For me, this evening is a quiet one indoors. Outside our home the rain is falling softly and steadily. Small shallow pools of water are on either side of the front steps. Our Cavalier King Charles does not want to go pee outside for fear of getting her paws wet. [She is truly a ‘Lady’ (that’s her name)]. And I just completed the reading of a slim volume of theology by Jim Boice entitled Standing On the Rock.

Like Boice’s other volumes, this one was winsome and wise. In this volume, Boice tackled common objections secularists and liberals have historically raised about the sufficiency, authority, and inspiration of the Scriptures. And just as in his other volumes, he more than withstood all inquiries via vetted scholarship. He answered honest (and often dishonest) questions and assertions raised against the authority of Scripture, and gently called naysayers and skeptics to the truth via evidence.

As one steeped in this sort of polemics, his answers were not new to me. The same questions have been around since the Patristic Era and before. And honest answers are not hard to come by if one will do a bit of study.

But what I was so moved by this quiet evening were all the stories he shared in this slim volume–of skeptics who came to faith in Christ in the most interesting ways. One was of a man shouting ad hominem attacks, who challenged Boice to a debate. Boice willingly accepted the challenge, but the man refused.

Another was of how W.A. Criswell told First Baptist Dallas that he was going to preach through the entire Bible as their pastor–from Genesis to Revelation–knowing that many folks could not even locate books like Habakkuk and Zephaniah in their Bibles. Critics laughed and scoffed at Criswell. But the result? The hearers could not fit inside the church, there were so many. His exposition was so accurate and the Word of God was so powerful, people were regenerated by God.

The stories go on and on. And all of them testify to the power of the Scriptures–the very breath of God.

When I see my own writing on my laptop, I sometimes chuckle now. Why? Because when I was a young man, full of intellectual pride and a sharp tongue, and I studied philosophy and literature, and went on to earn several graduate degrees, I get what the Apostle Paul meant when he said he had learned to count all those things as so much rubbish. He didn’t mean that he devalued the life of the mind. Just the opposite, in fact.

What he meant is that zeal without true knowledge/wisdom is vanity and pride. True knowledge comes when we fall under the recognition that this is God’s world and therefore God’s Word is the authority. It’s not man’s world or the words of men that carry ultimate authority. We are always the creatures; God alone is the Creator. We are borrowers of the creation only.

God is bigger than our trials, dear ones. His Word proves true. You can kick against it, besmirch it, shun it, and pervert it, but it survives and remains authoritative. As a friend of mine wrote earlier this week when she quoted Isaiah, I will do the same:

Behold, I am doing a new thing;
    now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
    and rivers in the desert. (Isaiah 43:19)

Zinger: “Every man is in tension until until he finds a satisfactory answer to the problem of who he himself is” (Francis Schaeffer).

Schaeffer remains a hero to me. He connected dots masterfully. He saw where ideas led. He was a master of pattern recognition. In that, I track with him profoundly.

Segue: I know it’s dangerous to say what we all know viscerally, namely, that we’re fallen creatures. Not some of us. All of us. “None is righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10) because ” . . . all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

Each morning when I shave and have to look myself in the mirror, I’m keenly aware that I’m looking at a man in need of work. Just as I have to train in order to meet certain physical fitness levels required in my line of work, I likewise must train my nature, my character.

Why? Because there’s lots of room for improvement. But the only way that sinner staring me back in the face each morning when I shave will ever meet God’s standard is to be holy. And I most definitely fall short there. I am embarrassed at times when I’ve spoken when I should have remained silent, and embarrassed when I let myself go when I should have said no, and refrained. Maybe you, too, can relate.

In sum, I need grace. I need mercy. Otherwise, I’m a failure. That’s what the cross of Christ is all about, dear ones. It’s God’s righteousness imputed to His people. But the way that transaction works is when we are broken by our sin and look to Christ alone for atonement. That’s the Christian’s hope.

God’s righteousness is imputed to all who repent and believe. We’re to look away from ourselves and to Christ.

