Pastor Beheaded in Tanzania in Religion

The aftermath of religion-linked violence in Geita, Tanzania (IRIN).

 

International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that the pastor of an Assemblies of God Church in Tanzania was killed Monday in a brawl between Christians and Islamic extremists. All Africa News reported that Pastor Mathayo Kachili was beheaded by a mob of Islamic extremists.
According to Denis Stephano, the local police commander, tensions between Muslims and Christians in Buseresere, a town located in Tanzania's Geita Region, had been boiling over for quite some time before the attack. The source of these tensions was whether Christians were allowed to open and operate butcheries in Buseresere.
Witnesses told ICC's contact in Tanzania that Muslims in the area were upset that Christians had opened up butcheries that catered to other Christians. According to All Africa News, Muslim leaders demanded the immediate closure of butcheries owned by Christians.
Monday at around 9 a.m., Christians delivering meat to the Tanzania Assemblies of God Church were attacked by a gang of youths believed to be Muslim extremists. "A group of radical Islamists armed with machetes, big clubs, knives and sticks assaulted [the Christians] and seriously beat them," said an ICC contact in Tanzania.
When Pastor Kachili heard about the attack, he rushed to the scene to intervene. "When the Muslims saw him they rapidly attacked him," ICC's contact said. In the process of the attack, Pastor Kachili was beheaded.
When news of the attack spread, Christians in the area rushed to the scene and began attacking the Muslim extremists. According to ICC's contact, the attackers were driven away and hid from the Christians in a Mosque before the police were able to intervene. One of the attackers was seriously injured and later died in the ICU unit of a nearby hospital.
Riot police were dispersed into the area and the situation is starting to return to normal, local police told the press. Pastor Kachili leaves behind a wife and several children who depended on his salary to make a living.
ICC's Regional Manager for Africa, William Stark, said, "Violent attacks against Christians are on the rise in East Africa. Just last week, two Christian pastors in Garissa, Kenya were attacked by Islamic extremists suspected to be connected with al-Shabab. The increase of attacks on Christians can be linked to the spread of radical Islam across East Africa. Groups like al-Shabab and its sympathizers have shown that they are not afraid to attack and kill Christians in countries that are traditionally thought of as Christian.
"Until the issue of radical Islam is confronted in East Africa, we will continue to see attacks on Christians and other minority groups. If ignored, the spread of radical Islam has the potential to turn East Africa into another Nigeria or Mali, where Christians are persecuted and killed by the hundreds." http://www.charismanews.com/world/38273-pastor-beheaded-in-tanzania-in-religion-linked-brawl

PREACHING IN A SECULAR CULTURE 4. Timothy Keller

4. AIM AT THE HEART (NOT THE EMOTIONS, OR EVEN THE MIND)

AFFECTIONS VERSUS EMOTIONS

It has been said that the heart is not so much the center of emotions as it is the control center of one’s personal­ity, where you make your decisions and decide on the direction of your life. No one expounded this in greater detail than Jonathan Edwards, and one of his most enduring contributions is his Religious Affections. Instead of accepting the typical Western division of will versus emotions, Edwards gave a more central place to the heart and spoke of the heart’s “affections,” by which he meant “the inclination of the soul” to like or dislike, to love or reject.

The affections are, of course, related to emotions, but they are not the same thing. For example, we feel the emotion of anger when we are insulted, because we have set our affections too fully on our own reputation, human acclaim, or approval. The affections are what Edwards called the most ”vigorous and sensible exercises” of the heart; and in the Bible true religious affections are called the “fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22-26).

Edwards’s contribution is especially important regarding the unity of the faculties. He refused to pit one’s understanding and one’s affections against each other. Gracious affections are raised up only when a person has a spiritual understanding of the true nature of God. In other words, if a person says, “I know God cares for me, but I am still paralyzed by fear,” Edwards would reply that you don’t really know that God cares for you, or the affection of confidence and hope would be rising within you.6

USEFUL VERSUS BEAUTIFUL

Now we can see how important this is for preachers. If Edwards is right, there is no ultimate opposition between “head” and “heart.” We must not assume, for example, if our listeners are materialistic that they only need to be exhorted to give more. Though guilt may help with the day’s offering, it will not alter one’s life patterns. If people are materialistic and ungenerous, it means they have not truly understood how Jesus, though rich, became poor for them. They have not truly understood what it means to have all riches and treasures in Jesus Christ. It means their affections are causing them to cling to material riches as a source of security, hope, and beauty. Thus in preaching we must present Christ in the particular way that he replaces the hold of competing affections. This takes not just intellectual argument but the presentation of the beauty of Christ.7 Edwards defined a nominal Christian as one who finds Christ useful, while a true Christian is one who finds Christ beautiful for who he is in himself.

This understanding profoundly affected Edwards’ own preaching. In one of his sermons, he insisted that “the reason why men no more regard warnings of future punishment is because it doesn’t seem real to them.”8 This was, for Edwards, the main spiritual problem and the main purpose of preaching. The goal of our preaching is not just to make the truth clear but to make the truth real. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, in an article on how Edwards affected him, wrote:

6. Two great places to get a short, readable explanation of Edwards on the Affections are: the “Editor’s Introduction” in J.Smith, H.Stout, K.Minkema, A Jonathan Edwards Reader (Yale, 1995). and Sam Logan’s article on preaching and the affections in Samuel T. Logan,ed., The Preacher and Preaching: Reviving the Art in the Twentieth Century (Presbyterian and Reformed, 1986). The summary in this section follows closely the Edwards Reader, pp. xix-xx.

7. See “A Divine and Supernatural Light” , pp.111-114 and “The Mind”, pp. 22-28 in Reader.

8. Wilson H. Kimnach, “Jonathan Edwards’s Pursuit of Reality” in Jonathan Edwards and the American Experience ed. Nathan O. Hatch, Harry S. Stout (Oxford, 1988). p.105. redeemercitytocity.com | 8

PREACHING IN A SECULAR CULTURE 3. Timothy Keller.

3. PREACH CHRIST FROM EVERY TEXT

RICH, NOT ROTE

It is now commonly understood that preachers must put the individual text into its whole-Bible context and preach Christ from every part of the Bible. Though I am a fierce proponent of this view, there is a danger that our preaching of Christ in every text will become a rote, intellectual exercise that merely rehearses the entirety of biblical theology; that may begin to sound the same every week; and that may omit an application to the listener’s heart. The preacher’s goal is not an intellectual or abstract one—rather, the goal is to change hearts with the gospel.

Old Testament professor Tremper Longman compares reading the Bible to watching a movie in which the shocking conclusion is so startling that it forces the viewer to go back and re-interpret everything he has already seen. The second time around, now that you know the ending, you can’t help but interpret every statement and every encounter in terms of the ending. You can’t not think of the ending any more when you watch the beginning and middle of the movie. The ending sheds light on everything that went before.

