The trajectory of Isaiah 6 is instructive, I think. What precedes Isaiah’s missional availability — his utter malleability to and vulnerability before the Lord, who plans to send him on a mission none of us wants but many of us receive — is his experience of what I have come to call “gospel wakefulness.” We may call it exultation. Isaiah is undone by the all-consuming vision of the holiness of God, seeing his own leprous sin in its white-hot light. But his guilt is atoned for, taken away. The result is the sort of worship that normally erupts from such experiences.

Lesslie Newbigin in The Gospel in a Pluralist Society says that “Mission begins with a kind of explosion of joy.” Missional expansion is driven by gospel exultation. This is what exultation is: The explosion of joy resulting from the seeing of Jesus in the hearing of the gospel. So Paul’s Damascus road experience is there between the lines of his missionary journeys. The early church’s rapid expansion a direct result of awe coming upon every soul (Acts 2:43). Wherever we see Christ capturing a heart, we see a body that can’t help but run and tell. So Isaiah’s availability to the hardest of mission fields is fueled by his exultational joy in the beatific vision of Christ (John 12:41) and the gospel word of atonement.

John Piper, in his now-classic work on global missions, Let the Nations Be Glad, famously wrote, “Mission exists because worship does not.” The idea is that the church is on mission to create disciples of Christ, increasing the numbers of worshipers of Christ in places where he is not worshiped, so that more and more of the earth will be full of worship, that God’s name would be praised greatly. God’s vision for the earth (Habakkuk 2:14) is the missiological vision. Piper is right. Mission does exist because worship does not. At the same time, however, mission exists because worship does. Real worshipers are missionaries. Or they are impostors (as Spurgeon says). Indeed, not only does worship drive mission, mission is itself an act of worship.

Imagine an army barracks overseas. Someone walks in to where the men are sleeping in the middle of the night and wakes one up. “A baby has been born to you,” the messenger says. “He is the one you’ve been waiting for.” The soldier who receives the news sits up with a start. “To me?” he says. The soldier starts waking his buddies. “Great news!”, he says. “A child has been born to us! God has given us a son!” Word spreads quickly throughout the base. It sure sounds like that soldier is a new father, doesn’t it?

Babies get born all the time. But if a baby is born to you, it’s special. Your life has just been changed forever. You call people. You send notes and baby announcements. You want everyone to know.

When I am in a hospital and hear "Brahm's Lullaby" played over the intercom I am happy for whomever just had a baby. But it's not my baby. I pause for a moment. I think, "How nice." Smile. Maybe even say a prayer for the baby and family. Then I move on.

But when each of my babies was born. I was there. And it was life-changing. Every. Single. Time. This is my baby. This is my son. He is a part of my life now and I am a part of his. He will always be my son and I will always be his dad. My life will now be reordered, rearranged and different because of him. He will be a part of who I am and I will be a part of who he is. A baby has been born "to me."

Now imagine yourself outside a small town 2,000 years ago. You see a small group of shepherds taking care of their flocks. Some are asleep, some are awake. Suddenly, someone appears out of and in the midst of a bright light. The messenger says, “Do not be afraid! I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.”

Shepherds lived on the fringe of society. They were considered dirty and untrustworthy. Yet God chooses to send his first baby announcement to them!

Notice those two little, but very important words: “to you.” They do what anyone who just got news of their new baby would do. (Yes, I said, "their new baby.") They rush to go see it. Then they spread the word all over Bethlehem even though it was probably still the middle of the night.

A savior had been born to them. Not just somebody else’s savior, but their savior.

"To us a child is born, to us a son is given..." (Isaiah 9:6).

The Bible says, "TO US". Think about that. In order for a child to be born to you, the child must belong to you. In the case of Christ, the only way that the child belongs to you is if you belong to him. He saves you only if he is your savior.

There are many for whom Christmas is like hearing "Brahm's Lullaby" over a hospital P.A. They stop for a moment. Think, "How nice." Smile. Say a brief prayer. Then move on with their lives. He's not their savior. He wasn't born to them.

According to the Bible, the child isn't born to you, unless you are born to him. "No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." (John 3:3). If you haven't yet been born spiritually, what are you waiting for? The savior can be your savior as he was for the shepherds.

For those who know and trust in Jesus alone, "to us a child is born, to us a son is given" should be the source of endless joy all year long. Jesus, God-in-the-flesh, born to be your savior, is life-changing. That’s what makes celebrating the birth of Jesus Merry.


(The idea for this post came from Charles Spurgeon in this sermon, A Christmas Question, which is far better (and far longer :-).

Lift up your eyes on high and see:
who created these?
He who brings out their host by number,
calling them all by name,
by the greatness of his might,
and because he is strong in power
not one is missing. (Isaiah 40:26 ESV)

The passage above was read before one of the songs at church today. I want to be careful using Scripture out of context, and I'm not saying that I received a word from the Lord, necessarily. But I think I received a "Bill. Pay attention." For a moment I lost my breath.

Here's what was going through my mind: the faces of some dear friends, young people, who have left the Lord and are living lives of rebellion and lostness.

