Tuesday, April 01, 2025

 

Chuck Lawless. Reignite Your Preaching

10 Ways to Re-ignite Your Preaching Ministry This Week

By Chuck Lawless 

Even those of us who love to preach sometimes lose our passion for the work, even if it's for only a few weeks. If you've lost some of your passion for preaching the Word, maybe these simple steps will help light your fire again this week. 

  1. Remember your calling. Go back to the beginning – back to your first understanding of God's call on your life. Something just happens to us when we re-live the excitement of God's hand on us. 
  2. Think about the believers around the world who would long to be able to preach the Word freely. The time that you have to preach the Scriptures next Sunday will be longer that some believers have in their lifetime to preach without threat on their lives. Don't take your opportunity for granted.
  3. Pray about preaching a favorite text. You want to follow the Spirit's leading, of course, but sometimes He leads us to a text that we just love. He graciously lets us camp in fun, familiar, and encouraging territory for a week.
  4. Get prayer warriors praying for you. You might already have folks praying for you, but all of us can use more prayer support. Enlist several folks (at least 3-5 people) who will intercede for you this week – even perhaps taking a day to fast on your behalf. I assure you that you'll approach preaching differently when you know you've been covered in prayer. 
  5. Intentionally make/take more time to prepare your sermon. Set aside more hours this week, and protect that time. Ask your leaders to help protect your time with God. It's a basic step, but it'll pay off with renewed preaching vigor. 
  6. If you're not already doing it, start preaching through a book of the Bible. This kind of preaching not only helps you teach the Word to your church, but it also helps you know where you're headed with your sermons each week. Just knowing that information can help release some stress.
  7. Get rid of private sin in your life. Few things hinder our preaching like our personal sin does. On the other hand, preaching is seldom more enjoyable than when we stand before God's people as holy, faithful leaders. Be the latter leader. 
  8. Invite some church members to critique your sermon. When you intentionally invite somebody to evaluate your sermon, you'll put more effort into the task. That may not be the best motive, but it moves us in the right direction.
  9. Listen to some sermons from your favorite preachers. Let them encourage you again. Hear the passion in their voices. Know their love for the Lord. Listen . . . and learn–and let the Lord reignite your fire.
  10. Weep over the lostness of the world and the faithlessness of the church. When we see spiritual realities, and we know that proclaiming the Word is a central way to address these issues, the task of preaching should be that much more important to us.

What other ways would you add to this list?


Saturday, March 29, 2025

 

Tell the truth

Two of the Ten Commandments address the spirituality of speech. In Exodus 20:7, the Third Word commands, "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain." In Exodus 20:16, the Ninth Word commands, "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor."

The Lord is listening to what you say. You may talk behind your neighbor's back. You cannot talk behind God's back. Psalm 19:14 should be our daily prayer: "Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer." The God who hears all is the God of truth. Absolute truth is his righteous standard for all God says and hears. Proverbs 6:16 says: "There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him." The second on the list is "a lying tongue" (6:17). The sixth on the list is "a false witness to breaths out lies" (6:19). Proverbs 12:22 says, "Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are his delight."

In sworn testimony, a witness is asked to take an oath: "Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God." This is not unnecessary redundancy. These are safeguards against the various ways of lying A witness may misrepresent the truth, omit key details, or falsely embellish a story. The ninth commandment was Israel's oath to witness truthfully in court. But it was not limited to Israel's legal system. It was a divine call to be godly people. God commands his people to tell the truth. John Calvin wrote, "Just as the previous commandment ties the hands, so this one ties the tongue."

 This Old Testament commandment applies to New Testament Christians. The early church was its own welfare system. Some sold their property and gave the proceeds to help needy church members. Ananias and Saphira wanted the recognition without the sacrifice. They sold property, and gave a portion of the funds to the church, but said they gave it all. The couple dropped dead in front of the congregation. Acts 5:11 says, "And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things." This severe act of divine judgment teaches an important lesson to believers and unbelievers: God deals harshly with people who do not tell the truth. In Matthew 12:36-37, Jesus says, "I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." 

We live in a dishonest society in which truth-telling is a rare commodity. But it would miss the point to spend this message lamenting the absence of truth in journalism, politics, education, business, advertisement, entertainment, and social media. The Ten Commandments were not addressed to pagan nations. God deemed it necessary to command his redeemed people to tell the truth. Before the world will hear this commandment, the church must heed this commandment. Psalm 58:3 says, "The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth speaking lies." We are all born in sin as liars. We who are born again in Christ must be people of truth. Ephesians 4:25 says, "Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another." What does it mean to be people of truth? 

Tell the Truth about Your Neighbor. 

      The Ten Commandments are often divided into sections: 

    As the later commandments teach us to love our neighbor as ourselves, the ninth commandment is the first commandment that explicitly mentions one's "neighbor." Exodus 20:16 says, "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." The point of this verse is the commandment not to bear false witness. The heart of the verse is this reference to one's neighbor. The Ninth Word is not the duty of love, not just the ethics of speech. The preceding commandments instruct us to respect the sanctity of our neighbor's life, marriage, and property. This commandment instructs us to respect the sanctity of our neighbor's reputation. 

