If the title to this entry is worthy of the title to a Puritan’s sermon, that is not an accident. I do it on purpose. It only makes sense when the subjects of a book are two titans of Puritan England: John Owen and Richard Baxter.
If the notion of a theological page-turner seems to be an oxymoron, you have to, you MUST read Tim Cooper’s “When Christians Disagree”. You must. It is subtitled: “Lessons from the Fractured Relationship of John Owen and Richard Baxter.” When you simply cannot put the book down until you have read it cover to cover, you’ve struck gold. I started this about 10 last evening, quit a little after midnight, and sat to polish it off this morning. True, it is not a huge tome – just around 160 pages. But it is so crisply and engagingly written, you simply don’t want it to end. All of that without even addressing the actual topic and how it is handled yet.
Amazon’s “About the author” carries this: “Tim Cooper (PhD, University of Canterbury) serves as professor of church history at the University of Otago in New Zealand. He is the author of John Owen, Richard Baxter and the Formation of Nonconformity and an editor of the Oxford University Press scholarly edition of Baxter’s autobiography.” And I will mention quickly that the forward is written by Michael Haykin.
What Cooper so deftly does in this book, is expound Luther’s Simul Justus et Peccator as displayed in the lives and relationship of its two subjects. Two giants of the Faith; two towering geniuses; two godly and theological powerhouses; two men committed to Christ and his glory – whose personal foibles, personalities and disagreements make us blush to consider how they disliked and ill-treated each other. A study in contrasts if there ever was one.
But the author is not interested in painting these warts-and-all portraits for the sake of morbid or emotionally prurient curiosity. His is not to expose their flaws to the rubber-necking gawker. Rather, he is wanting to use their tragic mutual story, to goad us all on to Christian lives that ponder our own sins and shortcomings, how those impact others – especially in discourse – and spur us on to be more fully clothed with Christ.
These men are both heroes in my theological pantheon. And I, like they, am just as sinful, often blind to myself, and have been the unwitting instrument of unnecessary division among the saints at times. Father, forgive us. Forgive me!
Cooper wisely takes the time to examine the political, religious and social landscape of the England in which they both dwelt, and yet experienced vastly differently. Each with their unique upbringing and familial contexts. Each with strong personalities and rigid convictions. Each used by God. Each sinning against the other – especially (and this is SO VERY timely given our online communications) in how they discoursed in print. What a warning and road map this blessed book is.
There are but 7 short chapters followed by a “Conclusion”, a helpful Chronology, a Glossary and a very helpful section on further reading.
Where this crosses over into an oh-so practical book, is that at the end of each chapter (from chapter 2 on) Cooper includes a section for reflecting on what we’ve just read, and then provides insightful questions to ask ourselves in light of what we’ve witnessed. They are sound and deep questions without being contrived or crossing over into the oft-noted Puritan tendency toward morbid introspection. These are truly helpful and worth the time to consider. Not just alone, but with others.
I would really encourage this book to be used by Pastors with their Elders or leadership groups, as well as other small groups as a 7-8 week study. Reading and thinking about the chapter during the week, and then gathering to talk over the questions with others would be absolutely invaluable.
Of all the books I’ve read this year, this was at once the most engaging and enjoyable, as well as instructive and convicting. I cannot recommend it highly enough. If a book can be tasty – that’s what this book is.
Do your soul a favor – buy it and read it soon. Make it a Christmas gift to yourself, and a New Year’s treat. You won’t be sorry.
Just as in the larger culture, certain terms come and go even in the Church. Ever since the advent of the American Jesus Movement in the late 60’s – leading worship in music took on a life of its own. There emerged in that time and atmosphere, and new focused role called the “Worship Leader.” This worship leader was considered part of the ministry team. The role grew and grew to what might be perceived as occupying a very outsized place of influence. And typically (though certainly not in all cases) this new ministry office seemed to come with its own set of rules.
Worship leaders by and large (and forgive me if I paint with too broad of a brush here) were not held to the same rigorous standards as those who preached and taught. Talent was a main ingredient. Whether or not the music chosen was Biblically sound was not as much a primary concern, as long as it used Bible language or concepts. More importantly it seems – if it produced a certain atmosphere, evoking a visceral response in the congregation.
