Book Review, Part 2: John MacArthur's "Because the Time is Near"

Note: This is part two of this two part book review. For part one, look here.

The Problem of Inconsistent Literalism

Second, MacArthur’s analysis suffers from inconsistent application of literalism. As noted above, MacArthur begins in the Preface by promising to follow an unswervingly literal approach to the text. He is highly critical, in fact, of those who allegorize or spiritualize the text. He then proceeds, however, to offer numerous explanations of Revelation’s rich symbolic language that strays from his promise to stick to literalism.

Below is an extended list of examples:

The seven churches "symbolize the churches in general" and "are symbolic of the kinds of churches that exist through all of church history" (p. 35).

The white stone of 2:17 symbolizes those given to victors in athletic contests (p. 70).

"Jezebel was certainly not the woman’s real name… Christ labeled her with the symbolic name of Jezebel" (p. 75).

The church at Sardis "symbolizes the dead churches that have existed throughout history, even in our own day" (p. 79).

The jasper and sardius stones of 4:2-3 might "depict God’s covenant relationship with Israel" (p. 110).

The twenty-four elders "likely represent a larger group"; "they represent the raptured church" (p. 112).

The sea of 4:6 "is metaphorical, since there is no sea in heaven [21:1]" (p. 113).

The eyes on the living creatures are "symbolizing their awareness, alertness, and comprehensive knowledge" (p. 114).

The lamb’s seven horns "symbolize the Lamb’s complete, absolute power" since seven is "the number of completion" (p. 121).

The harps held by the elders "symbolize all of prophecy" and the bowls "symbolized the priestly work of intercession for the people" (p. 122).

The locusts of 9:3-6 are "not ordinary locusts, but demons"; "they are not actual locusts, since locusts have no stinging tail as scorpions do" (p. 161). So, "demons must be in view in this scene" since "these were not actual insects" (p. 162).

The description of the locusts in 9:7-10 with human faces confirms "they are rational beings, not actual insects" (p. 163).

The horses of 9:15-19 "are not actual horses" because John uses "descriptive language" and insists they have heads like lions (p. 167).

The eating of the scroll in 10:8-11 "symbolized the absorbing and assimilating of God’s Word" (p. 177).

The ark in 11:19 "symbolizes that the covenant God has promised to man is now available in its fullness" (p. 196).

The woman John saw in 12:1-2 "was not an actual woman" but "a symbolic mother" (p. 200).

The dragon of 12:3-4 is "symbolic language" for Satan (p. 201), and his sweeping stars with his tail is mere "picturesque language" (p. 202).

The woman’s flight in 12:13-14 "is figurative language that symbolically depicts Israel’s escape from Satan" (p. 209).

The serpent in 12:15-16 "is not an actual snake but a symbolic representation of Satan" (p. 210). The water he spews "is likely symbolic as well" of "an invading, destroying army" (p. 210).

The beast of 13:1 "must be understood as representing both a kingdom and a person" (p. 214). His horns "symbolize strength and power" and their number, ten, "is a symbolic number representing all the world’s political and military might" (p. 215).

Babylon in 14:8 "refers not just to the city, but to the Antichrist’s worldwide political, economic, and religious empire" (p. 233).

The blood rising to the horses’ bridles for two hundred miles in 14:19-20 is "hyperbole" suggesting a great slaughter (p. 242).

The glass sea of 15:1-2 "was not an actual ocean" (p. 245).

The frogs in the plague of 16:12-16 "are not literal frogs" but "froglike" demons (p. 255).

The great harlot of 17:1-6 "is not an actual prostitute," but the term "is a metaphor for a false religion" (p. 262). The harlot’s dupes do not actually get drunk but they are intoxicated with false religion (p. 263).

The Babylon of 17:4-5 "is not ancient Babylon" (p. 265). In fact, "the details cannot be applied to any actual city" (p. 265).

The woman sitting on many waters in 17:1 is "metaphorical" and her sitting on a scarlet beast "again is symbolic." The seven mountains are "figurative" (p. 268).

The "one hour" of 17:12 is "a figure of speech" for "shortness of rule" (p. 269).

The white horses of 19:14 "are not literal horses" (p. 290).

Of the lake of fire in 20:14-15, MacArthur states that "Whether the fire of hell is literal, physical fire is unknown…." (p. 311). He also notes that the worm is "possibly emblematic of an accusing conscience" (p. 311).

Obviously, MacArthur makes many appeals to symbolism and metaphor within the book of Revelation. He is not to be criticized for this. Even John, the author of Revelation, makes plain that many of the images in his book are symbolic. For, example, the "bowls full of incense" are "the prayers of the saints" (Rev 5:8), and Jerusalem (where the Lord was crucified) is "mystically" called "Sodom and Egypt" (Rev 11:8). The problem is with MacArthur’s emphatic rejection in the preface of the allegorical and symbolic interpretations taken by non-dispensational interpretations. His exposition reveals that even the futurist interpretation is dependent on symbolic interpretation of Revelation’s notoriously intriguing imagery. MacArthur thus can hardly claim any hermeneutical high ground in presenting a completely and uniquely "straightforward" approach.

This, in turn, undermines some of the force of his interpretive decisions. One might look at the interpretation of numbers in Revelation as an example. On one hand, MacArthur insists on a literal interpretation of the thousand year reign of "the millennial kingdom" in Revelation 20. In many other places in the text, MacArthur has chosen to symbolically interpret various numerical references. For examples, see his contention that the twenty four elders represent a larger number, the raptured church (p. 112); the Lamb’s seven horns represent perfection (p. 121); the ten horns of the dragon represent the world’s political power and might (p. 215); the one hour of the ten kings power (represented by the ten horns) is a "figure of speech" and not a literal sixty minute period of time (p. 269). Perhaps most striking in relationship to interpretation of the millennium in Revelation 20 is MacArthur’s explanation of the phrase "myriads and myriads" in Revelation 5:11 as an "uncountable host" rather than literal insistence on "ten thousands and ten thousands" (p. 124). If some numbers are to be taken metaphorically, why must one necessarily insist that the thousand years in Revelation 20 are to be taken as a literal thousand years? There is an inconsistent application of literalism in MacArthur’s exposition and a failure to acknowledge honestly his own method’s dependence on symbolic interpretation.

Conclusion

John MacArthur is an able Pastor and teacher who has been greatly used of God to build a strong church and exert a significant influence on contemporary evangelicalism. He is typically an able and insightful expositor of Scripture. His exposition of Revelation, however, is taken captive to dispensational presuppositions. Perhaps his recent spirited defense of this approach reveals his knowledge that the foundations of this view are shifting as the weight of closer investigation by evangelical scholars, pastors, and thoughtful laymen is laid upon them (See Craig A. Blaising and Darrell Bock, Progressive Dispensationalism (Bridgepoint, 1993) and Robert L. Saucy, The Case for Progressive Dispensationalism (Zondervan, 1993) for major modifications of the classical dispensational scheme).

JTR

Book Review, Part 1: John MacArthur's "Because the Time is Near"

Note: This is part one of a two part book review.

John MacArthur, Because the Time is Near: John MacArthur Explains the Book of Revelation (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2007): 360 pp.

John MacArthur made waves at his March 2007 Shepherd’s Conference by preaching a message titled “Why Every Self-respecting Calvinist is a Premillennialist,” in which he insisted that “real” Calvinists will hold a premillennial eschatological view. This exposition of the book of Revelation in a popular, easy to read format also reflects MacArthur’s essential commitment to a premillennial, and more particularly dispensational, understanding of the doctrine of last things. The fact that it reflects MacArthur’s pre-tribulational, premillennial, dispensational views is evidenced by the back cover endorsements from Left Behind authors Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. The reader finds, however, that a plain sense exposition of Revelation is actually hindered by MacArthur’s presuppositional commitment to his end times theological system.

