The God of Glory and Delight

Praise the LORD, all nations! Extol him, all peoples! (Psalm 117:1). Repeatedly in the Psalms, the reader is commanded to praise the Lord. It might seem strange that God would command people to sing his praises, as if he needs the encouragement. In fact, elsewhere in the Psalms we are told:

For every beast of the forest is mine,
the cattle on a thousand hills.
I know all the birds of the hills,
and all that moves in the field is mine.
“If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world and its fullness are mine.
(Psalm 50:10-12)

The one true God is not needy at all. He is completely sufficient- lacking nothing and possessing everything. So why would he command our praise? Consider this: Isn't it natural to praise the things you most delight in? How much more then should the One most enjoyable be praised? Far more deserving is he than your favorite movie, music, or sports team. C.S. Lewis provided wisdom when he wrote:

"...the most obvious fact about praise – whether of God or anything – strangely escaped me. I thought of it in terms of compliment, approval, or the giving of honour. I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise unless . . . The world rings with praise – lovers praising their mistresses [Romeo praising Juliet and vice versa], readers their favourite poet, walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favourite game. . . . I had not noticed either that just as men spontaneously praise whatever they value, so they spontaneously urge us to join them in praising it: 'Isn't she lovely? Wasn't it glorious? Don't you think that magnificent?' The Psalmists in telling everyone to praise God are doing what all men do when they speak of what they care about. My whole, more general, difficulty about the praise of God depended on my absurdly denying to us, as regards the supremely Valuable, what we delight to do, what indeed we can't help doing, about everything else we value.”

In short, without praise, the enjoyment of an object is not complete. God desires for us to worship because when we do so, we glorify the One worthy of praise, and to glorify him is the highest peak of delight in the human experience. God is commanding our delight at the same time he commands our praise.

When we come together as a church to worship on each Lord's Day, we praise the God who has redeemed us and provided through Christ the ability to enjoy the Most Enjoyable forever. We add nothing to him in this act. We do not make him more glorious, or more loving, or more gracious. We, together in Christ, tell of his eternal character and worth as the overflow of our hearts come forth on our lips. Digging deeper into this experience, however, we see that not only do we not serve him (by doing something he needs or lacks, Acts 17:25) but he continually serves his people while leading them toward himself. What he commands his people to do, he enables by his Word and Spirit. Jesus purchased a people for God at the cross, and the Spirit applies his work to sinners in real time through regeneration, which is spoken of through the prophet Ezekiel:

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from  all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. (Ezekiel 36:25-27, also 11:19-20, Jeremiah 31:33-34, 33:8)

God makes possible through Christ what sin and Satan had bound men from- true delight in God, right desires, and the ability to honor Him. In the Gospel, our Lord makes us able to praise Him. He has done this great thing, "so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:29-31).

As you stand in worship this Lord's Day, and you sing the praises of the Eternal King, know that he not only commands and delights in your praise, he also gives you the ability to do so, and in doing that, serves and builds up the church he gave his himself for, as the Scripture says, "for from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen" (Romans 11:36). As the multitudes stand in His glorious presence, magnify him with their hearts, and encounter his Word of truth, he binds the broken-hearted, comforts the anxious, gives peace to those far off, and brings to pass a thousand other applications. So, praise the LORD! Peoples of the earth! Glory be to God as he magnifies his glory and increases your delight in Him.

God's Sovereignty Over Satan

Jesus said that Satan has been a deceiver from the beginning. From the moment the snake stepped onto the pages of Scripture, his role and motives were firmly set. Satan tempted our first parents to believe a lie and the disaster that followed was immense. He continued this sinister trend as the biblical story unfolded- not always so obvious to the readers of Scripture. We don't always see his actions with perfect clarity, but he obviously sets himself against the saving plan of God. The curtain on his activity is pulled back in the temptation of Job, where Satan brings destruction to Job’s family, possessions, and health. Jesus revealed to Peter, before his denial of Christ, that the evil one desired to sift him like wheat. So, we know that the devil is behind the fall of many who willfully choose to follow the ungodly desires of their heart. He has always set his sights on those who seek to do the Lord’s will. He was certainly behind the rebellion of Israel during the Exodus, resulting in the judgment of an entire generation before they could enter the Promised Land. He, no doubt, had designs to thwart the plan of God by bringing nations to battle against the Lord’s people, by tempting Israel’s kings through lust and greed, and by enticing the people toward idolatry resulting in their exile. God’s grace must have been exhausting to him, but at every turn each man that had the appearance of God’s chosen one was found to be lacking. 

