One of the things which commonly happens with Christians, is that we take a verse – like this one – and toss it around as a general maxim without really considering it well in context. I hear this verse quoted all the time as a stand-alone. But when we do that, we can miss the real point of the portion when taken as a whole. Does God give wisdom in general? Sure. But is that what James is after here? I don’t think so.
The context here is asking God for wisdom, regarding how to count it “all joy” when as Believers, we encounter all sorts of “trials of various kinds.” The application is intentionally narrow. And the caveat appended to it is that if we do not do so, we will find our faith quite unstable. How those fit together is essential in understanding James’ point.
Note first then that James is after helping Believers grow in steadfastness. Steadfastness is remaining the same in regard to living rightly before God, irrespective of outward circumstances. It means having a frame of mind in trusting God, no matter what changes around us externally, or even how we feel.
That being the case, the wisdom referred to here isn’t generic wisdom, but specifically related to facing trials – not only courageously, but profitably, by trusting in God’s providential care over His children. It is wisdom to take advantage of our trials in confidence that God will use them to help us mature and become complete, mature spiritually.
If we do not have faith in His care and providential appointments in our trials, then we will have no real faith at all, and as a result will be unstable in everything we encounter in life. We will always be knocked off kilter by difficulties. We must trust our God, His care, power and good will toward us in Christ.
That means then, that to “ask in faith” is to ask:
1- Trusting God’s character.
2- Trusting God’s love.
3- Trusting His wisdom in bringing us to and through our trials.
4- Trusting His sovereign appointments and care.
5- Trusting The promises in His Word.
Faith, true Biblical faith is ALWAYS rooted in His trustworthiness.
If I have no faith in that, in His trustworthiness regarding His sovereignty over my life, I will never be stable, never gain endurance, and never grow in spiritual maturity.
So today fellow Christian, if you are truly His, and you are enduring a hard place right now, He is saying to you – that if you will ask for wisdom as to how to use this trial, to co-opt it for steadfastness and growth in the image of Christ – He WILL, give it. He is faithful to do so. You can trust Him. And knowing our weakness here, He promises that He will not think little of us for needing more wisdom, but will freely, lovingly and joyfully grant it. He will not chide us for our lack. For He loves to be our great supply in such circumstances. He loves to have us call upon Him in our time of need. To know, that we are to keep coming back to Him over and over and over as the One on whom we truly rely.
Oh what precious things such as these are ours because of Christ!
The title to this post is not my own. It is a near constant reminder from my internet friend, scholar and Bible teacher – Mark Ward.
When the Apostle Paul is giving corrective instructions to the Corinthian Church, he has to address the issue that even though the Holy Spirit may supernaturally enable someone to speak in a language unknown to them – nevertheless, unless that language is translated for the assembly. So he writes in 1 Cor. 14:7-12 “If even lifeless instruments, such as the flute or the harp, do not give distinct notes, how will anyone know what is played? And if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle? So with yourselves, if with your tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is said? For you will be speaking into the air. There are doubtless many different languages in the world, and none is without meaning, but if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me. So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.”
Edification – building up – requires intelligibility.
Or consider the example in Nehemiah 8 with those returning to Jerusalem from the Babylonian captivity. Many, did not even know their native Hebrew anymore. So we read that Ezra enlisted a group of men in the endeavor to restore the Word of God to the people. We read: “They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.” The word “clearly” there implying they gave an interpretation, paragraph by paragraph – and gave the sense too, not just the words.
Edification requires intelligibility.
Because we know this, and because we also know that most of us know neither Biblical Hebrew nor Greek, God has gifted men and women throughout the ages to study and translate the original languages into those spoken by others around the world. How grateful we must be for this.
But even when that work is done, we recognize that languages themself change over time. Due to this reality, new and new Bible translations are needed, even in the very same language over time – to be sure the message of the Bible is not lost due to the way language morphs. A good example is the graphic above showing how The Lord’s Prayer would have looked to English readers around 100 A.D. And below, are several more examples.
Thirteenth Century – Manuscript in the Library of Cambridge University: Fader oure that art in heve, i-halgeed be thi nome, i-cume thi kinereiche, y-worthe thi wylle also is in hevene so be an erthe, oure iche-dayes-bred gif us today, and forgif us our gultes, also we forgifet oure gultare, and ne led ows nowth into fondingge, auth ales ows of harme.
Fifteenth Century – Manuscript in the Library of Oxford University: Fader oure that art in heuene, halewed be thy name: thy kyngedom come to thee: thy wille be do in erthe as in heuen: oure eche dayes brede geue us to daye: and forgeue us oure dettes as we forgeue to oure dettoures: and lede us nogte into temptacion: bot delyver us from yvel.
Seventeenth Century – The King James Version of 1611: Our father which art in heauen, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdome come. Thy will be done, in earth, as it is in heauen. Giue vs this day our daily bread. And forgiue vs our debts, as we forgiue our debters. And lead vs not into temptation, but deliuer vs from euill: For thine is the kingdome, and the power, and the glory, for euer.
Now a while back, a gal came to attend our congregation, with virtually no Bible background. She needed to be brought up to speed with Biblical language for sure, and especially the nomenclature which we – as Bible-believing Christians take for granted. We use a lot of unique words. We throw around words like regeneration, justification, sanctification and the like – but seldom take the time to define those terms for the uninitiated. Even a phrase as basic as “born again” needs to be unpacked for those who have had no previous exposure, or very limited familiarity.
