The Wonderful Combat, Sermon 5.1

27 Wednesday Jul 2022

Posted by memoirandremains in Lancelot Andrewes

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Lancelot Andrewes, Scripture, temptation, Temptation of Christ, Temptation of Jesus, The Wonderful Combat

The Fifth Sermon

Matth. 4. Ver. 7. Iesus said vnto him, It is written againe: Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God[1].

Considering that Saint James says chap. 4. 5. The Scripture speaketh nothing in vaine[2]: & that as our Savior Christ saith John 10. 35, No scripture can be disappointed[3]; it may seem strange that the Devil coming armed with The sword of the spirite[4], (for so is the word of God termed, Ephes. 6. 17.) Christ gives not place, but opposes himself to answer[5]. We see that a message coming in the name of the Lord, this very name abashed Nehemiah(Neh. 6. 10) at the first hearing, till he perceived it was contrary to the law of God, and so came not from him[6]: which here we see to be the cause, why Christ does not yield by and by, upon the hearing of the Word, but sets himself to make answer: forsomuch as the word is not of force, Quia dicitur[7] onely, but Quia creditur, as Augustine notes[8]. If there bee not the mixture of faith with it, (whereof Paulspeakes, Heb. 4. 2.) it is nothing worth. And therefore, the bad spirit was nothing abashed or daunted, at the hearing of the bare names of Jesus and Paul, Act. 19. 15, but answered, I know them, but who are ye?[9] They did not believe, and therefore could do them no good, but were wounded themselves: glorious names would not serve the turn[10]. So was it here used without faith.[11]

When the Scripture is here urged against one, a man would think it were not to be answered by citing another place of Scripture; but by some tradition of the Elders, Mark 7. 1 or some gloss, or other shift[12]; but we see our Savior answers here no other way but by Scripture.

Because the wolf comes sometimes disguised in a sheep’s skin, it is no reason that therefore the very sheep should lay away their fleeces[13]: so here, because the Devil uses the Word, as the slaying letter, 2. Cor. 3. 6 or as the sword to kill men with[14]; it is no reason why Christ may not therefore use it in his own defense[15].

Why then (will some say) one of these two inconveniences will follow: [1] that hereby we shall think the Scripture is of the Devil’s side, as well as of Christ’s side, & so divided; as in like sort they make a division of Christ, when one holds with Paul, another of Apollos, 1 Cor. 1. 13[16]. No, it is not so, Christ alleges[17] not this Scripture in that sort, as one nail to drive out another: but by way of harmony and exposition, that the one may make plain the meaning of the other[18].

For albeit the Devil shows himself to be the Devil, in citing that text so, as might best serve for his purpose: in that, whereas the Psalm whereout he taketh it, has it thus, That he might keepe him in all his wayes; which words he leaves out[19]. For if he had cited that, he could not thereby have enforced any casting down: for the angels have no charge over a man, but in his ways; & from the top of the pinnacle there was no way, but down the stairs on his feet[20]. He was not (relying on the angels) to cast himself down with his head forward. But the Devil has a wrest, to make the string sound high or low, as he list[21]; or if that will not serve, he hath a rack to stretch them out, as some did Saint Paul’s Epistles, 2. Pet. 3. 16[22]. He can set them on the tenters, to prove, that down the stairs, or over the battlements, all is one, the angels shall safeguard him.

Though this (I say) be the Devil’s corruption, which the late writers have well spied: yet Christ (we see) is not willing to take advantage of that, but uses a wiser course[23]; for so are we to think, that he went the best way to work, that is, the conference of Scripture with Scripture, which Christ here practices, and commends unto us.

In every art, all propositions are not of a like certainty, but some be grounds and principles so certain, as that no exception is to be taken against them. From them are others derived, by a consequence called deduction, not so certain as the other: from these again to others, to the twentieth-hand[24]. So is it in Divinity [theology]. Christ here reduces the Devil’s argument & place, to a place most plain to be confessed. For the Jews valuing of the means, had to consider, that God fed them with Manna, which they knew not, to teach them, that Man liueth not by bread onely, Deut. 8.3[25] condemning the same: and in Deut. 6. 16 bad [said, exhorted] them they should not tempt their Lord their God, as in Massah, when they cried for bread.[26]

The Lord curses him, that makes flesh his arm, and withdraws his heart from God, Jer. 17. 5[27]. They sacrificed unto their yarn, because their portion was plentiful, Hab 1. 16[28]. Job condemns the making gold our hope, or the wedge of gold our confidence, chap. 31. ver. 24[29]. As then we[30] must not deify the means, attributing all sufficiency to them: so, we may not nullify them, & think too basely of them, but use them, that we tempt not God, according to his Word.

Out of these two grounds, may every question be resolved: for every proposition must be proved out of the ground.[31] So that, as we may not think the arm of God to be so shortened, that he cannot help without means: so are we not to think basely of God, for ordaining means[32].

Secondly, we heard, that the Devil’s allegation was taken out of the Psalm, and one of the most comfortable places of all the Psalms[33]. Christ by not standing in disputation about the words and meaning of the text, commends to us the safest and wisest way to make answer in such like cases. Our Savior would warn us, that the Psalm 91 is not fit matter for us to study on, when we are on the top of the pinnacle: he therefore chooses a place of a contrary kind, to counterpoise himself, standing in that tickle place[34].

The Law (we know) is a great cooler to presumption. If one tamper much with the Psalms, being in the case of confidence, he may make the fire too big[35]. Faith is the fire which Christ came to put on the earth[36], and it is seated between two extremes, Distrust, and Presumption. Distrust is as water to it, which if it be powered on in abundance, it will make it to be smoking flax, or utterly quench it[37]: Presumption (on the other side) is a gunpowder to it, which being thrown into it, it will blow it up, and make it fly all about the house[38]. Christ was to take heed of over-heating his faith. Luther [writing] upon the Galatians saith, the 91[st] Psalm is no meet study for many men’s humors in our days: they had more need of a corrosive, to eat out the soar of the root and bottom[39].

Notes

In this section, Andrews provides instruction on how to understand and make use of Scripture. The first proposition is that Scripture is not a magic recitation. He gives the example of the exorcists who heard of Paul exorcising demons in the name of Jesus. These men, who did not have faith in Jesus, who did not belong to him, thought that merely using the name would give them power. It was not so. It is not the saying of the words, but the believing reception of the words which is efficacious. An unbeliever handling the Scripture will not profit them.

The Devil is the ultimate unbeliever and hence his quotation of the Scripture was not to his profit.

Second proposition: One would have supposed that Jesus would have contested the Devil’s presentation by arguing over the meaning of the passage (indeed, the Devil takes the passage out of context, as Andrews will argue later in this section). But Jesus rebuts the Devil by showing that Scripture is to be read as a harmonious whole. Yes, the Scripture here in this way, but it also provides further clarity on our relationship to God in another place. We must consider both passages to understand either.

All our understanding of the Scripture must be as harmonious. If we come to an understanding which results in conflicts where either one or the other passage must be right (where one nail drives out another), our understanding is incorrect.

The Devil misuses the Scripture in a way to cause a conflict with other passages, and a conflict even with the immediate Psalm.

This leads Andrews to make a comment on the question of God’s use of ordinary means to perform ends. The common way to come down from a pinnacle is by the stairs, not to leap and let the angels catch you before you hit the ground. God is not bound by the means. He most commonly provides us by breach by cause the grain to grow from the ground. But God is not bound by means. He can provide bread in the wilderness without apparent means.

He provides a final observation on the use of the Scripture. There are passages which give us much comfort and hope such as the 91^st Psalm. Taken by itself, without reference to the rest of Scripture, could easily lead one to presumption:

Psalm 91:1–13 (ESV)

91 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

² I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,

my God, in whom I trust.”

³ For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler

and from the deadly pestilence.

⁴ He will cover you with his pinions,

and under his wings you will find refuge;

his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.

⁵ You will not fear the terror of the night,

nor the arrow that flies by day,

⁶ nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,

nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.

⁷ A thousand may fall at your side,

ten thousand at your right hand,

but it will not come near you.

⁸ You will only look with your eyes

and see the recompense of the wicked.

⁹ Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place—

the Most High, who is my refuge—

¹⁰ no evil shall be allowed to befall you,

no plague come near your tent.

¹¹ For he will command his angels concerning you

to guard you in all your ways.

¹² On their hands they will bear you up,

lest you strike your foot against a stone.

¹³ You will tread on the lion and the adder;

the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.

This could lead one to think that no danger will ever befall me. But we must not read these promises as absolute and disregard the remainder of the Scripture. Consider the life of Christ, himself. He was arrested, falsely accused, beaten, then crucified. He himself promised we would have trouble in this world. We have the book of Job and Ecclesiastes as well as the Psalms and Proverbs.

Our reading of the Scripture must be of the whole, not isolated parts. Read alone without reference to whole could lead to despair or presumption; the twin dangers which the Devil has sought to exploit in the first two temptations.

Christ’s defense to the Devil’s misuse of Scripture was more Scripture.

What this means for our application is that our knowledge of the Scripture must be more complete. I do not recall the precise reference, but I recall reading in Chrysostom an admonition to the congregation that they go out unarmed, because they do not know the Scripture.

[1] Matthew 4:7 (ESV) “Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ””

[2] James 4:5 (ESV) “Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, ‘He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us’?” Andrews takes the proposition used in the particular in James, do you suppose this one particular statement is of “no purpose,”, i.e., vain and applies it generally. This is an appropriate use of the passage, because the specific application presumes the general. If the Scripture could speak in vain, then the particular instance could be vain. However if the Scripture always speaks to purpose, then all particular instances speak to purpose.

[3] John 10:35 (ESV) “If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken—” I am not sure where Andrews got the word “disappointed.” It is possible conceptually to obtain “fail” as an idea related to the Greek verb used in this place: the verb means to untie, to loose, to set free, to destroy. So one could see a metaphorical use which would have the connotation of “disappoint.” But the word “broken” was used going back to Tyndale, and was used in the Geneva.

[4] The “sword of the Spirit”. Eph. 6:17.

[5] The argument runs thus, The Scripture cannot fail in its effect. The Devil quotes from the Bible and says to Jesus, “Do you really believe this promise that you will be hurt if you fall?” The Devil seems to have caught Jesus in a dilemma.

[6] The passage reads: “⁹For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done.” But now, O God, strengthen my hands. ¹⁰Now when I went into the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his home, he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple. Let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you. They are coming to kill you by night.” ¹¹But I said, “Should such a man as I run away? And what man such as I could go into the temple and live? I will not go in.” ¹²And I understood and saw that God had not sent him, but he had pronounced the prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.” When Nehemiah first heard considered the words might come from God he was concerned. But upon understanding that this was not God’s word to him, he put it aside. By analogy: The Devil’s use of Scripture gives the appearance of being a word from God, but it was a misuse of the text.

[7] Latin, what is said.

