John 1:51 (ESV)
And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
Knowing our Old Testament can help us to know some important things about Jesus and the gospel. Here, Jesus says something really strange about himself. Yet, if you know the book of Genesis, you will be able to see something fascinating that Jesus is claiming.
When Jacob was running away from his family, he had a vision. You probably have heard of “Jacob’s ladder.” That is a reference to what Jacob saw in a dream in Genesis 28:12. There Jacob saw a structure, like a ladder or staircase, connecting heaven and earth. Angels of God were traveling between heaven and earth on that structure, and the Lord stood at the top declaring his promise and plan to Jacob.
What does that knowledge bring to the table when we hear Jesus say to Nathanel that he would see angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man, Jesus himself? In those words, Jesus is claiming to be the structure, the ladder, that Jacob saw. Obviously, Jesus is not an actual ladder. But, we can understand that, figuratively, what Jacob saw connecting God to mankind is what Jesus actually is.
We learn, then, that there is one way that God is connected to humanity. It is through the person and work of Jesus. Jesus is the ultimate communication and completion of all of God’s promises. Jesus is the way that God speaks to humanity and works out his plan to rescue humanity.
So, do you want to know God? Do you want to communicate with God? There is one way that God has given for this to be done. Know God through Jesus. Communicate with God by knowing Jesus. Connect to God through Jesus and Jesus alone. There is no other way.
In our world, people are often offended when someone dares to make some sort of exclusive claim about their religion. However, Jesus is exclusive. He tells us time and time again in a variety of ways that he is the one God has promised. Jesus is the way to God. Jesus is the communication of God to man. Jesus is the person of God on earth. And we have no right, absolutely none, to demand that God make for us a different way to him.
Godly Boasting (Jeremiah 9:23-24)
Jeremiah 9:23-24
23 Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, 24 but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”
Pride is so very dangerous for believers. It is sadly easy for us to think that, because we know something that is true or do something that is right, we somehow are better people than others who do not know such things. Some people would find it tempting to boast in their personal goodness, in their possessions, in their physical appearance, in their intellect, in their spirituality, or in some other area of life. And all such boasting is dangerous and deadly.
But God tells us in what we are to boast. We are not to boast in any part of ourselves. We are to boast only in the sweet truth that we, if we are his, know the Lord. Of course, as we see in Ephesians 2:8-9, we cannot boast that it was something good in us that brought us to the knowledge of God. We are saved by grace, through faith—which is itself a gift from God. Thus, God is the one who gets all the glory and all the credit for our knowledge of him.
Knowing God includes knowledge that God is loving, just, and righteous. These characteristics of God are the areas in which our world sadly misses understanding who our God is.
The world likes to think of God as loving, but they fail to grasp that God’s love does not make him tolerant of sin. Love is not a permission slip to do anything you want without consequence. Love is not a blanket approval of all a person’s thoughts and actions. None of us would consider a parent loving who allowed their children to run out of control and into self-destruction. Love, rather, is a commitment to another’s good. God is loving, and that love directs people to get under God’s grace and God’s rule for their good and for God’s glory.
God is also just. He will not let sin go unpunished. There is no human sin that will not be appropriately judged and punished by God. We need to understand this. Every sin is either punished in the person of Jesus on the cross or punished in the person of the sinner in hell. To know God is to know that he is not merely loving, but he is also just.
God is righteous. All that God thinks and does is perfectly right. One thing that this means for us is that we have no right whatsoever to question God’s standards. His ways are perfect. His judgments are true. His standards are beyond the fallen standards of man’s best reasoning. God is right. We, in any point that we disagree with God, are wrong.
And, in the passage above, God says that he delights in these things that are true of him. He loves when those who know him are loving, just, and righteous. We are to love others, being committed to doing them good. This does not mean that we are to allow others the freedom to rebel against God without a warning. We tell the truth to others out of love for their good.
