Eat this Book

Read Trusting God by Jerry Bridges

“…God sometimes allows people to treat us unjustly. Sometimes He even allows their actions to seriously affect our careers or our futures viewed on the human plane. But God never allows people to make decisions about us that undermine His plan for us. God is for us, we are His children, He delights in us (Zephaniah 3:17). As the Scripture says, ‘If God is for us, who can be against us?’ We can put this down as a bedrock truth: God will never allow any action against you that is not in accord with His will for you. And His will is always directed to our good.”


“Why then do we suffer such disappointment when the hoped for favor that we needed from another person doesn’t materialize? Why do we struggle with resentment and bitterness when someone else’s decision or action adversely affects us? Is it not because it is our plans that have been dashed, or our pride that has been wounded?” TRUSTING GOD, p. 71

G. Mark Sumpter

I Met Austin Walking the Streets of Grants Pass

A man in his late 20s spoke openly with me about the Trinity

I saw his license plate was gold and blue letters—he was from Alaska.

I approached him, “So, are you from Ft. Rich or Elmendorf?”

He shot back, “I live closest to Rt. Rich.” An Army base right outside of Anchorage.

“Yeah,” we were starting to grin and what not, and I asked, “Whereabouts near Ft. Rich?”

He admitted, “Well, actually, I live out in the Valley.”

“You’re kidding me, right?...You’re kidding me?” I queried.

OK…fast forward the conversation about 20 minutes in…

I tried to open the conversation a little, “Austin, you’re an articulate man…I mean that…you obviously have done quite a bit of thinking about the Bible and what it teaches. But I want to try to get something out to you…and I don’t know if I can express it very clearly…so hang in here with me.”

I continued, “OK. Here goes. We, who are Protestants and profess the faith of Christianity that’s been believed down through the centuries, have always tried to leave faith as part of the Christian life. God is God. Man is man. The doctrine or the teaching point of the Trinity, that is, 1+1+1=1 requires faith…we are finite creatures.”

Austin jumped in, “Now wait a minute…the Bible tells us we can have accurate knowledge…we can know God, we can know Him, after all, we’re His children.”

“You’re right, Austin….I don’t mean to come across by saying that God is unknowable,” I said.

I went on, “There’s mystery. We have to leave some things to God…like….uh…like, OK, here’s one: like the Bible. Who wrote the Bible—God or man? Somehow God so worked in man that God used man….how…exactly how did God use man to write the Bible? I do not know…I leave room for mystery about that.”

I gave another example, “God is over all things—He’s made everything—and He, at the same time, is all around us.” I then said it this way, “God is up and God is down.”

Then I asked him, “How do we explain that God is both above us and right here with us at the exact same time?” I answered, “We trust Him by faith; we believe what He has said about His own existence—He’s King, who is over us (Austin liked that title for God, “King”), and at the same time, is right here active and in control of all things.”

Austin assessed things and said, “The Trinity doesn’t make sense.”

He went on, “What do you think of the baptism of Jesus…He’s a man…He talked to Jehovah (that’s the name we use)…. And…..what about the other times where the Son talked to God—you tell me, Mark: How does God talk to God?” He summarized, “We’re talking about two separate distinct beings—separate, different, individual.”

The sun was blaring down. He was standing beside his pick-up and was having to go. I was starting to get a little tied up in emotional knots.

I offered one more thing: “Austin, I realize that this is going to sound pretty high minded and philosophical and all, but let me give it shot….here goes: do you know that for us to have this conversation we are both having to assume the reality of the Bible’s teaching on the Christian doctrine of the Trinity? I know that sounds kind of out there. But it’s true. We are working at this conversation, right now, and we are able to have this conversation right now, because we are working with two assumptions. 1) We are two distinct, separate and individual persons. 2) We are one and the same in that we share humanity as God’s creatures, as men made in His image—we come from One Father and God of all.”

I asked him, “Austin, do you follow that?”

Austin kind of smiled.

I mentioned to him, “Think of it…. God is One and God is Three.”