I don't know . . . Maybe for some of them faith was never a reality. But this I do know: if they were ever the Lord's, they will be reclaimed. Not one of them is missing. If they were ever held in the strong, scarred hand of the Lord Jesus, they will not ultimately be lost. They are to be reclaimed!

And that's why I felt like shouting this morning. We do not fight against flesh and blood. Our adversary has been defeated, forever! To our ancient enemy: the Lord rebuke you, and may He make you feel some real pain for daring to touch his precious ones. I know the feeling's mutual, but I hate you.

Praying for reclamation!

Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, "I have no pleasure in them."
-- Ecclesiastes 12:1

Ah, youth! I remember, in the prime of my life, overflowing with the confidence and vigor of pure, automatic trust in my teenage athletic abilities, stepping into the huddle of one of our Saturday football games and saying to Mark, our all-time quarterback, "Just give me the ball. I will score." And Mark let loose a beauty of a pass -- few things look and feel so beautiful to a teenage football-playin' boy than a perfectly thrown pass in the dazzle of an autumn afternoon squirmish -- and I on the furious run brought it to safe harbor in my arms like a baby, racing past the staggered defense on skinny wheels, thirty yards, twenty yards -- he.could.go.all.the.way -- ten yards, five yards, touchdown. I did what I said I would, because I knew I could. Ah, youth!

But the evil days come, creeping in inch by inch, day by day, as metabolism sneaks out of the house overnight, easing the sports car out of the driveway and disappearing. Were I to enter that huddle this coming Saturday and speak with honesty, I should say, "Just give me the ball. I will run out of gas ten yards in, pull up with a muscle cramp, and collapse with two high ankle sprains."

I'm trying, really I am. But compared to the halcyon days of youth, the days have come in which I say, "I have no pleasure in them." Things creak when I get out of bed. I don't even know what they are.

Remember your Creator, the Teacher says. Remember him in your youth. Because youth is passing, fading. It is vanity, meaningless, chasing the wind. Even if you're fast, dude. So it is imperative, in the days of vim and vigor, to prepare for later now. Place your lasting joy in lasting things. Enjoy what you've got while you've got it, but set the termination of your affections on the treasure you cannot lose.

If you fail to prepare for later now, you will wind up a pathetic relic to the past. Before you know it, you're not reminiscing but lamenting. Do you wanna be that guy looking up time machines on the Internet and electrocuting your gonads, eating everybody's steak and ruining their lives? Or leaning against the wall of the high school hangout, a total creeper? They're not laughing with you; they're laughing at you, dude.

Ah, youth. Rejoice in it, for now. Rejoice in the Lord always.

Man is eager for vengeance and God is eager for forgiveness.
-- John MacArthur

There is only one against whom we have all sinned and we keep sinning, and yet he is the only one whose posture of forgiveness is more eager than eager. He has grace like riches (Eph. 1:7, 2:7). He doesn't have to watch his spending. He forgives like it's going out of style.

A fellow sinner may forgive but it takes some working up to do. In some cases, he may even be eager to forgive but this eagerness does not come naturally. In many cases, though, there is not eagerness but dutiful obligation. We bring our sorrow, our repentance, our request for pardon, and we receive questions, probing, testing, measuring. We deserve this, there's no question about it. And really repentant persons will accept the difficulty of an offended party's forgiveness as part of that repentance. So we slink, tail between our legs, chastened and stung. It has to be this way because of the nature of human hurt and the antisocial nature of sin.

But, genuinely sorrowed over our offense, aren't we deep down hoping, craving, desperate for the offended not to stand off, arms crossed, waiting for us to drag ourselves into a posture of penitence, but smiling, ready to accept us again? And so our God runs to us. And he tells us to approach his throne with confidence (Heb. 4:16) to receive grace in our time of need.

The cross of Christ both proves and founds God's eagerness to forgive. Because of Christ's propitiating sacrifice, planned in love from eternity past and effectual to eternity future, we have no hoops to jump through, no qualifications to meet, no penitent mantras to intone, and no cowering to do. The act of God's forgiveness is not a muted, somber affair, but a "time of refreshing" (Acts 3:19-20).

His lovingkindness endures forever. He is not just quick to forgive, but eager and aggressive. Forgiveness is flowing out of him. Your heavenly Father is not a miser with grace. He is a fountain of forgiveness.

"Forgiveness is mainly that the love of the offended shall flow to the offender, notwithstanding the offense. It is love rising above the dam which we have flung across its course, and pouring into our hearts. Our own parental forgiveness is in some feeble way analogous to God's, and shows us that the essence of it is not the suspension of penalty, which may or may not be the case, but the unchecked and unembittered gift of God's love to the sinner."

-- Alexander McLaren, "Christ's Claim to Forgive, and Its Attestation" [emphasis added]

God's forgiveness is like love rising over the dam, yes, a brimming overflow, but it's also like love rushing mightily through a dam break, flooding freely.

Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

-- Philippians 4:5-7

This is an excellent recipe for what it itself describes: a Spiritual settling of the heart, thankfulness, closeness to God. But let's suppose you didn't want those things, you didn't want to be thankful in all circumstances (as God commands through Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5). How would you design your system in order to crush any impulse of thanksgiving in your heart?

