Debt

As our country experiences the pain and brokenness of being in debt where are the “gifts” to soothe the pain and mend the brokenness? There was a time when we took the stairs into the basement to take few mason jars off the shelf or something carefully packed away in the freezer to add to the sale priced meat that adorned our plates. But the basement together with its dampness, mold and the sound of the de-humidifier represents not the diligence and forethought to provide for a lean day, but the darkness and noise of greedy spending and the noise of modernity attempting to drown it out.

Bi-partisan politics and all night meetings are not the scenes of an emergency but the scenes of a reality. They are the scenes of men and women in plenty worshiping the creation and the creature rather than the Creator. They are the scenes of an adulterous people who turn their ears away from the wise and good words of their husband to listen to that which tickles but goes away into emptiness. Where is the wise man and woman in these days of emergency and crisis? They are at both ends of the table and on both sides of the aisle crying with convincing words to apply band-aids of all shapes and sizes. Is there a cry for swallowing our pride in repentance and faith? No, the cries are, “Do something quick before I loose my house, 401k or retirement.” The scenes are temporal because the desires of our hearts and the passions of our flesh are satisfied and filled by the creation. They are the cries at George Bailey’s ole building and loan teller window, “I’ll take my $242, now my accounts closed!” And they are the cries that it is the George Bailey’s of the world that have gotten us into this mess.

It is in such times that the brokenness of living in a fallen world as fallen people screams the loudest. These are the time historians live for because when they tell the stories of civilizations and their imaginative religions they can point to such crises as those that made the peoples look heavenward or earthward, depending on your version of god and sexual preference. But what about the church, are these the times she lives for? She is the redeemed bride of Christ, the jewel bought at a great price, those living in the kingdom of the beloved Son, those broken by the fall yet graced with the gift of redemption and restoration, those who can tell the story clearly in the midst of the brokenness that will give hope to those who have not money to buy bread and wine. The church are those who know the healing balm of Gilead that has lead them to repent from worshiping the creation and the creature to find joy in the beauty of God’s glory revealed in Christ. The church is a debtor to mercy alone with nothing to repay, those who have been bought with a great price. The church knows the darkness of the pit of despair where their bones wasted away where there is groaning all day long, and yet have found the blessedness of being those against whom the Lord counts no iniquity. The church knows what it is to acknowledge sin and lay their souls before the gracious Creator and Redeemer and find him to be faithful and true to forgive. The church knows what it is to envy those who with ease, but who have been brought into the sanctuary where there is true understanding and where they have found the Lord to be their best portion forever unrivaled by anything in all creation. The church may not have all the answers to the financial crises and in fact may find herself right in the midst of it, but she can speak clearly in this scene of brokenness that the Lord delights in those who look not to man but whose eyes are upon Him who creates, sustains and redeems.

All of Grace

I am enjoying my study of Ruth for preaching on Sunday evenings. In the second chapter Ruth begs a very important question before Boaz, "Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?" (2:10). Boaz answers her and it seems that he is setting her up as an employee of God who has gotten her due, "All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. 12 The LORD repay you for what you have done,” (2:11-12a). However, at the end of his answer grace comes pouring out to explain why she has done what she has and why she has found favor, “ and a full reward be given you by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!" (2:12b). The gods of Moab are not like the true and living God. God has stretched out his wings to this woman whom he has called so that she can find grace as one who is humble and in need (1:16). And because by grace He is her refuge and strength she not only experiences grace she can be a conduit of grace to others in need. God does not repay anyone for anything they have done, but only makes it known that grace begins the relationship and grace extends the relationship and grace makes for God glorifying relationships. A God glorifying relationship with Him in love is by His grace, and a God glorifying extension of that love toward our neighbors is by His grace.

But it does not matter how beautiful and true this picture is of God’s grace is there will always be those who offer themselves to God and expect to get their due. Tracy Altman recently led me to an article in First Things that makes this point clear. In the article the question is asked, "Is Mormonism Christian?". A Mormon and a Christian respond with opposite answers to the question. The Mormon spends most of his time trying to ward off the charge that Mormons believe in salvation by works, not grace, and then he says this,

"Nonetheless, salvation in our view is not obtained without effort on the part of the sinner. 'Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven' (Matt. 7:21). Grace requires a price to be paid and that price is the heart of the sinner."

It does not seem to matter what cloak works righteousness dresses in it cannot admit the obvious, grace, all of grace. Whether the cloak is red with a gold RC, a black cloak bearing the white P from later 19th century revivalism that gave rise to the white cloak worn under the black tie with the letter M, the cloak will always seek to exalt itself over the towel that bears the muddied letter G and that gets hung on a cross each night.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” – Ephesians 2:8-10

God’s Authoritative and Profitable Word

“Put that down. We do not need that in this situation.” These words were spoken to me by a gentleman in my living room recently when I reached for some authority on the matter with which we were discussing. I was reaching for the Bible.

