Morning Service, 25th October 2009

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Throughout this year our attention has been on another of the Reformers, the Genevan Reformer John Calvin, it being the 500^th anniversary of his birth. And so it is appropriate we give some highlights to him today being reformation Sunday.

Calvin has been described as ‘the reluctant but willing Reformer’. Though Calvin’s contributions to the Reformation are many, he is perhaps best known as the theologian of the Reformation, for it is Calvin, probably more than anyone else since the Apostles, who articulated in a systematic way biblical truth, and gave the robust undergirding to the faith of God’s people not only in that age but even to today. But don’t be fooled, he was no dry theologian. He was a Pastor and he taught theology with a view to the daily life of God’s people. Above all else Calvin was a passionate and compassionate pastor to the people of God whom he served throughout his life. He was loved for his pastoral work, his sermons and letters, all of which revealed that his intense love of God evoked intense love for of God’s people. It is this reality which permeates his theological writings. He was a theologian of the heart, a theologian of the life that flows from a heart surrendered to God.

So what for Calvin, was at the centre of the Reformation? In the opening of his Institutes of Christian Religion Calvin writes ‘True and sound wisdom consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves’. He is concerned to deal with the issue of how we can know God and enter into a relationship with Him, which he answers in terms of God’s gracious self-revelation not only through the Scriptures but especially in His Son and His death upon the cross , and that it is through His Son that this is made possible. Also much of the Institutes deals with the question of how we enter into that salvation which Jesus Christ offers, dwelling on the work of the Spirit. Indeed B B Warfield writes that the fundamental interest of Calvin as a theologian lay in the question of salvation, and in particular ‘his interest was most intense in the application to the sinful soul of the salvation wrought out by Christ.’

In line with this Robert Godfrey tells us that perhaps the verse most quoted by Calvin was John 17:3. It is here in this prayer, this communion with His Father, just prior to undertaking the crucial act of His death for our redemption that Jesus speaks of eternal life – not for Him but which He will give to those God has given Him – explaining how this gift of eternal life is received. Jesus highlights:

1. Knowledge Required

As we noted, on the opening page of the institutes Calvin wrote ‘True and sound wisdom consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves’. Calvin saw that the knowledge of God was the starting point, and that only from this could we ever find a true knowledge of ourselves, seeing ourselves created in the image of God and fallen from that image through the sin of Adam.

In this he picks up the teaching of Jesus Christ here – that He came to give life, as He says, indicates the terrible condition of man before God, but notice that we will not understand this need nor find it relived apart from this foundational reality: knowing God. This is the knowledge we require to really embrace life and in particular to obtain eternal life.

Eternal life is not merely a declaration of the length of life. Everyone will exist somewhere forever (cf. Matt. 25:46), but the question is, In what condition or in what relationship will they spend eternity?

It is more a description of the quality of that life. Literally ‘the life of the age to come’ it refers to resurrection and heavenly existence in perfect glory and holiness. This life for believers in the Lord Jesus is experienced before heaven is reached, and which yet reaches back into the Christians life now, for in John 5:24 Jesus declares that the one who believes in Him according to His Word “has everlasting life”. In essence it is participation in the eternal life of the Living Word, Jesus Christ. It is the life of God in every believer, yet not fully manifest until the resurrection. This is the life that Jesus came to give; a life enjoyed now by to those who believe in Him, for by the Spirit’s regenerating and indwelling work heaven and eternity has reached back into our daily lives now.

In particular Jesus focus on 3 essential elements of that knowledge that forms the gateway to eternal life, to life renewed in the image of God and to communion with God as Jesus Himself was expressing in this prayer.

a. a right knowledge of God the Father

Not just any god will do, not even one masquerading as the God of the Bible. Here the idea is that He alone is the true and living God, this is supported by the phrase “only true God”. Now Jesus is not saying, as the Arian heresy wrongly interprets Him, that neither He nor the Holy Spirit are God. In fact identifying Himself in v.1 as “Son” is clear a declaration of His deity. The point which Jesus is making is that there is no other God; that the gods worshipped across the world are false and spurious, and can never bring their adherents into eternal life. God alone has life in Himself, and there is therefore no life apart from Him. The sole personal living God stands in glorious contrast heathen polytheism, philosophic naturalism, and mystic pantheism

The further point Jesus is making is that God is only known through His Son who reveals Him to His people.

b. a right knowledge of God the Son

In so identifying Himself as the “Christ”, the only time He applies that title to Himself, Jesus is openly declaring Himself to be the promised Messiah sent by God, telling us that He is the only Mediator between God and man (1 Tim 2:5). As Calvin helpfully points out that by referring to Himself second Jesus indicates that ‘it is by the intervention of a Mediator that God is known’.

This rebukes those who say they believe in God but who relegate or even reject the Son, Jesus Christ. With this we ought to also note the conjunction of God and Jesus Christ here. The fact that His Name is mentioned together with God the Father’s as being the joint source of eternal life means that They are equal. Therefore, as Calvin writes, ‘he who separates Christ from the Divinity of the Father, does not yet acknowledge Him who is the only true God, but rather invents for himself a strange god.’

c. a right knowledge of the work of the Son. At the heart of the Gospel is the truth that Jesus is sent by God, but what does this refer to? In v.1 & 4 we see that it is a clear reference to His death upon the cross that was just hours away, and by which He merits the salvation of His people, a people which He declares in v.2 were “given to Me” (cf v.6b). This is a clear reference to the biblical doctrine of election or predestination – a teaching which Calvin is perhaps most frequently remembered for articulately as a cohesive doctrine from the various references throughout the Bible. This truth Jesus is unequivocally teaching here.

But especially we see that the knowledge necessary for eternal life includes that He delivers sinners from sin once and for all by His death upon the cross. It is no enough to understand that Jesus is the Son of God. Any ‘gospel’ that minimises or dismisses the cross is defective and impotent to give eternal life.

2. Knowledge Revealed

Where do we get this knowledge? It comes from heaven not the human mind, by Divine revelation not human discovery. In v.6 Jesus says “I have manifested Your Name”, and in v.8 He testifies that they believed that God has sent Him. The “name” stands for God Himself (eg Psa 20:1), and so Jesus is saying, ‘I revealed Yourself to them, Your character, Your attributes’. Jesus indicates that He made known this knowledge to His disciples, and that it was knowledge that the Father had given Him with that purpose in mind.

So Peter in John 6:68 responding to the question whether they like so many will also turn away from following Jesus observes to Him “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

Here, to quote J C Ryle, ‘Jesus dwells on a right knowledge of the Father as the great truth which He came to reveal.’

