I'm studying for tomorrow's message on the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand, the only miracle of Jesus that is listed in all four gospels. Here is a quote by Augustine marveling at our astonishment in unusual events compared to our blindness to those miracles that are ordinary. I found him, as usual, quite insightful.
"For certainly the government of the whole world is a greater miracle than the satisfying of five thousand men with five loaves; and yet no man wonders at the former; but the latter men wonder at, not because it is greater, but because it is rare. For who even now feeds the whole world, but He who creates the cornfield from a few grains?”
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Saturday, August 21, 2010
The Great Purpose of the Scriptures
Tomorrow preaching from John 5.45-47. The one great theme of all the Scriptures is Jesus and the redemption he offers to sinful man. No greater theme ever penned. I don't have room for this quote in the message, and just had to share it so here from the pen of Michael Horton.
If one is looking primarily for a book of stories designed to teach a moral lesson, the Bible may not be as good as Aesop’s fables. All the biblical heroes represent sinfulness, disobedience, half-heartedness and pride as well as faith and obedience. The real hero is God, who remains faithful to His promise in spite of human sin. No, the moral instruction comes easily to us, but the gospel is not in us by nature; it must be revealed from Heaven. This is chiefly why we have the word of God. To preach the Bible as ‘the handbook for life,’ or as the answer to every question, rather than as a revelation of Christ, is to turn the Bible into an entirely different book. This is how the Pharisees approached Scripture; however, as we can see clearly from the questions they asked Jesus, all of them amounting to something akin to Trivial Pursuits, ‘What happens if a person divorces and remarries?’ ‘Why do your disciples pick grain on the Sabbath?’ ‘Who sinned—this man or his parents—that he was born blind?’ For the Pharisees, the Scriptures were a source of trivia for life’s dilemmas. To be sure, Scripture provides God-centered and divinely-revealed wisdom for life, but if this were its primary objective, Christianity would be a religion of self-improvement by following examples and exhortations, not a religion of the Cross.
If one is looking primarily for a book of stories designed to teach a moral lesson, the Bible may not be as good as Aesop’s fables. All the biblical heroes represent sinfulness, disobedience, half-heartedness and pride as well as faith and obedience. The real hero is God, who remains faithful to His promise in spite of human sin. No, the moral instruction comes easily to us, but the gospel is not in us by nature; it must be revealed from Heaven. This is chiefly why we have the word of God. To preach the Bible as ‘the handbook for life,’ or as the answer to every question, rather than as a revelation of Christ, is to turn the Bible into an entirely different book. This is how the Pharisees approached Scripture; however, as we can see clearly from the questions they asked Jesus, all of them amounting to something akin to Trivial Pursuits, ‘What happens if a person divorces and remarries?’ ‘Why do your disciples pick grain on the Sabbath?’ ‘Who sinned—this man or his parents—that he was born blind?’ For the Pharisees, the Scriptures were a source of trivia for life’s dilemmas. To be sure, Scripture provides God-centered and divinely-revealed wisdom for life, but if this were its primary objective, Christianity would be a religion of self-improvement by following examples and exhortations, not a religion of the Cross.
A great opportunity
Here is a post I read on Kevin DeYoung's blog that I thought was worth reposting. The church in America has a great opportunity to converse with those without Christ. They will not be reached by impressive productions, but by friendships with believer's who know what they believe and why they believe it. Believing friends who care enough to take the time and effort, first to know about God, but also care enough about their neighbor to explain the character and nature of God and our resulting need of a Savior. May we be this kind of friend to our unbelieving neighbor's.
Steve
A Great Opportunity for Great Theology
Posted: 20 Aug 2010 02:29 AM PDT
Dorothy Sayers (1893-1957) knew how to write. I don’t agree with all her theology, but when she waxes on about the importance of theology she is downright inspiring.
Reflecting on the scene in Britain over fifty years ago, she concluded “there are three kinds of people we have to deal with.”
There are the frank and open heathen, whose notions of Christianity are a dreadful jumble of rags and tags of Bible anecdotes and clotted mythological nonsense. There are the ignorant Christians, who combine a mild, gentle-Jesus sentimentality with vaguely humanistic ethics – most of these are Arian heretics. Finally, there are the more-or-less instructed churchgoers, who know all the arguments about divorce and auricular confession and communion in two kinds, but are about as well equipped to do battle on fundamentals against a Marxian atheist or a Wellsian agnostic as a boy with a peashooter facing a fan-fire of machine guns.
Her summary of the state of Christianity in her homeland was not exactly glowing.
Theologically, this country is at present in a state of utter chaos, established in the name of religious toleration, and rapidly degenerating into the flight from reason and the death of hope. We are not happy in this condition, and there are signs of a very great eagerness, especially among the younger people, to find a creed to which they can give wholehearted adherence.
But Sayers did not despair, and neither should we.
This is the Church’s opportunity, if she chooses to take it. So far as the people’s readiness to listen goes, she has not been in so strong a position for at least two centuries. The rival philosophies of humanism, enlightened self-interest, and mechanical progress have broken down badly; the antagonism of science has proved to be far more apparent than real; and the happy-go-lucky doctrine of laissez-faire is completely discredited. But no good whatever will be done by retreat into personal piety or by mere exhortation to a recall to prayer. The thing that is in danger is the whole structure of society, and it is necessary to persuade thinking men and women of the vital and intimate connection between the structure of society and the theological doctrines of Christianity.
