Most of us would like to think that the Protestant Reformation, whose 490th birthday we celebrate today (October 31st), was always driven by godly motives on the part of people whose greatest desire was for a recovery of the New Testament gospel. Of course, this was indeed the intent of prominent figures such as Martin Luther (who nailed his 95 theses to the church door at Wittenberg on this day in 1517) and John Calvin, just to mention two more well-known names.
But such was not always the case. In fact, we see in certain events associated with the Reformation how sinful and politically motivated decisions were made that affected the course of human history and how God, in his sovereignty, used them (without justifying them) to bring about the much-needed renewal of the church.
I have in mind particularly the so-called “English Reformation” and the events surrounding King Henry VIII and his progeny. I’m especially intrigued by what happened in England given the release of the film, “Elizabeth: The Golden Age,” a sequel to the earlier “Elizabeth” (both of which star Cate Blanchett in the title role; although not flawless, I highly recommend both films).
The reformation in England differed from that on the continent in several ways. For example, it was dominated by political events rather than theological convictions. In addition, there was no one figure who stood out in the way Luther, Calvin, or Zwingli did in Europe. And perhaps most important of all, the struggle in England, at least in its early years, focused less on doctrinal issues of grace and the authority of Scripture and more on the nature, function and worship of the church.
There were undoubtedly influences present in England that tilled the soil, so to speak, for what was to come. I have in mind the presence of the Lollards, the English followers of John Wycliffe; the humanists such as John Colet (1466-1519) and Sir Thomas More (1478-1535), as well as certain intellectuals at Cambridge who regularly met at the White Horse Inn, a pub that acquired the name “Little Germany” where the latest Reformation intelligence fresh from the continent was discussed. Luther’s writings were being widely circulated in England at this time in spite of the papal decree in 1521 that they be burned. And we should never forget that William Tyndale (1494-1536) published two editions of 3,000 copies of an English New Testament in 1525, while Miles Coverdale provided the world with the first English translation of the entire Bible in 1535.
However, the primary impetus for reform in England had little if anything to do with popular disdain for late medieval Catholicism or the spiritual appeal of Luther’s doctrine of justification by faith alone. It must be traced to the political ambition, sexual lust, and overblown ego of Henry VIII.
Henry was driven by many things, one of which was his passion to ensure that he had a legitimate male heir to succeed him on the English throne. Henry was a well-educated and scholarly man, a competent theologian and musician, who spoke Latin, French, Spanish and English.
Henry's father had arranged for Henry's brother, Arthur, to marry Catherine of Aragon (daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain). But Arthur died, forcing the elder Henry to press his younger son to marry Catherine. Pope Julius II first had to set aside Arthur's marriage to Catherine lest Henry be guilty of incest. He did so reluctantly. Henry and Catherine had one child, a girl named Mary (Catherine suffered numerous miscarriages, still births, and infant deaths). By 1525 Catherine was forty and had gone seven years without a pregnancy. Henry's desire for a son, plus his growing attraction for Anne Boleyn (with whose sister, Mary, Henry had already had an affair), led him to divorce Catherine (he appealed to Lev. 20:21), an action denounced by the Pope. The Pope had come under the influence of the emperor Charles V, Catherine's nephew!
Henry proceeded to secretly wed Anne (who was pregnant by this time), while deposing Catherine. The Pope demanded he do away with Anne and reinstate Catherine, under threat of excommunication. Henry gained control of the English church and manipulated the Parliament to pass the Act of Supremacy in 1534 which declared him, the king, to be the supreme head of the Church of England. This constituted the political break with Rome.
Not all of Henry's advisors agreed with his assertion of authority. Sir Thomas More, the brilliant humanist and author of Utopia, refused to renounce allegiance to Rome and was subsequently beheaded for treason. His head was displayed on London Bridge on the end of a pike as a warning to others whose loyalties might be divided between pope and king.
In 1536 Henry dissolved all the monasteries in England, largely because he desired their wealth. Still, it was not Henry's desire to break theologically with Rome, as the doctrinal affirmation known as the Six Articles (passed by Parliament at the king's request, 1539), demonstrate: they reaffirmed transubstantiation, celibacy of priests, and other RC distinctives. The fact is, Henry appears to have had little interest in the reforms advocated by Luther or Zwingli. His aim was to retain an English form of Catholicism stripped of its allegiance to the Pope (an allegiance Henry coveted for himself alone).
Henry soon tired of Anne Boleyn, who had given him only a daughter (Elizabeth), so he had her tried and eventually executed for adultery (along with five of her lovers). Henry persuaded Thomas Cranmer to declare his marriage to Anne void so that the child Elizabeth could not succeed to the throne. Ten days later he married Jane Seymour who bore him the son he always wanted, Edward. Nine days after Edward's birth, his mother died.
Henry's next marriage was politically motivated. He married Anne of Cleves (without having laid eyes upon her), sister of a German prince, hoping thereby to solidify relations with that country and strengthen his position against France. When Henry finally saw her, he was repulsed and divorced her six months later. He then married Catherine Howard, whom he had executed in 1542 (she was charged with numerous adulterous affairs), and lastly Catherine Parr, who alone of his many wives outlived him.
When Henry died he arranged for Edward to rule first, followed by Catherine's daughter, Mary, and then Anne's daughter, Elizabeth (about whom the two films noted above are concerned).
Several important changes were made during Edward’s short reign (1547-1553): the reading of the Bible in public services was approved, the Six Articles of Henry were abolished, the clergy were allowed to marry, and the cup was granted to the laity. In 1549 the Book of Common Prayer was published, reflecting a conservative, Calvinistic theology. A doctrinal confession called the 42 Articles was drafted, largely by Thomas Cranmer, with the help of John Knox of Scotland (1553). Three weeks after signing it, Edward died. The significance of Edward's reign is that during this time England broke with Rome theologically. But this was not to last.
It was also during this time that a number of Reformed theologians from the continent settled in England and were assigned by Cranmer to influential positions at several universities. Among the more influential were Martin Bucer (Strasbourg reformer and mentor of John Calvin), Peter Martyr Vermigli (an Italian by birth), and John a Lasco. Their contribution to the Protestant movement in England was profound.
Bloody Mary, as she became known to history, was Henry's daughter by Catherine of Aragon and thus had ties with the RCC. Her reign, although only five short years (1553-1558), coincided with the Catholic Counter-Reformation on the continent and she was undoubtedly influenced by it. She forced Parliament in 1553 to repeal everything Edward had done and returned England to the religious conditions that prevailed under her father.
Persecution was intense and martyrdom frequent [Foxe's Book of Martyrs chronicles much of what occurred]. Among the more than 300 who died for their Protestant faith were Hugh Latimer (1485-1555) and Nicholas Ridley (1500-1555). These two stalwarts of the reformation were ordered to be executed outside the city gate of Oxford. As they were being led to the stake, they passed the prison in which Thomas Cranmer was jailed, hoping to catch a glimpse of him and shout a word of encouragement. Indeed, Cranmer was brought to the tower of the prison by the government to watch the proceedings. Their aim was to frighten him out of his defiance. Whereas Cranmer was overcome with anguish by what he saw, falling to his knees and bewailing the event, he remained steadfast.
Engulfed by flames, and with his last breath, Latimer uttered the famous words: "Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man. We shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out."
Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556) was Archbishop of Canterbury under Henry VIII and is generally regarded as the founder of English Protestantism. He was imprisoned when Mary ascended the throne. He was brainwashed while in solitary confinement and was compelled to write a denial (recantation) of his Protestant faith.
Despite his recantation, the law required that he suffer death. He was led to a packed church on the day of his execution, at which time the government and RCC anticipated that he would publicly denounce the reformation and affirm the authority of the Pope. Much to everyone's surprise, Cranmer seized the opportunity to proclaim his faith in the doctrines of the reformation. "And as for the Pope," he shouted, "I refuse him, as Christ's enemy, and Antichrist, with all his false doctrine."
Shocked, the authorities rushed to pull Cranmer from the pulpit and led him immediately to the stake. As he stood before the flames, he fulfilled a promise which he had made in his last shouts in the church. He stretched forth into the fire the hand that earlier had signed the document of recantation, declaring aloud:
"Forasmuch as my hand offended, writing contrary to my heart, my hand shall first be punished for it."
Virtually all those who were martyred lost their lives because they would not embrace the RC mass and its doctrine of transubstantiation. Those who were able to escape Mary's bloody persecution fled to Geneva (called Marian Exiles) where they studied under Calvin and Theodore Beza (among whom was John Knox).
When Mary died in 1558 she was succeeded by Elizabeth (1558-1603), daughter of Anne Boleyn. Elizabeth sought a middle ground between Protestantism and Catholicism (although her inclinations were toward the former). She passed the Act of Supremacy in 1559 that made her supreme ruler in both ecclesiastical and temporal affairs. She re-instituted the Book of Common Prayer with slight revisions and adopted the 39 Articles, a revision of Edwards' 42 Articles. In 1571 the 39 Articles were adopted by Parliament as the official creed of the Anglican Church and remain such to this day.
