Francis of Assisi: Use Words, They are Necessary

Francis of Assisi is known for 3 things. A poem he likely didn't write, a love of animals that was likely oversold, and a saying he never said: “Preach the Gospel, and if necessary, use words.” It is popular to quote this and attribute it to Francis of Assisi, but again, he never said it.

Francis, in fact, would never have said something like that. Francis was a traveling preacher who left his wealthy family's money behind to call people to repentance. In the 1200s, the rulers and even clergy were focused on the new mercantile economy and the race to gain wealth. Francis preached the gospel of Jesus, and emphasized the treasure of heaven and the temporariness of wealth on earth. And he used words. 

 

Some of his favorite words came from Christ:

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. "Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.

"But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. "Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.” (Luke 6:20-26)

These words emphasized that the rich and powerful are not those you should envy. It is tempting to think that if you don't end up rich, powerful, or famous, that you have not “arrived” and you have not succeed in life. Christ instead speaks of a time to come, a reward that is not here, but is to come. 

 

Francis, in his time, was sad over the wars that developed between the West and Islamic State to the East. So he went to the Sultan al-Kamil to do something bold: preach the gospel...with words. He spoke to the Sultan about Christ who died and rose again, and whose riches were not of this earth, but of greater value in forgiveness, peace with God, and newness of life. 

 

The Sultan's advisers suggested beheading Francis for attempting to convert the Sultan. But the Sultan took Francis aside and told him that he was impressed that Francis cared for his soul. As a result, within a year the Sultan negotiated peace with the West. 

But the Sultan told Francis that he could not convert. It would cost him his throne and his life. The heavenly treasure cost an earthly treasure he was not willing to pay. When Francis left, the Sultan asked Francis to pray for him. Francis' words made him pause, and he said he wanted Francis to pray that he would be shown the truth. 

 

The lesson of Francis is not silent preaching, but the power of words. Words can cause our grip on mere things to be loosened. Words can bring peace to a war. And words of the good news can deliver us from this world, to the next. Follow the example of Francis. Preach the Gospel. And use words, they're necessary.

Much Love in Christ,

Pastor Jared Nelson

The Preached Word as Means of Grace in Calvin.

(This is a chapter from my master's thesis. If I had it to rework I would make some changes. Also this chapter relies heavily on some groundwork done by Glen Clary. Despite the shortcomings, I thought I would share this work, especially since this work laid the foundation for my doctrine of the Word and why I believe the Reformed Tradition has the correct emphasis on the primacy of the Word and preaching (Contra the Anglo-Catholic Anglicans or some High Church Lutherans)

THE PREACHED WORD IN CALVIN

The concept of the Word of God exercises a high prominence in John Calvin’s Theology. The sacraments have no efficacy, except by the Word of God.¹ The church does not exist, except by the Word of God.² Faith ordinarily is produced by the Word of God.³ All of creation comes to being by the efficacy of the Word.⁴ Calvin’s Ecclesiology, Sacramental theology and Soteriology depend on the concept of the Word of God, and so understanding the Biblical teaching of the Word of God is essential to understanding the Calvin’s summation of the Christian religion.

What is the Word?

Scholarly opinion holds “the primacy of the word of God was fundamental to the doctrine of the Reformation.”⁵ Yet, the contemporary understanding of the meaning of the concept in Scripture of “the Word of God” could cause the contemporary reader to misunderstand Calvin's robust doctrine of the Word. The Westminster Larger Catechism asks “What is the Word of God?” in Question three. The answer states the Word of God is, “The holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God, the only rule of faith and obedience.” To the student of the Westminster Catechism, the first and primary answer for “what is the Word of God?” would be the written Word in Scripture.

Calvin's theology of the Word includes, though not less than this Westminsterian affirmation of Scripture as Word of God, much more teaching on the doctrine of the Word. When Calvin defines the Word, he does not begin with the written form, but insists that “‘Word’ mean the everlasting Wisdom, residing with God, from which both all oracles and all prophecies go forth.”⁶ Such a definition as including “Wisdom” includes Christ as the ultimate Word. “The Word abides everlastingly one and the same with God and is God himself.”⁷ Yet, in identifying the Word with “oracles” Calvin also conceives of the message of the Word. The content of the message is Christ, and the oracles are the communication of God of Himself. When applying the term “Word” to something other than Christ, what is meant is a medium of communication of the Word of God.

Calvin includes with his doctrine of the Word identification of what may be called modes or mediums of communication of the Word of God. Calvin certainly agrees with later theology (including the Westminster Catechism) that the Word of God is communicated in Scripture.⁸ Yet written Scripture is not the only means by which God has communicated to man, which also includes oracles, visions, and the work and ministry of men.⁹ When observing Calvin's use of the term “Word,” we can clearly see it is more expansive than merely “Scripture.” Specifically to the appellation of Word of God being applied to preaching, Calvin writes that God sends “the Word” to Pharaoh which hardens his heart. By Word, Calvin is referring to the message Moses delivered orally. Calvin makes the same identification of Ezekiel’s spoken message to be delivered orally.¹⁰ Thus, for Calvin, not only are the Scriptures the Word of God, but so is preaching. Certainly, the nature of the two is different depending on the time in redemptive history,¹¹ yet both the Scriptures are affirmed, as will be labeled “the written Word,” and preaching is affirmed, as will be labeled “the preached Word.”

