On Doubts and Questions

From Douglas Wilson:

“The point is that questions, even tough questions, can be answered. And when they are answered, the questioner grows in his knowledge and understanding. Don’t worry whether the Bible can stand up to your questions. It is an anvil that has worn out many hammers.”

Read the whole post.

This Morning's Encouragement

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37–39).

Cursed Be the Day on Which I Was Born

I am very thankful that the Bible does not sugarcoat anything. Even the greatest of prophets hated their life and the work to which they were called. Just before Jeremiah poured out the following cry he described how hard it was to be a prophet. He did not want to declare the coming destruction of Jerusalem, but when he tried to be quiet and keep his mouth shut, his bones burned within him. He had to declare the horrible prophesies. In pure, honest, heartbreak he cries out:

14   Cursed be the day
on which I was born!
The day when my mother bore me,
let it not be blessed!
15 Cursed be the man who brought the news to my father,
“A son is born to you,”
making him very glad.
16 Let that man be like the cities
that the LORD overthrew without pity;
let him hear a cry in the morning
and an alarm at noon,
17 because he did not kill me in the womb;
so my mother would have been my grave,
and her womb forever great.
18 Why did I come out from the womb
to see toil and sorrow,
and spend my days in shame?

—Jeremiah 20:14–18 (ESV)

Galatians Commentary by Schreiner

I have written before about Tom Schreiner being one of my heroes. It is good to have heroes. It is also good when they are mild-mannered scholars.

I have not written about the fact that every good preaching pastor should have serious, rigorous, pastoral, commentaries on their shelf that they see as their “go-to” commentary.

It is really cool when my hero writes such a commentary. In fact, he has written three on deep, rich, and difficult Bible books (at this level, they are all difficult). Schreiner’s commentary on Romans was the first commentary I ever bought—a story I love to tell about God’s providence in my life.

Recently, a good friend gave me the Galatians commentary as a gift. It holds the pride of place among my Galatians commentaries.

Guy Waters over at Reformation21 just reviewed Schreiner’s work. Here is his conclusion:

As one who annually teaches at the seminary level a course in the exegesis of the Greek text of Galatians, I have publicly lamented before my students the absence of a readable, recent, post-NPP, exegetically-rigorous, Reformationally-theological commentary on the Greek text of Galatians. Many of the theologically solid commentaries are older or do not engage the Greek text. Many of the exegetically rigorous commentaries, even the recent ones, give me theological pause. Finally, I can tell my students that if they ever preach or teach Paul’s epistle to the Galatians, then Schreiner’s Galatians needs to have a place on their study shelf. This work has the double benefit not only of yielding much exegetical fruit from the Epistle to the Galatians, but also of modeling what an exegetical commentary in the service of the church can and should be. And in this, our commentary-writing age, I hope that others take note.

Please get this commentary as your “go-to” commentary on Galatians. If you buy it from this link you will also be supporting BCS.

The Arduous Work of a Lifetime

Likewise, Wycliffe, for all his faith in the power of boys who drive plows to know their Bibles, makes it clear that Scripture exhibits its clarity only to those who undergo the lengthy intellectual discipline of submitting to its authority: “The faithful whom he calls in meekness and humility of heart, whether they be clergy or laity, male or female, bending the neck of their inner man to the logic and style of Scripture will find in it the power to labour and the wisdom hidden from the proud.” God indeed reveals to the “little children” what is hidden from the “wise and understanding,” but transforming oneself into a little child is the arduous work of a lifetime. Christ’s yoke is easy and his burden light, but we don’t like bending our necks to receive it — and no translation, however it accommodates itself to our language and understanding, can change that.

— Alan Jacobs, “Robert Alter’s Fidelity,” in Wayfaring, pp. 14–15

More Questions Than Answers

 Biblical theology indicates that God has progressively revealed himself to his people. God revealed more of himself to Moses than Abraham, and more to Paul than to Moses. That seems reasonable. Certainly, being on this side of Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection is much more revealing than being on the other side.

Therefore, we must remember to read Jeremiah with this sort of progressive understanding in view. Jeremiah did not see redemptive history in the same way we do. Yet, Jeremiah was a prophet called by God from before he was born. We have not had such direct revelation. Jeremiah wrote about the new covenant before Jesus was born. He prophesied about the glorious way in which God would—eventually—deal with his people.