We are to be just, loving the justice and goodness of God. We do not judge others, punishing them for sin. It is not our place. But we do clearly identify the truth that certain actions and ideas may be contrary to the ways of God. We tell others of the justice of God and invite them, lovingly, to find grace in the person of Christ.
And we are to live righteously. We are to obey the commands of God, not to earn favor, but to find the joy of showing the world how great God is. We live and think differently. We hold to biblical standards, even when the world around us mocks those standards. We do what the word calls us to do, not because it appears best to the world, but simply because the righteous God of the Bible commands it.
Christians, may we boast in knowing the Lord. May we then reflect the Lord we know by living out lives that mirror his values. Let us love as he loves. Let us value his justice. Let us model his righteousness. Let us find joy in his perfection and his perfect ways.
Old Testament Advice for Christians Afraid of the Nation (Isaiah 7 and 8)
Isaiah 7:9b
If you are not firm in faith,
you will not be firm at all.’ ”
Isaiah 8:11-13
11 For the Lord spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: 12 “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. 13 But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.
Ahaz was one of the most wicked kings that Judah ever had. He led the nation away from the Lord, and he brought upon them the chastisement of God. He participated in some of the worst pagan and idolatrous practices including child sacrifice. Ahaz reshaped the temple and brought foreign religious practices into the very holiest of places.
In that context, it is no surprise to see God bringing on Ahaz and Judah enemies who would threaten their very existence. Yet, as we know from a faithful understanding of the word of God, he would not let the nation be completely destroyed. God was still going to use that nation, as messed up as they were, to bring Messiah to the world.
Ahaz and the people of Judah were scared. Syria and Ephraim had teamed up to destroy Jerusalem. But God says that he would not let it happen. And God spoke to and through Isaiah to remind him of how the people were supposed to deal with the fear they were facing.
In chapter 7, Isaiah simply told Ahaz from God that if he was not firm in his faith in the Lord, he would not be firm at all. In chapter 8, God told the people to stop fretting about all the talk of all the people about who was conspiring with whom. Instead, God told the people that the way to survive this troublesome time was to put their fear where it belongs, in the Lord.
There are lessons here for us as American Christians. The world is going nuts. People are opposing the word of God and the ways of God left and right. It looks like groups are working together all across the nation to make things harder for people of faith to survive in our nation, a nation founded on the concept of religious freedom. What do we do?
If our faith is not in the Lord, we will not stand firm. If we put our hope in anything else we are in trouble. The government is not going to fix our problems. The courts are not going to stop legislating from the benches. The media is not going to suddenly shift and start treating us fairly. At least none of this is going to happen on its own. But there is a God in heaven who is still on his throne. He will not let his people be destroyed.
“If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.” “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.” These words are as good for us today as they were for the people who were dreading the consequences of the godless Ahaz messing up their nation.
So, what do we do? Stop fearing the mean old world out there. Stop fearing the government or the courts or the media or the entertainment industry. Fear God. Set your hope in God. He is faithful. He will not lose. He will not fail. Yes, we may face hardships. We may face persecution. But Christ will reign. God will not ultimately let this world fall apart. He will be glorified, and we will rejoice in that glory.
The Pastor’s Justification – A Review
Jared C. Wilson. The Pastor’s Justification: Applying the Work of Christ in Your Life and Ministry. Wheaton: Crossway, 2013. 192 pp. $14.12.
Jared Wilson has rapidly become one of my favorite authors of powerful, gospel-filled, and helpful books for pastors (and others I’m sure). Wilson writes with an honesty and clarity that make his books easy-to-read while presenting just the right balance of challenge and encouragement.
In The Pastor’s Justification, Wilson speaks from his own pastoral experience to remind pastors that the gospel matters in great ways. The message of Jesus is not only the message that we preach to others. If we are to pastor well, we must see that the gospel impacts every aspect of our ministry from our calling to how we handle ministerial hardships.
