Josh King

Tolle Lege: 9 Marks of a Healthy Church

Readability: 1

Length: 243 pgs

This book remains, more so after having reread it, my favorite book concerning the church. The medicine cabinet is full of books on the church, and many contain good advice, but the medicine is laced with poison. 9 Marks of a Healthy Church is a truth filled, life-giving elixir amidst such books.

This books is not about the marks of the church as we understand them historically (true preaching, right use of the sacraments, and faithful discipline), although Dever discusses this in the introduction. Rather this book is about some marks that set off healthy churches from sickly ones. Those marks are:

Expositional Preaching
Biblical Theology
The Gospel
A Biblical Understanding of Conversion
A Biblical Understanding of Evangelism
A Biblical Understanding of Church Membership
Biblical Church Discipline
A Concern for Discipleship and Growth
Biblical Church Leadership

If you are thinking this sounds like a book for pastors I would encourage to read ahead for two reasons. First, the chapters were originally sermons preached to his own congregation. These chapters originated as sermons for the person in the pew, not the pastor in the pulpit. Second, if you are a voluntary member of an institution you probably would like to know what its purpose is, how it should operate. Think of how much time you spend in church, wouldn’t you want to know what comprises a healthy one? Do you get your idea of what a church should be from the status quo, tradition, your own mind, the newest fad, or from the Scriptures? The church and what she is to be is a question that should greatly concern every Christian. Toward answering that question I highly commend 9 Marks of a Healthy Church to you.

Many pastors happily accept the authority of God’s Word and profess to believe in the inerrancy of the Bible; yet if they do not in practice regularly preach expositionally, I’m convinced that they will never preach more than they knew when they began the whole enterprise.

To charge someone with the spiritual oversight of a church who doesn’t in practice show a commitment to hear and to teach God’s Word is to hamper the growth of the church, in essence allowing it only to grow to the level of the pastor. The church will slowly be conformed to the pastor’s mind rather than to God’s mind.

I had made a statement in a doctoral seminar about God. Bill responded politely but firmly that he liked to think of God rather differently. For several minutes, Bill painted a picture for us of a friendly deity. He liked to think of God as being wise, but not meddling; compassionate, but never overpowering; ever so resourceful, but never interrupting. ‘This’, said Bill in conclusion, ‘is how I like to think of God.’

My reply was perhaps somewhat sharper than it should have been. ‘Thank you Bill,’ I said, ‘for telling us so much about yourself, but we are concerned to know what God is really like, not simply about our own desires.’

We will “do church” differently, depending on how we understand God and ourselves.

We need to see an end to a wrong, shallow view of evangelism as simply getting people to say yes to a question, or to make a one-time decision. We need to see and end to the bad fruit of false evangelism. We need to see and end to worldly people having assurance that they’re saved just because they took a stand, shook a hand, or repeated a prayer. We need to see real revival not being lost amid our own manufactured and scheduled meetings that we euphemistically call “revivals,” as if we could determine when the wind of God’s Spirit would actually blow. We need to see and end to church memberships markedly larger than the number of those involved with the church, and an end to inaction in our own lives as we ignore the evangelistic mandate – the call to share the Good News. We need to see the end of this debilitating, deadly coldness to the glorious call to tell the Good News.

But when the message of the Cross captures our hearts and captivates our imaginations, our tongues, stammering, halting, insulting, awkward, sarcastic, imperfect as they may be, won’t be far behind.

Busted Myth #3: Sin is Sin or All Sins Are Equal

All sins are not equal. Although saying all sins are equal is often espoused as a means of humility it is not the proper avenue. In an effort to destroy legalism someone might tout that their little white lie is just as heinous as murder. As this is untrue so also it is a false means to true humility.

All sin, any sin brings death, but as we examine the law we discover that not all sins meet the same temporal punishment. While some crimes call for restitution, others call for death. But this is not the ultimate text upon which I rest my case. To me, the strongest proof that there are degrees of sin is Christ’s reply to Pilate, “Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin” (John 19:11).

One thing we see in scripture is increased obligation according to revelation or responsibility. For instance abuse of gospel revelation incurs greater judgment now than prior to the Christ’s first coming.

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? … – Hebrews 2:1-3

Again exposure to the gospel puts men under greater responsibility.