Similarly, once you know that all the lines of all the stories and all the climaxes of the inter-canonical themes converge on Christ, you simply can’t not see that every text is about Jesus. For example:

+ J esus is the true and better Adam who passed the test in the garden and whose obedience is now imputed to us (1 Cor. 15).

+ Jesus is the true and better Abel who, though innocently slain, has blood that cries out for our acquittal, not our condemnation (Heb. 12:24).

+ Jesus is the true and better Abraham, who answered the call of God to leave all that was comfortable and familiar out of obedience to God.

+ Jesus is the true and better Isaac, who was not just offered up by his father on the mount but was in the end sacrificed for us all. God said to Abraham, “now I know you love me, because you did not withhold your son, your only son whom you love, from me.” Now we can say to God, “now I know that you love me, because you did not withhold your son, your only son whom you love, from me.”

+ Jesus is true and better Jacob, who wrestled with God and took the blow of justice we deserved. Now we, like Jacob, only receive the wounds of grace to wake us up and discipline us.

+ Jesus is the true and better Joseph, who sat at the right hand of the king, and used his power to forgive and save those who betrayed and sold him.

+ Jesus is the true and better Moses who stands in the gap between the people and the Lord, who mediates a new covenant (Heb. 3).

+ Jesus is the true and better Job—the innocent sufferer who then intercedes for his foolish friends (Job 42).

+ Jesus is the true and better David, whose victory against Goliath was imputed to his people, even though they never lifted a stone to accomplish it themselves.

+ Jesus is the true and better Esther, who didn’t just risk losing an earthly palace but a heavenly one, and who didn’t just risk his life but gave it—to save his people.

+ Jesus is the true and better Jonah who was cast out into the storm so the rest of the ship could be brought in.

There are, in the end, only two ways to read the Bible: It is either about me or about Jesus. It is either advice to the listener or news from the Lord. It is either about what I must do or about what God has done.

Jesus is the true temple, the true prophet, the true priest, the true king, the true sacrifice, the Lamb, the Light, the bread. The Bible is not about you—it is about him. redeemercitytocity.com | 7

In 1 Peter 1:10-13 the gospel is stunningly described as something that “even angels long to look into.” After all these centuries, wouldn’t the angels have the gospel down pat? Why would they love to look into the salvation of God? Because it is endlessly rich. There are endless implications, applications, and facets to it. We have just begun to scratch the surface.

PREACHING IN A SECULAR CULTURE 2. Timothy Keller

2. PREACH GRACE, NOT MORALISM

WHAT DRIVES THE HEART

Let’s look at an example of a problem you might address with a secular audience: dishonesty. How does the gospel answer this problem and how does it work out in real life?

Jonathan Edwards identified two kinds of moral behavior: ”common virtue” and “true virtue.”2The “common virtue” of honesty may be developed out of fear, either societal (“If I lie I’ll be caught and exposed”) or religious (”If you are not honest, God will punish you”). It could also be cultivated by pride, which again could be cultural (“Don’t be like those terrible dishonest people”) or religious (“Don’t be like those sinners; be a decent and godly person”).

By no means does Edwards intend to be scornful of common virtue. Indeed, he believes in the “splendor of common morality” as the main way God restrains evil in the world.3Nevertheless, there is a profound tension at the heart of common virtue, because if fear and pride are what motivate a person to be honest, but fear and pride are also at the root of lying and cheating, it is only a matter of time before such a thin moral foundation collapses.

Thus, common virtue has not done anything to root out the fundamental causes of evil; it has restrained the heart but not changed the heart. And this “jury-rigging” of the heart creates quite a fragile condition. Indeed, through all the sermons and moral training you received throughout your life, you were actually nurturing the roots of sin within your moral life. This is true whether you grew up with either liberal or conservative values. The roots of evil were well protected beneath a veneer of moral progress.

So what is the mark of honesty as a “true virtue?” It is the commitment to truth and honesty not because it profits you or makes you feel better but because you are smitten with the beauty of the God who is truth and sincerity and faithfulness. It is when you come to love the truth, not for your sake but for God’s sake and for its own sake. True honesty grows when you see him dying for you, keeping a promise he made despite the infinite suffering it brought him. That kind of virtue destroys both pride (Jesus had to die for me!) and fear (Jesus values me infinitely, and nothing I can do will change his commitment to me). In this way my heart is not just restrained, but rather its fundamental orientation is transformed.

THE SIN BENEATH THE SINS

Underneath all of our behavioral sins lies a fundamental refusal to rest in Christ’s salvation. According to Martin Luther,

All those who do not at all times trust God and... trust in His favor, grace and good-will, but seek His favor in other things or in themselves, do not keep the [First] Commandment, and practice real idolatry, even if they were to do the works of all the other Commandments... combined.

And as this Commandment is the very first, highest and best, from which all the others proceed, in which they exist, and by which they are measured and directed, so also its work, that is, the faith

2. Martin Luther, Charity and Its Fruits, Concerning the End for Which God Created the World and The Nature of True Virtue.

3. Paul Ramsey, “Editor’s Introduction,” from The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Vol 8: Ethical Writings (New Haven: Yale Univ. Pr, 1989).redeemercitytocity.com | 4

or confidence in God’s favor at all times, is the very first, highest and best, from which all others must proceed, exist, remain, be directed and measured.4

Luther says that if we obey God’s law without a belief that we are already accepted and loved in Christ, then in all our good deeds we are really looking to something more than Jesus to be the real source of our mean­ing and happiness. We may be trusting in our good parenting or moral uprightness or spiritual performance or acts of service to be our real and functional“saviors.” If we aren’t already sure God loves us in Christ, we will be looking to something else for our foundational significance and self-worth. This is why Luther says we are committing idolatry if we don’t trust in Christ alone for our approval.

The first commandment is foundational to all the other commandments. We will not break commandments two through ten unless we are in some way breaking the first one by serving something or someone other than God. Every sin is rooted in the inordinate lust for something which comes because we are trusting in that thing rather than in Christ for our righteousness or salvation. We sin because we are looking to some­thing else to give us what only Jesus can give us. Beneath any particular sin is the general sin of rejecting Christ’s salvation and attempting our own self-salvation.

PREACHING IN A SECULAR CULTURE 1. Timothy Keller

redeemercitytocity.com | 1

This article outlines four ideas that in my experience are at the core of preaching effectively in a secular culture. If you seek to communicate the gospel to both the Christians and non-Christians in your midst, I encourage you to pursue all four elements in your own preaching.

