Goes for Facebook too

"A pastor has no right to turn the pulpit into a coward's castle, and from there attack those in the congregation, whom he is afraid to meet face to face privately.

It is cruelly unfair to attack an individual who cannot defend himself—to hold him up, as if on the horns of the pulpit, before the congregation, (who generally know pretty well who is meant), and to condemn him without hearing his side, with the pastor being the only judge and jury."

JC Philpot

My Bible - Study Tools

I suppose I should have started with the Bible in my recommended books, but I assume you already have and regularly read a Bible. Concerning the printing and making of study Bibles," there is no end" and they continue on day and night forever. I'm no fan of the specialty Bibles. The hunter’s study Bible. The NASCAR study Bible. The Gaither Homecoming Study Bible. The Duck Commander Study Bible. The Teen Bible, but not to be out done by the Extreme Teen Bible. If you are reading God's Word, praise the Lord. I wouldn't want to discourage that, but you have to remember that Bible publishing is a business -- supply and demand. I hate to say it and to think about it, but it’s a fact. Publishers find out what the people want and give it to them, at affordable prices. Bible publishers have marketers who want you to buy their product. My advice is to stay away from these affinity Bibles altogether. Nothing wrong with having a hobby, but a Bible designed around your hobby, age, gender, or preferences and put you at the center of the Bible's message. My purpose is not a translation discussion, but my recommendation is the Kings James Bible.

I can only tell you about the Bible's I have used, so I'll tell you the story of how I came to use the Bible I have now. When I announced my call to preach, the Beauty Ridge Missionary Baptist Church bought me a Nelson’s Open Bible. I loved the study tools, especially the subject index, which was such a useful tool for someone who was, as Spurgeon said, a man of "slender apparatus". The only thing I didn’t like about it were the illustrations. I found them distracting and pointless. When my pages were starting to fall out and the bonded leather was coming unglued and I needed to upgrade, I decided to find a Bible without the illustrations in the middle of the text.

I bought a Scofield Study Bible. Why? Because a preacher I admired preached from one, and if it was good enough for him, it was good enough for me. I didn’t find the notes particularly helpful, especially on creation and the Sermon on the Mount, but I loved the type set and the paper. I bought the wide margin version and as I taught Sunday School, I wrote all my notes and outlines in the margins. I had gone through a couple books, Job, Acts, and Galatians and had filled the margins with notes, references, definitions. I loved it. I would make my own study Bible. One Sunday, I preached for a church without a pastor. They told me they had a morning service, ate, then had an afternoon service. I went and preached, we ate, and then I waited for the next service to start. One of the men asked me if I could leave so they could start their business meeting. They had a service, but with no preaching, so while I waited for the service to start, they were waiting for me to leave. I was a little aggravated because at the time, my oldest was about 3 years old and we had an infant, and they were a handful after lunch, especially after sitting in church all morning, followed by a fellowship meal. I could have left 45 minutes sooner, if they had told me. We had a few hours to drive to get back and I just wanted to get back. The boys were screaming and crying, not wanting to get in the car seat, I set my Bible on top of the car while I buckled them in the car. I was supposed to preach that evening at my home church. We arrived safe and sound, about 30 minutes before the evening service. Getting everyone out of car seats and ready to go in the building, I can't’ find my Bible. I remembered setting the Bible on top of the car, but not putting it back in the car. I got a sick feeling in my stomach. After emptying the vehicle of its contents and no Bible was discovered, it confirmed my fear – I left it on top of the car and drove off. That was the last I ever saw of that Bible.

My mom bought me a replacement, another Scofield. It wasn’t a wide-margin, those were now out of print, but honestly, the thought of putting my notes in another Bible broke the Newell heart, to be sure. This Bible was also bonded leather. I sent it off to Mississippi to be rebound and had blank pages inserted in between each page. It is heavy and think, but still very nice. My problem? I couldn’t see it from the pulpit. I wasn’t sure why, since it had the same size font. I had my eyes checked out, and received a good report. During this time, I started working for Oxford University Press, who published the Scofield Bible. I discovered the wide-margin I lost was made with India paper, which is thicker and has less ghosting because of the superior quality. The wide margin I lost was one of the last runs of this higher quality Oxford Bible. The newer Scofield Bibles are manufactured in Korea with a much thinner, cheaper paper, which explains why when you underline, you can see the ink on the other side. Cheaper Bibles, cheaper quality paper. At first, I thought it was the print size, so I got a large print when I worked for OUP, and I had the same problem. I learned a lot about the Bible business, publishing, and the nuts and bolts of mass producing Bibles while I worked with the Bible department.

Having learned more about paper quality, bindings, and fount from OUP, I  tried the Cambridge Wide-Margin with the higher quality, thicker paper and bolder font. My wife bought me the Cambridge as a gift right before I went and preached a revival meeting. One of the first times I preached from the Bible,  I said, “Turn to Revelation 21” and I tried to do the same, but my Bible ended with Revelation 19, which I felt was a little disappointing and set the tone for the experience I had with it.  Their customer service was a delight. The quickly replaced the Bible, but the replacemnt had ink smeared on several pages. So they upgraded me to goatskin leather version, which was great. Quite a big jump from bonded leather, or even genuine leather. The ink was faded in some places on this Bible. I could read it, but it looked like a printed page when your printer is running out of ink. I gave up and kept the Bible.

I still had a hard time reading from the pulpit, and now just reading. Plus, the Bible is large, and most pulpits were not designed for Bibles and notes. That’s when I found the R.L. Allan & Son Publishers, King James Bible. They sale high quality Bibles. Up front, they are rather expensive but they are very nice and I think they are worth the money. Mine is printed on India paper and bound in highland goatskin leather, which is very soft and makes for easy turning and comfortable reading. The font is 8/9, but the paper is high quality and thick so there is very little bleed through. They also use bold font, which I have discovered is the second component to easy reading in a Bible. It is better to have thicker paper and bolder font than to have bigger font on thinner paper. I love it and highly recommend getting one, especially if you are having eye problems. That’s what I have now, and wouldn't think about using any other now. I like everything about it.

Get a good Bible and read it. Buy one, read that one Bible and get familiar with that Bible.

Covenant, Promise, and Inheritance

There are three vital terms needed to understand Galatians 3:15-18 – covenant, promise, and inheritance. Paul makes the case for justification by faith alone, not by works. God says he saves by grace, through faith. This has always been the case. There were some false teachers (and some today) who say that you have to keep the law to go to Heaven. Some false teachers say baptism is necessary for salvation or go to Heaven you must  join their church. Paul proves in the book of Galatians that you are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in the finished work of Christ alone.  In this section, Paul appeals to God's promise to Abraham and that since Abraham was saved by faith, so will his descendants.

