When we know our end we know our calling for today. What is our end? We will, for all eternity, inhabit a redeemed world, the new heavens and the new earth. We will enjoy peace, plenty, a life utterly devoid of sin. And we will serve and sit under the King. Eternity is a monarchy and Jesus is its king.
That can be hard for us who are Americans to swallow. We, if we were poorly educated, rejoice in and give thanks for living in a democracy, a place where the people rule. Were we better educated we rejoice for living in a republic, a place where law, rather than people rule. In either case we buck against the notion of monarchy. We came into our own when we threw off the rule of George III, when the colonies declared themselves independent.
Our prejudices are confirmed when we read through the early history of Israel. After Judges we come to Samuel, the last judge in Israel.
The people came demanding they be given a king like all the other nations to rule over them. That’s where we plant our anti-monarchy flag. “See,” we say, “these foolish people want a king and it’s all going to go wrong for them.” God tells Samuel what the king will be like- he will send your sons off the foreign wars. He will take your daughters to work in his palace. And, as shocking and terrifying as this may be, he will tax you at a rate of 10%.
A more careful reading, however, will show us that the problem was not that Israel wanted a king, but that they wanted a king like all the other nations. God tells Samuel that they had not rejected him as their judge, but had rejected God as their king. They didn’t move from judges to monarchs, but moved from having God as their king to having a king like all the other nations. God gave them over to their desires, and we know how that went. His promise, however, His solution to the problem of Saul, was not democracy or a republic. His solution was a king, His king, David.
David, along with his son Solomon reigned in a golden age for Israel. Neither, of course, were in the least sinless. Both had much to repent for. But the nation reached its geographic, economic and militaristic pinnacle. Even the nation’s worship hit a high point with the building of the temple. From this point forward in their history the question no longer was monarchy or not, but became instead good monarchy or bad. And so it is in our own day.
Which is why the great Hebrew prophet reminds us, “It may be the devil, or it may be the Lord, but you’re gonna have to serve somebody.” Kingship is unavoidable, woven into the warp and woof of reality. Because Jesus is Lord. This was, of course, the very first creed of the first century church, that affirmation in turn that lead so many to die the martyr’s death.
“Jesus is Lord” is not a mere wish. That is, saying “Jesus is Lord” is not on par with saying, “We’re number one” about our favorite team. Neither are we merely affirming that He is our Lord. When we come to embrace Him it is not strictly accurate to say that we make Jesus the Lord of our lives. We recognize that Jesus is Lord of our lives. We do not rise up to heaven to put a crown on His head, to seat Him on our throne. Instead we fall on our faces, and grasp that He always been our Lord; we had just been in rebellion.
Where we are going then is not to a future inauguration. “Jesus is Lord” is not affirming “Jesus will be Lord” but a present reality. What we yet await is the increasing recognition of His reign. First, as we grow in grace, as we become increasingly obedient we bring our own hearts, minds and hands into submission. His reign, however, is not simply over the church. The idea that “The kingdom of God is in our hearts” is true, not because it is not outside of our hearts, but because it is everywhere. That is, it is not only in our hearts.
Wherever there is a there, there Jesus reigns. Wherever there is a that, Jesus reigns over that. There is, as Abraham Kuyper wisely said, not one square inch of the entire universe over which Jesus does not declare, “MINE.”
Like our fathers, however, we don’t want the King, but a king, like all the other nations. We want to be ruled by our desires, our emotions. A king like all the other nations- a state that watches over us from cradle to grave. We want a king that will send our sons off to die in adventurous wars, and now, our daughters as well. A king like all the other nations, whose tax burden suggests that they own it all. We don’t want Jesus to rule over us, fearing that He is too cruel and exacting. Instead we want a king like all the other nations, whose tender mercies are most cruel.
The good news, however, is that our king is at work overcoming not just our enemies, but all within us that is displeasing to Him. When we cry out for a king like all the other nations we do so as subjects of the one King, who happily does not run a democracy. He brings subjects into His kingdom, and makes His subjects more subject.
Jesus is Lord. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given unto Him. His kingdom is forever, for He shall reign forever and ever. He is bringing all things under subjection, to the glory of the Father. We live in the midst of the greatest fairy tale every told. We are the evil hag that the Prince has married. And He has ascended to His throne. Which means, of course, that our story ends just as it ought- and we’ll all live happily ever after.
Tonight we continue a study exploring the parables of Jesus. Last week we considered the found treasure and the pearl of great price.. Tonight- the Good Samaritan. We serve dinner at 6:15, and begin the study at 7:00. We also livestream on Facebook Live, on the account I share with Lisa, RC-Lisa Sproul. Typically, a day or so later, we post the study right here. Scroll down for previous studies. We’d love to host you in our home, or out in cyberspace.
