Christian Boldness

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. [Acts 4:13]

What is sorely lacking in the church today?  Many features of the early church are missing.  Boldness is the first that comes to mind.  Miracles, conversions, persecution, Apostolic authority in preaching, but especially their bold proclamation of the Gospel in the public square, this is what I want to see again. I long for God to step into our midst and stir His church and the unbelieving world through us, just as He did in the book of Acts. Why doesn't God act?  I say it is because He has called us to act.  We say the word every time we mention the book, but we don't "get it", do we!

Certainly He is here. But He has given to US the job of doing the work, which He promised to honor and use and bear fruit.   While we sit about complaining that He isn't doing His part in miracles and stirring of souls to repentance, we (speaking for myself) are doing nothing at all.  How can this be right?  Isn't it that we don't really believe, don't deeply cling to the gospel as our one true hope and glory, don't really care that without it there is no hope?  Aren't we rather clinging to other hopes, such as education, political reform, the law and the Constitution, and perhaps even some kind of utopian dream, either of the "new world order" or "make America great again" sorts?  Are we putting our hope in the future "Millennial kingdom" of Christ in lieu of proclaiming the Kingdom over which He already reigns? 

In the Book of  Acts, the apostles Peter and John were out there publicly preaching and healing in the streets and in the Temple.  And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. For this he was attacked and "canceled" by the religious leaders---canceled being my deliberately anachronistic euphemism for death by stoning.

I've long wondered where to get such boldness.  But I'm beginning to believe that it will never come to me in advance. The boldness I need is going to have to come by faith---that faith which compels me to climb out of the boat and walk at Jesus' command ... on the water; that faith that opens my mouth out there in front of everyone and proclaims Christ crucified; that faith which marches into the "Temple" and gathers up neglected souls.

Exactly what "Temple" do I mean?  Of course it is the University.  While these aren't temples in the Jewish sense, consider the similarities:  They are man-made "temples" of learning, devoted to the glory of Man, dedicated to the advance of human honor and prosperity, filled with hypocrites proclaiming Themselves, feigning the love of science and knowledge while vehemently suppressing the knowledge of God and promoting wickedness, arrogance and rebellion.  Christians need to get onto the universities and colleges just as the disciples needed to be in the Jerusalem Temple and any synagogue they could gain admission, even though they were "unlearned and ignorant men", whether misjudged so or in fact.

The boldness didn't come first.  Their faith and love for Jesus came first.  Then they obeyed that holy mandate, GO, from the Lord's Great Commission, and only then was their trepidation was turned to the boldness and valor we see in the Book of Acts.  Act!  That's the operative word.  Yes, they had a short wait, but then they acted out in faith.

It is time for us to ACT, to go in bold faith, believing He will anoint our action, especially the act of going and proclaiming the gospel to a wrecked world, shining the light in a dark generation, right in the heart of the "temple".

Moses's Calling to Ministry

Exodus 3:1 thru 4:17

In this passage we find God's calling of Moses to ministry. What was Moses' reaction? He had five objections or questions that seemed to preclude his taking up God's call. God answered him each time, finally giving him a partner, Aaron.

A "calling to the ministry"

We don't find the word ministry in this passage. Why should I use it, then, and what do I mean? Ministry might mean the standard occupation of serving in a church. For Moses, it was a military-political-spiritual-social-legal work for God and "His kingdom on earth". For me and you, it might not be so grand. Then again, it might!

Moses's five excuses

Amazingly, even though Moses saw the burning bush, which spoke to him, that is, God spoke to him from within a burning bush, Moses was not suddenly endued with amazing faith to move mountains. Witnessing miracles does not really make one bold in ones faith.

Instead of a response such as Isaiah's, "Here am I, send me!" Moses was a lot less ready and willing. I suspect Isaiah was still a fairly young man when he was called in Isaiah 6, while Moses was now about 80 years old. Whatever the reason, Moses demurred. He appears, at first blush, to be either humble or self-deprecating. Maybe he was ultra-conservative, or didn't have the ambition, or didn' twant to leave to his pastoral life of Midian to go back to Egypt. Maybe he remembered his failure there as a younger man, 40 years ago, when he lost his position after killing an abusive Egyptian slave-driver, then being tattled on by the very Jews he was trying to help. Or maybe he was just old and didn't want to try doing a new thing.

So when God said, "Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt," Moses started making excuses. God patiently answered each of these. Even the patience of the Lord was put to the test by the 14th verse of chapter 4.

Moses's first question: Who am I?

Moses replied to God's calling with this: "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?"

Although this sounds like a question, (perhaps akin to the query of Mary in Luke 1:34, "How can this be, since I'm not yet married?") it's the kind of question that lazy young employees offer when given a hard job, in lieu of saying, "Is that in my job description?" or more honestly, "I really don't want to take on such a difficult job. Is there something easier you need done?"

Furthermore, Who am I? is a question that doesn't really matter. When God says, "I will send you," who am I? is really just questioning God, asking, "Do you think you can do anything through me? I know myself, and you are mistaken. I'm not the right man." I want to believe Moses was as humble as he claims later in Numbers 12:3. But he wasn't humble yet, not at 80, not before the Exodus.
I wonder that young people seem to think everything is about THEM. I'm young (only 60), so I get it. But even the elderly Moses thought this way at 80. So self-absorption is not really the affliction of youth. God isn't fooled by all the huffing and hand-waving. He doesn't care you you are; he can use a donkey or a rock to do his work.

God's reply: I am with you

God did not bother answering Moses's question about himself. He said, "I will certainly be with you." In essence, God didn't need Moses at all. God would be the one doing the work. Moses was just to go as the one people would see and hear. So it dies matter that we who serve God are not beautiful, talented, popular, rich or appealing. What matters is that God who sends us is with us, speaking through us, defending us, giving His authority to our words.

Then God added, "And this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain." To serve God is to minister. It is to worship, and offer sacrifices, and lead others in doing the same. God wasn't just suggesting an exodus to Moses, he was CALLING MOSES to ministry. God wanted Moses as His personal ambassador to His people and to Pharaoh. It was, then, a political role. Ambassadors represent nations and, in this case, God's own kingdom on earth. It would soon become a military role as well, and later a religious role as high priest and prophet. "You will serve God on this mountain" means to minister.

Such a calling is not a light matter. One who simply wants to be a popular religious figure cannot necessarily be useful to God, for many reasons. Popularity is not typically a trait of religious leaders. David was popular as a political ruler, but none of the prophets were popular among the elite. They were all persecuted by the religious establishment and the king. This includes Jesus and the Apostles. Of course, among people they were popular for a time. John the Baptist was so popular that he could conduct services out in the wilderness, and city folks all rode or walked 20 miles to hear him. Crowds followed Jesus as well, until he disappointed them by ignoring their political aspirations.