If you make a contract with someone and both parties agree and sign on the dotted line, then legally, the contract won't be annulled. God, in Christ, made an eternal covenant. God the Father chose a particular people among the fallen human race to show his great mercy and love by saving them and giving them eternal life. God the Son, the Lamb of God, would come and die for those people, redeem them through His blood, be their substitute and sin sacrifice. God's people would stand before God holy and just having Christ's righteousness. This covenant, or compact of the Godhead was not conditional. God pronounced this covenant to Abraham in a promise. The promise was the revelation, or the unveiling of the covenant God had made to Abraham and his seed, which was Christ. And through Christ, all the nations of the Earth would be blessed. The revealing of the covenant in this promise, assured Abraham's spiritual children an inheritance. An inheritance is to receive something by legal descent. We receive justification, salvation, redemption, and eternal life through this covenant.

Centuries later (430 years as Paul tells us) after this promise given to Abraham was repeated to Jacob (Genesis 28:15), God made the covenant with Moses. In Paul's day, there were a great many people saying the law given to Moses was the only way to get to Heaven. You had to keep the law. You had to follow the Levitical patterns and precepts. You had to shun certain foods and wear certain clothes in order to be saved and have your sins forgiven. But Paul reminds us of the covenant. God made a covenant, a contract and agreement that cannot be disannulled. God, who does not lie and does not change (Hebrews 6:16-17) promised Abraham the inheritance. There is nothing that can change God's eternal covenant, revealed in the promise to Abraham, assuring God's people of receiving the inheritance, through Christ, by faith. Abraham was not saved by works, but by faith, and so are his people. If the inheritance is given by the law, then it is not in the same line of the promise, and not based upon the covenant, and not grounded in the work of Christ. It does not legally hold water and you have no hope.

Only God is "Present"

The big new trend is psychology and mysticism is mindfulness and being present. Living in the right now, not thinking about the past or the future. I recently read a Christian author commend such a practice. I find it to be hogwash. We are creatures of time and are not capable of being "present" because we live in time with a past and a future. Granted, I understand what many mean by this. Don't be at home with the kids bodily, but at the office in spirit. Or pastor, don't be replaying business meetings in your mind while eating dinner with the family. What I'm addressing is the meditative practice of mindfulness, which has roots in mysticism. Indeed, the prayers of the Psalmist often, when dealing with an issue, think of the past or the future in helping to deal with the current problem.

I was reading Abstract of Systematic Theology  by James P. Boyce, and in his section on the eternity of God, he said that only God is present. He is eternally present. I am going to give this some more thought, but a question - does trying to living only in the present an attempt to only do what God can, and thus a wicked practice?

"Our difficulty in doing so is that we can no more conceive of duration without succession than we can of an eternity a parte ante. But we see that in this conception we are not arriving at a thought in itself erroneous, as in the other case, but are simply recognizing the fact that God's mode of existence, as to time, is different from ours. Ours has succession of moments, increase in the length of the period, is not all of it possessed at the same time, has had beginning and might have an end, and has a past and future as well as present. God has no succession, no increase of life, is possessed of the whole of his existence at once, and eternally possessed, has had no beginning, can have no end, and lives in the present only, having no past or future. This accords with the statements of Scripture. God is always spoken of in the present. He calls himself I AM. His name Jehovah has been supposed mystically to express this. The psalmist says: "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God." Ps. 90:2 . 

Thus our Lord, when he would declare his equality with the Father, uses the present tense for each. "My Father worketh even until now, and I work." John 5:17 . So also in like manner he declared his divinity by saying, "Before Abraham was, I am." John 8:58 ."

Like I said, I'll give this some more thought, but I am very leery when Christians start using buzzwords and adapt and promote new practices and call them spiritual disciplines. I'm more and more convinced of the evil of the evangelical industrial complex.

Crooked can't be made straight - Ecclesiastes 1:14-15

14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit. 15 That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.

Looking at the world, Solomon sees the problem he is dealing with everywhere. He is not just not having a bad week - the vanity of life is a universal problem. The vanity of life under the sun is a common human experience. Living life in this cursed earth is vanity and vexation. The world is bent and it cannot be straightened out by any means under the sun, or with human hands. The different ways life is difficult and vanity and vexation, the various ways that we are tried are so great, they can’t be numbered. 

Though hardly uplifting, this is true. Much better to hear and know the truth so we can deal with life honestly than live in a fantasy world sailing off into eternity. Much better to see reality and know that we cannot find satisfaction and eternal joy and peace through the works of our hands than to spend a life looking for something that is not there. 

An Ordained Minister

Acts 14:23 And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.

Last week, I flew to Texas to be part of a service to ordain my brother, Joseph Newell, to pastoral ministry. It was a powerful service and one that I will remember for a long time. Seeing a man enter in this great work -- to pastor of one of the Lord’s churches blessed my soul and encouraged me in my own ministry. I’m sure you have heard of an “ordained minister” and know that a man needs to be ordained, but maybe never thought about what it means to be ordained.

The word “ordained” in this verse means to “appoint, to elect, or to vote by stretching out the hand.” Paul and Barnabas planted many churches in areas where Christ had not been named. The goal of every missionary should be to evangelize the lost, baptize, teach, and then organize those believers into a church, and then move on to the next place. These assemblies were organized into churches, but they all couldn’t have Paul stay and be their pastor. They needed pastors of their own. Within that assembly, the church appointed men to the office of pastor.

Ordination in the ministry is simply the act of a man being called, voted in, and appointed to the position of pastor or deacon. The task of “ordaining” men to gospel ministry falls to the authority of a local church. The church must take into consideration several factors when calling men to one of these offices. The church has a Biblical guide as to what to look for in a man (and yes, it must be a man) when calling a pastor. 1 Timothy 3:1-9 covers the character of the candidate, but there is much more than character, the man has to know the word of God and be sound in the faith and strong in doctrine. When the church votes the man into the position, after  much prayer and fasting, customarily, the elders present, lay hands on the man and pray the Lord would bless and strengthen him in the ministry (I Timothy 4:14).

The pastor spends his life mining and uncovering the unsearchable riches of Christ Jesus the Lord, and the make those truths known. To watch over the souls of the people the Lord has given him. At the same time, it’s a job where  more than a few men lost their heads. It's a vocation that has left more than one man in jail. It's a field of labor that left more than one man bearing the physical, and emotional scars of the Lord in their body.  But it is worth it. God blessed the Sovereign Grace Baptist Church of Silsbee, TX with a man who, I am confident, will watch over their souls, care for them, and do the good work of an undershepherd.

This Sore Travail - Ecclesiastes 1:12-13

12 I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith.

I believe the Preacher is Solomon. He fits the bill. As we will see, the Preacher has unimaginable financial wealth. We also know that he is a wise man. He was King over Israel in Jerusalem. If we take Israel (all tribes, before the divide) as the nation, then there are only two options: Solomon and Rehoboam. Verse 1 says the Preacher is the son of David, and Solomon’s son, Rehoboam was King during the divide. Even if you take “Israel” to be the people of God in general and place him after the divide, that would only be 7 other good kings of Judah to choose from, and given Solomon's wealth and wisdom, and knowing that he wrote two other books of wisdom, I Solomon is the man. 