So the worship leader could be a man or a woman. No distinctions needed there. And perhaps their lifestyles were not as scrutinized as others in ministry. Afterall, they were usually “artsy” and free-spirited and not overly theological. With some very noted and notable exceptions.
Now I don’t want to make that sound entirely out of line. Music should help people fix on Biblical truth in memorable ways that also stir the emotions – with the truth – above just the music itself.
I watched a video recently where someone was reacting to a live recording in Denmark by Gary Brooker of Procol Harum fame, performing the amazing piece – A Whiter Shade of Pale. It is a masterpiece. The man watching the performance broke into tears. The piece is highly emotive. The music is truly beautiful and carried by a melody and chord progression which easily lead one to high emotions. These coupled with a set of very enigmatic lyrics can have a profound effect. But make no mistake, it is not worship.
Truly, this phenomenon can be repeated even in so-called Christian music. The right chords, and a haunting melody can actually eclipse the message – especially if the message is not clearly communicating Biblical truth, but is sufficiently vague to let the “worshipper” sort of pour their own meaning and emotion into it.
Now as far back as Exodus 15, we have Moses’ sister Miriam, leading the people in singing to the Lord in regard to his deliverance of Israel from Egyptian bondage and the miracle of parting the Red Sea. It was an appropriate response. And it fixed on exalting God for his great works. But the very next record of something similar – and serving as both a warning and a counterpoint is in Exodus 32. As Moses descends Sinai with the tables of the Law, he hears something coming from the camp. Once again there is singing and dancing by God’s people – but this time as they celebrated the consecration of the Golden Calf. God’s people, engaging in the identical behavior – but this time, it is idolatrous. It did not have as its anchor – God, and who and what he was and had done. But it was no less joyous, emotional and done by God’s People. It is worth considering.
All of that aside, I want to argue briefly, that all of God’s people ought to be worship leaders, and that we take back that role from a few select talented folk. How so? We catch the concept in 1 Peter 2:0-10 “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”
As a people, God has set aside the Redeemed, that we might proclaim, make known, HIS virtues. HIS perfections. HIS glory. And that, more than our joy or feelings about it, as legitimate as they are.
It is a call for an entire congregation of people to delight ourselves in who and what God is and what he has done, and to communicate that to one another over and over and over. And that, with this focus – his deliverance in the cross from the darkness and bondage of sin, having received mercy, and now being made his own people. In other words – to magnify the work of Christ on our behalf.
You may not be able to carry a tune in a bucket. You may not be able to play a single instrument. But you and I can lead others into worship, as we rehearse for ourselves and to one another – the glory of God in our salvation. As we lift up the cross of Christ. And remind each other, especially in our struggles, that he is holy, and good and merciful and full of grace and forgiveness and has purchased us for himself with the blood of Jesus – and has granted us his Spirit, his people, his Word, access to his throne in prayer – and the promise of eternal life in the resurrection.
Let us lead one another in this kind of worship today. And every day.
Most views of the end times, fall into shades or versions of either Premillennialism, Amillennialism or Postmillennialism.
So on the top level we have a view that either says: 1 – Human history will plod on until Jesus returns, and then there is his literal 1000 year reign on the earth; 2 – Jesus is ruling and reigning now and will continue to do so until he returns – but the “1000” years is basically now until he returns; 3 – Christianity is going to gradually grow until it becomes dominant on the earth, and then Jesus will return. And then like I said, there are variations on each of these themes. And, each points to scriptures that appear to validate their particular view, and then extrapolate what that will look like in the unfolding of human history.
To be honest, I think there are in fact smattering of all 3 concepts in the Bible. The question is, are these views mutually exclusive – or might something else be at play? And I think it may be the latter.
Let me explain, but with a bit of oversimplification to get at a point.
Most Premills, envision Christianity in the world continuing but facing an inevitable period of severe persecution just before Jesus comes back. Again, with some variations.
Amills envision Christianity in the world, but with Jesus on the throne now – all things sort of continue as is until his return.
PostMills envision Christianity in the world continuing and progressing to a wonderful state until Jesus’ return.
But hind all 3 of these views, is the tendency (I’m just citing a tendency mind you) to interpret these matters in light of what is or isn’t happening where were are in our little corner of the world.
For example, Jonathan Edwards, a convinced PostMill, experiencing the Great Awakening and it impact here in America, easily sees his PostMill convictions verified in the move of God he is in the midst of. Naturally. But while this move of God was happening here, what was going on in China, or the Sudan, or Australia? Would Believers there think the Kingdom was dawning in that way?
