From the recent sermon Jesus Without Sin, on Luke 4:1-13.

1. Satan is a real enemy

Satan is a real enemy. Do you believe that? You need to discuss that at your community group and with your friends. If you don’t, if you still think, “I think that’s hocus pocus. I think that’s psychological projection. My community college professor really confused me on this point,” you need to articulate that. Don’t be a liar. Be honest. Come clean.

See, one of the most amazing things Satan did is he presented himself in the media: cartoons, little horns, red cape, and pitchfork. “Here he comes. Yeah, we know it’s him. How can we tell? He’s the red guy.” It’s not that easy. He’s into marketing and advertising. He’s subtle and crafty and sly and he’s very adept at baiting the hook. You have a real enemy. If you don’t believe that, confess that as sin. That’s the beginning of all your troubles. You have a real enemy. You’re born into a real war. You’re born again as a Christian on Christ’s side of the battle. But, the battle rages in your life as it did in his.

(Click here to see the rest of this post)

Troubled Souls

Part of a pastor’s job is “pastoral care”—shepherding troubled souls that are dealing with the effects of sin and suffering.

Life has amazing joys, but also a lot of suffering. Jesus says: “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). The pastor’s calling is to hear about and comfort people in the middle of “troubles” and to communicate the good news that Jesus has overcome all troubles by his atonement for sin and its effects.

In the Gospel accounts, when people had troubles they ran to Jesus because they were desperate and he was compassionate. Compassion is a very good word to describe Jesus. The word literally means “to suffer with.” God’s solidarity with suffering is surprising, unanticipated, and unpredictable. It is not what religion expects. Other religions say suffering is either deserved as punishment from God, or it’s just the unfolding of karma. Only Christianity looks at suffering as a motivation for God’s love and care.

Shepherding Tools

The good shepherd’s compassion for those suffering should influence our shepherding of troubled souls. Here are some examples we can learn from:

Martin Luther, Letters of Spiritual Counsel

Ministry to troubled souls is a ministry of the gospel. Luther wrote letters of spiritual counsel to his friends and contemporaries in the midst of sickness, death, sadness, imprisonment, anxiety, famine, persecution, and despondency.

Because of his role as the instigator of the Protestant Reformation, it is sometimes forgotten that Luther was a pastor. For Luther, pastoral care is always concerned with faith—establishing, nurturing, and strengthening faith. Because faith is about the gospel, when people needed pastoral care, his aim was not to get people to do certain things or disciplines so much as to get people to have faith and to exercise the love that comes from faith.

Here is an excerpt from the letter Luther wrote to his dying father: “The longer a man lives, the more wickedness and sin and plagues and sorrow he sees and feels…I commend to you Him who loves you more than you love yourself. He has proved his love in taking your sin upon himself and paying for them with his blood, as he tells you by the gospel.”

Soren Kierkegaard, Sickness Unto Death and Concept of Anxiety

Kierkegaard explains that we were made for relationship with God and that recognizing this is foundational to understanding oneself. Through self-deception and sin against God, we are consistently resisting our own true, God-given happiness and fighting against our own best interest. This leads to despair, which is “the sickness unto death,” and despair is connected to anxiety and sin.

Kierkegaard discusses various expressions of despair: unconscious despair, despair of weakness, despair of defiance, despair over the earthly, and despair over the eternal. This is relevant to everyone: “Not being in despair, not being conscious of despair, is precisely a form of despair.”

Kierkegaard’s talk of despair, anxiety, and sin is far from being pessimistic and nihilistic. It is deeply pastoral, because he calls for gospel despair. In his Concept of Anxiety, he writes: “Whoever has learned to be anxious in the right has learned the ultimate.” If properly understood, anxiety can be excellent preparation for the gospel: “He who in relation to guilt is educated by anxiety will rest only in the Atonement.”

Vintage Jesus

A theological journey chasing Jesus through Scripture and pop culture. Timeless answers to timely questions about the most important man who has ever lived. Find out more.

Click through to the Resurgence if you can't see the video.

I sat down with Steve Timmis, author of Total Church and Acts 29 Director for Western Europe, at the recent Acts 29 Boot Camp sponsored by Sojourn Community Church in Louisville, KY. He offers some amazing counsel for planters a couple years in as well as common mistakes to avoid. Thanks Steve for serving us so well.