Moses had spent 40 or so years in Midian being a nomadic farmer. He wasn't eager to return to the city life and enter the political arena in Egypt. I can relate. Popularity and leadership are thorny paths. Success is never guaranteed. But if God is for us, who can be against us? We need nothing more than HIM on our side. Who we are is not the important question when it comes to ministry.

Moses's second question: Who are you?

Instead of being convinced, Moses continued asking questions. Of course, there's nothing wrong with asking questions, especially if you want to understand and know the God you are a minister for. Moses probably had such a good motivation for his next question. He asked, "Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, `The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they say to me, `What is His name?' what shall I say to them?" This is a question about God's identity. But the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob never had a name, as all the false God's had. What was his name? "Sovereign God", "LORD". That was all the names for God we find in Genesis. Sometimes it was "Lord of Hosts", or "Jehovah Jirah", which is The Lord who Provides.

Our tendency today is to want a BRAND, with trademarked logo, font and colors. "Go, Hokies!" "Wahoo wahoo wahoo, Cavaliers." Perhaps this was the Hebrew notion as well, or the tendency of the Egyptians and Canaanites, who had many competing gods in their cultures.

God's name is I AM

God answered, "I AM WHO I AM." in all caps. The translators here assume either that God was speaking forcefully, or that he was proclaiming "I AM WHO I AM" to be His holy name. I'm sure both are true. "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, "I AM has sent me to you." I AM is the same as Yaweh, or Jehovah, or The Lord. That's His name, The Lord. Later in Ex 6, God tells Moses, "I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name LORD I was not known to them." [6:2,3]

It is amazing that God wanted to be known, and not by some mysterious, exalted-sounding name, but as LORD or I AM. Most religions have a great deal of secrets about them. Our God wants us to know Him, and call Him by name, Lord. We may call someone, Mr. Cox if we have no relationship, or Jim if we are friends. His children, though, have a deeper relationship with him, and so call Him by a name reflecting that relationship, Father or Dad. If we had no relationship with God, we would likewise refer to Him simply by his formal name. But those who know God call Him by the relationship name, Lord.

Jesus further revealed God to us, teaching us to call him Father, "Our Father which art in heaven..." There is the relationship of sonship. This is the glory of Christ that is revealed in us.

Earlier, I called Moses's question his second excuse. How was it not just a question, but also an excuse? Did Moses think, as he asked this question, "The Israelites have been in Egypt 400 years. Will they even remember God's name? Will they care that God is sending them out of Egypt?" It may be that behind his question was the objection, namely that "These people don't deserve to have God do this for them. It really is going to be so disruptive, so destructive, so revolutionary, that it is truly not a good idea at all. They will not go along with it, neither will the Egyptians. I see that you can speak from a bush that burns but isn't burned. But just who are you?" Of course, it may also be that Moses truly did not know God, that he was a simple heathen who happened to have been born a Jew, but raised Egyptian. I'm not sure. Neither answer is flattering to Moses. God's answer, however, revealing His own holy Name, was glorious above all glory!

If this sounds like runaway eisegesis, to suggest this question was an objection, as I have, consider what God then says in the remainder of ch.3. He says in v.19, "But I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not even by a mighty hand." God answers the objection Moses didn't voice, because it was there. Moses knew well that it was going to be a most difficult, if not futile, mission to bring Israel out of Egypt. It would be like suggesting the southern and mid-western United States secede and become a separate nation from the east and west coasts. No one even wants to think about how such a split would go down, or what the world would look like afterward.

God, however, was planning decimate Egypt in order to bring about His own judgment on an evil nation and create a holy nation and a kingdom of priests using the enslaved, weak, uneducated, people who had descended from Abraham. For this, Moses was called, commissioned, and sent by God, as a minister. To disrupt and destroy the united nation of Egypt, bringing out a huge number of slaves, on whom Egypt depended, to build a new nation with the people of God, that was what God proposed to Moses.

Moses's third objection: Suppose they will not believe or listen to me?

Next Moses objected, "But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, `The Lord has not appeared to you.'" By ch.4, I think Moses was grasping at straws, to somehow avoid obeying God's call and taking up the ministry. Why? Because he was back to looking at himself and making this about himself. Moses thought he needed to be credible. To say that God appeared to me and told me to disrupt an entire nation with a message of freedom for all slaves, and this nation was going to have to change its entire society and economy to conform to this message from God, is one thing. To expect them to listen to such a message is another, it was incredible, and Moses himself didn't believe it would get off the ground. So it wasn't his own credibility that mattered, but God's. Did Moses really believe in God? At this point, I'm not sure. He didn't know the power of God enough to pack up and strike out for Egypt. He had more questions.

God answered by showing Moses several miraculous gifts He had given him to do. These, and many others God did not yet show him, would show that it was indeed God who was behind Moses. Miracles require actual authority, not just a credible story. They demonstrate power from God that should make people stop and listen. People usually just applaud the miracle, but go on ignoring the message. But that means they are without excuse, and God's wrath is deserved.

Moses' fourth objection: But I am not eloquent enough

Again Moses only thought about himself and his strengths and weaknesses. He assumed that eloquent speech was required of a minister. “Please, Lord,” Moses replied, “I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since You have spoken to Your servant, for I am slow of speech and tongue.” I can relate. I'm not really an eloquent person. I wish I was, but I know I am not.

This apparent self-deprecation was certainly genuine. Palace educated Moses was likely fluent in Egyptian, but not the Hebrew language. Or perhaps after 40 years, he had forgotten both and taken up some Midianite Creole. Shepherd don't have a lot of opportunity to hone their speaking skills, other than perhaps with other shepherds. Also, Moses was now approaching age 80. I myself have slowed down in my speech at 60. There is nothing false about this objection.

But it was the same mistake as he had made already several times. He was looking at himself instead of at the God who was calling him. He would not be convincing. He had a hillbilly accent now, and spoke slowly, without any wit or charm. Even if they listened, they would not be convinced.

God's fourth response: I made your mouth

God patiently answered again, as he had Abraham when he bargained for Sodom and Gomorrah. He said to Moses, "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord? Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say." Your mouth may fail you, but God will not fail you. The one who made your mouth and told you to go and speak will give you the words.