    Proverbs 22:1 says, "A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold." A name is more than a label to distinguish one person from another. A name represents a person's nature, character, and reputation. The Bible says it is better to have a good name than great wealth. You should guard the integrity of your name at all costs. You should also guard the integrity of your neighbor's name at all costs. 

    The prohibition against bearing false witness condemns perjury. Israel's courts did not have wiretaps, video surveillance, or DNA evidence. Guilt or innocence was determined by eyewitness testimony. Justice required witnesses to be truthful. Leviticus 19:15 says, "A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established." Forensic evidence consisted of multiple, credible witnesses. Exodus 23:1-3 says, "You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with a wicked man to be a malicious witness. You shall not fall in with the many to do evil, nor shall you bear witness in a lawsuit, siding with the many, so as to pervert justice, nor shall you be partial to a poor man in a lawsuit."

    Ahab asked Naboth to sell him his vineyard, which was next to the king's palace. In 1 Kings 21:3, Naboth answered, "The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers." Ahab went home upset. But his wife Jezebel assured him she would take care of it. She instructed the elders and leaders of the city to have "two worthless men" to charge Naboth with cursing God and the king. The scheme worked. Naboth was taken outside the city and stoned to death. Ahab got the vineyard he wanted. But the Lord sent Elijah to confront Ahab in Naboth's vineyard. Elisha prophesied the dogs would lick Ahab's blood in the place where they licked Naboth's blood and would eat Jezebel. R.G. Lee preached a classic sermon on this story entitled, "Payday, Someday." Ahab and Jezebel were not judged because they stole Naboth's vineyard. They were judged because they bore false witness, resulting in Naboth's death, so they could steal his vineyard. Lying was worse than stealing. 

    The ninth commandment forbids what Ahab and Jezebel did to Naboth. But it was not just the legal implications of what they did that was wicked. It was also the moral implications. The Ten Commandments condemn the worst form of a sin. 

    The condemnation of the worst form of a sin is a condemnation of forms of a sin. Thus, we should not bear false witness by perjuring ourselves. Likewise, we should not bear false witness by slander, gossip, flattery, criticism, or insinuation. Colin Smith wrote: "God's commandments are like a railway with many stations on the line. The ninth commandment is about the line of lying. Perjury in a court of law is a station at the end of that track. You may never have been at that station, but you have certainly traveled the line." We should not wrong our neighbor by false words formally or informally, publicly or privately, in speech or print. Tell the truth about your neighbor. 

    Tell the Truth about Yourself. 

      David committed Adultery with Bathsheba. Bathsheba became pregnant. David covered his sin by having her husband Uriah killed in battle. Then David married Bathsheba, who gave birth to a son. All along, David kept silent about his sin. But a visit from the prophet Nathan revealed David's sin was not hidden from God. David repented and God forgave him. David wrote about this sordid ordeal in Psalms 51 and Psalm 32. In these penitential psalms, David does not say anything about adultery or murder. Adultery was the sin that got David in trouble. Murder was the sin he committed to cover the sin of adultery. David does not mention it either. He did not deny or downplay his violation of the Sixth and Seventh commandments. Rather, his psalms focus on his violation of the ninth commandment. In seeking to conceal his sins of adultery and murder, David did not tell the truth about himself. 

      Psalm 51:6 says, "Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart." This is the great burden of David's prayer. It was bad that David committed adultery and murder. It was worse that David was living a lie. Bearing false witness against ourselves is just as sinful as bearing false witness against our neighbor. We often bear false witness against our neighbor to avoid bearing faithful witness against ourselves. To tell the truth about your neighbor you must tell the truth about yourself. Arthur W. Pink wrote: "The prohibition against bearing false witness against my neighbor equally forbids me to bear false witness about myself, which is done when I pose ass being holier than I am or when I present to be more humble of more anything else than is actually the case."

      The word "hypocrite" means "actor." It was the term for performers who donned a mask, went on stage, and played a role. In our culture, actors are celebrities. In Greek culture, they were notorious. This was the term Jesus regularly used to criticize ungodly people. He did not use it for prostitutes, tax collectors, or other notorious sinners. He used it for the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus viewed the religious leaders to be play-actors who pretended to be something before others that they knew they were not before God. With rare exceptions, none of the religious leaders followed Jesus. They could not deal with the truth about God because they did not want to deal with the truth about themselves. In John 8:31-32, Jesus said, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." To follow Jesus is to love the truth, learn the truth, and live the truth. J.I. Packer wrote, "There is no godliness without truthfulness."

      There are two ways to live. You can lie about who you really are. 1 John 1:8 says, "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." 1 John 1:10 says, "If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." To be in sin is to lie to yourself and to call God a liar. But there is another way! 1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

      Tell the Truth about the Lord. 

      God is the God of truth. Numbers 23:19 says, "God is not a man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said it, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?" "Titus 1:2 says "God never lies." Romans 3:4 says, "Let God be true through every one were a liar." In John 14:6, the Lord Jesus Christ declares, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." In John 16:13, Jesus said to his disciples, "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come." Truth is the essence, nature, and character of the Godhead. Ultimately, truth-telling is not just a legal, moral, or ethical issue. It is a theological issue. We must tell the truth about the Lord in at least three ways. 

