Translate

Sunday, November 30, 2014

THE FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT (Psalms)

THE FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT

Lighting a candle is a simple yet profound act. It is a testimony to the power of light over darkness. Even the light of one candle can reveal our faces as we stand near the candle. As we light the candle, we begin our journey to Christmas, a day of joy and celebration.

The first candle on the Advent wreath is called the Prophecy candle, it opens the period that anticipates Christmas and remembers those who first spoke the promise of the coming Christ child.

[Light one of the blue candles.]

One candle, burning bright,
Chasing away the darkness from light.
One candle, glowing light,
The blessing of God, giving new sight.

From the Psalms

In Psalm 122 we see religious people approaching the holy city of Jerusalem. They are filled with joyous anticipation of worship. Soon they will be in the city and in the temple. Soon they will be in the presence of the Lord. In that context, the psalmist prays for the peace of Jerusalem.

Scripture: Psalm 122

Prayer
Dear God, on this first Sunday in Advent we begin a spiritual pilgrimage as we joyously anticipate Christmas day, a reminder of the birth of our Savior. As we come to this place of worship, we know that we are in your presence. Give us your peace that through us all may know the peace that Christ brings. In his name we pray. Amen.

Giving thanks to the Sin-bearer - Isaiah 53 (Sermon #5)


Isaiah 53 English Standard Version (ESV) Who has believed what he has heard from us?  And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?  For he grew up before Him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who has considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; He (God!) has put him to grief; and when his soul makes an offering for guilt, this God shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; and the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. 11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered along with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and even today makes intercession for the transgressors.

Opening Prayer – Great God, in public & in private, at church & at home, may our lives be steeped in prayer, filled with grace, each prayer perfumed with the atonement of our Lord.  Help us, defend us, urged by our need, invited by your promise, called by your Spirit, we enter your presence, we worship you, awed by your majesty, your greatness and glory and we are encouraged by your love.

On our own we are all poverty & guilt, having nothing of our own to repay you with, but we bring Jesus.  We bring Jesus in armfuls of faith, pleading his righteousness to offset our iniquities, rejoicing that He will weigh down the scales of justice for us.  We bless you when great sin is outdone by great grace, that although the least sin deserves infinite punishment yet there is mercy for us, for where guilt is most terrible; there your mercy is free & deep.  Bless us by giving us more of you.  Give us every rest when Christ reigns with in us in every thought, word & deed.  Purify our hearts, Spirit, overcome the world, fasten us to you and ever cling us to that cross.

O Son of God, Son of Man, You were incarnate, suffered, rose & ascended for our sakes.  Your departure was not a token of separation but a pledge of your return; your Word, promises, and sacraments carry us on until your return.  Yet that future Day of Judgment holds no horror to me, your death has redeemed me, your Spirit fills me, and your Love & Word sustain & guide me.  I have trusted you and you have not betrayed that trust; we wait on you, but not in vain.  These corruptible bodies will one day put on the incorruptible; this mortal – immortality; this sick, weak & frail body – a glorified body.  For now we cling to your promises & your words, but beyond the grave is resurrection, judgment, acquittal, and peace.  Every event & circumstance of our lives will be dealt with – from secret sins to disobeying your Word, sins of neglect & violations of conscience – all will be judged.  But for your Elect after judgment, will come peace, rest, life & service.  O God, keep us in this faith, and ever looking for Christ’s return.  And all of God’s children said, “Amen.”