And how would Premills here during that time read it? Where is the persecution and the rise of anti-christ? Or Amills? Was this a sign of Jesus’ present reign? Or was it simply one of the ups-and-downs of history?
My point is this: When Jesus returns – when it comes to Believers globally, he will probably return to Christians somewhere nearly extinguished by persecution, where others are enjoying revival and great advancement, and others still in other climes solidly holding the fort. Some will be grinding at the mill in hard labor, some just laboring in the field – maybe harvesting and rejoicing, some will be asleep, others awake, some marrying, some burying, some rejoicing, some weeping. The “Church” in any given region may be living and ministering in a PreMill, PostMill or Amill context. And to assume that the whole Church globally will be experiencing Jesus’ near return in exactly the same way is perhaps a bit too parochial, too narrow. It does not leave room for the various ways the Scripture may speak.
So, when we look at the group of parables in Matt 13 – Will there be sowing the Gospel with varying results? Yup. Will the Kingdom be growing like a mustard seed? Yup. Will the Kingdom be invading like the leaven? Yup. Will evil weeds be growing in God’s field? Yup. Will the Kingdom be hidden like treasure? Yup. Will the Kingdom be like gathering good and bad fish together? Yup? All of these will be true, in varying degrees in various places and at various times.
At some times and in some places, the Church will look fantastically triumphant. Satan utterly bound.
At some times and in some places, the Church will look like it is snuffed out. Satan rampaging and seemingly conquering.
At some times and in some places, the Church will be steady Eddie. Satan bound but still active.
And then the big deal: All of these can be happening in various places on the globe AT THE VERY SAME TIME – when Jesus returns.
Bottom line? Don’t let your eschatology be governed by your local newspaper. The Kingdom is vast, and is in various stages of growth and experience all over the place.
No matter what the current stage or experience you or I are undergoing right now, nor what trend we may see on the horizon – it may be very VERY different for your brothers or sisters elsewhere. How some of the Believers during the Black Plague must have understood their plight as the sure sign of final torment before Jesus’ return.
He’s coming back. As Robert Winsett wrote in song years ago:
Troublesome times are here, filling men’s hearts with fear Freedom we all hold dear now is at stake Humbling your hearts to God saves from the chastening rod Seek the way pilgrims trod, Christians awake
Jesus is coming soon, morning or night or noon Many will meet their doom, trumpets will sound All of the dead shall rise, righteous meet in the skies Going where no one dies, heavenward bound
Troubles will soon be o’er, happy forevermore When we meet on that shore, free from all care Rising up in the sky, telling this world goodbye Homeward we then shall fly, glory to share
Oh, Jesus is coming soon, morning or night or noon Many will meet their doom, trumpets will sound All of the dead shall rise, righteous meet in the skies Going where no one dies, heavenward bound
Jesus is coming soon, morning or night or noon Many will meet their doom, trumpets will sound All of the dead shall rise, righteous meet in the skies Going where no one dies, heavenward bound Heavenward bound, heavenward bound
As one who has spent decades preaching and teaching God’s Word, I can say without fear of contradiction that this beast we call preaching is sometimes akin to riding an untamed monster. Let me explain.
First, we are met with the weight of trying to communicate God’s Word, on his behalf. to his people. So it is we need to separate between our own mere thoughts, opinions, agendas and ideas, and God’s as they are found in the text. There is the constant danger of letting us as communicators spill over on to him. To superimpose ourselves onto Christ’s personality, heart and mind. Here is a battle we must constantly fight – to let his Word be heard, and not our own.
Second, we come to the task with all sorts of defects. We preach to people about their sins, but must never lose touch with our own lest we become imperious and give the impression we do not need the Gospel as much as our hearers do. That we are the example – not Christ. Truth be told, we often do not want to need the Gospel as much as we tell others they do. We want to think ourselves above certain attitudes, weaknesses and outright sins. But as the old saying goes, we are in fact only lepers, telling other lepers where they can find bread – as per 2 Kings 7.
Third, we are so often prone to gauge our success (or lack thereof) by how we feel a particular sermon was received or not; by the sensory experience of that particular worship service. To rely on the comments of others, both positive and negative. In this, we can forget the reality of how our own subjective feelings on any given day may fluctuate due to a host of factors – as well as those of our audience. It is a fruitless consideration – but very present and real.
