New Discoveries
A New Land
One of the great things about visiting a country you’ve never been to before is making new discoveries. I had never been to a land like Afghanistan before – so everything was new. The terrain. The climate. The people. The culture. Discovering new things is always healthy no matter what it is (a new skill, a new hobby, a new country, a new people, a new language, etc.) Its stimulating and stretching.
And the same can be true when it comes to Scripture. The Bible is such that we will always be making new discoveries. In one sense we know it well. We know the heart of its message is God Himself and His rescue plan in the Lord Jesus Christ. We know there are 66 books in the Bible which have been written over many hundreds of years. We know there is a unity and a coherence to the Bible, despite the variety there is from over 40 different writers. We know the Bible is God’s Word written. And yet there’s so much that we do not know in Scripture which is waiting to be discovered.
Here’s a verse for example from Isaiah 33.5. The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high; he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness, and he will be the stability of your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is Zion’s treasure.
I’m sure I’ve read this verse before. But as I returned to it recently, I was certainly discovering old truths in new ways. Let me mention a couple.
First, the Lord will be the stability of our times. King Hezekiah was having a roller-coaster of a time with the threat of Sennacherib and the Assyrian army. Everything must have seemed so delicate and fragile – and the future very uncertain. Yet along comes Isaiah who boldly says that within the changing scenes of life, God is our (that is, His people’s) security. He is our constant. During my study leave I’ve been taking much more notice of the news on TV and in the newspapers. It’s all very scary. The meltdown in the eurozone. The US not able to pay it’s bills. The killings in Norway. The phone hacking and bribery scandal haunting the British press. We may not be under military threat like Hezekiah was. But there’s no question we’re living in a time when anything could happen globally, nationally, locally or personally. The response of faith is Isaiah’s response. The Lord is exalted (which is another way of saying that His rule cannot be overcome by others). He is our stability. Our certainty.
Then second, at the end of v.6: the fear of the Lord is his treasure. The people of Zion are just like us – always being tempted by lots of different kinds of treasures and rewards (personal security, money, popularity, material possessions etc.). And like Zion, we sometimes choose these kind of things before choosing God. But the treasure that matters is the fear of the Lord – the complete and entire devotion of the whole person to the Lord. The words of Jesus in Matthew 6.33 come to mind: Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added to you. The emphasis is on ‘first’. What comes first in the choices and decisions we make? What comes first in our desires, wishes and ambitions?
As I say, in one sense, there is nothing new in these discoveries. And yet sometimes they come at us in a new way and with a fresh force. God is our stability. He and the fear of Him is our treasure.
John Stott and ‘Bash’
On my bookshelf at home I have a book called ‘Christ the Controversialist’. I can’t remember the detail of how I acquired this. But inside the front cover are these personal, hand-written words: E.J.H.Nash, with love and enduring gratitude, from John. Feb 1970.
The ‘John’ was John Stott. The ‘E.J.H.Nash’ (known as ‘Bash’) was the man who led John Stott to faith in the Lord Jesus in 1938. And the book, ‘Christ the Controversialist’ was one of the earlier of the 51 books written by Stott (first published in February 1970). Interestingly, it hardly ever gets a mention when people talk of Stott’s books. Quite rightly ‘Basic Christianity’ and the ‘Cross of Christ’ are given pride of place. But ‘Christ the Controversialist’ should not be forgotten. It was a challenge to the growing momentum of ecumenism at that time which inevitably was watering down some of the controversial teachings of Christ himself in the gospels (for example, salvation as a gift, not a reward). Essentially, it was an apologia for evangelicalism.
But my purpose in mentioning this is because of Bash and what we know of him from Dudley Smith’s biography of Stott. Here is a quote from one who knew Bash well.
