Jesus on Prayer

In last Sunday morning’s message, we spent some time meditating on Mark 6:46: "And when He had sent them away, He departed to the mountain to pray."

In this meditation I shared a few quotes on prayer (mostly drawn from Joel Beeke’s book, Overcoming the World):

Matthew Henry: "A good man is never less alone than when he is alone with God."

Joel Beeke: "Part of our problem is that we view prayer as an appendix to our work rather than as the first major part of our work. If we are to live godly lives, we must pray. If we would learn the art of sacred wrestling and holy argument with God, we must pray. Prayer is the only way to lay hold of God."

John Owen: "To preach the Word and not follow it with constant prayer for its success is to disbelieve its use, to neglect its end, and to cast away the seed of the gospel at random."

Hudson Taylor: "Do not be so busy with the work of Christ that you have no strength left for prayer."

The great Reformer Martin Luther committed three hours each day to prayer and he once said to his colleague Melanchthon, "I must rise an hour early tomorrow, for, given all that I need to do, I must spend more time in prayer."

It is said that John Welsh, the son-in-law of Scottish reformer John Knox prayed seven hours a day. He kept a robe by his bedside each night so that he would not catch cold when he rose to commune with God. He said, "I wonder how a Christian could lie in his bed all night, and not rise to pray."

May the example of Christ and the words of these fellow believers prod us on to greater faithfulness in prayer.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

Note: Evangel article for 3/11/08.

Broadway Again

Baptist Press has two more articles on conflict at Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth where the Pastor survived a vote for dismissal (read them here and here). I cite this not to revel in their troubles (though it is interesting how the moderate Baptist Press so often enjoys reporting on trouble in conservative churches). I am intrigued by the fact that even an arch-moderate, post-SBC church like this one still has members who wince at the uncritical acceptance of homosexual practice among its members. It also illustrates the confusion that comes with moderate-liberal stress on "freedom" over "purity."

JTR

Social gospel on display at U-Hall

The liberal social gospel is alive and well in C-ville.

Last night the group called "IMPACT" got c. 1,900 people into University Hall in a rally for "social justice." See the Daily Progress article here. The gathering supposedly represented 28 congregations, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim. It included Catholics, Unitarians, and Baptists.

Why wasn't JPBC there? Because the social gospel is a false gospel. How do we do people the most good? By preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ crucified for sinners.

As Indian evangelist K. P. Johannan put it: "It is a crime against lost humanity to go in the name of Christ and missions just to do social work yet neglect calling men to repent--to give up their idols and rebellion--and follow Christ with all their hearts" (Revolution in World Missions, p. 112).

JTR

Sermon of the Week: Joel Beeke on Commitment to the Local Church

Sermon of the Week: Joel Beeke, "Commitment to the Local Church."

I listened to this message the other day from Joel Beeke and was struck by many things he had to say. Sounds like he was addressing the young people of the church or Christian school associated with his church. Beeke hits things that few in our individual-centered culture stress today like the concept of loyalty to the local church and its ministers. He takes on the problem of "church-hopping" in America, apparently a particularly acute problem in a city like Grand Rapids. Listen and be challenged!

JTR

Fuller on the study of Revelation

I started my Wednesday evening expositions of Revelation at JPBC last night. Among other things, I have been reading Andrew Fuller's discourses on Revelation. I share Fuller's thoughts on this task as he wrote in his introduction c. 1809:

I have lately expressed a wish to enter upon this difficult part of the Holy Scriptures; not because I conceive myself at present equal to the undertaking, but because I think I understand something of it, and hope, by going through it in the way of exposition, to understand more. I enter upon it with fear; but as I shall not attempt to explain that which appears to me to be of doubtful import, I hope it may not be presumptuous, but a profitable undertaking.

JTR

What Spurgeon Really Said

Steve Hills tipped me off to the latest work of N. T. Wright. Read about it here.

JTR

A Faith to Confess

Note: We started a new Sunday evening series last Sunday on "A Faith to Confess" using the Baptist Faith and Message (2000) as a guide to looking at basic Christian doctrines. Here are the notes from the series introduction:

Why do we need a confession of faith? A confession of faith is a guardian of orthodoxy. It is an explicit testimony as to how a body of believers interprets the Scriptures. It is not equal in authority to Scripture and may be changed to conform more closely to Scripture. A confession of faith holds the church’s teachers accountable to doctrinal fidelity.