I did not attempt to explain the co-existence, co-sharing of the co-eternal being of the Godhead—the equality of existence of the oneness of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

I attempted one more time. “Austin, your particular existence, your separate existence allows you to speak with me. And my distinct, separate existence allows me to think of things to say and then say them to you….Also, the only reason we can speak to one another and carry on a conversation is because we share aspects of sameness—we’re both creatures, we’re both seeking to communicate, we’re both dependent image-bearers of God, Who is the One from Whom we originate and live… We must make use of the doctrine of the Trinity for life to make sense, for us to be able to have this conversation…we are borrowing from the reality of God Who exists as One and Three—Unity and Diversity, Oneness and Particularity.”

We shook hands to wrap up the conversation—it was a good firm Alaskan handshake—he remains a Jehovah Witness. He listened well. He was patient. He was gracious. But Austin believes that Jesus Christ is a creature, a perfect man.

G. Mark Sumpter

C.S. Lewis on God as Fuel

Energy drinks resurrection style

“God made us: invented us as a man invents an engine. A car is made to run on gasoline, and it would not run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other. That is why it is just no good asking God to make us happy in our own way without bothering about religion. God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there.

There is no such thing. That is the key to history. Terrific energy is expended—civilizations are built up—excellent institutions devised; but each time something goes wrong. Some fatal flaw always brings the selfish and cruel people to the top and it all slides back into misery and ruin. In fact, the machine conks. It seems to start up all right and runs a few yards, and then it breaks down. They are trying to run it on the wrong juice.”  See Mere Christianity, pp. 53-54

The verses of Ephesians 1:20-22 strike us, catch us off guard. Paul rivets our attention on the power toward His own people. Christ’s power is for His people. Jesus’ power benefits His own. Here are the words: 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. 22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

Paul highlights the work of Christ. With a trajectory—a direction of movement, we follow the verses from Christ’s resurrection to the church. “…He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand….. to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” There’s movement. Where does the movement go? It goes from Christ’s bodily resurrection to union with His people. The accomplishment of Christ must get to the church in order to be completed!

Mission Accomplished at Resurrection Central targets union with His people. Completion, wholeness, fulfillment of the work of Jesus means that He must be united to the church, connected to His people. It is just like a groom who remains incomplete if he remains detached from his bride. The head must be connected to the body.

“…He gave Him to be head over…[His body]…” There is power, power, wonder-working power…in the life-giving supply of Jesus via His resurrection. By faith in Christ we are joined to Him.

Are you in the life-giving resurrected Christ? Is He in you? Apart from Jesus Christ we can do nothing. We have no fuel. Our churches have no fuel. Our marriages have no fuel. The work of our hands has no fuel. Our towns and cities have no fuel.

To recast Lewis: God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other. That is why it is just no good asking God to make us happy in our own way without bothering about the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

G. Mark Sumpter

Sinclair Ferguson: A Definition of Death

It severs, it breaks, it sunders

“[Death] severs us from those we love. It breaks the cords that have joined us physically, mentally, spiritually to others. It deprives us of the most precious possession we have on earth. The death of others separates us from them and places them in realms with which we are unable to communicate. My death means that I leave behind those to whom I have committed the whole of my life in love and devotion. In a sense I am being torn from part of myself in being taken from husband or wife, son or daughter, parent or brother.

There is yet another sundering in death. Not only am I to be separated from part of myself ‘in a sense’ by departing from my loved ones. I am myself to be broken—body from soul. This tent in which I have sojourned must be left behind (2 Cor. 5:1). The only instrument I have ever had by which to know myself and communicate with others will be separated from my eternal spirit—contrary to nature. This is a divorce of a magnitude beyond my frail understanding.  Simply as a prospect it is a terrifying one. It is a curse! This is why, when our Lord contemplated death as it is in itself we read that his heart was filled with sorrow. The expressions which describe his psychological condition suggest that his whole being shuddered at the prospect of what was to take place in his own experience. The language used to describe his Gethsemane experience is of a ‘confused, restless, half-distracted state, which is produced by physical derangement, or by mental distress, as grief, shame, disappointment’ J.B. Lightfoot, Philippians p, 123). No wonder Luther commented, ‘No man ever feared death like this man.’