Pope Pius V proceeded to excommunicate Elizabeth and sent Philip of Spain to take back England for the RCC. Philip himself laid claim to the English throne via his marriage to Mary, Queen of Scots (Mary's grandmother was Henry VIII's sister). Philip's Spanish Armada was defeated in 1588. Countless explanations have been given for the demise of the purportedly superior Spanish fleet, one of which is noted by Thompson:
"As the armada came around the northern coast of Scotland and met the gales of the Atlantic Ocean, what remained of the great Spanish engine of war was hurled against the rocks or swamped in mid-ocean. No more than half of the Spanish Armada managed to struggle back to Spanish ports in 1589. History interprets the defeat of the Spanish Armada as an English victory. It was not thought so at the time. The armada had not sunk under English bombardment, but under the wind of God. 'Afflavit Deus,' said the English --- 'God blew!' (And the God who blew was no doubt Protestant). . . . It is probably an instance in which Divine Providence is given too much credit" (656-57).
Whatever explanation is most cogent, the fact remains that divine providence can hardly be given “too much credit”! Indeed, if we learn nothing else from these remarkable and often sordid events, let it be that divine sovereignty alone is sufficient to turn the arrogant, selfish, and sinful choices of men such as Henry VIII for his glory and the recovery of the gospel of grace.
Happy Reformation Day!
- Sam Storms
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Seeker Friendly Church Leader Admits They Have Done It All Wrong
If you are older than 40 the name Benjamin Spock is more than familiar. It was Spock that told an entire generation of parents to take it easy, don’t discipline your children and allow them to express themselves. Discipline, he told us, would warp a child’s fragile ego. Millions followed the guru of child development and he remained unchallenged among child rearing professionals. However, before his death Dr. Spock made an amazing discovery: he was wrong. In fact, he said:
We have reared a generation of brats. Parents aren't firm enough with their children for fear of losing their love or incurring their resentment. This is a cruel deprivation that we professionals have imposed on mothers and fathers. Of course, we did it with the best of intentions. We didn't realize until it was too late how our know-it-all attitude was undermining the self assurance of parents.
Oops.
Something just as momentous, in my opinion, just happened in the evangelical community. For most of a generation evangelicals have been romanced by the “seeker sensitive” movement spawned by Willow Creek Church in Chicago. The guru of this movement is Bill Hybels. Hybels and others have been telling us for decades to throw out everything we have previously thought and been taught about church growth and replace it with a new paradigm, a new way to do ministry.
Perhaps inadvertently, with this “new wave” of ministry came a de-emphasis on taking personal responsibility for Bible study combined with an emphasis on felt-needs based “programs” and slick marketing.
The size of the crowd rather than the depth of the heart determined success. If the crowd was large then surely God was blessing the ministry. Churches were built by demographic studies, professional strategists, marketing research, “felt needs” and sermons consistent with these techniques. We were told that preaching was out, relevance was in. Doctrine didn’t matter nearly as much as innovation. If it wasn’t “cutting edge” and consumer friendly it was doomed. The mention of sin, salvation and sanctification were taboo and replaced by Starbucks, strategy and sensationalism.
Thousands of pastors hung on every word that emanated from the lips of the church growth experts. Satellite seminars were packed with hungry church leaders learning the latest way to “do church.” The promise was clear: thousands of people and millions of dollars couldn’t be wrong. Forget what people need, give them what they want. How can you argue with the numbers? If you dared to challenge the “experts” you were immediately labeled as a “traditionalist,” a throwback to the 50’s, a stubborn dinosaur unwilling to change with the times.
All that changed recently. Willow Creek has released the results of a multi-year study on the effectiveness of their programs and philosophy of ministry. The study’s findings are in a new book titled Reveal: Where Are You?, co-authored by Cally Parkinson and Greg Hawkins, executive pastor of Willow Creek Community Church. Hybels himself called the findings “earth shaking,” “ground breaking,” and “mind blowing.” And no wonder: it seems that the “experts” were wrong.
The report reveals that most of what they have been doing for these many years and what they have taught millions of others to do is not producing solid disciples of Jesus Christ. Numbers yes, but not disciples. It gets worse. Hybels laments:
Some of the stuff that we have put millions of dollars into thinking it would really help our people grow and develop spiritually, when the data actually came back it wasn’t helping people that much. Other things that we didn’t put that much money into and didn’t put much staff against is stuff our people are crying out for.
If you simply want a crowd, the “seeker sensitive” model produces results. If you want solid, sincere, mature followers of Christ, it’s a bust. In a shocking confession, Hybels states:
We made a mistake. What we should have done when people crossed the line of faith and become Christians, we should have started telling people and teaching people that they have to take responsibility to become ‘self feeders.’ We should have gotten people, taught people, how to read their bible between services, how to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own.
Incredibly, the guru of church growth now tells us that people need to be reading their bibles and taking responsibility for their spiritual growth.
Just as Spock’s “mistake” was no minor error, so the error of the seeker sensitive movement is monumental in its scope. The foundation of thousands of American churches is now discovered to be mere sand. The one individual who has had perhaps the greatest influence on the American church in our generation has now admitted his philosophy of ministry, in large part, was a “mistake.” The extent of this error defies measurement.
Perhaps the most shocking thing of all in this revelation coming out of Willow Creek is in a summary statement by Greg Hawkins:
Our dream is that we fundamentally change the way we do church. That we take out a clean sheet of paper and we rethink all of our old assumptions. Replace it with new insights. Insights that are informed by research and rooted in Scripture. Our dream is really to discover what God is doing and how he’s asking us to transform this planet.
Isn’t that what we were told when this whole seeker-sensitive thing started? The church growth gurus again want to throw away their old assumptions and “take out a clean sheet of paper” and, presumably, come up with a new paradigm for ministry.
Should this be encouraging?
Please note that “rooted in Scripture” still follows “rethink,” “new insights” and “informed research.” Someone still doesn’t get it. Unless there is a return to simple biblical (and relevant) principles, a new faulty scheme will replace the existing one and another generation will follow along as the latest piper plays.
What we should find encouraging, at least, in this “confession” coming from the highest ranks of the Willow Creek Association is that they are coming to realize that their existing “model” does not help people grow into mature followers of Jesus Christ. Given the massive influence this organization has on the American church today, let us pray that God would be pleased to put structures in place at Willow Creek that foster not mere numeric growth, but growth in grace.
(Distributed by www.ChristianWorldviewNetwork.com)
An additional thought about all this:
Hybels states: We made a mistake. What we should have done when people crossed the line of faith and become Christians,..."
THOUGHT or RESPONSE:
Whether it is Hybels or most any fundamental/evangelical congregation-- Many engage in a most DEADLY practice:
Like insurance salesmen, presentations are made,
the net is closed,
a profession is garnered...
and then the religious salesman plays God and the Holy Spirit
And ON THE SOLE BASIS OF a 'repeat-after-me-prayer' having been completed, the religious salesman proudly decrees, "YOU ARE SAVED!"
It is no surprise that MILLIONS who have been 'pronounced saved' NEVER show forth any evidence of actually being saved disciples of Jesus Christ!
Holy Spirit conviction of sin,
grace empowered repentance
and genuine child-like faith were BYPASSED.
The sole benefit of the man-centered way?
It all looks good on the church reports!
True salvation gives forth evidence!-
Acts 2: 41-42-- Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
John 10:27-28-- JESUS: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand."
- James Bell
We have reared a generation of brats. Parents aren't firm enough with their children for fear of losing their love or incurring their resentment. This is a cruel deprivation that we professionals have imposed on mothers and fathers. Of course, we did it with the best of intentions. We didn't realize until it was too late how our know-it-all attitude was undermining the self assurance of parents.
Oops.
Something just as momentous, in my opinion, just happened in the evangelical community. For most of a generation evangelicals have been romanced by the “seeker sensitive” movement spawned by Willow Creek Church in Chicago. The guru of this movement is Bill Hybels. Hybels and others have been telling us for decades to throw out everything we have previously thought and been taught about church growth and replace it with a new paradigm, a new way to do ministry.
Perhaps inadvertently, with this “new wave” of ministry came a de-emphasis on taking personal responsibility for Bible study combined with an emphasis on felt-needs based “programs” and slick marketing.
The size of the crowd rather than the depth of the heart determined success. If the crowd was large then surely God was blessing the ministry. Churches were built by demographic studies, professional strategists, marketing research, “felt needs” and sermons consistent with these techniques. We were told that preaching was out, relevance was in. Doctrine didn’t matter nearly as much as innovation. If it wasn’t “cutting edge” and consumer friendly it was doomed. The mention of sin, salvation and sanctification were taboo and replaced by Starbucks, strategy and sensationalism.