Where do we find this today? In the Scriptures. This knowledge then comes through teaching the Gospel, through studying God’s Word. Paul declares the gospel to be “the power of God unto salvation to all who believe” (Rom 1:16). And in Rom 10:10 that “Faith comes through hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” – which faith he defines in the previous verse as “obeying the gospel”. So Paul reminds Timothy that it is the Word that is “able to make you wise unto salvation”.

This speaks of the priority, authority and sufficiency of the Word, and that it must ever hold priority of place in our lives and churches. Even today we need to turn to the Bible, for here the revelation of God through Jesus Christ is given.

And only to the Bible. Notice Jesus does not give space for any other source. It is not the teaching of Jesus and Buddha or Mohammed, Joseph Smith or anyone else – not even Calvin! It is to the Scriptures alone that we must turn, and to which we must draw people for it is here alone that eternal life is found.

Calvin was a man who preached not himself but the Word of God. According to THL Parker, Calvin ‘had a horror of those how preached their own ideas in place of the gospel of the Bible: “When we enter the pulpit, it is not so that we may bring our own dreams and fancies with us”.’ Calvin’s aim in the pulpit, study or homes of the people was not to impress the people with his own brilliance but to impact them with the awe-inspiring presence of God; was not that the people would see something of his heart in its every changing passions but to proclaim the heart of God in His never-changing Word; was that they would see not him but the Lord and enter into that knowledge of Him that leads unto salvation.

Every Pastor is to make known God’s self-revelation in Christ and the Word, ever responding to the cry “Sirs, we wish to see Jesus” (Jn 12:21). And that must be the need of all for without this knowledge we will not know eternal life.

3. Knowledge Received

In the brief account where Calvin reveals a little about his conversion, found in the introduction to his commentary on the Psalms, he writes how his mind was as result softened and brought ‘to a teachable frame.’ From this he says he was ‘inflamed [with] intense…desire’ to make progress in ‘true godliness’. For Calvin conversion to Christ meant not only transition from condemnation to justification but from ignorance to knowledge.

As Jesus stresses here, the knowledge God revealed through His teaching must be “received” and “kept” or obeyed. This revealed not only their attitude to the Word but their response to it – they embraced it in faith, turning to God for eternal life in light of what it taught, demonstrating this reality in transformed lives.

The disciples had grasped two fundamental realities: (1) that everything Jesus said and did had been given to Him by God, and (2) Jesus Himself had been sent by God. There were still many things they didn’t understand and accept, but they believed in Him, and did so in relation to all that the Name of God revealed – His holiness, grace, love and mercy. They saw God in everything about him. ‘And indeed,’ notes Calvin, ‘if we do not perceive God in Christ, we must certainly remain in a state of hesitation.’

Without this knowledge there is no salvation, but equally there is no salvation unless this knowledge is “received” by which Jesus understands here in the lives of the disciples.

Clearly it is not mere intellectual knowledge that is being talked about. Paul speaking of people in general said “though they knew God they did not glorify Him as God” with the result of coming under His wrath (Rom 1:21ff).

The Jewish religious leaders knew about God from the OT, and yet they clearly did not know God in the sense meant here for Jesus earlier said to them that “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God… Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him” (John 8:42 & 55). Clearly this is the model for our understanding here. It is relationship knowledge.

This knowledge, in other words, is not some detached acknowledgment or theoretical acceptance of facts; rather it is a personal, confiding faith in Him as the Son of God sent by the Father to die in the place of the believing sinner.

Further, do we not find comfort here also as we consider our reception of that knowledge? Jesus is speaking in the first instance of disciples who were limited, often confused in their knowledge of God, the Christ and His work. Yet Jesus says they received and kept the Word. What loving tenderness do we see here – and by grace welcome and embrace as we cry “Lord I believe, help my unbelief.’

Yet lastly, do we not also see that this knowledge is a test of reality. How do we know if we have eternal life or that we are of the elect to whom alone this knowledge is given? Like the disciples, when we receive and keep the Word. It is the knowledge ‘that dwells in the heart and influences the life’ (JC Ryle).The Christian faith is based on objective truth, on factual events and what they reveal about God, but it is one that is embraced, rested on, rejoiced in by the Christian in faith, and finds expression in the life.

“This is eternal life…” – it is God’s gift merited and given by Christ according to the Father’s will to those who believe.

At the heart of the Reformation was this essential question which sought peace with God in life and hope before God in death: How may I possess eternal life? What is the secret to obtaining eternal life? Is it by the works of the church or the works of individuals, or is it by something else altogether? They found the answer in the Bible to be ‘through faith alone in Christ alone by grace alone according to the Scripture alone and to the glory of God alone’. Eternal life is God’s gift merited and given by Christ according to the Father’s will to those who believe.

This is still the question facing thoughtful people today, and this is still the answer – it is found in Jesus Christ.

In one of his letters Calvin wrote that he desired above all else to be taught daily ‘in the school of Christ’, and in the Institutes (1.14.22) he expresses the desire that he might rightly know the Lord in order to ‘trust, invoke, praise, and love Him.’ And this is how to remember with thanksgiving the life and ministry of John Calvin: by looking away from Calvin to Christ, and to respond daily to Christ by listening to, receiving and keeping the Word of Christ.

This year of 2009ad marks the 500^th anniversary of the birth of the Genevan Reformer, John Calvin. So it makes perfect sense to remember with thanksgiving the life and ministry of John Calvin, pastor and theologian of the Reformation, whose work continues to be influential in the church and world today.

The legacy he left behind included hundreds of sermons, commentaries on almost the whole Bible, a theology text book that is still referred to today, and countless tracts and letters. But even more than this he left behind lives which through his teaching have been brought to Christ and built up in Christ through the Word he expounded.

Robert Godfrey notes that ‘The real Calvin was not in the first place a man who lived to influence future generations, Rather he was a spiritual pilgrim finding anew the apostolic Christianity expressed in the Bible and serving as a faithful minister of the Word in the Church of his day.’

Inevitably the question turns to the matter of what made him stand out not only in his day but was used of God to speak even through to our day.

In seeking to answer that question B. B. Warfield wrote: ‘Here we have the secret of Calvin’s greatness and the source of his strength unveiled to us. No man ever had a profounder sense of God than he; no man ever more unreservedly surrendered himself to the Divine direction.’ That is, his greatness lied not in his service to himself but in his surrender to God.