Coming back to the gal I just referenced – this issue popped up in a way I hadn’t remotely thought about before – even while trying to explain terms in my preaching and using a newer translation of the Scriptures like the ESV.
The problem? My beloved hymns. Take for example vs. 2 of “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing”, and its “Here I raise my Ebeneezer.” What in the world does that mean? Even to many raised in the Church today.
Let me make it even more basic. For this gal, the simple “thees” and “thous” of Elizabethan English in the hymns proved to be a stumbling block to intelligibility. And this, from a college educated professional. Imagine what this might mean to those doing inner-city or far rural missions! The problem is compounded.
Now for me as both a hack poet, and a child of the manse (who even knows what that means any more?) I am truly loath to give up the music and cadence of the words of sacred hymnody, let alone the melodies. I love the amazing turns of phrase and linguistic beauty of so many of the hymns that have fed my soul for all of my life.
That said, if I want the truths which were meant to be communicated in those grand “songs of Zion” (does that phrase mean anything to anyone anymore?) to still serve the souls of those coming after – we may need to rethink, and re-work these sacred works of Gospel art.
I offer up a modest attempt below. I’d love to know what you think. I labored to keep the intent of the lyrics while trying to remove anything which might hinder anyone, and yet retain memorability as well as intelligibility. May God raise up a number in our day who can take on such a project – that what can be preserved, is, and what can be modified rightly, may be, for the edification of many others in days to come.
This, from “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee”. The original appears at the bottom.
I. Joyful, joyful, we adore You,
God of glory, Lord of love;
Hearts when warmed responding to you
Turn to see the Son above
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness,
Drive our darkest doubts away;
You Who give eternal gladness,
Fill us with Christ’s light today
II. All your works with joy surround You,
Earth and Heaven reflect your rays,
Stars and angels sing around You,
Center of our highest praise.
Fields and forests, valleys and mountains,
Beautiful meadows, flashing seas,
Singing birds and river fountains
All sing of your majesty
III. You are giving and forgiving,
Always blessing, always blessed,
Source of all the joy of living,
Boundless sea of happy rest!
God our Father, Christ our brother,
All who abide in You are mine,
Teach us how to love each other,
Sharing in your joy divine
IV. Come and join the happy chorus
Angels long ago began;
God the Father loving, saving,
Sent in love the Son of Man.
Always singing, marching to Heaven
Spirit empowered to conquer strife,
Joyful music leads us homeward
By the power of Christ – our life.
Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of love; Hearts unfold like flow’rs before Thee, Op’ning to the sun above. Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; Drive the dark of doubt away; Giver of immortal gladness, Fill us with the light of day!
All Thy works with joy surround Thee, Earth and heav’n reflect Thy rays, Stars and angels sing around Thee, Center of unbroken praise. Field and forest, vale and mountain, Flow’ry meadow, flashing sea, Singing bird and flowing fountain Call us to rejoice in Thee.
Thou art giving and forgiving, Ever blessing, ever blest, Wellspring of the joy of living, Ocean depth of happy rest! Thou our Father, Christ our Brother, All who live in love are Thine; Teach us how to love each other, Lift us to the joy divine.
Mortals, join the happy chorus, Which the morning stars began; Father love is reigning o’er us, Brother love binds man to man. Ever singing, march we onward, Victors in the midst of strife, Joyful music leads us Sunward In the triumph song of life.
As we consider prayer from Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount, we now come to the place where most think we are to make our petitions for daily provision known. And while that is not wrong per se, I think it misses the main aspect of Jesus’ intent. Why so? Because just a few verses later, Jesus tells us that the Father is already attuned to these basic issues of life. He in fact says ““Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.” And why are these not to be our concern? Because if we “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness…all these things will be added to you.”
To pray in faith is to consciously say “I know you have my “daily bread” well in hand, so that I can focus instead on your kingdom and righteousness.” That is not to say we cannot or should not bring our immediate concerns to Him – but it is to say that we can exchange deep concerns over the regular needs of daily life for concerns about His priorities with complete safety and confidence that He already knows them and has made provision for them in advance. Yes, we bring them all, but not with anxiety – but trusting His love and care and concern even before we get there!
What then is He really after in this petition? I think it can be nothing more or less than the refreshing, renewing, delighting in and knowing more deeply and sweetly – the wonder of “The Bread of Life” – Jesus Himself. It is a plea for a new “taste” of Him if you will. To be satisfied in Him. To be filled with Him. To want that we desire nothing more than Him and consider knowing and partaking of Him our greatest and sweetest need. Our REAL need.
Give us as your people, as your children today, more insight into His person and work; more joy in His glory; more wonder at Him; more delight in Him – a deeply soul-satisfying partaking of Him that that spoils our appetite for the things of this world and the cravings of the flesh.
And why is this so important? Because “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence.” (2 Pet. 1:3) Did you get that? All things that pertain to true life and godliness come through the knowledge of Him!
Here is where get full. Here is where we get what is most important to true life. Here alone is where our deepest needs are truly met in the fullest possible way.
Our Father, you who rule and reign over all – be glorified and hallowed in us above everything. Expand your kingdom in and through us. We commit all to your perfect wisdom and unfailing love. Now Father, fill us up with Christ. Reveal Him to us increasingly as the fullness of all you have to give. Satisfy us in Him. Let our souls feast on Him today afresh. Fill us with your Son till we can contain no more. Pour out the realities of His person and work until they eclipse anything and everything else. Give us THIS day, our Daily – Bread.
