Read Luke 1:46-55

There seem to be two views of the 21st Century Christmas. The first owes something to Charles Dickens and Bing Crosby: “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire.” It is the Christmas of jollity and plenty. “So here it is, Merry Christmas! Everybody’s having fun.” It is a time centered around an excess of food, booze and presents; a time to forget the cold weather and to have fun. The second view is quite different; it is the angst-filled Christmas. John Lennon sang, “So this is Christmas; what have you done?” It is the Christmas of Bob Geldorf, where we are urged to get out and do something. We read of ‘Crisis at Christmas’ and are confronted by images of war and starving children.

The Bible’s presentation of Christmas is quite different to either of these. It is a proclamation of good news (Luke 2:10), an announcement of what God has done for mankind (Luke 1:68). It is indeed a call to rejoice, but not a general call. It bids us rejoice in God’s fulfillment of His promises in the birth of a Saviour.

Mary’s Song or Magnificat is one of the parts of Scripture that is well-known even to non-Christians. Perhaps only the Lord’s Prayer and the 23rd Psalm would be better known. We know that God inspired it (2Tim 3:16) and Mary sang it, but who wrote it? Luke was a Greek doctor (Col 4:14), and he writes in educated idiomatic Greek. Those who have learned New Testament Greek will know that he is much harder for beginners to translate than Mark or John, who were Jews and wrote much more simple Greek. But the first two chapters of Luke’s Gospel are written in a very different style. The poetry especially has a Hebrew and Old Testament feel to it (eg. Luke 1:68-70). There is no mention of the cross, just a Jewish anticipation of the Messiah. J. Gresham Machen, in his famous book, The Virgin Birth of Christ (1), suggests that what we are reading in Luke 1 & 2 is what we might call today the ‘Mary Diaries;’ that this is Mary’s own record of our Lord’s birth passed on to Luke perhaps by one of her other children (cf. Mark 6:3 etc.) or by the apostle John (cf. John 19:27). A contemporary account indeed!

Let us set the scene. An angel comes to Mary (Luke 1:26ff) and tells her of the amazing thing that is going to happen. At first she is confused and anxious (vs 29, 34) , but then she rallies (v37), but it seems that she still can’t take it in. It is not until she goes to see Elizabeth, and Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesies (V41ff) that the whole amazing truth is made plain to her- that she is being made the vehicle by which God is going to bring salvation to His people- and she bursts into this wonderful hymn of praise.

Before looking at the Song in any detail, there are some general points that can be made. Mary is well-acquainted with the Hebrew Scriptures. The Magnificat has a great similarity with the prayer of Hannah (1Sam 2:1-11), which, interestingly, is the place were the word mashiach (‘Messiah’ or ‘Anointed One’) is used for the first time, and also with some of the Psalms. Her mind is stored with the Scriptures, so when she is moved to speak, she expresses herself in sacred language. She knows who God is and what He is like. Paul would greatly have approved of her (Col 3:16).

She also has an experiential acquaintance of God’s dealings with His people (vs 50, 52). God put down Pharaoh, the Philistines, Sennacherib, Haman; and exalted Joseph, Moses (Num 12:3), Samuel, David and Esther. Never has He allowed His people to be utterly destroyed. That she knows God’s purposes in history is shown by v55 and its reference to the Messiah, the Seed of Abraham. A sound knowledge of Bible history is so valuable in building up the Christian’s faith. How important it is to read the whole Bible through regularly, especially the historical books, Joshua to Esther.

Next, we see the humility of Mary (v48, 47). She had been chosen by God to bring the Saviour of Mankind into the world, yet she is conscious of her lowly state and her own need of a Saviour. She and Joseph were very poor (compare Luke 2:24 with Lev 12:6-8), and she would have been the first to refute the idea of her being immaculately conceived and the position given to her by the church of Rome as queen of heaven and mother of God. As Protestants, we may learnof her character without in any way regarding her as a mediator. Humility is becoming to Christians (James 4:6, 10), and is within the reach of every believer. Not everyone is rich, clever or a great preacher, but all may be clothed in humility. Paul, who might have had more reason than most to be proud wrote (Eph 3:8), ‘To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given.’

Finally we see the thankfulness of Mary (v49). The great saints of God were distinguished by their thankfulness. The Apostle Peter wrote, ‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope….’ (1Peter 1:3). Our prayers, whatever our cares and problems may be, should be filled with gratitude to God. We always have more blessings than we deserve. Samuel, at a time of great danger for Israel, set up a stone in a prominent position and declared, “Thus far the LORD has helped us” (1Sam 7:12). We too should always be able to find an Ebenezer in our own lives. At the very least we can say with Jeremiah, ‘Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not’ (Lam 3:23).

vs46-7. ‘And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour.’

This verse is typical of Hebrew poetry in that the second part is an amplification of the first (cf. vs 51-52). We see it constantly in the psalms (eg. Psalm 24:1-6). When we see ‘soul’ together with ‘spirit’ the usually have a somewhat different meaning. The soul tends to be the rational part of Man- the intellect. The spirit refers more to the perception, the numinous part of man; a higher facility which includes the ability to worship. Mary is saying that every part of her mind and her feelings are taken up with worshipping God (cf. 1Cor 14:15). We have said that the reality of what God was doing through her only came home to her at this moment, and the wonder of it all drives her to praise God with every faculty.

Have we really understood what God has done for us? That the Lord Jesus Christ, God the Son, perfect and holy in every way, should leave the magnificence and perfection of heaven to come to this sad, poor and fallen world, not to help basically good people who have just got into difficulties, but to rescue guilty sinners and rebels- those who have turned their backs upon God, rejected His righteous laws and set themselves up to rule themselves by their own corrupt standards? That’s you and me by nature (Eph 2:1-3)! We can’t recognize the greatness of what God has done for us until we know who we are- fallen sinners under Divine wrath, with no ability and no natural desire to be restored. And yet Christ died for such as us! Read Romans 5:6-8. It’s this that causes Mary to cry out, “My soul magnifies the Lord……!”

The word ‘magnifies’ causes problems for some people. A magnifying glass makes things look bigger than they really are. You can’t do that with God. The NKJV margin suggests ’declares the greatness.’ A magnifying glass helps you to see things more clearly. When Elizabeth spoke, Mary’s understanding was opened to see just how great a thing God was doing. Before, she believed, but didn’t fully understand; now she comprehends God’s gracious purposes and so she cries out in joy and wonder. The understanding is vital to Christian growth. Some charismatics say, don’t try to understand, just partake, but this is un-biblical. Paul prays for the Ephesians that they, ‘May be able to comprehend with all the saints [that's us!] what is the width and length and depth and height- to know the love of God that passes knowledge.‘ True Christianity is not entirely cerebral- God forbid!- but it does not bypass the mind.

Mary continues, ‘My spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour.’ The word translated ‘has rejoiced’ could also be rendered ‘has exulted.’ It’s like the footballer who has scored the winning goal at Wembley. ‘The people walking in darkness have seen a great light.’ Yes! It’s happened! The promises that God made way back in Gen 3:15, and also to Abraham, David and the prophets- they’ve taken so long; it’s been more than 400 years since God last spoke, but now at last they’re going to be fulfilled! Mary didn’t know how it was going to be done; the cross still lay in the future, but she knew that the child forming in her womb was the One through whom God’s great plan of salvation would be accomplished.

Do you know God as your Saviour? Can you rejoice as Mary did in the triune God as your salvation. Can you say with the prophet that ‘Yah, the LORD, is my strength and my song. He has also become my salvation’? If you can then ‘Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation’ (Isaiah 12:2-3).

Salvation starts with God the Father, who out of this fallen world has chosen from all eternity a people who should be saved- not offered salvation, but saved (1Thes 5:9; 2Thes 2:13; Eph 2:1 etc.). There is nothing in us that commends us to God, and nothing we can do to commend ourselves to Him. There is just God’s free, electing, personal love for lost sinners, and when we come to know and understand this, then we can rejoice in God the Father as our salvation.

Do you rejoice in God the Son as your Saviour? God set Him forth as a propitiation (Rom 3:25)- a sacrifice that turns away wrath. God’s justice must be satisfied, but because He loves us so much, God has poured out all His righteous anger against sin upon His own dear, spotless, innocent Son. ‘For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him’ (2Cor 5:21). And it’s personal! Christ did not die for sin indiscriminately, He died for you and me, bearing our very own sins upon that awful cross.

‘Died He for me who caused His pain? For me who Him to death pursued? Amazing love! How can it be that Thou, my God, should’st die for me?

And do you know Christ in all His offices? As our Kinsman Redeemer, who took our human nature upon Himself so that He could pay the price that the law demanded? As our Good Shepherd, who will not lose even one of His flock, but lays down His life for the sheep? As our Beloved, who has made His bride spotless and radiant by washing her in His own blood? As the second Adam, obedient even unto death As our Bright Morning Star, so that when times at at their darkest, He shines in your heart by faith to tell you that the dawn cannot be far away? There is no room here to speak of Him as our Prophet, Great High Priest and King, but when we come to understand these things, then we can rejoice in God the Son as our Saviour.

Finally, do you rejoice in God the Holy Spirit as your Saviour? It is He who gives new life to those who are dead in sin (Eph 2:1). It is He who convicts us of our sinfulness (John 16:8) and makes us see that great gulf that lies between us and a holy, righteous God, so that we know how Peter felt when he cried out, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” But then the Spirit comes and speaks peace to us and points us to Jesus Christ (John 16:14). The Spirit also causes us to know God as Father (Rom 8:15) and He is our helper in prayer (Rom 8:26). Finally, the Spirit is the seal of ownership that God places upon believers so that we can never fall away (Eph 1:13). Do you know that you have eternal life, that nothing can ever part you from God? Do you rejoice in God the Holy Spirit as your Saviour?

‘This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the would to save sinners, of whom I am the chief’ (1Tim 1:15). Here is the wonder of Christmas; that the very worst of sinners can find all these things, and he needs nothing in himself in order to know them save the knowledge that he is a sinner and that the Lord Jesus Christ came to earth to save such as him. ‘The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world’ (John 1:9, NIV).

Note.

(1) The Virgin Birth of Christ by J. Gresham Machen (Baker Book House,1965. ISBN 0-8019-5885-6).

Even by my calendar the Christmas season is here. I realize that my calendar for such things runs a bit later than for many others, particularly our nation’s retailers and shoppers, but now that we are more than a week into December I will concede that the Christmas season has begun. Those of you who read my Christmas articles last year* know that I really do not like the way we celebrate Christmas. Blatant materialism aside, we tend to focus on the events surrounding Christ’s physical birth rather than celebrating the meaning of those events, which is the foundation of our redemption. Why did Jesus come? What did he do when he was here? That question needs some thought.

What did Jesus do while he was on earth? The Scripture only provides us with a condensed version of his life, but that version is sufficient to answer our question. Anyone who went to Sunday School knows that Jesus gave sight to the blind, gave strength to the lame, cleansed the lepers, gave hearing to the deaf, and raised the dead, and did many other miracles. Why did Jesus do these things? Was it just compassion? Did he do these miracles simply because he cared about people and desired to relieve their suffering? Certainly Jesus did love people and had a great deal of compassion, but more importantly all that Jesus did was to fulfill his purpose. So what was that purpose?

We usually speak of Jesus’ purpose in technical, theological terms such as ‘redemption’, ‘sacrifice’, ‘substitutionary atonement’, and ‘propitiation.’ All of these are good terms. All of them are correct. However, on a practical level something often is lost in the translation. Think about it this way. Jesus came to overcome the consequences of sin. Before the fall there was no death; there was no sickness; there was no affliction. All of this and much more is a consequence of the sin in this world, both individually and corporately. Jesus came to defeat the power of sin. Notice what Jesus told John the Baptist’s disciples when they inquired whether he, Jesus, was in fact the Messiah:

Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them, and blessed is he who is not offended by me. (Luke 7:22)

The proof of his divinity, of his messiahship, that Jesus offered was that the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up. All of these things are the consequence of living in a fallen, sinful world, and Jesus had power over them as well as the power over spiritual death and hell that we usually think about. Everything Jesus did was a demonstration of his divine sonship and his power over sin, death, and hell. This is why Jesus came. This was the purpose of the Incarnation. He came to conquer sin and death so that we might live.

As we celebrate Christmas 2011, may we remember and meditate upon the reason Jesus came. In the midst of the hustle and bustle of the season, the craziness of shopping and traffic, and the preparations for feasts and families, never forget that Christmas is more than just a moving story about a baby, angels, shepherds, and wise men. It is a key chapter in the greatest story every told, the story of God’s redemptive work.

When I wrote the earlier article on the subject of the church I did not intend to make this a series. It was just something I put together at the request of one of my church members. However, it seems the topic has taken on a life of its own, and another article seems necessary to sharpen the point I made in the earlier article. For those of you who haven’t read that article, you can find it here. My point in that article is that the church must be defined by what it is rather than by what it does, and that the church is God’s holy and self-denying people. It is interesting that those who objected to the idea that the church should be defined by what it is rather than what it does, also glossed over the point about holiness and self-denial. They did not deny the point, but simply passed over it as if it were of secondary importance.

