Sometimes we hear it said that ten minutes on your knees will give you a truer, deeper, more operative knowledge of God than ten hours over your books. “What!” is the appropriate response, “than ten hours over your books, on your knees?” Why should you turn from God when you turn to your books, or feel that you must from your books in order to turn to God? -B.B. Warfield, The Religious Life of Theological Students
Author: Josh King
The Pugilist: A Christless Cross
A Christless cross no refuge is for me;
A Crossless Christ my Savior may not be;
But, O Christ crucified! I rest in thee.– B.B. Warfield
Matthew 12:1-14 & Running by Religion
Most men don’t run from religion, they run by “religion” (please understand the nuanced, pejorative way I am using the word in contrast to true religion). Man’s preferred way to oppose God and His saving grace in Christ is by religion. The more truth mixed with this religion, the more deadly. The Pharisees, unlike the prostitutes, thought they were religious. Religion is the inoculation that causes one to cry out, “Lord, Lord, did we not…!”
What is “religion” in this pejorative sense? Religion is spelled, “d-o”. It’s about what you do. In contrast Christianity is spelled “d-o-n-e”. It’s about what Jesus has done. Religion is about a law you keep; Christianity is about a grace God gives. Religion builds pride and is for the “wise and understanding”; Christianity humbles and is for “little children”. In religion we ascend to heaven; in Christianity God descends to earth.
Sabbath, that is rest, is not something we work to achieve. Sabbath, for fallen man, has always flowed from redemption (cf. Deuteronomy 5:12-15). This is why the Sabbath is to be a delight (Isaiah 58:13-14); a day of rest and not a burden. We rest because He worked.
Jesus was born of a virgin, He took on human flesh, fully God and fully man He was the God-man; remaining what He was (God), He became what He was not (man). As the God-man He worked; He perfectly kept the law fulfilling all righteousness for us. His obedience climaxed in His willingly going to the cross and drinking the cup of the Father’s wrath against our sins down to the dregs. Now because of His work we have Sabbath.
So in one sense I plead with you to run from religion, that is, run from a reliance on your own good works to achieve any kind of eternal rest. Yes, don’t run by religion, but run from religion. Run from reliance in your good works which are as filthy rags and rely wholly on His good works.
The Pugilist: Perfectionism’s Imperfections
Perfectionism is impossible in the presence of a deep sense or a profound conception of sin. This movement proclaimed, it is true, only in attenuated perfectionism perfectionism merely of conduct. But this involved a correspondingly attenuated view of sin. – B.B. Warfield, The “Higher Life” Movement
Matthew 11:25-30 & The Joy of Revelation and Redemption
Revelation and redemption go together; they are inseparable. Revelation normally both precedes and follows redemption; and revelation always causes redemption (I am speaking of the application of redemption). Revelation is not simply the imparting of raw data, but the knowledge of a Person (v. 27). Revelation is not something we seize, but something God graciously gives.
Here we see God withholds revelation from the “wise” and gives revelation to little children. The “wise” are those who have a form or worldly wisdom, in opposition to the wisdom that comes from God. It is a wisdom ignorant of God, apart from God, and in opposition to God. Specifically it looks at God’s redemptive revelation and thinks it foolish (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:18-2:16). So just as the “righteous” in Matthew 9:11-12 are not really righteous, so here the “understanding” don’t understand. They don’t understand for two reasons: sin within, and revelation withheld (Matthew 11:20-24).
It is important to realize that God’s hiding and revealing are not symmetrical. God’s does not hide and reveal in the same way. God positively gives light, but He does not positively give darkness. God’s hiding is an act of judgment on those who do not wish to see; His revealing is an act of grace on those who do not deserve to see. Thus Jesus denounces the cities for their unbelief and praises God for hiding revelation from them. God does not hide revelation from men who are otherwise trying to find Him. No one is trying to find Him (Romans 3:11). God is the predator, we are the prey. If we refuse it is due to darkness within. If we come is is due to light from without.