Esteemed Baptist Pastor and theologian Andrew Fuller (1754-1815) wrote:

The man who has no creed has no belief; which is the same thing as being an unbeliever; and he whose belief is not formed into a system has only a few loose, unconnected thoughts, without entering into the harmony and glory of the gospel. Every well-informed and consistent believer, therefore, must have a creed—a system which he supposes to contain the leading principles of Divine Revelation.

In considering this matter, we should be careful of "restorationists" who claim to take only the Bible as their confession. These may piously pronounce that they have "no creed but Christ" and claim to desire only to reconstitute "primitive" Christianity. Such, however, merely have an unstated and unwritten creed. This is dangerous because their unstated creed cannot be plainly read, studied, and scrutinized. It might also be changed without notice.

Think of the Mormons who are adamantly non-creedal. Their "prophets" can change doctrinal direction at any time. This is typical of Christian cults and fringe groups that wander into doctrinal error.

The practice of doctrinal confessions is, in fact, a Biblical practice. The earliest Christian creed was the simple statement: "Jesus is Lord" (see Rom 10:9; 1 Cor 12:3; Phil 2:11). See also Paul’s clear statement of the basic facts of the gospel including the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ in 1 Corinthians 15:1-8. This also is an early, Biblical confession of faith being used as a test of orthodoxy. To confess a doctrinal standard is, in fact, to follow a Biblical pattern and example.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

Note: Evangel article 3/4/08.

The uncertainty of feelings

In Jesus is Victor, Corrie Ten Boom offers this brief verse:

Feelings come and feelings go
And feelings are deceiving.
My warrant is the Word of G0d,
None else is worth believing.

JTR

"JPBC Blues"

Note: Ben Parziale "sang" this song about his JPBC internship at the Valentine's Banquet (to the tune Folsom Prison Blues).

I hear the Mr. Jeff a comin'

He’s rolling round the bend

And I ain't seen the sunshine since I don't know when,

I'm stuck in JPBC, and time keeps draggin' on

And that’s because I’ve been here since the break of dawn

When I was just a baby my mama told me Son,

Always be a good boy, don't ever be an intern.

But I thought I’d like to do it, just to give it a try.

When I hear his voice a’calling, I hang my head and cry.

Well I know that Mr. Jeff likes that ole Richard Baxter

He’s probably drinkin’ coffee and readin’ Reformed Pastor.

Well I know I had it coming, when I read Homemaking.

Because I’m a pastoral intern, And that's what’s torturing...

Well if they freed me from JPBC,

And if that Rainbow House was mine

I bet I'd move it on a little farther down the line

Far from Jeffrey Riddle, that's where I want to stay

And I'd let that lonesome white van drive all my blues away.....

JTR

Book Review: Alister McGrath's "Dawkins' God"

Alister McGrath, Dawkins’ God: Genes, Memes, and the Meaning of Life (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2005): 202 pp.

This book is an examination and critique of Oxford "Professor of the Public Understanding of Science" Richard Dawkins and his crusading efforts to promote Darwinian atheism. McGrath had been a committed atheist as a young man but later converted to Christian faith. He also has training both in the natural sciences (biochemistry) and in theology. This makes him more than adequately prepared for presenting this critique of Dawkins’ views.

One of McGrath’s chief criticisms is aimed at Dawkins’ contention that science might somehow disprove the existence of God. Science cannot answer the God question: "The scientific method is incapable of delivering a decisive adjudication of the God question. Those who believe that it proves or disproves the existence of God press that method beyond its legitimate limits, and runs the risk of abusing or discrediting it" (p. 53). McGrath is keen to downplay the assumption of an inherent contradiction between Christian faith and science, including evolution. Though expressing admiration for Dawkins’ critique of William Paley in The Blind Watchmaker, McGrath notes that Christian theologians, including Cardinal John Henry Newman, also rejected Paley’s views as inadequate on theological grounds. On the other hand, he notes that many Christians did not see incompatibility between embracing both Christian faith and the theory of evolution. McGrath observes, "As a matter of historical fact, Darwinism was not perceived to entail atheism by the best informed judges of the time" (p. 77). He points to Darwinian scientists like Ronald A. Fisher, Charles D. Walcott, and Theodosius Dobzhansky who were also professed Christians. McGrath contends that although evolution might lead one to adopt an agnostic position (a term coined by Darwinian advocate T. H. Huxley) on the God question, it by no means necessarily leads to atheism.

