Daily Archives: October 4, 2010

Christian Assurance

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Christian dogmatism has, or should have, a limited field. It is not tantamount to a claim to omniscience. Yet in those things which are clearly revealed in Scripture, Christians should not be doubtful or apologetic. The corridors of the New Testament reverberate with dogmatic affirmations beginning ‘We know’, ‘We are sure’, ‘We are confident’. If you question this, read the First Epistle of John in which verbs meaning ‘to know’ occur about forty times. They strike a note of joyful assurance which is sadly missing from many parts of the church today and which needs to be recaptured.

–Dr. John R.W. Stott, The Upper Room Discourse

Notable and Quotable

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Many people are rejecting our gospel today not because they perceive it to be false, but because they perceive it to be trivial. People are looking for an integrated world-view which makes sense of all their experience. We learn from Paul [in his speech at Athens] that we cannot preach the gospel of Jesus without the doctrine of God, or the cross without the creation, or salvation without judgment. Today’s world needs a bigger gospel, the full gospel of Scripture, what Paul later in Ephesus was to call ‘the whole purpose of God’ (20:27, NEB).

It is not only the comprehensiveness of Paul’s message in Athens which is impressive, however, but also the depth and power of his motivation. Why is it that, in spite of the great needs and opportunities of our day, the church slumbers peacefully on, and that so many Christians are deaf and dumb, deaf to Christ’s commission and tongue-tied in testimony? I think the major reason is this: we do not speak as Paul spoke because we do not feel as Paul felt. We have never had the paroxysm of indignation which he had. Divine jealously has not stirred within us. We constantly pray ‘Hallowed be your Name’, but we do not seem to mean it, or to care that his Name is so widely profaned.

–Dr. John R.W. Stott, The Message of Acts

From the Morning Scriptures

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The commander wanted to find out exactly why Paul was being accused by the Jews. So the next day he released him and ordered the chief priests and all the members of the Sanhedrin to assemble. Then he brought Paul and had him stand before them. Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, “My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day.” At this the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth. Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!” Those who were standing near Paul said, “How dare you insult God’s high priest!” Paul replied, “Brothers, I did not realize that he was the high priest; for it is written: ‘Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.'” Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, descended from Pharisees. I stand on trial because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead.” When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. (The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees believe all these things.) There was a great uproar, and some of the teachers of the law who were Pharisees stood up and argued vigorously. “We find nothing wrong with this man,” they said. “What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?” The dispute became so violent that the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them. He ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force and bring him into the barracks. The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”

–Acts 22:30-23:11 (TNIV)

Do you want to know the secret of Paul’s great faith and burning desire to serve the Lord? It is because of his deep and intimate relationship with Jesus. Here is another vivid example of how our Lord fitted Paul for his ministry.

After a harrowing experience before the Sanhedrin in which Paul apparently used a bit of trickeration to divide its members, our Lord appears to Paul and strengthens him. He gives Paul a preview of things to come and then tells him to “take courage!”. Why should Paul “take courage”? Because Christ promised to be with him every step of the way. Paul knew that whatever awaited him in Rome, his Lord and Savior would be there with him to strengthen him for the work he called Paul to do.

When we think about this poignant scene Luke paints for us here, it makes Paul’s words in Galatians 2:20 even more poignant to read: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (TNIV).

The same power of Christ that Paul enjoyed is available to you too. All you have to do is invite him into your life and let him lead you. This is costly because it will require you to put to death all that is in you that wants to remain stubborn, rebellious, and independent of God. But the benefits vastly outweigh the costs of discipleship. Just ask Paul or any of the great saints of God.

William Law: This Week’s Featured Anglican Writer

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This week, I am highlighting one of my favorite Anglican writers, William Law (1686-1761). Law was a priest, tutor, and writer. After he refused to swear allegiance to King George I, he never served a parish. His most influential work was A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life. Published in 1729, A Serious Call has never been out of print, something I find absolutely amazing. It has influenced such greats as Dr. Johnson, John Wesley, John Keble, and C.S. Lewis.