Fourth, it is easy to forget that we are merely heralds and that the Holy Spirit alone can make our preaching effectual in the hearts and minds of our hearers. And so to constantly plead with him for his moving upon both ourselves, and them in the execution of our office.
It is in thinking on these things again this morning that I offer up something I wrote many years ago for my own reflection upon my preaching duties. I titled it then – The Preacher’s Manifesto.
And might I add, if you are going to worship this morning – pray for your preacher. Please.
I am a preacher of the Gospel,
One of the sails on a great ship.
I did not make myself.
I was created by His hand,
For His purpose.
Sin brought rottenness, carelessness and neglect.
But the holes are mended through by His Grace,
Lest even unfurled, I am of no use.
Prayerlessness keeps me wrapped and rolled.
Prayer alone hoists me high in preparation for service.
Yet, mended in righteousness and hoisted high in prayer,
If the Wind not blow,
If the Spirit not move;
There is no power, no progress,
no true advancement toward the Harbor.
I am, we are, adrift – and at the mercy of the currents, or lack of them.
One has to appreciate the succinct brevity with which the author of 1 Chronicles 11 sums up the demise of Israel’s first King – Saul. Vs. 13 reads: “So Saul died for his unfaithfulness to the LORD, because he did not keep the word of the LORD and even consulted a medium for guidance, and he failed to inquire of the LORD. So the LORD put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.”
By any account, Saul is a tragic figure. Chosen by God to be Israel’s first King, he is set in place by God’s prophet – Samuel. Samuel was a faithful priest – though himself displaying weakness in his failure to discipline his sons. But as weak and fractured as both of these men were, God was working out his plans with his nation through them. They were a formidable pair.
What happened?
It all began with Saul’s need to solidify his leadership at a time when his men were losing heart. The account is found in 1 Sam. 13. Because he was over-anxious, instead of waiting for Samuel to arrive and offer up the burnt offering which was the responsibility of the priest, not the King – Saul overstepped. Samuel tells him he had “not kept the command of the Lord.” Samuel tells Saul that because of this foolish act – going beyond the bounds God had set, that his dynasty will end in but this one generation, and be given to another, viz, David.
And so we are back to our text: “So Saul died for his unfaithfulness to the LORD, because he did not keep the word of the LORD.”
Disaster ingredient #1 – Stepping outside of God’s boundaries in his Word, because we are under pressure from circumstances.
If we do not cherish the commands of God and adopt some form of situational ethics – we have begun the descent. When we know what God’s Word has spoken clearly, we use that as the supreme guide for life and practice. It trumps everything else. So Jesus will counter Satan in the desert by answering: “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matt. 4:4) Yes, my stomach pinches after a long fast – but God’s Word stands above my uncomfortability. I can trust the Father fully with my pain.
Disaster ingredient #2 – Having rejected God’s Word as the supreme authority, Saul sought supernatural help elsewhere.
This can be true even for Christians – failing to trust that God’s Word is sufficient in revealing what we need to know in living rightly unto him, we can turn to impressions, omens, signs, oracles like modern day prophets, chills, twitches, and maybe even horoscopes. Other means to divine God’s will above what he has provided in his Word, with the illumination of the Spirit.
No, I’m not suggesting we do not draw from the wisdom of other Godly men and women. We have teachers appointed by God in the Church. And we have each other with our shared experience in how the Lord has dealt with us over the years – and how we understand the wisdom of his Word.
The issue here is the need to sort of peek behind the curtain, to get inside information into the heart, mind and will of God that he has chosen not to reveal. To get divine direction, so that in effect, we do not have to actually trust him with the unknowns, but take power over them with special, hidden knowledge. Something that borders on, if it doesn’t actually cross over into occultism.
Knowing God’s Word that seeking after such counsel was sin, nevertheless, Saul pursued the medium at Endor because in his unrepentant sin, God had ceased communicating. Not altogether. He still had the Law. But facing the Philistines in this instance, and with Samuel dead, with himself separated from God by unrepentant sin – he sought a way to get over on God and get the assurance of victory from some other source. Rather than repent, he rebelled yet further.
Disaster ingredient #3 – “he failed to inquire of the LORD.”