We should not be surprised that when Jesus came, demonic activity increased dramatically. Indeed, there were more demon-possessed people in the narratives, but we must also be aware that Satan was certainly at work in events such as Herod’s slaughtering of the children and the Pharisees’ plot to murder Christ. In spite of the devil's efforts, Jesus proved Himself to be pure and righteous by succeeding where Israel had failed. Satan could not bring Him to sin in the wilderness. Our Lord was the obedient Son the nation could never be. He was the true Israel. Satan had always preyed on the weak, but Christ was strong. This makes the crucifixion such an amazing moment in the sovereign plan of God. By all appearances, Satan had gained victory over man once again. The hatred of the people for Christ had resulted in His death, but in God’s wisdom, that death would bring forth eternal life. Satan would have known that God was just and holy, and because of this, would punish sinful man. What he did not know was that God would justly atone for the sins of His people by punishing His Son, the God-man, in their place. Jesus bore His Father's righteous wrath, and then demonstrated His power over death through His own resurrection. Satan had been a pawn in God’s eternal plan to exalt His Son and demonstrate His glory in a holy people who have the Lord as their King. Every failure of man in the pages of Scripture had been a small victory for Satan at the time- but only for a short while. Even those events were part of the infinite wisdom of God to manifest his glory and power in the work of Christ, and in those who would believe in the saving power of Jesus and receive Him as their greatest treasure. What a God worthy of praise! 

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

“For who has known the mind of the Lord,

or who has been his counselor?”

“Or who has given a gift to him

that he might be repaid?”

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. (Romans 11:33-36 ESV)

Our Joy in Ministry

This is a recent message I sent to those I serve alongside each week and know it applies to many others as well:

I've made the comment in the past that love is a burden. To pour yourself out for the sake of another often means the sacrifice of your own comfort. For instance, parenting children requires a great deal of time and energy, often at times which seem most inconvenient. This appears to warrant the label of "burden," maybe better, "burden of love." However, Scripture says love is not a burden at all. The apostle John goes through great lengths in his first epistle to link love and the commandments of God together as one and the same. When you obey the commandments of the Lord, you love, and vise-versa. The greatest commandment pertained to our loving God, and the second to our neighbor. These fulfilled the entire Law. John writes, "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome" (1 John 5:3). If the commandments are not burdensome, then to love will not be either, since they speak of the same thing. How then should I understand what could be conceived as inconvenience, sacrifice, duty and the like, for the sake of others? Again, a parental illustration. My older girls will often accompany me to perform various tasks. There is not necessarily anything really exciting about what we do. The duties could even be described as menial, but somehow there is a joy they have in it. This isn't because they like the work (though they might somehow). Their main satisfaction in it comes from the desire to please their father. This carries them through the work and provides them with joy in it. Christian ministry can often be filled with duties and circumstances that could be viewed as inconvenient and burdensome if not for the sake of love. God-honoring, Christ-exalting love meets the needs of others in the face of our loss of comfort. The Son of God stepped down from His exalted and glorious throne for a time to meet our greatest need (doing so with joy, and because of the promise of joy in the midst of suffering- Hebrews 12:2), and continues to provide the grace necessary to minister with gladness. The desire to be pleasing to the Father and to see others become more like Christ keeps love from being a burden and makes it a joy. This desire outweighs all else. I need this always to be impressed upon my heart, whether at home, at work, or in the fellowship of my brothers and sisters in Christ. So, I should probably change my vocabulary and cease to say that love is a burden, but rather know it as a joy which enables and empowers ministry that supersedes any other emotion or desire the circumstance may contain, however difficult, painful, or inconvenient it may appear. This is what love does (1 Corinthians 13:1-7). 

