Certainty - in uncertain times!

This morning, I received a 'phone-call from a dear friend and brother in the Lord. He has been sending out a daily devotional to a number of people of his acquaintance, and asked if I would prepare something that he could send out tomorrow. I agreed to do so, but have realised that it might be worth making available to others through my blog, and through Facebook. 

Along with countless others, I am a lover of the Book of Psalms – the “hymnbook” of the Children of Israel. One of my (many!) favourites is Psalm 46, the psalm that was the starting-point for Martin Luther’s great Reformation battle-hymn: “Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott” – “A mighty fortress is our God”.

The Psalm starts with these words:

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult.” (vs.1-3)

These are words that remind us that our God – the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob; the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, the Christ, is our refuge in times of chaos. And are not the times in which we currently live, chaotic? The Covid-19 virus may be invisible to the naked eye – but what an effect it is having on our contemporary world! No-one needs me to spell out the health issues; the changes in lifestyle; the uncertainty; that surround us – here in France; in the UK; and around the globe.

Yet the Sons of Korah, the composers of this psalm, could face any uncertainty with certainty because: “God is our refuge and strength; a very present (or well-proved, or easily found) help in time of trouble.  Therefore we will not fear ...”   Our true security, our true confidence, our true certainty, is in God – not in God plus anything, but in God alone.

Throughout history, Almighty God has been the refuge and defence of His people; sufficient for all of their needs; the unchanging One in Whom they have found their shelter.  And so, assert the Sons of Korah, even if the primeval chaos of Gen.1:2 should return, when “The earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep ...”; even if “... the earth should change” and “... the mountains shake in the heart of the sea.”; God’s people will not fear.

I have no more knowledge of the future than any of us. However, even in these uncertain times, I may have certainty – certainty that the God of Ages is in control; certainty that He still knows the end from the beginning; certainty that “… in everything [He] works for good with those who love Him, who are the called according to His purpose.” (Rom 8:28).

May all who read these words have that same certainty; and to Him, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, be all the honour, all the praise, all the thanksgiving, and all the glory.

“A mighty fortress is our God; a bulwark never failing.

Our Helper, He, amidst the flood of mortal ills prevailing.

For still, our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe.

His craft and power are great, and armed with cruel hate;

On earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing,
Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing:
Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth, His Name, from age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.

And ’though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us;
The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.

That word above all earthly pow’rs, no thanks to them, abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him Who with us sideth;
Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;
The body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.”

A Reformation Day thought.

The following is from an e-mail that I received earlier this evening, from CBMW (The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood). I commend it to all.

"It is no coincidence that the constituent doctrine of the church — the union of Christ and his church — trades in marital imagery that is predicated upon God’s creation of man as male and female. And thus neither is it mere happenstance that we find ourselves defending this very confession against the powers and principalities of this age.

 

This being Reformation Day, I thought it would be appropriate to hand it over to the good doctor Martin Luther to unpack this glorious truth that is central to our identity as Christians: the mystery of the marriage between Christ and his church — a truth that Luther was willing to defend to the death. The following excerpt is from his treatise Concerning Christian Liberty:

 

The third incomparable grace of faith is this, that it unites the soul to Christ, as the wife to the husband; by which mystery, as the Apostle teaches, Christ and the soul are made one flesh. Now if they are one flesh, and if a true marriage — nay, by far the most perfect of all marriages — is accomplished between them (for human marriages are but feeble types of this one great marriage), then it follows that all they have becomes theirs in common, as well good things as evil things; so that whatsoever Christ possesses, that the believing soul may take to itself and boast of as its own, and whatever belongs to the soul, that Christ claims as his.

 

If we compare these possessions, we shall see how inestimable is the gain. Christ is full of grace, life, and salvation; the soul is full of sin, death, and condemnation. Let faith step in, and then sin, death, and hell will belong to Christ, and grace, life, and salvation to the soul. For, if he is a husband, he must needs take to himself that which is his wife's, and, at the same time, impart to his wife that which is his. For, in giving her his own body and himself, how can he but give her all that is his? And, in taking to himself the body of his wife, how can he but take to himself all that is hers?

