It is impossible to over-emphasize the importance of having the New Birth, of being what Jesus and the New Testament call, being "born again". For as Jesus Himself said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3). In other words, don't leave home (earth) without it!
But, you ask, is it even possible for me to really KNOW that I have been born again? Some groups say, No, it's not. In fact, they say that it's a sin to even think that you know you're born again or that you have eternal life.
Yet that is the exact opposite of what the Bible itself says. The apostle John wrote his first letter with the intent and purpose that you, in fact, would know that you have eternal life. Listen to what he says: "And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 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 (1John 5:11-13). He says, "We KNOW that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren" (1 John 3:14). God wants us to have this "know it" assurance: "And by this we KNOW that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him" (1 John 3:19).
"OK, then, how do I know?"
The first letter of John gives us several proofs, or evidences that we have been born again and belong to Jesus.
1. The Proof of Fellowship with God. " But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin." (1 Jn. 1:7). We maintain this fellowship with Him by confessing our sins to Him directly (1 Jn. 1:9). Am I having fellowship with my Heavenly Father?
2. The Proof of Obedience. "But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him" (1 Jn. 2:5). He doesn't mean sinless perfection (see 1 Jn. 1:8,10), as that is impossible in this life. But there is a lifestyle of increasing obedience to Jesus (see Jn. 14:15,21,23-24). Is there a growing obedience in my life to God through Christ?
3. The Proof of Abiding. If you abide or remain in the same Christ you received at the start of your Christian life, this is proof that you're His. "Therefore let that abide [or, remain] in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides [or, remains]in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life" (1 Jn. 2:24-25). Am I abiding in Jesus, like I did at the start?
4. The Proof of a Changed Life. If you're the Real Deal, there will be a changed life, a practice of righteousness. "No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother (1 Jn. 3:9-10, ESV). How has God made my life more like His?
5. The Proof of Brotherly Love. True Christians love other Christians. "We KNOW that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers" (1 Jn. 3:14, ESV). This isn't simply having good feelings toward them, but the practice of meeting real needs in a commitment to your brother or sister's highest good. Do I love my brothers and sisters in Christ?
6. The Proof of the Indwelling Holy Spirit. "Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we KNOW that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us… By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit." (1 Jn. 3:24, 4:13). In the genuine Christian, there is the impact of a Personality greater than our own. The Spirit of God makes His presence known by the fruit of the Spirit, the character qualities of Christ (see Gal. 5:22-23), and the personal awareness and assurance that HE is there, crying, "Abba, Father" deep in our hearts (see Rom. 8:15-16). Am I aware of the Holy Spirit's moving and presence in my life?
7. The Proof of Continuing Faith. "Everyone who believes [or, continues to believe] that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him… I write these things to you who believe [or, continue to believe] in the name of the Son of God, that you may KNOW that you have eternal life" (1 Jn. 5:1, ESV). If, after years of trial, suffering, even persecution because of your allegiance to Jesus, you STILL trust in Him, there is one and only one reason for it: you have been born of God! As Peter says, you're the "Genuine Article" (see 1 Peter 1:6-7). So do I still believe in Jesus, regardless of problems or opposition?
8. The Proof of Answers to Prayer. "And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we KNOW that he hears us in whatever we ask, we KNOW that we have the requests that we have asked of him" (1 Jn. 5:14-15). God doesn't answer prayers by accident. He purposefully hears and answers His very own children. This, John says, is how we KNOW we are His! Has God answered my requests to Him?
Again, bottom line, and it's very simple: "And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may KNOW that you have eternal life" (1 Jn. 5:11-13). He wants you to KNOW!
"He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief… But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."
1. Christ's Suffering Was Foretold (Prophecy Fulfilled)
• Long before His birth, the prophets declared that the Messiah would suffer (Isaiah 53, Psalm 22).
• His suffering was not an accident, but part of God's eternal plan for salvation.
• Lesson: Nothing in our lives is outside of God's knowledge. Even suffering has a divine purpose.
2. Christ's Suffering Was Physical
• He was scourged, mocked, crowned with thorns, nailed to the cross (Matthew 27:26–35).
• He endured intense pain that He didn't deserve.
• Lesson: The depth of His wounds shows the depth of His love.
3. Christ's Suffering Was Emotional
• Rejected by His own people (John 1:11).
• Betrayed by Judas, denied by Peter, forsaken by His disciples.
• He even cried out, "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46).
• Lesson: When we feel abandoned, we can take comfort knowing Christ understands rejection and loneliness.
4. Christ's Suffering Was Spiritual
• On the cross, He bore the weight of the world's sin (2 Corinthians 5:21).
• The sinless Son of God became the sin-bearer.
• Lesson: Sin has a heavy cost, but Christ paid it in full.
He died in your place for your sin
5. The Purpose of Christ's Suffering
• To bring us peace with God (Romans 5:1).
• To heal us from sin (1 Peter 2:24).
• To give us eternal life (John 3:16).
• Lesson: His suffering was not in vain—it was for you.
6. Our Response to Christ's Suffering
• Gratitude – Live with thankfulness for His sacrifice.
• Holiness – Turn away from sin, since Christ died to free us from it.
• Endurance – When we suffer, we follow in His steps (1 Peter 2:21).
• Witness – Share His love and sacrifice with others.
Conclusion
Christ's suffering reveals both the seriousness of sin and the greatness of His love. On the cross, love and justice met. We are forgiven, healed, and given new life because He chose to suffer in our place.
Call to Action:
• Remember His sacrifice daily.
• Live not for yourself, but for Him
Hunt was a remarkable man. He was formerly a plough-boy in Lincolnshire. He had not trained as a linguist (unlike Aberdonian David Cargill), yet he quickly learned the Bauan dialect (which later became the standard for written Fijian).