As I read this book, I found myself encouraged in so many ways. Wilson seems to have lived through some things that I have also experienced. He reminded me that, though preaching the gospel may seem counter-productive in some settings, it is still the only real way to preach. He reminded me that a pastor who does not have friends in the church is in real danger–an encouraging thing for me since I have seen pastors without friends, and they terrify me. Wilson showed in the book time and time again that pastors are greatly in need of the grace of God and that, thankfully, they have that grace.
This would be a great book to give to a pastor as a gift, for a seminary student to read, or for a deacon or elder to look over as a means to find ways to encourage other elders.
I would encourage any pastor or elder in any church to give this book a try.
Even Apostles Read (2 Timothy 4:13)
2 Timothy 4:13
When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments.
Here Paul continues to ask Timothy for help as he comes to see him. First, Paul asks for a cloak. It’s cold in that dungeon, and Paul is getting old. As winter approaches, Paul knows that he will want that simple garment for his own comfort.
But then we get the request for the books and parchments. This verse is utterly fascinating to me. No one has ever shed more light on it than C. H. Spurgeon, the famous baptist Preacher of the nineteenth century. Listen as I share with you a few lines from Spurgeon on this text:
We do not know what the books were about, and we can only form some guess as to what the parchments were. Paul had a few books which were left, perhaps wrapped up in the cloak, and Timothy was to be careful to bring them.
Even an apostle must read. Some of our very ultra Calvinistic brethren think that a minister who reads books and studies his sermon must be a very deplorable specimen of a preacher. A man who comes up into the pulpit, professes to take his text on the spot, and talks any quantity of nonsense, is the idol of many. If he will speak without premeditation, or pretend to do so, and never produce what they call a dish of dead men’s brains—oh! that is the preacher.
How rebuked are they by the apostle! He is inspired, and yet he wants books! He has been preaching at least for thirty years, and yet he wants books! He had seen the Lord, and yet he wants books! He had had a wider experience than most men, and yet he wants books! He had been caught up into the third heaven, and had heard things which it was unlawful for a man to utter, yet he wants books! He had written the major part of the New Testament, and yet he wants books!
The apostle says to Timothy and so he says to every preacher, “Give thyself unto reading.” The man who never reads will never be read; he who never quotes will never be quoted. He who will not use the thoughts of other men’s brains, proves that he has no brains of his own.
Brethren, what is true of ministers is true of all our people. You need to read. Renounce as much as you will all light literature, but study as much as possible sound theological works, especially the Puritanic writers, and expositions of the Bible. We are quite persuaded that the very best way for you to be spending your leisure, is to be either reading or praying. You may get much instruction from books which afterwards you may use as a true weapon in your Lord and Master’s service. Paul cries, “Bring the books”—join in the cry.
Is that cry not profound? Paul found it necessary for him to continue to read and write. Paul, the apostle who wrote the majority of our New Testament felt it appropriate for him to keep studying until the very end. How much should this convict our generation? We can be so very lazy. We can take our responsibility to read and really dig into God’s word so lightly. Be convicted by Paul’s words. If Paul read until the day he died, surely you can do something in your life to do more to educate yourself, to grow, to press on in your knowledge of the word of God.
Two Thoughts from Proverbs 12
Proverbs 12 (ESV)
4 An excellent wife is the crown of her husband,
but she who brings shame is like rottenness in his bones.
25 Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down,
but a good word makes him glad.
I highlight the two verses above from today’s Bible reading. This is not at all because I think they have anything to do with each other. But, they are words that spoke to me as I read this text.
First is verse 4, “An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, but she who brings shame is like rottenness in his bones.” As I read this verse, I recognized how true it is. An excellent wife is wonderful. A wife who brings her husband shame must be a terrible challenge. And, as I read this verse, I find myself so very grateful to God for my wife. Mitzi has been and continues to be an excellent wife for me. She is faithful. She is a sweet wife and wonderful mother for my kids. She works hard, cares much, and is wise. I have never, not even once, ever feared that she would bring me or the family shame. She is, of course, a beautiful gift from God.