The objections tended to center around the fact that we routinely define things by what they do. One brother used the example of a washing machine. While I understand his point, he could not have chosen a better illustration to support my side of this discussion if he had tried. Certainly, we generally think about a washing machine in terms of what it does, but it is vital that we understand what it is separately from what it does. In this case the name of the appliance tells us what it is. It is a machine. Obviously, it is a machine that washes clothes, but it is first and foremost a machine consisting of a motor, a pump, various valves, an inner and outer tub, an agitator, and several other necessary components. If we only define this appliance by what it does — wash clothes, then we equate a household appliance manufactured by Maytag with a human being created by the Almighty God. How is that, you may ask? Surely with a moments reflection you will realize that a washing machine is not the only thing in this world that washes clothes. Both a washing machine and a laundress wash clothes, but they are hardly the same thing and hardly of the same value before the Lord.

I could, and probably should, stop here. I am, however, a preacher and suffer from the common vocational hazard as most preachers and can’t do anything briefly. So, let it be noted that while the laundress is quite versatile and can wash clothes in a variety of effective ways and in almost any place. the machine cannot do that. Furthermore, because she is intelligent and experienced, the laundress can deal with each piece of clothing individually as needed. For example, she can put more effort into removing a stubborn stain. The washing machine, on the other hand, can only carry out its program. Certainly, the human designers of the machine can program into it a variety of cycles for different types of clothes, but ultimately that machine will only do what it is programmed to do if the clothes need that or not. Unlike the laundress, the washing machine knows nothing about clothes, it simply runs in preprogrammed cycles. So, a church that is defined by what it does may accomplish its tasks, but it does so with little understanding of the person of God.

In Titus 2, Paul instructs Titus about how the members of the church should conduct themselves. He ends the chapter by telling him that their actions are a result of who they are. Notice what Paul says.

For the saving grace of God has appeared for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. (Titus 2:11-14 ^ESV with a minor revision by the author of this article.)

The first word in this passage is “for.” He is saying that what is to follow is the foundation for what he has already said. Paul makes five points about God’s people, and the order of these points is important.

1. First, God’s people are saved, or regenerated, by grace. Notice that I changed verse 11 a bit from the common translation. I am certainly not an expert in biblical Greek, but do understand enough to know that the word translated ‘salvation’ by the ESV and most other translations is not a noun as it is translated. It is an adjective which modifies ‘grace’. (Both are nominative, feminine, singular.) This makes ‘grace’ the primary subject of these four verses, which constitute a single sentence. That shifts the entire focus of this passage. The focus is clearly on God and his work rather than on us and our work.
2. Second, this same saving graces teaches us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions. This is another way of saying that by grace we live lives of self-denial, for our nature is to worship ourselves and live by our worldly passions.
3. Third, this same saving grace teaches us to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age. This is another way of saying that by grace we live lives that are holy before the Lord. (See Romans 12:1-2 and 1 Peter 1:14-16.)
4. Fourth, this same grace allows us to live by faith in Christ Jesus, awaiting his coming and our final redemption.
5. Fifth, this same grace is the foundation for our zealous good works. Notice, however, that in verse 14 Paul repeats the point that service follows holiness.

Each of these characteristics of God’s people builds upon the ones that precede it. The “church” can be very zealous for good works, but unless it is first saved, denying itself, living in a holy manner, and living by faith in Christ Jesus, it is not a church and its works are those of the Scribes and Pharisees rather than the works of God. I will say again, holding fast to the truth, that if we define the church by what it does rather than by what it is, we are practicing a doctrine of salvation by church participation regardless of any stated doctrine to the contrary. As Paul would say, “By no means!”

Taken from a sermon first preached at Scott Drive Church, Exmouth.

Read Ephesians 3:14-21.

As I go about preaching in many of the smaller Reformed churches in South-west England, I am often struck by a certain moroseness and apparent lack of joy among the congregations. It is of course true that Christians do not have to go around grinning like idiots to show that they are happy, but nevertheless it would be nice to see folk enjoying more obviously the fact that they are on their way to heaven. David prayed, ‘Restore to me the joy of Your salvation’ (Psalm 51:12) which indicates that while it is not possible for a true Christian to lose his salvation, it is certainly possible for him to lose the joy of it; if not, why would he pray for it to be restored to him?

I believe that part of the problem is the world coming between the Christian and his God. We are so busy in both our work and our pleasures that we cease to delight ourselves in the Lord (Psalm 37:4) and we quench the Holy Spirit. We are taking our delights in this world in things that must pass away, and we forget that, ‘In Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand there are pleasures forever more’ (Psalm 16:11). Another factor is that we don’t want to look like charismatics or to feel that we must put on a show in front of our friends, but perhaps the main problem is that we don’t claim for ourselves the wonderful promises of God. We believe them, but we don’t really lay hold of them and meditate upon them. So with these thoughts in mind, let us consider together Paul’s great prayer for the Ephesian Christians in Eph 3:14-12.

This prayer is surely one of the most sublime texts in the whole Bible, and second only to our Lord’s great High Priestly prayer and the greatest of all Scripture. It is also a shaming prayer; do we ever pray for our families, friends and each other in the terms of this prayer? Do we not tend to pray in more general terms? “O Lord, bless cousin Harry, I pray.” Maybe we might add, “Draw him closer to you,” if we felt Cousin harry was further from the Lord than he should be, but if we go into specifics at all, are we not much more likely to pray for his sprained thumb that is giving him so much pain just now, and for relief for him from his in-growing toenail? That’s not wrong, but it is worth observing that Paul does not pray for Timothy’s upset stomach; instead, he gives him practical advice- stop drinking the possibly polluted water at Ephesus and take a little wine instead (1Tim 5:23). When Paul prays, he prays for the spiritual welfare of the churches and he prays in detail, knowing what is the greatest need.

This prayer, however, is not restricted to the Ephesians. Many commentators take the view that Ephesians is a circular letter sent around all the churches of Asia Minor, with the exception of Colosse, which had its own epistle; the one that has come down to us just happens to be the one that was sent to Ephesus. If that is so then this prayer is Paul’s desire for all Christians, born of his intimate knowledge of so many 1st Century churches. Before looking at the text in depth, there are three preliminary points that should be made.

1. It is important to note that Paul is writing to Christians; his prayer is not that the Ephesians and others should be saved. He is writing, ‘To the saints who are in Ephesus’ (Eph 1:1) and elsewhere, so we who are the saints in Exmouth or Exeter are included along with the saints of all lands and times. Therefore when Paul prays, ‘That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith’ (3:17), whatever he means, he is asking for something other than salvation.

2. It is a prayer for all Christians. ‘That He would grant you….’ (v16). All of you. This isn’t a prayer for an elite of super-Christians, it a prayer for you and me.

3. Because Paul prays it, it must be possible. Maybe some of you felt a little wistful when you read the prayer and are thinking, “‘Strengthened by might…….filled with all the fullness of God?’ Oh no! That isn’t me. I’m just an ordinary Christian.” Let us be clear that there is no such thing as an ordinary Christian. We are children of God and co-heirs with Christ, and, ‘He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also give us also all things?’ (Rom 8:32). Our Lord tells us, ‘Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it will be opened to you…….if you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!’ (Matt 7:7, 11). James tells us, ‘You do not have because you do not ask’ (James 4:2). Let us realise that a close, personal relationship with God is possible for all Christians and let us look briefly at this prayer, and then let us pray it for ourselves and for each other.

vs14-15. ‘For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (1), from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.’ For what reason is this? Because of the wonderful and blessed truths that Paul has been expounding in Chapters 1 & 2, and culminating in 2:19: ‘Now therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.’ It is because of our exalted status with God – citizens of heaven and members of His household – that Paul prays. This status has come about not through anything in us nor anything that we have done, but because of God’s free, electing love (1:4) and the atonement made for us by the Lord Jesus Christ (1:7). It is because of these things that Paul prays this prayer, confident that the Lord is both willing and able to grant it. We should never imagine that God is unwilling to grant our prayers and to give us spiritual blessings. On the contrary, He declares, ‘I am the LORD your God……Open your mouth wide and I will fill it’ (Psalm 81:10), and the Lord Jesus bids His Church, ‘Eat, O friends! Drink, yes, drink deeply, O beloved ones!’ (Song 5:1).

Next, Paul prays to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because all things have been gathered together in Christ, heavenly as well as earthly (1:10), the whole family receives its name from Him and we are united to Him by faith; therefore the Father will refuse us nothing that we rightly ask in His name.

V16. ‘That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened by might in the inner man……’ Now Paul appeals to the munificence of God, His infinite resources and the fullness of His perfections. God’s glory is His excellence made manifest (Hendrickson); the perfections of His character displayed. There is no limit to God’s resources, and when they are revealed in us, God’s name is glorified. We glory in Him; He is glorified in us. When a sinner turns from his wicked ways and trusts in Christ for salvation, God is glorified. When a saint, in the midst of trouble and distress, transcends them and gives thanks to God, He is glorified.

‘Strengthened by might in the inner man.’ The ‘inner man’ is the Christian’s renewed self. In Rom 7:22, Paul writes, ‘For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man……’ A Christian has a new heart, a new nature, that loves the Lord, and it is this that Paul prays may be strengthened. Why does it need strengthening? Because there remains within our bodies the relic of our old nature, which Paul calls the ‘flesh,’ and these two natures are at war with each other within us. Paul continues, ‘…..But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.’ (cf. also Gal 5:17). Paul is praying that our new reborn nature may be strengthened in its battle with the remnant of sin. God promises to answer such a prayer. ‘He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength’ (Isaiah 40:29). David wrote, ‘In the day that I cried out, You answered me, and made me bold with strength in my soul’ (Psalm 138:3). It is the work of the Holy Spirit in the believer to strengthen him and cause him to look upon Christ. If He is not working in such a way in you, maybe in is because you have not asked Him.

v17. ‘That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.’ We know that Christ, as God, in omnipresent. ‘”Do I not fill heaven and earth,” Says the LORD.’ (Jer 23:24). We also know that Christ indwells every believer (John 14:23); there is no need to pray for that. So this must mean something different. If you say to your spouse, “You are always in my heart, dear!” What does it mean? It means, if you are being truthful, that your husband or wife is always in your thoughts – that you are constantly and pleasantly engaged in meditation upon his or her aimiable features and general excellencies. So it is with the Lord Jesus. If He is dwelling in your heart by faith, then because you believe that He died in your stead, rose again and is seated in heaven as your Great High Priest, the He must surely be in your thoughts and contemplations – meditating upon His great love and constancy - ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’ (Heb 13:5). And if some great pressure of business or other crisis should, for the moment, drive all other things from your mind, then as soon as you have leisure, you will surely return in your thoughts to that pleasant contemplation of our Lord. It is for this that Paul is praying; that Christ may be at the very centre of the believer’s heart; central to his thoughts and his life.

‘That you, being rooted and grounded in love…..’ When Christ is dwelling in our hearts in the way described above, we are firmly established; rooted and grounded. Rooted like a tree. Psalm 1 speaks of the man whose, ‘Delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by living waters……..’ Just as a tree draws its nourishment through its roots, so our love for Christ comes from deep within us, from our inner being. We are also grounded or established like a building with firm foundations (Eph 2:20). “And the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock,” The rock, of course, being Christ. No calamity, no storm in our lives can separate us from our Saviour. The Puritan John Owen and his wife lost all of their nine children in infancy or youth. How does one cope with that kind of continuing grief? Nothing could shake Owen’s faith and love for Christ because it was founded upon the rock.

‘Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the labour of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls……’ Though I may have been made redundant, and be in arreas with my rent; though I see the wicked prospering all around me; though I am part of a despised minority in my own country, and my own family mock me for my faith. Whatever may befall me, ‘…..Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation’ (Hab 3:17-18).

v18. ‘[That you]…….may be able to comprehend with all the saints…..’ ‘Comprehend’ means to grasp fully. This is not a sort of general acquiescence to the words of the Bible, but both head and heart knowledge- a knowledge born of experience as well as theory – ‘Oh! Taste and see that the LORD is good!’ (Psalm 34:8). We are to comprehend the love of Christ for His people- a love that passes knowledge!

‘Oh! The sweet, sweet love of Jesus; vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!’

“As the father has loved Me, so have I loved you” (John 15:9). Christ has loved His Church from everlasting; His heart was fixed upon it before all time. She was gifted to Him by the Father, and He has redeemed her, suffered for her and washed her in His own blood, and at the end of time He will present her to the Father pure and radiant, without spot or blemish, to share in all His glories in the infinite age to come. His love is not just love for the Church in the abstract, but love for all its members; love for each one of us in all our helplessness, sinfulness and ignorance. He says to us, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you” (Jer 31:3). We say to Him’

‘Died He for me, who caused His pain? For me who Him to death pursued? Amazing love! How can it be, that Thou, my God, should’st die for me?

vs18-19. ‘…..What is the width and length and depth and height-‘ Paul prays that we might know the dimensions of Christ’s love. First, its width- not restricted to the Jews, nor to the Anglo-Saxons, but to every tribe and every nation. The cause of Christ may seem to be flagging in Britain and Europe these days, but in fact the greatest revival in history is going on in our day. In China, in Africa, in South America, thousands are coming to the Lord every day, often in the face of bitter persecution. How true it is that, ‘He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty’ (Luke 1:53).