      Sound Doctrine. In the Old Testament, God spoke to his people through prophets. The prophets were respected leaders in Israel, among the kings and the people. The critical role of the prophets prompted counterfeits. Many claimed to speak for God who did not actually speak for God. Deuteronomy 18:20-22 says, "But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die. And if you say in your heart, 'How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?' – when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come truth, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him." True prophets do not lie on or about God. 

      In the New Testament, the ministry of the apostles paralleled the ministry of the prophets. The age of the apostles ended when the canon of scripture was complete. You do not need a prophet or apostle to hear God speak today. 

      Beware that false teaching remains an ongoing threat. The Bible is inspired, inerrant, and infallible. It is thus sufficient to save sinners, mature disciples, govern churches, counsel the troubled, and transform society. Yet many of the most popular preachers are men and women who mishandle scripture. 2 Timothy 3:16-17says, "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work." The Bible is God's self-revelation. Therefore, to misinterpret scripture is to misrepresent God. Faithful pastors and churches must be committed to sound doctrine. 

      Al Mohler wrote: "The reputation for which we must be most concerned is the reputation of God himself. Theology is speech. Doctrine is speech. The danger of getting doctrine and theology wrong is not merely to come up short on a systematic theology exam. Getting theology wrong is to bear false witness about God. It is to lie about God."

      Faithful Witness. Matthew 26:59-61 says, "Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death, but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward said, "This man said, 'I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to rebuilt it in three days." The religious leaders sought to entrap Jesus through perjured testimony. They finally condemned Jesus through the testimony of liars who twisted the prophecy of his resurrection to be a threat of terrorism. Jesus was crucified as a result of those who bore false witness against him. The one who died because of liars died for liars. 1 Peter 2:22-24 says, "He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed."

      After his resurrection, Jesus said in Matthew 28:18-20, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." Before his ascension, Jesus said in Acts 1:8, "It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

      Peter Leithart said, "With the Ninth Word, Jesus calls us to martyrdom." The Greek word for "witness" is our English word for "martyr." It is to witness with your life, not just your lips. Whatever it may cost you, tell the truth about the Lord. 1 Peter 2:9-10 says, "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light."

      Grateful Praise. If God were a stingy, temperamental, closed-fisted God, we would be thankful for every blessing we received. Because God is such a generous God, we tend to take his goodness for granted. Worse, filled with sinful pride, we are guilty of spiritual plagiarism. We take credit for things in our lives that only God can accomplish. To tell the truth on the Lord is to give him the highest praise, full credit, and due glory for his grace, goodness, and greatness to you. Psalm 34:1 says, "I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth." We should just praise God on good days, during favorable seasons, or after answered prayed. 

      When you only praise God when things are going your way, you lie on God. By holding back your praise you are saying that God is only good when things are good. That is not the truth! James 1:17 says, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." Life is bad. Life is hard. Life is painful. Life is difficult. Life is unfair. But life is not God. God is God. And God is good! Psalm 100:4-5 says, "Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations."



       

      HB Charles. Illustrations

      To illustrate is to shed light on a subject. Illustrations are like windows in a house. They let the light in. They can also let in voyeurs, seeking to eye the forbidden. 
       
      Voyeurism is not just the vice of those who want to see what they should not see. It is also the vice of those who want to show what they should not show. 
       
      There is no place for voyeurism in the pulpit. Sermon illustrations should be like letting sunlight into a window, not like putting a spotlight on a stage. 
       
      Here are 10 guidelines for avoiding indecent exposure in the pulpit. 
       
      1. Thou shalt not embarrass thy neighbor. When I got married, Crystal gave me blanket permission to use anything I thought was appropriate or helpful. She had one qualification: "Don't embarrass me." I strive to keep this one commandment. So should you. Don't say anything that will embarrass your family and friends. Don't criticize, settle scores, or take shots from the pulpit. Affirm, don't embarrass. 
       
      2. Think twice. Many inappropriate things are said in preaching spontaneously. We just don't think about it before we say it. This is why you should write out your messages. And as much as you can, stick to the script. If you stray from what you prepared, and it includes a personal reference you have not thought through, think twice. 
       
      3. Do not boast. You should not use illustrations about what you drive, where you live, what designers you wear, how much money you have, who you know, or anything else that conveys that you have it going on. Don't use the pulpit to brag about material things! 
       
      4. Ask permission. A simple way to stay out of trouble is to ask permission before you mention someone from the pulpit. Get permission first and you won't have to get forgiveness later. 
       
      5. Do not use illustrations from counseling sessions.Church members do not confide in pastors (or other members) because they fear their private business will broadcast. "Please don't talk about me from the pulpit," they plead. Your people should trust their discussions with you are confidential. You undermine this confidence when you use counseling conversations as pulpit material. 
       
      6. Spare us the details. Once or twice a year, I permit unplanned testimonies in worship. But I remind volunteers that they cannot tell it all. It just seems the more details they try to give, the more the testimony goes astray. The same thing happens in preaching. The most details about a situation, conversation, or experience you give, chances are you will over speak. The devil is in the details. So only say what is necessary to get your point across. 
       