Total Church

Tim Chester and Steve Timmis present a vision for churches centered on gospel community. Find out more.

Light into Darkness

In John 8, right before Jesus heals a blind man he says: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” The miracle of giving sight to the man born blind demonstrates the purpose of Jesus’ ministry. It illustrates Jesus’ power to bring his light to those in darkness.

Jesus is driving home a point for us when he declares that he is the light of the world in the presence of a blind man.

Imagine how obnoxious it would be for someone to tell you to do something when you know you just can’t do it. For example, imagine having the best food in the world in your mouth, but not having taste buds. Imagine being asked to describe the taste.

The issue is that of capability or ability. Without the ability to see, you cannot experience that which is just “out there.” You need to be capable of tasting to enjoy an Italian dinner.

Perhaps it is at this point that we can identify with the blind man and reflect on how our blind eyes don’t see the light that Jesus says he is. Our spiritual eyes don’t see without healing.

Brilliance of His Light

However, Jesus shows up and illuminates our hearts so we can see the brilliance of his light. Jesus brings healing to the exact point of the blind man’s suffering and darkness. Like this man, we can’t heal our own blindness regardless of how hard we try.

It is not like we are spiritually injured and can limp toward Jesus so we can lean on him the rest of the way. Rather, we are blind and poking around in the dark. And left on our own, we are not capable of experiencing the absolute beauty and splendor of grace unless Jesus heals our spiritual blindness.

Where darkness, death, and decay reign in our lives, Jesus breaks in with light, liberation, and love.

Punching Holes

A picture of this comes from Robert Louis Stevenson, the author of Treasure Island, who lived in 19th century Scotland. As a boy, his family lived on a hillside overlooking a small town. Robert was intrigued by the work of the old lamplighters who went about with a ladder and a torch, lighting the street lights for the night. One evening, as Robert stood watching with fascination, his parents asked him "Robert, what in the world are you looking at out there?" With great excitement he exclaimed: "Look at that man! He's punching holes in the darkness!"

With that one statement, Robert Louis Stevenson summed up Jesus’ miracle and teaching on spiritual blindness. Jesus came into this world and accomplished many great and miraculous wonders, yet his primary purpose was to punch great gaping holes in the darkness that shrouds us. He came to be the light to the entire world—he came to punch holes in our darkness.

Vintage Church

In this book, Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears discuss the essentials of what it means to be a biblical church. Find out more.

Part of the job description for a chaplain in the military is counseling troops. For the Christian chaplain, this is simply Matthew 28:19-20. Most counseling revolves around helping people change certain behaviors by dealing with particular issues. This is especially true in the military, where behavior and performance are heavily rewarded and extremely important for success. But chaplains can help their troops without getting them any closer to Christ and the cross, therefore not truly helping them at all.

Pastor James Noreiga recently led a training event for chaplains, teaching them how to emphasize the supremacy of Christ and his cross in counseling troops. Even though he is specifically speaking about the military chaplain, these are truths that all believers are called to live out.

Be sure to watch through to the end—you don’t want to miss the reasons why counseling is compromised when the cross of Christ is not at the front door.

Click through to the Resurgence if you can't see the video.

Total Church

Tim Chester and Steve Timmis present a vision for churches centered on gospel community. Find out more.

Your people could benefit tremendously from having a solid grasp of key theological terms. We at the Resurgence came up with the idea of creating posters that succinctly explain the most important theological ideas.

Prophecy

This poster explains prophecy about Jesus and his coming into human history. We can find hope and comfort in the fulfillment of all of God’s prophecies knowing that he has been, and always will be, perfectly faithful to his promises.

Download the Prophecy poster here.

If you need ideas for how to use the posters, click here.

Re:Sound

The musical arm of the Resurgence offers music that is theologically unified, stylistically diverse, and musically excellent. Find out more.

How Jesus Made Disciples series: Click | View Series

Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."(Matt. 28:18-20)

How did Jesus equip his disciples for disciple-making?