Thousands of pastors hung on every word that emanated from the lips of the church growth experts. Satellite seminars were packed with hungry church leaders learning the latest way to “do church.” The promise was clear: thousands of people and millions of dollars couldn’t be wrong. Forget what people need, give them what they want. How can you argue with the numbers? If you dared to challenge the “experts” you were immediately labeled as a “traditionalist,” a throwback to the 50’s, a stubborn dinosaur unwilling to change with the times.
All that changed recently. Willow Creek has released the results of a multi-year study on the effectiveness of their programs and philosophy of ministry. The study’s findings are in a new book titled Reveal: Where Are You?, co-authored by Cally Parkinson and Greg Hawkins, executive pastor of Willow Creek Community Church. Hybels himself called the findings “earth shaking,” “ground breaking,” and “mind blowing.” And no wonder: it seems that the “experts” were wrong.
The report reveals that most of what they have been doing for these many years and what they have taught millions of others to do is not producing solid disciples of Jesus Christ. Numbers yes, but not disciples. It gets worse. Hybels laments:
Some of the stuff that we have put millions of dollars into thinking it would really help our people grow and develop spiritually, when the data actually came back it wasn’t helping people that much. Other things that we didn’t put that much money into and didn’t put much staff against is stuff our people are crying out for.
If you simply want a crowd, the “seeker sensitive” model produces results. If you want solid, sincere, mature followers of Christ, it’s a bust. In a shocking confession, Hybels states:
We made a mistake. What we should have done when people crossed the line of faith and become Christians, we should have started telling people and teaching people that they have to take responsibility to become ‘self feeders.’ We should have gotten people, taught people, how to read their bible between services, how to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own.
Incredibly, the guru of church growth now tells us that people need to be reading their bibles and taking responsibility for their spiritual growth.
Just as Spock’s “mistake” was no minor error, so the error of the seeker sensitive movement is monumental in its scope. The foundation of thousands of American churches is now discovered to be mere sand. The one individual who has had perhaps the greatest influence on the American church in our generation has now admitted his philosophy of ministry, in large part, was a “mistake.” The extent of this error defies measurement.
Perhaps the most shocking thing of all in this revelation coming out of Willow Creek is in a summary statement by Greg Hawkins:
Our dream is that we fundamentally change the way we do church. That we take out a clean sheet of paper and we rethink all of our old assumptions. Replace it with new insights. Insights that are informed by research and rooted in Scripture. Our dream is really to discover what God is doing and how he’s asking us to transform this planet.
Isn’t that what we were told when this whole seeker-sensitive thing started? The church growth gurus again want to throw away their old assumptions and “take out a clean sheet of paper” and, presumably, come up with a new paradigm for ministry.
Should this be encouraging?
Please note that “rooted in Scripture” still follows “rethink,” “new insights” and “informed research.” Someone still doesn’t get it. Unless there is a return to simple biblical (and relevant) principles, a new faulty scheme will replace the existing one and another generation will follow along as the latest piper plays.
What we should find encouraging, at least, in this “confession” coming from the highest ranks of the Willow Creek Association is that they are coming to realize that their existing “model” does not help people grow into mature followers of Jesus Christ. Given the massive influence this organization has on the American church today, let us pray that God would be pleased to put structures in place at Willow Creek that foster not mere numeric growth, but growth in grace.
(Distributed by www.ChristianWorldviewNetwork.com)
An additional thought about all this:
Hybels states: We made a mistake. What we should have done when people crossed the line of faith and become Christians,..."
THOUGHT or RESPONSE:
Whether it is Hybels or most any fundamental/evangelical congregation-- Many engage in a most DEADLY practice:
Like insurance salesmen, presentations are made,
the net is closed,
a profession is garnered...
and then the religious salesman plays God and the Holy Spirit
And ON THE SOLE BASIS OF a 'repeat-after-me-prayer' having been completed, the religious salesman proudly decrees, "YOU ARE SAVED!"
It is no surprise that MILLIONS who have been 'pronounced saved' NEVER show forth any evidence of actually being saved disciples of Jesus Christ!
Holy Spirit conviction of sin,
grace empowered repentance
and genuine child-like faith were BYPASSED.
The sole benefit of the man-centered way?
It all looks good on the church reports!
True salvation gives forth evidence!-
Acts 2: 41-42-- Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
John 10:27-28-- JESUS: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand."
- James Bell
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Jars of Clay and the Glory of God
2 Cor. 4:7
All of us, at one time or another and some more than others, fear that our weakness is a barrier to God’s purposes. We feel so very keenly the promptings of our flesh, the lack of emotional energy, our ignorance of basic truths, not to mention physical exhaustion or sickness, anxiety, and self-doubt. Then, of course, there is the absence of political and social influence, the ridicule incurred for following Christ and, for some, oppression and more severe forms of persecution and suffering.
It’s so easy to fall into the trap of thinking that if God wants to accomplish something of greatness he needs great people to do it. He needs, and will choose, people with power, personality, charisma, money, people who are physically impressive and verbally eloquent, people whose names appear regularly in the newspapers or on the blogs, people whose lives seem to make a significant impact on our culture, people that history will remember with fondness and appreciation.
I’m not suggesting that such people are of no use to God or that their earthly achievements can’t be redeemed for the sake of the kingdom. But they do have one distinct disadvantage (that’s right, disadvantage, not advantage). They are far more prone to take for themselves credit that belongs to God. Weak people apologize far more than they boast. Strong people, beautiful people, people with money and status, are more inclined to draw attention to themselves and divert praise from the One to whom alone all glory is due.
Make no mistake about it, God is determined to secure all the glory for himself! I hope you’re o.k. with that, for your ultimate joy is dependent on God being God. Were God to be less than supremely glorious and praiseworthy, we are the ones who stand to lose. Our ultimate and eternal satisfaction is dependent on his being ultimately and eternally satisfying. If God should ever be less than infinitely deserving of all praise and honor and credit for whatever good is achieved, our delight in him is to that extent diminished. His capacity to enthrall us is to that extent undermined. A God who gets only partial credit is a God who is worthy of only partial praise, and such a “god” would hardly warrant our adoration or be capable of eliciting, much less sustaining, our eternal enjoyment.
This alone makes sense of Paul’s statement in 2 Corinthians 4:7 - “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” If any degree of power derives from us or if the praise it deserves should go to someone or something other than God, to that degree we endure irrevocable loss.
This is why Paul was so unaffected and undisturbed by his obvious weaknesses. He was keenly aware of his shortcomings, his lack of eloquence, as well as his physical frailty. “If I must boast,” said Paul in 2 Corinthians 11:30, “I will boast of the things that show my weakness.” He had in mind such things as “greater labors, far more imprisonments, . . . countless beatings” and near death experiences. (2 Cor. 11:23). Add to that being “beaten with rods” and being “stoned” and suffering shipwreck and in constant danger from thieves and both Jew and Gentile, not to mention what he encountered while on the sea or in the wilderness (2 Cor. 11:24-26). Then there were times of toil and hardship and sleepless nights, even hunger and thirst and cold and exposure (2 Cor. 11:27).
These aren’t typically the sort of things we associate with greatness. It’s not likely that such a person would evoke much praise or attain to great heights of earthly prominence. And that’s fine with Paul, because it meant that whatever might be accomplished through him would redound to the glory of God alone. This is why he would “not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished” through him (Romans 15:18a).
It’s hard to envision anything more glorious or inherently majestic than the gospel that Paul has just described in 2 Corinthians 4:5-6, a gospel that embodies and expresses the radiant splendor and glory of God as revealed in the face of Jesus Christ. But lest anyone think that Paul had a hand in its creation or was in any way or to any degree responsible for the marvelous, Christ-exalting, life-giving, soul-cleansing, sin-killing effects it produces, he is quick to declare that God has entrusted this indescribable “treasure” to “jars of clay” like himself.
As Philip Hughes has said, "There could be no contrast more striking than that between the greatness of the divine glory and the frailty and unworthiness of the vessels in which it dwells and through which it is manifested to the world. Paul's calumniators had contemptuously described his bodily appearance as weak and his speech as of no account (10:10; cf. 10:1; 11:6; 12:7), hoping thereby to discredit his authority. But it is one of the main purposes of this epistle to show that this immense discrepancy between the treasure and the vessel serves simply to attest that human weakness presents no barrier to the purposes of God, indeed, that God's power is made perfect in weakness (12:9), as the brilliance of a treasure is enhanced and magnified by comparison with a common container in which it is placed" (135).
The unmistakable, inescapable design behind this incredible contrast between the splendor of the treasure and the earthiness of the vessel is so that the surplus or excess or exceeding abundance of the power may be seen to be wholly of God and not from any one of us. Indeed, contrary to the beliefs and expectations of the world, which thinks only in terms of human ability and accomplishment, "it is precisely the Christian's utter frailty which lays him open to the experience of the all-sufficiency of God's grace, so that he is able even to rejoice because of his weakness" (Hughes, 137; see also 1 Cor. 1:26-29).