Then, I look at verse 25, “Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.” Over this past week, I have found myself weighed down with anxiety. I have let myself be burdened by fears for the future, fears for finances, fears regarding church growth, fears regarding the purchase of a new home. But God is stronger and greater than my fears. Even this morning, he challenged me with, as the Proverb says, “a good word.” I have been reading Jared Wilson’s book, The Pastor’s Justification. In the chapter I was reading, Wilson reminded me of the sin of King David when he sent Joab out to perform a census, counting his potential army because he would not trust in the power and provision of God. That reproved me and called me to trust in the Lord and in his power and promises. I do not need to fear, as God is far more faithful than me and far more able than me to accomplish his will for his glory.
Why Johnny Can’t Preach – A Review
T. David Gordon. Why Johnny Can’t Preach: The Media Have Shaped the Messengers. Phillipsburg: P & R Publishing, 2009. 112 pp. $9.75.
I’ve long believed that the preaching responsibility of pastors is the area in which most pastors are least willing to learn and grow. It is far too easy for us to assume we are doing a good job, especially if people keep showing up and telling us happy things as they leave the building. Yet, if we are honest, few of us spend a proper amount of time developing the craft of creating solid, biblical, and beautiful sermons.
In Why Johnny Can’t Preach, T. David Gordon laments the state of modern preaching and offers some very helpful challenges for those whose task it is to regularly present God’s messages to God’s people. Gordon believes that many pastors in modern churches lack three major skills needed to be prepared to present powerful homilies. These skills include the ability to closely examine a text (reading), to wisely compose a message (writing), and to recognize what is actually important in life (a sense of the significant).
Without reviewing how Gordon makes his points, I will simply state that I agree with his major thoughts. Many pastors, I believe, do not regularly review their preaching for significance, quality, or effectiveness. Sadly, a pragmatic measure of attendance or a subjective feeling of how people are supposedly responding to the messages he presents are the key measures that the preachers I know tend to use. Often, these false measures can mask the fact that many sermons are arranged poorly, handle the text carelessly, slide into unbiblical thinking, end up moralistic or legalistic, or fall into a host of other problems.
Gordon argues that we will improve our preaching when we recover abilities that many have lost in our modern era. Preachers will improve when we learn to closely read texts in a way similar to the way that people from years ago knew how to closely read literature or poetry. We will also preach more beautifully when we learn to compose a sermon in ways similar to the way that people of old could thoughtfully arrange and compose speeches and correspondence. Pastors similarly should develop the discipline of putting away what is insignificant and learn to latch onto what matters–a difficult task in our media-saturated age.
This book is a short and easy read with some big challenges. I recommend it to those who would preach God’s word. Even if we think we are doing well, it cannot hurt us to let Gordon challenge us to go deeper and to not rest on our present state of preaching.
A Missing Thought in the Planned Parenthood Story
Many people, both pro-abortion and pro-life, have been appalled by the Internet videos showing leaders of Planned Parenthood and other organizations allegedly haggling over the prices of fetal tissue. Much has been written. Much more will be. But I think there is another thought that needs to be expressed that I’m not often reading out there.
The common debate going on has to do with whether or not the people from Planned Parenthood are actually “selling” baby body parts or if this is merely medical research and reimbursement. Are we dealing with Frankenstein-like grotesqueness, or is something more supposedly noble at the heart of the transactions? Is the video staged or edited to tilt the intent of those communicating? Are laws being broken? Again, I say, something more important needs to be said.
Even if the entire thing were a hoax and the folks were being completely taken out of context, there is still an issue here. Even if the activities of Planned Parenthood are completely legal, even if, in fact, body parts are not being shipped out from facility to facility, there is something more important here. What is it?
Regardless of all the accusations and the pandering going on, one fact remains: Babies are being dismembered and destroyed. We must see that, regardless of whether body parts are on the market, people are looking and seeing that intact hearts, eyes, livers, and legs are, in fact, being ripped out of baby bodies for the sake of the freedom or “health” of a woman who does not wish to be inconvenienced by a whole, human child.
