The relationship between grace and faith

When we are worshipping the Lord, we praise Him, rejoicing in this: He has saved us by His grace. When we say that He has saved us by His grace, we do not deny that that we have been saved through faith. We say both these things: "by grace" and "through faith". "Through faith" reminds us that we must make our personal response to Christ. "By grace" is God's answer to the question, "Where does this response come from?" It comes from the Lord. "Faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes by the preaching of Christ" (Romans 10:17). When faith arises in our hearts, in response to the Gospel of divine grace, we say, from the heart, "Salvation is of the Lord" (Jonah 2:9). The relationship between grace and faith is neither (a) co-operative nor (b) coercive. (a) We do not contribute to our own salvation. It is always, "nothing in my hands I bring, simply to Thy Cross I cling." We do not come to the Lord with our religion in one hand and our morality in the other hand. We come to Him empty-handed and receive from Him His free gift of salvation. Receiving God's free gift of salvation through faith in our Saviour, Jesus Christ, we speak, from the heart, the words of Psalm 118:23 - "the Lord has done this, and it is marvellous in our eyes. We echo the words of Psalm 115:1 - "Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to Your Name be the glory, because of Your love and faithfulness." (b) We are not forced to receive Christ. We do not come to Him with reluctance. We come to Him with rejoicing. Rejoicing in the grace which has reached out to us in our sinfulness, we affirm the truth of Jesus' words, "You did not choose Me, but I chose you" (John 16:15). Receiving this grace with gladness, we say, "The Lord is my chosen portion" (Psalm 16:5). We sing, "O happy day that fixed my choice on Thee, my Saviour and my God." We trace the way in which the Lord has led us to faith and we sing, "He drew me and I followed on, charmed to confess that grace divine." We have been "loved with everlasting love." We have been "led by grace that love to know." The relationship between grace and faith may be described thus: the whole of the work is God's (the absolute necessity of grace) and the whole of the work is man's (the absolute necessity of faith). There is, of course, mystery here. it is, however, a mystery in which we rejoice - "Amazing love, how can it be that Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?"

Doctrine And Devotion

For some Christians, 'doctrine' is a taboo word. They only need to hear the word and their hackles are up! In their view, doctrine is dry. It is head-knowledge. It is not practical. There are others whose preoccupation with doctrine gives precisely the same impression. One recalls the story of the man who was asked his opinion of a certain preacher. The question was put to him, "Was he sound?" The reply came back immediately, "Oh yes. he was sound all right, but the rest of us were sound asleep."

Doctrine can be 'on fire.' Doctrine need not be dull. Doctrine does not need to be above the heads of the ordinary people. It does not belong to the private domain of the academic's 'ivory tower.' When you hear the word, 'doctrine', do not imagine an academic 'holy of holies' which is protected by the words, "Trespassers Forbidden." For both the academic theologian and the ordinary believer, the way forward in doctrine is the same. We must enrol in the school of discipleship. In this school, there are no courses restricted to the intellectual elite. All of us must learn in precisely the same way. It is the way of sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening to His teaching (Luke 10:39).

In Jesus' school of discipleship, doctrine and devotion belong together. Jesus and His apostles knew nothing of the modern tendency to separate doctrine and devotion. If some modern Christians regard 'doctrine' as a taboo word, the fault does not lie with the New Testament. Let us look briefly at what the New Testament says about doctrine.

"The people were astonished at Jesus' doctrine. Jesus "taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes" Matthew 7:28-29). Jesus' teaching was doctrine with a difference. It was doctrine brought to life for the people. Doctrine can be doctrine with a difference for you!

"The common people heard Jesus gladly" (Mark 12:37). Jesus' teaching is described as His doctrine (Mark 12:38). In His teaching to the common people, Jesus gave them this warning: "Beware of the scribes ... " (Mark 12:38). Jesus was able to speak forthrightly about the scribes because He spoke with an authority which they did not possess. His doctrine made a difference to His hearers. It brought them gladness. Doctrine can make a difference to you!

The 3,000 souls who were brought to Christ on the Day of Pentecost "continued steadfastly in (or "devoted themselves to") the apostles' doctrine" (Acts 2:41-42). The apostles' doctrine brought 3,000 souls to Christ in one day! This was doctrine with a difference. This was doctrine on fire. This was doctrine which had authority. This was doctrine which brought gladness to the people. It was no ivory tower doctrine which brought 3,000 souls to Christ in one day. This was doctrine and devotion brought together in a powerful combination. Don't let it be 'Docrine or Devotion?' Let it be 'Doctrine and Devotion.'

The Gospel, the Bible and Theology

We affirm our faith in Jesus Christ, the living Word of God, and in the Bible, the written Word of God without claiming to have a full and perfect understanding of the faith we confess.

"the hesitations and doubts that are present at many points (in modern theology) do not in themselves indicate a deep and final uncertainty ... an alienation from the gospel." (A Half Century of Theology, p. 8, brackets mine).
"The confession of the testimony of the Spirit was not intended to give a rational and theoretical solution or explanation to the relationship between Word and Spirit ... the mystery of Word and Spirit remains unfathomable ... Every attempt to somehow clarify the mystery remains revealingly unsatisfactory ... The mystery cuts across every exclusive formulation." (Holy Scripture, p. 59).

We must choose ...

Genesis 13:1-18

The life of God's people - those who worship Him (Genesis 13:4) - is always set in the context of wickedness. There are always choices to be made. Like Abraham, we can choose to worship God, or we can be like Lot and choose to go the way of wickedness. The choices we make reveal the people that we are. Those who choose the way upon which the Lord's blessing rests show that their hearts belong to the Lord. Those who choose the way upon which the Lord's judgment rests show that their hearts belong to the world. the worldly man, Lot, thought only of himself. The spiritual man, Abraham, concerned himself with doing the Lord's will. There is a great difference between Lot and Abraham - "Lot chose the whole Jordan plain for himself"; "The Lord said to Abraham ... 'I will give you all the land you see to you'" (Genesis 13:11,15). The worldly man takes for himself. The spiritual man waits to receive from God.

God remembered Abraham.

Genesis 19:1-38

In a rather forgettable chapter, we find these gracious words - "God ... remembered Abraham"; "Lot was allowed to escape from the destruction that came to the cities where he was living" (Genesis 19:29). What a great thing it is to be "remembered" by God. What a great thing it is to have God's salvation - "everything we need for life and for godliness" - by which we are able to "escape the corruption that sinful desires cause in the world" (2 Peter 1:3-4). While we have this provision of God for godliness, we need to be constantly on our guard. The sad episode, recorded in Genesis 19:30-38, makes it so clear that we must be careful. Even those, whom we hoped would be a help to us, can turn out to be a hindrance. Devotion to the Lord needs to be renewed day-by-day. If we fail to maintain our devotion to the Lord, we leave ourselves vulnerable to the attacks of the enemy and we will be overcome by him. 

Is anything too hard for the Lord?

Genesis 18:1-33

"Is anything too hard for the Lord?" (Genesis 18:14). God was intent on doing something great - "through him (Abraham) all the nations of the earth will be blessed" (Genesis 18:18) - and nothing was going to stop Him. Even if a great many people - Sodom and Gomorrah - refused to honour God, His purpose would not be hindered. He would find a remnant for Himself. the remnant may have seemed impossibly small, but it was to be the beginning of blessing for all the nations. the smallness of the beginnings serves to emphasize the greatness of the blessings. This is not man's doing. It is the work of God, and all the glory belongs to Him, the god of salvation, the God of grace, the God of glory.

The Name that really matters ...

Genesis 11:1-32

Between the list of names in chapter 10 and 11:10-32, there is the story of what happens when we make ourselves the focus of attention rather than God - "Let's make a name for ourselves" (4). What a contrast there is between the tower of Babel, with the human builders trying to make a name for themselves, and the great declaration of Proverbs 18:10 - "The Name of the Lord is a strong tower." In the one case, there is scattering - "From that place the Lord scattered them all over the face of the earth" (9). In the other, there is safety - "A righteous man runs to it and is safe" (Proverbs 18:10). Following on from Proverbs 18:10, we read, "A rich person's wealth is his strong city and is like a high wall in his imagination" (Proverbs 18:11). "God chose what the world considers weak to put what is strong to shame" (1 Corinthians 1:27).