Preaching as Word of God

The modern focus on the written Word to the neglect of the spoken or preached Word, has likewise led to a neglect of the preached Word in studying Calvin. Thomas Davis remarked that, “When we speak of Calvin’s preaching, we approach one of the two final frontiers…in studies of Calvin; the other is exegesis.”¹² Any exploration of Calvin's preaching and his doctrine of preaching must deal with Calvin's conception of the Word both in Scripture and preached. Though contemporary evaluations of Calvin’s view of preaching acknowledge it as “the Word” in Calvin understating the doctrine. For instance, T.H.L. Parker asserts, “According to Calvin...preaching so to say 'borrows' its status of 'Word of God' from Scripture.”¹³ This description becomes the often quoted maxim for the relation of Calvin’s idea of the preached Word in regards to the written word, as both Glen Clarey and J. Mark Beach quote Parker.¹⁴ This wording of “status,” gives the wrong impression of Calvin’s estimation of status of the preaching the Word as a medium. According to Calvin, the apostles operated under a different set of rules in their preaching than do their successors and so the apostles are “scribes of the Holy Spirit.” The preaching of the apostles begins as Word of God and lends its status to Scripture. Then, their successors must follow the apostles’ preaching and teaching as recorded in Scripture.¹⁵

Therefore, Calvin's evaluation of preaching, then, does not begin with it borrowing its status from Scripture. After quickly identifying the creed as the message of the church in book four, Calvin identifies the first Word through which this message of the church is conveyed to the congregation. This Word is the preached Word. Calvin uses Scripture to identify the message of God first coming by auditory means to the people. The teaching God wishes to convey to His people is “by the mouth of the priest.”¹⁶ In discussing the message of God, Calvin does not begin with his own time and how his time came to have the content of the message. In his own time and ours, certainly preaching borrows its content, though not its status, from Scripture. Rather, when dealing the relationship, Calvin starts in history where the message of God begins in a form that is heard rather than read, and only after it is heard is it recorded in written form. Historically speaking, for Calvin, especially in those instances where the message begins as the oral word of the prophet, Scripture borrows its content as Word of God from the preached Word. Although in the case of the priest speaking he is likely expounding the Law in written form and the priest's spoken Word would then borrow its content from the written Word. Primacy is not always given to the written Word, but to God's message as He personally encounters His people in a particular time. Authority is derived from God in the mediums of written and spoken message, without one being primary in status, until the written Word gains priority in infallible content at the close of the canon.¹⁷ Therefore, in addressing the concept of the preached Word in Calvin, we are speaking merely of an extension of the doctrine of the written Word.

Characteristics of Preached Word

The concept of the Word of God dominates and then serves as the foundation for a great deal of the content in book four of the Institutes which expound the concept of the means of grace. There, the means of grace are also called, “the external means or aids by which God invites us into the Society of Christ and holds us therein.” The church forms the context of these means, as the deposit of the gospel.¹⁸ The creed of the Church serves as a summary of the message the church has received, and so also within in the Nicene Creed, Calvin understands the exhortation to be to “believe the church.”¹⁹ Calvin here concerns himself with the Word of God as it is before the people through the church. Though Christ as Word is not present immediately before the people, the Word is present in Scripture and preaching.

We can thus conclude that for Calvin the preached Word functions as a means of grace. It does so not merely by borrowing its status from the Scriptures, but from its divinely sanctioned role in the history of redemption. Though God may not currently directly give oral instructions directly to his messengers, He does give such content through the written Word. This does not diminish the place of preaching in the delivery of the gospel to God’s people.²⁰

We may explore in Calvin’s doctrine of the Preached Word as means of grace three main attributes. Calvin articulates the preached word as a peculiar medium, rather than one possible option for dispensing Scripture’s content. Calvin also maintains what Hugh Oliphant Old calls “a Kerygmatic real presence” of Christ in the preached Word.²¹ Finally, Calvin declares that preaching gains its power of efficacy from the working of the Spirit, Who has bound Himself to this instrumental means.

The Peculiar Ordained Medium

Calvin viewed the medium of preaching as a divinely sanctioned medium. Again, the written Word is not lending itself to a lesser medium in preaching. God establishes preaching as a chosen medium of the message of the church.

This conception of preaching as a God-ordained medium displays itself in Calvin’s discussion of the “power of the keys.” When Jesus declares the church has the power of the keys, this refers to the privilege of proclaiming the gospel as “it is dispensed to us through the ministers and pastors of the church, either by the preaching of the gospel or by the administration of the sacraments.”²² The concept of “word and sacrament” for Calvin refers to the preached Word, Baptism and the Supper. The validation of a true church by these marks is not merely whether they have the Scriptures, but whether “the preaching of His word [is] kept pure.”²³

Preaching is a peculiar medium for God’s Word, distinct from reading Scripture. Scripture is printed on the page and read by the eye. For Calvin, it is important that the Word of God be spoken by the mouth and heard by the ear. In hearing the message of the preacher, one does not merely hear teaching on the Word of God, the hearer hears the Word of God. Calvin explores this concept especially in his interaction with the books of the Old Testament prophets. On Isaiah 55:11, which states that God’s Word does not return void, Calvin explains, “The word goeth out of the mouth of God in such a manner that it likewise “goeth out of the mouth” of men; for God does not speak openly from heaven, but employs men as his instruments, that by their agency he may make known his will.”²⁴ When the Word is preached rightly, the hearer hears the voice of God in the mouths of humans. Again, in John 10:4, where the sheep hear Christ’s voice, Calvin insists, “God should be heard speaking by them [ministers].”²⁵ For this reason, Parker’s earlier stated position that for Calvin preaching borrows its status as Word of God from Scripture is insufficient.²⁶ The status of the medium is ordained by God. The content of that message is derived from and regulated by Scripture. Yet especially in a worship context, Calvin prefers that Christ’s voice is heard, rather than Christ’s words merely being read. Scripture then has priority in authority, but preaching has priority in delivery.²⁷

The Kerygmatic Presence

Secondly, Calvin expounds a doctrine of the real presence of Christ in preaching. Old calls this the “kerygmatic real presence” to distinguish it from the spiritual, or pneumatic, presence in Calvin's doctrine of the Eucharist.²⁸ In the preaching of the Word, Calvin declares that “God himself appears in our midst.”²⁹

Calvin’s conception of God’s presence in the Temple supports the kerygmatic presence. “The Temple is called God’s resting place.”³⁰ God does not merely have a preference of location, for God does not dwell in temples made by men, but rather “By his Word, God alone sanctifies temples to himself for lawful use.”³¹ The “place of God’s name” is the place where God’s name is heard. “The Lord nowhere recognizes any temple as his save where his Word is heard.”³² Preaching brings God’s presence among his people. As explored above, God’s voice is heard through the consecrated mouths of men, manifesting a measure of God’s presence by men hearing God’s Word.³³

