Confessional Baptist Blog

No Sex Please, I'm British - Reformation21 Blog

2012-01-08T07:49:00.000-06:00

No Sex Please, I'm British - Reformation21 Blog

Christ, the Church, and Pat Robertson

2011-10-04T08:36:00.000-05:00

Christ, the Church, and Pat Robertson

Is the Reformation nearly over? Perhaps, but maybe not for the reason you think, - Reformation21 Blog

2011-09-26T18:03:00.000-05:00

Is the Reformation nearly over? Perhaps, but maybe not for the reason you think, - Reformation21 Blog

Christian Liberty and the Law of God

2010-11-08T21:13:00.004-06:00

This week I will be preaching from Galatians 5 on the subject of "Christian Liberty and the Law of God." Here is the text of the chapter from the ESV and some questions to get you started thinking about the text.

Galatians 5:1-26 ESV For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. (2) Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. (3) I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. (4) You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. (5) For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. (6) For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. (7) You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? (8) This persuasion is not from him who calls you. (9) A little leaven leavens the whole lump. (10) I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view than mine, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. (11) But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. (12) I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves! (13) For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. (14) For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (15) But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. (16) But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. (17) For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. (18) But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. (19) Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, (20) idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, (21) envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (22) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, (23) gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (24) And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (25) If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. (26) Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

After reading over the text a few times, think on these questions:

- From what you know about Galatians, from what had the Galatian belivers been set free? From what "corresponding captivity" have we been set free?
- What does it mean for Christ to be of "advantage" to us?
- What is circumcision and what is its relationship to the law?
- What does it mean for faith to "work through love?"
- What is the relationship between Gal 5:6, 13, 14, 23, 6:15 and 2:20-21
- What is the "truth" they were to obey? See Gal 2:5
- What is the "offense of the cross" to which Paul refers in v.11?

- Though Paul says repeatedly that we have been set free (vs. 1, 13) he still seems to indicate that we are accountable to something. Explain/describe from what we have been set free and to what we are now held accountable.

- Explain the phrase in v. 23: "against such things there is no law."

These are just a few things to get the wheels turning regarding the text. I hope to have more of an actualy "Family Devotional" for you all in a couple of days.

Grace,

Pastor Jason

Christ's Mission, God's Law and Man's Greatest Need

2010-11-08T09:41:00.002-06:00

Family Devotionals
Week of 31 October 2010
Text: Matthew 5 - 7

Devotional 1

Theme for Devotional 1: Christ and the Scriptures

Read Text: Matthew 5:17-20

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. (18) For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. (19) Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (20) For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Discussion Questions:

1. Discuss the negative and positive statements that are made in this passage regarding the Scriptures (ie. The Law and the Prophets). I will get you started and then you fill in the rest as a family:

Negative

v.17 The Scriptures are not to be abolished

v.18

V.19

Positive

v.17 The Scriptures are to be fulfilled

v.18

v.19

2. According to v.20, what is it that that the Scriptures are designed to produce in our lives? Have someone in the family read James 1:22.

3. Read from James 1:23-27. Discuss amongst yourselves “why” doing of the word matters to God?

4. Look again at Matthew 5:20. What is at stake if we fail to take Jesus’ words seriously?

Family Prayer Suggestion: Spend some time praying together, or lead your family in prayer and focus your request on asking God to make you a family that takes his word seriously.

Devotional 2

Theme for Devotional 2: Christ and the Scribes

Read Text: Matthew 5:21-26 ESV

You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.' (22) But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire. (23) So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, (24) leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. (25) Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. (26) Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

Discussion Questions:

Throughout this section, especially in vs.21, 27, 31, 33, 38, and 43 Jesus opens his teaching on the law of God (especially God’s moral law) with something like “You have heard that it was said...but I say to you. Christ holds himself out, in this section of Scripture, to be a better interpreter of the law of God than the Scribes.

1. From reading the section of Scripture above from Matt 5:21-26, what does it appear the Scribes had done with the commandment (found in the Decalogue - The Ten Commandments) against murder?

2. Read Matt 23:23. What did the Scribes have a tendency to do with the “laws” of God? How are they doing that in our text in Matthew 5?

3. What kind of “sins” does Jesus set forth as embodying the sin of murder? See v.22. Looking at the sin of murder this way - seems to hit a little closer to home than the way the Scribes looked at it - doesn’t it? Talk about this for a while with your family. How have you been guilty of this in your home this week?!

4. What does the sin of refusing to reconcile (ie. being angry)with your brother hinder? See vs.23-24?

5. Jesus drives this teaching home with a pretty striking illustration. What do you think he is trying to communicate with such a “drastic” picture?

6. What hope do any of us have before such a view of the law of God? How can we possibly escape?

Family Prayer Suggestion: Spend some time praying together, or lead your family in prayer and focus your attention on asking God to help you see his law for how “really” penetrating it is and disclose to each of you ways you have tried to modify his law so it is more manageable. Spend some time confessing how lightly you have regarded his law in exposing your sins.

Devotional 3

Theme for Devotional 3: Christ and the Sinners

Read the following Texts:

❏ Matthew 5:19-20 ESV Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (20) For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

❏ Matthew 5:48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

❏ Matthew 6:1 "Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

❏ Matthew 7:13-14 ESV "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. (14) For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

❏ Matthew 7:21-23 ESV "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. (22) On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' (23) And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'

Discussion Questions:

1. What in the texts read above, helps you understand how seriously Jesus takes obedience to his law?

2. Compare Matt 5:20 with v.48 of the same chapter. What is left unsaid, but clearly implied in v.48 that can be drawn from v.20?

3. Is Jesus using hyperbole - exaggerated speech - when he says we have to be as “perfect” as God to get in heaven?

4. Doesn’t this seem kind of extreme? What are some reasons this may seem rather harsh?

5. With all that said - what hope do any of us have of making it to heaven in the end?

Read: Matthew 7:24-27 ESV "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. (25) And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. (26) And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. (27) And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it."

This is Jesus’ concluding application to his “Sermon on the Mount.” In making the comparison between the two possible responses to his teaching, what makes the difference in the final estimation between the two men who both built houses? What is significant about the answer to this question in relation to the answer you gave for Question #5 just above? Where are you in regard to the need to build your life on the foundation of the reality of Christ? Where are those in your family regarding this eternal matter?

Family Prayer Suggestion: Spend some time praying together, or lead your family in prayer and focusing your attention on making a proper response to the teaching of Christ in this section of Matthew’s gospel.

Reaching the Nations, Prayer and Fasting

2010-09-01T08:43:00.005-05:00

We intend here in no way to give an extensive treatment or Biblical defense of the three-fold theme of "Reaching the Nations, Prayer and Fasting", but rather simply to relate the three areas and establish the connections between them. How do these three areas connect and how do they set forth a strong ground on which the church should stand as she seeks to make the name of Christ known in places where, as of yet, his name has never been heard. All that is written here presupposes by and large, an acquaintance in the mind and an affection in the heart for the truths that have been held out in a series of sermons preached at our church that can be accessed through our churches web site on Romans 15:14-16:27. With that in mind, lets briefly consider the three areas of concern.

First: Reaching the Nations

Focal Text: Matthew 28:18-20

Matthew 28:18-20 ESV And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. (19) Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (20) teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

Other texts could and perhaps should be listed here as well. Texts like Acts 1:8, Mark 16:15, Mark 13:10, and Romans 10:18 among others. This text from the gospel of Matthew, sets forth the truth that the church in every age has been given the responsibility of reaching the nations of the world with the “disciple-making” message of the gospel. Both 1) the people that are to be reached - those from all the nations of the world and 2) the promissory presence of Christ - with us till the end of the age, point us to the conclusion that this responsibility of carrying Christ’s gospel to men remains in full force for the church today. This “great commission” was in no way fulfilled by the Apostolic church. It remains for us to carry this message to groups of people, oft referred to as “people groups” who have yet to hear the message of the gospel. It is estimated that there are some 6,000 Unreached People Groups in the world today who have no abiding witness to carry the gospel forward in their regions. The Apostle Paul made it, he writes the Romans, ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named.” He does this he says because he had read from the prophet Isaiah that "Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand" (Romans 15:20-21 ESV). Thus, under the command of the all authoritative Christ, the Lord of the Church and standing upon the authoritative Scriptures, we take it as our commission and ought to make it our ambition, to seek out places where Christ is yet to be named.

Second: Reaching the Nations and Prayer

Just how are we to go about “reaching the nations.” At this point the precious provision and means of grace God has given to His church - prayer - comes into the picture. There is no shortage of people left in the world who have yet to hear. It is estimated that among the 6000 people groups who have no abiding witness to Christ, live somewhere in the range of 2-3 billion people. When Jesus said in John 4:35 to his disciples that they should “lift up (their) eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest” he may very well have been directing their vision to the approaching Samaritans that were to believe on him from the town of Sychar. These were in the process of coming to hear Jesus himself having been drawn initially by the testimony of the woman to whom Jesus had made himself known. These people, who had yet to hear the life transforming message of the gospel served as a paradigm for Christ to use as an object lesson to teach his disciples about the plight of the nations. Many have yet to hear - but need to hear - indeed are ripe to hear - what the church must go is get the message to them. But how? The words of Jesus to his disciples in Matthew’s gospel give us great insight here. Hear from Matthew’s gospel and consider the responsibility of the church:

Matthew 9:35-38 ESV And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. (36) When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. (37) Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; (38) therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."