1. PREACH TO CHRISTIANS AND NON-CHRISTIANS AT THE SAME TIME

THE GOSPEL IS THE ROOT OF BOTH JUSTIFICATION AND SANCTIFICATION

Much of modern church-growth literature presupposes that we cannot minister to both Christians and non-Christians at the same time.1 In this view, “evangelistic” messages call upon non-Christians but bore Christians, and “teaching” messages appeal to Christians but confuse, bore, or offend non-Christians. This means a church may have to settle for one approach or the other, and as a result they may be limited in their biblical faithfulness as well as their reach.

Some churches have tried to solve this problem through distinct “seeker services,” held at a different time than discipleship-oriented services. But this approach has not been without problems: many seekers stay in the seeker services long-term, never getting fed more challenging material. And since the majority of attend­ees at the seeker services are usually Christians, the believers get stuck in elementary Christianity as well.

I believe the problem is theological, not methodological. Indeed, it is impossible to combine Christians and non-Christians in a coherent way unless the preacher and leaders understand that the gospel is not just the way people are justified, but also the way they are sanctified. You see, the typical approach to the gospel is to see it as the ABC’s of Christian doctrine, or merely the minimum truth required to be saved, but to rely on more “advanced” biblical principles for progress in the Christian life. If that were the case, then we truly could not focus on both evangelism and spiritual formation at the same time. However, Martin Luther understood that the gospel is not only the way we receive salvation but is also the way to advance at every stage in the Christian life. This is why the first of Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses was “All of life is repentance.”

Jonathan Edwards, in his Religious Affections, argues that belief and behavior are inextricably linked and that any failures in Christians are due to unbelief. The antidote to unbelief is a fresh telling of the gospel.

Preaching, therefore, is not either for evangelism or edification, because all of us have the same underlying problem. If a sermon is Christ-centered in its exposition and application, and if it is oriented toward disman­tling the unbelief systems of the human heart and toward retelling and using the gospel on the unbelief, then it will be illuminating to non-Christians even though it was aimed primarily at Christians.

WORKING IT OUT

We live in a society in which people are skeptical of any kind of truth at all. In contrast to earlier eras, which accepted revealed truth or honored reason and scientific truth, many people today can’t simply receive a set of teachings without seeing how Christianity “works,” how it fleshes out in real life.

1. See also Timothy Keller, “Evangelistic Worship” (2001), redeemercitytocity.com.redeemercitytocity.com | 2

This has implications for all of us. For Christians who are surrounded by today’s secular culture, it is impor­tant to hear the preacher dealing winsomely and intelligently with the problems of non-believers on a regu­lar basis. This helps them address their own doubts and is also excellent “training” in sharing their faith. The evangelism programs of earlier eras do not always adequately prepare Christians for dealing with the wide range of intellectual and personal difficulties people have today with the Christian faith.

In a similar way, when the preacher speaks to believers, the non-Christians present come to see how Chris­tianity works in real-life situations. For example, if you are preaching a sermon on the subject of material­ism, and you directly apply the gospel to the materialism of Christians, you are doing something that both interests and profits non-Christians. Many listeners will tend to make faith decisions on more pragmatic grounds. Instead of examining the faith in a detached intellectual way, they are more likely to make a faith commitment through a long process of mini-decisions, by “trying it on” and by seeing how it addresses real problems.

PRACTICES OF PREACHING TO SECULAR PEOPLE

Some practical tips for preaching:

+ Solve all problems with the gospel. In this way, non-believers hear the gospel each week and believers have their issues and problems addressed with the beauty of the gospel.

+ Beware of assumptions. Do not assume that people all have the same premises. Avoid exhorting point D if it is based on A, B, and C, without referring to A, B, C. Constantly lay groundwork statements about the authority of the Bible or the reasons we believe.

+ Engage in apologetics. Try to devote one of the three or four major sermon points to non-believers. Keep in your head a list of the most common objections people have to Christianity. More often than not the sermon text has some implication for how to address those objections.

+ Provide applications for both parties. When providing sermon applications, address both non-Chris­tians and Christians, almost in a dialogue with them. For example, “If you are committed to Christ, you may be thinking this, but the text answers that fear.”Or, “If you are not a Christian or not sure what you believe, then you surely must think that this is narrow-minded, but the text speaks to this very issue.”

+ Be authentic. Young, urban, and secular people in particular are extremely sensitive to anything that smacks of artifice or glitzy showmanship. Beware of sermons, or anything in the worship service, that is too polished, too controlled, or too canned.

+ Be conscious of alienating language. Secular listeners will be turned off if they hear the preacher use non-inclusive gender language or make cynical remarks about other religions or use religious jargon, language that only Christians understand.

+ Expect, and respect, doubt. Always treat people’s doubts about Christianity with respect. Beware of ever giving the impression that Christianity is devoid of doubts or that only less-than-intelligent people would doubt its truth. It is important to acknowlege the presence of doubters, to say in effect, “I know this Christian doctrine sounds outrageous.”

+ Address the wider community. Be mindful in your demeanor and preaching of the needs and concerns of the wider community, not just the Christian community. Show how the grace of God favors the poor, marginalized, and outsiders. Celebrate deeds of justice and mercy and common citizenship in the community.

+ Draw on cultural references. Manhattanites do not know or trust the Bible very much, so it is important for me to know their cultural references, read what they read, and answer the questions they are asking from the Bible. I generously document and support my points with corroborating opinions from the very books and periodicals that New Yorkers read. Often I can show them how the Bible was addressing these issues long before the contemporary authority did.redeemercitytocity.com | 3

+ Read across the spectrum.If you read just one perspective on a subject, you tend to be naive and over­confident. If you read a second, contradictory perspective that deconstructs the first view, you become cynical and discouraged. But if you read a spectrum of four or five different perspectives, you find your own view and voice and often get rather creative ideas. I regularly read different viewpoints and imagine what a conversation about Christianity with the writer might sound like.

AND YOU SHALL FIND REST TO YOUR SOULS Chapter 2: Andrew Murray

"Come unto me, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; and ye shall find rest to your souls -MATT.11:28-29



REST for the soul: Such was the first promise with which the Saviour sought to win the heavy-laden sinner. Simple though it appears, the promise is indeed as large and comprehensive as can be found. Rest for the soul--does it not imply deliverance from every fear, the supply of every want, the fulfilment of every desire? And now nothing less than this is the prize with which the Saviour woos back the wandering one--who is mourning that the rest has not been so abiding or so full as it had hoped--to come back and abide in Him. Nothing but this was the reason that the rest has either not been found, or, if found, has been disturbed or lost again: you did not abide with, you did not abide in Him.