The implications of Christ’s real presence in preaching consist in union and communion with Christ. Glen Clary clarifies Calvin’s position as stating “The gospel is not merely an invitation to fellowship with Christ; it is a vehicle by which Christ is communicated to us”³⁴ Calvin usually connects the concept of communion with God to the works of the Holy Spirit, and also does so here. The Word is a means of communion with Christ because God joins “his Spirit with it.”³⁵ Calvin so understands the phrase from Galatians 3:2 “received the Spirit…by the hearing of faith,” with faith “here put, by a figure of speech, for the gospel.”³⁶

Since it is by the mouth of the preacher Christ speaks, so preaching is the means by which Christ reigns over His Church. Calvin connects the concept of the kingdom of God with the preaching of the Word especially in the Commissioning passages. In Acts 1:8, Calvin does not interpret Christ to be ignoring the disciple’s question to whether Christ was bringing the kingdom at that time. Instead, Christ is answering by what means the kingdom was advanced. Christ’s “kingdom consisteth in the preaching of the gospel…Christ did then reign when as he subdueth unto himself (all the whole) world by the preaching of the gospel.”³⁷ In Matthew 28:18, Calvin uses kingdom language in stating that Jesus “by constraining men to obey him in the preaching of the gospel, he established his throne on the earth.”³⁸ Calvin gave no other medium or sacrament the high status of preaching by calling it the earthly throne of Christ. Ronald S. Wallace summarizes Calvin’s view of Old Testament prophecies about the “rule of the Messiah amongst the nations” as being fulfilled in the preached Word.³⁹

The Spirit and the Preached Word

The preached Word, in being endowed by God as a divinely sanctioned medium, as an instrument of God’s presence, and as the instrument of God’s rule, carries with it a power to accomplish God’s purposes. The degree to which these three attributes truly describe the preached Word corresponds to the effecting power of preaching. When Romans 10:17 states “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ,” Calvin connects “word of Christ” with preaching as confirming “the efficacy of preaching.”⁴⁰ In such a way, we may understand Calvin to hold preaching as a means of grace.

Preaching, in a certain sense, may effect the faith that it demands.⁴¹ Not that the bare Word effects, for “faith is the proper and entire work of the Holy Spirit.”⁴² The Spirit and the Word accomplish God’s purposes together. These two must not be separated, for “as soon as the Spirit is separated from the word of Christ, the door is open to all kinds of delusions and impostures” like Romanism and Islam.⁴³ The Spirit does not normally work apart from the Word, and the Word always carries the Spirit. If the Spirit chooses to grant faith, then preaching is the means of bestowing and effecting regeneration and sanctification.⁴⁴

The effect of the Word, however, may also be negative. The Word may be the means either of binding or of loosening,⁴⁵ of softening or hardening,⁴⁶ or of effecting salvation for the elect or condemnation on the wicked, depending on how the Spirit effects the recipient.⁴⁷ In addition to being a means of grace, we might also call preaching a means of condemnation or judgment.

When conceiving of the benefits of the means, Calvin has specific metaphysical benefits in mind. Since preaching stands beside the Eucharist and Baptism, as fellow means of grace, preaching is often described as bestowing the same benefits. For Calvin, the Eucharist hosts a communion that causes the soul of the believer to “rise heavenward.”⁴⁸ So too, does the preaching of the Word not only bestow benefits, but proceeds “to bear us up as if in chariots to his heavenly glory.”⁴⁹ The need for this arises from Calvin’s insistence on the reality of a real union with Christ from which springs all the benefits of redemption.⁵⁰ Thus, benefits are not merely delivered, but union between the believer and Christ is experienced in the means of grace.⁵¹ Even when speaking of the nature of the union experienced through other means such as the Supper or baptism, that benefit “requires the Word…there is need of preaching.”⁵² The currency of transfer, as figured in the means, is nothing other than the life of Christ, by way of experiencing union with Christ.⁵³

Conclusion

As we have seen, the concept of the “Word” to Calvin includes much more than the doctrine of the inspiration of the written text of Scripture. Calvin’s theology, especially of God’s use of means may be said develop as working out of the implication of the presupposition that “the gospel is the power of God unto salvation.”⁵⁴ Calvin’s position can briefly be put as, “God as the author of preaching, joining his Spirit with it, promises benefits from it.”⁵⁵ Preaching as a divinely ordained medium works as an instrument of God’s presence, and as the instrument of God’s rule in carrying out God’s purposes.

1 John Calvin. Institutes of the Christian Religion. Trans. Ford Lewis Battles. (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmanns, 1986), 1278. (4.14.3)

2 Calvin. Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1046 (4.2.4).

3 John Calvin. Commentary on Romans. Trans. John Owen. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 2005), 401

4 John Calvin. Commentary on the First Book of Moses called Genesis. Trans. John King. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 2005), 75.

5 Jaroslav Pelikan. The Christian Tradition. Volume 4: Reformation of Church and Dogma. (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1984), 187

6 Calvin. Institutes of the Christian Religion, 129 (1.13.7).

7 Calvin. Institutes of the Christian Religion, 130 (1.13.7).

8 Calvin. Institutes of the Christian Religion, 71-73 (1.6.2).

9 Calvin. Institutes of the Christian Religion, 71 (1.6.2).

10 Calvin. Institutes of the Christian Religion, 980 (3.24.13).

11 Calvin. Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1157 (4.8.9).

12 Thomas J. Davis, This is My Body: the Presence of Christ in Reformation Thought (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008), 94.

13 T.H.L. Parker, Calvin’s Preaching. (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1992), 23.

14 Mark Beach, “The Real Presence of Christ in the Preaching of the Gospel: Luther and Calvin on the Nature of Preaching,” Mid-America Journal of Theology 10 [1999]: 100 / Glen J. Clarey. John Calvin: Servant of the Word of God. (Unpublished paper 2009), 15

15 Calvin. Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1017 (4.1.5).

16 Calvin. Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1157 (4.8.9).

17 Calvin. Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1157 (4.8.9).

18 Calvin. Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1011-1012 (4.1.1).

19 Calvin. Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1012-1013 (4.1.2).

20 Calvin. Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1011-1012 (4.1.1).

21 Hughes Oliphant Old. The Reading and Preaching of the Scriptures in the Worship of the Christian Church. Volume 4: The Age of the Reformation. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002), 133.

22 Calvin. Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1036 (4.1.22).

23 Calvin. Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1024 (4.1.10).

24 John Calvin. Commentary on a the Book of the Prophet Isaiah Volume 4. Trans. William Pringle. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 2005), 172.

