ResponsiveReiding

Proverbs 13:1 (ESV) — A wise son hears his father’s instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.

Here is the essence of what it means to be a “scoffer” – one who gives little or no weight to anyone else’s opinion or understanding, but assumes their own understanding is complete, and superior to all others.

We live in the Age of The Scoffer.

I submit two examples: Congress, and The Five on FOX News. Though in truth, the Five is just one example of what occurs on virtually every news network – the problem is not exclusive to them. It is a human problem amplified in our media environment.

Here’s how the Scoffer thinks: They do not simply take what others offer with a grain of salt – they dismiss it out of hand. They look down upon and thus scoff at the thoughts, opinions, views, or observations of everyone else. They alone are the arbiters of truth. You are right, if you agree with them. That is the only criterion. Conversely, you are wrong if you disagree with them – end of discussion.

Oh, the discussions go on, and on, and on, and on. But no one ever changes their opinion. No one ever (if perhaps ever so rarely) concedes the other’s opinion, or adopts modification. It is an exercise in endless clashes. Each simply hashing and rehashing why they disagree. And it ends there. Hence our Government faces nearly total gridlock on every major decision, and the talking heads in the newsrooms rail hour after hour at one another, and argue with their “guests”. But no one changes. No one seems to be capable of learning anything from one who disagrees with them. They – we – simply “scoff.”

As I said, we live in the age of The Scoffer. It infects the way we interact with our spouses, our children, our parents, and anyone else we have to do with. It is a trap. One which inoculates us from being able to truly grow in Christ. Prevents us from being corrected. Hampers us from being able to ever adopt a better way. Our feelings are hurt, the way we want it done is thwarted, and we are soon at war.

The word in the original includes scorn, ridicule, boasting, mocking and dismissiveness. One lexicon notes that it includes being carried away with oneself.

Scoffers never grow. We cannot be corrected, so there is no means to bring us to a better place. We give lip service to saying we’ve not “arrived” – but we interact with others as though we have. It is a plague on the soul of the Christian.

Do not be sucked into it Beloved. Be humble enough to still learn – from any and all who bring truth. Especially as you daily peer into the mirror of God’s Word. Let it show you the blemishes, the smudges, the distortions. And listen to the counsel it brings to make you better and better – as it conforms you more and more to the image of your Savior. Whether that confrontation with Biblical truth comes through your direct interaction with the Word in study and prayer – or through the lips of your spouse, friend, parent or child. Be willing to hear the Father’s instruction irrespective of the delivery method. And you will be a “wise son” indeed.

Wisdom dictates that good advice is best derived from those with real-life experience, above mere theoreticians. And that is one of the reasons I was excited to read Bruce Ray’s slender gem: “HELP! My Friend is Suicidal.” Help it is indeed.

In what can be easily read in one brief sitting, Bruce Ray offers the practical, clear, concise and Biblical counsel that can only come from one who has grappled with this tragedy firsthand. Repeatedly. So it is as both a career law enforcement officer, and as a seasoned pastor, Bruce unpacks one of the most emotionally charged issues many of us face today in the most helpful manner possible.

With the rare combination of palpable compassion coupled with unsparing honesty, you cannot help but read this resource and come away feeling surprisingly well equipped to face the situation none of us ever wants to face, and far too many must. You may be (as I was) surprised to learn that roughly 4 people in every hour of every take their own lives in the United States – 36,000 per year. With such numbers, the odds are you or someone you know has been touched personally by this unspeakably painful reality.

While dismantling many common an unhelpful myths like: “Suicide is always caused by depression” (Ray in fact cites at least 4 other prominent factors); or “People who talk about suicide won’t really do it – they just want attention”; or “Once suicidal, always suicidal”, the author goes on to address “Who is at Risk and Why?”; How the Bible treats the subject of suicide; and powerfully – in chapter 3 how to meaningfully engage and help your suicidal friend.

This little book is a no-nonsense treasure. It is both full of its own solid and practical direction, as well as pointing the reader to a host of well chosen additional resources. Gospel centered and Biblically sound, it is a must read for everyone involved in ministry, and anyone who is simply wanting to be of genuine assistance to a friend who may have attempted, or you fear might be contemplating taking their own life.

Buy it, read it, refer to it, and recommend it to others.

Unity comes in two flavors: Shared “things” and shared “life”. And true Christian unity has both of these elements, which distinguishes our unity from mere uniformity. Both of these show themselves in Jesus’ “high priestly prayer” in John 17. And both are necessary for true, Biblical, Christian unity.

