Read the Book, and Do the Lab

Read the Book, and Do the Lab

Jeff may be surprised, but I have remembered something that he said when we were doing weekly Bible studies a few years ago. We covered several books of the Bible, and I can’t remember what was the context for his statement, that all of our Bible learning should be linked to “labs.” That is, what we learn in the Bible, we should practice putting into practice.

I avoided classes that had labs if I could. I couldn’t avoid biology, so we had to study organ systems, and then we had to cut up the frog on a little stainless steel tray and discover what we already knew from the book. I was a history major in college, and while labs are possible, they were not common. I was assigned to study the writings of Washington Gladden housed at the Ohio Historical Society. I read some of his sermons, which I think qualifies as a lab, and did not reach much of a conclusion because of the weakness of my effort. I learned later that he was a Social Gospel preacher who linked salvation with social action, not so much a salvation from sin against God, but salvation as human efforts to cure societal ills - clearly not the Gospel. I didn’t know this from my reading, but from others who actually read and understood. I should have failed the lab.

Jeff says that in church, there is much more Book than lab. He was not advocating ignoring the Book. But when a preacher preaches the Book, he also ought to give some assignments. I suppose those assignments could be to sit and think; to write out a confession, whether of sin or of faith; or to obey what is commanded; or to parse out what should be the attitude that accompanies a promise (if God says, “I will be with you,” a promise, then how should that affect our thoughts and our moods, especially in the midst of trial?). What if every sermon had an assignment? What if we knew when we left the room what it is that we are supposed to do with what we have just heard? Because, as the Bible says, it’s not just the hearing, but the doing.

It’s been some time since Jeff and I sat down together. It’s been a long time since I’ve heard his common-sense statement that the Book demands a lab assignment. And I have to confess, I haven’t done much with it. This is no good excuse, but I’m very comfortable being a Book guy. I can do without cutting up the frog. But none of us can do without responding to the Word.

This Sunday we will complete an exposition of Paul’s letter to Titus. The Pastoral Epistles, which includes Titus, have a high rate of imperatives (commands) in them. Do this and this and this, and don’t do this. Timothy and Titus are being given instructions on how to supervise local church ministry in their region or on their island. Paul tells Titus to be really clear about grace (Book), and to urge people to be involved in good works (Lab). He is clear that the grace precedes the good works, but that the good works are not optional. I think that might translate into something that sounds like, “Read the Book and Do the Lab.”

So as this Winter series called “Grace and Good Works,” (or, “Book and Lab”) closes this Sunday, let me give fair warning that there will be a lab assignment. Not only does the Lord want us to have our minds exercised, but He may also want us to get our hands dirty.

The Unavoidable-ness of God

The Unavoidable-ness of God

My working definition for “worldliness” is to act as though God does not exist or that He does not matter. If you were to accept that definition, you might agree that much of the world is addicted to worldliness, as are many professing Christians when there is a separation between their profession and their practice.
 
So as I seek to make the case for the unavoidable-ness of God, I must face the objection that many, many people are avoiding Him just fine every day of the week. They are acting as if they have nothing to fear from Him, and stand in no need of what they might gain from Him. He is completely avoidable, and it is being proved every day. But that is not true universally, in one sense. And in another sense, it is not true at all. Let’s take these one at a time.
 
First of all, there are many Christians who find God to be completely unavoidable. They may have once thought that they could live quite well without Him, but something changed their point of view. Somehow, they came face to face with the reality of God, and they found Him to be, well, unavoidable. They heard the Gospel, and they could not un-hear it. They believed, and their perspective of themselves and of the world, and of God, all changed. God was now unavoidable. So the unavoidableness of God is not universal. It has dawned upon many people, though it may not as yet have dawned upon you. But it will, sooner or later, and that leads us to the second point.
 
Second, God’s unavoidable-ness will one day be established in such a way that no one, not one person, will deny it. There is coming a day, based on God’s revelation of Himself that you may have not yet considered, when God will reveal Himself in a glorious and unmistakable way through the second coming of His Son, Jesus, the Lord of Glory. He willcome to bring final deliverance to His people and to vindicate God in such a way that “every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10-11). Those who bow and confess, which will be everyone without exception, will do so because there will be no other option. I will call it the unavoidable-ness of God.
 
Other things are predicted to be unavoidable in our lives. Death and taxes come to mind. The ups and downs of war and peace, gain and loss, heating and cooling - these things seem to be unavoidable. But sometimes, a war can be avoided, at least for a time and in a particular place. You and I, or bigger entities like science and national powers, may affect these things, but have no control over the unavoidable-ness of God. When He chooses to appear, He will indeed appear. We don’t get to vote on it.
 
And so, as with lesser unavoidable things, you might think about getting out ahead of it. If a financial disaster is looming, you could arrange finances to avoid the worst of it. And if God’s appearance in glory is coming, you can prepare for it. God has given very detailed instructions on how to be prepared, and it has to do with faith in Jesus. He is the Agent designated by God to prepare us to stand justified in judgment as opposed to condemned. He is the only Agent who is able to vouch for us, and without Him we will find ourselves alone and completely vulnerable to the wrath of God. Why? Because we, His creatures, treated Him as though He doesn’t exist, or doesn’t matter. It is a practice that is not honoring to God, and is not good for you.