So we discover the real nature of death only when we look at Christ. In other men we see varying responses, from fear to carelessness, sorrow to glad anticipation, and these responses are largely determined by the prospect men have beyond death. But when our Lord contemplates death itself, he recoils at the sight. When he sees what it is that he is to carry on his own shoulders by dying, he asks that such a cup might pass from him. We should not therefore lose sight of what death itself is. It is the destroyer of life which God gave to man in his infinite love for him. It is therefore not only our last enemy, but God’s enemy also.” Know Your Christian Life Sinclair B. Ferguson IVP, 1981, p. 163

G. Mark Sumpter

Luther Helps to Say the Creed with Meaning

The Apostles' Creed—The First Line

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth...

“I Believe that God has created me and all that exists; that He has given and still preserves to me my body and soul with all my limbs and senses, my reason and all the faculties of my mind, together with my raiment, food, home and family, and all my property; that He daily provides me abundantly with all the necessaries of life, protects me from all danger, and preserves me and guards me against all evil; all of which He does out of pure, paternal, and divine goodness and mercy, without any merit of worthiness in me, for all which I am in duty bound to thank, praise, serve and obey Him. This is most certainly true.”

Martin Luther, 1500s A Lutheran Prayer Book, 1960

When I confess these words in worship, I need to remember God has made me and He takes care of me.

G. Mark Sumpter

Embracing History

What it takes to stay out of the trash bin

“Christianity is a historical religion. It is a religion that is not based primarily on an idea or philosophy. Most of the religions of the world can exist apart from their founder. You do not have to have a historical Buddha to have Buddhism. All you have to have are Buddhist teachings. So also with many other religions. This is not the case with Christianity. If you take away the history–if you reduce it, as some have tried to do, to a religion of mere ethics or ideas–Christianity evaporates. This is because Christianity is indissolubly linked to the life and accomplishments of Christianity’s founder. Jesus taught about God, but he did not merely teach. He showed what God was like. Then, in order to achieve our salvation, he died for us, taking our place to bear the wrath of God. Without that historical basis, Christianity would pass, as have many other religions, into the trash bin of history.” J.M. Boice in his commentary on The Book of Acts

History means that that Jesus lived in that area of the Mediterranean, said such and such—and lived, died, was buried and then rose from the dead on the third day. It was THAT Jesus—the Matthew-Mark-Luke-John-and-Acts One.

“…[We] need…a sure and certain knowledge of Jesus Christ and the salvation that comes through faith in him. We need to know what Jesus accomplished. We need to know the perfection of his virgin birth, the obedience of his sinless life, the wisdom of his profound teaching, and the power of his divine miracles. We need to know these things because they prove that he is the Son of God. And we need to know what Jesus did to save us from the wrath of God. We need to know that he suffered and died on the cross for our sins. We need to know that he was raised from the dead to give eternal life to all who trust in him. And we need to know that he was ascended to heaven, where he rules over all things for the glory of God. We need to know these things because sometimes we have our doubts…If we are sometimes tempted to have our doubts, this does not mean that we are not Christians. It simply means that we are sinners who struggle to live by faith…Assurance does not come by looking within or by having some special experience. The only way we become sure of our salvation is by looking to Jesus…Luke…wrote…researched things carefully and wrote them down logically and accurately, giving us the real history of Jesus.” Phil Ryken, Commentary on Luke (Reformed Expository Commentary), Volume 1, pp. 14-15.

G. Mark Sumpter

Calvin on the Rocks

McNeill Edition of the Institutes, p. 255 A Calvin Crack-Up

MAN HAS NOW BEEN DEPRIVED OF FREEDOM AND CHOICE...