A recognition of the needs of the nations (the harvest) must be met here by the embracing of an earnest plea to the Lord of the harvest himself, to send out laborers into the fields of people that are waiting to be brought in! This is the same plea made by the Apostle Paul to the believers in Thessalonica when he asked them to offer heartfelt, affectionate prayer for him and his missionary team that the “word of the Lord (the gospel message) may speed ahead and be honored” as had happened among them when Paul first visited them with the dark dispelling message of the light of the gospel.

Jesus and Paul both said it clearly - the reaching of the nations is to be accomplished in the sending out of men to preach the gospel, make disciples and plant new and gospel-honoring churches. However, Jesus and Paul also clearly state - the church must pray that these gospel preaching church planters would be raised up and sent out by the Lord of the harvest himself.

Third: Reaching the Nations, Prayer and Fasting

What is fascinating to me is finding both these ideas present in texts where they are joined to the practice of fasting. Consider here as a focal text Acts 13:1-3 ESV

Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a member of the court of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. (2) While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." (3) Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

Here is the church, poised on the edge of the first missionary movement in the history of the church. From this church would be sent out the first “missions team” of Paul and Barnabas to a work that would redefine the life of the early church. From this church would go out a team of men that would transform the then known world, the effects of which are still being felt today. They would carry the gospel to Galatia, Asia, eventually to Macedonia, Greece and eventually at the close of the NT age - Rome! It is speculated among church historians that Paul may have even made it as far as Spain or even Great Britain before he gave his life in filling up the afflictions of Christ for the sake of reaching God’s elect with God’s glorious gospel.

What I want you to notice is the role that fasting played in this missionary movement. Fasting is seen in this text as a divinely appointed means of stirring and strengthening God-centered, worship-filled affections in the soul of the church.

A little background on fasting might help us here. There is a story told by the gospel writers that may fill in some of the blanks often brought about when the subject of fasting is placed “on the table.” Let’s listen to Matthew’s account of the story:

Matthew 9:10-17 ESV And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. (11) And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" (12) But when he heard it, he said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. (13) Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." (14) Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?" (15) And Jesus said to them, "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. (16) No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. (17) Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved."

Now there is in truth a lot to get lost in from this text - and it is all very good stuff and well worth our time. But let’s focus in on simply one part - Jesus words when he, in answering the question as to why his disciples didn’t fast states, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.“ In short, fasting when the bridegroom (Jesus) is present would be out of place. His presence demands joy and feasting, not sorrow and fasting. However, days were coming - very soon - when fasting, not continual feasting - would indeed be appropriate and was indeed expected. In the absence of the bridegroom (the time the church is waiting and anticipating Christ’s return) there is a longing in the heart of the church that is aptly expressed in the practice of fasting. We long for his return - we are not satisfied with the white bread of the world - we would gladly give it up in trade for his presence which is our true food and drink!

When we fast - giving up a portion of food for a time - here in this world, we are giving expression to the longing of our hearts and calling on our hearts to long for that which is their true and soul-satisfying food - Christ himself.

We long for the return of the bridegroom and in fasting we say, “Yes” to his soon return! We give tangible expression to the cry of our heart which are consumed with the thought of his return.

Interestingly, though it is not often considered, this thought should be joined to the words of Jesus in Matthew 26:26-29

Matthew 26:26-29 ESV Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is my body." (27) And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you, (28) for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. (29) I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom."

Jesus declares in the institution of the Lord’s Supper that from this point until his return - he will be engaged in a fast as well. He will refuse the delights of the fruit of the vine until that day when he (the bridegroom) is reunited with us (the bride) in his Father’s kingdom. In that day their will be feasting, until then, there is fasting.

Put these thoughts together. John Piper helpfully notes, “fasting is a future oriented counterpart to the past-oriented celebration of the Lord’s Supper.” Rejoicing in the supper takes us back to the historic work of Christ for the good of our souls, in fasting we look forward to the future coming and full triumph of Christ and long for that day to come.

We still have one thing to do - we have to move from fasting, back to the call of the church to reach the nations. For those believers in Antioch in Acts 13, worship fueled by prayer and fasting with the kind of worship that fueled their passion for world missions. Jesus makes an astounding statement that will help us here in Matthew 24:14. There we read: “This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” What is the relationship here between fasting and reaching the nations? In order for the end to come, the gospel must be preached to all the nations. In order for the bridegroom to return and reclaim his supreme rule over all enemies and usher in his glorious kingdom, the gospel of that kingdom must speed ahead and penetrate all the dark regions of the nations of the world with points of light that our glorious King Jesus might have before him “people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9 ESV). In order for the church to be moved forward in the reaching of the nations, giving expression to her longing for the return of her prince, she must be stirred by prayer (the expression of her full dependence upon Christ for the fulfillment of the task) and fasting (the expression of and stimulant toward a deeper longing him to return and display his fame for all to see among the nations.) To borrow from the old King James translation on this point, this engagement of the church in world evangelization spreading the gospel to all the nations of the world, speeding forward or hastening the return of Christ, may very well not come without “prayer and fasting.”

“How Should We Then Live” in a "What Would Jesus Do World?"

2009-07-23T10:52:00.006-05:00

The 20th century saw many books come and go and unfortunately, many that should have went stayed and others that should have stayed seem to have passed on in the forgotten world of print. There are two books in particular I presently have in mind. The first though originally written and released one chapter at a time in 1896, did not seem to find the light of full publishing until early in the 20th century. The title to the book was In His Steps, by Charles M. Sheldon. The popularity and influence of the book is without question, and some estimate that early in the 20th century it was outsold by the Bible alone. The book tells the story of a pastor by the name of Henry Maxwell who catches a vision for the radical transformation of society in challenging his congregation to evaluate every decision that they are faced with using the question: What would Jesus do? The book was unfortunately “re-popularized” in the early 90's when it was rewritten and offered to the public again, this time by the great grandson of Sheldon, Garrett W. Sheldon. Many of you have probably read and been greatly influenced by the work as I was early on in my own growth in Christ. It danger is that it encourages an extremely moralistic ethic and mystical approach to discerning the will of God that a detached from the will of God clearly set forth in the Scriptures. Church history has proven its dangers in demonstrating Sheldon’s socialist leanings with his impact on the rise of the Social Gospel movement with Walter Rauschenbusch, feminism, liberal Christianity, his kinship with the deeper life moved, and his influence on the rise of the carnal Christian doctrine in the church of today. The impact that his work and ideas have had on the contemporary Evangelical movement with its mystical ethic may have to wait a few more generations to be fully known.

In Sheldon’s own words Jesus was to be seen as “the standard of human conduct for the entire human race.” In a vision at the end of the book Sheldon has the pastor Henry Maxwell who is enveloped in a dream like trance envision seeing the motto “What would Jesus do?” inscribed over every church door and every church members heart. He saw Christians forming societies all over the world marching and carrying banner which read “What would Jesus do?” This, Sheldon believed, would lead to nothing short of what he referred to as...“the regeneration of Christendom.”

What’s the problem: this is not the gospel! This is not the banner of the Church! This will not lead to the regeneration of Christendom. It will lead her into moralism - which in the end will lead to her discouragement, decay and eventual demise. Or on the other hand, it may in fact lead to her deception, self-sufficiency, and pride.

Before this turns into a book review of Sheldon’s work - I need to make mention of another title from the 20th century. In 1976, Francis A. Schaeffer wrote, what is probably his best known work, How Should We Then Live? In the opening lines of Schaeffer’s work we read these lines:

There is a flow to history and culture. This flow is rooted and has its wellspring in the thoughts of people. People are unique in the inner life of the mind - what they are in their thought world determines how they act. This is true of their value systems and it is true of their creativity. It is true of their corporate actions, such as political decisions, and it is true of their personal lives. The results of their thought world flow through their fingers or from their tongues into the external world. This is true of Michelangelo’s chisel, and it is true of a dictators’s sword.

People have presuppositions, and they will live more consistently on the basis of these presuppositions than even they themselves may realize. By presuppositions we mean the basic way an individual looks at life, his basic world view, the grid through which he sees the world. Presuppositions rest upon that which a person considers to be the truth of what exists. Peoples’s presuppositions lay a grid for all they bring forth into the external world. Their presuppositions also provide the basis for their values and therefore the basis for their decisions.

“As a man thinketh, so is he,” is really most profound. An individual is not just the product of the forces around him. He has a mind, an inner world. Then, having thought, a person can bring forth actions into the external world and thus influence it. People are apt to look at the outer theater of action, forgetting the actor who “lives in the mind” and who therefore is the true actor in the external world. The inner thought world determines the outward action.

Most people catch their presuppositions from their family and surrounding society the way a child catches measles. But people with more understanding realize that their presuppositions should be chosen after a careful consideration of what world view is true. When all is done, when all the alternative have been explored, “not many men are in the room” - that is, although world views have many variation, there are not many basic world views or basic presuppositions.