When you see a rainbow, remember God is love.

Genesis 9:1-28

'When you see a rainbow, remember God is love.' The love of God is revealed in the rainbow. It is more fully revealed in the Cross: 'We sing the praise of Him who died ... Upon the cross we see, in shining letters, "God is love." He bears our sins upon the tree. He brings us mercy from above." When we read the Old Testament stories - such as the story of Noah, we must learn to look beyond the story itself, seeing its place within the fuller Story, the Story of God's salvation: 'I will sing the wondrous story of the Christ who died for me.' This is the greatest story of all - "the Story ... of Jesus and His glory, of Jesus and His love ... the story of wonderful redemption, God's remedy for sin.' 'This is our story. This is our song, praising our Saviour all the day long.' This is the 'story to tell to the nations, the song to be sung to the nations, the message to give to the nations, the Saviour to show to the nations.'

Great Words Of Faith And Victory

"David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the Name of the Lord  Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. ⁴⁶ This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. ⁴⁷ All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord's, and He will give all of you into our hands”" (1 Samuel 17:45-47).

What great words of faith David spoke to the Philistine. He was a facing a giant. Goliath, the giant, was convinced that he would defeat David. The possibility of defeat had never even crossed his mind. David, however, was not afraid. He knew that the Lord was with him. He knew that the Lord would give him the victory,

Do not trust in deceptive words ...

"Do not trust in deceptive words and say, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord,  the temple of the Lord!”... Has this house, which bears My Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the Lord" (Jeremiah 7:4,11).
Jeremiah spoke to the people of his own day. He speaks to us as well. Don't let the place where you worship become more important than it really is. This is what he says to us. These are not only the words of Jeremiah. This is the Word of the Lord. What's happening in our hearts when we are gathered together in the House of the Lord? Are we thinking to ourselves, "I never miss a church service - not like those who've stopped coming to church"? What kind of "worship" is this? Lord, take us to the heart of worship. Give us a worshipping heart.

Building On The Past, Building For The Future

Jeremiah 6:9-19

The Word of God is to be preached - and heard.

Real hearing begins with listening. It doesn't end there.

The preacher's message doesn't begin with himself. The preacher is a messenger. The message comes from God. He has sent the preacher to deliver His message.

The message of Jeremiah 6:16 is not just 'the old ways are always the best ways.' How could there be progress if we were always thinking like this? How could we move beyond the Old Testament and into the New Testament? We are to look back to what God has done. We are to build on it, as we move on with Him, into His future. From the past, we learn about what God has done for us, what He has said to us and what He requires of those whom He has redeemed. We learn from the past, but we must not allow ourselves to get locked in the past. God is the God of the future as well as the God of the past - and He is the God of the past as well as the God of the future.

Jesus is "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."

Genesis 4:1-16

We read about Cain and Abel. We look beyond them to Christ. He offered himself as the perfect sacrifice for sin. He is "the Passover Lamb." He "has been sacrificed for us" (1 Corinthians 5:7). Jesus is "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).

We read here about the parting of the ways. Cain went one way - away from God. Abel went the other way - towards God. When we come to the Cross of Jesus Christ, we must make our choice. Our  life can never be the same again.

Will we be like Cain? - "He went out from the Lord's presence and lived in the land of wandering" (Genesis 4:16). What does God say to those who are wandering away from Him? He says, "Awake, sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you" (Ephesians 5:14).

We read about Abel, and we look beyond him to Christ. Let us walk with Christ on the way of faith and obedience, the way of His salvation, the way of holiness. When we read about Abel's offering being accepted by God, we must remember this - It's Christ who makes the difference. It's "His blood" which "cleanses us from our sins" (1 John 1:7).

Herbert Marcuse and Marx’s Call for a World-Changing Philosophy

The difference between Marcuse’s perspective and that of traditional Marxism is that the former is less one-sided in its analysis of the development and future possibilities of Marxism.
* A Marxism, which is acutely aware of capitalism’s defects while remaining rather oblivious to the inadequacies of communism, requires to take seriously Marcuse’s criticisms of both capitalism and communism.
* A Marxism, which rather one-sidedly emphasizes the revolutionary effect on society of a working “class for itself”, requires to take seriously the dialectical interrelation between class interest and societal interest: “The fate of classes is much more often determined by the needs of society than the fate of society is determined by the needs of the classes” (K Polanyi, The Great Transformation, p. 152, cited in G Lichtheim, A Short History of Socialism, p. 300).
* A Marxism, which uses the classical Marxist analysis of society as “a short-cut to understanding society and its problems” (D Childs, Marx and the Marxists, p. 338), requires to take seriously the possibility that the revolution might result not in the abolition of social conflict but in a reversal of roles in a social conflict which continues to breed discontent and thus provide the fodder for successive revolutions.
* A Marxism, which holds that “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles” (K Marx and F Engels, The Communist Manifesto, p. 79, emphasis mine), must, by virtue of its own account of human history, take seriously the possibility that the revolutionaries might, in turn, be affected by the greed which dominated the bourgeoisie. The supposition that the revolutionaries will be exempt from the greed and that the post-revolution era will be exempt from the class struggles of all hitherto existing society is not only entirely gratuitous but is also in distinct tension with the Marxist evaluation of all hitherto existing society.

God's love doesn't change with the weather or our changing circumstances.

Lamentations 3:19-33

Do you want to "become depressed" (Lamentations 3:20)? - Keep on remembering the bad things that have happened to you.

Do you want to be lifted out of your depression and into the joy of the Lord? - Remember this: God loves you.

God's love is a "faithful love" (Lamentations 3:22). It doesn't come and go. It doesn't change with the weather or our changing circumstances.

"The Lord is good to those who wait for Him" (Lamentations 3:25) - God is good, but we need to learn to wait on Him, if we are to appreciate His goodness.

"Be silent" (Lamentations 3:28). Less complaining - all this shows is that we're seeing things for our own point of view.

"He will show compassion according to His abundant faithful love" (Lamentations 3:32 ) - This is God's point of view.

Where Does Revelation Come From?

" ... the sky opened, and I saw visions from God ... The power of the Lord came over Ezekiel" (Ezekiel 1:1-2).

Where does revelation come from? Does it come from us? Is it something that we discover? No! It comes from above. It comes from heaven. It comes from the Lord. It is given to us. It is the gift of  His grace. Revelation comes to us - but it doesn't begin with us. It begins with God. We see things differently - when our eyes are opened by the Lord. No glory belongs to us. All the glory belongs to the Lord. We dare not say, "Look  at what I have discovered." All we can say is this, ""To God be the glory! Great things He has done."

Before the creation, there is the Creator .... (Genesis 1:1-12:9)

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Before the creation, there is the Creator.

* He is the chief focus of attention in the Bible’s first chapter. Wherever we look in Genesis 1, we see the word, God. This is about Him. Genesis 1 speaks about us. It tells us where we have come from. We have come from God. He is our Creator. Take away God, and our life has no meaning, no purpose, no direction.

* Move on from the Bible’s first chapter. Read the rest of Genesis, the rest of the Old Testament,the rest of the Bible. What do you find? The Bible is a Book about God. It’s not only a Book about God. It’s a Book that has been given to us by God. It’s His Word.

* What about our faith and our life? Our faith comes to us from God. Our life has been given to us by God. We are to put our faith in God. We are to live our life for God.

* “God said, Let there be light, and there was light” (Genesis 1:3). The light of God’s love and holiness. “He created us in His own image” (Genesis 1:27). Created by God - love. Created for God - called to holiness. The light of His love - a sure foundation for our faith. The light of His holiness - The Lord is calling us to walk with him in the light of His holy Word.

* “God saw all that He had made, and it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). This was before our sin spoiled the world. We must not blame God for our sin. We are the ones who have spoiled His good creation.

