The Vision (12/29/11): CRBC Ministry 2011 Reflections and 2012 Visions

Image:  CRBC youth fellowship after a recent mid-week meeting.

As we look back over the past year, we see the many ways that the Lord blessed us in 2012. These include (in no particular order):

• The completion of two radio outreach campaigns in the Spring and Fall, including one minute “Grace Point” devotionals (Spring and Fall) and Sunday morning service broadcasts (Fall).

• The completion of a second annual “Puritan” Vacation Bible School.

• Ordination of Daniel Houseworth as our first Ruling Elder.

• Support for the 2011 Keach Conference at Covenant RBC in Warrenton.

• Growth in worship attendance and in membership.

• Joining other churches to support the translation and distribution of Sam Waldron’s To be Continued book in Romania.

• Meeting of financial needs, including exceeding our $10,000.00 Seed Fund goal by $5,000.00.

• Hosting notable guest ministers in the CRBC pulpit, including Gordon Taylor and Malcolm Watts.

We truly must look back on the past year with grateful hearts for the Lord’s kindness to us as a church.

Now, here are a few ministry visions for 2012 (some of which will be discussed more fully in our January 11th Annual Membership Meeting):

• Regular outreach to Our Lady of Peace Retirement Center. In place of our regular afternoon service, we will lead an outreach worship service at the OLP chapel at 2 pm on the following dates: January 8, March 11, April 8, May 13, June 24, July 8, September 9, September 30, November 11.

• Monthly mid-week home fellowships. At least one mid-week meeting each month will be a home fellowship. I know we are spread out geographically, but let me encourage everyone to make an effort to attend these monthly gatherings and be willing to host them. This will be a great way to get to know our body and to share in hospitality.

• Intentional outreach efforts. I would love to see our church attempt to engage in at least one intentional outreach effort each month in 2012. This might include open air preaching, Bible or literature distribution, visitation, radio ministry, etc. We have also been prayerfully considering launching a Sunday evening preaching point in a nearby town or city that does not have a Reformed Baptist church presence. More info TBA.

• Hosting 2012 Keach Conference on September 28-29 in Charlottesville. This is another opportunity to support this annual theology conference featuring world class speakers.

• Mission partnerships. We would love to be able to find one of more like-minded Reformed Baptist missionaries or church planters to support in 2012.

We look forward with anticipation to see how the Lord will work through this body in the year ahead.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (12/22/11): Calvin on Luke 2:7b

Image:  In lieu of our regular mid-week meeting this week, a group of CRBCers went caroling and visited Miss Z. at Branchlands and then the residents at Our Lady of Peace Retirement Center.

Here is John Calvin’s commentary on Luke 2:7b: “Because there was no room for them in the inn”:

We see here not only the great poverty of Joseph, but the cruel tyranny which admitted no excuse, but compelled Joseph to bring his wife along with him, at an inconvenient season, when she was near the time of her delivery. Indeed, it is probable that those who were the descendents of the royal family were treated more harshly and disdainfully than the rest. Joseph was not so devoid of feeling as to have no concern for his wife’s delivery. He would gladly have avoided this necessity: but, as that is impossible, he is forced to yield, and commends himself to God. We see, at the same time, what sort of beginning the life of the Son of God had, in what cradle he was placed. Such was his condition at his birth, because he had taken upon him our flesh for this purpose, that he might “empty himself” (Phil 2:7) on our account. When he was thrown into a stable, and placed in a manger, and a lodging refused him among men, it was that heaven might be opened to us, not as a temporary lodging, but as our eternal country and inheritance, and that angels might receive us into their abode.

Christ took the manger so that we might have heaven. Are you seeking that “eternal country and inheritance” which Christ came to open for the redeemed?

May the Lord richly bless you and your family during this holiday season!

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (12/15/11): For what end is all this?

Henry Scougal (1650-1678) was one of those men whose star did not burn long, but it did burn brightly. Scougal was a Scottish minister and theology professor at Aberdeen when he died before reaching his 28th birthday. He left behind a book on practical holiness in the form of a letter to a friend with the title The Life of God in the Soul of Man which became a spiritual classic.

Here is an excerpt in which Scougal encourages consideration of the aim and purpose of our lives:

Amidst all our pursuits and designs, let us stop and ask ourselves, For what end is all this? At what do I aim? Can the gross and muddy pleasures of sense, or a heap of white and yellow earth, or the esteem and affection of silly creatures, like myself, satisfy a rational and immortal soul? Have I not tried these things already? Will they have a higher relish and yield me more contentment to-morrow than yesterday, or the next year than they did the last? There may be some little difference betwixt that which I am now pursuing, and that which I enjoyed before; but sure, my former enjoyments did show as pleasant, and promised as fair, before I attained them; like the rainbow, they looked very glorious at a distance, but when I approached, I found nothing but emptiness and vapor. Oh! What a poor thing would the life of man be, if it were capable of no higher enjoyments!

Scougal’s point, of course, is that man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. Augustine said that our hearts are restless until they find rest in God. In our midweek meeting this week, we pondered Christ’s words to those who came to arrest him: “Whom seek ye?” (John 18:4). He still asks that of men today. In the midst of all the fullness of this season, let us find our chief end in seeking and savoring the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (12/8/11): Assurance when tempted to despair

Image:  CRBC ladies fellowship after a recent Lord's Day worship service.