Calvin’s seal, which he designed himself, says much about how he understood his own life and vocation. This seal depicted an open hand holding a flaming heart with the words prompte et sincer—”promptly and sincerely”—written around the image. This is picked up in the motto associated with Calvin: ‘I offer my heart to You, Lord, promptly and sincerely.’

For Calvin the gospel is Jesus Christ Himself. He understood that salvation and all its benefits come to us through Christ but are to be found exclusively in Christ. He saw both his life and his calling as in Christ and because of Christ, and as a result saw this was the only legitimate response.

Evening Service, 18 October 2009

What is the greatest privilege that you have as a Christian?

Is it forgiveness? Help? Heaven?…

As genuine and as great as all these are, what good are they without communion with God? This is the greatest gift that we have, and is the very essence of what it is to have eternal life as Jesus notes in John 17:3. A relationship with God. John calls it “fellowship” in 1 John 1:3. It is the rightful portion of all true believers. It is surely a wondrous and amazing gift of grace!

Communion with God – is this not the very essence of heaven, and is it not heaven begun below?

Yet for many Christians ‘communion’ means simply eating bread and drinking wine at the Lord’s Supper.

But the Bible talks of a sweet intimacy with God – involving a realisation of His presence, joy of communication, experience of blessings.

This is the spiritual communion that underpins the visible sign of the Lord’s Supper, and to which the Lord’s Supper should turn our hearts.

And it is the call of James when he tells us to “draw near to God”. What James meant by drawing near to God is based on the approach of the priest to God in His temple for worship and sacrifice (Ex. 19:22; cf. Lev. 10:3; Ezek. 43:9; 44:13). Godly people approach God to perform their spiritual service.

But it also conveys the sense of humility and sincerity in our approach. Through Isaiah, the Lord said of those who came near Him hypocritically and superficially, “These people draw near with their mouths and honour Me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me, And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men” (Isaiah 29:13). But the psalmist declared, “But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all Your works” (Psalm 73:28). Likewise, David assures us that “the Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth” (Ps. 145:18).

Concerning this “drawing near to God” we should see four things:

By this I mean that it is open to all believers, meant for all believers, that it is but natural that we should know this communion with God since God has saved us to be with Him and to relate to Him.

We can talk about drawing near to God by which we mean coming to God through faith in Jesus Christ – our conversion – but James is here writing to people who profess their having come, their having been saved. Hence we must take it as meaning that we are to look for a continuance and deepening of this new relationship we have with God through Jesus. We are children of God through faith in Christ, and as children we are to see ourselves as in a growing relationship with God.

We need to let this truth sink in, for many Christians seem to doubt this reality.

Perhaps you have read journals or biographies of believers from the past – or perhaps even in your reading of the accounts of Enoch, Moses whose face shone, Mary at Jesus’ feet, the Apostles, Stephen as he was being martyred – and thought to yourself ‘I can’t hope to enjoy such communion with God as they did.’ But why should you not? Read the text again – if you draw near to God you will have as much communion as they did, and your relationship will be as real and personal as it was for them.

Or perhaps you remember former times in your Christian life, but such times of felt closeness with God have long since been turned into memories – and now there is a routine to your relationship, maybe even a touch of dryness, and you doubt whether you will ever again know such warm intimacy with your Lord. Maybe you’ve backslidden, and you doubt your right to even expect it and so you satisfy yourself with merely knowing that God has forgiven you. Read the text – it also speaks to you! When we find ourselves remote from God we need to hear God saying to us in the words we find here: “draw near unto God”.

In this regard hear the sweet promise David communicated to his son Solomon, “Know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him” (1 Chron. 28:9) This is God’s sweet promise to us today, these things were written for us and as such this is a promise we should embrace in prayer and in the pursuit of holiness; which leads on to our next point:

As we look at these words we should also note that they are a command – this is something we are to pursue.

As a result we see that this is not something which is automatic. The relationship is from the moment we become children of God through faith in Christ, but the relationship needs nurturing – and in this we have a part to play. We must want it and work for it – we must draw near to God. This is the heart of the Christian life – a life with God, seeking ever to be closer to Him and more like Him. Christian maturity is live in close and hallowed fellowship with God

It is important to note that the Bible speaks of our relationship with God as a marriage relationship. When you make the vows you are married, the relationship now exists, but it needs to be worked at – you are one, yet you need to become one and that involves knowing more of the other and opening yourself up more to the other. It involves being together, and communicating.

In similar fashion we should devote ourselves to the means of grace – to prayer and Bible reading, to worship and fellowship – and to do so particularly with the aspiration that God will show more of Himself to us. But it also means a decided effort, by His grace, in pursuing godliness in our lives.

While rejoicing in present spiritual life, we must ever be seeking to draw closer to God.

Consider the solar system, where we see the planets revolving around the sun in their set orbits. Some closer, some further away. Well, we all revolve around the Sun of Righteousness – some believers are close, others are further away. Now just like the planets, though far from the sun some rays of light and heat still reach them, so also some of the divine light and heat is within believers living at a distance from the Lord – but it is so little compared with what they might have! But unlike the planets we can and are exhorted to come in closer to our Sun.

There are heights of communion which some Christians have attained which others have never dreamed. Let us seek to have the closest communion with God that man can have on this side of the eternal divide. Let us not be content with outer orbits of grace, but ever seeking to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). Let us cultivate every appointed avenue whereby we can draw near to God, not resting content till we know more of His glory and grace, and of His presence and power.

As children we were always taught that it was improper to visit someone unless we gave some attention to our appearance.

The context in which this injunction occurs shows that it is impossible to draw near to God without giving attention to your life.

Amos 3:3 asks, “Can two walk together lest they be agreed” (3:3)

Jude 14-15 illustrates this in relation to Enoch who is described as one with a heart after God’s – a preacher of righteousness. “Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” This is a wondrous picture of agreement between God and His people. They are with Him in glory, and they come with Him in the last day, but notice what that coming is about: judgement. In this they evidence their agreement with God, an agreement of fellowship even in judgement; but there are others with whom there is no agreement, and hence no fellowship – only judgment.

Warren Weirsbe helpfully draws attention to the nature of this aspect of drawing near to God when he notes that ‘Dr. A.W. Tozer has a profound essay in one of his books, entitled, “Nearness Is Likeness”.’

In the present context we are told on the one hand to flee satan, then on the other to draw near God. Also we are told to come with clean hands and pure hearts.

The very first evidence of a true desire to draw near to God is a deep repentance of sin. It was when we first came, and continues to be as we come again and again.