For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned. – Hebrews 6:4-8

For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. – Hebrews 10:26-31

Also those who wish to be teachers will be held to a higher standard.

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. – James 3:1

Still I agree with Ralph Venning that:

…as God is holy, all holy, only holy, altogether holy, and always holy, so sin is sinful, all sinful, only sinful, altogether sinful, and always sinful (Genesis 6.5). In my flesh, there dwelleth no good thing (Romans 7.18). As in God there is no evil, so in sin there is no good. God is the chiefest of goods and sin is the chiefest of evils. As no good can be compared with God for goodness, so no evil can be compared with sin for evil.

And Jonathan Edwards that:

That the evil and demerit of sin is infinitely great, is most demonstrably evident, because what the evil or iniquity of sin consists in, is the violating of an obligation, or doing what we should not do. Therefore by how much the greater the obligation is that is violated, by so much the greater is the iniquity of the violation. But certainly our obligation to love or honor any being is great in proportion to the greatness or excellency of that being, or his worthiness to be loved and honored. We are under greater obligations to love a more lovely being than a less lovely. If a being be infinitely excellent and lovely, our obligations to love him are therein infinitely great. The matter is so plain, it seems needless to say much about it.

So the magnitude of sin is to be measured by the majesty of the deity offended. My sins are bigger than the cosmos. They are the shirking of my greatest obligation, to love God with all. So how can sin be infinite and yet there still be degrees of sin. Edwards helps us here also:

Another objection (that perhaps may be thought hardly worth mentioning) is, that to suppose sin to be infinitely heinous, is to make all sins equally heinous: for how can any sin be more than infinitely heinous? But all that can be argued hence is, that no sin can be greater with respect to that aggravation, the worthiness of the object against whom it is committed. One sin cannot be more aggravated than another in that respect, because the aggravation of every sin is infinite, but that does not hinder that some sins may be more heinous than others in other respects: as if we should suppose a cylinder infinitely long, cannot be greater in that respect, viz. with respect to the length of it. But yet it may be doubled and trebled, and make a thousand-fold more, by the increase of other dimensions. Of sins that are all infinitely heinous, some may be more heinous than others…

So in one respect all sins are infinitely heinous, yet in another respect there can be a difference of degree. Consider that the two lines below go on infinitely. They are both infinite, yet one is muted and the other bold. What one sin whispers, another can shout.

So what does this teach us about the pursuit of true humility? It is not to come by comparing ourselves with men, even if it is to say all our sins are equal. No, true humility comes by seeing ourselves in light of God’s majesty (1 Peter 5:6, James 4:10). In the light of His glory only do we realize the infinite magnitude of our sin. We will love much, not when we see ourselves equal with our fellow man, but forgiven much by a holy God (Luke 7:47).

The Doctor: Bigger is Better?

We must not be ashamed of being a remnant, weak and small; this is God’s way. In a sense it can even become a privilege. We must cease to think in terms of numbers, we must think in terms of the purpose of God and the purity of the witness and the testimony. God will preserve this seed. He will carry it on in spite of everything, thank God, if we belong to the faithful remnant. – D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans Vol. 9, p. 326

Genesis 34 & Distinction

I think two truths are powerfully seen here; the need for God’s people to be distinct, and God’s protection of his promises.

As Israel wandered the desert, Moses, inspired by the Spirit of Yaweh, recorded the book of Genesis. Here Israel could see the immorality and false promises that make up their historical dealings with the Canaanites, those whom God had called them to annihilate. They were not to intermarry, why? The issue was not racial, it was religious.

Allow me an important tangent. Interracial marriage is not forbidden by God, interfaith marriage is. I agree with John Piper that, “interracial marriage is not only permitted by God but is a positive good in our day. That is, it is not just to be tolerated, but celebrated.” Toward that end I highly recommend listening to the sermon, Racial Harmony and Interracial Marriage, from with the quote above comes. If you have no desire to consider the beauty of interracial marriage might I remind you that only four women are mentioned in Matthew’s genealogy of our Lord, and we are certain that three of those women were not Jews, and it is highly likely that Bathsheba (Uriah her husband was a Hittite, 2 Samuel 11:6) was not as well.