[8] Latin, What is believed. The source is quoted by Calvin in the Institutes: “At longe aliter de Verbo sacramentali docet Augustinus (hom. in Ioann. 13.): ‘Accedat, inquit, verbum ad ele mentum, et fiet sacramentum. Unde enim ista tanta virtus aquae ut corpus tangat, et cor abluat, nisi faciente verbo? non quia dicitur, sed quia creditur. Nam et in ipso verbo aliud est sonus transiens, aliud virtus manens. Hoc est verbum fidei quod praedicamus, inquit Apostolus (Rom. 10:8.). Unde in Actis Apostolorum, Fide mundans corda eorum (Act. 15:9.). Et Petrus Apostolus, Sic et nos Baptisma salvos facit, non depositio sordium carnis, sed conscientiae bonae interrogalio (1 Petr. 3:21.). Hoc est verbum fidei quod praedicamus: quo sine dubio, ut mundare possit, consecratur et Baptismus.’” John Calvin, Institutio Christianae Religionis, vol. 2 (Berolini: Gustavum Eichler, 1834), 352. “Far different is the teaching of Augustine concerning the sacramental word: ‘Let the word be added to the element and it will become a sacrament. For whence comes this great power of water, that in touching the body it should cleanse the heart, unless the word makes it? Not because it is said, but because it is believed. In the word itself the fleeting sound is one thing; the power remaining, another. ‘This is the word of faith which we proclaim,’ says the apostle [Rom. 10:8]. Accordingly, in The Acts of the Apostles: ‘Cleansing their hearts by faith’ [Acts 15:9]. And the apostle Peter: ‘Thus baptism … saves us, not as a removal of filth from the flesh, but as an appeal … for a good conscience …’ [1 Peter 3:21 p.]. ‘This is the word of faith which we proclaim’ [Rom. 10:8], by which doubtless baptism, that it may be able to cleanse, is also consecrated.’” John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion & 2, ed. John T. McNeill, trans. Ford Lewis Battles, vol. 1, The Library of Christian Classics (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011), 1279.

[9] Acts 19:13–16 (ESV) “13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” 14 Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. 15 But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” 16 And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.”

[10] The name of Jesus was not a magic word, which merely saying commands evil spirits.

[11] The words of Scripture are not magic. They are used by the Spirit when received by faith.

[12] One would think that the response to be presented with a proposition from Scripture and being told, do you believe this? Would respond with, “You have misinterpreted the passage. It does not mean what you say it means.” The “tradition of elders” means an authoritative interpretation of the most respected teachers. A “gloss” means an explanatory paraphrase. A “shift” would be something else which would “shift” the basis of the proposition.

[13] The metaphor is based upon Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:15 that false prophets will come “in sheep’s clothing”, i.e., disguised as a sheep and thus a true follower. Andrews means, that just because a false prophet comes in sheep’s clothing is no reason to give up the flock. More particularly, just because you are defined by the Scripture, it does not mean that you should give up the Scripture when it is misused by someone. A present application of this proposition would be found in those who some proposition out of the Bible which appears to either contradict the rest of Scripture or which makes the Bible sound unfair or unjust. In response, rather than permitting the Bible to defend itself, we run to some other source of authority.

[14] 2 Corinthians 3:4–6 (ESV) “Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”

[15] The Devil’s misuses the Scripture is no reason for Christ to abandon the Scripture.

[16] The Corinthian church had broken up into factions which each claimed they were followers of a particular teacher, such as Paul, or Apollos, or Peter. The letter addresses this ungodly fracturing.

[17] An “allegation” here does not mean an accusation in a legal document which has yet to be proved, but rather an assertion.

[18] Andrews here lays down a rule of interpretation. Scripture is not to be read in such a way that one text trumps another: like hammering a nail on a nail drives the bottom nail out of the wood. This can happen when one reads the Bible as if it were a series of separate books which have been cobbled together, the books with different ends and different authors. Rather, the Scripture is to be read as a consistent harmony. We cannot take Scripture out of context, and in the end, the context is the entire Bible. This principle was set forth in the Westminster Confession as follows: “VII. All things in scripture are not alike plain in themselves, nor alike clear unto all;p yet those things which are necessary to be known, believed, and observed, for salvation, are so clearly propounded and opened in some place of scripture or other, that not only the learned, but the unlearned, in a due use of the ordinary means, may attain unto a sufficient understanding of them.” Westminster Assembly, The Westminster Confession of Faith: Edinburgh Edition (Philadelphia: William S. Young, 1851), 19.

[19] Here the ESV reads:

Psalm 91:11–14 (ESV)

¹¹ For he will command his angels concerning you

to guard you in all your ways. The Geneva has “to kepe thee in all thy ways” as does the Matthew’s translation. The difference between Andrews and the Geneva or Matthews is “to keep him” and “to keep you.”

[20] This is an interesting reading of the verse: the verse was not a promise that the angels would protect no matter the psalmist did (here referring to the Messiah). But the protection was afforded for him being where he was called to be.

[21] He compares the Devil’s speech to one tuning a stringed instrument: The Devil can twist the string however much he desires so that it will play the note he wishes to obtain, that is, he can make words sound however he wishes them to sound.

[22] 2 Peter 3:14–16 (ESV) “¹⁴Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. ¹⁵And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, ¹⁶as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.” The Devil can even twist Scripture to a bad end.

[23] Rather than demonstrate that the Devil has misapplied the Scripture in place here, Christ has chosen a different form of response by referencing other Scripture to show that Scripture as a whole must be read in harmony.

[24] Any area of knowledge consists of basic principles or axioms which are taken as certain. From those basic principles other propositions may be determined by means of deduction.

[25] Deuteronomy 8:1–3 (ESV) “The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers. ²And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. ³And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”

[26] Deuteronomy 6:16 (ESV) “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah.” Andrews is underscoring not merely that Jesus is reading the Bible as a harmony, but even the two verses he has quoted so far in response to the first two temptations are part of the same exhortation to the Israelites in the wilderness. First, God tested them so that they would learn they need to live upon God and not merely upon physical objects, like bread. God is the God of bread. Second, they should not “test” God by complaining that God is not meeting their immediate demands.

[27] Jeremiah 17:5 (ESV)

⁵ Thus says the Lord:

“Cursed is the man who trusts in man

and makes flesh his strength,

whose heart turns away from the Lord.”

[28] Habakkuk 1:16 (ESV)

¹⁶ Therefore he sacrifices to his net

and makes offerings to his dragnet;

for by them he lives in luxury,

and his food is rich.

Their “yarn” would be the line they used to make their net.

[29] Job 31:24–28 (ESV)

²⁴ “If I have made gold my trust

or called fine gold my confidence,

²⁵ if I have rejoiced because my wealth was abundant

or because my hand had found much,

²⁶ if I have looked at the sun when it shone,

or the moon moving in splendor,

²⁷ and my heart has been secretly enticed,

and my mouth has kissed my hand,

²⁸ this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges,

for I would have been false to God above.

[30] We must not understand the things in the world as having an efficacy in-and-of themselves. Food does not support our life because food has it in itself to support life, but because God has caused food to support our life. This is not to deny the reality or usefulness of food (for instance), but to understand that food is a creation and is subject to the Creator: “God in his ordinary providence maketh use of means, yet is free to work without, above, and against them, at his pleasure.” Westminster Assembly, The Westminster Confession of Faith: Edinburgh Edition, Chapter 5.3 (Philadelphia: William S. Young, 1851), 35.

[31] There must be a proper basis for any conclusion.

[32] Two points: First, we must not think that God’s power is limited to the use of means. God can work without means. Second, we must not think God is weak because he uses means.

[33] The Devil chose his text to tempt Jesus by using one of the most comforting passages among all of the Psalms.

[34] When we are in such a “ticklish” place, dangerous place, Jesus gives the proper way to respond. It is not a time for arguing.

[35] It would be easy to take certain texts, such as those which speak of God’s love and mercy out of the context of the entire Bible. God is a God mercy, but equally a God of justice. We are given the Psalms for comfort and the Law for direction.

[36] Luke 12:49 (ESV) “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled!”

[37] If we find ourselves beset by distrust of God, it can act to quench faith, like water being poured on a fire.

[38] Presumption is a misuse of faith. Bringing presumption to faith is like bringing gunpowder to a fire.

[39] At this time, the greater problem is presuming upon the grace of God, rather than being fearful that God will hold anyone to account.

The Wonderful Combat, Sermon 3.2

23 Thursday Jun 2022

Posted by memoirandremains in Lancelot Andrewes, Scripture, temptation

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Lancelot Andrewes, Scripture, temptation, The Wonderful Combat

I. The Five Shields

They are in number five. First, a preparation of ourselves by the use of Gods sacraments, that we may be the more strong to sustain and bear off temptations[1], and to hold out to the end without fainting.

Secondly, a withdrawing [of] ourselves into the desert, or some other solitary place, there (by meditation) to kindle good thoughts, Psalm. 39. 3.[2]

Thirdly, fasting.

Fourthly, watchful prayer, Matt. 26. 41.[3]

Fiftly, the perfecting of ourselves in the Scriptures.[4]

These be the five shields wherewith Solomon’s temple was hanged.

The Use of Scripture:

(A Storehouse)

Now as for the Scripture, we are to note, that where God speaks of any good that we are to receive out of it,

it is recommended to us as a storehouse,

whether we are to make our resort for the bread of life,

and the water of life, whereof he that tasteth, shall never thirst. John6. 35.[5]

And from thence are we to draw the waters of comfort, out of the fountains of salvation, Isaiah 12.3.[6]

When there is any ill-spoken of, which we are to resist,

then is it commended to us as an armory,

whence we may fetch any kind of weapon which we shall need, either offensive, as a sword, Hebr4. 12[7] or defensive, as a shield, Pro. 30. 5.[8]

(A Shield)

The Scripture is the broad plate [a shield],

that is to bear off the darts:

our faith is the braces or handle whereby we take hold, Eph. 6. 16[9]

and lift it up to defend ourselves withal.[10]

For the Scripture is a shield Non quod dicitur, sed quod creditur.[11]

Dicitur [it is said] there is the strong and broad matter, fit to bear off:

and Creditur, [it is believed] that is the handle or braces to it.

God spake once or twice, I have heard it, power belongeth unto God. Psalm. 62. 11. So that it suffices not that it be spoken only by God, but we must hear it too: neither must we hear it as the voice of a man, (as Samuel at the first did; who when God called him, thought it the voice of Eli[12]) but as the voice of God, that we which were dead in our sins, us hath he quickened & forgiven us all our trespasses, 1. Thes. 2. 13.[13] This is the perfection of our faith.

