In my studies through the Synoptic Gospels recently I noticed something the Lord did in his preaching with respect to invitations. On one occasion, he quite clearly gave an invitation at the end of his message, and on another he gives what could be construed as an invitation, although it is a bit more interpretive.
The clear example is in Mt 11.28-30 'Come unto me, all who labor and are heavy laden..." This passage comes at the end of a message begun by the visit of John's disciples expressing their master's worries about the Lord's direction. The Lord is quite clearly inviting people to respond to him.
The second example is at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Mt 7.13-27. The invitation aspect is somewhat less clear, but these verses are clearly outside the main body of the message and they distinguish two ways of response (5.1-15 are somewhat introductory, then 5.16 and 7.12 form an inclusio around the main body of the message). The first means of distinguishing two ways of response is the wide gate and the narrow gate (7.13-14). The second means of distinguishing two ways of response is the contrast between false prophets and [implied] true - by good trees and bad trees and their fruit (7.15-20). The third way of distinguishing two ways of response is the contrast between those who do the will of the father and those who only say they do the will of the father (7.21-23). And last, the two houses are means of distinguishing response to the Lord and his words: the man who builds on the rock and the man who builds on the sand (7.24-27). While there is no clear call in these words, the Lord is building a case that there is a right response and a wrong response to his words.
What to make of all this? Well, the fact is that the Lord used invitations in his preaching. We cannot deny this. I don't think the Lord was manipulative, as some are, or called people to make public professions (the sawdust trail style) or such like inventions, but the Lord did use invitations.
Having the Lord's invitations as a precedent, we should perhaps study them and give a bit more thought to employing them in our preaching. I am not one for a 'go forward' type of invitation. I have never really liked them. But we do need to put that urgency into our preaching and expect a response. May God grant us wisdom to discern how to use biblical, Christ-like invitations.
Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3
Thursday, October 26, 2006
on the empty tomb - summary 10.25.06 message
We come to the end of the Synoptic Gospels with this message. The resurrection is the centre of Christian faith - without it, there is no Christianity. I remarked last night how I have heard preachers pontificate about what they will do in heaven, how they will sit down with one apostle or another, and get questions answered... (as if they will get right to the head of the line! At least we will have all eternity to stand in line!) What I would like to do is just sit and listen to their stories. I would like to hear the apostle John tell about the moment he saw the empty grave clothes and what was going on in his mind. I'd like to hear about what happened on the 27 unreported days of the resurrection period and some of those infallible proofs we don't know anything about. Maybe the Lord will give us a couple thousand years for a Bible Conference with the twelve apostles (and Paul) as the speakers. I wouldn't mind sitting and listening to all that.
"The resurrection message animates Christian living, witness, and hope. You must order your life by the reality of the resurrection." In our message I reviewed the sequence of resurrection events as we have them from the various Gospels. One of the significant features of the resurrection events is that the apostles themselves, all of them, not just Thomas, had to be convinced by the actual appearance of the Lord to them. This fact teaches us how difficult it is to reach people who cannot see a risen Christ literally. It also teaches us how important it is for us to live the resurrection life so that people can see the truth of the resurrection in us. The second thing we covered in the message is a summary of resurrection teaching. What did the Lord talk about in the resurrection? Mainly the great commission. I didn't realize this before, but the Great Commission was uttered by the Lord in various forms on separate occasions. Lk 24 on Resurrection Day. Mt 28 on a mountain somewhere in Galilee - couldn't be the same day. Jn 21 by the sea of Galilee in the form of "feed my sheep" to Peter. Acts 1 on the Mount of Olives on the last day of the post-Resurrection period. Mk 16 seems to be a summary statement, summing up the main theme of the Lord's teaching throughout the forty days. The Lord's point in repeating all this is to teach us that this is the agenda of the post-Resurrection age. We are left here on earth to represent Christ, proclaim his gospel, make disciples of him, feed his sheep, until he comes. That's it. No building mega-churches. Simply making disciples. We closed the message with a brief look at the disciples' reaction to the Lord's final leave taking - not sorrow and despondency, but obedience, prayer, and joy. They were anticipating the ministry the Lord promised them after the empowerment of the Spirit.