In Matthew 28, Jesus told the disciples to make disciples of all nations. This is one of the largest tasks ever attempted--seemingly impossibly large, but he also gave them unimaginably powerful tools to execute the vision. How do 11 guys make several billion disciples? We will answer this question in several parts.

Jesus rose from the dead and gave them a mission.

This could be an easy point to miss, but they had the motivation of seeing a dead man rise to spur them on to the mission to which Jesus called them. They saw the gospel in action. This isn't some philosophical or religious superstition--when dead men rise, the power of God is present.

Eleven ordinary guys need to somehow make billions of disciples. Logic would dictate that many photocopies of an already less-than-perfect set of men will lead to a real jacked-up church in the future. But God has given his disciples a set of tools.

Jesus gives the power to baptize.

Anyone can dunk another person in water. It can be done at a carnival with a softball, or in a toilet by a bully at school, but it takes the authority and work of God to put someone underwater as a symbol of their being crucified with Christ and raised again to live in the power of Christ for the work of the Gospel. The disciples have been given the gift of baptism, meaning that they have been given the power that was once reserved for only the most holy of priests and prophets. Now these fishermen who spent about enough time to get a community college degree from Jesus are able to carry that kind of authority--and they'll need it to work towards the immense task they've been given.

Jesus gives them the directive to teach.

Jesus taught the disciples all they would need to know for the mission he's given them. They have the Old Testament, they have the teaching of Jesus, and they have the Holy Spirit--this is sufficient, and now they must teach others. They must preach, they must be ready to give an answer for the hope within them, they must model Christ-like living, they must raise children who honor God, model families that honor the Lord, and build communities that bow down before the throne.

Jesus will remain with them.

Jesus promises that they are never alone in their mission. The Father is always watching from his throne--holding the earth and everything that's on it in place. Jesus is beside him, fully sovereign over everything on earth, and the Spirit is actively moving among the hearts and minds of the disciples. Jesus is with them--to the very end.

Conclusion

These things that God gave may not seem like enough--we want a staff like Moses that does magical things, or the ability to walk on water, or something that shows that we have power. But what we have is more--it's the authority of the King.

Resurgence Literature

Re:Lit is a ministry of Resurgence. There you will find a growing line of books to help guide the resurgence of the new reformed. Find out more.

What Is Scripture series: Click | View Series

“It seems to me that God would have our whole dependence be upon the Scriptures, because the greater our dependence is on the Word of God, the more direct and immediate is our dependence on God himself. The more absolute and entire our dependence on the Word of God is, the greater respect shall we have to that Word, the more shall we esteem and honor and prize it; and this respect to the Word of God will lead us to have the greater respect to God himself.” (Jonathan Edwards, The Miscellanies)

Although many scholars consider Jonathan Edwards the finest philosophical mind that America has ever produced, Edwards’ primary allegiance was to the God revealed through the Bible, and not philosophy. When one examines the writings of Edwards, every page reflects a mind that was saturated in Scripture. In particular, Edwards viewed of Scripture as accomplishing four tasks:

1. To Correct Errors

First, Scripture is given to correct errors. This correction is especially evident in the ministry of preaching: “One great use of the word of God is correction of errors, with regard to which use ministers are commanded to study it” (Sermons and Discourses).

2. To Interpret Experience and Emotions

However, the Scripture does not simply correct error, but secondly, it teaches how to interpret our experience and even our emotions: “All that can be argued from the purity and perfection of the Word of God, with respect to experiences, is this, that those experiences which are agreeable to the Word of God, are right, and can't be otherwise; and not that those affections must be right, which arise on occasion of the Word of God, coming to the mind” (Religious Affections).

3. To Redeem Us

Third, the scriptures are God’s tool for redemption: “The written word of God is this main instrument Christ has made use of to carry on his Work of Redemption in all ages since it was given” (A History of the Work of Redemption).

4. To Testify of God’s Glory

Fourth, above all else, Edwards saw the Bible as a testimony to the glory of God in Jesus Christ. “Truly to see the truth of the Word of God, is to see the truth of the gospel; which is the glorious doctrine the Word of God contains, concerning God, and Jesus Christ, and the way of salvation by him, and the world of glory that he is entered into, and purchased for all them who believe; and not a revelation that such and such particular persons are true Christians, and shall go to heaven. Therefore those affections which arise from no other persuasion of the truth of the Word of God than this, arise from delusion, and not true conviction; and consequently are themselves delusive and vain” (Religious Affections).

