM-146. Jesus' comparison of the Spirit with wind (John 3:8) is apt. The wind is invisible, but its effects are undeniable.

Prophecy and Evangelism

As I've shared before, the opportunity to hear someone else preach is a joy and special privilege to me. When I go on vacation, I spend a good amount of time researching churches in the area (wherever we'll be) to find a place for my family and me to worship on the Lord's Day. I had the experience recently. We were going to have the opportunity to visit another congregation, and I had one in mind. The pastor, I knew, ran on a similar theological path as myself, and the church was small (those are my two main criteria). We enjoyed our visit. The membership was friendly, the music had meaning (and was not overbearing or overly dramatic), and there was the reading of Scripture during the service outside of the preaching of the sermon. The sermon itself was rooted in the text, which I appreciate. The preacher's outline followed the structure of the Scripture. There was a huge, glaring problem, however: there was no Gospel, no Jesus in the message.
I've been reading 1 Peter 1 this week in my personal devotion, rejoicing in the Trinity's revelation in 1:2, the benediction unto "a living hope" in 1:3, the thickness of glory (1:7,8,11,21,24; 2:12; 4:11,13,14,16; 5:1,4,10,11), the importance of obedience (1:2,14,22), revelation (1:5,7,13), etc. I've thought a lot about the Old Testament (1:10-12a) and the New Testament (1:12b) and the tandem role they play in the Lord's work in causing us to be born again. The Old Testament "prophets...prophesied of the grace that" has come to us. They had revelation from "the Spirit of Christ" concerning "the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow." The Old Testament Prophets were "seeking" greater understanding of these things even as they received revelation of them. For Isaiah through Malachi, knowing the Gospel of Jesus Christ was a hungry obsession that caused them to have an "it's not enough" attitude when the Holy Spirit used them to write that great division of the Old Testament. They wanted the Good News, and they weren't the only ones - this revelation pointed toward "things into which angels long to look." How could you preach from the Prophets without even a hint of this longing?
When I've had opportunity to teach a preaching course, I have advised this discipline: however you construct the sermon (paper or computer), and no matter what your style of writing the outline/manuscript is, start with the cross. Ask yourself, "where is the Gospel in this text, and where will it be in the sermon?" Have Jesus as your ultimate goal. You will study context, history, primary message, etc., but don't forget the Prophet's passion: seeking the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Let his passion, driven by the inspiration of the "Spirit of Christ," be your inspiration.
Peter while preaching to the household of Cornelius in Caesarea, ends his sermon with this statement: "Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins" (Acts 10:43). "All the prophets," the apostle said. All of them. I won't quote all of Luke 24:44-49 to you, but you should read it yourself regularly to be reminded of the focus of the Old Testament. "The Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms," Jesus teaches, gives us the foundation for the death and resurrection of Jesus, but also the promise and commission of a global Gospel proclamation and the filling of the Holy Spirit. All of it, Jesus teaches, is found in the Old Testament. Just as the Prophets inquired from the Spirit of Christ for more of the Gospel, we should inquire of the Old Testament (a book written by the Spirit of Christ) for the Gospel for which they longed.
My thought, as the brother behind the pulpit preached a sermon faithfully anchored to the text (but missing the text's goal), was Jesus' statement, "you search the Scriptures [of the Old Testament] because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me" (John 5:39).
Paul (and everyone else in that first generation of the new covenant) evangelized from "both the Law of Moses and from the Prophets" concerning Jesus (Acts 28:23). Can we do the same?
O beloved, don't ever, ever, ever miss the point of the Book. It's about Him. It's not about Israel, and it's not about the geopolitical events of today, and it's not primarily about me. It's about Jesus. The sacred desk behind which I preach to a small congregation in the afternoon of the Lord's Day has John 12:21 in sticky-backed letters (a few missing) where only the preacher can see it: "Sir, we would see Jesus." We cannot ever grow past this as preachers and teachers. If we are to endeavor to open the Book before the people, then show them Jesus.

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I'm currently reading Who Shall Ascend the Mountain of the Lord?: A Biblical Theology of the Book of Leviticus. If I could only keep a small portion of the books in my library, this would be one of them. Morales doesn't just give us great material about Leviticus, but also a helpful vision of the Pentateuch and the whole Bible itself. I highly recommend it. It will enrich your understand of the great Book deeply.