By the time of his early death, aged 36 years in 1848, he had translated the whole New Testament into Fijian and had begun translating the Old Testament.
In 1845 an important breakthrough occurred. A formerly bloodthirsty and treacherous man named Varani became a Christian. He was nephew of the high chief of Viwa and comrade-in-arms of the feared Cakobau. It happened like this.
Hunt was reading aloud one day the account of the crucifixion of Jesus from the newly translated Gospel of Matthew. He noted that Varani was visibly stirred. He then taught Varani to read the Bible for himself. Soon Varani began to follow Hunt's example of going into the bush to pray alone.
Important convert
Varani told his friend Cakobau that he was going to be a Christian. Cakobau threatened to kill and eat him. Varani replied, 'I fear you, but I fear the great God much more'.
Thankfully, Cakobau did not carry out his threat. On Good Friday, 21 March 1845, Varani publicly 'bowed the knee to Jehovah'. He then joined a baptismal class.
Those early missionaries were not willing to prepare anyone for baptism, even if they were chiefs, unless they showed clear evidence of godly sorrow for sin. While they realised the strategic importance of Fijian chiefs professing Christ, they looked for evidence of a real change of heart.
But Varani's conversion was thorough. Again and again his life demonstrated that the great change had taken place.
He renounced violence and became a man of integrity and peace, one of the finest Christians of that era. He was clubbed to death in 1853 while trying to settle a quarrel between others.
Greatness! The Pursuit of Power. Fame Fortune Power and Pleasure… Chuck Swindoll summarised these four attitudes as that which constitutes life for most people. This is the source of the problems in our world.
What's wrong with the world? I am! Said G K Chesterton! "Pride is the mother of all sins, and there is a bit of her DNA in all of us."
What a question! Had they forgotten the first beatitude—"Blessed are the poor in spirit" (5:3)? Had they forgotten the faith-filled Roman centurion's humility—"Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed" (8:8)? Had they forgotten that father's mustard-seed faith—"a man came up to him [Jesus] and, kneeling before him, said, 'Lord, have mercy on my son'" (17:14, 15)? Yes. Yes. Yes. It seems they had forgotten.2
In 18:4 Jesus tells us that the motive behind his disciples' question was pride, for he begins that verse, "Whoever humbles himself . . ."
You Need To Be Converted
"The kingdom of heaven, a phrase Matthew uses some 32 times, is synonymous with the kingdom of God.
The phrase "enter the kingdom of heaven" is used three times in the book of Matthew (see also 7:21; 19:23-24) and in each case refers to personal salvation. It is the same experience as entering into life (18:8) and entering into the joy of the Lord (25:21).
The fact that a person must enter the kingdom assumes he is born outside of it under the rule of Satan and that he is not naturally a heavenly citizen under the rule of God. The purpose of the gospel is to show men how they may enter the kingdom and become its citizens, moving from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of God's beloved Son (Col. 1:13). The central focus of Matthew's gospel is to draw men and women into the kingdom through faith in Jesus Christ, and that is doubtlessly one of the reasons the Holy Spirit placed this book at the beginning of the New Testament. Throughout his gospel, Matthew carefully and systematically presents the components of genuine belief.
The phrase are converted translates an aorist passive of strepho which elsewhere in the New Testament is always translated with an idea of "turning" or "turning around." It means to make an about face and go in the opposite direction.
"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (3:2) "Truly I say to you, unless you are converted (Strepho turn) and become like children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven." "turn to God from idols to serve a living and true God" (1 Thess. 1:9).
God raised up His Servant, and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways" (Acts 3:19, 26).19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, 26 To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities." NKJV turn, return. ESV NASB
The term is used repeatedly in the book of Acts to speak of conversion (11:21; 15:19; 26:18, 20).
David Wells describes conversion with this statement: Christianity without conversion is no loner Christian, because conversion means turning to God. It involves forsaking sin, with its self-deifying attitudes and self-serving conduct, and turning to Christ, whose death on the cross is the basis for God's offer of mercy and forgiveness. Jesus was judged in our place so that God could extend his righteousness to us. Conversion occurs when we turn from our waywardness and accept Christ's death on our behalf.
Sensitivity: Be Tender about Sin 4 Whoever humbles himself … unaware of the need for power, self assertion, competition, aware of sin.
D. A. Carson says, "The child is a model, in this context, not of innocence, faith, or purity, but of humility and unconcern for social status. Jesus assumed that people are not naturally like that; they must change to become like little children."
Sincerity: Be Turning from Sin To the Saviour
Simplicity: Be Trusting In the Saviour
Wells "Conversion is not an isolated event but is related to the entire life of faith that follows from it. It is the moment of birth into a new life. It is like a doorway into a room. A person is born to live, not to linger on the edge of the womb in a time of limbo. A person opens a door not for the pleasure of standing forever on the threshold but to enter the room. The evangelical world has strangely perverted this truth. Evangelicals often make the test of spiritual life one's willingness to testify about the moment of birth. Describing one's sensations in passing through the doorway is considered proof that one is in the room! . . . The only real proof of our conversion is an obedient and fruitful life. P.43.
The point about conversion, though, is that it is the way into Christian faith; it is not the entirety of Christian faith. Conversion is only the threshold to the building of salvation. (p.22.) Christianity is inescapably preoccupied with changed lives. (p. 45.)
Conversion denotes a transformation from self-dedication to dedication to God. (p.45.)
Conversion results in a religion that becomes socially tangible. (p. 47.) Above all, conversion implies a movement from theory to practice. (p. 47) The reality of conversion witnesses to God's lordship . . . and is not just a figment of metaphysics. (p, 48.)