      7. Don't play the hero. Avoid illustrations in which you are the star. You don't want people to think more highly of you than they ought. A surefire way to produce misguided hero worship is to tell stories that feature you as the hero - the one who prayed or forgave or sacrificed or exhibited patience or led someone to Christ. Be the villain. Let Jesus be the hero.
       
      8. Good for the soul, bad for the reputation. If there is something you need to confess, tell it to the Lord - not to your congregation! Beware, in the attempt to prove that you are human, you can give the indication that you are not spiritually qualified to preach. Even if it is something that is buried in the past of your pre-Christian days, still be careful. You want to invite prodigals home, not make the far country seem desirable. 
       
      9. Make sure you are over it before you talk about it.When we have gone through hurts and pains and sorrows, we want to share the lessons we have learned with our people. Let those lessons sit a while. Make sure you pass the class first. Don't vomit your hurt feelings, open wounds, or unhealed offenses on your congregation.   

      10. Remember it's not about you. The best way to avoid indecent exposure in the pulpit is to stay focused on the fact that the message is not about you. Your people should learn more about Christ from your sermons than they learn about you. "For what we proclaim is not ourselves," said the Apostle Paul, "but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Christ's sake" (2 Corinthians 4:5).

      Friday, March 21, 2025

       

      John Barnett. Good News which is True News

                                 Good News which is also True News
      (Delivered at Anglican Connection Conference, Dallas, June 12-14, 2017)

      Gospel means 'good news' because its message is that Jesus the Son of God has saved us from the penalty of our sin and blessed us with his life-changing Spirit.

      This 'good news' is no less true news' true historically.  If the gospel is not historically true, then its message is not 'good', but 'bad', misleading and a cruel mockery.

      But the 'good news' is no less 'true news'.

      There have many attacks on the truth of the gospel, especially from the New Atheists who have carpet bombed the integrity of the four Gospels.
      Please see my response, Gospel Truth published by IVP/UK

      An earlier and potent attacker was William Wrede who in 1908 claimed that Paul not Jesus was the true inventor of Christianity.  Jesus was a teacher whom Paul re-fashioned as a crucified and resurrected redeemer, a Greek dying and rising god.  This was the inspiration of the novel The Last Temptation of Christ and the Martin Scorcese movie of the same name.

      But solid evidence rejects this. In 50, when Paul came to Corinth, he 'delivered' a pre-formatted body of teaching, which he had 'received'  almost certainly from the Jerusalem apostles, and almost certainly when he stayed with Peter in 37  which was within 4 years of Jesus' resurrection.

      Christ died for our sins
      Christ was buried
      Christ was raised on the 3rd day
      Christ was seen alive by hundreds of mostly living witnesses

      This is what Paul and the apostles preached

      This 'tradition' had been created within 3 years of Jesus, far too early for a 'myth' to arise.  This was the view of A.D. Nock the doyen of scholars of religion in the Greco-Roman world.  It is a matter of fact that Jesus Christ was a crucified and resurrected saviour.  The redeemer whom Wrede, Bultmann and others denied proves to be true  true historically.

      Let me mention some reasons to trust the gospel message historically.

      Reasons to trust the gospel message historically:
      1.      Between AD 80-200 we have strong evidence of the genuine fourfold gospel.  By 200 we have the codex P45 with 4 gospels bound together.

      Moving backwards from 200 we have the fourfold gospel witnessed by the Diatessaron, the Muratorian Canon, and by Irenaeus.

      Marcion had claimed there was but one gospel (as reconstructed by him) and Basilides had claimed the existence of additional gospels.
      But there were four.

      And these four were in circulation from AD 80 if not earlier.
      They were quoted to or alluded to soon afterward by Clement, the Didache, Ignatius, Papias and Polycarp.

      2.      The Gospels were historically close to Jesus  a mere 30 years by my reckoning in the case of Mark and 45 for Matthew, Luke, and John.
      Some of Jesus' contemporaries would have been alive when the gospels were published, and therefore able to refute them.

      By contrast about 80 years separated Tiberius Caesar from Suetonius' biography of him.

      These Gospels were the written up versions of the preached gospel.  The gospel was a living reality during those few decades that morphed into written texts.  The material contents of the gospel had been circulated  often in written form  before the Gospels were completed.

      By contrast, the 80 years between Tiberius and Suetonius' Life of him was a dead space.  There was no preaching about that emperor.  No Tiberius cult.

      3.      Jesus' public ministry was of about four years duration and the twelve he chose to be with him were eyewitnesses of his actions and auditors of his words throughout those four years.

      After Judas died the criterion for his replacement as an apostle was one who had been with Jesus throughout that period, from John the Baptist to the resurrection of Jesus, and therefore qualified to be an eyewitness.

      The words of the Gospels grew out of their oral eyewitness testimony.  Luke specifically attributes the authentication of his sources to these 'eyewitnesses who were ministers of the word' (Luke 1:1-4).

      4.      The New Testament texts cross-reference one another
      Mark, the earliest written Gospel, closely cross references the apostolic spoken sermons in Acts 2-13 that are focused on the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.  These correspond closely with the early, pre-formatted statement of the gospel that is embedded in Paul's first Corinthian letter (15:3-7).