If a treasure were deposited in a chest laden with gold and covered with precious jewels, people might focus on the container and ignore the contents. This accounts for why those who bring the greatest glory to God are often those who are least impressive when judged by human standards alone.
There would appear to be something of a tension in this truth. On the one hand, as Christians we must always strive for excellence. We must never think that being “jars of clay” requires mediocrity or a slip-shod approach to life, far less that we slack off in our use of all the opportunities God has given us. Failing to employ every resource at our disposal or taking on any task or ministry carelessly or half-heartedly is never endorsed in God’s Word.
On the other hand, we dare not ever think that what we achieve we do so without God’s help or energizing presence. We must never put forth ourselves as preeminent or in such a way that the glory of God is obscured or his sustaining grace is marginalized.
The weakness in view here is primarily reflected in our suffering for righteousness’ sake. Although persecuted, Paul persevered. The former revealed his frailty, the latter God’s strength. You may not be extraordinary (according to human standards), but God is.
It is often the case that believers in Jesus are marginalized in society and rarely gain access to the corridors of power. Their voice is muted and their lives are oppressed. When judged by the standards of the world, the church appears insignificant and inconsequential. How can people who value humility above pride and self-sacrifice over ruthless ambition be taken seriously? Those who are called upon to love their enemies rather than kill them, to forsake vengeance, and to do good to those who hate them are especially vulnerable to mistreatment and disdain.
Yet these are the people perfectly positioned to ensure that whatever they achieve be credited to God. God has sovereignly orchestrated the salvation of the weak and despised, the foolish and the frail, so that when much is achieved he, rather than they, will be honored.
Not everyone is willing to embrace this divine design. They resent being clay jars. They deserve better, or so they think. Faith, so called, will deliver them from the weakness and finitude of being human. Ministry, so called, is simply a tool for transforming the earthen pot into a priceless vase. Such folk do, undeniably, appear more powerful and appealing and successful. And God less so. That’s a high price to pay.
- Sam Storms
All of us, at one time or another and some more than others, fear that our weakness is a barrier to God’s purposes. We feel so very keenly the promptings of our flesh, the lack of emotional energy, our ignorance of basic truths, not to mention physical exhaustion or sickness, anxiety, and self-doubt. Then, of course, there is the absence of political and social influence, the ridicule incurred for following Christ and, for some, oppression and more severe forms of persecution and suffering.
It’s so easy to fall into the trap of thinking that if God wants to accomplish something of greatness he needs great people to do it. He needs, and will choose, people with power, personality, charisma, money, people who are physically impressive and verbally eloquent, people whose names appear regularly in the newspapers or on the blogs, people whose lives seem to make a significant impact on our culture, people that history will remember with fondness and appreciation.
I’m not suggesting that such people are of no use to God or that their earthly achievements can’t be redeemed for the sake of the kingdom. But they do have one distinct disadvantage (that’s right, disadvantage, not advantage). They are far more prone to take for themselves credit that belongs to God. Weak people apologize far more than they boast. Strong people, beautiful people, people with money and status, are more inclined to draw attention to themselves and divert praise from the One to whom alone all glory is due.
Make no mistake about it, God is determined to secure all the glory for himself! I hope you’re o.k. with that, for your ultimate joy is dependent on God being God. Were God to be less than supremely glorious and praiseworthy, we are the ones who stand to lose. Our ultimate and eternal satisfaction is dependent on his being ultimately and eternally satisfying. If God should ever be less than infinitely deserving of all praise and honor and credit for whatever good is achieved, our delight in him is to that extent diminished. His capacity to enthrall us is to that extent undermined. A God who gets only partial credit is a God who is worthy of only partial praise, and such a “god” would hardly warrant our adoration or be capable of eliciting, much less sustaining, our eternal enjoyment.
This alone makes sense of Paul’s statement in 2 Corinthians 4:7 - “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” If any degree of power derives from us or if the praise it deserves should go to someone or something other than God, to that degree we endure irrevocable loss.
This is why Paul was so unaffected and undisturbed by his obvious weaknesses. He was keenly aware of his shortcomings, his lack of eloquence, as well as his physical frailty. “If I must boast,” said Paul in 2 Corinthians 11:30, “I will boast of the things that show my weakness.” He had in mind such things as “greater labors, far more imprisonments, . . . countless beatings” and near death experiences. (2 Cor. 11:23). Add to that being “beaten with rods” and being “stoned” and suffering shipwreck and in constant danger from thieves and both Jew and Gentile, not to mention what he encountered while on the sea or in the wilderness (2 Cor. 11:24-26). Then there were times of toil and hardship and sleepless nights, even hunger and thirst and cold and exposure (2 Cor. 11:27).
These aren’t typically the sort of things we associate with greatness. It’s not likely that such a person would evoke much praise or attain to great heights of earthly prominence. And that’s fine with Paul, because it meant that whatever might be accomplished through him would redound to the glory of God alone. This is why he would “not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished” through him (Romans 15:18a).
It’s hard to envision anything more glorious or inherently majestic than the gospel that Paul has just described in 2 Corinthians 4:5-6, a gospel that embodies and expresses the radiant splendor and glory of God as revealed in the face of Jesus Christ. But lest anyone think that Paul had a hand in its creation or was in any way or to any degree responsible for the marvelous, Christ-exalting, life-giving, soul-cleansing, sin-killing effects it produces, he is quick to declare that God has entrusted this indescribable “treasure” to “jars of clay” like himself.
As Philip Hughes has said, "There could be no contrast more striking than that between the greatness of the divine glory and the frailty and unworthiness of the vessels in which it dwells and through which it is manifested to the world. Paul's calumniators had contemptuously described his bodily appearance as weak and his speech as of no account (10:10; cf. 10:1; 11:6; 12:7), hoping thereby to discredit his authority. But it is one of the main purposes of this epistle to show that this immense discrepancy between the treasure and the vessel serves simply to attest that human weakness presents no barrier to the purposes of God, indeed, that God's power is made perfect in weakness (12:9), as the brilliance of a treasure is enhanced and magnified by comparison with a common container in which it is placed" (135).
The unmistakable, inescapable design behind this incredible contrast between the splendor of the treasure and the earthiness of the vessel is so that the surplus or excess or exceeding abundance of the power may be seen to be wholly of God and not from any one of us. Indeed, contrary to the beliefs and expectations of the world, which thinks only in terms of human ability and accomplishment, "it is precisely the Christian's utter frailty which lays him open to the experience of the all-sufficiency of God's grace, so that he is able even to rejoice because of his weakness" (Hughes, 137; see also 1 Cor. 1:26-29).
If a treasure were deposited in a chest laden with gold and covered with precious jewels, people might focus on the container and ignore the contents. This accounts for why those who bring the greatest glory to God are often those who are least impressive when judged by human standards alone.
There would appear to be something of a tension in this truth. On the one hand, as Christians we must always strive for excellence. We must never think that being “jars of clay” requires mediocrity or a slip-shod approach to life, far less that we slack off in our use of all the opportunities God has given us. Failing to employ every resource at our disposal or taking on any task or ministry carelessly or half-heartedly is never endorsed in God’s Word.
On the other hand, we dare not ever think that what we achieve we do so without God’s help or energizing presence. We must never put forth ourselves as preeminent or in such a way that the glory of God is obscured or his sustaining grace is marginalized.
The weakness in view here is primarily reflected in our suffering for righteousness’ sake. Although persecuted, Paul persevered. The former revealed his frailty, the latter God’s strength. You may not be extraordinary (according to human standards), but God is.
It is often the case that believers in Jesus are marginalized in society and rarely gain access to the corridors of power. Their voice is muted and their lives are oppressed. When judged by the standards of the world, the church appears insignificant and inconsequential. How can people who value humility above pride and self-sacrifice over ruthless ambition be taken seriously? Those who are called upon to love their enemies rather than kill them, to forsake vengeance, and to do good to those who hate them are especially vulnerable to mistreatment and disdain.
Yet these are the people perfectly positioned to ensure that whatever they achieve be credited to God. God has sovereignly orchestrated the salvation of the weak and despised, the foolish and the frail, so that when much is achieved he, rather than they, will be honored.
Not everyone is willing to embrace this divine design. They resent being clay jars. They deserve better, or so they think. Faith, so called, will deliver them from the weakness and finitude of being human. Ministry, so called, is simply a tool for transforming the earthen pot into a priceless vase. Such folk do, undeniably, appear more powerful and appealing and successful. And God less so. That’s a high price to pay.
