Verse:
John 3:16; Jn 3:16; John 3
Keyword:
Salvation, Jesus, Gospel
With Operators:
AND, OR, NOT, “ ”
Here’s my online ‘reading’ on preaching this month, as posted to my church Web site in the Preaching Resources section. These resources were posted on 26 October 2010:
- Sinclair B. Ferguson, 2010 Covenant Seminary Preaching Lectures HT: Colin Adams (Unashamed Workman).
- Dennis Prutow, So Pastor, What’s Your Point?, Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary/Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, 2010.
[details and chapter excerpt] - George Robertson, ‘Preaching through the Psalms’ (series of audio lectures).
Dr. George Robertson, adjunct professor of practical theology and senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Augusta, Georgia, offers practical ways to preach through the Psalms effectively. This audio series is taken from a popular Lifetime of Ministry course at Covenant Theological Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri.
[added to Resources for Preachers on Bible Books, Themes & Doctrines]
“Resistance is futile!” intones the Borg drone in Star Trek. “You will be assimilated.” The superior physical strength of the cyborg and the overwhelming superiority of the collective mind cannot be resisted. Defeat is inevitable. Resistance is futile.
Is Peter’s command to “resist the Devil” (1 Peter 5:9) similarly doomed to failure? Jesus successfully resisted him (Matthew 4, 16; Luke 4). But can an ordinary Christian believer resist the overwhelming might and superior intellect of his Satanic Majesty?
Thinking sensibly
To succeed in resisting the Devil we will need to take Peter’s advice on how to go about it. First he commands us to “be sober-minded” (1 Peter 5:8). We must have a realistic appreciation of who the Devil is, and what our situation is.
It is commonplace today to view the Devil in one of two ways. Either people treat him as a mythical character, often portrayed in cartoon format as a playful agent of frustration or malevolence. Or they are obsessed with him to the extent that he is behind every ill that befalls them, from stubbing their toe to contracting cancer. Neither view is sober-minded, or scriptural.
Peter describes the Devil as “a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). The metaphor shows that the Devil poses a serious threat to the life and well-being of the child of God. We may not dismiss the idea of a devil as a fanciful notion.
The threat is real, but we must not exaggerate it. The book of Job shows us the Devil is “God’s Devil”, as Martin Luther used to say. His power is not equal to God’s. Nor is it exercised apart from God, but is under God’s authority. He may not exercise it against the believing child of God beyond the limits imposed on him by God. The danger posed by the Devil is real, but he is not omnipotent. His power is constrained by Almighty God.
Looking out
Peter also advises us to “be watchful” (1 Peter 5:8). We must be vigilant, ever on the lookout for threats and attacks. If we are sober-minded we will not be obsessive about this, but we must take an active approach to the Devil’s schemes.
Peter’s description of the Devil and his approach give us an insight into the danger we face. And at the same time, some reflection on them will uncover great encouragement so that we may face him boldly.
Resisting our Adversary
As followers of Jesus Christ, the Devil is our Adversary. He is against us. He is our enemy. Peter doesn’t want us to think of the Devil as a great warrior, a spiritual Goliath we must face. Rather, he is our opponent in court. Once we see that ploy, we know that resistance is not futile, for we have an Advocate (1 John 2:1–2), a defence attorney, who is more than able to counter every legal argument the Devil may throw at us. Our salvation rests on a firm foundation. It is legally unassailable. We are justified, declared righteousness, by God, the Judge of all the earth. When our Adversary accuses us we can take comfort in Paul’s marvellous outburst: “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn?” (Romans 8:33–34)
Paul does not have to give an answer. It is absolutely clear. No one. Our Adversary does not have a case. His accusations will be thrown out of court every time by the Judge himself. We may resist him on solid legal grounds.
Resisting the slanderer
If “adversary” shows us the Devil’s attempt to use legal argument to attack us, “Devil” shows us another despicable ploy he often uses. He is not content just to employ legal means. If he cannot convict us, he will slander our Advocate.