In the Christian world today, however, what we have all too often is an aberration–spiritual birth that is not followed by an obvious spiritual life. (p. 23.) When Jesus issued the Great Commission, he did not tell his followers to go into all the world and ask people to raise their hands or to fill out a decision card. Rather, he enjoined them to make disciples, baptizing them and teaching them to obey everything he had commanded. (p10.) Just as there is no discipleship without conversion, so there also can be no conversion without discipleship. The two belong together. (p. 23.)
Boice: "To enter the kingdom people must possess the humility of children, but to do so they need to be radically changed. People are not humble by nature. We are self-seeking, selfish, and driven by pride. What do we need if we are to become humble, trusting what God has done for our salvation and not what we can accomplish for ourselves? The answer is clear: We need to "turn" or "be converted," which is God's work. We need to pray the prayer of Jeremiah 31:18: "Turn me, and I shall be turned, for you are the LORD my God" (my translation). We "must be born again" (John 3:7). How do we know if we are converted? The evangelical bishop John Ryle said, "The surest mark of [any] true conversion is humility." It is when we humble ourselves and trust Jesus alone to save us that we can be sure we are converted."
You Need To Be Concerned
Σκανδαλίσῃ "he or she may stumble" sin 6,7Don't Be A Stumbling Block To Kids
By Disenfranchising Them 5,6 receive or not?
By Disillusioning Them Skandalio
By Despising Them 10 Why not Angels are witnesses, God promises punishment if you do.
People have turned to this Bible verse above all others for the idea of guardian angels, though there is not much in the Bible elsewhere to support that idea. In Daniel the archangel Michael appears as a protector of the Jewish people (see Dan. 12:1). Hebrews 1:14 refers to "ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation." Revelation 1-3 refer to the angels of the seven churches. The "angels" may be pastors of these churches.
God cares for each of us individually. When I see a hundred sheep in a meadow, I cannot begin to imagine how a shepherd can distinguish one sheep from another and miss one if it is caught by a predator or wanders off. All sheep look alike to me. But I am told that shepherds know their sheep. They know them individually, and, what is more, their sheep know them and respond to their voices. Jesus was building on this fact when he told the people of his day, "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep" (John 10:14-15). We know that God knows his people individually and cares for them individually because when he calls them to faith he calls them "by name" (John 10:3). God cares for His children individually. Don't despise that which God loves.
God's pursues the lost.
God understands our weaknesses and their weaknesses. I have never taken care of sheep or even had anything to do with them, except for seeing them in fields from time to time. But I am told that sheep are stupid creatures, probably the most stupid animals on earth. One way they show their stupidity is by so easily wandering away. They can have a good shepherd who has brought them to the best grazing lands, near an abundant supply of water, but they will still wander off to where the fields are barren and the water undrinkable.
God seeks us when we stray. God seeks them when they stray. Don't not seek what God seeks!Make Seeking Children and Youth Your Priority 12, 13
God rejoices when they return to Him 13,14
Boice: "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? "Jesus answered the question, and we have been trying to understand Jesus' answer. But here I want to follow up by asking, Did the disciples get it? Were they actually turned and changed to become like little children? We know they didn't get it right away, because they are still fighting for the top position two chapters later. On that occasion the mother of James and John came to Jesus asking that one of her sons be chosen to sit at his right hand and the other son be chosen to sit at his left hand when he came into his kingdom (Matt. 20:21). They had probably put her up to it. So when the other disciples heard what she had asked Jesus, "they were indignant with the two brothers" (v. 24). They wanted those positions themselves.
What did Jesus do? He got them together and went through it all again. "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (vv. 25-28).
As long as Jesus was with them, they didn't get it. But when he died, they did, for they understood at last that he had given himself for them and had bought their salvation at the cost of his own life. And they really were changed.
The disciples were all guilty of this self-advancing spirit, according to the Gospel. But among the many who were guilty, James and John stand out as the most guilty because of their compliance with the efforts of their mother to get them the first places. Yet think what happened to them! At one time Jesus called them "Sons of Thunder," no doubt because of their arrogant, boisterous attitudes (Mark 3:17). On another occasion they wanted to call down fire from heaven to destroy a village of the Samaritans that did not receive them (Luke 9:54). They were changed when they finally got their minds off themselves and onto Jesus.
What were the disciples thinking about when Jesus told them about the lost sheep? They had been arguing about which of them should be greatest in the kingdom of heaven. With that in the immediate background, presumably they were thinking of themselves as among the ninety-nine who were still on the hillside and were wondering which of the ninety-nine would be the "top sheep." As long as they were thinking of such things, they would never be concerned for the one who was lost, and they would never do anything to help find him or her. We are never more like God than when we exert ourselves to seek others. God rejoices over the one we help to bring home. Are you on board with God's plan?
The Triumph of Our Saviour LORD’S DAY 16 He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell.
40. Q. Why was it necessary for Christ to humble himself even unto death?
A. Because of the justice and truth of God satisfaction for our sins could be made in no other way than by the death of the Son of God.
"It is finished"
1. The Suffering of the Cross
1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,
The Sufferings The Substitute The Salvation
Isa 53:4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned---every one---to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
41. Why was He "buried?" To testify that He was really dead.
1 Corinthians 15:1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand,2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you---unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day
Christ's burial proved he was truly dead (John 19:38-42).
33 Kilos of Spices
Isa 53:8 that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?
9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
44. Q. Why is there added: He descended into hell (the dead)?
A. In my greatest sorrows and temptations I may be assured and comforted that my Lord Jesus Christ, by his unspeakable anguish, pain, terror, and agony, which he endured throughout all his sufferings but especially on the cross, has delivered me from the anguish and torment of hell.