In last Sunday morning’s message on David’s Despair (1 Samuel 26-27), I shared this anecdote from the Puritan John Flavel, as shared by Dale Ralph Davis in 1 Samuel: Looking on the Heart (pp. 273-274):

Sometimes the Lord’s encouragements can be quite dramatic, at other times rather mundane. John Flavel wrote of a certain Mrs. Honeywood, an earnest Christian woman who nevertheless felt God had cast her off and that she was without saving hope. One day a minister was meeting with her and marshalling reasons against “her desperate conclusions.” It was then she took a Venice-glass from the table and said, “Sir, I am as sure to be damned as this glass is to be broken,” and with that she threw it mightily to the ground. To the astonishment of both, the glass remained intact and unbroken. Obviously, the minister did not fail to apply the assuring sign.

In 1 Samuel 27, David had reached a “glass breaking moment” of despair, as he said in his heart, “I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul…” (v. 1). But the Lord would not abandon David. He remained with him, protecting and preserving him, till he came into his kingdom. So is the Lord with all his saints. May we remember this when we are tempted to despair.

“For the LORD will forsake his people for his great name’s sake…” (1 Samuel 12:22).

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (12/1/11): A Nabal (Foolish) Response to Christ

Image:  Two young CRBC men after worship on a recent Sunday.

Note: In last Sunday’s message from 1 Samuel 25, we contrasted the foolish response of Nabal and the wise response of Abigail to David, seeing this as an anticipation of two ways that men might respond to Christ. Here are some of the message notes:

As David sent messengers to Nabal demanding that he give over to him what was rightfully his (1 Samuel 25:5-9), so the Lord Jesus Christ today sends forth his messengers. We are his ambassadors (2 Cor 5:20), and we bring orders from our Prince demanding that men humble themselves before our King and give over not just pieces or portions but all their lives to him.

Notice the folly of Nabal’s response to David. He ask, “Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse?” (v. 10). So today foolish men ask, Who is Jesus Christ? Who is this one from the stem of Jesse who claims to be the Son of God? Who is this one who died on a cursed tree and claims to have risen again from the dead? Who is this one who dared to make himself equal to God? The truth is, they ask the questions but they really don’t want to receive the answers. In 2 Timothy 3:7 Paul spoke of those “ever learning, but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

Notice also that Nabal did not want to acknowledge David, because he feared what he would have to give up (v. 11: “Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh…”). I have heard men make the excuse that they did not want to profess faith in Christ because this would mean that they would have to join a church and then folk would be asking them to give to support the church. Listen, they don’t know the half of it! Does the Lord want your money? Yes. You cannot serve God and mammon. But he also wants your time, your energy, your family, and even your body: “I beseech ye therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (Rom 12:1).

And what did Nabal do when David’s messengers withdrew? He held a feast in his house and he tried to substitute the joy and satisfaction that only Christ can give with the drunkenness (v. 36). He thought he was living a like a king, but he was a spiritual pauper. There is, no doubt, an argument in this description against the dangers of drunkenness. Proverbs 20:1: “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.” He is a Nabal. Banner of Truth has recently published a series of little books that can fit in your pocket. One is titled “Binge Drinking” and it has excerpts from a book by the Puritan John Flavel warning seamen against the sin of drunkenness. Therein, Flavel writes, “Take heed, and beware of the detestable sin of drunkenness, which is a beastly sin, a voluntary madness, a sin that unmans you, and makes you like the beasts that perish; yea which sets you below the beasts, which will not drink to excess….” Of course we might say that there are Nabals who are not drunk merely with strong drink but with the world. The world is too much with them and they seek pleasure in it rather than in Christ alone.

And finally, what is the end for Nabal (see v. 38: “And it came to pass about ten days after, that the LORD smote Nabal, that he died.”). He was born a fool; he lived a fool; and, finally, he died a fool. The Lord struck him down. The end of the man who rejects Christ is death. Not just physical death but spiritual death.

May we not have a “Nabal response” to Christ, but let us look to him and live.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (11/24/11): A Prayer based on Psalm 107

A Prayer based on Psalm 107

O Lord of mercy, and full of all benignity, who chastiseth men in diverse sorts to make them return unto thee, suffer not, O Father, that we, through our unthankfulness, forget thine inestimable benefits, and the most singular deliverances which thou hast bestowed on us from day to day; but grant, that we may continually be careful and mindful to consider all the days of our lives thy gifts incomparable, which thou ever givest to us, through Jesus Christ. Amen.

From Prayers of the Psalms: From the Scottish Psalter of 1595 (Banner of Truth, 2010): p. 116.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (11/17/11): "I could spill it all for the sake of the Lord Jesus"

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me (Galatians 2:20).

In Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, as Christian and Hopeful make their pilgrimage, Hopeful shares with his traveling companion his testimony of salvation. Christian then asks, “but tell me particularly what effect this had upon your spirit?” Hopeful answers:

It made me see that all the world, notwithstanding all the righteousness thereof, is in a state of condemnation. It made me see that God the Father, though he be just, can justly justify the coming sinner. It made me greatly ashamed of my former life, and confounded me with the sense of my own ignorance; for there never came thought into mine heart before now, that showed me so the beauty of Jesus Christ. It made me love a holy life, and long to do something for the honour and glory of the name of the Lord Jesus. Yea, I thought, that had I now a thousand gallons of blood in my body, I could spill it all for the sake of the Lord Jesus.

What has been the effect of knowing Christ upon your spirit? Has it made you see the world for what it truly is? Has it humbled you to know of God’s grace in saving sinners? Has it made you love a holy life? Has it made you long to do something for Christ? Has it made you worry less about your own comfort and more about the glory of Christ? Has it made you willing to pour out your life for the sake of Christ?

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (11/10/11): Jonathan and David

Last Sunday morning our sermon  text was 1 Samuel chapter 20 which focuses on the relationship between Jonathan and David. In the spiritual application I traced six places in 1 Samuel 20 where the relationship between Jonathan and David anticipates the relationship between the believer and the Son of David, the Lord Jesus Christ. Here’s a review of those six points:

1. Jonathan promised David to do whatever he desired (v. 4).

The believer promises Christ to do all the he desires and asks of us. We must be completely submitted to the will of Christ.

2. Jonathan asked of David to be shown the kindness of the Lord (vv. 14-15).

The believer seeks “the kindness of the LORD” in and through Christ.

3. Jonathan loved David (v. 17).

Believers love Christ. It is not a chore, a sacrifice, or an inconvenience to be with and serve those whom we love.

4. Jonathan’s friendship with David resulted in anger from Saul (vv. 30, 33).

The believer’s friendship with Christ will often result in misunderstanding, anger, and hostility from the world (cf. Matthew 10:34-39; John 15:18-25).

5. Saul threatened Jonathan that he would have to lose his kingdom if David gained his kingdom (v. 31)

The believer must lose “his kingdom” (authority, rule, mastery, autonomy) over his own life, so that Christ might build his own kingdom in that man’s heart (cf. Luke 9:23; Galatians 2:20).

6. Jonathan asked David for an everlasting covenant (v. 42; cf. v. 23).

The believer trusts in Christ and is given eternal life (John 3:16).

May we cultivate a Jonathan-like love for the Son of David, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (11/3/11): Consider the privileges of that house

I’ve been reading through John Owen’s Communion with God (Banner of Truth ed.). In this classic work, Owen describes the fellowship that believers have with the triune God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).

In one section, Owen reflects on the privileges believers have as members of the family of God. Here are a few excerpts:

The church is the ‘house of God’ (1 Tim 3:15; Heb 3:6). In the church, Christ keeps and maintains his whole family, ruling them according to his mind and will. Now who shall have any right in the house of God except his own children? We will not allow a right to any but our own children in our houses. Will God then allow any right in his house to any but his children?....

Consider the nature of God’s house. It is made up of ‘living stones’ (1 Pet 2:5). All those in this house are a ‘chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people’ (1 Pet 2:9). They are ‘saints and faithful brethren’ (Col 1:2). Every one of them is righteous (Isa 60:21). The whole fabric of the house is glorious (Isa 54:11-14)…..

Consider the privileges of that house. These privileges will not suit any others but the children of God. Is food given to a dead man? Will he grow strong by it? Will he thrive on it? The things of the family and house of God are food for living souls, and only God’s children are alive. All others are dead in trespasses and sins. Look at any of the things which saints enjoy in the family of God and you will find that not one of them are suited to unbelievers….

Only the children of God have the right and title to the things of God. They have fellowship with one another and with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ. They set forth the Lord’s death till he comes again. They are entrusted with the ordinances of God’s house. And who shall deny them the enjoyment of this right, or keep them from what Christ has bought for them? And the Lord will give them hearts to make use of this privilege and not wander on the mountains, forgetting their resting place (pp. 162-163).

This week, let us consider what a blessing it is be part of God’s family, his household. Let us consider and treasure the spiritual privileges and benefits have been given to those made alive in Christ.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (10.27.11): Where is Christ in 1 Samuel?

Image:  Reading John 14-15 at CRBC midweek Bible Study and Prayer meeting (10/26/11).

I began last Lord’s Day morning’s sermon on 1 Samuel 17 (the David and Goliath narrative) by noting that this kind of passage is perhaps the most difficult to preach. I would much rather preach a text that is less familiar to most people than one that is overly familiar. The problem with such passages is that we have a hard time listening to them, because we think we understand them or that we don’t have anything new or fresh to learn from them. My hope in preaching such a passage is to make the familiar seem strange and the strange familiar.

I also suggested that one of the dangers of preaching a passage like 1 Samuel 17 is our tendency to fall back on a “moralizing” interpretation. As Dale Ralph Davis notes:

If we don’t listen to this text, then we’ll end up bringing in all the junk about being courageous in the face of “your Goliaths,” whether the bully down the street (for primary Sunday School kids) or—everyone’s preoccupation—one’s poor self-image. We must protect ourselves from such deafness to the text (1 Samuel: Looking on the Heart, p. 179).