Intro
My sermon is entitled: Giving thanks to the Sin-bearer (Isaiah 53)
Good morning, Calvary.  I am happy to be with you today.  By my reckoning, this is about the 4th time I’ve preached here.  For me one of the benefits of not being the regular pastor at the church is unlike Brian who regularly preaches through a book of the Bible; I get to be a highligher to jump around with you and review, what I feel, are the best passages from the whole of Scripture.  Thinking back to those sermons I’ve already done before, we’ve already looked at John 1 - where evangelism was described as John the Baptist pointing others to the Savior, we looked at Ephesians 1 – where we discussed the generous doctrine of Adoption into God’s family and we’ve looked at Psalm 51 with King David’s repentance & faith & restoration after his affair with Bathsheba and the murder of his lover’s husband.  Today we get to spend a little time in what I find to be one of the single best descriptions of the Purpose & Work of Christ in the whole of Scripture and yes its even in the OT.  Today we’ll be looking at Christ in 3 aspects.  First, will be from the OT’s perspective and looking forward to the coming Savior.  Second, will be focused on our passage and what it says about the purpose & work of Christ.  And finally we’ll jump to that scary book at the end of the Bible and briefly look at how Christ’s work and our particular salvation come together in true worship. 
@@@
As we are now transitioning into the Advent season I picked this particular passage as a reminder of the point of Advent.  Advent or “the coming”, for Christians, is a season that is meant to anticipate the 2 comings of Christ from two slightly different perspectives.  This season offers you 1st the opportunity to share in the ancient Jewish longing for the coming of the Messiah, while 2nd also being alert for his Second Coming.
@@@
One of the things that originally sparked my interest in doctrine and church practice was some issues I was having at my old church.  While often these people where very nice, moral, friendly people the more time I personally spent reading the Bible the more often I would get upset by what was being done there and what was being taught there.  One of the seven beliefs they had in their brief belief statement was an emphasis on the NT, nearly to exclusion of the OT completely.  This emphasis is to such an extent that I personally don’t remember a single sermon on or regarding the Old Testament at all.  Today as someone who better understands the NT, which is absolutely jam packed with OT references and illusions and metaphors and having read the Early Church Fathers who also made great use of the OT in teaching Christ.  I became concerned if other Christians were likewise ignoring 2/3rds of their Bibles.  It was in studying the OT from Church Fathers that I was introduced to a whole new world of Christianity that I’d been previously deprived of.  It was like growing up your whole life only knowing of the AM channels on the car radio and then suddenly being introduced to not only FM but also Sirius Satellite Radio or Pandora. 

One of the reasons that I picked this OT passage was to emphasize how fulfilling studying the OT can be and to warn against this impulse some have in ignoring the majority of the Bible simply because it’s old or because their culture was so dis-similar to ours today.  So that is my first admonition to you, read the bible & don’t skip the OT.

Section #1 – Jesus as seen in the OT
As I said the Apostles in the NT and the Early Church Fathers seemed to find Christ hidden behind every burning bush, wooden ark & sacrificial lamb in the OT.  Often the way they did this was in 3 different aspects and I won’t go into great detail on each of them but my hope is just being introduced to these it will give you a whole new avenue in which you can read and study the Bible.  So these 3 aspects were: by Christophany, by theme, & by Messianic prophecy.

So what’s a Christophany?
A funny thing when studying diverse modern religions is that all religions seem to make a big deal about Jesus.  It’s as if Jesus were actually true & to hold to their particular beliefs they have to justify their view of Jesus.  Muslims honor him as an exalted prophet.  Mormons, Hindus & ancient Romans often saw him as just one of many gods.  Even atheists see him as some grand teacher of morality combined with myths of the supernatural.  But Paul & John in Scripture spend a lot of time in describing him as the very God of Heaven himself, made flesh & come among us.  So a Christophany is a term that describes a meeting with Jesus prior to his birth in Bethlehem.  That might sound like an odd sentence; meeting someone before they are born but remember that Christianity teaches that Jesus is God himself made Man, an eternal being not someone who only existed as of roughly 5 BC to AD.  You might call it a pre-existent appearance of Christ.  Many theologians even argue that when the term The Angel of the Lord appeared in the OT was also an example of a Christophany.  As the term angel really only means a messenger of God’s Word.  A few examples of a Christophany are: God walking with Adam in the Garden of Eden (Gen 1-3); Abram meeting with the Lord (Gen 12 & 18); Jacob wrestling with God (Gen 32); the 4th man in the fiery furnace protecting Shadrach, Meshach & Abednego (Daniel 3); and the Commander of the Army of the Lord from the Battle of Jericho (Joshua 5).  And all of these images were used to describe to believers that the very point of Scripture was the person & work of Christ.

Theme
The Apostles and Church Fathers also taught Christ from the OT in themes, symbols & types.  You might say in the same way that Adam was Man’s representative before God in sin, Jesus now becomes a Christian’s representative before God in salvation or the work of the wooden cross in salvation is prefigured in Noah’s salvation from the raging waters of God’s judgment in his wooden ark.  And on and on they would go breathing new life into old stories and finding deeper and richer meanings for OT passages that continually pointed forward to a better & more righteous leader - a king, a Savior who was to come.
And that brings us to Messianic prophecies.  The NT frequently cites OT scriptures to support the Early Churches claims that Jesus of Nazareth was the ultimate Messiah “or the anointed one” that the Jews were foretold to expect.
Messianic Prophecy
There are many Old Testament prophecies about Jesus Christ.  Some interpreters place the number of Messianic prophecies in the hundreds.  A few which are considered the clearest and most important are… Isaiah 7:14: the virgin birth, Isaiah 9:6 God becomes a man, Micah 5:2 the Messiah is to be born in Bethlehem, Isaiah 40 the ministries of John the Baptist & Jesus are prophesied, Isaiah 50:6 accurately describes the beating that Jesus would endure, Zechariah 12:10 predicts the “piercing” of the Messiah, Zechariah 9:9: says, “See, your king comes to you, O Jerusalem, having righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey,” Psalm 22:16-18 says, “a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet.  Yet I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me.  They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing,” and our passage Isaiah 53:9 even describes Jesus as occupying a rich man’s tomb (think Joseph of Arimathea) & that he was killed even though he was neither violent nor a liar.
Now to be perfectly honest, individually they are defiantly vague & often disputed but I find from the mass of them, as a whole, they create a collage (if you can imagine an art collage) of bits & pieces of information that all taken together form an elaborate picture to the person and work of Christ, who he is and what he came to do.  