For many Christians, the lack of the sense of God’s presence and joy of intimacy with God is because they do not take this reality seriously. But you cannot separate Christ as King away from Christ as Saviour, you cannot be a citizen and yet a rebel at the same time.

In Hosea 10:11 we read, “Ephraim is a trained heifer that loves to thresh grain; but I harnessed her fair neck, I will make Ephraim pull a plough. Judah shall plough; Jacob shall break his clods”.

Here Israel is introduced to us as being like a cow treading corn. Such cows were not allowed to be muzzled, and hence this was a preferred work to ploughing because they could eat as they worked. And so Israel preferred the work of treading rather than bearing the yoke of ploughing. The meaning is that God’s people wanted blessings but could not endure the yoke of obedience.

Do we also want the nearness of God with all its blessings, yet show a persistent unwillingness to stir ourselves up to a life of obedience? But the two cannot be separated.

As Manton points out: ‘This is a standing law of heaven: to have God turn to us in mercy, is to turn to Him in duty.’ Here God encourages us by enshrining this promise into gospel law.

We do not labour in the means of grace driven merely by possibilities, but with confidence, driven by the absolute of God’s Word. This is a blessed assurance.

But is one that we must be careful not to despise – we do so to our loss:

Yet do we not have a tendency to reverse the order? Do we not think: ‘How easy it would be to keep a daily time with God if only we had, to begin with, a more vivid sense of His presence’ And so we yield to our sense of weakness and dryness and miss out on the promise.

Yet others do by their reluctance to draw near. Don’t bask in self-pity, don’t be filled with envy of the portion enjoyed by others, nor be despondent because through sin you have flung yourself off into the far reaches of the solar system of grace – draw near to God. Pick up the Bible, speak up in prayer, lock up in fellowship, gear up in godliness, ie, draw near to God. He has promised to honour and meet that desire by drawing near to you.

Let none of these keep us back from a close walk with God.

Have we seen the depth of our privilege as Christians? Salvation involves submitting to God as Lord and Saviour, but also brings the desire for a true relationship with Him. It is to draw near in intimate fellowship and communion with the living, eternal, almighty God.

If the church was fully conscious of this truth, what dignity and reverence would characterise its worship! What urgency and frequency would characterise our attendance upon the services and prayer and study meetings! Ps 73:28 declares, “It is good for me to draw near to God”; Heb 10:22 cautions, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith”.

May God give us the grace to both see and do this, and to know and sense the blessing of His drawing near to us. But let us not miss the point of the writer to the Hebrews who in 10:19-22 stresses that this access and hence the privilege of drawing near is entirely based on Jesus’ work not our own. A point not lost on James either.

Morning Service, 18 October 2009

Look on to v.21 where we read that Elisha “arose and followed Elijah and became his servant”. In other words God not only gave Elijah a successor but a spiritual companion, a close personal friend, one who loved Elijah and understood him well enough to minister to him and encourage him.

Though God as we noted is under no obligation to identify other believers He is committed to the mutual support and fellowship of believers. That is why in the NT we read that new believers were “added to the church”. God’s normal method of operation is for believers to be in company, even if at times it is only small. As Moses had his Joshua, David was given a Jonathan, Elijah his Elisha, Paul his Timothy and also John Mark “for he is useful to me”, and let us not forget that Jesus had His disciples and among them the three – Peter James and John. Eph 4:25 says we are “members of one another”.

God has not designed His people to live like hermits in a cave. He has designed us to live in friendship and fellowship in company with other believers. That’s why the church, the body of Christ is so important, for it is here that we are drawn together in love and mutual support

Here we learn the wisdom of seeking out among the church community at least one to be our companion in the faith.

In Proverbs we read, “As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend “ (27:17); “Faithful are the wounds of a friend” (27:6); “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up. Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; but how can one be warm alone? Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken” (Eccles 4:9-12). And is Jesus not present when two gather together in His name?

Let us learn this lesson well: Find a prayer partner, one who will graciously monitor your spiritual development, one from whom you can find support in temptation and in difficult ministry. This is a wonderful preventative to depression and the thousand other temptations that afflict us. May God grant us such a godly companion for our spiritual benefit and that we may be one for theirs also.

This way God silenced fears and encouraged Elijah. There is good evidence that God succeeded in restoring Elijah for in v.19 we see that Elijah raised no objection, made no delay, but responded promptly. He obeyed, and in so doing reminds us that obedience must ever be the test of our relationship with God – as Jesus Himself declares, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15).

And so God has been involved in the spiritual renewal of the mind and transformation of life of Elijah. He has been dealing with sin, and He has been giving spiritual direction with spiritual objectives and stimulating spiritual enthusiasm with spiritual encouragements. This He does with all His people.

Did you notice the one constant in all of these encouragements? God’s commitment. God’s commitment to His Word, His Work, and to His people is at the heart of our encouragement – a reality we need to constantly focus in on. He is not half-hearted. God is not some cosmic playboy who has gotten easily bored, nor even reluctantly bored, with His church and Gospel Project. On the contrary! Look around and remember God has not given up, nor will He. It is not simply that truth that is our encouragement. He is our encouragement.

“I also could speak as you do, if your soul were in my soul’s place. I could heap up words against you, and shake my head at you; but I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the comfort of my lips would relieve your grief.” (Job 16:4-5)

Encouragement – how sweet it is when we receive it – especially if we are facing great pressures or overwhelming trials that threaten to overwhelm us.

But I wonder how often we exercise this special grace, indeed even know what it involves and requires of us to be an encourager.

Job’s complaint to his ‘comforters’ was that they brought no such help to him. They were quick to criticise, when they should have been quick to encourage.

The word “comfort” here means ‘to nod the head sympathetically’ – what a contrast to the mocking posture of “shake my head at you” he alleges they gave him. Their ‘help’ as they saw it really only added to Job’s grief and trouble.

If the situation was reversed and Job was comforter to his friends, he said that though he could he would never treat them as they have treated him. He would have strengthened and comforted them (as he had done in the past for others; Job 4:4; 29:21-23).

‘Sometimes we have to experience misunderstanding from unsympathetic friends in order to learn how to minister to others.’ (W Wiersbe)

As we return to Elijah it is not insignificant that as God sends him out to renewed kingdom activity that He does so in a way to encourage him in it.

Here we learn that at the heart of genuine encouragement are not gentle and kind words, though helpful they may be, but words that point us to God’s grace and His sovereign purposes. These are the kindest words.

Where better than in the house of God’s worship to ponder and cultivate words of grace that we might exercise a ministry of encouragement. It is here that we hear God’s words of grace which bring such sweet encouragement to our souls. May they be multiplied on even after we leave this holy gathering.