Generally, of the scriptures, this is Christ’s opinion, confirmed by his own practice; that if the Devil come as a serpent, here is a charm for him, Ps. 58. 5[14]; or if he come as a lion, here is that is able to prevail against him, 1. Pet. 5. 8. And that the Devil knows well enough, as appears by his malice that he hath always borne it, before it was scripture, when it was but only dictum [said]. For so soon as God had said, Let s make man in our likeness, that word was straight a whetstone to the Devil’s envy.[15] And after the fall, when the seed was promised, that was, and is the cause of all the Devil’s enmity. Gen. 3. 15.[16] So when the promise was reiterated, Gen. 22. 18 that was the cause he so turmoiled all the Patriarchs.[17]

But when the words were to be written, and to become Scripture, then his malice began to grow very hot, in so much that he caused it for anger to be broken, Ex. 32. 19.[18] For the Fathers are of opinion, that all the Devil’s busy endeavor, in making the Israelites to commit idolatry with the golden Calf, was to the end, that he might so heat Moses in his zeal, as that in his anger he should break the Tables of the Law, by casting them hastily out of his hands. We are to note therefore, that there is a forceable sound in the word, which the Devil cannot abide; & not only the sound, but the sight also.[19]

It is written of Augustine, that lying sick on his bed, he caused the seven penitential Psalms to be painted on the wall over against him, in great letters; that if after he should become speechless, yet he might point to every verse when the Devil came to tempt him; and so confute him.[20] Blessed is he that hath his quiver full of such arrows, they shall not be ashamed. Blessed is he that has the skill to choose outfit arrows for the purpose, as the Fathers speak out of Isaiah 49. 2.[21]

Christ saith affirmatively of the Scriptures, that in them is eternal life, John 5. 39[22]; negatively, that the cause of error, is the not knowing of them, Mark. 12. 24. David says[23], it was that that made him wiser than his enemies, than his teachers, and than the Ancients, Psalm. 119. 98. 99[24]. & 110. Knowledge of the truth is the way to amendment after a fall, 2. Tim. 2. 26.[25] There is much calling now-a-days for the Word, and others find fault as fast, that it is no better harkened unto: for as the want of obedience and all other abuses (which are so much cried out against) proceed not only from the not hearing of the Word, but as well from the not mingling of faith with it, (without which mixture, it is nothing worth) it profits not, Heb. 4. 2[26] so the error of the former times was, in yielding too far to the Devil’s policy, by sealing up the Scriptures and locking the storehouse and armory of the people.[27]

It is the policy Christ tells us of in the eleventh chapter of Saint Luke’s Gospel, the two and twentieth verse. A strong man puts the strong-armed man out of his house, and takes away his armor from him: then he needs not fear him.[28]

The like policy we read of 1. Sam. 13. 19. when the Philistines had taken away all smiths and armor, then they thought they were safe.[29] So in the time of darkness, the Devil might let them do their good works, and what they list[30], and yet have them still under his lure: for he might offend them at his pleasure[31], that had no armor to resist him.

All the Children of GOD, had a right and property in the Law of God, as appears by Christ’s words, John 10. 34 he answered them that is, the common people, Is it not written in your law? As though he should say, the Scripture is yours.[32]

To the young man (in the tenth Chapter of Saint Luke’s Gospel, and twenty six verse) that asked Christ what he should do to be saved? Christ answers, What is written in the Law? how readest thou?[33] Whereunto they answer, that we cannot read, or that the book is sealed up, Isaiah 29. 11[34], is as the Devil would have it.[35]

Then hath he a fit time to offer us stones to make bread of.[36] But this answer with our Savior Christ will not be allowed of.[37]

Notes

Andrews discusses five spiritual disciplines which will provide spiritual strength: (1) the sacraments (baptism and the Lord’s Supper); (2) solitude for meditation, (3) prayer, (4) fasting, and (5) knowing the Scripture.

In this section he is going to emphasize knowing the Scripture. He refers to the Scripture as a storehouse and a shield. The Word of God is an expression of the power of God. It is a power which will provide us protection from the attack of the Devil. The Devil hates the Scripture and the power of the Scripture.

But for this Scrpiture to be effective, the Scripture must be known and believed. The first fault will then be plain ignorance of the Scripture. The Devil is perfectly content to allow us to be good people as long as we don’t know the Scripture. The second fault is to have access but to not understand or believe the Scripture. To be profitable, it must be understood and believed.

When the Devil comes and says to us, “Make bread from stones,” we will failu if we do not know and believe the Scripture.

[1] To bear without succumbing.

[2] Psalm 39:3 (ESV)

³ My heart became hot within me.

As I mused, the fire burned;

then I spoke with my tongue:

This is an interesting choice to reference meditation. Andrews chose it based upon the fact that musing result strong effect upon him a “fire burned.”

[3] Jesus, speaking to the disciples who fell asleep in the garden of Gethsemane, Matthew 26:41 (ESV) “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

[4] This would mean to become thoroughly acquainted with, understand well.

[5] John 6:35 (ESV)

³⁵Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

[6] Isaiah 12:1–3 (ESV)

You will say in that day:

“I will give thanks to you, O Lord,

for though you were angry with me,

your anger turned away,

that you might comfort me.

² “Behold, God is my salvation;

I will trust, and will not be afraid;

for the Lord God is my strength and my song,

and he has become my salvation.”

³With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.

[7] Hebrews 4:12 (ESV) “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

[8] Proverbs 30:5 (ESV)

Every word of God proves true;

he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

[9] Ephesians 6:16 (ESV) “In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one.”

[10] By means of faith, we take up the Scripture and in so doing defend ourselves from the trial.

[11] Not what is said, but what is believed. True belief requires more than mere words. Thus, it is not merely what one professes but what one believes. “Many, I say, the most of men who live under the dispensation of the gospel, do wofully deceive their own souls in this matter. They do not believe what they profess themselves to believe, and what they think they believe.” John Owen, The Works of John Owen, ed. William H. Goold, vol. 6, “An Exposition on Psalm 130) (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, n.d.), 505.

[12] 1 Samuel 3 records an incident where God audibly calls to the young boy Samuel. Samuel thinks that Eli, the priest is calling him.

[13] 1 Thessalonians 2:13 (ESV) “And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.”

[14] Psalm 58:4–5 (ESV)

⁴ They have venom like the venom of a serpent,

like the deaf adder that stops its ear,

⁵ so that it does not hear the voice of charmers

or of the cunning enchanter.

[15] A “whetstone” is used to sharpen a knife. As soon as the Devil heard of the creation of Adam, it provoked the Devil to envy of the position to be granted to this new creature.

Paradise Lost, Book I.

Who first seduc’d them [Adam and Eve] to that foul revolt?

Th’ infernal Serpent; he it was, whose guile

Stird up with Envy and Revenge, deceiv’d [ 35 ]

The Mother of Mankind, what time his Pride

Had cast him out from Heav’n, with all his Host

Of Rebel Angels, by whose aid aspiring

To set himself in Glory above his Peers,

He trusted to have equal’d the most High, [ 40 ]

If he oppos’d; and with ambitious aim

Against the Throne and Monarchy of God

[16] Genesis 3:15 (ESV)

¹⁵ I will put enmity between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and her offspring;

he shall bruise your head,

and you shall bruise his heel.”

[17] Genesis 22:15–18 (ESV)

¹⁵And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven ¹⁶and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, ¹⁷I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, ¹⁸and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”

[18] As Moses comes down from the mountain with the tablets of the covenant realizes that the Israelites are committing idolatry. In his anger he smashes the tablets. Andrews references the interpretation that the Devil’s aim in provoking Israel to idolatry had as its ultimate aim provoking Moses to anger and so to break the tablets.

[19] The Devil cannot abide to hear the Word of God. This provides an interesting understanding of the temptation and Jesus’ response. It is not merely the logic but the fact of the quotations which provide the defense of Jesus. What then of the Devil’s quotation of Scripture. The argument would be that the Devil’s misuse is a distortion which he can bear.

[20] The penitential psalms are the 7 Psalms which particularly concern repentance: Psal. 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130. The story of Augustine copying out the Psalms is told variously, “Augustine caused David’s penitential psalms to be drawn upon the walls of his chamber, that he might read them as he lay in his bed; he read and wept, and wept and read.” Thomas Brooks, The Complete Works of Thomas Brooks, ed. Alexander Balloch Grosart, vol. 4 (Edinburgh; London; Dublin: James Nichol; James Nisbet and Co.; G. Herbert, 1867), 227.

[21] Isaiah 49:2 (ESV)

² He made my mouth like a sharp sword;

in the shadow of his hand he hid me;

he made me a polished arrow;

in his quiver he hid me away.

[22] John 5:39–40 (ESV) “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, ⁴⁰yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.”

[23] The author of the 119^th Psalm is unknown. Andrews takes it that David wrote this Psalm.

[24] Psalm 119:98–99 (ESV)

⁹⁸ Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,

for it is ever with me.

⁹⁹ I have more understanding than all my teachers,

for your testimonies are my meditation.

[25] 2 Timothy 2:24–26 (ESV) ^“24And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, ²⁵correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, ²⁶and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.”

[26] Hebrews 4:1–2 (ESV) “Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. ²For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.”

[27] Access to the Bible, particularly in one’s own language was a primary element of the Reformation. Andrews is writing within memory of when access to the Bible could be quite difficult for most people. As to errors: There are two errors mentioned in this passage: One error is to have no access to the Bible. The second error is to have access to the Bible but to not believe it.

[28] A strong man needs not fear another whom he has disarmed and thrown out of his house. In the same way, the Devil, as a strong man, can disarm us by taking away from the Scripture.

[29] The passage refers to the Philistines, who were materially more advanced than the Israelites, had control over the blacksmiths Therefore, the Israelites could not forge iron weapons for themselves.

[30] The Devil might as well let someone go ahead and do some charitable action, if someone so wished (list means to desire).

[31] The Devil can active offensively and conquer; not merely to say something which provokes a strong emotional response. This “offense” in terms of warfare.

[32] When Jesus referes to the Law as “Your Law”, he is telling the Jews that the Scripture was given to them. See, Romans 9:4.

[33] Luke 10:26 (ESV) “He said to him, ‘What is written in the Law? How do you read it?’” The importance for Andrews here is the “your law.”

[34] Isaiah 29:11 (ESV) “And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, ‘Read this,’ he says, ‘I cannot, for it is sealed.’”

[35] Not knowing the Scripture or not understanding what is read is just as the Devil wishes it to be.

[36] When we don’t know the Bible, we are vulnerable to the Devil’s temptation.

[37] But since Jesus knew the Bible, the Devil’s trick could not work.

Our desire to subvert the text

02 Thursday Apr 2020

Posted by memoirandremains in Bibliology, Scripture, Uncategorized

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Bible, Bibliology, Brunner, idolatry, Scripture, words

In his essay, “God and the Bible,” in the volume The Enduring Authority of the Christian Scriptures Peter F. Jensen, responds to proposition that the Scripture is a word about God. Or, he quotes Brunner, “The spoken word is an indirect revelation when it bears witness to the real revelation: Jesus Christ, the personal self-manifestation of God, Emmanuel.” To respond to this challenge, states the issue as whether the “classical position” that the words of Scripture are the word of God; or, is there a way in which we can, by means of the Spirit, come to Christ effectively bypassing the words in the book?