@@@
Its interesting that many of these Messianic Prophecies come from the book of Isaiah which has been immensely influential in the expression of Christianity.  The regard in which Isaiah has been held is so high that the book is frequently called "the Fifth Gospel".  In effect we’d have Matthew, Mark, Luke, John & Isaiah.  Isaiah was the one prophet who spoke the most clearly of Christ and the Church than any other OT prophet.  

Section # 2
Before we look at the ministry of Christ I want to tell you a quick story- Its probably no surprise to you that before Sandra & I had 3 kids we had a bit more money to spend on ourselves & we went on a few tropical cruises.  It was a great time.  Cruising is fun: people dress up in eveningwear, there are fancy dinners, drinks, gambling, Las Vegas style entertainment, a bedroom that travels with you and lots and lots of food.

Now picture all of that & then imagine the exact opposite of a vacation.  Instead of clean it was dirty; instead of a nice wait staff people wanted to kill you; instead of stuffed you were hungry; instead of a place to stay you were homeless; instead of fun you were beaten, lied about, mocked, spat on & worst.  That is what the ministry of our Lord was like & not for a short week’s vacation but for a 33-year…I don’t know, let’s call it an “anti-vacation”.

Maybe nowhere in all the OT is it so plainly & fully prophesied what Christ must come & suffer, before he would enter into his glory than this chapter.  Friends it would take a year to do justice to this passage.  A year to point out every parallel from this OT passage to the NT fulfillment in the life & especially the Passion of Christ & he fulfills all of this for you because you (no matter how great you think you are) you are not righteous enough for His heaven.  It is this realization of personal unworthiness and his work to earn that righteousness for you that leads sinners to repentance and calls beggars to God’s table where he sets a banquet before the unworthy.  
If I had to condense all of this passage to a FB post, to distill its gospel it would have to be vs. 4-6, which state this “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.  But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace [with God], and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

@@@
So few people today concern themselves with this most authentic & important report – that Salvation has come for Sinners, through the Son of God.

The low condition he submitted to and his appearance were not what the Jews were looking for in the Messiah, he should have come from good stock, be handsome, proud, regale, wealthy, a warrior, a king.  Instead he was mocked as the bastard child of a Roman soldier, the spawn of a knocked-up teen-mom.

In this section are the accounts of his suffering and the design for his suffering.  It was for our sins (vs. 5), in our place (vs. 11) that the Prince of Heaven had to descend to earth.  We have all sinned, come short of the righteousness God requires (vs. 6).  These sins deserve all grief and sorrow that come our way, probably even worst than we get.  But we are saved from ruin, by laying our sin on Christ and receiving from him his righteousness (vs. 11).  This is the only way of Salvation.  Our sins were the thorns in his head, the nails in his hands & feet, the spear that pierced his side.  He was delivered to death for our offense (vs. 12).  And from this we’ve been taught to love him who first showed his love for us.

Come & see how he loved us!  We could not drag him down out of heaven so he came on his own.  We could not force him to obey the Law for us so he did it out of love.  We could not make him die for us so he showed his compassion in acts of self-sacrifice.

And note that he did not send another, no angel took his place, and no devoted disciple fulfilled his task.  He will not commit the care of His family to another, no God does it all himself by putting on flesh & doing what we did not and could not.  God’s purposes take effect, so he shall see the conversion & the salvation of sinners.  There are many he gave his life for, many still he intends to draw along this path of salvation.  By his work & by his free grace, we are saved through faith & repentance.  Through gifts and reminders like baptism and the Lord’s Supper we are sanctified, soon glorified.  But we must know him, believe on him.  We must repent to him, trust him, as the one who bore our sins and saved us from sinking under the load, by taking our burden from off our backs and taking it upon his own.

As we survey these sufferings designed for the Son of God, let us remember our own catalogue of transgressions and consider him as suffering under the load of our guilt. Here he has laid the firm foundation for the trembling sinner & rest for the weary soul. We Calvary are the purchase of his blood; we are the prizes of his grace as he continually pleads & intercedes for us before the Father.