By reading well. Nothing too complicated about that. As with many good habits, the challenge is not that performing the habit is too hard, but that it is not easy enough. That is, we don’t like to exert ourselves. As with exercise, though, we know exertion reaps benefits that couch potatoes know not of. We could do it if we would do it. Here are four suggestions on how to whip that mind into shape.
1. Read good books. This could be three suggestions. First, read. I’ll agree that audio books knock the stuffing out of no books, but reading is better still. Fewer distractions for starters.
Second, good. There are many books that are fun, easy and not terribly helpful. There are many books that are boring, hard and terribly useful. But there are actually a fair number of books that are fun, easy and terribly useful. Read these. There aren’t enough hours in a life to slog through brilliant minds attached to dusty writers. Here’s a lightning quick list right off the top of my head of those who are both profitable and a joy to read- CS Lewis, GK Chesterton, RC Sproul, JRR Tolkien, PG Wodehouse. And that’s just from the initials section of the library.
Third, books. It’s all well and good to read journals, blog pieces. But books are better. As one great writer once told me, “Son, articles can change your day. Books can change your life.”
2. Read widely, in theme and time. Which brings us back to “good.” I’ve read wonderful books about climbing Mount Everest, the University of Washinton rowing team, Area 51, America’s first serial killer and the rise of the twelve tone scale in music. Not because I knew anything going in. Not because I hungered for more knowledge on these things. But because the writers could write like really great writers.
CS Lewis’ essay, “On the Reading of Old Books” which is found in his collection of essays, God in the Dock, and as the introduction to Athanasius’ On the Incarnation makes an excellent case for escaping the water we swim in by visiting the waters of other eras. Reading beyond our contemporaries exposes the blind spots of our own age.
3. Read fiction. I read my fair share from the fun, easy and not terribly useful pile. These are mostly disposable who-done-its, some cozy and some creepy. But there are plenty of fine fiction writers that contribute to shaping the mind. The aforementioned Wodehouse is the absolute master of the rhythm of writing. And reading him feels like summer vacation. Literary classics tend to be high in both value and ease of reading. Give Hawthorne a try, Anthony Burgess, John Updike. Many of the prep-school classics fit in here. The Old Man and the Sea, Lord of the Flies, Brave New World, The Count of Monte Christo, A Tale of Two Cities.
4. Take your time. This isn’t a crash diet, but a change in lifestyle. Develop the habit. Going somewhere you know you’ll be waiting? Bring a book. Having trouble sleeping? Pick up a book. Is it raining when you planned to mow the lawn? Pick up a book. Remember that the goal is not to stoically take up another duty but to learn to enjoy.
I’d love to hear in the comments books/authors or themes you’d suggest.
Obedience is a rather narrow road. Disobedience, on the other hand, comes with a great, sweeping plain of options. Because we are like the Pharisees, we find it easy to convert the law of God into sundry sins of omission. We’re much better at not doing what we’re not supposed to do than we are at doing what we’re supposed to do. Thus, we reduce the Sabbath to all the things we’re not allowed to do. We work at fine-tuning the definition of “work” so we can make sure we don’t do it on the Sabbath. In so doing, as is our wont, we miss the point.
Were we to divide the Ten Commandments not according to duties toward God and duties toward man, as many do, but instead on the basis of prohibitions and commands, the Sabbath commandment would end up with the commands. It is less about what we are forbidden to do and more about what we are commanded to do.
First, believe it or not, the Sabbath commandment commands us to work. “Six days shalt thou labor” isn’t an interesting prelude designed merely to set the context for the command to come. It is a command in itself. We’re supposed to be busy with the work set before us. To be passionately pursuing the kingdom of God. We are to recognize that we live in the not-yet of the kingdom. Not all enemies have yet been made a footstool. We have not yet fully exercised dominion over the creation. The reign of Jesus is not yet universally recognized.
The Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, “How does Christ execute the office of a king?” Its answer: “Christ executes the office of a king in subduing us to Himself, in ruling and defending us and in restraining and conquering all His and our enemies.” As we rule with and under Him, this is the work we are called to — seeking His kingdom, making manifest His reign.
Second, as the Sabbath commandment moves to the day of observance, it does not command that we refrain from work — it’s far more profound: we are to rest. We think we are keeping the commandment if we refuse gallantly to do any of the work that is piling up and causing us to lose sleep at night. Instead, we are sinning. Rest isn’t just ceasing from working; it is also ceasing from worrying. It’s not easy. Indeed, in a manner of speaking, rest, especially ceasing from worry, is hard work. It takes discipline and fortitude to let go of all that has us worried.