* “God completed His work” (Genesis 2:2). This was the end of the beginning. When we come to Genesis 3, it seems like we’re reading about the beginning of the end. It’s not. It’s the start of a new beginning - God’s rescue plan (Genesis 3:15).

Genesis 2:4-25

Do what God tells us to do. This leads to blessing. Do what God tells us not to do. This leads to trouble. It’s been trouble ever since.

Here, on earth, things can be turned around. We can be set in the right direction. We are not yet at our final destination, but we’re travelling towards it.

When Adam and Eve sinned, they “died” spiritually. Immediately, we see conflict. The devil has won a battle. He has won many more battles. He will win many more battles. He will not win the war.

In Genesis 3:15, we catch a glimpse of God’s eternal Kingdom, in which “there will no longer be any curse” (Revelation 22:3).

Genesis 3:1-7

The tragedy of Adam and Eve: their fall into sin. We compare this with the triumph of Jesus - His victory over Satan.

What made the difference?- standing on the Word of God.

Adam and Eve believed the lie of the devil.

Jesus took His stand on the Word of God.

What about us? Do we stand? or Do we fall? Will we listen to Satan? or Will we listen to God?

We cannot be facing in two directions at the same time. We must make our choice.

Will our life be self-centred? or Will it be God-centred?

God is calling us out of the old life (the Adam life). He’s calling us into the new life (the Jesus life). When we choose to walk with Jesus, He walks with us.

Genesis 3:8-24

Here, we focus on three verses.

* Genesis 3:9 - "Where are you?" This is the voice of love: "The Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost" (Luke 19:10).

* Genesis 3:15 - A prophecy concerning our Saviour and His mighty triumph over Satan

For Christ, there was suffering. For us, there is salvation.

* Genesis 3:22 - Salvation is not something we can reach out and take.

It must be given to us by the Lord. We must receive salvation from the Lord. It is always His gift.

Genesis 4:1-16

We read about Cain and Abel. We look beyond them to Christ. He offered himself as the perfect sacrifice for sin. He is "the Passover Lamb." He "has been sacrificed for us" (1 Corinthians 5:7). Jesus is "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).

We read here about the parting of the ways. Cain went one way - away from God. Abel went the other way - towards God. When we come to the Cross of Jesus Christ, we must make our choice. Our  life can never be the same again.

Will we be like Cain? - "He went out from the Lord's presence and lived in the land of wandering" (Genesis 4:16). What does God say to those who are wandering away from Him? He says, "Awake, sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you" (Ephesians 5:14).

We read about Abel, and we look beyond him to Christ. Let us walk with Christ on the way of faith and obedience, the way of His salvation, the way of holiness. When we read about Abel's offering being accepted by God, we must remember this - It's Christ who makes the difference. It's "His blood" which "cleanses us from our sins" (1 John 1:7).

Genesis 9:8-17

We look at the rainbow. We see the love of God. We look beyond the rainbow. We look to the Cross. There, we see the supreme demonstration of the love of God. There, we see Jesus, suffering for us. His suffering is the suffering of love. It wasn't the nails that held Him to the Cross. It was His love for us that sent Him to the Cross. It was His love for us that kept Him on the Cross.

Genesis 12:1-9

This was a major step for Abraham - and for God. Abraham would never be the same again. For him, this was the beginning of a journey. It was more than a journey into a new land. It was a journey into God's blessing. Notice that Abraham was "75 years old" (Genesis 12:4) when he set out on this great journey of faith and blessing. 75 years old - we don't normally expect big changes at this age. Big change - this was what God expected of Abraham. Can we ever say, "It's too late to make a new beginning with God?" No! We must never say this. Whatever age we are, we must be ready to say "Yes" to God, to move forward with Him. Pray that God will give you a new hunger for Himself, for His Word, for prayer. As we get older, are we getting colder or bolder? Do we say, "My best days are behind me? or Do we rise to new challenges?

Revelation - Centred On Christ, Our Saviour

Carl E. Braaten has written that "Serious reservations ... must be voiced against the dominant position of the idea of revelation in theology." Braaten suggests that the idea of revelation implies that "man's essential predicament is his lack of knowledge." Braaten offers this comment: "If the ignorance of man stands in the centre, then the fact of revelation relieves that plight; but if man's guilt is the problem, then not revelation but reconciliation must become the theological centrum" (History and Hermeneutics, p. 14).

Any worthy theology of revelation will take full account of the substance of Braaten's comment. Man's basic need does not lie in his finitude. It lies in his sinfulness. This need is not met by mere knowledge about God. It is met by reconciliation to God. We must, however, resist any and every tendency to draw a false contrast between revelation and reconciliation. Revelation is not merely an antidote to ignorance. Revelation centres on Christ. He is our Saviour. He is the One who reconciles us to God. Biblical revelation must be understood with respect to its specific intention. This is most closely related to salvation. The Scriptures point us to Christ. They call us to believe in Him. They call us to receive eternal life through faith in Him. This salvation is more than simply an antidote to our ignorance. It is God's way of removing our guilt. Scripture's primary focus of attention is on the divine reconciliation by which our guilt is removed. Let us not think, however, that we should dispense with the word, 'revelation', and simply replace it with the word, 'reconciliation'. Let us rejoice in the God who has revealed Him most wonderfully in His great act of reconciliation through Christ (2 Corinthians 5:18-21). 

Barth's Theme - Not I, but Christ

Karl Barth is not the Name. 

Jesus, for salvation, came.
Barth points us to the One,

Jesus Christ, God’s only Son.

If Barth were here today, 

I think he would still say,

Look from Barth, look away. 

Look to Jesus, he would say.

Karl Barth spoke of Christ’s grace. 

Yes! Karl Barth knew his place.

He did not seek the glory. 

He wrote to tell Christ’s story.

Look! Here comes Doctor Barth! 

It doesn’t sound quite right!

If God’s Word claims our heart, 

“Jesus only” is in our sight.

“Barth is small. Christ is great.” 

This is what “KB” said.

We’re in an awful state,

When we say “Barth is great ...”.

Karl Barth wrote many books. 

What were they all about?
To Jesus Christ he looks. 

Let’s get His message out.

Words of Christ's text are few.* 

They are addressed to you.

“The Bible tells us so”,

And Jesus helps us grow.

Karl Barth said, “Less of me.”

More of Christ may we see.

When we read Barth’s CD,**

May Christ be all we see.

Karl Barth calls us to praise. 

Our songs to Christ we raise.

With the Lord we will win. 

He is Victor over sin.

Dare we forget Karl Barth?***

Let Jesus fill your heart,

This, he asks us to do: 

Trust in Christ. He loves you.

If you and I do this, 

Barth’s point we will not miss.
Put Jesus first and not KB. 

Jesus’ people we must be.
-----
* Here, I am thinking of a sermon preached on 2 Corinthians 12:9 in which Barth contrasted the many books he had written and the few words of his text, "My grace is sufficient with you." He said that we may forget all that he says, but we must hold on to these few words: "My grace is sufficient for you."
** CD = "Church Dogmatics", not "Compact Disc"!!

*** The name Barth is pronounced Barth. The h is silent.
-----
These thoughts about Karl Barth are offered in a spirit of critical appreciation. What I am saying is an echo of what Barth himself said. Whatever importance Karl Barth may have had, this is nothing compared with the importance of Jesus Christ.

The Word of God encourages us to look beyond the here and now.

Isaiah 2:1-5

The Word of God encourages us to look beyond the here and now. It gives us a glimpse of "the last days" (Isaiah 2:2). God knows the end as well as the beginning - and He show it to us (Isaiah 2:2). We say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord ... He will teach us about His ways so that we may walk in His paths ... Come and let us walk in the Lord's light" (Isaiah 2:3,5). Our world would be a very different world if more people were looking to the Lord and learning from Him, turning to the Lord and travelling with Him. What about you? Are you looking to the Lord? Are you learning from Him? Are you turning to the Lord? Are you travelling with Him? These are the questions that the Word of God puts to every one of us. Will we give the answer of faith and obedience? I cannot answer this question for you. You cannot answer it for me. Each one of us must answer for ourselves. What will your answer be?

The Spirit lifted me.