- Sam Storms
Monday, October 29, 2007
A Divine and Supernatural Light
2 Cor. 4:5-6
If Satan is actively blinding the minds of unbelievers to compound and perpetuate their bondage in spiritual darkness (2 Cor. 4:3-4), what possible hope is there? We seem left only to despair of unsaved loved ones. What, if anything, can bring the unregenerate into life? What, if anything, can dispel the darkness of unbelief and awaken the heart to the beauty of Christ? What, if anything, can we do in the face of such Satanic opposition?
The answer, said Paul, is to proclaim the gospel that Jesus Christ is Lord (2 Cor. 4:5)! Through the gospel, and only the gospel, is the light that brings life to be found.
In August of 1734, Jonathan Edwards (1703-58) preached one of his most famous sermons, rather cumbersomely titled: A Divine and Supernatural Light, Immediately Imparted to the Soul by the Spirit of God, Shown to be both a Scriptural, and Rational Doctrine. In this sermon, among other things, he explained the essence of the saving experience. What is it, precisely, that occurs when God causes new life to erupt from within the depths of a spiritual corpse?
The answer of the apostle Paul is that “God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness, . . . [shines] in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6). “You cannot go beneath this,” said John Piper. “There is no deeper reality and no greater value than the glory of God in Christ. There is no prize and no satisfaction beyond this. When you have this, you are at the end. You are home. The glory of God is not a means to anything greater. This is ultimate, absolute reality. All true salvation ends here, not before and not beyond. There is no beyond. The glory of God in Christ is what makes the gospel gospel” (A God Entranced Vision of All Things, 259).
Seeing this light and knowing this knowledge and relishing the beauty of God’s glory as revealed in the face of Jesus Christ are utterly impossible for fallen and depraved people unless God sovereignly shines his regenerating and saving mercy into our hearts, thereby dispelling the darkness of unbelief and hostility, and bringing to us a new sense of the sweetness and majesty of Jesus.
The contrast between v. 6 and v. 4 is shocking. Unbelievers are blinded by Satan. Believers are enlightened by God. Satan takes one from unbelief into total darkness. God takes one from total darkness into the brilliance of Christ's light!
The obvious background for Paul’s language is Genesis 1:2-3 (cf. Acts 26:12-18). The original, primeval darkness that enshrouded the creation was dispelled by the divinely creative command: "Let there be light!" Likewise, by way of analogy, in sovereign, creative mercy, God fixes his gaze upon the darkness of sin, death, and blindness in the human soul and says: "Let there be light!"
We must not miss the emphasis Paul places on the glory of the gospel as it is proclaimed and what it means to those who believe. Paul himself literally saw the glory of God revealed in the literal face of Jesus when he was encountered on the Damascus road. That which Paul saw, he now sets forth by means of "the truth" (v. 2) of the gospel addressed to the ears of his hearers (i.e., to the Corinthians, to you and me).
When we by grace respond in faith, light from the glorified Christ shines into our darkened hearts (v. 6). As Paul Barnett points out, "such 'seeing' of 'the light . . . of the glory' is, of course, metaphorical for hearing. The gospel of Christ comes first not as an optical but as an aural reality (see, e.g., Rom. 10:17; Gal. 3:2,5; cf. 3:1). Nonetheless, his words are not merely figurative. The intensity of Paul's language suggests that he is appealing to shared spiritual experience, his own and his readers'. When the gospel is heard and the hearer turns to the Lord, the veil is removed so that he now 'sees' the glory of the Lord (see on 3:16,18)" (219-220).
Don't miss this: the glory of God is present in the proclamation of the gospel (4:4-6)! This is why Paul is so offended by the “peddlers of God’s word” (2:17) in Corinth and those who “tamper with” the gospel (4:2). This is not a matter of mere words or a routine speech or a competitive attempt to appear more powerful or persuasive or verbally impressive than the other guy.
The proclamation of the truth of the gospel is not entertainment. It is not a platform for a preacher to enhance his reputation or pad his pocketbook or impress people with his eloquence. A preacher or teacher must never open the Scriptures flippantly or casually, as if setting forth the truths of the gospel were no different from any other form of communication.
The same applies anytime anyone shares the gospel with a passing stranger in a restaurant or distributes a tract to a friend. Just think of it: when you speak or write or share the message of the cross, "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God [as revealed] in the face of Jesus" (v. 6) is shining forth. What an awesome calling we have! What an exquisite treasure we carry (4:7)!
Edwards referred to this phenomenon as the shining forth of a divine and supernatural light. This experience, he argued, is not to be identified with the conviction of sin that unregenerate people experience. The Spirit can act upon the soul of an unbeliever without communicating himself to or uniting himself with that person. Nor is it to be identified with “impressions” made upon the “imagination”. It has nothing to do with seeing anything with one’s physical eyes.
The divine and supernatural light, said Edwards, does not suggest or impart new truths or ideas not already found in the written word of God. It “only gives a due apprehension of those things that are taught in the Word of God” (110).
We must also be careful not to identify it with those occasions when the unregenerate are deeply and profoundly affected by religious ideas. One may be moved or stirred or emotionally impacted by a religious phenomenon without believing it to be true (consider, for example, the widespread popular reaction to Mel Gibson’s film, “The Passion”).
So what is this “divine and supernatural light” that Paul describes in 2 Corinthians 4:6? Edwards defined it as “a true sense [or “apprehension”] of the divine excellency of the things revealed in the Word of God, and a conviction of the truth and reality of them, thence arising” (111). This is a profoundly supernatural experience in which a person doesn’t “merely rationally believe that God is glorious, but . . . has a sense of the gloriousness of God in his heart” (111)
If you are wondering what the difference is between “rationally” believing that God is glorious and having a “sense of the excellency” of God’s glory, it is the difference between knowing that God is holy and having a “sense of the loveliness” of God’s holiness. It is not only a “speculatively judging that God is gracious” but also “a sense [of] how amiable God is upon that account” or sensing the “beauty” of God’s grace and holiness.
An unregenerate person may have a cognitive awareness or knowledge of the terms of the gospel of Christ. But to recognize and relish the beauty or amiableness or sweetness of that truth and feel pleasure and delight in it are due wholly to the regenerating work of the Spirit. As Edwards said, “there is a difference between having a rational judgment that honey is sweet, and having a sense of its sweetness” (112). In other words, “when the heart is sensible of the beauty and amiableness of a thing, it necessarily feels pleasure in the apprehension” (112).
How does God shine this light into our hearts? He first “destroys the enmity, removes those prejudices, and sanctifies the reason [of a person], and causes it to lie open to the force of arguments for their truth” (112). He also causes the gospel to be more lively and enables the mind to focus and think and concentrate with more intensity on what is known. But this divine and supernatural light also enables the mind and heart, by “a kind of intuitive and immediate evidence”, to be convinced of the truth of the superlative excellency of what is proclaimed in the gospel of Christ as Lord. Said Edwards:
“Men have a great deal of pleasure in human knowledge, in studies of natural things; but this is nothing to that joy which arises from this divine light shining into the soul. This light gives a view of those things that are immensely the most exquisitely beautiful, and capable of delighting the eye of the understanding. This spiritual light is the dawning of the light of glory in the heart” (123).
It’s hard to put into words the enjoyment, delight, and sense of the sweetness of God that is imparted by the Spirit to the soul of man! Peter calls it “joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory” (1 Peter 1:8). What a marvelous blessing, indeed, with which nothing else in heaven or earth can compare, that hell-deserving sinners have imparted to them a “new sense of the heart” that consists in delight and enjoyment and an intuitive awareness or apprehension of the sweetness of God’s beauty as revealed in the face of Jesus Christ.
Let us by all means “praise God from whom all blessings flow,” and in doing so remember that this, dear friend, is the greatest blessing of all.
- Sam Storms
If Satan is actively blinding the minds of unbelievers to compound and perpetuate their bondage in spiritual darkness (2 Cor. 4:3-4), what possible hope is there? We seem left only to despair of unsaved loved ones. What, if anything, can bring the unregenerate into life? What, if anything, can dispel the darkness of unbelief and awaken the heart to the beauty of Christ? What, if anything, can we do in the face of such Satanic opposition?
The answer, said Paul, is to proclaim the gospel that Jesus Christ is Lord (2 Cor. 4:5)! Through the gospel, and only the gospel, is the light that brings life to be found.
In August of 1734, Jonathan Edwards (1703-58) preached one of his most famous sermons, rather cumbersomely titled: A Divine and Supernatural Light, Immediately Imparted to the Soul by the Spirit of God, Shown to be both a Scriptural, and Rational Doctrine. In this sermon, among other things, he explained the essence of the saving experience. What is it, precisely, that occurs when God causes new life to erupt from within the depths of a spiritual corpse?