Thank you for inconveniencing yourself during the past year for the sake of the Gospel, for your love for your God and neighbor, and for the joy you had in the midst of it all; whether you loved on our babies (who may have been crying), or shared the love of Christ with a two year old with glue on your fingers. Some of you stacked and unstacked hundreds of chairs so others could sit and hear the Word of God. Others of you have spent countless hours answering the many questions of our young people and have been amazed at their insight, which will one day be passed on to the next generation. Several of you have been up late at night preparing lessons or sermons when it would have been far more comfortable to close up the book of life and turn on the TV. God bless the moms and dads who have gotten up early to get little ones ready for church when sleeping in and staying home was so attractive. Thank you for the hours spent on your knees and face in prayer for fellow members, friends, our community, nation, and world- that God would be exalted as He ministers to and in each; for your joyful giving when it seemed like good judgement to withhold your offering; by soaking your heart, mind and life with the transforming Word of grace, for overlooking a fault or forgiving another when the temptation was to do the opposite. Thank you for providing needed words of encouragement at the right moment, taking time to disciple or open your home, blessing others with your musical gifts, delivering meals to the sick or new moms, taking up offering, ushering, welcoming, changing diapers, providing coffee, signing in kids at the children's desk, planning events- ALL for the sake of Christ and in plain sight of your God, fragrant sacrifices pleasing to Him and blessing your soul. I hope and pray the coming year is filled with His grace, enabling each of you to be joyfully spent for the sake of His name, This is what the love of God does.

Your Fellow Worker in the Kingdom of Christ,

Lonnie Atwood

Unconverted Church Members

Mark Dever recently taught on the danger of a church having unconverted members. If you'd like to listen, click here. It's worth the time.

On the same subject, J.L. Reynolds wrote in 1849:

"It becomes well the disciples of the Saviour to guard well the door of admission into their fraternity. Upon their fidelity, in this respect, depend its efficiency, prosperity, and safety. An accession of nominal Christians may enlarge its numbers, but cannot augment its real strength. A Church that welcomes to the privileges of Christ's house, the unconverted, under the specious pretext of increasing the number of his followers, in reality betrays the citadel to his foes. They may glory in the multitudes that flock to their expanded gates, and exult in their brightening prospects; but the joy and the triumph will be alike transient. They have mistaken a device of the enemy for the work of God. They hailed, as they thought, an angel of light; they have received Satan. I admire and love the many sincere and zealous Christians that are found in such Churches; but I fear that this Trojan horse will finally prove their ruin."

Strong medicine from a 19th century SBC pastor, but it remains quite applicable for our time.

Exposed by the Word- 11/12/12

Ezekiel 33:13


Though I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, yet if he trusts in his righteousness and does injustice, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered, but in his injustice that he has done he shall die.

God is so gracious. He knows my heart and my situation better than I do. He knows (1) I desire to trust in my own righteousness and (2) that I will fail to be just in many deeds. I wake up every morning with a self-centered heart that is bent toward sin. During the day I want a spotlight on what I deem to be my successes and try to hide any of my failings as if they don't exist. When company comes to visit, the house appears to be sparkling clean, but the rough edges have been stored away inside the closets. God sees inside those places in my heart and doesn't simply leave them out of sight, but exposes them. This is gracious. He does not leave us where we are in our sin, nor will He allow us to claim our own righteousness. If we seek to justify ourselves before Him and claim our own merit, we will be judged for our deeds. I don't want this, and praise God it doesn't have to be this way. There is One who is righteous that stood in my place, taking my sin upon Himself, suffering and dying the death I deserved. Death couldn't conquer Him, but it would have conquered me. I need God to graciously continue to shine a light into my heart, exposing those things I'd like to justify or hide. I need to realize anew each day that my relationship with him isn't ultimately based on my performance, which is so flawed, but on the perfect work of His Son, Jesus Christ. Praise and glory be to Him.

Election, Free Will, Sovereignty, and Responsibility- Some Thoughts

Sometimes, it's the questions that others ask that force you to put your thoughts on paper (or a computer). Here are some of mine on an issue that was raised today...

Presently, one of the biggest points of contention in the Southern Baptist Convention, the denomination where I am a member, is that concerning God's sovereignty in salvation, free-will, election, etc. This is not a recent development in Baptist history, nor in protestant debates. At this time 400 years ago, the controversy was in full swing in Holland. In 1610, the followers of Jacob Arminius drafted what is known as the remonstrants- five articles of contention with the Calvinism that was present in their day. Eight years later in response, representatives from the Reformed churches from various countries in Europe wrote their own articles, broadly known today as the five points of Calvinism. When the Southern Baptist Convention was formed for the purpose of missions cooperation in 1845, there was no consensus on these issues, and there remains none today.