Jesus also said the same thing to His disciples in Mt 10:19,20: "But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you." Can we who are saved and called to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, actually doubt that God is able to do this through even us? Even me? We cannot! He will be faithful, and even if they don't listen, He will strike their conscience with the sword of the truth, and they will fall at His feet, either in repentance or into perdition and hell.
Moses's last objection: Send someone else
Moses made one more statement. This time it was not a question, nor a mere objection: it was an open attempt to dodge obedience. He said, "O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else You may send." Now the truth came out. He just didn't want to be the one to go and do such grand things, or he was too afraid of rejection and opposition, or he didn't believe God's power was sufficient, or all of the above.

But this time God was getting angry with Moses. So he told Moses he would also send Aaron with him to be his mouthpiece. Aaron would "be as a mouth for you, and you shall be to him as God." Apparently this was enough for Moses, and he obeyed, after first going to request permission to leave from his father-in-law Jethro.

My calling and yours

Now I admit, that the comparison earlier to the modern day United States was pretty abrupt. But once you consider the history of a nation in the light of the Bible, you have to wonder that people and nations are so foolish as to oppose God and drive Him out of their public discourse. He raises up nations, and He alone decrees when they shall be destroyed. It is the Moses, the minister of God, rather than the political activist or revolutionary, the one who is God's messenger, who is essentially instrumental in this process. A nation as great as the United States, which turns its back on God, is putting itself in exactly the same position as Egypt. And ignoring even the most lowly minister of the Gospel may be the single most foolish thing a President will ever do.

I believe God also called me to serve Him as a minister. I don't know how politically active I need to be. At this point, I feel very much like Moses, wishing he had never climbed up to investigate that burning bush on Mt. Horeb, and making objections and excuses why he was not the right man for the job.

I have been avoiding the direct ministry God called me to for the last 19 years, precisely since October of 2004. That was the year the Holy Spirit urged me to stand on the college campus at VCU in Richmond, Virginia and preach the gospel boldly, in the open air. Though I felt the urge and knew it was from God, I did not have the boldness, faith, guts or conviction to obey. I did many other things, just not this. I didn't feel empowered. I didn't feel trained. I didn't think I was eloquent enough to convince anyone. I knew well, and still know, that most will not listen, and some will become violent toward me. Now it is likely that anything I say will be interpreted as hate speech, no matter how gentle or softly spoken, and I will either be arrested, escorted off grounds, or attacked by God-haters who the police will deliberately not bring to justice.

But I know the time is ripe for such open-air preaching, and that God has put it solidly into my heart to go and preach it. It is, in Jeremiah's words, a fire in me. He writes in Jer 20:9, "Then I said, `I will not make mention of Him, nor speak anymore in His name.' But His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, and I could not." I must go, not because I am so important or able, nor even because I care. In many ways I don't care. But because God wants it. He loves them, and whether I do or not, I love HIM, and want nothing more in life but the please my Lord.

You have a calling too, don't you? What is it? Perhaps you know it, what Jesus said in at the end of John 15: "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning."

Yes, you also must be witnesses of Jesus Christ. Was this not for those whom Jesus had been with? Yes. Is it for you? You alone know. Is Jesus with you? ... well? ... That is your answer. May God give you the calling, conviction, and power to do miracles, proclaim the truth, challenge the powers and authorities of this world in Christ's name, and bring the gospel of the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ to many souls in these troubled times we're living in. AMEN

A Gospel Dream for 2017

I don't dream a lot. But from time to time, I have one that is worthy of print. This morning was one of those times.

The dream began with me working in horticulture.  I had been working on an estate as a gardener all day.  It was the kind of plantation that has two swimming pools, one for kids in the back garden, and a smaller one for adults (or for show) on the side.  My dad was working there too, creating a beautiful vegetable garden of some unusual design involving raised beds and mechanical devices I didn't understand.

After leaving for the day, I walked up to the town square. At one point, I got onto a small bus which was going around the square.  As the bus went round, I listened to a radio preacher with a group of 3 or 4 young people.  They were really approving what the preacher was teaching, though I didn't.  He sounded like a cult leader, encouraging his followers to believe they were the only ones.  He kept saying, "We're the only ones."  A Tigger-cult, perhaps?  Clearly the kind of narcissistic self-absorption that characterizes a great swath of modern religion and philosophy.

Since I was annoyed by the preaching, I decided to hop off the bus as it was leaving the square. I knew it was possible to jump off the back of the bus as it started moving.  It was presently at a stop light waiting to make a left turn.  Before going, I told the group listening to the bad preaching, "Do you really believe YOU are the only ones God is going to save?   How can you believe that?" 

I knew (since it was a dream) that they really were being drawn into a cult, though I didn't know or care what cult it was.  Religious folks, including Catholics, who proclaim that salvation is only possible via their own church or group have, one and all, missed the essence of Christianity, that salvation is possible ONLY through Jesus Christ.   His Person is what counts, His Name, He alone can save.  And he doesn't need anyone or anything else.  He is the way, the truth and the life, not any group.

So the enthusiastic group on the bus were chanting, "We're the only ones!" with all the meaning that belongs to the cults, not with the meaning that is "in Christ alone".  Dreams tend to include inside understanding like this.

Well, I didn't really want to waste time arguing with cult-followers, and I did want to remain at the square. So I got up and walked away after asking my question, not waiting for their answer. I hopped off the back just as it pulled away and scurried over to the sidewalk.

Suddenly, the three young folks were with me again in the square, sitting and smiling at me as only cult people will.  They were urging me to be saved and join them.  Not to sound cynical, but I was aghast at their approach. Without even asking me a single question, like "What's your name?" they were telling me that I needed to be saved (join them), and they were strangely confident that they "had me in the bag".  They were in control and were going to, by sheer smiles, win me for their cause.

I didn't give in to my disgust, but said calmly, "I am a Christian.  I was saved when I believed as a child, baptized, and have served the Lord until now.  So I don't want to "be saved", whatever YOU mean by the expression.

With that, I began teaching them on holiness.  "God is holy.  And he calls us to be holy, saying, `Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect.'  So when Christians in this generation go about talking as Christians and hanging out in Christian groups, but all the while living in immorality, especially sexual sins, you are false!  And I went on discoursing with this theme.  In a few minutes, I was standing and a small crowd had gathered, so that I had to raise my voice.  In a few more minutes, the small crowd had grown to a large crowd in a wide circle. I moved to an open spot against a wall, where another person was standing and trying to take over the audience (she was preaching and interjecting thoughts that went in different directions).  I did not want to lose the attention of the crowd, because the message of repentance and faith in Jesus was too important to let detractors in. So I kept preaching on holiness and faith in Jesus, raising my voice and cutting her off.

I realized God had given me a chance to preach, and did not want to let it slip away.  The momentum of the sermon, the attention of the crowd, the working of the Holy Spirit, and the beauty of the Word was very exciting to me.