Schaeffer advocates a life that springs from a world view and the world-view to which he refers is the Christian world-view. A view of the world that is saturated with God-centeredness. A view of the world that sees man as inherently sinful and incapable of “following the example” of Jesus apart from a radical work of transforming grace. Notice that the title to Schaeffer’s work is not “How should we live?” But rather: “How Should We Then Live?” Everything hinges on the “then.” Then - then after seeing our present state, then after seeing the glory of God in the face of Christ that is help out for us in the gospel, then after having come to a point of radical life transformation in the great work of Christ in the gospel - then and only then - can we effectively answer the question with any hope of truly fulfilling what we hear in the word-saturated answer. At the heart of Schaeffer’s question is not “What Would Jesus Do?” Rather - at the heart of his question is a radically redirected thought: “What Did Jesus Do?” The truth of the matter is - I can’t do what Jesus did - that was why he came - to do what only he in fact could do. And it is what he did that needs to be the consuming passion of my life to see, savor and rejoice in that I might, by that very reality, be transformed through having my mind renewed with the beauty of the gospel and then be moved and empowered to live in a way that pleases God and demonstrates the glory of his power, not simply my personal resolve.

Another 20th century writer J. Gresham Machen in his work: The Virgin Birth of Christ, once stated the following along these lines:

It seems never to have occurred to the adherents of this religion [an imitation of Jesus religion] that there is such a thing as sin, and that sin places an awful gulf between man and God. But those convictions, though they are unpopular at the present time, are certainly quite central in the Christian religion.

From the beginning Christianity was the religion of the broken heart; it is based upon the conviction that there is an awful gulf between man and God which none but God can bridge. The Bible tells us how this gulf was bridged; and that means the Bible is a record of facts.

Of what avail, without the redeeming acts of God, are all the lofty ideals of Psalmists and Prophets, all the teaching and example of Jesus? In themselves they can bring us nothing but despair. We Christians are not interested merely in what God commands, but also in what God did; in a triumphant indicative!

The life that we are called to is not a life of merely imitating Christ - the imitation of Christ is not the gospel. I don’t need a Jesus rooted in history and one who works out redemption in history to “imitate Jesus.” The imitation of Christ does not depend on trustworthy history - but the work of Christ in the gospel does depend on true and factual history. It is this historical work of Christ, that we call the work of the gospel, that must so capture my mind and heart that I become rooted in it as I seek to move forward in following Jesus.

The Sabbath of the Great King

2009-06-17T12:45:00.015-05:00

Once there was a great king who built a splendid city. In the middle of the city, the king designed a delightful park which was laid out with ponds, fountains and springs, magnificent trees from all over the world, gorgeous aromatic plants, inviting stretches of lawn, pathways and benches where people and families might walk and sit together, and a spacious amphitheater for public meetings. Weekly the king met with his subjects in the park. His people delighted in the time with him and one another.

One day the king had to go away. In his absence the rulers he left in charge began to let the park run down. Although they still held civic events at the amphitheater, these rulers had little interest in the park. They did not truly have in mind the king’s interests. Soon the park was overrun with weeds, the trees were not pruned, the exotic plants died, and the pools of water stagnated. The park was in ruins.

After a time a new group of rulers came into authority in the city. They were genuinely concerned about the park and began to restore it to its former beauty. They pulled out all the weeds, replanted all the gardens, pruned the trees, repaired the pathways and the benches, and opened the streams so that fresh water again flowed through the park. These rulers, however, were fearful that the park once again would fall into disrepair. In order to protect the park, they made it a memorial to the king, rather like a museum. They continued to hold meetings at the amphitheater, but they put a fence around the park’s border and along the pathways so people could look at the beautiful sites in the park, but could not actually use it.

They continued to hold meetings at the amphitheater, but they put a fence around the park’s border and along the pathways so people could look at the beautiful sites in the park, but could not actually use it.

Then one day, quite unexpectedly, the king’s son came to the city. One of the first things that he did was to tear down the fence. He exclaimed to the rulers, "Enough of this! This park was built for the people of the city to remember my father and to enjoy, but you have kept them out of the park." So after removing all of the fences, he invited the people to come and meet with him and with one another in the park.

Because the king and his son are still occupied throughout their great kingdom, they have appointed leaders in the city. Regrettably, of late, these leaders once again have allowed to the park to become unkept and trampled down. Again, weeds overrun it, the trees are not pruned, and the ponds have become stagnant. Because it has lost much of its charming beauty, people no longer come to it. Admittedly they have kept the amphitheater in good repair and continue public meetings, but increasingly the people are losing interest. The park is so unattractive that they see no need to go there at all.

Recently, developers, seeing the land unused, have begun seeking to put up an amusement park. The Historical Society is opposing them, wanting instead to restore the park and preserve it for the sake of tradition. But there is a third group who wants to restore it to its original purposes. To make matters more confusing, all parties are claiming to act on behalf of the interests of the king and his son. Meanwhile, as you might imagine, the king’s subjects are thoroughly confused.

If you have read Joseph Pipa’s The Lord’s Day, then you probably recognized the story above. When I first read this "allegorization" of the Sabbath it was a breath of fresh air. What insight and delight God can move men to set forth with a pen. It is my hope and prayer that as we study together, as well as prayerfully on our own, that our experience and that of our brethren, will be one of passion for the true interests of the King and His Son. May the worship of Watts become ours as we press on in our delight in the Sabbath of God...

Sweet is the work, my God, my King, to praise Thy Name, give thanks and sing,

To show Thy love by morning light and talk of all Thy truth at night.

Sweet is the day of sacred rest, no mortal cares shall seize my breast.

O may my heart in tune be found, like David’s harp of solemn sound!

My heart shall triumph in my Lord and bless His works and bless His Word.

Thy works of grace, how bright they shine! How deep Thy counsels, how divine!
Fools never raise their thoughts so high; like brutes they live, like brutes they die;

Like grass they flourish, till Thy breath blast them in everlasting death.
But I shall share a glorious part, when grace has well refined my heart;

And fresh supplies of joy are shed, like holy oil, to cheer my head.
Sin (my worst enemy before) shall vex my eyes and ears no more;

My inward foes shall all be slain, nor Satan break my peace again.
Then shall I see, and hear, and know all I desired and wished below;

And every power find sweet employ in that eternal world of joy.
And then what triumphs shall I raise to Thy dear Name through endless days,

For in the realms of joy I’ll see Thy face in full felicity.

Isaac Watts, Hymn from Psalm 92
"A Psalm for the Lord’s Day"

Finding A Wife

2009-06-09T21:01:00.020-05:00

I know having a title like that on a blog entry is dangerous at best, but bear with me please. You need to notice that the title does not read - Looking for a Wife, but rather Finding a Wife!

Today the words of the writer of the proverb were on my mind: He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD.

There are many ways that I would say that my gracious Savior has blessed and favored my life, but few ways would be greater, save knowing Christ himself, than the blessing he gave me when he gave me a wife. Nineteen years ago today this blessing became mine. Today was our aniversary! We celebrated with the normal things - waking up in a house with a bunch of kids, letting oatmeal overflow in the microwave, taking the boy to physics class, pining as I drove by the book store wishing I had more time, doing some work at the church, helping a person in a providential encounter, taking the prized treasure of my wife to lunch at the Cotton Patch where we got some shrimp and chicken, coming back home and picking up baby Averie, our niece who is staying with us for a while, going to JC Penny to get a whole whapping four inches cut off my sweeties' hiar (WOW - she is pretty), coming home, cooking supper, jumping on the trampoline (no - not me - the kids!), watering the yard, and trying to make an entry in the blog while I am kicking my wife out of the office so she can't see what I am doing.

All that to say, it was pretty much a normal day at the Montgomery's castle in which my wife, the "good thing" I have received from the Lord, reigns as the Queen. Most of life around our home is just that - full of normal things - nothing really spectacular - just normal. It is in those normal things for the last nineteen years that I have grown to appreciate something of the treasure that I have in my wife. She is a picutre to me and I think a good one to many of the devotion the church is to have to Christ. She has loved me with a love that is amazing these many years and humbled me greatly when I know what she has to endure from me at every turn. God has been very good to me in "finding a wife" to bless me and show me his great favor.

The Sabbath: A Confessional Approach

2009-06-06T08:56:00.008-05:00

Herein is presented an examination of the doctrine of the Sabbath as it is found in the confessional standards of The Second London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689. This confession has been the standard confession among Reformed Baptist brethren for over 300 years. This paper seeks to examine our confessional standards, in particular, its doctrine of the Christian Sabbath or Lord’s Day in light of Scripture, history, theology and Christian practice. If we are to agree to walk together in Christian love, it must be around the truth of the word of God, agreeing together upon its meaning and import for the benefit of the church, and uppermost, to the glory of our great God.

We would surprisingly find agreement with our New Covenant Theology brother, Fred Zaspel, when he writes that

It may be an oversimplification to say that disagreements regarding the subject of divine law are all settled on the question of the Sabbath. Then again, (he adds) perhaps in some sense this is not oversimplification at all. It is common knowledge that disputes concerning the subject of divine law eventually and almost inevitably make their way to this subject and often with considerable energy (Zaspel, 211).