Overview of Content

The brief introduction (pp. 7-14) lays out MacArthur’s hermeneutical commitments. He affirms the traditional view that John the Apostle is the author of Revelation. He advocates a later date for the book, during the reign of Domitian (c. 96 A. D.), rejecting the views of Preterists who advocate an early dating of the book as written during the reign of Nero (c. 68 A. D.).

Most significantly, he makes clear his adherence to the standard dispensational timeline: a pre-tribulational rapture of the church, a seven year period of tribulation, a “great tribulation” in the final three and a half years of the seven year tribulation period, the second coming of Christ, the battle of Armageddon, the thousand year earthly kingdom of Christ (the millennium), the great white throne judgement, unbelievers cast into the lake of fire, and the redeemed in a new heaven and new earth.

MacArthur is also particularly keen to insist that his exposition of Revelation will follow a strict “literal interpretation” rather than “an allegorical or spiritual approach” (p. 10). If one denies “the plain meaning of the text” then he quickly gets “lost in a maze of human invention” (p. 10). He outlines four main approaches to Revelation (preterist; historicist; idealist; and futurist), concluding that only the futurist view meets the criteria of literal interpretation. The preterist approach ignores the book as future prophecy. The historicist view too often resorts “to allegorizing the text” (p. 13). The idealist approach, likewise, reduces the book to “a collection of myths designed to convey spiritual truth” (p. 13). According to MacArthur only the futurist approach “takes the book’s meaning as God gave it” (p. 14). He prefers this “straightforward view” (p. 14).

With his interpretive rationale completed, MacArthur proceeds to a verse by verse exposition of the book. He breaks his study into three parts: Part 1 “The Things Which You Have Seen” (1:1-20); Part 2 “The Things Which Are” (2:1-3:22); Part 3 “The Things Which Will Take Place after This” (4:1-22:21).

Analysis

I found the most helpful sections of this book to be Part 2 in which MacArthur exposits the letters to the seven churches. The historical background information on the settings of the seven cities, for example, is filled with many fascinating insights that the preacher might mine for homiletical jewels. Progress in other sections of the book, however, is impeded by two steep obstacles: (1) the fact that MacArthur’s reading of Revelation superimposes his preconceived dispensationalism on the text; and (2) his inconsistent application of literalism.

The Problem of a Superimposed End Times Scheme

First, MacArthur’s analysis suffers from his insistence that Revelation must fit into his dispensational presuppositions. The dispensational scheme does not naturally emerge from the text, but it must be forced and superimposed over the text like an ill fitting article of clothing. MacArthur assumes a pre-tribulational rapture, for example, without ever explaining why the texts he cites (John 14:1-4; 1 Cor 15:51-54; 1 Thess 4:13-17; see p. 93) in support of this view might not merely be interpreted as the final and ultimate second coming of Christ. The primary text in Revelation itself he presents for the rapture is 3:10 (“I also will keep you from the hour of trial…”), but this is too heavy a burden to rest on such a slender limb. He makes repeated reference to the non-Biblical term “tribulation saints” without ever explaining why the reader should understand Revelation’s references to “saints” as referring to anything other than all believers of all ages. No such distinction is ever clearly made in the text, but it must be superimposed by presupposition. The seal, trumpet, and bowl judgements are likewise forced into the seven year tribulation scheme without direct textual support. MacArthur, further, claims that the fifth seal “marks the midpoint of the tribulation” but offers no clear text to support this claim (p. 132). He makes further reference to another term never actually found in Scripture, “the millennial kingdom.” He assumes the reestablishment of a “tribulation temple” and a millennial temple, only able to appeal to Ezekiel 40-48, since the text of Revelation contains no such straightforward teaching (see pp. 148, 180).

MacArthur’s insistence on acceptance of the dispensational grid leads to some odd interpretations that stray from plain sense readings. An example would be his interpretation of the marriage of the Lamb in 19:7-10. Rather than see both the bride and the wedding guests as representing all believers, MacArthur insists in making an artificial distinction between Christians. For him the honored place of the bride is reserved for “the church-age believers” while the guests are the Old Testament and tribulation saints (see p. 286). No such distinction is made directly in the text, and it is hard to imagine anyone coming to this conclusion who does not come with dispensational presuppositions.

The Age of the God-shrinkers

Another reflection from J. I. Packer’s A Passion for Holiness (Crossway, 1992):

In a section titled "Awe at God’s Greatness" (pp. 68-70) Packer laments the modern indulgence of "unwarrantably great thoughts of humanity and scandalously small thoughts of God." He predicts that our time will go down as "the age of the God-shrinkers."

The results of this "God-shrinking trend" is "that belief in God’s sovereignty and omniscience, the majesty of his moral law and the terror of his judgements, the retributive consequences of the life we live here and the endlessness of eternity in which we will experience them, along with the intrinsic triunity of God and the divinity and personal return of Jesus Christ, is nowadays so eroded as to be hardly discernible. For many in our day, God is no more than a smudge."

JTR

What is Effectual Calling?

Note: Last Sunday evening we began a new series on "The Order of Salvation." The first sermon was on "Effectual Calling." Here are my notes from that message:

What Is Effectual Calling?
JPBC October 14, 2007

Jeff Riddle

Preface

We begin tonight a series on the doctrine of salvation and "the order of salvation" in particular.
The question tonight: Why do some men come to Christ and some do not?

Return to the golden chain of redemption in Romans 8:30: "whom he predestined these he also called; whom he called, these he also justified." Those whom God foreknows and predestines, he calls, justifies, and glorifies.

I. Definition:

From Spurgeon’s Catechism:

Q: What is effectual calling?

A: Effectual calling is a work of God’s Spirit, whereby, convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills, He persuades and enables us to embrace Jesus Christ freely offered to us in the gospel.

II. Biblical evidence:

The Greek word for "to call" is kaleo.

Christians are those who have been called out by God:

NKJ Acts 2:39 "For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call."

NKJ Romans 1:6 among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; 7 To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

NKJ 1 Corinthians 1:2 To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:

NKJ 1 Corinthians 1:9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

NKJ Ephesians 1:18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,

NKJ Ephesians 4:4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling;

NKJ Colossians 3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.

NKJ 1 Thessalonians 2:12 that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.

NKJ 1 Thessalonians 4:7 For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness.

NKJ 2 Thessalonians 2:14 to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

NKJ 1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

NKJ 1 Peter 5:10 But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.

The primary emphasis on "calling" here is a calling to believe in Jesus and, thus, to become a saint. Beyond this it is a calling to belong to a body (the word church, ekklesia, comes from the word for calling) and to live a life of godliness and purity.

Grudem: "This calling is rather a kind of ‘summons’ from the King of the universe and it has in such power that it brings about the response that it asks for in people’s hearts" (Systematic Theology, p. 693). Grudem prefers the term "effective calling." It is "an act of God that guarantees a response" (p. 692).

He offers this definition: "Effective calling is an act of God the Father, speaking through human proclamation of the gospel, in which he summons people to himself in such a way that they respond in saving faith" (p. 693).

He adds, "Although it is true that effective calling awakens and brings forth a response from us, we must always insist that this response still has to be a voluntary, willing response in which the individual puts his or her trust in Christ" (p. 693).

The 1689 London concurs noting that effectual calling bids men come to Christ, "yet so as they come most freely, being made willing by his grace."

III. The distinction between the effectual calling and the general calling.

There are those who hear the general call to believe in Jesus but in such a way that it is not effective for salvation. This is also called the gospel calling and the external calling.

This is what Jesus referred to when he said: "For many are called but few chosen" (Matt 20:16; 22:14).

See also the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13.

IV. Implications:

1. God will provide for those who will believe an external call that he will make an internal or effectual call that shall lead to their salvation.

2. We do not know who will respond to the internal call, so we should promiscuously extend the free offer of the gospel to all.

3. Men will not come to Christ unless they hear this calling (see Romans 10:14). This should make us diligent always in preaching the gospel and in praying for the salvation of the lost.

