Kings shall fall down before him

Thus says the LORD,
the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One,
to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation,
the servant of rulers:
“Kings shall see and arise;
princes, and they shall prostrate themselves;
because of the LORD, who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.” – Isaiah 49.7

The word of God never ceases to challenge my thinking about the gospel. I’m in the preliminary stages of preparing a couple of sermons on Isaiah 49 for over the Christmas period and vv. 5-7 seem to be about the scope of God’s salvation (vv. 1-4 being about the source, and vv. 8-13 being about the shape). In this context, it seems as though God’s salvation, which is going to be brought about by his Suffering Servant (v. 4), whom he called and named from his mother’s womb (v. 1, cf. Luke 1.26-33), is going to include kings and princes, rulers who once despised him (v. 7). They will bow down before him in homage and offer him fealty. Clearly, this is going to be true at the end of time: “At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” – Philippians 2.10-11. But to restrict it to this would I think be to have an under-realised eschatology. Moreover, if the kings of the earth will bring their glory into the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21.24), that suggest that kings will turn to Christ in the gospel age in repentance and faith. I have commented on the significance of 1 Timothy 2.1-4 elsewhere (particularly with reference to Nehemiah’s request in Nehemiah 1.11) but clearly this is one of the goals of Paul’s exhortation to Timothy.

We have seen this clearly illustrated in history. There is of course the example of Constantine, who, convinced that his victory in battle at the Malvian Bridge in 312 over Maxentius was the gift of the God of the Christians, from 313 made it clear that he considered himself a Christian whose duty was to preserve the unity of the church. He made amends for the persecutions of the preceding decades, financing new translations of the Bible, building churches, and passing laws protecting slaves, children, peasants and prisoners in reflection of Christian morality.

Another notable example would be that of Edward VI, under whose reign the Reformation in England proceeded at breathtaking speed. Edward was a Bible beaver, enthusiastically taking notes on sermons, according to the ambassador of the Holy Roman Empire in April 1550, as well as insisting on inviting the most extreme preachers to preach at court. In one essay, he concluded that the Pope is ‘the true son of the devil, a bad man, an Antichrist and abominable tyrant.’ When encouraged by Archbishop Cranmer and Bishop Ridley to temporarily allow his sister Mary to say the mass in the face of international pressure, he replied with a quotation from a Psalm that they had heard at evensong a few days before on the subject of God’s wrath at Israel’s unfaithfulness.

I take it therefore that we should boldly claim God’s promise in Isaiah 49.7 pray for the kings and princes of this world to prostrate themselves before the Lord Jesus Christ, with the confidence that some indeed will, for God’s glory, and for the good of the church and gospel.

Unity in the Gospel

John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will able soon afterwards to speak evil of me. For the one who is not against us is for us.” – Mark 9.38-40

Perhaps I’m mellowing in my old age. I had an encouraging afternoon of partnership in the gospel with a group of people from another Oxford church who call themselves Word on the Street. They have a busking licence and sing Christian songs in the Oxford city centre, and they’ve begun to start preaching some short gospel messages too. They also have people doing conversational evangelism with those in the crowd. We made contact a couple of weeks ago, and one of their number came and stood with us at the Open Air meeting on Cornmarket last Saturday. I was finally able to join them this afternoon, helping a bit with chatting to people in the crowd, sharing a little message on 1 Peter 3.18, and stepping in to sing some of the verses of Crown Him With Many Crowns when the wind turned the page of their songbook! They’re a friendly, gospel-hearted group of Christian brothers and sisters who are not afraid of making their faith in Jesus Christ plain to the people of Oxford.

