Meditating on the Cross

No event in history is more important than the cross of Jesus Christ. Yet the world around us distracts us from this great act of love and justice, of mercy and punishment. Thus we need times of intentional focus on this theme. In addition to our services Friday evening and Sunday morning, please take time this week to focus on the cross, and all that it entails.

Here are some resources to help you do that.

The scriptural accounts: We will read Mark’s account of the cross and the resurrection at our services. Read the other accounts also: Matthew 26-27, Luke 22-23, and John 18-19.

Bach’s St Matthew’s Passion: I have spent many a Good Friday afternoon listening to this masterpiece, which includes all of the text of Matthew’s account as well as various hymns and meditations. There are numerous recordings available on YouTube and the usual music apps. Listen especially to the account of Jesus’ dying on the cross and its immediate aftermath beginning at 5:30 of this video, and continuing to the first 2:15 minutes of this video. The links include English subtitles for the German lyrics; the text is from Matthew 27:45-54. Some consider Bach’s rendition of the centurion’s cry, “Truly this was the Son of God” the most beautiful piece in the entirety of western music.

John Piper’s narrative poem, “Pilate’s Wife”: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3. Pastor John wrote these poems for Advent in 2002, a few weeks after Beth and I moved to this area; I read parts to our fledgling church plant that year. Here is an excerpt from the end of part 1.

Come, children, take your fire, and light
This advent candle one. For bright
And blazing is our hope and deep
Desire that all the world would leap
To know the truth that Christ destroys
False worlds that he might fill with joys.
To know the truth that massacres
Might be forgiv’n and one who errs
A thousand times may find at last
That all his horrid sins are cast
Into the deep, and Christ, by grace,
Has made his massacre a place
Of life where even those who scorned
His face, may be with life adorned.

Bob Chilcott’s St John’s Passion. This piece, first performed in 2013, is new for me this year. In the tradition of Bach’s passions, Chilcott includes all of John’s account, intermixing the English text with hymns written between the 5th and 19th centuries. The music is all new. You can read the biblical and hymn texts via this pdf file and listen to the one-hour performance here. The musical setting for When I Survey the Wondrous Cross – the closing piece – is exceptionally beautiful. Here are the texts of three of the other hymns Chilcott uses, with links to the recordings:

Sing, my tongue, the glorious battle by Venantius Fortunatus (c. 530–c. 600), translated by Percy Dearmer (1867–1936)

Sing, my tongue, the glorious battle,
Sing the ending of the fray;
Now above the Cross, the trophy,
Sound the loud triumphant lay:
Tell how Christ, the world’s Redeemer,
As a victim won the day.

God in pity saw man fallen,
Shamed and sunk in misery,
When he fell on death by tasting
Fruit of the forbidden tree;
Then another tree was chosen
Which the world from death should free.

Jesu, grant me this, I pray, 17th century Latin, translated by Henry Williams Baker (1821–77)

Jesu, grant me this, I pray,
Ever in thy heart to stay;
Let me evermore abide
Hidden in thy wounded side.

If the evil one prepare,
Or the world, a tempting snare,
I am safe when I abide
In thy heart and wounded side.

If the flesh, more dangerous still,
Tempt my soul to deeds of ill,
Naught I fear when I abide
In thy heart and wounded side.

Death will come one day to me;
Jesu, cast me not from thee:
Dying let me still abide
In thy heart and wounded side

There is a green hill far away by Cecil Frances Alexander (1818–95)

There is a green hill far away,
Without a city wall,
Where the dear Lord was crucified,
Who died to save us all,
Who died to save us all.

We may not know, we cannot tell,
What pains he had to bear,
But we believe it was for us
He hung and suffered there,
He hung and suffered there.

He died that we might be forgiv’n,
He died to make us good,
That we might go at last to heav’n,
Saved by his precious blood,
Saved by his precious blood.

Oh, dearly, dearly has he loved,
And we must love him too,
And trust in his redeeming blood,
And try his works to do,
And try his works to do.

May our Lord work though His Word, His church, and the musical gifts He has given us to highlight our sinfulness that necessitates the cross, and thereby to magnify the riches of His grace poured out on us through the death, resurrection, ascension, and return of our Lord Jesus, so that we as His people might endure in faith in Him, boasting only in the cross, Good Friday after Good Friday after Good Friday, until He returns.

You are My God – I Cannot Be My Own Master: Augustine on Psalm 143

[In the February 21 sermon on Psalms 142 and 143, I quoted from Augustine’s commentary on 143:10. As mentioned in a December blog post, we do well to interact with believers who are not our contemporaries, for they will often see in Scripture what we miss. I commend to you, therefore, these excerpts from Augustine’s comments on Psalm 143:5-11, based on this 19th century English translation. I have made some edits, updating the verb forms, generally replacing the cited Scriptures with the ESV, adding Scripture references, and clarifying some sentences. So I pray that you may profit from this 1600-year-old exposition! – Coty]

[Verse 5] In all the works of God then, and in meditation on all the works of God, [David] introduces grace, he commends grace, he boasts that he has found grace, the grace whereby we are saved without price…. Why do you boast of your own righteousness? Why lift yourself up, being ignorant of the righteousness of God? Because you contributed to your salvation? What did you contribute to being made a man? Look back then upon the Framer of your life, the Author of your substance, of your righteousness, and of your salvation: meditate upon the works of His hands, for even the righteousness in you, you will find, is the work of His hands [Ephesians 2:9-10]…. Turn from your own work, to His work Who made you; He fashioned you, and let Him refashion what He fashioned and you destroyed. For you exist because He made you; you are good – if you are – because He made you good.…

[Verse 6] And what did I do when I saw that every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with Whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning [James 1:17]? When I saw this, I turned from the evil work which I had wrought in myself, and I stretched forth my hands unto You…. Indeed, my soul is as a land without water to You. Rain upon me to bring forth from me good fruit…. I can thirst for You; I cannot water myself. My soul thirsts for the living God. When shall I come to Him [Psalm 42:2], save when He has come to me?

[Verse 7a] “Answer me quickly, O Lord!” For what need of delay to inflame my thirst, when already I thirst so eagerly? You delayed the rain, that I might drink Your flow. If then You delayed for this cause, now give, for my soul is as a land without water to You…. Let Your Spirit fill me, for my spirit has failed me. This is the reason why You should quickly hear me…. I am now poor in spirit; make me blessed in the kingdom of heaven [Matthew 5:3]…. But quickly hear me, O God, rain on me, strengthen me, that I be not dust which the wind drives away from the face of the earth [Psalm 1:4]. Quickly hear me, O God; my spirit has failed: let not my need suffer longer delay…. “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” [2 Corinthians 5:17]. Old things pass away in our own spirit, they are made new in Your Spirit.

[Verse 7b] “Hide not Your face from me.” You hid it from me when I was proud. For once I was full, and in my fulness I was puffed up. Once in my fulness I said, … “I shall not be moved.” I knew not Your Righteousness, and tried to establish my own; … but from You came whatever fulness I had. And to prove to me that it was from You, You hid Your Face from me, and I was troubled. After this trouble, … then I became like a land without water to You: hide not Your Face! … Hide not Your Face from me, because, if You hide it, I shall “be like them that go down into the pit.” What does “go down into the pit” mean? … He no longer believes in Providence, or if he does believe, he thinks that he has no longer anything to do with it. He sets before himself license to sin, the reins of iniquity being let loose now that he has no hope of pardon. He does not confess his sin…. “Hide not Your face from me or I shall be like them that go down into the pit.”

[Verse 8a] “Let me hear in the morning of Your steadfast love, for in you I trust.” Behold, I am in the night, yet I have trusted in You, until the iniquity of the night passes away. For we have, as Peter says, “the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts” [2 Peter 1:19]. He calls “morning” the time after the end of the world…. “If we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience [Romans 8:25] The night requires patience, the day will give joy.

[Verse 8b] But what do we do until the morning comes? For it is not enough to hope for the morning; we must … seek Him…. Since then we must thus hope for the morning, and bear this night, and persevere in this patience until the day dawn, what meanwhile must we do here? So that you will not think you should do anything of yourself to earn your being brought to the morning, he says, “Make me know the way I should go.” That is why God lit the lamp of prophecy, that is why He sent Jesus in the vessel, as it were, of the flesh…. Walk by prophecy, … walk by the word of God. As yet you do not see the Word as He was in the beginning, God with God [John 1:1]: walk by the Form of [the Word as] a servant, and you shall be conformed to the Form of God. “For to You I lift unto up my soul.” I have lifted it up to You, not against You. With You is the Fountain of life: to You have I lifted up my soul. I have brought my soul as a vessel to the Fountain: fill me, therefore, for unto You have I lifted up my soul.