Now back to being distinct. The covenant people’s distinction is threatened seemingly by everyone in this text. One might argue that the sons of Jacob are opposed to blurring any lines, but their sacrilegious treatment of circumcision speaks otherwise. They empty circumcision of all religious meaning. On this John Sailhammer says,

Circumcision was not limited to Abraham’s descendants but was rather given as a sign of one’s joining in the hope of God’s promises to Abraham. It was, in fact, a sign given of the covenant promise that Abraham would become the father of “many nations” (17:5). But in the way the sons of Jacob carried out the request that these Canaanites be circumcised, it offers a curious reversal of God’s intention. They offered circumcision as a means for the two families to become “one people”. The Canaanites were not joining the offspring of Abraham; rather the descendants of Abraham were joining with the Canaanites.

The sons too were blurring the line. What does it mean for us today to be distinct? John MacArthur commenting on 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 gives us several helps as to what it is not. Distinction does not mean:

Refusing to associate (we can work with, have business with, and friendships with unbelievers)
Refusing to cooperate (we can endeavor together in good that does not compromise the gospel)
Retreat from society (as the Amish)
Divorcing an unbelieving spouse (1 Corinthians 7:12-13)
It does not mean even refusing to associate with immoral unbelievers (1 Corinthians 5:9-10)

What does it mean? It means we do not blur the lines of those who are in the covenant and who are out. It means that we never associate or cooperate in such a way as to deny the gospel. It means that we are not “bound together with unbelievers in any religious event, enterprise, or activity”. MacArthur goes on to say that, “To be bound together with unbelievers in any spiritual effort is irrational, sacrilegious, disobedient, unprofitable, and ungrateful.”

Everyone party in this narrative threatens this distinction, and by implication the promises of God. Dinah’s foolishness, Shechem’s lust, Jacob’s passivity, Hamor’s politics, the Hivite’s greed, and the son’s vengeance all threaten God’s covenant people and His promises. But all they can do is threaten. God often works through and in spite of the foolishness of man. Rather than destroy distinction, they help preserve it. His promises are invincible.

The Doctor: God’s Greatest Act

What it means, in other words, is that the salvation of a single soul is the most wonderful thing that God has ever done. He has surpassed and eclipsed everything. All His ways are matchless, godlike and divine; the creation, providence, the manifestation of power over Pharaoh and his hosts, the manifestation of His wrath – all these things are manifestations of the glory of god. But they are nothing when you put them beside what God has done in the redemption of man. Even creation becomes nothing when you put it beside this; providence is nothing, punishment is nothing; everything is eclipsed here. This, the Bible teaches us, is indeed the very wonder of heaven itself. – D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans Vol. 9, p. 226

Genesis 33 & The Frame

Sometimes the frame is as important as the picture. Sometimes it is part of the picture. Sometimes it is necessary to properly interpret the picture. Don’t lose the frame for the picture.

After stealing the birthright Jacob flees Esau. He encounters angels, He encounters God. He heads toward Laban. Years later after gaining the flock, he flees Laban. He encounters angels, He encounters God. He heads toward Esau. Do you see the frame that unites chapters 28-33.

Now for the glue that holds the frame together. In the first encounter with God that we call Jacob’s ladder, God promises Jacob offspring, land, and blessing. God says that he will be with him wherever he goes, and bring him back to the land (Genesis 28:15). God will not leave off this work, He will do all that He has promised (Genesis 28:16).

Jacob’s fear then is an expression of unbelief. But his unbelief, or weak faith does not nullify God’s faithfulness.

Do not fear. God will bring us home.

Through many dangers, toils, and snares,

I have already come;

‘Tis Grace has brought me safe thus far,

And grace will lead me home.

– John Newton

Genesis 32:22-32 & Blessedly Broken

Fathers stoop to wrestle with their sons, but woe to the son who mistakes his father’s condescension for true weakness. Though He stoops he still sets the rules. Here God comes in the form of a man, reserves His power, and wrestles with the wrestler.

With a touch, not a powerful blow, Jacob’s hip explodes. Jacob will not prevail because of superior strength; he will prevail only in prayer. But before he is blessed he must be further broken, blessedly broken. God’s severe mercy must cut to heal.

