“Eat the meat, spit out the bones!” Hercules Collins (paraphrase)

Posted on September 28, 2012 by Steve Weaver

In 1680, Hercules Collins penned his first work, an adaption of the Heidelberg Catechism, which he titled An Orthodox Catechism. In his preface, Collins defended his inclusion of three creeds from the early church: the Apostles, Nicene and Athanasian. His defense includes great advice on how a Christian should read works by those with whom they may have disagreements. He essentially says to chew the meat and spit out the bones. Great advice for us all.

I have proposed three Creeds to your consideration, which ought throughly to be believed and embraced by all those that would be accounted Christians, viz. The Nicene Creed, Athanasius his Creed, and the Creed commonly called the Apostles; The last of which contains the sum of the Gospels; which is industriously opened and explained; and I beseech you do not slight it because of its Form, nor Antiquity, nor because supposed to be composed by Men; neither because some that hold it, maintain some Errors, or whose Conversation may not be correspondent to such fundamental Principles of Salvation; but take this for a perpetual Rule, That whatever is good in any, owned by any, whatever Error or Vice it may be mixed withal, the Good must not be rejected for the Error or Vice sake, but owned; commended, and accepted.[1]

[1] Collins, An Orthodox Catechism, The Preface.

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Preaching from the Coffin

Posted on September 27, 2012 by Steve Weaver

Not only was Hercules Collins a faithful pastor in his life and doctrine, he also faithfully fulfilled his pastoral role of the oversight of souls. Of the discharge of this duty Piggott called the Wapping congregation to bear testimony: “And how well he discharged the other Branches of his Pastoral Function, this Church is a Witness, whom he has watched over and visited above five and twenty Years.”[1] One part of his pastoral faithfulness was his evangelistic fervor. Piggott described the evangelistic zeal of Hercules Collins by saying that “no Man could preach with a more affectionate Regard to the Salvation of Souls.”[2] He later called upon the regular attenders of the Wapping Church who remained unsaved as witnesses to the gospel fervor of Hercules Collins: “You are Witnesses with what Zeal and Fervour, with what Constancy and Seriousness he us’d to warn and persuade you.”[3] At this point Piggott began to plead with those present who were present by crying out, “Tho you have been deaf to his former Preaching, yet listen to the Voice of this Providence, lest you continue in your Slumber till you sleep the Sleep of Death.”  He then closed his sermon with a strong evangelistic appeal which must have been intensified by the presence of Collins’ lifeless body which lay before them.

You cannot but see, unless you will close your Eyes, that this World and the Fashion of it is passing away. O what a Change will a few Months or Years make in this numerous Assembly! Yea, what a sad Change has little more than a Fortnight made in this Congregation! He that was so lately preaching in this Pulpit, is now wrapt in his Shroud, and confin’d to his Coffin; and the Lips that so often dispers’d Knowledg amongst you, are seal’d up till the Resurrection. 
        Here’s the Body of your late Minister; but his Soul is enter’d into the Joy of his Lord. O that those of you that would not be persuaded by him living, might be wrought upon by his Death! for tho he is dead, he yet speaketh; and what doth he say both to Ministers and People, but Be ye also ready, for in such an hour as you think not, the Son of Man cometh?[4]

In a sense, these final words by Piggott allowed Collins to preach one final time to the unconverted who had sat under his ministry. After the funeral sermon at the Wapping meeting house on October 9, 1702, Collins’ body was taken the approximately two miles to Bunhill Fields where he was interred in this burial ground of dissenters.

[1] Piggott, Eleven Sermons, 236.

[2] Piggott, Eleven Sermons, 236.

[3] Piggott, Eleven Sermons, 240.

[4] Piggott, Eleven Sermons, 240.