This was his tactic in the Garden. Not content to lead Eve to doubt the truth of God’s word he came straight out with a downright lie. “You surely shall not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from [the tree] your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4–5)
Ever will the Devil seek to have us think less of God than we ought. “God is holding out on you.” “God is not fair.” “God will not hold you accountable for your sin.” “God is not telling the truth.”
But our God is a God of truth. “He is not a man that he should lie.” (Numbers 23:19, cf Titus 1:2) Often as he spoke Jesus prefixed his words with “I tell you the truth . . .” He is “The Way, and The Truth, and The Life” (John 14:6).
When we hear the Devil’s slander we must take comfort that God our Saviour is the God of Truth. We may depend on his word alone. That was how the Lord Jesus himself resisted the Devil in the wilderness (Luke 4). If we would resist the Devil we must turn to it as well. That presupposes we know it. May we get to know it better.
Resisting the Lion
Peter’s final description of the Devil shows him at his most devious. He can appear as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). Yet for all his reasonableness and pleasantness, he is at heart a roaring lion, hungry for dinner. And we are on the menu.
The Devil is, for all his majesty as heaven’s former Number 1 Angel, no better than a brute beast. He is driven by appetite and instinct. Dangerous, but not irresistible.
But we can take comfort in the fact that the Lord Jesus is the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5). And he has conquered death and sin and the Devil. His roar is much more terrifying than the Devil’s. His voice is as the roar of many waters (Revelation 1:15).
The Devil is God’s Devil, and Jesus is our Lion! And we are part of his tribe, for his people are “from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9). He is more than a match for our adversary in court, or in the jungle of life. We do not resist the Devil in our own strength and with our own resources. We do not resist him alone.
Resistance is not futile
A sober assessment of our enemy, our situation, and our resources leads us to the conclusion that resistance is not futile. We are defended by heaven’s great Advocate. We trust in the God of truth. And we are protected by the Lion of the tribe of Judah.
We can resist the Devil, firm in our faith. We do not believe in ourselves, but in Almighty God, under whose mighty hand we have humbled ourselves and to whose allegiance we have pledged ourselves.
We may face such a roaring lion as the Devil without fear because we can cast all our anxieties on the God who cares for us. He will not let us be devoured, though we may experience suffering, in common with our brothers and sisters worldwide. But “after [we] have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called [us] to his eternal glory in Christ will himself of restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish [us].” (1 Peter 5:10) And at that time we will echo Peter’s confident affirmation: “To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.” (1 Peter 5:11)
Resistance is not futile. We can and must resist the Devil. And we will resist him successfully if we rely on the resources that Almighty God has provided for us.
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This was first posted at Gilnahirk Baptist Web site on 26 Oct 2010.
Here’s my online reading on preaching this month, as posted to my church Web site in the Preaching Resources section. These resources were posted on 26 September 2010:
- Kent Anderson, ‘Questions for Expositors’, by John D. Brand on Encouraging Expository Excellence, 22 Jun 2010.
[added to Resources for Preachers on Preaching] - Cliff Boone, ‘Questions for Expositors’, by John D. Brand on Encouraging Expository Excellence, 13 Jul 2010.
[added to Resources for Preachers on Preaching] - ____, ‘Why I do not manuscript my sermons’, Alive2God, 7 Jan 2010.
[added to Preaching Techniques Resources] - Stuart Briscoe, ‘Questions for Expositors’, by John D. Brand on Encouraging Expository Excellence, 15 Jun 2010.
[added to Resources for Preachers on Preaching] - Bryan Chapell, ‘Questions for Expositors’, by John D. Brand on Encouraging Expository Excellence, 10 Aug 2010.
[added to Resources for Preachers on Preaching] - Andrew Compton, ‘A study regimen for preaching Zechariah’s night visions’, The Reformed Reader, 24 Aug 2010.