Speaking of wisdom, Solomon gave his heart to seek it and search it out concerning all the things under the sun. Life is hard and “this sore travail” is the common experience of man. Solomon wants to know why. What’s the point of it all? I think all men feel this despair. Some will bury these feelings. Most won’t ever think deeply about them. One way or the other, most people will attempt one of the methods Solomon searches out in the remainder of the book, to try and find some sort of meaning and purpose to life.

Solomon tells you what this sermon is about and how he set out to come to his conclusions. He tried, experienced and tested different theories and paths looking for meaning and happiness. It’s a social and spiritual experiment. He needed to know, so he set his mind to find out and wouldn’t rest until he got his answer. The great thing about this book, is we can see what works and what doesn’t without having to experience the pain of trial and error.

this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith.

The sore travail, or the hard and bitter ordeal of life is given to us by God so we can be humbled by it. Life in a cursed world is not going to be Eden. We lost that. No amount of work or labor or “redeeming the culture” is going to reverse the curse. This life is difficult. God ordains our steps and ordains our trials to exercise us and to try us. Life works as a refining fire in our sanctification.

Study Tools. Full Commentary Sets

Pastor David Green has begun and excellent work by recommending books that every Baptist preacher needs to have. I’m going to try my hand at adding to the list and using his format. I’m not disagreeing with his list. There are some books he has that I haven’t read and I’m sure vice versa. First, check out David’s list.

I’m going to go section by section and then give a short overview of why I like them. Today's installment will cover Full Commentary sets. These are my favorites. 

Full Commentary Sets.

John Gill's Exposition of the Bible. The Good Doctor is a staple for any Baptist library. He’ll give you most of the information that you want and a lot of the information that you don’t want. As Spurgeon pointed out, he likes to firstly, then secondly explain what the text doesn’t mean before telling you what it does. But the man was such a giant intellect it is worth the effort. Not so hot on eschatological issues.

Matthew Henry

If you need the sense of the passage and how to apply it, Matthew Henry is great.

Albert Barnes.

Might be my favorite. Would probably be the happy medium between the overabundance of information with Gill on each verse, but with the clarity and insight of Henry. Like Henry, he did not finish the whole Bible and it was finished for him, some areas weaker than others, especially on church doctrine.

Matthew Poole

Short and sweet comments. I’ll follow his lead.

B. H. Carroll

I absolutely love this collection. Sometimes I’ll just take one down and read a little section. They are full of insightful observations and witty stories and illustrations. The book recommendations he makes are also gold. These are Carroll’s classroom lectures as he took his seminary students through the English Bible. Obviously, not a verse by verse commentary, but it you are going to preach through a book or do a book study, I would say that this set should be on you list to read in your early study of the book. I disagree with his eschatological views.

The Pulpit Commentary

I usually look at this once I’m finished with my outline and my study. I rarely look at the exegetical work, but I enjoy the homiletics section. It’s a collection of sermons and sermon outlines from various preachers.

 Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary 

Another favorite when I'm just looking for the sense of the passage. Often good application. 

Review: Passion in the Pulpit

Passion in the Pulpit: Delivering Persuasive Sermons Without Being Manipulative

by Jerry Vines and Adam Dooley

Rhetoricians all agree effective persuasion must have, as Aristotle said, the logos, ethos, and pathos for effective communication. It's important what you say, it's important who says it, and it's important how it is said. This book deals with the pathos, an emotional side of persuasive communication. But how can you consider the pathos of a sermon, without being manipulative and deceiving? The key is to get in the Scripture, understand what it says until you feel the message yourself. By doing that, your emotion and delivery will match the original author’s emotion and pathos.

This book teaches that you need to read the passage and see the pathos and emotional flow of the original author, and the speaker must match that emotional delivery. If the text is sad, then the speaker must then communicate this sadness of the text through his delivery, illustrations, and mannerism. The text itself will set the bounds for our emotional delivery in the pulpit. In other words, screaming at the top of your lungs, "God loves you!" while banging your fists on the pulpit with an angry scowl probably doesn't communicate the emotional flow of the text. Giggling over the destruction of Jerusalem doesn’t convey the Weeping Prophet’s pathos.

The first section deals with how to determine the Scriptures own pathos in the text, and then moves to ways to incorporate that in the message through language and lastly through delivery. In other words, we exegete the Words of Scripture, we ought to also exegete the pathos of Scripture.

The book is co-authored, but it's clear who is writing what. Dooley writes the majority of the book and Vines has a section called In The Pulpit at the end of every chapter where he summarizes and illustrates the principles of that chapter. This book doesn’t give you whiplash like many co-authored books do when going back and forth between the author’.

Many good thoughts to consider.

Thanks to Netgalley.com for the review copy.

There was a reason, after all

"In the matter of reforming things, as distinct from deforming them, there is one plain and simple principle; a principle which will probably be called a paradox. There exists in such a case a certain institution or law; let us say, for the sake of simplicity, a fence or gate erected across a road. The more modern type of reformer goes gaily up to it and says, “I don’t see the use of this; let us clear it away.” To which the more intelligent type of reformer will do well to answer: “If you don’t see the use of it, I certainly won’t let you clear it away. Go away and think. Then, when you can come back and tell me that you do see the use of it, I may allow you to destroy it."

G.K. Chesterton - The Thing

A Good Place to Start Theological Study

It's important where you begin your theological study. Your heart needs to be right if you are going to profit from theology. Since we are all fallible and all have our predjucies, James Boyce gives 6 ways we need to approach theological study.

1. With reverence for truth, and especially for the truth taught in the Word of God.
2. With earnest prayer for Divine help.
3. With careful searching of heart against prejudice.
4. With timidity, as to the reception and propagation of new doctrine.
5. But with a spirit willing and anxious to examine, and to accept whatever we may be convinced is true.
6. With teachable humility, which, knowing that God has not taught us in his word all the truth that exists, not even all the truth on many a single point, accepts with implicit faith all that he has taught, and awaits his own time for that more full revelation which shall remove all our present perplexities.

Abstract of Systematic Theology – James P. Boyce

A Problem with C.S. Lewis

If you are going to be a popular writer in Christian circles, you are going to have to have a few Lewis quotes from time to time. He's the perennial favorite among the evangelical elite. He really isn't anyone we should lift up as a Christian leader. We treat Lewis with doctrinal kid gloves when we really shouldn't and wouldn't treat anyone else. For example, Rob Bell, and rightly so, was called to the carpet and labeled a heretic for his, well, his heresy. So, why do we uphold Lewis, who had the same Universalist bent, with more heresy besides?