What is this confidence that you have? (Is 36:4)

What is this confidence that you have? (Is 36:4)

One of the great stories late in Judah’s history is that of Hezekiah and God’s deliverance from the Assyrian invasion. Sennacherib is their king, and Rabshakeh is their spokesman. Those are big and hairy names. People might take you more seriously if you had a name like Rabshakeh. I would like to analyze his speech with you which is intended to frighten Jerusalem into submission.

The first thing that Rabshakeh points to is an inconsistency in the faith of Judah (Is 36:5-6). They say that they believe in God, and yet they have made an alliance for protection with Egypt. God has repeatedly instructed them to “trust in the Lord,” and yet they feel that they must shore up their defense by depending on ungodly nations. The Church does this when we rely on the world to accomplish our ends. Inconsistencies between what we say that we believe, and what we actually do, weaken us.

The second thing which is obvious about Rabshakeh is that he largely misunderstands Judah’s God and religion (Is 36:7). He points to Hezekiah as already undermining faith in God by removing the “high places,” which are sites of worship around Judah. But he does not know that those “high places” are actually places where false gods have been worshipped, and Hezekiah removed them in order to restore a focused reliance on the one, true God. The real tragedy is that the high places were even there in the first place. The Church is terribly weakened when we tolerate a worship of multiple gods.

The next tactic that Rabshakeh uses is to point to their military weakness (36:8-9). He brazenly offers to give to Jerusalem two thousand horses, but claims (correctly, I think) that Jerusalem could not find riders for those horses with the ability to confront the abilities of the Assyrians. The Church is not preserved through the world’s skills, as in money or marketing. Our strength is in God, in obedience to His Word, and in God’s provision. It seems that if the Church is regarded as strong according to worldly metrics, then the Church has wandered off her path.

Then Rabshakeh clearly states that he himself speaks for God (36:10). This is audacious, but it is also common. The Bible calls them false prophets, and false prophets can inhabit the halls of education, finance, government, and corporations. Some of the most effective false prophets are religious leaders. It is easy to claim to speak for God. But there is an easy test. The Church must continually study to compare such statements with God’s Word. God does not contradict Himself, and if someone contradicts God’s Word, they are indeed a false prophet.

Rabshakeh then paints a stark picture of impending doom if the city does not comply (36:11-12). They face suffering, humiliation and defeat. But once again, the Church should know that we have been given the end of God’s story, and that there are two ultimate outcomes, Heaven and Hell. Whatever may happen before that time, whether it be thriving or even martyrdom, is small in relation to the eternal outcome. The Church knows that to stand faithfully with our faithful Savior is the only proper path.

Powers of Observation

Powers of Observation

When I come home from visiting, my wife will ask me questions about colors or items I noticed. I don’t notice much of anything. However, I am able to notice details in Scripture text after years of practice.

In the television show “Elementary” from about ten years ago, Sherlock has powers of observation different than the ones above. He notices small things that most people would not notice. So does God. God’s Word does not describe God’s notice as the same as mine or my wife’s, or Sherlock’s. But God’s powers of observation are noted in several places. I’ve traced some it by searching out “small things.”

God notices the smallest of details in His Word, the Scriptures. It is common today as people wanting to preach the “gist” of Scripture without attention to the specifics. I think it allows them to shave the “rough” edges from God’s Word, though I would argue that it is the “rough” edges with which we need to struggle. The”Word-as-received” addresses hidden offenses more effectively. Here is what Jesus says: Matt. 5:18 “until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”

God’s judgment is also impartial, so much so that, as it says in Deut. 1:17 ‘You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike.” God instructs His people to judge in this way because He judges in this way. He is not bound by our estimation of what is a “big” sin or a “significant” sin or an an especially “bad” sin. All sin is an affront to God’s holiness.

The entrance to God’s salvation is small: Matt. 7:14 “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” The path to God is exclusive. Jesus famously said, John 14:6 “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” It would be fair to translate this verse “I am the only way.” It is narrow as opposed to the broad way that accepts every notion of man’s mind that imagines what God ought to accept. But man’s open-minded opinion contradicts the statement above about the small gate and the narrow way.

But also, God accepts all kinds of people for salvation. God’s powers of observation, demonstrated by Jesus, notice the poor and the blind, the rejected and the outcasts. Remember how Jesus noticed with His divine powers of observation the woman at the well and the woman with the issue of blood. He noticed the small child and the criminal on the adjacent cross. He noticed the one man in the tree that everyone else wanted to ignore: Luke 19:3 Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was, and was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature. 4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass through that way. 5 When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.”

God sees things that others do not see. He sees you and the things that you wish other people would notice and the things that you wish other people wouldn’t. But He sees, and His regard for you and your concerns is not governed by the false notion of “bigger is better” that has captivated our culture. Oh, God is indeed great, but He notices that which is not.