      Christianity was a movement whose message (the gospel) centred on Jesus, from his baptism to his resurrection.  That message was initially oral but soon also became written.  The oral and the written expressions support and cross-reference one another.

      5.      The Gospels dovetail into first century political and religious     culture.
      The Gospel writers locate the circumstances of Jesus' birthministry and death within his cultural and political setting.

      The birth of Jesus occurred when Augustus was Caesar (31 BC?AD 14), in the latter years of Herod the King, who died in 4 BC.

      Jesus' ministry occurred during the rule of Tiberius, when Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod Antipas tetrarch of Galilee and Caiaphas High Priest in Jerusalem.

      The same holds true for the geography of the Holy Land.  Jesus' ministry was set in the towns like Capernaum, Chorazim and Bethsaida around the lake, as well as in Jericho, Bethany, and Jerusalem in Judea, to name just a few.

      The Gospel writers know about topography, that one travels down from Cana to Capernaum and up from Capernaum to Jerusalem. Likewise they know of particular places in Jerusalem like the Praetorium, the Pool of Siloam, the Pool of Bethesda, Gabbatha and Golgotha.

      The Gospels also cohere closely with the religious culture of Israel with its dominant groups, the Pharisees, the Sadducees and the temple hierarchy of 'chief priests'.

      The Gospels' coherence with the politics, geography, topography and religious culture of Israel in the first half of the first century provides compelling evidence for their historical reliability.

      6.      Radical dissimilarity confirms Jesus' distinctness
      On the other hand, however, there are many aspects of Jesus that, paradoxically, cohere with but also distinguish themselves from first century Jewish religious culture.  One example relates to parables.  Jesus taught in parables like the rabbis, but his message was diametrically different.

      In one example, a rabbi taught a parable of two treesthat were subject to a violent storm so that one fell over while the other stood firm.  We are immediately reminded of Jesus' parable of the two houses that were assailed by violent storm, where one collapsed and the other stood firm.

      Despite the similarity of the story in the two parables, their respective messages are opposite in meaning.  In the rabbi's parable it was the strong root system of religious works that saved the tree whereas in Jesus' parable the rock that gave the house its stability was adherence to Jesus' teaching.

      In another parable the story line focused on a man who worked only for the eleventh hour in a twelve-hour day but received the same wage as those who had laboured throughout the whole day.  In the rabbinic parable the explanation was that the man who worked one hour achieved more that the others had for the whole day.  In Jesus' parable the owner paid the eleventh hour worker the same wage merely as an act of generosity.

      In both rabbinic parables the emphasis is on works of the law as a basis for recognition by God.  By contrast in Jesus' parables the emphasis is on Jesus himself, his words and his grace.

      These parables locate Jesus within the parable telling culture of the times, but his radical and distinct message emerges clearly from his story line.  These parables indicate the accuracy of the Gospels in reflecting the place of parables in that culture, but his message points to his transcendence.

      7.      Hostile sources confirm the raw facts of the New Testament
      We are fortunate that Christianity came negatively to the attention of outside observers.  This means that in addition to the positive witness in the New Testament we have credible references from external figures who were not only non-Christian, but anti-Christian.

      I am thinking of Flavius Josephus who referred to both Jesus and brother James.  Unfortunately part of Josephus' information about Jesus has been corrupted.  Nevertheless there is enough that is uncorrupted to be useful.  As well, the words of Tacitus, whose text is uncorrupted, are of special value in tracing the spread of Christianity from Judea to Rome.  Finally, Pliny valuably describes the Christian meeting with glimpses of their beliefs.  In 112 AD Governor Pliny reported to his emperor Trajan that the sect of the Christians sang a hymn to Christ 'as if to a god'.

      This early but hostile witness innocently confirms the testimony of the New Testament that the early Christians sang 'psalms and hymns and spiritual songs making melody to the Lord'.  Pliny indirectly confirms that Jesus' followers called him 'Lord' and pleaded, Maran atha, 'Lord come back'.

               Summary
      The cumulative effect of these positive seven arguments is that history gives a favourable verdict on the question of the historical reliability of the four Gospels.  In brief, the writers of the Gospels are reproducing the imprint of Jesus on them, the things they saw him do and the words they heard him speak.

      The 'good' message'' about Jesus is no less the 'true' message.  The Gospels are able to satisfy the most demanding historical tests.

      But equally one must acknowledge and submit to the inner witness of the Spirit to know the authentication of God.

      We need to stress that historically based faith is not gullibility.
      It is not irrational.

      Having confirmed the reliability of the apostolic tradition for a rational faith let me now turn to its focal figure, Jesus, and to gospel-based faith in him.

      History-based faith is the prelude to Jesus based faith.

      Sola Christo
      In particular, what does the New Testament tell us about Sola Christo, 'Christ alone'?

      The Gospels
      Think with me as I address that question first, in regard to the four Gospels, and secondly in the thought of the Apostle Paul?

      We are so familiar with the Gospels that we miss a critical detail.  The Gospels focus on Jesus effectively to the exclusion of others.  It is Jesus who acts; it is Jesus who speaks.