@@@
Despite the fact that many modern Jews teach this passage as referring to their own perseverance in the face of anti-Semite persecution, many from Jewish history taught otherwise:
So pretend you are a Jew from ancient times for a moment and listen to these words about this passage, that we’ve already read.  This is from Rabbi Mosheh Kohen Ibn Crispin: who described those who interpret Isaiah 53 as referring merely to Israel as those who quote "have forsaken the knowledge of our Teachers, and inclined after the `stubbornness of their own hearts,' and of their own opinion.  I am pleased to interpret it, in accordance with the teaching of our Rabbis, as the prophecy of the King Messiah....This prophecy was delivered by Isaiah at the divine command for the purpose of making known to us something about the nature of the future Messiah, who is to come and deliver God’s people, and his life from the day when he arrives until his advent as a redeemer, in order that if anyone should arise claiming to be himself the Messiah, we may reflect, and look to see whether we can observe in him any resemblance to the traits described here; if there is any such resemblance, then we may believe that he is the Messiah our righteousness; but if not, we cannot do so."
Now I’m not a Jew I’m one of the goyim (a gentile) but that may be the best Gospel call I’ve ever heard so let me say that to you.  Here is my 2nd admonishion.  For you who know you are saved if Jesus sounds like the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53 then believe on him as your Savior & your righteousness & worship Him….and for you who know you are not saved Jesus said it even clearer, “Repent & believe the Gospel.”  This is the gospel.  And for you who fall somewhere in the gray (in between) not sure if you are saved or not.  For you I say, give some time to be reminded of our Lord, his life and his message of redemption.  Read Isaiah 53 again before Christmas & the Gospel of John for the New Years and see if getting more of Christ makes your heart swell for joy or you really couldn’t care less about him, that’ll tell you better than I could if your really saved or not.
Section # 3

Having looked at one of my favorite OT passages regarding the coming (or advent) of Christ I’d like to move on to one of my favorite NT passages – Revelation 5.  After all that we’ve reviewed from thousands of years of OT prophecies & promises of the Messiah to come, to the very Gospel of the Salvation of sinners, done by the Son of God described in Isaiah 53, we now see what all of that is intended to culminate in, True Worship. 

These are the words of thanksgiving for our Sin-bearer from Revelation 5.  The assembled masses of heaven cry out: “Worthy are you…for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them into a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.  Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing! To him who sits on the throne and unto the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever and ever!”

Now when I say worship I don’t merely mean to sing or clap or raise your hands in the air, although those things are fine.  What worship is, especially for Baptists, begins with attitude.  Is your heart in the right place?  Are we worshiping according to what the Lord has revealed in Scripture?  But if worship is not just a type of music, then what does it involve?  For Christians its setting aside a day of the week in honor of Christ, the Son’s Day.  It’s Communion, commemorating Christ’s life, death and resurrection until his return.  It’s prayer, which should be directed only to God, not to angels, or dead saints, popes or even to Mary.  It includes singing and making music from your heart to the Lord, which is giving thanks to the Father for everything!  It’s offerings, giving back to the Lord with a thankful heart.  At Christmas time we find it not odd thing to give gifts to our loved ones.  Offerings are like that to God, except they have the added benefit of carrying on the mission of the Church & caring for the poor.  Worship is preaching & teaching, learning more about God & his Word from men and women dedicated to imparting what they know to others.

The author of Hebrews has this to say, “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.”  True worship is not confined to what we do in church.  True worship is the acknowledgment of God and all His power and glory in everything we do. When we eat, sleep, work, serve, and live from sunup to sundown, all that we do is to be in a spirit of worship & thanksgiving to God.  True worship is offered to God from the depths of our inner being in praise and prayer, in song, in giving, in learning and in living, but always based upon His revealed truth.  So that is my final admonition to you, to review your life to see if it is one of worship of God or yourself or anything else that you need to repent of?

As I wrap us up this morning I’d like to recommend a book to you – David Murray’s Jesus on Every Page.  Its only $5 used on Amazon & this book will walk you through 10 simple ways to seek & find Christ in the OT.  Secondly, even though my sermon’s focus was on the gospel, one of the most amazing miracles in all of Scripture is the incarnation.  There is no more apt title for Christ between Thanksgiving & Christmas, this Advent season, than Immanuel “God with us.”  And finally there was 1 last point of Worship that I left out, service.  Much like thanksgiving, there isn’t a more “Christian” thing to do that reflects the service & self-sacrifice of our Lord than to serve others.  If it’s a soup kitchen, an assisted living facility, or an orphanage I’d like to challenge every one of you to find an area in which you can show love & serve the sinners of this world, as an act of Worship to our Lord.  This advent season; take the time to give thanks to the Sin-bearer.  Thank you.  