The picture in Jeremiah 7:1–8:3 is rather bleak. It is so bad that God tells Jeremiah not to even bother interceding for the people because God will not hear him. Ouch. “Behold, my anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, upon man and beast, upon the trees of the field and the fruit of the ground; it will burn and not be quenched” (Jeremiah 7:20). Bleak indeed.

What do we make of this? Obviously, being this side of the cross, we know that God sends Jesus, born of a virgin, as the supreme sacrifice, the new covenant in his blood, to grant mercy and forgiveness to those who believe. This wasn’t so clear in Jeremiah’s world, nor is it always so clear in Jeremiah’s words. Instead, Jeremiah’s continual refrain is “Repent! Turn around!”

Again, Jeremiah quotes God, “For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another, if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, then I will let you dwell in this place in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever” (Jeremiah 7:5–7).

This quote seems to be the only positive thing in the passage 7:1–8:3. My immediate question is why the focus is on doing social justice rather than having faith? From the New Testament teaching we understand that the “righteous shall live by faith.” We know that faith is the only way to God. Yet, it is passages like this that cause people to think that good deeds are what saves us. If I only go and take care of the widows and orphans, then God will be happy with me. This type of thinking leads some in Reformed circles to be critical of those who express only a desire to care for the sojourner, fatherless, and widow who do not express the gospel clear enough.

Without the rest of Jeremiah, and indeed, the Bible, we might end up spending all of our time doing in an attempt to be right with God—as if we didn’t already. We need the rest of Scripture, though. We need the rest of the Bible, the teaching of Paul and Peter and Jesus himself to see that what underlies these good deeds is a complete and utter trust in the true God. Verse 8 helps us understand that the problem is ultimately one of misplaced trust, “Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail.”

I have more questions than answers. I wonder why God didn’t make faith more explicit in passages like this. I wonder why he chose to write it this way when people’s tendencies are towards working out their own salvation. Yet, I am thankful that he did not leave us without the faithful remnant. I am thankful that he did not leave us without Paul and Peter and most importantly, Jesus. I am thankful that he did not leave us without clear passages that help us understand God’s progressive revelation.

What must I do to be saved? Repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Reading Jeremiah

It appears that certain traits are just part of being a fallen human. For instance, forgetting something previously learned and having to learn it again is human. By human, I mean “common to man.” It is common to man to learn something, forget it, and then have to relearn it. Furthermore, it is also common to man to know something about God, doubt what you know over time, and then have to relearn it again.

A major example of this is the history of Israel recounted in the Old Testament. They would walk uprightly, fully relying on God, and all would be well. Then they would drift away, give God lip-service and face judgment. They would repent, call out to God for mercy, he would relent and they would walk uprightly again. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

Why do we do this? Maybe a simple answer is our fallen nature; we are sinners. That seems too simple an answer, but I think it is probably an honest one. We are fallen creatures and we tend to forget the goodness of God when we see the shiny trinket. We are prone to wander.

I started reading Jeremiah again for my personal devotions. If I have time, I might post my thoughts as I move through this book. It has been a few years since I really concentrated my way through this book, but I remember how much I liked it. At one point I called Jeremiah my favorite Old Testament book.

It was around 2002–2003 when I first read Jeremiah and decided it was my favorite. The seeds of our move to Minnesota and my career change toward ministry were being sown. I was younger and on fire for the Lord. I was zealous for his glory and holiness. I reveled in his judgment of Israel and Judah for their turning away from him.

Today, in late 2010, I am a bit older, a bit more experienced. I believe I have a deeper, stronger faith than I did then, one tested by fire, one with less dross, mostly because we have suffered more. As a family, we have experience deeper depths of emotional pain, and felt the silence of God more profoundly. We have asked, “Why do you hide your face from me, O Lord?” Yet, we are still here. We still trust God. We still look to Jesus as our hope.

Because of this difference in life experience, I am approaching Jeremiah a bit differently. The earlier zeal is tempered. The camaraderie with Jeremiah is more acute when he cries, “Ah, Lord God, surely you have utterly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘It shall be well with you,’ whereas the sword has reached their very life” (Jeremiah 4:10).