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How to Get Rid of Your Enemies

Posted on September 26, 2012 by Steve Weaver

Do you want a fool-proof, guilt-free way to get rid of your enemies? Well God has given a way in Scripture for you to be able to get rid of your enemies. Paul in Romans 12:20 quotes Proverbs 25:22 which says, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” (ESV) Although numerous interpretations of this passage have been taken over the years, I believe that this passage is simply stating that acts of kindness done to your enemy shame him and bring him to a place of repentance. As Bible commentator James Denney wrote, “The meaning of ‘heaping burning coals on his head’ is hardly open to doubt. It must refer to the burning pain of shame and remorse which the man feels whose hostility is repaid by love. This is the only kind of vengeance the Christian is at liberty to contemplate.” Greek scholar A. T. Robertson likewise wrote that the burning coals were a “metaphor for keen anguish.” The fifth century Bishop of Hippo, St. Augustine, similarly said, “We should incite those who have hurt us to repentance by doing them good.” This view corresponds to an ancient Egyptian custom. When a person wanted to demonstrate public contrition, he would carry on his head a pan of burning coals to represent the burning pain of his shame and guilt.

This passage provides a dramatic picture of how God deals with man in goodness to lead him to repentance. As Romans 2:4 states, “God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance.” (ESV) Likewise, in the verse we have been examining, we are commanded to do good to our enemies to produce a state of repentance in them. Martin Luther comments, “God converts those whom He does convert by showing them goodness. It is only in this way that we can convert a person, namely, by showing him kindness and love.” Wasn’t this the very way that God responded to His enemies at Calvary? As Bible commentator John Phillips has written,

The cross represents the greatest manifestation of the hatred in the heart of man toward God and at the same time the greatest manifestation of the love in the heart of God toward man. That very spear which pierced the Saviour’s side drew forth the blood that saves.

So do you have enemies? Do you want to get rid of them? Try showing kindness to them! Then not only will you have gotten rid of an enemy, you may just also have gained a friend!

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Following Jesus is Costly!

Posted on September 24, 2012 by Steve Weaver

In his New York Times best-selling book Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream (Multnomah, 2010) author David Platt challenges the water-downed gospel featured in many American churches in our day. He correctly diagnoses many of us when he says that we are “settling for a Christianity that revolves around catering to ourselves when the central message of Christianity is actually about abandoning ourselves” (page 7).

What does it mean to follow Jesus? In Matthew 19:21, Jesus told a rich young man who came to Him asking what good thing he could do to inherit eternal life to “go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” Following Jesus will effect your pocketbook!

But not only is it costly materially to follow Jesus, it can also cost you your life. This is what our brothers and sisters in the persecuted church around the world already know. It is costing them something to follow Jesus. They are shedding their blood for the privilege of following Jesus.

According to the teaching of Jesus, this is to be expected. Jesus told his disciples in Matthew 16:24, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

What did it mean to take up one’s cross? It doesn’t mean to wear a golden cross on a necklace or as a lapel pin. It meant to take up an instrument of death and carry it with you to the place of execution. As the German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer commented, “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die” (The Cost of Discipleship, Touchstone, 1995, page 89). Bonhoeffer was executed for his attempts to resist the Nazism of his day. Following Jesus is not for the faint of heart!

Are you a follower of Jesus? Are you willing to follow Jesus now that you know what it means? There are many professing Christians who have been sold a false bill of goods. Come to Jesus, some say, and everything will be just fine. You’ll get everything back that you get when you play country music backwards: your wife back, your truck back, and your dog back. That’s not what Jesus is offering. Jesus is calling for absolute submission to His kingly authority, and nothing less.

We have trouble understanding this in America. But our brothers and sisters around the world who are being persecuted for their faith have no problem at all understanding the words of Jesus. To learn more about them and how you can help their cause, visit www.persecution.com. 

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Defining Worship

Posted on September 19, 2012 by Steve Weaver

The word ‘worship’ is a difficult word to define. Our English word comes from the Old English which was originally ‘worthship’ which means to ascribe worth to something or recognize something as worthy. We worship that which we consider to be worthy. All human beings are worshipers. The question is not whether we worship or not, but rather who or what do we worship.