Jacob must relinquish his name, his identity. A lady will hesitate to give her name to a creeper because information is power. To relinquish his name is to tap out, to say uncle. But more than this it is to admit who he is. Is he not rightly named Jacob (Genesis 27:36)? Previously he stole the blessing by concealing his identity; God demands we confess if we are to receive His blessing. There can be no masquerade, no disguise. The truth of who we are must be owned up to.

Upon Jacob’s confession of his old self God redefines who he is, He changes his identity. Jacob then asks the Stranger’s name, but notice the change of tone. God demanded the name, Jacob asks politely and is refused, but He is blessed.

It is of the utmost importance to realize that in this wrestling match God bestows nothing that He has not already promised. God has not been pinned to the mat, Jacob has, and yet in a sense he walks away winning, he is blessedly broken. As Derek Kidner said, “It was defeat and victory in one.” Or as Bruce Waltke comments,

The limp is the posture of the saint, walking not in physical strength but in spiritual strength. God’s severe mercy allows Jacob a victory, but it is a crippling victory.

The self-sufficient wrestler has become the dependant-cripple, and this is a glorious thing, a good thing. May we all be so stricken, so defeated, so devastated, so blessed.

Tolle Lege: To the Golden Shore

Readability: 1

Length: 508 pp

Author: Courtney Anderson

Simply, To The Golden Shore is one of the best biographies I’ve ever read. Adoniram Judson was the first foreign American missionary. He labored in Burma for 38 years, translated the Bible into Burmese, lost two wives and seven children, and endured a horrible prison sentence of 17 months all for their joy in Christ. May these few tidbits encourage you to get outside of your little world, realize God’s plan for the peoples, buy the biography, and reorient your life toward the joy of all peoples in Christ.

A letter of courtship to the father of his first wife Ann:

I have now to ask, whether you can consent to part with your daughter early next spring, to see her no more in this world; whether you can consent to her departure, and her subjection to the hardships and sufferings of missionary life; whether you can consent to her exposure to the dangers of the ocean, to the fatal influence of the southern climate of India; to every kind of want and distress; to degradation, insult, persecution, and perhaps a violent death. Can you consent to all this, for the sake of him who left is heavenly home, and died for her and for you; for the sake of perishing, immortal souls; for the sake of Zion, and the glory of God? Can you consent to all this, in hope of soon meeting your daughter in the world of glory, with the crown of righteous, brightened with the acclamations of praise which shall redound to her Savior from heathens saved, through her means, from eternal woe and despair?

Ann Judson on the loss of their second child, Roger Williams:

Our hearts were bound up with this child; we felt he was our earthly all, our only source of innocent recreation in this heathen land. But God saw it was necessary to remind us of our error, and to strip us of our only little all. O, may it not be vain that he has done it. May we so improve it that he will stay his hand and say ‘It is enough.’

A letter from Adoniram to missionary widow and later second wife Sarah Boardman

My DEAR SISTER: — You are now drinking the bitter cup whose dregs I am somewhat acquainted with. And though, for some time, you have been aware of its approach, I venture to say that it is far bitterer than you expected. It is common for persons in your situation to refuse all consolation, to cling to the dead, and to fear that they shall too soon forget the dear object of their affections. But don’t be concerned. I can assure you that months and months of heartrending anguish are before you, whether you will or not. I can only advise you to take the cup with both hands, and sit down quietly to the bitter repast which God has appointed for your sanctification. As to your beloved, you know that all his tears are wiped away, and that the diadem which encircles his brow outshines the sun. Little Sarah and the other have again found their father; not the frail, sinful mortal that they left the earth, but an immortal saint, a magnificent, majestic king. What more can you desire for them? While therefore your tears flow, let a due proportion be tears of joy. Yet take the bitter cup with both hands, and sit down to your repast. You will soon learn a secret, that there is sweetness at the bottom. You will find the sweetest cup that you ever tasted in all your life. You will find heaven coming near to you, and familiarity with your husband’s voice will be a connecting link, drawing you almost within the sphere of celestial music.

Emily’s recollections of a speaking engagement in the states where Adoniram simply preached the gospel:

As he sat down it was evident, even to the most unobservant eye, that most of the listeners were disappointed. After the exercises were over, several persons inquired of me, frankly, why Dr. Judson had not talked of something else; why he had not told a story…

On the way home, I mentioned the subject to him.