1. Freak out about everything.
Let your unreasonableness be known to everyone. Be unreasonable about everything. Turn everything into drama, everything into a crisis.

2. Practice practical atheism.
The Lord is at hand, which is certainly something to be thankful for. Our God isn't just transcendent, but immanent. He wants to be known. You could therefore intellectually acknowledge God is there, but act like he's not. Assume he has no interest in you or your life. If you pretend like God’s not there, you don’t have to thank him for anything.

3. Coddle worry.
Be anxious about everything. Really protect your worry from the good news.

4. Give God the silent treatment.
The best way not to give thanks is not to talk at all. That way you’ll never give thanks accidentally.

5. Don’t expect anything from God.
Don’t trust him for anything. Normally we do this so we don’t have to feel disappointed, but another reason to do it is so he won’t give you anything to be thankful for. If you pray for something, he just might say yes, and then you’d be obligated to thank him.

6. Relentlessly try to figure everything out.
The peace of God is beyond our understanding. He is bigger than our capacity to grasp him. The closer we get to God, the bigger he gets. An immense vision creates immense reaction. So if you want to crush that reaction before it has a chance to start, ask as many "why" questions as you can, and don’t settle for the answers Job or Habakkuk or David did. Best to think you’re better than them and deserve an explanation from God. If you really want to kill thanksgiving, act like God owes you. Leave no room for the possibility you might not know or understand something. And one of the best ways to crush thankfulness is to take credit for everything you can.

7. Focus on anything other than the gospel of Jesus.
God owes us nothing but has given us every good thing in Christ. If you’re not interested in thanksgiving, by all means, pay no attention to that. Concentrate on your problems. Don’t concentrate on Jesus, or you might accidentally end up thankful in all circumstances.

Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.

-- Titus 2:7-8

Titus was told to model sound speech -- which probably meant that he never said things like, "Like, dude, like, an awesome thing, dude, is the fact that, man, I like, totally don't know what to say."

-- Doug Wilson, Future Men (Canon Press, 2001), 43.

Here is Taylor Mali with a good reflection-via-representation on this phenomena:



What do you think? Does this sort of youthful manner of speech apply to Paul's words on sound speech?

I think Mali's parting shot helps us see that it might, particularly as it relates to speaking with authority and conviction.

And by "throw down," I mean "respectfully prompt each other with points and counterpoints." On the subject of hermeneutics, something we haven't talked about on Thinklings in a turtle's age.

Mastered By the Book from The Gospel Coalition on Vimeo.

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
-- Galatians 6:9

We likely all recall the time Peter came up to Jesus and basically asked, “When can I stop forgiving someone who keeps wronging me? After seven times?”
(I can almost hear him hoping, “Please tell me after seven times.”)
But Jesus responds to him, saying “No, not seven times. Seventy times seven times.”

For those of you doing the math, that comes to 490. The bad news (or good news, depending on which side of the forgiving you’re on :-) is that this is a symbolic number that basically means “forever.”
Jesus was saying to Peter, “No, you don’t give someone seven strikes. You just keep forgiving them . . . forever.”

Now, Jesus is a smart guy. In fact, if we believe he is who he said he was, we know he has all the omniscience of the God of the Universe. So he knows this is a tall order. He knows it doesn’t “make sense” in our world of abuse and betrayal and pettiness and vindictiveness and pride and arrogance and egotism.

So why does he do this? If he knows our capacity for love and forgiveness is finite, how can he call us to persevere in these things toward others? The short answer, I think, is because God Himself perseveres in them toward us.
Jesus goes on to tell Peter a story about a servant who was forgiven a huge debt by his master. The servant goes on then to punish a third party who owes the servant much less. When the master finds out, he has the debt-pardoned servant thrown in jail and tortured. And Jesus says – this is the scary part – that’s what will happen to us if, spurning the grace given us by God, we withhold grace from others.

Because God’s love toward us is a) despite sin worthy of eternal punishment, and b) relentlessly patient in its eternal perseverance, we have no Christian right to say to someone who has wronged us, even if they continue to wrong us, “You have reached your limit with me. My love for you stops now.” Doing so fails to truly see the depths of our sin in the light of God’s holiness. And if God, who is perfect and holy, will forgive and love we who are most certainly not, on what basis do we have to be unforgiving and unloving to others?

I am guessing most of us agree with this in theory. There’s not too many Christians who will say, despite Jesus’ instructions, that it’s okay to hate your enemies and curse those who persecute you.

I think the place where we really have trouble with this stuff is when it comes to people who are hurting us that we actually do really want to love. We really do want to keep forgiving them. But we are weary. They are wearing us out. We don’t know how much longer we can go on. We want to know if we can give up, but we’re scared what that might mean. Surely God does not want to us to keep enduring this pain. Surely he will understand if we just . . . give up. Things aren’t working. The results aren’t being seen. Efforts are not bearing fruit. I’ve changed, but he or she hasn’t.