V. Mysteries:

1. What about those who never hear the gospel call? The Scripture appears to state that they will not be saved. Such are "without excuse" (Romans 1:20).

2. What about infants who die? 1689 London: "Elect infants dying in infancy are regenerated and saved by Christ through the Spirit; who worketh when, and where, and how he pleases; so also are all elect persons, who are incapable of being outwardly called by the ministry of the Word (citing John 3:3, 5, 6, 8)." In the end we must trust that the God of all the earth will do right.

VI. Closing challenge:

We must be always ready to present the gospel.

Grudem: "Memorizing the elements of the gospel call and the verses that explain it should be one of the first disciplines of anyone’s Christian life" (p. 696). Commit to memory verses on "the Roman’s Road": Romans 3:23; 6:23; 5:8; 10:9.

After sharing gospel facts, we should extend an invitation to turn from sin and believe in Jesus.

See Jesus’ call in Matthew 11:28-30:

NKJ Matthew 11:28 "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

We cannot save anyone! But we can extend the external call that God, by his grace, makes the internal and effectual call. God is the great Evangelist. He is the one who saves.

JTR

A Christian Theology of Suffering

Note: Here is the outline from my talk last week to a group of "pastoral care givers":

A Christian Theology of Suffering
October 11, 2007
Jeff Riddle

I. Preface:

The Minister’s resources:
1. We come with a people (the church).
2. We come with prayer.
3. We come with Scripture.
4. We come with doctrine.

II. Five observations on the Christian theology of suffering:

1. The Bible reveals a God of suffering.

Flow this concept in Scripture:

*The protoevangelion in Genesis 3:15. The first prophecy of Christ. Note that evil is overcome but in so doing the Savior is wounded.

*The covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15:6-11, 17-18. The LORD himself passes through the animals cut in two. God is promising to be broken Himself if the covenant is not kept. He will keep the covenant, but man will not. God is promising to suffer for his people.
*The Suffering Servant in Isaiah 52:13-53:12.

*The cry of dereliction in Mark 15:34. Maybe the most astounding verse in Scripture. Jesus, the God-man, suffering on the cross.

*The scandal of the preaching the cross in 1 Corinthians 1:18-25.

This is the touchstone of Christian theology. It requires a trinitarian theology to avoid patripassianism. Islam cannot understand a God of suffering. It has to change the account of the cross. Christianity embraces it. If you saw three young men coming toward you on a dark street, how would your mood change if you discovered they were all three committed Christians?

2. The Bible reveals a God of com-passion in Incarnation.

At the core of the Christian faith is the concept of incarnation:

*The Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14).
*The Christ hymn of Philippians 2:5-11.
*Christ’s identity with humanity in suffering in Hebrews 2:14-18; 4:14-16.
*Christians follow in Christ’s example in taking on Incarnational ministry (see 1Cor 9:19-23).

God has entered into human experience in Christ, including even the experience of death.

3. The Bible reveals that death is an evil to be overcome.

Pastoral care givers are working with people preparing for death, or with people who seem much closer to it than to others.

There is a modern tendency to deny the reality of death. See the funeral home industry. Note how the old hymns dealt with death’s reality. Some theologies deny death but remember that the mortality rate for healing evangelists is 100%!

Contemporary therapeutic counseling denies the evil of death. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross’s Death and Dying promotes the "death is good" and the "death is natural" approach. The Hospice movement continues and expands this. See the tendency to do memorial services and not funerals. The Biblical view, however, is that death is not to be celebrated. We have lost the sense of seriousness and sobriety with death.

The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Death is an insidious opponent to be overcome (see 1 Cor 15:54-55). This life is not ultimate (see 2 Cor 5:1-8).

4. The Bible reveals that suffering is redemptive and purposive.

Flow in Scripture:

*God meant it for good (Genesis 50:20).
*The preeminent example of this is the suffering of Christ (see Acts 2:22-24).
*The Christian sees suffering as redemptive and as a tool for identity in ministry (see 2 Cor 1:3-7).
*Note how Paul revels in what he has suffered for Christ in 2 Corinthians 11:24-30. The goal is a contentedness in Christ despite the external circumstances (see Phil 4:11-13).

5. The Bible reveals that suffering draws us to the doctrine of God’s sovereignty.

How could I have talked about suffering and not have mentioned the book of Job? Here we come to this book at last.

This is a book of theodicy. Rabbi Kushner asked, "Why do bad things happen to good people?" His answer was that of process theology. God is good but not great. The orthodox Christian answer, on the other hand, is that God is both great and good.

Job concludes with man humbled before the sovereignty of God in Job 42:1-6. Man’s end is not to shake his puny fist at God in protest of his governance of the universe but to rest humbly in God’s sovereignty. We will give most comfort to our fellow man in preaching the sovereignty of God.

III. Conclusion.

One of the classics on the Christian view of suffering is the Puritan Thomas Boston’s The Crook in the Lot. Boston (1676-1732) suffered religious persecution and in the final eight years of his existence what he called "the groaning part of my life." His wife suffered a paralyzing depression while he was, a Packer put it, "a martyr to some form of the stone (gravel he called it) and saw himself become a physical wreck." This book is seven sermons. Three on Ecclesiastes 7:13: "Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked?"; one on Proverbs 16:19: "Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud"; and three on 1 Peter 5:6: "Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God and you will be exalted in due time."

At the close he offers this exhortation:

"As you meet with crosses in your lot in the world, let your desire be rather to have your spirit humbled and brought down, than to get the cross removed. I mean not but that you may use all lawful means for the removal of your cross, in dependence on God; but only that you be more concerned to get your spirit to bow and ply, than to get the crook in your lot evened" (p. 121 in the Christian Focus edition, 2002).

JTR

The Minister's Resources

Last week I was asked to make a presentation for a group of "pastoral care givers" at a local, religious-affiliated retirement center on "A Christian Theology of Suffering."

Before starting that talk, I shared some reflections on my seminary service some years ago as a chaplain in large, urban hospital in Louisville, Kentucky. One comment that stuck in my mind from that experience was an observation made by one of my supervising chaplains. He said that the minister is the only one who comes to visit a patient carrying nothing in his hands. The doctor comes with the stethoscope, the nurse with an instrument to measure blood pressure or a needle, the orderly with a meal, but the pastor comes with empty hands. I know the point he was trying to make, but I would respectfully correct his statement. We do not come with empty hands. We do not come with ourselves alone. We come with significant pastoral resources.

Here are four of the pastoral resources which the Christian minister (whether he holds the office of Pastor, Elder, Deacon, or the general office of believer) brings:

1. We come with a people. We are representative people. When we minister we represent the church. This is why it is so important that all ministers be rooted in a local church. We are not free-lance ministers. Paul said that we are Christ’s ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20). We represent His body.

2. We come with prayer (see James 5:13-18). Rarely will a sick or dying man deny the offer of prayer. Always be ready to offer to pray with and for someone with whom you are ministering.

3. We come with Scripture. Rarely too will a man deny the reading of Scripture. Go to the well worn passages of comfort: Psalm 23; Psalm 56:3; Romans 8:28; 1 Corinthians 10:13. God’s Word will never return to Him void (see Isaiah 55:11). Read it aloud with the one to whom you minister and trust it to accomplish its purpose. We come with the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17).

4. We come with doctrine. We come with a theology. You remember the old saying, "You are what you eat"? Well, for us the phrase is, "You are what you believe." We come with a well-ordered Christian theology. We do not hold an amorphous belief in some generic God. Mere belief in God (theism) is not enough. James 2:19 says, "You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe--and tremble!" We believe in the God of the Bible. We believe in Christ. We believe in the power of the gospel.

My fellow ministers, take up these resources and use them in your personal ministry wherever and whatever that might be.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

Evangel article 10/17/07

Holiness Has to Do with My Temperament

A few weeks ago I started reading J. I. Packer’s book A Passion for Holiness (Crossway, 1992) and was struck by the section titled "Holiness has to do with my temperament" (pp. 24-26).