Is it bad to think that we may have become a body-part-marketing people? Yes, it really is. But it is worse to realize that we are a people who, for years, have tolerated the dismemberment of healthy humans for the false ideal of “reproductive freedom”
I’m not anti-woman. I want freedom and equality in our society. But I do not want the freedom to dismember and destroy a child. Neither do I want anyone else to have that freedom.
I do not want anyone to stop writing and speaking out against the ghoulish practices of Planned Parenthood. I believe that the videos are likely accurate, the evidence is damning, and that Planned Parenthood really is the kind of organization that would collect funds trafficking in aborted baby organs. I believe that this practice should be stopped and those responsible for this monstrosity should be prosecuted. I believe that the organization responsible for so much human death should be immediately defunded by the American people. But, and this is important, I also believe that this should not horrify us nearly so much as the fact that those body parts, parts of real babies, have been ripped apart to begin with. We must continue to speak out against the whole process in which people, made in the image of God, are shredded for the sake of convenience.
Let me add, I am a sinner. I deserve the wrath of God for a million and more failings in my own life. I’m not claiming the personal high ground. My only hope is the grace of Christ. That grace is available for every woman who has made a wrong decision regarding human life. That grace is available for every man who has pressured a woman to do what so many now see as unthinkable. That grace is available for every abortion doctor and body-part-trafficker who is willing to turn from his or her sin and embrace Christ and his finished work.
My heart breaks for women who have found themselves walking back out of an abortion clinic with one less life to be carried. My heart breaks for those who have done things they wish they had not, and for those who have no regret for the things they have done. We are all guilty of sin and we all need forgiveness in Christ. By the grace of God, he commands all people everywhere to repent and to turn to Jesus for salvation. Let us embrace that salvation while graciously and firmly standing against the murder of children.
Exalted Above All (Psalm 148:13)
Psalm 148:13 (ESV)
Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for his name alone is exalted;
his majesty is above earth and heaven.
There are some verses that, if we really see them as true, completely change our lives. The above, though it may not seem like it, is just such a verse. If this verse is true, everything, absolutely everything, about your and my worldview has to change.
What is so significant? The verse above declares that God’s name, the name of the LORD, alone is to be exalted. There is no other name under heaven which is higher or greater. There is no other name that compares. The name of the God of the Bible, the God revealed to us in the persons of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, is the true name above all things.
You say, “Of course this is true. We know that already.” Great. Then ask yourself what changes if it is something you believe is true rather than simply acknowledging as an abstract fact. If God’s name alone is exalted, how does that impact your decision-making? What do you exalt? How does what you exalt compare to the name of the LORD? How does your praise shift away from God? How might you better make your life and help the lives of those around you magnify the God we know?
Growth and Love (2 Thessalonians 1:3)
2 Thessalonians 1:3
We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.
As Paul opened his second letter to the people of Thessalonica, he gave God thanks for two specific things about the church. Interestingly, especially when compared to the measures of church health often offered today, the reasons for which Paul gave thanks were not numeric or evangelistic. While I love when the church grows, and I love sharing the faith with others, I have to stop and notice that the reasons that God inspired Paul to give thanks for the Thessalonians church were their spiritual growth and their love for each other.
These two marks, spiritual growth and love for each other, should be present in any church of the Lord Jesus. We should be growing spiritually. We should be studying and applying God’s word to our daily lives. Our learning should go deeper. Our obedience should become more and more joyful. Whatever it means to grow in the faith, our churches exist for us to do those things.
We also should be loving each other. When you look at texts regarding the local church, there is a constant call for us to exercise godly love one for another. We are to care for each other and help each other out in hard times. We are to aid each other in our Christian walks. Genuine love for one another, in fact, is the way that Jesus said that the world will know that we actually belong to him (cf. John 14:35).
So, Christians, let us set our hearts in our churches on spiritual growth and love. Without question, those areas will also lead us to mission, to outreach, and, by the grace of God, to numerical growth. But first and foremost, we are to be people who love God and love each other like crazy.
Pastor Travis Peterson 