"Your generation is living a complete lie, when you say you're a Christian, but go around dabbling in immorality, sleeping with various partners, experimenting in sex. Do you imagine God doesn't see you?  that He doesn't care about what you DO?  You are mocking God by claiming his Name and living immoral lives.  It's as if you were mocking God by ..."  At this point, I couldn't go on.  I didn't know how to mock God hypothetically for the illustration I was about to make.  I think the Spirit stopped my mouth from doing such a thing, because it would have set the crowd to laughing, which would not have been appropriate at such a serious point in my sermon.  Since the whole sermon was impromptu, I didn't have a well-prepared sermon, and suddenly it showed.  But I went on, "You are mocking God, and GOD IS NOT MOCKED!  You will reap what you sow, and your generation is sowing to the flesh.  You will damn yourselves to hell in false-Christianity if you do not repent and obey Jesus as LORD.  He is Lord, and He is not mocked!"

As the excitement of my soul and the pitch of my sermon rose higher and higher, and as the crowd was growing larger and larger, I awoke.

Reflecting on this, I began my morning devotion.  I read Ligonier's Tabletalk as my devotional, and was reminded that 2017 is the 500th anniversary of the Reformation (Martin Luther published his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517.)  We need a reformation in today's Christianity.  I don't know what it will take.  But Luther kicked one off merely by nailing a paper onto the door of a church.  Of course HE didn't do it, but "the Word did everything" (in his words).  It was the right message for the right time in the right place.

We Christians have the message.  In this sense, we are indeed "the only ones".  This is the exclusive message of Jesus: "No man cometh to the Father, buy by me."  [John 14:6]  And we dare not compromise on this.  But we don't know if this is the right place or time for some great new reformation; we don't know if God wills to work revival here and now.  Some may claim to know this, or believe it.  But I don't have any promise that it is to happen here and now through me.  Special revelation ended with the Apostles. So I don't claim that even this fantastic dream is a promise from God or a revelation of what is to come.  Dear reader, you should not take this as any kind of revealed truth either.  It is, however, an encouragement.

If we have only the message, then that alone is what we should assume and stand upon, not some goal of reformation, revival or future glory as founders of some great movement.  Certainly not as organizers of some new church or ministry.  The church of Christ is broad, as universal as His grace and His truth are universal. But the way of Christ is very narrow.  So his Church must not be narrowly focused on the young.  We must not think that "We Baptists are the only one", or "We Roman Catholics are the only ones", or even "We evangelicals are the only ones."  However, we must continue to proclaim that in the name of Jesus Christ alone is salvation,  

Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. [Acts 4:12]

Jesus preached, and sent his disciples out to preach. He ordained that the spread of His kingdom should be done by the preaching of His gospel message.  In this new year, I affirm that this is God's will for me:  To preach the gospel. In the words of Paul,

For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel! [1 Cor 9:16]

He never promised we would be popular or famous or even effective. He just commanded it:

Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. [Mk 16:15]

And he promised simply, "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned." [Mk 16:16]  So we have a mandate we must obey. The Spirit has been given, and we are empowered. 

Let us preach the gospel of Jesus Christ in 2017.  To one or to many, in the church and on the streets, prepared or extemporaneous, eloquently or not, let us preach the gospel.  We may falter, but the Spirit will help us, if we are genuinely led by the Spirit, and he will stop us from saying the wrong things.  Even if we are poor speakers and do it all wrong, God will use it.  Only let us not proclaim a novel message designed to appeal to this culture, but proclaim the same gospel that is revealed in the Bible and that is consistent with Christianity of the last 2000 years.  

I have thought much on what message I especially am being called to preach.  I believe it to be characterized by these themes:

1. God created all things. They did not evolve, but were designed by Him to bring God glory and to bring man to worship Jesus Christ.
2. God therefore owns all things, and will judge man, who was set as the responsible ruler of the earth.
3. Adam and Eve betrayed God in Eden.  For this, God's wrath is upon all mankind, unless and until they are reconciled to Him.
4. Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, suffered as a man to save us from our sin and reconcile us to God.  He is the propitiation which satisfies God's wrath for all who believe in Jesus.  Jesus saves us by his blood, which was shed on the cross for us.
5. For this reason, Jesus is the Judge of all mankind, and will judge each and every one of us for our sins.
6. He died to make us holy, and therefore holiness is the mark of genuine Christian faith. If you are not becoming more like Jesus, more obedient to God's word, more bearing more fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, etc.), if you do not think of Jesus as LORD and strive to please Him in your daily living, you are not born again.

Lord, please anoint me and many others who love You, in these last days to preach and proclaim your Beloved Son Jesus.  Lord we read so many books, attend many conferences, go to innumerable Christian meetings and concerts, attend classes in seminaries and schools, feverishly publish a book on any little theme we can work into 250 pages. But we do not preach much, though it was the one thing you wanted most and explicitly commanded us as your last words on earth.  Lord of the Harvest, send out workers into the harvest fields this year.  Father, raise up and send preachers into the streets and squares, highways and hedges, and empower them by Your Spirit.  Holy Spirit, make us holy, that our preaching may have Your power and authority.

Lord, here am I, send me too.  AMEN

Teaching versus preaching

I finally found a really nice definition of preaching and teaching, from R.C. Sproul. It's not perfect, but it gets me closer to what I need to find my own direction in both.

I've been reading through a fine little collection of essays on preaching called Feed My Sheep: A Passionate Plea for Preaching.  I have 4 or 5 such collections, and I find in all of them the most wonderful encouragement and doctrine.

Encouragement and doctrine.  That might be my own little contribution to the definitions of preaching and teaching.  Both modes impart both encouragement and doctrine.  And so, for Christians seeking to "feed" Jesus flock, both are essential.  This is why the role of preacher usually implies teacher, and vice versa.

But on to my gem.  The fifth essay in this collection, by R.C. Sproul, entitled "The Teaching Preacher" has finally given me a very good working definition.  In speaking about the "Feed my sheep" text in John 17, Sproul writes,

It is the feeding of the sheep, according to Luther, that is the prime task of the ministry. And that feeding comes, principally, through teaching.
     I make a distinction between preaching---which involves exhortation, exposition, admonition, encouragement, and comfort---and teaching, which involves the transfer of information.  I practice both in my own ministry, and sometimes I obscure the distinction.  The students in my seminary classes will testify that sometimes, in the middle of my lectures, when I'm trying to communicate certain doctrines and information about theology, I'll start preaching, because I'm not interested in the mere transfer of information. I want that information not only to get in their heads but in their bloodstreams. In fact, I warn them at the beginning of each course: "Don't think that I'm in this classroom as a professor in a state of neutrality. I'm after your mind and your heart.  I hope not only to instruct you, but to persuade you."