[added to Resources for Preachers on Bible Books, Themes & Doctrines] - Sinclair B. Ferguson, ‘What Then Shall We Preach on Hell?’ (9Marks eJournal, 7.4, Sep/Oct 2010, pp. 9–12) [HTML | PDF] (HT: Andy Naselli)
[added to Resources for Preachers on Bible Books, Themes & Doctrines] - Tim Keller & Ed Clowney, “Preaching Christ in a Postmodern World”, RTS DMin lectures. Andy Naselli has kindly posted a link to the audio and the course notes.
[added to Resources for Preachers on Preaching] - David P. Murray, ‘Preaching without Notes’, Head Heart Hand, Part 1 (7 Sep 2010) & Part 2 (8 Sep 2010, with a sample of David’s sermon notes)
[added to Preaching Techniques Resources] - John Piper, ‘How Does John Piper Prepare a Sermon?’ by Tyler Kenney, Desiring God, 25 Jul 2010. HT: John Brand.
[added to Resources for Preachers on Preaching] - Charles Price, ‘Questions for Expositors’ (part 2), by John D. Brand on Encouraging Expository Excellence, 3-4 Jun 2010.
[added to Resources for Preachers on Preaching] - John Shearer, ‘Questions for Expositors’, by John D. Brand on Encouraging Expository Excellence, 21 Jul 2010.
[added to Resources for Preachers on Preaching] - Wayne Sutton, ‘Questions for Expositors’, by John D. Brand on Encouraging Expository Excellence, 9 Jun 2010.
[added to Resources for Preachers on Preaching] - Bruce Ware, ‘Questions for Expositors’, by John D. Brand on Encouraging Expository Excellence, 19 Aug 2010.
[added to Resources for Preachers on Preaching]
(The links after “added to” will take you to the page on the church site where they are listed permanently, while other links are to the resources and reviews themselves.)
Alec Motyer has a delightful comment on Psalm 125:3 that I read this morning:
What, then, is the ‘evil’ to which we can be tempted to put our hands (verse 3)? For we have all experienced the ‘Why should I put up with this any longer?’ moment, and that’s the danger point. When patient enduance runs out, sinfulness comes running in; impatience and making golden calves have for a long time been a solidly married couple.\1/
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References
1. Alec Motyer, Journey: Psalms for Pilgrim People (Nottingham: IVP, 2009): 65
I’ve just received my copy of The Shallows.\1/ I’m looking forward to reading it, but not right now, as I’ve several other books on the go at the moment. I did, however, peek at the prologue where Carr mentions McLuhan (how could he not?), and the fact that the Internet is the latest medium to spur the debate on the impact of new media.
It struck me that while the Internet revolution may be as significant, or more significant than the Gutenburg revolution, there is an interesting difference. (Perhaps Carr will cover this in the book.) In the Internet Age we have the impact of visual representations (on television and in films [movies]) of what computer technology might be able to achieve. People in Gutenburg’s time experienced a revolution that unfolded over time, but we are in the middle of one that has been imagined ahead of time, and in considerable detail. That must surely have a major impact on how the revolution will play out, for reality is fast outpacing our earliest imaginings.
The Matrix is one powerful representation, but I suspect that Star Trek is more powerful, for it is in Star Trek that (information) technology is presented as ubiquitous and almost totally benign. I don’t mean the original Star Trek series, but the more recent ones: Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and even Enterprise. It is the great boon to society. Everything can be solved by means of technology, and usually instantaneously. Information is always somehow available. It is only in the face of unexplained interference or sabotage that the tense drama of being stranded in hostile terrain can be played out, but those scenarios are few and far between. (How is is that crew members can get stuck in turbolifts when site-to-site transport can be used in other emergencies?) More often, Star Trek captains command their chief engineers to solve impossible problems in unbelievably short timescales. And they always achieve the impossible. Mission Impossible happens in every episode to the nth degree. Kirk, Picard, Sisco and Janeway are not the real heroes, rather they are Scotty, Chief O’Brien, and B’Elana Torres.
