1. religion and spirituality
2. christianity

THE LAW OF LOVE
50 Days of Prayer for the PCA
May 7—June 25, 2015
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All scriptures are taken from the
Holy Bible, English Standard Version, Crossway Publishers ©2001.
Written by Michael F. Ross
©copyright 2015 by Michael F. Ross
Copies are allowed exclusively for use during
The 50 Days of Prayer, May 7–June 25, 2015.
After this date, use only with permission from
Michael F. Ross
Published by PCA Committee on Discipleship Ministries
Presbyterian Church in America
Lawrenceville, Georgia
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COMMITTEES AND AGENCIES
AC
CC
CDM
CTS
MNA
MTW
PCAF
RBI
RH
RUM
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Administrative Committee
Covenant College
Committee on Discipleship Ministries
Covenant Theological Seminary
Mission to North America
Mission to the World
PCA Foundation
Retirement and Benefits, Inc.
Ridge Haven Conference Center
Reformed University Ministries
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— DEDICATION —
To my wife, Jane, who is both the most loving person I have ever
known and the person I love the most of all the people I know. She
has taught me how to love both God and neighbor, as my closest
neighbor.
He who finds a wife finds a good thing
and obtains favor from the LORD. Proverbs 18:22
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Table of Contents
Introduction: The Law of Love . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
The Third Way . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
The Foundation of the Bible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
The Way to the Kingdom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Do This and Live . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Humble Love in Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Our Sacred Duty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Love and Sacrifice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
A Loveless Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Covering Lots of Sin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
The More Excellent Way . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Gain What Counts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
The Kindness of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
The Humility of Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
The Virtuous Jesus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Love Is Flexible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Love Lets Go of Things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Loving the Good . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Love’s Prevailing Humility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
The Judgment of Charity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Love’s Great Optimism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Stubborn Love . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Love’s Eternality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Three Lovely Sisters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Love Incarnate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
The Manliness of Love . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
The Pinnacle of Virtue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Overcoming a Culture of Fear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
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Love’s Constraint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Forgiveness and Love . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
The Incorruptible Love . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
The Path to Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Our Great Confidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
“Learning to Love through Practice” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Identity in Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
The Love of the Father in Us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
The Law of Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
The Old Commandment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
The New Commandment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Christ’s Prayer for Unity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Walking in Love: Part One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Walking in Love: Part Two . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Walking in Love: Part Three . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Walking in Love: Part Four . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
This Is the Love of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Love One Another Earnestly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Those Who’ll Never Marry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
The Royal Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Joy Unspeakable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
The Power of a Greeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Benediction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Endnotes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
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INTRODUCTION: THE LAW OF LOVE
There is a story from late Judaism. It seems a Greek philosopher visited
the conservative rabbi Shammai and presented to him this challenge: “Good
sir, if you can explain to me what being a Jew is like—while standing on one
leg—I will convert to Judaism.” Rabbi Shammai thought long and hard.
He finally answered, “Good friend, that would be impossible. To be a Jew
would mean knowing the Torah (law), understanding the prophets, reading
the Hagiographa (sacred writings), being well-versed with the Mishnah, and
studying the academics of the Talmud. All this would take a lifetime to learn
and almost as long for me to explain.” The Greek thanked Shammai and
departed.
He then tracked down the liberal rabbi Hillel and put to him the same
question and challenge. Hillel grinned widely and replied, “This is easy!” He
then stood on one leg as he said, “Whatever you do not want others to do to
you, don’t do that to them. This is all the Torah.” The Greek was circumcised
the next day!
Of course, the story is fictitious, but the point is well known. Hillel’s
“silver rule,” stated in the negative, was changed by Christ into the “golden
rule”: “So, whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them,
for this is the law and the prophets” (Matthew 7:12). Apparently, Jesus was
familiar with Hillel’s thinking.
What would you say if I asked the Greek’s question in a slightly different
manner: could you tell me what it means to be a Christian in fifty words or
less? Lest you think the question silly or merely theoretical, I would remind
you that Jesus was, in substance, asked a very similar question. Matthew,
Mark and Luke all recount the story to us. Here is Mark’s version:
And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with
one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked
him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus
answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our
God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all
your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all
your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as
yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” And
the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said
that he is one, and there is no other besides him. And to love him
with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the
strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than
all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” And when Jesus saw
that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the
kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more
questions. (Mark 12:28-34)
Christ answered the lawyer in 49 English words (in the English Standard
Version), a mere 46 words in the Greek text. As each evangelist tells this story,
he emphasizes a different postscript, supplied by Jesus. Matthew recounts
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Jesus’ words: “On these two commandments depend all the law and the
prophets” (Matthew 22:40). Interestingly, this was Shammai’s concern.
Luke adds this: “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live” (Luke
10:28). This was Hillel’s concern. And Mark provides this summary: “You
are not far from the Kingdom of God” (Mark 12:54). This, obviously, was the
great preoccupation of Rabbi Jesus—the Kingdom of God (Mark 1:15).
What strikes me so profoundly in these parallel accounts of Christ’s
summary of Judaism is that Jesus defines the essence of faith in terms of
love, not doctrine, not mission, not liturgy, nor methodology, but love! A
careful reading of the Sermon on the Mount might conclude that loving
others is the “narrow way” of salvation that Jesus refers to in Matthew 7:1214…
So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them,
for this is the Law and the Prophets. Enter by the narrow gate. For
the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and
those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way
is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. (Matthew
7:12-14)
It’s hard to miss the connection: “For this is the law and the prophets”;
i.e., a summary of the scriptures – love for God, love for neighbor, the Golden
Rule, the narrow way.
We conservative, reformed, PCA types may well be terribly
uncomfortable with this emphasis. First, for good reason, we distrust this
“love ethic.” After all, liberals have somewhat ruined the word love for us,
justifying everything from abortion to same-sex marriages under the banner
of love – even “justice love” (whatever that means!). Second, within our own
evangelical house, love and truth have been bifurcated. The doctrinalists are
often referred to as “unloving” (although it appears to me that they are trying
to love God and His Word), and the culturalists are called “sentimentalists”
(although it appears to me that they are trying to love their neighbors and
reach them for Christ). Third, the love card can be played (and is) whenever
it serves our convenient purposes: we blog viciously about another brother
because we’re committed to truth, and when he strikes back in kind, we
accuse him of being “unloving” and the PCA of being “unsafe.”
But perhaps our deepest reservation about all this love talk is simply
this: it is more difficult to love than to be confessional; it costs more to
love than to be missional; and love calls for more humility and self-denial
than piety. Jesus’ demand that we love God and others is really quite
transformational. It calls us to what one theologian called “the Copernican
revolution.”
Joseph Ratzinger is the chief theologian of the Roman Catholic
Church. We know him better as Pope Benedict XVI, the previous pontiff
of Rome. In his book, Credo For Today: What It Means to be a Christian (his
explanation of the Apostles’ Creed), Ratzinger interacts with Christ’s answer
to the rabbinical lawyer about loving God and neighbors. Please permit me
to quote the Pope in detail:
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“That, then, is the whole of Jesus Christ’s demand. Anyone
who does this—who has love—is a Christian; he has everything.
He is not asking about a confession of dogma, solely about
love. That is enough, and it saves a man. Whoever loves is a
Christian. However great the temptation may be for theologians
to quibble about this statement, to provide it with ifs and buts,
notwithstanding: we may and should accept it in all its sublimity
and simplicity, quite unconditionally—just as the Lord posited it.
That does not mean, of course, that we should overlook the fact
that these words represent a ‘not inconsiderable proposition’
and make no small demand on someone. For love, as it is here
portrayed as the content of being a Christian, demands that we
try to live as God lives. He loves us, not because we are especially
good, particularly virtuous, or of any great merit, not because
we are useful or even necessary to Him; He loves us, not because
we are good, but because He is good. He loves us, although
we have nothing to offer Him; He loves us even in the ragged
raiment of the prodigal son, who is no longer wearing anything
lovable. Practicing Christian love, in the same way as Christ,
means that we are good to someone who needs our kindness,
even if we do not like him. It means committing ourselves to
the way of Jesus Christ and thus bringing about something like
a Copernican revolution in our own lives. Becoming a Christian,
according to what we have just said, is something quite simple
and yet completely revolutionary. It is just this: achieving the
Copernican revolution and no longer seeing ourselves as the
center of the universe, around which everyone else must turn,
because instead of that we have begun to accept quite seriously
that we are one of many among God’s creatures, all of whom
turn around God as their center.”
As I read this, I immediately said, “Well, isn’t that Catholic; no mention
of faith! (By the way, I was reared a Roman Catholic and studied for the
priesthood for four years. I am not “anti-Catholic.”) But the Pope does
address faith. He writes:
“It is at this point that faith begins. For what faith basically means
is just that this shortfall that we all have in our love is made up
by the surplus of Jesus Christ’s love, acting on our behalf. He
simply tells us that God Himself has poured out among us a
superabundance of His love and has thus made good in advance
all our deficiency. Ultimately, faith means nothing other than
admitting that we have this kind of short—fall; it means opening
our hand and accepting a gift.”
Some will ask, “What about grace? Are you saying that love (a work
of man) saves us instead of grace?” Of course not. Nevertheless, it is “faith
working through love” (Galatians 5:6) that is the measure of our justification;
as James says, love’s work proves faith.
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If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You
shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. (James
2:8)
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does
not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is
poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to
them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them
the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by
itself, if it does not have works, is dead. (James 2:14-17)
Joseph Ratzinger will not allow us to use grace to explain away the
demands of love. Grace and love are not to be pitted against one another.
The Pope makes this clear:
“Yet, on the other hand, an interpretation merely in terms of
grace is likewise inadequate, an interpretation asserting that all
that is being shown here is how worthless all our human actions
and activity are; that this merely makes clear that we can achieve
nothing and that all is grace. Certainly, this passage makes us
conscious, with appalling clarity, of our need for forgiveness; it
shows how little reason any man has for boasting and for setting
himself apart from sinners as a righteous man. But the point of it
is something different. It is not just intended to set us all against
a background of judgment and forgiveness, which would then
make all human activity a matter of indifference. It has another
aim as well, which is to give directions for our life: it is intended
to point us toward that “extra,” that “superabundance” and
generosity, which does not mean that we suddenly become
faultless and “perfect” people, but it does mean that we try
to adopt the attitude of the lover, who does not calculate but
simply—loves.”
There are not a few who might dismiss my comments because I
have quoted a Catholic Pope so extensively. I am not endorsing Catholic
Theology, Papal exegesis, or Rome’s Ecclesiology. I simply want to illustrate,
with another’s words, how central love is to the Christian life and faith.
Of course, I don’t need a Pope to do so. I can point to the clear teaching
of the Head of the Church and His apostles to illustrate the primacy of love
for the Christian:
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just
as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all
people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one
another. (John 13:34-35)
This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved
you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his
life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command
you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know
what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I
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have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not
choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go
and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever
you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things
I command you, so that you will love one another. (John 15:12-17)
Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who
loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You
shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal,
You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed
up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love
does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the
law. (Romans 13:8-10)
For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your
freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve
one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall
love your neighbor as yourself.” (Galatians 5:13-14)
Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is
this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep
oneself unstained from the world. (James 1:27)
For this is the message that you have heard from the
beginning, that we should love one another. We know that we
have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers.
Whoever does not love abides in death. By this we know love,
that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives
for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his
brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s
love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk
but in deed and in truth. And this is his commandment, that we
believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another,
just as he has commanded us. (1 John 3:11, 14, 16-18, 23)
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of
God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been
born of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when
we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of
God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments
are not burdensome. (1 John 5:1-3)
Recently, as the current moderator of the PCA, I chaired a meeting of
the Cooperative Ministries Committee (CMC) in Atlanta. Candidly, we did not
have much on our docket to justify a meeting. I suggested we not meet, but
there was a strong consensus that we convene to discuss “The Present Status
and Future of the PCA”—that’s CMC code for “the tensions in the PCA.” Of
the twenty-six members, twenty-three attended the meeting. I opened the
meeting with a devotional message from Mark 12:28-34, “The Law of Love.”
I suggested that tinkering with the General Assembly docket, round-table
discussions on what unites/divides us, conferences on doctrine and ethics,
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and “gatherings” of like-minded souls in weekend conferences will not cut to
the core of the spiritual cancer infecting the PCA. We live in a litigious, overopinionated, intolerant, blog-congested, talk-show influenced, censorious
society of anger, intolerance, and contempt. And our church has inculcated
much of Babylon into our spiritual DNA. Only the love of God will change us
and heal us.
I do not mean to suggest that we should be passive. In this one point,
I agree with the Pope: faith fueled by grace results in love…“faith working
through love” (Galatians 5:6). I, for one, do not think the “present status and
future of the PCA” is very bright without the powerful operative of the Law of
Love. With such love in action, I truly believe our best days are ahead of us.
I am hopeful, even optimistic, about our future. “Let the love of the brothers
continue” (Hebrews 13:1) is a great reminder of how our Christian faith, life,
and Church were formed.
I realize that many of my PCA brethren will say, “This article is not very
profound, deep or insightful.” They are correct. I will not be invited to the
next national conference on Reformed Theology or Missional Churches to
speak about the Law of Love. But I would challenge my brothers in Christ
with the Copernican revolution and ask them, pointedly, “Who is at the
center of our lives, ministry, and Church?” The Law of Love is not profound;
it’s simply life-changing. It calls us to that charity which Paul calls the
“greatest” of all things (1 Corinthians 13:13).
And so, we will devote our 2015 50 Days of Prayer to the topic of love.
The third “L” word that seldom finds its way into the conversation but which
indeed ends the conversation…definitely.
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DAY 1
Read John 13:1-35
Thursday, May 7, 2015
The National Day of Prayer
THE THIRD WAY
I once had an Italian friend named Francho Maggiotto. He was a
unique person: a Catholic priest, an arch-deacon, who was dramatically
converted while celebrating the Mass, was sent off to England to study and
rest (his conversion was interpreted as a nervous breakdown), and who
became a protestant reformer in Italy who still wore his clerical collar and
priestly garb. He had many colorful sayings, but one that stuck with me was
“the third way.”
Francho noted that whenever given an either/or choice, Jesus always
chose a third option. My friend’s conclusion to this is that God’s way, most
often, is “the third way.” I find this both intriguing and difficult to deny.
The “debate” that seems to dominate our times is the Law-Grace
debate. The PCA is infected with this rancor. When I was first ordained
(1982), a group known as the Theonomists rattled their ecclesiastical sabers
and, frankly, disrupted our PCA courts. These followers of Rushdooney,
Bahnsen, and others told the rest of us that we weren’t truly reformed, not
serious about God’s Law, but were Antinomian. Theonomy was the issue
of the day from the late sixties to the early nineties. Then they faded away,
eventually turning to Federal Vision Theology.
In the mid-nineties, the pendulum swung to the other end of the
continuum. Sonship and the followers of Jack Miller accused the PCA of
being legalistic. It seems we had not truly understood the Gospel; we were
moralistic in our preaching, and many of us were flat out afraid of grace.
This Contemporary Grace Movement (as it is now called) has preoccupied
our Assemblies and Presbyteries for the past twenty-five or thirty years.
So, we examined licentiousness (lawlessness) for the first two decades
of the PCA’s young life, and we’ve examined legalism its last two decades.
Rightly so. Both licentiousness and legalism are common spiritual diseases
affecting the people of God in any culture and in any era of time. In fact, it
would not be too much of an exaggeration to summarize the New Testament
epistles or letters to the churches of Christ, calling the Christian people away
from both the lawlessness prevalent in Gentile culture and the legalism
common to Judaism. As Gentile Christians, we honestly possess both strains
of these spiritual viruses.
When Jesus formed His New Testament church, He set before them
three distinguishing marks that would set them off from all other people and
(believe it or not) make them attractive to a godless world. First, they would
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be holy. They would love God and other men by keeping His commandments
and growing in godly character. Second, they would be gracious. They
would learn how to forgive, to bear one another’s burdens, and rely upon
the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives.
Third, they would love. This would be the ballast that kept law-keeping
holiness and spirit-filled graciousness in absolute and genuine balance. It
would be their love that would attract others to a life in Christ of holiness
and grace. In fact, this love would be the distinguishing mark of the true
Christian and authentic church: “A new commandment I give you, that you
love one another just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
By this (i.e., love) all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have
love for one another” (John 13:34, 35).
It is important to grab hold of Christ’s “third way”—Love. Holiness and
obedience, attempted without love, would lead to the self-righteousness
and legalism of the Pharisees. Grace appropriated without love would result
in the self-indulgence and licentiousness of Gentile pagans. Only love could
keep faith, life, and community in proper balance.
Love is, therefore, the “third way.” It is the third “L” word. It would
not be simplistic or trite to say that we in the PCA would be spiritually
farther along the trajectory of Christ if we argued less about lawlessness or
legalism and focused more on love. What a novel idea! Jesus called it “A
New Commandment.”
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
AC: The General Assembly relies on a cadre of volunteers (local to Chattanooga
as well as from across the country) to function smoothly and efficiently. Pray
that we will have sufficient numbers as well as the experience levels needed
to accomplish our tasks (Floor Clerks, Nursery and Children’s Care Workers,
Ushers, Registration Teams, and numerous other roles).
CTS: Pray that God will grant insight, discernment, and unity of purpose
to Covenant Seminary’s Board of Trustees, Advisory Board, President’s
Cabinet, and Faculty as they plan for and make strategic decisions about the
future of the Seminary. Ask the Lord to continually renew their energy and
enthusiasm for the Seminary’s mission of training pastors and leaders for
God’s church and Kingdom.
MTW: As part of MTW’s Pray for 150 prayer campaign, pray for God to raise
up 150 new MTW missionaries by the end of 2015.
RUM: Please pray for the Intern Program Department—Mitch, Emily Craft,
and Casey Cockrum. Pray that they will work together well as a team and the
Lord will give good vision and direction.
RBI: Pray that the leadership at RBI, our President, senior managers, and
board members will have wisdom in setting the course for a transformational
ministry. Pray that we will be relational, humble, and service oriented
toward our ministry partners.
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DAY 2
Read Matthew 22:34-40
Friday, May 8, 2015
THE FOUNDATION OF THE BIBLE
When a lawyer asked Jesus this question, “Rabbi, which is the greatest
commandment in the law?” he was really asking Jesus this: “Lord, if it boiled
down to one thing I must do to go to heaven, what would that be?” Jesus,
as always, takes this question from this doctor of canon law seriously. He
answers him from two places in the Pentateuch.
He quotes first from Deuteronomy 6:5 and the great creedal profession
of Israel: the Shema. “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. You
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and
with all your might.” He then adds a short statement from Leviticus 19:17
“…You shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.” He then makes
this profound statement: “On these two commandments depend all the law
and the prophets.”
When Jesus used the phrase “the law and the prophets,” He was
referring to the entirety of the Old Testament Scriptures. The Hebrew
Bible (Old Testament) is divided into three main sections, with the Books
of the Old Testament Canon arranged quite differently than our English
Bibles. “The Law” includes the five Books of Moses, the same as our Bible:
Genesis to Deuteronomy. “The Prophets” includes the former prophets
(Joshua, Judges, Samuel as one book, and Kings as one book) and the latter
prophets (Major Prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel; Minor Prophets
Hosea to Malachi in one book). The third section of the Hebrew Bible was
“The Sacred Writings”: Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Solomon, Ruth,
Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, and Ezra—Nehemiah as one
book and Chronicles in one book.
The Canon of Hebrew Scripture was referred to by its main sections,
either “the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:40; Luke 16:31; or Luke
24:27), or by the last section, “The Sacred Writings” (2 Timothy 3:15). Thus,
Jesus is saying this: “On the Law of Love depends everything written in the
Scriptures.”
It could easily be said that the Old Testament is primarily the story
of how Israel learned to love God by keeping the first table of the law:
Commandments 1 to 4. And we might also say that the New Testament is
the Scripture that teaches the church how to love all men by keeping the
second table of the law: Commandments 5-10. But in truth, both testaments
deal with idolatry, false worship, honoring parents, truth, the sanctity of life,
coveting—all the commandments.
For it is only in learning how to love God that we are able to love our
neighbor made in God’s image. And in loving our fellow man, we love God
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who loves them too. We tend to turn the Bible into a manual for proper
living: doctrine, ethics, ministry, mission, family life, etc., or we say “the
entire Bible is the Gospel—you’ll find Christ, justification, grace, forgiveness,
etc. on every page.” Both are partially true; neither is completely accurate.
Jesus said that the Bible was all about love. “If you love Me you will keep My
Commandments….This is My commandment that you love one another as I
have loved you” (John 14:15; 15:12).
I know this sounds so basic, but if we were to approach the Bible
each morning with a different paradigm of understanding, our lives could
be transformed. Instead of looking for grace for ourselves or searching for
instructions for life, we could go to the Bible looking for love: how God has
loved us, how we can love God, how God can enable us to love others as He
does. I know it sounds “unprofound,” but I think we need to start somewhere.
And love seems to be the best compass to show us the way forward.
Love God; love others. This was profound enough to serve as a
summary of true religion for Jesus. It ought, therefore, to be enough for us
as well.
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
CDM: Pray for CDM staff members Dennis Bennett and Tim Schirm as they
work to provide helpful resources for those who serve the PCA in discipleship
ministry, particularly through the PCA Bookstore. Ask God to give them an
understanding of the needs of the local church along with discernment as
they examine resources.
CC: Please pray that God will give strength and discernment to the student
development team as they seek to create an environment that will assist
students in developing life skills and enhance their ability to take personal
responsibility for their spiritual growth.
MNA: Pray for 100 new men to volunteer as mentors for prisoners at
Walker State Prison in Rock Spring GA. Pray for the resources to expand
the mentoring ministry to other prisons in the State of Georgia at the
Department of Corrections’ request. Pray for 150 new people to volunteer
to serve as corresponding disciplers with prisoners through Metanoia’s
correspondence ministry.
PCAF: Pray that God will be glorified in the day-to-day work and activity of
the PCA Foundation.
RH: Since 1978, Ridge Haven has served as the PCA’s year-round camp,
conference, and retreat center. Praise the Lord for the remarkable growth He
has brought to this ministry in recent years. Ask for that growth to continue
throughout 2015 if it be His will, so that even more individuals, youth groups,
families, churches, and other organizations will continue to be blessed by
their time on Ridge Haven’s scenic campus in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
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DAY 3
Read Mark 12:28-34
Saturday, May 9, 2015
THE WAY TO THE KINGDOM
The Synoptic Gospels’ accounts of Jesus’ teaching on the Great
Commandment are not the same. In Matthew’s account, there is no
response to Jesus from the lawyer who asked the question, “Teacher, which
is the great commandment in the law?” In Mark’s account, there is more
dialogue.
A scribe asks Jesus the question, “Which commandment is the most
important of all?” Scribes were a fixture in Jewish life and religion from
its ancient days. Scribes served as royal secretaries, historical chroniclers,
advisers to kings (wise men), interpreters of Scripture and Levitical law,
experts in Biblical research (see Matthew 2:3-6), copyists of Scripture, Canon
lawyers, and recording clerks for prophets. Ezra, Baruch, Jesus ben Sirach,
Hillel, and Shammai were a few of the best known and revered scribes of Old
Testament times. The scribes were often called rabbi (teacher), and their
followers formed the various rabbinical “schools” or traditions of the first
century Judaism of Jesus’ times.
Two rabbinical schools held center court at the time of Christ’s life
and ministry. Shammai was an arch-conservative rabbi who placed great
weight upon the oral traditions of Judaism. He was the popular teacher that
the Pharisees followed. Hillel was a more moderate man and a more liberal
rabbi. He sought for balance and put forth a more lenient form of Judaism.
He was popular with the Sadducees.
Between these two rabbinical schools, there raged an ongoing debate:
which was the greater Torah (law). Shammai and the Pharisees held to the
idea that tradition interpreted Scripture and, hence, was more crucial to
true religion. Hillel and the Sadducees disagreed. Scripture may be aided
by tradition, but Moses held primacy over the rabbis. The Sadducees went
so far as to acknowledge only the Pentateuch as the law (Torah).
So when this good-hearted scribe asks Jesus this question, “Which
commandment (law, Torah) is the most important of all?” he wasn’t really
asking Jesus to tell him which of the ten rules of the Decalogue was really
number one in importance. He was asking Jesus, “Which is the most
important Torah—tradition or Moses?” As is always the case, Jesus refuses
the option of “either…or” and chooses a third way.
Christ answers brilliantly. In essence, He says, “If your rabbis
interpreted the Law of Moses correctly, they would have seen two things:
love for God, with all of your being, comprises the first and most important
law of all. But so closely tied to this love for God is our love for man. So
close, in fact, that it serves as the flip side of the same coin. Your traditions
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should reinforce Moses’ law, which is the revelation of God’s will – love for
Him and for people made in His image! These are really the two sides of the
law, not tradition or Scripture, but a love for God and neighbor. Shammai
was half right. We should be committed to loving God by keeping His law.
But Hillel was half-right as well: we must love our neighbor or we can’t truly
love God.”
Surprisingly (at least to us, for we unfairly see all scribes as evil
legalists), the scribe agrees with Jesus. He has an “Aha!” moment. He
realizes that God is One (Deuteronomy 6:4-6) and calls for total love for Him.
This is the law. But God also reveals to us His desire that we love others
(Leviticus 19:18), and this must become our traditional way of life. And
Jesus says to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” This earnest
scribe was on the way to salvation.
Faith without love for others can turn us into strict, conservative
Biblicists. Mercy without love for God can make us liberal do-gooders. Only
the beauty and ballast of two great loves can keep us on course and enable
us to enter the Kingdom of God. Love is the third way, the true way to God
and to heaven where God’s people dwell. Love is the law of the Kingdom of
God, the Torah of heaven. Happy are those who know and practice this law.
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
AC: Pray for the upcoming 43rd General Assembly in Chattanooga,
Tennessee, June 8-12, that God will be worshiped and honored in all that
we think, say, and do in every meeting and gathering. Ask God to provide
increased financial resources so that there may be an increase in the number
of ruling and teaching elders in attendance.
CTS: Pray that God will provide wisdom, discernment, and endurance to
Covenant Seminary President Dr. Mark Dalbey as he handles the many
responsibilities of leadership and travel on behalf of the Seminary, works to
advance the institution’s mission and ministry, and seeks to provide vision
and direction in collaboration with the faculty and staff. Pray for God’s
blessings also on Mark’s wife, Beth, and their family.
MTW: Pray for MTW’s ONEChild sponsorship program, which helps restore
hope to needy children and their families. Pray for more sponsors and for
sponsored children to come to know Jesus.
RUM: Pray for the upcoming Intern class of 2015. The application and
interview process is underway! Pray that the Lord will raise up a strong class
of men and women who will serve their campus well.
RBI: Pray for the daily conversations and contacts that RBI staff have with
church employees, volunteers, pastors, and missionaries. Pray that the Lord
will bless the RBI staff with wisdom, compassion, and the clarity needed in
discussing benefits or giving advice in each particular circumstance.
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DAY 4
Read Luke 10:25-37
Saturday, May 10, 2015
DO THIS AND LIVE
Luke’s rendition of the Great Commandment is different from
Matthew’s and Mark’s versions. First of all, this pericope does not occur
in the last week of Jesus’ earthly life, but during His later Judean ministry,
about nine months earlier than Holy Week. Secondly, the lawyer-scribe
(nomikos) puts the question to Jesus in order to “put Him to the test.” This
is not a good-hearted question. Third, this question and answer is followed
by the famous Parable of the Good Samaritan, not recorded in Matthew or
Mark. Finally, this lawyer-scribe does not ask Jesus what is the greatest
commandment but rather, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
There was a debate among the rabbis about the meaning of
“neighbor” (rea in Hebrew, meaning “friend, companion, and compatriot”;
plēsios in Greek meaning “neighbor,” from the root word for “near” or “close
by”). Some rabbis taught that Leviticus 19:18 applied to all men. Others
taught that a “neighbor” was only a fellow Israelite. Around the time
of Jesus, a school of thought arose that excluded Samaritans from the
category of “neighbor.” This idea is what lies behind the lawyer’s question:
“Am I required by Leviticus 19:18 to love only my fellow Jews or all men near
to me? Do I need to love Samaritans and Gentiles in order to share in the
blessedness of heaven?”
Jesus counters with a question, “What is written in the law? How do
you read it?” In other words, “You are a Canon lawyer. How do you interpret
Leviticus 19:18 and the law’s call to obedience unto life?” Jesus sends the
lawyer to a shared source of authority—The Law of Moses—and asks him to
answer his own question. Jesus sidesteps oral tradition (rabbis) to focus on
written Scripture (revelation).