[Verse 9] “Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord, for I have fled for refuge to You.” I who once fled from You, now flee to You…. I think not here of human enemies. We wrestle not against flesh and blood. But against whom?… The rulers of this world, of this darkness, the rulers of the wicked [Ephesians 6:12]; against these you wrestle. Great is your conflict, not to see your enemies, and yet to conquer. Against the rulers of this world, of this darkness, the devil, that is, and his angels….

[Verse 10a] “Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God.” Glorious confession! glorious rule! “For You are my God.” To another I would hasten to be re-made, if by another I was made. You are my all, for You are my God. Shall I seek a father to get an inheritance? You are my God, not only the Giver of my inheritance, but my Inheritance itself [Psalm 142:5]…. Shall I seek a patron, to obtain redemption? You are my God. Lastly, having been created, do I desire to be re-created? You are my God, my Creator, Who created me by Your Word, and re-created me by Your Word. But You created me by Your Word [the Son], Who was with You: You re-created me by Your Word, made Flesh for our sakes. Teach me then to do Your will, for You are my God. If You do not teach, I shall do my own will, and my God will abandon me. Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God. Teach me: for it cannot be that You are my God, and yet I am to be my own master. See how grace is commended to us. This hold fast, this drink in, this let none drive out of your hearts, lest you have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge [Romans 10:2]; lest, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and going about to establish your own righteousness, you submit not yourselves to the righteousness of God [Romans 10:3]….

[Verse 10b-11] Your good Spirit, not my bad one, … shall lead me into the right land. For my bad spirit has led me into a crooked land. And what have I deserved? What can be reckoned as my good works without Your aid, through which I might … be worthy to be led by Your Spirit into the right land? What are my works? … Listen, then, with all your power, to the commendation of Grace, whereby you are saved without price. “For Your Name’s sake, O Lord, You shall make me live.” You shall make me live. “Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory” [Psalm 115:1]. “For Your Name’s sake, O Lord, You shall make me live in Your righteousness;” not in my own righteousness. Not because I have deserved to live, but because You have mercy. For I deserve nothing of you except punishment. You have pruned from me my own merits; You have grafted in Your own gifts.

Five Lies of Our Anti-Christian Age

[In Wil’s January 28 sermon, he referred to Rosaria Butterfield’s 2023 book, Five Lies of Our Anti-Christian Age. The lies are: Homosexuality is Normal, Being a Spiritual Person is Kinder than being a Biblical Christian, Feminism is Good for the World and for the Church, Transgenderism is Normal, and Modesty is an Outdated Burden that Serves Male Dominance and Holds Women Back. Here are some excerpts to ponder. I found especially helpful her discussion of the difference between acceptance and approval (p. 279 and following). Page numbers are in brackets.]

What exactly does it mean to be made in God’s image? An image of yourself is what you see when you stand in front of a mirror. God is the object in the biblical creation account, and we are the reflection. Therefore, to reflect God’s image accurately, we need to look at him through the mirror of the word of God illuminated through the Holy Spirit. [28]

Homosexual orientation, a nineteenth-century Freudian invention (Sigmund Freud, 1856–1939), is an unbiblical category of personhood and an antagonist to the creation ordinance because it redefines sinful desire as something that defines who you are rather than how you feel. Lie #1 claims that the word of God doesn’t apply to homosexual orientation because homosexual orientation represents a person’s core truth…. We must ponder why God’s attribute of immutability has been embraced by the LGBTQ+ movement as an attribute of homosexual orientation…. When we hear “homosexual orientation is fixed and immutable—it never changes,” this is only imaginable in a world that has already exchanged the worship of the Creator for the worship of the creature, of God for an idol. “Gay Christians” … teach that you can’t repent of who you are, how you feel, or even what you desire. They believe that homosexual orientation is morally neutral, separate from one’s sin nature, cannot be repented of, and rarely changes over a person’s lifetime. This is a lie. [32]

“Coming out of the closet” and describing yourself by sin will never help you to repent from it, flee from it, and be delivered from it…. The idea that you should always “come out” and share with everyone your sinful desires happened because homosexual desire was transformed from sin (which demands repentance) to a morally neutral category of personhood (LGBTQ+), which demands affirmation and celebration…. All atheistic paradigms of personhood hate the very people they claim to love by denying them soul care. [44]

[After telling of how a pastor’s family invited her to dinner and shared Psalm 113 in evening devotions] And so it was that Psalm 113 changed my life. I looked into its mirror, and I saw how short I had fallen from God’s will. God used the offense of God’s word for the good of my soul…. Instead of lesbianism being who I was, I now understood it as both a lack of righteousness and a willful transgressive action. I was no victim. I was no “sexual minority” needing a voice in the church. I needed to grow in sanctification—just like everyone else in the church. I learned that we repent of sin by hating it, killing it, turning from it. But we also “add” the virtue of God’s word. It is light that changes darkness. The Bible calls us to mortify (kill) and vivify (enliven). I realized that Christians are given a new nature, yet we have sin patterns that we need to kill, to be sure. [63-64]

[In interacting with the pastor’s family, Butterfield realized that she did not know any women who were homemakers] Mothering was a fascinating job, not terribly unlike being a research professor: you must do one thing at a time well, and you must have flexibility and good humor as you carry on. [65]

[Puritan pastor] Thomas Watson say[s] that in the life of a true Christian, while we cannot “see” faith (and therefore we cannot see into the heart of others), we can see repentance. And if we don’t see repentance, we have no reason to believe that there is faith. [89]

When I sin or desire to sin, as a new creation in Christ I am now acting against my new nature. Sexual sin is a bear because of the body memories that it leaves in its wake, but body memories are part of my biography, not my new nature in Christ…. It exerts the same kind of temptation that the Israelites experienced in wanting to return to Egypt in the wilderness. [91-92]

Psalm 51 reveals that the Christian must fight even unchosen sin. [96]

Genuine Christians repent of all sin (including the sin that feels natural and good) because they trust Jesus more than they trust themselves. [104]

(Wil quoted this passage) It all comes down to this: Do you trust your feelings, or do you trust the word of God? Do you perceive your feelings through the word of God, or do you perceive the word of God through your feelings? Do your feelings know you best, or does the God who made you? [106]

[Jesus asks an invalid,] “Do you want to be healed?” (John 5:6). Let that linger for a moment. Do you want to be made well? Do you want to be made well on Jesus’s terms or your own? Does the Christian who calls himself gay want to be made well on God’s terms?… For the man to be healed, he needed to embrace the terms that Jesus was going to set. [111]

The mature Christian life is one of constant fleeing to the throne of grace for mercy, grace, and forgiveness of our sins. [114]

If the Bible is false, flawed, semitrue, or just true in the red letters, then none of it is true. If you aren’t convinced of that, then the minute the Bible crosses you, that part you will declare an ancient bias and no longer binding. [116]

[When biblical truth first appealed to her] At this point in my life, there was no room to believe it, because I already believed other things, and those other things left no room for Jesus. My complex belief system was important to me. I wasn’t a blank slate open to God’s word. I was filled to the brim with chaos and sin and anxiety and people who looked up to me…. I realized that my own feminist worldview was more than just a set of ideas. It was a religion. [147-149]

We must deal with sin at its first occurrence because the second will always be worse. [155]

[Calvin’s Institutes 1.1.2] “Because nothing appears within or around us that has not been contaminated by great immorality, what is a little less vile pleases us as a thing most pure—so long as we confine our minds within the limits of human corruption.” [157]

When feminism is the interpretative tool for reading Scripture, the powerful, supernatural word of God shrinks into an easily manipulated tool of sociology, revealing power plays and oppressors and offering no hope beyond its creation of new possibilities and new words to express one’s never-ending hurt. [178]

We need to ask the question, If the biblical account of creation cannot be trusted to teach us about what makes women distinct, where ought we to go for this insight? This is where the usefulness of feminism as a gospel frame crumbles in the foolishness that it is. It wants an essential and distinct women’s voice at the same time that it rejects a biblical origin for what makes a woman distinct. [187]

Transgenderism will be the final nail in the coffin of feminism. Why? Because you cannot defend the civil rights of a woman if you don’t know what she is. [191]

Real love confronts the lie that suffering people can’t help but envy others. Real love does not envy (1 Cor. 13:4). [202]

We live in a culture that ascribes truth to feelings and perceptions, and it fears hurting people’s feelings more than encouraging them to permanently mutilate their bodies. [213]

[Puritan pastor Jeremiah Burroughs in The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment] reminds us that the real question is not “What do I need?” but rather, “What is my duty?” Burroughs asks it like this: “What is the duty of the circumstances that God has put me in?” [244]