In the end, this ministry, the Lord's ministry is what we should be all about. The Lord didn't save us so "that you have life and you can now live that life to achieve worldly comfort, provide for your family and pay your bills and be happy." The Lord saved you to serve, to live the resurrection life, and to preach the gospel.
Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3
"The resurrection message animates Christian living, witness, and hope. You must order your life by the reality of the resurrection." In our message I reviewed the sequence of resurrection events as we have them from the various Gospels. One of the significant features of the resurrection events is that the apostles themselves, all of them, not just Thomas, had to be convinced by the actual appearance of the Lord to them. This fact teaches us how difficult it is to reach people who cannot see a risen Christ literally. It also teaches us how important it is for us to live the resurrection life so that people can see the truth of the resurrection in us. The second thing we covered in the message is a summary of resurrection teaching. What did the Lord talk about in the resurrection? Mainly the great commission. I didn't realize this before, but the Great Commission was uttered by the Lord in various forms on separate occasions. Lk 24 on Resurrection Day. Mt 28 on a mountain somewhere in Galilee - couldn't be the same day. Jn 21 by the sea of Galilee in the form of "feed my sheep" to Peter. Acts 1 on the Mount of Olives on the last day of the post-Resurrection period. Mk 16 seems to be a summary statement, summing up the main theme of the Lord's teaching throughout the forty days. The Lord's point in repeating all this is to teach us that this is the agenda of the post-Resurrection age. We are left here on earth to represent Christ, proclaim his gospel, make disciples of him, feed his sheep, until he comes. That's it. No building mega-churches. Simply making disciples. We closed the message with a brief look at the disciples' reaction to the Lord's final leave taking - not sorrow and despondency, but obedience, prayer, and joy. They were anticipating the ministry the Lord promised them after the empowerment of the Spirit.
In the end, this ministry, the Lord's ministry is what we should be all about. The Lord didn't save us so "that you have life and you can now live that life to achieve worldly comfort, provide for your family and pay your bills and be happy." The Lord saved you to serve, to live the resurrection life, and to preach the gospel.
Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3
on religious liberty in Canada
In our ministry, we have discovered that it is best to leave politics aside. We are making disciples of Christ, not Milton Friedman (or any other political philosophy). But the politics of our nation do have a bearing on our mission.
We don't expect much out of government. These expectations are often met! The one thing we do expect is to be left alone. The sphere of our activities really have nothing to do with the state and we would prefer that the state would stay out of our sphere of activities.
Thus, it is disturbing when news occurs that threatens religious freedom in any way. The same-sex marriage issue certainly has the potential for political interference on religious freedom, but so far has only had very limited effects. However, this story out of Quebec seems to have some chilling ramifications.
Last year, the director of a local school board filed a complaint regarding unregistered Christian schools in Quebec. The complaint was not about their unregistered status, apparently this is allowed in Quebec. Rather, the complaint was about the failure of these schools to teach Darwinian evolution and sex education. On Oct 12, the CBC reported that the Quebec government was apparently ignoring the schools.
Tuesday's article in the National Post, linked above, dispells that optimism. The opening paragraph reveals that the independent schools must teach Darwin and sex education.
The state does have some interest in an educated populace, but wherever the state has power, it always reaches for more power. It is not just interested in having literate citizens, it is interested in controlling the thoughts of citizens, thus this insistence on evolution and sex education, clearly matters of philosophy and religion, not matters of literacy.
It appears that the schools in question have been open and reasonable. Compliance with a requirement to teach Canadian history is reasonable (would that the public schools actually taught Canadian history!) But this particular paragraph sounds extremely ominous:
"We're from the government, and we're here to help you." Chilling words. Education is one area where the state most quickly intrudes itself into the homes and church buildings of Christian people in North America. Quebec is one of the most secular governments in secular Canada, so I am not too optimistic about the outcome of these 'negotiations'. Education is regulated at the province level in Canada, so these regulations do not have immediate effect on the rest of the country, but the philosophy of interference and usurping parental choice and parental authority is held by teacher's unions and government bureaucrats across the country.
Each battle of this sort must of necessity be fought case by case. May the Lord grant some sympathetic elected representatives who believe in liberty and the will of the people in order to bring some restraint on the grasping theocrats. May God's people be moved to pray! May the Christians of Canada turn from worldliness and plead for God's grace! May the Lord Jesus come quickly!
Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3
We don't expect much out of government. These expectations are often met! The one thing we do expect is to be left alone. The sphere of our activities really have nothing to do with the state and we would prefer that the state would stay out of our sphere of activities.
Thus, it is disturbing when news occurs that threatens religious freedom in any way. The same-sex marriage issue certainly has the potential for political interference on religious freedom, but so far has only had very limited effects. However, this story out of Quebec seems to have some chilling ramifications.
Last year, the director of a local school board filed a complaint regarding unregistered Christian schools in Quebec. The complaint was not about their unregistered status, apparently this is allowed in Quebec. Rather, the complaint was about the failure of these schools to teach Darwinian evolution and sex education. On Oct 12, the CBC reported that the Quebec government was apparently ignoring the schools.
Quebec has quietly tolerated evangelical schools that are not recognized by and do not have permits from the province's Ministry of Education.Today's Family News, a Focus on the Family website, reported the same optimism on Oct 18.
Tuesday's article in the National Post, linked above, dispells that optimism. The opening paragraph reveals that the independent schools must teach Darwin and sex education.
The Quebec Ministry of Education has told unlicensed Christian evangelical schools that they must teach Darwin's theory of evolution and sex education or close their doors after a school board in the Outaouais region complained the provincial curriculum was not being followed.One school offers this defense in response:
"We offer a curriculum based on a Christian world view rather than humanistic world view," said Alan Buchanan, chairman of a committee that reorganized the school's administration this past summer, as well as a former Quebec public school teacher.
Mr. Buchanan said Eglise Evangelique teaches evolution as well as intelligent design.
"We want the children to understand what they're going to meet in the outside world, and also what's wrong with the theory," he said. "We also teach that a better theory -- that God created the universe and so on."
While the school doesn't teach sex education, it does teach biology, he said.
"You have the Christian world view that says sex should only be in the marriage and a public school system that teaches kids about sexuality," Mr. Buchanan said. "We believe students should be taught abstinence."
He said the school met provincial guidelines during two reviews conducted in the 1990s, although they were asked to add a Canadian history course.
The state does have some interest in an educated populace, but wherever the state has power, it always reaches for more power. It is not just interested in having literate citizens, it is interested in controlling the thoughts of citizens, thus this insistence on evolution and sex education, clearly matters of philosophy and religion, not matters of literacy.
It appears that the schools in question have been open and reasonable. Compliance with a requirement to teach Canadian history is reasonable (would that the public schools actually taught Canadian history!) But this particular paragraph sounds extremely ominous:
Ministry spokeswoman Marie-France Boulay said yesterday the province will negotiate for several weeks with an unspecified number of evangelical schools to determine whether they can meet provincial standards that include the teaching of Darwin's theory of evolution.
"We're from the government, and we're here to help you." Chilling words. Education is one area where the state most quickly intrudes itself into the homes and church buildings of Christian people in North America. Quebec is one of the most secular governments in secular Canada, so I am not too optimistic about the outcome of these 'negotiations'. Education is regulated at the province level in Canada, so these regulations do not have immediate effect on the rest of the country, but the philosophy of interference and usurping parental choice and parental authority is held by teacher's unions and government bureaucrats across the country.
Each battle of this sort must of necessity be fought case by case. May the Lord grant some sympathetic elected representatives who believe in liberty and the will of the people in order to bring some restraint on the grasping theocrats. May God's people be moved to pray! May the Christians of Canada turn from worldliness and plead for God's grace! May the Lord Jesus come quickly!
Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
on my Japanese Maple
Inspired by Greg Linscott's pics of his fall in Maine, [more here] I thought I would give you a couple of pictures of our Japanese Maple in our front yard. Unfortunately I didn't think of this when it was at its peak, but some of its beauty and brilliant reds can be seen in these pictures. It is really a breathtaking sight for about a week every fall.
And now for a close up of the leaves. I've got it on my computer now as the desktop background.
The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
Ps 24.1
Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3
And now for a close up of the leaves. I've got it on my computer now as the desktop background.