Most of us know 1 Corinthians 13 really well, but let’s revisit a piece of it again:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres . . . Love never fails.

That’s some scary stuff right there. For we who are used to thinking of love as romance or warm-and-fuzzies or butterflies or sex, Paul has Jesus in mind as the model of love when he tells us, “Love is about sacrifice and service. And it keeps going. It never fails.”

How can this be? We think of those who have tried to love someone back from the brink only to see the person eventually go over. Certainly love fails in these circumstances, right?

I don’t think so. I think that’s true only if we are thinking of our love in terms of a results-based value. But that is not what Jesus is telling Peter. And that’s not what Paul is telling us.

Jesus does not offer Peter a loophole. There is no Forgiveness Contingency Plan. There’s no limited time warranty. Whether the person you’re loving embraces your forgiveness or not, you keep forgiving. Whether the person you love is changed by your love or not, you keep on loving.

In this sense, I don’t think “Love never fails” means “Love always gets the result the lover wants.” I think it means what it says: Love is not a failure.
Love is not a failure regardless of the results.

This is why: Because God is not a failure, and God is love. When we are loving someone with a persevering, sacrificial love, we are reflecting the eternal goodness and grace of God Himself. We are glorifying God, and there is no higher calling than that. None.
We love – not because it will “change the world” (although it may) – but because God loves us (1 John 4:19).

You would think this might incline us toward a begrudging love, then. “Oh, well, if it’s just for God, maybe I should stop hoping for change in the person I’m loving.” But Paul says love “always trusts, always hopes.”

Always trust that God is not content to honor your sacrificial love with a sympathetic pat on the head. Always hope that God is using your sacrificial love to change hearts and minds. (Maybe yours.)

Love always perseveres. Love never fails. So don’t give up.

Whoever you are, wherever you are: Don’t give up.
To the parents trying to love a wayward child back from the world, to the husband trying to love his wife back from drug addiction, to the wife trying to love her husband back from pornography or adultery, to the girl trying to love her friend back from bitterness, to the guy trying to love his friend back from despair – Don’t Give Up.
Don’t give up, don’t give up, don’t give up.

Whatever happens, whenever it happens, your love is not in vain. You are not alone, for God loves you and has approved your love through the sacrifice of his Son. Cast off despair; cast all your cares on Him.
Love never fails. Love is never a waste.

Read the following passage carefully:

9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (I Peter 2:9-10)

I'm currently preaching through 1 Peter... and these two verses are next. My favorite commentary on I Peter so far is written by Wayne Grudem in the Tyndale series (TNTC). About this passage Grudem writes:

So in verses 4-10 Peter says that God has bestowed on the church almost all the blessings promised to Israel in the Old Testament. The dwelling place of God is no longer the Jerusalem temple for Christians are the new temple. (v.5) The priesthood able to offer acceptable sacrifices to God is no longer descended from Aaron, for Christians are now the true 'royal priesthood' with access before God's throne. God's chosen people are no longer said to be those physically descended from Abraham, for Christians are now the true 'chosen' race (v.9). The nation blessed by God is no longer the nation of Israel, for Christians are now God's true 'holy nation' v.9). The people of Israel are no longer said to be the people of God, for Christians - both Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians - are now 'God's people' (v.10a) and those who have 'received mercy' (v.10b). Moreover, Peter takes these quotations from contexts which repeatedly warn that God will reject his people who persist in rebellion against him, who reject the precious 'cornerstone' which he has established. What more could needed in order to say with assurance that the church has now become the true Israel of God?

There it is. The church is now Israel.

Then I turn to Edwin A. Blum writing in the Expositor's Bible Commentary (EBC) and he says:

Peter applies to the church various terms originally spoken concerning Israel (cf. Exodus 19:5-6, Deut 4:20, 7:6, Isaiah 43:20-1). But this does not mean that the church is Israel or even that the church replaces Israel in the plan of God. Romans 11 should help us to guard against that misinterpretation. Why then does Peter apply OT terminology to the church? He does so chiefly because of the conviction of the church that the OT writings are for it (2 Tim 3:16) and that these writings speak of Jesus and his times. The functions that Israel was called into existence to perform in its day of grace the church now performs in a similar way. In the future, according to Paul, God will once again use Israel to bless the world (cf. Rom 11:13-16, 23-24).

Whoops. Maybe the church isn't Israel. :-) Grudem vs. Blum. Who will win?

Grudem responds to Blum in a footnote:

Blum, p. 231, says that these privileges given to the church do not imply that the church is Israel or that it replaces Israel, and that Rom. 11:13-16, 23-24 guards against such an idea. Certainly we can agree taht Rom. 9-11 affirms God's continuing concern for ethnic Israel and predicts for the Jewish people a great future time of blessing when many will be joined to the church ('grafted back into their own olive tree', Rom. 11:24). Peter's statements do not nullify that promise. But 1 Pet. 2:4-10 does affirm that God's covenant blessings are presently enjoyed only by those who are in Christ, just as Rom. 9-11 affirms that future enjoyment of covenant blessings will come only through being joined to Christ.