We hope and pray that this energy will be well spent for the cause of Christ and for the good of his beloved church. Our prayer is two-fold, first that we might once again, as our brethren in past ages have done, grow to a point for the glory of Christ where we will again taste and see the goodness of God in the precious gift of the Sabbath. Second, we pray that we might come to a point primarily in our hearts, but also in our practice, where the words of Isaiah will ring true within:

"If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath,
from doing your pleasure on my holy day,
and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day
of the Lord honorable;
if you honor it, not going your own ways,
or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly;
[14] then you shall take delight in the Lord,
and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;
I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken."
Isaiah 58:13-14 (ESV)

Why On Sunday?

2009-06-05T10:31:00.008-05:00

O. Palmer Robertson

This question can be embarrassing, can't it? Why do you worship on Sunday? Doesn't the Bible say that the seventh day is the time God consecrated for his people? Where does the Bible say that Christians should sanctify the first day of the week, rather than the seventh day?
It's a good question, you will have to admit. It's also a question that needs an answer. So what can be said?

Creation and Redemption

Begin by considering the evidence of the Old Testament. The Sabbath in the Old Testament was not merely a special day that was to be recognized once a week. It had much richer significance. It pointed forward to the future "rest" of redemption that God would accomplish for his people. The Sabbath was not only a reminder of the rest that came after the six days of creation. It also was celebrated because God had delivered his people from slavery in Egypt.

God repeated the law for Moses after Israel had wandered in the wilderness for forty years, just before they entered the land of promise. When God repeated the law that had been given at Sinai, the Ten Commandments were the same. Not one of the original ten commandments had been changed. But another reason for observing the Sabbath was given. At Sinai, God's people had been told to keep the Sabbath because God had rested after the six days of creation (Ex. 20:11; cf. Gen. 2:3). But in Transjordan, God told Israel to keep the Sabbath in view of their redemption from Egypt (Deut. 5:15). Not only because of creation, but also because of redemption, the people of God were to rest one day in seven.

We know that Israel's deliverance from slavery in Egypt by the Passover lamb was only a shadow, a prophecy, of the deliverance that would come through the sacrificial death and powerful resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Old Testament saints were looking forward to the coming rest from the burdens of sin, just as each week they looked forward to their rest from work on the Sabbath day.

The Promised Land

So when Israel entered the land of their "rest" under Joshua, they marched around Jericho for seven days. Then on the seventh day they marched around the city walls seven times. When they had completed the march around Jericho the seventh time on the seventh day, the walls came tumbling down, and the people of God began to enter their rest in Canaan. The taking of Jericho was a picture of God's people entering into their Sabbath-rest.

In a similar way, the seventy years of Israel's captivity pointed toward the "rest" of the redemption that was to come to the Promised Land. For the seventy years of Israel's captivity in Babylon, the land "was enjoying its sabbath rests" (2 Chron. 36:21).

These Old Testament experiences showed that God's people were looking forward to the rest, the redemption, that would be accomplished by God's Messiah one day in the future. They worked six days in the week, looking forward to the rest that they would experience in the future. They looked to the land of promise as the place where they would enter into their rest from all the burdens of life.

A New Perspective

But now redemption has been accomplished. Jesus has come as the fulfillment of prophecy. By his death and resurrection, he has brought his people into their redemptive rest. We look back to the salvation that has been completed through Christ. "It is finished" was his cry from the cross, and so we know that everything has been done for our deliverance from sin, death, and all other evils in this world.

So now the Christian has a new perspective on the "rest" of redemption. For the resurrection of Christ is an event as significant as the creation of the world. By his resurrection, a new order of the universe came into being. A new way of life for man came into existence. The stone was rolled back from the door of Jesus' tomb to let the disciples in, not to let Jesus out! Because of his new form of existence in his resurrection body, he could pass through stone walls and locked doors without needing to open them.

The Resurrection of Christ

So it should not be surprising to find the disciples following a new pattern of worship and work. They began their week assembling with the resurrected Christ. Consider carefully the following evidence that the redemption accomplished through Christ's resurrection determined the day for Christian worship:

1. Jesus Christ arose on the first day of the week (Matt. 28:1). He entered into his rest from labor, not on Saturday (the seventh day), but on Sunday (the first day of the week). As Jesus entered into his rest on the first day, so he encourages us to begin the week by resting in the confidence that he will provide for all our needs for seven days with only six days of labor.

2. Jesus Christ appeared to his assembled disciples on the first day of the week, as well as to Mary and to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus (John 20:10; Luke 24:13). By these appearances on the first day of the week, the resurrected Lord set a pattern for meeting with his disciples. They began expecting to meet with him on the day of his resurrection, which is the first day of the week.

3. Jesus appeared to the assembled disciples one week later on the first day of the week, with doubting Thomas present this time (John 20:26). Already a new pattern of assembly for worship was emerging. God's new covenant people were making it a habit to assemble together on the first day of the week, the day of Christ's resurrection. Jesus honored these assemblies by appearing to the disciples at this time, and encouraged their faith in him as the resurrected Lord.

4. The resurrected Christ poured out his Spirit on the assembled disciples exactly fifty days after the Sabbath of the Jewish Passover, which was the first day of the week (Acts 2:1; cf. Lev. 23:15-16). The word Pentecost means "fifty," referring to the fifty days after the Sabbath of the Passover. Forty-nine days would span seven Jewish Sabbaths or Saturdays, and the fiftieth day would then fall on a Sunday, the first day of the week. So it would appear that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit came on the first day of the week, when God's new covenant people were assembled for worship. So the pattern would be established more firmly. Both the resurrection of Christ and the outpouring of the Spirit occurred on the first day of the week.

5. As Paul spread the gospel of Christ among Jews and Gentiles throughout the world, the first day of the week was used as the time for Christians to assemble for worship. In Greece, Paul and Luke assembled with the people of God to break bread and to hear the preaching of God's word on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7). This was the day that the people of the new covenant assembled to hear God's word.

6. Paul wrote to the Christians in Corinth to establish the pattern for their presenting of offerings for the service of the Lord. He ordered the Christians in Corinth to follow the pattern that had already been set with the churches in Galatia (1 Cor. 16:1). On the first day of every week they were to consecrate their offerings to the Lord (1 Cor. 16:2). This schedule for honoring the Lord had become the pattern for God's people throughout the churches. The churches were not to present their offerings any time they wished. Rather, on the first day of each week, all the Corinthian Christians were to follow the pattern that had already been set among the Galatian churches. The first day of the week was the designated time for the presentation of offerings to the Lord.

The Lord's Day

7. The apostle John, now aged and perhaps the only living member of the original twelve apostles, had been banished to the island of Patmos. In this circumstance, he could not assemble for worship with the people of God. But the apostle informs us that "on the Lord's Day" he was "in the Spirit" (Rev. 1:10). The significance of his being "in the Spirit" seems quite clear. He had entered into the presence of the Lord by the power of the Holy Spirit, and was offering his adoration to him.

But what is the meaning of the phrase "on the Lord's Day"? In one sense, it may be said that every day of the week belongs to the Lord, and so might be called the "Lord's day." But John is referring to something more specific. He does not speak merely of "a" day that has been consecrated to the Lord. Instead he speaks of "the" Lord's Day.

That one day that may be called "the Lord's Day" was the day in which he proved to the world that he was Lord. On one particular day, Jesus made the universe understand that he was Lord of all. That day was the day of his resurrection. On that day, he conquered the last of the sinner's enemies, which is death. On the first day of the week, he showed that his power could overcome all enemies, even death itself. That day is "the Lord's Day."

So by the end of the lifetime of the first apostles, Christians knew about one day of the week that was called "the Lord's Day." On that day, they celebrated the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. That day became the time for their assembly as they rejoiced in the resurrection of Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Honoring God

So it is the same today. The original commandment to honor God by worship one day in seven still holds, since this requirement was a part of the Ten Words laying down the moral standards of God for men. One day in seven must be consecrated for worship and service to him. Both creation and redemption show that God must be honored in this way.

From the creation of the world until the coming of Christ, that day was the last day of the week. People in the days of the Old Testament were looking forward to the rest that the Savior would bring.

But now Christ has come. He has risen victoriously over all his enemies. This victory he won on the first day of the week. On this day he meets with his disciples as they assemble to commune with him.

So we are to celebrate the rest he has won for us. We are to taste and anticipate his rest by offering our worship on the first day of the week. For it is the only pattern demonstrated in the Scriptures of the new covenant for the worship of God's people today.

The author has served as a pastor and a seminary professor. Presently he teaches at African Bible College in Malawi and Knox Theological Seminary in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Reprinted from New Horizons, March 2003.

The Foolishness of God

2009-02-04T11:06:00.017-06:00

Can God really build his church and establish His ever glorious kingdom through the preaching of the gospel and the administration of the sacraments alone? Doesn't he need my help? Listen, be broken, be encouraged.

http://www.oneplace.com/Ministries/The_White_Horse_Inn/

The Preaching of the Word of God is the Word of God

2009-02-02T09:53:00.026-06:00

July 18, 1504 was the date of the birth of a man who would in years to come rise to be one of the most influential theologians of the Protestant Reformation. Heinrich Bullinger, successor of Huldrych Zwingli the Swiss Reformer, as head of the church in Zurich and pastor at the church known as the Grossmunster.