McGrath also takes Dawkins to task for his characterization of all religious belief as mere "blind trust." Dawkins mistakenly assumes that belief in God is equivalent to believing in Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy. McGrath responds:

This is a school boy argument that has accidentally found its way into a grown-up discussion. It is as amateurish as it is unconvincing. There is no serious empirical evidence that people regard God, Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy as being in the same category. I stopped believing in Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy when I was about six years old. After being an atheist for some years, I discovered God when I was eighteen, and have never regarded this as some kind of infantile regression…. I have yet to meet anyone who came to believe in Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy late in life (p. 87).

In his "anti-religious rhetoric" Dawkins comes to a definition of faith that "bears no resemblance to what Christians believe" (p. 89). McGrath also turns Dawkins’ argument around and asks how this contemporary popular interpreter of science can be so sure that atheism is true. McGrath asks, "Is atheism itself a faith?" and "Is science a religion?" (see pp. 91-96). Along these lines, McGrath points to the problem of "radical theory change" in the sciences (p. 102). Beliefs that are held to be the assured results of scientific method in one generation are overturned in the next. "Scientific theorizing is thus provisional" (p. 104). Dawkins’ anti-religion rhetoric is over-reaching, while his "faith" in science is uncritical.

McGrath also takes Dawkins to task for his attempt to apply Darwinian theory to human culture and his argument for the existence of "memes" or "cultural replicators" (see Dawkins’ book The Selfish Gene). He insists that Dawkins’ analogy between the biological gene and the cultural meme is fundamentally flawed. Taking special exception to Dawkins’notion of theism as "a virus of the mind" that has infected humanity, McGrath ponders:

So just what is the experimental evidence that God is bad for you? Dawkins assumes that it is publicly accepted within the scientific community that religion debilitates people, reducing their potential for survival and health. Yet recent empirical research points to a generally positive interaction of religion and health….

Dawkins appears to assume that his readers will rather uncritically share his own subjective views on the malignancy of religion, and thus accept his grandiose conclusions without demur (p. 136).

Contrary to Dawkins’ rhetoric, McGrath suggests that science and religion need not be antithetical. He points to an emerging synthesis, "a new convergence," between science and faith. The "popular notion of a war between science and faith" is largely "Victorian propaganda" (p. 139). Contrary to Dawkins, religion does not present an "aesthetically deficient" view of the world (p. 146). Futhermore, McGrath contends that, "Christian theology does not in any way detract from a natural appreciation of the beauty and wonder of the world; if anything, it adds to it" (p. 151). The Christian concepts of "mystery" and "awe" do not necessarily mean "irrational."

This book is a helpful popular treatment of complicated scientific and theological concepts. McGrath is clear in his critique but never petty nor acerbic. Some evangelicals, however, will not be pleased with the author’s apparent comfort with the theistic evolution position. In the end, McGrath succeeds in exposing the shaky historical, logical, philosophical, rhetorical, and, even, scientific foundations on which Richard Dawkins’ zealous advocacy for atheism vis-a-vis theism (and Christianity, in particular) is based. This work is recommended to the believer to equip him for apologetic engagement with the "new-atheism" represented by Dawkins.

Jeffrey T. Riddle, Pastor, Jefferson Park Baptist Church, Charlottesville, Virginia 22903

Update on Broadway Directory Flap

Conflict continues at moderate-liberal Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas over the inclusion of homosexual couples in the church directory. Apparently the Pastor thought the church was both welcoming and affirming while many of the older (Cecil Sherman type SBC moderates) were welcoming (as long as you keep it to yourself) but not affirming. See the soft treatment in Associated Baptist Press here (which focuses on the fact that the controversy is spurred on by the internet) and a more honest blogger report here.

This is yet another warning of where things go once you jettison confessional boundaries and focus on 'soul freedom.'

JTR

And on the day called Sunday

"I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord" (Psalm 122:1 AV).