I finished chapter five, and started writing this post. Blogging is silly, and I have a tendency to expose too much of my soul. I am a fallen, melancholy, introspective git (used to be dork, but I have been influenced by Carl Trueman). Oh well. Writing these posts helps me process and learn. Writing helps me think and pray and hope in God. It helps me see his goodness in his Word.

I can’t promise much; well, actually, I can promise real questions. Let’s see if I can find any answers. (Let’s see if I can post on Jeremiah beyond this one....)

Tears of Joy and Expectation for the God Who Loves the Lame and Outcast

19 Behold, at that time I will deal with all your oppressors.
And I will save the lame and gather the outcast,
and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth.
20 At that time I will bring you in, at the time when I gather you together;
for I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth,
when I restore your fortunes before your eyes,” says the Lord.

—Zephaniah 3:19–20

Two Recent Blog Posts about BCS

I work for Bethlehem College and Seminary, and am happy to pour out my life for an institution that seeks to raise up men and women to treasure Christ in every sphere of life. I am also excited to see that others have similar feelings. Here are two recent blog posts:

Thanking God for Bethlehem Seminary
John Piper
Chancellor, Bethlehem College and Seminary
Pastor for Preaching and Vision, Bethlehem Baptist Church

Why Bethlehem College and Seminary is Important to Disability Ministry
John Knight
Senior Director of Development, Desiring God
Volunteer for Bethlehem's Disability Ministry

The Bible on Friends

A friend speaks face-to-face. (Exo 33:11)
A close friend can be described as one “who is as your own soul.” (Deut 13:6)
A friend is expected to be loyal. (2 Sam 16:17)
A friend is expected to be loyal. (2 Chr 20:7)
Withholding kindness from a friend is as forsaking the fear of the Lord. (Job 6:14)
Bargaining over your friend is a bad thing. (Job 6:27)
Grieving for a friend is like lamenting one’s mother. (Psa 35:14)
A close friend is trusted, one who you eat bread with. (Psa 41:9)
A friend loves at all times. (Prov 17:17)
A friend sticks closer than a brother. (Prov 18:24)
Faithful are the wounds of a friend. (Prov 27:6)
A friend gives earnest counsel. (Prov 27:9)
A friend is not to be forsaken. (Prov 27:10)
A friend is the opposite of an enemy. (James 4:4)

Sermons on 1 Thessalonians 1:1–2:8

The gracious folks at Oakridge Community Church in Stillwater, MN, invited me back to preach on two Sundays earlier this month. The two sermons are below. Right-click to download:

• 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 Giving Thanks to God for You, August 2, 2009
  
• 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8 Boldness in God to Declare the Gospel, August 9, 2009
  

It was a pure pleasure to exult over this text with an attentive congregation. I thank God for the opportunity.

Regarding Chapters and Verses

Gordon Fee writes regarding the chapter break at 1 Thess 2:1:

While these aid in "finding" things, they are unfortunate in that they cause people to read the Bible differently from the way they would read anything else; and, as here, they often create false divisions of thought. Even the language "chapter and verse" unwittingly advocates a kind of gnomic approach to Scripture that gets in the way of good reading. By taking out the numbers, one can easily see what Paul is concerned with.

—Gordon Fee, The First and Second Letters to the Thessalonians, NICNT, 51

BibleWorks

Since I began formal theological studies in 2004, I have been using BibleWorks as my preferred Bible software. I have often argued for this software over Accordance and Logos. My main arguments are that BibleWorks is faster and cheaper and provides more bang for the buck than either of the other two contenders. The only downside is that BibleWorks does not run natively on a Mac; instead, one has to use Parallels or VMWare Fusion.

Justin Taylor linked to two reviews by Keith Mathison, one on BibleWorks and one on Accordance. It seems that Keith and I have the same understanding about these software bundles.