Have you ever noticed how, in the original invitation of the Saviour to come to Him, the promise of rest was repeated twice, with such a variation in the conditions as might have suggested that abiding rest could only be found in abiding nearness. First the Saviour says, "Come unto me, and I will give you rest"; the very moment you come, and believe, I will give you rest--the rest of pardon and acceptance--the rest in my love. But we know that all that God bestows needs time to become fully our own; it must be held fast, and appropriated, and assimilated into our inmost being; without this not even Christ's giving can make it our very own, in full experience and enjoyment. And so the Saviour repeats His promise, in words which clearly speak not so much of the initial rest with which He welcomes the weary one who comes, but of the deeper and personally appropriated rest of the soul that abides with Him. He now not only says, "Come unto me," but "Take my yoke upon you and learn of me"; become my scholars, yield ourselves to my training, submit in all things to my will, let your whole life be one with mine--in other words, Abide in me. And then He adds, not only, "I will give," but "ye shall find rest to your souls." The rest He gave at coming will become something you have really found and made your very own--the deeper the abiding rest which comes from longer acquaintance and closer fellowship, from entire surrender and deeper sympathy. "Take my yoke, and learn of me," "Abide in me"--this is the path to abiding rest.



Do not these words of the Saviour discover what you have perhaps often sought in vain to know, how it is that the rest you at times enjoy is so often lost. It must have been this: you had not understood how entire surrender to Jesus is the secret of perfect rest. Giving up one's whole life to Him, for Him alone to rule and order it; taking up His yoke, and submitting to be led and taught, to learn of Him; abiding in Him, to be and do only what He wills--these are the conditions of discipleship without which there can be no thought of maintaining the rest that was bestowed on first coming to Christ. The rest is in Christ, and not something He gives apart from Himself, and so it is only in having Him that the rest can really be kept and enjoyed.



It is because so many a young believer fails to lay hold of this truth that the rest so speedily passes away. With some it is that they really did not know; they were never taught how Jesus claims the undivided allegiance of the whole heart and life; how there is not a spot in the whole of life over which He does not wish to reign; how in the very least things His disciples must only seek to please Him. They did not know how entire the consecration was that Jesus claimed. With others, who had some idea of what a very holy life a Christian ought to lead, the mistake was a different one: they could not believe such a life to be a possible attainment. Taking, and bearing, and never for a moment laying aside the yoke of Jesus, appeared to them to require such a strain of effort, and such an amount of goodness, as to be altogether beyond their reach. The very idea of always, all the day, abiding in Jesus, was too high--something they might attain to after a life of holiness and growth, but certainly not what a feeble beginner was to start with. They did not know how, when Jesus said, "My yoke is easy," He spoke the truth; how just the yoke gives the rest, because the moment the soul yields itself to obey, the Lord Himself gives the strength and joy to do it. They did not notice how, when He said, "Learn of me," He added, "I am meek and lowly in heart," to assure them that His gentleness would meet their every need, and bear them as a mother bears her feeble child. Oh, they did not know that when He said, "Abide in me," He only asked the surrender to Himself, His almighty love would hold them fast, and keep and bless them. And so, as some had erred from the want of full consecration, so these failed because they did not fully trust. These two, consecration and faith, are the essential elements of the Christian life--the giving up all to Jesus, the receiving all from Jesus. They are implied in each other; they are united in the one word--surrender. A full surrender is to obey as well as to trust, to trust as well as to obey.



With such misunderstanding at the outset, it is no wonder that the disciple life was not one of such joy or strength as had been hoped. In some things you were led into sin without knowing it, because you had not learned how wholly Jesus wanted to rule you, and how you could not keep right for a moment unless you had Him very near you. In other things you knew what sin was, but had not the power to conquer, because you did not know or believe how entirely Jesus would take charge of you to keep and to help you. Either way, it was not long before the bright joy of your first love was lost, and your path, instead of being like the path of the just, shining more and more unto the perfect day, became like Israel's wandering in the desert--ever on the way, never very far, and yet always coming short of the promised rest. Weary soul, since so many years driven to and fro like the panting hart, O come and learn this day the lesson that there is a spot where safety and victory, where peace and rest, are always sure, and that that spot is always open to thee--the heart of Jesus.



But, alas! I hear someone say, it is just this abiding in Jesus, always bearing His yoke, to learn of Him, that is so difficult, and the very effort to attain to this often disturbs the rest even more than sin or the world. What a mistake to speak thus, and yet how often the words are heard! Does it weary the traveller to rest in the house or on the bed where he seeks repose from his fatigue? Or is it a labour to a little child to rest in its mother's arms? Is it not the house that keeps the traveller within its shelter? do not the arms of the mother sustain and keep the little one? And so it is with Jesus. The soul has but to yield itself to Him, to be still and rest in the confidence that His love has undertaken, and that His faithfulness will perform, the work of keeping it safe in the shelter of His bosom. Oh, it is because the blessing is so great that our little hearts cannot rise to apprehend it; it is as if we cannot believe that Christ, the Almighty One, will in very deed teach and keep us all the day. And yet this is just what He has promised, for without this He cannot really give us rest. It is as our heart takes in this truth that, when He says, "Abide in me," "Learn of me," He really means it, and that it is His own work to keep us abiding when we yield ourselves to Him, that we shall venture to cast ourselves into the arms of His love, and abandon ourselves to His blessed keeping. It is not the yoke, but resistance to the yoke, that makes the difficulty; the whole-hearted surrender to Jesus, as at once our Master and our Keeper, finds and secures the rest.



Come, my brother, and let us this very day commence to accept the word of Jesus in all simplicity. It is a distinct command this: "Take my yoke, and learn of me, " "Abide in me. " A command has to be obeyed. The obedient scholar asks no questions about possibilities or results; he accepts every order in the confidence that his teacher has provided for all that is needed. The power and the perseverance to abide in the rest, and the blessing in abiding--it belongs to the Saviour to see to this; 'tis mine to obey, 'tis His to provide. Let us this day in immediate obedience accept the command, and answer boldly, "Saviour, I abide in Thee. At Thy bidding I take Thy yoke; I undertake the duty without delay; I abide in Thee." Let each consciousness of failure only give new urgency to the command, and teach us to listen more earnestly than ever till the Spirit again give us to hear the voice of Jesus saying, with a love and authority that inspire both hope and obedience, "Child, abide in me." That word, listened to as coming from Himself, will be an end of all doubting--a divine promise of what shall surely be granted. And with ever-increasing simplicity its meaning will be interpreted. Abiding in Jesus is nothing but the giving up of oneself to be ruled and taught and led, and so resting in the arms of Everlasting Love.



Blessed rest! the fruit and the foretaste and the fellowship of God's own rest! found of them who thus come to Jesus to abide in Him. It is the peace of God, the great calm of the eternal world, that passeth all understanding, and that keeps the heart and mind. With this grace secured, we have strength for every duty, courage for every struggle, a blessing in every cross, and the joy of life eternal in death itself.



O my Saviour! if ever my heart should doubt or fear again, as if the blessing were too great to expect, or too high to attain, let me hear Thy voice to quicken my faith and obedience: "Abide in me"; "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; ye shall find rest to your souls."