Then the length: ‘From everlasting to everlasting.’ Our saviour has loved us from eternity, yet He will never tire of us; never change His mind about us. He is utterly constant: ‘His mercy endures forever.’ We read of charities fearing lest their donors suffer from ‘compassion fatigue.’ Not so with our Lord Jesus; He will never run out of compassion, never run out of care. ‘For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you”’ (Heb 13:5).

Next, the depth- His love for the worst of sinners. He stoops down so low to pick the drunk out of the gutter, the harlot out of the street, the criminal out of the jail, the addict out of bondage. ‘He brought me out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet on a rock and established my steps’ (Psalm 40:2). We were dead in our sins, but Christ has made us alive; deep down in our tombs like Lazarus, dead and stinking until Jesus called us forth.

Finally, the height, which is sublime. We are seated with Him in the heavenly places, and if it doesn’t seem like that to you right now, well, that is where God sees us as being. ‘[He] raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus’ (Eph 2:6). ‘He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the beggar from the ash heap, and sets them among princes’ (1Sam 2:8). Do you long for that blessed time when all our strivings cease? When our tired and worn-out bodies are changed for glorified ones, and we leave the last vestiges of sin behind us and enjoy our Saviour face to face forever? This is our heritage, our destiny, our sure and certain hope, not because of anything we have done, but because of the love with which our Lord has loved us.

So the width of God’s love is infinite, the length eternal, the depth profound and the height exalted beyond imagination. Such is the love of Christ for His people. Alleluia!

Finally, Paul prays that we might be filled with all the fullness of God. Our first reaction might be puzzlement; how can the finite be filled with the infinite? But what Paul is asking is that we might receive all that God has for us. And what God has is abundance. ‘“Try Me now in this,” Says the LORD of Hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it’” (Mal 3:10. cf. Rom 8:32). As Christ dwells more and more constantly and richly in our hearts, we will experience more and more of God’s blessings. More love, as we contemplate what He has done for us. More peace, as our circumstances become less pre-occupying. More wisdom, as His word dwells in our hearts. More joy, as we think of what lies in store for us. More kindness, as God’s love overflows us and we reach out to those around us. ‘For the LORD God is a sun and a shield; the LORD will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly’ (Psalm 84:11).

All these things come to us, you see, because He ‘Is able to do exceedingly abundantly, above all that we ask or think’ (v20). Whatever I have written here has been an understatement; He can and will do more and He will do it through us, and through His power that works within us, ‘To do and to will of His good pleasure’ (Phil 2:13).

Why don’t we pray this prayer constantly for ourselves and for each other? James tells us, ‘You do not have because you do not ask God.’ Paul wasn’t embarrassed to pray it; nor should we be. Paul didn’t doubt that God could and would answer it; nor should we. One last thing as I close. ‘If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear’ (Psalm 66:18). Let us not grieve the Holy Spirit with our worldliness, and let us not quench Him with our petty sins. Let us rather walk in the Spirit by the light of His word, with our eyes fixed upon Jesus as He dwells in our hearts by faith.

There is seemingly no end to the debate about what the church should be. There are arguments for and against mega churches, simple churches, emergent churches, conservative churches, contemporary churches, traditional churches, house churches, and almost every other variation the sinful mind of man can conceive. Some are claiming that the church age has past and we no longer need the church. Others are calling for a radical change in our understanding of the word ‘church’, arguing that we should think about church as a verb rather than a noun. All of this is nothing new. The nature of the church has been debated since Paul’s day. Sadly, most of these discussions produce much more smoke than either light or heat and reveal more about the minds of the participants than the will of the Bridegroom. Up to this point I have not thought much about the debates, but at the request of a couple of the sheep entrusted to my care as their pastor, I have done some thinking about what the church should be and pray that I might put aside my own understanding sufficiently to make a few helpful comments.

The current debate about the church is very like a conversation I had once. Many years ago I was ministering to the Hispanic population of rural East Texas. One of the brothers, Pedro Hernandez, asked me one day, “What is a hippy?” The question was a bit unexpected, but he had not grown up as I had during the glory days of the hippies and flower children so it was natural he would be curious. It seemed a simple question, so I started talking to him about what the hippies did—they protested against the “establishment”, they smoked marijuana, they played psychedelic music, they wore tie-died clothing—and what they did not do, such as work, groom their hair, or bathe. This explanation of what the hippies did and did not do simply confused Brother Pedro. At first I assumed his confusion was due to my less than fluent Spanish, but eventually came to understand that the problem was not with my language, it was with my explanation. I was telling him what hippies did. He wanted to know what they were. When I realized this, I was somewhat astounded by his depth of understanding, and ashamed of my own lack of perception and arrogance. Thankfully, that was not the last time this simple, minimally educated man astounded me. His perception was as intense as his faith, and I learned much from him. (One day I will have to share his understanding of the Book of Job, bumper stickers, and cows.)

Of course, one of the things I learned from my conversations with Brother Pedro was that what something is and what it does are not the same thing. Thus before we can determine what the church should do we must understand what God intends for the church to be. If we want to know what God thinks about the subject we must, of course, look to the Scripture. This is not to say that we should necessarily duplicate the early church’s polity and practice. The New Testament does not provide much information about the actual practice of the early church. It is certainly not enough for us to duplicate a workable church structure in our society. Furthermore, John Piper correctly and wisely points out that “historically early” does not mean “theologically accurate.” He goes on to say:

We are in a better position today to know Jesus Christ than anyone who lived from AD 100 to 300. They had only parts of the New Testament rather than the collected whole. That’s how valuable the fullness of revelation is in the finished Bible. Beware of idealizing the early church. She did not have your advantages! [See the entire article here. It is well worth the read.]

Not only does this reflect a proper respect for the Word of God, but it also demonstrates a great deal of common sense, an element lacking in most theological debates whatever the subject. The Scripture may not tell us much about the practice of the church in the first century, but it does provide us with principles to guide the church in the twenty-first century. There are several passages we could look at, but one that has struck me as particularly relevant to the current discussions is the first few chapters of 1 Corinthians. The church in Corinth existed in a social environment similar to our own. It was a society that openly opposed a faith that called for self-denial rather than self-indulgence. It was quite a religious society, but quite ungodly at the same time. The struggles of the early church there reflected those and other social characteristics of the day just as the church in our day reflects our society for both good and bad.

Before looking at a couple of passages from 1 Corinthians, we need to define the church. Because ‘church’ is a noun it must be defined in terms of its attributes and character rather than in terms of its actions. Its actions inevitably flow from its attributes and character (notice I did not use the word ‘characteristics’). For example, dogs bark because they are dogs. Cats don’t bark because they are not dogs. This is true of all entities. We need only look to any governmental body, such as the two chambers of the U.S. Congress, to understand this fact and its consequences. The U.S. Congress makes laws that apply to the citizens and residents of the United States. Those same laws do not apply to the citizens of China, for example, because by its nature Congress has no authority outside of our own nation. Furthermore, the overall effectiveness of Congress is determined by the integrity and character of its members. One only need read a good newspaper to find the evidence of this particular truth.

In the Scripture, the church is very narrowly defined as the called out body of the saints of God. Rather than take up the space to deal with the details of that definition in this article, let me refer you to the article ‘Church’ in The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. It is clear and concise and available online. While the church consists of individuals, the emphasis is on the assembly or, in more contemporary terms, the congregation. This has been the biblical pattern from Old Testament times. While the individuals are important, their greatest fulfillment is as part of something greater than themselves, something greater than just the collection of individuals. This is clearly illustrated in the story of Achan Son of Carmi in Joshua 7. Because the church is God’s redeemed, just as the Israelites were at the time of the Conquest, its character is expected to be above reproach.

In First Corinthians Paul addressed at least two serious problems in the church. First, they were divided by personalities. Second, they tolerated sin among themselves, specifically they continued to have fellowship with a man who called himself a believer but was having a sexual relationship with his father’s wife. Even by the openly promiscuous standards of our day, that is a bit creepy. The reason Paul addressed these issues so strongly is because they are at the very heart of the nature and character of the church. The full nature and character of the church and of believers is beyond the scope of this article, but most would agree that the these two items Paul addresses—self-denial and holiness—are foundational issues. Jesus’ entire ministry taught by word and deed the concept of self-denial. You know the passages such as Luke 9:23 “And he [Jesus] said to all, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.’” Even baptism, the external sign which marks the believer’s ‘membership’ in the church is a picture of self-denial. As for holiness, that is so obvious it hardly needs explanation, but let me point out one important biblical fact. We tend to focus on the love of God, and his love is certainly important, but the Bible speaks much more often of the holiness of God than it does of his love. Furthermore, while we are commanded to love God with all our being, we are commanded more than once in the Scripture to be holy as he is holy. When it comes to the character of the church, all others are built on these two.

Let us look at the first of these two issues, self-denial. The Corinthian Christians were divided by personalities rather than focused on Christ. (See 1 Corinthians 3.) They were not humble but proud. They were not living in a state of self-denial; they lived in a state of self-indulgence. Paul’s example of self-denial is moving:

To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things. I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I urge you, then, be imitators of me. (1 Corinthians 4:11-16 ESV)

Does this passage describe most believers? When reviled do we really bless? When slandered do we really entreat? No, for the most part we don’t. Paul’s words do not even describe most of our church leaders. The picture of the humble, simple believer is certainly a thing of the past. Pastor A. W. Tozer addressed this same issue in his classic work, The Pursuit of God:

To be specific, the self-sins are these: self-righteousness, self-pity, self-confidence, self-sufficiency, self-admiration, self-love and a host of others like them. They dwell too deep within us and are too much a part of our natures to come to our attention till the light of God is focused upon them. The grosser manifestations of these sins, egotism, exhibitionism, self-promotion, are strangely tolerated in Christian leaders even in circles of impeccable orthodoxy. They are so much in evidence as actually, for many people, to become identified with the gospel. I trust it is not a cynical observation to say that they appear these days to be a requite for popularity in some sections of the Church visible. Promoting self under the guise of promoting Christ is currently so common as to excite little notice. (p. 42-43)

These words are as true today as they were when written more than 60 years ago. When thinking about this concept, it is important that we not simply look at the more blatant examples, such as the TV evangelists, but at ourselves. (We will see later in this article that deflecting the words of reproach towards others was one of the issues for which Paul scolded the Church at Corinth.) The true church is the called out saints of God, and as such consists of those who deny themselves, take up their crosses, and follow Christ. Anything less is not the church.

Paul goes on to instruct the Corinthians in holiness. He says,

I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people– not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.” (1 Corinthians 5:9-13 ESV)

This passage is interesting and convicting. He admonished the Corinthians to correctly apply his earlier teaching on holiness, specifically sexual immorality. They had deflected his previous teachings away from themselves and toward those outside the church. Instead of seeking forgiveness and purging the sin from their congregation, they incredibly held unbelievers to a higher standard than they held themselves. Sound familiar? It should, for the message is as applicable to the contemporary church as it was to the Corinthian Church. It is loudly condemning homosexuality, abortion, secularism, and a whole host of other sins, while tolerating within itself another whole host of sinfulness, particularly sexual immorality, greed, gluttony, pride, racism and hypocrisy, not to mention just plain old worldliness.

Paul had to remind the Corinthian Christians that their concern was not the holiness of those outside the church, but those inside the church. He specifically told them they could not avoid all contact with sinful people unless they went “out of the world.” We cannot, nor should we, avoid contact with unbelievers, but we cannot hold them to a higher standard than we hold ourselves. Paul told the Corinthians Christians that unbelievers cannot share our understanding of morality because it, like all else for the believer, is spiritually understood (1 Corinthians 2:14). Our concern is for ourselves and those who bear the name of Christ. Jesus put it this way,

Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, “Let me take the speck out of your eye,” when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. (Mathew 7:1-5 ESV)

The true church is the called out saints of God, and as such consists of those who seek personal and corporate holiness above all else. Anything less is not the church. Unless and until the church, the called out assembly of the saints, is a body of the self-denying and holy redeemed of God all other discussions are moot.

So, why is it so important that we clearly define what the church is before we worry about what it does? Because, if we define the church by what we do, we have, in spite of any formal statements of doctrine to the contrary, adopted a de facto belief in salvation by works, specifically a doctrine of salvation by church participation.

Lord, forgive me for my own hypocrisy and remove the log from my eye. Amen!

Recently, two great social institutions have come under fire for having lost their integrity. Those institutions are the Church and our Texas judicial system. It seems there is something in the news at least once a month about a church leader who has been involved in some scandal, usually adultery or embezzlement, and our justice system has also been in the news more than it should have been.

In the past few years, more than thirty men who had been convicted of serious crimes in Texas have had their convictions overturned. Most of them had been in prison for many years and at least one of them had been executed. In the case of the church, the moral failure of its “leaders” is just a publically visible symptom of a much larger problem. It is easy for us to simply dismiss these failures with a sad shake of the head and a comment about imperfect men and an imperfect system, but the situation is serious and demands a serious examination of the problems which lead to these spiritual failures and false convictions. They also demand a serious attempt to correct the situation. When the church and the jury system have lost their ability to discern truth, their ability to accomplish their purposes is crippled. In a crippled penal system, justice is perverted rather than served. In a crippled church, souls are lost rather than saved.