It's both fun and frustrating for me as an expositor when I find two books I am using DIRECTLY contradict each other.

So what do you think?

Trevin Wax with a helpful article:

Here are a number of urban legends that get repeated in sermons. Some are more pervasive than others, even appearing in commentaries and scholarly works.

1. The “eye of the needle” refers to a gate outside Jerusalem.

“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God,” says Jesus in Mark 10:25. Maybe you’ve heard of the gate in Jerusalem called the “eye of the needle.” The camel could pass through it only after stooping down and having all its baggage taken off.

The illustration is used in many sermons as an example of coming to God on our knees and without our baggage. The only problem is… there is no evidence for such a gate. The story has been around since the 15th century, but there isn’t a shred of evidence to support it.

2. The high priest tied a rope around his ankle so that others could drag him out of the Holy of Holies in case God struck him dead.

Various versions of this claim have been repeated by pastors, but it is a legend. It started in the Middle Ages and keeps getting repeated. There is no evidence for the claim in the Bible, the Apocrypha, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Josephus, the Pseudepigrapha, the Talmud, Mishna or any other source. Furthermore, the thickness of the veil (three feet) would have precluded the possibility of a priest being dragged out anyway.

3. Scribes took baths, discarded their pens, washed their hands, etc. every time they wrote the name of God.

As a way of getting across the reverence of the Jewish and Christian scribes toward God, preachers like to describe the honor given to God’s name. Unfortunately, there’s no evidence that scribes did these sorts of rituals every time they came across the name of God.

4. There was this saying among the sages: “May you be covered in your rabbi’s dust.”

This is one of the most pervasive and fast-spreading stories to flood the church in recent years. The idea is that as you walked behind your rabbi, he would kick up dust and you would become caked in it and so following your rabbi closely came to symbolize your commitment and zeal. Joel Willitts explains:

This is powerful stuff isn’t it? Well the only problem is that it just isn’t true… The context in which it is given in Mishnah Aboth 1:4 is expressly not what is assumed by those who promulgate this idea.

5. Voltaire’s house is now owned by a Bible-printing publisher.

Voltaire was famous for saying, “One hundred years from my day there will not be a Bible in the earth except one that is looked upon by an antiquarian curiosity seeker.” There is a myth out there that within 50 years of Voltaire’s death, his house was owned by a Bible society that used his own printing press to make Bibles. Sounds like a great story, but it’s not true. Regardless, Voltaire’s prediction of the demise of the Bible was vastly overstated.

6. Gehenna was a burning trash dump outside Jerusalem.

I’ve used this illustration many times. But there isn’tevidence to support this idea. Still, because it seems like a reasonable explanation for the origin of the Hinnom Valley as “hell,” commentators and preachers have accepted it. It’s possible that the verdict may still be out on this one, but not if Todd Bolen is right:

“The explanation for the ‘fire of Gehenna’ lies not in a burning trash dump, but in the burning of sacrificed children. Already in Old Testament times, the Valley of Hinnom was associated with the destiny of the wicked. That the valley was just outside the city of Jerusalem made it an appropriate symbol for those excluded from divine blessing.”

7. NASA scientists have discovered a “missing day” which corresponds to the Joshua account of the sun standing still.

Please don’t repeat this myth. There has been no “missing day” discovered, and the legend has been circulating longer than NASA has been in existence, with different scientists playing the part.

What did they expect? I'll tell you. Steeds stamping and swords swinging. A zealot's fury, blood spilling. The conquering of the enemy.

All of this happened, of course, but not according to expectation.

His entry? Triumphant.
His conquest, certain.
His zeal, for his Father's glory and his people's salvation.

The blood spilled, his own.

He came not to bring peace but a sword. I could be wrong, but those sure looked like palm branches swinging. Nevertheless they were shouting "Hosanna!" sure enough.

He was no less victorious when he was betrayed, arrested, tortured, killed. This was the great reversal -- his triumph, not theirs -- and he never lost his sovereignty, even when he lost his breath.

I find it difficult to make sense of this, but I see the glory in the lowliness of it quite clearly.

He could have had twelve legions of angels mark his entry, so surely a white steed was within his call. But he rode a donkey. And was no less victorious.

This is good news, because I am a jackass.

But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord."

-- 1 Corinthians 1:27-31

Around this time last year, the Holy Spirit started stirring a passion within me to study, memorize, and ingest Romans 8. As I started to "eat the book," I began to see Romans 8 in a new light. It was no longer merely a comforting and meandering chapter in the New Testament; it was a living, breathing gospel -- a double-edged sword that wounds us and bandages us (Hosea 6:1).

I'm of the opinion that Romans 8 is the greatest chapter in a Bible that is full of great chapters. If I could have one page from the Bible for the rest of my life, it would be Romans 8. I love Romans 8, with a passion.

It teaches me that there is no condemnation for His children:

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. -- Romans 8:1

It teaches me that the flesh is "enmity" against God, and the result of that enmity is God's displeasure:

So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. -- Romans 8:8

It teaches me that the sons of God, those who are led by His Spirit, are adopted into His family:

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. -- Romans 8:16

It teaches me to keep an eternal perspective when I suffer:

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. -- Romans 8:18

It teaches me that the Holy Spirit (called "the Spirit of He who raised Jesus from the dead" in verse 11) intercedes for us:

Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. -- Romans 8:26

It teaches me that "all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28).