Now 1 Sam. 28:6 tells us that Saul inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets.” How do we reconcile these 2 accounts? As Saul had continued his murderous assault on David, knowing full well David was to succeed him, he put himself in the place where God would not answer – while he remained in his rebellion.
When we pretend to want to know God’s will and enjoin his help, while living in unrepentant sin – the heavens grow silent. It is like the volume and tuning dials on a radio. If I don’t like what’s playing on one station, I can either change stations, or turn the volume down. There are problems with both. If I don’t like God’s counsel, and switch to another station, I end up consorting with his enemies. But if I turn down the volume, I turn down all means of receiving counsel, from his Word, or his people.
Saul sought the Lord, but not to seek the Lord in repentance and reconciliation so as to obey, but merely to get assurance of the course he was pursuing.
Nope.
He had mixed these three together, with the end result that he lost his and his son’s lives on the same day, in shameful defeat before the enemies of God, and even lost possession of the Ark of The Covenant.
How dreadfully, dreadfully sad. And unnecessary.
And how do we avoid such disaster ourselves? How do we un-bake this cake?
Cherish God’s Word.
Reject attempts to get secret knowledge, even in the face of dire circumstances no matter how supernaturally attractive they seem. “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, so that we may follow all the words of this law.” (Deut. 29:29)
In all things – inquire of the Lord in his Word. Learn it. For in learning it, you learn of him. Hear it. For in hearing it, you hear him. “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.” (1 Pet. 1:3)
For if your pursuit is a life lived unto him in godliness – you can be assured of all of his mighty provisions placed at your disposal.
In D. A. Carson’s wonderful memoir of his Dad – (Memoirs of an Ordinary Pastor: The Life and Reflections of Tom Carson) – he mentions something his Dad wrote in one of his journals; the entry reads: “Keep me from the sins of old men”—some of which he details: a tendency to gravitate toward watching television, the temptation to look backward instead of forward, sliding toward self-pity, easy resentment of young men.” D. A. Carson, Memoirs of an Ordinary Pastor: The Life and Reflections of Tom Carson (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2008), 144.
Those are excellent words, and not surprisingly, in principle, demonstrating pitfalls alluded to in Scripture. Among those references I think we can rightly look at Proverbs 3:25-26. For it references one of the other sins of old age – the tendency to give into various fears. As weakness and frailty begin to make their way in our bodies, so neither are our minds and hearts immune to new places of weakness and frailty. Things which we used not give a passing thought to now take center stage in our minds.
The Preacher in Ecclesiastes 12 calls old age the “days of adversity”. When the eyes don’t see as well, the hands tremble, the ears lose their acuity, sleep patterns shift and even things like climbing steps engender fears we never had before.
Growing old is not for the faint of heart!
Now while all of these are natural processes in these years before resurrection, most, if not all of these and more, spark a raft of new fears. Fears which are then exacerbated by a society and media machine that blares constant predictions of doom at every turn. Nature gone wild, politics gone wild, nations gone wild, movements of all kinds threaten us at every turn. And then we read this: “Do not fear sudden danger or the ruin that overtakes the wicked, for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from the snare.” Prov. 3:25-26
Is ruin at hand, that overtakes the wicked? Yep. And how are we to respond to it? Young or old? By confidence in the Lord. For the one who is bought with the blood of Christ – keeping our hearts and minds fixed on the love of God that sent Jesus to die for us, and will raise us up in the resurrection to rule and reign with him – that love, drives out fear. (1 John 4:18) In fact, nothing else will. Not the right party in office; the end of religious radicalism; not a better economy; not the absence of war; not the eradication of diseases and other existential threats. Nothing but the privilege of the Believer, to rest in the love of the triune God.
Let me apply this to the time we find ourselves in America today, with the shifting sands of everything we once thought stable, by way of example in Israel’s history.
When Israel and Judah were judged for their sin as nations, the righteous among them went into exile with them. They too endured invasion, war and captivity. But the righteous could cling to the Lord and have confidence in His keeping, while those actually being chastened could not.
It is not far fetched to think America soon to fall under more severe judgments than are already ours for our national sins.
But the Christian, the child of God need not be afraid of the sudden terror and the ruin of the wicked when it comes. The Lord remains our confidence, and He will keep our foot from being caught up in it. We remain His.
Mature saint – let us take up the mantle of living this way – so that we can pass it on to a younger generation who – surveys tell us – are living under more and more fear of existential threats reinforced by social media and magnified on every hand.