Monday, November 24, 2014

Reformed Libertarian

Fascist Republicans vs. Communist Democrats


The war between Fascism and Communism is simply a war for property. Property comes in many forms. Your thoughts, body, labor and possessions. We are in a war between two tyrannical forms of government. Our thoughts, body, labor and possessions are controlled from cradle to grave with little opportunity to make any decisions for ourselves without permission from either our communist or fascist dictators. Who do you think can make the best decisions for your life, liberty or property? What part of your life, liberty or property do you want owned and regulated by the government?

Under Communism the government controls and owns all property. The Communist/Democrat solution is for the government to own everything and share it equally with everyone. This has obvious flaws, there is no incentive to excel under this system. You only reward the government and your neighbor with extra thought or labor on a project. This also creates an elite and poverty class system. If you aren’t part of the elite class you are destined for poverty with no opportunity to excel beyond those limitations no matter how hard you work. The country gets lazier and lazier until it breaks down due to lack of production.

Under the Fascist/Republican form of government you are allowed to rent your property from the government. They are your true landlords. They regulate you and your property in such a way to pick which corporations or individuals will be successful. This scheme is very popular among the elitist class. They can regulate their competitors right out of the market place. Zoning is an example of pure fascism. You pick which properties can build, start businesses etc. Obviously if you aren’t a good old boy you simply are refused access to success. Good zoning for a fascist Republican would be if their campaign contributors property was zoned to the benefit of the contributor. They stay in power, the contributor gets rewarded for loyalty.

This is the point when most good Americans would say we aren’t fascist or communist we are a democracy. Unfortunately, we have become a democracy. In school I was taught over and over that we are free because we have the right to vote. This is why we are a democracy is because we have the right to vote? Hitler, Saddam Hussein, Vladimir Putin, were all voted in. In fact few countries don’t allow their citizens to vote. Most of these countries fall under either communist or fascist forms of government. Have we been lied to? Yes. We are a Republic. Under this form of government we can vote so long as it doesn’t infringe on the constitution of the U.S. or our state constitution. We pledge allegiance to the Republic for which we stand. Article IV section 4 of the constitution guarantees to every state a Republican form of government.

The American Republic dream was for all people to control and own their life, liberty and property. Equal opportunity, not equal outcomes. This idea changed the world. It has slowly been eroded away by those who would love to own and control you. The government was to be limited simply to protecting our life, liberty and property from other people, corporations and governments. They have gone way beyond these limitations. Time is short we can no longer let the pendulum swing back and forth from communism to fascism. Honor the constitution and the founding fathers who died for freedom. Keep the dream alive, vote Libertarian or Libertarian-leaning candidates into office. 

God Glorified in the Evils of Statism

God Glorified in the Evils of Statism

The Background
The first published sermon by American Puritan Jonathan Edwards in 1731 was titled God Glorified in Man’s Dependence.  In this sermon Edwards aims to show: “1st, that there is an absolute and universal dependence of the redeemed on God for all their good.  And [2nd], that God hereby is exalted and glorified in the work of redemption.” Man is wholly dependent.  And by this, God is glorified.

Edwards first notes that all our good finds its very source in God, as he is the author of all that is good.  And not only is he the “first cause” of all the good that the redeemed receive, but he is also the “only cause” of all our good. “He gives the purchaser [for our redemption] and he affords the thing purchased.”  Edwards notes secondly that not only is God, by His own grace, the source of goodness in life, but He is also the “medium” of all that we have.  That is, we receive the good gifts of God through him and no other.  All that contributes to our salvation “is from God by a Mediator; and this Mediator is God.”  And lastly, Edwards notes that God Himself is the substance of the good that we receive.  “We not only have it of him, and through him, but it consists in him; he is all our good.”
That is to say, man is wholly and completely dependent on God.

But this is exactly how God has chosen to glorify himself.  Edwards says it best:
“Man hath so much the greater occasion and obligation to notice and acknowledge God’s perfections and all-sufficiency. The greater the creature’s dependence is on God’s perfections, and the greater concern he has with them, so much the greater occasion has he to take notice of them. So much the greater concern any one has with and dependence upon the power and grace of God, so much the greater occasion has he to take notice of that power and grace. So much the greater and more immediate dependence there is on the divine holiness, so much the greater occasion to take notice of and acknowledge that. So much the greater and more absolute dependence we have on the divine perfections, as belonging to the several persons of the Trinity, so much the greater occasion have we to observe and own the divine glory of each of them.”
A wondrous doctrine to be sure.  But does not God seek to glorify his name in all other circumstances as well?  It is no doubt true that the dependence that the redeemed have on God’s goodness is perhaps the most glorifying activity God has demonstrated throughout all history.  But does not God declare that He is sovereignly working for his glory in other ways as well?  Yes indeed!