      True, there are the disciples, chiefly Peter.  But he is a foil to Jesus.  Where Jesus is strong, Peter is weak.
      Where Jesus is dignified, Peter is erratic.
      Where Jesus is measured, Peter is impulsive.
      Where Jesus is unwavering in the face of hatred, Peter crumbled in the face of a servant maid.

      Altarpieces and stained glass windows place the disciples alongside Jesus as if near equals. But they are not.
      Also, saints, martyrs, angels. As if Jesus needs them.
      But he is the all-sufficient Saviour.
      Thus one of the 'solas'  the Bible alone.
      The altarpieces present the Bible plus.
      They are frequently works of great skill and beauty.
      But the Reformers recognised: the Bible alone.

      Each Gospel directs the eyes of faith to Jesus alone.
      It is his words we hear.
      It is his deeds we watch.
      Jesus is the focal figure.  Jesus alone

      Paul's Letters
      From the apostolic times until now a great question has been is Christ, and our trust in Christ, sufficient to save us, or must we add our own contribution for God to pronounce us saved?

      This was a huge issue for St Paul and it was a great issue for Martin Luther; and it remains critical.

      In Erfurt the Augustinian friar had believed that the 'justice of God' engaged with him in judgement and condemnation, which had led him into spiritual slaveryto fear and to endless fasts, vigils, confessionals and a painful pilgrimage to Rome.  But in Wittenberg through his study of Romans the young professor discovered that the 'justice of God' engages with us not in judgment and condemnation but in grace and forgiveness through faith in the crucified Son of God.

      As a result of this revolutionary discovery he changed his surname from Luder to Luther, based on the Greek word eleutheros, meaning 'free'.  He now signed letters as 'Martin the free'.  Secondly, he wrote his most famous pamphlet, Of the Freedom of the Christian.  Freedom before God was everything.

      Luther greatly loved Paul's Epistle to the Galatians, which he called his 'wife'.  Paul's words, 'For freedom Christ has set us free' (5:1) sum up the deepest feelings of St Paul and Martin Luther.

      A key text for Paul and for Luther was Galatians 2:16:
      we know that a person is not justified by works of the law
      but through
       faith in Jesus Christ,
      so we also have believed in Christ Jesus,
      in order to be justified by
       faith in Christ
      and not by
       works of the law,
      because by
       works of the law no one will be justified.

      If Galatians is Paul's first letter, as I believe it to be, it means that historically this is Paul's earliest reference to that keyword, 'justified'.

      Three times he affirms 'faith in Christ' as the only basis for being 'justified', that is, deemed to be 'in the right' with God and, as the Passive Voice teaches, declared to right by God.  We are right with God by God by onemeans, Christ alone and faith in him.

      In the same letter Paul pronounces God's curse on law-breakers

      Galatians 3:10-11
      For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse;
      for it is written,
      'Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them',
      Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law,
      for 'The righteous shall live by faith'.

      It is God who justifies the guilty.  It is God's work, because with man it is impossible.  To nail the point, in Galatians 2:16 Paul three times denied any role to 'works of the law'.  'Faith' in Jesus Christ is the only basis for one's justified relationship with God.

      Back in the First Century Paul was rejecting such 'works of the law' as the necessity for male circumcision, obedience to Jewish food laws, and the observation of the feasts in the Jewish Calendar (Passover, Pentecost, Tabernacles).

      In the sixteenth century Luther saw a parallel to these in the Old Church's demands for pilgrimages, fasts, candles, worship of relics and religious statues, and the use of indulgences as accruing counterbalancing merit.

      In Luther's day, as in St Paul's, people were saying that 'Christ alone' is not sufficient to bridge the gap between the holy God and sinful man.  They were advocating 'Christ Plus' ? 'works of the law' (1st century) and Christ plus 'religious works' (16th century).  But the apostle Paul, followed by Luther insisted: Christ Alone.

      Paul admonished the Galatians for their short memories ? Galatians 3:1-6

      O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?
      It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ
      was publicly portrayed as crucified.
      Let me ask you only this:
      Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law
      or by hearing with faith?
      Are you so foolish?
      Having begun by the Spirit,
      are you now being perfected by the flesh?
      Did you suffer so many things in vain ? if indeed it was in vain?
      Does he who supplies the Spirit to you
      and works miracles among you
      do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith ?
      just as Abraham "believed God,
      and it was counted to him as righteousness"?  

      When Paul presented the Galatians with the verbal picture of Christ crucified they heard that message, believed in Christ and were given the Spirit of God to become God's children (Galatians 3:1-2; 4:6).  So how can they now be looking to and believing in 'works of the law' ? to circumcision, the food laws and the religious calendar?  The hearing about and the believing in the crucified Christ is the one and only way to receiving God's forgiveness and his Spirit.

      This great truth was expressed in the architecture of Lutheran churches.  The pulpit was on the side of the congregation, not the front.  In the front was Christ crucified ? a crucifix, or a painting of the Crucified.  From alongside them the preacher directed the eyes of faith of the congregation and the preacher to the crucified Christ, who was front and centre.  The preacher and the people together looked with the eyes of faith to the crucified Saviour.

      Paul and Luther understood the terrible existential reality of our lost-ness due to Sin, but equally the glorious love of the Crucified who meets us with his sacrifice at our point of greatest need.  He bore our Sin and gave us his righteousness.