The Texas judicial system and the modern church have the same basic problem. Neither can reliably separate truth from presentation. Just as juries are too often deceived by the skillful presentation of a weak case, the church is too often deceived by the skillful presentation of pragmatic humanism. Furthermore, just as the fears and presuppositions of the individual jury members contribute to their collective inability to arrive at a truthful verdict, the fears and fleshly presuppositions of the individual church members and their leaders make them more easily lead astray. What a tragedy that the two institutions in which the truth should be most eagerly pursued, the jury of our peers and the church, have allowed themselves to be content with superficial solutions to serious issues.

This problem is not new. History books are rife with similar situations, the Salem Witch Trials, for instance. One of the best illustrations of this problem is the Gibeonite deception of Joshua and the Israelite leaders. God had commanded the Israelites to destroy all the pagan peoples in the Promised Land. In an effort to save themselves, the Gibeonites devised a clever ruse. They dressed their emissaries in old clothes and outfitted them with old, worn out, and patched sacks, wineskins, clothes, and shoes. They then filled the sacks with old, dry, and crumbly provisions. They made it appear that they had been on a long journey, coming from a distant land outside the area God had commanded the Israelites to clear, even though they actually lived just a few miles away. Joshua and the other Israelite leaders were completely fooled and made a covenant with them. You can read the story for yourself in Joshua 9.

Why were the Israelites deceived? It is clear from the biblical record that Joshua was an intelligent and capable leader. As such he would not be easily fooled. Furthermore, he was a man lead by God, and God was certainly not fooled by theatrics and presentation. Well, the problem was that Joshua and the Israelite leaders ?took some of their provisions, but did not ask counsel from the Lord. (Joshua 9:14)? Yes, they trusted their own eyes and ability to discern and accepted outward appearances. Their reward was some old, dry, and crumbly provisions, spiritual injustice to the people, and generations of idolatry. Those consequences sound serious, and they are. The congregation was not able to carry out God?s clear will and specific instruction because of the agreement the leaders made with the Gibeonites. They had to settle for a sad second best and oppress the Gibeonites rather than destroy them. Because of their pagan practices, the Gibeonite presence and influence plagued the Israelite congregation for countless generations. The leaders? failure to discern truth had consequences that were serious, deadly, widespread, and continued for hundreds of years until after the Exile. In other words, the failure of Joshua and the other Israelite leaders to discern truth directly contributed to the congregation?s struggle to live godly lives for generations to come.

Discernment of truth requires two commodities that are scarce in our society in general and in our churches?diligent seeking of truth and self-denial. Advancements in technology have certainly made daily life physically easier and quicker, but we have mistakenly come to expect that the intellectual, emotional, and spiritual aspects of our lives should also be easier and quicker. Actually, in many ways, just the opposite is true. As technology increases the tools of intellectual, emotional, and spiritual deception increase as well, which necessitates that we be even more diligent in our efforts to discern truth. It is much easier to focus on appearances or presentation than it is to seek all the facts, sift through them, and discern truth from the larger picture. Modern society is increasingly willing to accept as truth that which is skillfully presented whether it is true or not. Will Durant?s astute observation that eloquence is seldom accurate is more true today than ever.

Another reason the church and Texas juries miss the truth is because they do not, or cannot, put aside own their presuppositions and fears. In the case of juries, several things contribute to the problem. For most of us there is an underlying fear of the rise in crime and a desire to ?get the criminals off the street.? Those fears, combined with an ingrained trust in the competency of our law enforcement officers and the justice system in general, too often result in a jury’s willingness to do what is most expedient rather than what is most just. In other words, without even thinking about it, the jury members base their decisions at least partially on themselves rather than on the truth. The discernment is based to a degree on what they, the jury members, need rather than on the demands of the justice.

This is the problem in the church as well. The process of discerning profound truth is made difficult because of our human nature. We are sinners and we bring the weakness of the flesh into the process of determining what is truth. To a degree this in inevitable and unavoidable. We are not God, and as Isaiah reminds us, his thoughts are not our thoughts. We will always struggle to put aside ourselves and discern the thoughts of God. This is part of what is involved in Christ?s demand that we deny ourselves. Actively and deliberately putting aside our own fears, dreams, prejudices, social mores, and motives is required in order to determine truth. It is for this reason I cringe when I hear pastors speak of a congregation’s ?felt needs.? Truth is not about us and what we feel we need. It is about the absolute holiness of the Almighty God who sees the world very differently than we do, and following him requires that we deny ourselves and follow him in his truth and in his way. His truth and his ways are, of course, very different from ours.

As God’s people, our ability to correctly discern truth is crucial. At best failure to discern truth leads to a weak and insufficient faith. A. W. Tozer said in his book, The Pursuit of God:

To put it differently, we have accepted one another’s notions, copied on another’s lives and made one another’s experiences the model for our own. And for a generation the trend has been downward. Now we have reached a place of sand and burnt wire grass and, worst of all, we have made the Word of Truth conform to our experience and accepted this low plane as the very pasture of the blessed.

In other words, Satan has deceived us into accepting less than what God has provided for his people. Tozer goes on to say,

The tragic result of this spirit are all about us. Shallow lives, hollow religious philosophies, the preponderance of the element of fun in gospel meetings, the glorification of men, the trust in religious externalities, quasi-religious fellowships, salesmanship methods, the mistaking of dynamic personality for the power of the Spirit: these and such as these are the symptoms of an evil disease, a deep and serious malady of the soul.

What do we do about this. We make it a point to deny ourselves and diligently seek the truth. That is certainly easier said than done, but not an impossible task.

Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6)

And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. (Luke 9:23)

Jeremiah 4:3-4. ‘For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: “Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart.”’

Hosea 10:12. “Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the LORD, ‘till He comes and rains righteousness on you.”

This article owes its genesis to a walk I took last summer along a path that runs through two fields near my home. It was during the dry spell that came at the end of June. In the first field the farmer was growing maize, and the corn really was ‘as high as an elephant’s eye.’ Although there had been no rain for a while the maize was growing splendidly as the roots sucked up the moisture and nourishment hidden within the ground. The field was doing what a field is supposed to do- it was providing a crop and the farmer would soon have a harvest from it- thirty-fold, sixty-fold or a hundred-fold, I don’t know, but that is what such fields are for- to produce fruit; a crop, a harvest.

But when I walked into the second field, it was a very different story; there was no crop. There had been at one point; I could see the stalks where the maize had been cut down by a combine the year previously, but since then the farmer had left the field to lie fallow. Now because of the hot, dry weather that we had been having, the surface of the ground had been baked hard. Underneath it might have been soft, but there was a sort of hard skin on the surface, and almost nothing was growing- just some scrub and a few weeds- no crop.

A day or two later, there was a torrential rainstorm and I thought, well, that rain will turn the field into a real quagmire, but to my surprise, when I walked through the second field the next day, the ground was still as dry and hard as ever. The rain had not penetrated that hard outer skin and had flowed off the field and into the ditch. Now imagine if the farmer had dropped seed on that land hoping for a harvest. Fat chance! The seed would have remained on the surface of the ground and either the birds would have eaten it or the rain would have washed it away. The seed needs to go deep down into the ground before it will germinate.

So what does the farmer need to do to get a crop out of that field? He must break up the fallow ground. The field is fertile but he must break up that hard-baked surface and expose the soft ground underneath. Today, I guess that a farmer would use some sort of heavy automatic plough, but in Biblical times, I imagine that he would have had to break up the ground and the clods with a hoe before he could plough, and back-breaking work it would have been. But then the seed could have been laid in the furrows and the rain would soak deep down into the ground to make it fertile.

So it was while I was looking at this field that the texts from Hosea and Jeremiah came into my mind, and I preached it to myself as I strolled along the path that day, and I now pass it on to you.

What does it mean for Christians to break up their fallow ground? Well, I believe that the fallow ground in this case is the hearts of believers. Before we were converted, we were dead in trespasses and sin. We had a heart of stone- there was nothing to be done with it. The field of our lives, if I may put it this way, was a spiritual desert. Unless God in His mercy had intervened, there would have been no hope for us (cf. Eph 2:1-3; Titus 3:3-5). But listen to God speaking in Ezek 36:25-27: “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you and you shall be clean: I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take away the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgements and do them.” God has taken away our heart of stone and made our hearts fertile ground, with a view to our bearing spiritual fruit. ‘You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain’ (John 15:16). Believers are to be a fruitful field; we are to produce the fruit of the Spirit in our lives: ‘Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control’ (Gal 5:22-23). So what goes wrong? Well, I can only speak for myself, but I suspect that some of my readers may associate themselves with what I’m going to say.

Is it not the truth that the world keeps coming between us and the Lord? That we get so tied up with jobs, family, pension schemes, finance, holidays, whatever, so that we forget to put the Lord Jesus Christ at the very forefront of our lives? None of the things that I’ve listed is wrong; they are good and necessary, but is there not a danger that they keep us from the Lord. The poet Wordsworth knew something about this:-

‘The world is too much with us, late and soon;
Getting and spending we waste our powers.’

The world crowds in upon us so that we have no time for private devotions. Our Bible reading, if we don’t give it up altogether, becomes perfunctory. We do it because we have committed ourselves to it, but when we’ve finished, we say, “Well, that’s it done for another night,” but we don’t meditate over what we’ve read and we don’t pray about it and so it does us no good. If you don’t understand what you’ve read, do you pray and puzzle over the text, and maybe look it up in a commentary or ask one of your church leaders about it? Or do you say, “Gosh! This is hard going!” and put the Bible down and go and do something else? And so we quench the Holy Spirit, and our hearts become calloused and hardened, and the Lord says, “Break up your fallow ground. It is time to seek the LORD!”

And what about your prayers? Are they earnest, thankful, passionate, pleading with God that He would make you useful in His service? Or are they increasingly perfunctory, automatic and short? And do you find them being answered less and less? Well, Shakespeare knew that answer to that one when he wrote in Hamlet, ‘Prayers without thought never to heaven go.’ If your heart and mind are not engaged in your prayers, what right have you to expect God to answer them? And the Lord says, “Break up your fallow ground. It is time to seek the LORD!”

Moreover, are there not so many things to distract Christians today? How easy it is to pick up a magazine or turn on the television, and you can be wafted away into another world- and usually an unwholesome one. Listen to God speaking to us through Paul in Phil 4:8. ‘Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy- meditate on these things.’ What can we say today? If there is anything nasty, anything unwholesome, whatever is vile; whatever is corrupt or evil, if anything is worthy of condemnation, stick it on the B.B.C. at prime viewing time. But if Christians watch such things day after day, their hearts harden, they grieve the Holy Spirit and He increasingly distances Himself from them, leaving only weeds and scrub in their spiritual lives. And the Lord says, ‘Break up your fallow ground. It is time to seek the Lord’ and He says, ‘Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap in mercy.’

Now, what about church? Did you wake up last Lord’s Day morning and think, “Great! It’s Sunday. Church today!”? Listen to what the Psalmist says: ‘How lovely is Your tabernacle, O LORD of hosts! My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God…….For a day in Your courts are better than a thousand [elsewhere]. I would rather be doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness’ (Psalm 84:1-2, 10). This man can’t wait to get to church and worship God. How is it with you, Brethren? Do you get cross because the hymns are too old or too new, or too fast or too slow? Is the sermon too long? Do you not like this preacher as much as that preacher? Is there not perhaps a hard crust over your heart so that when God rains down His word upon you it doesn’t get through to your heart, but goes into your head and out again without affecting your life? And the Lord says, ‘Break up your fallow ground’ and through Jeremiah He says, ‘Circumcise the foreskin of your heart.’ Now what does that mean? Well, what God is saying is that there can be this covering over our hearts which de-sensitizes us to the things of God, and we must remove that covering so that our hearts are open and tender and sensitive before the Lord.

Now note that it is we who have to do these things. There is a song that goes, ‘Purify my heart,’ but if we pray, “Lord, purify my heart,” or “Lord, break up my fallow ground” and then think that we’ve sorted the problem, we’re missing the point. If a parent tells his child to tidy his room, and the chid says, “No! You do it for me,” That’s both rudeness and disobedience. No, breaking up our fallow ground is something we have to do for ourselves. And it’s not something that’s easy to do. Just as that Hebrew farmer had to sweat and struggle to break up that hard crust of dry earth that had formed over the fertile ground, so we must battle to break the habits of worldliness and indifference that have blunted our love for our precious Lord, for it is clear that those very habits of Christians in Britain and America today are reaping judgement from the Lord. God may be doing amazing things in Africa, Asia and South America with thousands coming to Christ every day, but it is clear that He is not with us just now, and the reason is not hard to find. ‘Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He will not hear’ (Isaiah 59:1-2). If you want to see the Lord coming in power on our land again, as He did in the days of Wesley and Whitefield, you need to break up your fallow ground.