Visit their website here: http://wordonthestreet.weebly.com/index.html

On Cannibalism

“Because they have filled this place with the blood of innocents, and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command or decree, nor did it come into my mind – therefore, behold, days are coming, declares the LORD, when this place shall no more be called Topheth, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter.” – Jeremiah 19.4-6

I saw possibly the worst report on the Channel 4 news I have ever seen, about scientists finally being able to clone primate embryos in order to obtain embryonic stem cells (cells which are able to give rise to the other cell types in the body). The praises of the gods Science and Technology having been sung in the one-sided report, the presenter interviewed a professor of neuroscience from King’s College London. He prophesied that within his working lifetime, progress would be made to making human clones in order to obtain embryonic stem cells, which may help provide a cure for people with motor neurone disease, Parkinson’s disease and cystic fibrosis, as well as providing insight into the processes underlying these diseases. He brushed off the possibility that this was controversial with the ‘argument’ that cloned embryos only consist of a few cells and don’t yet look human, so he didn’t feel that any harm was being done to human life. Quite how this qualitatively differs from saying, for example, that it’s all right to kill black people for food because they look different to us, I’m not sure. Part of me does think sometimes that I’m being trained to be an acolyte in the temple of Baal. I do also wonder whether verses such as the above might not furnish suitable homiletic material for topical expositions on the subject of embryo research or abortion, proclaiming God’s judgment on those who sacrifice their children to the gods of Medical Progress or Maternal Choice (and of course thus pointing us to the salvation that can be found in Christ alone).

John Calvin

Marshall Knappen’s description of the Genevan teacher and his influence makes me think of ‘Del Boy’ or Arthur Daley:

Though… there were many varieties of Reformed belief, and many different Reformed leaders who influenced English Puritanism, none was nearly so important from this time on [the exile under Mary's reign] as the Genevan…

John Calvin had a mind that was good, but not too good, and thorough training for his work. He had studied the classics, law, and theology. But it was his determined self-assurance which made him what he was. Without it a clear head and a broad training would have counted for little. Never cursed with any doubts as to the correctness of his ideas, he had the salesman’s gifts of absolute confidence in his product and the strength of will to compel the acceptance of his point of view. To these all-important qualities he added some sense of political realities. As a young man this deterred him from accepting Anabaptist doctrines, and in his mature years it kept him from attempting the impossible and also enabled him to stoop now and then to a necessary compromise. With this equipment, he succeeded in making both his theology and his city-state models for the Protestants of north-western Europe. – Tudor Puritanism, pp. 134-135

Background to Tudor Puritanism – Internationalism

I’ve just started reading Tudor Puritanism by M. M. Knappen, currently out of print, but obtainable through sites such as abebooks.co.uk. This was recommended to me by a brother at church, and is also one of the books mentioned by Packer in his RTS lectures on the Puritans and his book A Quest For Godliness (a.k.a. Among God’s Giants) as revolutionary in positive Puritan scholarship. In the same way as Prof. MacCulloch writes with the understanding that the Reformation has theology and doctrine at its heart, so too Knappen comments in his preface about his ‘feeling that historical Puritanism was fundamentally a religious rather than a liberal or academic movement’. Although he believes that the Puritans have much to commend them for their idealism as a significant political factor, it is questionable that he thinks there is anything devotionally useful to be learned from the Puritans, when he writes that “its attitude of petty asceticism is unattractive, its theological dress no longer serviceable.”Knappen starts his history decades before the word Puritan was ever used as an insult against those who pressed for further Reformation of the English church with William Tyndale and his contemporaries, where we see the foundations of what would become Tudor Puritanism being laid.

One thing that is noteworthy is that English Puritanism emerges as a highly international movement. This was the consequence of the emigration of many of those influenced by the new German theology when Henry’s reign was hostile. Tyndale, whose high regard for the authority of Scripture (a quality which was to characterise the Puritan movement) led him to want to produce a translation that the ploughboy could understand, ended up at the feet of Luther in Wittenberg. Others made their way to Strassbourg and Zurich.

Many of those who initially joined him returned to England when the King, seeking a divorce, attempted to woo the Protestant party after a fashion, in order to threaten the Pope and in case he needed their support later. So men like Barlow, Barnes and Coverdale made their peace with the crown. The few advanced reformers including Tyndale, remained in exile and continued to flood England with Protestant polemic.

The tide turned when persecution of the Protestants began again. Popular sympathy shifted to the Roman cause, and while links with Rome were being severed and changes introduced, Henry always thought himself a loyal son of the church. Some remained in England and stood their ground, even to death. Some recanted or compromised. Many fled into the open arms of Switzerland and Germany, including Coverdale (again) and John Hooper, who had been converted through reading the works of Bullinger and Zwingli.