Evening Service, 11 October 2009

Sometimes we have an idealised and romanticised view of life in the early church, with the result that it stands out against what we see in our day.

We tend to think that church life was less complicated in that it was easy to see the difference between the church and the world. As Earl Kelly describes this view: ‘They were a new people who accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and sought to avoid the idolatry and immorality of the pagan world around them. For them the world was the world of sinful men whose rulers and put Jesus to death, and they naturally shunned worldly behaviour.’

The differences between the church and world may have been apparent shortly after Pentecost, but this awareness does not seem to have lasted for long. By the time James wrote Christians seem to have begun flirting with the world and needed to be warned against this disturbing trend.

Here James addresses disturbing trends within the early church, and the fact that God has contained them in the NT highlights that this would be a perennial problem for the church. To quote Kelly again, ‘If those who had had personal experiences with Christ needed such a warning, how much more do we who have had only faith experiences with Him need it.’

In chapter 4 James in his concern for practical holiness within the church identifies disturbing trends within the church, addressing both what was happening and why, and then highlighting the only remedy.

1. James captures our attention by a startling transition.

What a contrast! James turns from talking about peace and immediately the note is the direct opposite: ‘war’, ‘fighting’.

2. What makes it more startling is the identity of the combatants.

Obviously James is not talking about conflict between nations. The “you” indicating he is describing conflict among the Christians to whom he is writing. Nor is he writing of the battles that are necessary, that is for the truth. Equally it is obvious that he is not dealing with hypothetical situations, it was a current and real problem. Disputes and bitterness was found within the church. Indeed the Bible gives us with examples of this very thing happening. For instance, in Phil 4:2 we read of Euodias and Syntyche; in 1 Cor 1:11 Paul mentions it was reported to him that “there is quarrelling among you..” (cf 6:1 and 2 Cor 12:20).

No wonder then that we have commands like 1 Thess 5:13 – “be at peace among yourselves”. Paul was only too conscious that this godly Thessalonican church could so easily be ripped apart by internal warfare if they weren’t alert and working to protect their peace and harmony in Christ.

Let’s face it, the very origin of our denominations, and the fragmentation of Christians from fellowships, is more often marked by a dispute left unresolved than by the rise of heresy that had to be battled. It is more often the result of schism than separation. It often says more about the remaining influence of sin on the human heart than of a desire for purity in worship and service.

3. James’ emphasis here is that this is shameful

Our battle is with the forces of darkness. We are soldiers of Christ, yet we seem to be expending more energy and aggression within the camp rather than without against our Lord’s enemy.

Surely it is a shameful thing that Christians, who claim to have found “the way of peace” (Luke 1:79), should be squabbling and in a state not just of unrest but of bitter turmoil and recriminations.

This is something that we should never accept as par for the course. We might be tempted to write James off as being too narrow, too hyper-sensitive, after all though Christians we are not perfect. As Alec Motyer writes, ‘James’ language seems so extravagant, so exaggerated in our ears, that we feel we must positively refuse to see our small-time disagreements and occasional squabbles as meeting such a description.’

But James says it is that bad, that these petty squabbles are not minor things. They must be addressed as they mar the whole presentation of the Church as the body of Christ. But he adds that we need to take this very seriously because of what underlies them, because of what it reveals within us:

James sees and draws attention to two underlying and causal trends among Christians, and they usually go hand-in-hand; trends which result in this disturbance amongst us. How we like to look outside and find someone else to blame! We might say “the devil is doing it”, or perhaps, we blame other people and use the victim strategy to justify our behaviour. But James sees the basic problem is not what another person is or does but rather what comes out of our own hearts. We are the problem. What are the two trends that show this?

1. HEDONISM

In v.1 and 3 James drives to the heart of the matter: “pleasures”. This is a different word than that translated by “desires” in 1:14 and “lust” in 4:2 which speak of a being drawn after, a desire. Here the word means the ‘gratification of desire’. It speaks of that selfish satisfaction that says ‘I must have it now not later’, and of the pleasure experienced in the satisfaction of the desires. We get the word Hedonism from this Greek word. It was taught by the Epicureans who asserted that pleasure is the sole or chief good in life.

James sees that these Christians were so focused on the “pleasure” that arises from getting what they wanted they not only trod over anyone who stood in their way, it also crippled their prayer-life, as it always will. Their focus was removed from God so they didn’t ask Him, and when they did think about asking God they only asked for things with a purpose of their own satisfaction. They “asked amiss”.

This immediately challenges us to ask how we understand the nature and place of prayer. It has been said that ‘The essence of prayer is not to get what we want out of God, but to have ourselves so changed by God that we come to want what He wants for us’ (Leslie Mitton). When you see this you can see how hedonism threatens spirituality in general and godliness in particular.

2. WORLDLINESS – this is brought out in v.4

Now notice here what James means. There are many concepts of worldliness out there, and maybe in here. The Amish for instance won’t use buttons and zippers because they are worldly. The Mormons see coffee drinking as worldly, or certain ‘Fundamentalists’ have been known to denounce lipstick as ‘devil’s grease’ and condemn mixed-bathing as very worldly. However, in so doing they miss the Bible’s point.

James speaks of it as “friendship with the world” from which we see that it is primarily an issue of relationship. True friends share a mindset and outlook on life. They share interests, values and goals. And so the Bible speaks of loving the world, of gaining the world. It is primarily an issue of attitude – of what we set our affection on. It consists in putting other things – particularly relationships, attitudes, activities that are inconsistent with God’s ways, as first in our hearts over against Jesus. It is becoming attached to the world which stands opposed to God, wanting to be like everyone else, driven by their dreams and desires, yielding to the worldly system of values, more concerned about friendships and activities with non-Christians than Christians, thinking nothing of being exposed to their dangerous thought-patterns and practices.

The consequence of this is to become “an enemy of God” all over again. No wonder then that there are disturbances and quarrels within the church! That is the world’s way, not God’s. As a church or Christian gets more hedonistic and worldly, that is the harvest you will reap.

A vital principle of behaviour and relationships is that what we do and are towards others is an outworking of what we are within. The issues in church life reflect the real issues that exist in the heart – they do not create but expose and illustrate what lies within, for out of the heart the Bible repeatedly reminds us flow the issues of life (Prov 4:35), Jesus says: “For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks” (Lk 6:45 cf., Matt 12:35; Mk 7:20-23) – and here: “Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?”