So just how do you break up your fallow ground? Well surely it is necessary first to look into your own hearts, to see in what aspects of your lives you are lying fallow. Paul told the Corinthians, ‘If we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged’ (1Cor 11:31). Then when you identify your shortcomings, you need to come before the Lord in prayers of repentance. Now repentance means a change of heart- you need to go to Him and say, “Lord, I confess that I’ve not loved you as I should; I’ve not placed You in the very forefront of my life. But now, with Your help, I’m going to put that right. Give me the strength to do whatever I need to do to get myself right with You.” Then you need to change your ways. You need to give yourself that extra time for prayer and reading the Bible and fight against wandering thoughts while you are doing them. You need to make a special effort to attend as many of the stated meetings of your church as you can. The Puritans used to say that the Lord’s day was the market day (or shopping day) of the soul; that the teaching that Christians received then would sustain them all through the week as they meditated on it. You need to place yourself under the authority of the preached word instead of standing in judgement upon it. You need to break those bad habits that are grieving the Holy Spirit, and stop distracting yourself with things that quench Him.

If you are sincere and set yourself to do these things and keep praying for God’s help , then He will give you the strength to carry them through and you will be able to say with Paul, ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me’ (Phil 4:13). And look at the blessing that God promises you! ‘Break up your fallow ground. It is time to seek the LORD, ‘til He comes and rains righteousness upon you.’ Hear what He says about your fallow ground in Isaiah 55:13: ‘Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, and instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle tree.’ And listen to what He promises through Malachi: ‘”Bring all the tithes into My storehouse…..and try Me now in this,” says the LORD of hosts, “If I will not open the windows of heaven and pour out such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it’ (Mal 3:10). Let us take the Lord at His word and bring Him His full tithe of our time, our prayers and our service. How little blessing there has been in this country of ours for many years while the professing Church has turned away from God in so many ways! The Church needs to return to Him, to break up its fallow ground. It has to start somewhere. Why not with you and me?

These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. – 1 John 5:13

Hebrews 11:1 tells us that “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” In other words, faith, this deep abiding trust in Christ, gives substance to a reality for which we hope. We believe that the Word of God is true and that God meant what He said, and we take Him at His Word, having His Word give actual substance to our hopes. Faith makes our hope a tangible reality.

The Scriptures are clear then that faith affects behavior, or another way to put it, faith works. It comes out in the way we think, speak, and live. Faith opens the door to understanding and to wisdom. Faith has as its object the Person of Jesus Christ. Faith is the instrument in our justification, and faith is necessary for successful Christian living on a daily basis.

Where does faith come from?

Faith is a gift from God given through the hearing of the Word applied by the power of the Holy Spirit as He produces spiritual fruit in our lives. (Rom 10:17)

Beyond that now, having faith in Jesus Christ brings assurance of our salvation. Because we take Christ at His Word, because true active saving faith works its way out in the way we live, because faith opens our understanding and is a condition of our justification and the forgiveness of our sins, because of all this faith ultimately ushers in assurance.

But what about doubts?

Have you ever doubted that you were saved? Have you ever wondered why you sin so much? Have you ever thought about why it seems God is close at times and far off at others? Have you wavered in your trust? The answer for all of this is assurance. Let’s define assurance and then see how it is that faith gives us assurance.

Assurance Defined

Assurance carries with it the idea that we can reach a point in our Christian walk where we have confidence in the forgiveness of our sins and the salvation of our souls. We can be sure that we have been given eternal life in Jesus Christ.

To be sure this assurance is not a product of our own hearts, nor is it a confidence in the works of our flesh or our own righteousness. It is a confidence that comes from faith in Christ, trusting Him to save us. It is believing that Christ has done what He has said He would do. It is an extension of faith. It is saying, “I believe that Jesus has saved me and will keep me.”

Do we believe what God has said? Do we know and hear His voice and follow Him? Do we have a deep seated peace, a calm in the midst of life’s storms, that God is in control and watching over us and accomplishing His purposes for our good and His glory? This is assurance.

The Holy Spirit gives us this hope and this confidence. Part of what He does in our lives is sustaining our faith and giving us confidence in the work and Word of God. Let us read a few verses together that show the role the Spirit fulfills in giving us assurance.

These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him. 1 John 2:26-27

Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. 1 John 3:24

These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. Hebrews 11:13

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. Romans 8:16-17

So we see that the Holy Spirit of God gives us assurance as we continue to trust God and His Word. As we walk by faith we have confidence in what God has done for us and will do through us as we are yielded to Him. Now let us examine the fruit of assurance – what does assurance give us in our daily lives?

Assurance Applied

Because we trust Christ and are assured of our salvation we have confidence in the saving power of God and we are able to be full of rejoicing. The word rejoice means to be full of joy, full to overflowing. Do we rejoice? Assurance leads directly to rejoicing. We know what God has done, we trust He will bring us safely through to glorification, we await His return, and we rejoice always.

This is a command, to rejoice and give thanks, and it is possible for us to obey this command because of the work of the Spirit. We trust God, we are assured of His promises, and we have cause for overflowing joy.

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:6-9

Further, beyond rejoicing in the finished work of Christ and our hope in His salvation, we also see that assurance aids us in gaining victory over temptation. Because we trust the power of God and the ability of the Spirit to keep us we have strength to stand against the world, the flesh, and the devil. Next time we are tempted, remember that Christ died for the forgiveness of our sins. If He made such a sacrifice for us to free us from sin, how difficult is it to stand firm on His truth, reject the temptation for what it is – a counterfeit that will lead only to death – and to overcome?

These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. John 16:33

You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 1 John 4:4

For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 1 John 5:4

We also find that as we are assured, as we have confidence in our sovereign Lord, we have courage and boldness in fighting the good fight and being a witness of the saving power of God. Do you think of yourself as bold and courageous? And yet the Spirit gives us boldness and courage as we trust God’s Word and see to obey it.

Courage is “mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty.” Boldness is “fearlessness before danger.” Do we not see these very things produced in the lives of the disciples after the Day of Pentecost. As they received the Holy Spirit they were mighty in boldness and courage, often being persecuted, beaten, and threatened for their faith and preaching, and yet they never stopped. They never toned it down. They kept on preaching and obeying God. Why? Because they trusted that God was able to protect and provide for them and walk with them through the trials and suffering. The had faith that produced assurance.

Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD. Psalm 27:14

The wicked flee when no one pursues, But the righteous are bold as a lion. Proverbs 28:21

And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. Acts 4:31

Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech. 2 Cor 3:12

To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him. Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. Eph 3:8-13

One more fruit of assurance is that of faithfulness. When we have faith, when we trust God and take Him at His Word, that produces in us a confidence in Him as our Savior and that confidence in the saving and sanctifying power of God helps us to be even more faithful. The Spirit produces this fruit in us as we have studied, and as we have faith we get more faith. In fact, Paul tells us in Romans 1:17 that “the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith.” That phrase “from faith to faith” means that faith leads to faith. It is an ever growing fruit, compounding and multiplying. Faith leads to faith which leads to more faith. As we trust God and find Him more trustworthy we have that much more faith. We are faithful because God is faithful and we have more and more reasons to love Him and trust Him the longer we serve Him.

For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? Certainly not. Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. Romans 3:3-4

Do you have assurance? Are you sure you know Christ? Do you have confidence in the power of God, in His Word, and in His ability to forgive your sins? If you waver, if you doubt, if you struggle with assurance, then go to the Word. As your faith grows so will your assurance. Remember, assurance is not about your ability to live the Christian life, it is about God’s ability to keep His Word. Can God lie? Can He fail? No. That is the source of our assurance. Take your eyes off of yourself and look to Christ. Trust Him and rest assured, He is able to save you and keep you. He is the Author and Finisher of our faith. “He who promised is faithful and will do it.”

“But the God of all grace who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.”—1 Peter 5:10.

THE APOSTLE PETER TURNS from exhortation to prayer. He knew that if praying be the end of preaching in the hearer, preaching should always be accompanied by prayer in the minister. Having exhorted believers to walk stedfastly, he bends his knee and commends them to the guardian care of heaven, imploring upon them one of the largest blessings for which the most affectionate heart ever made supplication. The minister of Christ is intended to execute two offices for the people of his charge. He is to speak for God to them, and for them to God. The pastor hath not fulfilled the whole of his sacred commission when he hath declared the whole counsel of God. He hath then done but half. The other part is that which is to be performed in secret, when he carrieth upon his breast, like the priest of old, the wants, the sins, the trials of his people, and pleads with God for them. The daily duty of the Christian pastor is as much to pray for his people, as to exhort, instruct, and console. There are, however, special seasons when the minister of Christ finds himself constrained to pronounce an unusual benediction over his people. When one year of trial has gone and another year of mercy has commenced, we may be allowed to express our sincere congratulations that God has spared us, and our earnest invocations of a thousand blessings upon the heads of those whom God has committed to our pastoral charge.

I have this morning taken this text as a new year’s blessing. You are aware that a minister of the Church of England always supplies me with the motto for the new year. He prays much before he selects the text, and I know that it is his prayer for you all to-day. He constantly favors me with this motto, and I always think it my duty to preach from it, and then desire my people to remember it through the year as a staff of support in their time of trouble, as some sweet morsel, a wafer made with honey, a portion of angel’s food, which they may roll under their tongue, and carry in their memory till the year ends, and then begin with another sweet text. What larger benediction could my aged friend have chosen, standing as he is to-day in his pulpit, and lifting up holy hands to preach to the people in a quiet village church—what larger blessing could he implore for the thousands of Israel than that which in his name I pronounce upon you this day:—”But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you.”

In discoursing upon this text, I shall have to remark:—first, what the apostle asks of heaven; and then, secondly, why he expects to receive it. The reason of his expecting to be answered is contained in the title by which he addresses the Lord his God—”The GOD OF ALL GRACE who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus.”

I. First, then, WHAT THE APOSTLE ASKS FOR ALL TO WHOM THIS EPISTLE WAS WRITTEN. He asks for them four sparkling jewels set in a black foil. The four jewels are these:—Perfection, Establishment, Strengthening, Settling. The jet-black setting is this—”After that ye have suffered awhile.” Worldly compliments are of little worth; for as Chesterfield observes, “They cost nothing but ink and paper.” I must confess, I think even that little expense is often thrown away. Worldly compliments generally omit all idea of sorrow. “A merry Christmas! A happy new year!” There is no supposition of anything like suffering. But Christian benedictions look at the truth of matters. We know that men must suffer, we believe that men are born to sorrow as the spark flieth upwards; and therefore in our benediction we include the sorrow. Nay, more than that, we believe that the sorrow shall assist in working out the blessing which we invoke upon your heads. We, in the language of Peter, say, “After that ye have suffered a while, may the God of all grace make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.” Understand, then, as I take each of these four jewels, that you are to look upon them, and consider that they are only desired for you “after that ye have suffered awhile.” We must not discard the sufferings. We must take them from the same hand from which we receive the mercy; and the blessing bears date, “after that ye have suffered a while.”

1. Now the first sparkling jewel in this ring is perfection. The apostle prays that God would make us perfect. Indeed, though this be a large prayer, and the jewel is a diamond of the first water, and of the finest size, yet is it absolutely necessary to a Christian that he should ultimately arrive at perfection. Have ye never on your bed dreamed a dream, when your thoughts roamed at large and the bit was taken from the lip of your imagination, when stretching all your wings, your soul floated through the Infinite, grouping strange and marvelous things together, so that the dream rolled on in something like supernatural splendor? But on a sudden you were awakened, and you have regretted hours afterwards that the dream was never concluded. And what is a Christian, if he do not arrive at perfection, but an unfinished dream? A majestic dream it is true, full of things that earth had never known if it had not been that they were revealed to flesh and blood by the Spirit. But suppose the voice of sin should startle us ere that dream be concluded, and if as when one awaketh, we should despise the image which began to be formed in our minds, what were we then? Everlasting regrets, a multiplication of eternal torment must be the result of our having begun to be Christians, if we do not arrive at perfection. If there could be such a thing as a man in whom sanctification began but in whom God the Spirit ceased to work, if there could be a being so unhappy as to be called by grace and to be deserted before he was perfected, there would not be among the damned in hell a more unhappy wretch. It were no blessing for God to begin to bless if he did not perfect. It were the grandest curse which Omnipotent hatred itself could pronounce, to give a man grace at all, if that grace did not carry him to the end, and land him safely in heaven. I must confess that I would rather endure the pangs of that dread archangel, Satan, throughout eternity, than have to suffer as one whom God once loved, but whom he cast away. But such a thing shall never be. Whom once he hath chosen he doth not reject. We know that where he hath begun a good work he will carry it on, and he will complete it until the day of Christ. Grand is the prayer, then, when the apostle asks that we may be perfected. What were a Christian if he were not perfected? Have you never seen a canvas upon which the hand of the painter has sketched with daring pencil some marvellous scene of grandeur? You see where the living color has been laid on with an almost superhuman skill. But the artist was suddenly struck dead, and the hand that worked miracles of art was palsied, and the pencil dropped. Is it not a source of regret to the world that ever the painting was commenced, since it was never finished? Have you never seen the human face divine starting out from the chiselled marble? You have seen the exquisite skill of the sculptor, and you have said within yourself, “What a marvellous thing will this be! what a matchless specimen of human skill!” But, alas! it never was completed, but was left unfinished. And do you imagine, any of you, that God will begin to sculpture out a perfect being and not complete it? Do you think that the hand of divine wisdom will sketch the Christian and not fill up the details? Hath God taken us as unhewn stones out of the quarry, and hath he begun to work upon us, and show his divine art, his marvellous wisdom and grace and will he afterwards cast us away? Shall God fail? Shall he leave his works imperfect? Point, if you can, my hearers, to a world which God has cast away unfinished. Is there one speck in his creation where God hath begun to build but was not able to complete? Hath he made a single angel deficient? Is there one creature over which it cannot be said, “This is very good?” And shall it be said over the creature twice made—the chosen of God, the blood-bought—shall it be said, “The Spirit began to work in this man’s heart, but the man was mightier than the Spirit, and sin conquered grace; God was put to rout, and Satan triumphed, and the man was never perfected?” Oh, my dear brethren, the prayer shall be fulfilled. After that ye have suffered a while, God shall make you perfect, if he has begun the good work in you.