This gentleman was a confessing evangelical worshiping each week in an evangelical church in our community. In his view the Bible has authority when it comes to certain subjects, but it is actually a human book not a divine revelation. It is a guide to a religious experience but on this occasion its authority was displaced by an opposing authority, his opinion that the matter we were discussing was not in the realm of the Bible’s authority. His view is not only in contradiction to his confessing evangelicalism but it is leading him and others away from the good and true beauty of God.

Are you traversing the road that offers breathtaking views of the glory and majesty of God, the road that provides the richest delights from his table of goodness, and the road that bends and winds its way through truth and righteousness? Those who hold to the Bible as authoritative believe that God is its author and that he has given it to direct the belief and behavior of his people. And it is these who will traverse through this world to behold his beauty, goodness and truth and their voices will resound in shouts of praise and their lives will reflect his glory as they trust and obey by his grace. We all long for this truth, goodness and beauty, but how do we know that God can provide it, and how do we know it will really benefit us in this life?

We all live in the midst of revelation. Everyday we see and hear the world around us and its inhabitants. We long for this revelation to shed some truth, goodness and beauty upon us, and in this theater of the natural revelation of God it does. However, we do not clearly see it. We see it in a distorted way like a middle aged man trying to read tiny print under a dim light. Therefore God expired his special revelation to us in the Scriptures. As Paul tells Timothy, All Scripture is breathed out by God.(2Tim.3:16). God is the source, the ultimate author of the Bible. He used human authors to write, but he is the authoritative source. Therefore the Bible is distinguished from all other writings as authoritative. It is true in all its parts. It is sufficient to lead us to God’s goodness in salvation and eternal life. It is clear so that anyone can be lead to the beauty of God in all of life. God has provided for us his authoritative word to lead us into truth, goodness and beauty. But is not the Bible outdated and unable to really benefit us in this life?

God’s word is profitable (2Tim.3:16). I often hear that as Presbyterians we are to ‘theological’ or ‘doctrinal’. It is interesting to note what God’s expired word is first of all profitable for in Paul’s list to Timothy. He says, All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching…that is doctrine. It is profitable because it teaches us what to believe about God, man and this world in which we live. But what profit is that doctrine? It reproves, corrects and trains us for life in a Godward direction. In the reformed church there have been three main focuses, doctrine, piety and culture. When God’s people profit from the Word of God it affects what they believe (doctrine) and when they have a true apprehension of that beauty it affects their hearts (piety), and when they have tasted and seen that God is good it affects what they do toward their neighbor (culture). But where the Word is not treasured as profitable the church is dysfunctional and does not benefit itself or others in this life.

Are you reaching for God’s authoritative profitable word and discovering Him who reveals himself so that you can know and enjoy him in all his truth, goodness and beauty. Reach and read it, reach and meditate on it, reach and memorize it, reach and pray it, reach and sing it, reach and worship around it, reach and speak it to others for his glory, your good and the good of those around you.

In Praise of God Through the Liberal Arts

There is a popular phrase in public education today which states, “Math + Science = Success”. Success is the god of our culture that promises wealth, ease, comfort, popularity and the attainment of all that the “American Dream” typifies, so we bow down and worship. And when we practice our worship, because we are pragmatic worshipers, we believe that formulas are necessary to success. Therefore we apply our formulas and then we stand next to one another (people, nations, churches, businesses, families, etc.) and measure our success by what we have gained for ourselves or our organizations. Therefore to train our children in math and science is the wisdom of the age that leads to the benefits the god of success bestows. But Godly people should ask if success is our aim, and is the end of learning math and science success?

The true and living God reveals himself in creation and providence, and man is wise who spends his entire life seeking to know him truly. He also gives us the Scriptures to know him and his salvation truly, but for this moment let’s think about the natural revelation of God in creation and providence. Math and Science are two disciplines within the modern liberal arts that reveal the nature of the living and true God. “Liberal Arts” is a term that describes a study with the purpose of imparting knowledge and increasing intellectual capacities. In the ancient world it was the free man and not the slave who was able to embark upon a study of the liberal arts. It was a discipline of seven studies, three in the Trivium (grammar, logic, rhetoric) and four in the Quadrivium (geometry, arithmetic, astronomy and music). In the modern world the liberal arts include art, literature, philosophy, history, languages, mathematics and science and are available to all. Man is not limited from seeing God’s workmanship in creation and providence if he does not study the liberal arts. But those who will study them will “penetrate with their aid far more deeply into the secrets of the divine wisdom.” (John Calvin, Institutes I.V.2). All men everywhere are able to see the glory of God’s invisible attributes, namely his divine power and divine nature (Rom.1:20) as God thrusts them upon him in what he has made, sustains and governs. And those who will give themselves to learning and increasing intellectual capacities in the liberal arts will have even more thrust upon them for the knowledge and enjoyment of the true and living God.