“For my name’s sake I defer my anger, for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off. Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.” (Isaiah 48:9-11)

Why do afflictions exist?  So that his name is not profaned and his glory is not given to another.  Shall any other receive glory?  No, none at all.  Man must realize his dependence on God, not only in redemption, but in all of life.  In every aspect of life, we must declare that God is King.  When man discovers his outstanding dependence, it is nearly impossible to deny that God is on the throne.  Trials and afflictions make man realize that he is dependent and thus these are necessary so that God may declare his glory.
The Application

If then, God sovereignly directs us to recognize all that he is, even in the midst of hardship and suffering, so that we may know our dependence of Him, we can say that God is glorified in the evils of Statism.  Freedom has been taken away in this country.  We have lived in the era of Statism since the early 1900’s.  The State has used its power to subject more people to poverty, murder more human beings, extract more wealth, and breach more rights than any institution in the history of mankind.  In today’s world, we are seeing the expansion of government tyranny to an extent greater than ever before.

How is God glorified in this?  First, it is not only in the revelation of man’s sin that the Christian understands his great dependence on God.  It is also when he is subjected to the domineering kings of this world that he recognizes that there is nothing that he can do physically to rectify the nasty activities of centralized power.  For his liberty then, he ought not to depend of the governments of the world which do nothing but take away liberty and freedom.  No, truly it is absurd to depend on an institutionalized criminal conglomerate such as the imperious State for the protection of rights.  Be not dependent on other men.  Depend on God for all your freedoms and liberties, for it was for freedom that Christ set us free! (Gal 5:1).  As we suffer under the boot of Statism, God makes it known to us that there is freedom only in the cross.  Suffering directs our gaze to Him.  In this dependence, God is glorified.

Second, God is glorified in the evils of Statism because his children recognize that God is the only good King.  God is a King who loves his children, cares for them, seeks their highest joy by making himself known to them.  God Himself is the great gift that he, while not obliged, was graceful enough to give us.  What human king has done such a thing?  Human rulers act in the opposite.  They make you go fight to the death for the expansion of their kingdom.  God sent his own son to die for his people, that by this act His kingdom would be set in stone for all time.  God is a loving King who is true to his promises, and honest to his own good name.  The State sets up Ponzi Schemes like Social Security, which, by its very nature, is a false promise which depends on future theft.  The State is dishonest and is by its nature an institution of lies and threats.  In realizing that God is the only good and honest ruler, God is glorified.

Third, God is glorified in the evils of Statism because the Christian notes that this despicable world is not his permanent residence.  It is in times of prosperity and earthly freedom that we become complacent and comfortable in the very lives which we are to see as temporary.  In times of comfort, we forget that we are not supposed to focus on storing up our treasures here on this earth.  We should rather, as citizens of God’s heavenly kingdom, focus on our long-term investment.  That is, our eternal investment.  Nothing that we do here will be beneficial here in the long run.  All that is eternally good, is eternally good precisely because it will be fulfilled after this world passes away.  We recognize that we are pilgrims on this journey and we live life in light of eternity.  And the first step of being a disciple of God is recognizing that eternity matters far more than temporary things.  Under the tyrannies of Nero, the Christian church was purified, made strong, and declared that God eternal was the very source of all that was good, despite the evils of Rome’s statism.  In making a commitment to eternity, God is glorified.

Fourth, God is glorified in the evils of Statism because he is sovereign over the State, no matter how big and brutal it becomes.  Jesus told Pilate: “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above.”  In the same way, God may at anytime take away the power that any domineering State claims for itself.  God is sovereign, not the State.  And although the State sees itself as the greatest institution in the world, it is God who daily allows for its existence and it is therefore up to the determination of God how long their power shall last.  He may end it today, or in ten years, this we do not know.  But we do know that God’s declaration of sovereignty over the existence of the State glorifies Him.  Both the State and God do all things for their own glory.  And yet God can, whenever he wills, gloriously put to shame the claim to power that the State lusts for.
Fifth, God is glorified in the evils of Statism because, while the liberty movement longs for their ideal of “limited government” and perhaps for some, no State at all, the Christian who longs for liberty realizes that earthly liberty is a blessing given by God in His good timing.  It prevents the hopelessness of a small man realizing he can do nothing to “change Washington.”  Where there is false optimism, there is eventually great disappointment.  But where optimism is grounded on the Truth of God’s promises, it never fails.  God never says that we will find utopia in this life, but he does promise that we will be forever in his presence, once he does away with the evil that is temporarily here and among us.  Christians who are part of the liberty movement realize that it is not worth their entire life to dedicate it to earthly liberty because this is false optimism.  It is good to fight for liberty, but it is better to put that fight in an eternal context: for God has already purchased our liberty and promised that we will spend eternity in his glory.  Christians, in discovering that the State has over the last decade expanded beyond what they thought possible in American society, have realized that politics does not have the answers, the word of God alone does.  As the State continues to get uglier and uglier, perhaps it will lead many away from the State, which is the god of our age.  God is glorified when people find their hope in Him alone, and not the whims of evil politicians.