The answer of the apostle Paul is that “God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness, . . . [shines] in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6). “You cannot go beneath this,” said John Piper. “There is no deeper reality and no greater value than the glory of God in Christ. There is no prize and no satisfaction beyond this. When you have this, you are at the end. You are home. The glory of God is not a means to anything greater. This is ultimate, absolute reality. All true salvation ends here, not before and not beyond. There is no beyond. The glory of God in Christ is what makes the gospel gospel” (A God Entranced Vision of All Things, 259).
Seeing this light and knowing this knowledge and relishing the beauty of God’s glory as revealed in the face of Jesus Christ are utterly impossible for fallen and depraved people unless God sovereignly shines his regenerating and saving mercy into our hearts, thereby dispelling the darkness of unbelief and hostility, and bringing to us a new sense of the sweetness and majesty of Jesus.
The contrast between v. 6 and v. 4 is shocking. Unbelievers are blinded by Satan. Believers are enlightened by God. Satan takes one from unbelief into total darkness. God takes one from total darkness into the brilliance of Christ's light!
The obvious background for Paul’s language is Genesis 1:2-3 (cf. Acts 26:12-18). The original, primeval darkness that enshrouded the creation was dispelled by the divinely creative command: "Let there be light!" Likewise, by way of analogy, in sovereign, creative mercy, God fixes his gaze upon the darkness of sin, death, and blindness in the human soul and says: "Let there be light!"
We must not miss the emphasis Paul places on the glory of the gospel as it is proclaimed and what it means to those who believe. Paul himself literally saw the glory of God revealed in the literal face of Jesus when he was encountered on the Damascus road. That which Paul saw, he now sets forth by means of "the truth" (v. 2) of the gospel addressed to the ears of his hearers (i.e., to the Corinthians, to you and me).
When we by grace respond in faith, light from the glorified Christ shines into our darkened hearts (v. 6). As Paul Barnett points out, "such 'seeing' of 'the light . . . of the glory' is, of course, metaphorical for hearing. The gospel of Christ comes first not as an optical but as an aural reality (see, e.g., Rom. 10:17; Gal. 3:2,5; cf. 3:1). Nonetheless, his words are not merely figurative. The intensity of Paul's language suggests that he is appealing to shared spiritual experience, his own and his readers'. When the gospel is heard and the hearer turns to the Lord, the veil is removed so that he now 'sees' the glory of the Lord (see on 3:16,18)" (219-220).
Don't miss this: the glory of God is present in the proclamation of the gospel (4:4-6)! This is why Paul is so offended by the “peddlers of God’s word” (2:17) in Corinth and those who “tamper with” the gospel (4:2). This is not a matter of mere words or a routine speech or a competitive attempt to appear more powerful or persuasive or verbally impressive than the other guy.
The proclamation of the truth of the gospel is not entertainment. It is not a platform for a preacher to enhance his reputation or pad his pocketbook or impress people with his eloquence. A preacher or teacher must never open the Scriptures flippantly or casually, as if setting forth the truths of the gospel were no different from any other form of communication.
The same applies anytime anyone shares the gospel with a passing stranger in a restaurant or distributes a tract to a friend. Just think of it: when you speak or write or share the message of the cross, "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God [as revealed] in the face of Jesus" (v. 6) is shining forth. What an awesome calling we have! What an exquisite treasure we carry (4:7)!
Edwards referred to this phenomenon as the shining forth of a divine and supernatural light. This experience, he argued, is not to be identified with the conviction of sin that unregenerate people experience. The Spirit can act upon the soul of an unbeliever without communicating himself to or uniting himself with that person. Nor is it to be identified with “impressions” made upon the “imagination”. It has nothing to do with seeing anything with one’s physical eyes.
The divine and supernatural light, said Edwards, does not suggest or impart new truths or ideas not already found in the written word of God. It “only gives a due apprehension of those things that are taught in the Word of God” (110).
We must also be careful not to identify it with those occasions when the unregenerate are deeply and profoundly affected by religious ideas. One may be moved or stirred or emotionally impacted by a religious phenomenon without believing it to be true (consider, for example, the widespread popular reaction to Mel Gibson’s film, “The Passion”).
So what is this “divine and supernatural light” that Paul describes in 2 Corinthians 4:6? Edwards defined it as “a true sense [or “apprehension”] of the divine excellency of the things revealed in the Word of God, and a conviction of the truth and reality of them, thence arising” (111). This is a profoundly supernatural experience in which a person doesn’t “merely rationally believe that God is glorious, but . . . has a sense of the gloriousness of God in his heart” (111)
If you are wondering what the difference is between “rationally” believing that God is glorious and having a “sense of the excellency” of God’s glory, it is the difference between knowing that God is holy and having a “sense of the loveliness” of God’s holiness. It is not only a “speculatively judging that God is gracious” but also “a sense [of] how amiable God is upon that account” or sensing the “beauty” of God’s grace and holiness.
An unregenerate person may have a cognitive awareness or knowledge of the terms of the gospel of Christ. But to recognize and relish the beauty or amiableness or sweetness of that truth and feel pleasure and delight in it are due wholly to the regenerating work of the Spirit. As Edwards said, “there is a difference between having a rational judgment that honey is sweet, and having a sense of its sweetness” (112). In other words, “when the heart is sensible of the beauty and amiableness of a thing, it necessarily feels pleasure in the apprehension” (112).
How does God shine this light into our hearts? He first “destroys the enmity, removes those prejudices, and sanctifies the reason [of a person], and causes it to lie open to the force of arguments for their truth” (112). He also causes the gospel to be more lively and enables the mind to focus and think and concentrate with more intensity on what is known. But this divine and supernatural light also enables the mind and heart, by “a kind of intuitive and immediate evidence”, to be convinced of the truth of the superlative excellency of what is proclaimed in the gospel of Christ as Lord. Said Edwards:
“Men have a great deal of pleasure in human knowledge, in studies of natural things; but this is nothing to that joy which arises from this divine light shining into the soul. This light gives a view of those things that are immensely the most exquisitely beautiful, and capable of delighting the eye of the understanding. This spiritual light is the dawning of the light of glory in the heart” (123).
It’s hard to put into words the enjoyment, delight, and sense of the sweetness of God that is imparted by the Spirit to the soul of man! Peter calls it “joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory” (1 Peter 1:8). What a marvelous blessing, indeed, with which nothing else in heaven or earth can compare, that hell-deserving sinners have imparted to them a “new sense of the heart” that consists in delight and enjoyment and an intuitive awareness or apprehension of the sweetness of God’s beauty as revealed in the face of Jesus Christ.
Let us by all means “praise God from whom all blessings flow,” and in doing so remember that this, dear friend, is the greatest blessing of all.
- Sam Storms
Thursday, October 25, 2007
What is Hyper-Calvinism?
I recently received an email from an honest inquirer who ask me to define hyper-calvinism for them; this following was my brief and inadequate reply.
Dear David,
Thank you for your good question; before giving a brief reply, let me mention a few resources for you on this issue.
The Banner of Truth Trust has published a wonderful book that addresses this issue well; the book is Spurgeon vs. Hyper-Calvinism: The Battle for Gospel Preaching- by Iain Murray; it is a paperback book, which we have available; it addresses the issues of calvinism and hyper-calvinism as well as any book you could ever read; the author is one of the best Christian historians ever and I would encourage you to read any books you can find by him.
Also, I have sent to you 2 articles that address somewhat the heart of biblical, evangelistic calvinism; let me know if for any reason you cannot open the two attached.
Yes, we are calvinistic in our theology; but we don't use these terms very much because such terms often mislead people when people don't know what the terms truly mean historically.
True historic Calvinism is rooted in a passion for God-centered truth, combined with a passionate, missionary attitude to take the gospel to all men. Historic calvinism is greatly different from hyper-calvinism, which is an extreme and heretical perverted form of the biblical theology which has been nicknamed calvinism.
Regarding your question, one should simply ask themselves:
Does the Bible teach election? Where?Does the Bible teach predestination? Where?Does the Bible teach that all men are truly spiritually dead in sins and cannot bring themselves to life spiritually? Where?etc;
Every biblical and theological question ought to be put to this test and then we must search the Scriptures ourselves with open hearts to see if the Bible clearly and directly teaches these doctrines; if we see that it does, then that settles the truth for us. My opinion or your opinion, does not really matter; what matters is this-- What saith the Scriptures? Let God be true and every man a liar. If I argue with or disagree with Scripture, who is right?
Briefly, calvinism is the historic theology that arose out of the entire unity of the Bible which holds the view that God Himself is the supreme and glorious center of all things in the universe, and that His glory, not man, is the primary beginning point and end of everything. This truth and all other truths related to salvation and God's glory came to be seen in a greater way at the time of the Reformation period after the darkness of Catholicism was broken over much of Europe;
It was a return to the Bible and its major truths: God's sovereignty, man's original sinfulness and depravity, that grace is absolutely free and without merit, that salvation in Christ is solely by grace through faith alone, and that Christ's death actually saved all who would ever believe in Him; the cross did not make fallen men SAVABLE by their meritorious faith and effort, but it actually atoned for the sins of anyone who would ever trust Christ as Lord.