The aim in the study of the liberal arts, which math and science are a part, is not success but wisdom. John Calvin says in the opening sentence of his “Institutes of the Christian Religion”, “Nearly all the wisdom we possess, that is to say, true and sound wisdom, consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and ourselves.”. The study of the Liberal Arts cannot supplant our study of God’s Word. However, the church must recognize that God has given us a general revelation of himself, and through a study of the liberal arts he can impart to us knowledge and increase our intellectual capacities that we might see more truth, goodness and beauty, and in seeing them see him who fills the earth.

The true and living God is infinite and eternal and beyond tracing out. Therefore he offers all who seek the knowledge and wisdom of him an infinite supply of truth, goodness and beauty. All men, but especially the godly, have a wonderful privilege and a tremendous responsibility to see and savor the glory of God in all that he has made and sustains for his glory. Sit down and read a “Great Book”, study history, study the vastness of the heavens, enjoy music and art, learn to do equations, learn a language, or enjoy Pascal as he reasons with the philosophers of his day. The aim is not “success”. It is to know more of him who has made, sustains and governs the heavens and the earth and all that they contain.

Receiving the Preached Word

The young Scottish preacher Robert Murray M’Cheyne said he, “preached as a dying man to dying men.” The picture, of another Scottish preacher, in the picture below, tells the story of a preacher with this attitude. But what does a “dying man” look like that comes to hear from a dying preacher? We get a glimpse of this when the apostle Paul came to Berea in Acts 17. There he met a noble people who received the Word of God that was preached to them with eagerness, examination, and response (Acts 17:11-12).

First, we need to receive the preached Word with eagerness. We are eager for many things and we exemplify this by our anticipation and preparation. We must come to the reception of God’s word with an even eager anticipation. There are many temporal and eternal reasons for this, but here is one from the Psalmist, “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; (Ps.19:7-8). Since this is true about the word of God then we must in our anticipation prepare ourselves for an eager reception on the Lord’s Day. We may do this by turning our hearts on Saturday evening to him in prayer for the church, those teaching and leading worship, the one who preaches and for the Holy Spirit to come down upon his church. We may also prepare for an eager reception by arriving to worship early with a quieted heart and a ready mind.

Second, we need to receive the Word by examination. The Bereans heard the word on the Sabbath and they examined what they heard each day during the week. Examination requires deeper thought beyond the sermon. The apostle Paul required this of Timothy when he said, “Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.” (2Tim.2:7). It requires the discipline of checking out what has been preached with the rest of Scripture. It requires asking questions of the text and the points that were made from the text. It requires talking about it with others.

Third, we need to receive the Word with a proper response. We are called to be eager receivers and examiners of God’s Word, so that we may give a proper response. James says, “the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.” (Jas 1:25). A proper response to God’s word is trust, belief, thanksgiving, praise and varied obedience depending on the prescribed will of God.

We are called to receive the word of God preached by dying men with eagerness, examination and response for the glory God and the furthering of his kingdom.

Will Our Church Survive?

Pasotring a small church you sometimes are tempted to ask, "Will this church survive through these changing times?". The answer to that question lies in the sovereign will of God, but also in the responsibility of the leadership of this church. According to John Wesley if Methodism was to survive beyond his life he said,

"The Methodists must take heed of their doctrine, their experience, their practice, and their disciplines. If they attend their doctrine only, they will make people antinomians; if to the experiential part of religion only, they will make them enthusiasts (mindless fanatics); if to the practical part only, they will make them Pharisees; and if they do not attend to their discipline, they will be like persons who bestow much pains in cultivating their gardens, and put no fence round it to save it from wild boars of the forest."

The Presbyterian and Reformed churches must also take heed to his words. The doctrine of God is adorned with the righteousness of God, the experience or the enjoyment of God is guarded by the knowledge of God, the application of God's Word is expressed only through the grace God gives, and the gift of disciplines is a training ground for the display of God's glory in grace toward the nations through the church, but also a rampart to keep God's church from being overrun by the culture. We will survive if the leaders of our church keep a watch over their lives and their doctrine, and give themselves to keeping watch over the church whom they serve as under-shephards.

Sunday Evening Worship

Why should we as a church continue to worship God in the evening as well as the morning on the Lord’s Day? Why should we continue to practice something that so many churches have abandoned for small groups and mid-week programs to meet the needs of families? “Why should you participate in Sunday evening worship?”