Recently, our leadership was involved in the local John 17 Conference. And in so doing, I began to reflect upon and explore the theme of Christian unity a bit, in light of Jesus’ prayer for our unity in John 17.

What do we mean when we use the word “unity” as opposed to “uniformity”?

Uniformity (like everyone wearing the same uniform, or looking or sounding alike”) is something that is purely external. My brother and I might both be in the Army, and wearing the uniform links us together with everyone else in the Army. The external clothing gives us a kind of unity – which is best understood as uniformity. People can be uniform in the way they talk or the clothes they wear or the cars they drive – almost anything. Every sports team has a uniform to distinguish them from every other team. And even churches can have their “uniforms”. Formal dress, casual, one particular translation of the Bible, certain songs, etc. there’s nothing wrong with that at all. It is perfectly natural.

The problem is – people who may be truly uniform (like teammates) may have this external oneness, but in fact may be bitter enemies. And in that case, their unity is ALL in the uniform. And nothing more. That’s why externals like “uniforms” aren’t all there is to Christian unity. To complicate matters even more, even as all the teams in NFL all have different uniforms and look somewhat different, they are all still part of the same league. That is a different kind of unity. Just like with my brother and me. If we are both in the Army – there is a bond between us that transcends the external uniform. A bond that would be there even if we were in different branches of the service (wearing different uniforms), or if one of us was just a civilian. It is an “organic” unity. We share the same bloodline.

So in Jesus’ prayer, He notes some of the external “uniform” of all Christians. Here are 3 key things every true Christian shares.

1. (vs. 6) He says that all His have kept God’s word. No true Christian rejects the Bible as God’s word.

2. (vs. 7) All Christians know that everything Christ has was given to Him by the Father. That He was acting on the Father’s behalf.

3. (vs. 8) All Christians know that Christ was sent from God the Father. He was not just a mere man, but the God/man who came down to us from Heaven.

Now as important as those things are, they are still not enough for true Christian unity. Why? Because as James 2:19 says “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe – and shudder.” All true Christians believe God is one, but so do the demons! Just believing certain truths, even key truths, doesn’t fully unify us – or we’d be unified with the demons! No. There must be something more. And what that something is Jesus also mentions in John 17:2 & 3. What is it? It is the “organic” element, like with me and my physical brother – we must share the same “life.”

The eternal life that indwells every true believer, is what ultimately makes us truly “one”.

“And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”

And this unity makes us all one in an amazing way. Just like in our example of the various teams in the NFL all having different uniforms so that we can tell them apart. They are also still part of the same league, all play the same game by the same rules – and as different as all their uniforms are, they also all have the very same equipment.

But let’s go one step farther to understand Biblical unity among Christians with the Bible’s example of Believers all being part of one “body”: “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³ For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. ¹⁴ For the body does not consist of one member but of many. (1 Cor. 12:12-24)

Here, we get this sweet, amazing and wonderful truth. Not every part of your own physical body looks the same. Ears don’t look like noses. Noses don’t look like feet. Feet don’t look like lungs. And eyes don’t look like livers. But they are one. How? They all share the very same life. And every part contributes to sustaining the whole.

This beloved is the unity of the Body of Christ. And it is so much more than any “uniform” could ever make it. We share the life of Christ – the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. And this, in spite of all the differences which may exist – makes the Body of Christ – ALL Believers, one. Truly one. The closest “oneness” to that which the Trinity shares that can be had on earth. One being one with Christ by faith, makes us one with Him, His Father, His Spirit, and the rest of His people.

Now! If we would but begin to live that way. Soon we would put an end to the old rhyme:

To live above, with the saints we love, Oh, that will be glory.

But to live below, with the saint we know – now that’s a different story!

May we begin to taste Heaven now, in entering into the full unity that Christ prayed we would have in John 17, and died that we might have in Him.

Matthew 13:24–30 (ESV) — He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, 25 but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. 26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. 27 And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’ ”

Despite all of our efforts, there will be a mixed multitude among us. Simon Maguses will enter. We will not be able to purge them all out – nor should that be our focus. Discipline yes. Witch hunting no. Just as we will not be able to Christianize the entire world, so this mixture will be reflected in the Church. Do not be dismayed. He has told us it will be so.

Warren Wiersbe’s simple take on this passage is that the good seed are genuine Christians sown into the world, and the bad seed are not merely unbelievers – but false Christians sown into the world by the enemy.

