Mining Grace

I spoke at a mens’ prayer breakfast a few weeks ago on the topic of old men.  This may seem like an odd topic.  I chose it based on three conclusions I came to in my preparation.

1. The Bible is very concerned to instruct different types of people in applying the gospel.  The New Testament gives pointed exhortations to young men, young women, children, husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, widows, orphans, older women, slaves, masters, preachers, and sinners–to mention a few.  If the NT does this, so should we.
2. The Old Testament and New Testament contain a consistent doctrine on the importance and responsibilities of older men.
3. Having drunken deeply of the “retirement” approach to old age, the church has lost a key age group that I’m affectionately calling “godly old men”.

Over the next three posts I plan to address what I see as the three lies that older–and younger–men believe about aging and growth in godliness.  They are…

1. You’re spiritual prime is equivalent to you spiritual prime.
2. Younger men–rather than older men–should bear the most responsibility for the work of the church.
3. There is such a thing as spiritual grandfathers.

This is meant to stimulate your thoughts as we decimate these lies to God’s glory in the coming posts.

Today is one day closer to the return of Jesus.  Believer in Christ, isn’t that comforting?  Like a child waiting at the door counting down the hours until grandma and grandpa arrive for their visit so the Christian counts the days for that great day.  Laughter may mark your day.  Or sorrow may lay siege to your soul.  But as it passes and tomorrow comes, the calendar of heaven shows one more red “X” closer to the unveiling of all that God has wrought through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Come Lord Jesus, come!

Those who do not yet actively experience within themselves a living faith in Christ or an assured confidence of heart, peace of conscience, a zeal for childlike obedience, and a glorying in God through Christ, but who nevertheless use the means by which God has promised to work these things in us—such people ought not to be alarmed at the mention of reprobation, nor to count themselves among the reprobate; rather they ought to continue diligently in the use of the means, to desire fervently a time of more abundant grace, and to wait for it in reverence and humility. On the other hand, those who seriously desire to turn to God, to be pleasing to him alone, and to be delivered from the body of death, but are not yet able to make such progress along the way of godliness and faith as they would like—such people ought much less to stand in fear of the teaching concerning reprobation, since our merciful God has promised that he will not snuff out a smoldering wick and that he will not break a bruised reed. However, those who have forgotten God and their Savior Jesus Christ and have abandoned themselves wholly to the cares of the world and the pleasures of the flesh—such people have every reason to stand in fear of this teaching, as long as they do not seriously turn to God.

- Synod of Dort, 1.16

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The old pastoral adage goes, “If someone is worried about not being a Christian it is a good sign that they are a Christian.”  This portion of Dort teaches this very truth.  If you are concerned that you are “reprobate” because of a lack of assurance or a weak faith, do not dwell on the fear of reprobation.  Rather, run to Christ and cast yourself upon him knowing that he will in no way cast out those who come to him by faith.  However, if you love the world and are unconcerned about the things of Christ, you have great reason to worry that you are indeed one of the reprobate.  In this case, you fear should drive you to repent of your sin and believe on Christ to salvation.

Last Sunday I preached from 1 Thessalonians 5:12-15.  I had made the decision in planning this sermon series that I would take my time with Paul’s concluding remarks.  My tendency–in reading Paul’s letters–is to speed up and overlook details as I get to the end of his letters which usually are comprised of short exhortations and greetings.  I realized that in doing this I was robbing myself and my hearers of potions of Paul’s letters that are rich in gospel application.

The particular section that I’ve entered into is one that shows similarities with various other letters of the New Testament, some written by Paul and some not.  If you were to study these “house rules” portions of the NT epistles you would find a standard doctrine of basic Christians living.  We find the NT authors incredibly unified in the way that they think the gospel should “work itself out” in the lives of those who call themselves by the name of Christ.

Paul’s particular outline in verses 12-22 roughly falls into the following five catagories.

1. A Christian’s responsibility to church leaders
2. A Christian’s responsiblility to other Christians
3. A Christian’s responsibility to those outside the church, especially enemies of the church
4. A Christian’s responsibility in daily living
5. A Christian’s response to prophecy

My sermon from last Sunday covers the first three topics of this list with my next two sermons closing out the list.

My goal in preaching this sermon was to show how the gospel of redemption in Christ Jesus–which Paul just finished talking about–has direct and specific application to the Christian’s life.

1 Thessalonians 5:12-15 - Radical Other-centered Grace

I’m currently ploughing through Thomas Boston’s biography found in volume 12 of his works. Aside from some humorous sections, I’m finding in Boston a kindred spirit in matters of the application of grace to my soul. Take, for example, his advice to himself when he was facing the particular difficulties of illness, an impending marriage, and no call to a local church.