Michael John Beasley wrote in My Banner is Christ:

"By itself, [Rob] Bell’s book [Love Wins] was certainly problematic, yet reactions to what he wrote were even more problematic and even ironic. I say ironic because many of Bell’s greatest critics also happen to be the loudest advocates of C.S. Lewis, whose theology of purgatory was no less dangerous than that of Bell’s. In 1998, J.I. Packer noted the irony of C.S. Lewis’popularity within Evangelicalism, despite his views on purgatory and many other things:  

'By ordinary evangelical standards, his [Lewis’] idea about the Atonement (archetypal penitence, rather than penal substitution), and his failure ever to mention justification by faith when speaking of the forgiveness of sins, and his apparent hospitality to baptismal regeneration, and his noninerrantist view of biblical inspiration, plus his quiet affirmation of purgatory and of the possible final salvation of some who have left this world as nonbelievers, were weaknesses; they led the late, great Martyn Lloyd-Jones, for whom evangelical orthodoxy was mandatory, to doubt whether Lewis was a Christian at all. His closest friends were Anglo-Catholics or Roman Catholics; his parish church, where he worshiped regularly, was 'high'; he went to confession; he was, in fact, anchored in the (small-c) 'catholic' stream of Anglican thought, which some (not all) regard as central. Yet evangelicals love his books and profit from them hugely.'

I understand the appeal of C.S. Lewis. He is an excellent writer and a good thinker. I do not understand the infatuation with Lewis as a Evangelical Christian leader. From what I understand, C.S.Lewis would not have considered himself an evangelical. I am not one of those who say that you can only read only with people who agree with you, otherwise you'll only read your own journals. I'm not even saying that I think that you should avoid Lewis all together, but I believe that to put him in the category of a safe and trusted guide in doctrine is dangerous. When I read C.S. Lewis, I have to remember that there are a lot of really, very serious problems with his theology. If Rob Bell is dangerous (and he is) then shouldn't the same caution be shown to Lewis, seeing they taught similar doctrines? Lewis is an excellent writer and a really bad theologian.

I think part of it comes from the fact that Lewis was not a clergyman, but a professor. Bell was/is a pastor and he is held to a high standard, as he should be. But Lewis, by being a Christian writer, took upon himself the role of a teacher and should be read with as much strict discernment as any other book.

Several have pointed out that comedians who like to be politically active will rail on their political enemies with great passions and fervor. When they are called to give an account for what they say or believe they say "I'm just a comedian, what do you expect?" They have coined it as "clown nose on...clown nose off." They want to speak with authority without having the responsibility that comes along with authority or to be held accountable. Recently, Jimmy Kimmel had not problem being the voice of the American conscience when he was politicking for heath care. But when it came to other issues that would cost him, "hey I'm just a late night show host." Clown nose on. I do not believe Lewis played this game, but the game is being played with his works. I believe this is why Lewis is given that same leniency. When he is good, he is praised. When he is heretical, it is "well, he was not a preacher, he was a professor." When Lewis is good, he is great and when he is bad, he is awful.

Even in his fiction, he's got lots of problems.

The much lauded "That Hideous Strength" (the final book in his Space Trilogy) is, strange. Even more strange that conservative Christian's praise and recommend this book. As a story, it was pretty good. As a critique of modernism, and the dangers and failures of treating the intellectual and scientific communities as priests in a new religion (new religion, same as the old religion) it was great. Lewis can rightly diagnosis the problem and then skillfully give us the end that we all want. Peace, God, illumination, things that are true, things that are lovely, things that are wholesome. The spiritual realities of the world we live in are true.

But Lewis never tells the reader how to get from A to B. The book makes the case that Christianity is the answer, but what does Lewis mean by Christianity? I know this wasn't meant to be a gospel tract, but making conversion a major theme of the book and then having the "awakening" to be "there is someone, something out there" in my opinion, is a failure and the danger far outweighs any good that might come. Lewis provides a taste of Christianity without Christ. If you lay That Hideous Strength along side the book of Colossians, you'll find that the characters would have much more in common with the proto-gnostics than with the Apostle Paul.

So why do celebrity preachers praise C.S. Lewis so? I have no idea. I think it's trendy. I think that he's an author that you can wink to the world and have some credibility. Maybe we Christians like our celebrities too, and we feel validated when the world likes someone who says he's on our side. I really can't explain why pastors would promote Lewis and recommend him.

I'm not calling for a boycott or a book-burning. But can we not treat him as a good Christian author? I recently made a comment in a sermon about Lewis, and the idea that Lewis wasn't a good, solid, Christian was remarkable. Why? Because we have lifted him up as one. Let's warn and be cautious of quoting and promoting a dangerous man.

The Children Shall Lead

Isaiah 3:4 And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.

Judah was on the eve of judgment. God had warned and warned, but His people wouldn’t listen. God is going to judge them by giving Judah the leaders she deserved. God often judges people by giving them what they want in heaping spoonfuls, with cherries on top. This is hardwired in the universe He created, you reap what you sow.  The sins men love often are the rope they hang themselves with. God’s people would not listen to the men He sent, they would not heed to the godly kings, so God gave them leaders suitable to their immaturity. Sinful rebellion is childish and immature behavior, so they'll be led by children.

Sound familiar? Members of the media and politicians are fawning over the leadership of children and following them. Being passionate and earnest is not enough to lead and emotions do not equate to leadership, wisdom, and maturity. The Biblical commentators are quick to point out the Hebrew in Isaiah 3:4 doesn’t necessarily restrict this to mean young in age, but could refer to the immature. What we have are immature people in positions of power, encouraging immature teenagers to rise up and lead them. This is not a blessing, it's a curse, and it will not end well. The children who are “leading us” are being used, and they don’t know it. One of the leaders of the French Revolution reportedly said,  "There go the people. I must follow , for I am their leader." True, Biblical, godly leadership will guide the people in truth and righteousness with wisdom, not find out where the wind is blowing, find some young people to repeat their talking points, and get behind them.

This is the country we wanted. I recently read a biography of Calvin Coolidge. He was a great man and a great president, in my opinion. He couldn’t get elected dogcatcher today if he was the only one running and his Mom cast the only vote. Why? He had no charisma and wasn't a brilliant speaker. His qualifications, his leadership, his resolute commitment to what he believed would be meaningless today. Never mind moral character. Never mind actual credentials and qualifications. We have ignored God’s Word. We have ignored God’s laws. We have made entertainment and amusement the gods of our decant age. Behold your leaders.

This same type of judgment falls on churches when leadership fails and the immature take charge. When children lead the parents judgment comes on the family. Fathers decide where (or if) they go to church based upon what the kids want. Sunday is no longer the Lord’s Day, but  the Children's day. We cannot change the country, but we can take care of our own back yards. We can lead our families in righteousness. We can lead our churches and model the godly order of mature leadership and wise counsel. We can pray for mercy.

Pleasant words

Proverbs 16:24 Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.