There is a profound temptation here to want not some words but a person. Indeed, when phrased in that way, the “classical position” sounds foolish and misguided. I will not recount his argument here, which is well-structured and persuasive. He effectively demonstrates that there is no gospel without holding fast to the “classical position.” I cannot do that argument justice without simply repeating what he wrote.

What do wish to underscore here is the nature of the temptation to go-around the text. The desire to go around the text seems to have two roots as referenced by Jensen. First, there is the matter of idolatry; an argument which he traces to Tyndale. Second, he locates the movement in a desire for autonomy.

Jensen notes that our forebearers sought for “godliness” by means of obedience (see page 494), while we moderns speak of “spirituality”. But a desire for “spirituality” can easily become a guise for autonomy. We are dependent creatures who must have a clear rule to be obedient. “ A human life lived without the rule of God would be like a game of tennis without a net.” (495).

But I would like to venture an observation on idolatry and the textual nature of Christianity. Idolatry is a desire for a god whom we can control; an object of technology and desire. The god created is a god whom conforms to my desire.

I am in place one. My desire is place two; but reality is place three. I use the god of my idolatry to coerce reality to conform to my present desire.

When one claims a spirituality which supersedes the text and goes-around the text, and does not need the text; then my desires will become the “prompting of the Spirit.” Getting what I want will be the will of Christ. It is the strategy which underlies so much doctrinal change (as if a vote of some denominational leaders had the power to rewrite the Bible).

Words are a brake on hazy thinking and deceitful desires. I am well-aware of the strategies to subvert a text and to torture words into saying what I like. That is it’s own conversation.

And yes, there can be difficult questions. But so little of the trouble in life comes from the difficult questions about the Bible. The “you can make it say whatever you want” dodge is written by people who have no idea what the text says. That is merely a dodge for one who wants to ignore the text.

The words of the text stand athwart our desire to create our own god. We have to play deceitfully with the words to justify our own deceitful desires. A “modern” stance which simply seeks a make-believe Jesus on the basis of a “Spirit” which is remarkably consistently with my personal inclinations at the moment (sometimes this shows up when a Christian embarks on a path of disobedience and justifies it on the basis that he feels “peace about it.”)

The pattern laid out in Scripture, from Adam on, is God speaks and we obey. Our obedience is bound up with both our knowledge of God and our love of God. Paul, in Romans writes of the “obedience of faith.” But, “such a piety of obedience clashes deeply with our Western contemporaries to promote human autonomy as the highest aspiration.” (493). And hence, the desire to subvert the text.

As for the entire book, highly recommended. This is a remarkably comprehensive work on the authority of Scripture at over 1200 pages; Jensen providing one of the many essays. Please do not confuse any limitations in my writing with the very fine work done by Jensen in his essay.

How the Spirit Gives Testimony to the Word

09 Sunday Feb 2020

Posted by memoirandremains in Herman Bavinck, Scripture, Uncategorized

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But that must not be understood as if we blindly submit to a thing that is unknown to us. No; we are conscious that in Scripture we possess unassailable truth and feel that “the undoubted power of his divine majesty lives and breathes there,” a power by which we are drawn, knowingly and willingly, yet vitally and effectively, to obey him.⁶⁰ Calvin knew that in this doctrine of the testimony of the Holy Spirit he was not describing some private revelation but the experience of all believers.⁶¹ Nor was this testimony of the Holy Spirit isolated from the totality of the work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of believers but integrally united with it. By it alone the entire church originates and exists. The entire application of salvation is a work of the Holy Spirit; and the witness to Scripture is but one of many of his activities in the community of believers. The testimony of the Holy Spirit is not a source of new revelations but establishes believers in relation to the truth of God, which is completely contained in Scripture. It is he who makes faith a sure knowledge that excludes all doubt.

⁶⁰ J. Calvin, Institutes, I.vii; Commentary on 2 Tim. 3:16. Ed. note: Bavinck again refers to the literature he cites in par. 21 in Gereformeerde Dogmatiek, which is given above in n. 58.

⁶¹ Ibid., I.vii.5. Erasmus also affirms that it is especially the Spirit of Christ who, by his secret working, communicates unwavering certainty to the human mind.” Cf. Martin Schulze, Calvins Jenseitschristemtum in seinem Verhältnisse zu den religiösen Schriften des Erasmus (Görlitz: Rudolf Dulfer, 1902), 54.

Herman Bavinck, John Bolt, and John Vriend, Reformed Dogmatics: Prolegomena, vol. 1 (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2003), 583–584.

Some Advice on Reading the Bible from John Newton

05 Friday Apr 2019

Posted by memoirandremains in Hermeneutics, John Newton, Uncategorized

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In Letter IX in the collection entitled “Forty-One Letters”, John Newton answers the question from a young man concerning the doctrines of grace. What is most interesting in the letter is not Newton’s explication of the doctrines of grace per se, but rather his instruction on how to read the Bible.

First, Newton explains that we do not really understand anything if we can merely recite a creed or have a notional understanding of some theological propositions. For instance, I may know about the nature of the worship of a god by ancient Israelites, but I don’t really understand what those Israelites thought and felt in their worship — I can understand the outside, but I can’t feel and see what they felt and saw.

This truth is even more so when it comes to the knowledge of the true God. There is a level of apprehension which goes beyond mere emotional experience. As Newton writes:

We may become wise in notions, and so far masters of a system, or scheme of doctrine, as to be able to argue, object, and fight, in favour of our own hypothesis, by dint of application, and natural abilities; but we rightly understand what we say, and whereof we affirm, no farther than we have a spiritual perception of it wrought in our hearts by the power of the Holy Ghost. It is not, therefore, by noisy disputation, but by humble waiting upon God in prayer, and a careful perusal of his holy word, that we are to expect a satisfactory, experimental, and efficacious knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus. I

John Newton, Richard Cecil, The Works of the John Newton, vol. 1 (London: Hamilton, Adams & Co., 1824), 188.

He then proceeds to list four guidelines for understanding the Scripture.

First, in handling difficult text or seeming obscure passages, rely upon the “analogy of faith”:

there is a certain comprehensive view of scriptural truth, which opens hard places, solves objections, and happily reconciles, illustrates, and harmonizes many texts, which to those who have not this master-key, frequently styled the analogy of faith, appear little less than contradictory to each other. When you obtain this key, you will be sure that you have the right sense.

Here is a brief note on the analogy of faith:

Analogia fidei is a concept that has many advocates but few who carefully define it. Henri Blocher has carefully marked out four distinct meanings for the concept of the analogy of faith: 1) the traditional one as set forth by Georg Sohnius (c. 1585):3 “the apostle prescribes that interpretation be analogous to faith (Rom 12:6), that is, that it should agree with the first axioms or principles, so to speak, of faith, as well as with the whole body of heavenly doctrine”; 2) the “perspicuity” of Scripture definition, as championed by Martin Luther, in which the sense of the text is to be drawn from the clear verses in the Bible and thus issue in the topically selective type of analogia fidei; 3) the thematically selective understanding of the analogy of faith, as defended by John Calvin: “When Saint Paul decided that all prophecy should conform to the analogy and similitude of faith (Rom 12:6), he set a most certain rule to test every interpretation of Scripture”;4 and 4) the view held by the majority of Protestants, which may be described as a more formal definition, the analogia totius Scripturae. In this view all relevant Scriptures on any topic are brought to bear in order to establish a position that coheres with the whole of the Bible. The analogy of faith on this view is the harmony of all biblical statements where the text is expounded by a comparison of similar texts with dissimilar ones.

Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Hermeneutics And The Theological Task Trinity Journal 12, no. 1 (1991): 2-4

Second, Newton cautions that one’s reading must be understood in light of real life “consult with experience.” Here is an example of how Newton applied this principle in his writing to the young man in this letter:

But we are assured that the broad road, which is thronged with the greatest multitudes, leads to destruction. Were not you and I in this road? Were we better than those who continue in it still? What has made us differ from our former selves? Grace. What has made us differ from those who are now as we once were? Grace. Then this grace, by the very terms, must be differencing, or distinguishing grace; that is, in other words, electing grace

Third, do not be prejudiced against the truth on the ground that it does not align with your current theological position. I recall R. C. Sproul saying that if John MacArthur were convinced of some truth from Scripture, and if that truth contradicted a position MacArthur held, that MacArthur would instantly change his mind. We need to be willing to allow the truth overrule our position. Although offered in a very different context and for a different purpose, Emerson’s famous line has some applicability here, “A foolish consistent is the hobgoblin of little minds”. We should never be stubborn against the truth.

Finally, Newton explains that we should favor those readings which make much of God and God’s glory:

This is an excellent rule, if we can fairly apply it. Whatever is from God, has a sure tendency to ascribe glory to him, to exclude boasting from the creature, to promote the love and practice of holiness, and increase our dependence upon his grace and faithfulness. The Calvinists have no reason to be afraid of resting the merits of their cause upon this issue; notwithstanding the unjust misrepresentations which have been often made of their principles, and the ungenerous treatment of those who would charge the miscarriages of a few individuals, as the necessary consequence of embracing those principles.

John Newton, Richard Cecil, The Works of the John Newton, vol. 1 (London: Hamilton, Adams & Co., 1824), 189–190.

The Spiritual Chymist, Mediation LVII, Upon the Bible

18 Friday May 2018

Posted by memoirandremains in Bibliology, Scripture, Uncategorized, William Spurstowe, William Spurstowe

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From William Spurstowe, The Spiritual Chymist, 1666.

5372524524_82d0796498_o

(A detail from the Gutenberg Bible)

Upon the Bible

Quintillian [a Roman rhetorician who lived 1 century AD] who makes it a question why unlearned men in discourse seem oft times more free and copious than learned gives as the answer, That the one without either care or choice express whatsoever their present thoughts suggest to them. When the other are both careful what to say, and to dispose also their conceptions in due manner and order.

If anything make this subject difficult to my meditation, it is not want but plenty which is so great; as that I must, like Bezaleel and Aholiab [the master craftsmen for the Tabernacle, who told Moses, “The people bring much more than enough for doing the work that the Lord has commanded us to do.” Exodus 36:5 (ESV)] be forced to lay aside much of that costly stuff which present itself to me.

And what to refuse or what to take in is no easy matter to resolve. It will, I am sensible, require and deserve also more exactness in choosing what to say, and what not to say, concerning its worth and excellency, and how to digest what is spoken that what is meet [fitting] for any to assume unto himself.

I shall therefore account that I have attained my end, if I can but so employ my thoughts as to increase my veneration of this Book of God, which none can ever too much study or too highly prize; and with which to be well acquainted is not only the chief of duties but the best of delights and pleasures. What would be our condition in this world if we had not this blessed Book among us, would it not be like Adam’s which driven out of the Paradise and debarred from the Tree of Life?

Would it not be darker than Earth without the Sun? If the world were fuller of books than the heaven is of stars, and this only wanting [if there books and no Bible], there would no certain way and rule to Salvation. But if this alone were extant, it would enlighten the eyes and make wise the simple and guide their feet in paths of life.