I further suggested that one of our ongoing tasks in listening to 1 Samuel (as well as the rest of the Old Testament) is looking for Christ and the gospel. Christ does not appear in the Scriptures only at the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem and forward. The Son was there with the Father and the Holy Spirit as the one true God from the very beginning. He is in both testaments.

Here are my notes from the conclusion of the message on 1 Samuel 17:

There is much to meditate upon in this great chapter. In the end, I hope you’ll agree that the center of this passage is not some moralizing point about how you can overcome your “Goliaths.” It is about God’s own zeal for his glory and how he sees fit to raise up men like David who want God’s glory more than their own, men who rest in their weakness rather than in their strength.

And where is Christ? I see him in the question of David in 1 Samuel 17:26: “What shall be done to the man that … taketh away the reproach from Israel?” Christ is the one who took away the reproach of spiritual Israel not by killing but by being killed on the cross. David trusted the Father to win a victory over Goliath; Christ trusted the Father to lose his life and then to take it up again.

Did you see any of those horrific images of Libya’s dictator Kaddafi this week? Many rejoiced to see this man getting what they believe he deserved. But when we look at Christ, we see an innocent man, a righteous man, suffering and dying for what he did not deserve. He took on our sin to take away our reproach.

Christ showed God’s power most perfectly in his weakness. The Goliath of sin and death, all the weight of sin and death fell defeated, never to rise again, as Christ arose victorious.

I look forward to looking for Christ with you as we continue listening to 1 Samuel in the days ahead.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

Note: We will begin a new series in afternoon worship this Sunday (10/30/11) through the questions, answers, and scriptural proofs in Spurgeon’s Baptist Catechism.

The Vision (10/20/11): David's ministry of consolation to Saul

We returned to the book of 1 Samuel last Lord’s Day morning at CRBC. Over the next several weeks we will be working our way through the narrative of the life of David (1 Samuel 16-31).

In 1 Samuel 16 we read of David’s anointing by the prophet Samuel. The last scene in the chapter describes how Saul, troubled by an evil spirit, is comforted by the harp playing of David.

In his commentary on this chapter, theologian Dale Ralph Davis suggests that the followers of Christ have much to ponder in “David’s ministry of consolation to Saul” (1 Samuel: Loooking on the Heart, p. 176). For the time being, Saul loves David. Saul “loved him greatly; and he became his armor-bearer” (v. 21). Before long, however Saul will hate David, see him as a rival, and attempt to kill him.

Here’s the spiritual analogy Davis draws for Christians: “As Saul will hate David, and as he is rejected by God yet sustained by David’s service, so the world hates Christ’s people (John 15:18-21) yet, in its doomed state, is only benefited by them.” We are the salt of the earth, and the light of the world. Christians in the society and culture around us keep it from “rotting into complete decay,” but we are hated (p. 176). As David played the harp for Saul, so we conduct a ministry of consolation to the world around us.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (10.13.11): Some Ideas on How to Deepen Your Enjoyment of the Lord's Day

Here are four practical ideas on how to make the Lord’s Day a blessing:

1. Understand the spiritual significance of the Fourth Commandment.

Of the top ten principles that God has given to mankind, one of the ten is that we remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy (Exod 20:8-11). The Christian Sabbath is now the Lord’s Day, the day that Jesus rose from the dead (John 20:1, 19; Acts 20:7; 1 Cor 16:2; Heb 4:9; Rev 1:10). What better time is there to come together to worship him!

To understand the doctrine of the Lord’s Day even better, study Chapter 22 “Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day” in the Second London Baptist Confession and questions 49-51 of Spurgeon’s Catechism, along with the Scriptural proofs.

2. Set apart this day as special.

This is not a call to legalism but holiness. Sabbath keeping is not a “work” that saves! Your conscience will need to lead you in the observance of the Lord’s Day. We do not want to be like the Pharisees who followed “the tradition of the elders” rather than Scripture (see Mark 7:2). We have not been appointed as spies over each other. The Holy Spirit must be our guide.

The Bible allows for acts of mercy (e.g., helping people or animals), necessity (e.g., eating), and piety (e.g., driving to church) on the Lord’s Day (read carefully Matthew 12:1-13; Mark 2:23—3:5; Luke 6:1-10).

We make this day special by intentionally laying aside the things we normally do (and that are not wrong, like our ordinary work) and giving special attention to things that might otherwise get crowded out the rest of the week (e.g., worship, devotion, prayer, spiritual conversations, ministry, rest, and reflection).

For encouragement in this area, consider reading Walter Chantry’s book Call the Sabbath a Delight (Banner of Truth, 1991) or Bruce A. Ray’s Finding Rest in a Restless World (P & R, 2000).

3. Make worship a priority.

In the Old Testament, the Lord instructed his people to set apart the Sabbath for “an holy convocation” (see Leviticus 23:1-3). As noted above, the Scriptural witness is that the New Covenant believers gathered on the first day of the week for worship of the risen Jesus.

On the most practical level, this means making a commitment regularly to be present for the public exercises of the worship of God. In our church, this means, unless providentially hindered, being present for morning worship, the fellowship meal, and the afternoon service in which we share in the Lord’s Supper, the spiritual meal that gives us nourishment for the week ahead. It also means making time for private and family worship on this day.