Honey was the great treat in the Old Testament era. Imagine, after days of fish and bread, how wonderful to taste fresh flowing honey. I imagine it was a refreshing, delightful experience. Solomon uses that image to get us thinking about the delightfulness of gracious words. God's people ought to have a sweet tooth for the pleasant and beautiful words of God. Unlike cake and ice cream, these sweets are good for you, body and soul. God invites his children to sit down and rest the soul and mind and be refreshed with the pleasantness of HIs Word.

Hearing and reading the gracious and kind words of God are good for your soul. There is so much anger and bitterness in the world. Lying on every hand and deceitful dealings fill the airwaves. Perverse and wicked words are spoken everywhere you go. We need to hear the gracious words of God to revive and refresh our souls. As pilgrims and foreigners in a this world, making our way to that heavenly city and journey to our Father's house, the soul can become weary. Tired of the battles, exhausted of the disappoints, worn-out with failures, the pleasant words of Zion are the life giving cool waters that restore the soul. Pleasant words are good for your health. Angry, hateful, mean-spirited people will spew their vile words like poison. Taking in and drinking in filth is bad for your health. Reading unprofitable posts, books, or articles can depress the soul. Listening to filth from the radio or television can make you angry and bitter. We need to be careful who we listen to and what we put in our mind. Do you fill your soul with sinful songs and sinful language and think that will have no impact on you? If pleasant words are good for the soul, certainly angry, sinful, bitter words are harmful.  God's Word is a delight to His people. A medicine to the anxious. A balm for the wounded soul. We can eat all we want of God's Word and it will give us strength for the journey.

Since we know pleasant words are good for body and soul, we ought to speak them to others. You should guard the words that come out of your mouth. You ought to consider the words you speak or write. Your snide comment may stick with someone for years and do much damage. Do you think about how you speak to the waitress? How about the customer service representative over the phone? How easy to be hateful towards those you don't know.  Ephesians 4:29, "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers." A Christian's words need to  gracious and with the purpose of blessing those who hear. Take in and share pleasant words.

A Little Inconsistent in the Objection

"A second objection [that the general call of the gospel is not a bona fide call] is derived from the spiritual inability of man. Man, as he is by nature, cannot believe and repent, and therefore it looks like mockery to ask this of him. But in connection with this objection we should remember that in the last analysis man’s inability in spiritual things is rooted in his unwillingness to serve God. The actual condition of things is not such that many would like to repent and believe in Christ, if they only could. All those who do not believe are not willing to believe, John 5:40. Moreover, it is no more unreasonable to require repentance and faith in Christ of men than it is to demand of them that they keep the law. Very inconsistently some of those who oppose the general offer of salvation on the basis of man’s spiritual inability, do not hesitate to place the sinner before the demands of the law and even insist on doing this." 

Systematic Theology – Louis Berkhof

Nothing New Under the Sun - Ecclesiastes 1:8-11

8 All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. 9 The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. 10 Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us. 11 There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.

Not only does Solomon see vanity in the continual day in and day out of life, but he sees vanity in his work. Ultimately, his work doesn’t satisfy him. As one generation comes and goes, the new generation really isn’t doing anything that the past generation hasn’t already done.

There is no remembrance of former things. The great feats of history, the great battles of 100 years ago are forgotten today. How many Americans can tell you about World War I or give you a decent explanation of who the major players in the war were, and why the United States was engaged? That war shaped the United States and Great Britain culturally, spiritually, and economically so much the effects and ripples of that war are still felt today, and yet it is largely forgotten. Even the technological pioneers of the past are largely forgotten. Solomon considers that there won’t be any remembrance of what he does in a hundred years.

If all there was in this life, is what we do and live for in the “here and now” then yes, I would agree. What’s the point? As we have ended the first section, I want to point out that Solomon is correct. There isn’t any lasting, soul satisfying joy in the work that we do that can carry us to eternal happiness. We can give ourselves pep talks that our lives and our work will have meaning. But if we are honest with ourselves, we must see the vanity of our labor under the sun.

There must be something more. There must be more to life than the daily grind. We are just repeating what previous generations have done before and sometimes, we are not doing it as well. We might have technological advances, but this just means that we are doing the same things with different technologies. We laugh and are amused to see old movies with the telephone operators moving cables on the switch boards back and forth, and think how far advance we have become, that we don't’ use that old technology anymore. Then we call the call center for tech support on our phone and talk to one of the agents for assistance. Yes, the technology is more advanced, but I wonder how many more employees it takes now to make a phone call, than it did 100 years ago?

This ends the introduction to the book. There are answered to these questions and they will be answered by the end of the sermon.

Astonishing Preaching

A preacher sat in the lunch room at a fellowship meeting, but he wasn’t eating.  Despite appeals to dig in, he would say, “No thanks. I preach this afternoon, I can’t preach after I eat.” A friend responded, “You just can't preach. Doesn't matter if you eat or not.” Whether this man could preach well is a matter of debate, but there is no doubt, Jesus could preach.

Matthew 7:28-29 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

Everyone that heard Jesus preach the Sermon on the Mount was blown away. Jesus is the greatest preacher who has ever lived and this message left the people astonished. Jesus sermon astounds because God’s truth is amazing. Whether it be the plan of salvation, the condition of man, or the truth about sin and the world, God’s revelation of these ultimate truths is astonishing. The "big questions" about life, why we are here, what happens after we die, what's the meaning of life –  God has revealed the answers. The illustrations Jesus used, the metaphors and parables, the explicit doctrine, all were perfectly explained to reveal divine truth. Every illustration was on point. Every example was spot on. Every teaching was theologically accurate.

Jesus preached with clarity. Clarity can be a difficult to obtain. How much more difficult when covering such a wide array of information, speaking in the open air, correcting established (though wrong) teachings with no one in attendance confirming what you believe. It’s much easier to preach to the choir than to preach to people who you know disagree with you. And with unwavering clarity, courage, and conviction, Jesus astonished his hearers. It’s common to hear a man say a mouthful, but know one understand what he said. Jesus, with ultimate wisdom, condescended His Words and His Wisdom so the people He spoke with could understand Him. Jesus spoke with the courage of clarity.  And it’s a simple sermon. It’s not hard to understand, but the depth is amazing. You can come back to the sermon over and over again and never master his teaching or never come to the end of these truths. Something you can read in 20 minutes but take a lifetime to study.

Jesus preached with boldness. He preached with liberty and strength, and with kingly authority.  Everything He said was 100% unadulterated truth and He spoke with unflinching power. He didn’t suggest. Jesus didn’t speculate. Jesus didn’t find a favorite preacher and copy his mannerism and his message.  The scribes quoted each other, Jesus declared. The scribes based their teach from what other men had said about God. Jesus declared what God had said. Jesus is the greatest preacher, the prophet of prophets. What excuse do you have for not listening to Him? It's the height of folly to acknowledge Jesus as the greatest preacher, and not do what he says.