First, in an hour long drive to a recent wedding with some friends, the issue of worship music entered our discussion. It was both pleasant and insightful. And, it brought back the memory of something my fellow elders and I tried to think through more carefully a few years ago, as a way of getting the congregation to think about music in a Biblically informed way – and as a guide for our worship leaders.
The substance of our “Elder’s Perspective on Worship Music” will be found below, as a way to generate more thoughtful discussion.
Second, was an extended period of listening to a contemporary Christian worship channel on the radio in my recent visit to Texas. What struck me after listening for quite a while, was not that the music was poor. Sadly, it actually was in some cases and not in others. The tunes were, ho-hum. Not memorable. Not the kind of thing I would find myself reflecting on outside of a context where it was being played or I was invited to sing along. And most (not all) were not at all suited for group singing. They were more suited to solo voices performing. They would not lend themselves to a congregational application any more than say Sandi Patti’s Via Dolorosa. There is a place for that for sure. But no one would think of using it for a congregation to sing together.
But what stood out the most, were the lyrics. Not the words themselves considered in and of themselves. They we basically coherent and “Biblical” enough. It was that they seemed to be a mere collection of Christianese buzz-words and phrases, strung together rather haphazardly. Not memorable stanzas forming a cohesive whole. Like there was a list of words and phrases like: Blood, Wash, Holy, Delight, See, Desire, Hunger, Long, Jesus, God, I want to, please make me, make my heart, etc., and you just take them and paste them together in whatever order, and put them to a tune. There was no meat on the bones in terms of forming strong Biblical constructs for the heart and mind to really hang one’s hat on.
Third, is a discussion my wife and I just had this morning. Sky, having grown up for years in a super-liberal Methodist Church that would have none of the “bloody religion” stuff – nevertheless still finds the hymns of that Church resonating with and feeding her soul even today. And she opined that an entire generation will be bereft of the benefit such music continues to bring to her.
So, as I said above, in an effort to get our entire Church on the same page a number of years ago regarding music, we elders at ECF penned the following. And I pray it is useful to you in considering such matters for yourself, and for the Churches where you worship with your fellow saints.
“Worship is the activity of glorifying God in His presence with our voices and hearts.” In this definition we note that worship is an act of glorifying God. Yet all aspects of our lives are supposed to glorify God, so this definition specifies that worship is something we do especially when we come into God’s presence, when we are conscious of adoration of Him in our hearts, and when we praise Him with our voices and speak about Him so others may hear. Paul encourages the Christians in Colossae, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” ‘ ” (Col. 3:16)
“In fact, the primary reason that God called us into the assembly of the Church is that as a corporate assembly we might worship Him. As Edmund Clowney wisely says: “God had demanded of Pharaoh, “Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the desert” (Ex. 7.16b)….God brings them out that he might bring them in, into his assembly, to the great company of those who stand before his face….God’s assembly at Sinai is therefore the immediate goal of the exodus. God brings his people into His presence that they might hear his voice and worship him.” ‘ “(From Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology – page 1003).
Fewer topics within the life of the Church generate more discussion, and often division, than Worship styles. This is true in our generation, as well as previous ones. It is a perennial hot spot.
Some Biblical Parameters & Non-Negotiables
Col. 3.16 – 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Eph. 5.18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Passages like this one help us form a picture of the things Worship must incorporate in order to be Biblical. We’ve isolated 11 principles in these two passages which serve as the framework for our view of Biblical Worship here at ECF.
a. “Let the Word” – Biblical Worship must be: Word or Scripture Based. Rooted in God’s revelation of Himself. Apart from that, we would worship in supposition, but not truth.
b. “of Christ” – Biblical Worship must be: Christ centered. Jesus said in John 5.22 -23 “The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.” Here we see, God is not rightly honored, where Jesus is not rightly honored. Worship of God which omits a focus upon Jesus Christ and His saving work at Calvary fails to be genuine worship in God’s eyes.
c. “wisdom” – Biblical Worship must: Create and reinforce a Biblical world view.
d. “teaching” – Biblical Worship must be: Instructive in doctrine & life.
e. “admonishing” – Biblical worship ought to be: Challenging, encouraging us to a more Christ glorifying life.
f. “psalms, hymns, spiritual songs” – Biblical Worship must be: Broad in style and use (including prayer). Some music expresses right feelings of adoration, joy and thanksgiving. Other music admonishes. Some hymns or songs are prayerful. Still others are theologically instructive. Biblical Worship should embrace all of these – and possibly more.
g. “filled with the spirit” – Biblical Worship must be aimed at: Engaging the whole man under the influence of the Spirit. Moving the emotions with Biblical truth and beauty.
i. “making melody” – Biblical Worship must be: Joyful.
j. “giving thanks” – Biblical Worship must be: Appreciative.
k. “submitting” – Biblical Worship must be: Humble.
l. “reverence” – Biblical Worship must be: Reverent, befitting our God and our right relationships to Him. Making much of His glory.
I. The Chief goals we are after: We’ve identified five areas of special importance.
1. CONSISTENCY: We do not want to develop or foster different styles or traditions in different services, but one broad approach, the same in all services.
2. BREADTH: We would like to utilize a broad range of styles from all the ages of the Church.
a. New – Music of high quality both musically & doctrinally.
b. Traditional – (Trinity Hymnal et al) Maintaining the best of this genre.
c. Earlier Church – Pre 17th-20th century music.
d. Original – Music growing out of this assembly and its expressions.