‘Why, what did they want?’ he inquired; ‘I presented the most interesting subject in the world, to the best of my ability.’

‘But they wanted something different… a story.’

‘Well, I am sure I gave them a story… the most thrilling one that can be conceived of.’

‘But they had heard it before. They wanted something new of a man who had just come from the antipodes.’

‘Then I am glad they have it to say, that a man coming from the antipodes had nothing better to tell than the wondrous story of Jesus’ dying love.’

Some of his last words to his third wife Emily:

‘It is not because I shrink from death, that I wish to live; neither is it because the ties that bind me here though some of them are very sweet, bear any comparison with the drawings I at times feel towards heaven; but a few years would not be missed from my eternity of bliss, and I can well afford to spare them, both for your sake and for the sake of the poor Burmans. I am not tired of my work, neither am I tired of the world; yet when Christ calls me home. I shall go with the gladness of a boy bounding away from his school. Perhaps I feel something like the young bride, when she contemplates resigning the pleasant associations of her childhood, for a yet dearer home—though only a very little like her – for there is no doubt resting on my future.’

‘Then death would not take you by surprise,’ I remarked, ‘if it should come even before you could get on board ship.’ ‘Oh, no,’ he said, ‘death will never take me by surprise – do not be afraid of that—I feel so strong in Christ. He has not led me so tenderly thus far, to forsake me at the very gate of heaven. No, no; I am willing to live a few years longer, if it should be so ordered; and if otherwise, I am willing and glad to die now. I leave myself entirely in the hands of God, to be disposed of according to his holy will.’

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=glo-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=0817011218&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr

The Doctor: The Ultimate Truth About God

Now the ultimate truth about God, his ultimate attribute, if we may so speak, is glory. We talk about the power of God, His omnipotence, His Omniscience and His omnipresence, and all these various other attributes, but of course ultimately what makes God God is His glory! You cannot describe it; you cannot define it! All the Bible itself does is to give us some kind of description of men and women who have had a glimpse of the glory of God; they fall to the ground and they feel utterly unworthy. Glory! What is it? Well all I know is that it is perfect light, perfect love; it baffles description. So that everything that God does is in some shape or form the manifestation of His glory. – D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans Vol. 9, p. 224

Tolle Lege: In Christ Alone

Readability: 1

Length: 237 pgs

Author: Sinclair Ferguson

In Christ Alone is a collection of 50 articles written over two decades that the author one day noticed had a common theme. It is a theme that unites much of Paul’s letters together as well for the phrase “in Christ” appears in his letters 72 times. Thus it comes as no surprise that such a grand theologian as Sinclair Ferguson finds this grand theme uniting so many articles. Indeed it is a theme that should unite all that the minister does, for all of our salvation is in Christ alone. We have no other message but Christ and Him crucified. So it is with great joy I commend this book to you, for it ministered much Jesus unto me.

[F]or John, the events, imagery, and language of the Old Testament are like a shadow cast backward into history by Christ, the light of the world.

In Jesus, God began from the beginning. In a word in which sin infects us all from the womb (Ps. 51:5), it was not possible to begin with a mature man. Our Lord had to begin His work in prenatal darkness, mature through every stage of life in perfect fellowship with His Father, and then die in the deeper darkness that surrounded Him on Golgotha.

Our Lord’s self humbling is not merely exemplary it is saving.

When the wonder of the gospel breaks into your life, you feel as though you are the first person to discover its power and glory. Where has Christ been hidden all these years? He seems so fresh, so new, so full of grace. Then comes a second discovery-it is you who have been blind, but now you have experienced exactly the same as countless others before you. You compare notes. Sure enough, you are not the first! Thankfully you will not be the last.

The invisible is more substantial than the visible;

The future shapes the past;

The new is more fundamental than the past.

What does all this mean?

Simply put, it means that the story of the Lord Jesus, his person and work, is not a divine afterthought, a heavenly plan B hurriedly scrambles together when plan A went horribly wrong. No, the coming of Christ was in the plan before the fall. Everything that preceded it chronologically actually follows it logically.

In God’s workshop in this world, suffering is the raw material out of which glory is forged.