ALL YOU WHO HAVE COME TO HIM: Andrew Murray

This piece of writing is from the pen of the South African Andrew Murray who was one of the greatest spiritual writers of the last 200 years (9 May 1828 – 18 January 1917).It is taken from the preface of his book of daily readings entitled 'Abide in me'.AK

"Come unto me."--MATT.11:28

"Abide in me."--JOHN 15:4

IT IS to you who have heard and hearkened to the call, "Come unto me," that this new invitation comes, "Abide in me." The message comes from the same loving Saviour. You doubtless have never regretted having come at His call. You experienced that His word was truth; all His promises He fulfilled; He made you partakers of the blessings and the joy of His love. Was not His welcome most hearty, His pardon full and free, His love most sweet and precious? You more than once, at your first coming to Him, had reason to say, "The half was not told me."

And yet you have had to complain of disappointment: as time went on, your expectations were not realized. The blessings you once enjoyed were lost; the love and joy of your first meeting with your Saviour, instead of deepening, have become faint and feeble. And often you have wondered what the reason could be, that with such a Saviour, so mighty and so loving, your experience of salvation should not have been a fuller one.

The answer is very simple. You wandered from Him. The blessings He bestows are all connected with His "Come to ME," and are only to be enjoyed in close fellowship with Himself. You either did not fully understand, or did not rightly remember, that the call meant, "Come to me to stay with me." And yet this was in very deed His object and purpose when first He called you to Himself. It was not to refresh you for a few short hours after your conversion with the joy of His love and deliverance, and then to send you forth to wander in sadness and sin. He had destined you to something better than a short-lived blessedness, to be enjoyed only in times of special earnestness and prayer, and then to pass away, as you had to return to those duties in which far the greater part of life has to be spent. No, indeed; He had prepared for you an abiding dwelling with Himself, where your whole life and every moment of it might be spent, where the work of your daily life might be done, and where all the while you might be enjoying unbroken communion with Himself. It was even this He meant when to that first word, "Come to me," He added this, "Abide in me." As earnest and faithful, as loving and tender, as the compassion that breathed in that blessed "Come," was the grace that added this no less blessed "Abide." As mighty as the attraction with which that first word drew you, were the bonds with which this second, had you but listened to it, would have kept you. And as great as were the blessings with which that coming was rewarded, so large, yea, and much greater, were the treasures to which that abiding would have given you access.

And observe especially, it was not that He said, "Come to me and abide with me," but, "Abide in me." The intercourse was not only to be unbroken, but most intimate and complete. He opened His arms, to press you to His bosom; He opened His heart, to welcome you there; He opened up all His divine fulness of life and love, and offered to take you up into its fellowship, to make you wholly one with Himself. There was a depth of meaning you cannot yet realize in His words: "Abide IN ME."

And with no less earnestness than He had cried, "Come to me," did He plead, had you but noticed it, "Abide in me." By every motive that had induced you to come, did He beseech you to abide. Was it the fear of sin and its curse that first drew you? the pardon you received on first coming could, with all the blessings flowing from it, only be confirmed and fully enjoyed on abiding in Him. Was it the longing to know and enjoy the Infinite Love that was calling you? the first coming gave but single drops to taste--'tis only the abiding that can really satisfy the thirsty soul, and give to drink of the rivers of pleasure that are at His right hand. Was it the weary longing to be made free from the bondage of sin, to become pure and holy, and so to find rest, the rest of God for the soul? this too can only be realized as you abide in Him--only abiding in Jesus gives rest in Him. Or if it was the hope of an inheritance in glory, and an everlasting home in the presence of the Infinite One: the true preparation for this,as well as its blessed foretaste in this life, are granted only to those who abide in Him. In very truth, there is nothing that moved you to come, that does not plead with thousandfold greater force: "Abide in Him." You did well to come; you do better to abide. Who would, after seeking the King's palace, be content to stand in the door, when he is invited in to dwell in the King's presence, and share with Him in all the glory of His royal life? Oh, let us enter in and abide, and enjoy to the full all the rich supply His wondrous love hath prepared for us!

And yet I fear that there are many who have indeed come to Jesus, and who yet have mournfully to confess that they know but little of this blessed abiding in Him. With some the reason is, that they never fully understood that this was the meaning of the Saviour's call. With others, that though they heard the word, they did not know that such a life of abiding fellowship was possible, and indeed within their reach. Others will say that, though they did believe that such a life was possible, and seek after it, they have never yet succeeded discovering the secret of its attainment. And others, again, alas! will confess that it is their own unfaithfulness that has kept them from the enjoyment of the blessing. When the Saviour would have kept them, they were not found ready to stay; they were not prepared to give up everything, and always, only, wholly to abide in Jesus.

To all such I come now in the name of Jesus, their Redeemer and mine, with the blessed message: "Abide in me." In His name I invite them to come, and for a season meditate with me daily on its meaning, its lessons, its claims, and its promises. I know how many, and, to the young believer, how difficult, the questions are which suggest themselves in connection with it. There is especially the question, with its various aspects, to the possibility, in the midst of wearying work and continual distraction, of keeping up, or rather being kept in, the abiding communion. I do not undertake to remove all difficulties; this Jesus Christ Himself alone must do by His Holy Spirit. But what I would fain by the grace of God be permitted to do is, to repeat day by day the Master's blessed command, "Abide in me," until it enter the heart and find a place there, no more to be forgotten or neglected. I would fain that in the light of Holy Scripture we should Meditate on its meaning, until the understanding, that gate to the heart, opens to apprehend something of what it offers and expects. So we shall discover the means of its attainment, and learn to know what keeps us from it, and what can help us to it. So we shall feel its claims, and be compelled to acknowledge that there can be no true allegiance to our King without simply and heartily accepting this one, too, of His commands. So we shall gaze on its blessedness, until desire be inflamed, and the will with all its energies be roused to claim and possess the unspeakable blessing.

Come, my brethren, and let us day by day set ourselves at His feet, and meditate on this word of His, with an eye fixed on Him alone. Let us set ourselves in quiet trust before Him, waiting to hear His holy voice--the still small voice that is mightier than the storm that rends the rocks--breathing its quickening spirit within us, as He speaks: "Abide in me." The soul that truly hears Jesus Himself speak the word, receives with the word the power to accept and to hold the blessing He offers.

And it may please Thee, blessed Saviour, indeed, to speak to us; let each of us hear Thy blessed voice. May the feeling of our deep need, and the faith of Thy wondrous love, combined with the sight of the wonderfully blessed life Thou art waiting to bestow upon us, constrain us to listen and to obey, as often as Thou speakest: "Abide in me." Let day by day the answer from our heart be clearer and fuller: "Blessed Saviour, I do abide in Thee. "

Rev. Andrew Murray

The Greatest Carol Of All! But what does ‘Hark the herald angels sing’ actually mean?