God’s Glory in Jesus Christ

For Edwards, the center of Scripture was the revelation of God through Jesus Christ. The aim of Scripture is to point us to the glory of God in Jesus Christ and increase our longing to enter into his glory.

From beginning to end, the Word of God is sufficient for all things related to life and faith. For Jonathan Edwards, the ultimate aim of such things was to see God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ.

To be continued.

For a more in-depth treatment of what the theological giants in the Christian tradition have taught about Scripture, check out Christian Theologies of Scripture. You can also read the introduction online.

Re:Sound

The musical arm of the Resurgence offers music that is theologically unified, stylistically diverse, and musically excellent. Find out more.

Learning to Advent series: Click | View Series

The Scriptures don’t require us to do anything different during the Advent season. Recognizing Advent as individuals, families, or as a church doesn’t make you better or more spiritual than a church that doesn’t recognize Advent.

That said, there are some real advantages for a church to recognize and celebrate the Advent season.

1. It’s Expected

Individuals in your community expect the church to at least recognize something is different during the month of December. Traditions (individual and cultural) form people to observe this holiday season.

Observing Advent can be one of the more subversive acts that a congregation can do. Because our culture still observes the Christmas season, there are a lot of natural connection points between the church and culture during the holiday season. How a church embodies its participation in the time and events of Advent can communicate a lot to the community around them about the importance of the story of Jesus.

2. It Tells the Story about Jesus

During Christmas time, Christians get a bunch of press as they fight over which words and religious symbols the culture must use to recognize the coming of the Prince of Peace. They put on elaborate pageants and concerts to celebrate the king who was born into poverty, in an obscure town, to a couple of young, first-time parents. The story of Jesus can get lost in the celebration.

During Christmas time, those who have little to do with the church gather with family, host elaborate parties, decorate their houses, and give money and presents away. Again, the story of Jesus can get lost in the celebration.

When you celebrate Advent through songs, Scripture readings, sermons, and the Lord’s Supper, you get to tell God’s great story of redemption. You can tell of the need for redemption highlighted throughout the entire Old Testament. You can tell of the coming of Jesus, “born a child and yet a king.” You can tell of how the angels proclaimed and the Magi demonstrated the global implications of Jesus’ birth. You can tell of how his now longed-for second coming will be horror for those who don’t believe and wonder upon wonder for those who do believe.

Advent gives your church a wonderful opportunity to tell the story of redemption from all the Scriptures.

3. It Tells the Whole Story

Advent is about much more than gifts and good deeds. The story isn’t all fun and wonder. There is darkness and gloom. There is longing. There is joy and light. There is redemption and grace. There is judgment and final victory. In a way, recognizing Advent is expected. In another way, it’s counter-cultural.

Advent allows you to both show the horror of sin and the blessings Christ came to make known, “far as the curse is found.” When you recognize the season of Advent over a number of services before Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, you get to talk about these things. You help your people understand why the inbreaking of God’s kingdom through the birth of Jesus is “good news of a great joy that will be for all people” (Luke 2:10).

For example, during Advent you can talk about how to observe the humility of Christ’s birth amidst the gaudy overindulgence of our consumer-frenzied Christmas. You can talk about how crying out, “Come, thou long-expected Jesus” counters our demands for our best life now. You can encourage your people to a global mission as you talk about pagan astrologers who followed a star to worship the one born king of the Jews.

These are a few reasons to recognize Advent. In the next post, we will offer some ways your church can observe the season in a way that participates in the narrative birth of Jesus and fits your context.

To be continued.

By Elliot Grudem and Bruce Benedict.

Vintage Jesus

A theological journey chasing Jesus through Scripture and pop culture. Timeless answers to timely questions about the most important man who has ever lived. Find out more.

In this video Mark Driscoll asks R.C. Sproul, "What is the biggest theological battle the next generation will face?"

Click through to the Resurgence if you can't see the video.

Resurgence RSS Feed

Subscribe to the Resurgence syndicated feed and have all our content delivered straight to your feed reader. Find out more.