There is nothing inherently right in being locked into any one or more of these genres. We are seeking to develop a much richer and broader worship environment both to expand the means we each use to glorify God, and to engage those in as many age groups and backgrounds as is reasonable.
3. EXPRESSIONS: There are no Biblically ordained instruments versus non-Biblically ordained instruments. We will endeavor to harness all instruments in service to the right worship of God.
a. More musicians of varying kinds (Strings, Vocals, Percussion, Bass, Wind, Brass, Electronic, etc.)
b. More styles.
4. FLEXIBILITY: There is no Biblically ordained worship format. The number of songs, where they are placed, and how they may be interwoven with prayer, Scripture reading, Preaching and other elements is a matter of taste and function. We do not believe we need to be bound to any particular format as long as the necessary elements are present.
a. We would like to see more and varying opportunity for participant response (Readings, Prayers, Recitations, Poems, Solos, Duets, etc).
b. More variation in when, where and how music is integrated. i.e. Not just front loading the music but sometimes more at the end, interspersing, etc.
5. ACCESSIBILITY: Music especially must be something which resonates with the worshipers. Though not all music will do so equally.
a. We DO exist within a culture. While we are never free to allow the culture to define us, we also have a responsibility to reach the culture where God has providentially placed us. it. We have a delicate and important balance to maintain here – guarding against compromise with the culture, while at the same time not erecting needless roadblocks to communication and interaction with the culture. In Japan, we would need to speak Japanese. In our culture, we need to be able to speak the language, without sacrificing one iota of the message. We are charged to reach the people around us, not 18th or 19th century Englishmen.
b. Worship is NOT only for us. 2 Chron. 6.32 “Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for the sake of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm, when he comes and prays toward this house, 33 hear from heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house that I have built is called by your name.
The phrase “The Great Exchange” is often attributed to Martin Luther. Whether or not the phrase originated with him, the concept is simply the Biblical teaching that salvation hinges upon the placing of our guilt for sin on Christ at the cross, and the imputation of His righteousness to Believers through faith. In R. C. Sproul’s “How Can I Be Right With God” he summarizes the Scripture teaching as: “We are blessed because our sin is not counted to us but imputed to Christ, and His righteousness is imputed to us by God’s forensic decree.” Sproul, R. C. 2017. How Can I Be Right with God?. First edition. Vol. 26. The Crucial Questions Series. Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust: A Division of Ligonier Ministries.
Now that has been the core of Biblical theology on the subject from the very beginning. Praise God for it!
But in our day, in 21st century America, the Great Exchange above has been supplanted by many for a different, and not-so-great-exchange. It is the exchange of lives consumed with spreading the Gospel of the saving grace of Jesus Christ and being transformed into His image by the power of the Spirit, to being consumed with preserving Western Culture and American Constitutionalism.
And it’s a raw deal.
The idea of praying “Your kingdom come” has been reshaped from seeking the fullness of Christ’s Kingship in our lives and His return to rule and reign on earth, to Christ helping us preserve the American way of life, and that, in material prosperity. We are no longer preoccupied with prosecuting the battle against the remnants of indwelling sin in ourselves and defending the faith once for all delivered to the saints, but battling the sin we perceive in others trying to encroach on an idealized and romantic notion of Americanism. It is Leave-it-to-Beaverism; as though the corruption of humankind hidden beneath the veneer of imagined external Pollyanna days was less deadly than the corruption we are increasingly seeing lived out in the culture. The dread disease was always there and just as fatal – it was just kept out of sight. Some.
When growing in Christ’s image no longer takes precedence, then other’s sins and other causes do.
The prayer closet has been exchanged for the voting booth.
Don’t get me wrong, Christians have civic responsibilities. We should carry them out as conscientiously as we can. But there is no policy, even legislated from the most godly body that can actually deal with sin, only certain of its manifestations. Is that good? Sure. But does it change anyone? Does it bring them into right standing with God? Does it produce actual righteousness? No. Only the Gospel can do that. It is not an ultimate answer. That doesn’t mean we ignore it, only that we do not see it as an end. We want to, we are commanded to – do good to our neighbors. But good that does not address the soul is only wallpapering a gaping hole in the wall.
Man’s problem is a sin problem, not a policy problem. Not a political system problem. Not a cultural problem. And we cannot win a spiritual war with earthly weapons or tactics “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Eph. 6:12) To which Paul by The Spirit adds His “therefore”. Therefore what? Sue? Vote? Become activists? Campaign? Hold rallies? Finance pacs? Decry conspiracies? March? No – take up the whole armor of God.
Now hear me – I’m not saying we can’t do all those other things. I’m not saying they are not useful to some degree. If my basement is flooding, I need to be about the business of bailing. Such bailing is needed to stave off further damage. But if I do not attack the broken pipe, if I do not stem the source of the flood – no matter how heroically I bail – in the end, the flood will overtake me and all will be lost. When Jesus was asleep in the boat in Mark 4, the Disciples tried to rouse Him to help. Help them what? Help manage the boat in the storm. And if that is what He did, how tragic the result would have been. They needed supernatural aid to their very real, existential peril. They needed Him to stand up and rebuke the wind and the waves, even though they weren’t aware He could even do that.