Yes there may be pressures from without, even virulent temptations that severely test us – but in so acting and so relating towards others we are not their victims but victims of our own hearts. Just because someone is sinning against us doesn’t mean we can sin against them – not even if we keep our response in kind and up to the same measure. Nor can we blame circumstances. The question is about what we do with them and why.

Do we see these ungodly behaviours among us – even beginning to raise their head? Do we see the source realities in ungodly attitudes and expectations? What do we do? Well, you’ve got to ‘get with the program’ as they used to say:

In v.5-10 James points us back in the right direction to follow. We can group the teaching here under three points:

1. Recognise God’s Response – v.5-6

This is always the starting point to recovery of godliness. Not with our sin as such, nor even with its negative impact on us, but with the holy and gracious God whom we have offended.

God’s response is identified in v.5-6 as involving two things: that of abhorrence, as expressed by calling such perpetrators “adulterers!”; and also of resistance, indicating that God “resists the proud” (taking a position in battle against us). This is what sin is in Christians. It is a spurning of our heavenly ‘Husband’ in the pursuit of pleasures amongst His very enemies. It is an arrogant exalting of ourselves against His will for us and indeed against God Himself. How we should see the horror of our spiritual adultery! It is to sin against love, against grace and mercy. And it is one which God will not tolerate – never has, and will not now – not even in His ‘Bride’!

In v.5 James supports this not by quoting a specific text but by giving a summary of biblical teaching, condensing the entire biblical theology of the human condition. Now this is a notoriously difficult verse. Does it refer to human envy and spirit, or Divine envy and the Holy Spirit? The reference to spiritual adultery would support the latter. But even then, does it mean that the Holy Spirit is jealous for our affections and activities to be holy and so to act otherwise and claim to be God’s children is to make the Bible a nonsense? Or does it mean that we cannot lay these passions at the feet of the Spirit as if He causes them in us – for that too would make the Bible a nonsense? In either case one thing is clear, hedonism and worldliness are obnoxious to God and are incompatible with the indwelling Holy Spirit. We need to recognise that.

2. Realise God’s Provision – v.6

We need to see it and use it. Here James points us to the reality of God’s grace – one which will involve Him resisting us. Even when God humbles us we should not be filled with despair, but see it as an activity of grace, and be encouraged to look for more grace. This is a great encouragement to us when we realise our adultery! God is still gracious to us! He will not let us go.

God’s grace is a continuing grace. It not only secured the saving work of Jesus for us, our personal response to it, and our entry into glory and perfection in Christ; it also supplies our continuing needs in this world for help, strength, spiritual power. We must, then, take of this grace of God and change, but also draw on it to fortify ourselves against future desertions and adulteries.

3. Reaffirm your Allegiance – v.7-10.

The first of the group of 10 commands is that we “submit”. Today this word tends to be used it in a passive way, so that since resistance is pointless we submit to superior forces. But in the Greek the idea is more of enlistment, taking up allegiance to a great Superior in order to willingly fight under his banner.

This then sets the rest of the commands into place: our resistance to satan is one of with God, that’s why we draw near to God, mourn over anything that disrupts our relationship with God, and why we humble ourselves before God. You can’t effectively resist satan unless you are living in communion with God.

So the way forward in dealing with the problems in the church requires its members to personally and individually humble themselves before God, to make sure they are fighting on God’s side, and then with God resist the devil.

To that end God extends His grace to all who desire it. Let us both rejoice in and draw on God’s grace which comes to us freely and daily in Christ Jesus. Then we will be marked by God’s presence and by practical godliness.

Morning Service, 11 October 2009

The result of depression is that one often can’t see the trees for the forest. The mind is swamped by all that lays before it and it looms as an impossible task. By focussing on one manageable task at a time they begin to achieve. Those who are depressed need to be active, but it is best that this be done in manageable steps experiencing accomplishment with each one. Don’t expect the heavy cloud to all go at once, to be able to do what you did before it ascended. Be realistic. Highlight manageable projects, small goals to accomplish. A small but progressive list. Then start cutting those trees down one at a time.

This is often what God calls us to do. I read of one minister whose wife died, resulting in deep spiritual dejection and discouragement. Friends advised him to get away from all the things that would remind him of his wife. So he went from place to place, and still that heavy cloud was upon him. It was not until he returned to his pulpit and shouldered the heavy responsibility of shepherding a flock of God, that once again he knew something of that vital relationship with his God.

Is this not what Jesus Christ did with Peter after he repented from his sin of denial? Oh the tears he shed, the unease he must have felt even among the other disciples. But Jesus came to him – for we read in the resurrection appearances that “He appeared to Peter”. Jesus forgave that sin and reassured Peter of His love for him. But He not only did that, He also re-commissioned him. He said to Peter “feed My sheep” (Jn 21:16). He gave to Peter some work to do. It was a work that was pleasing to him, one which he had enjoyed and clearly one for which he was gifted to do. It was work that he would do for Jesus – notice the repeated emphasis on Jesus in His use of “My”. Peter would be doing it certainly in a sense for himself, certainly for the benefit of others, but primarily for the Lord, because they were the Lord’s people he would teach and guide.

If we find ourselves in such circumstances, struggling with depression, then we must come out and be usefully employed in some activity that benefits others to the glory of God. The simple reality is that if you are involved in the needs of others you can’t afford the luxury of retreating to a juniper tree. A mother who has little ones dependent upon her for nourishment and for a warm and loving atmosphere in the home can’t afford such a luxury. So when you get tired with all the pressures and responsibilities of your family, thank God that at least those can keep you from going out and making a juniper tree and sitting under it.

But even if this is not our present we still know the burden of responsibilities, especially in the area of service in the kingdom, that at times we wish we can shrug off. But they can keep you from retreating to a state of dejection and despair. Keep at the task God gives you, and fulfil it with an eye to God and to His glory.

Doesn’t this show the terrible nature of sin? God comes in grace seeking Elijah, and sin causes Elijah to evade. Of course we never do that do we? God in His grace seeks us, maybe in our private devotions or during the preaching, as a portion of Scripture gets down into our souls and opens up our wounds we begin to shift responsibility, to excuse, to rationalise our feelings and actions. Don’t monkey around. Face God honestly. Tell Him the truth.

3. God reminds him of a spiritual principle

As Elijah seeks to evade spiritual reflection God takes him back to his first error concerning how God works. In v.11-12 Elijah is given what might be called a enacted parable from nature.