 

In this is displayed the delightful sight, not only of communion, but of a prosperous warfare, of victory, salvation, and redemption. For since Christ is God and man, and is such a person as neither has sinned, nor dies, nor is condemned — nay, cannot sin, die, or be condemned; and since his righteousness, life, and salvation are invincible, eternal, and almighty; when, I say, such a person, by the wedding-ring of faith, takes a share in the sins, death, and hell of his wife, nay, makes them his own, and deals with them no otherwise than as if they were his, and as if he himself had sinned; and when he suffers, dies . . . that he may overcome all things, since sin, death, and hell cannot swallow him up, they must needs be swallowed up by him in stupendous conflict. For his righteousness rises above the sins of all men; his life is more powerful than all death; his salvation is more unconquerable than all hell.

Thus the believing soul, by the pledge of its faith in Christ, becomes free from all sin, fearless of death, safe from hell, and endowed with the eternal righteousness, life, and salvation of its husband Christ. Thus he presents to himself a glorious bride, without spot or wrinkle, cleansing her with the washing of water by the word; that is, by faith in the word of life, righteousness, and salvation. Thus he betrothes her unto himself “in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies.” (Hosea 2:19, 20)

 

Who then can value highly enough these royal nuptials? Who can comprehend the riches of the glory of this grace?

 

Christ, that rich and pious husband, takes as a wife a needy and impious harlot, redeeming her from all her evils, and supplying her with all his good things. It is impossible now that her sins should destroy her, since they have been laid upon Christ and swallowed up in him, and since she has in her husband Christ a righteousness which she may claim as her own, and which she can set up with confidence against all her sins, against death and hell, saying: "If I have sinned, my Christ, in whom I believe, has not sinned; all mine is his, and all his is mine;" as it is written, "My beloved is mine, and I am his.” (Song 2:16.) This is what Paul says: “Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ;” victory over sin and death, as he says: “The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.” (1 Cor. 15:56, 57.)"

Reformation.

Having commented, in the previous post, on the 50th anniversary of the passing of the Abortion Act in the UK Parliament, and the almost nine million deaths that have resulted from it, I want to comment, in this post, on a 500th anniversary - that of the nailing, by the German monk Martin Luther, of his "99 Theses" to the door of the church building at Wittenberg. It was that event that started what is known to historians as the Reformation (although there were a number of folk who had raised serious doubts about some of the teaching of the Church of Rome, prior to Luther. By the way, I deliberately use that term as "Roman Catholic" is, in fact, an oxymoron!).

Many are the books that have been written about the Reformation - both its history and its theology - so all that I wish to do is to look, briefly, at what are known as the "Five Solas". These are five basic doctrines/principles that sum up the difference between the Church of Rome and what the Reformers saw as the truth of the written Word of God. Undergirding these five solas is the phrase: ecclesia semper reformanda est, which means”the church is always to be reformed.” The very authority of the written Word of God is the subject of the first Sola:

1. Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone).

Rome did not deny the authority of the Scriptures but, like others, they added to them! In their case, they taught the authority of the church (of Rome); its traditions; its councils; its pope. The Reformers disagreed! They claimed, and taught, that all Christian practice and doctrine should be based on the clear teaching of the Bible.

Of course, God Himself has established certain authorities: the state (Rom.13:1ff); elders in the church (I Tim.5:17; I Pet.5:5); parents (Eph.6:1); but Scripture alone is truly ultimate. If any of these other authorities depart from Biblical teaching, they are to be rejected.