It's a great description of my goal as a Bible teacher, evangelist, pastor and shepherd. I'm not merely passing along the stories or teachings I've heard; I BELIEVE THEM and ASSERT their universal truth.

But, as Sproul points out, asserting anything in our day is anathema to the relativistic spirit of our age, that openness upon which people place such a high premium, by which I mean the attitude that making dogmatic statements of universal truth is regarded as offensive by the modern mind. Sproul traces the roots of this attitude all the way back to Erasmus and his Diatribe against the teachings of Luther.   He quotes Luther's response in The Bondage of the Will,

Luther became apoplectic over this position of Erasmus. He said, "Nothing is more familiar or characteristic among Christians than assertion. Take away assertions, and you take away Christianity." Then, in his passion, Luther said: "Away, now, with Skeptics and Academics from the company of us Christians; let us have men who will assert."  Luther would have none of the spirit of those who are always learning and never coming to a knowledge of the truth (2 Tim 3:7).

What makes us think that we should offer God's word apologetically with disclaimers such as, "I believe thus and so, but you may think differently."?   How dare we stand in a pulpit without KNOWING that what God says is Truth, universal truth, and it matters not what I or you think at all, but that we hear it, believe it and obey it!  Yet, many preachers stand and deliver shoddy sermons of things they read on the Internet or rehashed from books and other men's sermons, but didn't themselves learn well.  Such a teacher cannot but transfer knowledge.   He cannot preach, and without preaching, "how can they hear or believe?"

If a teacher is ONLY to transfer knowledge, I don't like Sproul's definition.  I think preaching is more urgent that teaching.  But I think that teaching is also about comfort, encouragement, inspiration, all the things ascribed above to the act of preaching.  This is certainly true of teaching in kindergarten.  And are we not to come to God as little children?   And I'm sure it's true in every subsequent grade as well, if the teacher really wants to have an impact.  Yes, we need those who will impart information only, at times. But heaven help us if all our teachers did that only.

No. Teaching is a gift, like preaching, and the distinction between them is still finer than Sproul's categories.   There is more of a continuum between the two, upon which a preacher or teacher moves freely as the Spirit leads.  Yes!  The Spirit is our counselor and teacher in all things, and we are but channels in which His word and wisdom and love and inspiration flow.

In conclusion, God would use us to feed his sheep.  But it means hard work. Teaching is never an easy job, nor preaching.  It must be done with a labor of love, not merely of the mind.  May God send us teachers and preachers of righteousness, like the prophets of old and the Apostles, men who aren't afraid to assert, "Thus saith the Lord!"

Testifying that the world is evil

"The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil." [Jn 7:7]

The good, kindly, sweet Jesus, who everyone so affectionately regards as being the embodiment of God's love only, has often been quoted saying things that some would (indeed some have tried to) remove from the Scriptures, sayings such as:

"And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." [Matthew 25:46]

Now we have in John 7 Jesus himself affirming such sayings and owning them entirely, and offering this as the full explanation as to why the world hates Him: because He testifies that its works are evil.  Why would he tell people their deeds are evil?  This just isn't done if you want to be a public figure, which is of course what everyone wants. Even Jesus' own brothers completely misunderstood Him, thinking it was also what He wanted.  It was not. He wanted to glorify the Father; that was the sum of our Lord's desires.  And inasmuch as it was the Father's will, he wanted to redeem those whom the Father would give to Him.

But to go around telling people that they're evil is the wrong way to win souls, if you listen to Christians today. They will every one of them advise you the same, as you begin any sort of preaching or evangelism.  Tell people they're sinful, corrupted and going to hell, or point out any single thing they're doing as something condemned in the Scriptures, and you are, to hear so many well-meaning Christians, hurting them.  But Jesus did this.  So did Peter, Paul, James, John, and almost every other sincere preacher, evangelist or teacher of Scripture since.  Obviously there is a huge difference in berating and mindlessly lambasting people of sin, and speaking the truth in love as the Lord did.  And I'm totally encouraging the latter, not the former.

But we've raised up a generation of preachers who are so fearful of doing the one that they do neither at all. In fact, they are so desirous of being public figures that they don't at all know how to preach like Jesus, because to do so is to be hated.  For "just as they hated me, they will hate you," said our Lord.  All the more if we preach as He did, will they hate and vilify us.  All the greatest preachers were lampooned and attacked, usually by other Christians, until their fruit was matured after 20 or 30 years.  The ancient prophets and early Christian saints were martyred for their testimony and preaching.

And in this age, where accusations of "hate speech" are the latest ruse of the Devil for silencing Christians, we can't afford to say anything that anyone anywhere might construe as a criminal act, as justice is all but dead in such situations.  There was a time when a black man who was accused of anything was as good as lynched; times have changed, but people still want their lynchings. Now they are more than willing to lynch Christians who decry sin, especially the sacred cows of sexual sins.

Thus, I think it only appropriate to decry a few. "E-ville" would seem to be the most fitting pronunciation of evil for our online era.  And what greater sin that the mental fondling of the idols taking place in the world of online pornography.  I admit I know how vile it is. But cannot but shake and shudder when I see it, knowing it to be the very breath of demons pouring into the eyes of the soul, a darkness illuminated by The Light of the World, and shown for the filth it is.  Who can justify it?  Yet many Christians do so, at least to themselves, with no thought for the Holiness of God, and the Son of God they are trampling under their feet while indulging in their lust.

If the world was really such a wonderful place, I might doubt that men's deeds are all that evil. But when I see the wars, thefts, murders, and so many vile people living in idolatry, I cannot but tremble that we are doing so little to win them, and doing even less to influence them with godly lives.  We are salt that has lost its saltiness, and is not even fit for the dunghill. [Lk 14:34,35]

May God help us not to seek the pleasure of the world, but choose rather to suffer with Christ.  For this is what has been granted to us. [Phil 1:29] May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus help us to restore that good news that is:

Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. [Acts 3:19]

forsaking that half-gospel which omits the diagnosis of sin altogether.  Lord, increase our love for you, and desire to seek first your kingdom and your righteousness.  AMEN

A deeply encouraging message on preaching

I have finally a new mentor who isn't already with the Lord.  Alistair Begg is his name.  May God bless his ministry.  For many years, my mentors were men in my own church who cared deeply for preaching the Word.  Now they have all become too preoccupied with building churches to show the same interest in the preaching of the Word or mentoring those who are called to do it.