1. Evening Worship is Biblical. No, the Bible does not say, “You shall worship me in the evening at 6:00 PM”, but neither does it say we shall worship God in the morning at 11:00 AM. However, God did provide for his people Israel morning and evening sacrifice (Exodus 29:38-41; Numbers 28:1-10). There was to be burnt offerings before the Lord in the morning and in the evening and there the Lord would meet with his people and speak to them. David, the King of Israel and writer of many Psalms penned a Sabbath psalm that reads, It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; 2to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night, (Psalm 92:1-2). David’s life of devotion was based upon God’s design in the sacrificial system. In the sacrifice there was a victim in the place of the sinner bearing the wrath of God for sin, but this substitute did not fully appease the wrath of God. So they were aware of God’s judgment and looked forward by faith through the offering of sacrifice to a Messiah that would save them. And now that sacrifice has been made by Christ the Messiah and God’s wrath is appeased in him as he is accepted by the Father night and day. Now we can offer to him a sacrifice of praise…the fruit of our lips (Hebrews 13:15), morning and evening. We also see the apostle Paul gathered with believers on the first day of the week preaching to them even unto midnight (Acts 20:7), indicating that he had begun earlier in the evening. Therefore, we should seek to worship the Lord from the rising of the sun to it’s setting on the Lord’s Day because evening worship is Biblical.

2. Evening Worship is a Means of Grace. How does God sanctify the hearts of his church? He does this primarily by his word and sacraments. He has meant for us to be holy and blameless in the Son and he has ordained that listening and responding to him by the means of his word, and being nurtured and strengthened through communion and baptism is his primary means. Whenever we choose not to participate in the public gathering for worship we are neglecting God’s ordained means of grace. This is why we as elders are calling upon the congregation to worship twice on the Lord’s Day. We have to give account for the souls whom God has given us to serve and so we believe calling God’s people to worship around his means of grace is the primary means he has given us to keep watch over the souls of his church (Hebrews 13:17). When the apostle Paul outlined the culture and problems that Timothy faced in the first century (which are no different than those we face today) (2Timothy3:1-9), he told him to preach the Word (2Timothy 4:2). Today we are told that things have changed, people are not able to endure preaching and teaching, we need more programs, small groups and other inventive ways to meet the felt needs of those in our culture. But when God has wanted to address the needs of his people he has given them his word and the signs and seals of their covenant relationship to him, the sacraments. We must not be shrinking away from the means of grace into modernity where it seems we find rest in our chosen recreation. We must hold fast to God’s grace in the means he has ordained to communicate it to us, and that happens in the context of morning and evening worship.

3. Evening Worship Helps Us Keep the Lord’s Day Holy. Everyday is the day that the Lord has made and we can rejoice and be glad in it. But the first day of the week is the Lord’s Day that he set apart by defeating sin and death and winning our salvation in his resurrection. Sunday is the Lord’s Day, and ‘Day’ indicates a whole day. It is a day ordained in creation and by redemption that God is jealous over. He has commanded us in the fourth commandment to keep it holy, and we must not treat this command of God with contempt. We have the opportunity on the Lord’s Day to sanctify it, set it apart as holy unto the Lord for worship, rest, doing works of mercy and fellowshipping with God’s people. Morning and evening worship is necessary to us in our weak state. We are created with a need to find our rest one day in seven in God’s presence where he is worshiped, trusted and obeyed. Therefore participating in evening worship is provided for us so that we may carry out the will of God in the earth for his glory and our good.

4. Evening Worship Helps to Propagate an Effective Christian Culture. In our country the church is camouflaged by being patterned more after our culture than biblical precepts. If we want to see God’s glory spreading throughout our community, country and earth, then God’s people must come together for worship morning and evening. Paul Alexander, a pastor of one church for more than 37 years, says, “Those who regularly participate in morning and evening worship over a period of years are the most stable and productive Christians. They are furthermore the most joyful and effective.” (Let’s Keep Our Sunday Evening Worship). We long to see one another built up and strengthened in the faith, equipped for every work of ministry, strong in the faith so as not to be blown and tossed by every wave of doctrine and modernity. We long to see a church full of worshipers and workers who are joyful and effective in our culture for God’s glory. But this will not happen where God’s people are not patterning their lives after God’s designs in corporate worship morning and evening.

On a drive around our community this past Wednesday night I noticed how full the parking lots of the churches were. People had come out for primarily children and youth programs at those churches. But a drive around our community on Sunday night will not afford us with the same picture. On Sunday evening less than a third of the churches in our community will have cars in their parking lots. People are not gathered to hear the preaching and teaching of God’s Word, participate in prayers, the singing of psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, the sacraments and fellowship with God’s people. Where have all the people gone on Sunday evening, where has the church gone, and where has the culture gone? Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (Hebrews 10:23-25).