Goodwin: "No sin troubled him but their unbelief"

The doyen of Puritan theologians, John Owen, is reported as having said:
"The greatest sorrow and burden you can lay upon the Father, the greatest unkindness you can do to Him is not to believe that He loves you."
Unbelief. It's regarded by most of us who would call ourselves 'believers' as a minor flaw, an understandable weakness, a trivial aberration, an insignificant sin. It seems we were wrong.  

My attention was recently drawn to a recent reprint of Puritan Thomas Goodwin's The Heart of Christ. In a section in which the author highlights examples of Christ's tenderhearted affection towards his disciples in his post-resurrection appearances to and conversations with them, Goodwin also notes the instances and reasons for Jesus reprimanding them at this time. Does he chide them for their disobedience, that they betrayed him, or that they forsook him? No. Rather, he says, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe ..." (Luke 24: 25 NIV; also v 37-41).  Upon which Goodwin profoundly and disturbingly comments: "No sin troubled him but their unbelief. Which shows how his heart stands, in that he desires nothing more than to have men believe in him; and this now when glorified." (p.32f).

Hold that thought, and then consider Dr Jack Miller's indicting diagnosis, that many - if not most - of our churches are being paralysed or are spiritually suffocating through vibrant 'unbelief'.
Acknowledging the insights and practical help of many recent books to encourage and instill evangelism and disciple-making as core elements within church life, nevertheless, Miller's assessment is:

"Having acknowledged the value of these works, I yet insist that there are crucial elements in the faith of the local church and its leadership that cry our for correction. I am convinced that many congregations and their leaders are immobilized by unbelief that concepts for ministry that would be helpful in other circumstances are relatively valueless to them (Outgrowing the Ingrown Church, p.16).
"...We have surrendered our hearts to the familiar forms of our religious life and found comfort of soul, not in knowing God, but in knowing that our worship services are firmly settled and nothing unpredictable will happen on a Sunday morning. Thus we have lost contact with the risen Christ as the source of our spiritual life, and what is worse, we are so often enfeebled that we hardly know that we are out of touch with the King. In the local church we are busy, separated from Christ's transforming presence... (p.19f)
"...I believe that it is right here that we encounter the essence of the threat to the modern congregation: its tendency to despair and defeat because it has redirected its faith toward its past or to human resources, rather than to the promises of God with their focus on the power of the Spirit to revive us." (p.24) 

"I wonder what sort of a tale we've fallen into?"

Samwise Gamgee: The Two Towers (LOTR)

'...Yes, that's so,' said Sam. `And we shouldn't be here at all, if we'd known more about it before we started. But I suppose it's often that way. The brave things in the old tales and songs, Mr. Frodo: adventures, as I used to call them. I used to think that they were things the wonderful folk of the stories went out and looked for, because they wanted them, because they were exciting and life was a bit dull, a kind of a sport, as you might say. But that's not the way of it with the tales that really mattered, or the ones that stay in the mind. Folk seem to have been just landed in them, usually – their paths were laid that way, as you put it. But I expect they had lots of chances, like us, of turning back, only they didn't. And if they had, we shouldn't know, because they'd have been forgotten. We hear about those as just went on – and not all to a good end, mind you; at least not to what folk inside a story and not outside it call a good end. You know, coming home, and finding things all right, though not quite the same – like old Mr Bilbo. But those aren't always the best tales to hear, though they may be the best tales to get landed in! I wonder what sort of a tale we've fallen into? '

`I wonder,' said Frodo. 'But I don't know. And that's the way of a real tale. Take any one that you're fond of. You may know, or guess, what kind of a tale it is, happy-ending or sad-ending, but the people in it don't know. And you don't want them to.'

'No, sir, of course not. Beren now, he never thought he was going to get that Silmaril from the Iron Crown in Thangorodrim, and yet he did, and that was a worse place and a blacker danger than ours. But that's a long tale, of course, and goes on past the happiness and into grief and beyond it – and the Silmaril went on and came to Eärendil. And why, sir, I never thought of that before! We've got – you've got some of the light of it in that star-glass that the Lady gave you! Why, to think of it, we're in the same tale still! It's going on. Don't the great tales never end? '

'No, they never end as tales,' said Frodo. `But the people in them come, and go when their part's ended. Our part will end later – or sooner.'