The Church, the nation, doesn’t need a revival of Americanism and/or patriotism, it needs a revival of souls through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Until the people of God are more interested in God’s plans and purposes than our own, for His cosmic and eternal causes and not for our temporary and temporal ones, we will be distracted by an exchange that damns men’s souls while attempting to recover human institutions.
So we’ve begun this look at prayer as a means to bring our own hearts and minds into tune with God’s great plans and purposes. Jesus teaches us to begin with a plea for the Father’s name to be rightly revered, respected and “hallowed.” For in the final analysis, nothing can be of greater importance than for God to be seen and related to rightly for who and what He is. It is the ultimate blessing for us as creatures. It is the end of all of Christ’s work. It overthrows everything of the Fall. And in the moment, it shores up the heart of the fainting saint. When you are facing big things – you need to see your truly big God.
This, Jesus asks us to consider in our prayers of first importance. We do not need to linger long there; though at times, we may begin turning our thoughts this way in prayer, and may find it an umbrella to all else we pray. But spend a few moments before Him considering this, and the rest will flow.
Secondly, He asks to pray that the Father’s Kingdom might come – might be fully manifested. Once again we see the hinge to vs. 33 – “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
And here, is a most vital matter for our hearts to consider before His throne – and that in 3 ways above all others.
1 – Heavenly Father – let your kingdom come IN me. Rule me. Own me. Possess me fully. Fill me with your Spirit so that Christ dwells in my heart through faith. Bring my emotions, my perceptions, my attitudes, my plans and purposes, my desires and aspirations, my responses to all peoples and circumstances under the hand of your absolute Lordship. Let Christ reign unopposed in my heart and mind. Take command over every last vestige atom of sin within me. Let every word that comes from my mouth and the very strains of my thought-life be wholly acceptable to you; for you are my rock and my redeemer. Your Kingdom come – in me.
2 – Heavenly Father, let your kingdom come THROUGH me. Make me a sower of the Gospel in all the world around me. Advance your kingdom in granting opportunities to call the lost to faith in Christ, and to bless and strengthen my brothers and sisters in Christ. Help me to be of use in the building of your Church. Use me as your agent where your infinite wisdom deems best. I care nothing for the theater of my service, only that I serve you when and where and how your Providence deems most useful to that end. Give your Gospel great success; subdue the hearts of your enemies through it. Advance and expand your Church and its influence with great power. Your kingdom come.
3 – Heavenly Father, send Jesus to rule and reign manifestly on this earth. We pray for His return. We cry that You might put down all sin and rebellion in all the cosmos. That indeed, every knee bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord to your praise and glory. Establish your Kingdom in His return. Send Him Father. Let Him break the nations with a rod of iron. Let Him judge all mankind in truth and righteousness. Let Him overthrow every human government and be established as your true, anointed king. Heavenly Father, your kingdom come.
Beloved, spend a few moments to be reminded of the great glory of our God and king – in calming the heart and mind before Him in the hallowing of His name – and then seek Him to finish the work He has begun. Seek to enter into it yourself. Seek to have all sin and its tendencies to be brought under His tender yoke within you, until the day when in His appearing, all sin is at last done away with.
Start here. Train the mind to go to these places first. It need not take long. But it will transform your inner man to rest and glory in Him – when all the world around you seems chaos and frightening.
Our Father, ruling and reigning in majesty above, may your name be restored in all the universe, and may your will be done on this earth even as it is in Heaven – immediately, unopposed and to the fullest degree. Amen.
Going all the way back to the 60’s (yeah, I go back even before that) – I heard discussions about how to make the Gospel relevant to people. Might I kindly but firmly say, that such thinking is completely upside down and misses the point of the Gospel entirely. In our preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the goal is to bring people back into a life of relevance to God! We were created FOR Him. He does not exist for us. In the Fall, we stepped away from our created purposes to follow our own plans and desires. And through the Gospel, we are reconciled back to God, so that we might once again take up His plans and purposes in the world. This is why the first petition Jesus taught us is of the highest importance.
In Luke 2 we’re told the account of Jesus when He was 12 years old, staying behind the returning caravan, in Jerusalem, after the Passover. His parents searched for Him for 3 days. When they finally find Him in the Temple interacting with the teachers there – His annoyed and no doubt worried parents – chasten Him for His action. His reply is noteworthy: “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”
He’s 12. But what is He about? His Father’s business. He is already living with an eye well past His immediate place and time. His heart and mind are set on the Father, on His plans, His purposes, His will.
So it is when He teaches us to pray, He seeks to help us come into that same heart/head space ourselves. To be drawn out of ourselves for a moment, to consider matters of cosmic importance. To consider God as God – and what that means. And as counterintuitive, as mind-boggling as it sounds – to pray for God in some way. This is truly astounding. What are we to pray for first? That the Father’s name would be hallowed. That the core issue in setting the cosmos right again – is seeing that the Father is honored, loved, respected, revered and “holified” once again – in all the universe.
Now this phrase, “hallowed be your name” can be thought of in many aspects, but let us consider only 4.
Jesus is forever desirous that His Father been seen and loved as He sees and loves Him because first and foremost – it is right. It is setting the cosmos to rights. And, because in it, we will find ultimate blessing ourselves.
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
1 – Let your glory and wonder be restored and made real TO me, IN me, and THROUGH me.
All blessing comes from The Father. He is the source of all good. Good, without any defect. “The blessing of the Lord makes rich, and He adds no sorrow with it.” (Prov. 10:22) But when He is in any way suspect in our eyes; when we imagine that in some way, any way, His love toward us is defective and He does not have our best interest at heart or has not used His best wisdom in ordering His providences in our lives – we besmirch Him. So we need a fresh sense of His perfections and goodness toward us in all things.