Much of what Alistair Begg preaches is addressed to preachers. Thanks be to God!  I need this kind of preaching. The last 9 weeks I have not preached at all.  My family no longer wants to worship in our house church, as we have done for the last 8 years, but to attend a local church where they can be with other Christians and grow in a community.  I don't blame them at all.  This is what even the Lord wants for them and me, I am sure.  Why?  Why does God not make my church planting successful?

In the particular message I'm speaking of, "God's Revelation", AB speaks to me and all who preach, answering this very excellent question.  How long I've waited to hear this!  Thank you dear brother Alistair.

*                          *                          *

The message begins with a reading of Isaiah 66:1-13, esp. v.2b [RSV]:

But this is the man to whom I will look, he that is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.

Earl of Rochester, on parenting: "Before I got married I had six theories about raising children. Now I have six children and no theories."   Preaching is similar.

V.1: The earth is my footstool.  "Where is the house you will build for me?"

How we like to compare our church buildings with one another's.
Acts 17:24 - Paul - God doesn't dwell in buildings made by hands.
God doesn't gaze on our buildings, but on his servant, esp. on a particular kind of servant, one with these three qualities, one who is:

• humble
• contrite in spirit
• trembles at my word

Humility: The lowest place for you, God, I am prepared to take.  As the hymn, So Send I You, so rarely sung today,

So Send I you to suffer unrewarded,
To die dear desires, self-will resign.

Contrition:  means contrite in spirit, essentially "crippled", like Mephibosheth.
Weakness rather than strength is esteemed by God.Not external humble appearances, but on the inside.  Some appear humble but aren't.
Has time fashioned in us the idea of the expert, of the powerful, of  "We've Got IT!"

Two dangers in going to preach: 

1. believing no one is interested in what we'll say, 
2. believing everyone is intensely interested in what we'll say.

Both strategies are from the devil and neutralize and paralyze and diminish effectiveness.
Examples of humble preachers:

• Is 6, contrition illustrated by Isaiah: where the spirit sears Isaiah's lips, and he says, "Here am I, send me."  He said it very humbly, "Would I do?  I'm willing."  
• Jeremiah was told, "Do not say, `I am only a youth.'"  Marked by sensitivity, "Trembles at my word".
• Also Ezra in Ezra 9:3,4, 

Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel assembled to me, because of the transgression of those who had been carried away captive, and I sat astonished until the evening sacrifice.

• John the Baptist:  "I am only a voice of one calling in the desert."

Often the gifts we have are easily the occasions of our sin:  Leadership which becomes autocratic and useless;  Ability with language ->  Self-aggrandizing and critical; Ability to move people -> in the wrong direction.
The prophets are known for words. But Isaiah said, "I am a man of unclean lips"= his greatest usefulness was the potential for his greatest sin (i.e. pride).

Contrite = ack. our INabilities, rather than heralding our great Abilities (imagined or real)
Our culture urges us to boast of our strength and ability.

We feel jealous of those who have "made it", esp. among triumphalists ("Many, millions").  It's tough when you know you're not that good, stuck with people who are convinced they are good because of their success.

People were not impressed with Paul.  "I think he was trembling. We need someone better. Demas has been doing well!"

I was never picked to preach at London Bible College. The mixture of emotions were driving by pure, basic jealousy.  These are destructive emotions.

Sensitivity = Trembles at my word.
Waiting for my future wife's letters, setting them down to anticipate what had been written, waiting before reading.  I trembled at the prospect of reading them!  We become so familiar that we lose sensitivity.  Familiarity, able in it, able to preach from it:  These are not the test.  The test is: Am I sensitized to it.

The way scriptures are read publicly by an individual says a lot about the view of scripture which they hold. They seem to be making it up as they read, carelessly skipping things, as if we believe God had just inspired the ideas but not the words themselves.  A casual, flippant approach isn't trembling sensitivity.

I fail in every one of the three parts of the test.  V2 describes who I aspire to be, but am not, the person I need to be, the person by God's grace I may be.  Not only is this an exam, but an encouragement.

We won't be a footnote in history.  Looking at those who are apparently successful, we feel like we're at the bottom of the pile. We need to remember that God's priority is the humble, contrite, trembling servant. I can attempt it, with God's enabling, and those who pray for us.  We differ in our abilities. A PhD isn't for everyone; but we may and must look to be humble, contrite, trembling (HCT).

*                          *                          *

I know God hasn't failed in sending me here to Virginia.  But as for the church I came to plant, I'll have to call that a failure on my part. I only have built in vain. But God has done what He set out to do here...


In this sermon I've found out what it was:  To remove the dross from me, to make me humble, contrite and to make me tremble before His word.  It's not about the ministry or church or even saving lives. God's work is the business of transforming us into His image, restoring us to be His humble and contrite servants, not making us great, but making His Name great.

Lord, thank you for this sermon.  Please help me to forget all that I have done for you, and dwell on daily and continually all that you have done for me.  Lord, I am so tired of being ineffective. But it is my own fault, for hanging on to my pride and self-reliant mentality. Please deliver me from the pride, and make me humble, contrite, trembling at your word.  I am of no use, but here am I, send me, so that it may be seen plainly that YOU use the weak and useless ones to shame the able and proud.

Holiness and the call to preach

A few days ago I had a strange vision, sort of. I saw, or perhaps it was just my imagination, that I was going out to preach, as I have long wanted to do, but have not had the courage or strength or guts or passion. I keep asking myself "Why don't I do this, since I want to do so and God has commanded it?" But this vision or thought came very strongly to my mind: When God answers this prayer, it will be all-consuming. He will not have me part-time, on contract, for a few hours per week. He will make this preaching become something that completely consumes me day and night. It will be as if I have lost myself in doing his work. My job will suffer, my family will feel neglected, my garden will be overgrown with weeds, and my debts will probably mount. But souls will hear the Gospel, and some will believe. Even if most do not believe, they will listen and will welcome me everywhere I go, inviting me here and there, until I am hardly able to keep up with the invitations.

This of course is only what I hope, what I envision, not what I actually want or expect. I see why I have been afraid to even preach openly one time: For once it begins, it will not be stoppable. If I give myself to God, he will have all of me, or none.

Lord, how can we claim to be Christians when we have no interest in or desire for holiness? No boldness t proclaim the Word of the Lord, no obedience to your calling? Lord, heal us from our sins and carnal wandering, to be holy to you, not legalistically rigorous, but devoted to please you, obey you, and have you with us always. Show me your truth.

Lord, I am truly tired of being outwardly harmonious, when inwardly there is cynicism and criticism for everything. Please cleanse me and purify my unclean lips, as you purified Isaiah. Anoint me to preach, Lord, here I am, send me.