But, beloved, it must be after that ye have suffered awhile. Ye cannot be perfected except by the fire. There is no way of ridding you of your dross and your tin but by the names of the furnace of affliction. Your folly is so bound up in your hearts, ye children of God, that nothing but the rod can bring it out of you. It is through the blueness of your wounds that your heart is made better. Ye must pass through tribulation, that through the Spirit it may act as a refining fire to you; that pure, holy, purged, and washed, ye may stand before the face of your God, rid of every imperfection, and delivered from every corruption within.

2. Let us now proceed to the second blessing of the benediction—establishment. It is not enough even if the Christian had received in himself a proportional perfection, if he were not established. You have seen the arch of heaven as it spans the plain: glorious are its colors, and rare its hues. Though we have seen it many and many a time, it never ceases to be “A thing of beauty and a joy for ever.” But alas for the rainbow, it is not established. It passes away and lo it is not. The fair colors give way to the fleecy clouds, and the sky is no longer brilliant with the tints of heaven. It is not established. How can it be? A thing that is made of transitory sunbeams and passing rain-drops, how can it abide? And mark, the more beautiful the vision, the more sorrowful the reflection when that vision vanishes, and there is nothing left but darkness. It is, then, a very necessary wish for the Christian, that he should be established. Of all God’s known conceptions, next to his incarnate Son, I do not hesitate to pronounce a Christian man the noblest conception of God. But if this conception is to be but as the rainbow painted on the cloud, and is to pass away for ever, woe worth the day that ever our eyes were tantalized with a sublime conception that is so soon to melt away. What is a Christian man better than the flower of the field, which is here to day, and which withers when the sun is risen with fervent heat, unless God establish him—what is the difference between the heir of heaven, the blood-bought child of God, and the grass of the field? Oh, may God fulfill to you this rich benediction, that you may not be as the smoke out of a chimney, which is blown away by the wind: that your goodness may not be as the morning cloud, and as the early dew which passeth away; but may ye be established, may every good thing that you have be an abiding thing. May your character be not a writing upon the sand, but an inscription upon the rock. May your faith be no “baseless fabric of a vision,” but may it be builded of stone that shall endure that awful fire which shall consume the wood, hay, and stubble of the hypocrite. May ye be rooted and grounded in love. May your conviction be deep. May your love be real. May your desires be earnest. May your whole life be so settled, fixed and established, that all the blasts of hell and all the storms of earth shall never be able to remove you. You know we talk about some Christian men as being old established Christians. I do fear there are a great many that are old, who are not established. It is one thing to have the hair whitened with years, but I fear it is another thing for us to obtain wisdom. There be some who grow no wiser by all their experience. Though their fingers be well rapped by experience, yet have they not learned in that school. I know there are many aged Christians who can say of themselves, and say it sorrowfully too, they wish they had their opportunities over again, that they might learn more, and might be more established. We have heard them sing—

“I find myself a learner yet,
Unskilful, weak, and apt to slide.”

The benediction however of the apostle is one which I pray may be fulfilled in us whether we be young or old, but especially in those of you who have long known your Lord and Savior. You ought not now to be the subject of those doubts which vex the babe in grace. Those first principles should not always be laid again by you: but you should be going forward to something higher. You are getting near to heaven; oh, how is it that you have not got to the land Beulah yet? to that land which floweth with milk and honey? Surely your wavering in beseemeth those grey hairs. Methought they had been whitened with the sunlight of heaven. How is it that some of the sunlight does not gleam from your eyes? We who are young look up to you old-established Christians; and if we see you doubting, and hear you speaking with a trembling lip then we are exceedingly cast down. We pray for our sakes as well as for yours, that this blessing may be fulfilled in you, that you may be established; that you may no longer be exercised with doubt; that you may know your interest in Christ, that you may feel you are secure in him; that resting upon the rock of ages you may know that you cannot perish while your feet are fixed there. We do pray, in fact, for all, of whatever age, that our hope may be fixed upon nothing less than Jesu’s blood and righteousness, and that it may be so firmly fixed that it may never shake; but that we may be as Mount Zion, which can never be removed, and which abideth for ever.

Thus have I remarked upon the second blessing of this benediction. But mark, we cannot have it until after we have suffered a while. We cannot be established except by suffering. It is of no use our hoping that we shall be well-rooted if no March winds have passed over us. The young oak cannot be expected to strike its roots so deep as the old one. Those old gnarlings on the roots, and those strange twistings of the branches, all tell of many storms that have swept over the aged tree. But they are also indicators of the depths into which the roots have dived; and they tell the woodman that he might as soon expect to rend up a mountain as to tear up that oak by the roots. We must suffer a while, then shall we be established.

3. Now for the third blessing, which is strengthening. Ah, brethren, this is a very necessary blessing too for all Christians. There be some whose characters seem to be fixed and established. But still they lack force and vigor. Shall I give you a picture of a Christian without strength? There he is. He has espoused the cause of King Jesus. He hath put on his armor; he hath enlisted in the heavenly host. Do you observe him? He is perfectly panoplied from head to foot, and he carries with him the shield of faith. Do you notice, too, how firmly he is established? He keeps his ground, and he will not be removed. But notice him. When he uses his sword it falls with feeble force. His shield, though he grasps it as firmly as his weakness will allow him, trembles in his grasp. There he stands, he will not move, but still how tottering is his position. His knees knock together with affright when he heareth the sound and the noise of war and tumult. What doth this man need? His will is right, his intention is right, and his heart is fully set upon good things. What doth he need? Why he needeth strength. The poor man is weak and childlike. Either because he has been fed on unsavoury and unsubstantial meat, or because of some sin which has straitened him, he has not that force and strength which ought to dwell in the Christian man. But once let the prayer of Peter be fulfilled to him, and how strong the Christian becomes. There is not in all the world a creature so strong as a Christian when God is with him. Talk of Behemoth! he is but as a little thing. His might is weakness when matched with the believer. Talk of Leviathan that maketh the deep to be hoary! he is not the chief of the ways of God. The true believer is mightier far than even he. Have you never seen the Christian when God is with him? He smelleth the battle afar off, and he cries in the midst of the tumult, “Aha! aha! aha!” He laugheth at all the hosts of his enemies. Or if you compare him to the Leviathan—if he be cast into a sea of trouble, he lashes about him and makes the deep hoary with benedictions. He is not overwhelmed by the depths, nor is he afraid of the rocks; he has the protection of God about him, and the floods cannot drown him; nay, they become an element of delight to him, while by the grace of God he rejoiceth in the midst of the billows. If you want a proof of the strength of a Christian you have only to turn to history, and you can see there how believers have quenched the violence of fire, have shut the mouths of lions, have shaken their fists in the face of grim death, have laughed tyrants to scorn, and have put to flight the armies of aliens, by the all-mastering power of faith in God. I pray God, my brethren, that he may strengthen you this year.

The Christians of this age are very feeble things. It is a remarkable thing that the great mass of children now-a-days are born feeble. You ask me for the evidence of it. I can supply it very readily. You are aware that in the Church of England Liturgy it is ordered and ordained that all children should be immersed in baptism except those that are certified to be of a weakly state. Now, it were uncharitable to imagine that persons would be guilty of falsehood when they come up to what they think to be a sacred ordinance; and, therefore, as nearly all children are now sprinkled, and not immersed, I suppose they are born feeble. Whether that accounts for the fact that all Christians are so feeble I will not undertake to say, but certain it is that we have not many gigantic Christians now-a-days. Here and there we hear of one who seems to work all but miracles in these modern times, and we are astonished. Oh that ye had faith like these men! I do not think there is much more piety in England now than there used to be in the days of the Puritans. I believe there are far more pious men; but while the quantity has been multiplied, I fear the quality has been depreciated. In those days the stream of grace ran very deep indeed. Some of those old Puritans, when we read of their devotion, and of the hours they spent in prayer, seem to have as much grace as any hundred of us. The stream ran deep. But now-a-days the banks are broken down, and great meadows have been flooded therewith. So far so good. But while the surface has been enlarged I fear the depth has been frightfully diminished. And this may account for it, that while our piety has become shallow our strength has become weak. Oh, may God strengthen you this year! But remember, if he does do so, you will then have to suffer. “After that ye have suffered a while,” may he strengthen you. There is sometimes an operation performed upon horses which one must consider to be cruel—the firing of them to make their tendons strong. Now, every Christian man before he can be strengthened must be fired. He must have his nerves and tendons braced up with the hot iron of affliction. He will never become strong in grace, unless it be after he has suffered a while.

4. And now I come to the last blessing of the four—”Settling.” I will not say that this last blessing is greater than the other three, but it is a stepping-stone to each; and strange to say, if is often the result of a gradual attainment of the three preceding ones. “Settle you!” Oh, how many there are that are never settled. The tree which should be transplanted every week would soon die. Nay, if it were moved, no matter how skilfully, once every year, no gardener would expect fruit from it. How many Christians there be that are transplanting themselves constantly, even as to their doctrinal sentiments. There be some who generally believe according to the last speaker; and there be others who do not know what they do believe, but they believe almost anything that is told them. The spirit of Christian charity, so much cultivated in these days, and which we all love so much, has, I fear, assisted in bringing into the world a species of latitudinarianism; or in other words, men have come to believe that it does not matter what they do believe; that although one minister says it is so, and the other says it is not so; yet we are both right; that though we contradict each other flatly, yet we are both correct. I know not where men have had their judgments manufactured, but to my mind it always seems impossible to believe a contradiction. I can never understand how contrary sentiments can both of them be in accordance with the Word of God, which is the standard of truth. But yet there be some who are like the weathercock upon the church steeple, they will turn just as the wind blows. As good Mr. Whitfield said, “You might as well measure the moon for a suit of clothes as tell their doctrinal sentiments,” for they are always shifting and ever changing. Now, I pray that this may be taken away from any of you, if this be your weakness, and that you may be settled. Far from us be bigotry removed; yet would I have the Christian know what he believes to be true and then stand to it. Take your time in weighing the controversy, but when you have once decided, be not easily moved. Let God be true though every man be a liar, and stand to it, that what is according to God’s Word one day cannot be contrary to it another day, that what was true in Luther’s day and Calvin’s day must be true now; that falsehoods may shift, for they have a Protean shape; but the truth is one, and indivisible, and evermore the same. Let others think as they please. Allow the greatest latitude to others, but to yourself allow none. Stand firm and steadfast by that which ye have been taught, and ever seek the spirit of the apostle Paul, “If any man preach any other gospel than that which we have received, let him be accursed.” If, however, I wished you to be firm in your doctrines, my prayer would be that you may be especially settled in your faith. You believe in Jesus Christ the Son of God, and you rest in him. But sometimes your faith wavers, then you lose your joy and comfort. I pray that your faith may become so settled that it may never be a matter of question with you, whether Christ is yours or not, but that you may say confidently, “I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him.” Then I pray that you may be settled in your aims and designs. There are many Christian people who get a good idea into their heads, but they never carry it out, because they ask some friend what he thinks of it. “Not much,” says he. Of course he does not. Whoever did think much of anybody else’s idea? And at once the person who conceived it gives it up, and the work is never accomplished. How many a man in his ministry has begun to preach the gospel, and he has allowed some member of the church, some deacon possibly, to pull him by one ear, and he has gone a little that way. By-and-bye, some other brother has thought fit to pull him in the other direction. The man has lost his manliness. He has never been settled as to what he ought to do; and now he becomes a mere lacquey, waiting upon everybody’s opinion, willing to adopt whatever anybody else conceives to be right. Now, I pray you be settled in your aims. See what niche it is that God would have you occupy. Stand in it, and don’t be got out of it by all the laughter that comes upon you. If you believe God has called you to a work, do it. If men will help you thank them. If they will not, tell them to stand out of your road or be run over. Let nothing daunt you. He who will serve his God must expect sometimes to serve him alone. Not always shall we fight in the ranks. There are times when the Lord’s David must fight Goliath singly, and must take with him three stones out of the brook amid the laughter of his brethren, yet still in his weapons is he confident of victory through faith in God. Be not moved from the work to which God has put you. Be not weary in well-doing, for in due season ye shall reap if ye faint not. Be ye settled. Oh, may God fulfill this rich blessing to you.