There are a number of words translated into English as ‘worship’ in our Bible. Examining the nuance of meanings of the original words helps clarify what biblical worship really is.

The most frequently used word in the Old Testament for worship is the Hebrew word shachah. It is used 81 times and denotes action, bowing down to do homage.

The most common word translated as worship in the New Testament is the Greek word proskuneo which literally means “to kiss toward.” It is used 51 times and was a symbolic act touching the hand to the lip and extending it in reverence toward the person being honored.

Another important Greek word for worship which is found 26 times in the New Testament is the word lateuo which refers to service rendered. When you put all these biblical ideas together you find that worship involves both attitudes (awe, respect, reverence) and actions (bowing, praising, serving).

I like how Bible teacher Warren Wiersbe put it when he defined worship as: “The believer’s response of all that he is – mind, emotions, will, and body – to all that God is and says and does.” In other words, worship is the response of our whole being to God’s whole being.

In order to worship, we must see God in His glory. Then we must respond appropriately. It’s not hard! It is the natural response to God’s glory. For example, in Revelation 1 John didn’t have to think about how to apply his vision of the resurrected, glorified Christ to his life. He fell at his feet like a dead man! Likewise, Isaiah, when he saw the Lord in Isaiah 6, said, “Woe is me for I am undone.” Every time the prophet Ezekiel saw God, he fell on his face. When the angel of the LORD appeared to Manoah to announce the birth of his son Samson, he said, “We shall surely die, for we have seen God.” (Judges 13:22). Job, too, responded similarly, “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:5-6). When one encounters the living God, there is always a response of fear, awe, reverence and repentance.

It is important to note that worship is a response. We do not initiate worship, we simply respond to God’s revelation of Himself. The pattern of worship in Scripture is always God’s revelation of Himself first, then human response to that revelation. The good news is that God has revealed himself to us in both the Word he has inspired and the world he has made. So let me encourage you to worship this week, not just on Sunday but every day as you respond to the glory of God as seen in creation and in Scripture.

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Baptism, the Lord’s Supper and Confessions of Faith

Posted on September 18, 2012 by Steve Weaver

According to a recent LifeWay Research survey, over half (52%) of the 1,066 SBC pastors polled indicated that “anyone who has put faith in Christ” may participate in the Lord’s Supper at their church. This choice was in contrast to the more narrow option of “anyone baptized as a believer” which was selected by only 35% of those surveyed.

What is (or should be) surprising about this research is that Article VII of The Baptist Faith and Message states that Baptism “is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord’s Supper.” Of course this statement, which was adopted by the messengers at the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in 2000, is not binding on any churches of the SBC. However, I would imagine that the majority of the churches polled have adopted this statement or earlier versions (1925 or 1963) all of which affirm that baptism of a believer by immersion is to precede both church membership and the reception of the Lord’s Supper.

I personally agree with article VII of the BFM which states that baptism “is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord’s Supper,”  but I am not making policy for anyone else. Each local church must decide what they do about this issue. If, however, your church has adopted the Baptist Faith and Message (either 1925, 1963, or 2000), you should conform your practice accordingly or amend your Statement of Faith to reflect your beliefs through the process given in your church’s constitution. But before you take the drastic step of amending your church’s confession, I urge you to consider the reason that Southern Baptists have historically included baptism as a prerequisite to the Lord’s Supper in their confessions of faith.

In short, this is an issue of submission to the lordship of Christ, since:

  1. Baptism is commanded by Christ.
  2. Baptism is to occur at the beginning of the Christian life.
  3. The Lord’s Supper is to be received by repentant sinners.
  4. You have either obeyed Christ or not in regard to your baptism.
In other words, the only people eligible to receive the Lord’s Supper are believers in Christ Jesus who are repentant sinners. The way that one repents of not being baptized is simply to be baptized in obedience to Christ. A believer has either done this or not. If not, unless physically hindered, the believer is in rebellion against Christ and should not take the Lord’s Supper in this unrepentant state.