He said, "Go and tell this people: " 'Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.' Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed." Then I said, "For how long, O Lord?" And he answered: "Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged, until the LORD has sent everyone far away and the land is utterly forsaken. And though a tenth remains in the land, it will again be laid waste. But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land."

Father, I want your word. Give it to me, please, that I may have it at least, and if you will embolden me, also give it to others. Bless Ireland, which has been laid waste, by raising up your remnant there. As America is likewise laid waste through the greed of evil men, please raise up a holy seed here. For Jesus' name's sake. Amen

My new favorite book

"Let us go forth therefore unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come." [Heb. 13:13-14]

Tonight I finished reading The Pilgrim Church, by E. H. Broadbent. Where can I begin to tell how delighted I am to have read it through? except that I fully intend to start again at once at the beginning and read it through again, taking notes and integrating its thesis into my own book.

Strange how a book can become a friend of a sort. Like travelling to a foreign land and filling my heart with fond memories of places seen, people met, hills hiked, bridges crossed, new sights and smells and tastes previously unknown, I feel I have travelled not only the world over, but over all the last 2000 years!

Then I measure every book by how much it inspires me to read further and write. In this case, the book has done both, as well as inspired me hopefully with the courage to preach in the open air, courage I have not found in myself yet, but hope to soon receive from my Lord.

Praise God who gives us HIS Kingdom, and not some stuffy church with its petty politics and prejudices.

Praise Jesus who gives his Holy Spirit to those who will obey in faith, not because they are highly qualified, but because they take up his command in faith, to "Go and preach the good news to all creation."

Praise God who sustains his own, even though they have no name and no rolls and no recognition in the world, no edifices, no grandeur, no place in the parades, no power.

Praise Jesus Christ who is coming again to all who "go to Him, outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore," not pining for a city here, but for one that is to come! [Hebrews 13:13-14]

Lord, that I might follow those strangers and pilgrims in Thy kingdom's work. Lord, grant only this: that I may faithfully proclaim Jesus and Him crucified wherever you lead, beginning here and now in Charlottesville. Lord, may your inspired word overturn the rationalism and unbelief that has this place as its American capital.

PS. The only place I know to buy this book is HERE. But you can read it online HERE.

Jeremiah 17

This will be the text of my first open-air sermon.

"My mountain in the land and your wealth and all your treasures I will give away as plunder, together with your high places, because of sin throughout your country. [Jer 17:3]

How can a people hope to prosper who indulge in sin? Who even teach and legalize evils such as abortion and sodomy? Can God bless such a nation? Surely he is a just God, who will repay. May God help Christians everywhere to preach and proclaim the forgiveness of sins and the holiness of God, calling people to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.

We Need Men of God Again

As I have been struggling to obey God's will for me, namely, to "go and preach the good news" here at the university, I am frustrated by the fact that I have the desire and the strong conviction to go and stand at the gates and preach prophetically, but not the courage. I am saddened greatly by this lack of boldness. But I am waiting, praying, preparing and expecting the anointing from the Lord that will empower me. Such encouragement as this I have found this week, from my dear brother A.W. Tozer, in his book Of God and Men:

The church at this moment needs men, the right kind of men, bold men. The talk is that we need revival, that we need a new baptism of the Spirit–and God knows we must have both; but God will not revive mice. He will not fill rabbits with the Holy Ghost.

We languish for men who feel themselves expendable in the warfare of the soul, who cannot be frightened by threats of death because they have already died to the allurements of this world. Such men will be free from the compulsions that control weaker men. They will not be forced to do things by the squeeze of circumstances; their only compulsion will come from within–or from above.

This kind of freedom is necessary if we are to have prophets in our pulpits again instead of mascots. These free men will serve God and mankind from motives too high to be understood by the rank and file of religious retainers who today shuttle in and out of the sanctuary. They will make no decisions out of fear, take no course out of a desire to please, accept no service for financial considerations, perform no religious act out of mere custom; nor will they allow themselves to be influenced by the love of publicity or the desire for reputation.

Much that the church–even the evangelical church–is doing these days she is doing because she is afraid not to. Ministerial associations take up projects for no higher reason than that they are being scared into it. Whatever their ear-to-the-ground, fear-inspired reconnoitering leads them to believe the world expects them to do they will be doing come next Monday morning with all kinds of trumped-up zeal and show of godliness. The pressure of public opinion calls these prophets, not the voice of Jehovah.

The true church has never sounded out public expectations before launching her crusades. Her leaders heard from God and went ahead wholly independent of popular support or the lack of it. They knew their Lord’s will and did it, and their people followed them–sometimes to triumph, oftener to insults and public persecution–and their sufficient reward was the satisfaction of being right in a wrong world.

Another characteristic of the true prophet has been love. The free man who has learned to hear God’s voice and dared to obey it has felt the moral burden that broke the hearts of the Old Testament prophets, crushed the soul of our Lord Jesus Christ and wrung streams of tears from the eyes of the apostles.

The free man has never been a religious tyrant, nor has he sought to lord it over God’s heritage. It is fear and lack of self-assurance that has led men to try to crush others under their feet. These have had some interest to protect, some position to secure, so they have demanded subjection from their followers as a guarantee of their own safety. But the free man–never; he has nothing to protect, no ambition to pursue and no enemy to fear. For that reason he is completely careless of his standing among men. If they follow him, well and good; if not, he loses nothing that he holds dear; but whether he is accepted or rejected he will go on loving his people with sincere devotion. And only death can silence his tender intercession for them.

Yes, if evangelical Christianity is to stay alive she must have men again, the right kind of men. She must repudiate the weaklings who dare not speak out, and she must seek in prayer and much humility the coming again of men of the stuff prophets and martyrs are made of. God will hear the cries of His people as He heard the cries of Israel in Egypt. And He will send deliverance by sending deliverers. It is His way among men.

And when the deliverers come–reformers, revivalists, prophets–they will be men of God and men of courage. They will have God on their side because they will be careful to stay on God’s side. They will be co-workers with Christ and instruments in the hand of the Holy Ghost. Such men will be baptized with the Spirit indeed, and through their labors He will baptize others and send the long delayed revival.

Lord, empower your people to preach prophetically. You are the God of all power, through that Word which created the worlds and IS our life. Give that word-life to us that will overflow as a spring of living water to people on campuses throughout this land. I find myself one of the weaklings in your church. Here, on my knees, I plead alone: Lord, please embolden me as those who first received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and glorify your Son through me, even Jesus. Amen.

New sermon idea: Pulpit Condescension

This a.m. at the Jefferson Area Men's Bible Study (JAMBS)---this group really does exist, but not by this name (write me if interested)---we discussed Mt 5:8,

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."