This posits several most interesting realities. Sometimes, people come to Church not because the Holy Spirit has drawn them, but because Satan has purposefully sent them for the purpose of disruption. We must be on the lookout. Those who come and disrupt over trifles, are to be rejected after a first and second admonition. (see: Titus ) They will produce great havoc and do much damage if not.

Yet, in His explanation given in vss. 36-43, Jesus seems to draw our eyes to a different focus. Because the “field” referred to here is not the Church, but rather – the world. In this context His point would is different. The idea is – you CANNOT have a pure, “Christian” society. There will always be those who look like Christians but are not, and who will be mingled among all strata of society. In politics, in governments, in nations – it will ALWAYS be a mixed multitude. Nor are we to attempt to produce a pure society by eliminating the unbelieving in some way. We are to co-exist with unbelievers in the world until Christ returns. The Church can exercise proper discipline within its own walls – but never in the world at large. We cannot produce a “Christian” nation by keeping out the unbelievers, nor are we to even attempt such a thing.

Beware of movements within the Church which attempt to create such Christian communities totally separate from the world. They are established on a false notion – that somehow, regardless of what Jesus taught here, we CAN uproot the pretenders before the end of the age, and make sure we have a least some little plot of ground that is pure.

Such uprooting is angel’s work, not ours (vs. 41) . And it will be done at the end of the age – not now (vs. 39).

What are we supposed to do then? Preach and live Christ until He comes. That’s plenty.

Revelation 17:1–5 (ESV) — 1 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters, 2 with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.” 3 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. 5 And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.”

In the closing chapters of John’s visions and the final decimation of this World’s systems in God’s just judgment, the following insight is offered up to us:  “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.”

It is hard to conceive of a more apt description both of the society in which we live today, and the great issue which confronts us. Here is something we need to face with extreme clarity: 1. Sexual immorality is an intoxicant. 2. It is the chief intoxicant with which both those in power, and the general populace have “become drunk.” The Bible doesn’t mince words.

The pervasive problem of our society is its utter preoccupation with sexual immorality. It may well be the defining issue of our age and culture. No one would argue that it is not to be found everywhere, and that both men and women are increasingly degrading themselves both publicly and privately in the throes of it.

“Addiction” is word with much freight due to its use in the mental health professions of the day. But it is also an apt word when understood properly and in this context. 1 Timothy 3:8 reminds us that those in Church leadership (there, Elders and Deacons) are not to be “addicted to much wine” (ESV). The word for addicted there being a word used 24 times in the New Testament to communicate the idea of being focused upon, concerned about and occupied with. It most often is translated “beware”, “pay attention to yourselves”, “watch”, “be careful.” It evokes the image of something always claiming our thoughtful attention. Something of such importance that it needs to occupy a place in our normal consciousness. And when applied here, how insightfully descriptive. We are a people preoccupied with, always on the lookout for, paying close attention to – sexual immorality – either in our own lives, or vicariously in the lives of others.

Now intoxicants all have the same basic properties – and being drunk on sexual immorality shares these same features.

1. Indulgence in it dulls the senses. It robs one of the ability to think and reason clearly. It temporarily dulls pain (which is often why it is so attractive – especially to those suffering inner turmoil and pain). But in the process, it also dull happiness – for it is a mock happiness, brought on by a mere chemical effect and not on any true change in the inward state.

2. It skews the perceptions. Reality is blurred. It prevents one from perceiving either negative or positive things properly, and prevents clear reflection upon truth in any form. It makes you prey to lies from others along with the propensity to believe the lies you tell yourself. This may seem at first to make bad things less ominous, but it also makes good things less fulfilling. It will justify unreasonable actions and opinions, while dulling the conscience as it calls to right action. Like the volume control on a radio – you cannot use it to lower the volume on just one station. When you use it, it lowers the volume on every station at the same time.

3. It casts off inhibitions. The God-given lines that we know we ought not to cross, suddenly disappear. Anything becomes possible. Nothing is truly taboo. It robs us of the ability to sense rightful shame over truly shameful things. It gives us permission to sin without blushing.

4. It allows anger to flow unfettered, and turns true love into meaningless sentimentality. Outlandish statements will spew forth. Control over the emotions will dissipate and passions will gain the ascendency – no matter what the aftermath – because emotions seldom allow us to see beyond them. They take up our whole field of vision.