The Sun Also Rises - Ecclesiastes 1:5-7

5 The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose. 6 The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits. 7 All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again. 

The sun also rises and sets, then the night passes quickly and it happens all over again. The wind doesn’t blow off into space, but follow their wind patterns according to their wind belts. It’s a continue loop. The rivers are always moving, the water flowing downstream until they all verge in the sea. But does the ocean get full? According to the National Park Service “At New Orleans, the average flow rate [for the Mississippi River] is 600,000 cubic feet per second.” Yet, does the Gulf of Mexico fill up? No, the water levels stay the same, only changed by the tide. Water evaporates, it rains, it fills the rivers, and sends it back down again.

We might use the illustration of a hamster in his wheel or a man on a treadmill. Always busy, always moving, but never making any progress. Solomon sees life under the sun as life on a repeat loop. You wake, work, sleep, and do it all over again until you die. When you die, someone else will step in and take your place.

Blessing of a Dirty Crib

Proverbs 14:4 Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox.

The secret to keeping a barn pristine is not having anything in it, but the crib is for the animals, not the animals for the crib. In the days before John Deere, the ox was the tractor of choice, and if you want the strength of the ox for plowing and hauling, you have to take the whole package, which means cleaning up the mess it makes. Agrarian fantasies of waking up early in the morning, drinking coffee on the front porch as the sun rises over the farm before driving the truck through the fields to check on their livestock and their crops are pleasant for coffee commercials and Hallmark movies. But reality is waking up with sick kids, and walking outside when it’s already 90 degrees and you have to skip breakfast. The tractor won’t start. Your fence is down, and when you start to fix it, it starts to rain. And you have to get it fixed because you need to go to the courthouse, and then the bank, and then your sister calls and needs help with her kids, and there’s church tonight.

Life is hard and full of messy situations. The more you have, the more responsibility you have in caring and for and maintaining it. If you want to breeze through life without any problems to deal with, or without any “drama” then you want a sad, empty, selfish life without the joy and the “strength of the ox”.  Living care free is not the goal. Take responsibility, work, build something, do something, lead someone, and live for the glory of God and the good of your neighbor.

The more responsibility you have, and the more people you have in your life, the messier life gets. Is the house for the kids, or the kids for the house? The more people who live under a roof the more work to keep it clean. But don’t begrudge the inhabitants of the house for living. There is much strength in the family that lives together, eats together, that dirties floors, laundry, dishes, and rooms like a small army of unkempt chimpanzees on a sugar high. Young mother, you can have a quiet house, with no dirty dishes, no clothes in the floor, no smudges on the wall. You just need an empty house. And when the house is empty, you are missing out the strength of the family.

You can have a "clean church" if you run off everyone that doesn't think like you do. The only way not to have any church issues is to be the only member. With more people comes more problems and more responsibilities and more messes. But there is also more fellowship, more friendships, more opportunities to share burdens and more opportunities to bear burdens. 

You can have an immaculate crib, or the strength of the ox, but you can’t have both. When you take on your God given responsibilities and engage with people and love people, you are going to get messy and have to do things you don’t want to do and have problems thrust upon you to fix. But that’s where you are going to find the blessing of responsibility and taking on the work of the Lord.

Willingly Ignorant

1 Corinthians 10:1-11  "Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant…"

Ignorant means lacking knowledge, so Paul didn't just insult the church here. Paul doesn't want the Corinthians to be lacking knowledge in important truths. Despite characterizations to the contrary,  Christianity is the thinking religion. Mystics tell you to stop thinking, to empty your mind and get peace.  That's not Christianity. God never tells you to empty your mind. Other religions have a list of rules and you blindly follow them. That isn't Christianity either. Some religions don't want you to think too hard about why you do what you are supposed to do. If there is contradiction, just ignore it and do as your told. Humanism says it wants you to think, but think poorly.

God has called us to think about Him. We are to know and be aware of God's law, but also to know the purpose of the law. Faith is not blind faith, but faith is knowing what God wants us to do and trust in him as we do it. God has called us to meditate, or deeply consider divine truth and fill our heads, not empty them. Fill your mind with truth and roll it around and think deeply about God's Word. Don't question God, but if you have questions, examine them in light of the truth.

Christianity is the reading religion because our God has written a book. God expects you to read. You don't have to read fast, and you don't have to read a lot, but what a treasure you have, a book from God! It's Satan that wants people ignorant of the truth. In times past, he tried to prevent people from having Bibles. Many people have been put to death through the ages for owning a part of God's word. Many have died translating God's word into other languages. But the Word of God will not be bound. God's people are reading people and it is Christianity that seeks to promote knowledge and understanding.

Christianity is the Truth Religion. The truth looses nothing in examination. You can be hardhearted and want to be unbelieving, but if a person truly has questions, and truly desires to understand, the truth looses nothing if you examine it. If you examine a lie, then eventually you'll see the contradictions. But the truth is consistent.

Don't be ignorant of the truth. In our day, we have Bibles everywhere. You can read the Bible on your phone. You can read it on the computer. If you don't have one, you can go just about anywhere and someone would give you a Bible. You can get online and listen to a professional voice actor read the Bible to you. Instead of a famine of the Bible, we have a people willingly starving themselves of it, filling our minds with junk instead of the Word we so desperately need. It's sad to be ignorant of the truth, it's sinful to be willingly ignorant.

The Vacation by Wendell Berry

Once there was a man who filmed his vacation.
He went flying down the river in his boat
with his video camera to his eye, making
a moving picture of the moving river
upon which his sleek boat moved swiftly
toward the end of his vacation. He showed
his vacation to his camera, which pictured it,
preserving it forever: the river, the trees,
the sky, the light, the bow of his rushing boat
behind which he stood with his camera
preserving his vacation even as he was having it
so that after he had had it he would still
have it. It would be there. With a flick
of a switch, there it would be. But he
would not be in it. He would never be in it.

Bold sinners and fearful saints

O how uncomely a sight is it to see, a bold sinner and a fearful saint, one resolved to be wicked, and a Christian wavering in his holy course; to see guilt put innocence to flight, and hell keep the field, impudently braving it with displayed banners of open profaneness; [to see] saints hide their colours for shame, or run from them for fear, who should rather wrap themselves in them, and die upon the place, than thus betray the glorious name of God, which is called upon by them to the scorn of the uncircumcised. Take heart therefore, O ye saints, and be strong; your cause is good, God himself espouseth your quarrel, who hath appointed you his own Son, General of the field, called 'the Captain of our salvation,’ Heb. 2:10 . He shall lead you on with courage, and bring you off with honour. He lived and died for you; he will live and die with you; for mercy and tenderness to his soldiers, none like him. 

The Christian in Complete Armour – William Gurnall

One Generation after the Other - Ecclesiastes 1:4

1:4 One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.