Revelation as an act of grace is not merited by definition. Grace is undeserved. No one has a right to it. Only judgement is merited. Some get justice, some get mercy, no one gets injustice. The astounding thing is not that God chooses some, but that He chooses any. If we are undeserving, why does God reveal to any at all? Because it is His “good pleasure” (v. 26 NIV). In Luke this is even more apparent as Jesus thanks God rejoicing in the Holy Spirit (Luke 10:21).
Imagine the proudest Father, and the most deluded son. Picture that father who already believes that his son is the next hall of famer even though he is only six years old, and his son who thinks his dad is some genius-millionaire-superhero; and then magnify their delight and delusions to infinity. Then realize that God the Father, and God the Son are like this, yet they never exaggerate the other. The Father’s Son really is perfect, the Son’s Father really can do anything, and they both want you to know it! The Father wants you to be thrilled at His Son, the Son wants you to marvel at His Father, and they send the Holy Spirit to open your eyes. You are saved because God is so happy in Himself. The entire Trinity rejoices in redemptive revelation. You were redeemed in joy, now joy in your redemption.
The Pugilist: Duty and Love
Love itself, indeed, is a duty; and in loving, we fulfil our obligation. When Augustine says, “Love and do what you please,” it is with the maxim in his mind that love is the fulfillment of the law, in the sense that love is in order to duty, and instrument to the meeting of obligation. It is a fundamental mistake to set love and duty in opposition to one another, as if they were alternative principles of conduct. We cannot try a cause between the religion of love and the religion of duty as litigants — as if we were trying the cause between spontaneous and legalistic religion. Love should be dutiful and duty should be loving. What God has joined together, why should we seek to separate? If we could think of a love which is undutiful — that could not be thought of as an expression of religion; any more than a dutifulness without affection. What we are really doing is discussing the affectional and the ethical elements in religion and seeking to raise the question whether we prefer emotion or conscientiousness in religion. The only possible answer is — both. -B.B. Warfield, The Mystical Perfectionism of Thomas Upham
Matthew 11:20-24 & Jesus’ Love
Jesus’ mighty works call for repentance? This is backwards from how we might normally think of Jesus miracles. Simplistically we may think Jesus’ mighty works only demonstrate His love and compassion. Certainly it makes no sense to think that Jesus’ cleansing the leper was a demonstration of His wrath, His judgment. He did not condescend thinking, “I’m so angry I want to heal someone.”
We understand acts of judgment calling for repentance like those we see in the Exodus against Egypt and those against Israel as they wandered in the wilderness. The many judgments on Israel throughout the Old Testament called for repentance. Those were mighty acts of judgment, but here, Jesus’ deeds are mighty acts of salvation.
So how is it that Jesus’ cleansing lepers, healing the sick and paralyzed, casting our demons, restoring sight to the blind and speech to the mute, and raising the dead call for repentance? It is because these deeds, while they do demonstrate Jesus’ love and compassion, also evidence His authority; a supreme authority that calls for full and total allegiance. His miracles are a summons to Himself. His miracles are wed to His message, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matthew 4:17).” You may not enjoy the show without submission. You cannot take the benefits of the Christ without the cost of the cross.
We cannot neuter Jesus’ love. It is a holy love, a love that comes with authority, a love that demands. Jesus’ love is love with a backbone. It is a love that would not be loving if this were not so. Jesus doesn’t just love us for the sake of loving us. He does not save us just to save us. He saves us for His glory. We must remember that Jesus is not idolatrous. There is something He loves more than you and me, namely, Himself. Jesus is holy, He is unique, His love is like no other. God is the only being in the universe for whom vanity is a virtue. In upholding the value and worth of His name, Jesus is making much of that which will most satisfy our souls.
The Pugilist: Mysticism Too Spiritual
The Quietist’s preoccupation, in other words, was not with sin but with nature. The Protestant, whose preoccupation was with sin, did not look for the annihilation of nature, but for the eradication cf its sin. But what the Quietist sought to be delivered from was self. It was not a purified nature he sought but a superior nature. …To the Protestant when sin is gone, nature remains — the whole of nature; sin is merely an accident to nature. To the Quietist it is only when “nature” is gone that “sin” is gone; what he is thinking of chiefly when he says “sin” is that limitation of “nature” which constitutes its essential character. There is no cure for this evil but passage into the All. -B.B. Warfield, The Mystical Perfectionism of Thomas Upham
Matthew 11:7-19 & True Greatness
Why is John such a big deal? Because Jesus is such a big deal.