Here is a description of early Christian worship from Justin Martyr, writing about the middle of the second century A. D. :

And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities of in the country gather together in one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of good things. Then we all rise together and pray, and, as before said, when our prayers is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgiving, according to his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen (as quoted in John Stott, Between Two Worlds [Eerdmans, 1982]: p. 19).

It is striking to note how that has time has passed the same primal elements still constitute the basics of Christian worship on the Lord’s Day. We gather together in one place, read the Scriptures, listen to the word preached, pray, and break bread. Corporate worship is our primary act of service as God’s people.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

Note: From Evangel article, 2/28/08

You, Congregation

Below is the text of a poem Chris Marshall read at the annual JPBC "Talent Show" back on February 8th:

You, Congregation
adapted from
You, Reader by Billy Collins

I wonder how you are going to feel
when you find out
how long this sermon will be.
that it was I who stayed up late
to sit in the kitchen
and methodically construct
the fifty-seven bulleted points,
in your message notes,
on John 11:35.
Go ahead and turn aside,
bite your lip and scribble on the bulletin,
but, listen -- it was just a matter of time
before I happened to notice
that this room has no clock
and the doors can be locked from the outside.
I know you’ll be grimacing
at the introduction I so delicately crafted
after a mere thirty-four minutes.
But, we’ve really just started this morning--
and time cannot constrain us,
no matter how late we arrived from deacon prayer time.
I wonder if you can do the math
when twenty-three minutes has passed for bullet one
or if someone will be leading a revolt--
like Llewellyn
who manages to convey with a look
the bleak prospects for my future.
some day we all will laugh about this,
me, smiling and blogging at my computer
you, welcoming a new pastor to the pulpit.

JTR

Exposition of Jude: Part 7 of 25

Image: First century Roman ink pot plucked from the Tiber River (British Musuem).

Note: This study resumes a verse by verse exposition of Jude began last year. This and previous entries are archived below under the label "Jude Exposition."

Jude 1:7 as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

Jude warns against the wrath and judgement of God. In 1:6 he describes God’s wrath upon the disobedient angels "who did not keep their proper domain." In v. 7 he highlights the classic Old Testament account of Sodom and Gomorrah (see Genesis chapters 18-19).

Note that Jude says the judgement was not just on those cities but also on "the cities around them." As Christians act like salt and light to those around them (Matt 5:13-14), so also evil has a corrosive and contaminating influence on those who surround it. Paul warns in 1 Corinthians 15:33: "Evil company corrupts good habits."

Note also Jude’s description of the passive nature of God’s judgement. The inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah had "given themselves over" to sin. In his description of sinners in Romans 1:24 Paul says, "Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves." Sometimes the most sever punishment God can render is letting us go our own way in sin without his gracious intervention. These wicked men brought God’s righteous wrath down on their own heads!

What was the nature of their sin? Jude says they gave themselves over to "sexual immorality" (Greek verb: ekporneuo). To be precise, they went after "strange flesh." This refers to the perversion of homosexual behavior (see Genesis 19:4-9). God created a simple, beautiful, good design of one man and one woman, joining in a one flesh union of covenant marriage that lasts a lifetime (see Gen 2:24). Anything less than that is an affront to a holy God (read carefully Romans 1:18-32).

As a result of their sin, those who insulted God suffered "the vengeance of eternal fire." Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by "brimstone and fire" (Gen19:24). More fearsome than any temporal judgment, however, is the warning here about eternal judgement for the wicked. Jesus taught that we should not merely fear the one who can harm the physical body, but he said, "Fear Him, who after He has killed has the power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!" (Luke 12:5). Jude 1:7 also calls on us to fear God.

Application:

1. How does this passage refute our tendency to stress God’s grace but to ignore his wrath and judgement?
2. Where would we be if God simply "gave us over" to our sinful desires?
3. Why is homosexual behavior offensive to God?
4. What does this text teach us about the reality of hell?
5. How will warnings like this one be used of God to keep you from sin and to admire more Christ’s work on the cross?