We have not succeeded if our worries are more pious, either. That is, we aren’t failing to keep the Sabbath when we worry about the big meeting at work on Monday, but successfully keeping it when we are worried about our persistent failure to mortify that particular sin that so troubles us. Worry is worry, and it has no place in our Sabbath celebration. The Lord’s Day is a feast day and should be treated as such.
We rejoice and we get over our worries when we come to understand that the Lord’s Day is that time when we leave the “not yet” of the kingdom, and enter into the “already.” Is it not the case that the defining quality of eternity is the blessing of drawing near to the living God? When we feast at His Table, is He not declaring His blessing upon us? Is He not blessing and keeping, making His face shine, being gracious unto us? He lifts up His countenance on us, giving us peace.
When we worry about the more mundane things, we are failing to heed the call of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount to set aside those worries, to not be like the Gentiles. We are called instead to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. When we worry about more spiritual matters, especially our own sins, we are missing the very heart of all Lord’s Day preaching — we, the repentant, are forgiven in Christ. We have, by His sovereign grace, succeeded in our quest — we have received His righteousness.
Sabbath, then, is shalom, and shalom is Sabbath. We have rest because we have peace and peace because we have rest. We have both because Jesus is not just Lord of the Sabbath and the Prince of Peace but is also our Sabbath, our Peace.
There is a right way to keep the Sabbath in our context. There is a right answer to the questions that divide us- is this allowed or that; this day or that day. In the end, however, whatever positions we take the key question is ultimately the gospel question: Are we resting in the finished work of Christ?
The most faithful Sabbath keeper will in the end be the most joyful Sabbath keeper. Sabbath, in the end, isn’t something to be observed but something to be celebrated. And we celebrate not merely a day off from work. We celebrate the victory of our King. We are of good cheer, for He has overcome the world. And we reign with Him.
We are all the children of the Enlightenment. Even if we couldn’t begin to define “Enlightenment,” or if we know what it is and see it as an Endarkenment, we’re still shaped by it. It’s in our blood and sinews, programmed in us down to the zeros and the ones. It is, despite the current reign of postmodernism, the air we breathe and the water we swim in.
Consider our problems. When we are ailing, our assumption is that a pill will fix it. If our ailments are mental the solution is more education. When they are spiritual we look for a program to patch the malware. If output isn’t what we desire, we just change the input. We genuinely seem to believe that with the right technology, the right social structure, the right education, the right diet, we’ll find ourselves back in Eden, but better. Because we’ll have I-phones.
Or consider how we look at the universe. As Christians we affirm that God created it. Which is gloriously true. We affirm that He orders it. Again, gloriously true. Then, however, we make the fatal mistake of believing that it, the created order, is the ultimate machine, that the swirling nebulae are but the perfectly designed cogs, wheels and pulleys of a giant Swiss watch.
To riff on the inestimable GK Chesterton, we need to embrace the cosmology of elfland. The truth is that the created order is infused with all the wonder, beauty and whimsy of the Creator. The Bible tells us that serpents and donkeys can talk. It reveals that seas can split, that ax heads can float. The Bible tells us that “gods” have married women and produced giants as offspring. Stars sing, and God knows each of their names.
On more than one occasion, a Man fed thousands with just a few loaves of bread. That Man had been born to a virgin. He turned water into wine, made lame men walk and blind men see. That Man was also God in the flesh. He died, but walked out of His tomb three days later. Of course this reveals the glory of God. It reveals that God is not stuck on the outside looking in.
It also reveals, however, the very nature of the world we live in. We are closer to Middle-Earth, Narnia and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter than we are to a clockwork orange, a mere machine monstrously pretending to live. Maybe instead of objecting to books with magic we should object to books that have no magic. They lie about reality. The world we live in is magic, His magic. Our heavenly Father is in charge. His Word leaves His lips, tumbles through the nothing and pulls galaxies out of a hat.
Caterpillars become butterflies. Valleys filled with dry bones become congregations singing His praise. Two become one and bring forth still more. Rebels become princes and libertines priests. And all of this wonder, from the farthest reaches of space to the bigger on the inside dance of the quarks, is but a shadow of the real world He is taking us to. Glory, hallelujah.
The return of Curating Your Book Library, prompted by Tony Reinke’s excellent book, God, Technology and the Christian Life. Plus, the workers are few and the shame of believers ashamed of God. Where else are you going to find all that? Help yourself. Take two and share with a friend.