The Scriptures are the inspired, inerrant, authoritative, and sufficient Word of God. When the Bible speaks, God’s people should hear, heed, and obey the Word by His grace. Not only this - the Bible proclaims the Truth of the other solas, namely that salvation is by grace alone through faith in Christ. Man has not been saved for his own purposes but for God’s purpose and glory. Also, from beginning to end, the Biblical record points towards the Lord Jesus. So, the second of the Solas concerned 

2. Solus Christus (Christ alone).

The issue that started Luther on his journey of discovery concerned the sale of "indulgences". Put simply, this practice stated that one could obtain forgiveness of sin by making a cash donation to the church, for which one received a piece of paper stating that the donor's soul was ready to be admitted to heaven! The practice was started by Leo X in order to raise funds to rebuild St Peter's Basilica in Rome. Failure to purchase indulgences meant that one had to pay for one's sins in purgatory - the unBiblical Roman concept of a "limbo" in which the dead may finish atoning for their sins.

Luther was passionately opposed to this practice, and he and the Reformers taught the Biblical truth that salvation is through the atoning work of the Lord Jesus, on the cross - and that alone! As far as I know, the sale of "indulgences" within the Roman church no longer takes place. However, there is still great store put on the intercessions of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and of the so-called 'saints' (every true believer is, in New Testament terms, a "saint" - just read the NT letters!). However Mary, though honoured among women, cannot help in the area of salvation. In fact, she herself had to be saved by the finished work of Christ in His perfect life and vicarious death. This is why she could say that she rejoiced in “God my Saviour” (Luke 1:47). What is true of Mary is also true of all the so-called 'saints' of the Church of Rome. There is no treasure chest of merit in heaven out of which the church can draw saving merit. Nor do we need a priest to intercede for us. Indeed, through Peter, God the Holy Spirit states clearly that all disciples of Jesus "... are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, ..." (I Peter 2:9; emphasis added). Salvation is through Christ alone Who is Himself “... the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6; note the definite article as emphasised).  Charles Spurgeon said, “I have a great need for Christ; I have a great Christ for my need.”

The third of the Sola principles is

3. Sola Gratia (Grace alone).

Sinful man can never - absolutely never - be reconciled to Almighty God by his own efforts. I cannot earn His fellowship; I cannot buy His fellowship; I do not deserve His fellowship. All that I - and you! - deserve is His judgement and wrath. The only reason that I may be the recipient of His great salvation (Heb.2:3) is by His grace - His unmerited favour and blessing. This is often defined using the word as an acronym: God's Riches At Christ's Expense. In Jesus, Almighty God paid the penalty for my sin and so satisfied both His justice and His love. As Paul states, in his letter to the believers in Ephesus: "... by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God - not because of works, lest any man should boast." (3:8-9). What a wonderful gift it is - and it is yours if only you will open yourself to Him (Who already knows you through and through!) and, in repentance and faith, accept it. And that faith is the subject of a fourth Sola:

4. Sola Fide (Faith alone).

The Reformers rightly taught that all of our Christian life is by grace from beginning to end. Not only is the gift of Christ a gift from God, but the very faith required to lay hold of that gift is itself a gift. One of the great themes of Reformation theology was "justification by faith", and not by any declaration of the church (of Rome), or through penance, indulgences, or any other means. Justification is the declaration, by Father God, that we are treated as sinless in His sight because of the atoning sacrifice of the Son, at Calvary. In the English language, it is sometimes explained as God treating me "just as if I'd" never sinned - even although I have sinned; do sin; and will continue to sin while in this mortal body that I inhabit.. Of course, filled out correctly, the doctrine should be: "Justification is the act of God by which He declares sinners to be righteous because of Christ alone, by grace alone, through faith alone." The final Sola is

5. Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God alone).

The bottom line is that the Triune God receives the glory and honour for my salvation. Paul wrote to the early disciples in Rome: "O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways! 'For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counselor?' 'Or who has given a gift to Him that he might be repaid?' For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory for ever. Amen." (11:33-36; emphasis added). The Psalmist had the same aim in mind when he wrote: "Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Thy name give glory, for the sake of Thy steadfast love and Thy faithfulness!" (Ps.115:1; emphasis added). This Sola emphasises the the glory of God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - as the goal of true life. As the compilers of the Shorter Catechism were later to put it, in the Q & A form of the catechism: "What is the chief end (i.e. prime purpose) of man?" "Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever." (emphasis added).