"The Spirit lifted me" (Ezekiel 3:12,14).

The Spirit speaks God's Word to us, and He gives God's power to us. Through God's Word, the Spirit reaches us. Through God's power, the Spirit changes us.

Karl Barth the Preacher - Jesus loves me.

What are we to say about Barth the preacher? Surely, J. S. Stewart has described him well in these words of commendation: “this Colossus of a theologian is basically concerned with simple things… no one reading Barth can have any doubt… (about his) single-hearted devotion to Christ” (Prayer and Preaching, 7, from ‘Preface’ by J. S. Stewart).

The simplicity of Barth’s faith is beautifully illustrated in an incident described by J. M. Boice: “Several years before his death the Swiss theologian Karl Barth came to the United States for a series of lectures. At one of these, after a very impressive lecture, a student asked a typically American question. He said, ‘Dr. Barth, what is the greatest thought that has ever passed through your mind?’  The aging professor paused for a long time as he obviously thought about his answer. Then he said with great simplicity:‘Jesus loves me! This I know. For the Bible tells me so’ ” (Foundations of the Christian Faith, (Downers Grove/London, 1986), 331).

Lord, we thank You for Your great love.

Lord, we thank You for Your great love. It is not a love that we can take for granted. We dare not say, ‘God loves us. we can do what we like.’ Your love calls for our response. It’s a love that calls to trust in the Saviour. It’s a love which calls us to receive Your forgiveness. It’s a love which calls us to begin a new life with You. Help us, Lord, to live our lives in the light of Your great love – “Loving Him who first loved me.”

Anselm on the Atonement

In Book I of Cur Deus Homo (Why the God-Man?), Anselm aims to show the impossibility of man’s achieving salvation for himself. In Book II, he seeks to show that Jesus Christ, the God-Man, is the necessary means of salvation.

His exposition of salvation through the God-Man is characterized by a serious attempt to hold together God’s freedom, holiness and love. He is concerned to show that this emphasis on Jesus Christ as the necessary means of salvation does not, in any way, compromise God’s nature. The necessity of which Anselm speaks is not a necessity which stands over against God. It is a necessity which is grounded in the nature of God.

It is, in fact, more accurately described as grace rather than necessity. There is no obligation upon God to save man. In free grace, He chooses to save man. Having made this choice, He then proceeds to accomplish this salvation in a way that is consistent with His own nature. He does so in such a way that His forgiveness is not simply a condoning of sin.

In I.5, Boso raises the question of whether salvation might have been effected by some “other being than God”. Responding to this suggestion, Anselm goes right to the heart of the problem inherent in this view: “if any other being could rescue man from eternal death, man would rightly be adjudged as the servant of that being”.

As well as opposing the idea that salvation can be effected by some “other being than God”, he also opposes the idea that man could be saved by some other being, not of Adam’s race. He argues thus: since it is man who owes the debt to God, it is man who must pay the debt.

The question might be raised whether this principle of payment should be extended beyond the idea of a representative Man paying the debt for all men. If, however, the idea of personal responsibility was understood to exclude the notion of vicariousness, man would simply receive his just deserts, reaping what he had sown.

When we allow for the idea of Christ being the representative Man – the second or last Adam (Romans 5:12-21), we must ask how He could assume humanity without also assuming a sinful nature. We must ask how, having assumed sinless humanity, He could save what He did not assume – sinful humanity.

Anselm’s response to this question will be considered later. It should be noted that he speaks here of something which is essentially a mystery, belonging to God. This is an interesting illustration of Anselm’s conviction that, for understanding, we are ultimately dependent on God (II.22). In observing this point, we may note that it would be inaccurate to describe Anselm’s methodology as rationalistic.

He does seek to develop his argument in accordance with reason. Reason is not, for him, our ultimate authority. He emphasizes that “Our labours and attempts are in vain without God. Man cannot seek God unless God Himself teaches him; nor find Him, unless He reveals Himself … The believer does not seek to understand, that he may believe, but he believes that he may understand: for unless he believed he would not understand”

Anselm teaches that God is not under obligation to provide salvation, yet only He can do this. He also insists that salvation must be provided by God, if man is to be a servant of God alone.

Concerning man’s part, we must understand that Anselm is not denying that salvation is fully the work of God. He seeks to hold together the emphases on God and Man. His emphasis is not so much that satisfaction is offered to God by a Man, who is also God. Rather, his emphasis is this: satisfaction is offered to God by the God-Man.

In I.6, Boso says, “If you say that God … could not do all these things by a simple command … you make him powerless … if you grant that He could have done these things in some other way, but did not wish to, how can you vindicate His wisdom …”. We need to take care that we do not attempt to define the character of God without reference to the incarnation and atonement of Jesus Christ. Here, we might emphasize the importance of Anselm’s principle – faith seeking understanding. We look at what God has done for us in Christ. By faith, we receive the salvation which God has provided for us in Christ. We learn how the character of God – His power and wisdom – are revealed to us in “Christ crucified … the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:23-24).

In I.7, we have Anselm’s refutation of the ransom theory. He does not wish to deny the reality of spiritual warfare. He does, however, stress that the conflict between God and Satan is not to be understood dualistically. The power that belongs to Satan has been given to him by God. We must see beyond this conflict, affirming that the ultimate triumph belongs to God since all things are under His control.

In I.8-10, we are introduced to the question of the relation of the death of Christ to the will of God. Here, Anselm’s exposition is weak. He resorts to the doubtful method of defending God’s wisdom, righteousness and omnipotence by proving that Christ’s death is to be understood in terms of His own free will rather than the compelling will of the Father. This involves strained exegesis of Scripture (e.g. Philippians 2:8 ff., Matthew 26:39). It tends to conflict with Anselm’s main emphasis – salvation is initiated by God the Father and accomplished by God the Son.

In I.11-12, Anselm defines sin as “not to render God His due”. He maintains that “everyone who sins ought to pay back the honour of which he has robbed God … this is the satisfaction which every sinner owes to God”. He understands the payment of the debt thus: “he who violates another’s honour does not enough by merely rendering honour again, but must, according to the extent of the injury done, make restoration in some way satisfactory to the person whom he has dishonoured”.

It should be noted that Anselm sees the commercial ‘owing a debt’ and the moral ‘ought’ as equivalent to each other. His concept of God’s honour was influenced by the current notions of honour. His idea of the increased debt was tied in with the commercial notions of his time.

These factors do not completely undermine the value of his theological analysis. It would be inaccurate to describe his theory of the atonement as purely commercial. It would be unfair to draw too sharp a distinction between Anselm’s concept of honour and the Biblical concept of holiness.

On the other hand, it should be pointed out that the idea of the increased debt has unfortunate consequences:

(a) Christ is seen chiefly as man in His life – paying the debt He owed and as the God-Man in His death – dying the death which, as sinless Man, He did not need to die. This hardly seems to do justice to the unity of His Person throughout the whole course of His obedience.

(b) The idea of Christ’s death procuring a plus of merit as a reward which, since He did not require it for Himself, He gives to man in the form of forgiveness. There is, perhaps, a suggestion here that this is really the Roman Catholic doctrine of penance applied to the work of Christ.

In I.12, Anselm maintains that it is “not proper for God … to pass over sin unpunished”. If sin remained unpunished, there would be no difference between the guilty and the not-guilty. Sin would then be “subject to no law”. In this respect, sin would be like God. This would be an untenable position.

Boso challenges Anselm’s view at two points.

(a) Since God commands us to forgive others, it would be self-contradictory for Him to demand of us what is improper in Himself.

(b) Since God is so free that He is subject to no law and so kind that nothing kinder can be imagined and since nothing is right or proper unless He wills it, then it seems curious that He should not will or be permitted to forgive wrongdoing.

Anselm’s response to the first question misses the point. He maintains that vengeance is God’s prerogative. He fails to ground the command to be merciful in God’s mercy. Perhaps, Anselm might have made a more adequate response to this first question if he had spoken not only of the divine holiness, which calls for the punishment of sin, but also of the divine love which has provided forgiveness of sin through Jesus Christ.