Conclusion
God is glorified in man’s dependence.  Man’s dependence is revealed in many ways.  One of which is by the expansion of statism and the evils of tyranny.  Therefore, God is glorified in the evils of Statism.

It is indeed a terrible development that the State grows in power and domination. And yet even this is not outside the decrees of God.  He is sovereign over good and he is sovereign over evil.  It is quite obvious that the State will continue to grow and become more forceful, more domineering.  But how much more obvious is it that God will use this to bring people to him, and to declare his good name across the world?

Friday, November 14, 2014

On the Future of Libertarianism

On the Future of Libertarianism

On the Future of Libertarianism

As libertarians, we often hear the good news: libertarianism is on the rise.  The youth are leaving behind the Democrat and Republican political parties.  The future belongs to liberty!
Call me a crank.

I’m a bit more pessimistic than that for a very specific and simple reason: sin.  What I mean by that is whereas libertarianism, or some variation of it, is being more broadly accepted by people from all sorts of different backgrounds, there is still the problem of a growing cultural and societal commitment to humanism and moral relativism.

The problem is that sin begets sin and the more that the “libertarian” masses put their emphasis on “doing whatever I want because I can” rather than seeing libertarianism as concerning “the proper use of coercion in society,” the more it will backfire.  There is no ethical society without the grace of God and a commitment to His principles.

Now, I realize that there are many atheists and agnostics who who object here by pointing out that they have never coerced against another person and that this proves that God is not needed in order to live virtuously.  But it is not my claim nor my concern that one can refrain from violence without God, rather, my point is that ignoring God produces a greater number of people who are willing to use violence to get what they want.  Sin begets sin and while the current generation is participating in an exodus from the political status quo, this means little if they are going to continue doing “what is right in their own eyes.”

While libertarianism addresses the role of the State in the society, hardly any libertarians look to God or the Bible for ethics and morality.  The Bible is seen as a backwards, Old World, book that has no relevance for today.  Meanwhile gay marriage and sexual promiscuity are placed on a pedestal and worshipped as the great symbol of progress in the Western World.  It is not culturally acceptable to criticize another person, nor shall it be tolerated when one has the opinion that God has deemed certain activities as sinful.  Traditional marriage and the distinct roles of Man and Wife are considered a nuisance that have no place in the liberalized West.  The most popular celebrities of our time specialize in the promotion of drugs, drunkenness, sexual immorality, materialism, and irrationalism.  The feel-goodism and emotionalism of society threatens our civilization with a vengeance.  Being stupid is hip and advocating the primacy of the intellect is scoffed at.

Libertarianism, at least a form of it, is on the rise, allegedly.  But meanwhile the Western World society has died.  Libertarianism in itself cannot fix that.  In fact, without the principles that go back to the Reformation, without virtue and hard work and intellectualism and logic and self-control, there is no hope for civilization.  Without God, without the Truth who sets us free, liberty will not be achieved.  Sin begets sin.  More people will come to the conclusion that State coercion is bad, but at the same time, State coercion will grow.  Friend will turn against friend, brother against brother.  I agree with Albert J. Nock that “Our Enemy [is] the State.”  (See difference between State and government). But the State is only the institution of sin writ large.  The State is the establishment of the people’s choice that sin shall be tolerated.  The State is the manifestation of the opinion that God and His word are to be ignored.

Now, after such a consideration, it is easy to feel a bit discouraged.  After all, a free society is what we all long for.  But we must realize that this world is not our home.  As pilgrims in a foreign land, we look to the eternal future where we will spend forever with Christ our King.  Christ is the Truth and the Truth sets us free.  Is not such an eternal arrangement the perfect fulfillment of a “free society?”  The bad news is, we won’t see freedom achieved here on earth.  The good news is, earth is a temporary home.  Pessimism is for the short term; optimism for the long.

To consider the status of libertarianism in the future is multifaceted.  We might have low expectations for libertarianism on earth, but there is no other option.  After all, is not sin the fiercest form of bondage there is?  If it takes the very blood of God Himself to release us from the bondage of sin, how could we possibly expect freedom in this life?  Sin is rampant and constantly being expressed and demonstrated to greater degrees every day.  And yet, an eternity in the presence of the Holy King means that sin itself is no more.  No sin means a pure and true liberty; greater than anything imaginable.  Liberty from the bondages of sin in the Kingdom of God is what we await.  Redeemed and glorified, sealed by God Himself, nothing to impede the existence of a brightly shining liberty. 