He is confronted with a series of mighty displays of power which are often in the Bible associated with the presence of God, yet it says that the Lord was not in them. If we had been asked to describe the Lord’s presence surely we would have used such symbols. But it was the small, still whisper in the air that touched the listening heart of Elijah and drew him with a sense of expectation to the mouth of the cave. When he heard this he knew he was about to meet God face to face as seen also by the fact that he covered his face.

What does this mean? We are not explicitly told but clearly Elijah got the message. I think that F B Meyer is right in suggesting that Elijah had to learn this lesson about God’s working: that though God sometimes works in dramatic ways He doesn’t always, and indeed has a preference to work in the ‘gentle blowing’.

Elijah thought that if there was to be any true reformation there must be, as it were, a baptism of fire. At Mt Carmel he thought the time had come. But the eagerness of the people died down, and Elijah thought God was not working at all. God is pointing out to Hs servant that He is not always to be found in great visible movements, that He loves to work gently and unperceived. He declares that this is the case as evidenced by the 7,000 true believers.

Yet it is often heard, ‘Oh if God would do something that would shake the earth, turn the wicked…’ Not that we should no pray for revival, for powerful visitations of God’s saving power. Oh yes we should pray for such days, such heart-seeking after God for salvation; but until God is prepared to act that way what will we do? Take a 7 year lease on a broom tree? No, learn the lesson that God often works silently and secretly yet powerfully, that God is doing so even now. Do not give upon the work in discouragement, do not despise the day of small things, but labour trusting God to work as He wills.

And that principal applies in every area of life. It is what we are to challenge every cause of discouragement that seeks to embattle our souls into despair. We need to remember that God is not inactive, but even more we need to submit to His sovereign will and purposes in what is happening in our lives.

The person given over to depression often finds that at the very root they have dictated to God how He ought to work, what He ought to have achieved. It is no surprise that such get disappointed and are open to deep discouragement. We need to see it for what it is: idolatry, which always leads to spiritual bankruptcy.

Instead recognise the breadth of God’s ways of working, and not disparage the wisdom of God to work as He will in our life and day, or despise the day of apparent small things. May we have, and if necessary regain, and above all maintain right views of God.

Inevitably involved in depression are spiritual issues that are real and need to be dealt with – issues that arise from and articulate wrong views of God and how He works, and also of ourselves and our expectations/demands of how God should work. We need to repent of any rebellion, of any idolatrous attachment to our ideas and schemes of how God should and if we are honest we believe must work. We must rest in God’s wisdom in the knowledge that He is sovereignly involved in our life.

We all know that if there is insufficient lighting the photo we take will look darker than the reality. One of satan’s tactics is to present thing in such a way that everything is much darker than its reality – particularly our perspective of God and how we relate to Him or how we perceive the way He relates to us. In such times we need to take the journey of grace using the light of God’s Word which shows God and His relationship to us in its proper light as one of grace and compassion, as one of the advance of His kingdom in our hearts and through our lives.

Evening Service, 4 October 2009

Like the rest of James, chapter 3 has proved to be a very challenging chapter.

Who among us does not have trouble with the tongue? Who among us has not been affected by the wisdom of our age so that we find ourselves sometimes expressing a ‘wisdom’ that is not from above?

It is a chapter that looks deeply at our motives, and one which calls us to respond to the grace and love of God in a more consistent godly manner. James has been calling us to ‘Make your choice!’

This week we come to what James sees as the key to wisdom’s effectiveness. James is saying that you can know you have wisdom by the way in which you use it. That key is “peace”.

James introduces this to us under a gardening metaphor, where the soil is peace “sown in peace”; the green-fingered gardeners are those who “make peace”; and the resultant fruit is “the fruit of righteousness” – which in itself lies at the heart of peace.

Now “peace” is something people in this world continually seek.

Gustav Valbert in his day (early 19^th Century) could report that ‘From the year 1496 B.C. to A.D. 1861 in 3358 years there were 227 years of peace with 3,130 years of war, or 13 years of war to every year of peace”. He also added that in the same period “more than 8,000 treaties of peace, meant to remain in force forever, were concluded. The average time they remained in force was two years.’ And that’s on the basis of limited information covering no doubts much more limited areas of the globe compared to what we would have access to today. One thing we can say is that things have not changed much since then! Conflicts and skirmishes between and within nations continue as a present and ugly curse on humanity.

Could we not go further and draw parallels in the areas of the work-place, community activity, home-life and family relationships, yet alone of the inner-man? There seems to be no sphere where man is and there is not some longing for peace or for clearer and consistent peace?

James sees “peace” as the centre-piece of Wisdom’s effectiveness. But what is “peace”?

It is usually used to mean the absence of fear, conflict or passion.

But in the Bible “peace” has a much fuller and richer meaning, as can be seen by its use in Josh 6:31 (“an altar of whole stones, over which no man has lift up any iron” – the word “whole”, indicating that these stones were unbroken, complete is basically “peace”. In Neh 6:15 we note “so the wall was finished”, and here again “finished” is from the basic word “peace”, and means complete.

So when we see “peace” used in this fuller biblical sense it has the idea of being whole, complete. Is not merely the absence of hostility but the enjoyment of restoration, of wholeness.

Now let us see how James in a very practical way works the relationship of peace here – and in so doing I want to use the 3 points suggested by John Blanchard as he for analysis looks at this verse in the reverse order of its ideas: The Christian’s Approach, Attitude, and Aim

1. Peace has to be ‘made’.

Immediately we see here that peace is something someone has to take responsibility for. It just doesn’t happen; in other words, it is not something natural in a fallen world.

2. Every Christian knows this from personal experience.

They have peace with God, but how did this come to be? It didn’t happen naturally, nor did it come from man who is described as being “at enmity with God” (Rom 8:7). No, it came because God worked it through His Son Jesus Christ.

Therefore it should not surprise us that James says on the one hand we must have the approach to life of labouring for peace if there is going to be any peace, and on the other hand says that this comes naturally to the Christian.

It is significant that Jesus in describing the citizens of His Kingdom in Matt 5:9 says they are “peacemakers”, that our lives go out to produce peace, and in so doing prove to be the children of God by exhibiting something of His approach to this world.

3. So our approach to Christians and others is that of “peace”

We are to pursue it: “Depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it” (Psalm 34:14); “Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another” (Rom 14:19).

We are also to preserve it: “with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”(Eph 4:2-3); “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord” (Heb 12:14) .

It is our very ministry: “Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God” (2 Cor 5:18-20).

When we see disruption in the fellowship, in families, etc, our heart aches and we are driven to find ways of establishing peace. Where we find peace we remain watchful and vigilant, ever alert to maintaining that which we delight in.