As Richard Schmidt notes, as 18th century England became powerful and prosperous, the religious passions of the past were largely set aside in favor of a sometimes bland, lethargic, and complacent tolerance. Sound familiar? A Serious Call challenged all this. It builds upon an earlier book Law published, titled Christian Perfection. Schmidt describes A Serious Call as follows:

Both books are addressed to avowed Christians. Law assumes at least a perfunctory commitment to the church on the part of his reader; no attempt is made to explain Christian faith to doubters or unbelievers. The main thrust of both books is the same: Christian devotion concerns not merely religious exercises and good works, but the whole of life–our use of time and money, every relationship, every thought and deed. It is a life totally given to God and thereby transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ. When Law looked out at the world around him, he saw little of such devotion. The reason, he said, was not that professing Christians didn’t understand the will of God or were too weak to obey God, but that they never intended to. Law cuts straight through to the place where sin originates–the human will. He strips the soul bare of its self-justifying pretenses. The problem is not inadvertent oversights or slips of behavior, but a paralysis of intention (Schmidt, Five Centuries of Anglican Spirituality, p. 95)

On a personal note, I have read A Serious Call and I have found it to be every bit as challenging as Schmidt describes. If you are one who is trying to take your faith seriously, A Serious Call (no pun intended) is a must read.

The following is an excerpt from A Serious Call. I pray it challenges and disturbs you in ways that will help God help you grow in our faith.

Thus, one who makes it a rule to be content in every part and accident of life because it comes from God praises God in a much higher manner than one who has some set time for the singing of psalms.

The person who dares not say an ill-natured word or do an unreasonable thing because he or she considers God as everywhere present performs a better devotion than the person who dares not miss the church. To live in the world as a stranger and a pilgrim, using all its enjoyments as if we used them not, making all our actions as so many steps toward a better life, is offering a better sacrifice to God than many forms of holy and heavenly prayers.

To be humble in our actions, to avoid every appearance of pride and vanity, to be meek and lowly in our words, actions, dress, behavior, and designs–all in imitation of our blessed Savior–is worshiping God in a higher manner than do they who have only stated times to fall low on their knees in devotions. Those who content themselves with necessities that they may give the remainder to those who need it; who dare not spend any money foolishly because they consider it as a talent from God which must be used according to his will, praise God with something that is more glorious than songs of praise.

God’s Mercy

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We were not good, but God had pity on us, and sent his Son to die, not for good people but for bad ones, nor for the just but for the wicked. Yes, “Christ died for the ungodly.” God in his mercy did not abandon us. He sent his Son to redeem us, not with gold or silver but at the price of his blood poured out for us. Such is the grace we have received! Let us live so as to be worthy of that great grace, and not do injury to it. Let us then follow Christ’s paths which he has revealed to us, above all the path of humility, which he himself became for us. In order to die for us–because as God he could not die–“the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” For he did not intend to leave us dead in hell, but to exalt in himself at the resurrection of the dead those whom he had already exalted and made just by the faith and praise they gave him. Yes, he gave us the path of humility.

–Augustine, Sermon 23a.1-4

Faithful Obedience

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Never think that in lowering yourself you have less power for good. On the contrary, in thus humbling yourself you are imitating and using the same means that I used. You are walking in my Way, and therefore in the Truth, and you are in the right state to receive Life and impart it to others. The best means for this is always to imitate me. I came down to the level of men by my Incarnation, and to that of sinners by my Circumcision and Baptism. Be lowly, lowly, humble, humble. Let those that are in high places put themselves last in the spirit of lowliness and serve, love for men, humility, taking the lowest place so long as the divine will does not call you to another, for in that case you must obey. Obedience first of all–conformity to the will of God. If you are placed high, then keep yourself in humility of soul as though you were the last; occupy your high position as though you were there only to serve others and to lead them to salvation, and as if, though you may command them, you are rather serving them, for you command them only with the purpose of sanctifying them.

–Charles de Foucauld, Meditations of a Hermit