There is security from the fear that something unseen, unknown, unstoppable will suddenly come upon us. It is the steadfast love of the Lord.
Let not the younger ones around us grow faint because we have caved to a panicked dread. But let them see our calm resolve in the faithfulness of our Christ and King and his sovereign hand over all – in love.
Reading this passage, what popped into my head was a scene from my early youth – in Sunday School (or was it VBS?). We were taught this little song:
Building up the Temple Building up the temple, Building up the temple. Building up the temple of the Lord. Brother, won’t you help me? Sister, won’t you help me? Building up the temple of the Lord.
We did it complete with hand gestures, of fist upon fist as building stones and then waving to “brothers and sisters” to come and help. It’s a sweet memory.
Now the artificial division between the end of 1 Kings 6 and the beginning of 7 tends to soften what is at first a jarring consideration. Solomon takes 7 years to build the Temple, but thirteen years to build his own palace? What’s going on here?
As for what the actual reasons are for the disparity – who knows? One commentator chalks it up to 2 factors; a. Solomon felt more urgency and importance in building the Lord’s House, thus finishing it first as a priority, and b., since the palace encompassed both Solomon’s residence and the complex for the seat of government – it was much larger and wasn’t as urgent.
Again – who knows? We’ll give Sol the benefit of the doubt.
But perhaps there is something of a type or shadow here too?
Creating the heavens and the earth was but a 6 day affair for our God; which contained the Garden, His first “Temple”.
Think then how long Christ has been about the work of building His own house through the making and assembling the living stones redeemed by His blood.
It is a much more monumental and glorious task to build His Church as His dwelling place than to create the cosmos.
What then is this “building” He is assembling to dwell in? And no wonder when Paul prays in Eph. 3:16-17 he notes that it requires nothing less than the glorious efforts of the Holy Spirit to strengthen us in our inner man so that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith.
The unbearable weight of the glory of His presence must be supernaturally granted. We cannot stand it in ourselves. How much time, care and divine craftsmanship is being exercised in this great assemblage.
1 Peter 2:4-5 “As you come to Him, the living stone, rejected by men but chosen and precious in God’s sight, you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
He is taking his time with us beloved. For the glory we are to so fully contain, is indeed, uncontainable – and beyond description. “In My Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and welcome you into My presence, so that you also may be where I am.” John 14:2-3
6 Days of creation, thousands of years for his house. And Christ is faithful as the son over God’s house – whose house we are if we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope of which we boast. He who began the good work in us – WILL complete it!
Some passages of Scripture fulfill this role – the role of busting myths. And one of the best myth-busting passages I know is 2 Corinthians 1:8-9: “We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the hardships we encountered in the province of Asia. We were under a burden far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, we felt we were under the sentence of death, in order that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God, who raises the dead.”
What myth is thoroughly busted here? The myth that “God will never give us more than we can handle.”
In truth, God is forever giving us things we are ill equipped to handle. And as Paul notes here for us, that reality is found in the words in our text: “in order that.” So that.
Let me try to tease this out just a bit more.
In the opening portions of 2 Corinthians, Paul is wont to be sure his readers grasp just how traumatic and severe some of his trials have been. He says exactly that in vs. 8. He wanted them to be fully aware of the hardships he and his companions had encountered. Why? Because he is demonstrating what he had opened this letter by affirming – that Christians endure trials (if for no other reason – than) specifically that we might become conduits of God’s comforts to others, by sharing with them the comforts God has extended toward us in our trials.
And here, is where the rubber really meets the road for Paul.
We want you to know how tough it has been.
Things were so tough at one point, we assumed we would not make it through, but would actually die.
We actually gave up anticipating any relief.
And we came to that place for at least the following 3 reasons:
1 – So that we would learn not to trust in ourselves – in our wisdom, gifts, abilities or even our sense of mission. Not even to trust in our own faith.
2 – So that we might trust in God alone. To surrender any hope of anything or anybody being able to deliver us.
3 – So that we would consider the day of resurrection the real and final object of our help – not temporal relief. That we might become conduits forced to look to the glories to come, more than at the difficulties of the day.