In answer to the second question, Anselm argues that God is not free to will what is not right. The non-punishment of sin would constitute a breach of this principle.

What are we to make of Anselm’s argument?

* This discussion raises the question whether Anselm’s legal framework can be synthesized with a more personal understanding of God. It also raises the question of whether we can speak of forgiveness at all on the basis of Anselm’s conception of the punishment – satisfaction dichotomy.

* There seems to be a conflict between love and justice here. Anselm does not make direct reference to the God-Man until later in the book. This may explain why the discussion, at this point, seems somewhat artificial. At a later point, Anselm says that the word “grace” is the most appropriate word to describe God’s action in Christ. If this point had been made at this stage in the argument, Anselm’s case might have been strengthened.

* Love and wrath need not be seen as mutually contradictory attributes in God. Wrath might be seen as the instrument by which God, in love, clears away all hindrances to His love. The Cross would then be viewed as, at one and the same time, a revelation of both God’s love and His wrath. At this stage of his argument, Anselm’s words do not appear to lend themselves to this kind of interpretation. It should, however, be noted that his later statements - connecting salvation to grace – would be conducive to this interpretation.

* When Anselm says that man was created so that He might enjoy God, there is a suggestion that his theory of the atonement is open to being supplemented by a more personal understanding of the relationship between God and man. This would focus attention on our being brought into fellowship with God. The emphasis would be placed on the action of God’s love. In this context, His wrath may be seen as serving the purpose of His love.

- When we see His wrath serving the purpose of His love, we would emphasize that the atonement is grounded in God’s eternal love. His love precedes the atonement.

- When we look from the historical event of Christ’s towards our receiving God’s forgiveness, we might speak of atonement preceding forgiveness. Forgiveness is made available to us because Jesus Christ has died for us.

In I.14, Boso asks the question “whether the punishment of the sinner is an honour to God, or how it is an honour”. Anselm seeks to show that man cannot be saved without satisfaction for sin. He emphasizes that satisfaction should be proportionate to guilt (I.20). Stressing the gravity of sin, he maintains that “remission ought not to take place, save by the payment of the debt incurred by sin” (I.24). He insists that this cannot be done by a sinful man “for a sinner cannot justify a sinner” (I.23). He emphasizes that “salvation must necessarily be by Christ” (I.25). With this statement, he sets the scene for Book II.

In II.1, Anselm speaks of “the enjoyment of God”. This indicates that he does not wish to reduce our relationship with God to a commercial level. While much of Anselm’s terminology is commercial, there is some awareness of the need, in our understanding of the atonement, for the language of personal relationships. It would, therefore, be inappropriate to describe his theory of the atonement as a purely commercial theory.

This tension between the commercial and the personal reflects a similar tension in the New Testament. There, we find legal terminology alongside the more personal emphasis on restoration of fellowship with God.

Here, we have an important problem of formulating an adequate doctrine of the atonement. We need to bring together the legal and personal categories found in the New Testament in a way that does not devalue one or other of these approaches.

In II.3-4, Anselm argues that “man was so made as not to be necessarily subject to death”. Here, he seeks to take account of the New Testament teaching regarding sin – “the wages of sin is death” – and salvation – “the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

In II.5, Anselm discusses necessity as it relates to God. He writes, “when one benefits from a necessity to which he is unwittingly subjected”, this does not deserve thanks. On the other hand, “when he freely places himself under the necessity of benefiting another, and sustains that necessity without reluctance, then he certainly deserves greater thanks for the favour”. Emphasizing that this is “not … necessity but grace”, Anselm maintains that “God does nothing by necessity, since He is not compelled or restrained by anything.” The only ‘necessity’ that applies to God is that He acts in accordance with His own nature. This is not, however, something extrinsic to Him. It is intrinsic to Him. His decision to save man is determined by nothing other than His free grace.

In II.6, Anselm speaks of the satisfaction that must be made to God’s holiness – “none but God can make” it, “none but man ought to make”, “it is necessary for the God-Man to make it.” He maintains that the One who makes this satisfaction must be both fully God and fully Man. He must be truly Man yet without sin. He must be truly God since He alone can make this satisfaction.

In connection with Christ’s death, Anselm emphasizes that He die not die because He owed a debt. The way in which he speaks of Christ’s life – man ought to make the satisfaction – leaves him open to the charge of thinking of Christ as a man in His life and as the God-Man in His death. This shift of emphasis leaves us wondering whether Anselm has given an adequate exposition of the unity of Christ’s Person, The heavy emphasis on the death of the God-Man leaves us wondering what importance ought to be attached to the whole course of His obedience.

In II.10, Anselm discusses whether Christ could have sinned. He says that Christ could have sinned had He chosen to do so. He then states that, given the Person Christ is – the God-Man, He could not have chosen to sin.

In his discussion of Christ’s death, Anselm seeks to defend Christ’s freedom: “I do not think mortality inheres in the essential nature of man, but only as corrupted.” Thus, he emphasizes that Christ, the God-Man, was under no obligation to die. He maintains that Christ, because of His omnipotence, was able to lay down His life that He might take it again.

While not without difficulties, Anselm’s theory of the atonement has a great deal of value in it. Especially noteworthy is his concern to ground the atonement in the character of God.

Lord, what is it that keeps us walking with You in the way of faith?

Lord, what is it that keeps us walking with You in the way of faith? It’s Your grace – Your amazing grace. Without Your grace, we could not even begin to trust in You. Without Your grace, we cannot keep on trusting You. It’s Your grace that has brought us to faith in Christ. It’s Your grace that keeps us walking with You in the way of faith.

Assessing the Christology of Wolfhart Pannenberg

In his Christology, Pannenberg adopts a ‘from below’ approach rather than a ‘from above’ approach (Jesus - God and Man (1968; German edition, 1964), pp. 33-37).

Using historical reason, he concludes that it is more reasonable to defend the historicity of Jesus’ resurrection rather than denying it.

He accepts Kirn’s definition of the historical method: “A historical conclusion can be regarded as certain when … despite the fact that it is not removed from all possible attacks, it is nevertheless in agreement with all the known facts” Basic Questions in Theology, Vol. I (1970), p. 54).

Adopting this approach to Jesus’ resurrection, he concludes that “(t)he Easter appearances are not to be explained from the Easter faith of the disciples; rather, conversely, the Easter faith of the disciples is to be explained from the appearances” (Jesus - God and Man, p. 96).

Pannenberg holds that Jesus’ resurrection has retroactive power, i. e. in the resurrection, God sets His seal on the pre-Easter activity of Jesus, declaring Him to be the Son of God.

Insisting that “the idea that Jesus had received divinity only as a consequence of his resurrection is not tenable” (p. 135), he writes, “That God is revealed in Jesus can only be asserted on the basis of his resurrection from the dead … If Jesus as a person is ‘the Son of God’, as becomes clear retroactively from his resurrection, then he has always been the Son of God” (p. 141).

The notion of the retroactive power of the resurrection is carefully distinguished from all assumptions concerning any direct Messianic self-consciousness or direct Messianic claims on the part of the pre-Easter Jesus (pp. 327, 332).

Pannenberg’s view of the relationship between the self-consciousness of the pre-Easter Jesus and the retroactive power of the resurrection is undergirded by his concern to avoid any hint of determinism (pp. 330, 332).

This concern may appear to be apologetically relevant since it reflects the mood of modernity in its search for freedom. This claim to apologetic relevance does, however, become questionable when his interpretation of Scripture is closely examined.

Pannenberg’s conception of the retroactive power of the resurrection might have been extended in the direction of validating Jesus’ view of the authority of the Old Testament Scriptures (C. Pinnock, “Pannenberg’s Theology: Reasonable Happenings in History” in Christianity Today, 31, 3 (5th November 1976), p. 22). Jesus’ view of the Old Testament Scriptures may then have been related to the idea that Jesus Himself has given a Christological foundation for the Church’s confession of the authority of the New Testament.

Pannenberg refuses to develop his notion of the retroactive power of the resurrection in this direction, preferring to approach the biblicism - liberalism dichotomy by way of a theology of universal history.