The earth has not always been and the earth (as it now is) will not abide forever. Scripture is clear in both cases (Genesis 1:1; Revelation 21:1). But Solomon is thinking in terms of “under the sun” so from the perspective of a man without an eternal perspective, the earth was here when I was born, and when I die, they will bury me in it. I recently went to the cemetery and saw several generations of my family buried in the earth. One generation after another came and went, but the earth in which they did all their labor still remains.

Sunset and evening star, And one clear call for me! And may there be no moaning of the bar, When I put out to sea, But such a tide as moving seems asleep, Too full for sound and foam, When that which drew from out the boundless deep Turns again home. Twilight and evening bell, And after that the dark! And may there be no sadness of farewell, When I embark; For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place The flood may bear me far, I hope to see my Pilot face to face When I have crost the bar.

Tennyson

Another Gospel?

Galatians 1:6-7  I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another;

What would be a better gospel? Would it be better if God required you to live in sinless perfection? Would you prefer that God require you to achieve a certain level of righteousness to earn your way to Heaven? Do you think it would be better to base salvation on your works and on your merit? You can have peace by having faith in what Christ did or you can have peace by keeping the law of God. All of it. All the time. Now, I know that most people know that you can’t do that, so they have a hybrid gospel. That is what the Galatians had, or at least they thought they had it. But there is no such thing as a “hybrid”. Another gospel, is no gospel at all.

The gospel is the “good news” that God the Son, entered into his creation. The eternal word was made flesh and dwelt among us. The Lamb of God, Jesus Christ lived a perfect life and offered himself unto the Father, as a substitute for sinners. He bore our sins in his own body on the tree and suffered the wrath of God for our sins, satisfying the Father. The ransom was paid with his life. We are redeemed by His blood. He was laid in the tomb for three days and three nights, his body dead and lifeless. But at the dawning of the first day of the week, the tomb was empty, Jesus arose. We have a living Saviour.

If you trust that Jesus died for your sins, and you turn from your self-reliance and self-righteousness to Christ Jesus, He will save you. Freely, by his grace. Trust in the risen saviour and you’ll be saved. That is the gospel Paul preached. That is the only good news there is. If you add to that message, or take away from that message, it is no longer good news.

There is no such thing as another gospel, as if spiritual life is cafeteria set up where you can pick and choose your own way. There is no other gospel. By looking to and heeding to and listening to another message, another way of salvation, they were turning away from Christ Jesus. The blood of Christ was not enough. The death of Christ was not enough. The wrath of God poured out on the God’s only begotten Son was not enough for these Galatians.

There are two paths before us. The gospel, and every other message of salvation, which is no gospel at all. If you turn from the true gospel, where will you go? “Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life”. When they turned from the gospel, they have no place else to go for salvation. Every other gospel is taking you away from Jesus.

Monody by Herman Melville

To have known him, to have loved him
After loneness long;
And then to be estranged in life,
And neither in the wrong;
And now for death to set his seal—
Ease me, a little ease, my song!
By wintry hills his hermit-mound
The sheeted snow-drifts drape,
And houseless there the snow-bird flits
Beneath the fir-trees’ crape:
Glazed now with ice the cloistral vine
That hid the shyest grape.

Amazing Grace, Amazing Apostasy

The gospel of Christ is amazing. Jesus Christ came into this world to save sinners. We are saved by grace, through faith and the gift of faith that God gives us, is accounted to us for righteousness. We are forgiven and justified by faith in the sinless life, sacrificial death, and victorious resurrection of Jesus Christ.  All my sins are forgiven. I’m no longer condemned since I’m in Christ Jesus. I am free from the condemnation of God’s law, born again, and an adopted Son of God, a joint-heir with Christ Jesus. I didn’t have to do a thing in this world to earn God's love. Freely, by God’s grace, He saved me from my sins, delivered me from the just punishment of Hell, and delivered from this present evil world.

Paul was amazed by grace. But he was also amazed at the Galatians. It is rather astonishing the Galatians could know God and receive the news that God saves sinners and reconciles sinners to himself by free grace, and then thumb their nose at  this glorious gospel, turn their back on God and follow after another gospel (Galatians 1:6-7).  The Almighty God called sinners into the grace of Christ. The Lamb of God came and bled and died for them and freely gave them all things. The Eternal Son, shed his life’s blood to give them life. God imputed the righteousness of Christ to their account and then called them to this gospel, and they left and turned their back on God.

It’s amazing they had forsaken the gospel, but also amazing they had done it so quickly! Not much time has passed since the "hour they first believed” and it didn’t take too many dangers, toils, and snares to trap them in a dangerous heresy. New converts are delicious to ravening wolves. In these churches men, with prestige and experience,  had come to help these poor ignorant Galatians see the “truth” and rescue them from that intolerant Paul.  

It’s amazing they had forsaken God and his Christ, and had done it so easily! What a priceless treasure we have in Jesus. There are unsearchable riches in Christ. There are unfathomable depths to his love. Untrackable glories in his death. I truly believe we will spend eternity gazing into the glories of the gospel of Christ. And yet, how amazing one could so quickly leave Christ. How telling that wretched sinners, who beheld the Son of God through faith and have tasted of his grace, could leave and go looking for pasture away from their shepherd. How weak and frail we are, and how dependent we are on the Holy Spirit to keep us.

It’s amazing they went from Christ to another gospel. When you think of apostasy in these terms, it is a marvel that people will leave the gospel for anything else, because everything is inferior. Because grace is so amazing, it's astonishing we can be tempted to look for another way for peace with God.  

The Affectionate Theology of Richard Sibbes by Mark Dever,

The Affectionate Theology of Richard Sibbes by Mark Dever, is latest book in the Long Line of Godly Men Profile series.that introduces and profiles significant Christian men in history. I know Richard Sibbes only through his book, A Bruised Reed. I am guilty of putting all the men of this era in the same general category of “Puritans” and “Nonconformist”. Dever’s book has corrected me in that assumption and helped me to understand Sibbes and his life and the context which he ministered. Dever explains through a few second hand sources Richard Sibbes is wrongly identified with the Nonconformist and was more of a moderate, hoping for long slow reform of the Church of England.

Since Richard Sibbes was a moderate man, who was a Consenter, yet leaned towards sympathies with Nonconformist, he is claimed by both sides. If you don’t know what these terms mean, you will before you get very far into this book.  Dever's goal was to "...recover Sibbes as a historical and theological whole” and to view Sibbes in his historical context for the moderate man he was. Rather than engaging in the controversies of the day, Sibbes had a heart toward the people in his congregation and sought to help those under his preaching.

I can’t say that the book has moved me to appreciate Richard Sibbes more, but it does give me a better understanding of who he is and how to go about reading his works in the future. In the light of many of his contemporaries who suffered for their convictions, I can’t say a moderate man who avoided controversial topics and toned down doctrines he professed is awe-inspiring, but these books are much better when we know the truth about a man instead of making him a sort of superhero. For this, I am thankful for the honest look at Richard Sibbes.