[Reflecting again on her first experience of sharing a meal in a Christian home] This night became for me a mirror. I looked into it and saw ugly things in myself and lovely things in God’s family. The first had to do with diversity—an important word in my lesbian community. While I proclaimed the value of diversity, the reality was that I had spent the past decade around people just like me—white, thirty-something, humanities PhDs in lesbian relationships. The mirror of this night was dramatic irony at its best. It was at my first experience of a Christian family feast, held at the straight, white, male pastor’s house, where I found myself in the most diverse crowd I had inhabited in years, maybe a lifetime. Men, women, children of every age. [251]

Our social media–saturated world encourages Christian women to replace modesty with exhibitionism.  [258]

The difference between acceptance and approval: Acceptance means living in reality and not fantasy. If your daughter calls herself a lesbian, you need to accept that. If your son Rex calls himself Mathilda, you need to accept this. He really is living in such a dangerous state of delusion and deception. That is reality right now. Acceptance is an important step in seeing the person you love in the sin pattern in which he is trapped. Acceptance, however, does not include believing his interpretation of how he got here or what it means. Acceptance does not include believing that Rex really is Mathilda. Acceptance does not include being manipulated by the therapist who asks, “Would you rather have a dead son or a living daughter?” Acceptance does not lose sight of Jesus and the cross he calls us to bear. Approval means that you give the whole situation a blessing. Approval means more than loving your daughter in her sin. It means calling her sin by another name (“grace,” “blessing,” or “illness”) and compartmentalizing and shrinking your Christian life in the process. [279]

While acceptance is not approval, acceptance is a great kindness. Acceptance means dealing protectively and gently with the person who is lost. [283]

Don’t give your prodigal reasons to run. And don’t take responsibility for your prodigal’s decision if she does run. [283]

[Speaking to parents of a prodigal child] You must get to a faithful church for the sake of your own soul. You need more help than you think. You are more vulnerable than you believe. Church is not a social club; it’s training for war. Like it or not, the theater of this spiritual war is your home and your heart and your family. [284]

Have you read Christopher Yuan and Angela Yuan (son and mother cowriting team) in their memoir of faith, Out of a Far Country: A Gay Son’s Journey to God. A Broken Mother’s Search for Hope? If not, please do. This book is our most faithful trail guide for accepting and loving, but not approving of, your beloved prodigal. [285]

Going boldly to the throne of grace requires daily repentance of your own sin, but this means not taking on your prodigal’s sin as your own. It means repenting of the sin of self-pity. Satan wants you to feel responsible that you have a prodigal child. He wants you to think that it is all your fault, and that God is punishing you. He wants you to look at other families and covet what they have. Nothing that comes from Satan is helpful or true—even half-truths are lies. If you have fallen into sins of covetousness, repent and ask God to help you love your calling as a prayer warrior for a prodigal. [285]

It is the church that holds the keys to the kingdom, not the HR department enforcing transgender pronouns. Things have changed—and we need to discern how those changes impact our lives. But the gospel hasn’t changed. God hasn’t changed. Here at the Butterfields’, the gospel still comes with a house key. [She then tells a story of a frank but gracious interaction with her gay neighbors about the Bible, vaccines, and spheres of authority.] [293]

Advent: Of the Father’s Love Begotten

“Jesus is born!”

Every December we raise our voices in song proclaiming this event. We sing together carols written in the last few centuries; we rightly compose and sing new songs of praise.

But what songs did our brothers and sisters in Christ sing 1500 years ago?

In his introduction to a 1946 translation of Athanasius’ On the Incarnation of the Word of God,  C.S. Lewis writes:

Every age has its own outlook. It is specially good at seeing certain truths and specially liable to make certain mistakes. We all, therefore, need the books that will correct the characteristic mistakes of our own period. And that means the old books.

As with books, so with carols. We do well to interact with hymn texts not only from our century, not only from the previous three centuries, but also from the early years of the church. Such texts may state biblical truths in a different form from what we are used to; they may emphasize truths that we ignore; they may err in ways that are obvious to us – and so remind us that we most likely err in ways that would be obvious to believers of that era.

In our Advent services this year we have sung a carol written in Greek in the fourth century, “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence.”  Here is another text of that era that is well worth your contemplation: “Of the Father’s Love Begotten,” written by the poet Aurelius Prudentius and translated in the 19th century by John Mason Neale and Henry Baker. Emphasizing the eternal nature of God’s plan of redemption through His Son, each verse ends with the line, “Evermore and evermore” (saeculorum saeculis in Latin). Let’s consider the nine verses one by one, highlighting how each spurs our praise.

Stanza 1:

Of the Father’s love begotten,
Ere the worlds began to be,
He is Alpha and Omega,
He the source, the ending He,
Of the things that are, that have been,
And that future years shall see,
Evermore and evermore!

The second person of the Trinity is begotten of the Father’s love. While we today do not often speak in those terms, consider that first line in light of Luke 3:22 and John 3:16. The author goes on to call Jesus both the source of all creation and the end for which all exists, including all humanity (Colossians 1:16).

Stanza 2:

At His Word the worlds were framèd;
He commanded; it was done:
Heaven and earth and depths of ocean
In their threefold order one;
All that grows beneath the shining
Of the moon and burning sun,
Evermore and evermore!

He speaks – and, as at the tomb of Lazarus, His word has instant life-giving power. Furthermore, He gives not only life but order, with all parts of creation harmoniously working to praise Him, as pictured in Psalm 104.

Stanza 3:

He is found in human fashion,
Death and sorrow here to know,
That the race of Adam’s children
Doomed by law to endless woe,
May not henceforth die and perish
In the dreadful gulf below,
Evermore and evermore!

The author of life becomes man to know death experientially so that we the redeemed might not face death evermore and evermore! See Hebrews 2:14-15 as well as – once again – John 3:16.

Stanza 4:

O that birth forever blessèd,
When the virgin, full of grace,
By the Holy Ghost conceiving,
Bore the Saviour of our race;
And the Babe, the world’s Redeemer,
First revealed His sacred face,
evermore and evermore!

The birth of Jesus – “conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary” as stated in the Apostles’ Creed – is both a historical event, indeed, the hinge of history, and the eternal truth through which we must understand and interpret all that we see.

Stanza 5:

O ye heights of heaven adore Him;
Angel hosts, His praises sing;
Powers, dominions, bow before Him,
and extol our God and King!
Let no tongue on earth be silent,
Every voice in concert sing,
Evermore and evermore!

Given what we have seen, all must praise Him – heavens, angels, powers, and all humans. Understand “concert” not as a performance, but rather as every voice perfectly harmonizing with every other. We all must praise “in concert” for Jesus to receive the praise He deserves.

Stanza 6:

This is He Whom seers in old time
Chanted of with one accord;
Whom the voices of the prophets
Promised in their faithful word;
Now He shines, the long expected,
Let creation praise its Lord,
Evermore and evermore!

Just as in the previous stanza we sing His praises differently yet harmoniously, just so the prophets foretold His coming differently yet “with one accord.” The promise to Abraham, the promise to David, the promise “unto you a child is born, unto you a son is given,” the promise “the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” – each brings out a different facet of the person and work of Jesus, yet all are in accord, and together they describe in significant detail the coming Messiah. And now, says the poet, He shines with glory, as He fulfills all those prophecies.

Stanza 7:

Righteous Judge of souls departed,
Righteous King of them that live,
On the Father’s throne exalted
None in might with Thee may strive;
Who at last in vengeance coming
Sinners from Thy face shalt drive,
Evermore and evermore!

The Creator of all things, the Baby in the manger, the dying Redeemer on the cross, will return as the almighty King and Judge, against Whom no power can stand. He will overwhelm and rightly condemn all who oppose Him. See Revelation 11:15, 19:11-21, and 20:7-10.

Stanza 8:

Thee let old men, Thee let young men,
Thee let boys in chorus sing;
Matrons, virgins, little maidens,
With glad voices answering:
Let their guileless songs re-echo,
And the heart its music bring,
Evermore and evermore!

The poet here expands on Stanza 5: Every person of whatever earthly status has a role to play in praising Jesus from the heart, so that He gets all the glory He deserves. Consider Mark 11:14, John 4:23-24, and Revelation 7:9-12 in this regard.

Stanza 9:

Christ, to Thee with God the Father,
And, O Holy Ghost, to Thee,
Hymn and chant with high thanksgiving,
And unwearied praises be:
Honour, glory, and dominion,
And eternal victory,
Evermore and evermore!