He was neither athletic nor adventurous. He claimed no academic prowess or artistic talent. It is true that he possessed certain gifts which would have been useful in any field – a remarkable intuition, a shrewd common sense, a degree of business acumen and a sense of humour. But the secret of his remarkable influence lay deeper than this. (John Eddison)
And here is an impression from Stott himself (p.93):
He was nothing much to look at, and certainly no ambassador for muscular Christianity. Yet as he spoke I was riveted. His text was Pilate’s question: ‘What then shall I do with Jesus, who is called the Christ?’ That I needed to do anything with Jesus was an entirely novel idea to me, for I had imagined that somehow he had done whatever needed to be done, and that my part was only to acquiesce. This Mr.Nash, however, was quietly but powerfully insisting that everybody had to do something about Jesus, and that nobody could remain neutral. Either we copy Pilate and weakly reject him, or we accept him personally and follow him.
Dudley Smith then makes this comment (p.94):
As was his custom, Bash exerted no pressure for any immediate decision. But through the rest of that Sunday John was coming to terms with what he had heard in the talk with its challenge of ‘What shall I do with Jesus?’, and with how Bash had applied it so accurately to his condition…
This was part of Stott’s entry in his diary on Monday 14th February 1938: ….Behold! He stands at the door and knocks. I have heard Him and now is He come into my house. He has cleansed it and now rules therein. If Satan comes along and knocks at the door, I will not go and answer it, succumbing to the ‘pleasures of sin’, – but Christ will go to the door, at whose sight Satan will flee. If Christ is my Master, sin is dead under my feet.
What is significant here, is what an unlikely person the Lord used to bring such a man as John Stott to faith in Christ. It is a fine illustration of the Pauline principle in 1 Corinthians 1.26: For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. First and foremost this is an explanation of God’s work through the Cross. But the principle at work behind this can be true to every aspect of the Lord’s work – not least to his choice of choosing Bash to lead John Stott to faith. In the world’s eyes, Bash probably didn’t add up to much. And yet he was wonderfully used by God. What an encouragement to all of us in the Lord’s service.
John Stott Pre Conversion 2
Listening to John Stott talk about his pre-Christian days is valuable because so many of us will be able to identify with his description of what it was like. It’s popular today to speak of conversion in terms of a process rather than an event at a particular point in time. From a human perspective this is understandable. Although some can’t put their finger on exactly when it was they were converted, they know for sure there was a time when they were unregenerate and now they are regenerate. From God’s perspective however, there is a specific point in time for every Christian when they ‘cross the line’; and it’s not described in terms of a progression (from bad to not so bad) but as a contrast (from death to life). You were dead….but God….made us alive. Eph.2.1,4-5. This explains, I think, why a Christian will be able to describe their pre-Christian days in terms of dissatisfaction, and maybe even desperation.
Listen to John Stott’s account of his pre-Christian state (John Stott; The Making of a Leader. Timothy Dudley Smith. p.90)
I can still remember my own perplexity when as a boy I said my prayers and tried to penetrate into God’s presence. I could not understand why God seemed shrouded in mists and I could not get near him. He seemed remote and aloof. I know the reason now.
We are tempted to say to God, as in the Book of Lamentations, ‘Thou hast wrapped thyself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass through.’ But in fact God is not responsible for the cloud. We are. Our sins blot out God’s face from us as effectively as the clouds do the sun.
Many people have confessed to me that they have had the same desolate experience. Sometimes, in emergencies, in danger, in joy or in the contemplation of beauty, God seems to them to be near, but more often than not they are aware of an inexplicable awayness from God, and they feel abandoned. This is not just a feeling; it is a fact. Until our sins are forgiven, we are exiles, far from our true home. We have no communion with God. In biblical terms we are ‘lost’, or ‘dead through the trespasses and sins’ which we have committed.
To speak accurately and biblically of our pre-Christian days takes skill and thought. None of us were born Christian. At some point, if we are now converted, God changed us. John Stott gives us a model of how to articulate these things clearly and for the benefit of those that wish to know what conversion is all about.
Prayer Patterns
An Afghan Wooden Carving on a shop door in Chicken Street, Kabul
O Lord, be gracious to us; we wait for you. Be our arm every morning, our salvation in the time of trouble. Isaiah 33.2
You could be forgiven for thinking that this verse from Isaiah 33 is actually part of a psalm. In fact, the sentiment of the verse certainly is echoed many times in the psalms, even if the exact words aren’t.