If Jesus were only a man the hubris here would be unforgivable. Imagine that you introduce me next time I preach. I then begin my message by saying “Among those born of women, no one has arisen greater than you, for you have introduced me.” No man who says such a thing deserves our admiration. We all have a god complex. We all idolize and worship self, but the person who says such a thing wants everyone to recognize him as god.
With anyone else this is Usain Bolt like egomania, but with Jesus this is legit and loving. If you really see Jesus, you beg for him not to point you to others “greatness”, not even to your own, but to direct your attention only to Him. You don’t care for Jesus to boost your ego. You want Him to lead you away from the shallows of self to the depths of divinity.
Why is John so great? Not because of his person, but because of his office; not because of his character, but because of his function.
How are we greater than John? Not because of our person, but because of our proximity to Jesus. John was greater not because he performed more signs than the prophets before him (John 10:41), nor because he preached a different message. He was greater because of his proximity to Jesus. We have seen Jesus with greater clarity than John. We have experienced the kingdom to a degree that John never did. We are able to point more clearly to Jesus and with greater understanding say, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”
So often Christians want to establish their “greatness” with reference to their work, their giving, their intelligence, their preaching, their gifts, their courage, their discernment. But Jesus unhesitatingly affirmed that even the least believer is greater than Moses or John the Baptist, simply because of his or her ability, living on this side of the coming of Jesus the Messiah, to point him out with greater clarity and understanding than all his forerunners ever could. If we really believe this truth, it will dissipate all cheap vying for position and force us to recognize that our true significance lies in our witness to the Lord Jesus Christ. – D.A. Carson
Tolle Lege: Reckless Abandon
Readability: 1
Length: 204 pp
Author: David Sitton
Few books capture the cross-carrying, lay-down-your-life, radical nature of discipleship that Jesus says is essential. Fewer still capture it by example. Here is not just a call for us to lay down our lives so the the name of Jesus will be exalted by the nations, here is an example of it. David Sitton’s Reckless Abandon is a modern missions tale that grips me the way the classics do. It makes me want to cry out with Paul, “But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.”
reckless abandon /rˈe-kləs ə-bˈan-dən/: to give oneself unrestrainedly to the cause of Jesus and the promotion of his kingdom without concern for danger and the consequences of that action.
By this definition are we to be recklessly abandoned for Christ and the gospel among the nations? Or should we be more cautious? Should we only go into the world with the gospel where we can safely do so? What do we do when we find that it’s impossible to manage the risks or to minimize the dangers to reasonable levels? Do we go – no matter what? Or do we wait until the red carpet rolled out for us?
It is puzzling to me as a leader in mission, when I am cautioned, even rebuked, by stateside believers that we should restrict our missionaries to only the “safe places.” It seems as though many in the West believe we should attempt to engage only those people groups that present “reasonable risks” to our missionaries. The not-so-subtle assumption is that missionaries should be routinely evacuated out of danger zones.
Why is it presumed that American missionaries have the “right” to require safe living conditions? By the way, this is almost completely a Western concept. Believers in the rest of the world assume that following Christ is naturally hazardous to their health! They live as lambs among wolves, expecting to be mistreated because wolves eat lambs! Why do we think we should be exempt from what Jesus said would be the normal experience of His followers?
If it is admirable for military men to die on foreign soil for American freedom and laudable for firemen to risk their lives for citizens in peril, why are missionaries dubbed as irresponsible fools when they choose to remain in perilous situations with their families, “risking their necks” for their friends and the gospel of Christ?
Here is my rationale for regularly sending missionaries with the gospel into hostile surroundings: Risk assumes the possibility of loss and is always determined by the value of the mission. The gospel is so valuable that no risk is unreasonable. Life is gained by laying it down for the gospel. If I live, I win and get to keep on preaching Christ. If I die, I win bigger by going directly to be with Christ and I get to take a few tribes with me.
No Other Boast 