      Luther's insight is so powerful, so immediate.

      Peter
      There was a painful setting to Paul's words in Galatians 2:11-3:6.  It involved a serious dispute between Paul and Peter in Antioch over one of the 'works of the law', the Jewish food code.  Jews would not eat with Gentiles because of their scruples regarding 'clean' and 'unclean' food, which Gentiles did not recognise.

      The Lord had delivered Peter from this scruple in Joppa making the way for him to enter the house of the Gentile Cornelius in Caesarea, to eating with him, and to preaching to him.  But later in Antioch, under the pressure from the recently arrived 'circumcision' faction from Jerusalem, Peter withdrew from table fellowship with the Gentile believers in Antioch, and was followed by the whole body of Jewish believers, including evenBarnabas.

      Paul records his stern words to Peter (about themselves as Jews) which we have already quoted:

               We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so wealso have believed in Christ Jesus,
      in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified
      .

      Note the threefold repeated 'we', referring to the Jews, Paul and Peter.  'Even we Jews are not justified by works of the law (like the food laws), but we are only justified by faith in Christ'.

      Twice in Galatians Paul speaks of 'the truth of the gospel' (2:5, 14).  What is this 'truth of the gospel'?  Some identify the 'truth' as the experience of spiritual liberation.  We believe in spiritual liberation, but this is not what Paul meant.  Others suggest it refers to the historical truth of the gospel.  Once more this is something we affirm ? and emphatically ? but this is not the meaning here.

      Neither of these is what Paul is referring to in Gal. 2:1-14.

      The exegetical key to the meaning is found in the words 'forced' or 'compelled' (anagkaz? ? 2:3, 14; 6:12).  Once the element of necessity or coercion enters the 'truth of the gospel' flies out the window.  The 'truth of the gospel' is its basis in 'grace', the sheer grace of God that God displays to those who do not keep what is 'written in the book of the law' (3:10).  That grace was demonstrated in the accursed one who hung on the tree, who bore the curse against us law-breakers vicariously, as our substitute.

      One of the 'new perspectives' on Paul of recent times states that Jews are already 'in' the covenant, already saved, unless they renounce it.  Thus, according to this view, faith in Christ for justification is only applicable to the Gentiles.  In other words, it teaches two different routes to divine righteousness ? for Jews by the Law, for Gentiles by faith.  It is to say that the Old Covenant still stands, unabrogated, unfulfilled.

      Paul, however, insists there is only one way to righteousness for Peter and Paul as Jewsthe way of faith in Christ.  The repeated 'we' related to the JewsPaul and Peter clinches the point.  One and the same way for Jews and Gentiles: faith.  One way alone for all sinful men and women.

      Despite this major dispute in Antioch, it appears that Peter came to agree with Paul, as he stated several years later at the Jerusalem Council:

      And after there had been much debate,
      Peter stood up and said to them,
      'Brothers, you know that in the early days
      God made a choice among you that by my mouth
      the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe.
      And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them[Gentiles],        by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us [Jews],  
      and he made no distinction between us and them,
      having cleansed their 
      [the Gentiles] hearts by faith.  
      Now, therefore, why are you [Jews] putting God to the test
      by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples
      that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?
      But we [Jews] believe that we will be saved
      through the grace of the Lord Jesus,
      just as they [the Gentiles] will'.

      This suggests that Peter had heeded the words Paul had spoken in Antioch, as recorded in Galatians.  For Gentiles as for Jews there was but one pathway to receiving the Holy Spirit of God.  It was by hearing the word of the gospel about Christ and believing that word.  God cleansed the hearts of Gentiles by faith, and he cleansed the hearts of Jews by faith.  Peter rightly states that there is no distinction between us (Jews) and them(the Gentiles).

      There are not two routes to righteousness with God, one for Jews the other for Gentiles; on the contrary, there is but one route for both, faith in the crucified Son of God.

      Luther and the Will
      Luther owed much to Erasmus the peerless scholar who went behind the extant Latin versions of the Bible and as a textual critic began to recover the original Greek of the New Testament.  It has been quipped with regard to the Reformation that 'Erasmus laid the egg, but Luther hatched it'.

      A woodcut portrays Erasmus as a miller for the flour that Luther baked into the bread of life.  Erasmus the miller; Luther the baker.

      Despite this the two men fell out over the question of the freedom of the will.  Great as Luther was as the apostle of freedom he understood well that the will is 'unfree', under 'bondage'.

      Luther was doing nothing more than appealing to Augustine, and before him to St Paul.

      Christ crucified is the only Saviour, but God must liberate the will to lay hold of the Christ.  Its consequence is indeed freedom, but its prelude is the necessary Prevenient Grace of the Almighty that makes faith in Christ and its accompanying freedom possible.

      Rejection of the Reformation
      This brings me finally to reflect on a mystery.  Why is it that Luther's theology, so simple, self-authenticating, Bible-based (and anticipated in Augustine), yet has been set-aside even within the Protestant churches that owed their existence to this man, Martin Luther?