Is this not what wisdom is? So acting, guiding, advising, and so correcting that peace, that completeness between us may be restored and maintained. Even our evangelism is to be undertaken not as getting people in pews or scalps on belts, but to see people at peace with God and so with others. Indeed evangelism is called “preaching peace by Jesus Christ” in Acts 10:36.

When we see conflict in the church we need to remember that we are both saved – that my Saviour loves us equally. Am I ready to say that my Lord is wrong to love him? Those who are comfortable with unresolved conflicts in the past need to ask God to soften their heart, to make them more Christ-like.

May God give us grace that this will obviously be our approach to life, to those about us, to any circumstance we find ourselves in. The Church and the world would be a more blessed place if this were so.

1. Here James again calls us to question our motives

It is not sufficient to labour for peace, the way that we do so should demonstrate the same peace consuming us. That not only are you doing something for peace, but that you are doing it in a peace-loving way. Not only working for peace, but peaceful in your working.

2. It is possible to address issues of conflict in a self-destructive way, in a militant, bitter and critical way – or to appear to.

Two ministers were having a conversation ‘What did you preach on last Sunday? l preached on “The wicked shall be turned into hell”.’ ‘Did you preach it tenderly?’ he was asked. It is said of Robert Murray McCheyne that when he preached on hell he could not help but weep. That is a good policy, even more it is an echoing of Christ’s heart who wept over Jerusalem even though it rejected Hi and was about to call for His crucifixion.

How many people have reacted against the approaches of others for peace because of the attitude of judgementalism or sanctimoniousness that they perceived in the hopeful ‘peacemaker’?

Some of the most eager to pursue righteousness, in doing the right thing, in calling for discipline, sadly show an aggressiveness and hostility in what they do – and as a result undermine the very thing they seek to do. Let me ask you, Will such encourage a sister or brother to take seriously your efforts at reconciliation? Let us beware, for while what at times may be appropriately thundered from a pulpit must be spoken tenderly face to face.

3. The question we are forced to ask of ourselves here is, How am I being perceived as I make my appeals? What attitudes do I betray?

To that end we need to be courteous; we need to be sensitive; tenderness and concern controlling the tones as well as the words.

In our love of righteousness and hatred of sin let us be careful for we may be tempted to secretly detest and despise someone. We need to remind ourselves of our own numerous faults and wonder about how others put up with us. We need to seek God’s forgiveness for our faults of attitude as well as of action, seeking also to get things in proportion, remembering all the ways of the offender which demand respect. This will cause us to really and transparently mean our approach of peace.

This is why Paul said in Gal 6:1 pointed out that those who are to work in resolving the difficulties of sin in the lives of others must be “spiritual” and must function with “gentleness” – “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.”

1. Righteousness is the harvest among the wise.

James is talking about the exercise of wisdom, and here shows that its fruit is righteousness.

You will remember we described wisdom is living rightly, is walking with God, is living God’s way. At its essence then righteousness and wisdom go hand in hand. Last week we noted that you must look at the effect of the wisdom to see if it is from above or from below. Here James asserts that when you put biblical wisdom to a similar test it always has the effect of righteousness. This must be our aim – righteousness, right living before God.

2. Yet wisdom never separates peace and righteousness.

There can be no peace without righteousness; nor righteousness without peace. The Psalmist look forward to the coming day when “righteousness and peace have kissed” each other (Psa 85:10). That day has come in Christ, and will reach its fullest expression in the coming Day of Christ. Jesus Christ had to die for sinners that they might know peace and righteousness together. Let us be careful, then, in separating what God has joined together.

It is true that Scripture tells us that there is a place for holding our “peace” over some things we see in others. In Prov.10:12, quoted by 1 Peter 4:8, we read, “Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers a multitude of sins”. That is, love does not expose sin unnecessarily, and certainly not to cause pain or to get an advantage over another. Love is peaceable and peace-loving; it is helpful; not destructive and vindictive. Indeed it does what it can to remove the cause of disruptions by seeking to deal with the sin in another – the word cover also carrying the idea of atonement.

Clearly this is essential for the harmony of the church. This realisation that as God is taking time with us, and that in the same way we need to be patient with others and not lose perspective. There is a godly tolerance.

But when it comes to serious offences of the kind which require church discipline there has been a tendency to also say that this person’s offence should be ignored. That is a sinful tolerance.

Our aim is not just peace, and certainly not ‘peace at any price’. As Thomas Manton said, ‘Peace without righteousness is but a sordid compliance; righteousness without peace but a rough austerity.’

And so, even in formal church discipline it must still be with an approach of seeking peace through reconciliation and restoration in righteousness, and must be approached with an attitude marked by peace.

Only thus, in the pursuit of peace with peace can we expect to see righteousness as the glorious fruit of wisdom.

“If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men” (Rom 12:18); “…the kingdom of God is … righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom 14:17). May God cause such fruit to blossom amongst us, that we would be known as “peacemakers” and “seekers after righteousness”!

It’s as if Elijah had spiritual cataracts rapidly develop across his heart so that his spiritual sight had become cloudy.

Previously he did not doubt the presence and activity of God in the quiet, in the small and even hidden ways. But now, having experienced a public display in which even the ungodly were constrained to shout “Behold the Lord He is God!’ that perception seems lost to him.

Behind his despair lay a twisted and false perspective concerning God and His ways. Well did Isaiah say “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)

This is the lesson Elijah is graciously given by God as the Lord restores spiritual vision and a renewed sigh of spiritual reality.

Here at Horeb Elijah is graciously given by God a renewed and arguably an enlarged sight of God as a God who is in the quiet, in the seemingly unseen or unnoticed events and circumstances.

How many times has the Lord taken you to the equivalent Horeb in your experience?  He may not have confronted us in such miraculous ways, and yet have we not known something of this self-revelation of God? Have we not found in the reading of the Word or exposure to some Christian fellowship or writing, or even in a season of worship our sight of God and His ways clarified and confusions, doubts and even despairs lifted?

How sweet and refreshing those sights of our gracious Lord were and are to us!

Spurgeon urges us,

Long more and more to see Jesus. Meditation and contemplation are often like windows … through which we behold the Redeemer. Meditation puts the telescope to the eye, and enables us to see Jesus after a better sort than we could have seen Him if we had lived in the days of His flesh. Would that our conversation were more in heaven, and that we were more taken up with the person, the work, the beauty of our incarnate Lord. More meditation and the beauty of the King would flash upon us with more resplendence. (Morning & Evening, pm Nov.16)