These five teachings were at the heart of the Reformation. Would that they were at the heart of the church, worldwide, today! As I look around, I see so much of the church that, rather than being a prophetic voice to the nations, is no more than a subservient reflection of the social norms that, sadly, are so much at odds with the Gospel of our Lord Jesus, the Christ! T.F.Torrance wrote: “The world likes a complacent, reasonable religion, and so is always ready to revere some pale Galilean image of Jesus, some meagre anaemic Messiah, and to give Him a moderate rational homage. . . . The truth is that we have often committed adultery with alien ideologies, confounded the Gospel with the religions of nature, and imbibed the wine of pagan doctrines and false principles and deceitful practices. We have sought to bend the will of God to serve the ends of man, to alter the Gospel and shape the Church to conform to the fashions of the times. We have yielded to pride and to the lust for power. We have been intimidated by the might of the beast through society, or the crowd, or the state, and betrayed, again and again, the cause of our Saviour.” (The Apocalypse Today; James Clarke & Co Ltd; 1961; p.155). His words show, sadly, how far the church has departed from those early Reformation principles.

Let those of us who seek to see the Name of Jesus honoured and exalted pray that, in these last days, the Lord will move, by the Spirit, in cleansing and purifying power throughout the church in the UK, and elsewhere, removing all that would seek to dilute, denigrate, diminish, deny, and even destroy, the true Gospel message, and revive His true people that there might be, in these end times, a mighty ingathering of precious souls to the Kingdom of God - and all to His glory.

Footnote! To the best of my knowledge, there is no "set in stone" order to the Five Solas. However, the order in which I have given them above is not, I realise, the most common. I use it because I find it to be more "consecutively accurate"! By this I mean that it is the Scriptures that tell me of the Christ, and the grace of God that I may receive by faith, and all to His glory.

Some of the words and concepts used here are dealt with, more fully, in my first two books (vol.3 currently being proofread - available, DV, early in the New Year). Please see the links at the top of the page.

Reformation Day

It was 498 years ago, today, that the German Augustinian monk, Martin Luther, nailed his now-famous "95 theses" to the door of the church building in Wittenberg, in his native country.  These "theses" are really a series of statements that Luther wished to discuss with others.  They are, however, also his response to the sale of "papal indulgences" - written documents that were supplied by the pope and not only provided for past sins to be forgiven but for future sins to be forgiven as well.  These indulgences also allowed the buyer to get his relatives out of purgatory!

Luther realised that, according to the teachings of the New Testament, such "indulgences" were a fraud.  In Theses 20 and 21 he writes:
"20. ... the pope, when he uses the words "plenary remission of all penalties," does not actually mean "all penalties," but only those imposed by himself.
21. Thus those indulgence preachers are in error who say that a man is absolved from every penalty and saved by papal indulgences."

Luther had read the New Testament in Greek, and realised that the Latin language translation, the Vulgate - which was the official text of the Roman church - was wrong in a very important aspect.  In Matthew 4:17, the Greek word 'metanoeite' was translated as "do penance", when it should have been translated 'repent'.  Thus his first two Theses read:
"1. When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, "Repent" ( Matthew 4:17 ), He willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.
2. This word cannot be understood as referring to the sacrament of penance, that is, confession and satisfaction, as administered by the clergy."

The Reformation had begun - even if Luther was not fully aware of the impact that his theses would have.  He was, effectively, bringing the Word of God to the fore, rather than the sacramental system of the church.  He had discovered, as a monk that, for centuries, the true teachings of the Word of God had been hidden by tradition. That’s what Reformation Day is about: it’s about pulling back the covers and releasing the power of the Word of God and the beauty and the truth of the gospel.