When Peter is writhing to his exiled and suffering brethren, by The Spirit he writes: “Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy.” (1 Pet. 3:13-15a) The way he tells them to endure suffering, must contain a heart and mind that is anchored in the fact that Christ is both Lord over their circumstances, and, that He is holy. That He cannot sin against them in His appointments. That He cannot do them wrong in any way. And we must begin there too beloved.
With all our needs, all our sorrows, all our cares, concerns, doubts, fears and worries – Father, help MY heart and mind, to hallow you aright. Be that holy, perfect, glorious, magnificent, all-loving, gracious, kind and compassionate sovereign TO ME! Be hallowed to ME right now. In this place in these circumstances. At this moment – open my eyes to the wonder of you afresh. And this, so that I might live in that reality, and might then proclaim that reality to the world.
A number of years ago, there was a TV commercial for Ritz Crackers. Andy Griffith was the spokesman, and the tag line was: “What are you hungry for when you don’t know what you’re hungry for?” Their answer? “Something on a crisp Ritz Cracker.”
Christians, what do you pray for when you don’t know what to pray for? That the Father’s name would be hallowed – and first and foremost to yourself. So that you may walk in love and confidence and trusting in a God who is so great, so glorious, so wondrous, so loving and true – that every dark shadow is blasted away by the refulgence of His bright glory.
Nothing, nothing will so strengthen, so cheer and refresh the soul as a fresh vision of His glory will. And so it is He teaches us to pray in this way before anything else. For all else will flow from this marvelous place.
As Spurgeon once wrote: “Depend upon it, there are countless holy influences which flow from the habitual maintenance of great thoughts of God, as there are incalculable mischiefs which flow from our small thoughts of him. The root of false theology is belittling God; and the essence of true divinity is greatening God, magnifying him, and enlarging our conceptions of his majesty and his glory to the utmost degree.” Spurgeon, C. H. 1891. “A Harp of Ten Strings.” In The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, 37:446. London: Passmore & Alabaster.
Humor me as I take yet one more day to tease this out just a bit more. Trust me, it will be worth it. But for today, if you will take just five minutes to get alone with the Lord, and plead for the hallowing of His name afresh TO you, IN you and THROUGH you, you will find a new wellspring of freshness and joy welling up.
Our Father in heaven – Oh please, let your glorious wonder wash over our souls afresh today. May we bow in a true and renewed sense of your holy wonder even this very hour.
One of the destructive traits of our age, is the endless hype that surrounds communication – especially in the media.
Everything is a crisis. Every election, the most important in history. No one can just be excited about something, they have to be SUPER EXCITED! Every supplement is THE most essential to life. Every cause has us on the brink of extinction. Every everything is “the best in the history of the world!”
In the face of a truly serious issue in the Church, one that Jude interrupts his planned course to address, there is no panic, no absolute dire predictions. Yes this is serious. Yes this needs addressed. But this is Christ’s Church, Christ’s people, and even the very gates of Hell, death itself nor all the demon hordes together can prevail against it. So let’s not lose our heads.
So it is Jude apparently wanted to write somewhat generically about Christianity and the Christian life for his fellow Believers, but responds to the exigency of the day: Contending for the Faith. A faith that had already been delivered, and which by his assessment will admit of no additions, subtractions or innovations. “The Faith” was already a settled thing at this early point in history. This did not mean there would not be increased clarification in areas over time, but it did mean the essentials were already the essentials and that was a settled matter even by then.
Note secondly: Jude finds contending for the faith of more importance than contending for other, what even may be genuinely pressing and legitimate things.
Are we to assume there were no other issues his readers were facing? At what time in history has this ever been true? But there is no mention here of cultural, social, political, economic or others, which every Christian faces in each generation. But for Jude, if the basic faith is lost, everything else is moot.
If we were to believe the hype around us today IN the Church, we would be certain that politics, the sexual revolution, the economy and government overreach are our biggest concerns. When Jude wrote this letter, (probably in the mid-60’s AD) Nero was on the Roman throne. In 60, the great tragedy at Pompeii had just occured. In 64, the great fire in Rome, blamed on the Christians. Starting in 66, the first of the Jewish-Roman wars began which would find Jerusalem decimated in 70.
But the biggest concern on Jude’s mind – by The Spirit? The need to contend for The Faith, that was once for all time delivered unto the saints. Protecting and keeping The Faith. All other societal and global issues aside – this was to take precedence.
Note third: There were 3 chief things which challenged the faith “once for all delivered” in Jude’s mind.
a. The influence of ungodly men in the Church. And we must note these were IN the Church as professing Believers.
b. The perversion of grace into license to sin.
c. Failure to live with Christ as the authentic, rightful and absolute master of the Christian’s life. Not seeing ourselves as Christ’s slaves, set for His purposes and agenda. But being self-directed.
It is ever and always a danger that people will creep into the Church bringing with them some supposed completion to or advancement of the Gospel and the Christian life and experience, beyond what is recorded to be received in God’s Word. This is a perennial danger that needs to be resisted every time it rears its ugly head. This is a much needed battle Believers must enter into. This, is not a place for compromise. This is not to be tolerated. How we respond to it, as Jude will outline later – is just as important as that we respond. But we dare not ignore it.