The task is not made easier by the obstinate refusal of a great body of nominal Christians, both lay and clerical, to face the theological question. “Take away theology and give us some nice religion” has been the popular slogan for so long that we are likely to accept it, without inquiring whether religion without theology has any meaning. And however unpopular I may make myself, I shall and will affirm that the reason why the churches are discredited today is not that they are too bigoted about theology, but that they have run away from theology.
Our situation is not identical with Sayers’, especially on this side of the Pond. But surely our day, like hers, provides a great opportunity for great theology.
[Excerpts from Letters to a Diminished Church: Passionate Arguments for the Relevance of Christian Doctrine.]
Steve
A Great Opportunity for Great Theology
Posted: 20 Aug 2010 02:29 AM PDT
Dorothy Sayers (1893-1957) knew how to write. I don’t agree with all her theology, but when she waxes on about the importance of theology she is downright inspiring.
Reflecting on the scene in Britain over fifty years ago, she concluded “there are three kinds of people we have to deal with.”
There are the frank and open heathen, whose notions of Christianity are a dreadful jumble of rags and tags of Bible anecdotes and clotted mythological nonsense. There are the ignorant Christians, who combine a mild, gentle-Jesus sentimentality with vaguely humanistic ethics – most of these are Arian heretics. Finally, there are the more-or-less instructed churchgoers, who know all the arguments about divorce and auricular confession and communion in two kinds, but are about as well equipped to do battle on fundamentals against a Marxian atheist or a Wellsian agnostic as a boy with a peashooter facing a fan-fire of machine guns.
Her summary of the state of Christianity in her homeland was not exactly glowing.
Theologically, this country is at present in a state of utter chaos, established in the name of religious toleration, and rapidly degenerating into the flight from reason and the death of hope. We are not happy in this condition, and there are signs of a very great eagerness, especially among the younger people, to find a creed to which they can give wholehearted adherence.
But Sayers did not despair, and neither should we.
This is the Church’s opportunity, if she chooses to take it. So far as the people’s readiness to listen goes, she has not been in so strong a position for at least two centuries. The rival philosophies of humanism, enlightened self-interest, and mechanical progress have broken down badly; the antagonism of science has proved to be far more apparent than real; and the happy-go-lucky doctrine of laissez-faire is completely discredited. But no good whatever will be done by retreat into personal piety or by mere exhortation to a recall to prayer. The thing that is in danger is the whole structure of society, and it is necessary to persuade thinking men and women of the vital and intimate connection between the structure of society and the theological doctrines of Christianity.
The task is not made easier by the obstinate refusal of a great body of nominal Christians, both lay and clerical, to face the theological question. “Take away theology and give us some nice religion” has been the popular slogan for so long that we are likely to accept it, without inquiring whether religion without theology has any meaning. And however unpopular I may make myself, I shall and will affirm that the reason why the churches are discredited today is not that they are too bigoted about theology, but that they have run away from theology.
Our situation is not identical with Sayers’, especially on this side of the Pond. But surely our day, like hers, provides a great opportunity for great theology.
[Excerpts from Letters to a Diminished Church: Passionate Arguments for the Relevance of Christian Doctrine.]
Saturday, August 7, 2010
The Purpose of Scripture
I'm looking at the three witnesses to Christ's deity found in John 5 in preparation for our worship service tomorrow. I ran across this quote from Martin Luther from one of his sermons on the purpose of Scripture. I found it worth sharing. Enjoy!
Here Christ would indicate the principal reason why the Scripture was given by God. Men are to study and search in it and to learn that He, He, Mary’s Son, is the one who is able to give eternal life to all who come to Him and believe on Him. therefore he who would correctly and profitably read Scripture should see to it that he finds Christ in it; then he finds life eternal without fail. On the other hand, if I do not so study and understand Moses and the prophets as to find that Christ came from Heaven for the sake of my salvation, became man, suffered, died, was buried, rose, and ascended to Heaven so that through Him I enjoy reconciliation with God, forgiveness of all my sins, grace, righteousness, and life eternal, then my reading in Scripture is of no help whatsoever to my salvation. I may, of course, become a learned man by reading and studying Scripture and may preach what I have acquired; yet all this would do me no good whatsoever. For if I do not know and do not find the Christ, neither do I find salvation and life eternal. In fact, I actually find bitter death; for our good God has decreed that no other name is given among men whereby they may be saved except the name of Jesus.
Here Christ would indicate the principal reason why the Scripture was given by God. Men are to study and search in it and to learn that He, He, Mary’s Son, is the one who is able to give eternal life to all who come to Him and believe on Him. therefore he who would correctly and profitably read Scripture should see to it that he finds Christ in it; then he finds life eternal without fail. On the other hand, if I do not so study and understand Moses and the prophets as to find that Christ came from Heaven for the sake of my salvation, became man, suffered, died, was buried, rose, and ascended to Heaven so that through Him I enjoy reconciliation with God, forgiveness of all my sins, grace, righteousness, and life eternal, then my reading in Scripture is of no help whatsoever to my salvation. I may, of course, become a learned man by reading and studying Scripture and may preach what I have acquired; yet all this would do me no good whatsoever. For if I do not know and do not find the Christ, neither do I find salvation and life eternal. In fact, I actually find bitter death; for our good God has decreed that no other name is given among men whereby they may be saved except the name of Jesus.
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