Heart includes intellect, will and emotions. If these be impure, the person cannot see God, neither in eternity, nor all about him everywhere. We who have been made clean in Christ have new eyes to see God at work in us and all about us in nature, and one day we will see him in heaven.

What Vance said is, "Atheists CANNOT understand what we are saying. This needs to be part of our message to them." His reasoning was good. The point was, if we speak to them as though we expected them to accept our apologetics, as if we expected them to understand and agree, then we fail to relate to them the real spiritual Gospel. We must speak as to spiritually blind people, yes, even in a condescending tone. This unpleasant tone is the same as that used by Jesus, when for example he says to the Pharisees, "You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel." Pride is the hallmark of the unbeliever. We need more than ever not to stroke their pride with pleasantries.

If they cannot understand the message, what should we aim to do? We must plant the seed, sowing generously. And if we plow the ground a little first, as by making the hearer mad, well that will allow at least some of the seed to germinate, by God's grace.

One thing the emerging church does well is make people comfortable with the gospel. I'm convinced it is the wrong approach with Pharisees and other proud folks. The prophets heaped insult upon insult to the hearers. John the Baptist was very direct about sins, e.g. the sins of Herod and his mistress. What are we doing trying to make our churches more friendly and sensetive? We have demons to slay!

So the sermon idea is not really a text but a tone. Whatever message I preach, it needs this "edge", this spiritual hoe with which to plow the hard-packed ground. The "edge" is that tone God gave to Isaiah,

"Go and tell this people: Be ever hearing but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving."

Let's call it, bluntness about the spiritual depravity of the listeners. They will merely see this as condescension or rudeness; but when God speaks thus, it is designed to make them spiritually aroused, mad if you will, enough to either act upon the Word or further reject it.

"Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes."

This was God's exhortation to Isaiah. Now I think I see why and how this is the only way to get through to the proud American also. For until they see how impure their intellect, they cannot begin to see God, nor comprehend the things of God.

God in heaven, raise up preachers, prophets like Isaiah, who can at least make people mad, that is, somehow stir them to think honestly about why they reject your Son, love evil, hate truth and harden their hearts. Lord, make me pure, that I may see you, see your hand at work, see your Spirit poured out, and see the glorious faces of many who will come to faith in your blessed Son Jesus. AMEN

Christ Jesus our hope

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope. [1 Timothy 1:1]

Paul's letters always began with an introduction of himself. But they were not grandiloquent summaries of his own credentials. They were expressions of glory to God. His name alone refers to him.

"Apostle" refers to Christ Jesus, Paul's Master, the One who sent him. In this world, it is considered an honor to have servants one can send out to do ones bidding. Even gangsters and politicians want to have several lackeys to do their work for them. Some professors treat their graduate students no better. But to Paul, the greatest joy of his life was being the apostle who Jesus sent out. Christ Jesus was his God, his Savior, and his Hope. So to go out in Jesus' Name was better than having a thousand servants to wait on him.

Great people love to measure their greatness. This is a deception. Paul was not deceived by his greatness. He measured only the greatness of the One who sent him. He was somebody only by virtue of the One he served. His confidence was not in the flesh nor his accomplishments and credentials. He drew all his confidence from above, from God his Savior and Christ Jesus his hope. By this he could go out to face rejection and persecution, hardship and poverty. By this confidence, he could stand before scary people like Agrippa and Festus. He could have courage during a shipwreck, and not freak out when he was bitten by an especially poisonous viper.

Christ Jesus was his hope, not a longer life. Christ Jesus was his hope, not a greater degree of recognition.

Thus, Paul was free. He was not obsessed with himself or his position, success, comfort, needs, freedoms, rights or recognition. Oh to get free of such obsessions and simply go forth as Jesus' apostle! Why have I so seldom gone out to the campus? Why do I still fail to preach evangelistically? I cannot as long as He has not sent me, and this is plain from the fact that I am looking for my confidence other than in Him, looking for someone to validate me, or some sending or invitation from men.

Paul, in fact, received a supernatural commission from Jesus. He later saw a vision of the man from Macedonia. Do I need such a commission? Probably I do. Yet I believe God has sent me to Virginia, via my ordinary need for a job; I believe he sent my wife to me, via ordinary friends who introduced us; I believe God sent me to Chicago through ordinary events and desires. So it is inconsistent to now think I need some miraculous sign to go out and preach on campus or give my heart to teaching the Bible. Has my Lord not said, "I will bless thee"? Either I have not been sent, or I have not been empowered, or I have simply not obeyed. Alas, the last is the case, for

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. [2 Peter 1:3]

Lord, forgive my disobedience, and help my unbelief. You have commanded, yet I have not gone out, at least haven't gone to preach the gospel to all creation. Please increase your Spirit in me, till your Word may be like a burning fire that consumes me within and drives me to speak in your Name. Father, what a wretch I am! Rescue me from this chicken-heart, this body of death, to go forth as your apostle. Please Lord! In Jesus' name, amen.

Preach only Christ crucified

For Dec 17, Chambers writes, "The gospel of God creates the sense of need for the gospel." And he goes on to demonstrate why this is a good thing. The things of God are foolish to the natural man [1 Corinthians 2:14, which is the text for this devotion.] Thus we don't know we need the good news until we hear it. While "Creating the need it satisfies" is a rather offensive kind of religious system to a worldly man---even though he uses the same thing in all his advertising and promoting his own business or wares---we surely have the need already. The gospel doesn't create a new need, but removes our ignorance of it AS it offers the one and only solution.

Anyway, the point he makes that is so beautiful is in the second paragraph. He writes,

Jesus said, "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself" (John 12:32). When we preach our own experiences, people may be interested, but it awakens no real sense of need. But once Jesus Christ is "lifted up," the Spirit of God creates an awareness of the need for Him.

What this means is that my preaching, if it does nothing else whatsoever, must lift up Jesus Christ. I have done nothing to advance Christ and his kingdom if I have only convinced my listeners of some moral or made a good point or entertained them with poetic and humorous anecdotes. Even if I bring them to tears with emotional stories or work them into a frenzy with sensational polemics, if I have not lifted up Jesus and shown people their need of HIM and his Truth, I have done nothing at all.

Lord, let me lift up Jesus alone. As my name Christopher means "bearer of Christ", let at least live up to that name. And when you are ready to use me, please send me in your Power to do it with all my heart and soul. Yes, you have already sent me. Lord, please forgive me for lifting up other things. Lord, I resolve to know nothing and preach nothing except Christ and him crucified. [1Cor 2:2] Father, help me to this end. IJNA