4. Be intentional in preparation and planning for the Lord’s Day.

It has been said that a good Sunday begins on Saturday evening. Your enjoyment of the Lord’s Day might be helped by going to bed at a reasonable hour on Saturday night. It might also be helped by taking care of “ordinary” matters on Saturday so that Sunday can be set apart. This might include setting out clothing, preparing meals, doing shopping, getting gas for the car, etc.

Sundays may be a good time to visit with extended family, friends, and neighbors. It is a wonderful day to drop by and visit in a nursing or retirement home. These activities can be made part of the spiritual observance of the day. They can also usually be scheduled around the gatherings of the church for worship without being in conflict with them.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (10/6/11): Reflections on the death of a famous person

 
And it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment (Heb 9:27).

The story dominating the news today has been the death of Apple CEO Steve Jobs. The public praise for Jobs has been effusive. He has been called the Edison of our generation. Jobs died in only his 56th year, having survived a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer by about seven years. I do not know what spiritual beliefs Jobs held. Several reports on his life noted that as a young man he traveled to India seeking spiritual enlightenment. At a Stanford graduation speech, given after the diagnosis of his cancer, he semi-mockingly noted that even those who believe in heaven were in no hurry to go there. Jobs has now passed from this life to the next, and the Lord is his Judge.

Here are a few further spiritual thoughts that came to mind on Jobs’ death:

First, Jobs has been praised for his creativity, industry, and aesthetic sensitivity. Apple products not only worked well, but they also looked good. But where did Jobs and other designers get the raw materials with which they worked? Who created the metal, the fiber, the pigments that gave to every artist, architects, and engineer the building blocks with which they created? What is more, who gave them their bodies, their hands, and their minds? All came from a much greater Designer and Creator.

Second, I was struck by one reporter who noted that Jobs did his best work after he learned he was dying man. Jobs, no doubt, was living with urgency and passion. This reminds me of the Puritan Pastor Richard Baxter who was fond of saying that he preached “as a dying man to dying men.” In truth we are all dying men. One day we too will go the way of all flesh. The apostle Paul reminds us that “we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out” (1 Tim 6:7). Jobs lived with urgency for his business and technology. Are we living with urgency for something much greater? Are we giving all for Christ?

Today I happened to open a book titled An Exposition of Titus (first published in 1612) by the Puritan minister Thomas Taylor (1576-1632). In a brief memoir of Taylor in the book’s preface I read that Taylor also died in his 56th year after contracting “pleurisy.” He is described as “a man full of meekness, love, and charity, which most liberally he would extend, where necessity required, without sounding the trumpet, his left hand not knowing what his right hand bestowed.” On his death bed, he was said to have expressed an abundance of joy. “In Christ,” said he, “I am more than a conqueror. Oh! I serve a good God who covers all imperfections, and gives great wages for little and in mercy he has provided for me some of the greatest.” His biographer relays that he continued praying and praising God until by degrees his voice failed him. On the following Lord’s Day “he departed out of this troublesome world to enjoy a perpetual Sabbath in a better, and to be forever with Christ his Redeemer, at whose right hand is crowned all fullness of delight, and pleasures for evermore.”

When we read of the deaths of famous men, we should consider the course of our own lives.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (9/29/11): CRBC: One Year Mark



Fellowship at the 2010 Keach Conference, September 2010.



“Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the LORD helped us” (1 Samuel 7:12).

“Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake” (Psalm 115:1).

This week marks the one year anniversary of the Covenant Worship Service in which, under the Lord’s leading, we formed Christ Reformed Baptist Church. This time last year our first members affirmed our membership covenant and confession of faith and then signed their names to our membership roll.

So, we are a one year old church. We had about a nine month gestation period from January-September 2010, and then, on the last Lord’s Day of September 2010, we had our birthday. We can perhaps compare a one year old church to a one year old child. Our body is continuing to learn and to grow. We have taken our first steps but also need some support from time to time. We are learning how to talk, hold ourselves up, and do things on our own.

The Lord has continued steadily to grow our body in spirit and number. In September we had our highest monthly average attendance since we began. We have had a steady stream of guest and visitors. Some of these guests have been just passing though. Last month, for example, we had an extended family from North Carolina worship with us, because one of their loved ones was undergoing serious surgery at UVA Hospital. We also had two families from Ohio worship with us on their way to Colonial Williamsburg for homeschool week. Others come from our general area (sometimes driving an hour or more) and are looking for a local church to attend. Last Lord’s Day, three such new families visited for the first time. Though we have no church building and meet in a rented office space, people keep finding us, primarily through our website and sermonaudio site and through personal invitation.

There is no doubt that the Lord had a distinct plan and a purpose for raising up our congregation for such a time as this in Charlottesville and Central Virginia. This week we quietly mark this milestone with grateful hearts.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (9/22/11): Washing the feet of the saints and "holy conferences"

Image:  Passionate conversation at CRBC with Dr. David Murray at the 2010 Keach Conference.

Our midweek Bible Study yesterday was on John 13:1-17, the account of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples. In this passage Jesus tells his disciples, “ye also ought to wash one another’s feet” (v. 14). This led to a lively discussion of how we might practically wash the feet of the saints (i.e., serve and express love for the brethren, especially those within our local church).