25 John Calvin. Commentary on the Gospel According to John Volume 2. Trans. William Pringle. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 2005), 396.

26 T.H.L. Parker, Calvin’s Preaching. (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1992), 23.

27 One may conjecture if the lower rate of literacy and availability of printed books influenced this preference for the medium of delivery of preaching. Yet, the contrast remains that where contemporary pastors may push congregants to reading the Word in the Scriptures, Calvin placed an equal emphasis on hearing the Word.

28 Hughes Oliphant Old. The Reading and Preaching of the Scriptures in the Worship of the Christian Church. Volume 4: The Age of the Reformation. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002), 133.

29 Calvin. Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1017 (4.1.5).

30 Calvin. Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1017 (4.1.5).

31 Calvin. Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1019 (4.1.5).

32 Calvin. Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1043 (4.2.3).

33 Calvin. Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1018 (4.1.5).

34 Glen J. Clarey. John Calvin: Servant of the Word of God. (Unpublished paper 2009), 20.

35 Calvin. Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1020 (4.1.6).

36 John Calvin. Commentary on a the Epistles of Paul to the Galatians and Ephesians. Trans. William Pringle. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 2005), 81.

37 John Calvin. Commentary upon the Acts of the Apostles Volume 1. Trans. Henry Beveridge. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 2005), 47.

38 John Calvin. Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists, Matthew, Mark and Luke Volume 3. Trans. William Pringle. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 2005), 382.

39 Ronald S. Wallace. Calvin’s Doctrine of Word & Sacrament. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1957), 87.

40 John Calvin. Commentary on Romans. Trans. John Owen. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 2005), 401

41 “preaching…by it faith is produced.” John Calvin. Commentary on Romans. Trans. John Owen. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 2005), 401

42 Calvin. Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1284 (4.14.8).

43 John Calvin. Commentary on the Gospel According to John Volume 2. Trans. William Pringle. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 2005), 145.

44 See Mark Beach, “The Real Presence of Christ in the Preaching of the Gospel: Luther and Calvin on the Nature of Preaching,” Mid-America Journal of Theology 10 [1999]: 110

45 John Calvin. Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists, Matthew, Mark and Luke Volume 2. Trans. William Pringle. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 2005), 293.

46 Calvin. Institutes of the Christian Religion, 980 (3.24.13).

47 John Calvin. Commentary on a the Book of the Prophet Isaiah Volume 4. Trans. William Pringle. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 2005), 172.

48 John Calvin. Commentary on the Epistles of Paul to the Corinthians. Vol 1. Trans. John Pringle. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 2005), 378

49 Calvin. Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1020 (4.1.5)

50 “The only way in which [Christ] communicates his blessings to us is by making himself ours.” [Calvin Treatises on the Sacraments 89]

51 Calvin. Institutes of the Christian Religion, 570 (3.2.24).

52 Calvin. Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1416-7 (4.17.39).

53 Calvin. Institutes of the Christian Religion, 540 (3.1.3).

54 Romans 1:16 ESV

55 Calvin. Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1020 (4.1.5)

The Gospel Assumed...

Often as Christians will admit that we live life assuming the gospel. By that, we mean we "move past" the gospel to other things. Gospel becomes those things that are elementary and then we stop declaring them to "move on" to other things. Then when we assume the gospel, we confuse the gospel (because we never talk about it and forget it). Then after we confuse the gospel we deny the gospel. I came across this selection recently and think it is appropriate to share:

Assuming the Gospel is the height of arrogance. It is as if we were saying, “We all know what God has done for us in Jesus, so we can go on to teach and learn other things today.” St. Paul gave much apostolic direction for living the Christian life – “bearing with one another” (Colossians 3:13), “speaking the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15), “walking by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16), and seeing the “more excellent way” (1 Corinthians 12:31). Yet Paul always put such admonition in the context of Christ’s saving work for us. In fact, Paul was adamant about the priority of the cross: “I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” (1 Corinthians 2: 2)… No matter what else Paul had to say, the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ for our salvation are the center, the essence, the focal point of all Christian preaching. Whether the subject is justification or sanctification, it all comes back to the cross. No preaching, no Christian teaching is complete unless it brings us back to what God has done for us in Jesus Christ on the cross. Indeed, anything else the preacher might proclaim is meaningless, unless it flows into or out of the message that Jesus died and rose for us. Every doctrine of Scripture is designed by God ultimately to bring the comfort of sins forgiven and eternal life in Christ to the penitent sinner.

Herbert C. Mueller, Jr., “The Gospel Assumed is the Gospel Denied” in Concordia Pulpit Resources 15, no. 3

The Need of Preaching the Law

Ever hear the Gospel in a sermon and think (though you would never admit it): So what?

What preceded it in the sermon? Was it historical detail? Was it Greek Grammar 101? Was it a story? Was it practical things we need to do, and perhaps are not doing (watch less tv, give to the church, give to the poor, give to the church, pitch Christianity to your co-workers, did I mention giving to the church) ?

Perhaps we did not hear and savor the Gospel, because the Law was not properly preached. Here's a section from Charles Bridges' work: The Christian Ministry


“We cannot have too much of the Gospel; but we may have too little of the Law. And a defect in the Evangelical preaching of the Law is as clear a cause of inefficient ministration, as a legal preaching of the Gospel. In such a Ministry there must be a want of spiritual conviction of sin generally – of spiritual sins most particularly -and- flowing directly from hence – a low standard of spiritual obedience. Indeed, all the prevalent errors in the Church may be traced to this source. We should never have heard of Methodist perfection – Mystic dependence upon the inward light – Antinomian delusion – inconsistent profession of orthodoxy – Pharisaical self-righteousness – or Pelagian and Socinian rectitude of nature – if the spiritual standard of the law had been clearly displayed, and its convincing power truly left. In the want of this conviction, the fullest perception of Evangelical view must fail in experimental and practical effect.

But there are Antinomian errors on the opposite side. If Antinomianism be the relaxation of obedience from the perfect standard of the law of God, is not mere moral preaching a refined species of this unhallowed leaven? Equally with the professed Antinomian, the standard of the law of God is exchanged for some indefinite and every-varying standard of inclination or caprice. The notions of mercy and salvation, as in the other case, are here used as the palliation of sin. All hope, and no fear – is the character of this preaching. How frightful to think of deluded souls sliding into eternity in this golden dream! And of what vast importance is it for the resistance of error, and for an effective exhibition of divine truth – that our Ministry should be distinguished by a full display of the spiritual character, and unalterable obligations, of the law of God!”