Such is the nature of the Believer’s liberty.

Go forth ye Pilgrims, and preach of the liberty that awaits.

Monday, November 3, 2014

One Trait that Set Apart the Earliest Christians

One Trait that Set Apart the Earliest Christians

In the first century, while Christianity was still in its infancy, the Greco-Roman world paid little attention. For the most part, the early Christian movement was seen as something still underneath the Jewish umbrella.

But in the second century, as Christianity emerged with a distinctive religious identity, the surrounding pagan culture began to take notice. And it didn’t like what it saw. Christians were seen as strange and superstitious—a peculiar religious movement that undermined the norms of decent society. Christians were, well, different.

So what was so different about Christians compared to the surrounding Greco-Roman culture? One distinctive trait was that Christians would not pay homage to the other “gods” (see my earlier article on this subject). This was a constant irritant to those governing officials who preferred to see the pagan temples filled with loyal worshipers (temples earned a good deal of money from the tributes they collected).

But there was a second trait that separated Christians from the pagan culture: their sexual ethic. While it was not unusual for Roman citizens to have multiple sexual partners, homosexual encounters, and engagement with temple prostitutes, Christians stood out precisely because they refused to engage in these practices.

For instance, Tertullian went to great lengths to defend the legitimacy of Christianity by pointing out that Christians are generous and share their resources with all those in need. But then he said, “One in mind and soul, we do not hesitate to share our earthly goods with one another. All things are common among us but our wives” (Apol. 39). Why did he say this? Because, in the Greco-Roman world, people sometimes shared their spouses with each other.

In the second-century Epistle to Diognetus, the author went out of his way to declare that Christians are normal in regard to what they wear, what they eat, and how they participate in society.  However, he then said, “[Christians] share their meals, but not their sexual partners” (Diogn. 5.7). Again, this trait made Christians different.

We see this dictinction play out again in the second-century Apology of Aristides. Aristides defended the legitimacy of the Christian faith to the emperor Hadrian by pointing out how Christians “do not commit adultery nor fornication” and “their men keep themselves from every unlawful union.”
A final example comes from the second-century apology of Minucius Felix. In his defense to Octavius, he contrasted the sexual ethic of the pagan world with that of Christians:

Among the Persians, a promiscuous association between sons and mothers is allowed. Marriages with sisters are legitimate among the Egyptians and in Athens. Your records and your tragedies, which you both read and hear with pleasure, glory in incests: thus also you worship incestuous gods, who have intercourse with mothers, with daughters, with sisters. With reason, therefore, is incest frequently detected among you, and is continually permitted. Miserable men, you may even, without knowing it, rush into what is unlawful: since you scatter your lusts promiscuously, since you everywhere beget children, since you frequently expose even those who are born at home to the mercy of others, it is inevitable that you must come back to your own children, and stray to your own offspring. Thus you continue the story of incest, even although you have no consciousness of your crime. But we maintain our modesty not in appearance, but in our heart we gladly abide by the bond of a single marriage; in the desire of procreating, we know either one wife, or none at all.

This sampling of texts from the second century demonstrates that one of the main ways that Christians stood out from their surrounding culture was their distinctive sexual behavior. Of course, this doesn’t mean Christians were perfect in this regard. No doubt, many Christians committed sexual sins. But Christianity as a whole was still committed to striving towards the sexual ethic laid out in Scripture–and the world took notice.

Needless to say, this history has tremendous implications for Christians in the modern day. We are reminded again that what we are experiencing in the present is not new—Christians battled an over-sexed culture as early as the first and second century. But it is also a reminder why Christians must not go along with the ever-changing sexual norms of our world. To do so would not only violate the clear teachings of Scripture, but it would also rob us of one of our greatest witnessing opportunities. In as much as marriage reflects Christ’s love for the church, Christians’ commitment to marriage is a means of proclaiming that love.

In the end, Christianity triumphed in its early Greco-Roman context not because it was the same as the surrounding pagan culture, but because it was different.

Michael Krueger will address the topic "How Do We Know the Bible Is God’s Word? Recovering the Doctrine of a Self-Authenticating Scripture" at The Gospel Coalition 2015 National Conference, April 13 to 15 in Orlando. Register today!
Michael J. Kruger is professor of New Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the author of Canon Revisited: Establishing the Origins and Authority of the New Testament Books (Crossway, 2012). He blogs regularly at Canon Fodder.