And it teaches me that he foreknew me, predestined me, called me, justified me, and glorified me (see Romans 8:30).

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? -- Romans 8:31

The chapter ends with the force of a volcanic explosion, with fire, lava, and rock melting the the satanic ideas of separation, fear, loneliness, and despair.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

As it is written: 'For your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.'

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. -- Romans 8:35-39

For Christ's sake we are killed all day long. That's not prosperity, that's death. Yet in those very things (namely, death and slaughter), we are "more than conquerors" and eternally united with the risen Lord.

Romans 8 makes me happy.

How do we sort through these myriad Jesuses, each of which has just enough truth in them (even if just a dash) to make them dangerous, to find the real Person Jesus Christ? I think we ought to start with the Gospels, which may be the last texts an inquirer consults. We think we are quite familiar with them, but we are not. We think we know their stories and have been building on them for years, but the army of false Jesuses marching in the hearts of well-meaning Christians testifies otherwise.

And the Jesus Cottage Industry is making a killing on all the ways we have Jesus without the gravity of his real personality. We have endless books offering alternative histories and secret messages and "what he really said" and hidden gospels. When, if we cared to see it, the four Gospels we already have contain enough truth to challenge, comfort, convict, and create us for eternity.

Yes, create us. It was G.K. Chesterton who, in his defense of Christian orthodoxy, said, "I did not make it. It is making me."
Can we say that of Jesus? Can we say the Jesus we believe in, rest in, trust in is the Jesus who is making us? Or is He the one we'd prefer, the one who's most like us, who's safer and nicer, who reflects all of our personal or political values and idiosyncrasies? Is Jesus making us, or is he the Jesus of our own making?

It is quite possible to make an idol of Jesus. Which is not to say that Jesus is not to be worshiped. He is the only Man worthy of worship. What I mean is, it is possible to project a self-idolatry onto Jesus, to mistake our own satisfaction with ourselves for authentic discipleship, instead of worshiping the real, living God in the real, resurrected person of Jesus Christ.

Here's one personal test I subject my own reading of the Gospels to (which actually works quite well when reading any Scripture):
Is it freaking me out?
Am I convicted, challenged, impressed, scared, or inspired? Am I moved?

The Word of God -- both the living Word and the written word -- is transformational revelation. If we are not being transformed by the Christ of Scripture and the Scripture of Christ, we are not reading either correctly.

And if we constantly find them confirming our sense of self and our prejudices, leaving us unrepentant or unmoved, we have the chief indication we are looking down the deep, dark well of our own heart and seeing our own reflection.

(If you liked this piece, you may like my book Your Jesus Is Too Safe.)

Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

-- Philippians 4:5-7

This is an excellent recipe for what it itself describes: a Spiritual settling of the heart, thankfulness, closeness to God. But let's suppose you didn't want those things, you didn't want to be thankful in all circumstances (as God commands through Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5). How would you design your system in order to crush any impulse of thanksgiving in your heart?

1. Freak out about everything.
Let your unreasonableness be known to everyone. Be unreasonable about everything. Turn everything into drama, everything into a crisis.

2. Practice practical atheism.
The Lord is at hand, which is certainly something to be thankful for. Our God isn't just transcendent, but immanent. He wants to be known. You could therefore intellectually acknowledge God is there, but act like he's not. Assume he has no interest in you or your life. If you pretend like God’s not there, you don’t have to thank him for anything.

3. Coddle worry.
Be anxious about everything. Really protect your worry from the good news.

4. Give God the silent treatment.
The best way not to give thanks is not to talk at all. That way you’ll never give thanks accidentally.

5. Don’t expect anything from God.
Don’t trust him for anything. Normally we do this so we don’t have to feel disappointed, but another reason to do it is so he won’t give you anything to be thankful for. If you pray for something, he just might say yes, and then you’d be obligated to thank him.

6. Relentlessly try to figure everything out.
The peace of God is beyond our understanding. He is bigger than our capacity to grasp him. The closer we get to God, the bigger he gets. An immense vision, creates immense reaction. So if you want to crush that reaction before it has a chance to start, ask as many "why" questions as you can, and don’t settle for the answers Job or Habakkuk or David did. Best to think you’re better than them and deserve an explanation from God. If you really want to kill thanksgiving, act like God owes you. Leave no room for the possibility you might not know or understand something. And one of the best ways to crush thankfulness is to take credit for everything you can.

7. Focus on anything other than the gospel of Jesus.
God owes us nothing but has given us every good thing in Christ. If you’re not interested in thanksgiving, by all means, pay no attention to that. Concentrate on your problems. Don’t concentrate on Jesus, or you might accidentally end up thankful in all circumstances.