The lawyer answers from Deuteronomy 6:4-6 and Leviticus 19:18,
conflated into one guiding principle for faith and life. Jesus did not invent
the Great Commandment. Such ideas were already present in rabbinical
interpretations of the Law. In the Testament of Issachar and the Testament
of Dan (apocryphal books, written c. 105-135 BC), the following exhortations
appear:
Keep, therefore, my children, the law of God, and get singleness,
and walk in guilelessness, not playing the busybody with the
business of your neighbor, but love the Lord and your neighbor,
have compassion on the poor and weak. (T. Iss. 1:38)
Love the Lord through all your life, and one another with a true
heart. (T. Dan. 2:3)
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Jesus commands the lawyer, not because he answered the question
of salvation with a works righteousness answer, but because his answer is
“an expression of the total allegiance and devotion that in other contexts
could be called faith.” 1 At the heart of faith is a relationship of total love
and absolute loyalty to God (King of the community of faith), and, therefore,
concern for others (“neighbors” who are fellow-citizens of this Kingdom of
God).
To approve of himself and his narrow interpretation, the lawyer then
asks, “And who is my neighbor?” The answer from Jesus is the famous story
of the Good Samaritan. The irony is not lost on us: the Samaritan, who was
not considered worthy to be classified as a “neighbor,” proved to be the good
neighbor in the end. The point of the story is poignant: worry less about
who is your neighbor and think more about what kind of neighbor you are
to others. If the Samaritan was a good neighbor to a needy Jew, then the
reciprocal is necessarily true. Jesus says, “You have answered correctly, do
this, and you will live…you go, and do likewise.” Salvation is not a matter of
religious duties or resting in grace; salvation is about loving God with all our
being, the proof of which is the love of our fellow man in need.
But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need,
yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?
Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in
truth. (1 John 3:17-18)
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
CDM: Pray for the staff and volunteers who minister to the youth of the PCA.
Ask God to give them discernment to address the needs of youth with the
light of Gospel truth. Pray that God will raise up the next generation to love
the Lord, love his Word, and love his Church.
CC: Please pray that God will prepare the hearts and minds of incoming
students as they prepare to begin their college experience and protect
incoming students from the temptations that come with the new freedoms
of being away from home.
MNA: Pray to the Lord of the harvest that many will come to know Him
through the work of the MNA Disaster Response Volunteers. Pray that every
PCA church will see the need to be trained and prepared for disasters.
PCAF: Pray for the PCA Foundation’s many grant recipients, that their
respective needs will continue to be met, and that God will encourage them
in their ministries.
RH: By the grace of God, Ridge Haven welcomed 3,586 people during the
summer of 2014, including over 2,100 campers—more than ever before.
With even more expected to come during the summer of 2015, pray that the
Lord will provide opportunities for each and every one to know Jesus Christ
better by the time they leave.
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DAY 5
Read 1 Peter 5:1-11
Monday, May 11, 2015
HUMBLE LOVE IN ACTION
One of the marks of genuine love is that it is humble: “love is not
arrogant or rude” (1 Corinthians 13:4, 5). And one of the sure signs of a
loveless people is a spirit of “in your face” self-assertion. America is rife
with this spirit of crudeness and rudeness. And I see it in our churches, our
Presbyteries, and in our General Assembly. This crass culture is seeping into
the communion of saints.
In his first epistle, Peter senses that this very spirit of pride, fear,
anxiety, and self-assertion was creeping into the fellowship of the church
in Rome and elsewhere. So he writes to the officers of the church. He calls
them pastors (shepherds), overseers (bishops), and elders (presbyters), all in
one. And he also addresses the “younger ones,” those who were under the
senior leadership of the older men. He calls for both groups to exercise the
spirit of humble love toward one another.
He calls for the leaders to lead in a manner that is eager to seek the
welfare of the flock entrusted to their care, and not in a “domineering”
manner. They are to do this by setting “an example to the flock.” It is not
that they never tell anyone to do something (to obey God and His Word),
but that their telling must be preceded by their doing. Their example of a
humble and caring love for people will open the door for reciprocity in the
congregation.
The younger folks are told to be subject to the elders, something
young people always find difficult to do. He quotes the Septuagint version
of Proverbs 3:34—“Toward the scorners, He is scornful, but to the humble,
He gives favor.” Peter renders this proverb this way: “God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble.” James says the same thing in his letter to the
churches (James 4:6).
Both groups are to “clothe (themselves) with humility toward one
another.” Older and younger generations are exhorted to humbly deal with
one another because they rest secure in the love of God. Pride has no place
in a person’s life unless they are deeply insecure and uncertain that they are
loved, especially by God.
When I listen to our PCA communion speak, I hear pride behind
the words that are said, the anger that is bubbling under the surface, the
resentments we nurse, and the parties we build and pit against one another.
“You owe us support for our committees and agencies, and I have the
authority to demand this of you. I’m not here to serve you; you should be
serving me! I have a right to speak up at General Assembly even though
I’m young; my opinion is important, and I demand a place at the table. You
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need to be quiet and earn the right to speak. We had to wait our turn when
we were young, and now we’re in control, and we’re not about to share the
leadership with you neophytes.” And so the pride rolls on.
Peter’s solution is pastoral and wise. He calls both leaders and
followers to remember this: God cares for them and all their anxieties
(v. 7); the real threat is their common enemy, the devil (v. 8); resisting the
devil in faith will draw them together in humble codependence (v. 9); other
Christians are suffering for their faith, as is a common reality for the saints (v.
9); and their struggle together to remain humble, loving, and faithful will be
honored by God in due time (v. 10). In the end, all glory goes to God (v. 11)
and not to older leaders or brilliant young people!
Love is humble. We are not. I suggest we all—older and younger—
clothe ourselves in this passage that God might clothe us in humility. Then
service and submission will create a culture of love in which all of us will
thrive.
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
AC: Give thanks for this year’s Host Presbytery, Tennessee Valley Presbytery.
They have been working diligently to make arrangements for this Assembly.
Pray for the comfort and edification of the commissioners and their families.
CTS: Pray for Covenant Seminary’s Business Office, Facilities Management,
Housing Services, One-Stop, Human Resources, and IT Services staff
members as they work to steward wisely and well the Seminary’s financial
resources and personnel, and maintain its campus and equipment in
efficient and effective ways. Ask the Lord to continue to provide for the
Seminary’s material needs in the midst of challenging economic times.
MTW: Pray for Dr. Lloyd Kim, MTW’s new coordinator (pending election at
General Assembly), for wisdom as he leads, and for his personal walk with
Christ. Pray also for his wife, Eda, and their three children.
RUM: Please pray for our current Interns and Campus Staff. Pray that the
Lord will equip them to minister to His children across the Nation.
RBI: Pray for our work on strategic planning in 2015. This will set the course
for our denominational ministry for several years ahead.
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DAY 6
Read Romans 13:1-10
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
OUR SACRED DUTY
One of the things we overlook is how absolutely important love is to a
good and gracious society. A culture without law is soon a society without
love. Jesus said so: “And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of
many will grow cold” (Matthew 24:12). Lawlessness produces lovelessness.
This is true because love is motivated by obligation. Americans
who have such a romantic view of love and an overly sentimental view of
relationships believe the opposite. We feel that true love is free from duty,
obligation, or a sense of indebtedness. Not so. Children owe a great debt to
their parents, which fuels their love for family. A man who loves his wife feels
a sacred duty to be faithful to her even when he feels tempted by another
woman. And a citizen’s patriotism is rooted in the obligation he feels for
both country and community.
Paul teaches this without doubt in Romans 13:1-10. He reminds the
church that they owe to the government taxes, tolls, tribute, and honor
rooted in a sense of obedience for conscience sake. That is to say, they owe,
as duty, their support of and submission to the governing authorities. In
verse 8, he continues that train of thought: “Owe nothing to anyone, except
to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law”
(Romans 13:8).
This verse has been appealed to by many an ill-informed believer as
proof that going into debt (borrowing money) is forbidden by God’s Word.
Look at the context: what we owe the government is submission, service,
and support. That’s how we love our country. What we owe our countrymen
is to fulfill the law of God (and society) and, thus, to love our neighbor. Proof?
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself (cf. Leviticus 19:18). Love does no
wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans
8:9-10).
Charles R. Erdman comments, “The reason why love is of so great
importance consists in the fact that love is the fulfillment of all law, and
law is the very foundation of the state…love becomes for a Christian the
great principle which takes the place of law, and yet, which makes possible
the fulfillment of law.” Erdman rightly calls this “the animating principle of
love.” 2
We are to “owe nothing to anyone, except to love each other” has little
to do with money and much to do with love. Simply put, love fulfills its duty
to keep sacred and social obligations. Thomas R. Schreiner explains Paul’s
statement: “The injunction to owe nothing to anyone should not be read
literally as to forbid the taking of loans. The point of the text is that any
debts incurred should be repaid…believers are summoned to pay the debt
of love to others, which in this case is a debt that never comes to an end.
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Some shy away from this understanding because the idea of indebtedness
seems onerous, but the language of indebtedness should not be pressed
unduly, to the point that the idea of a burdensome obligation is present.” 3
We don’t love because we have to; we love others because we get to.
There’s a huge difference! In truth, we could never pay back God, the church,
our parents, our country, even our alma mater. What they all have invested
in us can’t be repaid. We can’t “pay back,” but we can “pay forward.” We
can love them, invest in them, promote their good, and make it possible for
people who come after us to enjoy the same blessings we’ve known in our
lives. We “pay forward” through generous and gracious love for others.
To do so is our duty; what we ought to do is our sacred obligation. And
this is not burdensome but blessed! “For this is the love of God, that we keep
His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John
5:3). To do so is to love.
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
CDM: Pray for the staff and ministry of Great Commission Publications (GCP),
the joint publishing ministry of the PCA/CDM and the Orthodox Presbyterian
Church (OPC). GCP is launching a new curriculum for grades 5-8 named G2R
(Genesis to Revelation). Pray that God will use this curriculum to deepen the
biblical knowledge of his people.
CC: Please pray for our international students, students from missionary
families, and all diversity students who often face cultural challenges in their
transition to Covenant.
MNA: Praise God for the growth of Parakaleo MNA Church Planting Spouses
Ministry. Pray for wisdom as they develop and implement their Plan for
Ministry Sustainability to fund and advance their work. Pray for their 2015
training retreats (Nashville, Tennessee; Sydney, Australia; Singapore;
and Columbus, Ohio). Pray that women will have the funds and ability to
attend; for logistics and planning; and that attendees will be strengthened
and encouraged in the Gospel. Praise for God’s leading in their Vision 2018
campaign. Pray that God will financially bless fundraising efforts and enable
Parakaleo to come alongside more church planting spouses with coaching,
training, networking, and resources.
PCAF: Pray for the PCA Foundation’s grant recipients, that the funds they
receive from us will result in material needs being met, souls saved, and
hearts encouraged.
RH: With demand for Ridge Haven’s services continuing to increase each
year, please pray that God will open new doors and allow the right decisions
to be made to ensure enough resources and space are available to keep
pace.
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DAY 7
Read John 15:12-17
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
LOVE AND SACRIFICE
During the Last Supper, Jesus Christ gave to His twelve apostles
His most intimate, and many would say, profound teachings. Known as
the Upper Room Discourse, John 13-17 comprises Jesus’ final words to
His intimate friends. In that context, Jesus spoke one of His most famous
sayings, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life
for his friends” (John 15:13).
Some people take exception to Christ’s statement. They believe that
love for enemies is a higher, more difficult, and more principled love than
any love for friends. Indeed, Jesus taught such a love of enemies in His
Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:43-38). But here Jesus says that a love
for a friend that causes one to die for that friend is the greatest love of all.
We may love our enemies such that we pray for them, do good to them, and
even greet them as a friend (Matthew 5:43-48), but men are not called to die
for their enemies.
Jesus calls the twelve “My friends.” Others in Scripture were called
the friend of God: Abraham (James 2:23) and Moses (Exodus 33:11). And
Lazarus was called the friend of Jesus (John 11:11). But, interestingly,
God and Jesus are never said in Scripture to be the friend of anyone! I’m
not saying that God is an enemy to all, or disinterested in friendship, or an
“unfriend” to believers. I’m only saying, as D.A. Carson does, that “mutual,
reciprocal friendship of the modern variety is not in view and cannot be
without demeaning God.” 4
Jesus is not looking for friends: He is the friend we are looking for.
His friendship is proven by His sacrifice of Himself on the Cross. We are His
friends if we obey Him and keep His commandments. Specifically, when
we obey the “New Commandment” to love one another as Jesus loves us,
then we prove to be the friends of Jesus (God). Christ becomes the perfect
paradigm of friendship.
This love of friends is characterized by sacrifice. To put it bluntly: we
never truly love anyone until something in us dies. Death to self breeds love
for others. This is the greatest type of love. When a man loves a woman and
desires to marry her, he is willing to let go of his freedom as a bachelor, his
resources, his self-reliance, and his life of self-direction. He cashes in his
savings to buy an expensive diamond ring—something he could care less
about but for which he gives up something he loves. He takes to himself
much that is painful in order to love his future wife. She’ll make him cry,
cause him distress, hurt his feelings, wound his soul, and make demands
upon him that only a wife would make. This man in love is willing to die in
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order to love his intended. I am, I realize, only presenting the male side of
the picture. The “death” the young lady assumes to herself may be even
greater than the young man’s. My point? You haven’t loved another until
something in you dies.
That’s how grace works. Paul says so in Galatians 2:20. I die with
Christ so that Christ can live in me. I am no longer my own; Christ lives in my
place and for me. This is salvation by grace. And in an age when everyone
hedges their bets against any personal loss, personal pain, or personal
denial, it should not surprise us that love is getting harder to find, while
divorce, living together, delayed marriage, single mothers, and relationships
(hetero and homosexual) characterized by mutual using of each other for
sexual pleasure, are all rampant.
“In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and
sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us,
we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:10-11). Here is an invitation to
come and die! Which is the only way to truly live.
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
AC: The theme for the 2015 General Assembly is “Anchored in Christ, Active
in Culture.” May all aspects of General Assembly serve to echo this theme
of carrying the Gospel of Christ into our communities and throughout the
world.
CTS: Pray for Covenant Seminary Dean of Students Dr. Mike Higgins and his
Student Life staff as they endeavor to walk with students during their time at
seminary. Ask the Lord’s grace in helping to nurture these students through
the intense time of learning and self-discovery they experience as God works
to reveal to them His will for their lives and ministries.
MTW: Pray for MTW’s relationship with national partners in South Africa,
Zimbabwe, and Zambia.
RUM: Please pray for our Interns and Campus staff who are in need of
funding to finish the school year strong. Pray that they will be proactive in
their fundraising efforts and bold in their requests, and that people will give
generously to their ministries.
RBI: Pray for our investment managers as they make investment decisions
on our behalf as well as on behalf of many others. Their decisions will directly
impact the accounts of our ministry partners.
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DAY 8
Read Matthew 24:1-14
Thursday, May 14, 2015
A LOVELESS SOCIETY
In his famous Olivet Discourse, Jesus gave to us an overview of the
“end times.” The apostles had asked Him three questions in response to
Christ’s shocking (and sad) prediction that the temple would be laid waste
(24:1-2). The disciples asked, “Tell us when will these things be? Jesus
answered that query in 24:15-28. They also asked, “And what will be the sign
of Your coming?” Jesus told them this in 24:29-31. And the third question
was, “(And what will be the sign) of the end of the age?” Christ responded to
this question in 24:4-14. Even though Jesus did not answer their questions
in the order they were asked, He answered them all.
Christ presented the last days in chronological order with the overlay
(and repetition) of imagery and events that typifies both eschatological and
apocalyptic literature. We see this repetition and overlap in seven sets of
seven images in the Book of Revelation.
First, the general signs of the last days are set forth in verses 24:4-14.
These things began in the Book of Acts and carry through to today. Then, in
70AD, the temple would be destroyed by Titus Flavius Vespasianus (24:1528) with portents also ascribed to the Second Coming (i.e., more overlap).
Then, at a time only the Father knows (24:36) in the distant future, the
Second Coming and the “end of the world” is described. (24:29-31ff).
Of all the things Jesus foretold, there is one that, at least to me, is
bone-chilling. He said of our days and times, “And because lawlessness will
be increased, the love of money will grow cold” (24:12).
Neither Mark’s account nor Luke’s includes this terrifying prediction,
but the particulars of that reality are described: persecution of the church,
family members denouncing Christian relatives—even parents or children—
beatings, hatred from the general public, martyrdom, and violence against
Christianity everywhere. John records this unbelievable fact: “Indeed,
the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service
(worship) to God” (John 16:2). There is a name for such religious murder:
Jihad.
These verses greatly unsettle me. I can see their fulfillment in the
rising persecution worldwide, the actions of ISIS and Boko Haram, school
shootings, the profane and ugly mouths of American men and women, the
hostility of the LGBT agenda toward any who might disapprove of it, the
violence in sports (I never thought I’d see female MMA!), the in-your-face
treatment church members give pastors, and dozens more evidences of this
fact: we live in a lawless age of loveless people.
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Two things frighten me. It’s not that I might be martyred or even
imprisoned as a pastor. I think I could handle that with the Spirit’s grace.
What scares me is that I see the Evangelical Church (and the PCA) becoming
more and more “rough” (translate that “loveless”). This makes me sad.
But the chief concern I have for the PCA and the future is the spiritual
world in which my six grandchildren will grow up. I fear for their little souls.
My first reaction is to show them how to shove back and strike out with the
force to protect against violence. But then I run into this truth: “They will
know you are my disciples by the love you have for one another.” Love, you
see, is the only power that can counteract lawlessness and meanness. “Love
covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8). We’ve got to learn how (and teach
our kids) to love in the face of lawlessness and lovelessness. It’s the only
way forward.
I want to be honest: there’s still a lot of the Midwestern blue-collar
worker, Army lieutenant, labor relations representative, and survivor in
me to go the other way. I prefer to withdraw, cocoon, post clear warnings,
strike back if necessary, and create a bubble that feels “safe.” But it won’t
work, and it’s not God’s way. We will need to learn how to suffer and how
to love when it hurts to do so. And we can only learn that together, in
multigenerational, multi-ethnic, and gracious community. It’s our only hope
for overcoming the future.
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
CDM: Pray for the Vacation Bible Schools and Backyard Bible Clubs that
will be happening over the summer. Ask the Holy Spirit to raise up the many
volunteers who will be needed, as well as to use these activities to bring
children to a life-transforming knowledge of Jesus.
CC: Please pray for the safety and security department as they strive to offer
the greatest protection available to faculty, staff, and students.
MNA: Pray for seminary students who will this summer be involved in
church planting internships or apprenticeships all over the country. Ask the
Lord to use this time of equipping to sharpen their evangelism, leadership,
and preaching skills.
PCAF: Pray for the PCA Foundation’s grant recipients, that more people will
be moved to support them through the PCA Foundation with their financial
resources, and also through their prayers.
RH: Without the generosity of numerous financial supporters, Ridge Haven
would not be possible. Pray that the Lord will open the eyes of new partners
in 2015 to Ridge Haven’s potential for future growth.
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DAY 9
Read First Peter 4:1-8
Friday, May 15, 2015
COVERING LOTS OF SIN
Peter was one of those twelve men who heard Jesus talk about
lawlessness and lovelessness in the last days. He appears to have never
forgotten Christ’s call for love to outlast and outshine lawlessness. In First
Peter 4:1-11, he writes to the saints from the city of Rome—code named
“Babylon” (5:13). The year was somewhere between 65 and 68AD, and lots
of lovelessness was underway in the capital city of the Roman Empire.
Nero was then the emperor, and Rome had never had (nor ever would
again have) an emperor as evil, cruel, and barbarous as Lucius Domitus
Aherobarbus Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus. He was as many—
faceted as his name indicated—a man without a true identity. Bisexual,
a rapist, murderer of mother, wives, and children, cruel and bloodthirsty,
criminally insane, and grossly incompetent. He began the first official
Roman persecution of Christians in 64AD. He dipped believers in tar or pitch
and used them as human torches, clothed Christian children in sheepskins
and released wild dogs and lions on them in the arena (for sport), and
ordered Christians to burn incense to his statue and confess him as a god—
or die! In Rome, in the midst of all this, the aged Peter writes to the saints
about suffering (First Peter). Nero, incidentally, would crucify Peter upside
down in 67-68AD and behead Paul in the same year, both in the city of Rome.
Peter, by the insight of the Holy Spirit, could see all this suffering,
sorrow, and death on the horizon. He remembered the Olivet Discourse,
so he wrote: “The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled
and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. Above all, keep loving one
another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins” (4:7-8). Peter is
remembering Jesus’ last sermon; he is quoting Proverbs 10:12—“Hatred
stirs up strife; but love covers all offenses.” Thomas Schreiner comments
about these two verses (4:7-8): “Enduring love testifies that a person is
living in the light of the future. True love covers a multitude of sins (Proverbs
10:12). Where love abounds, offenses are frequently overlooked and quickly
forgotten.” 5
If you look closely at the verse from Proverbs 10:12, which Peter
quotes in part, you realize a startling truth. There is a fine line between a
lack of forgiveness and genuine hatred. Nero was what he was because he
could not forgive wrongs done to him in his childhood. Adolf Hitler became
the monster he was because he could not let go of the injustices of the
Versailles Treaty. Osama Bin Laden became a world-class terrorist because
his resentment of Israel and her U.S. ally turned his religious views into
violence. People who cannot (will not) forgive soon turn to “hatred (that)
stirs up strife.”
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Our inability to suffer graciously, as Americans, is only exceeded by
our ineptness at forgiveness. One simply cannot progress very far down the
course of life without being wounded by the sins of others. How we handle
those offenses will determine the course of the rest of our lives. Many are the
tragic souls of a multitude of people who have said to me, “Pastor, I cannot
forgive that person for what he did to me!” It’s enough to cause a pastor to
weep.
Our lack of forgiveness does not harm the offender, but it plunders our
soul. Only one solution will save us. We must remember the love of God and
all that He has forgiven in us. It is His forgiving grace which is the operative
power in our lives both to love sinners and let go of sins against us. Soon, in
the last days, the “end of all things” will come: the Judgment of Jesus Christ
when all that is unforgiven will be punished—in the world, and in us. For
now, we forgive.
Peter died, upside down, with Jesus’ words on his lips: “Father, forgive
them for they know not what they do.” Nero died a year later, fleeing from
his own citizens, the only emperor of Rome pursued to death by the mob,
perishing by his own hand. He was unforgiving to the end; worse yet, he was
unforgiven for eternity. The end of all things is at hand. Forgive, and let love
triumph over sin.
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
AC: Pray that the Holy Spirit will move powerfully through the men chosen
to preach His Word in each of the worship services of the Assembly. Pray
that every participant will worship the Most High God in spirit and in truth.
CTS: Pray for Covenant Seminary Vice President of Academic Administration
Rev. Chris Florence, Dean of Academic Services Dr. Tasha Chapman, and
Dean of Faculty Dr. Jay Sklar as they work with faculty and staff to develop
and evaluate curriculum and programs; plan course schedules; identify,
hire, and minister to faculty members; and seek continually to enhance the
quality and effectiveness of the Seminary’s pastoral training ministry.
MTW: Pray for God to raise up 20 new team leaders for future works in
Europe.
RUM: Pray that, as our interns minister to students nationwide, the Lord will
bring unbelievers into their paths and that these interns will see conversions.
RBI: In regard to the retirement plan, pray that we will be good stewards
of what God has entrusted to us, that we will find the best managers and
investments for our ministry partners.
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DAY 10
Read First Corinthians 13
Saturday, May 16, 2015
THE MORE EXCELLENT WAY
We live in an age of great skills. Technology has made it so. The
rapidity and escalation of technological changes and “upgrades” are
absolutely mind-boggling, especially for an older man. My four children and
six grandkids take for granted that technology will continue to shape their
lives. And I suppose it has shaped mine but at a much more subtle and easy
pace.
My kids chuckle at my technological ineptness, and they stare at me,
incredulously, when I remind them of the world of my youth. I grew up in
a family that owned the first television set in our neighborhood: a 19-inch,
purple and white RCA in a huge wooden console. I first saw color TV when
I was eleven years old. As a freshman in college, the computer I worked on
filled a room the size of a classroom. When Texas Instruments came out
with a hand-held calculator, I said to myself, “Wow! What’s next?” I stood,
in marvel, before our color TV, in the summer of ’69, and swelled with pride
as my fellow Ohioan stepped onto the moon for the first time – Buck Rogers
and the American Patrol had become real!
But I never, in all my years, imagined smartphones, tablets, Skype,
FaceTime, computers that are “personal” and the size of a notepad. The
Internet seems sci-fi to me (even if Al Gore did “invent” it!), and Lasik, lens
implants, pacemakers, and knee replacements—we used to watch all this
on TV’s The Six Million Dollar Man! Life has indeed changed, and in scientific,
medical, and informational ways, for the better.
But people have not gotten better. If anything, our track record
indicates we are degressing: “always learning but never able to arrive at
a knowledge of the truth…going from bad to worse, deceiving and being
deceived” (2 Timothy 3:7, 13). It appears that we have made “progress” in
everything but love.
When the apostle Paul wrote his second letter to the Church at Corinth
(our First Corinthians), he acknowledged that this congregation was more
gifted than any other he had known (1 Corinthians 1:4-6). The Holy Spirit
had indeed graced them with miraculous signs, powerful speaking gifts,
miraculous powers, and gifts of efficiency and effectiveness (1 Corinthians
12:27-30). They were a very skilled people, individually and corporately.
They were not loving people.
The old landline dial phone I grew up with was not able to do what my
iPhone can do. This is so not because the methodology of telephones has
developed over time. It is because the nature of the phone has changed.
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The iPhone is radically different, on the inside, from the Bell Telephone of
my 1950’s childhood. The phone has been recreated.
So it is with love. This great fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22) changes
me from the inside out. I do not need an upgrade of my spiritual hardware;
I need a new nature, a new creation to take place in me, or else I am “not
compatible” with the God of the universe and His incarnate Son. Bell
telephones simply can’t face-time with iPhones! Impossible. The lifechanging love of Jesus (aka grace of God) is what I need in order to find the
more excellent way. My friend, Phil Ryken, explains what Paul is driving at in
this excellent way: “In a subsequent letter to the Corinthians, Paul testified
to the life-transforming love of Jesus, which turns our affections inside-out
by compelling us to stop loving ourselves and start loving others: ‘For the
love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died
for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might
no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was
raised’ (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)—the Savior who died and rose again so that
you could live with his love.” 6
Because we have been remade, on the inside, by the love of God and
the grace of the Holy Spirit, we can live on the network of Jesus Christ. And in
doing so, we will be able by loving people to make life—not just technology—
better. And that is really a more excellent way to live!
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
CDM: Pray for the youth camps scheduled this summer for YXL (Youths
eXcelling in Leadership), Ridge Haven, and RYM (Reformed Youth Ministries).
Ask God to bless and protect the staff and campers. Even more importantly,
ask Him to use these camps to grow these youth in their knowledge of Christ.
CC: Please pray for our live-in staff of resident directors and resident
assistants as they care for our students in their residence halls throughout
the year.
MNA: As seminary students early in their training begin to wrestle with next
steps, ask the Lord to burden more of them with the challenge and joy of
church planting.
PCAF: Pray for the PCA presbyteries and churches who are working with the
PCA Foundation, that God will continue to meet their needs and that our
service and assistance will be glorifying to God and edifying to the church.
RH: In 2014, people traveled to Ridge Haven from 29 different states,
including as far away as California and Hawaii. As thousands of campers and
guests journey to and from Ridge Haven in 2015, pray for travelling mercies
for each of them and for their safety while on campus.
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DAY 11
Read First Corinthians 13:1-3
Sunday, May 17, 2015
GAIN WHAT COUNTS
As Paul begins to expound upon the virtue of love, he says a most
odd thing. He says that if (repeated many times) he could speak angel-talk,
prophesy about the future, understand deep, divine mysteries, possess all
knowledge, and have strong faith so as to work miracles, give away all he
possessed, or suffer a martyr’s death, all this would count for nothing if it
lacked love! (First Corinthians 13:1-3, paraphrased). Scholars have debated
for years what class of conditional phrase (“if I…”) Paul was using here. Was
he using a purely hypothetical condition (i.e., if I could speak with angels in
their language, as some people suppose…), or is he talking about his own
actual experience (i.e., if I could speak to angels, as I have done…)?
We are interested in the answer to this question because it informs us
about the validity of the controversial gifts of the Spirit: speaking in tongues,
interpretation, healing, miracles, and the gift of knowledge. I’d like to know
the answer to this myself. But I suspect that Paul is really speaking about his
own life here. Paul did possess these gifts and abilities. The New Testament
record attests to them.
Paul went up into heaven, in a vision, and there he heard angels speak
and heard things he was not allowed to repeat (2 Corinthians 12:1-5). He was
able to speak in tongues (First Corinthians 14:18). He was given prophecies
from the Lord: he wrote most of the New Testament. He understood deep
mysteries from God (First Corinthians 2:1-5 and Ephesians 3:1-13). He did
miraculous things out of the power of faith—read the Book of Acts! He left
all his possessions to follow Christ (Philippians 4:10-20). He suffered much
for the sake of the Gospel (Second Corinthians 11:21-29) and would die a
martyr’s death (Second Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18). But in all this giftedness and
glory, Paul had to painfully learn how to love. This was the greatest thing he
ever did.
