The Confrontation

The following is adapted from the book, "A Simple Way to Pray" by Dr. Archie Parrish, which I thought appropriate to share in this time that some think our world is falling apart.

"One of the most significant events in what would become the Protestant struggle took place in Worms, Germany in the year 1521.....

On April 17, 1521, the marshal of the empire escorted Martin Luther, wearing his monk's robes, from his lodgings to the assembly diet. The archbishop of Treves asked him two questions: Would he acknowledge those books that were laid upon a bench before him to be his productions, and would he recant the opinions contained in them? .... after hearing the titles read, he answered, "Yes". However, to the second question, at the suggestion of his counselor, he requested that he be allowed until the next day to consider his answer.

That night in his room Luther prayed:

‘The bell has been already cast, judgment has been pronounced. Ah God, ah God, O You, my God. Stand by me; do this, You must do it, You alone! The matter is not mine, it is Yours. O God, do You not hear? My God, art Thou dead? No, You cannot die; You only hide Yourself. Stand by me. Lord, where do You tarry? Where art You, O my God? Come, come! I am ready, even to forsake my life for this, submissive as a lamb, for righteous is this cause which is Yours. And should my body perish for this cause, should it fall to the ground, year, be broken to fragments, yet Your Word and Your Spirit are enough. And all this can happen only to the body; the soul is Yours and belongs to You and will remain forever with You.'

In the quiet of his room Luther might have thought about John Huss (1372-1415), who had been burned at the stake for seeking reforms similar to those that he now sought. The words of his prayer show that Luther knew that what he said to the diet the next day might soon result in a similar sentence for him. Luther's heart turned to God in Psalm 46, which was written at a time when the psalmist saw the world falling apart. This at this time of Luther's great crisis this psalm became a major source of encouragement. Psalm 46 reads:

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.

There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early. The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolations he hath made in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

After meditating on this psalm, Luther wrote:

A mighty fortress is our God,
A bulwark never failing;
Our Helper He, amid the flood
O'er mortal ills prevailing......."

The rest, as they say, is history.


A Simple Way To Pray (pg. 21) - Published by Serve International, Inc., Marietta, GA. rev. 2005.

Nothing Changes

Under the heading of "nothing new under the sun".....

Regarding the practice of "Pastoral Visitations" and the 'busy-ness' of today's family...

"Indeed, amid the artificial arrangements of modern society, the great difficulty often is to find any time suitable for such visitations, families being so variously occupied with the employments of active life, and so seldom for any length of time gathered together in their respective homes."

From "Pastoral Theology" by Patrick Fairbairn, first published in 1875.
(Old Paths Publications, Audubon, NJ)

An Expositional Listener

"...expositional listening benefits the gathered congregation. Repeatedly, the New Testament writers exhort local churches to be unified - to be of one mind. Paul writes to one local church, "I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there may be no divisions among you, but that you may be united in the same mind and the same judgment" (1 Cor. 1:10; see also Rom. 12:16; 2 Cor. 13::; 1 Pet. 3:8). As we gather together in our local churches and give ourselves to hearing the voice of God through his preached Word, we're shaped into one body. We are united in understanding and purpose. And that unity testifies to the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ (John 17:21). But if we listen with our own interests and agendas in mind, if we develop "private interpretations" and idiosyncratic views, we risk shattering that unity, provoking disputes over doubtful matters, and weakening our corporate gospel witness."

An excerpt from "What Is A Healthy Church Member" by Thabiti Anyabwile - Publ. by Crossway Books, Wheaton, Il - 2008 - (pg. 21)

Another Quotable

"I don't know why some people change churches; what difference does it make which one you stay home from?"

Quotable

"If a church wants a better preacher, it only needs to pray for the one it has."

When I Doubt

Amongst those who bear the name Christian, I know that there are two classes of men. One finds it extremely easy to believe all that is said to them in matters of religion. For the other it is extremely difficult. It appears to me that the facility of belief in the first group comes from superstition and superficial thought, while the difficulty in the other comes from excessive reflection. The one never exercises prudence, while the other finds it hard to believe anything at all. So the one will believe many things that are false, perhaps giving more credit to the false than to the true. While the other never believes in the false, but also hesitates to ever accept the truth.

Pondering on this matter, I find that only the Holy Spirit can help both classes of men...While both of them struggle, I believe that they who find it hard to believe anything are in a better position to receive God's Spirit. First, this is because it is easier to recognize the truth than falsehood. Second, whoever believes readily is the more easily deceived. Third, he who easily believes may also live much longer under delusions, such as those in the early church who were converted from Judaism. I am also convinced that he who believes without being taught by the Spirit of God will rely more upon human opinion than upon a personal faith.

However, Christian faith is not based upon hearsay, but upon divine revelation alone. It is this that blesses us and brings us now hope and love. It is this that purifies the heart and it is this that in every way pleases God. May we be enriched with this by God Himself through Jesus Christ our Lord! A man who is tempted to doubt experiences a work of Christian progress. I believe that such temptation originates in a man's desire to believe and to stand firm in his Christian faith. The ungodly are not tempted to doubt, because they neither with nor desire to believe...But Christians have renounced unbelief and they have begun by the grace of the Holy Spirit to accept the pardon which the gospel announces in Christ.

Such are those who have renounced self-justification and have embraced the righteousness of Christ which the gospel offers. But at the same time, they do not yet see clearly all that Christ offers. When such a person begins to doubt, let him counteract such a temptation in the following ways.