Packer notes that the pre-Christian Greek philosophers came up with four categories of human temperament:

1. The sanguine (warm, jolly, outgoing, relaxed, optimistic);
2. The phlegmatic (cool, low-key, detached, unemotional, apathetic);
3. The choleric (quick, abusive, bustling, impatient, with a relatively short fuse); and
4. The melancholic (somber, pessimistic, inward-looking, inclined to cynicism and depression).

The Greeks also said that some people were of mixed types (i.e., phlegmatic-choleric, etc.). Packer notes that the ancient idea that these types came from body fluids has been dispelled, "but the classification, itself remains pastorally helpful" (p. 25).

Think for just a second of which category fits your temperament. Though at moments parts of all four might fit, I immediately see parts of myself in the choleric and sanguine types. Those who know me can tell me later if you think I am off base or on target here.

Now, on to Packer’s point for holiness. He says, "I am not to become (or remain) a victim of my temperament" (p. 25). He proceeds to note that "holy humanity, as I see it in Christ, combines in itself the strengths of all four temperaments without any of the weaknesses. Therefore I must try to be like him in this, and not indulge the particular behavioral flaws to which my temperament tempts me" (pp. 25-26).

Consider also Packer’s conclusions:

"Holiness for a person of sanguine temperament, then, will involve learning to look before one leaps, to think things through responsibly, and to speak wisely rather than wildly."

"Holiness for a person of phlegmatic temperament will involve a willingness to be open to people, to feel with them and for them, to be forthcoming in relationships, and to be vulnerable, in the sense of risking being hurt."

"Holiness for a choleric person will involve practicing patience and self-control. It will mean re-directing one’s anger and hostility toward Satan and sin, rather than toward fellow human beings who are obstructing what one regards as the way forward."

"Finally, holiness for a melancholic person will involve learning to rejoice in God, to give up self-pity and proud pessimism, and to believe, with the medieval mystic Julian of Norwich, that through sovereign divine grace, ‘All shall be well and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well" (p. 26).

How is God sanctifying your temperament to His glory?

JTR

In Defense of the Lewis and Clark Statue

The Daily Progress had an article on Tuesday about a protest that took place at the Lewis and Clark Statue (pictured above) Monday on West Main Street in Charlottesville. The protest took place on Columbus Day (Get it?) and the leader takes offense at the fact that the Indian guide Sacagawea is pictured in a "subordinate position" in the 1919 statue. She would like to see the statue removed or a plaque placed to correct the "historical inaccuracy."

Here are the problems with this protest:

1. As Ms. Hemenway of the Lewis and Clark Exploratory Center points out in the article, the placement of Sacagawea is likely to depict her as tracking not cowering.

2. Without disparaging the important role of Sacagawea, the statue's primary goal is to honor Lewis and Clark and their role in Western exploration. Like it or not, these men were the leaders of the expedition. To think otherwise it is engage in historical anachronism. Anyhow, isn't it, in fact, honoring Sacagawea by including her in the scene, even if in a supporting role?

3. Isn't this kind of protest an example of censorship? Is the artist who made the statue (even though long dead) to be denied the freedom to express himself using the arrangement of figures and design that he chooses? My guess is that those protesting are unware of the irony of their actions. They want the right to express their views, but they want to deny the expression of the artist and those who enjoy the statue. Perhaps they should raise funds to place their own statue of Sacagawea (sans Lewish and Clark), but please don't censor this one.

JTR

2007 Evangelical Forum Reflections

The sixth annual Evangelical Forum was held last weekend (Friday-Saturday, October 5-6) at JPBC. We had over 50 Pastors, Elders, church leaders and their families present, representing over 20 local churches. Michael Haykin and Greg Barkman did an excellent job speaking on the nature and authority of Scripture with reference to the Second London Baptist Confession.

All four messages can be downloaded here.

You can also see a photo album from the meeting here.

JTR

Samuel Davies: Apostle of Virginia

Week before last, my family made a homeschool field trip to Colonial Williamsburg, taking advantage of a promotion for homeschooling families that allowed us to visit for just $5.00 per person. What a deal!

After visiting the Bruton Parish Church where the likes of George Washington and other colonial leaders worshipped, we made our way to the white frame Presbyterian meeting house. The historical note mentions the fact that the famed preacher Samuel Davies made preaching visits to Williamsburg. Davies later succeeded Edwards at Princeton. Read this Banner of Truth article on Davies, "Apostle of Virginia."

JTR

Sermon of the Week: Haykin on Edwards

Michael Haykin will be at JPBC this weekend for the Evangelical Forum, speaking on the doctrine of Scripture on Friday and Saturday (October 5-6). He will also speak on Sunday (October 7) at JPBC:

Teaching: Life of William Wilberforce (9:30 am);

Preaching: What is a the Church? (Romans 16) (10:45 am);

Teaching: Life of John Newton (6:00 pm).

To get a feel for his teaching style, listen to this lecture on "Jonathan Edwards."

JTR

"Celebrate the Glory"

One more thing.

While at the UCH Network meeting last Thursday, I also met Pastor Mark Jantomaso of River Rock Church in Forest, VA. He also has a ministry called "Simply Devoted" which is having an event called "Celebrate the Glory" at the Sedalia Center (near Lynchburg) on Saturday, October 20, 2007. The conference is free if you pre-register and will focus on family worship. Check out details about the schedule and speakers.

JTR

UCH Virginia Church Leader Network report

Yes, I am alive.

This has been a week of meetings.

Tuesday we had the Central Virginia SBCV Pastors' meeting at JPBC.

On Thursday I rode down with a friend from C-ville to the first quarterly meeting of Uniting Church and Home Virginia Church Leader Network, held at Sycamore Presbyterian (PCA) in Midlothian, VA. The meeting was hosted by Eric Wallace, author of Uniting Church and Home (a book I highly recommend).

Eric preached a powerful message at the gathering from 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 with these three points on "uniting church and home":

1. Christ is the message.

2. Christ is the method.

3. Christ is magnified.

Pastor John Neal of Covenant Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Midlothian also urged the leaders present to "hold those accountable responsible." In their church they have mandatory "head of household" monthly meetings with their church's men to encourage and equip them in spiritual leadership in the home.

It was a good time of conversation and fellowship with brothers from Baptist, Presbyterian, and Brethren churches with encouragement to equip fathers to lead families in ministry and growth in churches.

JTR

60 Seconds in the Word

JPBC started a new ministry this week called "60 Seconds in the Word." We are broadcasting one minute devotional spots on local talk radio AM 1260 in Charlottesville. I have uploaded to our sermonaudio site the seven current spots that are playing on a rotating basis there. The original studio recording was at 128 kbps and I had to slow it down to 16 kbps to fit the sermonaudio requirements, so the sound is not as crisp as it is on the radio.

For the whole series go here.

The individual spots:

1. How do we know what truth is?

2. How important is music in worship?

3. Is Christian service about acts of charity?

4. What makes youth happy?

5. Mother Theresa's Spiritual Struggles

6. Are you grieved by your sin?

7. Why are we here?

-JTR

Rebelutionaries

I had supper last night (Amigo's, of course) with Kyle and Danny A., twin brothers who are students at UVA and attend JPBC. Our conversation reminded me of why I am so optimistic concering the next generation of young Christians. It is my sense that God is raising up a choice generation of serious believers, a much more serious, passionate, and committed generation than my own. Christian nominalism is on the decline. This means we have fewer people who come to church just because it is socially acceptable to do so. What we are left with is a smaller, but more sound, group of young people who are being drawn to the Lord against the cultural expectations and behaviors of their peers. I see a great number of more serious and faithful evangelical churches being raised up in the days to come.