Henry Drummond, in his little classic, The Greatest Thing in the World,
says this of Paul: “A man is apt to recommend to others his own strong
point. Love was not Paul’s strong point. The observing student can detect
a beautiful tenderness growing and ripening all through his character
as Paul gets older, but the hand that wrote ‘the greatest of these is love,’
when we meet it first, is stained with blood.” 7 Drummond was correct; Paul
had to learn how to love the hard way. This is why Jesus said to Ananias,
concerning this newly converted murderous rabbi: “For I will show him how
much he must suffer for the sake of my name” (Acts 9:16).
Paul later tells us what changed him. It was the love of Jesus Christ.
“For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that
One has died for all, therefore, all have died; and He died for all, that those
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who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who for their sake
died and was raised” (Second Corinthians 5:14, 15). The love of Jesus forced
Paul to live for others and no longer for himself. Painful but perfecting, this
love of Christ within us helps us gain what counts. Without this love “I gain
nothing” (13:3).
People who are unloving are people who are afraid. So they live for
themselves, to protect and preserve their own safety. It is this fear of a loss
of something essential that makes them unloving. Once they possess Jesus
in their soul, things change. Slowly but surely the love of Christ forces them
out of self-love to love Christ, which is “safe,” and then on to loving others,
which is not safe, but rewarding. This is the life-long curriculum of love. It is
rough, but it is worth it. In it, we gain the love of God and a love for others.
And, by the way, I am not writing from my strong point!
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
AC: Pray for an increase in the number of ruling elders and teaching elders in
attendance at this year’s General Assembly. Pray that the peace, purity, and
progress of the Presbyterian Church in America will be in the forefront of the
commissioners’ minds as they prepare for the Assembly.
CTS: Pray for continued unity and harmony for members of Covenant
Seminary’s faculty, and that they will always be shining examples of
godliness and the power of God’s grace to transform lives. Pray that they
will serve the Seminary, the community, and the broader church with
faithfulness to God’s inerrant Word, humble hearts, a spirit of grace, and an
infectious love for Jesus Christ.
MTW: Pray for Grace and Truth Seminary in Costa Rica to impact the lives of
students and churches.
RUM: Pray that the Lord will use the internship to grow and challenge these
men and women and make them strong in their faith and faithful to their
calling.
RBI: Pray for all of our vendors, that we will work well with them to provide
excellent products and services to our ministry partners. Also, pray that we
can find ways to share the Gospel with them.
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DAY 12
Read First Corinthians 13:4
Monday, May 18, 2015
THE KINDNESS OF GOD
In his famous “love chapter” in First Corinthians 13, Paul is presenting
us with a portrait of love. He speaks of love in terms of personification; i.e.,
he writes as if love is a person rather than a verb or a noun. Of course, Paul
has in mind Jesus Christ. Because God is love, and Jesus is the Son of God,
Jesus is love as well. First Corinthians 13 is a portrait of Jesus Christ. It is not
a biography, but a portrait, a picture, a snapshot of the Son of God.
Paul describes love/Christ in nine statements: “love is…love does….”
What is fascinating is that the words Paul uses to describe love are mostly
verbs. In our English translation, we’ve turned those verbs into nouns. For
example, when the English Standard Version states that “Love is patient and
kind,” the Greek really reads “love suffers long and does kindness.” In all
there are sixteen verbs in these nine descriptions about love. Perhaps it was
for literary purposes that modern English versions translate First Corinthians
as they do—it does read more poetically in its adjectival forms – but in doing
so, the force of the message is weakened.
Love is not a feeling (noun, adjective) but rather an action (verb,
adverb). Simply put: love acts. Love does things to others. Love cannot be
seen or experienced until it moves. And the first action attributed to Christ
is this: love acts patiently and shows kindness. The King James Version
expresses it properly: “Charity suffers long and is kind.” When speaking
about God, patience and kindness always go hand-in-hand.
The Old Testament repeatedly presents God as “slow to anger
and abounding in lovingkindness.” Many times these pairings occur in
the Old Testament. David, in Psalm 103:8 and Psalm 145:8, wrote, “The
Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast
love (chesed).” Nehemiah later prayed for God to forgive Israel for their
backsliding and worldliness. In part, he prayed this: “But you are a God ready
to forgive, gracious, and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast
love (chesed)…” (Nehemiah 9:17). Joel called the people to repentance and
to “rend your hearts and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for
He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love
(chesed), and He relents over disaster” (Joel 2:13). Jonah was embittered
against God because He sent revising grace to pagan Nineveh: “…for I know
that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in
steadfast love (chesed).” Even one hundred years later, when Nineveh fell to
Babylon, though the loving kindness of God had ceased, Nahum reminded
the Ninevehites that “the Lord is slow to anger and great in power” (Nahum
1:3). In fact, this description of God occurs over thirteen times in the Old
Testament alone.
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To be “slow to anger” is to show patience; and “steadfast love” is
often translated “lovingkindness.” In truth, the Hebrew word chesed has no
equivalent in our language and is best rendered “God’s Covenant love and
loyalty.” In Christ, these four gracious streams merge together in perfect
love: graciousness, mercy, slowness to anger (patience), and lovingkindness
to the people of God. To be patient is to stretch the soul long to avoid the
expression of anger. Paul’s verb for “doing kindness” appears to be one he
made up, chresteuomai, meaning “to furnish what is needed.”
This is what God does for us in Christ. He furnishes in Jesus all we need
but are lacking. It is the patience of God and His pure kindness that leads
us to salvation in Christ. “Or do you presume on the riches of His kindness
and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to
lead you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4). And this is what God expects of us:
long spirits who delay anger and provide what is both needed and useful for
others.
I am convinced that I cannot live and love this way. I am too impatient
and too harsh. The only way this becomes even a possibility for me is for
Christ to fill me with His Presence (Holy Spirit) each and every day, each
and every hour. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”
(Philippians 4:13). Only through the power of Christ in me is my patience
and kindness possible, even probable.
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
CDM: Pray for those who serve local PCA churches in the area of Children’s
ministry. Ask God to give them insight into the lives of covenant children and
wisdom to know how to meet the needs of the children and their families.
CC: Please pray for students who are struggling with personal issues that
prevent them from functioning to their greatest potential in a rigorous
academic program.
MNA: Please pray for MNA Special Needs Ministries staff as they prepare to
offer a pre-General Assembly Training on Special Needs Ministry at Hixson
Presbyterian Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on Tuesday, June 9. Also
pray for them as they work on various projects in partnership with other PCA
Permanent Committees and Agencies in making the Gospel accessible to all
throughout the PCA.
PCAF: Pray that God will allow the PCAF to serve more members of PCA
churches.
RH: The 80+ summer staff members coming for the summer as counselors
and camp summer interns (CSIs) represent the core of Ridge Haven’s
camp ministry. Since campers look up to these college and upper high
school students as role models, pray that the summer staff will seize every
opportunity to teach and model the Gospel.
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DAY 13
Read First Corinthians 13:4
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
THE HUMILITY OF CHRIST
“Love does not envy or boast.” How counter intuitive this statement
is to the American way of self-worth and self-expression. We live in an age
of values instead of virtues and of personality instead of character. David F.
Wells describes how this happened:
“Today, we cultivate personality (a word almost unknown before
the twentieth century) far more than we do character, and this is
simply the concomitant to the way in which values have come to
replace the older sense of virtue. The change came exactly at the
turn of the century. Until this time, the self had been understood
in terms of character, of virtue to be learned and practiced, of
private desires to be denied. The words that had most commonly
been used to describe this character were ‘citizenship, duty,
democracy, work, building, golden deeds, outdoor life,
conquest, honor, reputation, morals, manners, integrity, and
above all, manhood.’ These virtues were all sustained by a
belief in a higher moral law, a belief that rapidly began to sag
and disintegrate. Around 1890, the focus abruptly shifted from
character to personality. The adjectives most commonly used to
describe personality became ‘fascinating, stunning, attractive,
magnetic, glowing, masterful, creative, dominant, forceful.’” 8
The sad end result of all this psychological emphasis on the self and
self-image was that heroes were replaced by celebrities. “Nowhere is this
disengagement between personality and character plainer than in the way
that celebrities have replaced heroes in our culture and the way that villains
have disappeared. A hero was someone who embodied what people prized
but did so in such a way that others wanted to emulate him or her. A celebrity
usually embodies nothing and is typically known only for being known. The
hero was a big man; the celebrity is a big name. It is our commercial culture
that produces the celebrity, whereas it was the moral culture that, more
often than not, elevated the hero.” 9
We live in an age of celebrities. And we live lives bent on creating,
in our own selves, a parody of these celebrities. Our commercialized, mediacontrolled, internet-dominated, therapeutic-shaped culture drives us to
become what we’d like to be. Sometimes, that “being” is found in the life
of a hero; other times we find our “being” in a celebrity. We seem to be a
people in search of the real self.
Because this is true, two ugly patterns emerge in our lives. One is
envy. The other is boasting. Envy manifests itself in the lustful desire to
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be what another person is: beautiful, successful, well-known, intelligent,
influential, or important. The “wanna be” sickness known as envy is different
from jealousy or covetousness, in that the former desires to be like someone
else, while the latter simply desires to possess something not his or her own.
Envy is always born out of a discontent with who I am.
The second sin of boasting is the sister to envy. Boasting is the
claiming of something that we are not—some success, some relationship
to a famous person, or some claim to fame. Name-dropping, bragging
about contracts and books to be written, awards, and advancements are all
attempts to shape one’s image in the eyes of others.
Jesus isn’t like this. He is confident in who He is. He has always
been humble about what He’s done—a suffering servant. He never exalts
Himself but always “boasts” about God the Father and gives honor to God
the Spirit. Jesus is very comfortable with who He is and quite satisfied in
what He has accomplished. Because Jesus is humble and great, He is a hero,
not a celebrity; He possesses character and not mere personality. And He is
quite approachable; Jesus is easy to be around. So Christ, again, is the key
to our contentment and humility. If we are content in Christ and centered
in Him, our lives become happier, and we become more approachable. A
person united to Christ (Galatians 2:20) soon finds out that his real self is,
well, quite loveable, and able to love others in a humble way. The real Jesus
can make us real!
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
AC: Pray for the Administrative Committee staff in these days remaining
before the Assembly, that as they face the unlimited details involved,
nothing will be overlooked and all will go smoothly.
CTS: Pray for Covenant Seminary Vice President of Strategic Academic
Initiatives and Professor of Theology Dr. Dan Doriani, that the Lord will
bless his efforts as he travels and speaks on behalf of the Seminary; helps
with recruitment, alumni, and church events; assists in fundraising; teaches
courses on ethics and church history; and works on special projects for the
Office of the President.
MTW: Pray for multiplication of the church-planting work in Gonaives, Haiti,
and that God will provide the funding needed.
RUM: Many of our Campus Ministers and family members are currently
facing medical ailments. Pray for the Lord’s guidance, wisdom, and peace
to sustain them.
RBI: Pray for our Board members, for their families, for their vocational
work and for the work they do on our Board. Pray for wisdom and guidance
for RBI.
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DAY 14
Read First Corinthians 13:4-5
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
THE VIRTUOUS JESUS
Jesus Christ was a man who drew people to Himself. People liked
Jesus, and they liked to be around Him. Jesus was a likeable man. What
made Him this way? We can say, from the Gospel accounts, that Jesus
treated everyone the same way, with honor and courtesy. Jesus was never
arrogant or rude. When Paul writes, “Love…is not arrogant or rude,” no
doubt he had Jesus Christ in mind.
The words Paul uses here are, again, two verbs. The Greek phusoō
means to blow, inflate, puff up, as when we inflate a balloon. The verb
aschemoneo means to behave indecently, unseemingly, unbecomingly, or
rudely. The first verb is comical, the second is offensive.
The Greeks drew their word phusoō from the puffer fish of the
Mediterranean Ocean. Years ago, I ran upon one of these funny little fish
while snorkeling in Jamaica. Each time I drew near this colorful little fish,
he bloated himself up—bulging belly, bug eyes, and all—in an attempt to
appear bigger than he was. Rather than look fierce, he became comical, at
least to creatures that were not marine. I was hunting in Mississippi last year
and came across two yearling does. When they noticed I was present, they
stopped, stamped their tiny little hoofs and snorted repeatedly. They’d seen
their mother do this, and they thought I’d be intimidated. Not so; I thought
they were cute.
So it is with insecure people. They “puff up” themselves to look more
impressive, important, tough, or intimidating. This may fool other earthly
creatures (i.e., men), but God chuckles at our inflated egos, grandiose
statements, and puffy images. We are all too little, too weak, and too
helpless to impress anyone who knows us for what and who we really are.
We look somewhere between comical and cute, but not impressive.
When arrogance (puffed-upness) fails, we resort to rudeness. If we
can be dismissive of others, put them down (and hence put them “in their
place”), ignore them, or ostracize them, then they’ll get the message: they
are not my equal or worth my consideration. In some twisted way, I think
that by putting them down, I raise myself up. Wrong again. It is I, the rude
man, who looks little and petty and insecure before others.
Jesus loves people because they are made in the image of God and
possess inherent and immortal worth. When around you, Christ does not
want us to feel intimidated, so He cloaks His divinity in the veil of a Jewish
man, a poor one at that, so that He is approachable. And He seeks out other
people. Never rude, always comely, Jesus pursues us and makes us feel
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important, because to God we are! It is in His humility and graciousness
that men see His greatness (Philippians 2:5-11).
For Jesus and His apostles, greeting people was a big deal. Repeatedly,
the New Testament shows us stories of greetings, sends us greetings in
epistles, or commands us to “Greet one another with a holy kiss” (Second
Corinthians 13:12). Saying “Hello” to someone is a huge act of love. For
when we greet people, we tell them three things. First, we show them that
they are very important and deserve to be recognized. Second, we prove
to them that we are approachable; we invite them to ourselves. Third, we
show courtesy to everyone around us, creating an atmosphere of politeness
and welcome. There are few more hurtful things or few more deliberate
displays of contempt than to fail (refuse) to greet another person.
If we want to see the PCA become more loving, we are going to have to
live out of grace. Jesus Christ is going to have to deflate our “puffiness” and
gentrify our rudeness. His Spirit within us can make us more welcoming,
more humble, easier to be around, and more inviting people. And I would
suggest we begin that process by simply greeting one another.
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
CDM: Pray for Sue Jakes, CDM Children’s Ministry Coordinator, and B.A.
Snider, CDM Children’s Ministry Specialist, as they seek to serve those in
the local church who minister to children. Ask God to bless and use the
Children’s Church curriculum that Sue and B. A. are developing.
CC: Please pray for the staff members in the Center for Student Success and
in the Priesthill Center, who work to serve students with various needs.
MNA: MNA ESL Ministries helps churches start English as a Second Language
(ESL) ministries to reach the World that God has literally sent to our
doorsteps. The first part of this process is an ESL School staffed by trained
church volunteers. God is expanding MNA ESL Ministries by providing
for them to train and certify ESL Church Trainers. Please pray for God to
give them wisdom as they work through the logistics of trainer selection,
housing, training, and funding. Please pray that many more churches within
the PCA will start ESL Ministries that will share the love of Christ with their
International neighbors in both word and deed.
PCAF: Pray that PCA churches will respond to efforts made by the PCA
Foundation to communicate its ministry, and that churches will understand
the value of its ministry and will tell their members about our charitable
financial services.
RH: Each week, the summer staff works extra-long hours setting up and
leading activities, performing skits and music, cleaning up around campus,
and befriending and mentoring the campers in their cabin. Pray that the
Lord will equip them with the physical energy and mental alertness required
for such tasks.
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DAY 15
Read First Corinthians 13:4-8
Thursday, May 21, 2015
LOVE IS FLEXIBLE
I think of all the chapters of the Bible, Paul’s chapter on love is the
most poignant message of our day. As I stated earlier, Jesus’ prophecy about
a lawless age has been fulfilled in our time: “And because lawlessness will
be increased, the love of money will grow cold” (Matthew 24:12). American
love is increasingly growing extinct. What love we do see is oriented towards
our children, our romantic interests, or our friends—but only so long as they
please us and do what we like.
I have been a pastor for thirty-three years. When I first went into
the ministry, the main reasons people left a church and joined another
were either theological (the teaching of the church) or pragmatic (the
desire for a specific program of ministry that was lacking). All that has
changed. The overriding reason people leave one church and join another is
disappointment: they simply did not get what they wanted. In other words,
to be more frank, they did not get their own way.
It could have been the church’s choice of music. Or perhaps it was the
requirement to go through a new member’s class. Or perhaps it was because
the church fenced the Lord’s Table, did not admit a child to a specific retreat
because they missed the registration deadline, or delivered unwelcome
pastoral counsel on a personal issue. They did not get what they wanted.
End of discussion. Done. Gone. Over. No other options.
Pastors nationwide will tell you that in 1985 the primary reason
Christians got divorced was adultery. But by 2015 it was “irreconcilable
differences.” Translated: I did not get my own way in the marriage.
Evangelicals change marital partners almost as frequently as they do
churches. We live in the age of the sovereign self. God is not like that.
God is sovereign, but God does not always get what He wants. The
evidence of that can be seen in our sinful world; this is not what God wanted
in Genesis 1. Peter reminds us, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promises
as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any
should perish but that all should reach repentance” (First Peter 3:9). And
yet, billions will perish in hell—something God does not want to happen.
I believe in the sovereignty of God, in double predestination, and in
the invincibility and immutability of God’s decree. If a man goes to hell,
it is because he deserved it, God predestined such, but God did not want
that to happen. As I get older, I am able, even comfortable, to live with such
antinomy. Our sovereign God does not always get what He wants; He does
what He decrees. And nowhere is this more evident than in Jesus Christ.
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We are all familiar with Christ’s heroic prayer in the Garden of
Gethsemane: “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me;
nevertheless, not as I will [want], but as You will [want]…My Father, if this
cannot pass unless I drink it, Your will [what You want] be done” (Matthew
26:39, 42). God’s will, of course, was for Christ’s atonement (death) and
our salvation (life). Christ did what God decreed, but not what He wanted.
Imagine our life and our destiny if Jesus Christ had insisted on His own way
that fateful evening!
We are not sovereign, nor are we saviors. Our faith in the decretive
and permissive will of God that causes all things to somehow work through
to our eternal good (Romans 8:28) should change the way we live and love.
When we don’t get our way, perhaps we are learning how to partake of the
“fellowship of Christ’s sufferings” (Philippians 3:10). Could it be that when
I do not insist on my own way, my disappointment, my inconvenience, my
temporary unhappiness could actually be part of God’s good plan for me –
even a rough marriage or a disappointment at church? And, could it also
be that my love for God, affection for Christ, and concern for others, even
in these moments of disappointment, could be “redemptive” for someone
else? Just something to think about: love does not insist on its own way.
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
AC: Please pray that the Holy Spirit will draw the Assembly together in unity
of heart, vision, and a deep desire to glorify Jesus Christ. Pray that His unity
will pervade the Assembly gatherings during worship, committee meetings,
business sessions, and beyond. And join us in praise to God the Almighty for
His grace, mercy, and care. To His Name be all honor and glory.
CTS: Pray for God’s continued blessing on Covenant Seminary President
Emeritus Dr. Bryan Chapell as he carries on his fruitful worldwide writing,
teaching, and speaking ministry while also serving as senior pastor of Grace
Presbyterian Church in Peoria, Illinois. Pray also for Professors Emeritus Dr.
David Calhoun, Dr. David Jones, and Dr. Robert Vasholz as they continue to
serve the Lord faithfully even in retirement through preaching, teaching,
writing, and discipleship.
MTW: Pray for a unity of vision between field personnel and national
partners in Europe.
RUM: Pray for our national office staff. The last few years have brought
about a lot of change for RUF and many new faces. Pray that the Lord will
continue to guide and direct the national staff as they seek to serve RUF with
their gifts and talents.
RBI: Pray for our staff members, for their families, for their ministry at RBI
and for their growth in Christ. Pray for their service not only to ministry
partners and vendors, but also within their churches.
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DAY 16
Read First Corinthians 13:4-5
Friday, May 22, 2015
LOVE LETS GO OF THINGS
I am writing under an assumption that perhaps I should make clear:
the only way for us to love others is for Christ to live in us and love them through
us. We simply cannot love as we should unless Christ fills our lives. Sometimes
the difference between a Gospel message and a moralistic message is a
shared assumption not clearly stated. I do not believe we can find God’s
“more excellent way” by our own efforts. We need the grace of Christ to
enable us to love as Christ loves. Galatians 2:20 must become reality for
those who want to love: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I
who live (love), but Christ who lives (loves) in me. And the life (the love) that
I now live (love) in the flesh. I live (love) by faith in the Son of God, who loved
me (lived for me), and gave Himself for me.”
Nowhere is this more essentially true and necessary than in our
efforts to control our anger. When Paul says, “It (i.e., love) is not irritable
or resentful,” he is saying “love never gets angry.” To most of us, such a
possibility seems impossible. Who could never get angry?
In The Anger Workbook, clinical psychologists Dr. Les Carter and Dr.
Frank Minirth, of the Minirth Clinic in Richardson, Texas, coach people on how
to “manage” anger. They define anger as “the emotion of self-preservation
of your worth, needs, and convictions.” Anger rises in us when we feel the
need and express the intent to (1) preserve our personal worth; (2) meet our
essential needs; and (3) defend our basic convictions. This is not, in itself,
sinful. How we usually do these things is. 10
Carter and Minirth go on to state that most people “handle” their anger
in one of five ways—from most destructive to most positive: suppressing
anger, open aggression (rage), passive aggression, assertive anger
(confrontation), and dropping anger. “Dropping your anger means you
accept your inability to completely control circumstances and you recognize
your personal limits. This option includes tolerance of differences as well as
limits. This option includes tolerance of differences as well as choosing to
forgive.” 11 Minirth and Carter tell us that dropping anger is the Biblical way
to respond to anger.
Everyone has anger. We are all angry people, because we are all fallen
human beings. Our irritability comes from intolerance, frustration, a feeling
of helplessness or a tender, wounded spirit. Like a bruised soul, our anger is
a wince or a flinch when others press against our tender spots. Resentment
comes from a feeling of injustice, unmet needs, loss of control, or abuse.
Resentment often comes when we don’t get our own way (see Day 15’s
devotion) or when others ought to ask for forgiveness, but don’t.
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How do we “handle” these manifestations of anger? Only one therapy
works: forgiveness. We need to let go of both our irritability and resentment,
and we can only do so by releasing the offending person to God. Forgiveness
is not divine suppression. It is not choosing to not deal with real issues of
anger. What forgiveness does is to place the entire matter in God’s hands.
In Psalm 56, David dealt with his anger toward Saul, his danger in
Philistia, and his frustration over his situation by turning to God. Here’s
what he prayed:
Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me;
all day long an attacker oppresses me;
my enemies trample on me all day long,
for many attack me proudly.
When I am afraid,
I put my trust in you.
In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
What can flesh do to me? (Psalm 56:1-4)
David did what Christ did, “Father, forgive them…into your hands I
commit my Spirit.” That is how forgiveness works: we let go of irritability
and resentment, you fore-give (we give fore-ward our enemies into God’s
hands), and we release our souls to Christ. Love is able to do this because it
knows how much and how firm is the love of God. “In God I trust; I shall not
be afraid (or angry). What can man do to me?”
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
CDM: Pray for Danny Mitchell, CDM Youth Ministry Coordinator, as he works
to consult and network with youth ministers around the PCA. Ask God to
bless him as he teaches youth ministry seminars at Covenant College,
Covenant Theological Seminary, and various conferences around the PCA.
CC: Please pray that the Center for Calling & Career staff will find employers
who are eager to hire students and alumni.
MNA: Please pray with MNA Church Planting Coordinator Ted Powers for
effective and fruitful work in recruiting laborers for the harvest in church
planting, as well as for resourcing church planting leaders who do the work
of building the church through church planting at a local level.
PCAF: Pray that God will work through the PCA Foundation more and more
to financially benefit the other PCA Committees and Agencies.
RH: A key component of Ridge Haven’s camp ministry is the guest speakers.
Pray that God will provide each speaker with the right words to impact the
hearts of the campers.
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DAY 17
Read First Corinthians 13:6
Saturday, May 23, 2015
LOVING THE GOOD
“Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.” Of
all the descriptions of love, this may be the most amazing, for it reveals the
purity of heart that is found only in God. God’s love is a holy love that takes
joy only in the good and is deeply grieved at wrongdoing and evil. God’s
love is pure, earnest, and sincerely righteous. God would never, for a split
second, take even a tinge of delight in what is wrong.
Men cannot say the same thing. We often rejoice at sin in at least three
ways. First, each person rejoices (takes delight) in his (her) own personal sins.
The thief gets a rush out of burglary; the honorable-looking businessman
enjoys surfing through pornography sites on his computer; the hedonist gets
high on marijuana; the fornicator derives pleasure from illicit sex.
Sinners also enjoy watching others sin, at least in those areas where
we prefer to sin. American films and television celebrate sin to the delight of
millions of viewers. Even when American films have a redemptive message
—and many do—that message emerges out of sinful living that is celebrated
as normal. We seem to delight in wrongdoing, at least in a vicarious manner,
watching our heroes and heroines sin for us!
Third, the most sordid way we enjoy sin is the most subtle. We love to
see others ruined by their sins. We often delight in this.
But I believe the point Paul is making in this phrase is that true, godly
love does not take delight in the fall of another person into sin. Henry
Drummond describes Paul’s intent with these words, “It includes, perhaps
more strictly, the self-restraint which refuses to make capital out of other’s
faults; the charity which delights not in exposing the weaknesses of others,
but ‘covereth all things’; the sincerity of purpose which endeavors to see
things as they are and rejoices to find them better than suspicion feared or
gossip denounced.” 12
We all rejoice in wrongdoing when we see another fall into sin and
feel smug about ourselves in comparison to the fallen. When we secretly
hope that the big church will experience trouble and declining membership
because we are jealous of their success, we have delighted in wrongdoing.
If we pray for the President to fail because we hate what he stands for (and
really hate him!), the wrongdoing has become our joy. If we think it good
that the famous TV evangelist, whom we know to be a false teacher, falls into
disrepute and jail, we have rejoiced in the smudging of Christ’s name, and
that is wrongdoing. It is, at the core, our jealousy and contempt that cause
us to rejoice in what is unrighteous, sinful, and embarrassing.
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Godly souls rejoice “with the truth.” The definite article before the
word “truth” points to the revelation of God found in the Bible. Gordon Fee
describes what Paul means here: “The person full of Christian love joins in
rejoicing on the side of behavior that reflects the Gospel—for every victory
gained, every forgiveness offered, every act of kindness. Such a person
refuses to take delight in evil, either in its more global forms—war, the
suppression of the poor—or in those close to home—the fall of a brother or
sister, a child’s misdeeds…it is not gladdened when someone else falls.” 13
The only way this can happen is for us to be deeply rooted in the love
of God through Jesus Christ. Once we are secure in the love of God, we are
free to love others without competition or jealousy. We can forgive people
when they fall. We can be gracious instead of judgmental. We can weep with
those disappointed by failure, and we can encourage those shamed by their
own sin. We are even able to use the truth to help repair the damage done
to God’s name and Christ’s church by the wrongdoing of others. Most of all,
we can rejoice in the grace of God, which kept us from similar failure and
forgave us when we rejoiced in our own wrongdoing. What a liberating way
to live; what a freeing way to love!
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
AC: Pray that the Lord will guard His servants against mistakes in handling
the large volume of paperwork necessary to facilitate the Assembly and the
other business meetings taking place during the week. Pray also that the
technology and equipment used to facilitate the flow of business will serve
us well!
CTS: Pray for Rev. Mark Ryan, director of Covenant Seminary’s Francis A.
Schaeffer Institute (FSI), and Dr. Greg Perry, director of the City Ministry
Initiative (CMI), as they work to develop fruitful ministry partnerships in our
region and in the broader church that will provide new avenues for sharing
the faith in winsome ways, serving those in need, and engaging our culture
courageously but compassionately with the truth and hope of the Gospel.
MTW: Pray that God will bless and protect the families who go forth into
many parts of the world that are either ignorant of or hostile to the Gospel.
Pray that these families will not experience the loneliness and depression
that so often accompany life in spiritually dark places.
RUM: Pray for our Area Coordinators. In order to best facilitate RUF ministries
across the country, the denomination’s Permanent Committee has divided
the country into regions in order to best serve these local RUF committees.
Pray for safe travels and guidance as these men seek to encourage and build
up our staff serving on college campuses across the country.
RBI: Pray that the RBI staff will be submissive to the will of God in thought,
word, and action, so that our ministry will not be hindered in any way. Pray
that we will work together as a team and as a family to be good overseers of
the benefits we offer our ministry partners.