'And then we can have some rest and some sleep,' said Sam. He laughed grimly. 'And I mean just that, Mr. Frodo. I mean plain ordinary rest, and sleep, and waking up to a morning's work in the garden. I'm afraid that's all I'm hoping for all the time. All the big important plans are not for my sort. Still, I wonder if we shall ever be put into songs or tales. We're in one, or course; but I mean: put into words, you know, told by the fireside, or read out of a great big book with red and black letters, years and years afterwards. And people will say: "Let's hear about Frodo and the Ring! " And they'll say: "Yes, that's one of my favourite stories. Frodo was very brave. wasn't he, dad?" "Yes, my boy, the famousest of the hobbits, and that's saying a lot."'

`It's saying a lot too much,' said Frodo, and he laughed, a long clear laugh from his heart. Such a sound had not been heard in those places since Sauron came to Middle-earth. To Sam suddenly it seemed as if all the stones were listening and the tall rocks leaning over them. But Frodo did not heed them; he laughed again.

'Why, Sam,' he said, 'to hear you somehow makes me as merry as if the story was already written. But you've left out one of the chief characters: Samwise the stouthearted. "I want to hear more about Sam, dad. Why didn't they put in more of his talk, dad? That's what I like, it makes me laugh. And Frodo wouldn't have got far without Sam, would he, dad? " '

`Now, Mr. Frodo,' said Sam, 'you shouldn't make fun. I was serious.'

`So was I,' said Frodo, 'and so I am. We're going on a bit too fast. You and I, Sam, are still stuck in the worst places of the story, and it is all too likely that some will say at this point: "Shut the book now, dad; we don't want to read any more." '

`Maybe,' said Sam, 'but I wouldn't be one to say that. Things done and over and made into part of the great tales are different. Why, even Gollum might be good in a tale, better than he is to have by you, anyway. And he used to like tales himself once, by his own account. I wonder if he thinks he's the hero or the villain?'

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (One volume edn. p. 696f)

Sermon sermon: Norman Cuthbert (WEC)

This morning, Norman Cuthbert from WEC International highlighted the importance of being missions-minded in today's world.  Sermon below (in 2 halves!), or you can download it from here.

Storms and the sovereignty of God

Sam Storms is a pastor of a church in Oklahoma City, where yesterday, over 90 people, including 20 children, tragically died as a gigantic tornado ripped through the  city suburbs, flattening whole neighbourhoods. He hesitantly writes with compassion, sensitivity, and Biblical wisdom in response.  This is worth reading.

"I’m inclined to think the best way to respond to the tragedy that struck our community today is simply to say nothing. I have little patience for those who feel the need to theologize about such events, as if anyone possessed sufficient wisdom to discern God’s purpose. On the other hand, people will inevitably ask questions and are looking for encouragement and comfort. So how best do we love and pastor those who have suffered so terribly?
"I’m not certain I have the answer to that question, and I write the following with considerable hesitation. I can only pray that what I say is grounded in God’s Word and is received in the spirit in which it is intended.
"I first put my thoughts together on this subject when the tsunami hit Japan a couple of years ago. Now, in the aftermath of the tornado that struck Moore and other areas surrounding Oklahoma City, I pray that those same truths will prove helpful to some. Allow me to make seven observations.

(1) It will not accomplish anything good to deny what Scripture so clearly asserts, that God is absolutely sovereign over all of nature. He can himself send devastation. Or he may permit Satan to wreak havoc in the earth. Yes he can, if he chooses, intervene and prevent a tornado, a tsunami, and all other natural disasters. In the end, we do not know why he makes one choice and not another. In the end, we must, like Job, join the apostle Paul and say: “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen” (Romans 11:33-36).

(2) God is sovereign, not Satan. Whether or to what extent Satan may have had a hand in what occurred we can never know. What we can know and must proclaim is that he can do nothing apart from God’s sovereign permission. Satan is not ultimately sovereign. God alone is.

(3) Great natural disasters such as this tell us nothing about the comparative sinfulness of those who are its victims. Please do not conclude that the residents of Moore, Oklahoma, are more sinful than any other city that has not as yet experienced such devastation. Please do not conclude that we are more righteous than they because God has thus far spared us from such events. The Bible simply won’t let us draw either conclusion. What the Bible does say is that we all continue to live and flourish not because we deserve it but solely because of the mercy and longsuffering of God. Life is on loan from God. He does not owe us existence and what he has mercifully given he can take back at any time and in any way he sees fit.