There’s an example here of how the translation of one word can change the meaning of a verse. The ESV begins the second sentence: Be our arm…. So it’s God’s people praying and they are collectively asking that the Lord may be their strength in the time of trouble. Motyer however, along with some other commentators gives a different reading: Be their arm every morning… The point is that it is the prophet praying on behalf of the people that the Lord will be their salvation. How significant this difference is, is open to debate. But Motyer seems to take it pretty seriously: the alteration to ‘our arm’ is the worst sort of pedantic tampering’ !!
Let’s assume that Motyer is onto something and therefore recognise that there is a lesson here for the pastor/teacher. To begin with, he is praying for those under his care. He knows that if they are to change it will only be the Lord who can bring that about. So we must pray for those that we pastor – not because they can’t or shouldn’t pray for themselves, but because God has placed them into our care.
But notice as well what Isaiah believes about God.
He is gracious. O Lord be gracious to us. Given what we already know about the waywardness of Israel and Judah, if God is to bring about a transformation, it will only be because He is gracious. Nothing else.
He is faithful. Isaiah must have believed this – because otherwise he would not have been able to say: we wait for you. This isn’t the kind of ‘waiting at the bus stop’ waiting. Instead it’s the kind of waiting that is full of action and obedience. Because the Lord has promised to do that (for example, to establish his justice and righteousness) I will do this, and this and this….. (for example, to love God and my neighbour). This is a reminder to me to keep on going back to the promises that are ours in the Lord Jesus and His gospel – because these will be the fuel to drive a life of wholehearted obedience.
He is strong. Be their arm in the mornings. When Wendi Deng, the wife of Rupert Murdoch, sprung to his defence, it was her arm that went forth into the face of the shaving foam throwing assailant! The arm is a symbol of strength. Everyday we need God’s strength (we are naturally weak in every way). And we need it from the word ‘go’. From the very beginning of each day. One writer says: Everyday the besetting dangers were present; each new day should find present the strength of God.
Today I read a prayer of J.H.Jowett (a Congregational pastor who ministered over 100 years ago in England). Dear God, remember us in our work today. May we turn nothing out half done. May we glorify thee by honest good work; for the sake of him who completed his work for us, even Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. To glorify God in all that we do, we need the strength of God at all times. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Phil.4.13 i.e. no matter what the situation, in Christ, I have the resource to remain obedient and true to Him.
And finally, He saves. Our salvation in times of trouble. God Himself is the salvation of His people. The salvation of God is personal and relational, not mechanical and impersonal. And the evidence of this is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself and what he achieved through His death and resurrection. Or in other words, Christianity is Christ. In terms of the small print (i.e. how God saves us moment by moment in the here and now) we may never know. But the big salvation (from the presence of sin and death) that is still to come at the end of the age and has been secured through all that Christ has already done, will be for all to see.
So it’s a great prayer. Short enough for anyone to remember. Pastors should definitely be praying it everyday for themselves and others. But anyone can pray it – and know that the Lord will answer.
John Stott Pre Conversion 1
Rugby School Chapel
John Stott died yesterday at 3.15pm. Or to be more precise, by the grace of God and because of His gospel, John Stott passed straight into the eternal and heavenly presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. During my first curacy, I and a few other ‘green’ curates met a few times with John Stott at his flat in London to informally discuss a theological/doctrinal book. I didn’t know him well – but had enough contact to get a gist of the kind of Christian man, pastor and leader he was.
I’ve decided to return to Timothy Dudley-Smith’s biography of John Stott (John Stott: The Making of a Leader). I’m going to put short extracts of this book on my blog which I think may be of interest. I expect his biography has been read mostly by ministers. But it deserves to be more widely read.
Here’s an extract from Ch.5 – Rugby 1938-40: Beginning with Christ.