And this presentation of technology affects many other more popular films and television series, so even those who have never seen Star Trek see the Star Trek Paradigm visualized regularly. Mobile [cell] phones may not be Star Trek communicators or tricorders, but they are the twenty-first century prototypes of twenty-fourth century fiction. We want the Internet to become what the Federation Database has become.
This advance visualization must have a massive impact on the Internet Revolution. The Internet already affects the way we speak: we no longer look things up, we google them. And it must surely be affecting the way we think. The Big Switch\2/ made a lot of sense of things for me, and I’m hoping Carr will do the same in The Shallows. But no matter the pressure of the instantaneous Internet, I will savour the deferred gratification of holding back starting until I can devote sufficient time to serious reading and reflection.
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References
1. Nicholas Carr, The Shallows: How the internet is changing the way we think, read and remember (London: Atlantic Books, 2010).
2. Nicholas Carr, The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, from Edison to Google (New York: W W Norton, 2008).
Tim Challies recently posted a series of articles on a topic dear to my heart that are well worth reading. I share his enthusiasm for books that he shared in ’5 Reasons Books Are Better Than E-Books’\1/. I’m also with him on ’5 Reasons E-Books Are Better Than Books’\2/. Yes, e-books do have some advantages, but they are still outweighed by the books’ advantages. Like Tim, I just can’t imagine having to move house. It would be three times worse for me than for him. One mitigating factor is that I tend to buy reference materials as e-books in preference to books, especially when they are considerably cheaper. Then I feel guilty when I make little use of them. Are e-books making me more covetous?
But it’s not just sufficient to pit the arguments against each other and take your pick. There is a need to think through the consequences, which Tim points out well in ‘Books & E-Books, Media & Messages’.\3/ I agree wholeheartedly that convenience is not sufficient reason to abandon the book in favour of the e-Book. The medium has a definite impact on the message. E-media appear less permanent (Tim’s point about permanence notwithstanding), and paradoxically I suspect we give more credence to online, e-sources without sufficient critical appraisal. It’s similar to the appeal to “it was on television” as the ultimate “proof” of a fact. We can certainly read books uncritically, but the e-medium somehow seems to reduce our ability or willingness to engage critically with the content. McLuhan and Postman are definitely worth considering in this whole area. And Nicholas Carr is also onto something important in The Shallows\4/, which I’m planning to read later in the year.
When we come to read our e-Bibles we are going to run into some problems. I just can’t study with an e-Bible because you can’t see enough of the text at once (not even on my 24 inch monitor), or mark it up the way you need to make the study worthwhile. I certainly value tools like Logos, especially to check my rusty Greek and Hebrew, but they are just that: tools, not replacements for the text.
I think we’ve already run into a similar problem in churches that rely on song projection instead of hymn books. Sung praise is becoming more like karaoke than sacred worship. The medium has made the shift possible, and the reason is most likely convenience. The congregation may sing more loudly because they no longer have their faces buried in a book, but I find I’ve forgotten the previous line or two very quickly after singing them, whereas with a hymn book I can understand better what I am singing, and comprehend the meaning much more easily. I can’t think I’m alone in that, advancing age and declining memory notwithstanding. What will be the impact of preaching to a congregation who only have an e-Bible? Shorter sermons that engage the text less critically?
It’s not just the ‘E’s in our food* we need to be concerned about, it’s the ‘e-’s in our reading that will have a serious impact on our intellectual and spiritual understanding. Since Christians are people of The Book, this should be a serious concern to us. Convenience is not enough to switch to e-Bibles, just as pragmatism is never enough to make informed and safe moral judgments. I’m going to need more convincing before I make e-reading my staple biblical intake. Tim’s articles have confirmed that for me. Moderation and small doses will certainly be my practice for the forseeable future.