His refusal to move in the direction of Biblical authority is determined not by the intrinsic rationality of his idea of the retroactive power of the resurrection but by his particular reaction against authoritarianism.

If he had drawn an adequate distinction between an authentic authority and an unwarranted authoritarianism, he might have developed his notion of the retroactive power of the resurrection in the direction of a more significant insight into the role of the words of Scripture in divine revelation.

Pannenberg’s interpretation of the Gospel narratives is dominated by his own conception of a ‘from below’ approach to Christology. As part of an apologetic theology, his analysis of Jesus’ Messianic self-consciousness is of ambiguous worth. The question arises whether it is more reasonable to believe that the resurrection declared Jesus to be what He had not claimed to be than to believe that the resurrection declared Him to be what He had claimed to be.

Pannenberg regards the “so-called passion predictions” as “vaticinia ex eventu” (i. e. written by the Gospel-writers with hindsight rather than spoken by Jesus Himself prior to the events) (Jesus - God and Man, p. 245).

Pannenberg holds that “Jesus’ claim to authority by itself cannot be made the basis of a Christology … everything depends upon the connection between Jesus’ claim and its confirmation by God” (p. 66).

The question arises whether there is any necessary connection between Pannenberg’s insightful emphasis on the resurrection as the confirmation of Jesus’ claim and his interpretaion of the passion predictions.

C. Brown’s words are worthy of consideration here: “if the traditional understanding of his mission is at all valid - and surely this possibility ought not to be ruled out a priori - the very thing we should expect to find is that Jesus would have tried to convey to his followers something of the meaning of his death and resurrection” (Philosophy and the Christian Faith (1969), p. 282, italics in the original).

Assessing the Eschatological Theology of Wolfhart Pannenberg

Eschatology has rarely been directly associated with the doctrine of election, which has generally been understood in relation to its ‘pre’ element (see, for example, J. Calvin, Institutes, Three, XXI, 5 and L. Berkhof, Systematic Theology, pp. 109-118).

Election and eschatology have been understood in direct relation to one another by Wolfhart Pannenberg, whose whole theology bears a distinctly eschatological flavour.

Pannenberg’s peculiarly eschatological theology has been described thus: “The intellectual task that Pannenberg has set himself is a monumental one, namely to construct a fundamental system of thought in which the primary ontological principle is futurity” (W. Pannenberg, Theology and the Kingdom of God (1975), edited by R. J. Neuhaus, p. 12 (from “Wolfhart Pannenberg: Profile of a Theologian” by Neuhaus).

The fundamental importance of futurity in Pannenberg’s thought is expressed thus by Pannenberg himself: “we see the present as an effect of the future, in contrast to the conventional assumption that past and present are the cause of the future. the future lets go of itself to bring into being our present” (Theology and the Kingdom of God, pp. 54, 59).

From this thoroughly eschatological perspective, Pannenberg understands election thus: “The Christian people, chosen from all nations, has been elected to exist in this world as the eschatological community of the God of Israel and witnesses even now to this imminent rule over all creation and all mankind” (Human Nature, Election and History (1977),
p. 101).

In Pannenberg’s understanding of election and eschatology, there is an undeniably universalist tendency. The election of the Church is presented as a witness to the coming universal Kingdom of God. Drawing a radical distinction between the Kingdom and the Church, he emphasizes “the universal thrust in the notion of the Kingdom of God” (Theology and the Kingdom of God, p. 73).

This universal thrust is heavily underlined by Pannenberg: “the Kingdom of God is certainly universal. The power of the one God cannot be conceived as limited to certain areas. It extends to the whole world and every individual” (W. Pannenberg, A. Dulles and C. E. Braaten, Spirit, Faith and Church (1970), p.111). “The Kingdom of God will comprise all mankind” (p. 116).

Pannenberg insists that his view of the Kingdom of God is not “merely a formalistic idea about God’s ruling over everybody and everything” (Theology and the Kingdom of God, p. 78).

Here, he seeks to distance himself from a superficial understanding of universalism. It is not, however, clear how he can defend himself against the charge of allowing a preconceived notion of the Kingdom of God to dominate his theology.

Particularly questionable is his attempt to explain the meaning of judgment.

He writes, “the wholeness of our existence can only be represented as an event beyond death … the entrance of the eternal depth into our experience means both resurrection and judgment at the same time. It means resurrection because in that event man’s destiny is fulfilled in his own person. It means judgment because the eternal totality of his own life must be destroyed in the contradiction between the ego and man’s eternal destiny” (What is Man?, (1962 - German original), p. 80) . “eternity means judgment because in the eternal concurrence our life must perish because of its contradiction and especially because of the basic contradiction between the self and its eternal destiny” (p. 81).

When speaking of judgment in this way, Pannenberg does seek to make room for the significance of individual faith. Of the individual under judgment, he writes, “he will not simply become nothing; he will be destroyed in the face of his infinite destiny, that is, his destiny to a total, healed life” (p. 79). Concerning the significance of “individual faith”, he writes, “Only for the person who is in communion with Jesus does the resurrection mean eternal life as well as judgment” (p. 81).

When we look at his radical distinction between the Kingdom and the Church, it is not clear how we are to understand these remarks regarding the significance of individual faith. He speaks of individual faith in connection with the Church: “individual faith” is “fundamental in the concept of the Church“. This statement is set in the context of the “universal communion of renewed humankind in the Kingdom of God”. We may wonder how Pannenberg’s comment, “individual faith is fundamental in the concept of the Church” is to be related to his statement that “Participation in the Kingdom of God is a matter … of spiritual rebirth” (Human Nature, Election and History (1970), p. 107, emphases mine).

Pannenberg speaks of “the wholeness of our existence” as “an event beyond death.” Is this the “spiritual rebirth” which he describes as “participation in the Kingdom of God”?

Pannenberg’s notion of an eternal concurrence between resurrection and judgment fits in well with the notion of a universal Kingdom of God - a “universal communion of renewed humankind in the Kingdom of God”. It does not appear to fit in so well with other aspects of the New Testament proclamation of the Gospel. It is difficult to see how statements like “You must be born again” (John 3:3) and “How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?” (Hebrews 2:3) fit into Pannenberg’s theology.

—–

The Gospel we are called to preach

* We proclaim God’s love for the whole world - “God so loved the world … “(John 3:16).

* We affirm God’s purpose for the whole world - “God sent His Son … that the world should be saved” (John 3:17)

* We echo God’s warning to the whole world - “he who does not believe is judged already, because he has not believed in the Name of the only begotten Son of God … he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (John 3:18, 36).

Lord, help us not to keep You at a distance.

Lord, help us not to keep You at a distance. Help us to get closer to You. So many of our problems come from this: We’re too far away from You. Even when we’re keeping you at a distance, help us to know that You still love us. Help us to know that You’ll never stop loving us.

Karl Barth the Preacher: “Keep before your eyes our Lord Jesus Christ”

Prior to his ‘forty years as a professor’, Barth spent ‘twelve years as a preacher’ (Evangelical Theology: An Introduction (from the Foreword to the German Edition). As a theologian, he never lost sight of the importance of preaching. Although he worked for so many years in the university, he always saw his theological work as part of the church’s work: ‘I said to myself. “If I am a theologian, I must try to work out broadly what I think I  have perceived as God’s revelation. What I think I have perceived. Yet not I as an individual but I as a member of the Christian church”. This is why I call my book Church Dogmatics. “Church” here does not mean that the church is responsible for all that I say, but that I as one member of the church have reflected on what may be perceived in revelation and tried to present it to the best of my conscience and understanding’ (A Karl Barth Reader, 113, emphasis original).
Barth’s theological work was a part of the church’s work. Ultimately, however, it was a part of God’s work. At the heart of his work lay his relationship with God, a relationship which involved him in listening to God and speaking to God. Concerning the importance of listening to God, he writes: ‘The object of theological work is not some thing but some one… The task of theological work consists in listening to Him’. Stressing the importance of speaking to God in prayer, Barth insists that ‘without prayer there can be no theological work’. He stresses that this ‘rule… is valid under all circumstances pray and work!’ This does not mean that we begin with prayer and then regard prayer as incidental to the work which is done - “theological work does not merely begin with prayer and is not merely accompanied by it’. Barth stresses that ‘prayer… is work… very hard work’. He insists that the work itself is essentially a prayer: ‘every act of theological work must have the character of an offering in which everything is placed before the living God’ (Evangelical Theology: An Introduction, 163 (emphasis original), 160).