My conversation with these young men reminded me of the "Rebelution" ministry of twin teen brothers, Alex and Brett Harris (yes, the younger brothers of Josh Harris of I Kissed Dating Goodbye fame). If you want to be encouraged about the future of the Christian movement, check out their popular blog, skim through their reading list, and check out the links to their fellow teen "rebelutionaries," and be sure to visit the resources page with links to good articles. Make sure to steer your own teens and students on to this ministry as well.

JTR

Sermon of the Week: "The God of the Bible Kills People"

"The God of the Bible Kills People" is one of my all time favorite messages on sermonaudio. Evangelist Rolfe Barnard was a doctrines of grace preacher when the doctrines of grace weren't cool. I think Rob Stovall first emailed me this message about three years ago, and I've gone back to listen to it many times. I especially like the opening hymn, "He Touched Me." You get the sense from his heartfelt singing that God had indeed touched this man. Barnard thumbs his nose at any politically correct, wimpy view of God. "The God of the Bible Kills People" will give you a holy fear of the God of Bible.

JTR

The Ten Year Milestone at JPBC

Last Sunday marked the 10th year since I signed my covenant to become the Pastor at JPBC. I actually preached my first sermon as Pastor at JPBC on the last Sunday of August 1997.

JPBC constituted as a church on the first Sunday of October in 1962. I am the sixth Pastor in 45 years. JPBC Pastors:

1. Don Givens (1960 [as Mission Pastor] to 1969);

2. Carroll Bruce (1970-1976);

3. Samuel Young (1977-1978);

4. James Luck (1979-1982);

5. John Herndon (1983-1995);

6. Jeff Riddle (1997-present).

Here is my letter of thanks to the congregation posted in the September 13, 2007 Evangel:

Dear friends,

Thank you for the special celebration last Sunday to mark my 10th year of Pastoral ministry at JPBC. The deacon body, of course, deserves special thanks for their arrangement of this event.

Thank you in particular for the special resolution of appreciation read before the church body in morning worship, for the wonderful meal of North Carolina Barbecue with all the fixings shipped in from Kinston, North Carolina, for the generous gifts, for the kind words of encouragement, and for the slide show, revealing how my hair has turned gray, how my waistline has expanded, and how my children have grown. Funny, however, how Llewellyn still looks the same as she did in 1997!

JPBC was constituted as a church in 1962. I am the sixth man to serve as Pastor in these past forty-five years, and I now hold the distinction of having the second longest pastoral tenure in our church’s history (John Herndon has the longest tenure, serving twelve years, from 1983-1995).

It is hard to believe that ten years have passed since we moved to Charlottesville and began to labor in this ministry. I praise God for all that has taken place in our church body under his sovereign hand in these past ten years. Indeed, we can agree that God has already done far more among us than we might have ever asked or imagined (Ephesians 3:20). What else might He be pleased to do among us in the future?

I should also mention my appreciation of other members of the church staff who have added to our church’s continuity. Evelyn Jones has served JPBC for over thirteen years (first as Secretary and since 2002 as Financial Secretary); Bonnie Beach has also been at JPBC for ten years (serving faithfully as a Preschool teacher, Rainbow House Director, and since 2002 as Ministry Assistant); Jo Pettitt has served us as a Church Musician since 2000; and Llewellyn Riddle has also been in our Preschool ministry since 2002, serving as Director for the past three years. Pastoral Assistant Marcus Deel is the new man on board, having joined us in June of this year.

As I noted Sunday, one of my growing convictions is that healthy churches need prolonged pastoral tenures. Thank you for calling me to the office of Pastor in this body, for upholding me in this charge, and for your kind and encouraging acknowledgement of this milestone in my tenure of service.

Of course, if anything of any lasting worth has been accomplished, to God alone be the glory!

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

Looking ahead to the Evangelical Forum

I have been delinquent in posting this week.

On Monday I went down to Roanoke to attend the meeting of the "Society for the Preservation of Baptist Principles and Practices." The speaker was Pastor Greg Barkman. He did an excellent job preaching first on James 3:1-3 ("Brethren, let not many of you become teachers..."). His message reminded the 15 or so of us preachers who were there of the great responsibility and privilege we have to teach publicly. The troublesome church member may talk to one or two folk in the hall or on the phone, but we get to speak to every one each Sunday. Next he preached on Mark 6:52 ("For they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was hardened."). He noted that the "heart" in Biblical terms is not just for the emotions but for thinking and comprehending, citing Romans 10:10: "With the heart one believes unto righteousness...." Do we take the necessary time to think upon Christ, so that our hearts are not hardened to him?

As for our other speaker, Michael Haykin, Baptist Press had an article this week about a conference at SBTS on Andrew Fuller at which Haykin spoke.

Both these men will be at JPBC Friday-Saturday, October 5-6 for our 2007 Evangelical Forum. I am looking forward to it. The conference is open to anyone who wishes to attend.

JTR

Mohler on Mother Theresa and the Gospel

Today is the 10th anniversary of the death of Mother Theresa. Last Sunday, in my sermon titled "Stand Fast," I referenced Al Mohler's comments on recent revelations of Mother Theresa's dark night of the soul (see last week's Time cover). Here's what Mohler wrote:

The recent revelations of Mother Teresa's spiritual struggle should remind all believing Christians that our faith is in Christ -- not in our feelings.

The disclosure of previous secret letters from Mother Teresa indicates that she was deeply troubled by doubts and a sense of Christ's absence. The fact is that many Christians struggle with doubt. Indeed, the most thoughtful believers are most likely of all to understand what is at stake, and thus to suffer pangs and seasons of doubt.

Doubt can be healthy. It can drive believers to a deeper knowledge of what we believe and a deeper embrace of the truth of the Gospel. It can deepen our trust in God and mature our faith. At the same time, doubt can be a form of sin . . . a refusal to trust God and his promises.

This can also be the root of depression, especially spiritual depression. I would not presume to read Mother Teresa'a heart or soul, but I can reflect on the questions raised by her experience.

The Christian Gospel is the good news that God saves sinners through the atonement accomplished by Jesus Christ -- his cross and resurrection. Salvation comes to those who believe in Christ -- it is by grace we are saved through faith.

But the faith that saves is not faith in faith, nor faith in our ability to maintain faith, but faith in Christ. Our confidence is in Christ, not in ourselves.

There is a sweet and genuine emotional aspect to the Christian faith, and God made us emotional and feeling creatures. But we cannot trust our feelings. Our faith is not anchored in our feelings, but in the facts of the Gospel.

As an evangelical Christian, I have to be concerned that part of Mother Teresa's struggle was that she did not consider herself worthy of salvation. She was certainly not worthy of salvation. Nor am I. Nor is any sinner. The essence of the Gospel is that none is worthy of salvation. That is what makes salvation all about grace. As the Apostle Paul taught us, the wonder of God's grace is that while we were sinners, Christ died for us.

Our confidence is in Christ, not in ourselves. We are weak; He is strong. We fluctuate; He is constant. We cannot trust our feelings nor our emotional state. We trust in Christ. Those who come to Christ by faith are not kept unto him by our faith, but by his faithfulness.

I possess no ability to read Mother Teresa's heart, but I do sincerely hope that her faith was in Christ, and not in her own faithfulness.

JTR

Sermon of the Week: "House Churches: Are They Scriptural?"

Many these days are choosing to meet in private homes, in ad hoc churches rather than meet in organized, institutional churches that own property. In truth, there is much that is wrong with the institutional church of today! In addition, it is true that in places in the world where the church faces stiff persecution (like in China and behind the Islamic Curtain) many believers of necessity meet in house churches. In the US, however, folk may meet in house churches for different reasons--some to escape the oversight of elders and confessional accountability. Stephen Hamilton, a Free Presbyterian Pastor, examines house churches in his message, "House Churches: Are They Scriptural?", and he raises some interesting objections to the practice of some who are fleeing conventional churches.