2. His Announced Success
being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison,
A Victorious Announcement
2 Corinthians 2:14 But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.
Col 2:15. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
An Authoritative Announcement
Rom 14:9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. Rev. 1:17,18 "Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades."
At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"2 And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them3 and said, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.4 Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 "Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me,6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
Greatness! The Pursuit of Power.
Fame Fortune Power and Pleasure… Chuck Swindoll summarised these four attitudes as that which constitutes life for most people.
This is the source of the problems in our world.
What's wrong with the world? I am! Said G K Chesterton!
"Pride is the mother of all sins, and there is a bit of her DNA in all of us."1 And perhaps (if I may correct myself) there is a bit more than "a bit." Pride rears its ugly head in everyone everywhere. I have seen it in the kindergarten girls' soccer team I coached, when one girl kicks the ball farther than the rest of the team in a practice drill and she thinks she has scored the winning goal in the World Cup finals. I have seen it in prisoners in the First Division of the Cook Country Jail, where one inmate thinks he rules the world because he rules the cellblock. I have seen it in myself, and if you would let me close enough to your heart, I will see it in you as well.
Pride rears its ugly head in everyone everywhere. And it rears its ugly head here in 18:1: "At that time [seemingly right after the tax question and lesson] the disciples came to Jesus, saying, 'Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?'"
What a question! Had they forgotten the first beatitude—"Blessed are the poor in spirit" (5:3)? Had they forgotten the faith-filled Roman centurion's humility—"Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed" (8:8)? Had they forgotten that father's mustard-seed faith—"a man came up to him [Jesus] and, kneeling before him, said, 'Lord, have mercy on my son'" (17:14, 15)? Yes. Yes. Yes. It seems they had forgotten.2
In 18:4 Jesus tells us that the motive behind his disciples' question was pride, for he begins that verse, "Whoever humbles himself . . ."
Our Lord Jesus, however, will have none of their presumption. In verses 2–4 he gives a visual and verbal rebuke: And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."
The child is the parable of the Kingdom!
You Need To Be Converted
J Macarthur wrote: "The kingdom of heaven, a phrase Matthew uses some 32 times, is synonymous with the kingdom of God. It had become common for Jews at the end of the Old Testament era, and especially during the intertestamental period, to substitute out of reverence the word heaven for the Hebrew tetragrammaton (YHWH), God's covenant name (often rendered as Yahweh, or Jehovah). Used in that way, heaven was simply another way of saying God. Both phrases refer to the rule of God, kingdom of heaven emphasizing the sphere and character of His rule, and kingdom of God emphatically pointing to the ruler Himself. God rules His kingdom with heavenly principles and heavenly blessings and in heavenly power, majesty, and glory. Entering the kingdom means coming under the sovereign rule of God.
The phrase "enter the kingdom of heaven" is used three times in the book of Matthew (see also 7:21; 19:23-24) and in each case refers to personal salvation. It is the same experience as entering into life (18:8) and entering into the joy of the Lord (25:21).
The fact that a person must enter the kingdom assumes he is born outside of it under the rule of Satan and that he is not naturally a heavenly citizen under the rule of God. The purpose of the gospel is to show men how they may enter the kingdom and become its citizens, moving from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of God's beloved Son (Col. 1:13).
The central focus of Matthew's gospel is to draw men and women into the kingdom through faith in Jesus Christ, and that is doubtlessly one of the reasons the Holy Spirit placed this book at the beginning of the New Testament. Throughout his gospel, Matthew carefully and systematically presents the components of genuine belief.
The first component presented for entering the kingdom is repentance. The message of John the Baptist was, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (3:2), and it was with that identical message that the Lord began His own ministry (4:17). The initial call for entering the kingdom was a call for people to recognize and repent of their sin, which involves genuine desire to turn away from it. This repentance is not a human work but a divine gift that only God can grant (see 2 Tim. 2:25).
A second component of the faith that grants entrance to the kingdom is the recognition of spiritual bankruptcy. That, too, is a work of God, not man, because it is the Holy Spirit who convicts of sin (John 16:8-11). The Beatitudes begin with a call to humility, expressed there as poverty of spirit (Matt. 5:3). The person who genuinely wants to enter God's kingdom sees himself as utterly unworthy and undeserving. His awareness of his sin brings guilt and frustration over his inadequacy to remove it. He knows that he cannot himself cleanse his sin and that he has nothing to offer God that could merit forgiveness for it. The Greek term behind "poor in spirit" refers to a beggar who has absolutely no resources of his own. Because the repentant and bankrupt person is deeply aware of his sin, he mourns over it (v. 4); because he has no righteousness of his own, he hungers and thirsts for God's righteousness (v. 6); and because he cannot himself cleanse his sin, he longs for the purity of heart (v. 8) that only God can provide.
The one who enters God's kingdom also is willing to make public confession of his desire to follow the Lord. "Everyone therefore who shall confess Me before men," Jesus said, "I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever shall deny Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven" (10:32-33).
The one who enters God's kingdom is aware of his need to be self-denying. Jesus said, "He who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life shall lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake shall find it" (10:38-39).
As He took the young child in His arms and held him up before the disciples, the Lord gathered up all those elements of salvation: "Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven."
The phrase are converted translates an aorist passive of strepho which elsewhere in the New Testament is always translated with an idea of "turning" or "turning around." It means to make an about face and go in the opposite direction. Peter used a form of the term twice in his message shortly after Pentecost, as he called his hearers to "repent therefore and return, that your sins may be wiped away" and declared of Jesus that "God raised up His Servant, and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways" (Acts 3:19, 26). The term is used repeatedly in the book of Acts to speak of conversion (11:21; 15:19; 26:18, 20). Paul used the word when speaking of the Thessalonian believers, who had turned "to God from idols to serve a living and true God" (1 Thess. 1:9).