Bullinger is the author of the Second Helvetic Confession of Faith [http://www.ccel.org/creeds/helvetic.htm] originally written as a personal statement of faith it later developed into one of the leading and most well respected confessions or the Protestant Reformation. According to Joel Beeke and Sinclair Ferguson in their harmony of the Reformed Confessions the Second Helvetic Confession written by Heinrich Bullinger in 1562 stands as a "compact manual of Reformed theology, containing some thirty chapters and extending to some twenty thousand words." For a little comparison, the 1689 confession is a little over 12,000 words. This was no small work.

They add that it was "written against the background of the definitive edition of Calvin’s Institutes in 1559, as well as the Counter-Reformation assembly at Trent...It formulates Reformed theology in a comprehensive summary. Beginning with Scripture it moves through the loci of systematic theology, striking characteristic Reformed and (what they refer to as) Calvinian notes." These Reformed and Calvinian notes demonstrate that it is "a mature statement of Reformed theology...well received internationally, it was translated into Dutch, English, Polish, Italian, Turkish, and Arabic (among others). In the opening statement of the Second Helvetic Confession entitled "Of The Holy Scripture Being The True Word of God" we are presented with the following text:

THE PREACHING OF THE WORD OF GOD

IS THE WORD OF GOD.

Wherefore when this Word of God is now preached in the church by preachers lawfully called, we believe that the very Word of God is proclaimed, and received by the faithful; and that neither any other Word of God is to be invented nor is to be expected from heaven.

In a day when the words of the preacher are often seen as nice ideas, suggestions, the opinions of men or something else in the category of "take it or leave it" the words of the Second Helvetic Confession have a high view of preaching indeed. Furthermore it is a consistently Reformed view of preaching. And most importantly, it is a thoroughly Biblical view of preaching. The Apostle Paul addresses this issue of hearing the very word of God in the preaching of the word of God when he writes in Romans 10:14 - How are they to believe in him whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? Here the Apostle Paul, effectively demonstrates that preaching is the means that God has chosen through which Christ gospel word is to be heard, the heart stirred to a deeper love for truth, and the life changed into conformity of his image. May we continue to preach and continue to receive the word of the gospel for what it is in truth - the very word of Christ!

Associational Beginnings!

2009-01-26T19:42:00.003-06:00

Last week held the first official meeting of the Texas Area Association of Reformed Baptist Churches. We had Arden Hodges from CA come and preach. Here is a link to his encouraging message on Church Unity from Ephesians 4:2-3.

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/1071053

The Gospel: A Feast of Rich Food

2009-01-26T19:25:00.014-06:00

Daniel Rowland, one of the Calvinistic Methodist Fathers I have been reading about (pictured at the right - in case you thought that was me), preached on the following gospel text from the prophet Isaiah:

Isa 25:1-9 ESV O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you; I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure. (2) For you have made the city a heap, the fortified city a ruin; the foreigners' palace is a city no more; it will never be rebuilt. (3) Therefore strong peoples will glorify you; cities of ruthless nations will fear you. (4) For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat; for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall, (5) like heat in a dry place. You subdue the noise of the foreigners; as heat by the shade of a cloud, so the song of the ruthless is put down. (6) On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. (7) And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. (8) He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken. (9) It will be said on that day, "Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation."

The book I have been reading was written in the 19th century about the state of the country of Wales in the 18th century and the impact of the Spirit of God on that region during that time through the preaching of the word. It takes a look at that period of church history by way of biography. One of the most influential early preachers of the period was Rowland. There is a record of him preaching on this very text, in particular, v.6. The one who heard him preach was John Williams and he said of that occasion:

You never heard such a thing in your life. He began to tap the barrels of the covenant of grace, and to let out the wine well refined, and to give to the people to drink. It flowed over the chapel. I also drank, and became, as I may say, quite drunk. And there I was, and scores of others, in an ecstasy of delight, praising God, having forgotten all fatigue and bodily wants.

This brother had just walked 60 miles to hear Rowland preach the gospel. And from the sound of things – it was worth the effort. Of course the gospel is always worth the effort isn’t it? May God give us many times of refreshment – getting drunk – at the table of the gospel feast.

2009-01-16T08:09:00.008-06:00

What I am reading...

The Calvinistic Methodist Fathers of Wales, by John Jones and William Morgan. This is a new translation and reprint by Banner of Truthand was first published in 1890. Jones and Morgan were two Calvinistic Methodists from the 19th century. Yes, that's right - Calvinistic Methodists! The following is taken from inside the dust jacket:

It was the French novelist Anatole France who, when feeling tired and discouraged, said, “I never go into the country for a change of air and a holiday. I always go instead into the eighteenth century.” For an entirely different purpose, the great Welsh preacher, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, frequently borrowed France’s words when speaking to his fellow Gospel preachers: “Go to the eighteenth century! In other words read the stories of the great tides and movements of the Spirit experienced in that century. It is the most exhilarating experience, the finest tonic you will ever know. For a preacher it is absolutely invaluable … There is nothing more important for preaching than the reading of Church history and biographies.” His own biographer, Iain Murray, says that for “sheer stimulus and enjoyment there were no volumes which he prized more than Tadau Methodistiaid … the lives of the fathers of Welsh Calvinistic Methodism. They were constantly in his hands.”

I am looking forward to a trip back in time myself. Recalling God's work in the past, praying that he might so work again in our day.

Psa 77:11-14 I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. (12) I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds. (13) Your way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God? (14) You are the God who works wonders; you have made known your might among the peoples.

Associationalism: Precedent - Purpose - Profit (Part 1)

2008-09-30T10:58:00.002-05:00

Association or communion with like minded churches for the greater propagation of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the edification of His church is a glory to Christ. It is a joy for the church of Jesus Christ to link arms and hearts with linked minded and like passioned brethren, seeking to have fellowship with them as the Lord provides opportunity. Like church membership for the individual, we believe that inter-church fellowship is fundamentally a Biblical matter. We must not and will not remain isolated and disconnected from the rest of the body of Christ.

This passion for associational life has been a commitment of Baptist churches from the earliest days of Baptist life in England. Consider the following taken from an early Baptist confession of faith, The 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith:

Each church, and all the members of it, are bound to pray continually for the good and prosperity of all the churches of Christ, in all places, and upon all occasions to further every one within the bounds of their places and callings, in the exercise of their gifts and graces, so the churches, when planted by the providence of God, so as they may enjoy opportunity and advantage for it, ought to hold communion among themselves, for their peace, increase of love, and mutual edification. [2LCF, Ch 26, Sec 14]

Here is sound council from our Baptist brethren from early days regarding their passion for and encouragement regarding the holding of "communion among themselves." Communion here points to "church relationships" and "bears the sense (of) ‘formal, organic relationship’" (Renihan, Denominations or Associations, 44). This commitment toward associational life was no new development in Baptist life in the 1680's. It was help earlier in 1644 in the writing of the First London Confession of Faith by the seven congregations which held to this statement:

Although the particular congregations are distinct and several Bodies, every one a compact and knit city in itself; yet are they all to walk by one and the same Rule, and by all means convenient to have the council and help of another in all needful affairs of the church, as members of one body in the common faith under Christ their only head. [1LCF]

This is sound wisdom that should be heeded. There were many attempts at associational life in those early days of the 1600's. Though many were "unsuccessful" for a variety of reasons, their passion for it remain firm. Yet sadly, this passion, once strong among our Baptist brethren, no longer holds the attraction it once did in the lives of many of our congregations. The warning of the great Puritan divine John Owen, though not a Baptist, should be clearly heard:

The church that confines its duty to the acts of its own assemblies cuts itself off from the external communion of the Church catholic; nor will it be safe for any man to commit the conduct of his soul to such a church.

Preaching and Contempoary Culture

2008-09-20T12:23:00.014-05:00

I just came acoss this video by Begg. I have been doing some study on 1Cor 1:18-2:5 for a preaching opportunity next week on the subject of "Evangelism and Church Growth" [See link below] at the Southwest Baptist Founder's Conference. Powerful stuff as Begg holds forth the power of God in the preaching of the gospel!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYs4AF8S0oA

Associationalism: Precedent - Purpose - Profit

2008-09-20T08:18:00.011-05:00

Over the course of the next few months I plan, Lord willing, to be making several posts on the subject of "associationalism." I have had the pleasure the past few years in fellowshiping with a group of Reformed Baptist pastors from across the state of Texas as well as into both Louisiana and New Mexico. We have had some wonderful times together in the word of God sharpening one another as "iron sharpens iron." We have studied, prayed, engaged in well-spirited debate, prayed more and studied more and have at this point in time concluded from that our gracious Lord would have us form an association of like-minded churches. The motivations for our efforts will be fleshed out in the forthcoming posts. We have decided to call ourselves the Texas Area Association of Reformed Baptist Churches. Over the course of the next few months our hope is that our churches will also catch the vision for this beneficial union of local churches for the greater cause of the Kingdom of Christ in the Texas area.