JTR

If you give away motorcycles they will come

My friend Steve Clevenger sent me this link to an AP story about a unique evangelistic method being used by some of our fellow Southern Baptists in the Dakotas (the story also ran in the Daily Progress).

Too bad Paul didn 't have these kinds of innovative ideas back in the first century. Rather than given away chariots he simply preached the good news of the gospel. Imagine that.

This is one of those stories that really makes you shake your head and wonder where SBs are going with such carnal "evangelism" methods.

JTR

The "New Perspective" on Paul Filtering into the Pews

Christianity Today's current cover offers the title "Rethinking Paul." The online article "From the seminaries to the pews" notes how the "new perspective" on Paul is filtering down from seminary classrooms into the pew.

The article also notes anticipation for John Piper's upcoming book The Future of Justification: A Response to N. T. Wright which will critque the new perspective and one of its chief proponents (Wright).

For more on this, see my review of Piper's Counted Righteous in Christ and my review of Guy Prentis Waters' Justification and the New Perspective on Paul.

JTR

The New Testament: a "bad tempered book"

A new quarter of Sunday School started last Lord's Day at JPBC. I am taking the study of Galatians taught by Brian Davis. Brian gave a sound overview of the book before we get into the exposition of the text starting next Sunday. In discussing the polemical tone of Galatians, Brian shared this quote from Timothy George's New American Commentary on Galatians (Broadman & Holman, 1994):

The New Testament has been called a "bad-tempered book" given the amount of space it devotes to explicit attacks and polemical arguments against various opponents who were subverters of the gospel [footnote 44: This expression is attributed to Professor Christopher Evans by J.M.G. Barclay, "Mirror-Reading a Polemical Letter: Galatians as a Test Case," JSNT 31 (1987): 73]. To sense the force of this statement one only has to think of Peter's likening of certain apostates to dogs who turned back to their own vomit (2 Pet 2:22) or of Jude's designation of false pastors as clouds without rain, trees without fruit, and "wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame" (Jude 12-13). Nor are such remarks confined to the latter books of the New Testament when the Christian church was engaged in a fight for its very life. No, they are equally present in the Gospels themselves. Witness John the Baptist's blast against the "brood of vipers" or even Jesus' pronouncements of woe against the Pharisees in Matt 23. Still perhaps no one in the New Testament was more belligerent in his denunciation of opponents than the apostle Paul. And nowhere was he more "bad tempered" than in Galatians. We will have to take up this theme again in the commentary proper, but it is well to note from the outset that from the standpoint of Pauline theology, polemics cannot be divorced from dogmatics. What was at stake was not merely the outbursts of an ill-tempered preacher but rather the truth of the gospel itself.

Indeed, in the NT we see the battle for orthodoxy, which includes, of necessity, contending for the truth of the gospel.

JTR

Summer 2007 Evangelical Forum Newsletter Now Online

Brian Davis has posted the latest issue of the Evangelical Forum Newsletter (Volume 4, Number 3). It is listed as the Summer 2007 issue (well, it is still August!). Bonnie will be getting the print copy in the mail soon.

Of interest inside this issue: Articles by Rob Stovall on worship and Ben Parziale on para-church ministries. Book reviews by yours truly on Sam Waldron's To Be Continued and Michael Haykin's Defence of the Faith.

You can also get info on our upcoming annual meeting at JPBC, October 5-6.

JTR

Guests from Texas

Last Lord's Day we were glad to have old JPBC friends, the Martin family, visiting in worship. Jeff and Jamie left C-ville in 1999 for Fort Worth, Texas where they still live. Julia was born just before they moved from here, and God has been gracious to add Jenna and Jaden to their household in the meantime. We had them over for supper on Tuesday and got a chance to catch up with them (the picture is of them on our front porch). They are active in their church in Texas, teaching 2nd grade Sunday School together and serving in music ministry, among other things (JPBCers will remember Jamie's incredible voice). Jamie is also teaching music part time at the Covenant Classical School where the older children are in school. It was great to enjoy Christian fellowship with them. It was also a reminder of how people can come into your life for only a short time and yet remain a blessing and encouragement.

JTR

Colquhoun: Holiness and happiness

OK. Just one more Colquhoun quote for meditation today:

This one jumped out at me:

"Holiness is the happiness of the rational creature. To conceive of happiness without it would be a contradiction, seeing it is the main ingredient in all true happiness" (p. 139).

You cannot be happy without holiness. It is the apex of genuine felicity. It is the apex of rationality. The most rational and reasonable man will pursue holiness with greatest zeal. Holiness is bliss. Holiness is sanity.

JTR

Colquhoun on "legal" and "evangelical" repentance

Are you really grieved by your sin?

A football star indicted for a crime stands before the cameras and expresses regret for his actions in hopes of saving future playing contracts and endorsement deals. A high profile politician is caught in a morally questionable situation and appears before the cameras to explain his behavior in hopes of saving his political career. A celebrity crashes her car while intoxicated and enters rehab.

Might these be examples of how we, as believers, deal with our sin? Do we express sorrow for our actions and desire to work on resisting our sin only after we get caught red-handed in it? Do we behave well on the outside, but sinful desires eat us up on the inside? Do we follow the rules merely because we want to avoid the scandal and pain of getting caught? Can you be sober for all the wrong reasons?

Colquhoun contrasts the falsehood of "legal" repentance with the genuine article of "evangelical" repentance:

In the exercise of legal repentance, the sinner mourns for sin only as it has wounded his own soul; which shows that his remorse flows merely from a natural spring, and rises only to a natural height. But in the exercise of evangelical repentance, the believer mourns for sin as it has wounded his dear Redeemer, as it has pierced that heart which loves him, and spilled blood which redeems him (p. 90).

A man may abhor sin more for the shame which attends it than for the malignity and odiousness which are in it; and he may hate one sin because it is contrary to another which he loves dearly. The sincere penitent, on the contrary, hates all sin as sin, and abhors it chiefly for the evil that is in it. A man may even forsake most of his transgressions without exercising true repentance. If he forsake open, and yet retain secret sins, or if he leave sin and yet continue to love it, or if he let one sin go in order to hold another faster, or if he forsake sin, but not as sin, he is not a true penitent. He who forsakes any sin as sin, or because it is sin, relinquishes all sin. The sincere penitent forsakes all iniquity from right principles, by right motives, in a right manner, and to a right end. Let every man take heed, then, that he do not impose upon himself by mistaking a false for a true repentance. And if he begin to suspect that his repentance is legal and counterfeit, let him without delay trust cordially in Jesus Christ for grace to exercise evangelical repentance (pp. 91-92).

JTR

Colquhoun on Repentance

Just finished a book on repentance from John Colquhoun (1748-1827), one of the Scottish "marrow men." The copy I have is one I picked up last November at the Evangelical Forum from Sherman Isbell's book table and is titled "True Repentance" (Old Paths Gospel Press, n. d.). The original title is "A View of Evangelical Repentance from the Sacred Records," and is best known as "Evangelical Repentance."

One of the book's main points is that true repentance only comes after justifying faith in Christ. The seeds of repentance are implanted in regeneration and are actualized after justification:

From these arguments it is evident that, in order of nature, justification in the sight of God, or forgiveness of sin in justification, precedes the first exercise of true repentance. But seeing the principle of evangelical repentance is implanted in the soul before justification, none is justified in the sight of God, but he who, in this sense, is already a true penitent. It is only the habit and the exercise of true repentance that follow the act of justification (p. 132).

The point: Saving faith does not depend on the exercise of repentance, but even our repentance, if genuine and not (as Colqhoun calls it) "legal," is given us by God. A right doctrine of repentance is built on the foundation of a right understanding of justification by faith.

Colqhoun goes on to stress that true repentance is an ongoing component of the Christian life: "Every man who is justified is entitled to sanctification, of which the habit and exercise of true repentance are essential parts" (p. 133).