The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
Ps 24.1
Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3
Monday, October 23, 2006
on catching up with sermon summaries
The latter half of last week was overwhelming with work, hence no blogging. I still have things to say, but had no time to say them!
This post will give a condensed summary of the preaching for Week 8 in our Through the New Testament series, otherwise entitled "The Revelation of Jesus Christ", since that is what I think the New Testament is from beginning to end.
Wednesday evening gave us "The Shock of Betrayal", a message that covered the Lord's shocking announcements of betrayal and denial at the last supper, the institution of communion, and the prayer in the Garden culminating in the actual betrayal. What is particularly interesting to me about these events is that the Lord was dealing with the disciples yet again about rivalry over place and position. Edersheim speculates that the dispute was over where the disciples would be seated at the table and gives a plausible suggestion as to how the seating ended up. John's gospel reveals that the way the Lord taught them about this issue was with the footwashing, which Judas participated in. As the Lord is instituting something as momentous as Communion, he is also dealing with pride, rivalry and humility in teaching his disciples right to the end. The repeated lessons to the disciples on this subject (at least three separate occasions) point out to us the significance of the problem of pride and political rivalry among disciples and also point us to the Lord's answer to it: service.
Sunday morning, we began with "The King on Trial", a look at the Jewish trial of the Lord with its three hearings, then the Gentile trial of the Lord with its three hearings. In the Jewish hearings, the high priests are on a fishing expedition, first before Annas, the former high priest, then before Caiaphas (Annas' son-in-law) the current high priest. In the second hearing, Caiaphas gets what he wants when he gets the Lord to respond to the question whether Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. The Lord replies in the affirmative, then 'ups the ante' by saying that the priests will see him seated at the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven (shekinah glory). The priests have the evidence they need. A. B. Bruce gives four reasons why Jesus answered this question when he was silent before all the other accusations:
After a daylight hearing to make the charges and sentence against Christ legal, the priests send Jesus to Pilate to get Roman approval for the sentence of death. Pilate waffles, realizing the charges are ludicrous, but with the vehemence of the Jews, finds no way out. He attempts to get Herod to take the monkey off his back (second hearing) with no success. Then he finally gives in as the mob joins the priests in shouting for the Lord's crucifixion.
I centered this message around 1 Cor 1.18-25, especially the phrase "the Jews seek a sign, the Greeks seek after wisdom" and the bit about Christ being a "stumblingblock to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks". This is on display in the whole trial scene. But to us who are saved, "Christ the wisdom of God and Christ the power of God". The proposition for this message was: Your eternal destiny depends on what you see in the humiliation of Christ.
The second message was "The Dying Saviour Speaks", where I focused on the four sayings of Christ on the cross that are recorded in the Synoptics. (There are three more in John.) My theme was forgiveness and my proposition went this way: The purpose of God in the crucifixion of Christ was fully accomplished: wrath against sin is eternally satisfied, escape from wrath for sinners is eternally supplied. My main points were
The last message focused on the burial and emphasized the witnesses to the fact that Jesus really died. The title was "Witnesses to His Death". In this message, we reviewed the Lord's repeated teachings to his disciples concerning his death, the witnesses to his death, including the centurion, the soldiers, the councillors (Joseph and Nicodemus), the women watching, and even the chief priests and Pharisees as they asked for a guard against false claims by the disciples about a resurrection. We really didn't cover anything new in this message, but I pointed out that it took the disciples a long time to understand the Lord's teaching on this matter. On one occasion, the Lord said to the disciples
In the same way we need to let the teaching of Scripture sink down into our hears, to meditate upon it, to contemplate it again and again so that we might more fully understand the implications for our spiritual lives as we ground our hope of eternal life in the real death of the infinite Son of God.
Well, now I am caught up on summaries. I'm off to clean the gutters on our house ... it's cleaning day and my wife has some needs that must be met. I'll post more later.
Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3
This post will give a condensed summary of the preaching for Week 8 in our Through the New Testament series, otherwise entitled "The Revelation of Jesus Christ", since that is what I think the New Testament is from beginning to end.