Prayer Over the Invited

I invited a friend to the gathering of the Church for this upcoming Lord’s Day. As I’ve been praying about this invitation, I’ve been letting a meditation on 1 Corinthians 14:24,25 guide me. The Holy Spirit inspired these words, and it is through Him that I am praying, so it seems appropriate that Spirit and truth be one in my prayer life.

“But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an ungifted man enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all; the secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God is certainly among you.”

“All prophesy.” On the day of Pentecost (50 days from the day I am writing this), the Spirit fell on the believers who were waiting in obedience to Christ’s command. This group included “Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James…along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers…a gathering of about one hundred and twenty persons was there together” (Acts 1:13-15). All of these, when filled with the Spirit, began to speak “of the mighty deeds of God” (2:11). Peter, explaining to the crowds what was happening, declares that the Spirit-given speech about God’s great works fulfilled Joel’s prophecy: “I will pour forth of My Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy...on My bondslaves, both men and women, I will in those days pour forth of My Spirit, and they shall prophesy” (Acts 2:17,18//Joel 2:28,29). The whole of the congregation of the Spirit-filled will “prophesy,” which is defined by the events of Pentecost as speaking “of the mighty deeds of God” by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is not just the work of a single man behind the pulpit. It is a witness (from the Bible) that all God’s people may do. Our speech should be of God.

It happens at the Table: “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26).

It happens in songs that speak of God’s work in salvation: “…be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” (Ephesians 5:18,19).

It happens when God’s people read aloud and pray the Scriptures: “And when they heard this, they lifted their voices to God with one accord and said, ‘O Lord, it is You Who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that is in them [Psalm 146:6], Who by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David Your servant, said [Acts 2:1,2], “Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples devise futile things? The kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ.” For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, Whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur. And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants may speak Your Word with all confidence, while You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy servant Jesus.’ And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the Word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:23-31).

May it happen with all the words we say!

The unbelieving guest in the Corinthian gathering confesses “God is certainly among you." He is brought to conviction by the proclamation of the truth of the Scripture by the Spirit-filled people of God. Do I want him to feel welcomed and loved by the congregation? Absolutely! But I also want him (and everyone else) to come away changed unto eternal life in Jesus Christ. We lift up the Word, and the Spirit can do that. Conviction. Confession. Life, life, eternal life!

"Pentecost," by Ed Friedlander

This is my prayer: May God the Holy Spirit make His Word known through all aspects of the gathering of the people of God in Christ, that unbelievers may be convicted and brought to salvation in Jesus Christ for the ultimate purpose of falling on their faces and worshiping God not just in the gathering, but forever and ever in glory. “No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:3). Speak, Spirit of Christ. Please, speak.

The Presupposition of Evangelism

Almost ten years ago I sat with my bride before a pastor search committee. One of the many good questions asked during that visit was, “what is the minimum a person can believe to be saved?” I believe I answered with the historical content of Paul’s summation of the Gospel: “Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).

Since then, when asked a similar question, I’ve even responded with Paul’s earlier words: “…if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).

Occasionally, I’ve even used Peter’s words (they’re on my business cards): “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:39).

I spend my early Thursday mornings at a local coffeehouse reading through Louis Berkhof’s Systematic Theology. We’ve been at it a few years now. I love meeting at a place “off campus” from our congregation’s building. I prefer it, in fact. This last meeting we were working through the chapter on “Faith” for a second week. I began to notice a pattern in Berkhof’s discussion of faith that may have changed my answer to the question, “if saving faith is the acceptance of Christ as He is offered in the gospel, the question naturally arises, ‘How much of the gospel must a man know, in order to be saved?’” (pg. 559).

Read Berkhof’s repeated statements and see the same pattern I saw:

• “The knowledge of faith consists in a positive recognition of the truth, in which man accepts as true whatsoever God says in His Word, and especially what He says respecting the deep depravity of man and the redemption which is in Christ Jesus” (pgs. 558-559).
• “The knowledge of faith is mediated for, and imparted to, us by the testimony of God in His Word, and is accepted by us as certain and reliable on the basis of the veracity of God” (pg. 559).
• “Naturally one who accepts Christ by a true faith, will also be ready and willing to accept God’s testimony as a whole” (560).
• “Its object is the whole divine revelation as contained in the Word of God. Everything that is explicitly taught in Scripture or can be deduced from it by good and necessary inference, belongs to the object of faith in this general sense” (pg. 561).
• “…true faith in the Bible as the Word of God is absolutely necessary” (pg. 562).
• “The ultimate ground on which faith rests, lies in the veracity and faithfulness of God, in connection with the promises of the gospel. But because we have no knowledge of this apart from the Word of God, this can also be, and frequently is, called the ultimate ground of faith” (pgs. 562).