I would invite you to pray for us, pray for our churches, stand with us, join us! We long to see the church of Jesus Christ united around the truth of the word of God. We hope and trust that these small efforts on our part may be to the end of giving visible and tangible expression to the unity the Lord Jesus has objectively secured by his efficacious intercession.

Soli Deo Gloria.

The Closing of the Evangelical Mind

2007-07-07T08:30:00.001-05:00

The Closing of the Evangelical Mind:

Where Are the Bereans?
A Call for a Return to Biblical Discernment

In 1987 Alan Bloom wrote The Closing of the American Mind in response to a trend he observed developing in the intellectual community. "There is one thing a professor can be absolutely certain of," he writes, "almost every student entering the university believes. . .that truth is relative." The reduction of truth to relativity, moved Bloom to declare that the American mind was "closed."

Though many on today’s Evangelical stage would assert their belief in the absolute nature of truth, in reality we have become practical relativists. We refuse to open the door to the blatant error of the Mormons, yet when the message comes to us on the contemporary Christian platter we find ourselves gladly at the buffet! Thus the "closing" of the evangelical mind, leads ultimately to its "opening." Yet, the Biblical answer to a closed mind is not an open mind, but a discerning one.

The discerning mind takes seriously the Biblical command to "examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil" (1Thes 5:21-22). This admonition provided the Thessalonians with a "crash course" in discernment. A course in which we should all enroll. The instruction is both direct and comprehensive. The church is to test before it ingests! Over the years, I have found the feeding of my little ones quite facinating. Whatever is moved toward their mouths on a spoon (they can be quite undiscriminating), their mouths simply open! How this mirrors the contemporary church! Ironically, this command from the Apostle Paul is found in a letter written to a congregation in danger of being misled by false instruction regarding the Second Coming. In a day when we take more cues from novels than from Scripture, we seem to have forgotten these words recorded in Holy writ! Understandably, novels do seem to speak to an age where fiction is more easily swallowed and fact leaves a bitter taste. Where are the Bereans with noble minds moving them to test all by the Word?

Notice further, the text indicates that upon examination of the teaching they receive, they discover that all that glitters is not gold! We must be discriminating people, fully aware that false teachers and their teaching are found throughout the body of Christ (See Acts 20:28-32). We must call good, good and evil, evil. Holding to the former, we must do away with the latter.

Finally, they are to "abstain from every form of evil." "Abstain" means to hold something away from oneself. Certainly, we must be known for what we affirm. Yet, we must further be known for what we deny. This is neither easy, nor joyful. Standing opposed to that which is false is a difficult task. Yet the Scripture tells us we are to "turn away from," "be on guard against," and "flee from" all that is erroneous. The language couldn’t be stronger.

Question: What is wrong with the church? Answer: Worldliness. David Wells in No Place for Truth states: "Where (the church) substitutes intuition and feelings for Biblical truth. . .Where its appetite for the Word has been lost in favor of light discourses and entertainment. . .the church is being worldly." The world is pressing upon us from without, and arising from within through our own fleshly yearnings. Failing at discrimination, our churches find themselves running more like secular businesses than spiritual bodies, being led more by marketing strategists than by the master's shepherds, and putting forth a perverted gospel of self-fulfillment over self-denial. Failing to "guard the trust," we find it stolen from before our very eyes.

Examining those who claim to be God’s servants and the meals they serve is a discomforting activity. Yet, regarding the commands to "examine," "hold," and "abstain" we cannot afford to close our eyes, turn a deaf ear, and say nothing like the proverbial Three Blind Mice. This is the divine obligation of all! Publishers, professors, pastors and pew-folk, we will all be called to account. We must "be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong" (1Cor 16:13). Let us take heed, lest the indictment spoken against undiscerning Israel, our children one day say of us: "An appalling and horrible thing Has happened. . .The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule on their own authority; And My people love it so! But what will you do at the end of it" (Jer 5:30-31)?

Evangelical: Our Commitment to the Biblical Gospel

2007-07-05T11:25:00.003-05:00

The Cambridge Declaration, a document published by the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, opens with these words, "In the course of history words change. In our day this has happened to the word "evangelical." In the past it served as a bond of unity between Christians from a wide diversity of church traditions. Historic evangelicalism was confessional."

To say that we are "evangelical" in a day such as ours is almost, in some sense, to say everything and hence say nothing at all. The word "evangelical" is so common on the lips of those in today’s church that one can be almost anything and still consider himself to be "evangelical!" The root of the word "evangelical" is the word "evangel," meaning "good news." To say that we are "evangelical" is to say that we are committed to the truth of the Biblical gospel - the message of the good news of God’s redeeming grace found in Jesus Christ alone. We confess, along with those of various traditions in the history of the church of Jesus Christ, the truthfulness and enduring presence of the gospel which "is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16 NASB). As the Confessional Baptist blog, we are in this sense "evangelical" - committed to the historic and Biblical gospel of Jesus Christ.

We believe that in the gospel alone God displays his mighty power to save. As the Apostle Paul clearly stated some two millennia ago:

NAB Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH."

It is nothing less than the majestic, irresistible, unsearchable, great, incomparable, strong, everlasting, effectual, and sovereign power of God that is put on display in the gospel that works for the salvation of men! It needs no supplementation by men! Why we ever feel the need to supplement it with anything we can do is beyond sound reason to discover. The gospel needs no aid by the demonstration of man’s physical powers, endorsements by professionals, visible signs and wonders worked by men seeking personal power, or even my personal testimony to make it effective. It, in itself, is the power of God for salvation.

We must always remain committed to this gospel and stand ready to share it with every man, trusting God to demonstrate its strength. In the words of Spurgeon:

The apostle was ready to go anywhere with the gospel, but he was not ready to preach another gospel; no one could make him ready to do that. He was not ready to hide the gospel, he was not ready to tone it down, he was not ready to abridge it or to extend it...As to the matter of preaching the gospel, Paul was always ready for that; he kept not back any one of its truths, nor any part of its teaching. Even if it should bring upon him ridicule and contempt, though it should be to the Jews a stumbling block, and to the Greeks foolishness.

O’ Gospel of God Sufficient to Save,
Where God Puts His Powerful Arm on Display.
God Has Promised His Gospel in One Complete Book,
It Is There for My Hope, and There Alone Will I Look.
This Promise Was Spoken, Through Prophets of Old,
It Is They of His Gospel Who So Faithfully Told.
The World, Flesh and Devil, Seek to Pull Me Away,
But in the Book I Will Rest, I Will Rest All the Way.
O’ Gospel of God Sufficient to Save,
Where God Puts His Powerful Arm on Display

Reformed: Our Commitment to the Reformation

2007-07-05T10:36:00.001-05:00

To say that one is Reformed has the effect of bringing many different images in the minds of different people. Let us simply say that in stating that the Confessional Baptist blog is Reformed is to say that we see ourselves first as being indebted to those who have gone before us. In the early part of the 16th century, an event swept through the halls of the church that left her forever changed.

The legacy of the Reformation is embodied in a monument in Geneva, Switzerland. This monument, known as "The Monument to the Reformers" displays the memory of four men used by God to change history forever. There, chiseled in stone, towering some thirty feet in the air, stand four men carved in stone: William Farel, John Calvin, Theodore Beza, and John Knox - men used by God in the reformation of the church of their day. Chiseled into the stone, around the image, is the Latin phrase: Post tenebras lux - After darkness, light! These words embody the historical event known as the Reformation, in which the darkness that had engulfed the light of the gospel through the perversions of the Roman Catholic Church through the centuries, had been lifted by the grace of Almighty God.

This image embodies in many ways the hope of the impact and influence of the Confessional Baptist blog. Though the gospel was recovered in those dark days (almost 500 years ago), we are in danger today of finding ourselves in dark days once again. One might say of the church today: Post lux, tenebras - After light, darkness! Once again the church of Jesus Christ is, by nature of various forces, seeing the gospel of her beloved Savior eclipsed, her name tarnished, and her doctrine undermined. We seek, along with many other faithful brethren, a new Reformation - that once again, in our day, the light of the gospel of the glory of God in the face of Jesus may shine bright for the joy of all peoples. We stand on their shoulders and on those of others who have gone before, remaining committed to the gospel they loved and preached, and for which many gave their very lives.
Furthermore, as a Reformed blog, we stand committed to the great truths of the gospel that were recovered in the aforementioned period. These truths are laid out in detail in the following affirmations:

Our Authority: Scripture Alone
We hold Scripture, the word of God, to be inspired, inerrant, authoritative, complete, and sufficient as the only conscience-binding authority of man. It reveals the character of God to men and serves as an absolute guide into all truth necessary for life and godliness. Through it Christ rules His church and equips it for every good work.

Our Message: Grace Alone

We hold that the message of the gospel is a message of grace. Grace is the unmerited favor of God by which He redeems sinners. The Holy Spirit, through the proclamation of the gospel message (which is good news for all them that believe), regenerates the heart, bringing it to repentance and faith in the all-sufficient grace of God. In this gospel message of grace, God alone is savior and in this way fulfills His eternal purpose in bringing glory to Himself alone.

Our Confidence: Faith Alone
We hold that man lays hold of this gospel by faith alone. Faith is the gift of God, not a work of man, and is God’s means of justifying sinners and making them right with Himself. Our only hope before Almighty God is trusting Him and forsaking all self-will and effort.