One thing that came up was the importance of having spiritual conversations when we gather on the Lord’s Day. No, there is nothing wrong with discussing the weather, current events, etc, but when we gather on Sundays our conversation also ought to be aimed at considering one another “to provoke to love and to good works” (Hebrews 10:24). The Puritans used to speak of having “holy conferences” on the Lord’s Day. We agreed that in general our church does a pretty good job at this. In fact, I mentioned that CRBC is the first church I think have ever attended where Sunday conversation does not involve a re-hash of college football!

I also remembered a list of questions in Don Whitney’s book, Spiritual Disciplines Within the Church (Moody, 1996) that promote fellowship among believers, rather than just shooting the breeze. Here is an adapted list of Whitney’s questions:

• What have you seen God do lately?

• What do you feel good about right now in the spiritual area of your life?

• Where are you having slow-going right now spiritually?

• How is your _____ ministry going?

• How are you doing with the spiritual disciplines (prayer, Bible reading, Scripture memory and meditation, worship, etc.)?

• What’s the most meaningful thing that has happened to you since we last talked?

• What’s the most important decision facing you in the near future?

• Have you read anything lately that has helped you spiritually?

• What’s something the Lord has been teaching you lately?

• How can I pray for you?

• What was God communicating to you today in the Scripture reading and sermon?

May we continue to seek ways to wash the feet of the saints. May we also redeem the time, especially in our Lord’s Day gatherings, to enjoy spiritual conversations that encourage and edify.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (9/15/11): Lordship Salvation

In Iain Murray’s new biography of John MacArthur (Banner of Truth, 2011), he describes how MacArthur’s theology of evangelism and discipleship began to change during the early years of his ministry. Most significantly MacArthur began to rethink many of the pragmatic “easy-believism” evangelistic efforts of the times that had produced many who had made professions of faith but who later showed little evidence of a change of life and fruitfulness. MacArthur began to challenge the notion that one could have Jesus as “Savior” but not as “Lord.” He expressed his views in a 1988 book titled The Gospel According to Jesus, and it led to what is sometimes called the “Lordship controversy.”

In this discussion, Murray shares an anecdote from early in MacArthur’s ministry, as recounted in The Gospel According to Jesus. He once met a stranger who sat next to him on a plane trip. The man noticed MacArthur was reading a Bible and said to him, “Excuse me, you wouldn’t know how I could have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, would you?” Amazed at this open door, MacArthur eagerly shared the gospel and asked the man if he would like to receive Christ as his personal Savior. The man replied, “I’d like to do that.” They prayed together and within a month the man had been baptized. MacArthur then explained, “I was excited about what had happened and eager to follow him up in discipleship. After a short time, however, he broke off contact with me. I recently discovered he has no continuing interest in the things of Christ” (see Murray, pp. 73-74).

The story reminded me of Jesus’ parable of the soils (see Matthew 13:1-23). In that parable the Sower sows the seed of the word on four types of soil. There is the hardened path of the wayside where the seed is quickly gobbled up, the shallow soil of the stony places where the seed sprouts up but is then scorched by the sun, and the thorny soil where the sprout is soon choked by “the care of this world” (v. 22). Finally, there is the good ground where the seed grows and bears fruit. Jesus explains that this good soil “is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth” (v. 23).

How do we know if we are truly saved? We know we are saved when we see Jesus exercising his Lordship in our lives. As one has said, good works are not the root of our faith, but they are the fruit of our faith. In another place in Matthew the evangelist records that Jesus taught, “he that endureth to the end shall be saved” (10:22). May we continue to persevere under the Lordship of Christ, bearing fruit for the kingdom.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (9/8/11): A Visit to Providence

Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:8).

A group of CRBC friends enjoyed a field trip yesterday afternoon to the Providence Presbyterian meetinghouse in Louisa County, Virginia. It is one of the oldest houses of worship in the United States. The plain and simple building stands in a clearing off Three Chopt Road in Gum Spring. From a distance it looks more like a house or a barn. The meetinghouse was built c. 1747. The interior still reflects the simplicity of a Reformed worship space, though later generations have added an organ and piano and a cross on the wall behind the pulpit that would not have been there in colonial times. The heartwood pine pulpit, benches, floorboards, ceiling, and gallery (as well as the hand-made nails that hold them together) are all original, though they have been re-planed with padding added to the benches and some carpet to parts of the floor. The building was only wired for electricity c. 1948.

This is one of the places where the famed Samuel Davies (1723-1761) preached. He had charge over fourteen separate meeting houses in six counties in this area, where he ministered the word. I commend to you an excellent biographical message by T. T. Ellis on the life of Samuel Davies on sermonaudio that came from a 1983 Banner of Truth Conference. You can also read articles drawn from the manuscript of this lecture.