The hymn closes with “unwearied” praise to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Why “unwearied”? The four living creatures in Revelation 4:8 “day and night … never cease to say, ‘Holy, holy, holy!’” We too in the eternal state will never weary of worshiping our God in spirit and truth – and thus will fulfill the purpose of our creation, the purpose of our redemption.

Thank you, Father God, for preserving such ancient texts to help us worship You this Christmas season. May the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing to you this season – then evermore and evermore.

(The Latin text and a second English translation of this hymn are available here. I encourage you to listen to a lovely a cappella recording of five of these verses here.)

Why We Have Tongues: Carols Across the Centuries

Christmas carols! We hear the tunes and our minds conjure up visions of decorated trees, family gatherings, piles of presents. We recall the eager anticipation of Christmas Day we experienced as children, and try to help the children around us to feel the same.

So carols serve to tie generations together. Many of the songs we’ll sing on Sundays this month were sung in my childhood church fifty years ago; were sung in my mother’s childhood church eighty years ago; were sung in her mother’s church 120 years ago; and on back through the decades and centuries. Music and lyrics bind Christians together across time.

Scripture tells us Christians of every time, from every place, of every culture form one Body – we are members one of another. Music reminds us of that truth.

Thus, we aim at DGCC to include music and lyrics both old and new – and we include the year the lyrics were written in the bulletin. These dates remind us: we are part of that One Church that the Spirit is building and perfecting, from every tribe and tongue and nation, from every decade and century and millennium.

So praise God for familiar carols that have been sung regularly for centuries!

But our unity with believers from earlier eras can also prompt us to discover carols that have dropped out of modern hymnals, that are almost never sung today. By digging into the past, we delight that much more in our common worship with brothers and sisters from earlier eras.

Here is a carol you probably have never heard sung: Shepherds Rejoice, by one of the earliest English hymn writers, Isaac Watts. I came across these three-hundred-year-old lyrics in the late 90s, and then was delighted to find that a tune commonly used for this carol right after the American Revolution was composed by William Billings, perhaps the greatest early American composer.

The lyrics are below. You can listen to the first and last stanzas sung to Billings’ tune via this link.

The first two stanzas are spoken by the angel to the shepherds, proclaiming the coming of the King of kings – but this king sits on a humble throne. So the angel invites these humble shepherds to kiss the Son (echoing Psalm 2:12).

The whole company of angels then gives glory to God in the third stanza.

In the fourth stanza, Isaac Watts addresses us: Angels are praising God in song – shouldn’t we men do the same? He then writes one of the greatest lines in all hymnody:

O may we lose these useless tongues
When they forget to praise!

God created us for His glory. He gave us tongues so that we might praise and glorify Him – including in speech, in song, in counsel, and in comfort.

So do so this season! Join Christians across the centuries by praising Him with old carols! And express our culture’s different forms of praise by singing new carols! And then also: praise Him through this new old carol from centuries past, that reminds us why we have tongues.

‘Shepherds, rejoice! lift up your eyes
And send your fears away;
News from the region of the skies:
Salvation’s born today!
Jesus, the God whom angels fear,
Comes down to dwell with you;
Today he makes his entrance here,
But not as monarchs do.

‘No gold, nor purple swaddling bands,
Nor royal shining things;
A manger for his cradle stands,
And holds the King of kings.
Go, shepherds, where the Infant lies,
And see his humble throne;
With tears of joy in all your eyes,
Go, shepherds, kiss the Son.’

Thus Gabriel sang, and straight around
The heavenly armies throng;
They tune their harps to lofty sound
And thus conclude the song:
‘Glory to God that reigns above,
Let peace surround the earth;
Mortals shall know their Maker’s love
At their Redeemer’s birth.’

Lord! and shall angels have their songs
And men no tunes to raise?
O may we lose these useless tongues
When they forget to praise!
‘Glory to God that reigns above,
That pitied us forlorn!’
We join to sing our Maker’s love,
For there’s a Saviour born.

Giving Thanks: An Example

[What role does giving thanks have in your life? What role should it have? Over 160 verses in Scripture refer to thanks.  Here is a list of most of them, which I commend for your meditation. Consider these few:

  • Psalm 50:23 The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me.
  • Ephesians 5:18, 20: Be filled with the Spirit . . . giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
  • Colossians 2:6-7   Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
  • 1 Thessalonians 5:18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you (audio of 2022 sermon on this text)

Consider also this quip from G.K. Chesterton: “When we were children we were grateful to those who filled our stockings at Christmas time. Why are we not grateful to God for filling our stockings with legs?”

For a period of time, every Monday Beth disciplined herself to record on her former blog items of thanksgiving.  Here is an excerpt from one of those entries from 2010. She reflects on Rachel’s example of a thankful heart, to which we would all do well to pay attention. Consider Beth’s words – and as we celebrate Thanksgiving may we express such thanks! – Coty]

She had major surgery and needed a home in which to recover.  In the beginning, she needed someone to help change incision dressings, prepare healing meals, encourage and comfort through post surgery pain and uncertainty.  She needed an arm to lean on while she slowly climbed the steps and sometimes she needed quiet music, candlelight, and foot rubs.  For three weeks, Rachel stayed here.

While she was in my home, I observed something very special.  Rachel wrote thank you notes. Prodigiously.  From the first week to the last, she wrote them.  In pain and groggy from meds, she wrote them.  In bed, she wrote them.  At the warm, sunny end of the kitchen table, she wrote them.

The EMT’s who arrived in the ambulance and took her to the hospital received notes and cookies.  She was in so much pain when they attended her that night that she had no recollection of who they were, but she called the fire station and got their names from the ambulance log and wrote notes to them.

Her nurses received notes.  She asked at the desk on her hospital floor for all their names and wrote them each a note.

Her doctor and physician’s assistant received notes.  The day of her first follow up appointment, she hand delivered those notes.  The PA smiled broadly, almost dancing upon receiving the envelope, and exclaimed, “This is my first thank you note from a patient!”

When she left our home, everyone here, Coty, Thomas, Joel and I, all received individual handwritten notes.

Her habit of handwritten gratitude puts me to shame and I know I am not alone.  I had a conversation with a friend at church today who admitted that, like me, she often fails to convey her thanks with a handwritten note.

Oh, we mean to do it.  We put “write thank you notes” on our to-do list.  We may even buy thank you cards and stamps.  But we procrastinate, thinking we are too busy at the moment, and time passes.  Finally, so much time passes that we feel embarrassed to write, our failure highlighted by our tardiness.  Perhaps we try to justify our actions by telling ourselves that, well, we said thank you.  They didn’t really expect a note, now, did they?

That EMT certainly didn’t expect a note.  Neither did the PA or the surgeon.  And how often do you think the nurses who measure the urine in the basin or change the colostomy bag get a hand-written note from a grateful patient?

Was that note writing obligatory?  Just the compulsory penning of thanks by a dutiful daughter whose mother taught her well?  Or worse, done because she thought she’d get even better care next time if her care givers got a note this time?  No, no, no!

That note writing was the expression of a heart so filled with thankfulness that it spilled out grateful words across countless little cards.  No detail was forgotten.  No small act of care or kindness done for her was omitted from her written outpouring of thanksgiving.

I am convicted – of my ingratitude, of my procrastination, of the self-centered ways in which I order that aforementioned to-do list to reflect my priorities instead of ordering it according to this admonition….

“in humility, count others more significant than yourselves.” (Philippians 2:3)

To fail to give thanks is to set myself above the giver as though I was fully deserving of every gift, as though it were my due.  This dishonors, by failing to recognize and appreciate, the sacrifice and attention of the giver.  If I don’t take the time to say thank you, I have forgotten the giver and thought only of the gift and of myself.

I do this to God and I to it to people.  So very often.

My dear friend’s illness and the way in which she has responded to it has touched many lives.  It has touched mine by giving me the opportunity to observe at close range one who excels in thankfulness.  Rachel’s is an example to follow.  I start by thanking you, Father God, for bringing her, for three precious weeks, into my home.

And more gifts…

  • deepened friendship
  • observation of the generosity of the body of Christ
  • little victories (for Rachel) over new daily tasks
  • children’s voices singing the names of God
  • Kristi’s skillful directing
  • potluck tables filled with good food
  • laughter and fellowship
  • people who pitch in, dry dishes, mop floors, clean bathrooms . . .
  • a helpful little book
  • quiet moments in a busy month

This practice of listing thanks early in the week, of publicly logging thanksgiving for abundant gifts is a marker in my week.  There is another practice that needs to become just as regular – writing my thanks on paper and sending it to those whose generosity graces my life.  There are so many I need to thank.  It’s time to get started.