Giving Thanks to God for You: Sermon Prep on 1 Thess 1

Is it wrong to motivate a congregation toward holy living by holding up the Thessalonians as an example to imitate? No, I don’t think so, because Paul indicates that the Thessalonians were an example for the Macedonians and Achaians (1 Thess 1:7). Good enough. If they were examples for the people in the surrounding regions, then they can be examples for us. However, we must be careful to make clear who or what the ground of their ability to be an example is. Can this be found in the text? I think so; the ground of their becoming imitators was in the receiving of the word in tribulation and in the Holy Spirit. This is God wrought imitation, isn’t it? (Do 1 Thess 1:6-7 form a bilateral? Only if the hōste acts as a therefore. Otherwise, it might indicate the result of the action previously described.) Also, the content of Paul’s thanksgiving (1 Thess 1:2-3) is all about their work, labor, and perseverance, which are in turn respectively produced by faith, hope, and love. So then, as I am seeing it right now, faith, hope, and love, are central to the Thessalonians ability to live as examples. And their faith, hope, and love are all rooted in Jesus Christ himself (tou kyriou hēmōn Iēsou Christou).

Impudence!

The other night we read Luke 11:1-13 as a family. Now, to be perfectly honest this passage of Scripture has always eluded me. For those of you who get this text right away, forgive my thick-head. Even still, I didn’t get it. Fortunately, I have children who think better than I do. “Daddy, what does impudence mean?” My thought was that it meant being a jerk, or disrespectful, or insubordinate. So much for my vocabulary skills. I grabbed my trusty iPod Touch and ran the Dictionary app. Impudence means “the quality or state of being impudent.” Not so helpful. With a little more searching I found the following definitions: lack of modesty, shamelessness, characterized by impertinence or effrontery, barefaced audacity.

Now we were getting somewhere. So, the friend that came to the door at midnight and knocked was not being insubordinate, or even simply disrespectful. Instead, he was acting with barefaced audacity. He was shameless in his knocking at midnight. He was causing a scene, and seemed willing to risk anger and embarrassment in order to get what he wanted.

Jesus draws the conclusion in Luke 11:9, “And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” In other words, it seems that Jesus is telling his disciples that they should pray with impudence. They should pray with barefaced audacity.

The implications from this are shocking. We are sinners. We are creatures. God is creator. And we are to pray to our creator with boldfaced audacity. Stunning! Similar passages that come to mind are the persistent woman (Luke 18:1-8) and entering the throne room with boldness (Heb 4:16).

What should the disciples (and by extension us) pray for? Luke 11:13 gives us a clue. The Father will freely give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him. Our salvation and intimacy with God himself will be freely given to those who pray with impudence.

Millennial Views in a Statement of Faith: Sin.

Justin Taylor quotes Mark Dever saying that having a millennial view written into a church's statement of faith is sin. Having experienced this sort of thing first hand, I find Dever's quote refreshing. I agree with Dever and believe that a long-term consequence of this sin is a severe danger to the health of the church, since it breeds an "us vs. them" mentality. It certainly divides more than it unifies.

I think that millennial views need not be among those doctrines that divide us. . . . I am suggesting that what you believe about the millennium—how you interpret these thousand years—is not something that it is necessary for us to agree upon in order to have a congregation together. The Lord Jesus Christ prayed in John 17:21 that we Christians might be one. Of course all true Christians are one in that we have his Spirit, we share his Spirit, we desire to live out that unity. But that unity is supposed to be evident as a testimony to the world around us. Therefore, I conclude that we should end our cooperations together with other Christians (whether near-ly in a congregation, or more at length in working together in missions and church planting and evangelism and building up the ministry) only with the greatest of care, lest we rend the body of Christ for whose unity he’s prayed and given himself. Therefore, I conclude that it is sin to divide the body of Christ—to divide the body that he prayed would be united. Therefore for us to conclude that we must agree upon a certain view of alcohol, or a certain view of schooling, or a certain view of meat sacrificed to idols, or a certain view of the millennium in order to have fellowship together is, I think, not only unnecessary for the body of Christ, but it is therefore both unwarranted and therefore condemned by scripture. So if you’re a pastor and you’re listening to me, you understand me correctly if you think I’m saying you are in sin if you lead your congregation to have a statement of faith that requires a particular millennial view. I do not understand why that has to be a matter of uniformity in order to have Christian unity in a local congregation.

Read Justin's entire post to find links to sermons by Mark Dever and Tom Schreiner, as well as an article by Sam Storms on the problems with the Premillennial view.