All these, and many more are the results of intoxication. And we are no less intoxicated by sexual immorality than we are by any physical substance known to man.

Like with wine, the Bible does not prohibit proper enjoyment of sexuality. Within its proper bounds, its benefits are many and varied. It is a gift from God. Outside of its proper bounds, it is as destructive as poison. Sexuality is a blessed part of life. But if it is something you pay a lot of attention to, if it calls for your constant attention, if you are always on the watch for it as a stimulant – you are addicted. Married or single, if you cannot stay away, and if it clamors for your attention inwardly – so that you seek out glimpses and titillations here and there to get a “buzz,” you are addicted.  And it is serving not as a true blessing, but as an intoxicant. If you are single and think that when you get married, that will go away – because you are marrying the “brewery” – you will still be enslaved. And your marriage will suffer the results.

What then is the answer? There is but one. Something higher must take the place of our preoccupation. Something more wonderful. Something of greater beauty, higher benefit, sweeter joy, more complete satisfaction and more lasting fulfillment. Not something merely to dull the “pain” of our fallenness, but what contains the hope of our eternal future. Training the heart and the mind to find our deepest happiness and satisfaction in Jesus Christ. To give ourselves over to searching Him out as out highest pleasure, until He displaces every other joy as a mere triffle. When tempted to “take a drink” – to seek Him in prayer that moment by the Spirit, to be the answer to what our inner man is yearning for. And to continue that course in faith believing that He will answer that pursuit with an ever increasing revelation of His good ness to our soul. To find our all – in Him.

Hebrews 6:11–12 (ESV) — And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

The assurance of our salvation, is a topic most believers wrestle with at one time or another during their lifetimes. For some, the wrestling comes to a crisis point and is settled once for all in their hearts and minds. In others, there are seasons of greater assurance and lesser assurance. And when such assurance wanes, it can be excruciating. Hopelessness can set in. And a certain paralysis of soul. The writer to the Hebrews denominates it as being spiritually “sluggish” (Heb. 6:12).

I like that word sluggish in this context, because of its descriptiveness – both in what it says, and in what it doesn’t say. It doesn’t say the one lacking assurance is lost because of it, but merely hindered from making faster spiritual progress. Like being mired in mud.  The word can mean lazy in some contexts – perhaps most. But it can also mean hard of hearing. It seems to me that is more likely the idea here. First, there is an injunction to be earnest in pursuing our assurance, and then the warning that in not doing so, it can result in this sluggishness. And lastly, an encouragement that by faith and patience, we will inherit the promises of God in full.

If you are exercised about your own assurance of salvation – I’ve got good news. This is something Christians wrestle with. The lost don’t usually care unless the Spirit is drawing them to Christ. It is a good sign. And, your striving to settle that issue is also good. It is not a sign something is wrong – but rather, that something is right. Here, the Writer says “we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end.” He is commending those who pursue it. He is saying “good for you – keep at it!” This is a worthy pursuit.

What this text also does, is give us two tools in accomplishing that goal. 1. Faith. 2. Patience.

Faith. Faith is – believing that what God has said is true, and then ordering my life accordingly. And when it comes to one’s salvation this is THE absolute essential.

Now our faith can’t be in just anything, it has to be in what God has said. This is why using our feelings to give us assurance of salvation, or examining our actions, or taking someone else’s word for it is never sufficient. One of these may seem to give us assurance for a time, but it soon fades. Feelings change. We sin, and people can be wrong. The only sure thing I can trust is God Himself. So we turn to a passage such as 1 Corinthians 15:1–4 “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” or, John 20:30–31 “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

We see there that believing in Jesus’ name, that He is the Son of God, that He died as our substitute sin-bearer and rose again that those who put there trust in Him might have eternal life. And we say: “that’s it! My trust is in Him. He died, so that those who trust Him, have salvation.” And I go no further. I rest my faith is in His person and work. Trusting Him. No one an nothing else. Him. He died. He paid for my sin. He took my punishment. He rose for my justification. He sent His Spirit to sanctify me. He is coming back to receive to Himself all those who look for His appearing. He is my righteousness. I look to the cross and nowhere else. Jesus is the Savior – and I have His salvation by trusting that He saves those who come to Him for forgiveness and reconciliation to the Father through the blood of His cross. And I make my mind stand there and stay there. To use a somewhat vulgar phrase – we bet everything on Him, and hedge our bet with nothing else. End of story. I make it my work – to keep my eyes fixed only on Him. This is how I earnestly pursue my assurance.