Davies was the first "dissenting" minister (i.e., outside the Church of England) to be granted a license to preach by the colony of Virginia. His pioneer work in preaching the gospel led to his being called "The Apostle of Virginia." Davies left Virginia in 1759 to become President of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton), filling the vacancy created by the death of Jonathan Edwards. He only lived for another eighteen months after arriving at Princeton, however, and died in only his 37th year. Davies was succeeded in his pastoral charge in Virginia by Rev. John Todd who opened a classical school in which both James Monroe and James Madison studied. Providence church was also the congregation in which Reformed theologian R. L. Dabney (1820-1898) grew up. About a hundred years after Davies had filled Providence’s pulpit, Dabney served his home church as supply minister, giving him his first experience in pastoral ministry.

As I reflected on our visit to this meeting house, I was struck by at least two things:

1. Awe and gratitude at the way the Lord raised up ministers and churches to preach the gospel in days of old.

2. Challenge and exhortation that we would be faithful in preaching the good news in our generation.

May we be found faithful.

Grace and truth, Pastor Jeff Riddle

More photos:

Images:  Monuments to Davies and Todd.

Image:  Interior view from the gallery.

Image:  Pulpit area.

Image:  Silver common cup and bread plate for the Lord's Supper dating from the early days of the church.

Image:  Pine ceiling.

Image:  Graffiti in the gallery.

Image:  Some CRBCers outside the Providence Meetinghouse.

The Vision (9.1.11): Report from a church in Germany

SOLA SCRIPTURA = Allein die Schrift

SOLA GRATIA = Allein die Gnade

SOLA FIDE = Allein durch Glauben

SOLUS CHRISTUS = Allein Christus

SOLI DEO GLORIA = Allein Gott die Ehre

Note: Daniel Houseworth, CRBC’s Ruling Elder, was in Germany on a business trip on the first Lord’s Day in August and was able to join in worship with a sister RB church. Here is his report:

Whenever I travel or deploy, I usually do so with a bit of trepidation when I know that I will be away on the Lord’s Day. However, during my recent trip to Germany, I was blessed with an opportunity to worship with brothers and sisters in Christ at the Freie Baptisten Gemeinde Heilbronn, the Free Baptist Church of Heilbronn.

Before I tell you about the congregation, I want to give you some basic background on the church in the land that birthed the Reformation. The German “Christian” community is divided into “state” churches and “free” churches. The state churches consist of both the Roman Catholic Church and the Evangelical Church in Germany (not to be confused with American evangelicalism; it is a confederation of churches that is the equivalent of our mainline Protestant churches) which are both endorsed by the German government. As a matter of fact, the government automatically collects a church tax (Kirchensteuer) from income to support the state churches (based on the individual’s official affiliation). The “free” churches are Protestant groups – primarily Baptist, Methodist, and Pentecostal – that are not officially supported by the government. The Free Baptist Church in Heilbronn (hereafter, FBCH) is one of only a handful of Reformed Baptist congregations in Germany.

FBCH began approximately 30 years ago as a typical evangelical Baptist church founded by a group of families from the U.S. Army community stationed at Heilbronn (which was deactivated in the years following the first Gulf War in 1991). This particular congregation became a confessional (2nd London Baptist Confession of 1689) Reformed Baptist church under its previous minister who became convinced of the truth of the doctrines of grace after attending a conference led by Dr. Peter Masters of the London Metropolitan Tabernacle (Spurgeon’s church). In the last 20 years, the congregation has transitioned to a largely German population with several expatriate Americans and maintained an American pastor for most of that period.

Pastor Johan Van Wyk, along with his wife Susanna, was called to the congregation just over three years ago from South Africa. The fact that they had to look outside of Germany points to the difficulty our brothers and sisters have in establishing, maintaining, and building a Reformed Baptist witness in Germany. This also presents a unique challenge. While CRBC may struggle financially as a relatively new congregation, we don’t have to worry that our pastor will be deported by the government if his income ever drops below the required level to maintain a valid work permit. Three months ago they were not sure they would have sufficient income, but the Lord has graciously continued to provide!

Like CRBC, the membership of FBCH is small – only 24 members – and they have an average attendance on the Lord’s Day of about 50. They currently meet in a rented facility with an attached apartment for the pastor and his wife. They have morning and evening worship services – the former in German and the later in English. Although they have significantly fewer Americans now, they regularly have visitors from around the world who are seeking to worship at a Bible-believing church with an English service; during my visit there were other visitors from India and Nigeria. As a result, they translate both services (either into English or German). I was there on the first Lord’s Day of the month when they have a fellowship meal following the morning service and don’t hold the evening English service. However, we sang at least one verse of each hymn in English, and I struggled mightily to recall the German I studied 18 years ago as I listened to the sermon with the headset volume turned down so that I could hear the preaching while sitting with a German Bible open on one knee and my English Bible open on the other. The meal was a wonderful time of fellowship getting to know several of the English speakers and telling them about the work the Lord is doing in the life of CRBC. Following the fellowship meal, the Van Wyks invited me to their apartment for a “short” visit. Those of you that have heard about my “lunches” with Pastor Riddle won’t be surprised to know that I didn’t leave until 10pm - and I still had an hour long drive back to Stuttgart!

There are many other things I could tell you about FBCH, but I want to close here with several prayer requests (in no particular order):

• For continued financial provision so that Pastor Van Wyk can continue to minister to the congregation.

• For success in outreach opportunities. They are often met with a great deal of hostility and are verbally abused whenever they go out locally just to hand out Gospel tracts.