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DAY 18
Read First Corinthians 13:7
Sunday, May 24, 2015
LOVE’S PREVAILING HUMILITY
When Paul says “Love bears all things,” he makes a profound statement.
The verb he uses in the Greek text is stego. It is a rich word related to stege,
which means roof, house, or thatched covering. Commentators point out
that the verb stego carries with it three possible meanings. The Greek
Lexicons translate stego in these three ways:
1. To cover, to thatch, to deck: to protect or keep by covering; to
preserve
2. To cover over with silence: to keep a secret or to hide or conceal
the errors and faults of others
3. To cover in order to keep away something which threatens, to
bear up against; to hold out against; to forbear, endure, or bear
up under difficulty, sorrow, or mistreatment
Paul uses stego in this third way, and he does so repeatedly in the New
Testament. But in First Corinthians 13:7, it is possible that the richness of
this word is intended in its fullness.
When we love someone—a spouse, a child, a friend—we seek to
protect them from bad things. This includes not only evil and danger, but
the gossip, slander, and accusations from other people. A true love always
defends the good name of a loved one. And alongside that, a true love keeps
silent about a loved one’s failures and sins. We cover up our beloved’s sin,
not to be dishonest or false, but to help, to heal, and to promote their honor
and good name. Those who gossip (who share truth that should be kept
secret) are not our friends. And, third, love bears up under the weight of
disappointment and embarrassment when a loved one fails in a very public
manner.
Over the years, I have had ministerial friends, fellow PCA pastors, who
have been deposed for adultery, lost their churches because of plagiarism,
and even gone to prison. I have stood by each one of them, not because they
were innocent (they were not) or because they were mistreated (though
they were, in some manner of speaking) but because they were my friends,
I love them, and I love them not for what they did or did not do, but for who
they were—my friends.
In so doing, I took the ridicule of others: “Some friends, you have!
Aren’t you ashamed to associate with them?” The implication was that my
character was deficient because “he eats and drinks with sinners.” Folks
would probe for more information and deeply held secrets. They had “a
right” to know more of the details of these ministerial failures, they told me.
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And the sorrow I felt for my dear friends in shame, in trouble, and in jail,
was…well…quite unbearable.
And yet, this is what Christ does for you and for me—all the time! He
associates with sinners and even loves them. He is not ashamed to call us
His spiritual siblings (Hebrews 2:11). Jesus also covers our reputation by
imputing His righteousness to us and granting us the twin titles of “saints”
and “the children of God.” Nowhere in the Bible does Jesus entertain gossip
against us. In fact, the “accuser of the brethren” (the devil) is met by our
“advocate with the Father” (1 John 2:2), our defending attorney, who clears
our name in heaven’s courtroom. And Jesus puts up with our repeated sins
—day, after day, after day, all lifelong—and never renounces us, becomes
embarrassed by us, or distances Himself from us. Christ is a good friend.
In fact, the only way for me to love in such a humble way—to love my
friends more than my reputation—is to live in the friendship of Christ and
the love of God. Who cares what others think about me and my friends? All
that matters is that God is not ashamed of me, His friend, which frees me to
love others as a good friend and bear all things for the sake of our friendship.
Such is the humble power of God’s love and Christ’s friendship: “No longer
do I call you servants…but I have called you friends…” (John 15:15). Wow!
What a friend we have in Jesus!
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
CDM: Pray for Karen Hodge, CDM Women’s Ministry Coordinator, as she
travels around the PCA encouraging, connecting, and equipping women to
love and serve the local church. Ask God to give her wisdom to understand
and address biblically the needs of women in today’s culture.
CC: Please pray for the chapel program as they identify and invite individuals
to speak in chapel and minister to the Covenant community in the 20152016 school year.
MNA: Pray for MNA SecondCareer Ministry Director Gary Ogrosky as well as
the volunteers, staff and church planters and ministries they are supporting.
Praise God for the continuing growth of interest in MNA SecondCareer and
pray that this interest will continue to expand. Thank God for successful
matches of volunteers to PCA church planters and ministries; may God be
glorified through these volunteers and their service.
PCAF: Ask God to continue to bless current donors to the PCA Foundation
and help them to be faithful in their stewardship of His resources.
RH: Ridge Haven’s youngest campers, Juniors (grades 3-6), are often new
to camp life and sometimes new to the Lord as well. Pray that a multitude
of these young children will accept Jesus as their Savior as a result of their
time at camp.
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DAY 19
Read First Corinthians 13:7
Monday, May 25, 2015
THE JUDGMENT OF CHARITY
Of all the statements about love made by Paul in First Corinthians
13, the one that states that love “believes all things” may be the most
misunderstood. Increasingly, commentators are interpreting the Greek word
panta not in its usual way (“all things”) but as an adverb meaning “always.”
This is possible, but I think unnecessary and uncommon. To do this is to say
that love always believes, and always bears, always hopes, always endures.
But this makes the seventh verse somewhat awkward (though possible).
St. Augustine taught that “love bears all things” meant not that love
was gullible and naïve, but that it always chooses to believe the best about
other people. This is the traditional interpretation and the view I hold.
Leon Morris takes this view and states that love “is always ready to allow
for circumstances, and to see the best in others. 14 Love gives the benefit of
the doubt to other people. Rather than give in to sinister thoughts about
another person’s motives, love assumes the best until proven otherwise.
The old Puritans used to call this The Judgment of Charity.
Nothing could be more counterintuitive to the American way of
thinking than this Judgment of Charity. We live in a world where the news
is always bad. If you listen to FOX News, CNN, or MSNBC, you’d have to
conclude that nothing good ever happens in the world, or any given day, and
that all people are suspect except, of course, those reporting the news, who
are totally objective and always truthful and righteous. We love conspiracy
theories, soap operas, and scandals. Why else would America’s currently
rated #1 weekly television series be titled Scandal? To consistently think this
way and to see life through this tainted lens is twisted, and, no pun intended,
incredulous. But that is what fallen humanity is – incredulous. Unable to
believe in God or the good. And those who are unable to believe in God
inevitably fall for any and all weird and incredulous ideas.
If God exists, and He does, then the universe is guided, guarded, and
governed by the Ultimate Good. And if men and women are made in the
image of God, and they are, then humanity has built into its DNA the good
and noble life from God Himself. I am not denying the Biblical doctrine of
the depravity of man, but I am stating that we overemphasize the depravity
of man to the exclusion of the doctrine of imago dei and end up with an
inability to give to anyone the Judgment of Charity.
How did the Jewish leaders “persuade the crowd” (Matthew 27:20)
to call out for Christ’s crucifixion, a mere five days after the people had
welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem as the Messiah? They played upon man’s
natural tendency to believe the worst about others, to always buy into a
conspiracy theory, and to fail to assume the best about others until proven
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otherwise. Surely, Christ had proven to all Israel that He was a good man,
come from God!
I believe that of all the truths of the Gospel, Christ’s Judgment of
Charity for you and me, while on the cross, is the ultimate proof of God’s
love: “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.” John
would later write, “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one
another” (1 John 4:11). And if God renders to us the Judgment of Charity,
we ought also to give one another the benefit of the doubt and assume the
best about each other.
After all, God sees us not as the world does: evil people who are part of
a grand conspiracy of wickedness, though we once were. He sees us for what
we have become. Beloved, if God so sees us as good and noble people, we
ought also to see each other in the same light. Life is full of good, gracious,
even glorious things…and people! Life is full of God and His good Son, Jesus
Christ. All of life is under God’s Judgment of Charity!
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
AC: Pray for wisdom for each of the members of the Nominating Committee,
that they will be sensitive to the needs of each Committee and Agency as
they work to propose a slate of names for election by the General Assembly.
CTS: Pray for Covenant Seminary’s Advancement staff as they seek to build
strong ties with students, donors, and alumni for the sake of the church, and
that they will communicate well the message and mission of the Seminary.
Ask the Lord to provide open doors and open hearts as they seek to increase
student enrollment, raise funds for scholarships and other institutional
needs, and develop strategic partnerships to expand the Seminary’s reach
and influence for the Gospel.
MTW: Pray that our missionaries will be focused securely on Christ. Pray
also for team unity, that teams will be of one mind and purpose.
RUM: Pray for our new Coordinator, Tom Cannon. Pray for a smooth
transition and guidance as Tom continues his ministry with RUF.
RBI: Pray that the Lord will continue to bring the needs of our ministry
partners to the attention of RBI and give us wisdom to develop solutions
and come alongside them for those needs.
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DAY 20
Read First Corinthians 13:7
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
LOVE’S GREAT OPTIMISM
Of all the sad ramifications of postmodernity, the one that seems to be
most debilitating is its cynicism and the loss of hope. Such hopeless living
leads, progressively, to anger, then apathy, then depression, and finally to
nihilism. Wherever Christianity dies, hopelessness rises, leaving in its wake
the ravages and ruin of mankind. We can see that in the death of Biblical
Christianity in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries: from Kant’s idealism
to Nietsche’s nihilism, to Darwin’s evolution, to moral and political chaos, to
the rise of Hitler and his fascism and Lenin and his communism, to over one
hundred and fifty million murdered souls from 1917 to 1987! Hopelessness
is ultimately deadly. Men cannot live long without hope.
“Love hopes all things.” What a powerful statement. Anthony
Thiselton renders verse 7 this way: “Love never tires of support. Never loses
faith, never exhausts hope, never gives up.” 15 Based on the context of loving
other people, Paul’s bold statement refers to the hope we have, for others
we love, that God will work mightily in their lives and our relationships.
This hope is manifested best in prayer. When we ask God for
the salvation of a loved one, for reconciliation between enemies, for
transformation in lives, for revival in churches, for reformation in society,
and for even the unity of Christ’s worldwide church (Jesus’ prayer in John
17), we are “hoping all things.” A person doesn’t hope this way or pray these
prayers unless he truly loves those for whom he prays. What I am saying is
not derived from a book or a commentary. I have lived in and witnessed
firsthand this hope of which I speak.
Growing up as a child in Columbus, Ohio, I lived with the knowledge
that my maternal grandparents were divorced. As a little guy, when I’d visit
my grandma in Indianapolis, Indiana, I wondered why my grandpa was never
there. Around the age of six, I learned the painful story from my mother.
Grandpa Joe was an alcoholic. He’d been a painter (of houses) in
North Vernon, Indiana, and he owned a hardware store. Grandma ran the
store while Grandpa Joe did the painting and drank up most of his paycheck.
When my mother was fourteen, it all came crashing down: loss of the store,
divorce of parents, nervous breakdown of her only sister, and a move to
Indianapolis for a job for Grandma. My mother turned her heart fully to God
in those days, and the Spirit filled her with hope and prayer.
As we would go to bed each night, the five of us Ross kids would
pray with my mom that Grandma and Grandpa Joe would remarry. He
lived in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, still painted, and still drank. She worked in
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Indianapolis, still loved her ex-husband, and hadn’t seen or spoken to him in
twenty years. Hopeless! But we prayed.
In the summer of 1957, Grandpa Joe came to our house to do some
wallpapering and painting. I was eight years old, and it was the first time
I met my Grandpa Joe. I was his “helper” for those two weeks. One day,
having lunch together in our kitchen, my mother asked my grandfather,
“Dad, would you ever want to see mom again?” To my surprise, he said he’d
never stopped loving her, but that his drinking had made any reconciliation
hopeless. My mother paused and asked me to go upstairs to my room and
play. A month later, I went to church and watched my grandparents get
remarried, in my boyhood parish. They lived together, happily, for another
twenty years. It was then I came to believe two things: love hopes all things
and prayer really does succeed!
This hope of love is rooted in Paul’s profound statement of Philippians
1:6—“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring
it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Love hopes all things, love prays
all things. God can do all things, and has promised to “complete” us, in
Christ, and by His grace. There is never a reason to live without hope and
without love, as long as God is alive and on the throne! Be of good hope!
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
CDM: Pray for Gary Yagel, PCA Men’s Ministry Consultant, as he travels
around the denomination conducting seminars in order to help local church
leaders address the spiritual needs of men. Pray that God will stir the hearts
of men in PCA churches to seek after Christ in order to lovingly lead their
families and bless their communities.
CC: Pray that the chapel worship will honor Jesus, will convict and
encourage, and will serve to strengthen unity in pursuit of Christ in the
Covenant community.
MNA: Pray for the existing 50 plus African American Teaching Elders in the
PCA. Pray for the recruitment, mentoring, and development of future African
American leaders.
PCAF: Ask God to bring to the PCA Foundation new individuals and families
who will benefit from our ministry and the charitable financial services it
offers.
RH: Possibly the most challenging time of childhood is adolescence. Pray
that Ridge Haven will serve as the perfect setting for Junior High and Senior
High campers to set aside the negative peer pressure and technology
distractions so present in their everyday lives and replace them with the
support of camp counselors and the Word of God.
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DAY 21
Read First Corinthians 13:7
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
STUBBORN LOVE
The fourth, and last, “all things” that love does endure: “Love endures
all things.” The verb Paul uses here is hupomeno. Charles Hodge informs us
that this verb was a military word used for standing one’s ground against an
enemy attack. He states that people who endure all things, in this sense,
are able to survive “the assaults of suffering and persecution, in the sense
of bearing up under them and enduring them patiently.” 16 Love is able to
overcome persecution.
I have always been amazed at how love empowers a person not only
to stubbornly survive mistreatment, torture, and cruelty, but also to love
and pray for one’s persecutors. I’ve witnessed this firsthand as a young man.
While in college, I worked as a stock boy at the Lazarus Department
Store in downtown Columbus. I’d occasionally need to deliver a woman’s
coat to the store’s tailor, a man named Rolf. He spoke with a thick, broken
English accent, hobbled badly, and was missing three fingers on his left hand
and his right ear. Honestly, he was a bit scary. But one evening, I struck up
a conversation with Rolf. He told me some of his life-story. He was from
Hamburg, Germany, and at age 18, he was drafted into the German Army. He
was a member of the Nazi party. During World War II, he’d fought in North
Africa, then in Italy, and finally on the Eastern front. During the Russian
invasion, frostbite had taken all the toes of his feet, his three fingers, and his
right ear. He spent eight years in a Russian prison camp, where he was nearly
starved and worked to death. Only his youthful vigor allowed him to survive.
When he was released, he made his way to Hamburg, only to discover that
all members of his family were dead and his home was a pile of rubble. He
found his way to Britain, then Canada, and finally Columbus, Ohio, where he
worked in his father’s profession as a tailor. Rolf never married, lived alone,
and attended the Zion Lutheran Church in Germantown, south of Columbus.
He loved America, had forgiven his enemies, and was thankful to God for his
new life in the new world. Rolf was not a bitter man but a grateful one.
Two years later, as I served in the U.S. Army at Fort Sheridan, Illinois, I
came into contact with Reuben. He owned a tavern/pizza place in Highwood,
directly across the street from the Fort. Best pizza I’ve ever eaten. Reuben
was Jewish and was from Poland. He had survived, as a child, years in the
Warsaw Ghetto and a brief time in the Auschwitz concentration camp. He’d
show me his tattoo prison number on his wrist and say, “I will never forget.
I will never forgive.” Reuben was also unmarried because he was divorced,
estranged from his family, bitter, volatile, and grossly unhappy. I liked his
pizza; I disliked him.
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Years later, after I became a Christian, I realized the crucial difference in
these two victims of World War II. Rolf was a Lutheran who believed in Jesus
Christ. Reuben was a Jew with a Christless life. Persecution, injustice, and
violent death had surrounded both these men, and scarred both of them for
life—physically and spiritually. But Rolf had prevailed, found faith in Christ
and led a simple, free, and grateful life. Reuben remained, for almost thirty
years, in the ghetto of his own bitterness and a prisoner of his own hate.
“Love endures all things” only if Jesus Christ and His love endures in
us. The world is full of living evidence that this is true. The only way some
people survive such horrors in our world and emerge grateful, joyful, and at
peace can only be because the grace of Jesus Christ stubbornly holds them
in the love of God. “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors
through Him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor
angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor
height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate
us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37-39).
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
AC: Many of our General Assembly Committees and Agencies will be meeting
during these days of prayer in preparation for the Assembly. Ask that these
committees will accomplish their work with effectiveness and efficiency.
CTS: Pray for staff members who work behind the scenes to assist with the
mission of Covenant Seminary—particularly for those in the Admissions,
Financial Aid, Information Technology, and Registration offices—that they
will serve students and the Seminary community with grace, wisdom, and
a clear love for Christ. Praise the Lord for their faithfulness, dedication, and
untiring service.
MTW: Give thanks for health professionals who serve in both short-term
and long-term missions utilizing their medical expertise not only to heal
physically, but also to draw individuals to Christ and build up the Church. RUM: Pray for our Area Coordinators. In order to best facilitate RUF ministries
across the country, the denomination’s Permanent Committee has divided
the country into regions in order to best serve these local RUF committees.
Pray for safe travels and guidance as these men seek to encourage and build
up our staff serving on college campuses across the country.
RBI: Pray for the Client Service staff of RBI as they plan and implement better
ways to reach out and serve our PCA ministry partners. Mark Melendez,
Client Services Manager, leads this team.
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DAY 22
Read First Corinthians 13:8-13
Thursday, May 28, 2015
LOVE’S ETERNALITY
To say that something (or someone) is eternal is to say that it (he/she)
exists above and beyond time itself. To be eternal is to be timeless. Only
God is eternal, having neither a beginning (birth), an end (death), or a life
measured in time (growth). God has always been, always will be, and is ever
the same. He is “the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).
Human beings and angels are immortal: they are created but do not cease
to exist. Only God is eternal.
When Paul comes to the conclusion of his “love chapter” in First
Corinthians 13, he states “Love never ends” (13:8). He literally says “love
never falls.” Some translations render this as “love never fails” (NIV). But
it is obvious in verses 8-13 that the apostle is comparing love to things that
will end in time. So it is best to translate verse 8 as the ESV does: “love never
ends.”
The Corinthian church was a very gifted church, perhaps the most gifted
of the early church congregations (First Corinthians 1:4-7). But they were a
very unloving church, full of factions (1:9-16), debates about theology, and
a prideful, competitive, and disruptive use of their spiritual gifts (chapters
12-14). Three gifts in particular called forth from their immature souls much
strife: prophecy, speaking in tongues, and the word of knowledge. Christians
with these gifts tended to exalt and promote themselves at the expense of
others in the church. Paul singles out these three extraordinary gifts (sign
gifts) to illustrate both the superiority of love and its eternality. Love, Paul
says, will outlast them all.
When Jesus (here referred to as “the perfect”) returns at the end of
time, there will no longer be a need for prophets to both preach the Word
and pass on divine revelation. Jesus will teach us. Those gifted to speak in
foreign tongues (and interpret these languages) will lose that gift, for Jesus
will speak to the nations in a way only He can (perhaps in what Paul imagines
to be a heavenly language—“the tongues of angels and men” in verse 1). And
those with a word of knowledge (whatever that was) will no longer be given
such insights—in our glorified state we will all fully know Christ as we are
fully known by God (v. 12).
When we were immature—mere children in spiritual years—we needed
those spiritual gifts because we spoke as a child (in baby talk—tongues!), we
thought like a child (in human constructs—knowledge!), and we reasoned
like a child (in terms of past, present, and future—prophesy!). But once we
reach perfection, completion, full maturity, we will be able to understand
and love Jesus and others as we can only now imagine. We are looking
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at life through an aging, dim, distorted mirror—our earthly humanity. But
someday in a new world, with a glorified humanity and a sinless soul, we
shall see Jesus face to face. Then everything will change!
Love has always existed; in eternity past, between a loving Father,
loving Son, and loving Spirit, forever communicating themselves to one
another in eternal bliss. This eternal love motivated them to create a world
for angels and men to share in that love. Once they did so, love became a
facet of life in the realm of time—the human experience. Love created the
world, governed, guarded, and guided it each day, and redeemed it when
it fell away from God’s love into hate, violence, and death. Love will never
end. It will return, incarnate again and in glory in Jesus Christ and usher in a
world where love fills all in all.
Because this is so, Paul ends his thoughts on love with the simple,
logical, and “adult” thing to do: “pursue love” (14:1a). Once we do we move
toward a life with God and a new world where love is so common we don’t
even notice that it once was scarce. Love never ends because neither God
nor we do, and Christ is what makes it possible for us to love forever!
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
CDM: Pray for Stephen Estock, CDM Coordinator, as he travels around
the PCA teaching, preaching, and consulting with church leaders about
discipleship ministry. Ask God to give him understanding in how to connect
and equip those who serve local churches in the ministry of discipleship.
CC: Please pray for professors and students as they engage in rigorous
scholarly activity—that they will honor God and enjoy Him.
MNA: Pray for the MNA Mercy Conference in Forth Worth TX at the Fort
Worth Presbyterian Church October 22-24. Pray for a moving of the Spirit
of God to enable us to be ministers of His mercy. Pray for the Urban Ministry
Training Conference held at New City Fellowship in Chattanooga beginning
on Memorial Day. Pray that leaders will be equipped to be effective in cross
cultural urban and mercy ministry. Pray for the faculty that teaches and
those traveling to the week-long training.
PCAF: Pray that, as the PCA Foundation cultivates relationships with
prospective donors, God will be glorified, and that He will move them to take
advantage of our charitable financial services.
RH: Ridge Haven is launching a brand-new camp, Senior High CSI Experience
Camp, from June 8-19, 2015, and July 6-17, 2015. This unique camp allows
Senior High Schoolers to enjoy all the fun of camp while also getting a taste
of what it is like to serve and be a part of Ridge Haven’s summer staff. Pray
that this camp will inspire teens to pursue future careers in ministry.
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DAY 23
Read First Corinthians 13:13
Friday, May 29, 2015
THREE LOVELY SISTERS
Grace has three lovely daughters. They are Faith, Hope, and Charity
(also called “Love”). They are all begotten of the same Father and all
born from the same womb of the Spirit. They are not triplets, born within
moments of each other, but are inevitably together, inseparable and yet
each unique. They come into life when a person is born-again of the Spirit,
and by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-10).
Faith is born first. As the “older sister,” there is a natural sobriety about
Faith. Like all firstborn, she takes her cues from those who’ve gone before
her rather than her younger siblings. She learns the ways of her forefathers,
unquestionably adopts both their vision and their values, and sees things
as an adult—almost from her moment of birth. She sees “the assurance of
things hoped for, the conviction of things unseen” (Hebrews 11:1). Faith
is virtuous, sober, and courageous at times, and full of the knowledge of
her Father, committed totally to the heroic vision of her older brother. In
fact, it is her commitment to her Father and His Son that gives purpose and
substance to Faith’s life.
Hope is the typical middle child. Sturdy, optimistic, full of quiet joy,
humble (for she is always over-shadowed by her older sister and upstaged
by her younger), and able to remain steady when Faith waivers and Charity
emotes. Hope holds the opposite perspective on life than her older sister.
For while Faith is always looking to the past—what Father said and Brother
did—Hope focuses on the future: the promises made to her. Hope has two
great goals in life: holiness and heaven. It is difficult at times to ascertain
which drives her most. Is her desire to be like her Father and Brother and to
see them glorified her chief end in life? Or is the future joy of a great family
gathering in their future home the measure of her relentless optimism and
anticipation? Regardless, Hope always holds the center ground, anchoring
the family, giving it a balance not known to Faith or Charity alone, and
keeping the family together through thick and thin.
Charity is the youngest of the three, and her slowness in developing
into maturity is both her attractiveness and her allurement. She is the
most affable of the three (and the most gullible), the pretty one, sociable
and sought out, and surprisingly capable of such self-sacrifice, forgiveness,
and patience that both Faith and Hope both wonder at her and admire her.
Charity is patient and kind, never envies or boasts, is never arrogant or rude
to others, is not one to insist on her own way, is seldom irritable, is without
a shred of resentment, and is morally upright and ethically good. She puts
up with much, thinks the best of others, agrees with Sister Hope in her
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optimism, and bears suffering like a champion. She becomes more lovely
as she ages—like her two sisters. And some people even say that when Faith
and Hope pass away, Charity will live on (after all, she is the youngest). And
there is a common belief that Charity will never die!
Her family agrees that she is the greatest of the family, somehow
incarnating all the knowledge of her Father, the mystery of her mother, and
the graciousness of her brother. She has much of Faith and Hope in her, and
yet in all this she has carved out for herself a place in every man’s heart. For
all men (and even women) want to be her friend; they want to possess her
for her beauty, charm, and grace. And yet, the irony of it all is this: no man
ever “owns” Charity, but she possesses all who embrace her. She triumphs
over all, and in such a way that no one really cares. In fact, they all like it!
And so it is generally agreed, and has been so for millennia, that the greatest
one of them all is young Charity.
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
AC: Ask the Lord to grant traveling mercies and security and safety to the
commissioners and their families before, during, and after the Assembly.
CTS: Pray for people around the world who are now considering training
for ministry at Covenant Seminary, that the Lord will grant them wisdom in
making their decision and that He will provide the spiritual, emotional, and
financial support needed to make their transition to seminary possible. Pray
that the Seminary’s Admissions staff will continue to minister effectively
to these prospective students and their families by walking beside them
caringly throughout the admissions process.
MTW: Pray for missionary families, especially those new to the field, who
face difficulties in a foreign land with education of children, cultural stress,
language challenges, and spiritual opposition.
RUM: Pray for our new works in 2015. Pray that the Lord will continue to
open doors on our new campuses and provide the financial resources
needed to sustain these ministries.
RBI: The Client Services Team travels to churches and Presbyteries to meet
with church and school employees regarding the PCA benefits. Pray for their
safety in travel and wisdom in counseling the employees.
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DAY 24
Read First John 4:7-12
Saturday, May 30, 2015
LOVE INCARNATE
In his classic The Four Loves, C. S. Lewis makes an insightful
observation about the divine love, agape in Greek, the love set forth in the
New Testament. He writes, “One sees here at once a sort of echo or rhyme
or corollary to the incarnation itself. And this need not surprise us, for the
author of both is the same. As Christ is perfect God and perfect man, the
natural loves are called to become perfect Charity and also perfect natural
loves. As God becomes man not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh,
but by taking of the Manhood into God, so here; Charity does not dwindle
into merely natural love but natural love is taken into, made into a tuned and
obedient instrument of, Love Himself.” 17
The apostle John makes the same point in First John 4:7-12. He
exhorts the believers in Ephesus to “love one another” because they possess
this divine-human love (agape) from God Himself. In fact, the evidence that
they have been converted and are regenerate, that they are “born of God,” is
that they are able to love beyond their human ability. God’s divine love will
be perfected (matured or completed) in us as we raise all natural loves to a
spiritual plane because of this love of God (the Spirit) abiding in us.
There is a widespread sentiment among born-again Christians that
we need to “renounce” worldly things once we become converted. We
are expected to put distance between us and old friends, our hobbies and
recreations, old institutions we once loved, and even our nation. After all,
we are new creatures looking forward to the new creation. Everything we
loved in this world will hold us back from the Kingdom of God. John makes
this explicitly clear in First John 2:15, “Do not love the world or the things of
the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
John also tells us that “God so loved the world” (John 3:16) that He
became incarnate in it. In doing so, in Christ Jesus, God reached down and
into the world to raise it up to a higher, nobler, and more blessed plane of
existence. The love of God transforms the world and the natural loves of
men.
So should our Christian love. In fact, it is through the Holy Spirit of
God, incarnate in us, that the love of God continues in this world. We don’t
have to “give up” our love for secular music, be it classical music or rock and
roll, to be a genuine Christian. We can remain lovers of music and transform
that love into a holier love (and more Godward music) because of Christ’s
love in us. We don’t need to forsake our Alma Mater because it is a large
secular university. Quite the contrary, we can stay involved as an alumnus
and have some (even if little) influence upon our Alma Mater for spiritual
good. Patriotism is not a “lost love.” Those who see the sovereign hand of
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God in who they are and where they were born—Americans in the United
States—are seeing things Biblically. “And he Himself made from one man
every nation of mankind to live on the face of the earth, having determined
allotted periods and boundaries of their dwelling place” (Acts 17:26). To love
one’s country is a noble act of gratitude for the sovereignty of God. To seek
its spiritual good through Gospel transformation elevates a noble affection
to a godly love.
The love of God transforms our natural loves. And this is what makes
evangelism, missions, transformation, and reformation truly possible in
this world. What godly love asks us to renounce is lust, materialism, and
pride (First John 2:15-17), but not loved ones, Alma Maters, or the nations
of our birth. All these things we naturally love can be made into “tuned and
obedient instruments” of the Lord’s will, through the love of Jesus in us. In
truth, this incarnational and transformational love is the world’s only real
hope.
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
CDM: Pray for Jake Bennett, CDM Older Adult Ministry Consultant, as he
works to revise and develop resources to help PCA members utilize the gifts
of more mature saints. Ask the Lord to guide the CDM staff in helping PCA
churches encourage and equip this valuable group of believers to serve local
churches with their time and resources.
CC: Please pray for the recruitment and development of faithful faculty
members.
