Blogging Theologically

Theology for real life

Rise, for the Lord is risen

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cornerstone

One of the things that’s easy to forget, even as we worship him on a Sunday morning, is the power and preciousness of the doctrine of the resurrection. This, Charles Spurgeon calls “the cornerstone of the entire building of Christianity.”

It is the key-stone of the arch of our salvation. It would take a volume to set forth all the streams of living water which flow from this one sacred source, the resurrection of our dear Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; but to know that he has risen, and to have fellowship with him as such—communing with the risen Saviour by possessing a risen life—seeing him leave the tomb by leaving the tomb of worldliness ourselves, this is even still more precious.1

For Spurgeon—and, of course, all faithful Christians from the moment of his resurrection to this day—the resurrection is not only something to be believed, but a truth through which to live. Knowing the risen Christ is the key to life, for if he is risen, then we who believe in him are risen with him. Spurgeon continues:

To know a crucified Saviour as having crucified all my sins, is a high degree of knowledge; but to know a risen Saviour as having justified me, and to realize that he has bestowed upon me new life, having given me to be a new creature through his own newness of life, this is a noble style of experience: short of it, none ought to rest satisfied. May you both “know him, and the power of his resurrection.” Why should souls who are quickened with Jesus, wear the grave-clothes of worldliness and unbelief? Rise, for the Lord is risen.

Friends, it is not enough to know of Christ—we need more than facts, more than ethical teachings, more than compelling stories and even signs and wonders. We must know him and the power of his resurrection. There is no freedom without this; there is no release from our bondage to sin. We remain lost in worldliness and unbelief and sin.

But our life comes from his life—risen because he is risen. And that is most certainly worth celebrating.

Be what you are so your love might be known to all

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hearts-love

I know I probably shouldn’t, but I tend to get uncomfortable whenever someone talks about how they are gifted in this or that way, particularly when Christians do it. Of course, it’s usually only Christians who do it, so… Anyway, this is usually done in the “I have a gift[ing] of” sense, often about leadership, teaching, or leadership. (Although I’ve noticed people tend to not make a point of saying, “I have a gift[ing] of service or hospitality.” Strange, that…)

I’m obviously not against people talking about what they’re good at. Doing so isn’t necessarily prideful—it might just be being honest. But sometimes when I hear people talking about what great teachers or leaders or whatevers they are, that cynical side of me thinks, “Who are you trying to convince: me or yourself?”

Our witness in the world around us is kind of like that, too. Though we ought to always use our words to clearly present the gospel to those who need to hear it, we are wise to remember that some things just have to be seen. Talking about them isn’t good enough. Charles Spurgeon described it this way in Morning and Evening,

Be you as the brook wherein you may see every stone at the bottom—not as the muddy creek, of which you only see the surface—but clear and transparent, so that your heart’s love to God and man may be visible to all. You need not say, “I am true:” be true. Boast not of integrity, but be upright. So shall your testimony be such that men cannot help seeing it.

In other words, be what you are, Spurgeon says. Don’t merely say you’re a person of integrity—actually be upright. Don’t say you’re truthful—just be that way. Don’t say you’ve got people skills—be personable. Don’t just say you’ve got this or that gift—use whatever gift you’ve been given so that God may be glorified. Just as we are to never let fear squelch the power of our words in our witness, we should never let a preference for speaking about what we are like squelch the rest of our witness. Be what you are, so that your love of Christ—and his love in you—might be known to all.

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The one thing children need most

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teach-children

Outside of the pulpit, there few areas of ministry that ought to be more closely guarded—and highly valued—than children’s ministry.

Yet it seems to be the exact opposite in so many ways:

  • Many curriculum options teach mere morality tales instead of the gospel.
  • Some who are particularly keen to serve suddenly have a lot less time on their hands once they find out the area of greatest need is working with children.
  • Others who do serve act as though kids ministry is a glorified babysitting service, rather than an opportunity to make disciples.