(4) Events such as this should remind us that no place on earth is safe and that we will all one day die (unless Jesus returns first). Whether by a peaceful natural death at the age of 90, or by a sudden heart attack at 50, or in a car accident at 15, or by a slow battle with cancer at virtually any age, we will all likewise die. We are not immortal. The only ultimately and eternally safe place to be is in the arms of our heavenly Father from which no tornado or earthquake or tsunami or cancer or car wreck can ever snatch us or wrench us free.

(5) We should not look upon such events and conclude that the Second Coming of Christ and the end of history are at hand, but neither should we conclude that the Second Coming of Christ and the end of history are not at hand. What we should do is humble ourselves before the Lord and prepare our hearts for the day of his return, whenever that may be, whether in our lifetime or some distant date centuries from now.

(6) We must learn to weep with those who weep. We must pray for them, serve them, help them, give to them, and do all within our power to alleviate their suffering (even if their suffering is caused by God). We do not have to agree with them religiously or politically to shower them with the love of Christ. Jesus calls upon us to show mercy to those who suffer, even if they do not deserve it. The fact is, none of us deserves it. That’s why the Bible calls it mercy: it is undeserved kindness. Remember Luke 6:27 where Jesus said, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.”

(7) Pray that God will use such an event to open the hearts and eyes of a city and a state immersed in unbelief and idolatry (and I have in mind not merely Oklahoma, but also America as a whole), to see the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and turn in faith to him, lest something infinitely worse than a tornado befall them: Eternal condemnation. Eternal suffering.

Sunday's sermon: Presbyterian Pentecostalism (1)

This morning we began to look at the events of Pentecost in Acts 2 (v: 1-13), focussing upon what it means to be 'filled with the Spirit'.  You can listen to the sermon below or download it from here.

Sunday Sermon: The ascended Christ at work

You can listen below or download from here.

True Revival "does not leave believers where they were before"

“Every true revival begins in the church and a proof of the genuineness of the work is that it does not leave believers where they were before.  They are filled with new wonder, joy and praise, with a new sense of the privilege of serving God, and with the renewed energy that comes from being constrained by the love of Christ.  What Christians had thought impossible in former years was now attempted with faith and sacrificial abandon that was to astonish the world.”  

Iain Murray

Sunday Sermon: What Jesus did next ... (2)

Concluding our introductory examination of the opening to the Book of Acts.  You can listen below or download from here.

Ascension Day: be preoccupied with the earth, not the sky

On this Ascension Day, some insightful comments from John Stott's BST exposition of Acts 1:11 (p. 50f).

 Laudario of Sant’Agnese (14th C)

"... the angels implied, until Christ comes again, the apostles must get on with their witness, for that was their mandate. There was something anomalous about their gazing into the sky when they had been commissioned to go to the ends of the earth. It was the earth not the sky that was to be their preoccupation. Their calling was to be witnesses not stargazers. The vision they were to cultivate was not upwards in nostalgia to the heaven that had received Jesus, but outwards in compassion to a lost world which needed him. It is the same for us...

"The remedy for unprofitable  spiritual stargazing lies in a Christian theology of history, an understanding of the order of events in the divine programme.  First, Jesus returned to heaven (Ascension). Secondly, the Holy Spirit came (Pentecost). Thirdly, the church goes out to witness (Mission). Fourthly, Jesus will come back (Parousia). Whenever we forget one of theses events, or put them in the wrong sequence, confusion reigns. We need especially to remember that between the ascension and the Parousia, the disappearance and the reappearance of Jesus, there stretches a period of unknown length which is to be filled with the church's world-wide, Spirit-empowered witness to him. We need to hear the implied message of the angels: 'You have seen him go. You will see him come. But between that going and coming there must be another. The Spirit must come, and you must go - into the world for Christ.'"

"Do you want to know what Christianity is like? Watch me!"

“Using audio from Don Carson, this short video challenges us from the Bible how we must be sharing our lives, opening up the Bible and changing generations as we point them to Jesus.”



HT: 10ofthose