Our Focus: Christ Alone
Based on the fully righteous life and atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ, God justifies the one who has faith in Him. Christ, and Christ alone, is the ground of the believer’s justification before a holy God. We hold that the focus of redemption, life and eternity is Christ and Christ alone. Our sole aim is to please Him by seeking Him with all that we are.

Our Purpose: The Glory of God Alone
We hold that the purpose of the church universal and local, as well as the purpose of the individual believers which make up the church (this is where blogs would come in), is the continual seeking of the glory of God, and of God alone, in all that she does. "For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.".

Confessional: Our Commitment to Confessionalism

2007-07-05T08:14:00.003-05:00

[First London Baptist Confession of Faith]

This passion, for confessional association, once strong among our Baptist brethren, no longer holds the attraction it once did in the lives of many of our congregations. The causes of a negative reaction or a turning away from "associational" life as set forth in our ancient Baptist confessions, are many and varied. A sampling of "reactions" against confessionalism is set forth in the items that follow:

1. The Mask of Scriptural Authority: Many say having a confessional-fellowship (CF) intrudes on the authority of Scripture in the life of the believer and the church. "I believe the Bible," they vehemently declare, even following their declaration up with verbiage about "inerrancy" and "infallibility" (themselves confessional declarations - but we will not quibble about that here). Simply put these brothers, many of them well-meaning, want to affirm the sole authority of the Scripture in the life of the church and they see the use of confessions to frame our fellowship as intrusive to that desire. Interestingly, in affirming "Sola Scriptura," many of them seem to forget that many of our sound, orthodox creeds or confessions came out of the period of the Reformation and years following. Apparently the Reformers so no contradiction between the formal principle of scriptural authority and the formal stating of their beliefs in a confessional framework.

2. The Cry for No Creed but Christ: Though this seems at first glance to be the most "spiritual" of the objections, it is but a smoke screen for today’s "individual" who wants his own personal Jesus who looks and acts more like a marionette puppet than the authoritative Christ making his demands on his people through his written word. Embedded in this cry is often an inherent dislike and opposition to authority and accountability to any outside the all sovereign self.

3. The Doctrine Divides Mentality: There seems to be a prevailing view among many in our anti-doctrinal age that doctrine divides. On the affirmative side, we agree, truth does in fact divide: it separates the wheat from the chaff, the weeds from the wheat, the true from the false, and the sheep from the goats. Doctrine does divide, thanks be unto God! On the flip side of this however, the lable the preaching or statement of true biblical doctrine with the pejorative designation "divider of unifies brethren" is to put the blame in the wrong place. It’s like blaming the doctor for ruining your "healthy" lung as his knife precisely makes its incision reveal a cancerous tumor within. The truth often sheds light on the error and "dis-unity" already present in the body. The truth of the word of God comes in like the two edge sword, with the first pass it exposes and lays bare and with the second it makes whole and brings healing. B. H. Carroll, that great Baptist theologian from the early 20th century said of this kind of church:

"A church with a little creed is a church with a little life. The more divine doctrines a church can agree on, the greater its power, and the wider its usefulness. The fewer its articles of faith, the fewer its bonds of union and compactness. The modern cry, ‘Less creed and more liberty,’ is a degeneration from the vertebrate to the jellyfish, and means less unity and less morality, and it means more heresy. Definitive truth does not create heresy - it only exposes and corrects. Shut off the creed and the Christian world would fill up with heresy unsuspected and uncorrected, but note the less deadly."

4. Modern Arrogance Against Heritage: Just like nobody wants to found driving their "father’s" Oldsmobile, nobody wants to be found holding on to their father’s confession. We live in the day where new is always better. In our church’s statement regarding the confession we rejoice that we are able in affirming it to find therein "a link with faithful brothers who have gone before." Many see this as mere nostalgia and holding on to something dead and forgotten and long since needing to be buried and forgotten. But we disagree. New isn’t always better, and we, like those who originally penned the contents of the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith (herein referred to as the Confession) "have no itch to clogge Religion with new words, but do readily acquiesce in that form of sound words, which hath been, in consent with the holy Scriptures, used by others before us; hereby declaring before God, Angels, and Men, our hearty agreement with them in that wholesome Protestant Doctrine."

5. Overemphasis on Experience Centered Faith: Our is the day in which the age old quest to know God has been replaced with the new and improved journey of experiencing God. The idea of a confession just seems to "get in the way" and hinder the free-flow wonder of being lost in the divine. I am not always sure what that means, but that’s the point. We live in the day of the Protestant mystic seeking the unmediated encounter with God - in His undefined pure essence. This experience is often un-defined (by Scripture) and un-interpretable (even by the self). Since God is not defined by the Scripture and set forth clearly in confessional statements, one is left defining God on their own terms, much after their own image and desire. I believe I read something like this has happened before and the end was not good.

Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the Lord, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water. An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land: the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule at their direction; my people love to have it so, but what will you do when

the end comes? (Jer 2:12-13, 5:30-31 ESV)

6. Denial of Invisible/Universal Church: Others reject the idea of a confessional fellowship or associationalism due to an overemphasis on the local church to the denial of or practical ignorance of the church universal. The Confession states emphatically right at the front of the chapter on the church in section 1 that the catholic or universal church, which (with respect to the internal work of the Spirit and truth of grace) may be called invisible, consists of the whole number of the elect, that have been, are, or shall be gathered into one, under Christ, the head thereof; and is the spouse, the body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. Whether this is a hang over position from the days of J. R. R. Graves and his Landmark friends or simply an ignorance to the clear teachings of Scripture on the plan of God being larger and grander that simply the church of Christ taking local, bodily expressions in the end it smacks of an arrogance isolationism that keeps the body of Christ ever divided in this world and fails to give practical expression to the passion of Christ to see His church one.

7. Modern Evangelical Lack of Regard for Clarity: The "Rodney King" heart cry of "Can’t we all just get along" continues to be found even amongst the most conservative of our Baptist brethren. Doctrine matters, as long as it is doctrine that matters "to me!" As soon as we touch on a point of Scripture material that seems divisive, difficult, or discouraging, we hear it declared a "non-essential" and are encouraged to just agree to disagree and get back to the main thing, which in my Baptist group is always "evangelism." No to mention that it might help us do better evangelism if we stopped "doing" the gospel to perhaps discuss the "is" of the gospel - but that would take us away from "doing" and in the eyes of many - that’s a bad thing. By stating that we are a confessional fellowship we are saying, among other things, doctrine matters! All of it at that! Everything in the Scripture, though it may not have "equal weight" is in fact in bounds! We want the whole truth and nothing but the truth - So help us God!

8. Success/Market Ministry Syndrome: It seems that no matter how hard we try or how well intentioned we are, we fight in the ministry every day with the competition bug. We, like the opponents of the Apostle Paul are constantly fighting against the temptation to "measure (ourselves) by one another and compare (ourselves) with one another" showing that we are all to often "without understanding" (2 Cor 10:12 ESV). Shameful though it is, the church today is caught up with cultural definitions of success and giving evidence all too often that we are failing to be true servants of Christ and are rather quite content with seeking the approval of man! (See Gal 1:10) This sin keeps us apart! After all who wants to really get together, in the confessional sense, and when the other church is for all practical purposes - well - the enemy!

9. Purpose Driven Ministry Craze: I was tempted to put this with the one before, but I treat it separately on purpose (pardon the pun!). In the purpose driven model of church life each church is challenged to "think up" their own purpose statement that captures their particular niche of the "market." In other words, in this model, you have to creatively determine with God is saying to your church. You would think Blackaby and Warren got together for this one! The idea that God has a different "purpose" for each church works against the idea of confessionalism - for Christ doesn’t have messages and purposes for each church - rather the task of the church is to hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches. One message, in one book, for one purpose.

I am sure there are more reasons many in today’s church seem to reject confessionalism, but surely that’s enough for now. The problem, as I see it, all the arguments against confessionalism matter not - if Scripture itself affirms it. This I believe it does, and for good reason, as we hope to set forth in the points that follow. The following is a brief overview of the points we hope to cover in our paper:

- The Scriptural Mandate of a Confessional-Fellowship
- The Scriptural Means of a Confessional-Fellowship
- The Scriptural Motivation of a Confessional-Fellowship
- The Scriptural Mutuality of a Confessional-Fellowship
- The Scriptural Marks of a Confessional-Fellowship

Each of these would require a paper it their own right. For our purposes we intend to briefly cover each in one paper. Consider first with me...

The Scriptural Mandate of a Confessional-Fellowship

Mandate is a powerful term and should not be used arbitrarily. But it is a good word for us here with the subject matter at hand. For if in fact we have no biblical directive (either explicit or implicit) for a confessional-fellowship, at best we are wasting our time - at worst we are following our own self-made schemes. Fortunately we do in fact have just such a mandate. This mandate is clearly inferred from the scriptural teaching regarding Christ in his position, person, and finally in his petition.