It’s like we’ve forgotten that children need all the same things we do in order to grow—and sometimes in greater abundance! But we must remember the command Jesus gave to Peter, to feed his lambs (John 21:15). Just as Peter was, we are commanded to instruct people in the faith, to teach them the truth, to “feed” them from God’s inspired word.

And that includes children.

In his book, Come Ye Children, Charles Spurgeon wrote of the necessity of feeding Christian children—and feeding them abundantly. He wrote:

Christian children mainly need to be taught the doctrine, precept, and life of the gospel: they require to have Divine truth put before them clearly and forcibly1 … Teach the little ones the whole truth and nothing but the truth; for instruction is the great want of the child’s nature. A child has not only to live as you and I have, but also to grow; hence he has double need of food. When fathers say of their boys, “What appetites they have!” they should remember that we also would have great appetites if we had not only to keep the machinery going, but to enlarge it at the same time. Children in grace have to grow, rising to greater capacity in knowing, being, doing, and feeling, and to greater power from God; therefore above all things they must be fed.

Children need the truth in order to grow, just as much as we do—and there is no doctrine that should be excluded from their understanding. They need to know about how God judges the world, and how he demonstrates his love through the sending of his Son Jesus to die for us. They need to know that all stand before God guilty of sin, and only Jesus can take it away. They need to know that Jesus is coming back to judge the living and the dead, and bring about the new creation. They need to know that God sends his Spirit to live within all who believe, giving them new life and desires that please God. They need all these and many more besides.

Whether they realize the need or not isn’t the point. Whether they respond right away or not doesn’t matter. Whether they think it’s boring or not is immaterial. Just as children need healthy food in order to grow physically, they need sound teaching to grow spiritually. So teach “the little ones the whole truth and nothing but the truth,” as Spurgeon wrote. For they have no greater need than this.

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The only lasting cure for anxiety

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run-to-father

I’ve gotten a lot of advice over the years about how to deal with anxiety and worry. On the advice of an older Christian (one who probably had a bit too much prosperity in his gospel) Emily and I once had a “worry box.” What we were encouraged to do with it was write down whatever it was that we were worried about and put it in the box to symbolically represent “giving it God.” Any time we were tempted to worry about such-and-such a thing, we were to point to the box, and thus we were not allowed to worry about it.

Now, maybe some people find things like that helpful, but… Yeah, that didn’t go so well for us.

The challenge of the box was it was just your garden variety white-knuckle religiosity. It was an attempt to use human effort to address the sign of a problem rather than addressing the real issue itself—that proneness we all feel to wander from God. So we run to ideas like this, and we rebuke people for not having faith, rather than encouraging them to pray as we should: “Lord, I believe—help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24)

Reflecting on Philippians 4:6-7, and Paul’s encouragement to be anxious over nothing, Charles Spurgeon wrote:

Carry your desires to the Lord of your life, the guardian of your soul. Go to Him with two portions of prayer and one of fragrant praise. Do not pray doubtfully but thankfully. Consider that you have your petitions, and therefore thank God for His grace. He is giving you grace; give Him thanks. Hide nothing. Allow no want to lie rankling in your bosom; “make known your requests.” Run not to man. Go only to your God, the Father of Jesus, who loves you in Him.

This shall bring you God’s own peace. You shall not be able to understand the peace which you shall enjoy. It will enfold you in its infinite embrace. Heart and mind through Christ Jesus shall be steeped in a sea of rest. Come life or death, poverty, pain, slander, you shall dwell in Jesus above every rolling wind or darkening cloud. Will you not obey this dear command?

Yes, Lord, I do believe thee; but, I beseech thee, help mine unbelief.1

The key to dealing with worry—the only lasting cure for anxiety—comes from bringing the reality of your anxiety before God. Not that he doesn’t already know it, but because in doing so, you are echoing that prayer, “I believe, help my unbelief.” It is an act of obedience, trusting the Lord will do as he has promised—not simply to provide for the needs of the day, but that when we lay our burdens before him, he will indeed give all who are weary and heavy-laden rest (Matthew 11:28).