Psalm 25

1 To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.
2 O my God, in you I trust;
let me not be put to shame;
let not my enemies exult over me.
3 Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame;
they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.

4 Make me to know your ways, O LORD;
teach me your paths.
5 Lead me in your truth and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all the day long.

6 Remember your mercy, O LORD, and your steadfast love,
for they have been from of old.
7 Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
according to your steadfast love remember me,
for the sake of your goodness, O LORD!

8 Good and upright is the LORD;
therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
9 He leads the humble in what is right,
and teaches the humble his way.
10 All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness,
for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.

11 For your name’s sake, O LORD,
pardon my guilt, for it is great.
12 Who is the man who fears the LORD?
Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose.
13 His soul shall abide in well-being,
and his offspring shall inherit the land.
14 The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear him,
and he makes known to them his covenant.
15 My eyes are ever toward the LORD,
for he will pluck my feet out of the net.

16 Turn to me and be gracious to me,
for I am lonely and afflicted.
17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged;
bring me out of my distresses.
18 Consider my affliction and my trouble,
and forgive all my sins.

19 Consider how many are my foes,
and with what violent hatred they hate me.
20 Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me!
Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.
21 May integrity and uprightness preserve me,
for I wait for you.

22 Redeem Israel, O God,
out of all his troubles.

Cry Out to the Lord

I had the pleasure of preaching at Oakridge Community Church in Stillwater, MN last Sunday. My sermon on Psalm 107 is available for listening. Right click to download.

A Meditation on Matthew 3:13-17

A Meditation on Matthew 3:13-17

John stared naively at Jesus, words forming on his lips, but no sound coming out. Water lapped at their garments. Finally, he said, “Jesus, I can’t baptize you. I am unworthy. I just told all these people that I am not worthy to untie your sandals. Come on, you need to baptize me.” He looked around at the people on the shore, and started to argue with Jesus again.

Jesus interrupted and said, “John…John.”

John closed his mouth and looked into his cousins’ eyes. They were so dark and deep. Eternity was in there. He hadn’t always seen that look, but once in a while when they were growing up he had seen it. It always caught his breath, and he would forget everything around him and stare into those eyes.

“Permit this now, for in this manner it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness,” Jesus said.

John continued to look into those eyes. Words and images flashed through his mind. The scroll of Isaiah opened up to him. He saw the suffering servant despised and rejected. He saw him being crushed by God, smitten and afflicted. He remembered Isaiah’s words, “he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.” Then an image of a Roman cross flashed before him; he saw the crown of thorns, the spear, blood and water, and the sign reading, “King of the Jews.” He saw Mary weeping. And then he saw a stone being rolled away by angels, and Jesus walking out, clean and bright, strong.

John struggled to stay standing in the current of the river. He could feel his robes pressed to his legs and the sand shifting between his toes. His eyes were locked with those deep eternal eyes. Slowly, not able to understand what he had just experienced, he nodded at his cousin and reached for his head. As the images started to make sense, tears streamed down his cheeks. He lowered his cousin into the water, the words "all righteousness" echoing in his ears. Jesus closed his eyes and eternity ceased. Everything became quiet except for his own heartbeat pounding in his head. The water swirled over Jesus’ hair and beard, covering his face in an image of death. John felt the weight of Jesus' body in his hands. He raised him out of the water and those eyes opened again, this time filled with a sad determination. The sound of lapping water and voices from the shore returned. Eternity started again.

As he came out of the water, Jesus grabbed John’s bicep tightly, looked in his eyes again, and nodded back. Then he looked to the heavens as a dove floated down and a voice like water thundered, “This one is my son, in whom I am well-pleased.”

BibleArc.com

I just received an email from a fellow student at The Bethlehem Institute:

Hey friends,

I wanted to let you all know that BibleArc.com has been updated. There are quite a few changes, the highlights being the ESV is now available, the learn section is totally redone with the videos we shot, and it is a bit faster.

In Jesus,
Andy

Arcing is the Bible study method that John Piper uses when he studies the Bible and a tool that is taught at TBI. If you don't already know how to arc, I suggest that you check out Andy's site. This website is the best arcing tool in existence.

If you watch the videos in the Arcing 101 section, you can see yours truly describe some logical relationships. Woohoo.