That’s why Reformation Day is celebrated - and I would suggest that, for the true disciple of Jesus, it is something much better to celebrate on October 31st than the modern "Hallowe'en" with its connections to the occult; to demons; to the satan himself!   Oh, I know that "It's only a bit of fun".  However, the same thing might be said about a seance, the use of an ouija board; and a number of other activities that no Bible-believer would even think of countenancing.  Instead of "trick or treat", why not spend some time, this evening, carefully and prayerfully reading the Word of God.  It will be "... a lamp to [your] feet, and a light to [your] path." (Ps 119:105).

Happy Reformation Day!

St Andrew's Day

I wonder if I am alone in sometimes wishing that I was "someone else"?   Not that I have any desire to be one of the modern, so-called, 'celebrities' - whether in the world of sport, or of entertainment, or of business.  No, when I think like that, I want to be a Billy Graham; a Luis Palau; a John Wesley; a Martin Luther; even a Peter, or a Paul!

Of course, such idle dreamings are exactly that - no more, and no less.  I have not been gifted in the same way as these men were/are.  I believe that I may have been used by God, just as they have been - but not to the same extent.  That's why their names are known to history; mine is confined to family, friends, and acquaintances - and a few Christian fellowships!

Today is November 30th, the day in the Christian calendar dedicated to St. Andrew, one of the first of the disciples of Jesus, the Christ, and the patron saint of Scotland (as well as Greece, and Russia).  According to John, it was Andrew who first introduced his brother, Simon, to Jesus, (John 1:40-42) and Jesus gave Simon that name of Peter, a rock: an indication of what he was to become, but certainly not what he was then.  I find that to be very encouraging!  God sees you and me, not as we are but as what we may, by His grace, become.

Peter became one of great leaders of early Christian community.  He wrote two of the letters that have been preserved for us in the Bible.  But without Andrew, there might not have been a Peter.

Some may recall the old Negro spiritual that says:  “If you can’t preach like Peter, if you can’t pray like Paul; just go and tell your neighbour, and say Christ died for all.” (There is a balm in Gilead).  And it may be that, by the grace of God, it is your neighbour who will then be the Peter, or the Paul, or the Billy Graham.

Tradition says that Andrew was crucified – but on a cross shaped like an X.  That’s the origin of the Scottish national flag, the Saltire.  The story is that, before a battle with an English king, Angus mac Fergus, king of the Picts – the people who lived in the lowlands – had a dream in which Andrew appeared and promised him victory.  During the battle, a Saltire cross was seen in the sky and this encouraged Angus and his troops.  After his victory, Angus ordered that the Saltire be the badge of the Picts.

Andrew is a saint – but according to the New Testament, so am I, and so are you if you belong to Jesus.  A little boy was asked to explain what a saint is.  He remembered that, in the church building his family attended, there were stained glass windows with pictures of some of the saints in the Bible, and how beautiful they looked when the sunlight shone through them.  So he answered that a saint is somebody that the light shines through!

Jesus said: “I am the Light of the world”.  But the only way in which some will see Him is if we allow Him to shine through us! 

You and I may never be a Peter, or a Paul – but we may be an Andrew, letting the light of the Lord Jesus shine through us, that others might come to know Him, and receive Him as their own Saviour and Lord.

"Hallowe'en" - is it an acceptable Christian celebration?

"Ghoulies and Ghosties, And Long Leggedy Beasties, And things that go Bump in the night"

I don't know the origin of that well-known phrase - but it does seem appropriate for a post for October 31st!   But the question in the heading is a serious one.   It has concerned me, for many years, that not only do many parents, who would claim to be followers of the Lord Jesus, the Christ, dress up their children, on this evening in the year, in weird and wonderful costumes and, in some cases, permit them to go out knocking on other people's doors, hoping for a reward of sweets or cash; but that even some congregations and fellowships that bear the name of the Christ, put on a special "Hallowe'en" party for their children at this time of the year!

Are they all wrong to act in this way?  Or is it perfectly acceptable - and I am just an old fuddy-duddy?