True it is that for many years God made known himself by visions, dreams, oracles to persons of noted holiness that they might teach and instruct others. But it was while the church of God was of small growth and extent and the persons to whom God’s messages were concredited of unquestioned authority with the present age.

But afterward the Lord spake to his church both by word and writing , the useful for revealing divine truths; and the other for recording of them, that when the canon was once completed all might appeal until ti, and none take liberty in going divine oracles to himself or of obtruding [forcing] his fancies upon others.

And were there no other use of this Book of God than this, that it should be the standard for trial of all doctrines, it were to be highly prized for its worth; without which [without the Bible] the minds of men would be in a continual distraction through the multitude of enthusiasts that would be pretending commissions from heaven; none knowing what to believe in point of faith or what to do in point of obedience or whereby to difference the good and evil spirit from each other. [1 John 4:1]

But this single benefit (though it can never enough be thankfully acknowledged to Go by us) is but as a clutter to the vintage, or as an ear of corn to the harvest, in respect of those things many blessings may be reaped from it.

Does not Paul ascribe unto it a universal influence into the welfare of believers, when he enumerates so many noble ends for which all Scriptures is profitable? What is it that makes man wise to salvation? Is it not the Scripture? What is that instructs any in righteousness and makes him perfect and thoroughly furnished unto all good works? Is it not the Scripture?

Is not this the only book by which God we come to understand the heart of God to us, and learn also the knowledge of our own hearts? Both which as they are the breasts of mysteries; so they are of all knowledge the best and fill the soul with more satisfaction than the most exact discovery of all created beings whatsoever.

What if a man could, like Solomon, speak of trees from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the Hyssop that grows in the wall; and of beasts, fowls, and fishes; and yet were wholly ignorant of his own heart, would not the light that is inhume be darkness?

Or what if a man could resolve all those posing questions in which the Schoolman [university philosophers] have busied themselves concerning angels, and yet know nothing of the God of Angels; would he not become as a sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal? [1 Cor. 13:1]

Is the knowledge of these things the great end for which our understanding was given us? Or is it any further desirable or profitable than as it conduces to the knowledge of God? Does the rectitude of our actions, and the holiness of them, flow from the knowledge we have of any creature or from the knowledge of God? Is not his will the rule, and his glory the end of all that we do? And should we ever come to know what the good and acceptable will of God is but by his revealing it unto us? Which he has done most clearly in this blessed Book of his, the Scripture of Truth.

That which commends this Book and rendered it worthy of all acceptation is the rich discoveries it makes to us concerning so excellent a being as God, whom it acquaints us with in his nature, perfections, counsels and designs, in relation to the Eternal Salvation of man. It contains not anything that is mean or trivial; the matters in it are all of no less glory for any to behold than of weighty importance for all to know.

Do we not read in it with what majesty God gave forth his Sacred Law, when thunders, lightnings, dark clouds and burnings were used as heralds in the promulgation of it? And yet may we not again see the hidings of his power in the wonderful condescension of his goodness? How he does entreat, woo, and importune those whom he could with a frown or breath easily destroy; and pursue with the bowels [inner most being] of mercy, such whom eh might in justice leave and cast off forever?

Are there in it precepts of exact purity that are as diamonds without flaws, and as fine gold without dross?

In all other books, they are as the most current coins, that must have their alloys of baser metals. But in this [Book, the Bible] they [the things stated therein] resemble the author who is light in which there is no darkness [1 John 1:5]; and a sun in which there are no spots.

Are there not in it promises of infinite value as well as goodness in which rewards are given not of debt, but of grace; and so such who have cause to be ashamed of their duties as well as their sins? Are there not in premonitions [here, foreshadows] of great faithfulness in which God fully declares to men what the issues of sin will be?

And proclaims a Judgment to come in which the Judge will be impartial and the sentence most severe against the least offenses, as well as against the greatest. What is it that may teach us to serve God with cheerfulness; to trust him with confidence; to adhere to him with resolution in difficulties; to submit to his will with patience in the greatest extremities; that we may not be abundantly furnished with from this book.

It alone is a perfect library, in which are presented those deep mysteries of the Gospel that Angels study and look into both with delight and wonder, being more desirous to pry into them then of perfect ability to understand them. They are such, that had they not been revealed could not have been known; and being revealed, can yet never be fully comprehended by any.

Was it ever hear, that he was the Maker of all thing was made of a woman? That the Ancient of Days was not an hour old? That Eternal Life being to live? That he, to whose nature incomprehensibility does belong, should be enclosed in the narrow limits of the womb? Where can we read but in this Book that he who perfectly hates sin should condescend to take upon the similitude of sinful flesh? That he, who was the person injured by sin, should willingly be the sacrifice to expiate the guilt of it; and to die instead of sinners?

Are not these such mysteries as are utter impossibility to reason?

And at which, like Sarah, it laughs; rather than, with Abraham, entertain them with an holy reverence and joy when made known? Reason is busy in looking after demonstrations, and enquires how this can be and then scorns what it cannot fathom:

But faith rests itself in the Revelations of God, and adores as a mystery what he discovers. Yea, it makes these mysteries, not only objects of its highest adoration, but the grounds of its sure comfort and confidence. From whence is it, that faith searches its security against sin, Satan, Death and Hell?

That he who is their sacrifice through the Eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God to purge their conscience from dead works to serve the Living God? [Heb. 9:14] That he who is their Advocate did raise himself form the dead and ascended into the highest heavens to make everlasting intercessions for them?

Can then any depreciate this Book, or abate the least iota of that awful esteem which upon all accounts is due unto it and guiltless? Or can any neglect this Book as unworthy of their reading which God has thought worthy of his writings, without putting an affront upon God himself, whose image it bears as well as declares his commands?

And yet I tremble to think how many anti-Scripturists there be, who have let fall both from their lips and pens such bold scorns as if Satan flood at their right hand to inspire them. It was open blasphemy and worthy that anti-Christian crew of Trent, to affirm That though the Scripture were not, yet a body of saving Divinity might be made out of the Divinity of the School.

The profaneness of politician shall make his name to rot in perpetual stench, who never read the Bible but once, and said, it was the time he ever spent. And yet what are the fruits of his studies, but such as Gullies styles Scholica Nugalia, a few trifling commentaries and criticisms.

More I could readily name of the same stamp that have presumed impiously to scoff at the revelations of God, as others at his providence, but who can take pleasure to rake in a dunghill that may enjoy the fragrance of Paradise. I shall therefore turn my thoughts from them, and, as having nothing to cast over their wickedness shall call my blood into my face and spread it as a vail in blushing for them, that should have blushed and been ashamed for themselves.

But though the Word of God ceases not to be a reproach to them, yet I shall bind it as a crown unto me.

Though they reject the counsel of God against themselves, yet I shall make its testimonies my delight, and the men of my counsel, and shall make the prayers of the Psalmist to be my daily prayer, that God would open my eyes, that I may behold wonders that are contained in his law. [Psalm 119:18]

The Spiritual Chymist, Meditation LV

21 Wednesday Mar 2018

Posted by memoirandremains in Exegeting the Heart, law, Scripture, Uncategorized, William Spurstowe, William Spurstowe

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MEDITATION LV
Upon a Looking Glass

mirror

What is that which commends this glass? Is it the pearl and other precious stones that the frame is set in, is richly decked and enameled? Or is the impartial and just representation that it makes according to the face everyone who beholds himself bring unto it? Surely the ornaments are wholly foreign and contributing no more to its real worth than the case does onto the goodness of the wine into which it is put; or the richness of the plate [silver] to the cordial in which it is administered?

That for which the glass is to be esteemed is the true and genuine resemblance it makes of the object which is seen in it, when it neither flatters the face by giving any false beauty to it, nor yet injures it by detract ought [anything] from it.

To slight [think less than proper of] then or neglect the glass for the meanness [lowliness, lack of ornaments] of its case, and to value it only for its gaiety [beauty, appearance] is no better than the folly of children or the brutish ignorance of those who judge a book by its cover and not by the learning that is in it.

For quarreling with a glass for its returning a most exact and absolute likeness of the face that is seen in it is to despise it for its excellency and come from no other ground than a conscious of some guilt [here, a fault, not necessarily a moral failing].

Is it not for this very respect that beautiful persons both prize it and use it happily too much? It being the only means whereby they come to be acquainted with their own comeliness [beauty] and to understand what it is that allures the hearts and eyes of all toward them.

Who then but those who features nature has drawn with a coal rather than a pencil, or whom age and sickness have robbed them of what they formerly prided themselves in, shun the familiar use of it [use a mirror regularly]. Or be angry when they look into it, as if it upbraided them [rebuked them], rather than resemble them.

Phyrnethe famous harlot throws passionately away her glass saying, As I am, I will not; as I was, I cannot behold myself. And yet is this not anger against the glass causeless [without a reason]? Does it make gray hears upon the head? Or the pock-marks and wrinkles upon the face? Or does it discovery only what age and disease have done? And let them see what they cannot conceal from others?

Now what does all this argue but an averseness in men to understood the truth of their condition and a willingness through self-flattery to deceive themselves in thinking of what ever they have above what is meet [appropriate, fitting]? Great must be the impatience against truth, when the silent elections of the glass that vanish as soon as it is turned from, kindle such dislikes in the breast as to make it cast them from them [one anger throwing the mirror] for doing only the same to them which it does to others.

Here methinks [I think] we may find the ground that carnal men [one who is in the flesh, and does not have the Spirit of God] are offended at the Word, both in putting scorn and contempt upon it by the low and mean [base, foul] thoughts they have of it; or else by the anger they express against it, in throwing this blessed mirror from them in as great, though not so good, a heat as Moses did the tables which he brake beneath [at the foot of] the Mount [Ex. 32:19].

Some pick a quarrel with the plainness of the Word, as if it wholly wanted [lacked] those embroideries of wit and art that other writings and discourses abound with, and had none of those quaint expressions that might win the affections of them that converse [here, read] with it.

But is not this to make such use of the Word as young children do the glass, more to behold the babies in their own eyes, than to make any observance of themselves.

Is the Word writ or preached to have its reflections upon the fancy [vain imagination] or upon the conscience? Is it to inform only the head or reform the heart? If the inward man be the proper subject of it, the simplicity of conduces to that great end than the contemperation [accommodation] of it with humane mixtures [adding or mixing in something which would make it accommodating to “polite” speech].

It is not the painted but crystal glass by which the object is best discerned.

Others again are not a little displeased with the Law or the Word of God, because when they look into it both their persons and their sins are represented in a far differing manner from those conceptions they ever had of one or the other. In their own eyes, they are as Absaloms without any blemish; but in this glass they are as deformed lepers and spread with a uniform uncleanness: and who can bear it to see himself thus suddenly transformed into a monster?