And beloved, I cannot think of anything more necessary for us today in the Body of Christ, than to let our trials have their perfect work in weaning us away from the hopes of this life and this world – so as to (as Peter would later wrote): “Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 1:13, BSB)
To live in the awareness that if nothing changes for the better now, our hope is still inviolable and fixed – it is in the resurrection – in the revelation of Jesus Christ at his return.
This is what Paul and Peter had set their hearts and minds to grasp and live upon when all other hopes were lost.
Christ is coming.
Resurrection is coming.
The New Heavens and the New Earth are coming.
Glory is coming.
The fullness of all of Christ’s promises are coming.
I may not feel it today.
My vision may not allow me to glimpse it today.
But I can believe it and rest in it today – because my Redeemer, the one who died to purchase my soul with his own blood said: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe in Me as well. In My Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and welcome you into My presence, so that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:1–3, BSB)
I just finished the audio version (unedited). And for the first time, I found I would have rather had the print version of a book. Why? Because this unedited version contains so much extraneous and tedious data, that in print at least – I could have skipped over mountains of unimportant stuff.
That all said, there is much profit to be had in reading the account of this most remarkable man of God, and how God used him in the most extraordinary of ways. Wesley stood at the very center of God’s miraculous outpouring in the 1700’s in the British Isles as no one else. And that is saying something given the other luminaries and extraordinary men like his own brother Charles, George Whitefield and others. He was a man wholly given up to God (as best he could be it seems) and was uniquely suited to spearhead the Methodist movement within the Anglican communion. For make no mistake, he considered himself a life-long Anglican and in league with the Church of England.
Because of the nature of a personal journal, I cannot review this book in terms of logic, flow of arguments, etc. But what I can do is list out a number of features which stood out. Some curious, some inspiring, some challenging and some – I’m not sure what to call them.
1 – JW’s own account of his conversion is useful. Seeing how God worked in him after his miserable experience as a missionary to America while as yet unconverted, is painful to say the least. He is such an earnest man and so wanting to serve God. As Prov. 19:2a reads: “Even zeal is no good without knowledge.” A theme Paul reiterates in Rom. 10:2 regarding the Pharisees of his day. JW was a Protestant Pharisee. Not in terms of pride or arrogance, but in terms of an assiduous pursuit of Protestant Biblicalism, but as yet unregenerate. Until God opened his eyes. A Protestant religionist of the highest order – with a discipline of life that would put most “born again” Christians to shame. Unregenerate Christianity is one of the severest forms of soul slavery.
2 – JW’s Mother is often held up as the model of a godly woman. But as we find out, all of her years of raising her children, (19 in all though only 6 made it to adulthood) were done while still unconverted. She too was this type of Pharisee until much later. Christianized to the highest degree – but without saving grace having changed her soul.
3 – Excepting for several serious bouts of illness in his younger years, JW was almost completely free of physical maladies of any kind. His physical constitution was more than mere iron. It almost seems superhuman. Perhaps he was supernaturally sustained for the work he was to do. It wasn’t until he was in his 80’s that he began to notice some decline. But even then – always felt strong after preaching.
It is interesting to note he refers to his strength and stamina quite often, and usually chalks it up to (after acknowledging God’s goodness) these key things:
a. He rose at 4 every morning. This he said was most profitable.
b. That he typically preached almost every day at 5 am. This too was key he thought. And yes, there were crowds all the time.
c. That he rode on horseback seldom less than 4000 miles per year. Sometimes much more. This he said kept him hale and hearty due to being outdoors in all kinds of weather.
d. He ate quite sparingly. Never starving himself but never over-indulging either. He mentions at one point that when younger he subsisted almost entirely on bread and water for quite a period – and not all that much bread. He said this made for a heartier constitution later.
He also mentioned a curious trait that he appreciated – that he could fall immediately to sleep whenever he wished, and never had any trouble sleeping no matter where or under what circumstances.
Additionally, he records that he could not remember ever being in angst about anything above one time, just once, for about 15 minutes. That he simply did not fret or worry – ever. Period. God bless him!
4 – He read very broadly – and constantly. While he did most of his reading while on horseback (he notes how leaving the reins slack allowed him to pay attention to his book – for the horse knew what to do) – he read books on geology, astronomy, government, philosophy, history and biography and many other subjects. He read the classics, poetry, and plays and fiction.
On the last, he attended plays as well. And remarked how those authored by “Christian” writers tended to be of less quality than those of unbelievers – and that the unbelievers often made moral points in a better fashion.