The most common lie told by Christians may well be- “I’ll pray for you.” Why would we lie about such a thing? It’s pretty simple. First, we know we’re supposed to pray for each other. Second, we’re not very good at praying. Third, we look good when we claim we’ll pray. And those to whom we make this promise have no way of knowing if we keep it. The One to whom we pray, however, knows every idle word and every idle promise. We make fun of the Pharisees for praying loud and public prayers to win the acclaim of others. On the other hand, we promise loudly and publicly to say prayers we don’t even say.
We do not pray for one another because we believe some silly notion that God is moved by numbers. It is a blasphemous thought to imagine our loving Father in heaven keeping a tally of how many have prayed for this or that and waiting until some magic number is hit before He acts. The prayers of a righteous man availeth much, not the prayer of righteous men. The value of spreading our prayer requests far and wide, and the value of taking up those requests from far and wide is found in what these prayers can do for the one praying them.
When I pray for myself, as I ought to do, it is easy for my focus to stay more on the giver of the prayer than the Receiver. That is, my focus can remain on me. When, however, I devote time, energy, attention to the needs of others, suddenly my focus turns away from myself to two far more important foci- the one in the need and the One who meets the need. Praying for others gets me off myself in a way that praying for myself might not.
Second, my prayers for others remind me of the love my Father has for others. Peace, love, community among believers comes less when we work harder at being better, more when we remember better that we and our sins are all covered by the blood of the Lamb, that we are all the beloved children of the Father. If the whole of the body of Christ were more concerned about others than themselves, good things will surely follow.
Last, praying for others is what I’m supposed to do. As with all of God’s law, obedience redounds to our own well being. God’s law isn’t a set of restrictions used to measure our commitment to the Lawgiver. It is instead an invitation to joy from our Father who loves us.
What should we be praying for each other? That we would walk faithfully with our Lord. That we would embrace more fully the grace He has already given us. We should pray that we would put to death our own flesh. That He would use us to manifest His own glory and the glory of His kingdom. That we, His bride, would be a crown of glory to Him, our husband and King.
Tonight we continue a new study exploring the parables of Jesus. Last week we considered the Sower. Tonight- the Lost Treasure and the Pearl of Great Price. We serve dinner at 6:15, and begin the study at 7:00. We also livestream on Facebook Live, on the account I share with Lisa, RC-Lisa Sproul. Typically, a day or so later, we post the study right here. Scroll down for previous studies. We’d love to host you in our home, or out in cyberspace.
An easy no. But wait, there’s more. Not only is the answer no, but the one raising the question/accusation has revealed an unfathomable level of ignorance/dishonesty. It’s a mute talking point brought to you by the ghouls who murder babies.
Those committed to protecting all babies are statistically far more likely to support needy families caring for born babies. As I often point out when privileged to preach outside abortion mills, “We who are here proclaiming Jesus to you, who are offering counsel, financial assistance, gifts in kind, are not paid. It costs you nothing. Those inside with you who are insisting we are the bad guys won’t do anything unless you give them the money. Whose counsel should you trust?”
This ridiculous trope has legs, not surprisingly, because of the unexamined statism in the one making it. Most people committed to the unborn are likewise skeptical of government assistance programs. We vote for candidates who at least pretend to want to stop the robbing of Peter to pay Paul, redistribution programs. I hope that part is true. What doesn’t follow, however, is that opposition to redistributing wealth puts one in opposition of all the Pauls receiving funds taken from all the Peters.
Do not flinch in the face of those who accuse you of being hypocritical for supporting legal protection for the unborn and not supporting cradle to grave welfare. Apples and apples. Because with the former we are seeking to protect the right to life. With the latter we are seeking to protect the right to private property. Nothing in the least inconsistent there.
I love it when the accusation gets even more personal. Many times I’ve been asked/accused “What have you ever done for a child that survived the womb?” My answer? “I’ve, along with my dear wife Lisa taken up the responsibility to meet all the material needs, every last one for the entirety of childhood. Also, we’ve taken up the responsibility to meet all the educational needs, every last one for the entirety of childhood. We’ve taken up the responsibility to meet all the spiritual needs, every last one for the entirety of childhood. All needs we either do or would provide.”
All this, and much, much more for two humans who were headed to their deaths. Who by His grace have now lived all their lives not as wards of the state nor wards of our family, but as members of our family. Their names are Reilly and Donovan… Sproul. Please note, however, that we did not do this simply to prove our bona fides as defenders of life. We do this because, as God promises in Psalm 127, these boys are deep blessings to us from His hand. They have rescued us.
This slanderous accusation, that we who love the unborn do not love the born, is fools speaking gibberish in a vain attempt to drown out their own consciences. Pay it no heed.