With the ascent of Edward VI to the throne and the repeal of the heresy laws, the reformers returned, upon whom the Continental Reformation had had a profound effect on their theology and practice. A number of prominent European Protestant leaders also came to England including Peter Martyr who would become Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford, and Bucer, who would occupy the same chair at Cambridge. There was little cooperation from Wittenberg, and so the shape of Protestantism in England was what we might describe as Reformed, rather than Lutheran.
The arrival of many foreign refugees in England, particularly French, Flemish and Germans, led to the establishment of a Foreigners’ Church, first housed in the church of the Augustinian Friars and then on Threadneedle Street. An Italian congregation was also started. These three congregations in one church had as their superintendent John a Lasco. This work was initially hampered by the bishops, including Ridley, alarmed at the stand of Hooper on vestments and his support by a Lasco, and until the summer of 1551, when the King intervened, they withheld the right of administering the sacrament there. Indeed, until 1552, ecclesiastical authorities still arrested some foreigners for not attending their parish churches. Knappen writes:

“According to a Lasco’s account, written at a later date, the purpose of the King and Council in permitting these variations from the official order was to set an example to the country of further reform which was to be instituted as soon as the ground was prepared for it. The sight of German-, French-, and Italian-speaking Christians working together in harmony under a single constitution should indeed have been an inspiring sight and an incentive to further efforts in the cause of that international Protestant unity to which the Puritans were committed.” p. 92

The Foreigner church gave responsibility to the laity. The church had only two orders of clergy, deacons and elders or presbyters. The officers of all the congregations gathered monthly, at that stage more for edification than business. Theirs was a disciplined church. This extract gives an indication of what things were like:

“The meetings of the church were designed to produce intelligent worship and an informed congregation. The Sunday morning service consisted of a short prayer, followed by the Lord’s Prayer, a psalm sung without organ accompaniment [oh well], a sermon, additional prayers interspersed with the recitation of the Ten Commandments, and the Apostles’ Creed. Then followed any additional services fixed for that day, such as marriages, baptisms, or communion, in the last of which the participants were seated around the sacred table. The sermons lasted an hour and were purely expository. The plan was to proceed through different books of the Bible in methodical fashion, taking successive passages for treatment on consecutive Sundays.” pp. 94-95.

Despite conflicts over things like vestments and kneeling at communion, the more advanced reformers (‘the Puritan group’) was one with the reforming party as a whole. They fought side by side in attacking the mass, and in refuting the Anabaptists. Nevertheless, Knappen observes that ‘the Puritans surpassed their rivals in the ardor with which they pursued these ends and the efficiency of the means adopted to attain them’. He contrasts Cranmers provision for a learned and preaching clergy with Hooper’s investigations into the ignorance of the clergy of his diocese, with 171/311 being unable to rehearse the Ten Commandments, for example. He took definite steps, requiring the clergy to study a book of the Bible each quarter and be examined upon it. He also required them to attend public discussion of current theological controversies. Their efforts with the laity were also more thorough. What Knappen regards as most important is this:

“The Puritans were more independent of the secular government in shaping their policy. The Bible and the example of the “best reformed churches” on the Continent – to whcih they often appealed – provided them with standards unaffected by the changing political scene about them. If the Council or the sovereign chose to help them, so much the better. They recognised the right of godly magistrates to regulate church order to a certain limited extent, and did not reject such assistance. On occasion, they might compromise a bit with the secular authorities rather than stir up too much dissension in the commonwealth. But they were no means dependent on them for guidance. Behind the Puritans was the force of a rising international Protestantism.” p. 102

Knappen is, I think, rightly critical of Cranmer and Ridley in their lack of conformity with the international reformed community, having become accustomed to English institutions and insular in their outlook. Their reticence hampered the effort of the advanced reforming movement to bring the English church more clearly into line with the one Continental Protestants group, ‘which gave signs of rising above national limitations to something of the pwoer and grandeur of its medieval predecessor.’

“The Law still applies”

“And God spoke all these words, saying,
‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.’” – Exodus 20.1-2

We had a great sermon from Vaughan last night at St. Ebbe’s. It’s available on the St. Ebbe’s website to listen to HERE. If memory serves me correctly, this is roughly how it went.