Conversion is the other half of repentance. Repentance is being sorry for sin and turning away from it; conversion is the expression of will that fully turns from sin to the Lord. Psalm 51:13 alludes to these two halves of the turning when it declares, "and sinners will be converted to Thee." Jesus' use here of the passive voice indicates that the disciples could not be converted from sin to righteousness by their own efforts but needed someone else to turn them around. Although the response of a person's will is required, only God has the power to convert.
To be converted requires people to become like children, Jesus explained. A little child is simple, dependent, helpless, unaffected, unpretentious, unambitious. Children are not sinless or naturally unselfish, and they display their fallen nature from the earliest age. But they are nevertheless naive and unassuming, trusting of others and without ambition for grandeur and greatness.
Sensitivity: Be Tender about Sin
Sincerity: Be Turning from Sin To the Saviour
Simplicity: Be Trusting In the Saviour
2. You Need To Be Concerned
If you are converted you will be concerned!
5 "Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me,6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
7 "Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes!8 And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire.9 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.
10 "See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.11 For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. 12 What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?13 And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray.14 So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
New believers are at interest here, but also children.
By Disenfranchising Them
5 "Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me,6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
Coming out of verse 4 into verses 5–14, Jesus makes that same transition. In verses 5–9 our Lord teaches them and us about our actions toward little ones and in verses 10–14 about our attitude towardlittle ones.
First, we have our actions toward little ones (vv. 5–9). I say "little ones" instead of "children" because Jesus makes this linguistic shift in verses 5, 6. He starts (v. 5), "Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me," then continues (v. 6), "but whoever causes one of these little ones . . ." and only uses the term "little ones" from that point on. This might just be a parallelism (child = little one), and that seems to be the case in verses 5, 6. But in what follows (vv. 7–14) we learn that Jesus subtly shifts from talking about literal children to certain children of God, those he labels "little ones."
By "little ones" Jesus could mean everyone in the kingdom of heaven regardless of age, or he could mean, as I think he means,9 "the least of these my brothers" as he would phrase it in 25:40. That is, "little ones" are those Christians who are most often marginalized or whom we'd be tempted to marginalize due to lack of wealth, health, giftedness, or spiritual maturity. They are those with little resources, little social standing, and perhaps little faith (i.e., the weaker brethren of Romans 14:13; 1 Corinthians 8:13). They are those prone to wander like that one lost sheep of verse 12.
So then, regarding these "little ones" within the church, Jesus calls his church (especially the more mature or less "little") to action. And the primary action here is guarding oneself as a means of guarding them. You see, we are not only to "receive" these little ones into our fellowship because Christ receives such into his fellowship—we open the church door to them "in [his] name" (v. 5)—but we are also to protect them once they're in. Jesus teaches:
By Disillusioning Them
6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
7 "Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes!8 And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire.9 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.
Here Jesus uses two graphic and grotesque images to wake up Christians. Yes, these are warnings for believers, not unbelievers. Christian, if you think your little sins are not a big deal to Christ and his church, you couldn't be farther from the mind of Christ. To our Saviour, personal holiness is a matter of life and death, Heaven and Hell for you and others.
The two judgment images here involve water and fire. First fire. Imagine being thrown into a pit that's on fire—"the hell of fire." You are engulfed by flames. Eternal fire is everywhere!
Then water. Imagine a great millstone—a two-ton slab of circular stone so huge and heavy that it needs a donkey to move it—fastened around your neck. There you are wearing this heavy and horrific concrete collar. Then imagine being taken out to the middle of the sea and left to yourself. Bye-bye. Down you go. You'll hit the bottom pretty fast. And you'll hit the bottom and stay there. There is no means of escape. Death by fire or death by water; burning or drowning—what will it be? Neither option sounds all that pleasant.
Christian, wake up. Shape up. Grow up. Your personal holiness matters. Christian, "be killing sin or it will be killing you" and potentially killing others, these "little ones" in the Lord. What we do privately—with our hand or our foot or our eye (those are private or personal parts)—actually can affect other believers. That's what Jesus is teaching here. How you see things (the eye) affects how others see, what you do (the hand) affects what others will do, and how you walk (the foot) affects how others will walk. You see, the church, especially the local church, is like a thousand dominoes perfectly spaced apart, standing together. We are all equal in God's sight, and we all can potentially affect one another equally. But we know that if the first domino falls, all fall.
Jesus has talked this way about sexual sin in the Sermon on the Mount (5:29, 30). But here he expands it to every imaginable sin. Do you grasp for worldly power? Do you rush to judgment? Do you easily lose your temper? Do you gossip? Do you hoard money? Do you overlook the unimportant? Do you think yourself so very important? Cut it off and cut it out. Cut off pride. Cut off lust. Cut off sloth. Cut off anger. Cut off greed. Cut off envy. Cut off gluttony. Cut off those seven deadly sins and seventy more because they will kill you—"It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire" (v. 9b)—and because they endanger the lives of the "little ones," some of your dear brothers and sisters in Christ. This is serious stuff. So take it seriously.
By Despising Them
10 "See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.11 For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.
why should we value them? Jesus gives one reason (they matter much to God) and two illustrations.