(19) Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. (20) Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one.
-- Galatians 3:19-20

I preached on Galatians 3:15-22 yesterday and in my prep last week the two verses quoted above gave me the biggest headache. The first part of v.19 I could get a handle on. The second part, I understood fairly well. Verse 20's conciseness belied the frustration therein. Galatians 3:20 is like Manny Pacquiao: doesn't look like much, but it will tear you up. At least, it did me, anyway.

I chewed on it and chewed on it. I looked at it from different angles. I stared at it like it was one of those optical illusion pictures they sell at the mall. You know, the ones that look like a swirl of color until you get your gaze into it just right, and then you see the unicorn frolicking by a lighthouse or something? Didn't work.

Commentaries weren't much help. Luther has been my homeboy throughout this series on Galatians, but his comment only seemed to extrapolate further on v.19. I wanted to know what God being one had to do with intermediaries involved in dispensing the Law. It seems like the answer should be obvious. But I'm a dumb guy. I felt like a dog who'd just been handed a Rubik's cube. (Can you picture me tilting my head to the side in curiosity-slash-confusion?)

I don't have an endless supply of commentaries in my library, but I checked the ones I had access to. I wasn't helped too much by them. Not even by Calvin, really. Except! The editor's note in Calvin's commentary said that another commentator estimated that there were 250 possible interpretations of Galatians 3:20. This was both comforting and deflating. I finally did what I never do: I pulled J. Vernon McGee's commentary from the shelf. Who reads McGee? Certainly not me. He's so pedestrian (I said with my nose in the air). And you know what? It'll be another ten years before I pull him off the shelf again: he skipped over v.20 entirely! Like it didn't even exist. His commentary goes right from 3:19 to 3:21. Like we wouldn't notice. He must've gotten to it and got scared and decided not to even try.

You know those little pill-looking sponge things you can get at the dollar store for kids? You put them in a glass of water and the plastic capsule dissolves or gives way and the wadded sponge expands and it's a duckie or a dinosaur or whatever? That's how (I think) I eventually experienced the awesomeness in Galatians 3:20. I just let it steep. I just gnawed on it (like a dog again) to get to the marrow.

Here's what I think it means (and I figure I have at least a 1 in 250 shot at being right):
The Law was put in place via angels, through Moses. We see this affirmed in Acts 7:38 and 53 and in Hebrews 2:2. Deuteronomy 33:2 tells us it came to Sinai by "ten thousand holy ones." That's a pretty impressive scene. "An intermediary implies more than one." Yes. There were several links in the chain of command: from God via his ten thousand holy ones to Moses, then to the people. And let's not forget to factor in the priests and the ceremonial rites and regulations that went along with all that. In order to deliver -- and then to minister -- the Law, teamwork, as they say, made the dream work.

"But God is one."

Why is the gospel better than the Law? Why is Jesus more glorious than any other intermediary? Because it is God himself doing the job himself for the people himself all by himself. Consider the exhaustive and exhausting comprehensiveness and rigor that the Law entails. Multiply that by the glory that radiated on Moses' face, that was transmitted on mountaintop via ten thousand flaming angels. Multiply that precise measurements, a routine cycle of sacrifices, and an every-T-crossed attention to detail. Now consider that Christ Jesus is more glorious, more precise, more fulfilling, more encompassing than all that. And then! Consider that Jesus doesn't just hold up his end of the covenant of righteousness: he holds up our end too. An intermediary implies more than one. But God is one. He does his job, and ours.

That's what I think Galatians 3:20 means. I believe that is in keeping with the trajectory of the passage and the context of the book itself, which is to say that the Law is good (for what it's designed for), but that Jesus is much, much better. The law is awesome, but the gospel is awesomer than awesome.

"Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it."

-- 2 Corinthians 3:7-10

The inestimable Lars Walker from Brandywine Books suggests an interpretation of 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 that I've never considered:

Still, I had a grudge against that book [The Prayer of Jabez], and still do. Because, from all I've heard of it, it fails to address the central, primary meaning of the Jabez story. It's a story that applies to me in a way it probably doesn't apply to most people, and it irked me that all these people were co-opting my story for their own purposes. It seemed to me a Nathan's parable (2 Samuel 12) sort of thing—“You people have lots of Bible stories you can use for your inspiration. There's only one that applies to my situation. Why can't you just leave it to me?”

The story of Jabez (1 Chronicles 4:9-10) is not a story about how to procure God's blessing. It's a story about an abused child who overcame his trauma by appealing to God.

Read the whole thing.

There's a story about a young lady once said to John Wesley, “I think I know what my talent is.” Wesley said, “Tell me.” She replied, “I think it is to speak my mind. Wesley said, “I do not think God would mind if you bury that talent.”

What some explain away as being forthright or honest are actually just harmful words. Have you ever confronted a person who used words to condemn others only to hear, “Well, I was just speaking my mind”? If that’s true, then someone needs a new mind! People excuse their own "bluntness" with a shrug and a comment like, "That's just the way I am." I would suggest that if that's the way you are, then you need to change.

There’s not enough space here to list all of the Bible verses that warn us against or even outright forbid us to condemn others with our words. The real truth is that words are a powerful tool. Like so many other powerful tools we have, they can be used for great good or great evil. Think about the computer, the gun, the automobile and drugs. The more powerful something is the greater good or evil it can be, depending on how it is used.