Thanks to Netgalley.com for the review copy.

Fare Thee Well

1 Timothy 6:20-21  O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called:  Which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee. Amen. The first to Timothy was written from Laodicea, which is the chiefest city of Phrygia Pacatiana.

As a man of God, Timothy was committed to the truth of God's Word, (1 Timothy 1:18-19). Timothy has a priceless treasure in the doctrine he received and preaches, and he must secure it and guard with his life. As ministers of the gospel and preachers in the Lord's church, we have received the valuable treasure of truthful doctrine and our task is nothing short of faithfulness. We need to hold to the truth in our own lives, never wavering in what God has commanded us to do. We need to keep that truth in the forefront of our preaching, and guard our preaching from slackness and error. We need to protect the truth in the church and guard who takes the pulpit. We need to protect the truth from the influence of false teachers by a bold proclamation of God's Word. We need to keep the truth by diligence in reading and studying doctrine, to keep our theology tight and our doctrine sharp. Taking the long view, we are tasked with teach and passing the truth on to the next generation and to be able to leave this world having committed the truth to another group to carry on the work.

While he keeps the truth he is also to avoid profane and vain babbling. Don't flirt with or imbibe profane teachings and false science, or that which purports itself to be the way of knowledge, but is no knowledge at all. There is no contradiction in the truth. So science and higher learning is not in conflict with God's Word. It is a "so-called" science and higher learning that we are to avoid.  Why? Because it's the path to error. The danger  is that it will cause you to go off into error in the faith. I'm defiantly not anti-education or anti-learning, but be careful who you let teach you. Whether it's the science of evolution or the science of theology, be cautious of anything that contradicts God's Word and the doctrine given to your charge. It's the path to error, to be so enamored by 'higher learning' that you'll begin to doubt the plain truth of Scripture. Don't think so? Paul reminded Timothy that it had already happened to men that they knew. Don't think it can happen to you? Repent of your pride and be on guard.

Doctrine. Truth. Steadfastness. That's the theme of this epistle. There can be no compromise to the truth, and the man of God needs to be focused on preaching, studying, learning, teaching, and living the truth.

That ends our study in I Timothy. Maybe someday I'll tell you why I did this. Maybe soon we'll start 2 Timothy.

What profit? - Ecclesiastes 1:3

 3 What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?

This verse provides a clue to interpretation of the book. The phrase “under the sun” tells us Solomon is not thinking in terms of an eternal perspective at this point. Everything “under the sun” is what we do on this earth, in this life. Solomon is considering life as if his was all there was. What profit is there in all our work, if this is all there is?

There is profit to our labor. Beside the financial purposes and the ability to provide, there are mental benefits with having work to do and accomplishing the job you set out to accomplish. There is profit for those you serve in your work and the general common good of the community. But there is not satisfaction to the soul. As the saying goes, no one on their deathbed wishes they spent more time at the office. What profit does all our work count for if we die and leave it all behind to be forgotten?

I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

Ozymandias By Percy Bysshe Shelley

Passive Voice Preaching

Preachers know how to punch in their sermons. We also know how to pull punches.When the Word is coming in fast, doing its work, a preacher can pull the punch at the last second to lighten the blow, as some false teachers like to do. See? I just pulled the punch. I said something hard, then I let you off the hook at the last second by attributing this to false teachers. I said what I wanted to say, but I pulled back so you wouldn't get made at me and request a refund for this post.

You can also hide the truth in lingo and unclear turns of phrase.  In Good Prose: The Art of Nonfiction, Tracy Kidder wrote:

Institutionalese tends to obscure responsibility for what is being said, or to locate it in a heavenly source. One hears that old bugaboo, the passive voice: “Mistakes were made”; “Actions will be taken.” Everyone recognizes the phenomenon. Why does it continue? The skeptical reader will credit the offending writer not with ineptitude but with a positive talent for obfuscation. The annual report writer declares, “Year-end results were negatively impacted by seasonal downward profit adjustments, consistent with global trends, insufficiently offset by labor force reductions.” It’s not that the guy doesn’t know how to say, “We lost money last fall, fired some people, but it was a tough year all around.” He either doesn’t want to say that, or, more likely, would get fired if he did. Sometimes people simply have to give the appearance of saying something without the risks that come with doing so. Then prose becomes dowdy clothing, concealing more than it reveals.

Don't hide what you are trying to say in passive voice mumbling or obscure wording. Be clear and speak plainly. Kidder said, "It takes some confidence to write clearly." Indeed. When you say what you mean clearly and precisely, then everyone knows were you stand. Don't say "sins were committed" but "you sinned."

He closes the chapter saying, "And if you should find yourself sounding that way, ask yourself what you are trying to avoid." If your preaching or writing is obtuse, are you doing that on purpose? Sometimes it is just bad writing, or trying to sound eloquent. But make sure that you are not concealing instead of revealing. Are you trying to say something without anyone noticing? By avoiding clear language, what are you trying to avoid?

Grace and Peace

Grace, Peace, and Love

Don’t believe the lie about God or buy the perception that God the Father is harsh and angry while the Lord Jesus is kind and loving. God the Father is stern and strict while God the Son is gracious and mercy, pitting two persons of the Trinity against one another. I’m afraid that many Christians have a faulty view of the Trinity due to a wrong view of God the Father. God the Father and God the Son are not opposed in their will. Notice, in Paul’s introduction in the letter to the Galatians 1:3-5  "Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen." Grace, or underserved favor and blessing to you and the result of this grace is having peace with God. Where is the fountain from which this grace and peace flowed? It’s from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

How do we get this grace and peace? Through the Substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus, who “gave himself for our sins” to deliver us out of this evil world. Christ Jesus came and died for sinners, to pay our sin debt, to redeem us, to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The penalty for our sins is death and hell, and Jesus bore our sins in “his own body on the tree” and paid the penalty we deserved on the cross, so we can have peace with God. Jesus came according to the will of God our Father. Jesus came to die for those whom the Father had loved and chosen to be children and heirs. Before the foundation of the world, God the Father chose from sinful humanity, individuals to whom he would show His great love and mercy to deliver them from their sins. It was the Father’s will that these sinners be saved. The Father loved the elect and according to His own good purpose, chose them unto salvation. The Son, in covenant with the Father, came to die and save those whom the Father had given him. Don’t believe the lie about God the Father. Don’t project your ideas about earthly Fathers on to the character and nature of God the Father. We say a "mother's love" is the ultimate example of love and devotion, but the Bible speaks of the Father's love as the apex of love. 1 John 3:1  "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God." Know that the Father loves, provides for, and personally cares for and hears the cries of His people. God the Father loves his children. He so loved the world, that He gave His Son as a substitute to die for them and give them eternal life.