      I do not pretend to know the answer except to say that the revelation of God's grace has always proved vulnerable to modification, change and rejection.  We me-centred humans find God's us-centred love difficult to accept.

      The narrative in the Bible reveals this.
      It was by grace that God created the Universe,
      by grace that he called Israel to be his people,
      by grace redeemed them from slavery,
      by grace gave them his covenant,
      and by grace gave them the Land.
      The law that God gave them in each of its parts ? moral, civil, ritual ? was to be their agreement to be hiscovenant people.
      It was not to provide merit, since the covenant itself was based on grace.

      The Macedonia invasion of the Middle East, including Israel put huge pressure on the Jews to resist being engulfed with Hellenistic culture.  This was resisted by a new emphasis on Temple and Law, including the 'works of the law' that figure so significantly in Galatians.

      By the era of the Pharisees law keeping had become a means to achieving merit and was not at all merely a 'badge' of covenant membership but understood to be the basis of acceptance with God.

      For example,

      Whoever honours his father atones for his sins,
      And whoever glorifies his mother is like one who lays up treasure…
      For kindness to a father will not be forgotten,
      And against your sins it will be credited (Sirach 3:3-4,14)

      The Mishnah is a collection of Jewish teachings from about 100 BC to AD 200, many of which were current in the time of Paul.

      Great is the law, for it gives life to them that practice it
      both in this world and in the world to come… (Aboth 6:7)

       

      The Holy One, blessed is he, was minded to grant merit to Israel; therefore hath he multiplied for them the law and commandments,  make it honourable' (Makkot3.16).
      This asserts that 'life' (i.e., eternal life) and 'merit' flow from the law.  Clearly this is not a grace-based approach that is the narrative of the Old Testament.  Between the Testaments the notion of grace and of God's sovereign choice had been lost and replaced by a plethora of 'works of the law' that became self-centred, merit attracting.

      Likewise the grace-based emphases of our Lord and his apostles that runs through the entire New Testament came to be replaced by the merit-attracting ritualism and legalism of the late Middle Ages, against which Luther and others protested.

      Although the Reformation swept the world, its influence today is significantly diminished.

      The New Perspective on Paul (Sanders, Dunn) implies that that there are two routes to righteousness ? one for Jews based on law, the other for Gentiles based on faith ? diminishing the centrality and sufficiency of Christ crucified for both Jews and Gentiles equally.  Is this a Protestant counter-reformation?

      This is contrary to the clear teaching of Galatians 2:16 noted above which asserted that for both Jews and Gentiles faith in Christ was the pathway to life.

      Pelagians
      In regard to the specifics about the core beliefs of Luther ? his forgiven freedom in the presence of God and the necessity for God to capture our wills ? this can be said: we are Pelagians at heart, believing that we can achieve our salvation.

      The sinful Pelagian heart believes in its capacity to achieve whatever standards there are to be fulfilled.  We measure ourselves positively against the evildoers and criminals that the daily TV news flashes before us.  We are secure in our own goodness, relative to the evil of terrorists and criminals.

      How important it is to exercise humble and dependent trust in Jesus crucified for my deliverance and to know that God has broken through my self-sufficiency to make himself known to me.

      Cranmer's Triad
      Speaking as an Anglican I am thankful to God for Cranmer's great Reformation triad: the Book of Common Prayer, the Thirty Nine Articles of Religion and the Ordinal for Bishops, Priests and Deacons.

      Cranmer and other future leaders studied Luther in the White Horse Inn in Cambridge.  While Cranmer was closer to Calvin on the Lord's Supper, there's no denying the influence of Luther on Cranmer in the formulation of the BCP, Articles and Ordinal.  Luther, following St Paul, lives on in the Anglican documents.

      Luther also lives on in the theology of the consummate hymns of Charles Wesley.  How blessed we are.

      The Book of Common Prayer

      sets out liturgically the Reformed Faith for Sunday Services and Occasional Services.  The Articles spell out the doctrines of the English Reformation that express the great truths of the Patristic and Reformation periods.  The Ordinal gives direction for the actual work of ministry.

      The one instrument for ministry that is given to an ordinand is the Bible.  How unhelpful it is, therefore, also to present him or her with additional instruments, for example, a chalice, or a crosier?  These may add colour to the ceremony, but they shift the focus away from God and his Word, from Sola Scriptura.

      Reflection
      The 'Good News' is 'True News'.  This is a matter of history.  History-based faith is rational and not directed at gullibility.  The Holy Spirit based, history-based gospel 'truth' is directed to our hearts.

      This gospel tells us that our focus is on Christ, on Christ alone.  This is the witness of the four Gospels.  No disciple shares the spotlight with him.  Altarpieces included martyrs, angels and relics that pointed to a Christ who was not alone, but a Christ surrounded by assistants, as if he needed them.  But the Bible alone points conclusively to Christ alone.

      For his thirty years as an apostle Paul never wavered from stating and defending the truth that Christ crucified, and personal trust in him, was the sole and exclusive route to righteousness with God.

      Christ crucified exactly meets us at our point of deepest need.  Paul proclaimed that message and witnessed his hearers responding by faith and receiving the blessing of the Holy Spirit.


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      Daily Blessing
      Thursday April 3, 2025

      Today's Verse:
         Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

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