Hyper-calvinism became an extreme and imbalanced view of some of these biblical truths; the following three points are the main errors of hyper-calvinism:
1. hyper-calvinism teaches that God has no love for the non-elect, but only for the elect; this is not a biblical view, but is an error the hyper-calvinist holds to. To the hyper-calvinist, God's has no compassion or general love for mankind, but only for the redeemed.
2. hyper-calvinism teaches that because sinners are dead in trespasses and sins and have no ability within themselves to repent, therefore the hyper-calvinist says that sinners have no DUTY to repent and believe the gospel; the only ones who would be responsible to repent would be the elect. This is gross error. This denies the duty of repentance and faith on the part of all people. Remember that 1 John 3:23 teaches that God commands faith in His Son and Acts 17:30 teaches that God commands all men everwhere to repent. These 2 verses alone discredit count hyper-calvinistic views on this point.
3. hyper-calvinism also teaches that because God has elected some to life in Christ, therefore there is no genuine offer of Christ to everyone; this is called the denial of the free offer of the gospel, that Christ would only genuinely be offered as a Saviour to the elect; but the Bible does not make such a distinction; it shows a universal and genuine offer of Christ as Lord to anyone, anywhere, anytime, who will hear and believe the gospel. Whosoever will come, let him drink of the waters of life.
This is the essence of hyper-calvinism; I hope this helps you with your journey in seeking God's truth; Let the Scriptures alone speak with authority;
Let me also add that those who deny the idea that God is sovereign over all things, including all wicked men, all nations, all history, and the salvation of all men, will generally misrepresent biblical calvinistic truth as being hyper-calvinism; such people don't know what they are talking about; if such a person were asked to define hyper-calvinism historically, they could not do it. The above 3 points directly show the main errors of hyper-calvinism directly.
Finally, we must ever remember that the Bible is the only and final authority on all such questions and we continually need the eyes of our understanding opened by the Holy Spirit for Him to give us understanding of the Word. May the Lord help us both to grow in the grace and knowledge of God and His Son through the holy Scriptures, which are able to make us wise unto salvation.
Please let me know if I can serve or help you in any way in your desire for knowing God's truth.
Yours warmly in Christ,Mack Tomlinson
Dear David,
Thank you for your good question; before giving a brief reply, let me mention a few resources for you on this issue.
The Banner of Truth Trust has published a wonderful book that addresses this issue well; the book is Spurgeon vs. Hyper-Calvinism: The Battle for Gospel Preaching- by Iain Murray; it is a paperback book, which we have available; it addresses the issues of calvinism and hyper-calvinism as well as any book you could ever read; the author is one of the best Christian historians ever and I would encourage you to read any books you can find by him.
Also, I have sent to you 2 articles that address somewhat the heart of biblical, evangelistic calvinism; let me know if for any reason you cannot open the two attached.
Yes, we are calvinistic in our theology; but we don't use these terms very much because such terms often mislead people when people don't know what the terms truly mean historically.
True historic Calvinism is rooted in a passion for God-centered truth, combined with a passionate, missionary attitude to take the gospel to all men. Historic calvinism is greatly different from hyper-calvinism, which is an extreme and heretical perverted form of the biblical theology which has been nicknamed calvinism.
Regarding your question, one should simply ask themselves:
Does the Bible teach election? Where?Does the Bible teach predestination? Where?Does the Bible teach that all men are truly spiritually dead in sins and cannot bring themselves to life spiritually? Where?etc;
Every biblical and theological question ought to be put to this test and then we must search the Scriptures ourselves with open hearts to see if the Bible clearly and directly teaches these doctrines; if we see that it does, then that settles the truth for us. My opinion or your opinion, does not really matter; what matters is this-- What saith the Scriptures? Let God be true and every man a liar. If I argue with or disagree with Scripture, who is right?
Briefly, calvinism is the historic theology that arose out of the entire unity of the Bible which holds the view that God Himself is the supreme and glorious center of all things in the universe, and that His glory, not man, is the primary beginning point and end of everything. This truth and all other truths related to salvation and God's glory came to be seen in a greater way at the time of the Reformation period after the darkness of Catholicism was broken over much of Europe;
It was a return to the Bible and its major truths: God's sovereignty, man's original sinfulness and depravity, that grace is absolutely free and without merit, that salvation in Christ is solely by grace through faith alone, and that Christ's death actually saved all who would ever believe in Him; the cross did not make fallen men SAVABLE by their meritorious faith and effort, but it actually atoned for the sins of anyone who would ever trust Christ as Lord.
Hyper-calvinism became an extreme and imbalanced view of some of these biblical truths; the following three points are the main errors of hyper-calvinism:
1. hyper-calvinism teaches that God has no love for the non-elect, but only for the elect; this is not a biblical view, but is an error the hyper-calvinist holds to. To the hyper-calvinist, God's has no compassion or general love for mankind, but only for the redeemed.
2. hyper-calvinism teaches that because sinners are dead in trespasses and sins and have no ability within themselves to repent, therefore the hyper-calvinist says that sinners have no DUTY to repent and believe the gospel; the only ones who would be responsible to repent would be the elect. This is gross error. This denies the duty of repentance and faith on the part of all people. Remember that 1 John 3:23 teaches that God commands faith in His Son and Acts 17:30 teaches that God commands all men everwhere to repent. These 2 verses alone discredit count hyper-calvinistic views on this point.
3. hyper-calvinism also teaches that because God has elected some to life in Christ, therefore there is no genuine offer of Christ to everyone; this is called the denial of the free offer of the gospel, that Christ would only genuinely be offered as a Saviour to the elect; but the Bible does not make such a distinction; it shows a universal and genuine offer of Christ as Lord to anyone, anywhere, anytime, who will hear and believe the gospel. Whosoever will come, let him drink of the waters of life.
This is the essence of hyper-calvinism; I hope this helps you with your journey in seeking God's truth; Let the Scriptures alone speak with authority;
Let me also add that those who deny the idea that God is sovereign over all things, including all wicked men, all nations, all history, and the salvation of all men, will generally misrepresent biblical calvinistic truth as being hyper-calvinism; such people don't know what they are talking about; if such a person were asked to define hyper-calvinism historically, they could not do it. The above 3 points directly show the main errors of hyper-calvinism directly.
Finally, we must ever remember that the Bible is the only and final authority on all such questions and we continually need the eyes of our understanding opened by the Holy Spirit for Him to give us understanding of the Word. May the Lord help us both to grow in the grace and knowledge of God and His Son through the holy Scriptures, which are able to make us wise unto salvation.
Please let me know if I can serve or help you in any way in your desire for knowing God's truth.
Yours warmly in Christ,Mack Tomlinson
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Persistence
"And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always topray, and not to faint." Luke 18:1
The importance of the element of persistence cannot be exaggerated. You find it, not only in biblical teaching, but also in the lives of all the saints in the past. If we really want to be men and women of God, if we really want to know Him, walk with Him, and experience those boundless blessings which He offers us, then we must persist in asking for them day by day. We have to feel this hunger and thirst after righteousness, and then we shall be filled. And that doesn't mean that we are filled once and forever. We go on hungering and thirsting. Like the Apostle Paul, leaving the things which are behind, we "press toward the mark." "Not as though I had already attained," says Paul, "but I follow after."
That is it! This persistence, this constant desire, asking seeking, and knocking. This, we must agree, is the point at which most of us fail. Let us hold onto that first principle. Let us examine ourselves in the light of this Scripture... persistence, continuance in well-doing, "always to pray and not to faint"-- that is the first thing. The realization of the need, the realization of the supply, and persistence in seeking after it.
- D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
The importance of the element of persistence cannot be exaggerated. You find it, not only in biblical teaching, but also in the lives of all the saints in the past. If we really want to be men and women of God, if we really want to know Him, walk with Him, and experience those boundless blessings which He offers us, then we must persist in asking for them day by day. We have to feel this hunger and thirst after righteousness, and then we shall be filled. And that doesn't mean that we are filled once and forever. We go on hungering and thirsting. Like the Apostle Paul, leaving the things which are behind, we "press toward the mark." "Not as though I had already attained," says Paul, "but I follow after."
That is it! This persistence, this constant desire, asking seeking, and knocking. This, we must agree, is the point at which most of us fail. Let us hold onto that first principle. Let us examine ourselves in the light of this Scripture... persistence, continuance in well-doing, "always to pray and not to faint"-- that is the first thing. The realization of the need, the realization of the supply, and persistence in seeking after it.
- D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Monday, October 22, 2007
Cleaving to the Lord Unconditionally
A few years ago a pastor brought a troubled man to me for counselling. When I asked him about his problem, he replied, 'I want to serve the Lord but I am having a terrible time.'
'What seems to be hindering you?' I asked.