• For the Lord to add men to the congregation. They currently have only a handful of male members and no elders or deacons.

• For the Lord to add families to the congregation. While there were approximately 30 people in attendance (this was the summer holiday period with many folks away), there were only two young children and an infant. They have very few families in membership, and few of those families have children.

• For wisdom in dealing with church discipline issues. In Germany, the government can shut down a “free” congregation merely over the complaints of disgruntled former members.

• For fellowship opportunities with like-minded congregations. They are not affiliated with any associations, have no relationships with other local “free” congregations, and they are quite a distance from one of the other Reformed Baptist congregations.

• For additional hymns that are doctrinally sound and translate well into both English and German. Dr. Van Eyk found that many of the hymns used in the broader evangelical community in Germany are not Trinitarian but more in line with Tritheism. He said that many in the evangelical church do not hold to an orthodox position of the Trinity.

• For German believers who homeschool or want to homeschool their children. It is illegal for Germans to homeschool children. Dr. Van Wyk and I had brief discussion on the ethical implications of German Christians who are basically living in hiding in order to homeschool their children.

If you would like to learn more or to hear an English sermon by Dr. Van Wyk, please visit their English website. Lord willing, we’ll be able to establish an informal relationship between our two congregations, and I look forward to visiting with them again on my next trip to Germany.

In Christ, Daniel Houseworth

The Vision (8/25/11): Earthquake

“What were you doing when the earthquake hit?” No doubt that question has been asked a lot since last Tuesday’s tremor that put nearby Mineral, Virginia on the map as the epicenter of the 5.9 quake.

This got me thinking about earthquakes in the Scriptures. According to my Bible search program, the English word “earthquake” appears 16 times in 13 verses in the KJV Bible. The plural “earthquakes” appears 3 times in 3 verses. Elijah experienced an earthquake, along with wind and fire, but he found God in none of them. Instead God spoke to his prophet through “a still small voice” (1 Kings 19:11-12). The message appears to be that we should not seek God in extraordinary events but in less glamorous, ordinary ones. When Amos describes his public ministry he notes that it began “two years before the earthquake” (Amos 1:1). Apparently, a terrible earthquake struck the land of Israel during the days of King Uzziah and Amos’ original readers would have known precisely the event to which he made reference (see Zechariah 14:5 which makes reference to the same cataclysmic event).

In the New Testament the Greek word for “earthquake” is seismos, the root for the English words “seismic” and “seismology.” Matthew records that the earth shook both when Jesus died on the cross and when the angels rolled away the stone from the tomb (see Matthew 27:54; 28:2). When Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises to God at midnight in the jail at Philippi, Luke records there was “a great earthquake (seismos … megas), so that the foundations of the prison were shaken” (Acts 16:26).

One of the most impressive descriptions of earthquakes in the Bible does not even explicitly mention the name. Psalm 46:1-2 says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea.”

No. We don’t want to make some corny spiritual point about every event that transpires in life. The earthquake, however, does have some valuable lessons:

• It reminds us that everything we think is certain in life can be changed in a moment.

• It reminds us that every moment of peace and security we and our loved ones enjoy is a gift from God.

• It reminds us of God’s sovereign and awesome power.

• It reminds us that God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

So, this week, we can let the earthquake be our teacher.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (8/18/11): Richard Baxter: No more preaching in heaven

My sermon last Sunday stressed the centrality and importance of preaching as a means of grace in this gospel age. This same week I ran into a passage in Richard Baxter’s The Saints’ Everlasting Rest in which Baxter reminds us that no matter how valuable these ordinary means, in heaven they will no more be needed. As he puts it, “When we have obtained the haven, we have done sailing.” In heaven, even “Preaching is done.”

Book Note: I am reading a copy of The Saints’ Everlasting Rest that was abridged by Benjamin Fawcett and was reprinted by the American Tract Society. I picked up my undated copy amid a pile of old books in a local used book store. The prefaces by Thomas Erskine and Fawcett note the usefulness of this book through the years. Baxter wrote the draft for this work at a time when he was gravely ill and away from home, with only his Bible to read. His thoughts at this dire time naturally turned to heaven. He recovered from the illness and used his notes to preach a sermon series on this topic. The book was first published in 1650. The preaching series and book were used of God in the conversion of at least two other Puritan ministers (Thomas Doolittle and John Janeway).

Anyhow, here is the Baxter quote on the cessation of ordinary means (including even preaching) in heaven:

"One thing contained in heavenly rest, is, the ceasing of the means of grace. When we have obtained the haven, we have done sailing. When the workman receives his wages, it is implied he has done his work. When we are at our journey’s end, we have done with the way. Whether prophecies, they shall fail; whether tongues, they shall cease; whether knowledge, it also, so far as it had the nature of means, shall vanish away. There shall be no more prayer, because no more necessity, but the full enjoyment of what we prayed for; neither shall we need to fast, and weep, and watch anymore, being out of the reach of sin and temptations. Preaching is done; the ministry of man ceaseth; ordinances become useless; the laborers are called in, because the harvest is gathered, the tares burned, and the work finished; the unregenerate past hope, and the saints past fear, for ever."

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle