The following paragraph impressed me as one that could be slipped into any book on Christian living. In fact, any such book that doesn’t contain the principle of this paragraph is probably way off-track.
We must recognize that before Jesus ever offers ethics, he offers grace. If we don’t see that . . . we will use the Sermon on the Mount as a hammer, a means of forcing ourselves or others to act in a way we never could act without the grace of the Holy Spirit. This legalism is the natural inclination of our hearts. We want law, not gospel. We want deeds, not creeds. We want the demands of the law—even if it’s just so we can disobey them. But the good news of the gospel includes the fact that grace always comes before the demands of the kingdom. Jesus is not telling us what is required to earn blessing. He’s telling us what to do in light of the fact that we are already blessed! “The gifts of love always precede the demands of love.”
Cruciform Press publishes one new book each month, and offers subscriptions in print or ebook formats for a very reasonable price. Books may also be purchased individually. For more information, visit www.cruciformpress.com.
I suppose Monday would be a more appropriate day for a grumpy post, but since most people tend to be more down on Monday, and overly frivolous on Friday, perhaps this will bring a little balance to the universe.
“I can’t speak to that.”
No, you can’t. You can speak to a he, she, or they, but not an it. Unless, that is, you’re Moses, and God has instructed you to speak to a rock (Numbers 20:8). But you’re not Moses. You’re just you, declining to address a topic of which you are ignorant. You can speak about or on an issue or topic to an audience, but you cannot “speak to” an issue or topic. It will not hear you.
Oh, there are so many irritations in this category that I could dedicate an entire Twitter account to listing them. But I won’t.
“Let the ancient words impart.”
Attention music leaders: the sentence above is meaningless. Some verbs need an object; others do not. “Run,” for example, does not. You can run to school, run for your life, run away, run fast, or you can just run, as in “I ran.” “Impart” is among those verbs that cannot stand in a simple subject-verb sentence. Something must be imparted. I don’t care what Michael W. Smith says.
Add grammatically stupid and generally artless Christian poetry to that curmudgeon’s Twitter account.
Capitalism is not a system.
People like to compare capitalism and socialism as systems. Systems require administration. They must be regulated and enforced. Socialism must be managed. Someone must oversee the distribution of resources, and someone must make the rules and enforce them. Socialism could not work without a governing body. Capitalism, on the other hand, only requires two parties voluntarily exchanging goods and/or services. Socialism is law. Capitalism is liberty.
File that under Why the Gospel Favors Capitalism.
Hymns of My Youth II: How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds
He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, butwhich became the chief cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”
—Acts 4:11–12
How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds
How sweet the name of Jesus sounds In a believer’s ear! It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds, And drives away his fear.
Dear name! the rock on which I build, My Shield and Hiding place; My never–failing treasury filled With boundless stores of grace.
Jesus, my Shepherd, Husband, Friend, My Prophet, Priest, and King, My Lord, my Life, my Way, my End, Accept the praise I bring.
Weak is the effort of my heart, And cold my warmest thought; But when I see Thee as thou art, I’ll praise Thee as I ought.
Till then I would Thy love proclaim With ev’ry fleeting breath; And may the music of Thy name Refresh my soul in death.
I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord.”
Humiliation
Sovereign Lord,
When clouds of darkness, atheism, and unbelief come to me,
I see thy purpose of love in withdrawing the Spirit that I might prize him more, in chastening me for my confidence in past successes, that my wound of secret godlessness might be cured.
Help me to humble myself before thee by seeing the vanity of honour as a conceit of men’s minds, as standing between me and thee; by seeing that thy will must alone be done, as much in denying as in giving spiritual enjoyments; by seeing that my heart is nothing but evil, mind, mouth, life void of thee; by seeing that sin and Satan are allowed power in me that I might know my sin, be humbled, and gain strength thereby; by seeing that unbelief shuts thee from me, so that I sense not thy majesty, power, mercy, or love.
Then possess me, for thou only art good and worthy.
Thou dost not play in convincing me of sin, Satan did not play in tempting me to it, I do not play when I sink in deep mire, for sin is no game, no toy, no bauble;
Let me never forget that the heinousness of sin lies not so much in the nature of the sin committed, as in the greatness of the Person sinned against.
When I am afraid of evils to come, comfort me, by showing me that in myself I am a dying, condemned wretch, but that in Christ I am reconciled, made alive, and satisfied; that I am feeble and unable to do any good, but that in him I can do all things; that what I now have in Christ is mine in part, but shortly I shall have it perfectly in heaven.
Paul, called as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,
2To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:
3Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
4I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, 5that in everything you were enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge, 6even as the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you, 7so that you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ,
—1 Corinthians 1
The Saint’s True Posture.
At Corinth there was a large and noble church. It was not perfect; there were errors and divisions in it; there was gross sin in it. Yet it was not only a true church, but one of high attainment. The Corinthian saints were enriched in all utterance and all knowledge. They had gifts as well as graces; manifold gifts; all gifts; they came behind or were deficient in no gift; they abounded in them. They were an advancing church; a church of true “progress” in knowledge, gifts, and holiness.
Thus there may in a church be much evil in the midst of much good. Even when there are divisions and inconsistencies, there may be life and fruit.
It is progress at which we are to aim; each church, each Christian. We must first start,—start in the right direction,—for the walk or the race. We must begin with believing; we must be rooted and grounded in love. And then progress, true progress begins; not till then. Having begun, we go on unto perfection; we increase and abound in wisdom, truth, holiness, hatred of sin, love to the brethren, pity for the world. Onward, upward, is our motto.
But along with these gifts there was one thing specially noticeable in these Corinthians: they waited for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us mark here,—
I. The person. He is not here designated Son of man, or Son of God, King, or Master, or Bridegroom, but “Lord Jesus Christ”; His fullest, longest title, and one which the apostle delights to repeat at full length, as if never weary of it. He is (1.) Lord; nay, He is Lord of lords; He is Lord in the sense of God; He is Jehovah, for this is His Old Testament name. (2.) Jesus. Jah, the Saviour, He who saves us from our sins; a divine Saviour. (3.) Christ; Messiah, the anointed one; filled with the Spirit without measure; the vessel of infinite and divine fullness. These three names declare His glory, and also reveal His grace. In them we read, “God is love”; “God so loved the world”; “herein is love.”
II. The event. “The coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.” The word is properly “the apocalypse,” or “revelation,” or “manifestation.” He is now hidden; unseen; within the veil. But this concealment is not always to last. God bath appointed a day for “revelation.” Then He shall be visible; every eye shall see Him. His first coming is the greatest event in earth’s past history; His second coming is the greatest in its future. He shall come! Behold the Lord cometh. He comes in glory, in majesty, with clouds, with all his saints, to destroy Antichrist; to deliver creation; to bind Satan; to convert Israel and the Gentiles; to execute vengeance; to raise His, saints; to judge and to reign. For these things He comes. He is only waiting for the time appointed by the Father. Then He shall appear in His glory, no longer the man of sorrows, but the Conqueror, the Bridegroom, the crowned King.
III. The posture. “Waiting” (see Roman 8:19, 23), as the servant for the master; the traveler or mariner for the morning; the bride for the bridegroom. In all these there is eager and earnest expectation. The event is infinitely desirable; the person is the object of our love. We have heard of Him; we long to see Him and to hear His voice. His absence is sadness and gloom; as Rutherford says, “It is like a mountain of iron on our heavy hearts.” All seems to go wrong in that time of absence. In such a case, “waiting” is a necessity; we cannot but wait. (1) We wait in faith; (2) in hope; (3) in patience; (4) in desire; (5) in love; (6) in watchfulness. Such was the church’s posture before Messiah’s first coming; such is it before His second. It is the posture of the church and of each saint. They are waiters and watchers. There must be no forgetfulness, no indifference, no sloth, no sleep; all wakefulness, eagerness, and longing. Many things tend to hinder this, and to throw us off our guard. Let us beware, and hold fast. Let us not sleep as do others; but watch.
IV. The connection between this posture and the gift. It is close, vital, and mutual. The gifts cherish the waiting, and the waiting the gifts; the one helps the other. The more we wait, the more the gifts will grow; and the more they grow, the more will we wait. (1.) The gifts are all from Christ, out of His fullness; and the more we possess of the gifts, the more shall we desire to know the giver; the more copious and pleasant our draughts of the stream, the more shall we long for the fountainhead. (2.) The gifts are the gifts of the Spirit, and He is the witness of Christ; the more that we are filled with Him, the more shall we wait, and look, and long for Him to whom He testifies, and whom His office is to glorify. Thus they both are inseparably linked together. We cannot be growing Christians without waiting for Christ; and we cannot wait for Christ without growing.
(1.) Press on. Stationary saintship is as poor as it is perilous. Advance; advance! Make this your motto. Be progressive Christians; belong to the advanced school of theology and holiness in the true sense.
(2.) Beware of stumbling and backsliding. The tendencies both within and without are all against us. Snares and stumbling blocks are in our path. Be on your guard. Look to your feet. Dread one retrogressive step. Watch against coldness and formalism.
(3.) Wait for the revelation of Christ. Be this your posture constantly; not theoretical, but practical. Let nothing come between you and a crucified Christ; a risen Christ; a glorified Christ; a coming Christ.
When we speak of the perspicuity of Scripture, it is not without a vital qualification. Luther wrote,
If you speak of internal perspicuity, the truth is that nobody who has not the Spirit of God sees a jot of what is in the Scriptures. All men have their hearts darkened, so that, even when they can discuss and quote all that is in Scripture, they do not understand or really know any of it. They do not believe in God, nor do they believe that they are God’s creatures, nor anything else—as Ps. 13 puts it, ‘The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God’ (Ps. 14.1). The Spirit is needed for the understanding of all Scripture and every part of Scripture.
But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.
—Psalm 3:3
Here David avows his confidence in God. “Thou, O Lord, art a shield for me.” The word in the original signifies more than a shield; it means a buckler round about, a protection which shall surround a man entirely, a shield above, beneath, around, without and within. Oh! what a shield is God for his people! He wards off the fiery darts of Satan from beneath, and the storms of trials from above, while, at the same instant, he speaks peace to the tempest within the breast. Thou art “my glory.” David knew that though he was driven from his capital in contempt and scorn, he should yet return in triumph, and by faith he looks upon God as honouring and glorifying him. O for grace to see our future glory amid present shame! Indeed, there is a present glory in our afflictions, if we could but discern it; for it is no mean thing to have fellowship with Christ in his sufferings. David was honoured when he made the ascent of Olivet, weeping, with his head covered; for he was in all this made like unto his Lord. May we learn, in this respect, to glory in tribulations also! “And the lifter up of mine head”—thou shalt yet exalt me. Though I hang my head in sorrow, I shall very soon lift it up in joy and thanksgiving. What a divine trio of mercies is contained in this verse!—defence for the defenceless, glory for the despised, and joy for the comfortless. Verily we may well say, “there is none like the God of Jeshurun.”
Tim Challies on the message of the medium of digital technology:
According to Mark Federman, the message of a new technology, the ideology carried within it, is “the change in inter-personal dynamics that the innovation brings with it.” So the “message” of a particular television show is not the show itself, with all its dramatic scenes and storytelling, but the change in attitude or the change in thinking that the audience experiences after watching it. The “message” of a show like American Idol may have been not the music but the nastiness of one of its judges—a nastiness that quickly shaped and defined society. The message within the medium of the Internet may not be the e-commerce sites and videos and blogs we use every day but he way humans are increasingly seeing themselves and their relationships with others in terms of data and networks. The true message of these digital technologies is buried deep inside them and will eventually be revealed in time. We will see their effect in the ways we think differently act differently, and understand ourselves differently.
This has been my primary concern as I use the internet — not the content related hazards, but the packaging. All the really great, useful content that I enjoy and from which I benefit so much is packaged in a way that caters to our get-it-fast-and-easy culture. Jigabytes of information have enabled me to accomplish things I otherwise never would have. It has also, to some extent, made me a lazy thinker. I don’t think it’s worth the trade.
Is it too early to start playing Christmas music? I played a little yesterday.
I just wanted to be the first to post that this year.
If you’ve looked for an original Looney Tunes animation of this song — and who hasn’t? — you know it can’t be found. That’s because it was never a Looney tunes bit. That’s right, it’s a fraud. According to one source, it was “recorded by North Carolina disc jockey Denny Brownlee. When he was threatened by Warner Brothers with a lawsuit, the song was re-released and attributed to ‘Seymour Swine and the Squealers.’”
I figured as much. Everyone knows that stutterers don’t stutter when they sing.
Sometime around 1980–81, two brand new personal computers rolled into my high school in Montana, inciting much excitement. Until that day, few, if any, of us had ever seen such a thing. We had previously known computers as enormous monsters that filled entire rooms, storing and processing data for the military, high-tech industries, and the like. I remember seeing one of those colossal machines on a field trip. I can’t remember where, or who or what it served, but I remember the multiple units standing side-by-side, clicking and whirring loudly, recording data on reel-to-reel tapes. The desktop units in our school followed suit on a smaller scale, employing cassette tapes. They were ridiculously expensive, and did next to nothing. They included one or two games, but they were so unimaginative and crude that no one would have predicted that gaming would one day be a major portion of computer use. Computers were not toys. They were tools, useful for spy agencies, star ships, and businesses. Little did we know what the future held.
As Tim Challies writes, this has been the way new technology has always developed. And just as current technology may have metamorphosed into something far from its original purpose, new technologies that we adopt may change our lives in unintended ways. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s a fact of which we ought to be wary.
When we create a new technology or add one to our lives, we may have a sense of how it will play out its hand, but rarely do things go exactly as we had planned. More often than not, the consequences are quite different from what we had expected.
This owes, at least in part, to the reality that the invention of a technology almost always precedes its function. Technology is generally created independently from the way it will eventually be used. It is usually only after a new technology is invented that we use our creativity and ingenuity to find ways of integrating it into our lives. This exacerbates its unintended consequences. If a technology was created specifically for business application and we adapt it to a worship service, we will see that there are some businesslike ideologies wrapped up in that technology (such as when we take PowerPoint from the boardroom to the sanctuary). The wise consumer of technology will realize that the technology he uses today, the technology he has come to love and depend on, will have unintended consequences in his life and in the world around him. He will look not just to the technology itself but to the function for which it was created, the problem it was originally supposed to address.
I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord.”
Hymn 84.(l. m.) Salvation, righteousness, and strength in Christ. Isa. xlv. 21—25
Jehovah speaks! let Isr’el hear; Let all the earth rejoice and fear, While God’s eternal Son proclaims His sovereign honors and his names.
“I am the last, and I the first, The Savior God, and God the just; There’s none beside pretends to show Such justice and salvation too.
[“Ye that in shades of darkness dwell, Just on the verge of death and hell, Look up to me from distant lands; Light, life, and heav’n are in my hands.
“I by my holy name have sworn, Nor shall the word in vain return; To me shall all things bend the knee, And every tongue shall swear to me.]
“In me alone shall men confess Lies all their strength and righteousness; But such as dare despise my name, I’ll clothe them with eternal shame.
“In me, the Lord, shall all the seed Of Isr’el from their sins be freed; And by their shining graces prove Their int’rest in my pard’ning love.”
—from The Psalms & Hymns of Isaac Watts. Hymns and Spiritual Songs. Book I: Collected from the Holy Scriptures (Soli Deo Gloria, 1997).
8who will also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
—1 Corinthians 1
Eternal Blamelessness.
There are several words used to declare what a Christian man should be. He is to be “blameless” (1 Thessalonians 3:13), “unrebukeable” (Philippians 2:15), “without spot” (1 Peter 1:19), “faultless” (Jude 24), “undefiled” (Song of Solomon 5:2). All these words are to be more or less realized in every Christian,—in measure here, in all fullness hereafter.
They are chiefly negative; in the Greek, remarkably so; describing a Christian not so much by what he is, as by what he is not. But this is striking and full of meaning; inasmuch as it reminds him of the sin out of which he was taken, and from which he is called to be separate. It reminds him of that evil world from which he has been delivered, and from which he is to keep himself unspotted. He was a sinner once, nothing but a sinner. From sin, wrath, pollution, ungodliness he is taken, and from them must keep aloof.
These characteristics may be divided into three kinds judicial, priestly, personal.
I. Judicial. The word used in our text is the judicial one. It means one that cannot be challenged, or accused, or impeached in law. It is another form of the same word as is used in Romans 8:33, “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect?” A Christian is one against whom there is not only no condemnation, but no accusation. He is a sinner yet no man, nor angel, nor devil, may accuse him, or mention his guilt to God. This is the footing on which we stand,—unaccusable! Blessed footing to one who feels that he is the chief of sinners. The chief of sinners, yet beyond the reach of all accusation! How is this? Because there was one who was accused in his stead; who owned the accusation as if it were His own; who allowed sentence to pass against Himself; and was condemned for another’s guilt,—the Just for the unjust.
II. Priestly. I might call it sacrificial. The word used in such places as Ephesians 1:4 is the same as that in 1 Peter 1:19, “the Lamb without blemish, and without spot.” This unblemishedness has special reference to our fitness for worship and service. And this we derive from the unblemished Lamb himself, and specially from His blood. It is His blood that cleanses and fits us for entering Jehovah’s courts, and ministering as His priests at His altar; for “we have an altar.” I speak of the priesthood of believers, the priesthood which a sinner enters on when he believes on the Son of God. Let ns make constant use of the Lamb and His blood to keep ourselves unblemished for sacrifice or service; for we are to present even our bodies as living sacrifices unto God (Romans 12:1).
III. Personal (Philippians 2:15; 1 Thessalonians 3:13), We are forgiven and delivered from wrath that we may be personally holy; holy in heart and life; saved from sin, conformed to Christ. We are delivered from wrath, from Satan, from self; from the world, from sin, from vanity, from ignorance, from the lust of the flesh and eye. We are made like “the second man” (1 Corinthians 15:47), “the last Adam” (1 Corinthians 15:45), in God’s image. We delight in the law of God; we are transformed by the renewing of our minds. Our life is spiritual, our character, our conversation, our joys, our pursuits. Everything is spiritualized in character, aim, and tone. All true religion is personal, not a thing of proxy; a real inward thing, not a form, or a creed, or a shadow, or a rite. It penetrates the entire being, pervading the whole life, and influencing everything about the man, great or small. Holiness is to be everywhere in and about the man.
If, then, you call yourself a Christian, consider how much is expected from you; how much God expects from you; how much Christ, how much the angels, how much the church, how much the world. All eyes are on you, and great expectations are formed of you. Consider,
(1.) Your names. They are “saint,” “Christian,” “redeemed from among men,” “follower of the Lamb.” Do not these call you to holiness, to blamelessness!
(2.) Your designations. You are the lights of the world, the salt of the earth; pilgrims, strangers, virgins, cross bearers, kings and priests; a temple, a habitation of God.
(3.) Your calling. You are called with a holy calling. Everything connected with your calling is holy,—its past eternity, its present working, its everlasting prospects. You are called to glory, honour, and immortality.
(4.) Your hopes. They are sure and bright,—a holy kingdom, an undefiled inheritance, a pure and splendid city, into which nothing that defileth shall enter.
(5.) Your companionships. They are all heavenly and pure. Your ties have been broken with this present evil world. Old friendships are severed, and new ones formed. Of your new companions the chief are God, and Christ, and tile Holy Spirit, and the saints that are on the earth. Holy companions should make a man holy, for as evil communications corrupt good manners, so do good communications elevate and purify evil ones.
If you are Christians then, be consistent. Be Christians out and out; Christians every hour, in every part, and in every matter. Beware of half-hearted discipleship, of compromise with evil, of conformity to the world, of trying to serve two masters,—to walk in two ways, the narrow and the broad, at once. It will not do. Half-hearted Christianity will only dishonour God, while it makes you miserable.
There is abundance of Christianity, so-called, in our day. Who does not call himself a Christian? But who cultivates the holiness, the blamelessness, the devotedness, the calm consistency of a follower of Christ? Who hates sin as it ought to be hated? Who separates from the world as he ought? Who follows Christ as He ought to be followed? Who walks in the footsteps of the holy Son of God?
The day of Christ here spoken of, is coming. How soon we know not. Year after year is bringing it round. It is the day of decision. It ends the finite and begins the infinite; it ends the temporal, and begins the eternal. It is the day of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is Satan’s day, man’s day, the world’s day; that is the day of Christ. And it is to that day we look, for it we prepare.
Do many hands make light work, or do too many cooks spoil the soup? If he who hesitates is lost, do I dare look before I leap? Should I answer a fool according to his folly (Proverbs 26:5), or not (verse 4)? I expect these, and many other, questions to be answered when I get into God’s Wisdom in Proverbs by Dan Phillips.
After scanning the book and reading the introduction plus a little more, I can say that this book is not what I had expected. It turns out it’s not a commentary as I usually think of commentaries, but rather a manual on how to read and understand Proverbs. And that’s better than a commentary. You’ll probably see bits of it here next week or thereabouts.
Challies identifies a “new Gnosticism,” a way of life in which virtual relationships with mediated communication are preferred over real face-to-face relationships:
In The Soul in Cyberspace, Douglas Groothuis writes of a woman who suffers from a serious social phobia that has left her extremely anxious in social situations and, as a consequence, increasingly isolated and alone. But through the Internet she was able to find others who suffered from a similar condition, and together they have been able to interact and form a kind of community. Here they have found the friendship and fellowship that their conditions have denied them in the real world. Here, in a world without her body and all of its limitations, she has found a place to be herself.
But has this woman truly found freedom from the limitations of her flesh? There is a sense in which she has—she has been able to find a way of overcoming her inability to communicate. And yet, there is another sense in which she has not really found freedom at all because she is still bound by her condition, a condition that keeps her from finding and experiencing community in the real world. She is still a captive to the four walls that keep her from the world of flesh and blood. Cyberspace has provided a sense of community but has also furthered her captivity by giving her the illusion of freedom. That she believes she is now free from this limitation only shows just how captive she remains to its power. She has accepted the promise of Gnosticism—that life without the physical is as good or better than life within it. But this denies what the Bible tells us: “In the biblical teaching, matter is something not to be escaped but redeemed” [Groothuis]. Freedom without the body, freedom without what makes us whole and complete human beings, is really no freedom at all.
This way of thinking is not exclusive to those, like the woman in the example above, suffer from abnormal phobias. If you are reading this post, chances are that you are among the millions whose communications are increasingly impersonal, mediated through email and text-message. We would be wise to consider the extent to which that is true, and examine ourselves to see if we prefer it that way.
Can any of us deny being affected to some extent as described below?
Here is one of the great dangers we face as Christians: With the ever-present distractions in our lives, we are quickly becoming a people of shallow thoughts, and shallow thoughts will lead to shallow living. There is a simple and inevitable progression at work here:
Distraction —> Shallow Thinking —> Shallow Living
All of this distraction is reshaping us in two dangerous ways. First, we are tempted to forsake quality for quantity, believing the lie that virtue comes through speed, productivity, and efficiency. We think that more must be better, and so we drive ourselves to do more, accomplish more, be more. And second, as this happens, we lose our ability to engage in deeper ways of thinking—concentrated, focused thought that requires time and cannot be rushed. Instead of focusing our efforts in a few directions, we give scant attention to many things, skimming instead of studying. We live rushed lives and forget how to move slowly, carefully, and thoughtfully through life.
The challenge facing us is clear. We need to relearn how to think, and we need to discipline ourselves to think deeply, conquering the distractions in our lives so that we can live deeply. We must rediscover how to be truly thoughtful Christians, as we seek to live with virtue in the aftermath of the digital explosion.
What if Solomon had been an average guy, living today?
But Solomon wasn’t an average 21st century guy. He didn’t tweet. He took time to think, and so must we.
King Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived, and his life gave little indication of speed. Rather, his life showed the virtue of deliberate meditation, deliberate slowness. He knew 3,000 proverbs, each of which took time to commit to memory and each of which only had value in the time taken to ponder it. Here is just one example of how Solomon grew in wisdom and understanding:
I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. Then I saw and considered it; I looked and received instruction. A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.
Proverbs 24:30–34
Here Solomon walks by a field and pauses to observe that it has become overgrown with thorns and that the wall surrounding it has fallen into decay. He sees that only a lazy man, a sluggard, a fool, would allow his land to fall into such a state. Even in the midst of his busy life as king, Solomon responds by taking the time to meditate on this, to consider it. And having done so, he receives divine instruction: “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.” It was only through his willingness to slow down, to take time, that he drew a lesson from this foolish man and his misused land. Virtue was found not in hastening by but in taking time to slow down, to pause, to think. He did not immediately dash off a Twitter update or snap a photo to post to Facebook. He stopped; he watched; he learned.
The challenge facing us is clear. We need to relearn how to think, and we need to discipline ourselves to think deeply, conquering the distractions in our lives so that we can live deeply. We must rediscover how to be truly thoughtful Christians, as we seek to live with virtue in the aftermath of the digital explosion.
Today, I delete Vanity Fair from my RSS reader. No more will the occasional essay by Christopher Hitchens, the sole reason for my subscription, come through. Hitchens has died. Though he was an atheist, I always enjoyed reading his essays. He was intelligent, eloquent, and entertaining. And he often spoke truths from which American fundamentalists and evangelicals could have benefited, had they been willing. I am sorry, for his sake, he died without Christ. That is certainly the greatest tragedy. But for my own sake also, I am sorry he is gone.
Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.
—Matthew 2:2
As with Gladness, Men of Old
As with gladness, men of old Did the guiding star behold— As with joy they hailed its light, Leading onward, beaming bright— So, most glorious Lord, may we Evermore be led to Thee.
As with joyful steps they sped To that lowly manger bed, There to bend the knee before Him Whom Heav’n and earth adore; So may we with willing feet Ever seek Thy mercy seat.
As they offered gifts most rare At that manger rude and bare, So may we with holy joy, Pure and free from sin’s alloy, All our costliest treasures bring, Christ, to Thee, our heav’nly King.
Holy Jesus, every day Keep us in the narrow way; And, when earthly things are past, Bring our ransomed souls at last Where they need no star to guide, Where no clouds Thy glory hide.
I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord.”
Hymn LXI. Look unto me, and be ye saved. Isaiah xlv. 22. John Newton (1725–1807)
As the serpent rais’d by Moses Heal’d the burning serpent’s bite; Jesus thus himself discloses To the wounded sinner’s sight: Hear his gracious invitation, “I have life and peace to give, I have wrought out full salvation, Sinner, look to me and live.
Pore upon your sins no longer, Well I know their mighty guilt; But my love than death is stronger, I my blood have freely spilt: Tho’ your heart has long been hard’ned, Look on me—it soft shall grow; Past transgressions shall be pardon’d, And I’ll wash you white as snow.
I have seen what you were doing, Tho’ you little thought of me; You were madly bent on ruin, But I said—It shall not be: You had been for ever wretched, Had I not espous’d your part; Now behold my arms outstretched To receive you to my heart.
Well may shame, and joy, and wonder, All your inward passions move; I could crush thee with my thunder, But I speak to thee in love: See! your sins are all forgiven, I have paid the countless sum! Now my death has open’d heaven, Thither you shall shortly come.”
Dearest Savior, we adore thee For thy precious life and death; Melt each stubborn heart before thee, Give us all the eye of faith: From the law’s condemning sentence, To thy mercy we appeal; Thou alone canst give repentance, Thou alone our souls canst heal.
—Olney Hymns. Book I: On select Passages of Scripture.
9God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
—1 Corinthians 1
Sonship And Fellowship.
God’s faithfulness is our resting place. His true and unchanging love is our security. From first to last it is with a “faithful” God that we have to do. The eternal God is our refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. There is none like the God of Jeshurun,—the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness nor shadow of turning.
It is this faithful God who calls us; saves us; blesses us; keeps us. It is He who begins the good work in us, and will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. He will keep what we have committed to Him.
This calling of His is often referred to. That which He calls us out of is noted: “Who bath called you out of darkness” (2 Peter 2:9). That to which He calls is also noted: “Called unto liberty” (Galatians 5:13); “called to glory” (2 Peter 1:3); “called you unto his kingdom and glory” (1 Thessalonians 2:12). That by which He calls us is also noted: “Called by grace” (Galatians 1:15); “called by our gospel” (2 Thessalonians 2:14). But in the passage before us it is simply said that we are called into the fellowship of His Son. What does this mean?
Fellowship does not merely mean friendship, or converse, or sympathy; it means “partnership,” sharing what belongs to others,—“all that I have is thine.” Thus the word is used, Luke 5:10, “which were partners with Simon.” There is not merely partaking of something as a gift, but sharing, as common property, what another possesses. It is business partnership; family partnership; filial partnership; conjugal partnership; the partnership of adoption or heritage. Our text embraces all these, when it speaks of our being called to the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ; just as elsewhere it is said that we “are made partakers of Christ” (Hebrew 3:14). So that intercourse with Christ is only part of the boundless privilege which fellowship implies.
Let us consider this fellowship or partnership with Christ in the following aspects,—
I. Partnership with Him in what He was. He was crucified, He died, was buried, rose again. In all these we have part. Not that we helped Him to do His work and to bear His cross; not that we were joint sin-bearers, assisting Him to save us. In all this He was alone, suffering the wrath alone. But still we are said to be crucified with Him, to have died with Him, to be buried with Him, to have risen with Him. One cross, one death, one grave, one resurrection. Such is our fellowship with Him, that God looks on us as one with Him in all these things; treats us as having passed through what He did, as if we had actually paid the eternal penalty, and were entitled to the eternal righteousness. In believing we enter on this partnership, and into all the benefits of His death and resurrection. As one with Him, all these are ours.
II. Partnership with Him in what He is. He has not only risen, but He has ascended; He has been seated on the throne of the Majesty in the heavens. We share His present dignity; for we are said to be seated with Him in heavenly places, and are treated by God as such. His ascension is ours; His dignity and glory are ours. We are still no doubt here on earth; but we are called to feel, and act, and live as those who are already at the right hand of God. Simple forgiveness is not all our portion. We are raised higher than this; raised into high favor with God, and made to share in the fullness which belongs to Christ as the risen and ascended and glorified Son of man. Besides all this, we share His name, and are called sons of God. We share the Father’s love,—“that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them.” We share His offices;—we are prophets, priests, and kings; heirs of God and joint-heirs of Christ Jesus.
III. Partnership with Him in what He shall be. Much of His glory is yet in reserve; for now we see not yet all things put under Him. The day of glory and dominion; the day of the crown, and the throne, and the royal robe is coming; and in all these we are to have fellowship with Him; as one with Him; members of His body, sharing the glory of the head; as the bride of Christ, sharing the glory of the Bridegroom; one with Him in all His honour throughout eternity.
Thus, then, there is complete fellowship with Christ. It is to this that we are called by a faithful God; and is it not a high and glorious calling? Fellowship in His cross, His grave, His resurrection, His throne, His glory! All this faith secures to us; and of all this the Holy Spirit bears witness to us. Believing, we are reconciled, saved, accepted, blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus.
Let us walk worthy of it; as men who really believe it; happy, holy, unworldly, zealous, generous, loving. Let us carry the consciousness of our calling into every thing,—great or small; into business, daily life, recreations, reading, education, everything; maintaining our true position before men; manifesting our proper character; letting the world know our prospects, and doing nothing inconsistent with what we profess to be now, and with what we shall be when the Lord comes.
I know I promised to begin God’s Wisdom in Proverbs this week, but I had forgotten that I wanted to fill these days with Christmasy content, which I now begin to do.
Angels from the Realms of Glory
Angels from the realms of glory, Wing your flight o’er all the earth; Ye who sang creation’s story Now proclaim Messiah’s birth.
Come and worship, come and worship, Worship Christ, the newborn King.
Shepherds, in the field abiding, Watching o’er your flocks by night, God with us is now residing; Yonder shines the infant light:
Come and worship, come and worship, Worship Christ, the newborn King.
Sages, leave your contemplations, Brighter visions beam afar; Seek the great Desire of nations; Ye have seen His natal star.
Come and worship, come and worship, Worship Christ, the newborn King.
Saints, before the altar bending, Watching long in hope and fear; Suddenly the Lord, descending, In His temple shall appear.
Come and worship, come and worship, Worship Christ, the newborn King.
Sinners, wrung with true repentance, Doomed for guilt to endless pains, Justice now revokes the sentence, Mercy calls you; break your chains.
Come and worship, come and worship, Worship Christ, the newborn King.
Though an Infant now we view Him, He shall fill His Father’s throne, Gather all the nations to Him; Every knee shall then bow down:
Come and worship, come and worship, Worship Christ, the newborn King.
All creation, join in praising God, the Father, Spirit, Son, Evermore your voices raising To th’eternal Three in One.
Come and worship, come and worship, Worship Christ, the newborn King.
Don’t get me wrong, I like this hymn. I like the theology it preaches, and I’ll admit liking it on the sentimental grounds that I’ve grown up with it and have always liked it. Still, I don’t care for the last line of the refrain: “Worship Christ, the newborn King.” We are not called to worship a baby Jesus (as many Roman Catholics sometimes do), nor were the shepherds. The angels announced “a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” That Savior just happened to be an infant at the time, but his age was not really relevant to the shepherds. They didn’t go to Bethlehem to worship a newborn king, they went to worship the King who was, at the moment, newly born.
John MacArthur writes,
Christmas is not about the Savior’s infancy; it is about his deity. The humble birth of Jesus Christ was never intended to be a façade to conceal the fact that God was being born into the world.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.
—Colossians 1:15–20
Paul says Jesus is “the firstborn of all creation” (Colossians 1:15). Those who reject the deity of Christ have made much of that phrase, assuming it means Jesus was a created being. But the word translated “firstborn” is protokos, which describes Jesus’ rank, not His origin. The firstborn, the protokos, in a Hebrew family was the heir, the ranking one, the one who had all the rights of inheritance. And in a royal family, the protokos had the right to rule.
Christ is the One who inherits all creation and has the right to rule over it.
In Psalm 89:27, God says of David, “I also shall make him My firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.” There the meaning of “firstborn” is given in plain language: “the highest of the kings of the earth.” That’s what protokos means with regard to Christ—He is “King of kings and Lord of lords” (1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 19:16). God has appointed His Son “heir of all things” (Hebrews 1:2). He is the primary One, the Son who has the right to the inheritance, the ranking Person, the Lord of all, heir of the whole of creation.
Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.”
—Matthew 1:23
The name Immanuel is the heart of the Christmas story. It is a Hebrew name that means, literally, “God with us.” It is a promise of incarnate deity, a promise that God Himself would appear as a human infant, Immanuel, “God with us.” This baby who was to be born would be God Himself in human form.
If we could condense all the truths of Christmas into only three words, these would be the words: “God with us.” We tend to focus our attention at Christmas on the infancy of Christ, but the greater truth of the holiday is His deity. More astonishing than a baby in the manger is the truth that this promised baby is the omnipotent Creator of the heavens and the earth!
Immanuel, infinitely rich, became poor. He assumed our nature, entered our sin-polluted world, took our guilt on Himself although He was sinless, bore our griefs, carried our sorrows, was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities (Isaiah 53:5). All of that is wrapped up in “God with us.”
Following his temptation in the wilderness, Jesus began his public ministry with a trip to Nazareth, where “He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read.”
And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written,
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives,
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set free those who are oppressed,
To proclaim the favorable year of the lord.”
And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Here’s a side to the Christmas story that isn’t often told. Those soft little hands, fashioned by the Holy Spirit in Mary’s womb, were made so that nails might be driven through them. Those baby feet, pink and unable to walk, would one day walk up a dusty hill to be nailed to a cross. That sweet infant’s head with sparkling eyes and eager mouth was formed so that someday men might force a crown of thorns onto it. That tender body, warm and soft, wrapped in swaddling clothes, would one day be ripped open by a spear.
This hymn may raise eyebrows as a Christmas hymn, having no reference to Christ, and probably being acceptable to anyone with a vague belief in a benevolent god. Still, to those of us who know the one true God of the Bible, it speaks of the eschatological hope that belongs to us alone.
My hymnal has the verses of this hymn rearranged, as in the recording below. I thought it best to present them in their original order.
I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
I heard the bells on Christmas day Their old familiar carols play, And wild and sweet the words repeat Of peace on earth, good will to men.
And thought how, as the day had come, The belfries of all Christendom Had rolled along th’unbroken song Of peace on earth, good will to men.
Till ringing, singing on its way The world revolved from night to day, A voice, a chime, a chant sublime Of peace on earth, good will to men.
And in despair I bowed my head “There is no peace on earth,” I said, “For hate is strong and mocks the song Of peace on earth, good will to men.”
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: “God is not dead, nor doth He sleep; The wrong shall fail, the right prevail With peace on earth, good will to men.”
This hymn was written during the American civil war, as reflected by the sense of despair in the next to last stanza. Stanzas 4–5 speak of the battle, and are usually omitted from hymnals:
Then from each black, accursed mouth The cannon thundered in the South, And with the sound the carols drowned Of peace on earth, good will to men.
It was as if an earthquake rent The hearth-stones of a continent, And made forlorn, the households born Of peace on earth, good will to men.
11Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; 12but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, 13waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet.
—Hebrews 10
The Imperfect And The Perfect Priesthood.
It is to the contrast between Christ and the ancient priesthood that I ask your attention; between the priesthood of the earthly and of the heavenly temple. It is this contrast that brings out the true nature and character both of Christ and of His work.
I. The many priests and the one.—‘Every priest,’—‘this man,’ or ‘this priest.’ The Old Testament priests were many. Not one of them fully accomplished the priestly work. A continual succession was needed; and even by these many the work was not done. It remained at the last just where it was at the first. For these many were, after all, not doers of the work, but symbols or prophetical representatives of the great Doer of it all who was to come. They said, ‘The work shall yet be done; it shall be done completely; God shall be approached; the conscience shall be purged; but not by us; the Doer shall come; He will accomplish what we can only foreshadow.’ These many passed away, and in their stead there came the one—one to do the work which hundreds and thousands of priests and Levites could not do. Yes, one Doer; one work; one sacrifice; one blood shedding; one atonement. Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many. What a contrast! The whole tribe of Levi for ages; the tens of thousands of sacrifices; the rivers of bloodshed, and all incomplete! And, on the other, the one single Man, taking up the incomplete work of these thousands, and doing it all at once! This Man! This Priest! But what a Man! What a Priest! The High Priest of the good things to come! The others might do their symbolic work well; but the real priestly final work was beyond their power. That consummation was reserved for the greater than Aaron or Moses, the Son of God Himself. O finished work, how sufficient! O perfect High Priest, how glorious and complete!
II. The many sacrifices and the one sacrifice.—In two senses were the sacrifices many. They were many (1) as to number, almost innumerable;
(2) as to kind, burnt offering, trespass offering, sin offering, meat offering, drink offering, peace offering. Christ’s sacrifice was one, in both of these aspects. Only one sacrifice, once offered; and all the various kinds of sacrifice gathered, in Him, into the one sacrifice, which by its fullness satisfies the utmost need of the worshipper in every case. One full, complete, perfect sacrifice! ‘It is finished;’ ‘by one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.’ His one sacrifice did the whole work. ‘By Himself He purged our sins;’ by His blood He purged our consciences. Let that one sacrifice do its work for us. We need no more.
III. The many ministries and the one ministry.—Besides the offering of sacrifice, there were many duties connected with priestly ministry, some smaller, some more important. Each day and hour had their ministries or services. In a hundred different ways they ministered. Priest and Levite ministered in the various parts of the manifold temple worship. But now Christ has taken up all their various ministries into Himself. All the little or great things which we need as the sinful or the helpless, are ministered by the one priestly servant. Through His hands alone come to us the numerous blessings which we need every hour. Let us deal with Him about these. He is exalted a Prince and Saviour to bestow these. We have not to deal with many priests, nor are we perplexed with many ministers. All the channels and instruments through which blessings come to a sinner are now found in Jesus only. His one ministry has superseded all the rest. It is with His one priesthood that we have to do.
IV. The daily and the everlasting work.—It is the daily many, and the everlasting one that are contrasted. Oh, what a routine of endless sacrifice and service for ages,—daily, daily,—yes, almost every hour! Always doing, never done! Each hour a repetition of past hours, without prospect of end! But the daily ceased, and the ‘for ever’ came at length. Everlasting salvation; eternal redemption! Once and for ever! Once for all! No second sacrifice; no daily repetition. How unsatisfactory that daily work; how satisfying, how pacifying, how perfecting that one everlasting atonement! Yes, it is for evermore! He has offered it once for all! What a gospel is brought out to us in the contrast between the daily and the forever! A pardon that lasts for ever! A peace that lasts for ever! A salvation that lasts forever! A reconciliation that lasts forever!
V. The effectual work and the ineffectual.—What was daily offered up could never take away sin; it could not purge the conscience, nor give us confidence in drawing near to God. But the one true work was ‘for sin;’
i.e. it was meant to take away sin. The other sacrifices could not. This could and did. It was truly and fully sin bearing. Nothing else can avail but this. Guilt but half borne, half exhausted, will avail nothing. Sin laid on any one save the appointed priest and sacrifice, will not be taken away. It must remain. The one Sin bearer is He ‘who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree.’ He is the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. He has finished transgression and made an end of sin.
VI. The standing and the sitting down.—The priests and Levites all stood. From morn to night they stood. There was no time for sitting down, for at any time they might be called on to offer a sacrifice; so that their work was never done. There was no place for sitting in any part of the temple where the service was going on, and. the sacrifices were offered. There were rooms at the side for sitting, but not in the courts of the altar and laver. There the priests must stand or move about. Theirs was perpetual and unfinished work, as their posture indicated. The king might sit when ruling and judging. The prophet might sit when giving his message. But the priest must stand. What a symbol was the priestly posture! What a truth was embodied in it!
The one Priest sat down. As soon as He had finished His sacrifice He sat down. And this said, in language beyond mistake, both to heaven and earth, ‘It is finished!’ He sat down—
(1.) On the throne of grace.—The mercy seat was His throne. He sat down to dispense the free love of God to sinners. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace.
(2.) On the seat of honour.—The throne of grace is the throne of heaven. It is the seat before which the ‘many angels’ as well as the ‘elders’ and ‘living creatures’ bow, singing, ‘Blessing, and honour, and glory’ (Revelations 5:11, 12).
(3.) On the place of power.—The Father’s right hand is the place of power. Seated there, He is, in every sense, ‘able to save to the uttermost.’
(4.) On the height of expectation.—His throne is a ‘glorious high throne.’ From it He looks down on earth, sees its iniquity and rebellion, and calmly waits for the time, when His enemies shall be made His footstool, and earth become His glorious kingdom. Are we, too, looking for this?
‘Sit Thou at my right hand,’ is the Father’s word to the Son. In answer to that He sat down, and He is now sitting. That throne He occupies for us. From that throne He dispenses the gifts which, as the glorified Christ, He has received for the rebellious. All that belongs to Him of excellence and fullness is there; it is there for us. The glory of His person, the riches of His varied offices, the suitableness of His great propitiation, and the love of His gracious heart, are all there,—available for sinners, and that to the uttermost. Such is their value, and such their efficacy, that no amount of evil in us, of whatever kind, can in the least obstruct that availableness. It may be the evil of long and dark transgression, or of obduracy and stout-heartedness, or of backsliding and inconsistency and worldliness, or of imperfect faith and feeble repentance; it may be evil committed before our connection with this High Priest, or evil after our connection with Him, or evil in our deficient way of apprehending His work, or evil in our want of love and confidence, evil in our defective sense of sin and guilt, the evil of a hard and stony heart,—it matters not. None of these evils in us can exceed the boundless value of the expiation or the Expiator; nor surpass the divine perfection of the finished work either as bearing upon God or man; nor neutralize the preciousness of the blood of the Lamb; nor prevent the great burnt offering from sheltering the sinner beneath its wide shadowing and impenetrable canopy; nor repel the free love that comes out from the cross to the unworthiest of the sons of Adam; nor render less potent the fragrance of the sweet incense that is continually going up from the golden altar of ‘the more perfect tabernacle not made with hands.’ The fullness of the finished work covers all deficiencies, were they a thousand timed greater than they are or can be. Nothing but our rejection of that fullness, and our preference for something else, can prevent our being saved by it. Its sufficiency is infinite; its suitableness is perfect; its freeness unconditional; its nearness like Him in whom we live, and move, and have our being.
Such is the provision made for the taking away of our sin, and for our drawing near to God. Such is the great love of God. There is nothing like it for greatness, either in heaven above or in the earth beneath. Truly He has no pleasure in the sinner’s death. He is not seeking occasion to destroy him; He is not trying to find out reasons for rejecting him or for disregarding his cries; He is not waiting for further amendment and repentance, or greater earnestness or bitterer remorse. He is stretching out His hands to him, just as he is. He is most sincerely desirous to bless even the worst. His compassions are infinite; His bowels yearn over His prodigals; He wants them to come back to His house. He knows what hell is, and He wants to save them from it; He knows what heaven is, and He wants to win them to it.
His grace and pity are beyond all measure; and he who, on the credit of the divine testimony to them, given in the word of the truth of the gospel, goes to Him for pardon and life, shall be welcomed and blest, receiving not only what he goes for, but exceeding abundantly, above all he asks or thinks.
08 Behold, A Virgin Shall Conceive (Alto Recitative)
Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel— God with us.
Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23
09 O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings (Alto Aria, Chorus)
O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, get thee up into the high mountain: O thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.
Isaiah 40:9; 60:1
10 For Behold, Darkness Shall Cover The Earth (Bass Recitative)
For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
Isaiah 60:2-3
11 The People That Walked In The Darkness (Bass Aria)
The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.
Isaiah 9:2
12 For Unto Us A Child Is Born (Chorus)
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6
14 There Were Shepherds Abiding (Soprano Recitative)
And there were shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
Luke 2:8–9
15 And The Angel Said Unto Them (Soprano Recitative)
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
Luke 2:10–11
16 And Suddenly There Was With The Angel (Soprano Recitative)
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Luke 2:13
17 Glory To God In The Highest (Chorus)
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Luke 2:13
18 Rejoice Greatly, O Daughter Of Zion (Soprano Aria)
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee; he is the righteous Saviour, and he shall speak peace unto the heathen.
Today I finally learned what the Twelve Days of Christmas are. In case you care, they begin with Christmas Day, and end with Epiphany on January 5th. And, as you know, they have their own song.
I could have used God’s Wisdom in Proverbs twenty-some years ago when the Gothard cult was teaching me that the Proverbs are absolute laws and promises. If you live by the rules contained therein (and elsewhere in Scripture), your life will be all flowers and kisses. If you work diligently, tithe faithfully, and follow a number of other financial laws, you will never suffer want. If you raise your children right, they will grow up to be saintly sages. Less desirable results indicate some failure on your part. It must be so, because God promised! (Psalm 37:25; Proverbs 22:6) It was a kind of prosperity gospel, only a lot less fun than the Osteen variety.
As Dan Phillips explains, the Proverbs contain no such absolute promises and threats. They are, as I’ve taken to calling them, “divine rules of thumb” (my term, not his).
[I]f we are to read and understand Proverbs wisely, we must apply different interpretive rules from those we employ in reading and understanding (say) Philippians. The latter is a little letter, the former is a big book of pithy pointers. We could express the central principle this way:
Proverbs convey pithy points and principles, not precious particular promises.
Remember that poetry by design is terse. If that is true of poetry in general, it is true of proverbs to the tenth power.
It is important that we grasp the fact that this is intentional. It is that nature of the genre. A “knock-knock” joke is what it is. It is a successful joke (if it is a good one), not a failed dictionary. They are not failed prophecies or systematic theologies. Proverbs by design lays out pointed observations, meant to be memorized and pondered, not always intended to be applied “across the board” to every situation without qualification.
The point was well-made be Derek Kinder:
Naturally [proverbs] generalize, as a proverb must, and may therefore be charged with making life too tidy to be true. But nobody objects to this in secular sayings, for the very form demands a sweeping statement and looks for a hearer with his wits about him. We need no telling that a maxim like “Many hands make a light work” is not the last word on the subject, since “Too many cooks spoil the broth.” [The Wisdom of Proverbs, Job and Ecclesiastes]
We can fairly easily think of illustrations form our own culture’s proverbs. Take the pair:
Look before you leap
And yet . . .
He who hesitates is lost.
Do these two proverbs contradict? Formally, of course they do. So, which one is true? Both! One applies to some situations, the second comes to play in others. The first warns against haste, the second against dithery indecision. The first could apply (say) to a marriage-decision; the second (say) to responding to a terrific, limited-supply sale. The application requires wisdom on our part.
A couple of years ago, I read How to Read the Bible as Literature by Leland Ryken. It immediately made the very short list of books I knew I would be reading again, and probably again. I love language, and I’ve come to see how important understanding language — not just words, but the music they make when combined — is to really getting the meaning of any literature. So I loved that book, with all its talk of metaphor, parallelism, narrative, poetry, etc. It is among my most-recommended books because what it teaches is so fundamental.
It’s late, and I haven’t read a word today. It’s been one of those days when other projects consume all my time. But, just like when I was in school, my mind has been on what I’d rather have been doing, which brings me to Ryken’s book. My current reading, God’s Wisdom in Proverbs, reminds me of that book, zeroed in on Proverbs. It includes such wonderful things as a section listing and explaining eight types of proverbs (synonymous, contrast, comparison, satirical, evaluation, consequence, synthetic, and proverbial discourse), and turning the page into chapter two, you immediately see two bold-face headings containing the words “verb” and “noun.” Short of diagramming sentences, what’s more fun than that? (You think I jest. You are mistaken.)
So, if you haven’t read either, I’m going to recommend that you pick up How to Read the Bible as Literature (an easy 208 pages) as a prelude to God’s Wisdom in Proverbs, and if you’ve already read Dan’s book, it probably won’t upset the time/space continuum to read them out of order.
For whom shall I vote? Come June 2012, I’ll need to know, and as it stands right this minute, I have no idea. So I ask you, my readers, to tell me who deserves my vote in the North Dakota primary six months hence.
Bear in mind that I’m looking for a particular kind of candidate. Consider me a consumer who requires a specific product, and tell me why candidate x is the best available to meet my demands.
What are those demands? My demands are simple and singular: Leave me alone! I don’t want anything done for me or to me. I don’t want any laws passed that limit my options, including the option to just lie down and die. I won’t be impressed by any efforts to legislate morality. By the grace of God, I will submit my morality to the Word of God, and leave it to the gospel to affect the morality of others, if God wills.
I want nothing from any candidate but the promise that he will defend liberty, as guaranteed by our Constitution. As much as I loved President Reagan and revere his memory, I will not, on election day, be asking, “[Am I] better off than [I was] four years ago?” I will be asking, “Am I more, or less, free than I was four years ago?” The answer to that is obvious, and the candidate I support against the current oppression will have to be intentional in reversing the damage done.
Seriously: I have no political concern but liberty. So, who is my man?
Addendum: Just in case I wasn’t clear on this, I’m asking whom I should support in the primary election. I’ve known exactly how I’ll vote in the general election since 2008: for The Only Real Candidate Who Is Not Obama, i.e., the Republican nominee. Sorry, idealists who live in fantasyland, I don’t like it either, but that’s how it is.
Hymns of My Youth II: Come, Christians, Join to Sing
After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying,
“Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; because His judgments are true and righteous; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and He has avenged the blood of His bond-servants on her.” And a second time they said, “Hallelujah! her smoke rises up forever and ever.” And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!” And a voice came from the throne, saying,
“Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great.” Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying,
“Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.” It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
Revelation 19:1–8
Come, Christians, Join to Sing
Come, Christians, join to sing— Alleluia! Amen! Loud praise to Christ our King— Alleluia! Amen! Let all, with heart and voice, Before His throne rejoice; Praise is His gracious choice: Alleluia! Amen!
Come, lift your hearts on high— Alleluia! Amen! Let praises fill the sky— Alleluia! Amen! He is our Guide and Friend, To us He’ll condescend; His love shall never end: Alleluia! Amen!
Praise yet our Christ again— Alleluia! Amen! Life shall not end the strain— Alleluia! Amen! On heaven’s blissful shore His goodness we’ll adore, Singing forevermore, “Alleluia! Amen!”
What are those demands? My demands are simple and singular: 
I want nothing from any candidate but the promise that he will defend liberty, as guaranteed by our Constitution. As much as I loved President Reagan and revere his memory, I will not, on election day, be asking, “[Am I] better off than [I was] four years ago?” I will be asking, “