-Charles Bridges - The Christian Ministry. pg. 228-229

What makes a Defective Sermon

Andrew Webb has a great article on the different ways preaching goes wrong:

1. No Law, No Gospel. 2. Law, No Gospel. 3. Gospel, No Law

Three Basic Forms of Defective Preaching

The Gospel of Divine Grace the Only Means of Converting Sinners

The Gospel of Divine Grace the Only Means of Converting Sinners; and Should be Preached Therefore Most Clearly, Fully, and Freely.

a Poem by Ralph Erkine

They ought, who royal grace's heralds be,
To trumpet loud salvation, full and free;
Nor safely can, to humour mortal pride,
In silence evangelic myst'ries hide.

What heav'n is pleas'd to give, dare we refuse;
Or under ground conceal, least men abuse?
Suppress the gospel-flow'r, upon pretence
That some vile spiders may suck poison thence?

Christ is a stumbling-block, shall we neglect
To preach him, lest the blind should break their neck?
That high he's for the fall of many set
As well as for the rise, must prove no let.

No grain of precious truth must be suppress'd,
Though reprobates should to their ruin wrest.
Shall heaven's corruscant lamb be dimm'd, that pays
Its daily tribute down in golden rays?

Because some, blinded with the blazing gleams,
Share not the pleasure of the lightning beams.
Let those be hardned, petrify'd, and harm'd,
The rest are mollify'd and kindly warm'd.

A various favour, flowers in grace's field,
Of life to some, of deat to others yield.
Must then the rose be vail'd, the lily hid,
The fragrant favour stifled? God forbid.

The revelation of the gospel-flow'r,
Is still the organ fram'd of saving pow'r
Most justly then are legal minds condemn'd,
That of the glorious gospel are asham'd:

For this the divine arm, and only this,
The pow'r of God unto salvation is.
For therein is reveal'd, to screen from wrath,
The righteousness of God, from faith to faith!

The happy change in guilty sinners case
They owe to free displays of sov'reign grace;
Whose joyful tidings of amazing love
The ministration of the Spirit prove.

The glorious vent of the gospel-news express,
Of God's free grace, thro' Christ's full righteousness,
Is Heaven's gay chariot, where the Spirit bides,
And in his conqu'ring pow'r triumphant rides.

The gospel-field is still the Spirit's soil,
The golden pipe that bears the holy oil;
The orb where he outshines the radiant sun,
The silver channel where his graces run.

Within the gospel-banks his flowing tide
Of lightning, quickning motions sweetly glide.
Received ye the Spirit, scripture saith,
By legal works, or by the word of faith?
If by the gospel only then let none
Dare to be wiser than the wisest one.

We must, who freely get, as freely give
The vital word that makes the dead to live.
For ev'n to sinners dead within our reach
We in his living name may most successful preach.

The Spirit and the scripture both agree
Jointly (says Christ) to testify of me.
The preacher then will from his text decline,
That scorns to harmonize with this design.

Press moral duties to the last degree;
Why not? but mind, lest we successless be,
No light, no hope, no strength for duties spring,
Where Jesus is not Prophet, Priest, and King.

No light to see the way, unless he teach;
No joyful hope, save in his blood we reach;
No strength, unless his royal arm he stretch
Then from our leading scope how gross we fall,
If, like his name, in ev'ry gospel-call,
We make not him the First, the Last, the All!

Our office is to bear the radiant torch,
Of gospel-light, into the darkened porch
Of human understandings, and display
The joyful dawn of everlasting day;

To draw the golden chariot of free grace,
The darkned shades with shining rays to chase,
'Till Heaven's bright lamp on circling wheels be hurl'd,
With spark'ling grandeur round the dusky world;

And thus to bring, in dying mortals sight,
New life and immortality to light.
We're charg'd to preach the gospel, unconfin'd,
To ev'ry creature of the human kind;

To call, with tenders of salvation free,
All corners of the earth to come and see:
And ev'ry sinner must excuseless make,
By urging rich and poor to come and take:

Ho, ev'ry one that thirsts, is grace's call
Direct to needy sinners great and small;
Not meaning those alone, whose holy thirst
Denominates their souls already blest.

If only those were call'd, then none but saints;
Nor would the gospel suit the sinner's wants.
But here the call does signally import
Sinners and thirsty souls of every sort;

And mainly to their door the message brings,
Who yet are thirsting after empty things;
Who spend their means no living bread to buy,
And pains for that which cannot satisfy.

Such thirsty sinners here invited are,
Who vainly spend their money, thought, and care,
On passing shades, vile lusts and trash, so base
As yeilds the immortal souls no true solace.

The call directs them, as they would be blest,
To choose a purer object of their thirst.
All are invited by the joyful sound
To drink who need, as does the parched ground,
Whose wide-mouth'd clefts speak to the brazen sky
Its passive thirst, without an active cry.

The gospel-preacher then with holy skill
Must offer Christ to whosoever will,
To sinners of all sorts that can be nam'd;
The blind, the lame, the poor, the halt, the maim'd,

Not daring to restrict th' extensive call,
But op'ning wide the net to catch 'em all
No soul must be excluded that will come,
Nor right of access be confined to some,

Though none will come till conscious of their want,
Yet right to come they have by sov'reign grant;
Such right to Christ, his promise, and his grace,
That all are damn'd who hear and don't embrace:

So freely is th' unbounded call dispen'd,
We therein find ev'n sinners unconvinc'd;
Who know not they are naked, blind, and poor,
Counsell'd to by, or beg at Jesus door,
And take the glorious robe, eye-salve, and golden store.

This prize they are oblig'd by faith to win,
Else unbelief would never be their sin.
Yes, gospel-offers but a sham we make,
If ev'ry sinner has not right to take.

Be gospel-heralds fortify'd from this
To trumpet grace, howe'er the serpent hiss.
Did hell's malicious mouth in dreadful shape
'Gainst innocence itself malignant gape;

Then sacred truth's devoted vouchers may
For dire reproach their measures constant lay.
With cruel calumny of old commence'd,
This sect will ev'ry where be spoke against.