As we hear Barth speaking of the importance of prayer, we come to the very heart of the man not simply the theologian before his students, not merely the preacher before his congregation, but the man before his God, the man listening to God and speaking to God, the man who says to us, ‘Keep before your eyes our Lord Jesus Christ’ (A Karl Barth Reader, 104).

Fire!

Daniel 3:1-30

Fire - danger, heat

There is, in God’s Word, a word of warning and a word of promise.

This is the way we are not to go. This is the way we are to go.

* “Our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29).

* “The bush was not consumed” (Exodus 3:2).

* “Our God is an awesome God” (Rich Mullins) - we must never forget this.

Fire is to be respected. Our God is a holy fire. He burns away our dross.

* “Refiner’s fire, my heart’s one desire is to be holy, set apart for You, Lord; I choose to be holy, set apart for You, my Master, ready to do Your will” (Brian Doerksen).

* “O God of burning, cleansing flame, send the fire! Your blood-bought gift today we claim: send the fire today!... We need another Pentecost! Send the fire today!” (William Booth).

This is the inspiring and empowering fire: the Holy Spirit. “Give me oil in my lamp. Keep me burning” - burning for God.

* Isaiah 43:2 - “You will not be scorched when you walk through the fire, and the flame will not burn you.”

There were four men in the furnace of blazing fire - Jesus was there: “the fourth was like a son of the gods” (Daniel 3:25),

We go through many testing times, but we are not alone. Jesus is with us. He’s there with His grace: “My grace is sufficient for you. My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). He calls us to put our faith in Him.

* In the fiery furnace, the men were burning for God. They weren’t being consumed by the fire. They were shining for God. Their light was calling out to others.

Come to the light. Come to the Lord.

When we look at these men, we must look beyond them to the Son of God. Jesus passed through the “fire” for us. He was forsaken by God so that we might be welcomed by God.

The Exodus is more than a departure. It's a deliverance ...

Exodus 2:23-25

The Exodus is more than a departure. It's a deliverance. It's more than a protest against Egypt. It's an answer to prayer. It's more than a social revolution. It's a spiritual revelation of God's love.

Exodus 3:1-22

Moses may have been content to remain in the background. God was calling him to step into the foreground - for God’s people.

This is more than the story of Moses. It’s the story of Israel. It points forward to God’s purpose for all nations. When we read the Old Testament story, we find that God is saying to us, ‘This is just the beginning. There is more than this.’ From Exodus to the Gospels, to Acts, to the book of Revelation: We’re not at the final triumph yet. Like those who have come before us - Moses, the Psalmist, the prophets, Jesus, Peter, Paul, we must face conflict. There will be glimpses of glory, but the full glory is still to come.

In Exodus, we see God’s people on a journey. It’s a journey with God. It’s a journey of faith. We see the same thing in Acts.In the work of God, there are people who are very significant - Moses and Peter. The work of God is always bigger than such individuals. Let us never forget the people who remain in the background. They’re not just making up the numbers. They’re important - loved by God and valued by God.

* What does God have to say to each and every one of us concerning His purpose for our lives?

Exodus 3 and Acts 2 - God’s holiness (burning bush, holy ground, Holy Spirit); God’s love (the redemption of Israel, the salvation of three thousand sinners.)

His holiness and His love: This is what God wants to reproduce in our lives. This is not only for big names, like Moses and Peter. From the Father, the Son and the Spirit - new life, abundant life, eternal life.

Exodus 20:1-21
Before the Ten Commandments, there is love (Exodus 20:2). There is more than law. There is more than the exodus. There is Jesus, our Saviour. He does for us what the law can never do for us. He saves us.
The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:3-17) - What effect do they have on us? Read Exodus 20:18-21 - "thunder and lightning", "the mountain surrounded by smoke", "the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance", "don't let God speak to us, or we will die", "the people remained standing at a distance as Moses approached the thick darkness where God was".
Distance, darkness - This is where the law leaves us.
If we are to move from distance to nearness, from darkness to light, we need more than the law. We need Jesus, our Saviour.

Peace With God? or No Peace?

The proclamation of peace with God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1) must be carefully dissociated from a proclamation which says, "'Peace, peace', when there is no peace" (Jeremiah 6:14; Jeremiah 8:11).

Trust in the Lord now and look forward to being with Him in heaven.

Psalm 37

Those who ‘trust in the Lord...will dwell in the land’. Those who turn from Him will ‘perish’(Psalm 37:3,20). Through faith in Christ, we look ahead to ‘a heavenly country’, ‘better’ than anything we will know on earth (Hebrews 11:16; Philippians 3:20). We have caught sight of ‘a happy land, far, far away, where saints in glory stand, bright, bright as day’. We have heard the sound of their song - ‘O how they sweetly sing, “Worthy is our Saviour King!”’ We lift our voices to the Lord - ‘Loud let His praises ring, praise, praise for aye’. Still, some are perishing. They have not come to Christ for salvation. To them, we say, ‘Come to this happy land, come, come away; Why will ye doubting stand? Why, still delay?’(Revised Church Hymnary, 587). Trust in the Lord now and look forward to being with Him in heaven.

There is hope.

Hosea 14:1-9

There is hope. There is a future. Hosea 14:9 - Conclusion: This is for us. The only way to live is the Lord’s way.

Repentance (Hosea 14:2) - It’s returning to the Lord (Hosea 14:1). It’s more than “words” (Hosea 14:2). It’s a way of life. As we walk with the Lord, we learn about repentance.

God speaks to us about forgiveness (Hosea 14:2). In love, He’s speaking to us. He speaks to us from the cross of Christ. The Spirit makes God’s love real to us. He brings Jesus to us. God’s love inspires our thinking and our living.

Our whole life is to be an expression of our love for the Lord, a heartfelt response to His love for us - a way of saying, “Thank You, Lord”, a way of offering to the Lord the praise and worship that arises from our hearts.

As we worship God, we must remember that He is not only love. He is also holiness.

This is to be seen in our “return to the Lord” (Hosea 14:1), our conversion. It’s not to be a partial conversion - paying lip-service to the Lord. It’s to be a full conversion - our hearts and our lives: the stirring of our hearts and the changing of our lives.

Worship the Lord with joy.

Worship the Lord with joy (Psalm 33:1,3). We give thanks for the Word of the Lord and the work of the Lord. They show us His love. They assure us that He can be trusted (Psalm 33:4-5). We learn that He is the 'forever' God. He opens His "heart" to us (Psalm 33:11). He shows us the way to happiness (Psalm 33:12).

God Is Calling Us To Return To Him.

God takes sin very seriously. He sends his judgment upon sin. The unleashing of His fury turns the sinful nation into a wasteland (Ezekiel 5:13-14). When we read of such things, we wonder, “Is there any hope?” When we are reading so much about sin and judgment, we must not lose sight of the love of God. In love, He calls men and women to return to Him.

In Ezekiel 6, we have a message concerning divine judgment. Note the emphasis - “you (they) will know that I am the Lord” (Ezekiel 6:7,13-14). If we are to appreciate the greatness of God’s salvation, we must see the greatness of our sin and the greatness of the judgment from which we are delivered through God’s mighty work of salvation.

“The end is coming” - We read these words five times in Ezekiel 7:1-6. These are words of judgment. Ezekiel 6 ends with the words, “Then they will know that I am the Lord” (Ezekiel 7:27). In His judgment, the Lord is known as the holy God. If the people refuse to return to the Lord, there will be judgment. This is the word of warning. It comes as a call to repentance, a call to walk with God in obedience.