Of course I recognize that baptism, like everything else, is an interpretation issue. Granted some things are clearer in Scripture than others. The difference between the issue of baptism and other areas (either more or less clear) is that local churches must decide what they believe about baptism.  They are either going to sprinkle babies or immerse believers (of course a combination is possible too, but rare among Baptist churches both historically and presently).  If we believe that the Lord’s Supper is a church ordinance, and as a church we have stated a belief that baptism is the immersion of a believer and is commanded by Christ, then we have already made a decision on this issue.

Every church believes that only baptized people can partake of communion (Catholics, Presbyterians, etc.), Baptists only differ in their understanding of the nature of baptism (immersion of a believer).  Baptists believe that believer’s baptism by immersion is the only real baptism because of the meaning of term baptizo, the New Testament examples of believers being immersed, and the absence of any biblical examples of or commands to baptize infants or use the modes of sprinkling or affusion. Since a local church has to make an interpretative decision about the nature of baptism and the qualified recipients, we cannot have the church ordinance of the Lord’s Supper with those considered unbaptized. In other words, I think it is inconsistent for a church to allow unbaptized believers to partake of the Lord’s Supper if the church says that it believes that baptism of a believer by immersion is biblical and if it doesn’t allow paedo-baptists as members.

This, however, does not preclude me from being able to have gospel fellowship with a paedo-baptist. They can’t join my church or take the Lord’s Supper, but I don’t think they’re going to hell if they are believing the gospel. We have a different interpretation of baptism, just like we might on eschatology or any number of issues. The difference, though, is that we don’t have to make decisions on every other interpretive issue in the constitution of a church. We do on the definition of baptism. Thus, the necessity of limiting the Lord’s Supper and church membership to believers who have been baptized as we believe is biblical (like every other denomination).

Recommended Reading:

Filed under: Baptist, Lord's Supper | 3 Comments »

Facing Trials? Count It All Joy!

Posted on September 17, 2012 by Steve Weaver

The apostle James tells us in James 1:2 that we should “count it all joy” when we go through a trial. But, how can we do that?

The key word is count. This was a financial term used by book keepers and means “to evaluate.”Christians are told to “count” our trials as occasions for joy. We can only do this when we know what God is doing in our trials.

The nineteenth-century pastor, F. B. Meyer explained the valuable product of our trials in a way that, although dated, gets the point across. “A bar of iron worth $2.50, when wrought into horseshoes is worth $5. If made into needles it is worth $175. If into penknife blades it is worth $1,625. If made into springs for watches it is worth $125,000. But, what a ‘trial by fire’ that bar must undergo to be worth this! But … the more it is hammered and passed through the heat, beaten, pounded, and polished, the greater its value.”

In the same way, God uses trials in our lives to bring about good. Romans 8:28 reminds us that God works all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. This is an unlimited promise made to a specific people. Only those who truly love God and have put their faith in His Son Jesus can claim this promise. But those who believe that Christ died for their sins can be assured that God is working all things for their good.

Instead of attempting to escape our trials, we should trust that God is working through them. I once came across the story of a boy who found a cocoon attached to a small branch of a tree. He took the branch home and kept it securely in his room. When spring came, the butterfly began to struggle to escape from its prison. Wanting to help, the boy found a pair of small scissors and made a slight incision in the cocoon. Soon the butterfly emerged in all its radiant beauty. But it never flew! Having escaped all the struggle to emerge from the cocoon, the muscles of its wings never developed. The boy’s good intentions robbed the butterfly of its power to soar.

Don’t try to get out of your trials. They have a purpose. Count them all joy because you know that God is working in them to produce something good.

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God’s Greatest Problem

Posted on September 13, 2012 by Steve Weaver

God’s greatest problem is not whether He can make a rock so big that He can’t move it. Nor is it “Where did Cain get his wife?” God’s greatest problem is how He can forgive humans of their sins while remaining holy, righteous and pure.