But you will not be settled unless you suffer. You will become settled in your faith and settled in your aims by suffering. Men are soft molluscous animals in these days. We have not the tough men that know they are right and stand to it. Even when a man is wrong one does admire his conscientiousness when he stands up believing that he is right and dares to face the frowns of the world. But when a man is right, the worst thing he can have is inconstancy, vacillation, the fear of men. Hurl it from thee O knight of the holy cross, and be firm if thou wouldst be victorious. Faint heart never stormed a city yet, and thou wilt never win nor be crowned with honor, if thy heart be not steeled against every assault and if thou be not settled in thy intention to honor thy Master and to win the crown.

Thus have I run through the benediction.

II. I come now, asking your attention for a few minutes more, to observe THE REASONS WHY THE APOSTLE PETER EXPECTED THAT HIS PRAYER WOULD BE HEARD. He asked that they might be made perfect, stablished, strengthened, settled. Did not Unbelief whisper in Peter’s ear, “Peter, thou askest too much. Thou wast always headstrong. Thou didst say ‘Bid me come upon the water.’ Surely, this is another instance of thy presumption. If thou hadst said, ‘Lord, make them holy,’ had it not been a sufficient prayer? Hast thou not asked too much?” “No,” saith Peter; and he replies to Unbelief, “I am sure I shall receive what I have asked for; for I am in the first place asking it of the God of all grace—the God of all grace.” Not the God of the little graces we have received already alone, but the God of the great boundless grace which is stored up for us in the promise, but which as yet we have not received in our experience. “The God of all grace;” of quickening grace, of convincing grace, of pardoning grace, of believing grace, the God of comforting, supporting, sustaining grace. Surely, when we come to him we cannot come for too much. If he be the God, not of one grace, or of two graces, but of all graces, if in him there is stored up an infinite, boundless, limitless supply, how can we ask too much, even though we ask that we may be perfect? Believer, when you are on your knees, remember you are going to a king. Let your petitions be large. Imitate the example of Alexander’s courtier, who when he was told he might have whatever he chose to ask as a reward for his valor, asked a sum of money so large that Alexander’s treasurer refused to pay it until he had first seen the monarch. When he saw the monarch, he smiled and said, “It is true it is much for him to ask, but it is not much for Alexander to give. I admire him for his faith in me; let him have all he asks for.” And dare I ask that I may be perfect, that my angry temper may be taken away, my stubbornness removed, my imperfections covered? May I ask that I may be like Adam in the garden—nay more, as pure and perfect as God himself? May I ask, that one day I may tread the golden streets, and “With my Savior’s garments on, holy as the holy one,” stand in the mid-blaze of God’s glory, and cry, “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect?” Yes, I may ask it; and I shall have it, for he is the God of all grace.

Look again at the text, and you see another reason why Peter expected that his prayer would be heard:—”The God of all grace who hath called us.” Unbelief might have said to Peter, “Ah, Peter, it is true that God is the God of all grace, but he is as a fountain shut up, as waters sealed.” “Ah,” saith Peter, “get thee hence Satan, thou savourest not the things that be of God. It is not a sealed fountain of all grace, for it has begun to flow”—”The God of all grace hath called us.” Calling is the first drop of mercy that trickleth into the thirsty lip of the dying man. Calling is the first golden link of the endless chain of eternal mercies. Not the first in order of time with God, but the first in order of time with us. The first thing we know of Christ in his mercy, is that he cries, “Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden,” and that by his sweet Spirit he addresses us, so that we obey the call and come to him. Now, mark, if God has called me, I may ask him to stablish and keep me; I may ask that as year rolls after year my piety may not die out, I may pray that the bush may burn, but not be consumed, that the barrel of meal may not waste, and the cruse of oil may not fail. Dare I ask that to life’s latest hour I may be faithful to God, because God is faithful to me? Yes, I may ask it, and I shall have it too: because the God that calls, will give the rest. “For whom he did foreknow, them he did predestinate; and whom he did predestinate, them he also called; and whom he called he also justified; and whom he justified, them he also glorified.” Think of thy calling Christian, and take courage, “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” If he has called thee he will never repent of what he has done, nor cease to bless or cease to save.

But I think there is a stronger reason coming yet:—”The God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory.” Hath God called thee, my hearer? Dost thou know to what he has called thee? He called thee first into the house of conviction, where he made thee feel thy sin. Again he called thee to Calvary’s summit, where thou didst see thy sin atoned for and thy pardon sealed with precious blood. And now he calls thee. And whither away? I hear a voice to-day—unbelief tells me that there is a voice calling me to Jordan’s waves. Oh, unbelief! it is true that through the stormy billows of that sea my soul must wade. But the voice comes not from the depths of the grave, it comes from the eternal glory. There where Jehovah sits resplendent on his throne, surrounded by cherubim and seraphim, from that brightness into which angels dare not gaze, I hear a voice:—”Come unto me, thou blood-washed sinner, come unto my eternal glory.” O heavens! is not this a wondrous call?—to be called to glory—called to the shining streets and pearly gates—called to the harps and to the songs of eternal happiness—and better still, called to Jesu’s bosom—called to his Father’s face—called, not to eternal glory, but to HIS eternal glory—called to that very glory and honor with which God invests himself for ever? And now, beloved, is any prayer too great after this? Has God called me to heaven, and is there anything on earth he will deny me? If he has called me to dwell in heaven is not perfection necessary for me? May I not therefore ask for it? If he has called me to glory, is it not necessary that I should be strengthened to fight my way thither? May I not ask for strengthening? Nay, if there be a mercy upon earth too great for me to think of, too large for me to conceive, too heavy for my language to carry it before the throne in prayer, he will I do for me exceeding abundantly above what I can ask, or even I can think. I know he will, because he has called me to his eternal glory.

The last reason why the apostle expected that his benediction would be fulfilled was this: “Who hath called us to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus.” It is a singular fact that no promise is ever so sweet to the believer as those in which the name of Christ is mentioned. If I have to preach a comforting sermon to desponding Christians, I would never select a text which did not enable me to lead the desponding one to the cross. Does it not seem too much to you, brethren and sisters, this morning, that the God of all grace should be your God? Does it not surpass your faith that he should actually have called you? Do you not sometimes doubt as to whether you were called at all? And when you think of eternal glory, does not the question arise, “Shall I ever enjoy it? Shall I ever see the face of God with acceptance?” Oh, beloved, when ye hear of Christ, when you know that this grace comes through Christ, and the calling through Christ, and the glory through Christ, then you say, “Lord, I can believe it now, if it is through Christ.” It is not a hard thing to believe that Christ’s blood was sufficient to purchase every blessing for me. If I go to God’s treasury without Christ, I am afraid to ask for anything, but when Christ is with me I can then ask for everything. For sure I think he deserves it though I do not. If I can claim his merits then I am not afraid to plead. Is perfection too great a boon for God to give to Christ? Oh, no. Is the keeping, the stability, the preservation of the blood-bought ones too great a reward for the terrible agonies and sufferings of the Savior? I trow not. Then we may with confidence plead, because everything comes through Christ.

I would in concluding make this remark. I wish, my brothers and sisters, that during this year you may live nearer to Christ than you have ever done before. Depend upon it, it is when we think much of Christ that we think little of ourselves, little of our troubles, and little of the doubts and fears that surround us. Begin from this day, and may God help you. Never let a single day pass over your head without a visit to the garden of Gethsemane, and the cross on Calvary. And as for some of you who are not saved, and know not the Redeemer, I would to God that this very day you would come to Christ. I dare say you think coming to Christ is some terrible thing: that you need to be prepared before you come; that he is hard and harsh with you. When men have to go to a lawyer they need to tremble; when they have to go to the doctor they may fear; though both those persons, however unwelcome, may be often necessary. But when you come to Christ, you may come boldly. There is no fee required; there is no preparation necessary. You may come just as you are. It was a brave saying of Martin Luther’s, when he said, “I would run into Christ’s arms even if he had a drawn sword in his hand.” Now, he has not a drawn sword, but he has his wounds in his hands. Run into his arms, poor sinner. “Oh,” you say, “May I come?” How can you ask the question? you are commanded to come. The great command of the gospel is, “Believe on the Lord Jesus.” Those who disobey this command disobey God. It is as much a command of God that man should believe on Christ, as that we should love our neighbor. Now, what is a command I have certainly a right to obey. There can be no question you see; a sinner has liberty to believe in Christ because he is told to do so. God would not have told him to do a thing which he must not do. You are allowed to believe. “Oh,” saith one, “that is all I want to know. I do believe that Christ is able to save to the uttermost. May I rest my soul on him, and say, sink or swim, most blessed Jesus, thou art my Lord?” May do it! man? Why you are commanded to do it. Oh that you may be enabled to do it. Remember, this is not a thing which you will do at a risk. The risk is in not doing it. Cast yourself on Christ, sinner. Throw away every other dependence and rest alone on him. “No,” says one, “I am not prepared.” Prepared! sir? Then you do not understand me. There is no preparation needed; it is, just as you are. “Oh, I do not feel my need enough.” I know you do not. What has that to do with it? You are commanded to cast yourself on Christ. Be you never so black or never so bad, trust to him. He that believeth on Christ shall be saved, be his sins never so many, he that believeth not must be damned be his sins never so few. The great command of the gospel is, “Believe.” “Oh,” but saith one, “am I to say I know that Christ died for me?” Ah, I did not say that, you shall learn that by-and-bye. You have nothing to do with that question now, your business is to believe on Christ and trust him; to cast yourself into his hands. And may God the Spirit now sweetly compel you to do it. Now, sinner, hands off your own righteousness. Drop all idea of becoming better through your own strength. Cast yourself flat on the promise. Say—

“Just as I am without one plea,
But that thy blood was shed for me,
And that thou bid’st me come to thee;
Oh, Lamb of God! I come, I come.”

You cannot trust in Christ and find him still deceive you.

Now, have I made myself plain? If there were a number of persons here in debt, and if I were to say, “If you will simply trust to me your debts shall be paid, and no creditor shall ever molest you,” you would understand me directly. How is it you cannot comprehend that trusting in Christ will remove all your debts, take away all your sins, and you shall be saved eternally. Oh, Spirit of the living God, open the understanding to receive, and the heart to obey, and may many a soul here present cast itself on Christ. On all such, as on all believers, do I again pronounce the benediction, with which I shall dismiss you. “May the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you!”

INTRODUCTION

Much confusion surrounds the doctrines of the contemporary Roman Catholic Church (RCC). This work is an effort to provide an introductory understanding of the RCC’s definition of divine authority. By focusing on the three main sources of authority within this organization much can be learned regarding the method and hierarchical structure of the RCC. First the positions of Pope and bishops will be examined, then the Magisterium and finally the influence of tradition/Scripture on the church. In each section is a brief definition, followed by what the RCC teaches in the given area and concluding with a biblical analysis of their teaching. In the conclusion the Holy Bible will be shown to be the single reliable authority in all faith and practice.

THE POPE AND BISHOPS

The Roman pontiff, as the successor of Peter … enjoys supreme, full, immediate, and universal authority over the care of souls by divine institution … he holds a primacy of ordinary power over all the churches.

The bishops themselves, however, having been appointed by the Holy Spirit, are successors of the Apostles as pastors of souls. Together with the supreme pontiff and under his authority they are sent to continue throughout the ages the work of Christ, the eternal pastor.1

The RCC unashamedly claims papal succession directly from Peter, who they claim was given authority over both the bishops and the church by Jesus himself.2 This authority is seen to be limitless in scope, even unto speaking ex cathedra, meaning “from the chair.”

The Roman Pontiff speaks EX CATHREDA when, in the exercise of his office of shepherd and teacher of all Christians, in virtue of his supreme Apostolic authority, he defines doctrine concerning faith and morals to be held by the universal Church, he possesses, by the divine assistance promised to him in blessed Peter, that infallibility which the divine Redeemer willed his Church to enjoy in defining doctrine concerning faith and morals. Therefore, such definitions of the Roman pontiff are of themselves, and not by the consent of the church, irreformable.3

Furthermore, they claim that the succession of apostolic authority is enjoyed by all their bishops.

The Sacred Council teaches that bishops by divine institution have succeeded to the place of the apostles, as shepherds of the Church, and he who hears them, hears Christ, and he who rejects them, rejects Christ and Him who sent Christ.4

The Teaching of the Roman Catholic Church

Jesus says to Peter in Matthew 16:18, “I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” According to the RCC this statement means that the “pastoral office of Peter and the other apostles belongs to the Church’s very foundation and is continued by the bishops under the primacy of the Pope.”5 In other words, the RCC’s claim is that the word “rock” in this verse refers directly to Peter. Based on this they claim that Peter is the very foundation of the church. They might interpret the verse to say, “You are Peter, and upon you I will build My church.”

The First Vatican Council teaches and declares “that, according to the gospel evidence, a primacy of jurisdiction over the whole church of God was immediately and directly promised to the blessed apostle Peter and conferred on him by Christ the Lord.”6 And later,

Therefore, if anyone says that blessed Peter the apostle was not appointed by Christ the lord as prince of all the apostles and visible head of the whole church militant; or that it was a primacy of honour only and not one of true and proper jurisdiction that he directly and immediately received from our lord Jesus Christ himself: let him be anathema.7

The RCC teaches that the Pope is the successor of Peter, and that Peter was infallible, quoting from Luke.

