To Relieve Your Fears.

Someday, dear followers, I will write a blog post!  Never fear!

Let This Mind…

Philippians 2:5-8 - Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

There are so many remarkable things about this passage.  No human mind can grasp the full weight of the fact that the God of the universe, in the Divine person of Christ, was made “a little lower than the angels” and humbled as a man.  Creators are supposed to show themselves powerful over their creations, yet Christ chose to become like His creation. 

However, the fantastic thing about Christ as seen in this passage is not simply His humility.  Humility is great, but it is never an end unto itself.  Humility is for a purpose, and that purpose is living life for another.  It is to give the glory to something else.  It is the submitting of oneself to a higher authority.  Christ, during His life on earth, was the perfect example of humility through His absolute submission to the authority of God the Father and perfect dependence on the Holy Spirit.

Christ was willing, at the will of the Father, to obey by leaving the glory of His own heavenly kingdom in exchange for a humble life on earth.  He was willing to submit Himself to the Father by becoming a man.  Not only a man, but He was humbled as a servant of His own creation.  Christ obeyed the will of the Father all the way to the point of dying on the cross to pay the sin-debt for those who were His enemies.  On the night of His death His prayer to the Father was “not my will, but thine, be done.”

So here we are with the charge to “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.”  What a charge!  Such a state of humility is impossible without the complete empowering of the Holy Spirit and the willingness to yield our own will to God and say “I’ll go where you want me to go…I’ll be what you want me to be…I’ll do what you want me to do.”


Credit to L.S. Chafer for the inspiration and the closing quote.

And So All Israel Shall Be Saved!

They are scattered: behold them wandering on the face of the earth without a country of their own; they are a people who have been oppressed and downtrodden almost beyond belief: the hand of the heathen and the hand of the so-called Christian hath been very heavy upon them; they have been jeered and hooted at for ages, though they are in truth the very nobles of God, and their ancient lineage is like that of kings. Let us not, however, despair for them. Abraham, their father, was but a heathen when God called him out of a family that had worshipped the seraphs and made him to be a witness of the living and true God, and honored his faith with exceeding great reward.

Doubt not, then, that he can call Israel again from all her wanderings, cleanse her from all her profane traditions and her unbelief, and separate her unto himself to be a holy people, in whom once again his power shall be made known, and made known in such a way that they shall not speak of the ark of the Lord, or the redemption out of Egypt as the chief symbol of their national glory, or the grandest theme of their patriotic song, for a greater redemption and a greater manifestation of the Divine presence shall be in the midst of Israel than the wilderness of Sinai had ever known, or the mountains round about Jerusalem had ever witnessed. God grant it to them, and hasten the fulfillment of the promises in which he has made us to hope.


From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "A Bright Light in Deep Shades," delivered May 12, 1872

Have a Dose of Calvin

“it is perverse to measure divine by the standard of human justice”

“But if it is so, (you will say,) little faith can be put in the Gospel promises, which, in testifying concerning the will of God, declare that he wills what is contrary to his inviolable decree. Not at all; for however universal the promises of salvation may be, there is no discrepancy between them and the predestination of the reprobate, provided we attend to their effect. We know that the promises are effectual only when we receive them in faith, but, on the contrary, when faith is made void, the promise is of no effect. If this is the nature of the promises, let us now see whether there be any inconsistency between the two things, viz., that God, by an eternal decree, fixed the number of those whom he is pleased to embrace in love, and on whom he is pleased to display his wrath, and that he offers salvation indiscriminately to all. I hold that they are perfectly consistent, for all that is meant by the promise is, just that his mercy is offered to all who desire and implore it, and this none do, save those whom he has enlightened. Moreover, he enlightens those whom he has predestinated to salvation. Thus the truth of the promises remains firm and unshaken, so that it cannot be said there is any disagreement between the eternal election of God and the testimony of his grace which he offers to believers. But why does he mention all men? Namely that the consciences of the righteous may rest the more secure when they understand that there is no difference between sinners, provided they have faith, and that the ungodly may not be able to allege that they have not an asylum to which they may retake themselves from the bondage of sin, while they ungratefully reject the offer which is made to them. Therefore, since by the Gospel the mercy of God is offered to both, it is faith, in other words, the illumination of God, which distinguishes between the righteous and the wicked, the former feeling the efficacy of the Gospel, the latter obtaining no benefit from it. Illumination itself has eternal election for its rule.
– John Calvin (Institutes of the Christian Religion – Book 3 Chapter 24 Section 17)

That Foolish Cross

“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” – 1 Cor. 1:18 
What a blessing is Sovereign Grace!  Believers can easily recognize themselves in the later part of the verse “unto us which are saved it [the preaching of the cross] is the power of God”, but the first part is not any less important.  Every believer should see the worthlessness of their own merit in the first clause, “the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness.”
I was once one of those that was perishing and dead in sin.  The Gospel of Christ, His suffering, and victory over death was foolishness to such a one as I.  My wisdom could not fathom the beauty of such a shameful act unless God opened my eyes and SAVED me! 
Thank God that even my faith is a gift of God’s grace!  Without it I would be mocking the foolishness of the cross.  Instead, I am left to marvel at the Grace of the Almighty God.