He pleads:

"O renew, and frequently renew, not only the acting of humble confidence in your adorable Redeemer for all his salvation, but also for the exercise of evangelical repentance. Godly sorrow is sweet, is delicious sorrow. It is often attended by a delightful sense of redeeming love and of justifying grace. Whilst, with tears of sorrow and gratitude, you praise a forgiving God and a bleeding Saviour, you realize this paradox: 'sorrowful yet always rejoicing.' Your melting seasons of penitential sorrow will usually pave the way for your strongest and sweetest consolations (p. 137)."

JTR

Not exactly "Mother of the Year"

Mike States sent me this link to an article reviewing a recent book by Corinne Maier that has made waves in France. The book's title, "No Kid: 40 Reasons Not to Have Children."

A quote from the book:

“Children are there to stop you enjoying yourself. It’s a child’s hidden face. Believe me, he will be very inventive in this area. He will be ill when you (finally) arrange a night out, he will bug you when you celebrate your birthday with your friends, he will hate it if you bring someone he’s never met back for the night, and beyond that you won’t dare tread for fear of traumatising him for life.” She goes on to list the things you will almost certainly have to give up after having children. They include: a full night’s sleep, a lie-in, deciding to go to the cinema on the spur of the moment, staying out later than midnight (babysitters have to be relieved), visiting a museum or exhibition (children start mucking about after five mintues), taking your holiday anywhere other than destinations where there is a beach and a kids’ club, taking a holiday during term-time and smoking in front of your children, now deemed a “crime against humanity”.

It is truly amazing how one may present selfishness as virtue. The Bible says that children, despite the inconveniences, are a blessing: "Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward" (Psalm 127:3). God gives us the dominion mandate (Gen 1:28), and men revile it. This is the way sin works. God forbid we practice self-denial for the sake of someone else and for the sake of God.

A glad father, JTR

Sermon of the Week: "Family Worship"

Joel Beeke is a "favorite speaker" on my personal preference list at sermonaudio.com. He is modern day Puritan with a prodigious work ethic and an encyclopedic knowledge of Reformed Theology and church history. In addition to all that, he is a passionate preacher and dedicated Pastor.

Sometimes young men will ask me how to begin and practice family worship in their homes. Beeke's message "Family Worship" gives the theological justification for family worship (Edwards said each family is a little church), practical guidance for doing family worship, and inspiration to realize its benefits. Men will especially benefit from listening to this sermon. My children have enjoyed his collection of devotional stories. I would also commend reading his little booklet on family worship.

JTR

Do we need another Gospel Coalition?

Last week I listened to a few of the messages from the one day conference held by "The Gospel Coaltion" on May 23, 2007 at Trinity Divinity School in Chicago. The group was initiated by scholar D. A. Carson and Pastor Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City. It includes a forty plus member council including a wide number of well known evangelical pastors.

The Coalition has issued a statement titled "The Gospel for All of Life" in which the Preamble reads:

We are a fellowship of evangelical churches deeply committed to renewing our faith in the gospel of Christ and to reforming our ministry practices to conform fully to the Scriptures. We have become deeply concerned about some movements within traditional evangelicalism that seem to be diminishing the church’s life and leading us away from our historic beliefs and practices. On the one hand, we are troubled by the idolatry of personal consumerism and the politicization of faith; on the other hand, we are distressed by the unchallenged acceptance of theological and moral relativism. These movements have led to the easy abandonment of both biblical truth and the transformed living mandated by our historic faith. We not only hear of these influences, we see their effects. We have committed ourselves to invigorating churches with new hope and compelling joy based on the promises received by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

D. A. Carson provided an explanation of the group’s beginnings and a rationale for its existence at the group’s conference (listen here). He noted that the group is tentatively planning to host a national conference in April of 2009.

The group's website also has an interesting collection of online articles to which it plans to add.

Analysis: It is interesting to note the growing emphasis on the recovery of the gospel as the center of the evangelical Christian witness. One wonders, however, at the wisdom of the multiplication and overlap of such organizations. The Gospel Coalition sounds much like the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals and Together for the Gospel and includes many of the same leaders. One also wonders about such supra-denominational groups. In the zeal to promote proper soteriology, do we run the risk of minimizing other doctrines (such as ecclesiology, pneumatology, baptism, etc.)?

JTR

Congratulations to the Parziales!

The big event of last weekend at JPBC was the wedding of Ben and Vanessa Parziale on Saturday (August 18th). Vanessa completed her third summer with us as a children's ministry intern (at the Rainbow House) the week before her wedding. Ben also served us a Pastoral intern this summer. They met at JPBC four years ago when they were incoming first year students. These two have been a great blessing to us at JPBC, and we wish them well in the establishment of a Christian household.

JTR

My Favorite Linebacker

There is a nice article in today's Daily Progress about Jon Copper. Jon and Holly have become faithful attendees at JPBC and Jon has an incredible gift for inviting people to church. The article is a nice tribute to his character and work ethic.

JTR

Sermon of the Week: "The So-Called English Standard Version"

I am going to try a new feature here on the blog: A sermon of the week. Hopefully I'll post a link near the start of the week (I was going to say every Monday--but it's Tuesday) to a good sermon/teaching I've heard. They'll be archived under the label: "Sermon of the Week." Feel free to listen and/or post feedback.

Our inaugural sermon is actually a lecture from Theodore Letis, titled, "The So-Called English Standard Version." It is noteworthy not only for its critique of the ESV but for the general description of how the Majority text came to be replaced by the current minority text underlying most modern translations. Sadly, Dr. Letis apparently died in a car accident in 2005.

JTR

What makes youth happy?

The Associated Press had an interesting article yesterday on a recent poll of young people between the ages of 13 and 24. When asked what made them happy, the top answer was not sex, drugs, and rock and roll, but spending time with family.

Among other interesting tidbits:

Almost no one said "money" when asked what made them happy.

Being sexually active led to less happiness among teens.

Close to half say religion and spirituality are very important and over half believe in a "higher power" [of course, this is a mixed blessing but still an encouragement in evangelizing young folk].

Overwhelmingly, young people think marriage will make them happy and want to be married some day. Most also want to have children.

A high school student is quoted as saying, "I don't want to be one of those career businesswomen who just doesn't ever settle down."

JTR

Rainbows, the Trinity, and an Incomprehensible God

Last evening in Bible Study at JPBC, my mind got fixed on Ezekiel 1:28, the end of Ezekiel’s fantastic vision of God:

"Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord."

I recalled, Michael Haykin’s quotation (in Defence of the Truth, pp. 86-87) of Gregory of Nyssa who used the analogy of a rainbow to describe both the mystery of the Trinity and the nature of God (see Letter 38.5):

Yet receive what I say as at best a token and reflexion of the truth; not as the actual truth itself. For it is not possible that there should be complete correspondence between what is seen in the tokens and the objects in reference to which the use of tokens is adopted. Why then do I say that an analogy of the separate and the conjoined is found in objects perceptible to the senses? You have before now, in springtime, beheld the brightness of the bow in the cloud….

Now this brilliance is both continuous and divided. It is of many colours; it is of many forms; it is insensibly steeped in the variegated bright tints of its dye; imperceptibly abstracting from our vision the combination of many coloured things, with the result that no space, mixing or paring within itself the difference of colour, can be discerned either between blue and flame-coloured, or between flame-coloured and red, or between red and amber. For all the rays, seen at the same time, are far shining, and while they give no signs of their mutual combination, are incapable of being tested, so that it is impossible to discover the limits of the flame-coloured or of the emerald portion of the light, and at what point each originates before it appears as it does in glory. As then in the token we clearly distinguish the difference of the colours, and yet it is impossible for us to apprehend by our senses any interval between them; so in like manner conclude, I pray you, that you may reason concerning the divine dogmas; that the peculiar properties of the hypostases, like colours seen in the Iris, flash their brightness on each of the Persons Whom we believe to exist in the Holy Trinity; but that of the proper nature no difference can be conceived as existing between one and the other, the peculiar characteristics shining, in community of essence, upon each….