Encouragement: If you’re perhaps like I am (a sinner broken by the lingering sin he sees in his life, and by the graciousness of the cross of Christ, that he would come for such as I), that’s the greatest possible brokenness. You’re broken but beautiful because an alien righteousness, that righteousness of God in Christ, clothes you in His robes, because our filthy rags were worn by Him in His substitutionary atonement. Let us look to Him in repentance and faith, knowing that He will not lose any who are His.

Introduction: An abiding favorite writer of mine is Flannery O’Connor. In her book Mystery and Manners, she wrote many zingers. This is one of them: “To know oneself is, above all, to know what one lacks. It is to measure oneself against Truth, and not the other way around. The first product of self-knowledge is humility.”

Teaching: “To measure oneself against Truth” drives the honest man to his knees. Why? Because the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight” (Pr 9:10). The proper fear of the Lord is one of reverence. It is not that God gets His jollies by mean-spiritedness. Just the opposite, in fact. God is patient with us. He suffers long for sinners. The Cross of Christ is His ultimate demonstration of that—that the triune God came on a mission of rescue of sinners.

We just celebrated another Christmas, a holy day (that’s the English word origin for “holiday”) that commemorates the incarnation of God the Son. But it’s shortsighted to not think through the incarnation of the Cross of Christ. It is Calvary, not Bethlehem, we’re to be thinking about, because the Cross of Christ demonstrates God’s patience and longsuffering towards us sinners. If we fail in the area of humility, we thumb our noses at the holiness of God. If we think we outsmart or outmaneuver God, we are fools. Nothing escapes God’s sight—nothing. This should lead us to humility and gratitude and selfless service.

Encouragement: As in many things, O’Connor was spot-on. We need to seek the approval of God rather than the approval of man. It’s come down in our day to be a cliché, but we should ultimately be serving an audience of One, because it is to God Himself that we will answer. Press on, dear ones, in the truth, knowing whom you serve, and work hard at it so that you may one day hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Text: “An unjust man is an abomination to the righteous, but one whose way is straight is an abomination to the wicked” (Pr 29:27).

Textual Analysis:

• Parallelism is the term for the literary technique used in the above verse. All that means is that the first part of the phrase reveals a pattern, a type of person, and the reaction he gets from another type of person. The unjust, wicked man is hated by the good man. Why? Because he is wicked. Because he should be shunned because he is just that–unjust. The good man is to hate that which is evil. Otherwise, you’re failing to take a stand for what is good and right. We are commanded to hate evil in Scripture: “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good” (Rom 12:9).

Reactions to Good and Evil:

• The good man or woman, in other words, is characterized as one who discerns justice from injustice, good from evil, transparency versus secretiveness.
• But did you notice the power of the second part of the verse where the poet writes, “but one whose way is straight is an abomination to the wicked”? In other words, the good man is hated by the wicked man. Why? Because he won’t go along with wickedness. He will not cave. He will not give in. Why? Because his allegiance is to the Lord and to what is right, true, and good.

Encouragement: Folks, if you take a stand for the truth, for the light, for the Lord, for transparency, you can count on persecution. Jesus told us that up front:

If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’ (Jn 15:18-25)

But be of good courage, dear ones. God sees. And the truth will triumph. You can try to bury it, even in a tomb in Jerusalem, but the truth will rise again.

Text: Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look (1 Peter 1:10-12).

Context: A.D. 62-63. Peter, an intimate friend of Jesus, though clearly a fallen man, but also a repentant man and disciple of the Lord Jesus, wrote from Rome, Italy (called “Bablylon” by Peter), wrote to “elect exiles”/Christians with one overarching message: the truth-telling prophet, the truth-living Christian will suffer, but it will all be worth it in the end. Therefore, press on in the truth.

Questions for Consideration:

• What is the office of the prophetic truth-teller?
• Are there not costs involved in telling the truth?
• What are some examples of the prophetic truth-teller in the Old Testament?
• What happened to them?
• Did they quit?
• Why does God raise up prophetic truth-tellers?
• Why is there a need for prophetic truth-tellers?
• Whom does Peter hold up as the model and apotheosis of prophetic truth-telling?
• What happened to the Christ?
• Should Christ’s prophetic truth-tellers expect anything unlike what Christ experienced?
• Whom does Peter say the prophetic truth-tellers served? Was it themselves?
• Do you see the authentic prophetic truth-tellers cave to the world’s system and the world’s way of doing business?