The carol known as ‘Hark the herald angels sing’ though originally written by Charles Wesley and published in 1739 about a year after his conversion experience arrived in its current form only after changes were made to it by at least for people including the famous George Whitfield. It was also the hymn which I think was significant, sung at the end of the great Christmas movie ‘It’s a wonderful life’. Remember when all George Baily’s friends came in at the end to bail him out as he had bailed out many before him. Here in this hymn we see God’s rescue plan to redeem and bail out all of humankind.


Like all Wesley’s hymns they are all theological based having important truths in them that can feed our souls and give us spiritual life. The hymn is based round the story of the Angels who spoke to the shepherds while they were looking after their sheep from the wolves and predators that would have inhabited the countryside. Their words were

“Don't be afraid! I am here with good news for you, which will bring great joy to all the people. 11 This very day in David's town your Savior was born—Christ the Lord! 12 And this is what will prove it to you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”13 Suddenly a great army of heaven's angels appeared with the angel, singing praises to God:14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,and peace on earth to those with whom he is pleased

Hence Wesley in the hymn writes :

'Hark! The herald angels sing',
Hark means to ‘listen up’ or ‘hearke’n to what they are saying. Or in Belfast Will ya listen ta me!

When it says the ‘herald angels’ it simply means the angels who are proclaiming or heralding the message of good news.Which was “Glory to the newborn King’ , but it was not just an ordinary king but a very special one.
Now when it says ‘
Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!”
It means there is the potential for this for peace and mercy. Christ’s death does not automatically bring peace and mercy for all and make God and sinners reconciled. As the angel declares later ‘ peace on earth to those whom he is pleased. That is those who respond to the new born Messiah and follow his ways.

As Paul wrote to the Romans Christians some forty years after this event on the Judean countryside
Now that we have been put right with God through faith, we have[a] peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 He has brought us by faith into this experience of God's grace, in which we now live.

And again

For when we were still helpless, Christ died for the wicked at the time that God chose. 7 It is a difficult thing for someone to die for a righteous person. It may even be that someone might dare to die for a good person. 8 But God has shown us how much he loves us—it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us! 9 By his blood[d] we are now put right with God; how much more, then, will we be saved by him from God's anger! 10 We were God's enemies, but he made us his friends through the death of his Son. Now that we are God's friends, how much more will we be saved by Christ's life! 11 But that is not all; we rejoice because of what God has done through our Lord Jesus Christ, who has now made us God's friends.

The angels here are proclaiming what the new born King can do if we are wise and follow him - if we put our faith in him. The message was in fact not only for the shepherds or the Jews but all the nations, as the writer joyfully invites all nations to join with him:

Joyful, all ye nations rise,

Join the triumph of the skies;

With th’angelic host proclaim,

“Christ is born in Bethlehem

The second verse then speaks of Christ being the eternal or everlasting Lord. He didn’t just appear two thousand years ago but has existed before time in eternity having no beginning or end! Christ was not merely an angel but was

‘by highest Heav’n adored he was

Christ the everlasting Lord;

He was the Lord God.Yet as the Lord of glory he left that glorious home to come to earth. AS another hymn states:

He held the highest place above,

Adored by all the sons of flame,

Yet such His self-denying love,

He laid aside His crown and came

To seek the lost,

And at the cost

Of heavenly rank and earthly fame

He sought me -- Blessed be His name!

And in seeking the lost he became a human baby

'If GOD became man THEN what would He be like?" Or "Did Jesus possess the attributes of GOD? To begin to answer this question we must first answer another question, namely, why would GOD become man? We will use an ant illustration. Imagine you are watching a farmer plow a field. You notice an ant hill will be plowed under by the farmer on his next time around. Because you are an ant lover, you run to the ant hill to warn them. First you shout to them the impending danger, but they continue with their work. You then try sign language and finally resort to everything you can think of, but nothing works. Why? Because you are not communicating with them. What is the best way to communicate with them? Only by becoming an ant can you communicate with them so they will understand. '

Now, if GOD wanted to communicate with us, what would be the best way? We see that in order for Him to communicate with us, He could best do so by becoming a man and thus, reach us directly.

In the third verse the writer notes :

'Late in time, behold Him come,'
As far back as the beginning of the Bible in Genesis 3.15 it was prophesied that Eve’s seed would come and defeat Satan even though Satan would bruise her seed with her seed being Christ. This was speaking of Satan’s defeat on the cross and the suffering that Christ would undergo.

15 I will make you and the woman hate each other; her offspring and yours will always be enemies. Her offspring will crush your head, and you will bite her offspring's[heel.”

Then the writer speaks of the babe’s supernatural birth. The child was not born the normal way between a male and a female but as Luke records ‘ the power of the most high would overshadowed the virgin Mary :it would indeed be an

Offspring of a virgin’s womb.

and Veiled in flesh (which was the little babe)we would the Godhead see;

Then we have the triumphant praise:

Hail th’incarnate Deity, Which means praise to God who has come in flesh He was both God and man. The new born was deity in humanity.
He was not forced to come by his Father but he was pleased with us in flesh to dwell, ( he became human and could now sympathise with our weakness

Indeed
 Jesus our Emmanuel. means 'God with us'

The Son of God did not stay in the safe immunity of his heaven, remote from human sin and tragedy. He actually entered our world. He emptied himself of his glory and humbled himself to serve. He took our nature, lived our life, endured our temptations, experienced our sorrows, felt our hurts, bore our sins and died our death. He penetrated deeply into our humanness. He never stayed aloof from the people he might have been expected to avoid. He made friends with the dropouts of society. He even touched untouchables. He could not have become more one with us than he did. It was the total identification of love. John Stott

The final verse is one of praise

Hail the heav’nly Prince of Peace!

Hail the Sun of Righteousness!


To hail is to cheer, salute, or greet; welcome. to acclaim or approve enthusiastically

Prince of peace is first mentioned in Isaiah and as one who would bring peace between God and man and grant peace in the hearts who those who put their trust in Christ.

The Sun of Righteousness is mentioned in Malachi and speaks of Jesus being like the ‘sun’ from which all light and life comes.

Hail the heav’nly Prince of Peace!

Hail the Sun of Righteousness!

From that Sun

Light and life to all He brings,



As the natural sunlight brings healing to physical wounds and many depressed states so exposure to Jesus the Sun of Righteousness can bring healing and life to the wounded soul.

As the writer declares

Risen with healing in His wings.

Then the hymn speaks of how Jesus didn’t make a fuss of leaving aside his glory by first becoming baby , then a child, then a man and finally an the sin sacrifice for us all

Mild He lays His glory by,

Why ?