“The Perils of this topic: point of view established, I

1. We have now seen that the dominion of sin, from the time it held the first man bound to itself, not only ranges among all mankind, but also completely occupies individual souls. It remains for us to investigate more closely whether we have been deprived of all freedom since we have been reduced to this servitude; and, if any particle of it still survives, how far its power extends. But in order that the truth of this question may be more readily apparent to us, I shall presently set a goal to which the whole argument should be directed. The best way to avoid error will be to consider the perils that threaten man on both sides. (1) When man is denied all uprightness, he immediately takes occasion for complacency from that fact; and, because he is said to have no ability to pursue righteousness on his own, he holds all such pursuit to be of no consequence, as if it did not pertain to him at all. (2) Nothing, however slight, can be credited to man without depriving God of his honor, and without man himself falling into ruin through brazen confidence. Augustine points out both these precipices.”

Sumpter: Do you get what J.C. is saying? Two points of a dilemma. 1) You tell man he is broken, crushed, rebellious and tied up in knots, dead in sin—an altogether true biblical maxim. Man, then, says, “what gives…why try for God then?...it’s all doubt, so let’s sack out… I’m done, wake me up when it’s over….” To reverse paraphrase Robert Schuller, old Crystal Cathedral Bobby, of the 80s, “Since man is all scars, then, forget the stars.” That’s dilemma side one. Now, 2. If you tell men about seeking God; if you grab a kettle and metal spoon and start clanging into the tomb and Lazarus rolls over and hits the snooze button to get up and listen for the VOICE, then----you give man some brownie points. He’ll say, “Look, the water is not that bad after all… and….. “Look Mom, no hands…” or “Whadda mean depravity…I can hear the voice of God blindfolded with one hand tied behind my back….” J. C. says, give man an eyelash of self-generated strength and he’ll take the industrial strength biceps of Ray Lewis of the Ravens for good-credit, heaven-bound righteousness …. “…nothing can be credited to man without depriving God of his honor.”

So how does Calvin fix the problem?

“Here, then, is the course that we must follow it we are to avoid crashing upon these rocks: when man has been taught that no good thing remains in his power, and that he is hedged about on all sides by most miserable necessity, in spite of this he should be instructed to aspire to a good of which he is empty, to a freedom of which he has been deprived.”

Preach man’s utter depravity, and that his will is bound. Preach that he aspire to which he is empty, to a freedom he doesn’t have.

So, YES—preach depravity and duty. Men must be told, you are D.O.A., and they must be told, “Come forth!” and “Get up, the Master is calling for you.”

I crack-up—it’s no dilemma with Calvin. Aspire to a good of which you are empty, O Man. You have nothing, so there and ninner, ninner; come to Christ!

G. Mark Sumpter

Getting the Gospel Right and Then Some

When the Church Goes Her Specious Way

From the late Vaclav Havel (written in 1978): “Ideology is a specious way of relating to the world. It offers human beings the illusion of an identity, of dignity, and of morality while making it easier for them to part with them. As the repository of something suprapersonal and objective, it enables people to deceive their conscience and conceal their true position and their inglorious modus vivendi, both from the world and from themselves. It is a very pragmatic but, at the same time, an apparently dignified way of legitimizing what is above, below, and on either side. It is directed toward people and toward God. It is a veil behind which human beings can hide their own fallen existence, their trivialization, and their adaptation to the status quo. It is an excuse that everyone can use, from the greengrocer, who conceals his fear of losing his job behind an alleged interest in the unification of the workers of the world, to the highest functionary, whose interest in staying in power can be cloaked in phrases about service to the working class. The primary excusatory function of ideology, therefore, is to provide people, both as victims and pillars of the post-totalitarian system, with the illusion that the system is in harmony with the human order and the order of the universe. . . ”

This quote, relayed by OPC Pastor Roger Wagner just after Havel’s recent death, stirs. Below, I do not discount the importance of a Christian’s understanding of Havel’s societal and political assessments—his fine assessments and comments I will add, but I pitch a point or two with respect to ideology as a specious way of relating to the church. The church, too, sports herself all things political. The traditionally reformed, confessional church must be aware of how she can situate herself in the grip of the deception per Havel's commentary.

Let’s do some work.

First, church history shows us that ideology is spelled g-n-o-s-t-i-c-i-s-m.