MNA: Pray for MNA Church Planter Recruiting Director Alan Foster, that God
will use him to increase the number of church planters who are placed on the
field. Pray that he will be able to connect the right men with the churches,
presbyteries and networks that want to plant churches. Pray that more men
will step up the front line of church planting.
PCAF: Pray for safe travel of PCA Foundation staff and their supplies to and
from the 2015 General Assembly in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
RH: One of Ridge Haven’s most popular weeks during the summer is Family
Camp, open to the entire family. Family Camp will be held in 2015 from June
29-July 4. Pray that this week will serve as a time for children and parents to
strengthen their bonds with each other and learn more about Christ as they
share a memorable summer vacation together.
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DAY 25
Read First Corinthians 16:13
Sunday, May 31, 2015
THE MANLINESS OF LOVE
In First Corinthians 16:13, Paul issues five staccato commands: “Be
watchful. Stand firm in the faith. Act like men. Be strong. Let all that you
do be done in love.” I would suspect that this verse is but another of Paul’s
unpopular statements in the twenty-first century. “Act like men?” How
paternalistic and chauvinistic! How insensitive to women! The church
is impacted by the steady erasing of male and female distinctions (even
biological!) in our broader culture.
According to our Shorter Catechism Answer 4, “God is a spirit, infinite,
eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice,
goodness and truth.” Yet when God speaks of Himself in terms that we can
understand as finite human beings, He almost always uses distinctly male
language. Jesus, and not by the random change of a chromosome, was a
male. And the apostles (all male) seldom spoke—if at all—in the feminine
language of today: heart, feelings, relationships, etc. The apostles, under
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit—use masculine terms to call us to faith and
its outworking. Here in First Corinthians 16:13, Paul puts together five such
aspects of true Christianity. “Be watchful” like a soldier on guard. “Stand
firm in the faith” like a line of troops holding a defensive position in combat.
“Act like men,” not a call to “masculinize” women but a challenge to act
with courage and determination. “Act like men” (Greek andrizomai) is a
frequent command in the Septuagint and is used in contexts encouraging
people (especially soldiers) to act with courage and strength in obedience
to the Lord and with confidence in His power (see Deuteronomy 31:6-7, 23;
Joshua 1:6-7, 9; 10:25; 1 Chronicles 28:20; Psalm 27:14). 18 “Be strong” in
grace, in Spirit and in purpose. “Let all that you do be done in love,” not in
a sentimental American, romantic and emotional love, but in the love that
called forth the Cross!
I want to suggest something to you—just an idea that I am working
through. Here it is: could it be that the loss of virtue in our culture is due
to the feminization of Christianity in the American church? Here’s why I
suspect this. The word “virtue” comes from the Latin word vir, which meant
“man” (as in “male”). Hence, we have the whole family of English words like
virulent, virile, virtuous, virtue, and other such vir-words. “Virile” is defined
as “of a man, having strength, energy, and a strong sex drive: having the
characteristics of strength, energy, and masculine desires, usually associated
with men.” In fact, the epitome of classical virtue was “manliness.” 19
All Christians—male and female—are called in Christ to a virtuous
love: courageous, sacrificial, undaunting, and energized by divine purpose.
After all, it’s very difficult to live like and love like Jesus Christ without
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reckoning with the masculinity of Jesus. Women need not feel insulted or
threatened by this thought. The call to self-sacrifice, bold hope, redemptive
love, strong faith and virtuous, truthful living are as noble in women as
they are in men. In one of the few times Paul used feminine terminology
to describe the apostolic ministry and his love for the saints, he combines
the courageous and self-sacrificing picture of a mother with the image of
a virtuous and encouraging father (First Thessalonians 2:7-12). In both
metaphors, he illustrated the manly virtues that make Christian love both
possible and powerful.
I would suggest just such a balance: the courageous love of a nursing
mother and the virtuous love of an encouraging father. Things being what
they are, perhaps, there is a need for all of us evangelicals in America to get
in touch with our “masculine side,” our Jesus-dimension of love. Only then,
I suspect, will the Gospel rise above sentimentality and become a powerful
force of redemptive love. We all need to indeed “Act like men!”
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
AC: Pray for the members of the Administrative Committee as they meet on
June 17, that they will have wisdom and discernment in the decisions made,
especially relating to the work of the Assembly.
CTS: Pray for all the students at Covenant Seminary who have given up
careers, homes, and proximity to family to pursue ministry training with
us. Ask the Lord’s blessing on these students and that He will provide for
their every need as He molds and shapes them into the Gospel servants He
desires them to be, and that He will provide clear guidance as to their future
ministry paths.
MTW: As itinerating missionaries prepare for the mission field, pray for
God’s grace to reign in their hearts, and for God to raise up support partners
in His way and time.
RUM: Pray for our students. Pray that RUF will be a place where they are
ministered to and cared for.
RBI: Dave Anderegg and Ed Dunnington call and counsel many PCA pastors
regarding retirement readiness. Pray they are filled with God’s wisdom and
discernment as they compassionately advise PCA pastors. Pray they use
skill, knowledge, and understanding to guide the financial planning and
future of pastors.
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DAY 26 Read Second Peter 1:3-15
Monday, June 1, 2015
THE PINNACLE OF VIRTUE
A couple of years ago, while on a summer vacation, I attended worship
services in another PCA Church. The young man preaching was expounding
upon Second Peter 1:3-15. In the conclusion of the message, he explained
that Peter was urging the saints to grow in the promises of God, especially in
this assurance of justification. For the life of me, I could not understand how
he arrived at such an exegetical mistake. Peter was saying no such thing.
In verses 8, 9, 10, and 12, the apostle used the indefinite word “these,”
translated as “these things” in some English versions and “these qualities”
in the ESV. He tells the Christians to increase in these things, not to lack
these things, to practice these things, and he promises to remind them of
these things as long as he is alive. To render “these things” as the promises
of God makes no grammatical sense, ignores the context of the passage, and
seems to purposefully change the apostle’s clear message: to add virtue to
our faith in Christ.
In this young man’s thinking, to speak of adding virtue to faith felt
like legalism added to grace. Any talk of virtue, knowledge, self-control,
steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love (agape) added to
faith smacked of man’s efforts, of moralism, of a legalistic spirit tainting the
Gospel. Or so he said in his sermon. But that is what Peter wrote.
He called the saints to “supplement” (his word) their faith with what
has traditionally become known as “the golden chain of virtue,” climaxing in
godly love. We may not like that, but it is what it is: the apostolic teaching.
Paul would call this “faith working through love,” because good works are
both the end purpose of grace and the evidence of true and saving faith
(Ephesians 2:8-10). Love—the ultimate source of good works—becomes the
pinnacle of virtue and the sealing evidence of mature faith. Virtue is the
child of his parents: Faith and Grace.
Peter paints a verbal picture of stair-stepping faith that is maturing in
the grace that provides us with “all things that pertain to life and godliness”
(v. 3). All things pertaining to life and godliness are “these things” in which
we must increase, develop, practice, and never lack. Virtue grows out
of faith and grace, and as such, they help make our “calling and election
sure” (or certain). In other words, assurance of salvation is found both in
the promises of God and in the evidence of godly virtue in our lives. The
promises of God begin our life of faith, but it is the virtue that grows out of
grace that makes that salvation certain in our hearts and minds.
Peter is merely giving more detail to Paul’s exhortation to “work out
your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you,
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both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12-13). And as
to what that “good pleasure” is we are clearly informed: “For this is the will
of God, your sanctification” (First Thessalonians 4:3). Sanctification is the
theological term for a godly and virtuous life.
We know, from our study of Systematic Theology, that this
development of godly virtue is a synergistic work of the Holy Spirit; that is,
a process in which we cooperate with (syn) the work (ergon from the verb
ergo: to work). A synergistic process is one where I work (ergo) with (syn)
God to produce the desired result: my sanctification. My effort combined
with the Spirit’s gracious work in my life makes me more holy, more godly,
more Christlike, more virtuous.
That is how love works. If love remains merely a sentiment (gratitude
for grace) it leads to tender feelings. But if love becomes an effort to please
the one we love, it becomes a reality and a life-changing, soul-shaping,
world-transforming force. That is what God wants. He desires that you and
I live a virtuous life in order to gain assurance of salvation, influence others
for Christ, and show our love for God and others. Grace leads to faith, and
faith to virtue. And virtue reaches its pinnacle in love. “The golden chain of
virtue” is what we need today, more than anything else.
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
CDM: Pray for the members of the CDM permanent Committee as they serve
the General Assembly in overseeing the discipleship ministry of the PCA. Ask
God to bless these ruling and teaching elders with unity and insight into how
they can best encourage and oversee the ministry of the CDM staff.
CC: Please pray for our work with partners in Indonesia as we explore ways
to serve Southeast Asia.
MNA: Pray that God will use Ministry to State to draw government leaders
and influencers into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ, so that their
lives and work will be marked by humble reliance on Christ, by the fruit of
the Spirit, by submission to God’s Word, and by application of godly wisdom.
PCAF: Pray that the brochures we have distributed to all PCA churches will
be distributed to their members and will effectively communicate to the
church members our services and ministry.
RH: Brave Heart, Ridge Haven’s annual camp for youth who are mourning
the loss of a loved one, will be held the week of June 22-27, 2015. Ask that the
Lord provide wisdom and guidance to Brave Heart director Martha Furman
and the summer staff, and pray for these dear campers to be healed through
the love of God and the assurance of His presence.
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DAY 27
Read First John 4:13-21
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
OVERCOMING A CULTURE OF FEAR
“Perfect love casts out fear” (First John 4:18). So the apostle John tells
the church. “There is no fear in love,” so the opposite of love is not hate, but
fear. The fear of God and of other people keeps us from loving God and man.
And you and I live in an age of fear. Fear makes us do all sorts of unkind and
self-centered things.
In an unpublished paper written for the Board of Trustees of Covenant
Theological Seminary (CTS), Dr. Bryan Chapell (then the President of CTS)
wrote a detailed response to set people’s fears at rest that our seminary
was drifting in a “liberal” direction over the issues of the Days of Creation.
In his concluding remarks, he addressed the genesis (no pun intended!) of
this heated debate, which he said was not previously an issue in American
Presbyterianism. He wrote, “I believe it is fear that is driving some of our
church to be interpreting the Confession of Faith so narrowly that even small
deviations openly discussed and freely explored for decades are now being
taken as sufficient grounds for denying men ordination.” 20
What fear could Dr. Chapell be referencing? Perhaps it is the fear of
losing our PCA to the same debilitating theological liberalism that destroyed
the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Or perhaps the fear is that some men are
no longer taking the Bible seriously. Some fear that we are “too tight,”
censorious, nit-picky, and cripplingly legalistic. Others fear that we are “too
loose,” worldly, undiscerning, and infected with the antinomian spirit of our
age. Both sides (and those in-between) seem to be undone by fear.
I suggest to you that what we see in the PCA in microcosm is what we
float in daily in the macro-dimensions of American culture. Americans are
a people beset by fears: the fear of the dying of the American Dream, the
fear of poverty, of racism, of the breakdown of family and the breakdown of
marriage. We fear that our standard of living is in jeopardy, that our children
won’t get into a top-tier university, that our retirement funds will shrink as
our medical issues swell. Most of all we fear one another because we are all
so eaten up with fear that we can no longer love. So our fears become selffulfilling prophecies. Our worst fears do come true!
Or do they? Really? We will not be a victim to a purposeless life,
because God has placed His Spirit in us to love, govern, guard, and guide
us. We will not live a life of bondage to sin, because God sent His Son, Jesus
Christ, to be the Savior of the world. We will not be forsaken by God, because
God will abide in us (and we in Him). We will not go to hell when we die but
rather will face the end of time with confidence because we are united to
Christ. All the worst fears are gone because God’s perfect love for us casts
out all our fears.
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This is why heaven has no gates to the Celestial City of God. There is
nothing to keep out, nothing to defend against, and nothing to fear. I can’t
imagine this. I’ve lived for 66 years, 2 months, and one day to this Tuesday,
June 2, 2015. And for every day, I can remember I have faced fear and its
ugly family: worry, anxiety, stress, frustration, panic, and helplessness. I
have not yet grown to where God’s love casts out all my fear. I look forward
to the day I wake up in the City of God and realize that something new has
taken place in me and around me. It will probably take me a week or two to
put my finger on what exactly has changed. But then it will come to me: no
one around me is afraid anymore, and I have not felt fear since I looked into
the face of the Perfect Jesus Christ. One look into those loving eyes, and I’ll
never be afraid again, “We love because He first loved us.” And we are no
longer afraid because Jesus destroyed the power of fear on the cross. Hurry
the day that love does away with all fear! Maranatha!
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
AC: Pray that the Holy Spirit will guide each member of the Committees
of Commissioners as they work for the Assembly, reviewing the work of the
General Assembly Committees and Agencies and making recommendations
to the Assembly.
CTS: Pray that the many students who come to Covenant Seminary from
outside the U.S. will feel at home with us and that the Seminary community
will be blessed by the unique cultural, geographical, and generational
perspectives these students bring. Ask the Lord to give all of us greater love
for God’s people and a greater desire to reach the lost with his Word—no
matter where they may be.
MTW: Give thanks for health professionals who serve in both short-term
and long-term missions utilizing their medical expertise not only to heal
physically, but also to draw individuals to Christ and build up the Church.
RUM: Pray for the continued financial support of RUF.
RBI: The Client Service staff comprises a team of different skills, talents, and
personalities. Pray that this team is unified and supportive of each other to
further the work and ministry of RBI for God’s Kingdom.
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DAY 28 Read Second Corinthians 5:14-15
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
LOVE’S CONSTRAINT
If someone were to ask me this question, “Mike, what is the essence of
the Christian life?” my answer would surprise many and perhaps displease
not a few. I would not say that the Christian life is a life of faith, or continual
repentance, or living under grace, or even abiding in Christ. These are
all true, of course, but they assume a certain level of both a theological
vocabulary and a great deal of theological assumptions. Here’s how I would
explain to the novice what it was really like to live as a Christian: “For the
love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died
for all, therefore all have died; and He died for all, that those who live might
no longer live for themselves but for Him who for their sake died and was
raised” (Second Corinthians 5:14-15). There is Christianity in two verses and
forty-eight words! Christ died for me so I died in Him, and I live for Christ
who lived and died for me. This is the Christian: he/she no longer lives for
self but for others. The love of Christ controls him/her.
The little verb Paul uses and that the ESV translates as “controls”
is sunecho, a hybrid Greek word of sun (with) and echo (to hold or direct).
The King James Version renders sunecho as “constrains” and the NIV uses
“compels.” The picture of this little verb is rich. One concordance explains
the verb this way: “to hold together, to compress, to arrest, to constrain,
hold, keep in, press, stop, force into a channel, to straighten out, to make to
go in a certain direction.” The Greeks used this word to mean forcing cattle
down a cattle chute for branding or gathering. The love of Jesus Christ does
all this to us.
It constrains us by holding back our sinful proclivities to self-service
and self-expression. It compels us to live on a higher plane of service and
mercy. It channels our life in a new direction, forcing us by the power of
the Spirit down the chute of the church to be branded with the cross and
gathered with the saints. The Christian’s life is revolutionized by the grace
of God that transforms him from a “me” into one of “us.” Pope Benedict
referred to this as the “Copernican revolution” in the Christian life:
Practicing Christian love, in the same way as Christ, means that we
are good to someone who needs our kindness, even if we do not like
him. It means committing ourselves to the way of Jesus Christ and
thus bringing about something like a Copernican revolution in our
own lives. Becoming a Christian, according to what we have just
said, is something quite simple and yet completely revolutionary. It
is just this: achieving the Copernican revolution and no longer seeing
ourselves as the center of the universe, around which everyone else
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must turn, because instead of that we have begun to accept quite
seriously that we are one of many among God’s creatures, all of whom
turn around God as their center. 21
I must honestly confess that a lot of the talk about grace sounds very
me-centered. It comes across as therapeutic; focused on my feelings, my
assurance, my forgiveness, my need for justification and my security in
adoption. I see grace as the power to transform our lives by the power of
Christ’s love within me. Controlling love, constraining love, compelling
love, Copernican revolutionary love. According to the New Testament, the
worst kind of idolatry is the worship of self. The worst kind of bondage is the
enslavement to self. And the surest form of death is to live for oneself.
We Christians need to call people away from themselves and call them
to God, to Christ, and to others. To be a Christian is to be controlled by the
love of God, to be constrained by the life of Christ, and to be compelled by
the Spirit within to live for Jesus Christ by living for other people. This is the
essence of the Christian life: the love of Christ controls us.
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
CDM: Pray for the Women’s Ministry Team, comprising regional and at-large
advisors, along with Women’s Ministry Trainers. Ask the Lord to give them
wisdom as they teach and consult with leaders in the local churches and
presbyteries.
CC: Pray for faithful and effective work in searching out new venues for
study abroad, reviewing the structure of the core curriculum, and preparing
for the 2017 reaffirmation of our accreditation.
MNA: Pray for the students currently enrolled in the Leadership and Ministry
Preparation (LAMP) course of study and for the stability of each Learning
Site. LAMP is designed to provide a seminary education that will overcome
the barriers and obstacles of today’s student, such as time constraints,
family commitments, financial limitations, ministry involvement, and/or
lack of education.
PCAF: Pray for the men who will serve on the PCA Foundation’s Committee
of Commissioners, that they will have a heart for and an understanding of
the work and services necessary to help financially support God’s Kingdom,
and that they will make wise and proper decisions regarding business
related to General Assembly.
RH: From June 8-12, 2015, Ridge Haven is offering a week of camp at a
discounted rate for all children who have parents attending the 2015 PCA
General Assembly in nearby Chattanooga, Tennessee, that same week. Pray
that this camp will be prove to be a highly convenient option for parents at
GA and a thrilling time for their children to learn more about the Gospel.
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DAY 29
Read Luke 7:36-49
Thursday, June 4, 2015
FORGIVENESS AND LOVE
In the Gospel of Luke, the divine physician tells what must be the most
touching story in the Gospels. It is the well-known and much beloved story
of the sinful woman who weeps on Jesus’ feet, wipes them with her hair,
and kisses them repeatedly, anointing them with oil. It all happened in
the home of Simon the Pharisee—a man more maligned by commentators
and preachers than by Jesus or Luke. In the exchange between Simon and
Jesus that follows this provocative incident, Jesus sets forth, in one pithy
statement, one of love’s deeper lessons. “Therefore, I tell you, her sins,
which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven
little, loves little” (Luke 7:47).
The more we see ourselves as profound sinners, the deeper and more
enriched our love for God, and even other people, will be. If we see ourselves
as “little sinners” without a great deal of which to repent, then the ruder,
more judgmental, and colder we will be in our hearts. Forgiveness causes us
to love by direct correlation and in concomitant degree.
Flannery O’Connor tells the story of a self-righteous man, Mr. Head,
and his innocent and naïve grandson named Nelson. They took a train
into the big city, and despite Mr. Head’s self-reliance and confidence in his
familiarity with the city, became hopelessly lost in a matter of a few hours.
In the process of trying to find their way back to the central train station, in
a neighborhood full of African Americans—who intimidated Mr. Head and
scared Nelson—the boy runs into a lady, spilling her groceries all over the
sidewalk, and injuring her ankle. As the woman screamed, threatened a
lawsuit, and called for the police, Mr. Head did the unthinkable. He denied
knowing the boy and acted like his grandson was a complete stranger, in
order to save his own self from the legal repercussions of little Nelson’s
accident.
Filled with hurt, shame, and resentment, Nelson turned his back on
his grandfather, despite bribes of Coca Cola and distractions about being
lost. As the two fled the scene of the accident and dealt with their hurt and
shame, Mr. Head comes to the full realization of both his inner state and his
immediate predicament. He cries out to an approaching stranger, “I’m lost
and can’t find my way, and me and this boy have got to catch this train, and
I can’t find the station. I’m lost.” With the help of the stranger, they find the
train home. O’Connor explains the workings of the grandfather’s soul on
the train-ride home, “Mr. Head stood very still and felt the action of mercy
touch him again but this time he knew that there were no words in the
world that could name it. He understood that it grew out of agony, which
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is not denied to any man and which is given in strange ways to children. He
understood it was all a man could carry into death to give his Maker, and he
suddenly burned with shame that he had so little to take with him. He stood
appalled, judging himself with the thoroughness of God, while the action of
mercy covered his pride like a flame had consumed it. He had never thought
himself a great sinner before, but he saw now that his true depravity had
been hidden from him lest it cause him despair. He realized that he was
forgiven of sins from the beginning of time, when he had conceived in his
own heart the sin of Adam, until the present, when he had denied poor
Nelson. He saw that no sin was too monstrous for him to claim his own, and
since God loved in proportion as He forgave, he felt ready at that instant to
enter Paradise.” 22
Mr. Head had found the mercy of a stranger, the forgiveness of little
Nelson, and the love of God, and so he was changed. He loved more because
he was forgiven much. He discovered what the shameful woman found, but
what Simon overlooked: that “God loved in proportion as He forgives.” And
he discovered that the same is true of us! We love in proportion to how we
are forgiven…and forgive.
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
AC: Pray for wisdom and discernment for the commissioners on the
Overtures Committee as they process and recommend action on overtures
brought to the Assembly.
CTS: Pray for students pursuing Master of Divinity (MDiv) degrees at
Covenant Seminary, that their studies will spark fire in their hearts for the
Gospel of Jesus Christ and inspire revived faith in the congregations to
which the Spirit will one day lead them. Pray also that the Lord will use their
ministries to strengthen and grow His Kingdom.
MTW: While missionaries become discouraged when churches or individuals
must drop or reduce support, it is also difficult for donors who care about
missions. Ask God to encourage the givers and provide for missionaries.
RUM: Pray for the protection of those in leadership roles involved with RUF.
RBI: Pray for the SmartBen benefits administration team. These two ladies
receive many calls, emails, and PCA Insurance Plan enrollments from
ministry partners. They need wisdom in serving many.
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DAY 30
Read Ephesians 6:23-24
Friday, June 5, 2015
THE INCORRUPTIBLE LOVE
One of my favorite benedictions comes from Ephesians 6:24: “Grace
be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible.” Scholars
are deeply divided on the meaning of that last word—“incorruptible.” To
whom/what does it apply? God’s grace? Jesus Himself? Or the love of the
Corinthians for Christ? The Greek word is aphtharsia. This family of Greek
words (aphtharsia, aphthartos, etc.) carries the meaning of that which does
not fade or die, what is imperishable or immortal; hence “incorruptible.” But
how does our love become incorruptible?
For some commentators, this idea is impossible. So they revise the
wording of the benediction: “Grace and immortality be with all those who
love our Lord Jesus Christ.” The problem with this rendering of the verse
is that the word order in the Greek has to be violated to place grace and
immortality beside one another, which they are not in the Pauline text.
Grace is the first word in the sentence, and incorruptibility is the last word
of the sentence.
Others phrase the benediction this way, “Grace be with all those who
are loving our Lord Jesus Christ in immortality.” But this interpretation
is even worse. Can grace be given only to those saints who love Jesus in
heaven, in “immortality”? Why do we need grace when we are already in
glory? Grace is for this life, not the next.
The way the English Standard and New American Standard versions
translate this precious blessing is best. And it makes sense when we realize
that Paul is pulling from his rabbinical and Jewish background in constructing
this benediction. In the synagogue of first century Judaism, the people
prayed and sang the Psalms of Solomon. This was a pseudepigraphic book
of Judaism that arose in the time between the Testaments. In other words, it
was a book falsely (pseudo) ascribed to another author (Solomon) and thus
was not truly inspired by the Holy Spirit.
These books were used by Rabbinical Judaism as background for their
faith, and even when incorporated in worship, these books did not carry the
authority of Scripture texts. The Psalms of Solomon are eighteen Psalms,
anonymously written, but (falsely) ascribed to King Solomon. They found
their way into synagogue prayer and worship.
Paul’s benediction reflects the structure of similar prayers and
benedictions of the Psalms of Solomon:
•
Psalm of Solomon 4:25—…For the Lord our God is a great and
powerful judge in righteousness. Lord, let your mercy be upon all
those who love you.
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•
Psalm of Solomon 6:6— …Praised is the Lord, who shows mercy
to those who truly love Him.
•
Psalm of Solomon 10:3—…and the mercy of the Lord is upon
those who truly love Him.
•
Psalm of Solomon 14:1—The Lord is faithful to those who truly
love Him, to those who endure His discipline.
Paul’s benediction simply mirrors these repeated statements of God’s
favor for those who love Him, which Paul grew up hearing, reading, and
singing in the synagogue. Frank Thielman explains what Paul was doing:
“Paul prays, then, for God to be gracious to those whose love for the
Lord Jesus Christ is ‘free from every element liable to corruption.’ He
is certainly not tacking on to the grace of God—in contradiction to
2:1-10—an eleventh-hour condition of perfect love for the Lord. He
is instead closing his letter with an implicit admonition to love the
Lord Jesus Christ simply and purely, in a way untainted by the futility,
darkness, and alienation that characterized his readers’ lives before
they experienced the grace, love, and peace of God through their faith
in the Gospel.” 23
This incorruptible love we have for Christ is nothing other than the
love of the Holy Spirit in our souls, echoing back to God in appreciation
for grace, goodness, and godly-favors, and pledging in return a love free
from worldly corruptions. Is this possible? Can a Christian truly love Jesus
incorruptibly? The Holy Spirit must have thought so, for He sees this pure
love as the product of the peace of God and love with faith from Christ (6:23).
God’s grace, Christ’s love, and the Spirit’s peace will produce in us a “love
incorruptible” for our Triune God.
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
CDM: Pray for John Dunahoo, CDM Business Manager, as he oversees the
operation of the CDM ministry office. Pray that God will give John stamina as
he juggles many job responsibilities and manages the office staff.
CC: Please pray for the work of professors who write books and articles to
serve the broader community and the church.
MNA: Pray for MNA Special Needs Ministries as they work with Great
Commission Publications and CDM to develop a curriculum adaptation pilot
project for elementary aged Sunday school materials.
PCAF: Thank God for the PCA Foundation’s Board Chairman, David Clelland,
and for the attitude of service and commitment to Christ that he exemplifies.
RH: In 2014, Ridge Haven debuted Trail Life Summer Adventure Camp, an
exciting week tailored for troops from Trail Life USA, the recently-formed
organization serving as a Christian alternative to the Boy Scouts. Pray that
this camp will benefit even more young men during its second year from
June 15-20, 2015, as word continues to spread among Trail Life USA troops.
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DAY 31
Read Matthew 10:34-42
Saturday, June 6, 2015
THE PATH TO PURPOSE
William Damon is one of the USA’s leading scholars in the field of
human development. He is a tenured professor at the University of Stanford
and the Director for the Standard Center on Adolescence. He is the author
of several books on children, youth, and human development. One of those
books is The Path to Purpose: How Young People Find Their Calling in Life
(2008).
In this ground-breaking book, Damon shocks most educators and
parents in America. Young adults are “failing to launch” because they’ve
been sold an illegitimate package of goods by parents, pastors, and
educators. They’ve been told to focus on their personal fulfillment and
happiness and are consequently America’s most unhappy, unfulfilled, and
immature generation. Damon stuns us with research that compels us to
reassess how we are rearing our kids.
In the late 1960s (my college years) university students were asked,
in a survey, to rank certain statements as to importance in their lives. At
the top of the list more than 80% of those surveyed said “developing a
meaningful philosophy of life” was either “essential” or “very important.”
Only 45% ranked “being well off financially” as important – a mere fifth
on the list. By 2000, that order had completely flip-flopped. Now 74.1%
of students surveyed place “being well-off financially” as their #1 value in
life, while “developing a meaningful philosophy of life” has dropped to sixth
place – a mere 42.1% of students. 24 American youth are being told that the
pursuit of success, wealth, and personal happiness will fulfill their lives. It
hasn’t happened yet, and Damon says, “It won’t!”
“The paradox is that the exertion of hard and often thankless effort
in service of a purpose, with little thought of personal gain, is a surer
path to happiness than the eager pursuit of happiness for its own sake.
Self-absorption and self-indulgence simply do not work as successful
strategies for achieving happiness. People end up feeling empty
and resentful because they have failed to satisfy one of our species’
truest and deepest desires: the universal yearning for a life with
meaning. What’s more, self-absorption is emotionally destabilizing.
A dedicated pursuit of purpose creates an emotional steadiness, a life
that combines forward movement with stability. Virtually everyone
who has written about psychological contentment has identified this
combination of a sense of positive, forward direction, and emotional
stability as one of its key conditions.” 25
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Bluntly put: people who devote their lives to pursuing personal
happiness rarely find it.
Jesus is telling us this in Matthew when He calls us to a grand purpose
of taking up our cross and following Him into a life of self-sacrificing love. If
we love others – even close family members – more than Jesus, we will end
up miserable. If we seek to preserve, protect, and promote our own lives, we
will lose them to meaninglessness. If we lose our lives in the love of God and
the cause of Christ, we will find our lives and ourselves in the joy of Jesus
Christ. Granted, all this is extremely counter-intuitive to the American way
of living, but it is true and it really does work!