My argument thus teaches us, even by the aid of the visible creation, not to feel distressed at points of doctrine whenever we meet with questions difficult of solution, and when at the thought of accepting what is proposed to us, our brains begin to reel….

JTR

Strong Families=Strong Churches

We had our final theological discussion of this summer last evening at the home of the Ventons. Great hospitality and a good discussion. Among topics discussed: spiritual growth; divorce and remarriage; and the believer and evolution.

Most time and passion went into the discussion on marriage and divorce. This morning, Al Mohler has an interesting blog post on "The Fate of the Family and the Future of the Church," citing the sociological research of UVA's W. Bradford Wilcox.

Wilcox notes the strong link, for men in particular, between marriage and church attendance. Men who are husbands and fathers go to church.

Mohler notes, "Marginalize marriage, depreciate childbearing and fatherhood, and say goodbye to young adult men in church."

The link between intact families and congregational vitality is a "sociological law."

This is why marriage must be defended, responsible fatherhood promoted, and divorce frowned upon.

JTR

Piper and Grudem wrangle over baptism and church membership

John Piper had an interesting post on his Desiring God site yesterday (August 9) responding to Wayne Grudem on the issue of baptism and church membership [Thanks for the tip Howard!].

Grudem has apparently rewritten part of his Systematic Theology in its latest edition to frown on churches not taking a clear stand on baptismal standards for church membership. Piper pleads, "But, Wayne, Wayne, Wayne, why did you rewrite page 983?" Piper makes the same claim he has made earlier that to exclude a person from Baptist church membership who has only experienced infant baptism is "virtually the same as excommunication."

He also goes on to say that (if his church would allow it) he would welcome paedobaptists like Ligon Duncan, Sinclair Ferguson, R. C. Sproul, or Philip Ryken into membership.

The site also posted Grudem's response. Grudem reminds Piper that denial of church membership is not excommunication. He also makes clear that baptism is required for church membership and states clearly that he would not support a church which practices an either-or policy with regard to infant baptism or believer's baptism. I wish he had asked how the paedobaptist luminaries Piper listed would feel about being included in membership but excluded from eldership in Piper's plan.

I was a bit brothered, however, by Grudem's description of his own church's practice that allows non-members to lead home fellowship groups and his dismissal of churches that exclude those who have not experienced believer's baptism from the Lord's table as a practice of "very few of the most strict Baptist churches."

For my much longer and detailed response to Piper's maverick ecclesiological views, listen to this audio file.

JTR

Should Christians Watch Movies?

I noticed in the newsletters of a large, local evangelical church that they have been screening R-rated, secular movies. They have done this in the name of understanding the culture. Of course, many "cutting edge" churches are using video clips in worship services and sermons. A local evangelical campus ministry at UVA often screens secular movies followed by theological discussion. Is this wise?

What about the individual Christian who goes to the movie theater or rents videos? Some Christians watch hundreds of movies a year. For a sober challenge to this practice, listen to Scottish preacher David Murray's prophetic message "Should Christians Watch Movies?" I was personally convicted by this sermon.

JTR

The Tyranny of Modern Covenience

Last Sunday’s Daily Progress (8/5/07) had an interesting article by David Maurer about the Ward family who left their lives in New York City to live on a farm near Swoope, Virginia (Augusta County) trying to recreate life c. 1900 with no electricity, running water, indoor plumbing, etc.

The husband, Logan Ward, has written about the experience in a book, See You in a Hundred Years: Four Seasons in Forgotten America.

In the article, the Wards describe what drove them to seek this experience:

"For a long time we loved New York, and we were thrilled to be there," said Ward, who has written for magazines such as National Geographic Adventure, Men's Journal and Popular Mechanics. "Having a child suddenly forced us to think about our choices as they would affect him.

"Also, our jobs kept us pretty stressed out. This was around 2000, and e-mail had really caught on. My inbox kept filling up and, when I tried not to answer it, that backfired.
"Heather and I both felt that the technology that was supposed to make our lives easier was making us feel enslaved."

Heather Ward was trying to make the world a better place by working at a justice-reform think tank. But travel kept her away from home a lot. Within a two-year period, she visited every continent, except Australia and Antarctica.

Pangs of guilt

Having to turn her firstborn over to the care of near strangers during the workday caused pangs of guilt and anxiety as well. She felt chained to her computer and cell phone and was troubled by her absolute reliance on technology.

"Not many people seem to question all this technology," Heather Ward said. "We all assume this is right, because it's what everyone does. And it's the only way to do your job.

"It's the only way to keep up, keep earning your income so you can keep your apartment and all the stuff that you like to have. So when you think about letting go of even one aspect of that modern life, the rest of the house of cards can fall.

"I think that's why we looked for such a radical change. We couldn't keep doing what we were doing and not have e-mail, the car, the commute or the television. The whole thing had to shift."

I read this part of the article as an introduction to my sermon Sunday evening on Leviticus 25, noting that even secular people (the spiritual convictions of the Wards is not mentioned in the article; I assume they are not believers) know deep down their need for Sabbath and for rest (expressed by the Wards in their personal revolt against technology).

In the Old Testament, there is the provision of a weekly Sabbath (one day in seven, see Lev 23:1-3); a Sabbath year (every seventh year, see Lev 25:1-7); and a year of Jubilee when debts are cleared, prisoners are freed, and a fresh start is given to all (every 50th year, see Lev 25:8-55).

In the New Testament, Christ declares the acceptable year of the Lord to be fulfilled in his person (Luke 4:16-21). He is our year of Jubilee, and the spirit of the Old Testament Sabbath continues in our marking his resurrection on the Lord’s Day.

What is the answer to the tyranny of modern convenience (unending email, cell phones, television programs, web-surfing, and text messages)? Running off to live a year without electricity and no email? Going Amish? How about starting with a day of rest in the Lord? A day of rest in Jesus, our Jubilee.

JTR

Vacation Reading

Back from vacation. In addition to swimming and twisting my ankle playing freeze tag in the surf with my kids, there was plenty of time for reading last week.

Theological works:

• Edward F. Hills, The King James Version Defended (Christian Research Press [original 1956] 2000).

Hills offers a classic defense of the Textus Receptus (the Greek basis for the KJV translation) as the authoritative ecclesiastical text providentially preserved by God.

• Maurice A. Robinson and William G. Pierpont, compilers, The New Testament in the Original Greek, Byzantine Textform 2005 (Chilton, 2005).

I read the Greek text last Spring and finally got around to reading the Appendix, Robinson’s article, "A Case for Byzantine Priority" (pp. 533-86). Robinson argues for the Byzantine text, over against the modern eclectic reconstruction of the Greek text.

• John MacArthur, Because the Time is Near (Moody, 2007).

The subtitle is "John MacArthur Explains the Book of Revelation." This work is intended for a popular audience. It presents MacArthur’s pre-tribulational, pre-millennial, dispensational reading of Revelation. For me it solidified how the dispensational approach super-imposes an end times scheme on the text that does not emerge on its own. I plan to write a longer review later.

Children’s historical works:

• Bruce Blivens, Jr., The American Revolution (Random House, 1958).

Wonderful overview of the American Revolution in the classic Landmark series.

• Hazel Wilson, The Story of Lafayette (Grosset & Dunlap, 1952).

Solid overview of the life of the French patriot in the Signature series.

• Edith Gray Pierce, Horace Mann: Our Nation’s First Educator (Lerner, 1972).

Interesting 1970s propaganda on the virtues of the Unitarian Mann and how he escaped the evangelical preaching of his youth to champion public schools free from religious entanglements. I did not realize that Mann had been the founding president of ultra-liberal Antioch College, which folded this year.

JTR

Spot and Drum

On vacation this week at Topsail Island, NC: (1) On the corner of Spot and Drum; (2) Sam and Lydia and cousin Emma; (3) Emma Anderson Chapel at Topsail.

JTR