JTR

The mystery of unbelief

Below is the introduction to last Sunday's (2/17/08) message on Mark 6:1-13, "And He marveled at their unbelief":

We have seen the power of Jesus in his words (Mark 4) and his deeds (Mark 5). We have seen men thronging to him--wild men, worried fathers, and women with incurable wounds falling at his feet. But in today’s passage we encounter something different. It is a reminder that this Gospel will end with Jesus on the cross. In this chapter we meet the mystery of unbelief. As mysterious as it is to understand the phenomena of faith or belief in Christ, perhaps even more beyond our comprehension is the reality of unbelief.

Why do men reject Christ when he is freely offered to them?

He who rejects Christ is like...

a starving man rejecting food,
a thirsty man rejecting drink,
a sick man rejecting medicine,
a lost man rejecting rescue,
an exhausted man rejecting rest,
a drunk man rejecting sobriety,
an erratic man rejecting consistency,
an imprisoned man rejecting freedom,
an enslaved man rejecting emancipation,
a poor man rejecting treasure,
a despondent man rejecting gladness,
a grieving man rejecting comfort,
an insatiable man rejecting fullness,
a deluded man rejecting sanity,
a freezing man rejecting warmth,
a foolish man rejecting wisdom,
a dead man rejecting life.

It simply does not make sense!

JTR

Ammunition quotes for fighting pride

A few quotes from Joel Beeke's chapter 17 "Your fight against pride" in Overcoming the World (P&R, 2005): 136-41:

• "The more godly a man is, and the more graces and blessings of God are upon him, the more need hath he to pray because Satan is busiest against him, and because he is readiest to be puffed up with a conceited holiness." --Richard Greenham
• "It is hard starving this sin, whenas there is nothing almost but it can live upon." --Richard Mayo
• "I know I am proud; and yet I do not know the half of that pride." --Robert Murray M'Cheyne
• "I am more afraid of pope 'self' than of the pope in Rome and all his cardinals." --Martin Luther
• "Men frequently admire me, and I am pleased, but I abhor the pleasure I feel." --Henry Martyn
• "Study mortification, brother; study mortification." --John Eliot to a colleague

Some ammunition for fighting pride.

JTR

Steve's New Mentor

Hillary spoke to a politics class at UVA yesterday and Steve found a new mentor.

Anyone like to provide a caption?

JTR

High Christology in Mark 5:19-20

A few weeks ago I was preaching on the exorcism of the Gadarene Demoniac in Mark 5:1-20 and was struck by something I saw in the last couple verses that I had not seen before.

In v. 19 Jesus tells the man from whom he cast out "Legion" to go tell his countrymen "what great things the Lord has done from you." Then in v. 20 Mark writes that the man went out to proclaim "all that Jesus had done for him." The indirect implication: Jesus is equivalent to the Lord (the God of the Old Testament).

Compare Luke’s version of the story:

Luke 8:39 "Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you." And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.

A great Christological lesson is being taught indirectly at the end of this passage. An affirmation is being made about Jesus’ identity.

Last Saturday morning while I was sitting at home in my pajamas, a couple of well dressed Jehovah’s Witnesses came to my door and I was able to talk with them for a few minutes about what the Scriptures say about Christ. I was able to turn with them in their "New World Translation" to Mark 5:19-20 and then Luke 8:39. We also looked at John 10:30 ("I and my Father are one"); to Thomas’ words in John 20:28 ("My Lord and my God!") and Paul’s words in Romans 10:9 (If you confess with your mouth "Jesus is Lord"…). They made no concessions, but maybe some seeds of doubt were sown in their minds that might dislodge their acceptance of what JWs teach about who Scriptures say Jesus is.

JTR

Are your children safe?

The front page of today's Daily Progress had an article about a boy who brought a gun to a local middle school. Are your children safe in the environment in which they are being educated? Is this true not just of their obvious physical safety but also of their spiritual and worldview well being?

JTR

Have you ever heard of a poor Protestant country?

Last Saturday my family and I were invited to friend's home for lunch. There I met with a Bulgarian Church of God Pastor who is living in Charlottesville and working on a translation of the New Testament in the Romany (Gypsy) language. At one point in our conversation as we discussed the state of the evangelical church in Bulgaria he asked, "Have you ever heard of a poor Protestant country?" and then, "Have you ever heard of a Muslim country where there is democracy?" His point was that Biblical Christianity brings blessings to a nation, its culture, and its peoples.

JTR