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References:
1. Tim Challies, ’5 Reasons Books Are Better Than E-Book’, challies.com, 17 Aug 2010, http://www.challies.com/articles/5-reasons-books-are-better-than-e-books (accessed 7 Sep 2010)
2. ——, ’5 Reasons E-Books Are Better Than Books’, challies.com, 18 Aug 2010, http://www.challies.com/articles/5-reasons-e-books-are-better-than-books (accessed 7 Sep 2010)
3. ——, ‘Books & E-Books, Media & Messages’, challies.com, 20 Aug 2010, http://www.challies.com/articles/books-e-books-media-messages (accessed 7 Sep 2010)
4. Nicholas Carr, The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains (New York: W. W. Norton, 2010). Carr blogs at Rough Type, http://www.roughtype.com/.
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Notes:
* Approved European food additives all have an ‘E’ prefixed to the universal reference number.
John Starke has interviewed Justin Taylor, Collin Hansen, Kevin DeYoung on the importance and practice of writing well. Clarity Seeking God’s Glory: A Discussion on Writing Well is worth listening to (just over 53 minutes), and there are some helpful resources listed from the discussion. I found it encouraging (I’d read some of those books/authors), and also challenging, since there is always something to learn.
I do a fair bit of reading on the topic of preaching. I usually post links to the best of my reading at my church Web site in the Preaching Resources section, along with any books I discover would be of interest to preachers. Where I can I try to post reviews of books I discover, since I haven’t read all of them. I thought it would be useful to cross-post the new entries here so that others might benefit from them. (The links after “added to” will take you to the page on the church site where they are listed permanently, while other links are to the resources and reviews themselves.)
Here’s the most recent batch of reading and research (added the site on 31 August).
- John D. Brand, ‘How long should a sermon be?‘ Encouraging Expository Excellence, 23 Jul 2010.
[added to Preaching Techniques Resources] - Mike Bullmore, interviewed by Collin Hansen, ‘The Greatest Challenge and Privilege of OT Preaching‘, The Gospel Coalition Blog, 20 Aug 2010.
[added to Resources for Preachers on Bible Books, Themes & Doctrines] - Phillip D. Jensen & Paul Grimmond, The Archer and the Arrow (Matthia Media, 2010) [reviews: Tim Challies (24 Aug 2010)]
[added to Resources for Preachers on Preaching] - Samuel Lamerson, English Grammar to Ace Biblical Greek (Zondervan, 2004). 112 pages. ISBN-13: 978-0310255345.
[added to Resources for Preachers on Preaching] - Stephen W. Smith, Dying to Preach (Kregel, 2009). 175 pages. [reviews: The Gospel Coalition (David Murray, 17 Aug 2010)]
[added to Resources for Preachers on Preaching] - Carl R. Trueman, “The Preacher as Prophet” (audio lecture, 28 Oct 2009), download link via Unashamed Workman (25 Aug 2010).
[added to Resources for Preachers on Preaching] - Miles V. Van Pelt, English Grammar to Ace Biblical Hebrew (Zondervan, 2010). 112 pages. ISBN-13: 978-0310318316. [reviews: Cross Focused Reviews (Bob Hayton, 9 Aug 2010)]
[added to Resources for Preachers on Preaching]
Alec Motyer points up the priority of the Word in worship in a footnote to Psalm 122:
The NIV reverses the order of lines in verse 4b. ‘According to statute’ should come first, followed (more properly) by ‘to give thanks to the name’. The word of God must always be the primary reality, even in the place of worship. Worship concentrates on what the Lord has done, prompting thanksgiving, and keeps his name, the truth he has revealed about himself, right in the foreground.\1/
Just Alec. Just right!
__________
References:
Alec Motyer, Journey: Psalms for Pilgrim People (Nottingham: Inter-Varsity Press, 2009) 45, n. 12.
I’ve spent a profitable week reading. Some weeks it doesn’t feel like that, but this past week was encouraging. Tim Carmody put Rolf Engelsing’s ‘Lesenrevolution’ at the top of his 10 Reading Revolutions Before E-Books\1/. Engelsing saw a shift in C18 reading patterns from intensive reading a small number of text to extensive reading of large numbers of text, most of which would only be read once. But Carmody’s not convinced that this is the real revolution, since both types of reading be be identified before and since C18.