What we know for sure from verse 4 is that God certainly will not ignore it. And He is not shy to tell us of their demise. Nor is this anything new. God has always had this end in view for those who would follow the recorded pattern: Religious but unregenerate purveyors of sinful behavior justified under a perverted notion of grace, and serving themselves to the de-throning of Christ.
Note lastly: Jude is not about “restoring” the Church to some imagined golden-age state. This is always part of the bedrock of every cult and false movement. Instead, Jude is calling us simply to defend and stand by what has already (and always) been committed into the Church’s hands. The sound truth of the Word and the Spirit of holiness. The church never needs to be reinvented.
Praise God! His Church WILL survive. He is still the Great Shepherd. This device of Satan will not prevail. And as His blood-bought ones, we have a job to do in contending for The Faith which was delivered to us from ancient times – and needs no modification.
The need to be born again.
The glory of true grace, grating us freedom FROM sin, not TO sin.
The most fundamental of all truths to the Believer – Jesus is Lord.
Due to the urgency and seriousness of the subject matter of Jude’s letter, The Spirit saw fit to give some preparatory material.
So in verse 1, in the letter’s first triad, Jude helps anchor his readers in the what genuine salvation consists in. Those who are true Believers in Christ Jesus have been called to that position by God’s sovereign grace, they are as loved as God can love by The Father, and they are being kept both by and for Jesus Christ and the final day. It is a glorious foundation indeed.
Verse 2 gives us the second triad or triplet of ideas.
Notice first: Given what Jude is about to discuss as both urgent and deadly serious, he is concerned that the subject matter will lead his readers into a merciless war against those he’ll be exposing, that their peace will be upset and that love will take a back seat. He is preparing them for what they are about to hear. How do we contend earnestly for core Gospel issues, without losing the need to be merciful to the deceived, at peace that the Lord is still Lord over His Church, and that God’s love never fails, nor should ours?
It is a massive lesson for us today when dealing with what may be dangerous ideas or trends in the Church. One thinks immediately of the way the political divide in America has fueled bitter debate and division in Churches.
This triad of things we need to have multiplied to us always, are a great means of preventing our being swept up into the false doctrines of false teachers. False teachers will major on personal worthiness, secrets to better peace with God for gain, and means to be better loved by God, or experience His love. This, because Christ is His fullness is not constantly brought before us.
Notice second: The need for multiplying Mercy.
Believers must never lose sight of how it is they are believers, by virtue of God’s mercy. There is never room for boasting. Never room for comparison. No place for any species of self-justification. And no minimizing our guilt and desert of eternal damnation. The realization of our guilt and that our salvation is the result of pure mercy needs to be magnified in our sight over and over. It must be multiplied. Herein is one of the great paradoxes of true Christianity – that we can only really understand God’s goodness, when we unsparingly embrace our fallenness. When we recognize that salvation is all of grace. And it is only when we are saturated with a sense of how mercied we are – that we will overflow with mercy toward others in their darkness, deception and straying from the central truths of the Faith.
May our sense of being the unworthy recipients of mercy in light of our own sins color the way we deal with others.
Notice third: The need for multiplying peace.
We must constantly remind ourselves of the wonder of Romans 5. Nothing so keeps and encourages the heart in all circumstances as does knowing that our peace with God is rooted in the finished work of Christ. That we are not on probation, but reconciled. The war with God is over, so that we can battle sin instead. And because we are the objects of His mercy, we can have peace even in the fiercest moments of that battle.
When the Church is troubled, we need peace regarding how we are kept in Him. Peace that His promise to complete His work in us cannot fail. Peace that our everlasting inheritance is secure. Peace that His Spirit always attends us, and that His Word is steadfast and sure. Peace that even in death, the resurrection to new life awaits us. Peace that even when this world is coming apart at the seams, and when life is at its hardest, He will not leave us nor forsake us. Peace, that even when the Church is challenged by the very ones Jude is about to mention, that Christ is still our great High Priest, and we are still held in his hands.
Notice fourth: The need for multiplying Love.
In concert with Paul’s prayer in Eph. 3:14-21, it is the knowledge of His great love multiplied to us so that we might be filled with all the fullness of God Himself. And this alone. We are not filled with His fullness through seminars, individual experiences, etc. We are so filled, when according to the riches of His own glory, and strengthened by the Spirit in the inner man so that Christ is at home in us as He is on His throne in Heaven – we are exposed to the height, depth, length and breadth of a love that surpasses knowledge. When we come to know we are loved by the Father even as The Son. Adopted heirs and co-heirs with Christ. Loved beyond all possible human imagination. Loved, not in the sense of merely felt for – but in the sense that the universe is ordered so as to advance our highest blessing in Him. Rom. 8:28.
O that we would be ever drinking at these fountains. How much less contentious we would be. For Jude will call us to contend for the faith, but not to be contentious, combative or pugnacious with those who oppose us. Only in this will we be merciful toward those who may foolishly stray for a time, and forget to love those caught in deceptions – while being merciless to the deceptions themselves. Such a balance comes only when mercy, peace and love are multiplied to us.
Jude is an extraordinary letter. It is remarkable on a number of fronts. Here are just a few.
1 – Its stylistic features – Jude’s penchant to bundle ideas in 3’s throughout.
2 – Its brevity. 25 verses, 459 words (in the ESV). A typical sermon of mine runs about 5,000 words.