Preservation

The Security of the Believer

The door of Christian assurance and perseverance turns on the hinge of preservation. Preservation rises up out of a text like John 10:27-29, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand.”

Can you get anymore industrial strength of seat-belt security than the powerful and preserving work of the hands of the Son and the Father? Sit and spin, Christian. God holds fast His children where they will never perish. Never. In the 1970s Deep Purple sung of a threat:

Frank Zappa and the Mothers

Were at the best place around

    But some stupid with a flare gun

 Burned the place to the ground

But, uh-uh—the threat of a raging fire will the never happen to the “gambling house” of the Christian. No raging fire around the Lake Geneva of the life of the one who rests in God’s promises. Texts like John 10, conveyed by Calvin and Calvin’s Calvinism, teach security and comfort. No burning, no perishing of the Christian. Preservation.

The Christian’s perseverance turns on the hinge of preservation.

G. Mark Sumpter

Still He

God remains steadfast, and we give Him our whole trust

“Still He blesses those on whom He sets His love in a way that humbles them, so that all the glory may be His alone. Still He hates the sins of His people, and uses all kinds of inward and outward pains and griefs to wean their hearts from compromise and disobedience. Still He seeks the fellowship of His people, and sends them both sorrows and joys in order to detach their love from other things and attach it to Himself. Still He teaches the believer to value His promised gifts by making him wait for them, and compelling him to pray persistently for them, before He bestows them. So we read of Him dealing with His people in the Scripture record, and so He deals with them still. His aims and principles of action remain consistent; He does not at any time act out of character. Man’s ways, we know, are pathetically inconsistent—but not God’s.”

I am praying that a dear friend of mine, Steve, who has had leukemia return to his body over the past 45-50 days now, will set his hope and confidence in the One who remains constant, reliable, predictable and faithful. Steve is a disciple of Jesus Christ. He’s a young man of 22 years. He needs the healing hand of His Savior.

“[Our Gracious God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit] does not at any time act out of character. Man’s ways, we know, are pathetically inconsistent—but not God’s.”

Quote above from J.I. Packer, Knowing God, p. 71.

G. Mark Sumpter

The Doctrine of Adoption, II

God's filial love--the apex of grace

“Adoption, as the term clearly implies, is an act of transfer from an alien family into the family of God himself. This is surely the apex of grace and privilege. We would not dare to conceive of such grace far less claim it apart from God’s own revelation and assurance. It staggers imagination because of its amazing condescension and love. The Spirit alone could be the seal of it in our hearts. ‘Eye hath not seen, no ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God’ (1 Cor. 2:9, 10). It is only as there is the conjunction of the witness of revelation and the inward witness of the Spirit in our hearts that we are able to scale this pinnacle of faith and say with the filial confidence and love, Abba Father.” John Murray, p. 134 in his Redemption Accomplished and Applied.

Murray elsewhere says that adoption reigns as the chief fruit of Christ’s redemptive work for His children; here he calls it the apex of grace. I've been accustomed to think of justification as the apex of grace.

The Spirit works with the Word to confirm, to seal the eternal inheritance; but more, the Spirit enables us to grasp the promises and reality regarding God's good pleasure and delight in us and for us.

The Word convinces, and the Spirit convinces. A double testimony to the truth.

G. Mark Sumpter

More on The Ascended Life

From OPC Pastor and friend John Mahaffy

“The ascension of Christ implies his prior humiliation, suffering, and death (Paul can’t talk about Christ ascending without also speaking of his first descending into the depths). But that is over. Now you celebrate the triumph of your Lord.

The bodily ascension affirms that Jesus Christ accomplished a salvation for you that involves the real, tangible world in which you live. Your salvation may be a matter of the heart, but it touches far more than just the heart and mind.