The first illustration is about "their angels": "For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven" (v. 10b). There is no need for us to get bogged down on whether or not every child or every "little one" has a guardian angel. It seems they do—if not a guardian angel (cf. Acts 12:15), guardian angels (cf. Luke 16:22)—that is, in the words of Hebrews 1:14, "ministering spirits sent out to serve . . . those who are to inherit salvation." (Note, however, that the guardian angel or angels here are in Heaven, not on earth as popularly depicted.) But the point is not that some or all Christians have angels who protect them. Rather, the point is, if these beings ("angels") who serve these "little ones" (they are "their angels") are "in heaven" (that's an important place to be) and they there are directly looking upon God (these must be angels of "the very highest order"), how much more valuable are "the little ones" they serve and protect? Does that make sense? If your bodyguards are Moses and Elijah, you must be fairly important. And if your angel stands perpetually before the face of God, your stock has substantially gone up. God values these little ones.
The second illustration of this divine value is the Parable of the Lost Sheep. Our Lord says:
What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. (vv. 12–14)
I will identify the characters in this parable and then highlight two points. There are three characters: (1) the ninety-nine sheep, (2) the strayed sheep, and (3) the man, who is obviously a good shepherd.
The shepherd represents Jesus Christ. I say that because (a) Jesus is often called a shepherd, (b) this shepherd is called "a man," and (c) what the shepherd does here fits the purpose of the incarnation: "[F]or he [Jesus] will save his people from their sins" (1:21).
Therefore Make Children and Youth Ministry A Priority
The parable of the Good Shepherd (as in Luke 15).
11 For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. 12 What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?13 And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray.14 So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
The hundred sheep represent the church or the community of the kingdom of heaven. The ninety-nine are either the spiritually mature or more likely those not currently backsliding. Presently they are doing a good job of sticking near Christ and Christians and are cutting off sin. The strayed sheep then is the backsliding Christian, or more specifically the Christian who is so proud he doesn't think he needs the shepherd or the other sheep to guard him and so foolish or sinful that he thinks he can wander off into various sins without any real danger.
Those are the characters of the parable. But what is the point? As parables are flexible entities (sometimes you can find a point for each character or a point for each phrase), let me give you one point before I give you the primary point. God is joyously gracious to each Christian.
I discovered 20 years ago that this is the one mandated ministry for local churches that they must fulfil! This is a very important area of ministry for the local church.
God blesses us when we make children and young people a priority in the Kingdom of God.
How rediscovery of the divine eclipsed atheism in finding meaning for modern life
milk.
But the most disheartening statistic in my mind is this: 40% of high school students reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness during the past year, and 20% have seriously considered ending their lives. Suicide is now the second-leading cause of death for teens and young adults. Our children increasingly don't want to live in the world we have made for them.
With problems this serious, we need more than policy nudges and algorithm tweaks. We need a civilizational course correction. But first, we must understand what is making us sick.
Twenty years ago, a group of thinkers converged on an answer: religion. In a series of bestselling books, Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett and Christopher Hitchens — widely nicknamed the "Four Horsemen of the New Atheism" — argued that religion was an infantile indulgence, an irrational scourge and a perennial obstacle to peace and happiness. For Dennett, "I think that there are no forces on this planet more dangerous to us all than the fanaticisms of fundamentalism, of all the species: Protestantism, Catholicism, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism, as well as countless smaller infections." Dawkins claimed that religion was a "delusion," a "mental illness" and "a force for evil in the world." Hitchens asserted that "faith causes people to be more mean, more selfish, and perhaps above all, more stupid." Harris pleaded: "Religious beliefs are ultimately incompatible with civilization."
The new atheists were nothing if not strident. And for about two decades, millions listened. In the early 2000s, about 42% of Americans attended church regularly. By 2024, that had dropped to 30%. In 2000, about 8% identified as atheist, agnostic or "nothing in particular." By 2022, the share of "nones" had nearly quadrupled to 31%.
But curiously, America seems to have turned back from the path toward European-style secularization — Americans are giving religion another look. The decline in religiosity has slowed and, in some places, reversed. Many "nones" have turned back into "somes."
The reasons for this minirevival are no doubt complex, but one of them, I'd wager, is that the promises of the New Atheists proved empty. Declining faith didn't lead to less division, less ignorance and more reasoned moral discourse. On the contrary, as Justin Brierley writes in "The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God": "The secular utopia never arrived. Instead of reason triumphing, we got the rise of conspiracy theories, political extremism and deep tribal divisions."
In this new moment of spiritual openness, four recently published books — "All Things Are Full of Gods" by David Bentley Hart, "Believe" by Ross Douthat, "Living in Wonder" by Rod Dreher and "Against the Machine" by Paul Kingsnorth — offer a very different diagnosis for our civilization's ills. Although they vary widely in tone and emphasis, these books share a core belief: Our crisis is spiritual, rooted in an aggressive, reductive materialism that looks upon the wonder of creation and sees only lifeless matter to analyze, control and exploit. They also converge on a shared hope: that amid the ruins of Christendom, genuine religious life can be reborn in the West. Taken together, these books represent the definitive death of the New Atheism and the emergence of a new set of intellectual equestrians. OK, I'll say it. "The Four Horsemen of New Theism."
The mystery of mind
Consciousness is strange. I'm sitting on a tree-shaded patio of a coffee shop, feeling a gentle breeze, listening to William Byrd's "Mass for Four Voices" and remembering the time my wife and I drove a Vespa across the south of France. How are all these thoughts and memories happening? And where are they happening? In the brain, you might respond. Well sure, but where exactly? In the hippocampus or amygdala? In the cerebral cortex or parietal lobes? Or is consciousness found deeper down, in the synapses, atoms or molecules? Scientists just don't know. It's what philosopher David Chalmers famously called "the hard problem of consciousness" — how can physical processes give rise to subjective experience?
Recently, many scientists have started embracing the theory of "emergence" — which posits that even though no individual neuron is conscious in itself, when the brain's billions of individual neurons interact dynamically with each other, they give rise to subjective awareness, intentionality and memory. For the theologian David Bentley Hart, this idea is poppycock. "Emergence," he argues, is just another way of saying "magic." Consciousness will never be accurately explained by scientists because they are blinded by their unshakeable faith in materialism.