If you can communicate with words then God has given you a great tool. It can either be a blessing or a curse.

“With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. (James 3:9-12, 17).

So how do we know what we should say or not?

“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (Ephesians 4:29).

Normally, we think of “unwholesome talk” as foul language or dirty jokes. While I would agree those things are unwholesome, this verse is talking about much more than that. According to this verse, words that are unwholesome are words that do not build up and benefit others. Unwholesome talk is words that tear down or harm those who listen.

Before you speak (or write) next time, ask yourself this question: “Are my words helpful and encouraging?” and if they are not, don’t say them. I know what you’re thinking. “If those are the only kinds of words that people speak, won’t it get awfully quiet around here?” Probably. But would that be such a bad thing?

Judges 19:22-30 is one of the most horrific texts in all the biblical text. Plugging it into Google reveals it is used by many haters of the faith as examples of the Bible's awfulness and unreliability. And the passage does reveal something awful.

If you're not familiar with it, take a minute to read it.

Disgusting, yes?

What do we do with something like this?

The first thing we need to say is that the Bible contains many passages that are descriptive, and this does not make them prescriptive. Contrary to what many of the online opponents of biblical authority would have us think, there is no approval from God for the man of Gibeah's heinous bargain or the subsequent rape, murder, and mutilation of the concubine. The Levite gives up his own virgin daughter and his concubine as some sort of trade of self-protection. And that the concubine's dismembered body is grotesquely sent around Israel is reacted to the way it ought to be: notice the people's reaction is shock. "Such a thing has never happened or been seen from the day that the people of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt until this day," they say.

A lady in my church asked me how an unsaved person might read this passage in the Bible; they might think the Bible is somehow condoning this act. But we'd have to show them otherwise. It is in fact a consequence of everyone doing what was right in their own eyes (17:6, 21:25), a consequence of having no king over Israel (19:1). Judges 19:22-30 shows the Bible is honest and realistic about the depravity of man when left to his own devices. In that sense, it is not putting a gloss on what men are capable of which we can clearly see on the evening news. And while we should be disgusted by the imagery, we should also commend the Bible's brutal honesty.

But there is a gospel spring beneath this text too. When there was no king in Israel, a man betrays his women. A woman is unprotected and given over to the enemy to have his way with her, and then she is made an example of in a murderous way to the twelve tribes. But when Jesus is King over Israel, he protects his bride; he won't give her over to the enemy to have his way with her. And Jesus leaves the house himself and offers his own body, going in his bride's stead to be torn apart for the twelve tribes of Israel. Instead of giving us up in some evil bargain, he gives himself up. And his battered body is the sign to his people that he won't sell them out.

Islam and people’s feelings about Islam are in the news a lot lately. Therefore, I decided to share some things that you don’t normally hear in typical media reports so that your opinions will be better informed. If you are not a Muslim, you may not know what they are taught about non-believers. To the best of my knowledge the following info is 100% accurate and comes from Muslim sources.

First, Islam teaches that every baby is born a Muslim. If they grow up to be something else, they believe it is because their parents or culture steered them away from the true faith. Therefore, if someone becomes a Muslim, they say, “I reverted to Islam.” In other words, they believe that by becoming Muslim, they have gone back to what they were when they were born.

The Koran says,

“[Prophet], when your Lord brought forth the offspring from the loins of the Children of Adam and made them bear witness about themselves, He said, ‘Am I not your Lord’ and they replied, ‘Yes, we bear witness that You are.’ So you cannot say on the Day of Resurrection: ‘We were not aware of this’” (Surah 7:172).

They believe that every human soul ever created was created at the same time that Allah created Adam, and that they acknowledged Allah as the one true God at that time. Muslims believe that God’s first address to all humans is preserved in your unconscious mind and that it will be awakened if you read the Koran.

Second, Muslims consider anyone who associates anything or anyone with “God”, guilty of “shirk.” “Shirk” is the sin of “joining any partners with Allah” or ascribing divine attributes to anything or anyone else. Idolatry and polytheism are considered “shirk.” Believing that Jesus is the Son of God is considered shirk. In fact, Muslims believe that the Christian view of the Triune God is polytheism, and therefore shirk.

The Koran says,

“O you People of the Book! (Christians and Jews) Believe in what We have (now) revealed, confirming what was (already) with you before we…curse them…Allah forgives not that partners should be set up with Him…; to set up partners with Allah is to devise a sin most heinous indeed” (Surah 4:47-48).

I share this with you not to encourage animosity towards Muslims but so that you won't believe it the next time someone tells you that Christians and Muslims worship the same God. There are profound differences between the two. It is true that we both believe that the God who created the world and spoke to Abraham is the God we worship, but we can’t both be right.

Christians believe that God is and has always been triune. Jesus said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Christians worship Jesus as part of the Godhead. Muslims do not. When I am worshiping Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit, Muslims would agree, I am not worshiping Allah. The Christian description of God is far different than the Muslim description. We do not all worship the same God.