I’m mindful of Billy Graham’s repeated phrase in his evangelistic preaching: “…the Bible says.” Eternally more importantly, reconsider Paul’s words to the Corinthians and hear the same emphasis: “…Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” After his words to the Romans promising salvation for confession and belief in the resurrected Lord, the apostle also says, “faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (10:17). And Peter’s Pentecost sermon is built on passages from Joel 2 and Psalm 16 (and others). The basis of saving faith is the written Word.

If a person does not accept the witness of God in the Scriptures describing the historical fall of humanity into sin (and its personal, individual reality), the consequences of that sin, and God’s remedy for that sin, you will not accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Submission to the authority of and belief in the truthfulness of the Bible are presuppositions to a saving faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I don’t think this necessarily changes our approach to evangelizing the lost, but it is important in our evangelism. Is the message I proclaim “according to the Scriptures”? Am I begging them to believe me, or God in His Word? Am I relying on my ability to argue or convince, or the matchless power of the Bible?

The foundation for the Gospel and the salvation of the lost by that Gospel is ultimately grounded in the proclamation of God in His Word. We would not know our need otherwise. We would not know the Good News otherwise. The Gospel originates outside of me, and is infinitely bigger than I am, and eternally older. I pray I learn to rest in this power and authority in my evangelistic conversations, like those with the owner of the coffeehouse before dawn every Thursday morning.

The Gathering and Garages

“Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to a garage makes you an automobile” (Billy Sunday, 1862-1935).

I’ve heard a dozen variations on this quote. So have you. It’s popular for preachers, youth ministers, evangelists, and unbelieving scoffers to diminish the importance of attending regular gatherings of the Church. I understand why the last group I mentioned does it (I was part of that group); it baffles me why the first three groups do it. I’ve hoped that they don’t intend to do that. The person on the stage says this, gets some souls to walk the aisle (a sign, I suppose, of a “successful” gathering). I’ve never heard them take the time to then explain that those who are truly Christian gather with the Church; it is, in fact, one of the biblical assurances that you are a Christian. Christians gather. It’s what they do. It’s what it means to “be the Church.” If a person doesn't gather with the Church, it's a biblical reason to question the genuine nature of their confession to be Christian (Hebrews 10:25; 1 John 2:19). It would seem Billy Sunday's got it backwards. But the speaker who diminishes the gathering gets his aisle-walker from out of the gathering. Work done. The Great Commission isn’t happening, though (the teaching of disciples to obey all that Christ commanded).

“…if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an ungifted man enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all; the secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God is certainly among you” (1 Corinthians 14:24,25). Yes, there hopefully are unbelievers in the gathering of the Church. Prophecy, or Spirit-empowered, Christ-centered proclamation of the Bible, must occur in the gathering of the Church. The garage is built to house an automobile. The Church gathers for Christians – and those who might become Christians through the proclamation of the Word of God.

Please stop comparing gathering as the Church with a garage, or Pizza Hut, or anything else. The gathering is of exceeding importance and should not be diminished. If you want regular gatherers to examine the genuine nature of their salvation, don’t question something that is a biblical sign that you are actually a Christian (gathering with the Church). Just use the language of Paul to the Achaian Baptist Association: “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you - unless indeed you fail the test? But I trust that you will realize that we ourselves do not fail the test” (2 Corinthians 13:5,6). In fact, a weekly observation of the Lord's Supper gives a biblical and liturgical opportunity for such regular examination of the legitimacy of one's salvation (1 Corinthians 11:27-32). Or just be diligent in preaching the Gospel every time you're on stage. It's "the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16), not this diminishing of the Church as a manipulative rhetorical tool.

What does it profit a preacher to get “decisions” if they communicate a deprioritizing of the God-given instrument of discipleship – the gathering of the Church?

Gather. Proclaim the Gospel. Keep on proclaiming that Gospel in the gathering. And when you've done it, do it again. The lost will be saved. The saved will grow in Christ. This is the power of God.