But, then, there is patience. Patience with myself, knowing my remaining sinfulness and recognizing I won’t have everything in full reality until He comes. And patience in the intervening years until He does come. This is the endurance that goes along with faith. It is sticking to the one and only hope, and refusing to let my eyes look anywhere else, my ears hear anything else in this regard, or my heart hope in anything else. As Psalm 39:7 says “And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you.” It is not in my performance, my church, my friend’s opinions, the preacher’s persuasiveness, my feelings, my baptism – nothing else but – YOU!

Beloved, assurance can come from but one place – believing God. Every day. Over and over. Running back to His promise to save all those that come to Him and that He turns none away who do come. And as we renew our trust in Him every time it wavers, over time, our assurance grows. Patiently believe. He is the Savior – you do not save yourself. You take Him at His word. And rejoice.

Treat your brain to a 6 course meal.

Of the two pastoral fellowships which have sprung up from ECF, the NCT group (New Covenant Theology) holds a unique place in my heart. One of the things this group does, is invest time in reading a wide range of theological writers and topics to enrich and enlarge our own thinking. It is a place of rapid, often animated discussion, and a safe place to float theories and ponderings. I love it.

In an act of indulgence toward me, the group undertook to read the 6 “Stone Lectures” given by Abraham Kuyper at Princeton in 1898. I had re-read these lectures (after several decades) during my sabbatical. A statesman, politician and theologian, Kuyper came to Princeton at the invitation of the giant B. B. Warfield, and gave these lectures in understanding “Calvinism” as a world-view, not a theological system. In other words, starting from an understanding of God as Creator and continuing ruler of the cosmos, how do we understand all of life through this lens?

Kuyper was a profound thinker and theologian. He was also a pastor, a newspaper man, seminary professor, a Parliamentarian and eventually became the Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1901-1905. I was introduced to him by reading his magisterial book on the Person and Work of the Holy Spirit whilst still a lad. My Dad had an almost original copy of that work on the bookshelves which happened to also be in my bedroom growing up. I am forever grateful for that exposure.

Before Francis Schaeffer, Malcom Muggeridge, C. S. Lewis, Ravi Zacharias, Carl F. H. Henry or others who follow in that mold, Kuyper spoke and taught in terms of world-view (a comprehensive understanding of existence) and sought to help people consider the “big picture” of life from a thoroughgoing Biblical perspective. In this, he excelled.

So let me recommend to you these lectures for your own consideration. In them, and in this order he investigates the following areas:

1. Calvinism as a Life System. (DO NOT read Calvinism here as T.U.L.I.P., or you will entirely miss his aim in all six lecture. It is Calvinism as a worldview simply having as its starting point, God’s active sovereignty in His created cosmos)

2. Calvinism and Religion.

3. Calvinism and Politics.

4. Calvinism and Science.

5. Calvinism and Art.

6. Calvinism and the Future.

Kuyper’s extraordinarily well developed understanding of common grace (I’ll let the readers get the full understanding of that from him) and how the Holy Spirit works even in the lost is paradigm shifting to say the least.

Warning: he is not easy reading. You will have to apply yourself. But do it. He will challenge your thinking every step of the way. He will make you examine why you hold the opinions you hold on the topics he addresses directly, and the implications of those conclusions in a host of other areas. Agree or disagree with him in any particular point, you will be forced to consider your own views and why you hold them. And this is invaluable.

For me, Kuyper is about the most intellectually satisfying author I’ve read. Every return to these pages is a treat for my mind as well as my soul.

As we’ve been discussing one lecture per meeting, and we meet only once a month, we have already invested 8 months into this book (yes, the math requires you know some lectures we’ve split up because there is so much to be examined – and even then we’ve fallen woefully short), we have yet to leave without being provoked (in the best sense of the word) in our own thoughts and formulations. I very highly recommend these lectures to you as a powerful tool in developing your spiritual thought process.

Now, to give you a taste of something to tease your brain – consider this quote from his lecture on Calvinism and Art, and think about it for a while.

“‎The world after the fall is no lost planet, only destined now to afford the church a place in which to continue her combats; and humanity is no aimless mass of people which only serves the purpose of giving birth to the elect. On the contrary the world now, as well as in the beginning, is the theatre for the mighty works of God, and humanity remains a creation of His hand, which, apart from salvation, completes under this present dispensation, here on earth, a mighty process, and in its historical development is to glorify the name of Almighty God.”

Have fun!