The Position of Christ: The Head of the Church

Ephes. 4:15-16 (ESV) Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, [16] from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

The Lord Christ himself is the original and spring of this union, and every particular church is united unto him as its head; besides which, with or under which, it hath none. This relation of the church unto Christ as its head the apostle expressly affirms to be the foundation and cause of its union...And unless this union be dissolved, unless a church be disunited from Christ, it cannot be so from the catholic church, nor any true church of Christ in particular, however it may be dealt withal by others in the world. From Christ, as the head and spring of union, there proceedeth unto all particular churches a bond of union, which is his Holy Spirit, acting itself in them by faith and love, in and by the ways and means and for the ends of his appointment. This is the kingly, royal, beautiful union of the church: Christ, as the only head of influence and rule, bringing it into a relation unto himself as his body, communicating of his Spirit unto it, governing it by the law of his word, enabling it unto all the duties of faith, love, and holiness. [John Owen, The True Nature of a Gospel Church: Of the Communion of Churches, Works, Vol 16, p.189-190]

The Person of Christ: The Embodiment of Truth

John 14:6 (ESV)Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 18:37-38 (ESV) Then Pilate said to him, "So you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world— to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice." [38] Pilate said to him, "What is truth?"

Ephes. 4:15 (ESV) Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,

Ephes. 4:21 (ESV) assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus,

Ephes. 4:25 (ESV) Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.

The Petition of Christ: For Oneness in the Church

John 17:20-23 (ESV) "I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, [21] that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. [22] The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, [23] I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

The Scriptural Means of a Confessional-Fellowship

Scriptural Means 1: They Shared an Embodied Tradition - The New Testament speaks often of a collection or embodiment of tradition, material that was known, discernable, contained, and passed on from one to another. The following is a sampling of texts that speak to the matter.

1 Cor. 15:1-8 (ESV) 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 in accordance with the Scriptures, [5] and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. [6] Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. [7] Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. [8] Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

1 Tim. 3:14-15 (ESV) I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, [15] if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of truth.

1 Tim. 6:20-21 (ESV) O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called "knowledge," [21] for by professing it some have swerved from the faith.

Earlier in his letter Paul had mentioned to Timothy two such men who wandered from this "faith," this body of truth.

1 Tim. 1:18-20 (ESV) This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, [19] holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith (lit. "the faith"), [20] among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.

3 John 1:4 (ESV) I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

Jude 1:3 (ESV) Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.

Scriptural Means 2: They Shared the Confessional Formation of this Tradition - Often this tradition was "confessionally" stated.

Romans 10:9 (ESV) because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

1 Cor. 12:3 (ESV) Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says "Jesus is accursed!" and no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except in the Holy Spirit.

1 Cor. 15:3-5 (ESV) 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 in accordance with the Scriptures, [5] and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

Philip. 2:5-11 (ESV) Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, [6] who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, [7] but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, [8] he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. [9] Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, [10] so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, [11] and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

1 Tim. 3:16 (ESV) Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.

Hebrews 1:1-4 (ESV) Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, [2] but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. [3] He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, [4] having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

Scriptural Means 3: They Shared a Common Body of Instructional Documents - The letters and documents of the New Testament were "common" and shared by all the churches as time went by. Thus they were in a sense, reading off the same page - a confessional page!

Galatians 1:2 (ESV) and all the brothers who are with me, To the churches of Galatia:

Galatians 6:11 (ESV) See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand.

Ephes. 1:1 (ESV) Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus

Col. 4:16, 18 (ESV) [16] And when this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea. [18] I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.

Rev. 1:10-11 (ESV) I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet [11] saying, "Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea."

2 Peter 3:14-16 (ESV) Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. [15] And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, [16] as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.

Rev. 2:7 (ESV) He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I

will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.'

Rev. 2:11 (ESV) He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.'

Rev. 2:17 (ESV) He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.'

Rev. 2:29 (ESV) He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'

Rev. 3:6 (ESV) He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'

Rev. 3:13 (ESV) He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'

Rev. 3:22 (ESV) He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.' "

Scriptural Means 4: They Shared Opposition to False Doctrine - It is fascinating to note that the majority of the New Testament epistles (Pauline and General) contain warnings against the dangers of false doctrine and the self-appointed teachers who propagate it. What is instructional for us here is that the presence of false doctrine was to be discernable for the churches based upon the truth that they had been taught(for example see Romans 16:17) clearly points to a confessional basis for fellowship within the Christian community.

See Rom 16:17-18, the entirety of the Corinthian letters, Gal 1:6-9, Eph 5:8-14, 6:12 (read with Acts 19), Phil 3, Col 2, 1Thes 4:7, 2Thes 2, 3:6, 14-15, 1Tim 1:18-20, 4:1, 6:20-21, 2Tim 3:1, 4:14-15, Tit 1:10-16, 2:15, 3:10, Heb 13:7-11, 1Pet 5:6-12, 2Pet 2, 3:17, 1John 4:1-6, 2John 10, 3 John 9-10, Jude 3-4

Scriptural Motivations of a Confessional-Fellowship

The Scripture presents us with several abiding realities that serve as strong encouragements or motivators for forming and framing our fellowship around confessional standards.

The Church Ever Remains an Impure Mixture - Matthew 13:24-30

Matthew 13:24-30 (ESV) He put another parable before them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, [25] but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. [26] So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. [27] And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, 'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?' [28] He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' So the servants said to him, 'Then do you want us to go and gather them?' [29] But he said, 'No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. [30] Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.'"

We are Called to Walk by the Rule of the Truth - Galatians 6:11-16

Galatians 6:11-16 (ESV) See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. [12] It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. [13] For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. [14] But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. [15] For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. [16] And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.

Our Associations Must be Pure - 1Cor 5:9-12, 2Cor 6:14-7:1, Eph 5:11

1 Cor. 5:9-12 (ESV) I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— [10] not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. [11] But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. [12] For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?

2 Cor. 6:14-7:1 (ESV) Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? [15] What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? [16] What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, "I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. [17] Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, [18] and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty." [7:1] Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

Ephes. 5:11 (ESV) Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.

False Teachers and Teachings Abound - 1Tim 4, 1John 4, Jude 4

1 Tim. 4:1 (ESV) Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,

1 John 4:1-6 (ESV) Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. [2] By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, [3] and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. [4] Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. [5] They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. [6] We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

Jude 1:3-4 (ESV) Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. [4] For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

We are Commanded to not Associate with Those Who do not Hold to the "Teaching"

Romans 16:17-18 (ESV) I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. [18] For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.

2 Thes. 3:6 (ESV) Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us.

2 Thes. 3:14 (ESV) If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed.

Titus 3:10 (ESV) As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him,

2 John 1:10 (ESV) If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting,

The Scriptural Mutuality of a Confessional-Fellowship

By labeling this section with the term "mutuality" we seek to emphasize and draw attention to the fact that a confessional fellowship assumes a complementary and reciprocal relation between churches where there is benefit for all parties in the relation. In the words of the great Apostle Paul:

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, [2] complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. [3] Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. [4] Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others (Philip. 2:1-4 ESV).

This mentality of mutuality should be at the heart of the associational relationship. Recall the wording of the Second and First London Baptist Confessions of faith regarding the relation between churches is to effect:

Second London: hold communion among themselves, for their peace, increase of love, and mutual edification

First London: by all means convenient to have the council and help of another in all needful affairs of the church

The Second London is more particular in its elaborations, but in effect they state the same thing. If we line out the three benefits or the "scriptural mutuality" of the relation they are as follows:

1. We Are to Labor Together for Peace
2. We are to Labor Together for the Increase of Love
3. We are to Labor Together for Mutual Edification

For the expression of what this will "look" like, we turn our attention to the marks of this confessional fellowship.

The Scriptural Marks of a Confessional-Fellowship

The "marks" or external evidences of this "internal" commitment to one another in a confessional fellowship are many of the same marks that will evidence healthy church communion itself. In other words - our confessional fellowship - will strive to give evidence to our confession of the headship of Christ, our love for him and our love for one another. Some of the tangible matters will involve the following:

Our Fellowship Must be Marked by Love

1 Cor. 16:14 (ESV) Let all that you do be done in love.

Our Fellowship Must be Marked by Order

1 Cor. 14:33 (ESV) For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.

1 Cor. 14:40 (ESV) But all things should be done decently and in order.

Our Fellowship Must be Marked by Edification

1 Cor. 14:26 (ESV) Let all things be done for building up.

Our Fellowship Must be Marked by Truth

Eph. 4:15-16 (ESV)Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, [16] from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

3 John 1:8 (ESV) Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.

Illustration: The Jerusalem Council - Acts 15

Our Fellowship Must be Marked by Care

Philip. 2:1-4 (ESV) So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, [2] complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. [3] Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. [4] Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

2 Cor. 11:9 (ESV) And when I was with you and was in need, I did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my need. So I refrained and will refrain from burdening you in any way.

Ephes. 4:28 (ESV) Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.

Philip. 4:11 (ESV) Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.

1 John 3:17 (ESV) But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?

Our Fellowship Must be Marked by Service

Service of Sharing Gifts: 1 Peter 4:10-11 (ESV) As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: [11] whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Service of Sharing People: Philip. 2:25-30 (ESV) I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need, [26] for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. [27] Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. [28] I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. [29] So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men, [30] for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me.

Our Fellowship Must be Marked by Glory

1 Cor. 10:31 (ESV) So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.