Now their sins which they judged to be as little as the motes [a mote is a speck of dust] in sunbeams, appear in amazing dimensions, and it is to them not a looking glass but a magnifying glass. Thoughts of the heart, glances of the eye, words of the lips, irruptions of the passions are all censured by it as deserving death, and there is nothing can escape it, which as a rule it will not guide or as a judge condemn.

O how irksome this must needs be to carnal and unregenerate men who abound with self-flattery and presumptions of their own innocence and righteousness who can as with little patience endure the convincing power of the Word as sore eyes the severe searchings of the light.

We need not wonder that the Word has so many adversaries who take part with Nature against Grace, setting their works on wits by distinctions and blended interpretations to make it as a glass breathed and blown upon, which yields nothing but dim and imperfect reflections.

Is there anything that the Word does more clearly assert than the loathsome condition of Man’s nature with which comes into the world? Is it not expressed by the filthiness of the birth every child is encompassed with when it breaks forth from the womb? Is it not resembled to the rottenness and stench of the grave into which Man is resolved when he is said to be dead in sins and trespasses?

And yet how many when they view themselves in this glass give out to the world that they can see no such thing?

Celestius of old [a follower of the heretic Pelagius, 5th century] thought the original sin was matter [of the substance] of dispute rather than faith. And some have been so bold of late as to call it [original sin] Austin’s figment [a figment of Augustine’s imagination].

But the more injurious to this divine mirror of truth, the more it behooves every good Christian to be studious in vindicating it from the scorns of such as despise it for its simplicity [clarity] and from the impieties of others that seek to corrupt its purity; and to show for what cause others hate it, he [the Christian] most affectionately loves and prizes it.

Thy Word is very pure, says David, therefore thy servant loves it. [Ps. 119:140]. Can you do God better service, while you honor his Word which he has magnified above all his Name? [Ps. 138:2] Or can you do yourselves more right than to judge yourselves by that which is so pure that it can neither deceived nor be deceived.

What though it present you with sad spectacle of your sins, which may justly fill you with shame and self-abhorrence; does it not also show you your Savior, who is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. And cannot this joyful sight raise you more than the other sight can cast you down?

O fear not to see your sin, when you may at the same time behold your Savior. A mourning heart is the best preparation for a spiritual joy, and serves to intend the height of it, as dark colors do set off the gold that is laid upon them.

Give me, therefore, O Lord a broken and relenting heart
That sin may be my sorrow
And Christ may be my joy;
Let my tears drop from the eyes of faith
That I may not mourn without hope
Nor yet rejoice without trembling.
Let me see my sins in the glass of the Law
To humble me,
And my Savior in the glass of the Gospel
To comfort me
Yea, let me with open so behold his glory
As to be changed into the same image
From glory to glory.

Some brief thoughts on Hebrews 13:17

18 Tuesday Jul 2017

Posted by memoirandremains in Elders, Hebrews, Ministry, Uncategorized

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authority, elders, Hebrews, hebrews 13:17, Hebrews 13:7, Hebrews 1:3, Jay Adams, Leadership, Opinion, Scripture

(These notes are brief and not “tidied-up”.)

Hebrews 13:17 is often and easily abused passage. It has been more than once to justify lording over the congregation and making the pastor and other leaders beyond question. However, that is not what it means.

Summary:

The congregation had been taught well (13:7), and the congregation should continue to follow in that path — even though it was difficult work (going outside the camp). Unfortunately, some new teaching had come (which the letter seeks to refute) which had upset the order in the church. The congregation is being told that they should not change their course, but continue to follow their leaders who were going in the same direction. As a further exhortation to follow their leaders, they are told that these leaders will be called upon to give an account for how they have guided the congregation.

There is no warrant to use this passage to mean that leaders are infallible. Christ is the head of the Church. Leaders have only the authority explicitly in the Scripture. They are to lead people to Christ, not to their own opinions. Understood rightly, there is no submission other than to Christ. There is no despotism or abuse in the passage.

Analysis:

Hebrews 13:17 (ESV)

¹⁷Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

Standing alone, this sounds like a free-floating command that the elders are all little popes (or at least a counsel of popes). I have heard this defended with the claim that “Jesus rules the church through his elders.” The argument, played out is
Jesus rules through elders

Therefore, whatever elders say is what Jesus commands.

This, of course, is the divine right of kings. We could call this the divine right of elders.

It is also a defective sort of sovereignty argument: God is sovereign over all things, but that does not mean that all things are “God’s will”. See John Piper’s “Are There Two Wills in God?”

The argument also proves too much: God is sovereign over everything. God is sovereign over the Red Sea, the insects of Egypt, Balaam’s ass, foreign rulers who attack Israel, the death of Christ:

Acts 2:22–24 (ESV)

²²“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— ²³this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. ²⁴God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.

Paul says in Romans 13:1 that God has instituted all governments. When you combine these two elements, you cannot conclude that, since God appoints governments all acts of governments are “God’s will” in the sense that God approves. The murder of Christ, which took place according to God’s plan, was sinful (“the hands of lawless men”).

The same applies for a man who has been appointed a leader in the Church. Just holding an office — even if we say God put him in place (because that applies to everything) — does not mean that everything one does with the office is morally correct.

The second problem with the divine right of elders is that wrenches the verse from its context.

notes:

The first word “obey” is a word that also means “be persuaded”.

The author’s concern is that the community “trust” (peithesthe) and “obey” (hypeikete) their leaders. I take the verb peithō in the passive imperative to mean “depend on” or “put trust” in someone (see also Heb 2:13; 6:9), in order to relieve what otherwise would be a redundancy, since hypeikō—found only here in the New Testament—means to give way or submit to someone (Homer, Od. 12.117; Plato, Laws 717D; Philo, Life of Moses 1.156; 4 Macc 6:35).

Luke Timothy Johnson, Hebrews: A Commentary, ed. C. Clifton Black, M. Eugene Boring, and John T. Carroll, 1st ed., The New Testament Library (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2012), 350–351.

The idea is that they are convincing. The obedience is not enforced slavery. The word submission means to be orderly. Lenski explains the pair as follows:

“Obey and yield.” One obeys when one agrees with what he is told to do, is persuaded of its correctness and profitableness; one yields, gives up, when he has a contrary opinion.

C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of the Epistle to the Hebrews and of the Epistle of James (Columbus, OH: Lutheran Book Concern, 1938), 490.

There are two things here: Is this a blanket command to do anything someone says who is an “elder?” Second, what is the purpose of this command. I will take the second question first.

The real thrust of the verse is on the purpose: On Judgment Day, the elders will have to give an account to the Lord for how they have done their work. Since these men will be called to account by the Lord himself (“How have you treated my sheep?”), the writer of Hebrews is asking them to not make the elders’ life even more painful. Some people are needlessly difficult — don’t be one of those people.

logical dependence of these clauses is variously exhibited by different interpreters. It is simplest and best to understand all that follows the injunction as reason for it: ‘Obey your spiritual rulers, for they watch over your souls, &c. (Again, obey your spiritual rulers) in order that they may give their account of you with joy, and not groaning; (and obey your spiritual rulers) for such a sorrowful reckoning for your souls were unprofitable for you.’

Francis S. Sampson, A Critical Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews, ed. Robert L. Dabney (New York: Robert Carter & Brothers, 1856), 471–472.

The emphatic pronoun [they] serves to bring out the personal obligation of the rulers with which the loyal obedience of the ruled corresponded; for they, and no other … Comp. James 2:6 f.; 1 Thess. 1:9; Matt. 5:3 ff. The image in ἀγρυπνοῦσιν ὑ. τ. ψ. is that of the ‘watchmen’ in the O. T.: Is. 62:6; Ezek. 3:17.

Brooke Foss Westcott, ed., The Epistle to the Hebrews the Greek Text with Notes and Essays, 3d ed., Classic Commentaries on the Greek New Testament (London: Macmillan, 1903), 446.

Rightly understood, this is one of the most frightening verses in the Bible for a church leader. (This is the sort of thing Paul is talking about in 1 Corinthians 3 when he speaks of one’s work being burnt up.) The necessity of giving an account is one of the primary reasons for church membership (by the way). A leader who has a good and right fear of giving an account would never abuse the authority nor mistreat the sheep.

Now what is the scope of the elder’s authority. The rest of the context matters a great deal. Look up above:

Hebrews 13:7 (ESV)

⁷Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.

There were leaders who started this congregation and set it in a good path. The “leadership” of the elder pertains to what they teach: Their job is to teach you the Bible and to model godliness. They are going to give an account for how well they teach the Bible and model godliness: Remember that Jesus gave only one command to the Church: makes disciples. We make disciples by what we teach and how we live.

The elder’s authority is solely what is in the Bible, no more or less. That means if the elder says something, he can only repeat what God has already said. If God says X, then we must submit. If an elder has an opinion, that’s nice but it is not a command.

To obey them. (Ver. 17.) The spiritual government of the Church is an ordinance of Christ, and a means of grace to his people. It is not, however, a despotic government. Pastors and presbyters are simply to administer the Law of Christ. They may not demand submission to what is based only upon their own will or caprice. But, within the limits of their rightful authority, they are to be honoured and obeyed.

D. M. Spence-Jones, ed., Hebrews, The Pulpit Commentary (London; New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1909), 403.

Jay Adams makes this point with respect to counseling:

Counselors, who exercise the authority of God, are not authorities in their own right. Although they must use the authority vested in them by God, they must not exceed the biblical limits of that authority. Nor by their authority may they conflict with the valid God-given authority of the state or the home. Counselors who advise illegal acts or who teach children to dishonor parents violate God’s authority rather than act according to it.

Nouthetic counseling is subject to the directives of the Bible and is not a law to itself. It is counseling that uses (and does not exceed) the authority of God. Therefore, it is neither arbitrary nor oppressive. Nouthetic counselors must learn to distinguish clearly between good advice that they think grows out of biblical principles and those principles themselves. The latter (“You have no grounds for divorce; it would be sin!”) they may enforce with the utmost authority; the former (“Why not set up a conference table in order to begin to learn how to speak the truth in love?”) they must present with more caution. It is possible that one’s deductions from scriptural principles may be false. The counselor must always allow such deductions to remain open for question by the counselee in a way that he cannot allow a plain commandment of God to be questioned. A conference table may be useful, may grow out of biblical principles, but cannot be commanded; speaking the truth in love must be.

Jay Edward Adams, The Christian Counselor’s Manual (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1973), 16.

Thus the counselor’s authority at every point is limited by the Bible itself.

Jay Edward Adams, A Theology of Christian Counseling: Introduction to Nouthetic Counseling (Grand Rapids, MI: Ministry Resource Library, 1986), 19.

This makes a tremendous difference. The ministry of the Word in counseling, as a result, is totally unlike counseling in any other system because of its authoritative base. This authoritative character stems, of course, from the doctrine of inerrancy. If the Bible were shot through with human error, and were no more dependable than any other composition—if it were not a God-breathed revelation—this note of authority would give way to opinion.6 But, because the Bible is inerrant, there is authority.
This authority must not be confused with authoritarianism.