In his dazzling philosophical dialogue "All Things Are Full of Gods," Hart takes aim at the foundational assumptions of materialism, the worldview that everything that exists is ultimately reducible to matter in motion. In his view, this "mechanistic philosophy" is a metaphysical myth masquerading as a scientific certainty.
His book is structured as six days of debate between the Greek gods Psyche, Hermes, Hephaestus and Eros, who each present different sides of the debate over whether mind or matter is the fundamental structure of reality. In the premodern past, and in most non-Western cultures, reality is understood to be saturated with spirit, pregnant with meaning and full of inherent purpose and fullness. As Psyche explains, "For most of their history, (humans) naturally viewed all of cosmic nature as the residence of mysterious and vital intelligences — gods and nymphs, daemons and elves, phantoms and goblins, and every other kind of nature spirit or preternatural agency."
BUT A CURIOUS THING SEEMS TO HAVE HAPPENED ON AMERICA'S PATH TOWARD EUROPEAN-STYLE SECULARIZATION — PEOPLE SEEM TO BE GIVING RELIGION ANOTHER LOOK.
But a series of theological and philosophical developments in Europe began a process that has narrowed our vision and diminished our perceptions of the sacred. The scientific method that emerged in the 16th century was originally meant to be just that — a method, a tool for answering certain questions. But as the Scientific Revolution progressed, thinkers like Descartes, Newton and Hobbes began to describe the universe as a vast machine governed by mathematical laws. And though often still religious themselves, philosophers no longer felt they could defend the claims of theism because they couldn't test them empirically. Religion shrank to the domain of private sentiment, and science became the only arbiter of truth. Calculation, not contemplation, became the highest mode of thought; only the measurable was meaningful.
This banishment of spiritual realities from our culture and our picture of a dead world full of mere matter to manipulate has left us lonely, in despair and adrift. But our hearts still long for deeper communion with a living world, and we are increasingly looking for it in strange places.
As Hart writes: "The history of modern disenchantment is the history of humankind's long, ever deepening self-exile. So, naturally, no longer believing that the world hears or speaks to them, they find themselves looking elsewhere for those presences. They call out to the stars and scan the skies with enormous radio telescopes, searching for the faintest whisper of a response. They convince themselves that their machines might become sentient. They dream of creating a virtual reality responsive to their needs in a way that the now spiritually evacuated world around them no longer seems to be."
The world and human beings are not machines, argues Hart, but emanations of a divine mind. Consciousness is not an accident of random selection, but a reflection of the source of all creation and possibility — in other words, God. The foundation of all reality is spiritual.
Hart's book helps us see and experience the wonder in language, in the variety of physical forms and the mysterious fact that we can perceive it all with the depth and richness that we do. "The reality the modern world chooses to impose is a 'rationality' of the narrowest kind, obsessed with what things are and how they might be used rather than struck with wonder by the inexplicable truth that things are."
Making the case for belief
Like Hart, New York Times columnist Ross Douthat has made a career of puncturing the barely-considered secular assumptions of his educated liberal readership. But "Believe" is not an antiatheist polemic — it's a sincere invitation for the God-curious, a population of people that has grown in recent years as the fruits of strident secularism have turned increasingly sour. Like the French philosopher Blaise Pascal 350 years ago, Douthat wants to persuade religious fence-sitters to be bolder and bet on belief.
He begins his apologia by pointing out that many agnostics harbor a vague notion that science has disproved much of the foundations of theism, in particular the idea of a creator god who made a world especially for us. Douthat contends that the opposite is true. "We have much better evidence for the proposition that the universe was made with human beings in mind … than ancient or medieval peoples ever did." Central to this claim is the array of physical laws and constants that suggest some kind of cosmic "fine-tuning" designed to enable creatures like us to be viable. Skeptics counter with the multiverse theory, postulating the existence of infinite other universes, with our life-friendly one just a lucky accident. But Douthat rightly points out that such theories require perhaps even more faith than theism. "Just as Darwinian theory did not actually resolve the metaphysical questions raised by the universe's beautifully ordered existence, these moves do not sweep away the persistent fingerprints of God."
"THE SECULAR UTOPIA NEVER ARRIVED. INSTEAD OF REASON TRIUMPHING, WE GOT THE RISE OF CONSPIRACY THEORIES, POLITICAL EXTREMISM AND DEEP TRIBAL DIVISIONS."
Then there's the unexpected persistence of the spooky stuff. David Hume and other Enlightenment skeptics expected miracles, encounters with supernatural beings and all manner of mystical experiences to decline as the proportion of believers in society waned. Yet even as the number of "nones" has dramatically risen, people continue to experience and report encounters with the unexplainable — from visitations, to near-death experiences, to miraculous cures for the incurable. Such experiences are chinks in the armor of what he calls "Official Knowledge" — the narrow range of empirically testable modern beliefs. Douthat encourages this more capacious picture of reality: "There are more things in heaven and earth than can be measured and distilled by scientific materialism."
And if you are one of these newly God-curious seekers willing to give belief a chance, what religion should you join? Douthat suggests that any spiritual path is better than none, but the smart choice is to go big and go old. The tried and tested religions of Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam are more likely to be true and good for you than your own bespoke path. "Putting together a religious worldview entirely on your own, simply taking a bit here from one faith or a bit there from another, presumes a lot upon the strength of your individual intellect and moral compass, to say nothing of more supernatural questions."