While to and fro he runs the earth across
Whose name is ADELPHON KATEGOROS.*
In spite of hell be then our constant strife
To win the glorious Lamb a virgin wife.

* The Accuser of the Brethren (Rev. 12:10)

What is the Bible About?

Justin Taylor posted a Youtube video that takes a clip from a talk by Tim Keller (pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian PCA in New York) to answer that question. [I like the content even if I'm not a fan of all the iconography the compiler used, and thought I would largely repost it because the content is so good]:

Jesus is the true and better Adam who passed the test in the garden and whose obedience is imputed to us.

Jesus is the true and better Abel who, though innocently slain, has blood now that cries out, not for our condemnation, but for acquittal.

Jesus is the true and better Abraham who answered the call of God to leave all the comfortable and familiar and go out into the void not knowing wither he went to create a new people of God.

Jesus is the true and better Isaac who was not just offered up by his father on the mount but was truly sacrificed for us. And when God said to Abraham, “Now I know you love me because you did not withhold your son, your only son whom you love from me,” now we can look at God taking his son up the mountain and sacrificing him and say, “Now we know that you love us because you did not withhold your son, your only son, whom you love from us.”

Jesus is the true and better Jacob who wrestled and took the blow of justice we deserved, so we, like Jacob, only receive the wounds of grace to wake us up and discipline us.

Jesus is the true and better Joseph who, at the right hand of the king, forgives those who betrayed and sold him and uses his new power to save them.

Jesus is the true and better Moses who stands in the gap between the people and the Lord and who mediates a new covenant.

Jesus is the true and better Rock of Moses who, struck with the rod of God’s justice, now gives us water in the desert.

Jesus is the true and better Job, the truly innocent sufferer, who then intercedes for and saves his stupid friends.

Jesus is the true and better David whose victory becomes his people’s victory, though they never lifted a stone to accomplish it themselves.

Jesus is the true and better Esther who didn’t just risk leaving an earthly palace but lost the ultimate and heavenly one, who didn’t just risk his life, but gave his life to save his people.

Jesus is the true and better Jonah who was cast out into the storm so that we could be brought in.

Jesus is the real Rock of Moses, the real Passover Lamb, innocent, perfect, helpless, slain so the angel of death will pass over us. He’s the true temple, the true prophet, the true priest, the true king, the true sacrifice, the true lamb, the true light, the true bread.

The Bible’s really not about you—it’s about him.

HT: Justin Taylor

Sinclair Ferguson on Holiness

I've been trying to listen to more of Sinclair Ferguson's sermons lately, as they have been recommended to me by several people. These I found particularly helpful. Doctrinal, serious in their call to holiness (the topic addressed in these sessions) but also gospel-filled. Take a listen to these from a Ligonier Conference:

Titus 2:11-14 - Our Holiness: The Father's Purpose and the Son's Purchase

John 15 - Our Holiness: Abiding in Christ's Love

"High-Church" Preaching?

“You have a high-church approach to preaching, which is fine, but we're more used to practical preaching.”

This was what I was told after outlining my plan to preach that the story of Jacob and Esau was about gracious election in Christ. In this class on preaching, I was told that contrasting the merit-based love of Isaac to the gracious love of God was not wrong, just high minded. It was fine, but depended on the forum. It was a thing of higher thinking, more complex with abstract connections.

I wondered: is that true? Is being theological or Christocentric/Christotelic (preaching with the end biblical theme of Christ) “high-church”? The person knew I was Presbyterian, and so perhaps that is where the comment came from. Most Presbyterians, however, would be quite surprised to hear they were high-church, having descended from non-conformists that thought the Anglican church was too high church. Still, Presbyterianism seems high church compared to typical non-denominational/charismatic worship.

Still, I truly wondered if it was true. Could people other than the highly educated 'get' a theological sermon? Depending on the audience, did one need to keep it simple, give some pithy imperatives and walk the congregation through some super specific hypothetical applications and wrap up with a fun story?

If this is true, Protestantism is false. Theology makes up a good portion of the Scriptures - all of it in some sense, but a good portion in a proper sense. Are Paul's letters to be neglected in preaching? Are they to be translated into fun stories? Is Hebrews a book of shadows for the typical congregant? Protestantism believes in the intelligibility/perspicuity of Scripture. If it is not, we ought to be Gnostics or Catholics, but I repeat myself.

I preached my sermon on election, without ever even saying the word (we allow God to 'choose to love' even if we don't allow him to “elect”). It wasn't the best sermon in world. It wasn't my favorite of the ones I preached. It probably wasn't even the best delivered that day of three. But I was encouraged when one person caught me afterward and asked if I have opportunities to preach somewhere.

“Occasionally,” I replied.

“You should use that one, I needed it.”

Maybe doctrine and the Gospel are practical. Even with the flaws my sermon had, I do believe God rewards preaching the word of Christ, for “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” (Rom 10:17) If that's high church preaching, I think I'm in good company with Paul.

Reformed Pastor: Sermons must first be preached to one's self

Richard Baxter gave a series of talks to pastors in England from Independent, Presbyterian and Anglican Churches. They were intended to address the manner in which a pastor should be reformed by the Scriptures and God in order to form his congregation. Here is a selection of one imperative for pastors:

"Content not yourselves with being in a state of grace, but be also careful that your graces are kept in vigorous and lively exercise, and that you preach to yourselves the sermons which you study, before you preaching them to others. If you did this for your own sakes, it would not be lost labour; but I am speaking to you upon the public account, that you would do it for the sake of the Church, When you minds are in a holy, heavenly frame, your people are likely to partake of the fruits of it. Your prayers, and praises, and doctrine will be sweet and heavenly to them. They will likely feel when you have been much with God: that which is most on your hearts, is like to be most in their ears. I confess I must speak it by lamentable experience, that I publish to my flock the distempers of my own soul. When I let my heart grow cold, my preaching is cold; and when it is confused, my preaching is confused; and so I can oft observe also in the best of my hearers, that when I have grown cold in preaching, they have grown cold too; and the next prayers which I have heard from them have been too like my preaching. We are the nurses of Christ's little ones. If we forbear taking food ourselves, we shall famish them; it will soon be visible in their leanness and dull discharge of their several duties. If we let our love decline, we are not like to raise up theirs. If we abate our holy care and fear, it will appear in our preaching; if the matter show it not, the manner will. If we feed on unwholesome food, either errors or fruitless controversies, our hearers are like to fare the worse for it. Whereas, if we abound in faith and love and zeal, how would it overflow to the refreshing of the congregations, and how would it appear in the increase of the same graces in them! O brethren, watch therefore over your own hearts: keep out lusts and passions, and worldly inclinations; keep up the life of faith, and love and zeal: be much at home and be much with God. If it be not your daily business to study your own hearts, and to subdue corruption, and to walk with God – if you make not this a work to which you constantly attend, all will go wrong, and you will starve your hearers; or, if you have an affected fervency, you cannot expect a blessing to attend it from on high. Above all, be much in secret prayer and meditation. Thence you must fetch the heavenly firethat must kindle your sacrifices: remember, you cannot decline and neglect your duty, to your own hurt alone; many will be losers by it as well as you. For your people's sakes, therefore, look to your hearts. If a pand of spiritual pride should overtake you, and you should fall into any dangerous error, and vent your own inventions to draw away disciples after you, what a wound may this prove to the Church, of which you have the oversight; and you may become a plague to them instead of a blessing, and they may wish they had never seen your faces. Oh, therefore, take heed to your own judgments and affections. Vanity and error will shyly insinuate, and seldom come without fair pretences: great distempers and apostasies have usually small beginnings. The prince of darkness doth frequently personate an angel of light, to draw the children of light again into darkness. How easily also will distempers creep in upon our affections and our first love, and fear and care abate! Watch, therefore, for the sake of yourselves and others.

But, besides this general course of watchfulness, methinks a minister should take some special pains with his heart, before he is to go to the congregation: if it be then cold, how is he likely to warm the hearts of his hearers? Therefore, go then specially to God for life: read some rousing, awakening book, or meditate on the weight of the subject of which you are to speak, and on the great necessity of your people's souls, that you may go in the zeal od the Lord into his house. Maintain in this manner, the life of grace in yourselves, that it may appear in all your sermons from the pulpit, - that every one who comes cold to the assembly, may have some warmth imparted to him before he depart."

-Richard Baxter. The Reformed Pastor. Pg 61-63

Assumed, Confused then Rejected Gospel

Justin Taylor has a helpful review of a book that asks some hard questions for pastors about whether the Gospel has moved from accepted to assumed to confused to rejected:

Was the gospel in the sermon Sunday morning?

Do you hear the gospel in people’s prayers?

Could you have preached that sermon if Christ had not died on the cross?

Could you have developed that leadership principle had Christ not been crucified?


Full post: here

Sermon text: Tale of Two Kings

The unfortunate thing about preaching a 10-12 minute sermon is that you cannot say everything you want to say but you still try. This was my third sermon with deficiencies that may have been able to be fixed with an extra 20 minutes in the sermon, as well as better organization. Oh well.

A TALE OF TWO KINGS
Daniel 5:26-31 and Jonah 3


Today, I would like to share with you a tale of two kings. The king of Nineveh, and Belshazzar, the King of Chaldeans. Before we get to our main text in Jonah 3, first let us look at how Daniel records the story Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans. In Daniel 5, we have the son of Nebuchadnezzar who just in Daniel 4 confessed the greatness of the God of Israel, in contrast to Daniel 5, which records Belshazzar's drunken orgy party. In the middle of this party, handwriting appears on the wall. Daniel, the renowned interpreter of God's Word under Nebuchadnezzar was summoned in. Daniel's skill and delivery in other parts of Daniel is described as eloquent and dramatic. Daniel interpreted the words on the wall, as appears in the text in your bulletin. The basic interpretation was this: The days of your kingdom are numbered, you have been weighed and found wanting, your kingdom will surely fall to the Medes and Persians. In response, what did Belshazzar do? He honored the messenger, placed a robe of royalty on Daniel and gave him a high office like his ancestor Nebuchadnezzar did. Then, Dan 5:30, “that very night, Belshazzar the Chaldean King was killed.”

A strange ending to the story, isn't it? Belshazzar certainly honored the messenger. What went wrong?

Let us turn to the second tale, our main text is from the minor prophet Jonah from Israel, in the city of Nineveh, the capital of Assyria. Jonah delivers nearly the same message as Daniel in Jonah 3:4, “Forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” Your days are numbered, you have been found wanting, your kingdom will fall. But notice this response. When the king heard of this, he gave no praise to the messenger, nor did he give Jonah high appointment. Bum deal for Jonah. Instead, the king of Nineveh responded to the message with sackcloth and ashes. This image of sackcloth and ashes is meant to demonstrate repentance. Repentance literally is “turning” from one thing to another thing. A changing of mind, will, and heart. Here, it says it is turning from evil ways towards God. The king himself repented, and tells us why in 3:9:

Jon 3:9 “Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish."
Jon 3:10 When God saw what they did, how they turned [or repented] from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.

The same message came against both kings. A word of judgment, revealing and spotlighting one's sin, along with God's wrath against it. Yet, God gave judgment to one, but to the other one, He gave mercy. Do you see the difference? Both kings responded after the message was delivered. Belshazzar gave honor and titles and praise to the messenger. But the king of Nineveh responded to the message. No titles or honors were given to Jonah. The King of Nineveh repented to receive mercy.

What of Belshazzar's response? He may have thought it was a good response. Kierkegaard, a theologian who lived in the beginnings of our modern era, had a favorite parable he would tell to explain the emerging modern age. The story went: There was a new show about to open in a theater known for its originality and novelty. But just as the show was about to begin, the main actor saw the theater was on fire. He ran out on stage to warn the audience, shouting: “The theater is on fire, run!” The audience, thinking it was part of the show merely clapped at the masterful performance by the actor. Some said it was the best performance they had ever seen. So the actor shouted louder, “I tell you the truth, you will all die if you stay here, it's on fire!” the audience merely clapped and cheered louder, more impressed by the performance. So, Kierkegaard said, will the world go out: to the sound of applause.