Jay Edward Adams, A Theology of Christian Counseling: Introduction to Nouthetic Counseling (Grand Rapids, MI: Ministry Resource Library, 1986), 18.

Thus, when elders decide to take out a loan, change a time for a meeting, pave the parking lot, or any number of other things, they are expressing opinions. When they read the Scripture and say, You can’t commit adultery, they are repeating God. This distinction must be maintained.

In the space between Hebrews 13:7 and 17 we read something which, at first, may seem to be on a different subject:

Hebrews 13:7–17 (ESV)

⁷Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. ⁸Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. ⁹Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them. ¹⁰We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat. ¹¹For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. ¹²So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. ¹³Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. ¹⁴For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. ¹⁵Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. ¹⁶Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

But let us consider this a bit more: The Christians are being called to go outside the camp, to bear reproach. The leaders are those who are taking them to this place, who teaching, guiding, protecting (they are being “shepherds”, which rightly understood is a terrifying and difficult task). This instruction is, “There are faithful men who do not sleep as they seek to care for your souls. They wake and pray while you sleep; they teach what you do not know; they chase off the wolves and find a safe space to rest. Follow them, because they are doing you good.

Lane (and other commentators) note the concern about “strange teaching”. There was something which has invaded the church, something has gone wrong since the former leaders had taught them. There was a conflict in the church about how to proceed. Do they follow the old teachers or do they follow this new teaching? Hebrews says stay in the old paths, follow the same teaching:

The tenor of the passage is clear. The word that the former leaders proclaimed is now threatened by teaching that is inconsistent with the message the community received. The “various strange teachings” competing for their attention are incompatible with the original, always valid, instruction delivered by the founding fathers of the community (vv 7–8). Foreign teaching and the grace of God mediated through the new covenant are mutually exclusive.

William L. Lane, Hebrews 9–13, vol. 47B, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1998), 530–531.

The reason for obedience:

The reason for the obedience is introduced by gar which is left untranslated in the NIV: “[for] they keep watch over you.” The Greek pronoun autoi, “they,” is overtly used by the author in its clause initial position for emphasis. The sense is “they themselves and none other.” This serves to place emphasis on the authority of the leaders. The implied predicate of “submit” may be the direct object “yourselves”⁷¹² or an indirect object “to them.”⁷¹³ Lane and the NIV supply “to their authority” as the indirect object.⁷¹⁴ The verb translated “keep watch” implies constant vigilance, wakefulness, or sleeplessness. It is used in Mark 13:33 and Luke 21:36 meaning “to be vigilant in awareness of threatening peril.” Here and in Eph 6:18 it connotes “to be alertly concerned about.”⁷¹⁵ The shepherding aspect of pastoral duty seems to be implied in this verb, and this is supported by the author’s reference to Jesus the great Shepherd of the sheep in the benediction in v. 20. The NIV renders the Greek “souls” as “you.” Lane, following Michel, wrongly interpreted “souls” here to be a reference to the eternal life of the readers.⁷¹⁶ It is better to take it as referencing their “spiritual well-being,”⁷¹⁷ or as simply referring to them as persons.

David L. Allen, Hebrews, The New American Commentary (Nashville, TN: B & H Publishing Group, 2010), 624–625.

Ἀγρυπνέω: first literally, then as here metaphorically “keep watch” (Eph. 6:18; Ep. Diog. 5:2; Barn. 20:2; MM; Bauer 2). The image of a shepherd is implied, thus indirectly in v. 20 their subordination to Jesus, the great or chief shepherd. As very widely in the biblical tradition, rule and caring are joined (Vanhoye 1980.256–259; Laub 1981–82).

Paul Ellingworth, The Epistle to the Hebrews: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press, 1993), 723.

Now, that does not automatically mean that every man with the title is a true leader. It is only to the extent that the leader is following Christ that one follows the leader. As Paul writes:

1 Corinthians 11:1 (ESV)

Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

This command must also be read in the context of all other instructions: Jesus, Peter, John & Paul all have only one common command for leaders: do not lord it over Jesus’ sheep.

An elder’s authority is not based upon his having a title — he is a true elder before God only to the extent he is qualified to the job. A man who is lording it over others is not “really” an elder no matter what he calls himself.

Therefore, rightly understood, the submission of Hebrews 13:17 is only a submission to Christ, because the elder only has derivative authority.

The text also ties with the following material:

Nevertheless, I consider this exhortation to be more closely related thematically to the closing material, which gives considerable attention to the leadership figures to whom the addressees ought to be looking for guidance and for the ascription of honor or censure—local leaders (13:17, 24), the author and his team (13:18–19, 22), God (13:20–21), and Timothy (13:23). These are the figures whose opinions should influence the addressees: the local leaders will “give an account” of the people with whose spiritual growth they have been charged (13:17); the benediction reminds the hearers a final time of the central importance of “pleasing God,” assuring them that God is working in them to produce those qualities and fruits that please him (13:20–21); the author and Timothy both expect to visit the hearers in the immediate future, when they will affirm the faithful and censure the wavering in person (13:19, 23) and discover and reinforce the effects of the written sermon delivered in advance of their impending visit:

David A. deSilva, Perseverance in Gratitude: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on the Epistle “to the Hebrews” (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2000), 508.

Hebrews 13:17–25 (ESV)

¹⁸Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things. ¹⁹I urge you the more earnestly to do this in order that I may be restored to you the sooner.

²⁰Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, ²¹equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

²²I appeal to you, brothers, bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly. ²³You should know that our brother Timothy has been released, with whom I shall see you if he comes soon. ²⁴Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those who come from Italy send you greetings. ²⁵Grace be with all of you.

Again, the emphasis is upon the movement, the task: there is an emphasis on the ultimate end and the difficulty of the work.

By the way, the Corinthian elders abused Paul (2 Cor. 11). The Apostle John was abused by a church elder (3 John).

Here are some commentators’ remarks:

Obey them, etc. I doubt not but that he speaks of pastors and other rulers of the Church, for there were then no Christian magistrates; and what follows, for they watch for your souls, properly belongs to spiritual government. He commands first obedience and then honor to be rendered to them.These two things are necessarily required, so that the people might have confidence in their pastors, and also reverence for them. But it ought at the same time to be noticed that the Apostle speaks only of those who faithfully performed their office; for they who have nothing but the title, nay, who use the title of pastors for the purpose of destroying the Church, deserve but little reverence and still less confidence. And this also is what the Apostle plainly sets forth when he says, that they watched for their souls, — a duty which is not performed but by those who are faithful rulers, and are really what they are called.

John Calvin, Hebrews, electronic ed., Calvin’s Commentaries (Albany, OR: Ages Software, 1998), Heb 13:17.

Starke:—The teachers of the church, are leaders, conductors, guides; they must therefore so point the way to blessedness, as themselves to lead the way therein, and conduct their hearers to blessedness, not only with their doctrine, but also by their life and example (Phil. 3:17; 1 Pet. 5:3).—It is one of the hidden ways of God that upright teachers of whom there are so few, and to whose preparation so much belongs, are removed by an early death. Disciples who have such teachers should follow them faithfully be times, and hold them as all the dearer and more worthy (1 Thess. 5:12, 13; Isa. 57:1, 2).—Righteous, faithful teachers shine in life and in death. Happy they who dwell in memory, upon their holy walk, and edifying death, and thus secure their own preparation for a future blessed departure (Matt. 5:14 ff.).

John Peter Lange, Philip Schaff, et al., A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Hebrews (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2008), 217.

Loyalty and obedience to the leaders of the church, as those charged with responsibility for the brethren, is enjoined. Them that have the rule over you. Better, your leaders. The officers of the congregation are probably meant. Cf. vs. 7, where former leaders are mentioned. They watch. Suggesting the watchfulness of a shepherd or a sentinel. This responsible and arduous service should call forth a ready response in obedience and devotion. That they may do this with joy, and not with grief. Better, groaning. Do not thwart their efforts and make their burdens still heavier by disobedience. This were unprofitable. Disobedience and wilfulness will not only disappoint their efforts, but bring disaster upon you as well.

Edgar J. Goodspeed, The Epistle to the Hebrews, ed. Shailer Mathews, The Bible for Home and School (New York: Macmillan Co., 1908), 121.

Our author evidently has as much confidence in the present leaders as in their predecessors. Perhaps they were leaders in the wider city church from whose fellowship and jurisdiction the group addressed in the epistle was tempted to withdraw. At any rate, the leaders carried a weighty responsibility; they were accountable for the spiritual well-being of those placed in their care. No wonder they lost sleep¹⁰¹ over this responsibility—for the “watching” could well involve this as well as general vigilance—if some of their flock were in danger of straying beyond their control. The readers are invited to cooperate with their leaders, to make their responsible task easier for them, so that they could discharge it joyfully and not with sorrow.¹⁰² The idea is on the same lines as Paul’s exhortation to the Philippian Christians to lead such lives in this world “that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain”¹⁰³ (Phil. 2:16).

¹⁰¹ Gk. ἀγρυπνέω, “keep watch,” has the etymological sense of chasing away sleep.

¹⁰² Gk. στενάζοντες, “groaning.” Moffatt (ICC, ad loc.) quotes Sir Edward Denny’s lines:

O give us hearts to love like Thee,

Like Thee, O Lord, to grieve

Far more for others’ sins than all

The wrongs that we receive.

¹⁰³ Cf. 1 Thess. 2:19f.

F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Hebrews, Rev. ed., The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1990), 385.

As the section began (ver. 7) so it ends, with mention of their leaders. Then they were bidden to remember those who had passed away: now they are to be obedient to the injunctions and tractable to the wishes of their successors. Sleepless, as the shepherd when the wolf is prowling round the fold, such is the phrase which describes their watch for souls; and as the Church is thus exhorted, surely they themselves are searched and stirred. They must give account. Ezekiel’s denunciation of the evil shepherds, and our Lord’s of the hireling, both will apply to them if they are faithless (Ezek. 34:7–10; John 10:10–12). Nay, the flock must suffer if their watch, though vigilant, be joyless and discouraged, through their wilfulness. But a congregation, a parish, is often far more responsible than it suspects for a dull and ineffective pastorate. And then it suffers the penalty in its own spiritual shortcoming: ‘Unprofitable were that for you!’ Now who can read a passage like this, and doubt the scriptural foundation for a stated and authoritative ministry? We obey them as we obey our parents and governors. But as our submission to a sovereign or a father is not absolute, but only while it does not clash with our obedience to Christ, so it is with these: obedience is due to them ‘in the Lord.’

A. Chadwick, The Epistle to the Hebrews: A Devotional Commentary, ed. A. R. Buckland, Third Edition., A Devotional Commentary (London: Religious Tract Society, n.d.), 223–224.