Reviving faith through wonder
Douthat's reason-based arguments for God will open the door to faith for some. But for the Orthodox convert Rod Dreher, Western Christianity suffers from the broader culture's hyper-rationality and needs to learn from the Eastern Church how to cultivate a more heart-centered spiritual life. This is the aim of his book "Living In Wonder." "I am convinced that the only way to revive the Christian faith," writes Dreher, "which is fading fast from the modern world, is not through moral exhortation, legalistic browbeating, or more effective apologetics but through mystery and the encounter with wonder."
Disenchantment is the name the German sociologist Max Weber gave to the ascendance of the mechanistic, materialist worldview. For Dreher, wonder is the essential tool of re-enchantment because it is "a rigorous discipline of attention. It's the act of consenting to beauty in a world that has learned to ignore it." Prayer and beauty are the two primary means of re-enchanting our lives and experiencing the sacramental nature of reality, the perception that "all created things bear divine power and participate in the life of God." Prayer is vital because it helps us cultivate attention and a living faith requires perception, not conception. Beauty, whether a mountain valley or the illuminated windows of Chartres, are a revelation of God, who is beauty's ultimate source. Prayer, beauty and liturgy help us not just know about God, but know God.
OUR CRISIS IS SPIRITUAL, ROOTED IN AN AGGRESSIVE, REDUCTIVE MATERIALISM THAT LOOKS UPON THE WONDER OF CREATION AND SEES ONLY LIFELESS MATTER TO ANALYZE, CONTROL AND EXPLOIT.
Dreher's emphasis on attention draws heavily from the work of neuroscientist Iain McGilchrist, whose pioneering research on brain hemispheres argues that in Western cultures "science, mathematics, and empirical reasoning (left brain) have crowded out poetry, art, and religion (right brain) as ways of knowing." Becoming so left-brained has blinded us to the true and wilder nature of reality. "The world is not what we think it is," writes Dreher. "It is so much weirder. It is so much darker. It is so, so much brighter and more beautiful. We do not create meaning; meaning is already there, waiting to be discovered."
What "true enchantment" really is, "is simply living within the confident belief that there is deep meaning to life, meaning that exists in the world independent of ourselves. It is living with faith to know that meaning and commune with it." To that end, it is vital for us to learn "how to perceive the presence of the divine in daily life and to create habits that open our eyes and our hearts to him."
But to see God requires repentance. In Dreher's words, "If we want to live, we have to turn our lives around and walk away from the false parts of the Enlightenment and toward the true Light." Such a total revolution is not primarily intellectual but affective and bodily: "We cannot think our way back to enchantment or unity with God. We can find it only by participating in his life."
A convert's spiritual journey
Perhaps no single event was more significant in signaling a cultural shift toward religion than the 2021 publication of Paul Kingsnorth's story of his conversion to Christianity in First Things. A former eco-activism leader, Kingsnorth tried atheism, Buddhism and even Wicca before a series of mystical experiences led him to embrace Christianity. In the years since that essay, Kingsnorth has quickly become, in my view, the most important intellectual convert to Christianity since C.S. Lewis.
"Against the Machine" is a searing indictment of our technological civilization and a manifesto for spiritual resistance. "The Machine" is the name Kingsnorth gives to modernity's relentless pursuit of control, technological advancement and materialism. Like Hart, Douthat and Dreher, Kingsnorth identifies the root of the problem as a scientific and Enlightenment worldview run amok. But where those authors seek in their writing to save a moribund, but nonetheless revivable Western civilization, he is much more pessimistic. The West, Kingsnorth believes, already died long ago, and we are merely living in its ruins. Cause of death? The abandonment of Christ and our worship of false gods — consumerism, progress, nationalism and ultimately ourselves.
What does "The Machine" want? Total control and predictability. The conquering of space and time. Liberation from every constraint. Anything standing in the way of that goal can be discarded. The 500-year culmination of "The Machine" is AI, which seeks to transcend the final limitation: humanity. "We are headed very quickly now, and increasingly openly," Kingsnorth warns, "towards the endgame of this whole project: transhumanism, the attempt to both immortalise ourselves and to build new intelligences alongside us that will act as our servants in the new age we are making."
In our new regime of algorithms and probabilities, "the things which cannot be measured will of course be left out of the equation, and the things which cannot be measured happen to be the stuff of life. Love. God. Place. Culture. The profound mystery of beauty. A sense of being rooted. A feeling for land or community or cultural traditions or the unfolding of human history over generations. Song. Art."
Politics can't save us. For Kingsnorth, liberals and conservatives may appear different on the surface but they both affirm the logic of endless growth, technological control and consumerism. Nor will nostalgia. A return to a supposedly more pristine past is a paralyzing fantasy. Our only hope is to rebuild genuine culture — to commit to particular places with particular people, to embrace prayer and a sacramental way of life that prioritizes surrender, humility, and a transcendent order. Walk away from "The Machine" and pick up the cross. "The ultimate goal of all traditional religion," he writes, "is to understand the world as sacred again, and to remake our souls in its light."
A new intellectual movement
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Together, these Four Horsemen of New Theism have achieved a once unimaginable vibe shift — they've made Christianity the smart and even cool choice. Defeating Silicon Valley's transhumanist machine won't be easy, but these four authors have provided an extraordinary arsenal of arguments and personal witness for the battle.
New Atheism promised liberation from the shackles of faith. Instead, it delivered spiritual exhaustion, cultural fragmentation and an epidemic of despair. Its godless vision of the world — sterile, mechanistic, soulless — has not made us more rational. It has made us more desperate, more lost.
Renewal will require something else: community, contemplation and faith. As Kingsnorth writes, "It is planting your feet on the ground, living modestly, refusing technology that will enslave you in the name of freedom. It is building a life in which you can see the stars and taste the air. … It is to speak truth and try to live it, to set your boundaries and refuse to step over them."