Engelsin’s distinction does have application to Christian reading, however. To illustrate the distinction, Carmody contrasts Bible and newspaper reading. Certainly for Christians the Bible ought to be read intensively. It has been the practice of believers since the Bible was written, but it definitely in serious decline today. That is so, despite the plethora of Bible reading programs available (a selection of which can be found on my church’s Web site).
This week I came across another program that will no doubt not suit the modern taste for sixty second quiet times. Grant Horner’s ten-chapter-a-day program (HT: Tim Challies\2/) could even qualify for intensive and extensive at the same time. Ten chapters is certainly intensive, but by reading from ten different books at a time it is much more intensive than other programs. Its consecutive reading of different chapters over a long period appeals to me as a way to see the connections between different parts of Scripture. I am convinced that cross-references alone are insufficient to see the connections, nor is Beale and Carson’s excellent and profitable guide to the NT’s use of the Old.\3/
I’ve noticed how in recent years I can more readily identify connections, allusions and the like in Scripture. I’ve also noticed the blank looks one other people’s faces when I mention them in conversation or study groups. I’m sure that it is only intensive reading over several decades that enable me to see them.
I’ve never followed any formal reading plan for long, but I have decided to give Horner’s a go with one alteration. I’m keeping all of Paul’s letters in list 3, and everything from Hebrews on in list 4. I don’t find the length of time required a problem, I doubt any serious reader would. It remains to be seen whether I can stick to it, since I regularly get “stuck” on verses that leap off the page at me. I think Martyn Lloyd-Jones was onto something when he recommended stopping at them before moving on (in Preaching and Preachers, I think).
Horner’s plan applies intensive and extensive reading to Scripture. I’m sure that each of us ought to have a small number of other books that we read intensively, besides the Bible. Pilgrim’s Progress, Calvin’s Institutes, and C. S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity regularly appear on suggested lists. Everything else should be in the extensive category. And I don’t think this is a luxury for any Christian, much less so for preachers. John Brand recently quoted John Wesley’s rebuke to a preacher whose reading was far from adequate:
“What has exceedingly hurt you in times past, nay, and I fear to this day, is want of reading. I scarce ever knew a preacher read so little. And perhaps, by neglecting it, you have lost the appetite for it. Hence your talent in preaching does not increase. It is just the same as it was seven years ago.
It is lively but not deep; there is little variety; there is no compass of thought. Reading only can supply this, with meditation and daily prayer. You wrong yourself greatly by omitting this. You can never be a deep preacher without it, any more than a thorough Christian. O begin!”\4/
What a rebuke! But he’s right. It fits with what I recall of James Montgomery Boice’s advice to someone contemplating Christian ministry–study literature before theology.
Extensive reading is not a magic formula for terrific preaching, but it is evidently a means that God regularly blesses. It strikes me that part of the reason why it works is that intensive Bible reading enables us to engage critically with extra-biblical extensive reading. Our extensive reading ought to go beyond biblical and theological topics because such books enable effective critical engagement with the world’s ideas. That can only sharpen our gospel perspective. Without intensive reading of Scripture it may blunt it, or even damage or destroy our faith.
Extensive reading holds little or no danger, so long as we engage in intensive Scripture reading. That’s not closing our minds, but treasuring the most valuable book we possess, and using it to inform our judgment of other books. I’m happy to continue my pattern of combining intensive Scripture reading with extensive extra-biblical reading.
It’s definitely been a profitable week’s reading.
__________
References:
1. Tim Carmody, “10 Reading Revolutions Before E-Books”, The Atlantic, 25 August 2010, http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2010/08/10-reading-revolutions-before-e-books/62004/.
2. Tim Challies, “Ten Chapters Per Day”, challies.com, 18 August 2010, http://www.challies.com/christian-living/ten-chapters-per-day.
3. G. K. Beale & D. A. Carson, Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2007).
4. John Brand, “Preachers Should be Readers”, Encouraging Expository Excellence, 27 July 2010, http://www.encouragingexpositoryexcellence.co.uk/?p=559.