TEACHERS and rulers* are again recognized, and the Hebrews are exhorted to obey them, and to yield themselves to their teaching and rule, to adapt themselves to their peculiarities, and to carry out their wishes and arrangements with a willing mind; for therein God is honoured, and the welfare of the congregation promoted. Ministers watch for your souls as they that must give account of their stewardship. Their responsibility towards God is great; their labour towards you is incessant and anxious. You may well meet them with confidence and a plastic mind, trusting that their counsels are the result of thought, prayer, and experience. Nothing discourages a minister more than the want of response on the part of Christians to his advice, entreaty, and plans. He returns from his work to God, not with joy, but with sighs and tears, with complaints and grief. “This is unprofitable for the people.” They only hinder and retard the blessing which would otherwise come to their hearts, homes, and neighbourhood.

* Verses 7 and 17 show that there was a stated ministry, that there were recognised and regular teachers and pastors in the congregation, whose gifts not only, but whose office was acknowledged. Adolph Saphir, The Epistle to the Hebrews: An Exposition & II, vol. 1 (New York: Gospel Publishing House, 1902), 879–880.

Verse 17. Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, etc. The import of the phrase, τοῖς ἡγουμένοις ὑμῶν, “your leaders,” or “rulers,” which the Apostle again uses to designate the pastors of the Hebrew Christians, has been explained in the note on verse 7. It is, as we have seen, a very suggestive phrase, indicating the position and duties of those who stand at the head of the Churches.—Dean Alford has correctly marked the difference between the two verbs employed in the first clause, “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves,”—that the former refers to the cheerful following of their instructions, and the latter to a dutiful yielding in cases in which personal inclination or preference might be interfered with.—This exhortation is enforced by the consideration of the solemn responsibility which rests on Christian pastors. They have to “watch over the souls” of their people,—to maintain a constant, and, as it were, a sleepless, regard to everything that would affect their safety or impede their growth in holiness, and to strive, in every possible way, to lead them onward in the path of life and peace. And for the faithful execution of this trust they are responsible to the Lord Jesus. Before them lies an “account,” to be rendered to Him who has bought His people with His own blood; and the anticipation of this may well incite them to diligence and fidelity.—The latter part of the verse, “that they may do this with joy, and not with grief,” or, more literally, “that with joy they may do this, and not lamenting,” must be understood as referring not to the final rendering of their account to Christ, but to their present watchful care over their people. And the sentiment which is thus brought out is very impressive and beautiful. The Apostle exhorts the believing Hebrews to follow the instructions of those who stood at their head, and sought, with sleepless vigilance, to promote their spiritual interests, and even to yield to them in some things which might cross their own inclinations; in order that the exercise of this pastoral care, in itself so laborious, and involving a responsibility which might well oppress the strongest mind, might be rendered a matter of joy, and not be connected with deep and constant sorrow. “For this,” he adds, “is unprofitable for you.” If a pastor’s heart is grieved and wounded by the conduct of his people, he will not be able to contribute, as he might otherwise have done, to their edification and establishment; and thus the Church will lose the full benefit which was intended to result from the appointment of the Christian ministry.

Henry W. Williams, An Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews (London: Wesleyan Conference Office, 1871), 423–424.

The author is concerned that the listeners put their confidence in them and submit to their authority. The first verb means to put one’s trust in someone (2:13; 6:9), while the second, which occurs only here in the New Testament, is stronger and means ‘to give way, yield or submit to someone’ (usually in authority).¹⁵⁵ In response to this exhortation the listeners will adhere to the word of God that their leaders speak and follow their direction rather than revert to Jewish ways of thinking or be influenced by other strange teachings (13:9).

The rationale for this appeal is ‘because they keep watch over your souls’. Hebrews recognizes that the whole community is summoned to be watchful against sin and bitterness and to care for others through encouragement and exhortation (note 3:12–13; 12:15). But leaders have a special, God-given responsibility¹⁵⁶ to do this. The verb ‘keep watch’ means ‘to go sleepless’, and from the literal meaning it takes on the sense of being alert or watchful (Mark 13:33; Luke 21:36; Eph. 6:18).¹⁵⁷ Godly leaders are diligent and tireless. They look after the lives of all in their care, but particularly those who are negligent or prone to spiritual laziness, or who fail to recognize the importance of fellowship with other believers (2:3; 5:11; 6:12; 10:25).¹⁵⁸ As leaders watch over the souls of others, they will strengthen the hope that anchors the soul to heaven (6:19), and foster the perseverance that leads to salvation (lit. ‘to the preservation of the soul’, 10:39).¹⁵⁹

Peter T. O’Brien, The Letter to the Hebrews, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Nottingham, England: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2010), 529.

Infallibility and Inerrancy in the 17th Century

21 Tuesday Mar 2017

Posted by memoirandremains in Biblical Counseling, Bibliology, Scripture, Thomas Goodwin, Uncategorized

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Bibliology, Inerrancy, Infallibility, Scripture, Thomas Goodwin

There is a contention that “inerrancy” is a bit of a new doctrine (something post-Hodge and Warfield) and is thus a bit of an invention:

The CSBI [Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy] goes on the defensive in article 16 when it affirms that inerrancy “has been integral to the Church’s faith throughout its history” and denies that it “is a doctrine invented by Scholastic Protestantism, or is a reactionary position postulated in response to negative higher criticism.” There is a grain of truth here, but some palpable problems as well. First, Christian believers over the course of history have repeatedly affirmed that the Holy Scriptures come from God, they are to be read and studied in the churches, they are the inscripturated form of the rule of faith, they emit divine authority, they are without falsehood, and they are true and trustworthy. 8 However, to insist that the CSBI understanding of inerrancy is and always has been normative in church history is a bit of a stretch.

Michael Bird, “Inerrany is not Necessary for Evangelicalism Outside the USA” in Five Views on Biblical Inerrancy (Counterpoints: Bible and Theology) Zondervan (2013-12-10) Kindle Locations 2448-2449. In response, I would like to note the following use of “infallibility” and “unerringness” (inerrancy) from the 17th Century Puritan Thomas Goodwin:

There is a contention that “inerrancy” is a bit of a new doctrine (something post-Hodge and Warfield) and is thus a bit of an invention:

Michael Bird, “Inerrany is not Necessary for Evangelicalism Outside the USA” in Five Views on Biblical Inerrancy (Counterpoints: Bible and Theology) Zondervan (2013-12-10) Kindle Locations 2448-2449. In response, I would like to note the following use of “infallibility” and “unerringness” (inerrancy) from the 17th Century Puritan Thomas Goodwin:

Apostleship was an office extraordinary in the Church of God, appointed for a time for the first rearing and governing of the Church of the New Testament, and to deliver the faith which was about wants to be given to the Saints (as Jude speaks), and the apostles are therefore entitled the foundation the church is built on, Eph. ii. 20; which office, accordingly, had many extraordinary privileges annexed to it, suited (as all the callings by God and his institutions are) to attain that and which was so extraordinary–as, namely, unlimitedness of commission to teach all nations, Matt. xxvviii.19. They likewise had an infallibility and unerringness, this, whether in their preaching or writing (2 Cor. i. ver. 13 and 18 compared), which was absolutely necessary for them to have, seeing they were to lay the foundation for all ages, although in their personal walking’s they might her, as Peter did, Gal. ii. 10.

Thomas Goodwin, “Exposition of Ephesians 1”, in The Works of Thomas Goodwin, Volume 1,(Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books, 2006), 5.

Thomas Goodwin, “Exposition of Ephesians 1”, in The Works of Thomas Goodwin, Volume 1,(Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books, 2006), 5.

The Spiritual Chymist: Upon the Bucket and the Wheel

01 Wednesday Feb 2017

Posted by memoirandremains in Bibliology, Scripture, Uncategorized, William Spurstowe, William Spurstowe

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Faith, reason, Scripture, The Spiritual Chymist, Well, William Spurstowe

William Spurstowe, 1666: MEDITATION XXXIX
Upon the Bucket and the Wheel

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The saying of Democritus which he spoke concerning the philosophical truth that it did you hide itself and take up it’s about in and deep well may much more be affirmative theological truth when the whole doctrine of the gospel is called the mystery of Christ and the great mystery of godliness that there should be three distinct persons in one essence [the Trinity] and two distinct natures and one person [the Incarnation]. That virginity should conceive, Eternity be born; immortality die and mortality rise from death to life. Are not these, and many more of the like intricacies, unparalleled mysteries? Maybe not justly say, As the Samaritan woman did to our savior when he asked water of her, the well is deep, and who can descend into it, or fathom it?

And yet such is the pride and arrogance he of many men, as that, not contending themselves with the simplicity of believing, many make reason the sole standard where by to measure both the principles and conclusions of faith — for which it [reason] is is unapt as the weak of a bat hold the sun when it shines in its full strength; or the bill of a small bird to receive the ocean.

These high mysteries are not to be scanned, but to be believed; the knowledge and certainty of which does not arise from the evidence of reason from the revelation made of them in the Holy Scriptures; the mouth of God — who is truth itself and cannot lie, has spoken them, and therefore it cannot be otherwise.

But must then reason be wholly shut out as a useless thing in the Christian religion, are must it be confined to the agenda matters of duty and morality, In which you cannot be denied to be both of necessity and constant use? Surely even the creeds, also the doctrines and points which are properly of the faith, do not refuse to sober use of reason, so it be employed as a handmaid and not as mistress.

I have therefore thought that faith is as the bucket, which can best to send you this deep well of mystery and that reason is as the wheel, which stands ever the mouth of it, and keeps always its certain and fixed distance: but yet by its motion is instrumental both to let down the bucket and also to draw up again.

Faith discovers the deep things of God, then reason teaches us to submit ourselves and it to the obedience of faith that so it is. But never becomes more foolish and dangerous then when it busies itself and inquiries, and makes Nicodemus question, How can these things be? Then it turns giddy and loses itself in distracted and motions.

Alas, how unlike the ways and councils of God if they were no other but such as the wisest of men could trace out? How little glory with faith also give to God, if it did not pour forth its strength in asserting his power to affect greater things than can fall within the compass of natural disquisition? Yea, how could the Gospel be acquitted of the Jews stumbling at it, as dishonorable to their law? And the Gentiles derided as absurd in their philosophy, if that reason must be the measure of its mysteries?

Nature is so far from finding out what the gospel discovers, as that he cannot yield on to it, when it is revealed without a spirit of faith to assist it.

Be wise therefore, oh Christians, and set the bounds to your reason, beyond which it may not pass: as Moses did to the Israelites, while faith descends into the deeps of Gospel Mysteries, which angels with stretched out next have a more desire to pry into than ability perfectly to understand.

Now the boundary of reason is, confer and infer: to confer one scripture with another; and to infer conclusions, and to decide instructions thence, buy a clear logical discourse. But if you go further to gays, it may justly fear to be smitten of God, and like the pioneer or bold miner who digs into far for his rich vein of ore meet with a damp which chokes him.

My prayer therefore Shelby that of the apostles to Christ
Adde nobis fidem: Lord Increase our faith.

For if my faith do not exceed my reason, though advanced as high as a pitch as her Solomon had, yet might I well be numbered among those, whom St. Peter said are blind and cannot see far off.