The Christian’s Acid Test

[With Hurricane Ian ravaging Florida and pouring rain on us, let’s turn to Pensacola, Florida in 1969, when Hurricane Camille was about to hit the US. Martyn Lloyd-Jones – then 70 and on his final trip to the US – preached “The Acid Test” on 2 Corinthians 4:17-18, which reads in part in the ESV, “This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” This devotion is taken primarily from the final two-thirds of the sermon. You can download or listen to the entire sermon here; the book containing the nine sermons preached in Pensacola is available here – Coty]

In [2 Corinthians 4:17-18] we have the acid test of our profession of the Christian faith…. [Orthodoxy cannot be such a test.] Because of the terrible danger of a mere intellectual assent, orthodoxy, while it is absolutely essential, is not sufficiently delicate to merit the designation of acid test…. [Neither is morality nor experience.] If you make the test of experience the acid test, what have you to say to the many cults that are flourishing round and about us? After all these cults give people experiences….

[So what is the acid test?] The acid test of our profession is our total response to life, to everything that takes place within us and around us. Not partial but total…. The acid test of our profession is this: What do you feel like when you are sitting in an air-raid shelter and you can hear the bombs dropping round and about you, and you know that the next bomb may land on you and may be the end of you? That is the test. How do you feel when you are face-to-face with the ultimate, with the end? [Or we could put it this way:] The ultimate test of our profession of the Christian faith is what we feel, what we say, and what our reaction is when a hurricane … or a tornado or some … violent epidemic, a disease that brings us face-to-face with time and eternity, with life and death – [when one of these comes]. The ultimate question is, what is our response then? Because that is exactly what the apostle is saying here….

Paul is surrounded by many troubles and trials and problems. They could not have been worse. Yet he looks at them all and says, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”…

So here is the great test for us. Can we speak like this? Do we speak like this? We may be orthodox. That is not enough. We may be good people. That is not enough. We may have had some great thrilling experience. That is not enough. How do we stand up to the ultimate questions?…

[Note that this is not stoicism.] Stoicism is the exact opposite of Christianity…. The philosophy of Stoicism is the philosophy of resignation. It is the philosophy of putting up with it, taking it, simply standing and refusing to give in. Stoicism is negative, whereas the very essence of Christianity is that it is positive. Christians are not people who are just bearing with things and putting up with them. They are triumphing. They are exulting. They are “more than conquerors” (Rom. 8:37)….

A Christian is a man or woman who has an entirely new view of the whole of life. How is this? It is through believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. There was a time when Paul could not speak like this. The problems and difficulties of life pressed upon him. He could not face them. But in Christ, everything changed. Paul will tell you in the next chapter of this epistle, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Cor. 5:17)…. Not that [the problems and difficulties] changed, but Paul has changed, and he sees them in an entirely different manner. Everything is seen in the light of Christ….

What has happened to him? Well, he is now in a new relationship to God. He knows God as his Father. He knows his sins are forgiven. He knows that nothing will be able to separate him from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. He has believed the message concerning Jesus Christ and him crucified. That is the sole explanation. That is why he has an entirely new outlook, an entirely new view of the whole of life….

The difficulty with us is that we are all so immersed in the petty problems of life that we do not see life as a whole. And what this Christian faith gives us is the capacity to see life steadily and to see it whole….

[Christians have a new perspective in two respects. First:]

Notice how the apostle puts it: “Our light affliction, which is but for a moment.” Now this is most important. One of the first great things that becoming a Christian does to men and women is to give them a right view of time…. It is time that defeats people. Take a man and his wife who suddenly lose their only child. All their affection and interest had been settled on this child, and, oh, how happy they were together! Suddenly their son is killed in a war or drowned in the sea. Someone who is dearer to them than life is suddenly taken away, and they are bereft. And this is what they say: “How can we go on? How can we bear it? How can we face it? Six months, oh, how terrible. A year. Ten years. Twenty years. It’s impossible. How can we keep going? We’ve lost the thing that made life worth living.” The tyranny of time. Time is so long.

But Paul puts it like this: “Our light affliction, which is but for a moment.” Surely, you say, Paul was just a wishful thinker. This is just psychology, after all. How can he say “but for a moment” when life is long and arduous? Ah, the answer is quite simple. The apostle, as a Christian, knows what to do with time. There is only one thing to do with time, and that is to take it and put it into the grand context of eternity.

When you and I look forward, ten years seems a terribly long time. A hundred years? Impossible. A thousand? A million? We cannot envisage it. But try to think of endless time, millions upon millions upon millions of years. That is eternity. Take time and put it into that context. What is it? It is only a moment…. Christians are already seated “in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:6). They belong to eternity, and they are free from the tyranny of time.

But notice the second respect in which Christians have a different perspective: “our light affliction.”… Watch what he says. The apostle does not say these [afflictions] are light in and of themselves. That is not what he says at all. What he says is that they become light when contrasted with something else….

The apostle Paul has a picture. Do you see it? Here he is with a table in front of him, and on the table is a balance, a pair of scales. There is a pan on one side and a pan on the other side, and he puts in one pan his toils, troubles, problems, and tribulations. And down goes the pan, with all that unbearable weight. But then he does a most amazing thing. He takes hold of what he calls “a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”… He puts that on the other side. What happens? Down goes the pan, and that first weight was nothing. He does not say that it was light in and of itself but that when you contrast it with this “far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” on the other side it becomes nothing….

Here is his secret. He sees into the glory by faith. And having seen that, everything else becomes light, almost trivial. Everything the world has to give means nothing to him now. He knows that all this can be lost in a second. If a hurricane comes, everything goes. In any case, death will put an end to it all. He does not live for that. “The things which are seen are temporal.” Your homes, your cars, your wealth, everything can vanish in a flash. There will be nothing left…. But as for these other things, … we have “an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven” by God for us (1 Pet. 1:4). Let your hurricanes come one after the other, and all together it will make no difference. Let men set off all their bombs in the whole universe at the same time, this inheritance remains solid, durable, everlasting, and eternal. That is the secret. Once you have had a glimpse of this glory, nothing else can depress you, nothing else can alarm you, nothing else can get you down….

[Note then the purpose of such afflictions.] Those afflictions make you look at “the things which are not seen.” So they work for you. They drive you to this glory. They force you to consider it afresh. Far from getting me down, says Paul, they make me more sure of the glory of which I have had a glimpse—“a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” My dear friends, this has been the secret of the saints throughout the centuries….

The one question for each of us is this: Do we know something about this glory? Do we set our affections upon it? Do we live for it? Do we live in the light of it? Do we seek to know more about it? That is the secret of the Christian….

May God produce in this evil age a body of men and women who can look at this life, which they share with everybody else at the present time, and, when everything goes against them to drive them to despair, can say, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”

How the Nature of God Shapes and Drives the Mission of the Church

[In Let the Nations Be Glad, John Piper writes that worship is the fuel of missions, because “you cannot commend what you do not cherish.” A new book by Daniel Hames and Michael Reeves – God Shines Forth: How the Nature of God Shapes and Drives the Mission of the Church (Crossway, 2022) – elaborates on that idea. Here are some excerpts, with page references – Coty]

Our aim is to set before your eyes God as he truly is: God who is so full of life and goodness that he loves to be known; not as a campaign to impose himself on us or on the world but to give himself and share his own life with the world. (21)

The glory of God is personal: the Father’s radiance is the Son. It is God the Son who comes to be with his people and, in doing so, shines upon us the truth of the Father. (31)

“The love of God does not find but creates that which is pleasing to it.”[Luther] In his love, God gives to us what we need to know him and have fellowship with him. It is all by his grace and does not rely on us in any way…. God truly loves us sinners and has done everything necessary to redeem us and bring us to himself. He is not interested in our intelligence, morality, or abilities so much as our loving trust and reliance on him in his goodness. (45)

The glorious fullness of the living God revealed in Jesus sets him apart from all other gods. His innermost being is a sun of light, life, and warmth, always shining out: radiant and outgoing. Other gods, however, are always pits of grasping neediness. (66)

The human soul is like an open throat. For you to be a “living being” is to be like a newly hatched chick in the nest. Not yet able to fly or hunt for yourself, you open your beak wide and cry out for the provision of your parents. You are created to desire and crave—and to have poured into you from outside—life and sustenance, whether physical or spiritual. For this reason, the very soul of a person can “thirst for God” like a deer panting for water (Ps. 42:2) or a man in a “dry and weary land where there is no water” (Ps. 63:1). To be human is to be a thirsting and hungry throat: to rely on, receive from, and eat and drink from the living God. The Lord has made us this way to show that he alone is the source of life and that we must go to him for it. (69-70)