This prompts us to ask: what is our response to the Word when it comes and uncovers our sin? It is an important question if you are a member of this church, because in the past few months, you could not have escaped the message and theme of judgment. Often, in the course of this series on the minor prophets, we havecome across this message of judgment. Also, we have seen this in our Sunday sermons on Joshua, where we have met a word of judgment in the book of Joshua that was not retracted against Jericho. How do we react to a declaration of our sin, and God's wrath against it?

In an orthodox church, it is easy to react with a kind of thankfulness in this way: “I'm glad our preacher does not shrink from preaching the truth like other preachers.” We can compliment how skillful or bold the delivery was. We, with our words, can applaud the messenger while ignoring the message.

Now, there is not necessarily anything wrong with thanking God for a faithful preacher or encouraging a preacher, though I suspect for pointing it out, few will approach me after this message. But, what is the proper response to the message of judgment? Repentance. The king of Nineveh repented, and he received mercy. So also, when our sin is brought before us and God’s displeasure against it, we should not merely praise the messenger, we should repent to obtain mercy.

In the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 12, Jesus references our text in Jonah against the Pharisees. He saw their lack of attentiveness to his message, and said “the men of Nineveh will rise up and judge you!” What is Jesus talking about?

If the king of Nineveh repented at Jonah's message, how much more ought we to respond to Christ's message?

If you read the rest of Jonah, you will note that Jonah was a less compelling prophet (he hated the people he preached to, he did no want them to repent!), with no announcement of his coming (he was an outsider to them) and his message was light on details (“forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown!”....that was it.) there was no promise of deliverance. Did you note how the king of Nineveh said, in verse 9, “Who knows, perhaps God may spare us”?

Contrast that to Jesus, Who comes as a compelling prophet, (loving His covenant people), with announcement of his coming (from the prophets, from John the Baptist, and coming within the community as a Jew), with much more detail attaching a promise of deliverance for repentance. Something the king of Nineveh didn't have. The king made no demands based on God owing mercy, even when he repented.

You see: God owes us nothing for our response. We see with Belshazzar, God owed him nothing for sitting under a skillful messenger of the word. Nor did God owe him anything for praising and honoring the messenger of the word. God even owed the king of Nineveh nothing for his repentance.

God owes us nothing.

The King of Nineveh repented on the mere possibility of mercy. It was God's discretion on whether to grant mercy, out of shear grace, not obligation, for He made no promises to him.

How much more ought the people of God come to God in repentance? We repent with the promise of mercy. After we come to the confession of sin in our worship, we will hear the words of assurance, “If we confess our sin, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.” Faithful to what? To His promise to you.

God owes you no mercy, YET God has given you His Word in covenant. The king of Ninevah had no such covenant with God. God condescends to bind Himself to His promise to you. The promise of Christ's message is as the apostles presented it:

Acts 3:19 Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out,

(The message: Repent with the promise of obtaining mercy)

It is a message for believers and non-believers alike. To unbelievers, repenting, or turning, is from former idols, the counterfeit gods of sin we have served rather than God in Christ. It is pleading Christ, rather than our former gods, our selves, our sins. It is a repentance of a changing of the mind about Christ.

Know today, if you have never responded the message of Christ, the same promise is extended to you. God has a word of his displeasure with sin, of that evil which as perfectly holy, He can having nothing to do with. But, if you turn from your former self-confidence, to Christ, pleading His work rather than your own, Christ's Holiness rather than your own, you may be certain of God's forgiveness on the basis of faith. He confirms that work and promise first in your baptism, his visible promise to you of mercy, and then will confirm it repeatedly in the Supper.

Yet, it is also a message to believers, having already been pardoned in faith, that faith is a repentant faith that continues to turn from the sin that remains with us in heart and will, and the death and fleeting pleasure they provide in our lives to the true life and true joy in Christ. In repentance, God renovates our affections, turning our hearts from the things we formerly loved more and more to Christ and the works He has prepared for us. If we repent, God is faithful, to His Word of promise, to give us more of Himself in Christ, the greatest gift of mercy and grace. We no longer have to say, “Who knows? Perhaps God will give mercy” like the king of Nineveh. God has bound Himself to His word. He will give mercy to the repentant covenant member.

And if you are a believer, as 1 John reminds us, though pardoned through faith, sin remains throughout life, so then also remains the repentance of the Christian. The whole Christian Life is one of repentance, turning from sin towards God, through a growth of affection for God rather than sin. Repentance is not a one time thing, nor is it something we perfectly achieve in this life. Instead it is the duty of all of life.

Perhaps our hearts sink under that news, that we are perpetually in need of repentance, that we constantly are to hear the message “repent” in all of life. Repentance has a decidedly dower, “unfun” sound to it. Yet it shouldn't. Repentance is literally turning, from the ugliness of evil and destruction to the Beauty and Joy of God in Christ. What is that sin that you seem to love more than Christ? Look on Christ and His message, which is more beautiful to you? The small, momentary pleasure of your sin, or the pleasures He brings, that the 16th Psalm says is “pleasures evermore.” As C.S. Lewis put it, God tells us we are too easily satisfied. We play with mud pies in a puddle, while God has offered us a day at the beach. Repentance is a grand gift, as God exchanges our lesser things, for Himself, the greatest good.

[Invitation to the Table]

Repentance in the New Testament is presented as something that God “grants,” as a good and joyful gift that He enables. That is why our worship involves a rehearsal for a feast. We could be satisfied in smallness of gluttony and drunkenness like Belshazzar. Or we can turn to Christ's feast of true lasting bread and wine. Psalm 104:15 tells reads that God “gave bread to strengthen or sustain the heart of man, and wine to cheer up or gladden the heart of man.” These are the elements Christ used to picture Himself as offered to the believer, as that which we turn to: our sustenance and our joy and gladness. We turn from the bitterness of sin to the sweetness of Christ in the Gospel. We turn from the food that will not ultimately fill us, to the living bread, from abusing wine in drunkenness to the intoxicating wine of Christ's Gospel.

Repent! That you may obtain mercy. Turn from your sin in confession towards the One who gives mercy, and grace and joy. He has bound Himself to His Word. He will do it. Happy is the believer, to Whom repentance is granted, and deliverance is provided. Happy is the believer who feeds, not merely on the passing things of this world, but on Christ in their heart. Amen.