Well, let's look at the topic.  First of all, note the way in which I spell the word.  That apostrophe stands for the letter 'v', so the word is really "Halloweven" or, more fully, "Hallowed (Holy) Evening".  Now, that certainly makes it sound as if it could be a Christian festival.  Au contraire, mes amis (I am in France at the moment!).  Halloween and its practices are Romanist and Pagan in origin.  “In its strictly religious aspect, this occasion is known as the vigil of Hallowmas of All Saint’s Day, Nov. 1, observed by the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches. Pope Gregory III (731 to 741 AD) assigned this date for celebrating of the feast when he consecrated a chapel in Saint Peter’s basilica to all the saints. Gregory IV extended the feast to the entire Roman Catholic church in 834 AD” “There is little doubt that the Roman Catholic church sought to eliminate or supplant the Druid festival of the dead by introducing the alternative observance of All Saint’s Day on Nov. 1.” (Encyclopedia Britannica).

However, the popular secular observance of Halloween, falling on the night of Oct. 31, is derived from the rights of the Druids celebrating the day of Samhain, the so called “lord of death”, when the “lord of death” called together the souls of the wicked who had died during the past year. The theme of harvest, which runs through modern Halloween celebrations, comes from both the old Druidic celebrations and the old Roman festivals in honor of Pomona, goddess of fruit, brought to Britain during the Roman occupation.  This is the reason why an apple is a traditional 'gift' to those who go around knocking on doors and demanding "trick or treat"! 

Of course, the “trick or treat” concept implies the threat of force and violence. Surely, to teach children such attitudes and concepts is completely contrary to the teachings of the Lord Jesus, the Christ.   The very word "trick" implies "deceit".   Do we really wish to encourage our children to be deceitful?   Is there not enough of that particular commodity going around already?

Paul advised some of the early followers of Jesus to "... have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them." (Eph.5:11).  He told another group to "Abstain from all appearance of evil." (I Thess.5:22; emphasis added).  He advised young Timothy that "... the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by giving heed to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons."  (I Tim.4:1).

Perhaps it is time for all who truly love the Lord Jesus, and who have received His salvation from sin through the shedding of His precious blood at Calvary, to take a stand on this issue.  Perhaps, next year, more congregations and fellowships will do what I know some already practice - a "Festival of Light" as an alternative to the secular Halloween activities.  Perhaps Christian parents will seek to instil the love of God into their children's hearts and minds, rather than the symbols of death that are so common at this time of year.

By the way, today is also celebrated in the Reformed (Protestant) Church - particularly the German Lutheran Church - as Reformation Day. This commemorates Martin Luther’s nailing of his ninety-five theses to the castle church door in Wittenberg, on October 31, 1517, thus provoking a debate that culminated finally in what we now call the Protestant Reformation.

Now there might be a better cause to celebrate!

Thoughtful one-liners!

I've been gathering up so many useful quotations, recently, that I thought it was time that I shared a few more.  They are not given in any particular order of either preference or importance, although one or two do seem particularly applicable to my own ongoing situation in France!

"Not everything that can be counted, counts; and not everything that counts, can be counted".  (Albert Einstein)

"The most important things in life aren't things."  (from Rick de Koster: one of my Dutch friends)

"Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance, but laying hold of His willingness."  (Martin Luther)

"Christianity has not been tried and found to be wanting; it has been found to be difficult, and not tried!"  (G.K.Chesterton)

"To be almost saved is to be totally lost"  ('Wayside pulpit'; New Paris, Ohio)

"When things don't go your way, God has plans of His own.  Better plans!"  (Word for Today, UCB)

"Motivation gets you through the day, but inspiration lasts a lifetime."  (Nick Vujicic - born without hands,
arms, or legs: just one 'chicken drumstick'! Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gc4HGQHgeFE   if you dare!)

"Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible before they were done"  (Louis Brandeis)

"If you don't like the way you were born ... try being born again!"  ('Wayside pulpit'; Mobile, Alabama)