When we set our hearts and hopes on anything that is not the living God, we are thrown back on ourselves. Gods that cannot speak will need us to find words. Gods that cannot carry us will need us to pick ourselves up. Gods that cannot freely love will need us to make ourselves loveable. Whether our god is reputation, possessions, or relationships, we will be let down. Exhausting our own supplies, and with no supernatural help from such non-Gods as these, we will become as demanding and oppressive as they appear to us. (71)

Having turned away from the God of glorious fullness [in the Fall], [humanity] condemned themselves to chase the fullness they now lacked in created things that could never meet their needs and desires…. Eve thought that eating the fruit would make her “like God”—something more than she already was. Yet, in the eating, she and her husband became far less than they were. They had, of course, been created to be like God in the first place, but now, heeding the whisper of the serpent, they were quite unlike God…. How the mighty had fallen! This was a fall not only from moral innocence and purity but from fullness and glory (75-76)

Given all we have seen, it is no wonder that our culture is overrun with issues surrounding identity. Since the garden, we do not participate in the fullness of God’s life, his image in us has been vandalized, and we are consumed with self-love. Sinners do not know who, why, or what they are. Many people want to improve themselves but simply do not know what “mended” or whole people would look like. Sensing our brokenness, we make wild stabs at solutions: political activism, radical moral codes, mindfulness, self-improvement, dieting fads, and so on. Increasingly, self-assertion is seen as the key to real happiness, and so, in the brave quest for “authenticity,” almost anything is to be applauded and honored. We recognize that some do not consider themselves beautiful, some are compelled to lie in their job applications, and others feel ill at ease with their biological sex. The answer to all this, we are led to believe, is to look in the mirror and to reach deep within to retrieve our “true self,” increasingly accept it, and let it shine. However quirky, socially unacceptable, or controversial our actions, we are encouraged to be “true to ourselves,” and those who do so most tenaciously are lionized. “You do you,” says the world. This self-assertion is a kind of mission, but one driven by the empty self and not by the glorious God of heaven. It reaches out into the world not to give but to take. Ours is a society utterly persuaded by this lie and largely unable to see the truth: all the talk of looking within and finding “it” within yourself will never solve the problem, because that is the problem. We are simply not designed for incurvature. (85-86)

Evangelism is, by definition, the good news of Christ, not only a warning about the last day. When it comes to motivating Christians to mission, the gospel that moves the missionary must be the same one he or she expects to win the hearts of the lost. If we burden Christians with the guilt of abandoning people to hell, it will be the message of guilt and hell they will pass on, rather than the message of the Savior of sinners and conqueror of hell. Jesus Christ will not be the jewel of the gospel they tell, but only the means to escape a terrible end. Not only this, but the resulting converts will have been motivated by their preexisting instinct for self-preservation. Disciples who are won not by the glory of the Lord to repentance and faith but by an appeal to their own well-being will continue in exactly the same direction. Their newfound faith will be more about themselves than about Christ. (110)

We may find ourselves emphasizing themes of the gospel like “grace” or “heaven” but not explicitly holding out Christ as the gift and as the treasure of heaven. We may offer the world the hope of transformed lives, healed hurts, and renewed communities, but make Jesus the means to these things rather than the center of them all. These things are blessings of the gospel, but if they are elevated to become its center and our focus, they will become nothing more than substitute gods. (113)

[Quoting Luther] “It is right to call the word of the minister and preacher which he preaches God’s word, for the office is not the minister’s and the preacher’s, but God’s; and the word that he preaches is likewise not the minister’s and preacher’s, but God’s.”… This could not be more astounding. In the word of God, even when it is spoken by fallible and sinful humans, God truly gives himself. This means that in our proclamation of Christ in sermons, evangelistic messages, and even conversations about the gospel, Christ the Word is present in power. God is speaking his own Word; God is enlightening with his own light; God is offering himself to those who hear. (116-117)

If God seems to us to be empty and needy, we will serve him with empty hearts, finally taking what we need from the world rather than freely blessing it. What we truly worship and cherish will, for good or ill, be revealed in our mission. It is possible to look completely theologically orthodox while doing this kind of mission. We may doggedly cling to the inerrancy of Scripture, the uniqueness of Christ, the doctrine of hell, and substitutionary atonement while—all the while—exposing the world to an undelightful God. The God we know—or think we know—is the God we will show to the world. If we ourselves do not constantly revel in his free justification of sinners, his self-giving love, and his Son poured out to death for us while we were still his enemies, then we will be ghostly, unhappy Christians holding out a black hole of a god to people already dying. (123)

[For those who go out with the gospel today,] considering the contours of the biblical narrative of God’s mission is of great value. Knowing the history of the church’s missionary efforts is inspiring. Understanding the latest theory and literature in missiology is enriching. But beneath all these is the irreplaceable foundation of knowing and enjoying God. (131)

God’s plan for “the coming ages” is not to surprise us with a glory other than his Son’s but to take us ever deeper into “the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:7). In other words, in the gospel’s promised future, we will eternally enjoy the very glory that fuels our lives and mission today. (144)

Since we are sure of our future in the eternal embrace of Jesus Christ, we are people of hope. In our mission today, we invite the sinful, broken, and empty not to the hope of “heaven” as an ethereal afterlife but to the beauty, fullness, and glory of the Lamb who was slain for us. His delight is to fill his people with joy in him both now and forever. (145)

The cross is not simply the mechanism by which we receive a selection box of blessings of the new creation: the cross shows us exactly what sort of blessing this is. For the glory of God that will fill the earth at the end is the same glory we see in the death of Jesus. Specifically, the self-giving glory of the cross is the key to understanding the glory that is to come. (148-149)

The future we have to offer to our friends and neighbors is a world of unshakeable, unquenchable love. Can you imagine a life where you know, without any creeping anxiety, that you are perfectly and totally loved by God? Where you love him in return without any whisper of shame or inadequacy? A life where you are entirely secure in the love of those around you and are able to love them all without feeling exposed or vulnerable? Where you love people with such a generous freedom that you yourself only become more open and lovely? This is life in the glory of God and the light of the Lamb who was slain. (157)

The church’s mission is shaped and driven by the very nature of our God. All that we know of him, however limited by our present ignorance and sin, fills us with joy. Yet our hope of knowing him fully in the age to come can only increase our delight and anticipation, propelling us out into the world in overwhelmed gladness. How can we leave our friends, families, and colleagues in ignorance of the Lord whose purpose for all things is so good? Knowing his love that has reached out to us—and will one day reach out and fill all the world—what else can we do but reach out with that same love today? Gazing on the glory of the Lamb who was slain for us, and knowing that this is the glory that will shine in all the world, we may well sing with Wesley, ’Tis all my business here below to cry, “Behold the Lamb!” (160)

Have You Created a Designer God?

[This week I was reminded of these words written by J.I. Packer in 1958:

“If the human mind is set up as the measure and test of truth, it will quickly substitute for man’s incomprehensible Creator a comprehensible idol fashioned in man’s own image; man wants a god he can manage and feel comfortable with and will inevitably invent one if allowed…. Once people reverse the proper relationship between Scripture and their own thinking and start judging biblical statements about God by their private ideas about God, instead of vice versa, their knowledge of the Creator is in eminent danger of perishing.”

I elaborated on these ideas in a September 2003 sermon on Habakkuk 2:18-20. Here is an edited, shortened version of that sermon – Coty]

Imagine that you are two years old. If you haven’t spent much time with two-year-olds, let me remind you of some characteristics of this age:

  • Two-year-olds believe the world revolves around them (one doesn’t have to be two to believe this! But virtually all two-year-olds think this way.)
  • Two-year-olds have a hard time confusing needs with desires. “I want those gummy bears!” becomes “I need those gummy bears!”
  • Two-year-olds’ desires quickly become commands: “I need those gummy bears!” becomes “Give me those gummy bears right now!”
  • Two-year-olds don’t have a clue about what they really need. During my six years of parenting two-year-olds, I never heard one say, “Daddy, I really need a good night’s sleep tonight. Could I go to bed early?”

With these reminders, now imagine that you are two years old. And imagine that you can choose whatever type of parent you want – a Designer Parent. What type of parent will you choose?

Let’s assume that as two-year-olds go, you are quite wise. So you identify that you need a parent who will provide food, shelter, and care.

As a rare, wise two-year old, you also recognize that you don’t know everything. You choose a parent who will be able to teach you.

Third, you definitely want a parent you can trust – a reliable parent who will never let you down.

So far this doesn’t sound too bad, does it?

But every two-year old would choose this fourth characteristic: You want a parent you can control. You choose a parent who does what you want. Yes, you do want a parent who can teach you facts – when and if you want to learn. But you don’t want a parent who will control you, who will override your will.