Whether Reformed or Arminian (some would say, Non-Calvinist) in their view of salvation, either side will agree in the existence of what Scripture terms the "elect." The former believes these have been chosen by God from eternity past for salvation, based on nothing foreseen in them. The latter, that God foresaw the future faith that certain individuals would exercise, and thus elected them to salvation. In either case, there must be agreement that only the elect will be saved- there is no more added to that number or subtracted from it than was foreknown by God prior to creation. The Great Commission, given by Christ to his followers, is the work the Lord's people do in bringing these men and women to believe by taking the Gospel to the corners of the earth. The certainty of their salvation provides great confidence in those who have been called to minister in the darkest regions of the world.

Both sides have their difficulties. If they did not, then there would be no dispute. Both sides can use Scripture to support their view. If they could not, then neither has any ground for argument. The Reformed view, it is argued, presents God as unfair by choosing some and not others. Because at the point of his choosing the elect no one (in the mass of humanity, or possible humanity) had done anything right or wrong, it appears to those who dissent to be arbitrary and unloving. In opposition, the Arminian view posits free will as the answer. Here, they say, God has sovereignly granted free will to his creatures so that they may choose for themselves whether or not they might come to him for salvation. The thought might be to remove God and his lack of equity from the equation and place the onus completely on man, but instead of solving the problem, it simply moves it. God chose to make this world just as it is, with all foreknowledge of future events. No doubt, he could have chosen to make a world where sin would not have existed, or where all people would come to salvation, or any other world we might think is more fair, or where God seems more loving, etc. (Seeing this as a problem, some in the Arminian stream formed the opinion that in order for God to be seen as completely loving and fair pertaining to salvation, He must not know all future events. They say, the future is open [Open Theism]. None inside mainstream evangelicalism hold this view, nor should they).

But He did not make those worlds. God made the world that He did for the supreme purpose of demonstrating his glory, to His praise, by His people. Paul, in speaking of the wonders of the Gospel, mentions this purpose three times in the first fourteen verses of Ephesians. God made a world where sin would exist, and as existant, would lead to the crucifixion of his Son- the most heinous of sins. This was not a back-up plan, but the only plan, ordained by God (Acts 2:23), for He was the Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world. With his blood He has ransomed a rebellious people from their sins, cleansing them and propitiating an angry God. Having been children of wrath, they are now adopted sons and daughters. What a glorious Savior! And this was God's intention.

Both sides agree that grace is necessary for anyone to believe in the gospel, therefore eliminating the idea that man is capable on his own to come to faith in Christ. Being fallen in his reason, affections and will, Scripture describes the unregenerate man as dead in his trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1), as a follower of the prince of this world (v.2), as a son of disobedience (v.3), blinded by Satan (2 Corinthians 4:4), and the like. Dead men can't walk and blind men can't see without some sort of intervention. Here is where God's grace is necessary, made possible through the preaching of the Gospel. The Reformed believe that grace does everything- regenerating the heart, bringing it to a place where it wills to receive Christ, and does so. The Arminian believes that grace takes the person, and their will, to a state where they can either accept or refuse the call of the Gospel. 

Within the pages of Scripture, there are many tensions, but the greatest of these is that of God's sovereignty, and the responsibility of man. If God is said to be sovereign over all things- the events that occur in history, the kings of the earth, each lightning bolt from heaven, and the salvation of men, the question arises, "how can man be responsible for his own actions?" The Apostle Paul asks this same question, and addresses it in Romans 9:19 and following, and it is here we arrive back at the argument of free will. No one comes to Christ unwillingly, but the question is why does he come? Scripture never divorces the parallel truths of sovereignty and responsibility. Preaching on this issue, Charles Spurgeon states: "They are believed to be inconsistent and contradictory; but they are not. It is just the fault of our weak judgment. Two truths cannot be contradictory to each other. If, then, I find taught in one place that everything is fore-ordained, that is true; and if I find in another place that man is responsible for all his actions, that is true; and it is my folly that leads me to imagine that two truths can ever contradict each other. These two truths, I do not believe, can ever be welded into one upon any human anvil, but one they shall be in eternity: they are two lines that are so nearly parallel, that the mind that shall pursue them farthest, will never discover that they converge; but they do converge, and they will meet somewhere in eternity, close to the throne of God, whence all truth doth spring."