Born that man no more may die. – because of his birth we would not have to undergo spiritual or eternal death he would take away the sting of spiritual death because as Hebrews states ‘ he came to destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil"

Born to raise the sons of earth,

I like this ‘born to raise the sons of earth.’ It could refer to the resurrection though should not be limited to it. In experience I have seen people who have come to faith being raised in different ways including spiritually, emotionally, physically, materially and even intellectually. By becoming children of God this would not be uncommon as Jesus declared: ‘I have come that you might have life and life in all its fullness.’

Charles and John Wesley would have also seen this in their ministries as they reached out to the very poor working classes. He makes us better people with the goal of making us like Christ.
The line :
Born to give them second birth speaks of the new birth, the new life that he can give us by his spirit. A clean slate where we become babes in Christ and start to grow spiritually with Christ.

This is a great hymn at Christmas but actually there are a few more verses that never made it into many of the hymn books but are really very good and full of great theological truth which I’ll read now.

Speaking to Christ the writer then prays for all of us that God will bring about his work in our lives

Come, Desire of nations, come,

Fix in us Thy humble home;

Rise, the woman’s conqu’ring Seed,

Bruise in us the serpent’s head.

Now display Thy saving power,

Ruined nature now restore;

Now in mystic union join

Thine to ours, and ours to Thine.



Adam’s likeness, Lord, remove,

Stamp Thine image in its place:

Second Adam from above,

Reinstate us in Thy love.

Let us Thee, though lost, regain,

Thee, the Life, the inner man:

O, to all Thyself impart,

Formed in each believing heart.


AK

The Incomparable Christ

Almost two thousand years ago there was a Man born contrary to the laws of life.

This Man lived in poverty and was reared in obscurity.

He did not travel extensively.

Only once did He cross the boundary of the country in which He lived; that was during His childhood exile.

He possessed neither wealth nor influence.

His relatives were inconspicuous and He had neither training nor formal education.

In infancy, He startled a king;

In childhood, He puzzled doctors;

In manhood, He ruled the course of nature, walked upon the billows as if pavement, and hushed the sea to
sleep.

He healed the multitudes without medicine and made no charge for His service.

He never wrote a book, and yet all the libraries of the country could not

hold the books that have been written about Him.

He never wrote a song and yet He has furnished the theme for more than all the songwriters combined.

He never founded a college, but all the schools put together cannot boast of having as many students.

He never practiced medicine, and yet He has healed more broken hearts than all the doctors far and near.

Every seventh day the wheels of commerce cease their turning and multitudes

wind their way to worshiping assemblies to pay homage and respect to Him.

The names of the past proud statesman of Greece and Rome have come and

gone.

The names of past scientists, philosophers, and theologians have come and gone;

But the name of this Man abounds more and more.

Though time has spread two thousand years between the people of this generation and

the scene of His crucifixion, yet He still lives.

Herod could not destroy Him, and the grave could not hold Him.


He stands in Heavenly Glory,

Proclaimed of God,

As the living, personal Christ, our Lord and Saviour.



.

Trials and Pain: Happiness is Not the Goal by A.W. Tozer

 

You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.—2 Timothy 2:3-4
That we are born to be happy is scarcely questioned by anyone. No one bothers to prove that fallen men have any moral right to happiness, or that they are in the long run any better off happy. The only question before the house is how to get the most happiness out of life. Almost all popular books and plays assume that personal happiness is the legitimate end of the dramatic human struggle.
Now I submit that the whole hectic scramble after happiness is an evil as certainly as is the scramble after money or fame or success....
How far wrong all this is will be discovered easily by the simple act of reading the New Testament through once with meditation. There the emphasis is not upon happiness but upon holiness. God is more concerned with the state of people's hearts than with the state of their feelings. Undoubtedly the will of God brings final happiness to those who obey, but the most important matter is not how happy we are but how holy. The soldier does not seek to be happy in the field; he seeks rather to get the fighting over with, to win the war and get back home to his loved ones. There he may enjoy himself to the full; but while the war is on his most pressing job is to be a good soldier, to acquit himself like a man, regardless of how he feels. Of God and Men, pp. 48-49
"Oh Lord, redirect my focus. Help me today to be a 'good soldier of Jesus Christ.' Amen."

Lessons in evangelism. We can only evangelise right with God's help!

We really do need God's help. This is an important lesson to learn  before we try to witness to anyone. It is true that if we realise that we have not the natural power, not the gift or the boldness to serve God in this area, we are more likely to succeed in the long run. Spurgeon rightly  said ' God has only one worker: the Holy Spirit'. However God does want to use us and wants to work through us. Satan on the other hand wants to stop us from this important work and will do all he can to make us give up declaring: 'I can't do this , I haven't got the gift'. The truth is we can't do it,  but God wants to, and will work through us, if we don't give up and will put our trust in him to help us. We need the Spirit's help here of course, as Jesus himself said: 'When the Holy Spirit comes upon you you will be my witnesses'.We therefore need to look to God for help and ask him to fill us with his Holy Spirit today and every other day. AK

Trials and Pain: Criticism and Abuse

 

But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts.—1 Thessalonians 2:4

"Let not thy peace depend on the tongues of men," said the wise old Christian mystic, Thomas a Kempis; "for whether they judge well or ill, thou art not on that account other than thyself."

One of the first things a Christian should get used to is abuse....

To do nothing is to get abused for laziness, and to do anything is to get abused for not doing something else.

Was it not Voltaire who said that some people were like insects, they would never be noticed except that they sting? A traveler must make up his mind to go on regardless of the insects that make his trip miserable....

One thing is certain, a Christian's standing before God does not depend upon his standing before men. A high reputation does not make a man dearer to God, nor does the tongue of the slanderer influence God's attitude toward His people in any way. He knows us each one, and we stand or fall in the light of His perfect knowledge. The Next Chapter After the Last, pp. 94-95

"Lord, I know this truth, but it's so hard to 'let not thy peace depend on the tongues of men.' The stinging insects are so annoying! Give me peace in Your approval today. Amen."
A.W. Tozer

Come Sinners to the Gospel feast. Let every one be Jesu's guest.

Revolution of Love by George Verwer

 I remember reading this article from the book with the same title many years ago. How true George is, we can know from back to front Calvin's Institutes, Wesley's sermons or even the Bible but still be spiritual babes, unspiritual Christians as well as bad witnesses, if we have no love. I hope like myself you will be challenged by these timely words. AK


There is, I believe, a basic ingredient which is largely lacking in Christianity today, and the lack of it is the source of most of our problems. It is the cancer which is eating away at the church, but it is no secret. In fact, it is so non-secretive that it is written on almost every page of the New Testament. And yet, because the heart of man is deceitful and desperately wicked, and because we are so bent on our own way, we do not see (or seeing we do not believe) that the basic message of the New Testament is LOVE!



It is my absolute conviction that most of us miss this most obvious and most repeated message, even while laying great emphasis on “sound doctrine.”