In Ezekiel 8, we have a description of sin - “very disgusting things”, even more disgusting things” (Ezekiel 8:6,9,13,17). When we read such “bad news”, we wonder, “Is there good news?” The answer of God’s Word is “Yes”! God does not leave us in our sin. He sends His Son to be our Saviour. This is the Good News, for which the prophets paved the way. Their ministry exposed sin, so that sinners might see their need of the Saviour.

If holiness is to be preserved, there must be a divine judgment upon sin. We cannot grow in our love for God, if we continue to have love, in our hearts, for the ways of the world. “Abba, Father, let me be Yours and Yours alone” (Dave Bilbrough, Mission Praise, 3).

Worshipping the Lord

‘How I love Your Temple, Almighty Lord! How I want to be there! I long to be in the Lord’s Temple. With my whole being I sing for joy to the living God’(Psalm 84:1-2). This is much more than paying lip-service to the Lord. This is real. Worshipping the Lord meant everything to the Psalmist: ‘I long for You, O God. I thirst for You, the living God; when can I go and worship in Your presence’(Psalm 42:1-2). He found great joy in worshipping the Lord: ‘Let Your light and Your truth guide me... to the place where You dwell. Then will I go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight...’(Psalm 43:4). He worshipped God with his whole heart: ‘O God, You are my God, and I long for You. My whole being desires You... my soul is thirsty for You’(Psalm 63:1). This is real worship, joyful worship, heartfetlt worship. May God help us to worship Him like that!

Out of depression and defeat, into vigour and victory

Jeremiah’s message had been ignored. His faith was sorely tested. Despite all of this, he was able to say, “Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord!” (Jeremiah 20:13). This was not his constant theme. In the very next verse, he says, “Cursed is the day that I was born.” We are pulled this way and that way by a turmoil of confused and confusing emotions. Our heart is a battleground. May the Lord lift us out of depression and defeat. May He lift us into vigour and victory.

The river of God is filled with blessing.

"The river of God is filled with water" (Psalm 65:9).

What a superabundance of blessing there is in the river of God! We read more about the river of God in Ezekiel 47. We read about the amazing increase of God's blessing - "The water came up to my ankles ...The water came up to my knees ... The water came up to my waist ... the water had risen so much that it became a river which I couldn’t cross. The river was too deep to cross except by swimming" (Ezekiel 47:3-5). When God gave this vision to Ezekiel, He asked him, "Son of man, do you see this?" (Ezekiel 47:6). This is the question that the Lord puts to each one of us: 'Do you see what I'm showing you?' What happens when we're learning to swim in the river of God? -   "Wherever the river flows, there will be many fish and animals. The river will make the water in the Dead Sea fresh. Wherever the river flows, it will bring life" (Ezekiel 47:9). We read about fish -  ^"From En Gedi to En Eglaim people will be standing on the shore of the sea with their fishing nets spread out. As many kinds of fish will be there as there are in the Mediterranean Sea" (Ezekiel 47:10) - and God speaks to us about becoming "fishers of men" (Matthew 4:19). When we respond to Jesus' call, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men" (Matthew 4:19), we become new men and women - "the Dead Sea" becomes "fresh" (Ezekiel 47:9). This is where fruitfulness begins. God begins with us. He changes us. Before we can become fishers of men, we must become followers of Jesus. Before we can follow Jesus into the place of witness, we must follow Him into the place of worship - "All kinds of fruit trees will grow on both sides of the river. Their leaves won’t wither, and they won’t fail to produce fruit. Each month they will produce fresh fruit because this water flows from the holy place. The fruit will be good food, and the leaves will be used for healing” (Ezekiel 47:12). "All kinds of fruit trees" - Bearing fruit for the Lord - this is for all of us! We don't begin with bearing fruit. We begin with the water that flows from the holy place. We begin with worship. When we're learning to worship the Lord, He will teach us the way of fruitfulness. We receive blessing from the Lord. We share His blessing with others. We are blessed, and they are blessed. As we experience God's blessing in the place of worship, we will find that the Lord turns our hearts towards other people, and we will long for them to join with us in worshipping the Lord: "O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His Name together" (Psalm 34:3). True worship will always be more than our own worship. It will be worship that longs for other people to join with us in worship. It will be worship that leads to witness. Lord. send Your blessing, and may Your blessing reach out to more and more people.

Perfect Love Casts Out Fear.

We are not to be afraid of those who oppose God and His Word (Jeremiah 42:11). We are to trust God. We are to stand on the promises that He has given to us in His Word – “I will have compassion on you” (Jeremiah 42:12).

The Highway

Jeremiah 31:21-30

“Set your hearts toward the highway; keep the highway in mind” (Jeremiah 31:21) - “the highway of holiness” (Isaiah 35:8):

A call to the “backsliding daughter” (Jeremiah 31:22). “The backslider in heart will be filled with his own ways, but a good man will be satisfied” (Proverbs 14:14).

Here’s a breath prayer (breathe in for the first part, breathe out for the second part). It’s based on John 3:30 - “More of You, Lord, less of me.”

“The Lord bless you... mountain of holiness” (Jeremiah 31:23), “the days are coming” (Jeremiah 31:27,31,38): God is looking towards what we will become.

Taking apart the self-centred life; putting together the God-centred life (Jeremiah 31:28).

God says to us, “I love you with an everlasting love.”

God says to us, “I love you with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3). Through His love, we have “a happy song” to sing (Jeremiah 31:7). Through His love, we are “changed.” Our life is “turned around” (Jeremiah 31:18). The love of God for us is revealed most powerfully in His Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. He is the fulfilment of the prophecy in Jeremiah 31:31-34. When we consider Him – how wonderful He is – and all He has done for us, we will “give thanks to the Lord”, rejoicing in His goodness and praising Him for “His love which endures for ever.” We see His love – supremely – in “the righteous branch” – Jesus: “The Lord our Righteousness” (Jeremiah 33:15-16).

God’s everlasting love

Jeremiah 31:1-6

God’s everlasting love: His love for us comes before our love for Him.

We’re living in a wilderness - spiritual and moral. We’re always searching, but never finding. We’re never sure which way to turn. 
Into this situation, comes God - from “far away” (heaven). He speaks of His love, and putting our life together again (Jeremiah 31:3-4).
We can’t do this for ourselves. He must do this for us. It’s not a self-improvement programme. It’s a new birth into a life of praise (Jeremiah 31:40), service (Jeremiah 31:5) and calling others to come and worship the Lord (Jeremiah 31:6).

Jesus Christ - the Source of our salvation

Genesis 7:1-24

What was going on outside of the ark is contrasted with the haven of salvation inside the ark. We read that, once all were in the ark, "the Lord closed the door behind them" (16). What was it that made the ark a place of salvation? - The Lord. What is it that makes Jesus Christ the Source of our salvation? - God has given Him the Name that is above every name, the Name of our salvation (Philippians 2:9-11; Acts 4:12). "Salvation is of the Lord" (Jonah 2:9): This is the spiritual significance of what we read in Genesis concerning the flood. Christ is the Door. Those who enter through Him will be saved (John 10:9). We must listen to what God says concerning salvation. If we listen to what the world says, we will conclude that all will be saved. If we listen to the Lord, we will come to Christ and find salvation in Him alone.

God continues to carry forward His great purpose of salvation.

Genesis 16:1-16

We move from salvation and the assurance of salvation to Satan and the activity of Satan. Sarai came with temptation - "Why don't you sleep with my slave? Maybe I can build a family through her." Abram gave in to temptation -"Abram agreed with Sarai (Genesis 16:2). The evil influence of Sarai continued: "Sarai mistreated Hagar so much that she ran away" (Genesis 16:6). When we read of Satan and his activity, we must not imagine, for a moment, that Satan wins the victory over the Lord and His purpose of salvation. This becomes clear as the story develops. The Lord's purpose will not be thwarted by the activity of Satan. The "Almighty Lord" will be victorious. This chapter ends with the birth of Ishmael. It is not a high- point in the purpose of God. It is a sign that Satan is trying to overthrow God and His gracious purpose. This leads to a 13-year gap in God's speaking to Abraham (Genesis 16:16-17:1), but that is only a hiccup, after which God continues to carry forward His great purpose of salvation.