Encouragement: Always, always, always keep the main thing the main thing. Why? Because it’s so very easy to get sucked into comfort. It’s a hook buried inside the worm. It is trick bait for the undiscerning. The fish bites the worm and gets hooked. Then it’s too late. He is caught and landed and slaughtered for the appetite of the angler. The Christian, dear ones, is to recognize the prophetic truth-tellers when God sends them. Why? Because the prophetic truth-teller is God’s man. He is not serving self but you, God’s sheep. He who has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying.

Bottom Line Up Front: Ransomed from Futility

Text: Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. (1 Pt 1:13-19)

Teaching: Peter gives multiple imperatives in his sentences above. First, he tells Christians to be prepared for action. That is, be spiritually equipped with the armor of God. We are not to battle in worldly ways. That is, we’re to be above that level of craftiness and guile. We’re to look reality in the face, recognize it for what it is (be that beautiful or wicked or some admixture) and simultaneously set our hope “fully on the grace that will be brought to [us] at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Pt 1:13).

Second, he tells Christians what not to do. We are not to be conformed to the passions of [our] former ignorance” (1 Pt 1:14). That is, we are not to be partakers in deeds of darkness. Our lives should not fear investigation. We should be transparent and open. Why? Because it’s hard to argue against a Godly life. People see us. But what’s infinitely more important, God sees us (and all things). Therefore, we should live lives that glorify the Lord rather than ourselves. We’re to be a people characterized by giving and self-denial by living the crucified life.

Third, Peter tells us that we, if we are Christians, have been “ransomed” from lives and patterns of futility. We are now to keep the main thing the main thing. Jesus was innocent; yet, it was God’s plan for Him to be murdered anyway, so that God would be shown to be just and the justifier of all who look to Him in repentance and faith. God uses evil for His purposes of good. The religious establishment loathed Jesus because He called out their hypocrisy and partiality and lies. And the religious establishment murdered Him for it, after first humiliating Him publicly. And yet . . . Jesus endured it all.

Encouragement: God is bigger than our sufferings, dear ones. He knows them. God sees all. We should fear the Lord, trusting Him to work even and especially the evils of men for our ultimate good and His glory. If we are Christians, we have been ransomed/purchased/redeemed. Therefore, let us trust Him, even and especially during the trials.

Good morning, all. Below is today’s CDT #362: Wisdom from the Apostle Peter (Part 3)

Intro: Nativity scenes, sheep, shepherds, wise men, gold, frankincense, and myrrh, mangers, bucolic scenery, etc. Even as secular as most of contemporary culture is, we can all still see these scenes in houses of worship, on church properties, and on occasion, in other venues. But is it possible that we can run the risk of celebrating the incarnation of the Christ and miss and/or minimize that Christ came on a death march to Calvary? The point of Christianity is not the birth of ‘sweet baby Jesus’ but the execution of the God-man and His bodily resurrection three days later.

Text: Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look (1 Pt 1:10-12).

Teaching: The point Peter is stressing to the elect exiles (Christians scattered across present-day Turkey, and by extension, believers throughout history), is that Christ would suffer for the sake of His people, be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver by Judas, be mocked, scourged, nailed to the tree atop Calvary, buried in a borrowed tomb, guarded (though a corpse), and raised three days later.

Encouragement: The prophets of the Old Testament era, in other words, wrote to encourage Christians throughout time. Peter says the prophets “were serving not themselves but you” (1 Pt 1:12). Folks, that’s encouraging. Christian ministry is not to be for ourselves, but we are to pour out and into other souls who likewise need the gospel. Why? Because it is indeed good news. If you’re in Christ, you’re part of that great cloud of witnesses of the greatness and goodness of God. And that is one more reason we should not say—but indeed demonstrate—Merry Christmas.