The bodily ascension is particularly important for those of us who hold to the Reformed faith. That comes to the surface in how we view the Lord’s Supper. In contrast to the church of Rome, which teaches that the bread is transformed into the physical body of Christ, and even in contrast to the Lutheran view, which teaches an omnipresent physical body of Christ present in the Lord’s Supper, we affirm that the physical body of Christ has ascended into heaven where he sits at the Father’s right hand. That doesn’t mean that Christ is absent from you. But, rather than depending on his physical presence, he is with you through faith, by his Word and Spirit.”

G. Mark Sumpter

The Ascended Life

Back 17 years ago, I preached in Lenoir, NC, and really enjoyed the fellowship of the saints. I think around 25-30 folks gathered around the throne of the Lord on that Sunday AM. I am reminded of that time because of Gerrit Dawson’s book Jesus Ascended—The Meaning of Christ’s Continuing Incarnation. Dawson used to pastor in Lenoir; he’s in Baton Rouge now.

With last Sunday’s observance of Ascension Sunday, I have been nosing around in Dawson.

At one point he writes:

“…many of our people [American church folks] feel a sense of separation between their church life and their business, school or private life. Church is soothing after a rough week. People say it helps put things back into perspective. They get reoriented at church, and then go back into the world where a different set of values reign. By the end of the week, they have lost their spiritual footing and feel soul-weary…

…My premise [in this book] is that the church—our local church and churches of the west—needs to recover the meta-narrative of the gospel as a counter-story, indeed a better story to the one the world tells. As we noted in the introduction, the second article of the Apostles’ Creed is a narrative of a dozen dramatic movements. One of those episodes, the ascension, has been sorely neglected in the church’s telling of the story. The silence about this episode cuts us off from the present work of Christ in heaven and from the conclusion of the story—his coming again to judge the living and the dead.”

Do we have this sense of separation—a loss of perspective, as Dawson says, which leads to purposelessness in our day-to-day work and service, because we assume that our Lord’s separation from this world means the same for Him? Is it because we fail to teach and act on Christ’s on-going work regarding the earth, that we lose our way in it too?

The heavenly Man, our Sovereign God and Lord, is very earth-oriented. “He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet…who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us….I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you….A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher…”

Isn’t it this greatness of the gospel’s story that compels us onward? The gospel reverses things—at one time we had no hope, without God in the world; but now Hope lives! Jesus reigns, rules and recovers!

If we trim back the gospel, we’re back to the matter of preaching and teaching a little, narrow story with little, narrow application. What’s the little, narrow thing? We teach that Jesus won our salvation—that He brought us back to God by His mercies, but that’s it. In a little Gospel, we’ve been brought back to God, but not back to the world with God in it.

But with the Ascended Life, the earth is the Lord’s!

Dawson goes on to quote a father in the faith, H. B. Swete, who wrote back around 1900, saying that men who know the Ascended Life know how to live in this world.

G. Mark Sumpter

Tracing Out Total Depravity

Lack of Enemy Consciousness and Military Preparedness Due to a Less Than Robust Doctrine of Man's Sin

I used to sell a little pamphlet on the practical implications of Calvinism. There's been an important, yet narrow application of Calvinism in our day, mostly on the doctrine of personal salvation.

Application about the doctrine of man's depravity, we whole-heartedly agree, rightly should stress man's total inability to come to God for salvation on his own.

But what about total depravity serving us for greater enemy awareness, thus, an argument for the need for a militia in the USA?

An answer about this might be developed this way.

Doesn't it stand to reason that Adam's fall into sin requires man to have accountability? One way that man can be held accountable is through various checks and balances. He needs checks and balances of multiple kinds: authorities, parents, teachers, police and so on. Such persons themselves, to be certain, need accountability too. It's something like the different branches of government holding one another accountable. In all such roles, there's an acknowledgment that man is sinful.

One check and balance is the need to be able to answer a man and/or his people if wickedness runs too, too far amok. Therefore, isn't there a needful application of this biblical doctrine to the area of societal readiness to defend a people, and defeat another?

Man is a sinner; his sinfulness must be corrected, and at times contained, maybe conquered by military action.

When we start presenting a droopy and limp doctrine of man's sinfulness, we end up dropping our guard about those who are enemies of the cross of Christ.

G. Mark Sumpter