He notes two occasions, one with horses and another with lions in a sort of zoo – where he observed the animals responding to music in a curious way. He mused, but drew no conclusions.
5 – As he traveled, preaching sometimes 3 times a day, he also took time to go sight-seeing when in places with notable things to visit.
6 – He is not given nearly enough credit as a scholar. Writing a both Greek and Hebrew grammars and lessons of all sorts for people of all stripes. He wanted his people to be as well educated as he could contribute to.
7 – In setting up his Methodist “societies” he showed himself to be an organizational genius. The sheer number of the various “houses” (he didn’t like the term meeting places) he either built, instigated, oversaw and regulated is mind boggling. He knew how to choose good people to administrate them and kept abreast of what was going on in virtually all of them.
8 – He loved scientific advancement, and especially where it had medical applications. An up-and-coming trend in his day was what was called “electrifying.” People would be connected to generators producing a small current which was supposed to help restore the body’s own healing properties and relieve almost any ailment. Having used it frequently himself (for minor complaints) he saw to it at least four of these generators were procured and placed around England where some of his people could operate them. He felt strongly the Church should make such curatives available to the public and encouraged the leaders of the Methodist houses to talk up the treatment, and make it available to as many as wanted to avail themselves of it. Likewise, he investigated and employed other homeopathic remedies.
9 – He seemed to hold no grudges of any kind against any individual, no matter how they had treated him. If it may be put this way – he loved forgiving.
10 – When told that another well know preacher remarked how every minister ought to burn his old sermons every 7 years so as to write better ones now that they were older, more learned and more experienced – he balked. He said (this was when he was well into his 70’s) that he would never go back for all of his sermons were just fine, and that he had never changed his mind on a single doctrine or point since he was a young man, and could see no sense in the other preacher’s recommendation.
On that note, as he often mentions which text he preached from on a particular day – you find that he must have preached the same sermons not just dozens, but perhaps hundreds of times over the years. This can work when you are itinerate, but as we all know – would not work if you were preaching to the same congregation week in and week out.
11 – He always saw Methodism as an in-house movement of the Anglican Church. At the annual meetings or conferences, whenever the issue of separation from the Church of England came up – he vigorously opposed it. He died an Anglican and said that he fully held and was committed to its doctrines from the beginning. Except when the Church censured him for preaching out of doors or praying extemporaneously, he believed he kept to the governance of the Church in all respects.
12 – He quite adamantly opposed America’s Revolutionary War as rebellion that ought not to be sanctioned.
13 – Happy-hyperbole. Over and over and over, if something was beautiful or striking, it was the “most glorious I ever saw”, or, “I’ve never seen anything so beautiful in all of my travels.” etc., etc., ad infinitum. If it was pleasant, it was the MOST pleasant. And if it bad – it was “the worst I ever saw.” But far and away, this hyperbole was used to express his being impressed by beauty, symmetry, architectural design, and orderliness.
14 – Lastly, and perhaps most markedly and wonderful, was his thankfulness to God. And this, in an interesting juxtaposition. For example, (both of these examples are factual in the book and occur more than once) say his horse stumbled and then recovered. He would immediately praise and thank God for his good fortune and being able to continue on his way to minister. But say the horse stumbled and died unexpectedly – interrupting his plans. He would simply accept this as the providence of God with no negative connotations whatever. Constant thankfulness, and calm, even joyful acceptance of darker (in our opinion) providences.
I can only guess that this is why he was so bereft of worry, anxiety and stress. He saw God’s loving hand everywhere – and deliberately and consistently thanks God accordingly. And, he so trusted his loving Savior, that those things which could be perceived as negatives, he still believed were in his Master’s hand and were to be received in faith.
One stunning example of that latter, is the very brief note he pens when his wife abandons him. He simply says, it happened, he will not act in any way upon it. He will not chase her. I’m not sure in that instance if his norm was the best – but he was consistent in it in any case. And I wish to be more like him in the every day realities of my own life.
Thank God constantly. Set an eye to appreciate every good thing his hand has proffered. And if the providence is a hard one – know that same, constantly and unerringly loving and wise God, is superintending that as well.
No, I cannot recommend you read the nearly 500 pages of this book. But, there are giant gems in this mine. And I am sure someone else somewhere has already done that digging for you.
ResponsiveReiding 