To carry Christianity in these perplexing circumstances, I proposed to myself, that I should,

1. Live near God, so as my heart should not have wherewith to reproach me, Job 27:6; Acts 23:1.
2. Beware of anxious thoughts about them; lay them before the Lord in prayer, and leave them on him, trusting him with him, though in a manner blindly, Phil 4:6;
3. Believe the promise, that all things should work together for my good, Rom 8:28;
4. Remember man’s extremity is God’s opportunity, with my former experiences of the same, Gen 22:14;
5. Use of the means [Bible study, prayer, sacraments] with dependence on the Lord for success;
6. Be diligent about the work of my station, and ply my studies more closely; and for this end, beware of sleeping too much;
7. Lastly, Not think that, because God doth not presently answer, therefore he will not answer at all, but wait on him; Isa 28:16;

and if at any time I begin to faint under my difficulties, I should press myself to hang by the promises, remembering the shortness of my time, and that no man knows love or hatred by all that is before him; and should read Heb 12. And my conscience bore me witness, that to be helped so to live in a course of filial obedience, would be more sweet to me, than to be rid of all these difficulties.

- Thomas Boston, The Complete Works of the Late Rev. Thomas Boston (1853; repr., Tentmaker Publications: Stokes-on-Trent, 2002), 12:65.

Moreover, Holy Scripture most especially highlights this eternal and undeserved grace of our election and brings it out more clearly for us, in that it further bears witness that not all people have been chosen but that some have not been chosen or have been passed by in God’s eternal election— those, that is, concerning whom God, on the basis of his entirely free, most just, irreproachable, and unchangeable good pleasure, made the following decision:

to leave them in the common misery into which, by their own fault, they have plunged themselves; not to grant them saving faith and the grace of conversion; but finally to condemn and eternally punish them (having been left in their own ways and under his just judgment), not only for their unbelief but also for all their other sins, in order to display his justice.

And this is the decision of reprobation, which does not at all make God the author of sin (a blasphemous thought!) but rather its fearful, irreproachable, just judge and avenger.

- Synod of Dort, 1.15

The secret of rugged joy in the battle with sin is to fight to become what we are in Christ.

- John Piper, When I Don’t Desire God: How to Fight for Joy (Crossway: Wheaton, 2004), 85.

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I’ve been reading When I Don’t Desire God–complements of T4G–to help wake me up in the morning.  I ran across this particular quote this morning.  It is a reminder to me of the identity I have in Christ.  I am fighting to become what I already am–a justified son of God–rather than fighting to become what I might-possibly-could-be-one-day-with-enough-hard-work.

Resolved, never to do any manner of thing, whether in soul or body, less or more, but what tends to the glory of God, nor be, nor suffer it, if I can possibly avoid it.

- Jonathan Edwards, The Works of Jonathan Edwards (Hendrickson: Peabody, 2000), 1.lxii.

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This single note–the glory of God–marks not only the entirety of Edwards’s work but also the main point of the Bible and the chief end of man.

I have preached twice over the past three weeks on the topic of eschatology, otherwise known as “the end times”. These were not topical sermons. As most of you know, I have the privilege of preaching through 1 Thessalonians on successive Sunday evenings at my church. It just so happens that about halfway through Paul’s letter he gets knee deep in eschatology.

I have never been one of those guys who finds it necessary to argue my millennial position–amillennial. I find the modern fascination with prognosticating on current events and the “horns in Daniel” humorous at best. This is why I have received so much comfort and personal instruction in studying Paul’s teaching on the subject. He is relatively unconcerned with times and seasons, with horns and marks.

Paul’s teaching on eschatology is zealously Christ centered. Whether it is relating the resurrection of dead Christians to Christ’s resurrection or laying forth the promise that Christ’s blood has saved Christians from the wrath of God, Paul consistently founds his eschatology on the person and work of Jesus Christ. This is what I’ve tried to draw out as I’ve preached through 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:1.

The first sermon from 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 is focused particularly on the “what” of the return of Christ. The second sermon from 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 is focused on the “when” of the return of Christ.

These passages–instead of being laborious or difficult as I expected–ended up being incredibly encouraging to preach through. I hope you will find them to be so as well if you listen to them.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 - In Case of Rapture…

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 - It’s the End of the World and I Feel Fine

“Just as, by God’s wise plan, this teaching concerning divine election has been proclaimed through the prophets, Christ himself, and the apostles, in Old and New Testament times, and has subsequently been committed to writing in the Holy Scriptures, so also today in God’s church, for which it was specifically intended, this teaching must be set forth—with a spirit of discretion, in a godly and holy manner, at the appropriate time and place, without inquisitive searching into the ways of the Most High. This must be done for the glory of God’s most holy name, and for the lively comfort of his people.”

- The Synod of Dort, 1.14

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“Election must be taught!” How many time have I heard this uttered in Reformed circles? Whatever the number is the number of times it has been said graciously is even less. Dort is incredibly sensitive and dare I say pastoral at this point. “This teaching must be set forth.” It must or God’s purposes in salvation are undermined, his glory diminished, and the bloody cross left utterly anemic. But there is an appropriate way to teach this sometimes difficult to grasp doctrine. Hear the advice of Dort. When teaching election, proceed…

1. with discretion
2. in a godly and holy manner
3. at the appropriate time and place
4. without inquisitive searching into the ways of God
5. for the glory of God
6. and the good of his people

What we say about God but is important but it is also important how we say it.

This week–especially Monday–has been filled with unexpected trials, most of which relate to the health of my children.

Monday was my first day back in the office following the T4G conference last week.  I was planning on spending most of the day digging out of whatever had piled up in my absence.  God, however, had different plans.

• The cough my 10 month had developed the previous night got drastically worse in a matter of hours
• My 3-year-old dropped a metal grate on his shin splitting it open
• My wife emailed me at work with a picture of said gashed shin–which I am not posting for the sake of anyone with a weak stomach–to get my counsel on appropriate treatment
• We concluded it warranted a trip to the doctor’s office
• I ran home to be with the other two children while my wife took the ill and injured to triage
• The doctor concluded that the cut required two stitches and the cough required three days of nebulizer treatments

This, of course, required the entire family to make drastic changes to our normal Monday schedule not to mention our normal weekly schedule.  For the sake of time I’m going to leave out my 3-year-old’s roll through a fire ant mound on Tuesday.

When things calmed down Monday afternoon I started to sense in my soul a nagging sense of frustration.  “Hmmm”, I thought, “where is this coming from?”  It certainly wasn’t from my poor suffering children.  It certainly wasn’t from my incredibly caring and equally harried wife.

In an “ah-ha” and “uh-oh” moment I realized that my frustration was with God.

Monday was supposed to be the day that I caught up on work in a blaze of unparalleled productivity.  Monday was supposed to be the day that family life was business as usual.  And then I finally came to the bottom of my soul probing with this root thought, “I don’t deserve a Monday like this.  I deserve better.”

Then, freeing me from my self-pity and self-loathing, the Holy Spirit was pleased to impress upon me the truth of the gospel.  I didn’t deserve a Monday like that.

I deserved worse.

What I deserved was the just wrath and curse of God.  What I deserved was a life of sin and misery followed by eternal death.  What I did not deserve is salvation through the atoning death of Christ.  What I did not deserve is the promise of eternal life.  What I did not deserve was the abiding strength of the Holy Spirit.  What I did not deserve was a godly wife and precious children–no matter how injury prone.  What I did not deserve was to have all of my sufferings tailored made for the good of my soul and the glory of God.

In the end, Monday was a day of getting what I didn’t deserve–God’s sovereign grace.

If you hadn’t noticed, the Reformation21 website and blog were..well…reformed.  Go check out the new look and new material for this month.

If you subscribe to their blog make sure you make note of two things.

1. They have added a few new authors.  You’ll have to go look to find out whom.  I love suspense.
2. Also, the feed has changed.  So if you are a RSS subscriber to the Ref21 blog you need to resubscribe using this link.

Things have been absolutely crazy since I’ve gotten back from T4G.  Blogging has had to take a back seat.  Hopefully some of the events of days past will make it into more thoughtful blog form in the coming days.  God has been faithful to keep the cross before my eyes in the midst of many difficulties.

But for now, I leave you with CH Spurgeon commenting on a Christian’s–and specifically a minister’s–demeanor.

“I commend cheerfulness to all who would win souls; not levity or frothiness, but a genial happy spirit.  There are more flies caught with honey than with vinegar, and there will be more souls led to heaven by a man who wears heaven in his face than by one who bears Tartarus in his looks.”

- C.H. Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students: Complete and Unabridged (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1979), 170.

“In their awareness and assurance of this election God’s children daily find greater cause to humble themselves before God, to adore the fathomless depth of his mercies, to cleanse themselves, and to give fervent love in return to him who first so greatly loved them. This is far from saying that this teaching concerning election, and reflection upon it, make God’s children lax in observing his commandments or carnally self-assured. By God’s just judgment this does usually happen to those who casually take for granted the grace of election or engage in idle and brazen talk about it but are unwilling to walk in the ways of the chosen.”

- The Synod of Dort, 1.13

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Does the doctrine of assurance tend towards spiritual laziness as some assert?  In this article, the Synod of Dort handles this question with masterful clarity, encouraging us “to adore the fathomless depths of his mercies.”  If some use assurance to justify their own sloth and sin, it is not the fault of the doctrine but a lack of understanding it.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Together for the Gospel Conference last week. I recommend listening to all the audio from all the sessions. You can find all the audio through Sovereign Grace Ministries.