For the Holy Spirit was promised to the successors of Peter … that, by his assistance, they might religiously guard and faithfully expound the revelation or deposit of faith transmitted by the apostles. Indeed, their apostolic teaching was embraced by all the venerable fathers and reverenced and followed by all the holy orthodox doctors, for they knew very well that this see of St. Peter always remains unblemished by any error, in accordance with the divine promise of our Lord and Saviour to the prince of his disciples: I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren [Luke 22:32].8

According to their reasoning they claim that Jesus prayed that Peter’s faith should not fail, and that Jesus’ prayers were effectual, so it is apparent that Peter was therefore incapable of failing. Furthermore, since Jesus told Peter to “strengthen the brethren” the RCC teaches that this responsibility rests ultimately on Peter (John 21:16 – “tend My sheep” is used to bolster this claim). Not only was Peter to assume domination of the apostles, but of the church, and this dominion was to be passed on to his successor and be perpetuated in the papacy as “God’s representative on earth,” until the return of Christ. This claim, along with those above, will be shown to be erroneous in the following analysis.

Biblical Analysis

While the list above is not exhaustive, it does touch on the foundation of the RCC’s claim of papal inerrancy. The exegesis (more accurately termed “eisegesis”) involved in coming to their conclusions must be carefully scrutinized in order to come to the correct conclusions. First it must be noted that there is not one single shred of scriptural evidence to support the theory of apostolic succession. This myth is completely fabricated by the RCC and based on their tradition and philosophical argumentation. The Bible does not make any assertion that apostleship can be handed down, nor does history attest to the infallibility of the papal office. Apostleship ended with the death of John around the end of the first century.

“And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18). There has been much debate about whether or not the “rock” referred to here by Jesus is in fact Peter, or Peter’s previous words to Jesus, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Many respected scholars make claims on both sides of this challenge.

A popular protestant argument, appealing to the Greek, focuses on the fact that Peter is referred to here as petros (masculine for stone) and the word for rock is petra (feminine for rock, or mass of rock). Petra is used in Matthew 7:24-25 to refer to bedrock and Jesus’ tomb is said to have been hewn from solid rock in Matthew 27:60.

Greek literature also uses [petros] of a small stone that might be picked up and thrown. What Jesus said to Peter could be translated, “You are Stone, and upon this bedrock I will build my church.”9

It is further argued that if Jesus had meant to state that Peter himself was the foundation then He most likely would have said, “You are Peter and upon you I will build My church.”

Although he gives the above position much consideration, William Hendriksen considers that, since it is likely that Jesus spoke in Aramaic, and that the Aramaic word for both “Peter” and “stone” are the same (kepha’), that we must conclude that Jesus was, in fact, “promising Peter that he [was] going to build his church on him!”10 He does go on to clarify his intention in this interpretation as: 1) “It was in the sense that Jesus used Peter in building – gathering and strengthening – his church”; 2) “Not on Cephas considered all by himself, but on Cephas as “first (Matt. 10:2) among equals”; 3) “In [a] secondary sense Scripture itself refers to the apostles as the church’s foundation (Eph. 2:20; Rev. 21:14).” Then for further clarification Hendriksen goes on to state, “In this connection emphasis should also be placed on the fact that … Jesus speaks of himself – not of Peter – as the Builder and owner of the church. He says, ‘I will build my church.” Calvin seems to take a similar view, but qualifies it concisely with the comment, “Let Peter, then, surpass the others; still, honor of rank is greatly different than power.”11

Robert Zins says that there is no way to know. His argument against the conclusion of the RCC is that none of the interpretations establish the Roman papacy. His quote of Augustine is valuable here, “Petra (rock) is not derived from Peter, but Peter from petra; just as Christ is not called so from the Christian, but the Christian from Christ.”12 The best conclusion may be to simply admit that it cannot be confirmed whether or not Jesus was referring to Peter, Peter’s statement about Jesus or even that He was referring to himself, but that, regardless of one’s conclusion, this passage can in no way prove papal authority. It is a statement of position, not authority. Peter is one among many.

“I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren” (Luke 22:32). To claim that this verse asserts Peter’s infallibility is to stretch the biblical evidence beyond any sense of reasonableness. Jesus prayed that Peter’s “faith” would not fail. He said nothing about the person not failing, or that he would not err. It is clear that, as a man, Peter did fail upon occasion. In fact Paul had to reprimand him for succumbing to ethnic pressure from his fellow Jews in Antioch (Gal 2:11). It must be noted that the RCC teaches that the Pope is infallible when teaching, not in all areas of his life. Again, there is no scriptural evidence of apostolic succession of any kind.

THE MAGISTERIUM

“In order to keep the Gospel forever whole and alive within the Church, the Apostles left bishops as their successors, ‘handing over’ to them ‘the authority to teach in their own place.’”13 The Magisterium (from the Latin word magister, meaning master or teacher) is the teaching authority that rests on the bishops of the church (also known as hierarchal magisterium). These bishops, including the Pope, are the only ones who have the right to ascertain the true meaning of the Scriptures. “The task of interpretation has been entrusted to the bishops in communion with the successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome.” 14

In matters of faith and morals, the bishops speak in the name of Christ and the faithful are to accept their teaching and adhere to it with a religious assent. This religious submission of mind and will must be shown in a special way to the authentic magisterium of the Roman Pontiff, even when he is not speaking ex cathedra; that is, it must be shown in such a way that his supreme magisterium is acknowledged with reverence, the judgments made by him are sincerely adhered to, according to his manifest mind and will. His mind and will in the matter may be known either from the character of the documents, from his frequent repetition of the same doctrine, or from his manner of speaking. 15

The Teaching of the Roman Catholic Church

Very little Scripture is used to bolster the RCC claim of the Magesterium or magisterial infallibility. Claiming the promise Jesus made to the disciples in Luke 10:16, “He who hears you hears Me,” the RCC teaches that “the faithful receive with docility the teachings and directives that their pastors give them in different forms.” 16

Biblical Analysis

While it is agreed that the apostles taught with authority, it must be understood that they were in no way infallible. In fact Paul, in a plea to the Galatians to return to the Gospel of Christ, said, “Even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than we have preached to you, let him be accursed” (Gal 1:8). We are to be as the good Bereans who “searched the Scriptures daily” (Acts 17:11), just as Paul admonished the Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 to “Test all things; hold fast to what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.”

Dealing with the RCC claim to Luke 10:16 is not difficult. In the context of this passage Jesus is giving instructions to the seventy disciples who are being sent out to preach to the surrounding towns and cities. This promise is given to them and to them only. No one has the right to make any claims from this passage who was not present at the time Jesus gave this assignment. Furthermore, if one is to claim this promise then they must obey the commands associated with it; “Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road …” (v. 4).

It is interesting, and telling, to note that the RCC claims that in their interpretation of Scripture that they are infallible. However, they teach that, “The practice of placing sacred images in churches so that they may be venerated by the faithful is to be maintained.”17 Also taught is that “the Christian veneration of images is not contrary to the first commandment which proscribes idols.”18

Scripture is clear regarding the making and veneration of idols. “You shall not make for yourself a carved imageany likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them” (Exo 20:4; see also Lev 19:4; 26:1; Deut 4:15-19). For those who fail to obey this command God has made clear that they will be cursed (Deut 27:15).

TRADITION AND SCRIPTURE

Tradition is the means by which the RCC assumes to keep doctrine pure. The employment of the Magisterium, creeds of the Church, teaching of Church Fathers and Doctors, unanimous teaching of the bishops, universal practice of the Church and common understanding of the faithful are all considered as contributors to Tradition.19 “This tradition which comes from the Apostles develop in the Church with the help of the Holy Spirit. For there is a growth in the understanding of the realities and the words which have been handed down.”20

Sacred tradition takes the word of God entrusted by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit to the Apostles, and hands it on to their successors in its full purity, so that led by the light of the Spirit of truth, they may in proclaiming it preserve this word of God faithfully, explain it, and make it more widely known. Consequently it is not from Sacred Scripture alone that the Church draws her certainty about everything which has been revealed. Therefore both sacred tradition and Sacred Scripture are to be accepted and venerated with the same sense of loyalty and reverence.21

A simple and straight forward definition of Tradition is the transmission, handed down through the Church fathers from the apostles, “by the spoken word of their preaching, by the example they gave, by the institutions they established, what they themselves had received…”22

The RCC goes on to claim, “It is clear, therefore, that sacred tradition, Sacred Scripture and the teaching authority of the Church, in accord with God’s most wise design, are so linked and joined together that one cannot stand without the others.”23

The Teaching of the Roman Catholic Church

Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians (2:15) is perhaps the strongest support for this doctrine, “Stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle.” According to their understanding of this passage:

What was handed on by the Apostles includes everything which contributes toward the holiness of life and increase in faith of the peoples of God; and so the Church, in her teaching, life and worship, perpetuates and hands on to all generations all that she herself is, all that she believes.24

In other words, Tradition is equivalent to the apostle’s oral teaching. However, because of all the various sources the RCC draws from to build its doctrine it is apparent that Tradition is much more involved than the oral instruction of the apostles.

Biblical Analysis

The RCC interpretation of this passage, like so many of their interpretations, must lean heavily on their tradition of apostolic succession in order to come to their conclusions. It is clear in this verse that Paul is referring to both the written and verbal instruction that they had received from him. This passage is a warning to the church in Thessalonica to be aware of the apostasy to come. He is admonishing them, much as he did the Galatians, to stand on the word that they have received and beware of false teaching. This cannot be construed to be referring to Catholic Tradition, 1) because the context is clear that he was writing about his own teaching, and 2) because their was no RCC tradition taught at the time. It is rather ironic that the very passage that the RCC uses to bolster their claim of Tradition may one day prove to be a warning against the Roman Catholic Church itself.

SOLA SCRIPTURA

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim 3:16-17, NIV). “God is identified as the source of Scripture, the motivator of its production, and so intimately connected with its entire creation that Scripture is described as ‘God-breathed.’”25 God has given man His Word so that His people can be thoroughly (completely) equipped for every single good work. The Holy Scriptures are the supreme authority in each and every aspect of life. In all matters of faith, which is of things we believe, and of practice, which is the things that we do, our sole authority is the Word of God. If something, whether of faith or of practice, is contrary to the Holy Bible then no matter who pleads for it, no matter what clever arguments are produced in favor of it, it cannot be endorsed. Only through the diligent study of God’s Word can the man of God be equipped with the knowledge and tools to perform his duty and serve his purpose for the Glory of God.

As we consider what the RCC teaches it becomes apparent that, while they do not deny the authority or infallibility of the Word of God, they do, by their faith and practice, deny its sufficiency. The RCC may attempt to add to it in their effort to clarify what God’s intentions are, but unless one “searches the Scriptures daily whether these things are so” they will be lead down the path of destruction. The final authority is only to be found in the Scriptures. The church built “on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit” (Eph 2:20-22). Nothing is mentioned about tradition, the Magisterium or the papacy.

When Jesus’ teaching became difficult to understand many disciples left Him. Peter’s response to his Savior’s question, “Do you also want to go away?” must be man’s heartbeat as well; “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (John 6:60-69). Jesus is the very Word of God (John 1), it is in Him and Him only that man can have eternal life. There is no doctrine of the papacy. There is no doctrine of the Magisterium. There is no doctrine of tradition. There is, however, the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ, revealed so that man, in repentance and belief, may be forgiven for his sin and obtain everlasting life.

It is only by the Word of God that men might be saved, for only it can lay bare the heart and expose sin. “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). As Paul wrote to Titus, we must be diligent to know God’s Word, holding it fast, that we “may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers” (Tit 1:9).

It must be understood that not all of the teaching of the RCC is error. This is one of the great dangers of this church. In promoting the infallibility of the Scriptures, holding its members to a moral lifestyle and promoting good works, the RCC is very attractive to the world today. God has made it clear, however, that no amount of works can save a man (Rom 4:2; Eph 2:9). He has also made it clear that man is not to add to, nor take away from, His Word (Deut 4:2; 12:32; Prov 30:5-6; Rev 22:18-19).

To the Bible they added tradition; to Christ’s headship they added the pope; to His unique role as mediator they added Mary; to His finished and complete sacrifice they added the Mass; to His high priestly office they added the confessional box; to His righteousness they add their own; to grace they add merit; to faith they add works and to heaven and hell they added purgatory.26

All of these the Church of Rome has done, and will be judged for it.

CONCLUDING STATEMENT

The purpose of this work has been to give the reader a rudimentary understanding of the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, in comparison with the Holy Scriptures, with a desire that interest will be kindled for further study. Recommended reading would be, first and foremost, the Holy Bible itself, followed by James G. McCarthy’s The Gospel According to Rome. This book is very well indexed and cross referenced with The Catechism of the Catholic Church and both Vatican councils. To have all five of these resources available would give the student great ability to gain a proper, biblical, understanding of the teaching of the Church of Rome.