Regardless of the theology one holds, we can clearly see in Scripture that God calls Christians to preach and teach the Gospel to everyone, without distinction. Whether the elect are ordained or foreseen by God, Southern Baptists, and all evangelicals are to carry out the Great Commission with the confidence that God will bring to Himself a people from every tongue, tribe, and nation. Injury is done to the unity of His people and to the Gospel when we caricature one another, or build straw men that do not exist, so that we can quickly tear them down. There will continue to be dialogue on this issue, as evidenced by the recent panel formed by the SBC executive committee to begin discussions on soteriology. These have been cordial and productive thus far, as they should be, but judging from our history, and that which precedes it, these issues are far from decided.

For those who have continued to read (thanks), I'd like to close with the words of Spurgeon (read the whole sermon here), who was always instructive, eloquent, and insightful: "Now, with regard to myself; you may some of you go away and say, that I was Antinomian in the first part of the sermon and Arminian at the end. I care not. I beg of you to search the Bible for yourselves. To the law and to the testimony; if I speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no light in me. I am willing to come to that test. Have nothing to do with me where I have nothing to do with Christ. Where I separate from the truth, cast my words away. But if what I say be God's teaching, I charge you, by him that sent me, give these things your thoughts, and turn unto the Lord with all your hearts."

In Christ,

Lonnie

There's Something About Marty

Two months ago I met a man named Marty, and he made a lasting impression on me. Standing in front of the NYMBA on 72nd Street in Manhattan, an old man with a cane approached me and asked in a heated voice, "are you one of those Jews who thinks Jesus is the Messiah?" Behind me was a poster with information about the Messianic Jews who met in the building. I told him no, but that I was an evangelical Christian who did believe that Jesus was the Christ. What followed was a long conversation (more of a one-sided rant), where Marty expressed his intense angst with people like me. I've never seen nor been a part of such a spectacle, and it continued as we slowly traversed the remainder of the city block with his loud voice blending into the noise of the city. Though old (and cranky), Marty had a sharp mind, even acknowledging that he had been a Pentecostal preacher for two years, while not believing the message that he preached. He knew the Bible, quoting portions of it, but believed they were the words of man- no different than what could be picked up at a corner news stand. In many ways, Marty is representative of the large city he lives in, and though he was more difficult to talk to than anyone I can remember having a conversation with, I appreciated his honesty about the worldview he held. He knew he was not a Christian. Rather, he boldly stated that he was an athiest, and I believe him. When a person knows who they are, it makes it much easier to have a productive conversation about truth. Well over 90% of New Yorkers are non-Christian, and though this is nothing to celebrate, at least we can speak plainly to each other.

In contrast, those who live in the Bible Belt are born into a culture of Christianity. This has great upside in that the Gospel is well-known and there are places of worship on almost every corner. It's not all upside, though. Here, Christianity can become a rite of passage rather than the counter-cultural message (foolishness according to Paul, 1 Cor. 1:18) it has always been. Parents assume that their children will be believers, as though they only need to acknowledge the lordship of Jesus, as if it were the same as believing 4+4=8. Both are true, but believing one of these requires a miracle from God. We preach, teach, persuade, and plead with men, women, and children to come to Christ and trust in the Gospel, but only God can wake the dead. He alone has power over life and death- many times in Scripture demonstrating his authority, ultimately in the raising of our Lord. His power over the physical realm also reaches into the spiritual. Deadness pervades here unless the God of life raises a man from the grave (Ephesians 2:1-6). Being inculcated in a culture cannot do this. The Jews grew tired of manna in the days of Moses and grumbled, and without any distinctive noise, many hearts in our pews have slowly hardened to a a message of joy because they believe they ate the bread long ago, and have no use for it anymore. Sadly, many will realize they never ate at all, because they put on the outside covering without experiencing inward change wrought by God through faith. We can't assure anyone of their conversion by pointing to one day long ago where they felt emotional about Christ or the Gospel. He himself taught that some who experienced initial joy would fall away for lack of root and pressures from the world (Matthew 13:20-21). Therefore, Scripture seeks to give assurance based on the evidence of one's life (1 John is full of this language) and the endurance of faith until the end (1 Corinthians 9:24-10:14; Hebrews 6:4-9). A new nature will bring forth different fruit.

It's been said by researchers that as many as 50% of our church members are non-regenerate (seems high doesn't it?). Though (hopefully) hearing it every week, they need the Gospel as much as Marty does. Each requires a mighty act of God to come to faith, but at least one knows he's not a Christian.