The Law of Perfect Freedom

Many people’s attitude to the Ten Commandments are like the attitude of the professor whose study is so full of books that when the next consignment arrives, he instructs his assistant to remove the oldest ones. They’re out of date. Or we don’t like the idea of having to keep certain rules. They’re restrictive. Yet James describes God’s law as ‘the law of perfect freedom’. We ignore the Ten Commandments at our peril. There are two things to see about the Ten Commandments from these opening verses of Exodus 20.

1. Their authority

With the world’s ignorance of God, we are left with a morality with no objective basis. Are we to have a morality based on utilitarianism, the greatest good for the greatest number? If that were the case, then euthanasia of the mentally handicapped and infanticide of weak or ill children would be justified – they’re a drain on society. We rightly baulk at such suggestions. But that feeling comes from the Bible – all people are created in God’s image and so have dignity. Or are we to have a morality based on what makes us feel good?

Into that situation come the Ten Commandments. They have authority because they are come from God – “And God spoke all these words, saying…” These aren’t just Moses’ ideas for a particular time. They are God’s word. He spoke them at Sinai. He will later go on to engrave them on tablets of stone. Some implications of this:

They’re eternal

They are rooted in the character of God. Murder is forbidden because God is the life-giver. Lying is forbidden, because God only speaks the truth. Adultery is forbidden, because God is always faithful to his people.

They’re universal

God is the God of the whole universe, and these laws come from his character. Therefore it follows that they apply not just for one particular group of people, but for everyone.

They’re personal

They’re not like the metal “Keep of the Grass” signs on College Quads, which are faceless, arguably pointless laws. One could be easily tempted to break them. They’re more like a good friend saying, “Don’t walk on the lawn.” We may not understand the reason why, but because our friend has told us not to, we won’t do it.

2. Their purpose

To reveal our sin

“For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse, for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” – Galatians 3.10

Our attitude can be like that of the student to his Finals paper – answer any three out of these ten. They are more like medical exams. Every part of the body should be covered. We don’t want a doctor who says, “I’ve done the eye, but I haven’t covered the heart.” It’s like a bucket held over a well by ten links in a chain [Vaughan said 10 chains but that analogy doesn't work]. How many links have to be broken for the bucket to fall. Just one. We’ve all broken God’s law when we think of the spirit of the law. The Lord Jesus summarised the law in the two commandments, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength,” and, “Love your neighbour as yourself.” We’ve all failed to do that. And so we come under the curse of the law. The law condemns us.

To reveal our saviour

Salvation has always been by faith. It was not the case that in the OT people were saved by trying to keep God’s law, but that didn’t work, and so God sends Jesus so that we could be saved by faith in him. It was always by God’s grace. After all, the Ten Commandments were given to God’s already redeemed people. “Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.” – Galatians 3.23-24. God’s law points us to Christ. It shows us our need of him. It shows us that we are in the prison cell needing rescue. Christ was the one who perfectly kept the law, and was the only one who didn’t deserve condemnation. But Christ took the curse of the law so that all who believe in him are justified.

To reveal God’s standards

That doesn’t mean that we can live how we like. The law points us to Christ, and then Christ points us back to the law and tells us that this is how we must live as God’s redeemed people. “For you were called to freedom brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.”" – Galatians 5.13-14. We’re to love because love is the principle underlying the law. God’s law tells us what that life of love looks like. God’s law, in the OT and the NT, still applies. We have to remember, though that the other OT laws, which apply the Ten Commandments, don’t necessarily apply to us in the same way. We don’t offer animal sacrifices because Christ’s death was the one perfect sacrifice. We don’t keep the food laws, because that marked out Israel as God’s special nation, but now his people are multi-national. The Ten Commandments are his moral law.

Moreover, the law is not just an external code that we have to try and keep. God writes his laws now not on tablets of stone but on our hearts (Jeremiah 31.31). We have a new desire to keep God’s law because he has given us his Spirit, who lifts us up to want to keep God’s laws. And we have a new power. The Holy Spirit enables us to keep God’s law.

Application

Sorry - Say sorry to God for the way we’ve broken his laws

Thankyou - Thank him that in his love he sent his Son to be our saviour

Please – He also sent his Spirit – we need to ask for his help in desiring to and being able to keep God’s law.