Well, I would like to ask you, “What is sound doctrine?” We have long discussions on the Second Coming, on the Atoning Work of Christ, on the Church, the Holy Spirit, etc., etc. But what about love and humility and brokenness? These usually go into a separate category, but I want to tell you that if your doctrine does not include love and humility and brokenness, then your doctrine is not sound.



There are thousands, even millions, of people who claim to be “orthodox Christians” because they cling to a certain set of beliefs in accord with the Bible. They are aware that they do not practice much humility, but they do not think that makes them any less orthodox. They are aware that they do not really love the brethren in Christ (especially those who are different from them), but that does not cause them to think their doctrine is not sound.



They admit that they know nothing of “laying down their lives ” for the brethren and esteeming the other as better than themselves, and yet they consider themselves fundamental orthodox Christians.



Oh, what an error this is! This false concept – thinking we can be orthodox without having humility, thinking we can be sound in doctrine without having love, thinking we can be fundamental evangelicals though our lives do not show forth the fruit of the Spirit – this is the greatest error that has hit Christianity even before or since the reformation!



Doctrine cannot be separated from practical living. Brethren, I do not see Jesus Christ as a dual personality, partly doctrine and partly moral, trying to bring to separate realms of truth into our minds. He was not on the one hand trying to teach us what we call doctrine, and on the other hand trying to make us morally upright. It is completely wrong to think of doctrine as being apart from living.



“Oh,” someone says, “there is a good, evangelical Christian . . . he has good sound doctrine. He does not have much love for others and he is not very humble, but he’s very sound in doctrine.” He is not sound in doctrine if he does not love the brethren. What do we read in 1 John 4:8? “He that loveth not knoweth not God.”



There is no sounder doctrine than love, and apart from love there is no sound doctrine. This is the basis of all Bible doctrine. You take the base out and everything you build will eventually collapse

George Verwer founder of Operation Mobilization

Reasons for Believing the Bible is God’s Word by Roger Olson

Roger Olsen's blog is one that I have been reading and commenting on for a few months now.
Like myself Roger is unashamedly Arminian in his theology. He is also a first class theologian and has written several books including 'Arminian Theology: myths and realities' which I am reading at present. Roger has done a lot to show that to be an Arminian is not to believe a second class interpretation of Scripture as Calvinists often suggest, but rather it is a purer and much better interpretation than Calvinism and one that is consistent with a God of love. In this article he gives the reasons why  Christian's  should believe the Bible is God's word without having to believe that it is flawless in every way.AK


Whenever I talk about biblical inerrancy or the inner testimony of the Holy Spirit (as the basis for believing the Bible to be God’s Word) the same questions arise. People ask: 1) How can I trust the Bible to be true theologically if there are any errors in it? and 2) How does the inner testimony of the Holy Spirit escape sheer subjectivism?



Here are my answers.



1) If you are depending on the Bible’s alleged inerrancy (strictly interpreted as no mistakes however minor) to believe the Bible’s theological message (gospel truth), you are in deep trouble from the start.



First, common sense says that a person or book does not have to be flawless in every detail in order to be true and authoritative in its main subject. Hardly any textbook meets the standard of strict inerrancy. Probably none do. And yet some, at least, are considered authoritative and trustworthy. My wife loves me; that I do not doubt. However, she sometimes does things that seem inconsistent with true love. So what? In the whole and in the main, for almost forty years, she has shown me love. Am I to doubt her love for me because occasionally during those years she has said things or done things inconsistent with perfect love? Not. (I should really turn this around and talk about my love for her in spite of doing things inconsistent with love. I’m the one much more guilty of that than she! But the point is the same.)



Second, everyone knows and admits that if the Bible is inerrant, it was only in the original autographs, not in any existing Bible (even the best reconstructed Hebrew and Greek manuscripts). Therefore, any existing Bible is untrustworthy as to its entire content? Hardly.



Third, and this will lead into the second question and answer, belief in the Bible’s inerrancy requires faith precisely because only the original autographs can be believed to have been absolutely, technically inerrant. So, it is possible, even easy, to have faith in the truth of the Bible’s theological content, its “Sache” (theological message), even if one does not believe in its inerrancy. Both require faith. Faith in one does not depend on faith in the other.



2) There is no proof of the Bible’s supernatural inspiration, absolute truth, authority other than “the demonstration of the Spirit and power” (Lessing). Without the inner testimony of the Holy Spirit, doubts about the Bible’s truth and authority will always arise because there is no rational proof. There are, of course, internal and external evidences, but they do not add up to proof. If you base your belief in the truth and authority of the Bible on its internal and external evidences, your belief will always be shaky and vulnerable to new discoveries in historical and archeological research. As I like to say, you will have to await each new issue of Biblical Archeology to know whether you can still believe the Bible to be God’s Word (apart from faith).



As I said above, belief in the Bible’s inerrancy requires faith—faith in the inerrancy of the original autographs that do not exist.



I challenge anyone to provide a knock-down, drag-out, absolute, air tight proof of the Bible’s status as God’s Word without any appeal to anything “subjective” such as the inner testimony of the Holy Spirit and (which is the same thing) faith.



Finally, if you base your belief in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord on the truth status of the Bible rather than the other way around (basing its truth on its power to transform through relationship with Jesus Christ), you are risking idolatry. Jesus is the “Sache” of Scripture. Luther knew it as did Calvin. But fundamentalists and neo-fundamentalists put Scripture over Jesus when they try to make belief in him as Savior and Lord dependent on the inerrancy of the Bible. The Bible, then, becomes the gift in place of Jesus Christ. It should be (and is) the other way around—Jesus is the gift. The Bible is simply the Christmas-wrapped box that delivers him to us. I believe in the Bible’s truth and authority because of him. But that in no way requires belief in absolute, technical, detailed accuracy of every statement of Scripture.



It seems to me that people who insist that Christian faith depends on the inerrancy of the Bible and/or rational proofs of its inspiration ought to sing “My hope is built on nothing less than Scripture and its inerrancy….” Or “My faith has found a resting place in evidence that demands a verdict….”



Having said all that, I will go on to say that there is a vast difference between the Bible and other so-called “holy books.” The difference between the Bible and others book people claim to be inspired is a difference in kind, not just in degree. The Bible only is supernaturally inspired and authoritative for Christian belief (doctrine). Other books for which people make that (or similar) claim are, in opinion, unworthy of it as they contain not only errors but simple nonsense. Of course, I can’t prove that to their adherents, but to anyone open-minded enough to investigate them objectively, their lacking the normative dignity of the Bible is easy to show. That is the role of apologetics—not to prove the Bible is the Word of God (let alone inerrant) but to show its superiority to competitors. Emil Brunner called this “eristics”—the task of comparing world views with the aim of showing that Christianity (and I would add the Bible) is superior in addressing the human condition and revealing God’s solution.