Bottom line: love, if wasted on oneself, inevitably goes sour. It is similar
to the tragedy that J. I. Packer calls “the love of God gone bad.” In Knowing
God, Packer states, “If we pursue theological knowledge for its own sake, it
is bound to go back on us. It will make us proud and conceited.” 26 Love is
the same way: if we pursue the love of God for only our own happiness, it is
bound to go bad on us. It will make us self-centered and self-conscious. We
will be unhappy.
Jesus calls us to pursue love as a path to purpose. To take the love of
God, found in Christ, and give it away to other people. To sacrifice for them,
live redemptively for them, lose ourselves in the pursuit of their eternal
good. This is what “carrying the cross” really means. And the end result of
this purposeful way of living is to hear the Lord say, “Well done, you good
and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your master.”
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
AC: Pray for the women and children at the Assembly, for their spiritual
enrichment, fellowship, education, and enjoyment in the many activities
provided by the Host Committee.
CTS: Pray that the Lord will use Covenant Seminary’s Master of Arts
programs—the MA in Theological Studies (MATS), the MA in Religion and
Cultures (MARC), the MA in Worship and Music (MAWM), and the MA in
Exegetical Theology (MAET)—to prepare faithful ministry leaders to serve
alongside pastors in the local church. Pray also that those students who go
forth to work in non-church settings will bring the Gospel to bear in their
chosen fields for the honor and glory of Jesus’ name.
MTW: Many fields urgently need ordained men to mentor, train, and provide
theological education. Pray that more of these men will respond to this
missionary call.
RUM: Pray that the National Staff will communicate and provide all
resources needed to assist Campus Ministers and Interns in reaching
students for Christ.
RBI: Pray that the Lord will continue to develop godly men with both the
desire and the expertise to serve well on the RBI Board of Directors.
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DAY 32
Read Romans 8:1-39
Sunday, June 7, 2015
OUR GREAT CONFIDENCE
I have often heard said that Paul’s Epistle to the Romans is the climax
of the Scriptures. If this is so—and it probably is—then the pinnacle of the
Bible must be Romans 8, and the apex of that peak must be Romans 8:28-39.
Dr. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, when preaching through Romans, said this as he
came to Romans 8: “We come here to the great 8th chapter of this Epistle.
There is general agreement about this chapter, not only from the standpoint
of interpretation, but in saying that it is one of the greatest chapters in the
Bible. Someone has said that in the whole of the Scriptures the brightest and
the most lustrous and flashing stone, or collection of stones, is this Epistle
to the Romans, and that of these this is the brightest gem in the cluster.” 27
What makes this chapter so marvelous is its “three peaks” of ascending
encouragement for the believer: no condemnation (8:1), the Spirit’s witness
of our adoption (8:16), and the fact that nothing can ever separate us from
the love of God (8:39). These three truths about a life in Christ shape the
Christian life with three degrees of love.
First, the love of God pardons us of all our sins through the atoning
sacrifice of Jesus Christ. What the law could never do—make us right with
God—Jesus did on the cross. The earnest of the Holy Spirit in us guarantees
our pardon (justification) from all sin and for all time. This is the formal
(legal) love of God.
Second, the indwelling Holy Spirit brings to us an assurance of our
salvation through His inward witness that we truly are “the children of God.”
As such, we become co-heirs with Jesus Christ the Son of God. Our union
with Him, in both suffering and glory, assures us of God’s familial love. This
is the Fatherly love of God.
Third, God works out all things in life so that our spiritual good is
always promoted. From predestination to glorification, God’s love is always
working on our behalf, even when it appears otherwise. There is absolutely
nothing in all the universe that can place something between us and the
love of God. This “golden chain of love” set forth in Romans 8:31-39 is
almost beyond imagination. “No form or phase of being can break the
golden chain that binds the heart of God to His loved ones…our comfort,
our consolation, our blessed assurance of salvation rest, in the last analysis,
not upon anything in us, but rather upon the power and steadfastness of
almighty love.” 28 We are saved because God loves us. Period. This is the
faithful love of God.
In what must be Paul’s crowning piece of prose, the poetic tone to
Romans 8:31-39 conveys both the beauty and the ballast of divine love.
God’s love is greater than all the opposition we face in this world: men who
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are against us, accusations from others, and the condemnation of people,
tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger or sword –
all of which could kill us. Nevertheless, God’s love will hold us in His grace
(Romans 8:31-36).
But if external things cannot separate us from God’s love, can we
do so by our own actions? Many believe so. But Bible scholar Thomas R.
Schreiner tells us that even this cannot happen: Romans 8:28-30 constitutes
an unbreakable process.29 All those who are foreknown end up being
glorified. No possibility is extended that some of those who are justified
may not be glorified. The category of the justified is inseparable from the
category of the glorified. Such an interpretation makes sense because
those upon whom God set his covenantal love before creating the world are
those he predestined to share the eschatological image of the Son. Those
whom he has chosen before history began will surely persevere and attain
glorification.
God loves us. That is all, in the end, that matters. And because this
is so, we are free to love others in Christ and in the power of the Spirit.
We are able to “overcome” all obstacles to being loved by God and loving
others because of Jesus Christ and what He has done for us. This is our great
confidence.
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
CDM: Pray for the CDM staff as they develop a series of web-based video
classes designed to help churches conduct video training. Ask the Lord to
provide creativity and discernment in order to produce classes that meet the
needs of the local church.
CC: Please pray for the work of the Chalmers Center at Covenant College as
it seeks to help the church help the poor help themselves.
MNA: Please pray for MNA Korean Ministries Coordinator Henry Koh and
Administrative Assistant Grace Song. Pray that the first generation church
leaders will train up the second generation to plant English speaking
multiethnic churches. Pray that God will raise up young second generation
leaders who will find mentors from culturally attuned first generation Korean
pastors and other pastors.
PCAF: Pray for the PCA Foundation’s Board of Directors, that their focus will
continue to be on helping to financially support God’s Kingdom.
RH: One of Ridge Haven’s goals each summer is never turning away any
campers with demonstrated financial limitations. Ask the Lord, if it be His
will, to please provide the necessary resources during the 2015 summer
camp season that will ensure Ridge Haven can offer camp scholarships to
any child in need.
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DAY 33
Read Hebrews 5:11-6:12
Monday, June 8, 2015—General Assembly Week
LEARNING TO LOVE THROUGH PRACTICE
There is a widespread belief that one cannot truly love another person
unless one feels affection for that person. Feeling love for another is the
source of loving that person. This is not so. In Hebrews 5:11-6:12, the author
of Hebrews writes to believers (most likely in Rome) who are experiencing
persecution. The time is 65-69 AD, and the days are those tortured years of
Emperor Nero’s cruel, excessive, and violent reign. These saints were already
beginning to feel the fury of Nero’s persecution of the church (Hebrews
10:32-39). In their distress they were in danger of renouncing faith, losing
hope, and turning away from love. So the pastor of these troubled saints
writes to them about these three things: faith (chapter 11), hope (chapter
12), and love (chapter 13).
In 5:11-6:12, he addresses three groups within the church in Rome.
To the immature (5:11-6:13), he reminds them that practice makes perfect
(mature). Because they only hear the Word of God and do not practice
it, they remain perennially immature. They are mere children (5:13), and
children do not know how to love very deeply or consistently.
Others have become apostate. To save their own skins from Roman
martyrdom, they turned away from Christ and the church. They also turned
over the names of other Christians, which led to persecutions of their fellow
church members (10:26-39). Their love for themselves trumped all other
loves and sealed their condemnation as long as they remained in that frame
of mind and spirit (6:4-8).
But there was a third group of saints in Rome who were headed for
“better things that belong to salvation” (6:9). They were showing their love
for the name of Jesus by serving the other saints—perhaps at their own
great risk (6:8-12). These brave and loving souls cared for those in prison
(10:32-34; 13:3), showed hospitality to destitute saints (13:2), and supported
their church courageously (13:1-16)—especially their leaders, who were
high-profile targets of imperial wrath (13:17-19). These mature saints were
the epitome of faith, hope, and love (6:10-12).
If you put all this together, you arrive at this obvious conclusion: love
must be practiced in order to mature. The ESV words “constant practice”
come from the Greek word hexis. The word was used to denote a person’s
physical frame (physique) or spiritual condition. It could also be applied
to some acquired skill. Translated as “practice,” it was equivalent to the
Latin word habitus (habit), and so denoted not a process of practicing
but a characteristic state of competency. Synonymous with training
(conditioning), it was arrived at through gumnazo (the root of our word
for “gymnasium” or “gymnastics”; to train, exercise, discipline). Practicing
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what we know, what we believe, and what we profess will lead to a maturity
(teleios) that is able to love God and others.
Peter T. O’Brien summarizes what the author of Hebrews is after in
these verses: “So because of their mature condition, the faculties of adults,
that is, their physical senses including their minds, have been trained
to discern both good and evil. Distinguishing between these is a mark of
maturity. Although this includes moral discernment, or at least has moral
implications, our author’s focus seems to be on the power of spiritual
discrimination that will lead to mature, wise, and godly decisions. The man
or woman who is teleios will be eager to follow through on the implications
of their Christian confession, and ready to be trained by God’s discipline
because of the harvest of righteousness and peace that are produced by it
(12:10-11).” 30
In our effort to protect ourselves from a perceived threat of legalism,
let us not discount practice as a moralistic element of graceless living. As
in any sphere of life, we only learn when we do what we know. When we
practice what we profess, then we grow up. Loving God is more than knowing
the doctrines of grace; loving others goes beyond Gospel slogans. We only
learn how to love by doing, practice, and training: “serving the saints” (6:10).
Amazingly, as we practice love for others we begin to feel love for them. This
is really how grace works.
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
AC: Please petition our heavenly Father to grant generous giving and the
increased participation of each of our churches in financially supporting
every General Assembly Committee and Agency. These gifts enable the
various arms of the General Assembly to carry out the ministries committed
to us.
CTS: Pray for students in Covenant Seminary’s Master of Arts in Counseling
(MAC) program as they prepare to bring the hope of the Gospel to hurting
individuals and families. Pray that they will be a powerful means of grace,
encouragement, and healing to those whose lives reflect the pain and
brokenness of a fallen world.
MTW: Pray for the new Osaka, Japan, team working to launch Genesis
International College, a Christian English language college that will reach
many Japanese with the Gospel.
RUM: Pray that God will open doors on college campuses in the Northwest,
where Christianity is not the norm.
RBI: Pray for good health for our current board members and RBI staff, so
that they can continue to serve the Lord in their respective positions.
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DAY 34
Read Galatians 2:20
Tuesday, June 9, 2015—The Opening of General Assembly
IDENTITY IN CHRIST
Ron Highfield is a professor of religion at Pepperdine University in
California. He has taught college students for years. One of the surprising
discoveries he has concluded is this: many modern Americans are afraid
of God; He poses a threat to their identity, freedom, and happiness. In his
book Freedom and Human Dignity: Embracing a God-Centered Identity in a
Me-Centered Culture, he explains the origins of this unhealthy fear of God.
Young people have been told all their lives that they can be anything
they want to be, reconstruct themselves into the person they desire, and
pursue their own happiness as the highest calling in life. As they mature they
soon have to reckon with what they know about God. If God is all-powerful
then He can and eventually will get whatever He desires. Human beings
are not sovereign and cannot always get what they want. God becomes a
“competitive being” because His will can be forced upon us. Therefore, God
becomes a threat to a person’s freedom, dignity, and even fulfillment. This
catharsis with God usually takes place in college. Hence, many college kids
“walk away from God” in their college years, and many never return. Those
who do usually find their way back to church when their first children arrive.
God, you see, is good for kids.
Highfield explains the process this way:
“As children we never questioned our identity or wondered about
our place in life. Nor did we think of our “selves” as distinct from our
relationships, activities, and feelings. We just lived in the context we
were born into and followed the natural course of our lives. But as we
grew older we were encouraged to discover our own unique blend of
preferences, talents, and joys, and to create an identity for ourselves
through our choices and actions. In contrast to previous ages,
modern culture denies that one can become an authentic person or
experience fulfillment in life by conforming to natural or socially given
relationships and roles. Instead we are taught that our self-worth
and happiness depend on reconstructing ourselves according to our
desires. And the project of redesigning ourselves necessitates that
we continually break free from the web of social relationships and
expectations that would otherwise impose an alien identity on us. I
am calling this understanding of the self “me-centered,” not because
it is especially selfish or narcissistic but because it attempts to
create its identity by sheer will power and rejects identity-conferring
relationships unless they are artifacts of its own free will. It should
not surprise us, then, to find that the modern person feels a weight
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of oppression and flood of resentment when confronted with the
demands of traditional morality and religion. In the face of these
demands the me-centered self feels its dignity slighted, its freedom
threatened, and its happiness diminished.” 31
Christianity presents a different reality. Our faith in Jesus Christ unites
us to Him in every way. His life becomes ours, our life becomes His. We
die with Him to sin; we live with Him in the new life of the resurrection. His
identity becomes ours; because we are “in Christ,” we become “little Christs”
(Christians). Christ in exchange assumes our identity; He becomes man and
takes on our sin as our redeemer (Second Corinthians 5:21). We are shaped
into the people God wants us to be in the church. The love of God and others
makes us into new people, people we surprisingly find are happy, despite
the fact that their “me” is subordinated to God’s “I” and the church’s “we.”
It is the love of God that makes this not only possible but non-threatening.
He who “loved me and gave Himself for me” will not destroy my identity,
freedom, or dignity. He will elevate it to a higher plane…His!
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
CDM: Pray for Youth Ministry Coordinator Danny Mitchell as he works with
local churches to help them find men to serve as youth ministers. Ask God
to give Danny insight into the needs of the churches and the abilities of
potential candidates.
CC: Please pray that our alumni will continue to humbly explore and express
the preeminence of Christ.
MNA: Pray for a growing number of new leaders to be trained, equipped,
and empowered to serve the burgeoning Hispanic population in the United
States and Canada. Pray for more Spanish language Biblical and theological
resources for ministries and churches ministering among Hispanics in the
PCA.
PCAF: Pray that the PCA Foundation’s report to General Assembly will be
informative and that Commissioners will be supportive of our ministry
through prayer and encouraging words, and that they will make wise
decisions concerning the PCAF’s business.
RH: From June 21-27, 2015, Ridge Haven will once again fully fund and host
a special camp for underprivileged, inner-city children from Chattanooga
Sports Ministries. Pray that the Lord will walk alongside the summer staff
during this challenging but rewarding week and open the hearts of the
children to His boundless love.
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DAY 35
Read First John 2:12-17
Wednesday, June 10, 2015—General Assembly
THE LOVE OF THE FATHER IN US
In the Apostle John’s first epistle, he warns the believers in Ephesus
(probably) not to “love the world or the things of the world.” By “world”
John means not the ordered creation found on the earth, but that world
system organized against God and His kingdom and Christ and His church.
For John, the two great antagonists are the church and the world. The world
is fallen humanity. God loves this fallen mankind so much that He sent His
own Son into the world to save it. But even though God loves the world, He
warns us not to do so, at least in this sense.
The values of the world comprise three great “lusts” (desires). The
desire of the flesh has to do with the love of sex, food, alcohol, drugs, and
other things that gratify our physical senses but numb us to grace. The
desire of the eyes has to do with materialism and covetousness, the lust for
more and bigger things, which blind us to the spiritual riches in Christ. The
“pride of life” [alazoneia (pride or arrogance) tou biou (of life)] includes that
inability to humble oneself, admit wrong, and seek forgiveness, which keeps
us from the fruits of repentance.
John addresses three groups of people: fathers, young men, and
children. His poetic address to them in 2:12-14 is directly tied to and
related to the warning in 2:15-17. John calls the fathers—the senior men
of the church—to holy and loving living because they have known God
who was from the beginning. In other words, they’ve walked with God a
long time. He challenges younger men to “overcome the evil one” because
they are “strong”; they are able to be victorious over the strong desires of
youth because they are strong in grace (see Ephesians 6:10-20 and Second
Timothy 2:1-6). Finally, he addresses the children—newly converted young
Christians—to remember their forgiveness in Christ; they may not know
much else, but at least they know this.
I. Howard Marshall puts these verses in a summary statement: “The
writer is simply using a rhetorical device to indicate qualities appropriate to
the three stages of life, which ought to be true of all believers. All Christians
should have the innocence of childhood, the strength of youth, and the
mature knowledge of age.” 32 The way of love bridles the soul of believers at
all stages of life.
Children (the immature, the neophyte, the “new one”) are controlled
often by the passions of the flesh. It could be the urge to eat candy for a
seven-year-old, or the lustful desires of an adolescent, or the temper and
irritability of a new pastor. The love of God urges him/her to think about
the final result of immediate actions and how much people can be hurt by
passionate living. They fear not getting what they want, when they want it.
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Young men, in the prime of life and ministry, are always tempted by
materialism, success, fame, and power. They desire a larger house, a bigger
salary, or a position of influence in their denomination. These “lusts of the
eyes” can blind them to how they run roughshod over people to reach their
goals for the PCA. A step back and a wise reflection would discover much of
the self in such aspirations. They fear the possibility of failure.
Older men get proud. They become set in their ways, stubborn, and
unwilling to admit they are wrong. Their knowledge of God has “gone bad.”
And their prideful ways discourage the younger men and wound the children.
They have a very difficult time nurturing children, mentoring younger men,
and turning the keys to the Kingdom over to a new generation. Their pride
makes them deaf to the voices of new ideas all around them. They fear
losing control.
The “love of the Father” helps us focus on truly eternal things; the stuff
that “remains”—not passion, power, or pride. The lure of this fleeting age
and dying world gives way to the love of the abiding Kingdom of God. The
love of the Father in us enables all of us to rise above the world and calibrate
our souls to live forever and to love as long as we live.
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
AC: Pray that the Lord will provide all those associated with the General
Assembly countless opportunities for witness to the lost, encouragement
to fellow brothers and sisters, and praise to the Triune God, and that each
person will use every opportunity to His glory.
CTS: Pray that the Lord will bless church leaders seeking to prepare
themselves for further service to God’s people by pursuing Doctor of Ministry
(DMin) degrees at Covenant Seminary, or who seek to hone their ministry
skills by attending other classes, conferences, or seminars at the Seminary
in the coming year.
MTW: Pray for the Church in the Ukraine to preach and live peacefully during
tumultuous time.
RUM: Pray that God will continue to raise up new pastors with a thirst and
hunger for the Gospel and campus ministry.
RBI: Pray that all PCA employees will be able to find affordable health
insurance. This is becoming a challenge for them, so pray RBI can help offer
solutions.
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DAY 36
Read Galatians 6:1-10
Thursday, June 11, 2015—General Assembly
THE LAW OF CHRIST
In commenting on this passage in Galatians 6:1-10, Dr. Timothy George,
of Beeson Divinity School, reminds us about the fundamental nature of the
church. “The Church of Jesus Christ is not a charitable organization like the
Red Cross or a civic club such as the Rotary or Kiwanis. It is rather a family
of born-again brothers and sisters supernaturally knit together by the Holy
Spirit in a common fellowship of mutual edification and love. In this context,
Paul admonished his readers to bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the
law of Christ.” 33 George goes on to highlight four great truths in this passage
counterintuitive to the way people naturally think.
The Reality of Burdens. We live in a badly broken world in which we
constantly seek to keep up appearances. The prosperity Gospel is so massively
popular in America because it masks the painful reality that everyone sins, all
of us fail, not one single person is without personal burdens, and life can’t be
happy, healthy, and prosperous all the time. In fact, a real look at life reveals
more brokenness and burdens than health and wealth. Christians should be
genuine people who are not shocked by the brokenness of people’s lives—
Christians too!—or inconvenienced by the burdens we must help others bear.
The Myth of Self-sufficiency. Ancient Stoic philosophers taught the
goal of apathia (apathy): a deliberate aloofness from pleasure, or pain, or
personal involvement in others’ lives. The Roman philosopher Seneca once
wrote, “The primary sign of a well-ordered mind is a man’s ability to remain
in one place and linger in his own company.” (Epistulae Morales, 2) Not so.
God exists in a community of Father, Son, and Spirit, and He has made us
humans in His image: man, women, children, church, community. Isolation
may look like strength, but in reality it betrays a fragile soul, too weak and
damaged to engage other beings in real life.
The Imperative of Mutuality. Each person of the Trinity is perfect and
completely God. If the Father or Son ceased to exist, all the universe would
need from its God would be found in the Holy Spirit. And yet, the three Divine
Persons live in a perfect world of mutuality. All they do they do together,
for one another, and with one heart, mind, and shared purpose. In the New
Testament, there are twenty-six reciprocal commands (“one…another”
commands). First Corinthians 12 calls us to a mutual care for one another.
All our gifts and graces, experiences and skills, life-lessons and inner wisdom
must be pooled together to enable us all to move through life toward the City
of God. On the way, like Christian in The Pilgrim’s Progress, we need others
to help us carry our burdens. Without mutual care and love, we simply wear
down and wear out. The call to mutual burden bearing is not an exhortation
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but rather a command. It is not an option, and to avoid its call to share
burdens is a sin.
Living by the Law of Christ. It seems odd, especially in Galatians, where
law and grace are so contrasted, that loving our fellow Christians should be
called, by Paul of all people, “the law of Christ.” But so it is. This Law of
Christ is “the whole tradition of Jesus’ ethical teaching, confirmed by His
character and conduct, and reproduced with His people by the power of the
Spirit.” 34 In short, all that Jesus desires of us becomes a command we must
follow—the Law of Christ. This is His new law, new commandment: “that
you love one another even as I have loved you” (John 13:34-35). And Jesus
bore our burdens to the Cross, and continues to bear our burdens each day
of our lives.
Love is messy; it deals with burdens. Love is inconvenient; it allows
people to impose on us. Love is humble; it admits to the need for others.
Love is demanding; it calls us to a law we’d prefer to ignore but which makes
life richer, deeper, and more joyful. Doing life together is never contractual;
it is always covenantal. And it calls us to help one another, in love, as only
siblings in a true family can do.
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
CDM: Give thanks to the Lord for the way he has used the “Ministry Toolbox”
on the CDM website to help PCA members with practical resources for
ministry. Ask the Lord to guide the CDM staff as they seek to find and develop
helpful tools for staff members and volunteers.
CC: Please pray that God will use our alumni to carry forward His Kingdom.
MNA: Pray for our civilian and military chaplains facing serious challenges
due to a changing America. Pray for deployed military chaplains’ families
who are managing life without Dad for a season.
PCAF: Pray for the PCA Foundation’s Business Manager, Mark Bailey, that
he will honor the Lord as he manages the PCAF staff and accomplishes the
other responsibilities of the position.
RH: Once again this year, Ridge Haven will be hosting numerous missionaries
and their families during various MTW conferences and seminars. Pray that
all of these wonderful missionary families and singles will be equipped
spiritually, mentally, and physically to continue fulfilling their calling when
they return to the mission field.
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DAY 37 Read First John 2:7-11
Friday, June 12, 2015—Close of General Assembly
THE OLD COMMANDMENT
The apostle John writes to the early church and exhorts them to keep
“an old commandment” they have heard and known “from the beginning.”
Two phrases, “old/new commandment” and “from the beginning,” are
peppered throughout John’s letters.
John speaks of “the beginning” not only in 1 John 2:7 but also in 1
John 1:5 and 2:24 and 3:11, as well as 2 John 5, 6. It is apparent that this “old
commandment” has been around for a long time. In Leviticus 19:18, the Old
Testament church was commended to “love your neighbor as yourself,” and
later in Deuteronomy 6:5 directed the people of God to “love the Lord your
God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” There
was nothing new about the command to love God by obeying Him and to
love our brothers (neighbors) as ourselves.
“From the beginning” we have known these two commandments of
God. The old Puritan Thomas Manton (1620-1677) was an English clergyman.
He wrote about First John and this command from the beginning, and
explained this phrase in four ways. 35
First, from the beginning of their conversion, they had been
commanded to love God and others. Love is one of the first lessons of
Christianity and the basic law of the true believer. Once a person becomes
a Christian, he/she possesses the Spirit within and both the compulsion and
the ability to love God and others.
Second, from the beginning of “the Gospel state,” or ever sense faith
in Christ was published and proclaimed in the Good News, love has become
the hallmark of the Christian faith. Every pagan quickly understands that the
claims of Christ upon a life, a family, a community, or even a nation brings
with it a new ethic—a new way of treating people. Love is synonymous with
salvation, and both can only be had in Christ.
Third, from the beginning of the Mosaic Covenant and the
administration of Levitical Law, love defined every relationship in life. The
first table of the law (commandments 1-4) focuses on how to love God. The
second table of the law (commandments 5-10) aims at loving our neighbors.
Love does not begin with Jesus and His apostles. The message of both
lawgiver and prophet alike was a message of love. Love is as old as God’s
covenant of grace: “I will be a God to you and to your children after you, to a
thousand generations, and you will be My people.”
Fourth, from the beginning of the world, since the creation of Adam
and Eve, the law of love has been implanted in the hearts and consciences of
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mankind. John clearly states this truth in First John 3:11-12, “For this is the
message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one
another. We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered
his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil
and his brother’s righteous.” Cain knew this law of love but ignored it. Such
lovelessness has one word to describe it: evil.
But, John says, this old commandment is also new. There is no
contradiction here. Thomas Manton explains: “Christ calls it a new
commandment: ‘a new commandment I give unto you, that you should love
one another’ (John 13:34). How new since it was as old as the moral law
and the law of nature? Because it was so solemnly renewed by Him and
commended to their care. Laws, when new, are more regarded and obeyed.
Christ would ratify afresh that the law of love might never be out of date,
but be looked upon as a statute in force and newly enacted and fresh in the
remembrance of His people.” 36
The old commandment is ever new, bridging the world of Eden
with the world yet to come. In a billion years in the future, we will still be
discovering afresh the ancient command “from the beginning”; the first law
of laws: love God and love one another. It never gets old. And it takes an
eternity to do it well.
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
AC: Give thanks to the Lord for the PCA and for the vision and calling He has
given to so many who serve the Lord through the Committees and Agencies
of the church.
CTS: Praise God for His blessing on Covenant Seminary’s online presence
that has provided greater visibility for the institution and broader influence
for its hundreds of free Gospel-centered resources. Pray that our website
will not only help draw more students to the Seminary, but also that the
many resources available there will be an ongoing blessing to pastors,
missionaries, church leaders, interested lay people, and independent
learners around the world.
MTW: Pray for efforts to develop new ministries in Taiwan, Fiji, Vanuatu, and
two other sensitive countries.
RUM: Pray that RUF will be used as an instrument of change by raising up
new leaders and sanctifying people for the glory of God.
RBI: RBI employees talk with many PCA pastors and staff who are struggling
personally with family and church problems. Pray for the staff to have
wisdom as we offer advice and assistance.
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DAY 38 Read John 13:34-35
Saturday, June 13, 2015
THE NEW COMMANDMENT
The old commandment is the new commandment. Christ made it so:
“A new commandment I give you, that you love one another: just as I have
loved you, you also ought to love one another. By this all men will know
that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:3435). When Jesus reiterated the old commandment of Deuteronomy 6:5 and
Leviticus 19:18, He made three critical changes that turned the old law into
the new law of God.
First, the source of the command is new. It is Jesus Christ who issues
the command: “A new commandment I give to you.…” In setting down this
law, Christ stakes His claim of both ownership and lordship over the church.
One can only command those over whom one has authority. And the
authority of a king is tied to the kingdom he rules. When Christ purchased
us for the Kingdom of God, He bought with us the right to own and to rule
over us. We are His disciples, His citizens, His servants and slaves. “You were
bought with a price” (First Corinthians 6:20), and the owner maintains the
right to rule. Our new Master is Jesus, and His new code of conduct for His
Kingdom is mutual love.
Second, the basis of the command is new. God the Father told the
Old Testament church, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus
19:18). Jesus changes the ground of His new commandment: “You shall
love one another just as I have loved you” (John 18:34). Thomas Manton
writes, “The great love of Christ revealed in the Gospel must leave a suitable
impression upon us. He came from heaven not only to represent the holy
and amiable nature of God, but to propound to us a pattern of love and
charity.” 37 It is not moralism for Christ to say, “You must love as I do; you
must follow My pattern; you must live by My example. This is the new law
for your life.” Christ’s commandment presupposes a grace of enablement,
but it also expects an effort of obedience. “If you love Me, you will keep My
commandments” (John 14:15).
Third, the reason for their love is new. “By this all people will know
that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” Whereas
the reason for the old law was community, the reason for the new law is
commission. Leviticus 19:18 came in the context of how to live peaceably
with one’s “neighbor.” The new commandment is much more expansive; it
looks to a lost world and sets before it an example that is both winsome and
evangelistic: “By this will all people know that you are My disciples….” The
way we love one another expands the communion of saints who make up
that “one and another.” Love becomes our most powerful apologetic.
