Words as Symbols

-----We must depend on God's revelation in scripture to know ultimate truth for two reasons. First, we must rely on what God has given because He demands that His creatures glorify Him by relying on Him fully. This is not something that has developed as a result of the fall, but the fall occurred precisely because of self-reliance.
-----Secondly, we must rely on the scriptures because this is the means by which God has chosen to most glorify His Son. While we may not know all the reasons why He chose written words, it is significant that the Son is called “the Word.” He is not called “the Word” because God searched high and low to find an appropriate symbol. Rather, God has made a world full of words in order to symbolize the nature of His Son as the Word that bears witness to Himself. God exalts His son in the very use of words, and anyone who rejects what God has revealed through words in the scriptures is demonstrating that they reject Christ as the Word.

Motherhood: An Anchor Against Apostasy

This post is dedicated to my mother and grandmother.

-----“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 3:14-15).”
-----Paul encourages Timothy to continue in the truth in light of the ones from whom he has learned it. The word “whom” is in the plural and thus must refer to a group of people. Matthew Henry identifies them as the apostles. Others identify them as Eunice and Lois, Timothy's mother and grandmother (1:5). The former explanation does not fit well because the context would, if referring to apostolic teaching, at most point to Paul and not to a plurality of apostles. However, Eunice and Lois is very appropriate as they were the ones who taught Timothy “from childhood.”
-----These verses are part of Paul's warning against false teachers who would rise up within Timothy's life, most likely as part of the great apostasy that would precede the destruction of Jerusalem (Matthew 24:2,3,11). Paul contrasts the lives of these wicked men first with his own life, and then, in the above verses, with the lives of Eunice and Lois. While the false teachers had lives characterized by wickedness, Timothy's mother and grandmother were apparently women of godly character.
-----How blessed are these women that the Apostle would commend their lives as an anchor for their boy's faith. When parents live lives of holiness in reliance on the gospel they guard against apostasy in their offspring. This is by the grace of God through the faith of His people as they trust that the Lord “keeps covenant... with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations (Deuteronomy 7:9).” Conversely, we may know that a person might drive their offspring to apostasy through an unfaithful life.
-----This should help Christians strive confidently (“with faith”) in the kindness of God. One should live in such a way that, when one's child is older, he can see stark contrast between his parents' lives and the lives of false teachers. Then that child will clearly see the folly of false gospels and cling to the sacred writings that have nourished him since infancy.

Earthly Wisdom, Heavenly Wisdom

Here is a link to download my sermon on James 3:13-18 for those of you who did not hear it.

Blessed is the man.

Psa 1:1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

-----We have to ask ourselves why this even needs to be stated?

-----Our temptation is to say, “Look how happy they are; they are always so carefree and jovial. They don't withhold anything from themselves. If they want sex, have sex. If they want to lie, they lie. If they want to be lazy and abandon their responsibilities to find fulfillment, they do. They linger over hard drinks and spend the night in revelry. They don't give any thought to there actions if its good or bad. They have money and power. And when they don't they can just get high and forget about it.”

-----The rest of the Psalm is devoted to defending the thesis that we must depart from such people for happiness' sake.

Call to Ministry

-----During my senior year of high school I went to my first youth conference. God used the speaker at that retreat to put the desire to preach in my heart. During the four times I heard him speak I only remembered him reading from the Bible once. He rejected the doctrine of original sin, and he said nothing of the gospel. His concern was that we would no longer eat at Taco Bell or buy clothes from any corporation that didn’t pay its foreign workers an amount he considered fair.

-----I was dismayed that anyone would pay this man to speak to thousands of youth and was sure that the students left the conference more ignorant of the scriptures than when they arrived. In the days that followed I asked myself, “Where are the teachers that are going to undo what this man has just done?” I decided that I could be such a teacher. Except for a period of about a month when I neglected the Word, I have consistently felt confident that I should dedicate my life to teaching God’s people.

-----My goal ultimately is to spend my life teaching the scriptures. I want to follow in the path of the great expositors who have come before me. I want to faithfully nurture a body of believers. I believe that what the church in America needs more than ever are men who will preach the whole council of God, not men who are blown like leaves to whatever topic strikes them as appropriate. I hope that Southern Seminary will give me the tools I need to faithfully proclaim the Word.