Adolescence is typically a time when many young people experience some sense of searching for the divine, and John Stott was no exception:
“As a typical adolescent I was aware of two things about myself, though doubtless I could not have articulated them in these terms then. First, if there was a God, I was estranged from him. I tried to find him, but he seemed to be enveloped in a fog I could not penetrate. Secondly, I was defeated. I knew the kind of person I was, and also the kind of person I longed to be. Between the ideal and the reality there was a great gulf fixed. I had high ideals but a weak will.”
Something of those high ideals has already been illustrated in John’s story. There was a desire to be the best, a wish to serve, an active if uneducated social conscience; and perhaps too a personal pride which was wounded when the gulf between the ideal and the reality became too plain. A faith which would satisfy continued to elude him: religion there was in plenty; but not a religion which could meet his needs:
“Convinced that there was more to religion than I had so far discovered, I used on half-holiday afternoons to creep into the Memorial Chapel by myself, in order to read religious books, absorb the atmosphere of mystery, and seek for God. but he continued to elude me…What brought me to Christ was a sense of defeat and of estrangement, and the astonishing news that the historic Christ offered to meet the very needs of which I was conscious”.
No doubt other factors had been at work in God’s good providence long before these solitary periods of divine discontent in Memorial Chapel, a little oppressed by its solemnity, its atmosphere of stillness and silence, the half-light from stained glass windows, the little books of devotion put out by the chaplains for the boys to read. Here John would come, seeking God:
“I think I can say it was that. I had no doubt that he existed, and I was never troubled with that kind of doubt, but I also knew that I didn’t know him…I had this sense of alienation and separation……although I could work up some sort of religious feeling it was with a sense of great disappointment, I think I can say of disillusionment, that I couldn’t find what I was wanting: either a mystical relationship on the one had or power on the other”
The outward trappings of religion can be very persuasive and subtle. Interestingly, this was exactly my own experience in my early teenage years – and I expect is also the experience of many who were exposed to a well organised, formal diet of religion in their teenage years. It can be both – appealing and soul destroying – at the same time. Stott has more to say on this in the next blog.
Generous Justice
Men and women waiting for their appointment at the new Mental Health Clinic on the outskirts of Herat, Afghanistan. It's estimated that 60% of Afghans have some kind of mental health issue.
Tim Keller in his book Generous Justice tells the story of a single mother who was attending his church where he first served in Virginia. She had financial problems and the church family wanted to help her. This happened, but she abused this help by spending the money on sweets, junk food, and meals for the children instead of paying off her debts. The deacons were furious and wanted to stop the help the church was giving to this woman. Their reasoning was this: “Christians should not be concerned about poverty and social conditions, but about saving souls”. Were they right? Needless to say, Keller, with the help of Scripture, challenged them!
One of the failings of Judah exposed by Isaiah was their injustice. For example. Is.1.17. Seek justice, correct oppression, bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause. In 29.21, when the people are charged with turning “aside him who is in the right”. God’s conclusion is that “this people draw near with their mouth and honour me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me” (29.13). Isaiah seems convinced that a lack of justice within the covenant community is a sign that the worshippers’ hearts are not right with God at all. Their religious activity therefore, is deeply offensive to God.
One of the challenges of discipleship is how this justice is worked out by followers of the Lord Jesus today. In connection with this, Keller refers to a sermon of Jonathan Edwards, a pastor who ministered in America in the mid-18th century. The sermon he preached is called The Duty of Charity to the Poor. The reason he preached it was to challenge people in his congregation who wanted to put limits on Christ’s injunction to love your neighbour (Luke 10.37). The objections raised were these. 1. Though my neighbour is in need, he is not in desperation. 2. Though my neighbour is in need, I have nothing to spare. 3. Though my neighbour is in need, he has an ungrateful spirit and attitude. 4. Though my neighbour is in need, he has brought it upon himself.