Wednesday evening gave us "The Shock of Betrayal", a message that covered the Lord's shocking announcements of betrayal and denial at the last supper, the institution of communion, and the prayer in the Garden culminating in the actual betrayal. What is particularly interesting to me about these events is that the Lord was dealing with the disciples yet again about rivalry over place and position. Edersheim speculates that the dispute was over where the disciples would be seated at the table and gives a plausible suggestion as to how the seating ended up. John's gospel reveals that the way the Lord taught them about this issue was with the footwashing, which Judas participated in. As the Lord is instituting something as momentous as Communion, he is also dealing with pride, rivalry and humility in teaching his disciples right to the end. The repeated lessons to the disciples on this subject (at least three separate occasions) point out to us the significance of the problem of pride and political rivalry among disciples and also point us to the Lord's answer to it: service.
Sunday morning, we began with "The King on Trial", a look at the Jewish trial of the Lord with its three hearings, then the Gentile trial of the Lord with its three hearings. In the Jewish hearings, the high priests are on a fishing expedition, first before Annas, the former high priest, then before Caiaphas (Annas' son-in-law) the current high priest. In the second hearing, Caiaphas gets what he wants when he gets the Lord to respond to the question whether Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. The Lord replies in the affirmative, then 'ups the ante' by saying that the priests will see him seated at the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven (shekinah glory). The priests have the evidence they need. A. B. Bruce gives four reasons why Jesus answered this question when he was silent before all the other accusations:
- "The whole ministry of Jesus had made the question inevitable
- "The high priest was the proper person to ask it
- "It is an important opportunity for giving expression to His Messianic self-consciousness
- "Silence would, in the circumstances, have amounted to denial."
[A. B. Bruce, “The Synoptic Gospels”, Expositor’s Greek Testament, Vol. 1, p. 320.]
After a daylight hearing to make the charges and sentence against Christ legal, the priests send Jesus to Pilate to get Roman approval for the sentence of death. Pilate waffles, realizing the charges are ludicrous, but with the vehemence of the Jews, finds no way out. He attempts to get Herod to take the monkey off his back (second hearing) with no success. Then he finally gives in as the mob joins the priests in shouting for the Lord's crucifixion.
I centered this message around 1 Cor 1.18-25, especially the phrase "the Jews seek a sign, the Greeks seek after wisdom" and the bit about Christ being a "stumblingblock to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks". This is on display in the whole trial scene. But to us who are saved, "Christ the wisdom of God and Christ the power of God". The proposition for this message was: Your eternal destiny depends on what you see in the humiliation of Christ.
The second message was "The Dying Saviour Speaks", where I focused on the four sayings of Christ on the cross that are recorded in the Synoptics. (There are three more in John.) My theme was forgiveness and my proposition went this way: The purpose of God in the crucifixion of Christ was fully accomplished: wrath against sin is eternally satisfied, escape from wrath for sinners is eternally supplied. My main points were
- Prayer for temporal forgiveness – for sins of ignorance (Father, forgive them… Lk 23.32-38)
- Promise of personal forgiveness – to a penitent sinner (Today you shall be with me… Lk 23.39-43)
- Place of all forgiveness – wrath outpoured on the innocent Son(My God, My God… Mk 15.33-34, Lk 23.44-45)
- Pathway to forgiveness – blazed by the faith of the Son
- (Father into thy hand… Lk 23.46)
The last message focused on the burial and emphasized the witnesses to the fact that Jesus really died. The title was "Witnesses to His Death". In this message, we reviewed the Lord's repeated teachings to his disciples concerning his death, the witnesses to his death, including the centurion, the soldiers, the councillors (Joseph and Nicodemus), the women watching, and even the chief priests and Pharisees as they asked for a guard against false claims by the disciples about a resurrection. We really didn't cover anything new in this message, but I pointed out that it took the disciples a long time to understand the Lord's teaching on this matter. On one occasion, the Lord said to the disciples
Luke 9:44 Let these sayings sink down into your ears: for the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men.
In the same way we need to let the teaching of Scripture sink down into our hears, to meditate upon it, to contemplate it again and again so that we might more fully understand the implications for our spiritual lives as we ground our hope of eternal life in the real death of the infinite Son of God.
Well, now I am caught up on summaries. I'm off to clean the gutters on our house ... it's cleaning day and my wife has some needs that must be met. I'll post more later.
Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3
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