'Everything and everybody, it seems,' he said.
'Let's get down to particulars,' I insisted.
'I have a smoking problem. I know I shouldn't be smoking. It is harmful to me and a blight on my testimony, but I am having a hard time giving it up. Then there is my wife. She thinks I am a fanatic and she says if I insist on living a Christian life, she is going to leave me. She wants to have some fun, and I don't want to go back into that kind of life; but I don't want to lose my wife.
Then there's my business partner. He is not a Christian and we are having a conflict over some unethical business deals he wants to pull. He says I am holding back the business with my stupid morals and if I don't shape up he is going to force me out.
Then, last week I was down in Tucson in a restaurant feeling sorry for myself and this young divorcee approached me. She liked me and made some obvious suggestions and approaches. I almost fell into what she was proposing. But, I don't want to live like that. I'm just in a terrible mess.'
'You surely are,' I said, 'but maybe I can help you get some things settled. It seems to me you have about four options here. You can only take one of them so you may as well eliminate the other three. Let's find out which ones you can take and which ones you cannot and then see what we have left. Here is your first option. You can walk out that door the same way you came in with nothing changed and nothing settled. Can you do that?'
'I don't want to.'
'But can you?'
'If I had not wanted help I would not have come here.'
'But can you leave without it? Are you willing to walk out of here the same way you came in? Can you do that? Can you go on living the way you are now? Think about it. Because if you can, you will. There is no use of me wrangling around here with you for two or three hours only to have you refuse to do what you must and leave the same way you came in. If you can do that, then go ahead and do it now. Let's not waste anymore time.'
He looked at me, saw I meant it, thought about it a bit and then said, 'No, I can't do that. I have got to have some help. I cannot live any longer the way I am. Something has to be settled.'
'Then we can eliminate that option. It no longer exists. Something has to be settled before you leave here tonight. Now we have only three left. Here is your second option: Forget about being a Christian and serving the Lord. Put the thought of it out of your mind and go ahead and do what you like. If you want to smoke, stop feeling guilty about it and puff away. If your wife wants you to go out and get drunk and raise hell with her, go ahead. If your partner wants to pull some fast deals that can make you rich and won't get you in jail, go to it. Take advantage of anybody you can, make as much money as you can, do what you like and live it up. If you see that divorcee again, take her up on the proposition. Whatever you feel like doing, help yourself.'
He stared at me incredulously. 'Can you do that?' I asked.
He shook his head, 'No, I can't do that. I can't live that way.'
'Are you sure?'
'I'm sure.'
'Think about it now, and settle it. If you can do that then you ought to go ahead because you will sooner or later. But if you can't, then settle it in your mind that you can't and forget about it. It's no use you ever thinking about it anymore. It is an utter impossibility.'
'I can't do that.'
'All right, that eliminates two options and two more are left. Here is your third one: Go home. If you do not have one at home, stop off at a pawn shop and pick yourself up a pistol. Get out in the yard so that you won't make a mess in the house for someone to clean up, take good aim so that you don't miss and put a bullet in your brain.'
He jerked his head back and stared at me. 'I can't do that. I'd go to hell.'
'Probably so,' I said, 'but at least you wouldn't have to live in this mess till you get there.'
'No, I can't do that.'
'Then it looks like you have only one course left. Follow the Lord. Obey Him. If your wife leaves you, follow the Lord. If you lose your business and all your money, follow the Lord. If it costs you all your pleasures, follow the Lord. You really don't have any other option. You cannot do anything else. Live, die, swim or sink, you must follow Him.'
He thought awhile, then lifted his head and slowly as the truth began to dawn upon him, a relieved smile spread across his worried face. 'That's right isn't it? It's really very simple. He is my only hope of life. There is nothing else to do.'
I prayed with him, shook his hand and dismissed the meeting. Nearly two years later I was back in the same city and this man came to the meeting. His wife was with him, clinging to his arm. They had been, it seemed, through the greatest difficulties. His faith had been tried in the fire. The devil had exhausted his resources in his attempt to shake him from the commitment he made that night. But when he had left that counselling session, he was a single-minded man with only one place to go. His eyes were steadfastly fixed upon God as his deliverer. He and his wife both wore the broad sweet smiles of a victory that endures. They had learned indeed that faith is the victory that overcomes the world. Such as these can give unerring testimony that God is indeed worthy of our trust.
No matter what one goes through, if he or she wants God above all things, they must cleave to the Lord regardless of everything.
- Conrad Murrell
'What seems to be hindering you?' I asked.
'Everything and everybody, it seems,' he said.
'Let's get down to particulars,' I insisted.
'I have a smoking problem. I know I shouldn't be smoking. It is harmful to me and a blight on my testimony, but I am having a hard time giving it up. Then there is my wife. She thinks I am a fanatic and she says if I insist on living a Christian life, she is going to leave me. She wants to have some fun, and I don't want to go back into that kind of life; but I don't want to lose my wife.
Then there's my business partner. He is not a Christian and we are having a conflict over some unethical business deals he wants to pull. He says I am holding back the business with my stupid morals and if I don't shape up he is going to force me out.
Then, last week I was down in Tucson in a restaurant feeling sorry for myself and this young divorcee approached me. She liked me and made some obvious suggestions and approaches. I almost fell into what she was proposing. But, I don't want to live like that. I'm just in a terrible mess.'
'You surely are,' I said, 'but maybe I can help you get some things settled. It seems to me you have about four options here. You can only take one of them so you may as well eliminate the other three. Let's find out which ones you can take and which ones you cannot and then see what we have left. Here is your first option. You can walk out that door the same way you came in with nothing changed and nothing settled. Can you do that?'
'I don't want to.'
'But can you?'
'If I had not wanted help I would not have come here.'
'But can you leave without it? Are you willing to walk out of here the same way you came in? Can you do that? Can you go on living the way you are now? Think about it. Because if you can, you will. There is no use of me wrangling around here with you for two or three hours only to have you refuse to do what you must and leave the same way you came in. If you can do that, then go ahead and do it now. Let's not waste anymore time.'
He looked at me, saw I meant it, thought about it a bit and then said, 'No, I can't do that. I have got to have some help. I cannot live any longer the way I am. Something has to be settled.'
'Then we can eliminate that option. It no longer exists. Something has to be settled before you leave here tonight. Now we have only three left. Here is your second option: Forget about being a Christian and serving the Lord. Put the thought of it out of your mind and go ahead and do what you like. If you want to smoke, stop feeling guilty about it and puff away. If your wife wants you to go out and get drunk and raise hell with her, go ahead. If your partner wants to pull some fast deals that can make you rich and won't get you in jail, go to it. Take advantage of anybody you can, make as much money as you can, do what you like and live it up. If you see that divorcee again, take her up on the proposition. Whatever you feel like doing, help yourself.'
He stared at me incredulously. 'Can you do that?' I asked.
He shook his head, 'No, I can't do that. I can't live that way.'
'Are you sure?'
'I'm sure.'
'Think about it now, and settle it. If you can do that then you ought to go ahead because you will sooner or later. But if you can't, then settle it in your mind that you can't and forget about it. It's no use you ever thinking about it anymore. It is an utter impossibility.'
'I can't do that.'
'All right, that eliminates two options and two more are left. Here is your third one: Go home. If you do not have one at home, stop off at a pawn shop and pick yourself up a pistol. Get out in the yard so that you won't make a mess in the house for someone to clean up, take good aim so that you don't miss and put a bullet in your brain.'
He jerked his head back and stared at me. 'I can't do that. I'd go to hell.'
'Probably so,' I said, 'but at least you wouldn't have to live in this mess till you get there.'
'No, I can't do that.'
'Then it looks like you have only one course left. Follow the Lord. Obey Him. If your wife leaves you, follow the Lord. If you lose your business and all your money, follow the Lord. If it costs you all your pleasures, follow the Lord. You really don't have any other option. You cannot do anything else. Live, die, swim or sink, you must follow Him.'
He thought awhile, then lifted his head and slowly as the truth began to dawn upon him, a relieved smile spread across his worried face. 'That's right isn't it? It's really very simple. He is my only hope of life. There is nothing else to do.'
I prayed with him, shook his hand and dismissed the meeting. Nearly two years later I was back in the same city and this man came to the meeting. His wife was with him, clinging to his arm. They had been, it seemed, through the greatest difficulties. His faith had been tried in the fire. The devil had exhausted his resources in his attempt to shake him from the commitment he made that night. But when he had left that counselling session, he was a single-minded man with only one place to go. His eyes were steadfastly fixed upon God as his deliverer. He and his wife both wore the broad sweet smiles of a victory that endures. They had learned indeed that faith is the victory that overcomes the world. Such as these can give unerring testimony that God is indeed worthy of our trust.
No matter what one goes through, if he or she wants God above all things, they must cleave to the Lord regardless of everything.
- Conrad Murrell
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