What is interesting is that Edwards responds to each of these objections from the perspective of the Cross. So for example, in dealing with the objection that many of those in need have brought it upon themselves and don’t deserve any help, Edwards says this: Christ loved us, and was kind to us, and was willing to relieve us, though we were very hateful persons, of an evil disposition, not deserving of any good….so we should be willing to be kind to those who are …very undeserving. Edwards is also very practical in his countering these objections. So, he says, your neighbour may well be ungrateful and may not deserve your love – but what about his dependents?
Working and thinking through what a life of justice and righteousness might look like in the life of a Christian isn’t easy. But a non-negotiable is that we must always do this through the perspective of the Cross. What is striking is that anyone who is trusting in that once for all, wrath bearing, substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus Christ for forgiveness and life, will reflect in some manner the justice and righteousness of God in their dealings with people.
We should expect this and work at it.
Happy are those who Sow
Sowers in Bamiyan, Afghanistan
You may remember that Isaiah 28-35 gives to us a series of woes spoken by the Lord to his people through the ministry of his servant. There are some themes that are identifiable in each of these woes. Sin. Judgement. Trust. Transformation.
But each ‘woe’ is distinctive. For example, in chapters 31 and 32. The particular sin that is exposed in this ‘woe’ is corruption within Judah. Judgement is the Lord confounding the devices of his people and attacking like a lion (31.4). The promise to trust is the Lord’s word that Assyria will fall by a sword that is not of man (31.8-9). And the transformation centres on a righteous king and the pouring out of God’s Spirit that will result in a new creation (32.1, 15, 16-18). The conclusion is 31.20: Happy are you who sow beside all waters, who let the feet of the ox and the donkey range free.
E.J.Young sums it up like this: The changes that are to occur are the work of God alone. His purposes will be carried out. The judgement will come and with it, the promised peace. What then is the responsibility of his people? Continue in their own work, wisely living for him.
So what might this mean? For the Christian today, all these themes come into clear focus in the crucified, risen, and reigning Lord Jesus. So what might our response look like? Its sobering that in Isaiah’s day it was the religious people/leader that were most skilled at trusting in everything but God. So how might keen evangelicals do that today?
It’s a humbling thing to stop and catalogue the agents of transformation that Isaiah includes in these ‘woes’. Kirk Patston lists some of them. God’s justice working presence (28.5-6). A precious cornerstone (28.16). A person who trusts (28.16). God’s grace and compassion (30.18). A teacher who offers clear and contemporary instruction (30.21). A decision of God to ‘pass over’ his people (31.5). A righteous king (32.1). An outpouring of the Spirit (32.15).
As people who now have the full canon of Scripture, a knowledge of God’s purposes in the Lord Jesus and the sending of the Spirit at Pentecost, so much of Isaiah’s vision has come true for us! Not all of it, of course. There’s more to come. But a lot has. So we know our God is worthy of our trust. These chapters remind us that He is our Creator. But also our Redeemer. The Lord’s willingness to come to the aid of his people is amazing. His power to achieve the transformation He promises is indisputable. His character is not in doubt.
So how do we live in the light of these realities? A couple of examples immediately come to mind. First, in marriage. I’m taking a wedding rehearsal tonight for a couple who will be married in two days time. But the question is: who and what will they choose to be the foundation of their marriage in the years to come? This requires a deliberate choice on their part. The Lord’s word on how a husband and wife ought to live together is different and in contrast to what the gurus of society say (think of the matter of headship, for example!). So which wisdom will shape and mould the life of a Christian couple? The Lord’s or the world’s?
A second example is the leadership of Christian camps. Many young people will be attending camps over the summer holidays. But how will these camps be led? There are many alternatives to choose from which will reflect a variety of different doctrinal positions. So again, a choice needs to be made by those in leadership. For example, when the cross is explained, will the leader present God’s explanation in terms of penal substitution (Christ dying in my place to take the penalty I deserve from a holy God)? Or will he or she choose an alternative that will be less offensive and more acceptable?
At the end of the day, it is these kind of everyday opportunities and situations that will force us to make choices that will demonstrate where our trust is. Isaiah Chs 31 and 32 give us every cause to trust in the Holy One of Israel.