What would be the outcome of allowing two-year-olds to design their parents?

Disaster would result.

But we live in a culture that encourages spiritual two-year olds to design their own gods. And when given that opportunity, most people act exactly like the physical two-year olds: they design a god who will work for their good, who can teach them something about the future, whom they can trust – but most of all, whom they can control.

But, friends, the God of the universe – the One and Only Living and True God – is not controllable! He promises to work for the good of His people, He is entirely trustworthy, He leads us into all truth – but our God does whatever HE pleases. He is not our genie, He is not at our beck and call – instead, He is sovereign, He rules over all.

The second chapter of Habakkuk addresses this issue. The chapter begins by contrasting the proud one with the righteous one who lives by faith. God then pronounces five woes on the proud one, in each case giving us an example of how not to live by faith. The first four lessons are:

  • True satisfaction comes from God alone;
  • True security comes from God alone;
  • True accomplishment comes from God alone;
  • True honor comes from God alone.

All these “woe’s” have a common structure: the proud one aims to fulfill a good, God-given desire, but he goes about pursuing that desire through evil means. God then issues an appropriate punishment, leading to a lesson about living by faith.

The fifth woe, Habakkuk 2:18-20, brings us to two-year-olds. We will first look at the proud one’s goal and means, then his punishment, and finally the lessons for living by faith.

18 “What profit is the idol when its maker has carved it, Or an image, a teacher of falsehood? For its maker trusts in his own handiwork When he fashions speechless idols. 19 “Woe to him who says to a piece of wood, ‘Awake!’ To a mute stone, ‘Arise!’ And that is your teacher? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, And there is no breath at all inside it. 20 “But the LORD is in His holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before Him.” (New American Standard)

The Goal: To Know the Unknowable, to Control the Uncontrollable; the Means: Idolatry 

Why does the proud one want to have anything to do with an idol?

Because the proud one knows that some things are out of his control. He thinks, “Disease, natural calamity, or my revengeful opponents may be around any corner.  I don’t know what tomorrow might bring! I’ve managed pretty well so far in accomplishing my objectives – but I need some additional power to ensure my position.”

And so he turns to an idol. This is the means he uses to accomplish his purpose. What is an idol?

An idol is any person, power, or spirit that you rely on instead of God for satisfaction, security, accomplishment, and honor.

Note: these are the goals of the first four woes! In effect, the proud one is relying on himself in pursuing those goals – thereby making an idol of himself. Here in the fifth woe, he realizes he needs some additional power to secure his position, and so he turns to a physical idol. But we commit idolatry whenever we rely on something other than God to meet these objectives.

What are the goals of the proud one in verses 18 and 19? There are four:

  • Profit: He wants a “god” who will be on his side, who will work for his benefit.
  • Teaching: The Hebrew word used in verses 18 and 19 has the same root as “Torah”, the word for God’s teaching to Israel, the Law. The proud one wants a “god” who will explain confusing things in this world, who will predict the future, who will instruct him on the best way to live in this world.
  • Trust: The proud one wants a “god” who is reliable, who will never leave him unprotected, who is powerful enough to preserve him from harm.
  • Control (note the proud one calls to the idol, “Awake! Arise!”, or as the NIV renders those verbs: “Come to life! Wake up!”): He wants a “god” who is at his beck and call, a “god” who will act as the proud one wants, a “god” who will profit him according to his desires.

Do you see the inherent contradiction here?

In order to profit us in all circumstances, in order to be worthy of our trust, this “god” must be all-powerful.

In order to be our teacher, this “god” must know more than us – particularly about the future, things unknowable to us. Indeed, if we are to trust him in all circumstances, he must be able to predict the future with complete accuracy.

Yet we want to control this “god”! Yet if we could control him, he would not be all powerful; if we could tell him how best to meet our needs, he would not be all knowing.

So the necessary conclusion: There are no gods like this.  Indeed, there cannot be gods like this. We want an all-powerful god who is under our control. That is a logical impossibility.

Thus, the proud one aims to profit himself, to have a teacher for himself, to have someone to trust – all of these goals are God-given, and God Himself is the only answer for these desires.

Yet the proud one rejects the one living and true God, because that God is out of his control. So the proud one opts instead for a pseudo-god he can control, an idol.

The Punishment: Futility

For the first four woes, God’s punishments are logical and just: the plunderer is plundered, the house the proud one builds for security cries out against the builder, accomplishment disappears, honor turns to disgrace.

For this woe, there is a twist. God does not state an explicit punishment. Instead, the punishment is implicit. What is it?

Look at the terms used to describe the idol in verses 18 and 19:

  • “Speechless”
  • “Mute” or “silent”
  • “Teacher of falsehood.” Or “teacher of lies”. Question: How can a mute teacher teach falsehood? Such a teacher can only tell you what you already know. So the falsehood taught by the idol is actually the lie of the idol’s maker, the false promise of support and wisdom from the idol.
  • “No breath at all inside it.” The Hebrew word for “breath” is also the word for “spirit,” so this phrase can be translated, “No spirit at all inside it.”

So what is the proud one’s punishment? If your teacher is speechless, if one in whom you trust has no breath, no spirit, then he also has no power – and thus you have no protection. In the end, relying on an idol is only relying on yourself. You will get no profit. As the Psalmist says,

Those who make them will become like them, Everyone who trusts in them. (Psalm 115:8)

Will become like them in what sense? Dead, powerless, helpless. This is the punishment. Futility.

Lessons for Living by Faith

God gives us an explicit lesson in living by faith in Habakkuk 2:20:

But the LORD is in His holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before Him.

Do you see the contrasts between the true God and idols?

  • There is no breath or spirit in the idol, but the Lord is really present in His holy temple
  • The one who makes the idol speaks to it, he commands it – yet the idol is mute. In contrast, the true God of the universe is the one who speaks – and before Him, we fall down silent.

With these thoughts in mind, let us draw out two lessons for living by faith:

(1) Living by faith means we receive commands from God; we do not give him commands.

This is a hard lesson, isn’t it? We so much want to be in control. We really do want that genie in the bottle. Like the two-year-old, we really think we know what is best for us and what is best for those we care for – and God doesn’t seem to bring that about!

As Mr. and Mrs. Beaver explain to the Pevensie children in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe:

“Is [Aslan]—quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”

“That you will, dearie, and no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver, “if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”

“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.

“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver…. “Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”

Our God is not safe. Our God is not tame. Our God is not under our control. Our God does things that we cannot comprehend, that we cannot fathom. But our God is good. He works for the benefit of His people – so let us acknowledge that we are less than two-year-olds in our understanding compared to His; let us acknowledge that He knows infinitely more than us; and let us therefore bow before Him.

(2) Living by faith means relying on the God Who is with us.

The Lord is in His holy temple. (Habakkuk 2:20)

Where is that temple today?

Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? (1 Corinthians 3:16)

If this is true – then why rely on any idol? God is not only with His people at the center of their country in a physical building – God Himself, Jesus Himself is in you! If you belong to Him, if you have repented and come to faith in Him, then you have the gift of God’s Spirit as a down payment of all the blessings God will give you in the future.  And Jesus lives in you.

So on whom should you rely for satisfaction, security, accomplishment, and honor? The God who is in you! And if He is in you, if He loves you more than you can imagine, if He has already given you the gift of infinite cost – His own Son’s death – then how will He not also along with Jesus freely give us all things?

As Isaiah says:

Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to profit, Who leads you in the way you should go. If only you had paid attention to My commandments! Then your well-being would have been like a river, And your righteousness like the waves of the sea.” (Isaiah 48:17-18)

He is the one who teaches us! He is the one who profits us! Listening to Him leads to well-being that flows and flows and flows like a river, that keeps breaking over us like waves at the beach! His love and goodness toward us never end. When God offers us His very presence within us – is it really too much for Him to ask for us to yield all control to Him? Is it really too much to ask that we value Jesus, love Jesus, put Jesus first in our hearts?

Conclusion

So, my friends: Where do you place your trust during the tough times in life? To whom do you turn when

  • People let you down,
  • When illness strikes,
  • When you lose your job,
  • When death hits those you love?

The world today offers you a zillion false gods. The world today offers you ways to discern the future, whether through horoscopes or economic forecasts. And many around us have set up such idols in their hearts. But none work. All in the end are the same as relying on yourself.

So do you trust the God of the universe?

Do you give yourself completely to the One Who gave His Son completely for you?

Do you trust in Jesus Christ and in Him alone – for salvation first, and then for all good things in your life: satisfaction, security, accomplishment, and honor?