To love one’s neighbors is not new, even pagans can do this to an
extent (Matthew 5:43-48). But to love others as Christ loves us—that is
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revolutionary! This involves a spirit of goodness. Theologian Louis Berkhof
defines God’s goodness as “that perfection of God which prompts Him to
deal bountifully and kindly with all His creatures. It is the affection which
the Creator feels towards His sentient creatures as such.” 38 The love of God
is the highest expression of that love whereby God communicates Himself to
His creatures, thus increasing their wellbeing and filling them with true joy.
Imagine if we love fellow believers like that: bounty, affection, kindness, selfgiving, wellbeing, increasing the joy of others! Such is the newness of the
New Commandment. Because the Holy Spirit dwells in us, living and loving
this way is possible. For the Spirit produces His fruit in us: love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, faithfulness, goodness, meekness, gentleness, and selfcontrol. Paul states that “against such things there is no law; in fact, such
things are the New Law—“Love other people as I have loved you.”
This is the new commandment, for a new humanity, preparing to live
in a new world. How transforming this love can be for the old world!
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
CDM: Pray for the staff members of CDM, Great Commission Publications,
and the MNA Special Needs Ministry as they seek to develop and provide
resources to help Sunday school teachers communicate the “Show Me
Jesus” curriculum to students with special needs. Ask that the Lord will also
enable them to develop a curriculum for adults with special needs.
CC: Please pray that God will call our alumni to rally around the College—to
understand the needs and opportunities to serve through Covenant, and to
take ownership of the College by praying, representing, and giving.
MNA: Pray for MNA Native American/First Nations Ministries, that God will
open His intended path for the year ahead and provide Coordinator Bruce
Farrant with the grace to follow Him step by step.
PCAF: Ask that the Lord will bless the work of the PCA Foundation’s
Accounting Manager, Lou Anne Ross-Purnell, and its Administrative
Assistants, Joan Henry, Jim Standridge, and Jessica Wilson, and that they
will be encouraged as they all provide vital assistance to the Foundation.
RH: Many pastors, their families, and other church leaders are retreating at
Ridge Haven throughout the year. Pray that these times of respite will allow
them to return to their churches inspired and rejuvenated.
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DAY 39
Read John 17
Sunday, June 14, 2015
CHRIST’S PRAYER FOR UNITY
I spoke on the phone today to one of our “younger” PCA pastors.
Actually, he is forty-three years old, but since he was born the year I
graduated from college, I will call him “younger.” I do so with no slight of
term intended. This younger brother in both the faith and the ministry
told me how very weary he was of the “nit-picking” and the “adversarial”
atmosphere he experienced at our General Assemblies and among our
ministers. As I listened to him, my heart went out to him in affection and in
agreement. He longed for peace and unity in the PCA.
Two weeks earlier, another PCA pastor remarked to a group of us
that the church was born in controversy; Acts 15 is inspired proof of that.
Controversy, he said, and arguing will never leave the church. In fact, this
tension appears to be how the church grows. I must confess, this brother
likes to fight, so I am not as sympathetic with his glib attitude about
ecclesiastical wrangling as he is. But it does seem that somewhere between
these two perspectives the truth lies hidden.
I never could write off John 17 and Christ’s prayer for the unity of the
church. I can’t accept the idea that unity is only a matter of Gospel truth
while ignoring denominational divisions. One such evangelical writer,
Marcus Rainsford, set forth his interpretation of Christ’s prayer for unity
with these words: “The Lord does not here speak of an absolute, complete,
and perfect uniformity between believers in His name. If He did, His prayer
has not been answered, for no such uniformity exists. He does not speak of
a union between the different sects and denominations of the professing
Christian church—if He did, His prayer has not been answered, for alas! No
such union exists. For my part, I believe sects and denominations to be the
result of the devil’s attempt to mar and hinder as far as possible the visible
union of the Church of God; and that they all have their root in our spiritual
pride and selfishness, our self-sufficiency, and our sin.” 39
I confess I do not agree with Mr. Rainsford on his assessment of John
17:21. The fact that indeed this prayer of Jesus has not been answered does
not change the clear meaning of His petition. Also, Jesus gives the reason
why He desires such earthly and ecclesiastical unity: “that the world may
believe that you sent Me.” Our visible unity makes a powerful statement
to a lost world, fractured by sin. If Mr. Rainsford is correct about the sinful
course of denominations, I find it untenable that such “pride, selfishness,
self-sufficiency, and sin” would have the last say. Surely our Lord intends to
overcome such sinful divisions and cause unity to prevail!
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It seems almost like spitting into a hurricane, but I cannot accept that
our divisions, denominations, and disunity are OK because, well, that’s just
the way it is and has always been. But it also seems like a bit of “paper
righteousness” to rail against denominations when I have no power, plan,
or purpose to change this inevitable fact of church life. Nevertheless, I do
believe that unity, oneness, agreement, and ecclesiastical association are
what Christ prays for in this prayer. And I do not believe that this unity will
come only if and when the rest of Christendom joins the PCA because we
have all the right answers.
So, in the meantime, since we have overheard this divine conversation
between Father and Son, we must work at unity. I have to believe Jesus’
prayer will one day be answered. Why? Because Jesus said, “Father, I know
that You always hear me…” (John 1:41-42). When? I don’t know, but before
the world ends. How? More than likely in one last, great, worldwide revival
unprecedented in human history. Until then, we work to help answer Jesus’
prayer: Nit pic less, listen more, give in when you can, pull together in Gospel
witness, and be patient and tolerant with those less than central things. We
can do this, at least in the PCA, if we really love one another!
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
AC: Join us as we thank our Father for the service of Wayne Sparkman,
Director of the PCA Historical Center in St. Louis, MO. He records and
chronicles the faithfulness of the Lord to His people in the PCA as he has
been tasked by the Assembly’s Administrative Committee.
CTS: Pray for the Covenant Seminary students who are graduating this
spring that the Lord will provide guidance and insight as they seek to discern
the specifics of His call upon the next phase of their lives. Give thanks for the
Seminary’s Alumni and Career Services staff as they maintain consistently
high placement rates for these graduates and continue to follow up with
them during their first years in ministry.
MTW: Ask God to raise up participants and resources to send medical teams
to all fields requesting them.
RUM: Please pray that God will continue to bless our campus ministers’
work on college campuses across the United States.
RBI: Gary Campbell, Chet Lilly, Mark Melendez, Terry Aiello, and Bob Clarke
are in leadership positions at RBI. Please pray that they will be granted
divine guidance and strength to fulfill their important roles.
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DAY 40 Read Romans 14:1-23
Monday, June 15, 2015
WALKING IN LOVE: PART ONE
“Walking” is a big word for the Apostle Paul. He used it no less than
twenty-nine times in his epistles. And he often exhorts the saints to “walk in
love,” as he does in Romans 14:1-23. This is the famous passage about the
“weaker brother”—the one whose conscience and scruples will not allow
him/her to eat certain foods, compel him to observe certain holy days, or
deny him the use of alcohol. Paul’s approach to these tough issues that
caused division, disagreement, and trouble in the church is surprising. I
would have said to the highly sensitive, “Time to grow up! You can’t expect
the rest of the Kingdom of God to slow down and embrace your unfounded
hang-up. Use your Christian liberty as God expects you to do!”
Of course, Paul does the opposite. He tells the more mature and the
freer in conscience, “Time to be sensitive! You can’t expect everyone in the
church to see things your way and grow into freedom as easily as you did.
Curb your rights and pass on exercising your freedoms. Deny yourself for
the sake of others, as God expects you to do!” For Paul, people are more
important than the right answer, personal freedom, or the exercise of one’s
rights.
“The Kingdom of God,” he tells us, “is righteousness, peace, and joy in
the Spirit,” not exercising your personal rights or practicing your Christian
freedom. In fact, if in so doing you cause others to act in a manner they think
is unrighteous, or that causes dissension and a loss of peace, or that causes
someone else to grieve and lose their joy, then your rights and freedoms
really aren’t good for the Kingdom of God! How un-American can you get?
Paul is very clear: “For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you
are no longer walking in love” (Romans 14:15). The apostle lists 7 behavior
patterns that weaken the faith of brothers in Christ, grieve sincere spirits, and
harm the love and unity of the church. These are (1) not welcoming people
who differ from you on secondary but important things (v.1); (2) quarreling
with someone who’s less able to defend his views but whose conscience is
as sincere as yours (v.1); (3) despising or looking down on those who are
more or even excessively “tight” on issues and ethics than you are (v.3); (4)
passing judgment (and certainly an unfair and uncomplimentary judgment)
on those who take the opposite view on an issue, in a failure to render the
“judgment of charity” (v.4, 13); (5) living only for yourselves and your own
view, your own friends, your own party, as if no one else really counted for
anything (v.7-8); (6) grieving our fellow Christians unnecessarily by practicing
openly what we could do privately (v. 15); and (7) practicing self-expression
more than self-denial because your conscience is uncertain, and you have
something to prove to others by the use of your freedoms (v.21-23).
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At times we can practice personal liberties in such a way that almost
guarantees strife. It seems as if we are almost daring someone to speak a
word of restraint. We scandalize some, grieve others, and anger not a few.
And for what end? We all know we have liberties; what we forget is that we
have even more responsibilities.
Righteousness, peace, joy—these are the duties I owe to others before
I practice my rights for myself. Like a man who cares for his family before
he enjoys his own recreation, so those who “walk in love” find pleasure
in building up their church family before they indulge in personal liberty.
There is time to do as you please—after the kids go to bed perhaps. And
there is a place for private liberty that protects the public peace. A wise and
loving man learns how to balance these two facets of life: rights (freedom)
and responsibilities (duty).
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
CDM: Give thanks to the Lord for the many women who serve the PCA in
various leadership roles locally, regionally, and nationally. Pray especially for
those women who serve local churches as paid or volunteer staff members.
Ask the Lord to guard their hearts in His love, lead them in His truth, and
grow them in their relationship with Christ.
CC: Please pray that we will find willing volunteers centered on helping
recruit new students, finding church partners, offering resources for the
Center for Calling & Career, and encouraging fellow alumni to do all these
things with them.
MNA: Pray for Haitian American churches in North America and for
leadership development among Haitian American pastors.
PCAF: Pray that God will provide for the PCA Foundation’s operational
financial needs for 2015.
RH: Ridge Haven’s calendar is quickly filling up in 2015, with retreat groups
expected for almost every weekend of the year. Thank the Lord for allowing
Ridge Haven to serve so many youth groups, college groups, men’s and
women’s groups, and churches. Pray for His blessing on each of them.
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DAY 41 Read First Corinthians 10:14-11:1
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
WALKING IN LOVE: PART TWO
Paul’s teaching about meat sacrificed to idols has been generally
interpreted as yet another passage on protecting the conscience and
soul of a “weaker brother.” But a careful reading will show that Paul has
another love in mind. Though he does not mention the word “love” in First
Corinthians 10:14-11:1, the entire ethos of the passage focuses on a love that
denies its own “freedoms” for the sake of another’s conscience.
Here’s what Paul writes: “You can eat anything you want, even meat
sacrificed to idols, sold in the market at discount prices, and offered to
you by one in whose home you are a guest for dinner. Do so because your
conscience is free; i.e., because idols are nothing. But, if your host says, ‘This
(food) has been offered to idols,’ then don’t eat it. He believes this food is
sacred, having been consecrated to the gods. And if you partake of it, you
are giving credence to his idolatrous ideas. For the sake of his conscience,
do not eat the idol meat, because his heart and mind (conscience) are not
free from the pull of idolatry. For his evangelization refrain from partaking
of this sacred food of idols.”
David Garland explains Paul’s intent behind these instructions and
exhortations:
“Paul is not concerned here that Christians might endanger a fellow
believer who has a weak conscience. Rather, their willing consumption
of what has been announced as food sacrificed to idols would do three
things:
1. It would compromise their confession of the one true God with a
tacit recognition of the sanctity of pagan gods.
2. It would confirm rather than challenge the unbeliever’s
idolatrous convictions and would not lead the unbeliever away
from the worship of false gods. If a Christian eats what a pagan
acquaintance regards as an offering to a deity, it would signal a
Christian’s endorsement of idolatry.
3. It would disable the basic Christian censure of pagan gods as false
gods that embody something demonic, and would make that
censure seem hypocritical.
Paul expresses concern about the Christian’s witness to the unbeliever.
The announcement presents an opportunity to expound one’s faith in
the one God and one Lord.” 40
This concept is more difficult for us to “transfer” into our lives than
the principle of the weaker brother. How do we do this in such a way that
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we maintain our friendship with and witness to our unconverted loved ones
and friends? It isn’t easy, and it is quite complicated in an age like ours
where any expression of not doing something because you believe it is sinful,
worldly, and even pagan will be, at best, ridiculed and, at worst, censured as
“legalistic.” But we struggle with these things all the time.
As a pastor, people have asked me if they could take communion
in some churches with false views of the Lord’s Supper, or if they could
join in the Mardi Gras festivities on Fat Tuesday, play bingo with Catholic
relatives, go to certain movies with non-Christian friends, join the AARP
which endorses unbiblical causes with members’ dues, and so forth. These
people were not censorious, self-righteous, or condemning of others whom
they love. They were honestly asking me, their pastor, “Can I do this and be
faithful to Christ and maintain a consistent witness?”
The answer comes in the center of three triangulated concerns. On
the one side, the witness we have to lost souls must not be compromised by
what they may perceive as duplicitous behavior and speech. On the other
side, we are to be concerned about other Christians and how they might
be impacted by our “freedoms” and choices. At the base, undergirding and
overriding all other concerns is the glory of God. “So, whether then you
eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all this to the glory of God” (10:31). As
Garland explains, “God becomes the hermeneutical litmus test for gauging
whether it is right or wrong. The ultimate aim of Christians is to please God,
not themselves.” 41
Walking in love is multifaceted, and includes the encouragement of
other believers, a loving but consistent witness to our lost loved ones and
friends, and a desire to please God and glorify His name. Freedom to do as
you are allowed means a lot less than these three concerns. Love often calls
us to say no to ourselves in order to say yes to God.
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
AC: Rejoice with us in the Lord’s goodness to all the Committees and
Agencies for the oversight and leadership provided by the various boards.
CTS: Remember Covenant Seminary graduates serving as missionaries and
church planters around the globe, especially those in areas that are actively
hostile to Christianity. Pray for the Lord’s protection on these Gospel servants
and that they will reflect the character of Christ in all they do, drawing many
to eternal life in Him.
MTW: Pray for the Daughters of Bulgaria ministry to those prostituted, for
women to be rescued and come to faith, and for God to provide a long-term
recovery house.
RUM: Pray for new conversions.
RBI: Pray that the senior staff at RBI will make Christ known through
their relationships with key contacts; pray that, as these relationships are
deepened, spiritual growth will occur.
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Day 42
Read Ephesians 5:1-21
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
WALKING IN LOVE: PART THREE
In Ephesians 5:1-21, Paul gives further instructions about “walking
in love.” In fact, in these twenty-one verses, he tells us three times how to
“walk” (live) as Christians: walk in love (5:1)…walk as children of light (5:8)…
walk as wise men (5:15). Sacrifice, light, wisdom; these are the three facets of
a loving Christian life. This section of Paul’s letter actually begins in chapter
4, verse 17. In these paragraphs, the apostle ties together three themes of
true Gospel religion: Identity, Theology, and Ethics.
John Stott explains these things in these words:
“Their theme is the integration of Christian experience (what we are),
Christian theology (what we believe) and Christian ethics (how we
behave). They emphasize that being, thought, and action belong
together and must never be separated. For what we are governs how
we think, and how we think determines how we act. We are God’s new
society, a people who have put off the old life and put on the new; that
is what he has made us. So we need to recall this by the daily renewal
of our minds, remembering how we ‘learned Christ…as the truth is in
Jesus’, and thinking Christianly about ourselves and our new status.
Then we must actively cultivate a Christian life. For holiness is not
a condition into which we drift. We are not passive spectators of a
sanctification God works in us. On the contrary, we have purposefully
to ‘put away’ from us all conduct that is incompatible with our new life
in Christ, and to ‘put on’ a lifestyle compatible with it.” 42
Each of these three themes of Gospel love is introduced to us by the
word “therefore.” Our ethics are reshaped by the Spirit into a lifestyle of
love. To “walk in love” is to live sacrificially for others, as Christ did for us
(5:1-2). This self-denial and sacrificial lifestyle will naturally change how we
handle our sexuality. Sexual immorality, impurity, coveting another man’s
wife, filthiness, lewd speech, or crude jokes about sex are all replaced by
thanksgiving. Gratitude for who we are (our gender) and the spouse we have
(or will have) curbs the selfish tendency to use other people as objects of
pleasure rather than images of God. To fail to live this way is to forget the
Kingdom of God—i.e., to end up in hell instead of heaven (5:3-6).
Our identity is also reshaped by the Spirit of Christ, in love. We become
at our conversion “children of light” (5:7-14). Darkness characterizes the
worldling. Because Christ has shone upon us by His truth and grace, we are
no longer identified with the “unfruitful works of darkness.” We are now
united to the Light of the world, and light permeates every fiber of our being,
orienting us toward all that is “good and right and true” (5:9).
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Our minds are changed by walking in wisdom. What goes into our
souls changes us for good and forever: psalms, hymns, spiritual songs,
corporate worship, and the Word. The filling of the Holy Spirit enables us
to live in the truth and thus express thanks to God, reverence for Christ, and
mutual submission to each other (5:15-21).
There’s a lot more, it seems, to “walking in love” than avoiding meat
sacrificed to idols (Romans 14). The love of God changes who we are, what
we believe, and how we live. Let no one say that doctrine does not matter!
Good conduct arises out of good doctrine. It is only when we have grasped
clearly who we are in Christ that the desire will grow within us to live a life that
is worthy of our calling and fitting to our character as God’s new society. 43
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
CDM: Pray for the work of the Children’s Ministry team that assists Sue
Jakes in designing and conducting training for those who serve children
in the local church. Pray also that CDM can equip and motivate others to
spread the word about the many tools available to help staff and volunteers
in the local church.
CC: Please pray for the fundraising team as they travel and are away from
their families.
MNA: Pray for the Network of Portuguese Speaking Churches and for
Coordinator Juliano Soco as he works with the churches and their pastors to
strengthen bonds and motivate them in spreading the Gospel.
PCAF: Pray that God will provide safe travel for PCA Foundation President,
Randy Stair, in 2015, as he visits local churches, presbyteries, donors, and
prospects to present our services.
RH: Keenagers, Ridge Haven’s much-loved conference for adults 50 and
over, returns this fall from October 12-16, 2015. Pray that it will once again
be an unforgettable experience full of engaging fellowship, worship, and fun
for those in their golden years.
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Day 43
Read First Thessalonians 4:1-12
Thursday, June 18, 2015
WALKING IN LOVE: PART FOUR
In First Thessalonians 4:1-12, Paul again gives instructions about
“walking” in love. In fact, he brackets this passage with an exhortation to
“walk as to please God” (4:1) and to “walk properly before outsiders” (4:12).
These are the two concerns we reviewed two days ago: glory to God and
witness to unbelievers. That this passage is about walking in love is clear
from verse 9, “Now concerning brotherly love, you have no need for anyone
to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one
another.” In fact, the same triangle of love mentioned in Day 41’s devotion
resurfaces in this passage.
Paul writes quite frankly, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification:
that you abstain from sexual immorality…” (v. 3). Holiness in regard to our
sexuality is an expression of love for God, other men, and fellow believers.
Love is contrasted by Paul with lust (v. 5). Love and lust cannot truly coexist.
Where lust is overpowering, we use other people for our sexual gratification
at their expense. Lust is sexual love turned self-ward. When love prevails,
we please people to whom we are committed in marriage and at our own
expense. Love is sexual desire aimed at the gratification of one’s spouse.
This is what Paul is saying in verses 4 through 8.
Our love for others will restrain our sexual lusts so that (1) pagans who
do not know God will see how holiness and honor aim at another’s dignity
(v. 4-5); (2) our brothers in Christ are neither wronged nor transgressed by
our lusts that offend him and abuse his female loved ones (v. 6); and (3)
God’s calling on our lives can be fulfilled in a manner that leads to purity and
holiness, by the influence of the Holy Spirit (v. 7-8).
One of the most destructive lies of our American culture is the idea that
our bodies (sexual powers) are our property with which to do as we please,
as long as no one gets hurt. It is a testimony to our spiritual blindness,
hardness of heart, and darkened souls that we actually don’t grasp how
much misused sexuality really hurts people.
From the sexy girls on the TV commercial eating a “mile high bacon
thick burger” from Hardee’s and Carl, Jr.’s, to the women on the internet
porn sight, the flirtatious guy at the office, the two teens “experimenting”
with lesbianism, sexting, and dozens of other forms of lewd, licentious,
and lustful behavior, people always get hurt when lust degrades love. The
sorrowful thing is that our American culture, like the Greco-Roman world of
Paul, is so inundated with sexual immorality, and we are all so wounded by
it, that our moral scar tissue no longer winces at provocative things!
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In 18 BC, Caesar Augustus instituted the Lex Julia Adulteriis Coercendes.
These Leges Julia (Julian Laws) were intended to curb sexual immorality in
Roman society, build up the family, and increase the population. Caesar’s
laws encouraged marriage by males before they reached the age of 30,
taxed couples who had no children, rewarded those who bore three sons,
made adultery both a civil offense and a public crime, refused public
office to celibates, denied young widows an inheritance if they refused to
remarry, banished adulterous couples, allowed fathers to kill daughters and
boyfriends caught in immorality, forced men to divorce adulterous wives,
and discouraged homosexuality, especially among minor boys and men.
44
All for naught. Gaius Octavius himself was a profligately immoral man.
His laws to protect Rome from sexual sins failed. One cannot legislate from
external force what can only be accomplished by inner grace.
What God has called us to is a life of holy, honorable, and helpful grace.
The grace of God raises our own sense of honor and purity, which in turn
enables us to see others as sacred vessels of the image of God. Because
God “gives His Holy Spirit” to us (v. 8), our lusts become baptized in a pure
and undefiled love—the love of Christ. And we then see how powerful our
sexuality really is, having both the power to bless and give life or to abuse
and harm people. To walk in love is to walk in self-control and purity. This
is the Lex Christi.
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
AC: Pray for the Administrative Committee office staff: Sherry Eschenberg,
Wayne Herring, Bob Hornick, Priscilla Lowrey, Angela Nantz, Karen Cook,
Erika Derr, Anna Eubanks, Amy Hoxter, Monica Johnston, Margie Mallow,
and Billy Park. Ask that in the day-to-day work of the Stated Clerk’s office
each will demonstrate the mind of Christ.
CTS: Pray for Covenant Seminary’s faculty and staff as they seek to
encourage and support pastors and church leaders over the entire course
of their ministries. Pray also that the Seminary will continue to provide
opportunities for these leaders to grow both educationally and spiritually so
that our churches will be renewed and transformed.
MTW: Praise God for six new churches started in Central America and the
Caribbean. Pray for eight more in 2015.
RUM: Pray that God will raise these students up to be effective and fruitful
churchmen.
RBI: Pray for those who require RBI’s insurance products and services. While
services like life insurance and disability insurance are a blessing, the losses
that families suffer (such as death and disability) can be challenging and
traumatic.
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DAY 44
Read First John 5:1-5
Friday, June 19, 2015
THIS IS THE LOVE OF GOD
Mike Cosper is a pastor of worship and arts at Sojourn Community
Church in Louisville, Kentucky. He has written a delightful little book titled
The Stories We Tell: How TV and Movies Long for and Echo the Truth. He
points out just how predictable movies really are: people face tragedy and
hardship, they bungle their way along until despair almost prevails, then
they “meet someone,” a true love, and together they solve their problems
and find true happiness.
Take Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. They made three movies together:
Joe Versus the Volcano, Sleepless in Seattle, and You’ve Got Mail. In all three,
the plot is the same; it’s the same story, and yet people never grow tired
of it. Even when there is either a dark side to the story (e.g., Batman) or
perhaps super galactic powers arrayed against mankind (Man of Steel),
good triumphs over evil, happiness trumps sorrow, disaster is avoided by
the power of love.
Television, Cosper says, is even more predictable: Whether its Law and
Order, CSI, Castle, or other crime TV shows, the plot’s the same; a crime is
committed, all clues, leads, and witnesses result in a dead end, but in the
final five minutes, some good person (good event) changes the trajectory
of the storyline, and a resolution is reached. Justice prevails. Week after
week, after week, ad nauseum. People love these stories; they crave them;
they need them. Why? Cosper explains: “It’s the deep underlying insecurity
of the fall that makes us crave these stories. On the one hand we want to
understand why the world is the way it is. We watch tragedies and weep
at the lostness and brokenness around us. We know that they’re true. On
the other hand, we watch movies with happy endings, and they stir a deepseated hope in us—the same hope that made Sam Gamgee (Sean Astin) ask
Gandalf (Ian McKellen) in The Return of the King, ‘Is everything sad going to
come untrue?’” 45
Even though the critics and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts
and Sciences prefer sad and tragic (i.e., “realistic”) endings, the films
the audiences love always have happy endings. Films like The Boy in the
Striped Pajamas and Doubt were terrific movies, but each met with tentative
approval. Meet Joe Black, a modern cinematic update of Alberto Casella’s
play Death Takes a Holiday, was immensely popular. Why? One film ended
in the meaningless and tragic death of an innocent child; the second film
concluded without closure; and the third film celebrated the joy of humanity,
love, and life itself.
My Father and I had one of those many long, sad, even torturous tales
of a post-war, distant, angry, aloof father and a son longing to be affirmed
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and embraced by him. He died of cancer in 1977, when I was only 28 years
old and a Christian for only a year. And yet, after we talked by his deathbed,
my Dad opened his heart to this good story. The last time I saw him he could
not speak. But he did open a New Testament, and with quivering hands, he
pointed to this passage.
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and
everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. By
this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and
obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his
commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For
everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the
victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes
the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
(1 John 5:1-5)
The sad story had a happy ending. Mercy triumphed over judgment.
Love covered a multitude of sins—on both sides of the bed. Life began to
emerge out of death. The old story retold itself for the billionth time! And
the ending is as it always has been: “They lived happily ever after.” Oh, the
stories we love to tell!
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
CDM: Pray for the CDM staff as they work to develop a series of web-based
training videos for officer nominees and volunteers who serve in the local
church. Ask the Lord to grant discernment to know what topics will be most
useful, as well as creativity to produce something that is informative but
very user-friendly.
CC: Please pray for the art facility construction that began in January, with
a target completion date of August 2015.
MNA: Pray for MNA Refugee and Immigrant Ministry Director Pat Hatch as
she seeks to share emerging best practices in serving immigrants and to
provide information, encouragement, and referrals to resources for those of
you exploring these new avenues of ministry.
PCAF: Pray that presentations made to local churches and presbyteries will
result in new donors and churches using PCAF services in the months and
years ahead.
RH: Pray for the health and safety of Ridge Haven’s full- and part-time
residents, and ask that they grow even closer as a community of believers.
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DAY 45
Read First Peter 4:1-11
Saturday, June 20, 2015
LOVE ONE ANOTHER EARNESTLY
In the final days of his life and ministry, when the Emperor Nero had
begun the first Imperial Roman persecution of the church (64-69AD), Peter
wrote two letters to the churches. The first one (First Peter) was about
suffering and how to respond to it. We have a Biblical glimpse of what these
saints in Rome, Italy, and Asia Minor were going through in the Hebrews
10:32-39 text. For the letter to the Hebrews was a parallel epistle, written
from Rome or Italy, to saints suffering under the same Neronian persecution
(See Day 9 devotion; page 34).
In his book The Triumph of Christianity, sociologist Rodney Stark
mentions how, in times of martyrdom, many pagans actually came to
respect Christians and be open to the faith because of the way believers lived
in times of persecution. “Accounts of martyrdom make frequent mention of
pagans having gained respect for the faith from having observed, or even
having taken part in, the torture of martyrs. The pagan onlookers knew full
well that they would not endure such tribulations for their religion. Why
would so many Christians do so? Were they missing something about this
strange new faith? This sort of unease and wonderment often paved the way
for new conversions.” 46
As important as dying well may be in times of persecution, living
well under duress is even more strategic to Gospel witness. “Earnest love”
becomes the indisputable apologetic for why others should join Christ and
His Church instead of seeking to destroy them. How we live and how we
love while being mistreated for Christ is something we do well to think about
now, for the time of favor is quickly passing for the Church in America. We
need to learn how to suffer.
Suffering for Christ is a part of the normal Christian life: “Indeed, all
who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (Second
Timothy 3:12). We will be held in suspicion and derision because we do not
join them in their worldly ways (4:4). That suspicion will create a seedbed of
contempt for the Christian faith and life, a slowly rising tide of criticism and
caricature. Then, when specific persons of greater influence take umbrage
at Christianity, that tide can easily become a torrid flood of hostility toward
individual Christians.