3 – Its urgency. No other book, with the possible exception of The Revelation comes with such a sense of urgency. Jude himself says he intended to write to his audience about broader themes related to our salvation – but felt compelled to address a pressing need.
4 – Jude’s appeal to extra-Biblical material he knows his audience has interacted with.
5 – Jude’s obvious unwillingness to try and trade on being Jesus’ half-brother. He seeks no special authority.
6 – The unusual amount of shared material with 2 Peter.
7 – Jude’s assumption that the foundation of “The Faith” was already sufficiently established so that he could appeal to it without much detail.
8 – His most unexpected counsel as to how the Church ought to respond to the critical problem he cites as the reason for the letter in the first place.
Note first: Jude’s first triad. How does he denominate Christians? As those who are – “Called”, “Beloved in God the Father” and “kept for Jesus Christ.”
And we do not want to miss Jude’s thought process here. He is about to address his readers about a most urgent spiritual crisis among them. But he does not begin there. He begins by reminding them of who they are in Christ. He wants to them to be well fortified to face what he is about to unfold, by reaffirming their hearts and minds in the sureties of their salvation. He does not want them to be overwhelmed by the depth and severity of the problem they are facing.
Note second: The true Christian is first and foremost – called.
No one just stumbles into Christianity and right relationship with God. He must always initiate our coming to Him, or it is most certain we would never. In our fallen condition, we never seek Him out of ourselves, nor for Himself. As Paul draws from several Old Testament sources to make his case in this regard, he writes by The Spirit in Romans 3 “For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.”
The idea here isn’t that man does not seek “god” in any sense, or there would not be idolatry as well as true religion. There are 2 things here:
1. No one seeks after the true God, excepting the Spirit of God working in him and drawing him. And this work, the Spirit is doing all the time. Thus we cannot absolutize this verse in a way that ignores or denies the Spirit of God at work all over the place, causing all manner of persons in all manner of places and circumstances to seek Him. He is active convincing the World of righteousness, sin and judgment. He draws people to Christ.
2. No man – left to him or her self, seeks God as God, for God. All man made religion seeks god in the sense of seeking power over circumstances and others, and in trying to clear oneself from the innate sense of guilt.
What then is to be done? How are any to be saved from God’s own just wrath? He must call us to Himself. For which purpose He does many things – but to speak of only 2: He sends His Church into the world to proclaim the Gospel to every creature – “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30); and secondly He sends His Spirit to draw them – “And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.” (John 16:8-11)
Theologians have traditionally then divided God’s “call” into two species – The outward call of the Gospel to every human being which men resist, ignore, embrace and sometimes fall away from (see Jesus’ parable of the soils in Mark 4) , and the inward or effectual call of the Spirit which may be resisted, but the Spirit overcomes to make us Christ’s.
If you are Christ’s today beloved, a most miraculous thing has happened. The Gospel preached was like a seed planted in your heart, and the Spirit attended that seed that it might bring for new life in Jesus. He has called you to Himself. The sovereign Creator of all, the omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent God of all – who rules and reigns in all power and authority over the cosmos – called you, by name, and despite all of your fallen objections and resistance, overcame them all to make you His own.
O what a wonder of wonders our salvation is! And who is this God who would do such for His enemies? Glory!
Note third: The Christian is not a Christian due to some mere transactional formulae in God. We are His, because He loved us! We love because He first loved us! (1 John 4:19)
Many have labored under the misconception that God the Father is like a grumpy old despot who only seeks revenge on His enemies, and that the kinder, milder Christ somehow interposed Himself between us, so that the Father must grudgingly save us. It is not so!
It was God the Father, who so loved the world, that He gave His only Son for us. Jesus coming and dying was the Father’s plan. He sent Jesus out of His great love.
Now contemplate this for a moment.
This God, who is as we just described Him above, who called you by name to Himself, did so out of the infinite depths of His love for you. You Believer are “beloved in God the Father.” Cherished. Valued. Esteemed. Delighted in. He takes pleasure in you. He did all He did in Christ that you might be reconciled to Him. That you might rejoice in Him, lavish in Him, delight in Him endlessly throughout the ages of eternity. “So that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” (Eph. 2:7) We must do our utmost to deflect every lie of the Enemy who would somehow diminish in any capacity the purity and entirety of God’s love for His blood bought ones in Christ. As Galatians reminds us – faith works through love (Gal. 5:6) Our faith is always in direct proportion to our sense of God’s love for us. We must be convinced – supremely by the Cross – of His infinite, tender love for His own.
Note fourth: Believer’s are “kept”, preserved and protected – to be Christ’s Bride at His return.
The original here can be read two ways: Either that we are kept FOR Christ, or kept BY Christ. And perhaps it is best to just accept them both.
He has saved us, to be with us. Died for us, to purchase us. Rose again to raise us up. Sent His Spirit to seal us for the “day of redemption.” (Eph. 1:13; 4:30)
Many is the true Believer who in the aftermath of failure in sin, or due to the strains of external trials and tribulations is surrounded by dark clouds of doubt fearing they will not persevere in Christ to the end. It is not so! “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” (John 10:27-29)
Weary, troubled, wounded fellow Believer – you are being kept by and for your Redeemer. And especially kept FOR Him, that He might take eternal delight in your union with Him as His own dear bride.
What glory belongs to us who are His by faith. Truly, the heart and mind of man are not capable of searching out the wonder of it all.
And so Jude begins his solemn and necessary letter – with the extraordinary reminder to his fellow Believers.
ResponsiveReiding 