Do you turn yourself over to His hands, saying, “God, I know I can’t control you! I know I am less than a two-year-old before you. Your understanding, no one can fathom. So, Lord, I trust you; I believe you are indeed working all things together for the good of those who love you, even when that doesn’t look to be the case. God! Make me yours completely!”

So trust in God through Jesus Christ! And keep trusting in Him, turning away from idols and false hopes! For trusting in God is a never-ending task. We must turn to him day by day by day by day by day, leaning not on ourselves but on God’s goodness, power, and faithfulness.

“The Lord is in His holy temple – Be silent before Him, all the earth.”

 

A Picture of Mao in Hell

[Sunday February 6 we consider 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11, which says in part: “The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.” Randy Alcorn’s book Safely Home attempts to describe what this destruction looks like. The book tells the story of Ben Fielding, a high-powered corporate executive in a multinational firm with factories in China, and Li Quan, Ben’s college roommate whom he locates after twenty years and visits. Expecting Li to be a successful university professor, Ben instead finds that his Harvard-educated friend is a strong believer in Jesus, a leader in a house church, and – because of persecution – a locksmith’s apprentice. Li Quan’s faith, the persecution that he encounters, and Ben’s reaction to that persecution form the structure of the novel. Alcorn is not trying to write great literature; instead, he is trying to communicate biblical truth in a way that is engaging, interesting, and accessible. By that standard, this book is excellent. Alcorn is a reliable interpreter of the Word, and uses the medium of the novel to teach:

  • the reality of persecution today;
  • how to fight the fight of faith in the midst of suffering;
  • the reality of the spiritual world around us;
  • the nature of heaven;
  • the nature of hell

After reading the first hundred pages, I found myself praying more regularly and more fervently for our persecuted brothers and sisters around the world. That alone makes reading Safely Home worthwhile. I strongly recommend it.

Below find Alcorn’s picture of Mao Zedong – the founder of the People’s Republic of China – in hell. Read it – and weep – and witness – Coty]

Where is my palace? Where are my servants? Does no one know who I am?

The vast, cold darkness cut into his face. It felt like intense frostbite, burning his skin.

I was the most powerful man in Zhongguo. I created the People’s Republic. I was the revered father of my country. They worshiped me. I was god! He waited, listening to the silence. Cannot anyone hear me?

His voice disappeared into the great dark void. It did not echo, for there was nothing for it to echo off. It was immediately absorbed into infinite nothingness. His words went no farther than his blistered lips.

A parade of untold millions marched inside his mind’s eye. His sentence was to relive the suffering of each of his victims. He had been here over twenty-five years. Every minute of those years he had relived the sufferings he inflicted on others. Every torture his regime inflicted he now received, one after the next after the next. Eventually, perhaps, they would start over, so the millions he had already endured were but the first installment. The pain was unbearable, yet he had no choice but to bear it. There was no escape into unconsciousness – no drug to take, no sleeping pill, no alcohol. That which he had laid upon others was now laid upon him – endlessly, relentlessly.

He longed to pluck out his eyes, to keep from seeing what he saw, to puncture his eardrums to keep from hearing the wailing misery, to pull out his tongue to keep from tasting the awfulness he had legislated. But he had no ability to destroy himself. He had no control now over his destiny, no power over himself or others. There was no one he could command to fix the situation, no one to prepare him an eight-course meal to assuage the eternal hunger, no one to do his work, no one to punish for their errors. No one to salute him, cower at his voice, or bow heads in his presence.

Where is everyone?

Misery loves company, and he had long sought the consolation of others. But all others were still on earth, secure in heaven, or confined to their own private hells at distances immeasurable.

The aloneness was stifling. He could hear nothing but his victims’ cries, feel nothing but their pain, see nothing but their blood, taste nothing but their vomit, sense nothing but their torture. He had only himself. He could not enjoy his own company, for he saw himself as he really was. It was an ugly sight, revolting beyond comprehension.

He felt a burning. A fury welled up inside him. Anger and bitterness, unfocused hostility, frustration leading him to lash out. But there was no one to lash out at. No incompetent aide, no dissident, no Christian pastor, no helpless peasant. No one to beat or shoot or hang or starve. No one to cower in fear at the power of the great chairman, architect of the Republic. No one to shine his shoes or rub lotion upon his burning feet.

Grief and rage warred within him. His hell was a growing cancer, gnawing at him, eating away at him, devouring him. He was like a bush that burned yet was not consumed, so the burning could never stop.

He had come to death entirely unprepared – and now it was too late to prepare. If the torture was not enough, a sickening feeling of foreboding had gripped him from his first moments here. He had hoped it would subside, that he would get used to it. He hadn’t. It only got worse.

He could see now through all his rationalizations. His arguments against belief in a Creator had never been intellectual ones, as he had claimed. By rejecting a Creator he thought he could rid himself of a Judge. But it had not worked. His atheism had been the opiate of his soul and the executioner of uncalculated millions. But now his comforting atheism could no longer exist, even for a fleeting moment, for he had been forever stripped of the power to deny reality.

He had lived his short todays as if there were no long tomorrows. He had believed the lie that all were accountable to him and he was accountable to none. He had believed the lie that death would slip him into eternal unconsciousness. He knew now – how well he knew – the curse of always being awake, ever alert, unable to allay his suffering with a moment’s sleep or distraction.

The winds of hell blew upon him. On them floated sounds of laughter and joy from a place far distant. These voices were torture. Many he recognized as belonging to Christians he had persecuted, worshipers of the Carpenter he had murdered. He relived what he had done to them, this time on the other end of the cattle prod. By the time he had died, while he and all he stood for were in decline, they and all they embraced were in ascent. They had beaten him. Their King had dethroned him even in the other life – how much more in this one.

As they celebrated in their far-off realm, at first he had imagined they were cursing him, celebrating his demise. He thought of them as his eternal enemies who would forever speak of what a great foe he had been to them. But he had come to realize something far worse. They did not curse him. They did not relive his great campaigns against him. No. They simply did not think of him at all. He was unimportant. Insignificant. In the eternal scheme of things, he did not matter.

Not matter? How dare they ignore me! Don’t they know who I am?

He had said, “I want there to be no God; I want nothing to do with him.” His atheist’s prayer had been answered. The everywhere-present God had chosen to withdraw his presence from this single place, turning it into a cosmic desert. This was a ghetto of massive proportions, yet so small it could slip through a single crack in the tiles of heaven. It was located in some distant and empty place, never to be feared or even stumbled upon by the citizens of Charis. His life, with all his supposed accomplishments, was but a puff of smoke, dissipating into nothingness.

Stop what you’re doing and listen to me! Stop or I will… I will…

No power to give meaning to a threat. No reason to be listened to. And no one to hear him.

Thirst without water to quench it. Hunger without food to satisfy it. Loneliness without company to alleviate it. There was no God here. He’d gotten his wish. On earth he’d managed to reject God while still enjoying his blessings and provisions. But it was excruciatingly clear now that God was the author of good. Therefore the absence of God meant the absence of good. He could not have it both ways, not here. No God, no good. Forever.

He had wanted a world where no one else was in charge, where no order was forced upon him. He had finally gotten it. He had secretly wondered if there was something beyond death, but if he went to hell, he’d fully expected to rule there. Yet there was no king, for there were no subjects. Only one prisoner – himself – in eternal solitary confinement.

He missed the sound of laughter. There was no laughter here, nor could there be, for laughter cannot exist without joy or hope. An awful realization gripped him. There was no history here. No story line. No opening scene, no developing plot, no climax, no resolution. No character development. No travel, no movement. Only a setting of constant nothingness, going nowhere. Excruciating, eternal boredom. Nothing to distract him from the torment of the eternal now.

He had charmed his friends and cheated his enemies, but death he could not cheat, hell he could not charm. This nameless, ever-shriveling man writhed in terror. Faced with his own deeds, punished by them, he was receiving in himself the penalty for what he had done. He longed for a visit from a foreign dignitary, delivered by a courier, a request for an audience in his illustrious presence. But no. He knew now none would ever come, or even want to. He could not return to Beijing – and knew Beijing itself would soon be gone, a flower withered in a summer’s wind. Perhaps it was gone already.

No one to fear him. No one to revere him. No one to hear him. No one to think about him.

He who had claimed to be savior was forever without a Savior. Ignored and insignificant. Empty and embittered and regretful. Without a following. Without a heart. Without a hope.

Forever, time without end.

[From Safely Home by Randy Alcorn (Tyndale House, 2001), p. 327-330. The first chapter of the book is available online. Visit www.epm.org for more resources from the author, or to order the book. Note that all royalties from its sale are used to help persecuted Christians and to spread the Gospel in their countries.]