Invitation from God: Click | View Series

Isaiah 1:18—"Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool."

The sinful condition of men is terrible in the extreme. This is set forth vividly in previous verses of the chapter. They are altogether alienated from their God.

God himself interposes to produce a change. The proposal of peace is always from his side.

He urges that a conference be held at once, "Come, and let us reason together."

That conference is to be held at once: "Come now" for the danger is too great to admit of a moment's delay. God is urgent; let us not procrastinate.

GOD INVITES YOU TO MEET

Sinful men do not care to think, consider, and look matters in the face; yet to this distasteful duty they are urged. If they reason, they rather reason against God than together with him; but here the proposal is not to discuss, but to treat with a view to reconciliation. Ungodly hearts also decline this.

1. They prefer to attend to ceremonial observances. Outward performances are easier, and do not require thought
2. Yet the matter is one which demands most serious discussion, and deserves it; for God, the soul, heaven, and hell are involved in it. Never was wise counsel more desirable.
3. No good can come of neglecting to consider it. It is one of those matters which will never drift the right way of itself.
4. It is most gracious on the Lord's part to suggest a conference. Kings do not often invite criminals to reason with them.
5. The invitation is a pledge that he desires peace, is willing to forgive, and anxious to set us right.
6. The appointment of the immediate present as the time for the reasoning together is a proof of generous wisdom. "Just as you are," come to God in Christ, just as he is. Love invites you in all your sin and misery.

Adapted from Charles Spurgeon's sermon notes, which are in the public domain.

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Jesus sends his disciples ahead of him

Jesus is comfortable leading passively from a distance at times, and lets his disciples go out before him on their own. We don't have a clear description of what they are doing when they go out before him, but you can infer that they are living the life that Jesus is teaching them about outside of the structure of Jesus physically being present with them.

When they are on the boat after the miraculous feast of 5,000, they were most certainly processing what just occurred. Jesus wasn't there to tell them explicitly, but he gave them a framework to understand the sovereignty of the Father over something as simple as the conservation of mass—yeah there were two pounds of bread, but God can make it into two tons and feed an army.

We can see Jesus' intentionality in giving his disciples time to synthesize what they are learning. The lessons are becoming more than head knowledge, and becoming part of who they are.

Jesus prays for his disciples

Jesus cares deeply about his disciples. He speaks of them as his sheep and of himself as the shepherd who will gladly die for their safety, cries when his friend dies, and spends his last minutes praying for them in his high priestly prayer.

Jesus doesn't just trust that they will be okay, but pleads with the Father that he would continue the work that has begun.

This is a series of reflections on how Jesus made disciples, based on the book of John.

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Video, audio, and images from the Advance 09 conference in Raleigh-Durham, NC, June 2009. Find out more.

What Is Scripture series: Click | View Series

Aquinas and the Literal Sense of Scripture

Although often overlooked by Protestants because of his place as the theologian of the Roman Catholic Church, Thomas Aquinas has much to teach us about Scripture. He followed the “four-fold sense” understanding of Scripture, as developed by Origen, but his emphasis was on the literal sense of Scripture.

Through his account of the literal sense, Aquinas continually uses Scripture to indicate the abundance of what we are allowed to and called to believe. Scripture is not just something that is “handed over” by tradition, but Scripture itself “hands over” divine revelation to us. Scripture is not just a static repository of propositional truth, but Scripture does something: it reveals truth and it testifies to Christ. In fact, for Aquinas, one cannot discuss Scripture without speaking of Christ, for Scripture is necessarily derived from the revelation of the Incarnate Word. To read Scripture is therefore to witness the revelation of the Word.

Foreshadowing Christ

However, it is not simply from Aquinas’ literal readings of Scripture that we can learn. Lest we dismiss all of his “non-literal” readings as medieval superstitions, observe how Aquinas explains the spiritual sense of how the Old Testament Law is to be read in light of Christ: “The reasons for the ceremonial precepts of the Old Law can be taken in two ways. First, in respect of the Divine worship which was to be observed for that particular time: and these reasons are literal… Secondly, their reasons can be gathered from the point of view of their being ordained to foreshadow Christ: and thus their reasons are figurative and mystical” (Summa Theologica). According to Aquinas, the key point is that Christ is the key to reading Scripture properly.

The Instruction of the Holy Spirit

Scripture is living and active for Aquinas—it “passes on” that knowledge of God that is true wisdom, and in doing so “hands over” the reader of Scripture to the instruction of the Holy Spirit. To follow Aquinas as a reader of Scripture is to confess that we are not the masters of truth, and that we must give ourselves over to the revelation of God in Jesus and God’s knowledge in Scripture.

To be continued.

For a more in-depth treatment of what the theological giants in the Christian tradition have taught about Scripture, read Christian Theologies of Scripture.

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Pastor Mark’s latest column for the Washington Post’s On Faith column is now up. The question posed to him was:

Is there good without God? Can people be good without God? How can people be good, in the moral and ethical sense, without being grounded in some sort of belief in a being which is greater than they are? Where do concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, come from if not from religion? From where do you get your sense of good and evil, right and wrong?

In response, Pastor Mark points to the Imago Dei, the biblical teaching that God made man in his own image.

Even those who do not believe in a god, or worship Jesus as the only God, cannot altogether erase the deep imprint of right and wrong because God stamped it on their very nature so that, despite being marred by sinful rebellion, it cannot be denied or ignored. In fact, we each appeal to this moral law every time evil is done against us; we appeal for something more than merely the survival of the fittest, where might makes right and morality is determined by those holding power. Therefore, we image God by respecting all of human life, particularly the weak, oppressed, sick, elderly, poor, unborn, and racial and cultural minorities because God values them as his image bearers.

You can read “Why Bad People Do Good Things” in it’s entirety at the Washington Post.

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Prayer series: Click | View Series
The Mars Hill sermon series that inspired this post

"While we ordinarily first bring our own needs to God in prayer, and then think of what belongs to God and his interests, the Master reverses the order. First Thy name, Thy kingdom, Thy will; then give us, forgive us, lead us, deliver us… In true worship the Father must be first, must be all."
—Andrew Murray

Pray Like Jesus

When the apostles said to Jesus, "Lord teach us how to pray," it was because they knew he was a man of profound devotion and prayer. The gospels tell us that Jesus prayed at every major event in his life: his baptism (Luke 3:21); the choice of apostles (6:12-12); his transfiguration (9:29); before the cross at Gethsemane (22:39-40); and on the cross (23:46). The Bible tells us that he continues in prayer for us. Hebrews 7:25 says, "He always lives to make intercession for them." He sets the example for us to follow:

• "And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone" (Matthew 14:23).
• "And when it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place" (Luke 4:42).
• "But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray" (Luke 5:16).
• "In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God" (Luke 6:12).
• "He took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray" (Luke 9:28).
• "He departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed" (Mark 1:35).
• "He went up on the mountain to pray" (Mark 6:46).

Shape Your Prayer Life to The Lord's Prayer

The secret to Jesus' powerful prayer life is found in the most important prayer of the Bible, commonly known as The Lord's Prayer. It is one of the most popular passages of Scripture read at funerals, weddings, and church services throughout the Christian world. But few people really grasp the meaning of this little prayer. It is Jesus' definitive teaching on prayer. It is an outline by which we can shape our own personal prayer life and begin to learn how to pray according to his will.

To be continued.

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