Peter encourages us to respond to such persecutions and sufferings
with four specific reactions. First, we are to see such persecution in the
context of sacred history. These sufferings are evidence that Jesus Christ’s
predictions are coming to pass (Matthew 24:9-14). They are the “birth
pangs” of the end times. Prayer is the proper response in such times (4:7).
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Second, we are to keep loving one another “above all.” Mutual
affection for the saints is the antidote for the hatred of the world. Loving one
another not only binds us together but “covers a multitude of sins.” Failures
are set aside and overlooked because of a greater evil; (persecution) has
absorbed our energies.
Third, hospitality becomes all the more critical to our body life as a
congregation (4:9). Displaced brethren, ministers on the run, those who’ve
lost home and family or job and livelihood, need our hearts and homes for a
refuge. Hebrews 13:1-2 says the same thing.
Finally, our ministry to one another, by means of our spiritual gifts (4:1011), strengthens and secures the church in such time of difficulty. Ministry
to one another is never as important as it is in the face of martyrdom. Our
ministry to one another with our spiritual gifts is one thing the world cannot
take from us.
Love is never as difficult as it is in the face of lovelessness turned into
bullying and brutality. Only “by the strength God supplies” (4:11) can His
prevailing grace enable us to love when we are so unloved. And only in the
fellowship of the church can our own weak, flickering love be shored up so
that it can meet the challenges of “covering a multitude of sins.” But so it
can be, when we love one another “earnestly.”
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
AC: Pray for the continued ministry of byFaith Magazine. Pray that it will
serve to connect people, churches, events, and missions of the PCA through
the proclamation of the Gospel. Pray that Editor Richard Doster and his
staff will exercise wisdom in handling the many details associated with the
magazine.
CTS: Pray for the director of, and students in, Covenant Seminary’s Master of
Theology (ThM) program, that God will grant wisdom and grace as they seek
a deeper understanding of God’s Word and more effective ways to teach and
communicate the beauty of that message to others.
MTW: Human trafficking and the sex trade are growing virtually everywhere.
Pray for missionaries and nationals who have ministry opportunities in
these areas, and that righteousness and justice will prevail.
RUM: Pray for the health and protection of all campus ministers and their
families.
RBI: Pray for the enrollment growth in our products and services. As churches
and employment increase, pray that the Lord will be pleased to grow RBI’s
portion of their service needs in order to better serve PCA ministry partners.
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DAY 46
Read Ephesians 5:22-23
Sunday, June 21, 2015
THOSE WHO’LL NEVER MARRY
The Pew Research Center, using the 2012 U.S. Census Data, has
confirmed statistically what we all knew anecdotally: marriage is on the
decline in America. Those good news statistics about dropping divorce rates
are made possible only because fewer and fewer people are legally married.
A rising share of Americans has never married and won’t ever marry, so we
are informed.
Why is this so? The answer to that question is complex. But the major
factors include fewer younger men gainfully employed and able to support
a wife and family (women still indicate that a job is the #1 requirement for
eligible men to become their husband). More people are choosing to live
together as “friends with benefits,” and an alarming and growing number
of women are choosing to have and rear children on their own as single
moms—they call it “going solo.” When surveyed, 46% of Americans said that
a person was better off married, while 50% replied that a life with “other
priorities” than marriage and family could be as satisfying.
The raw data is staggering (at least to me): 20% of U.S. adults over 25
have never been married (in 1960 it was 10%). A full 25% of these younger
folks are living with someone of the opposite sex. Of all people, 23% of males
have never married (10% in 1960), and 17% of all women choose to be single
(in 1960, 8%). The Pew Research Center made this startling prediction: one
in four (25%) of those not married will still be “never married” by the time
they turn 40 and 50 years old! 47
These facts and forecasts make me sad. As one who for his generation
married “later,” at the age of 29, I have known the joy, comfort, partnership,
and intimate love married life can bring. But I am also aware of one more
factor the Pew Research Center did not report. In America, marriage is now
viewed in purely contractual terms rather than covenantal terms. That’s a
HUGE tectonic shift in our concept of the foundation of marriage.
A careful reading of the Pew Report confirms what I am alleging. Jobs,
income, compatible careers, shared goals in life, “suitability” of a partner,
education, previous marriages, ability to bear children, and the convenience
of fitting domestic life into a busy schedule were the multifaceted reasons
for delayed marriage (or cohabitation). In other words, gains and losses
were compared, and for one in four younger Americans marriage was too
costly or too risky, or both. Gone was the paradigm of a covenant.
God’s love is covenantal. It is rooted in what the Hebrew calls chesed.
We have no word in English that adequately renders to us a complete
meaning for chesed. The best way to understand this word is to call it
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“God’s covenant love and loyalty.” Hence, “steadfast love” (in the ESV or
“lovingkindness” in the NASB). God loves us because He has covenanted
to do so with us: “I will be a God to you and to your children, to a thousand
generations, and you will be My people.”
Paul tells us that this is how husbands and wives should love one
another: as Christ loves the church, and as the church loves Christ. In a
covenant, love is not traded for love; it is not a commodity. In a covenant,
love begets love; it is a commitment to compassion. God’s love creates an
atmosphere where we are safe to give love and to receive it, and to grow
in our covenant love over time. At times the payback looks like a loss; at
other times it becomes a windfall of profit to us. The key is in the long-term
commitment. Over a life together, God and the person learn each other—or
at least that’s how it seems to us, but God knows us perfectly, from the start.
And over time, as a by-product, a man and a woman learn each other, and
a marriage and family grows. It makes no sense to those who are always
measuring gains and losses. Contracts must be tight to be good. But for
those who measure life in growth, grace, and godliness, covenants are the
preferred “vehicle” of interpersonal investment. That’s how God loves us,
and how, in Christ, we can love one another as husband and wife.
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
CDM: Pray for the CDM staff as we work with PCA churches to help them
provide resources for their small group ministries. Ask the Lord to grant
discernment to understand the needs of the members of the local church
and the most effective ways for them to grow in the knowledge of God and
each other.
CC: Please pray for the Carter Hall restoration project that began in May
2015 and will end in the summer of 2017. This project will have a major
impact on our campus operations and the daily routines and comforts of our
employees and students. Pray in particular for David Northcutt, our campus
planner, who is spearheading all of these efforts.
MNA: Pray for MNA Church Planter Development Director Jim Hatch as
he visits seminaries to talk with students interested in becoming church
planters.
PCAF: Pray for the PCA Foundation’s Board of Directors, that they will
continue to exemplify godly character and integrity as they deliberate and
contemplate the direction and progress of the PCA Foundation.
RH: Ridge Haven would not be where it is today without the myriad of
volunteers who have served over the years. Pray for the Lord to bring
forward more wonderful groups and individuals with servants’ hearts who
are willing to selflessly give of their time and talents to advance the ministry
of Ridge Haven.
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DAY 47
Read James 2:1-13
Monday, June 22, 2015
THE ROYAL LAW
I would imagine that one of the most quoted sentences from the New
Testament is the pithy little saying of James, “Mercy triumphs over judgment.”
Most often this is applied to situations where discipline, punishment, or
accountability looms on the horizon. I know. I quoted this to a police officer
in Sumter, South Carolina, years ago. Randy Riddle, Art Scott, and I (three
PCA pastors in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina) were headed to Presbytery one
day. I was driving when the prototypical southern policeman, Smokey-theBear hat and all, pulled me over. He greeted us, smiled, and asked for my
license, registration, and proof of insurance. He then asked the question,
“Mr. Ross, what do you do for a living?” (I’ve always wanted to say, “What
has that got to do with my speeding?”). When I told him I was a minister, he
asked, “What kind?” I said, “Presbyterian.” He smiled and said, “I’m hardshell Baptist!” He returned a few minutes later with a large grin on his face
and a $70 ticket. I said to him, “Officer, have you never read the verse ‘mercy
triumphs over judgment’?” He chuckled and said, “James 2:13. Preacher,
you’re in the mercy business, but I’m in the judgment business! Have a nice
day!”
James’ statement, which he calls “the royal law,” has little to do with
policemen and preachers. The apostle is addressing a sin both sinister and
subtle that affects us all: showing partiality to some while treating others
harshly. James clearly calls this sin (2:9) because it leads to injustice. For
when we are partial to our own and censorious toward “those other people,”
we are blinded to the dictates of love. Because we only see our own groups’
virtues (in our eyes) and only the other folks’ shortcoming, we do not treat
people as the royal law demands: “Love your neighbor as yourself” (James
2:8; Leviticus 19:18). Our judgment is badly impaired by our partiality.
Herein lies the problem: when we are partial to our group, those whom
we like, want to be like, and want to like us—we cannot objectively judge
right from wrong. We are tainted by our assessment of them in contrast to
those who are their polar opposites—wealthy and the poor, younger versus
the older, Republicans or Democrats, the progressives, the conservatives,
the centrists. Our moral vision and relational acumen are badly impaired by
partiality, i.e., our prejudice.
And so we can easily spot when that other group violates the laws of
God but are unable to notice how our group gets around obedience just as
well. We may censure another for adultery (rightly so) but disregard our
own murdering ways (James 2:11-12). James tells us that we want to be
judged by God according to the “law of liberty”—God’s gracious overlooking
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of our sins. But there’s a divine flipside to the law of liberty: “For judgment
is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy” (James 2:12). How we
judge is how we will be judged. We get what we give.
Mercy triumphs over judgment when our partiality and prejudicial
assessments of others are overruled by giving to them the mercy we want
from God. What if God only judged us by what He approved of in His own
“group”: Father, Son and Holy Spirit? We’d be quick to say, “Have you no
grace for us, no mercy for us, and no compassion to overrule judgment?”
Indeed He does. And indeed, we have received it.
Love is cheap and judgment costly when we ignore the royal law. God’s
law is the law of liberty; the freedom to love and forgive when He could have
judged and punished. We want mercy for us, but we judge partially others
unlike us. This will not do. Love demands the freedom to let go, overlook,
give the benefit of the doubt, and forgive. True love is always free to show
mercy over judgment. That is really how we love our neighbors as ourselves.
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
AC: Please pray for Roy Taylor, Stated Clerk, and John Robertson, Business
Administrator, that they will handle with wisdom, insight, and discernment
the many different issues and questions that come to the Office of the Stated
Clerk each week.
CTS: Pray that the Lord will continue building upon the strongly biblical,
pastoral, confessional, and missionally focused foundation he has laid
at Covenant Seminary and that the institution’s commitment to training
church leaders who are faithful to the Scriptures, true to the Westminster
Confession, and rooted in grace for a lifetime of fruitful ministry will remain
as strong and vital as ever.
MTW: Pray for a spirit of cooperation between evangelical denominations
in getting the message of the Gospel out to a hurting world. Pray that we will
grow in love for God’s global Church.
RUM: Pray specifically for RUF International, that God will equip our RUF
International Campus Ministers to welcome the foreigners on American
campuses to Christ’s Kingdom.
RBI: Pray for the ministry of the PCA Ministerial Relief fund as they seek to
meet the growing needs of the widows, retired and disabled pastors, and
missionaries. Pray for Rev. Bob Clarke, Relief Director; Dr. Bruce McRae,
Relief Development Officer; and Vickie Poole, Relief Assistant, as they seek
the face and will of God in how to take this ministry forward for the years to
come.
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DAY 48
Read First Peter 1:3-9
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
JOY UNSPEAKABLE
The joy of Christians is their chief means of evangelism. Who wants to
be a part of something angry, shrill, censorious, combative, overly dogmatic,
negative, and touched off at the drop of a hat? Our best advertisement of the
benefit of Christ is a genuine sense of joy. I say “genuine” because people
can spot fake happiness a mile away. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit. I believe
that Paul is speaking about one fruit (singular) but manifested in joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, and self-control (as
he describes love in First Corinthians 13 with these same words). Like a
cluster of grapes, love includes juicy joy.
Back in 1975, I began to attend the Central Church in Memphis,
Tennessee. Central Church was then an independent congregation, having
come out of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. James L. Latimer was the
senior pastor and fiery, evangelistic preacher of that church. In those days,
the church was growing in leaps and bounds, primarily through conversions.
The Jesus Movement had reached its zenith in 1975 and 1976—the year
Newsweek magazine called “The Year of the Evangelical.” People were
coming to Christ from all walks of life. I worked then at a large production
factory for International Harvester Company. There wasn’t a week that
went by without another member of our management team professing faith
in Christ. It was a glorious time.
When I began to attend Central Church in March of 1975, I was a devout
Roman Catholic, and unregenerate. Each Sunday I would go to 8:30 mass
and then hop in my car and drive across town, only to make it just as Jimmy
Latimer began his sermon. It was torturous! Whatever I did that week was
the subject of that week’s sermon! Gone was my private life. And every time
I left that sanctuary, I was enraged. Had I been able to lay hands on Rev.
Latimer, I would have harmed him. But as I drove home, swearing never
to set foot in that church again, the Holy Spirit would say to me, “But those
people are happy, and you are not!” It was true.
A profound sense of sadness, anger, fear, and frustration overwhelmed
me daily. It seemed that the only time I did not feel that way was when
the people of Central Church sang their hymns—few of which I knew. But
I listened to their words. They were full of expressions of love, forgiveness,
joy, confidence, hope, assurance, and peace. They had peace like a river,
and blessed assurance, and a love that would not let them go. They even
said they were happy all the day! Amazing. Because, as I watched them for
eighteen months, they really possessed this joy.
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It showed up in their prayers (even when they wept) and in some
strange stories called “testimonies.” It seemed to be the conclusion of every
sermon, and people always went forward at the end of the service to receive
“the joy of the Lord.” On August 15, 1976, I found this “joy unspeakable and
full of glory” for myself. I had somehow, to my surprise, been “born again!”
I know that our precious PCA has lots of growing pains. But of all the
things that worry me about our church, her apparent lack of joy concerns
me most. Few would come into our churches—urban or small town—and
say, as they drove home, “But at least they are happy.” Therein lies our
deepest problem, and I really do suspect that this joy we lack is related to
the conversions we don’t see.
As I look back on those early and somewhat “romantic” days of my
early life in Christ and His Church, I remember one overriding thing. I felt the
love of God and His saints in a profound way, and their joy gave me joy and
a love for Christ as well. I, for one, am praying for “joy unspeakable and full
of glory” for the PCA. It’s true, what Peter says, we have not seen Him. But
nevertheless a person can tell when Jesus comes to church. There is a joy
unspeakable all around!
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
CDM: Pray for CDM staff and other ministry leaders who work to develop
ministry to men throughout the PCA. Ask God to work in a mighty way to
“turn the hearts of fathers to their children” (Malachi 4:6) and transform the
lives of men throughout the denomination to be godly servant leaders in
their homes, churches, businesses, and communities.
CC: Please pray that the admissions and communications staffs will
accurately and effectively portray the distinctiveness of a Covenant
education to prospective students and their parents.
MNA: Pray for MNA Coordinator Jim Bland and Associate Coordinator Fred
Marsh as they provide administrative leadership to the MNA Staff. Pray
particularly for God’s leading as to where MNA can most effectively focus
for the advancement of the Gospel through church plating and outreach
ministries. Pray for Church Relations Director Stephen Lutz, serving as a key
link between MNA and our supporting churches.
PCAF: Pray that the PCA Foundation staff will be encouraged by their
calling, be effective in ministry, and keep their focus on loving God and
loving people.
RH: Pray for Ridge Haven’s full-time staff to be guided by the Lord in
everything they do as they balance the countless daily operations required
to run a camp, conference, and retreat center year-round.
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DAY 49
Read First Thessalonians 5:26
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
THE POWER OF A GREETING
The apostles Paul, Peter, and John were big on greeting one another.
In their letters, five times they send instructions to greet specific saints by
name, seven times they send greetings by their own hand, and four times
they command the churches to greet one another. Four of those commands
are for Christians to “greet one another with a holy kiss” (Second Corinthians
13:12; First Thessalonians 5:26; First Peter 5:14; and Romans 16:16).
This “holy kiss” was culturally accepted, both in Jewish and Gentile
cultures. Such a greeting does not exist generally in our majority U.S. culture
today. The recent Taco Bell commercial featuring their rolled chicken tacos
and dipping sauce illustrates this fact. A guy named Mark, tacos and dip in
hand, cannot shake hands with his girlfriend’s father when the three of them
meet on the street. After a brief pause, he kisses the dad on the forehead.
The father, after an awkward moment of surprise, simply says, “Got to run,
honey,” and off he goes.
Frank Thielman explains, “Like some other practices with symbolic
meanings that change from culture to culture (such as foot washing or head
coverings for wives), a “holy kiss” would not convey the same meaning
today that it did in the first century and in some cultures would be seriously
misunderstood. Such commands are best obeyed by substituting an
action (such as a handshake or hug or bow, varying by culture) that would
convey the same meaning in a modern culture.” 48 This “holy” kiss was
distinguishable from a sexual kiss or one that was hypocritical. It was also
known as the kiss of peace.
Early Christians practiced this holy greeting between both Jewish
and Gentile converts as a sign of their unity and mutual acceptance of one
another. This public display of brotherly affection was especially important
in an age when persecution had ostracized many new Christians from family,
community, and workplace. To be warmly greeted, honestly embraced, and
lovingly affirmed meant a great deal to all the saints.
That is why greeting one another is so repetitively commanded and
displayed in the New Testament. Our refusal or failure to greet one another
is a serious sin, because it shows, at worst, a contempt for another child
of God or, at best, a negligence of love on our part. I must sadly say that
the PCA General Assemblies are full of incidents of glaring at others, turning
one’s back, stoney silences, avoidance, and I-won’t-speak-until-he-makesme moments in hallways, restrooms, and assembly halls. I can’t honestly
tell if we are afraid to smile and say “Hi!” or if we purposefully intend to
communicate contempt.
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And contempt is what the lack of greeting conveys. It tells another,
“You mean nothing to me. You don’t count. I don’t like you nor do I accept
you. You are a non-person to me.” Imagine, dear friends, if Christ felt that
way about us. He, through his Holy Spirit speaking in the Word, greets us
and enjoins us to do the same. God wants us to enter into the culture of
welcome that Gospel grace brings to a people. It is not enough to greet
only your tribe. “For if you love those who love you, what reward do you
have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your
brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do
the same?” (Matthew 5:46-47). No, God expects a little more. He demands
that every saint greet all other saints, if and when the opportunity arises.
We live in a culture so harsh, so competitive, so volatile, demanding,
and litigious that people are genuinely afraid of one another. As a child in
the Midwest, I remember that I was schooled by my parents to say hello to
everyone I passed on the street. Now we tell our children, “Don’t talk to
strangers!” But in the household of God, there are no strangers, only brothers
and sisters in Christ. “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you
are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God”
(Ephesians 2:19). What kind of family does not greet, affirm, and welcome
one another? Certainly not the family of God.
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
AC: Ask the Father, by His gracious Spirit, to enable our staff to serve the
Church in wisdom and godliness as they handle a wide variety of needs and
requests by PCA members and others. We need the wisdom and fruit of the
Holy Spirit to be able to serve His people.
CTS: Pray that God will continue to raise up faithful ministry partners to
help fund Covenant Seminary’s operating expenses, student scholarships,
and other needs. Praise Him for those who give generously and sacrificially
so that this ministry can remain healthy and productive despite recent
economic challenges and so that we can pursue our mission faithfully—by
His grace and for His glory.
MTW: Security risks continue to grow in some countries. Join in praying for
the safety of missionaries and national believers, but especially for open
doors for the Gospel.
RUM: Pray for the churches that are connected to RUFs across the country.
Pray that college students will get connected to local churches and become
active participants of the body of Christ.
RBI: Pray for traveling mercies for Dr. Bruce McRae as he is on the road
seeking donors for the PCA Ministerial Relief Fund’s current and long range
needs.
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DAY 50
Read Romans 12:9-21
Thursday, June 25, 2015
BENEDICTION
The Bible, especially the New Testament, is full of doxologies and
benedictions (or “blessings”). None is more well-known and more repeated
than Paul’s benediction at the end of Second Corinthians: “The grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit
be with you all” (Second Corinthians 13:14). This is known as the Apostolic
Benediction to distinguish it from the great Aaronic Blessing of Numbers
6:24-26: “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine
(smile) upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance
(face) upon you and give you peace.” Whom God loves, He blesses.
This Apostolic Benediction is Trinitarian. It calls down upon others
grace, love, and fellowship from God the Father, Son, and Spirit. In fact, it is
only by the grace of Jesus Christ who saves us and brings us into union with
Him that we can know the love of God in its fullness and live in the fellowship
(communion) of the Spirit in the church. The Benediction we receive is the
blessing we are to pass on to others.
The world we live in is full of cursing, both literally and figuratively. In
America today, one is more likely to receive an obscene gesture from a driver
than a wave of friendliness. Profane and crude speech are as common on
the lips of young ladies and mothers as they are on the lips of sailors and
construction workers. Rudeness, crudeness, and filthiness are all around
us; so much so that we are surprised if someone smiles and says, “The Lord
bless you!” In fact, Americans are more uncomfortable with that expression
than they are an expletive curse!
Love can never be genuine until it blesses where curses dominate.
That is what Paul says in Romans 12:9-21.
Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love
one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing
honor. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Do
not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:9,
10, 14, 21)
These words jump out of the page at us: “Bless those who persecute
you; bless and do not curse them.” The Greek reads more starkly: “Bless
and curse not.” I learned the beauty of this way of living from the African
American Church in Jackson, Mississippi. My friend Ronnie Crudup is the
Senior Pastor of the New Horizon Church in South Jackson. Ronnie, one of
the first African American graduates from Reformed Theological Seminary,
holds a service early every January to “Bless the People” of New Horizon.
By the hundreds they line up and walk down to the front of the church,
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where Ronnie and his associate pastors “pronounce a blessing” on each and
every member who comes forward! Wow! I was often asked by an African
American brother or sister in Christ, “Pastor, can I speak a blessing over
you?” I never refused. I was always touched. And I am still quite grateful for
those words of love, prayer, and hope.
I know it’s terribly “unreformed,” but what would happen if we began,
at first perhaps only with our closest PCA friends, to stop, lay a hand on a
shoulder and “speak a word of blessing over them?” Would this help us
make our love more genuine (Romans 12:9)? I, for one, think it’s worth an
attempt. For if God loves us and so blesses us, and if He says, “Bless and
curse not,” I think a good place to show our genuine love is to begin to bless
one another. It’s worth a try. So, may the Lord bless you and keep you.
PRAYING FOR THE PCA
CDM: Pray for the CDM staff as they seek to find, produce, and publish Bible
study and small group resources for PCA churches. Ask the Lord to lead them
to gifted PCA authors who have developed materials that will help others
throughout the PCA.
CC: Please pray for safe travel for our admissions recruiters (and others) as
they travel on behalf of the College.
MNA: Pray for current PCA church plants in the Midwest and West regions,
and that many more opportunities will open up to plant churches in these
areas. Pray for Midwest Church Planting Coordinator Ted Powers, Southwest
Regional Director Doug Swagerty, and West Church Planting Director Mike
Kelly.
PCAF: Ask that the PCA Foundation’s President, Randy Stair, will be uplifted,
encouraged, and given godly direction as he manages the ministry, staff and
business affairs of the Foundation.
RH: Ridge Haven is overseen by a 10-member Board of Directors. Pray for
wisdom for the Board in their decision-making and stewardship in the year
ahead.
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ENDNOTES
1.
Darrell L. Bock. Luke 9:51-24:53. Baker Exegetical Commentary on the
New Testament (volume 2). (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1996), p. 1025.
2.
Charles R. Erdman. The Epistle of Paul to the Romans: An Exposition.
(Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1966), pp. 153-154.
3.
Thomas R. Schreiner. Romans. Baker Exegetical Commentary on the
New Testament. (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic Books, 1998), p. 691.
4.
D. A. Carson. The Gospel According to John. Pillar New Testament
Commentary. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1991), p. 522.
5.
English Standard Version Study Bible. (Wheaton: Crossway, 2008),
footnotes on First Peter 4:8; Thomas Schreiner; p. 2411.
6.
Philip Graham Ryken. Loving the Way Jesus Loves. (Wheaton: Crossway,
2012), p. 29.
7.
Henry Drummond. The Greatest Thing in the World. (Pittsburgh; Whitaker
House, 1981), p. 12.
8.
David F. Wells. Losing Our Virtue: Why the Church Must Recover its Moral
Vision. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998), pp. 96-99.
9.
Ibid, p. 100.
10.
Les Carter and Frank Minirth. The Anger Workbook: An Interactive Guide
to Anger Management, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2012), pp. 10, 21.
11.
Ibid, p. 41.
12.
Henry Drummond. The Greatest Thing in the World. (Pittsburgh:
Whitaker House, 1981), pp. 37-38.
13.
Gordon D. Fee. The First Epistle to the Corinthians. New International
Commentary on the New Testament. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987),
p. 639.
14.
Leon Morris. The First Epistle to the Corinthians. Tyndale New Testament
Commentary. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1958), p. 185.
15.
Anthony C. Thiselton. The First Epistle to the Corinthians. The New
International Greek Testament Commentary. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,
2000), p. 1057.
16.
Charles Hodge. An Exposition of the First Epistle to the Corinthians.
(Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1956), p. 271.
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17.
C. S. Lewis. The Four Loves. (New York: Hartcourt, Inc., 1960/1988), pp.
133-134.
18.
English Standard Version Study Bible. (Wheaton: Crossway, 2008),
footnotes on First Corinthians 16:13; Frank S. Thielman; p. 2217.
19.
David F. Wells, loc. cit., pp. 99-100.
20.
Bryan Chapell. Unpublished Paper addressing the Covenant
Theological teaching on the Days of Creation. No title. No date.
Accessible via the author.
21.
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger. Credo for Today: What Christians Believe.
(San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2006), p. 10.
22.
Flannery O’Connor. The Complete Stories of Flannery O’Connnor. (New
York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux; 1971), pp. 269-270.
23.
Frank Thielman. Ephesians. Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New
Testament. (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic Books, 2010), p. 448.
24.
William Damon. The Path to Purpose: How Young People Find Their
Calling in Life. (New York: Free Press, 2008), p. 107.
25.
Ibid, p. 32.
26.
J. I. Packer. Knowing God. (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1973,
1993), p. 21.
27.
David Martyn Lloyd-Jones. Romans: An Exposition of Chapters 7:1-8:4;
The Law: Its Function and Limits. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1973), pp.
258-259.
28.
Charles R. Erdman. The Epistle of Paul to the Romans: An Exposition.
(Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1966), p. 107.
29.
Thomas R. Schreiner. Romans. Baker Exegetical Commentary on the
New Testament. (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1998), p. 466.
30.
Peter T. O’Brien. The Letter to the Hebrews. Pillar New Testament
Commentary. (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2010), p. 210.
31.
Ron Highfield. God, Freedom and Human Dignity: Embracing a GodCentered identity in a Me-Centered Culture. (Downers Grove: InterVarsity
Press, 2013). p. 19.
32.
I. Howard Marshall. The Epistles of John. New International Commentary
on the New Testament. (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1978), p. 138.
33.
Timothy George. Galatians. The New American Commentary. (Nashville:
Broadman and Holman Publishers, 1994), p. 413.
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34.
F. F. Bruce. The Epistle to the Galatians. The New International Greek
Testament Commentary. (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1982), p.
261.
35.
Thomas Manton in the Puritans on Loving One Another, ed. By Don
Kistler. (Morgan, PA: Sol Deo Gloria, 1997), pp. 49-50.
36.
Ibid, pp. 62-63.
37.
Ibid, p. 63.
38.
Louis Berkhof. Systematic Theology. (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans,
1939), pp. 70-71.
39.
Marcus Rainsford. Our Lord Prays for His Own: thoughts on John 17.
(Chicago: Moody Press, 1950), p. 373.
40.
David E. Garland. 1 Corinthians. Baker Exegetical Commentary on the
New Testament. (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 200), p. 497.
41.
Ibid, p. 500.
42.
John R. W. Stott. The Message of Ephesians: God’s New Society. The Bible
Speaks Today Series. (Downer’s Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1979), p. 193.
43.
Ibid, p. 194.
44.
Anthony Everett. Augustus: The Life of Rome’s First Emperor (New York:
Random House, 2006), pp. 239-240.
45.
Mike Cosper. The Stores We Tell: How TV and Movies Long for and Echo the
Truth. (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2014), pp. 35-36.
46.
Rodney Stark. The Triumph of Christianity: How the Jesus Movement
Became the World’s Largest Religion. (New York: Harper Collins, 2011),
pp. 151-152.
47.
Wendy Wang, Kim Parker, and Molly Rohal. Record Share of Americans
Never Married. (Pew Research: Social and Demographic Trends;
September 24, 2014; www.pewresearch.org)
48.
English Standard Version Study Bible, footnotes on First Corinthians
16:20; Frank S. Thielman. (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2008), p. 2217.
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