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Ministry is not the enemy of marriage

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ministry-marriage

There are many great men who are unworthy of imitation as husbands. I am thankful that Charles Spurgeon is not among them.

One of the things I loved about working on the Spurgeon documentary last year was learning about Charles Spurgeon’s marriage. I’ll be honest, though, I was kind of terrified about what I’d find out. After reading of how awful so many marriages were—such as those of John Wesley and A.W. Tozer—I kind of expected that with Charles and Susannah Spurgeon. I was expecting the story of a wife quietly resentful of her absentee husband, whose mistress was his ministry.

But that wasn’t what I found. What I found instead was a marriage deeply united and centered around the gospel. Charles was a man deeply devoted to his wife. His heart was for the Lord first, yes, but of earthly ties there was nothing greater for him, and for Susannah also. She was his steadfast companion through trial and illness, joy and hardship, success and controversy.

And years after his death, as she compiled Charles’ autobiography, she testified that her love continued to abide:

Ah! my husband, the blessed earthly ties which we welcomed so rapturously are dissolved now, and death has hidden thee from my mortal eyes; but not even death can divide thee from me, or sever the love which united our hearts so closely. I feel it living and growing still, and I believe it will find its full and spiritual development only when we shall meet in the glory-land, and worship “together before the throne.”

This is the sort of love all married believers should aspire to—a love rooted not merely in our enjoyment of our spouses, but in our union with Christ. This is the kind of marriage I want to have, and by God’s grace, am trying to cultivate. One that centers on the gospel and reveals the beautiful mystery of gospel as it was always intended to do. May ministry never be a hindrance to that.

Lord, never let ministry be an enemy to marriage, but rather ministry be a blessing to marriage.

Lord, renew our taste for true “spiritual food”

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only truth

One of the things that absolutely terrifies me as I look across the popular landscape of Christian music, publishing and preaching is the… fluffiness of it all. We act as though there is a profound resurgence of robust Christian belief and practice—and truth be told, I genuinely believe we may be on the cusp of such a thing—but every week, hundreds of thousands of professing Christians only hear a legalistic and anemic message about how they can have their best life right now—better finances, a better marriage, a better body—but never actually hear about the one from whom all blessings flow.

Fed on a steady diet of such gobbledygook, we’ve lost our appetite appetite for true spiritual food. We are like small children who prefer processed chicken-like meat over the real thing. This simply will not do. We need our taste for spiritual food to be renewed—and we must plead with the Lord that he would bring such renewal. But as Charles Spurgeon said when preaching on Psalm 28:9,1 the need goes beyond simply recognizing our need for sound doctrine:

Ask the Lord to illuminate His people’s minds as to the doctrines of Covenant Grace, that they may see into the ancient things—that they may get to the depth that lies under and that rolls beneath, and may reach to the precious things of the everlasting hills. Why, half of the Lord’s people do not feed because they do not believe that that is bread which God puts on the table! They are afraid of some of His Truths because they have been told, “Oh, they are so high—it is such high doctrine.” “Savory meat,” I say, “such as my soul loves!” O that these people had but an appetite to feed upon these things from which they are kept back—not because the things are not good—but because they have been warned against them! Whatever is in this Book is fit for our souls to live upon! If God has revealed the Truth, O Believer, be not ashamed to accept it and to make it the nutriment of your soul!

Still, even if we had the prayer answered as to good pastors and sound doctrines, that is not all we need—the soul’s food is to really feed upon Christ Himself. Jesus Christ is received by the heart through communion with Him, and it is only by fellowship with Jesus that, after all, we get the marrow and the fatness of the Gospel. “The truth as it is in Jesus” is the only truth which really nourishes the spiritual man.

Lord, renew our taste for true “spiritual food” of the only true sort—and for One who truly nourishes our souls, Christ himself.

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