Church: It ain’t that complicated folks!

In the absence of something brand new to post, may I present my Pastoral Epistles research paper.

The existence of Church polity is a relevant and Biblical reality. Church government exists because there is a need for it. Obviously there was a need for a certain level of human leadership in the New Testament church, and the need is still obvious in churches today. Problems often arise, however, when the “who” of church leadership is discussed. These problems are very exaggerated in the church when the Biblical principles are really quite simple. The Biblical model of the purpose and role of elders, deacons, and congregation is presented in the New Testament as a simple organization and a call back to simplicity is needful in the organized church.

Elder-ship is a divinely arranged position of leadership in the local church. Scripture indicates that multiple qualified elders were appointed to lead and teach in the early churches. Schofield summarizes the role of these elders when he states,

The elders were to “rule” or “take care of the church of God” (I Tim. 3:4, 5; 5:17); to guard the body of revealed truth from perversion and error (Titus 1:9); and to “oversee” the church as a shepherd his flock (Acts 20:28, where “feed” is literally to “tend as a shepherd”; John 21:16; Heb. 13:17; I Pet. 5:2). 

The requirements for elders that are established in I Timothy and Titus reveal a lot about the responsibilities of elders as well as the high standard that they are to retain. Their pure lifestyle is to be consistent with the message of faith that they teach and a good testimony to the church and people around them. Also, their lifestyles are a witness to their ability to “take care of the church of God” (I Tim. 3:5).

Elders, in regards to their leadership responsibilities, are to always stay within their proper bounds. Their relationship to the congregation is very crucial and Elders are never given license to exercise excessive rule over the congregation. Peter exhorts them to oversee, but “not by constraint.” (1 Peter 5:2) Furthermore, they are not to be “lords over God's heritage” but to be “ensamples to the flock.” (1 Peter 5:3).

The only office besides Elder that is recognized in the Scripture is the office of Deacon. The need for deacons first manifested itself soon after Pentecost as the Jerusalem church was experiencing massive growth. Seven godly men were chosen to take the load off the leaders by ministering to widows and serving tables. Theissen differentiates between elders and deacons by stating, “The elders were responsible for the spiritual needs of the community of the faithful and the deacons cared primarily for the physical needs.”

Deacons, in the Bible, are only ever mentioned dealing with physical matters. Their assigned role certainly seems to be quite distinct from the leadership sort of role that Elders have. Theissen states “The qualifications for those holding this office are similar to those of an elder, except that the requirements concerning the ability to teach and hospitality, though mentioned for the elder, are not required for the deacon. It is safe to say that the requirements for deacon seem particularly appropriate for those handling the material and financial needs of the organization.”

Although not an office, the congregation is the third aspect of a local churches organization. Elders and deacons are Biblical and serve a purpose, but they are not to take priority over the congregation. In fact, it is important to realize that the offices of Elder and Deacon are not necessary for a local church, in its simplest form, to be an entirely legitimate, fully-functioning body. The Biblical definition of church, as Chafer says, “is no more than the assembly of professed believers in one locality.” This can be seen in the New Testament as Paul and Barnabas established churches all over Asia Minor before returning and appointing elders in those churches. This is also consistent with the concept of the church being a body of believers rather than an extremely structured organization and with the role of elders as serving the church rather than lording over it.

Understanding the congregation as the core of the local church is complementary to understanding the place and role of leaders in the church. Leaders need to be a united part of the body. The New Testament testimony is that leaders always seem to have been appointed from within the congregation. They were members of the congregation who were willing to serve and then appointed to specific responsibilities. Deacons and elders are always a part of the congregation, not a distinct clergy class that lords their authority over the people.

The importance of the congregation in governing a church is further seen in the appointment of elders and deacons. Again, Henry Thiessen demonstrates a proper understanding of the relation of Elders and deacons to the church when he says, “Early church government is a combination of the congressional and presbyterial forms. The congregation chose their leaders, and the leaders acted in accordance with the directives and suffrage of the people.”

Too often the organization of church government is overcomplicated to the point of imposing a “new and rigid Leviticus” on the church. The principles in the New Testament contain no such doctrines. A local body of mature believers should be able to function together through like-mindedness and cooperation and appoint godly leaders to be responsible for needs in the church. The organization and government itself should never become the focus of church. Such a focus will only serve to develop animosity and resistance toward what God means the church to be. The local church is a “glorious truth of the unity and fellowship of the one Body of Christ” and should never become a mere human organization that fails to give the ultimate authority and glory to God.


BIBLIOGRAPHY
Chafer, Lewis Sperry. Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications. 1993.
Schofield, C. I. Schofield Bible Correspondence Course. Chicago: Moody Bible Institute, 1960.
Theissen, Henry C. Lectures in Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1986.