In the first place, let one who doubts regard this temptation as evidence of his progress in the Christian life. Let him recognize that had he not wished a desire to believe, he would not be so tempted to doubt. His very distress is indicative of the presence of the Holy Spirit in his life.

In the second place, let him argue like this: If this Christian faith that I have were not something spiritual and divine, it would not find me the contradiction that it does find. Let this comfort me.

In the third place, let him also argue thusly: If this Christian faith were not the gift of God, I would not feel such inward new desires to be united with Christ. But these are the very desires I have since embracing Him in faith.

In the fourth place, let him also think like this: If a Christian's faith was not spiritual and divine, it would not give rise to that very tension I experience between faith and doubt.

Finally, let him think like this: If I knew of any alternative that is better than this, or even equal to this, in getting me to appear before the judgment of God, I might have good cause to doubt the truth to which I know cling. But since I see no alternative that is better or equal to it, I have no cause to doubt.

And so in this way, let him be assured that he is on the side to win and not to lose; by persevering in this Christian faith he cannot lose but win. Let him realize that he knows himself to be pardoned through Christ. Since he realizes himself to be dead with Christ, raised again with Christ, and expecting his fullment with Christ, and let these things assure him.

The Christian who desires to accept the righteousness of Christ will be disturbed with suggestions that tempt him to doubt. But let him take a stand here and close the door to those who threaten to assail him. Let him commend himself to God, saying with Hezekiah, "Oh Lord, I am oppressed; undertake for me" (Is. 38:14). Let him be sure that God will help him and fulfill what He promised David. "I will deliver him and bring him to honor" (Ps. 91:15).


Juan de Valdes (1498-1541) fled the Spanish Inquisition in 1531 and led a reform movement in Italy. The following is a short extract from his larger work titled, "The Benefit of Christ", and was made available by Shane Rosenthal for Reformation Ink.

Spiritual obesity and logging on to church

The following is a post by Matt Finn (see credit below) that I felt helpful and may help others.

Two posts I read recently helped me crystallize some thoughts I'd been having about Church and the Internet.


1. Thabiti Anyabwile was interviewed about his latest book "What Is a Healthy Church Member?" and answered this question: What would you say to a twenty something (or thirty, or forty, or fifty...ed.) who is convinced that her routine of watching online sermons and occasionally attending area church bible studies is her "church"?


2. Martin Downes (www.against-heresies.blogspot.com) wrote about the interplay of Global ministries and the local church particularly when it comes to listening to sermons from churches and conferences.

As someone who listens to his fair share of sermons from the web as one part of my spiritual diet I've been seeking to reflect on how I've benefitted from this and also to think about if there are ways in which is it actually unhelpful, even harmful. Of course, one thing to say up front is the issue of content and discernment. Are those preaching those who "contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints"? Of course, for all of the rubbish there is some great stuff out there too. Let's focus on that for now.

Laid out for us is a fine feast of biblical exposition from across the globe. (Let's not forget as Downes reminds us that this isn't new - for example people distributed Spurgeon's sermons all over the place.) Yet, reading sermons and hearing them preached is to my mind genuinely different in that the medium is significant and listening to one preacher on the Internet invites a direct comparison with the preaching in the local church. Three points come to mind:


1. Loving the local church and its leaders

There is a danger of pride, frustration and criticism that comes from a false expectation that the person preaching should be like the person I listen to on mp3. The danger to sin is that I look down on, am unmoved by the Spirit's work through and am not thankful to God for the gifts He has given his people. It's a bit like the "conference effect" where people come back from participating in sung worship with large numbers of people with music lead by highly skilled musicians and the experience back at home is simply not the same. Will I love the local church in its weakness and strength, immaturity and maturity and keep in mind God plan for the church (check out Ephesians!)?


2. The danger of spiritual obesity

There is a danger that I hear but do not obey, especially if it is related to a command which is corporate in its perspective. Jesus tells the story of two people both of whom build houses. One of them builds on the rock and one on the sand. Some have wrongly assumed that this is talking about building our lives on Jesus the rock but look again. Both of the two are said to be like those who hear the words of Jesus. The difference is that one put them into practice and the other did not. We might have a great spiritual diet but if we do not exercise our spiritual muscles we will become spiritual obese: full but flabby!


3. Hearing together

Finally in hearing together we come under the preaching of those God calls to care for us. Knowing that one day we will give an account to God we practice accountability to one another for our thinking, feeling, acting and more. We seek to be wise in what we watch and recognize that isolated and independent consumption of sermons (about which - in being immature - we might be highly undiscerning) we can genuinely fall subject to false teachings. Church community is not about controlling our input and cutting off all other sources of knowledge but a matter of wisdom in that we are not to be ignorant of the Satan's schemes and recognize that "the Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons." (1 Timothy 4:1). This is not to provoke fear but to recognize the value of God-given fellowship.


Downes says it this way:


Preaching is a corporate act. Going to church is not like a trip to the movie theater where I can listen in as an individual with no meaningful connection to the people around me…

There is an obligation to hear the Word, respond to the Word, and to apply the Word together, that downloadable preaching cannot even begin to touch. It actually fails miserably at this point, because it can never do what the ministry of the local church, ordained by God, is designed to do.

Am I making downloadable sermons the primary means of my growth to the neglect of listening to, believing and obeying, God's Word together with his assembled people? Am I dishonoring God and his church through bypassing the ministry of the local church in my pursuit of maturity?

Posted on blogsite www.undercovertheologian.wordpress.com by Matt on August 24, 2008.