Fortunately, like all math problems, this one has a solution. The problem is stated in 1 John 1:5 and the solution is spelled out in 1 John 2:2. The problem is essentially, “How can sinful humans and holy God come together?” Verse 5 uses the metaphors of light and darkness to declare that “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”

“Light” refers to moral purity or holiness. John says that in God there is not even one hint of darkness. The kind of light that John uses to describe God is a kind which none of us have ever seen. None of us have ever seen 100% light. You may be in a well lit room now, with light provided both by the sunlight through the windows and light bulbs overhead. Yet if you look closely you will notice shadows even where you are reading this column. Even the sun, the greatest bearer of light in our entire solar system is not 100% light. On its surface are sunspots, dark areas which are cold spots. These “cold spots” are only 4,000 degrees Celsius compared with 6,000 degree Celsius surrounding region!

But God is pure light. “In Him is no darkness at all.” Again, this metaphor is given to describe the moral purity or holiness of God. God is holy! This truth causes the greatest of all problems for God. How shall God forgive and pardon the sinner and remain holy? This is our greatest problem. He is holy; we are unholy. It is our unholiness that separates us from a holy God. Because He is holy, He cannot even look upon our sin, much less provide a home for us to live forever with Him.

Thankfully, there is a solution to this problem. In 1 John 2:2, Jesus is called the “propritiation for our sins.” The word “propitiation” is a difficult word for many. It means “to satisfy wrath.”  For those who deny the reality of man’s sinfulness this word is meaningless, as it is for those who deny that God is holy and therefore must judge humans with holy wrath. But, if humans are indeed sinful and God is indeed holy, the only solution to that problem is that there be a propitiation, i.e., “a satisfaction of the wrath of God.” God’s wrath must be satisfied.

All religions of this world teach a doctrine of propitiation. The difference between biblical Christianity and every other religion in this respect is that while all other religions teach that man must somehow satisfy the wrath of his god or gods through sacrifices, rituals, ceremonies, good deeds, etc.; only biblical Christianity teaches that the God whose holiness requires that His wrath be satisfied has taken the initiative Himself to satisfy His own wrath! This is exactly what He has done for all those who will confess their sin and trust in the work of Jesus Christ on the cross.

This is the gospel: holy God and sinful humans brought together by the sacrifice of Christ. His death was the payment that satisfied God’s wrath for all who believe and confess their sins. God has solved His own greatest problem.

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Book Recommendation: The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness by Tim Keller

Posted on September 7, 2012 by Steve Weaver
I am naturally drawn to bargains, so I noticed that the SBTS LifeWay campus store was selling Tim Keller’s small book The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness: The Path to True Christian Joy for only $1.99. But I thought there must not be much to it since they’re selling it so cheap. My dad bought a copy and when I asked him about it later, he said it was a must read. Taking his recommendation I bought it and read it. I found the book to be a gospel-liberating tract with the potential to transform lives. After reading the book, I immediately passed it on to my wife and encouraged her to read it. She did and shared my assessment. I have since given out approximately 25 copies to church members. I am encouraging everyone I know to read it, because it is just that helpful.

In this short work which is profoundly simple in its structure, Keller breaks down 1 Corinthians 3:21-4:7 in three concise chapters. First, Keller correctly diagnoses the problem that most of us have of a latent self-centeredness. Second, Keller paints the biblical portrait of what a transformed self would look like. Finally, and most helpfully, Keller explains how we can get this transformed-view of self. With clinical precision this book will diagnose the problem which plagues most of us as Christian, but it will not leave us there. In typical Keller fashion, we are shown the difference that the gospel can make in our lives. That’s what makes this little book potentially life-changing, its gospel-centered approach to the human condition. I can’t recommend this work strongly enough. Pick up a copy for yourself and then be sure and pass it on to others. It’s that good!

If you can’t get to the LifeWay campus store at SBTS, you can get a print copy or Kindle edition (for only $0.99) from Amazon.com.

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