Isaiah 49.14-26

Order of Service

Introduction
Sentence of Scripture
Hymn: A debtor to mercy alone
Confession: Psalm 130
Open Prayer
Hymn: O the deep, deep love of Jesus
Readings: Isaiah 49.14-26, 2 Peter 3
Hymn: Immortal honours rest on Jesus’ head
Sermon
Hymn: When peace like a river
Blessing

Sermon Outline

Introduction

Opening illustration: Home Alone – Kevin is forgotten, left alone and in danger. Does it ever feel like that with God? Israel felt like that. It seemed as though the promises we heard this morning weren’t going to materialise and that God had turned his back on them (v. 14). Lamentations 2.10-13, 15-16 gives a snapshot of their experience. Looking back on the past year, can you identify with that (mourning, bereavement, financial struggles, ill health, no sympathy, sorrow at the state of the church – attendance declining, The God Delusion, fruitless evangelism)? We’re citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem gathered around Christ in heaven and we have God’s promises of salvation in Christ, but so often our experience feels far from that (v. 14). It’s a vital issue to resolve. At stake are God’s character and reputation – he appears to be weak and powerless or untrustworthy. If that’s true, our preaching and faith are in vain. God in his tenderness speaks but doesn’t promise what we want – present, visible proof of his commitment to us. He takes us to the heart of the believer’s experience (v. 23). God says, “I will prove my character and finally act to deliver you at a time in the future, so in the meantime keep trusting in me.” God’s promise finds its clearest expression in the person and work of Christ. God wants us to see two aspects of the future hope:

1  The Lord will gather his people (vv. 15-23)

It’s unlikely that a woman will forget her own child but occasionally it does happen. God’s love is stronger than that. His people are never out of his sight. Some people write on their hands to remind them of things but the bond between God and his people is as permanent as if he has carved them in stone. Illustration of old tombstones or similar. Future of God’s people guaranteed by his eternal self-existence – “As I live” (v. 18). The future of God’s people is an end to destruction, there will be rebuilding, people will be gathered. It will happen because God will summon the nations who will bring God’s people with them and they will humble themselves and come to God himself (vv. 22-23). This will prove that he is the LORD, the promise-keeping God (cf. Exodus 3) and those who wait for him will not be put to shame. This is referring immediately to the return from exile and we can see that this was partially fulfilled from e.g. the book of Ezra and Cyrus’ edict. The promise was not ultimately fulfilled then – the people continued to know oppression. With the coming of Christ, we have to understand the fulfilment of these promises inthe light of him. Jerusalem is in heaven, and the promise of God’s people returning to the land brought on the shoulders of the nations is fulfilled as human beings, Jew and Gentile, put their trust in Christ for forgiveness and so become citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem. We have seen that happen down the ages. We have seen v. 23 happen down the ages, for example in Constantine and/or Edward VI. We’re still waiting for the promise to be fulfilled – we still do not experience the great blessing held out hear. We will when Christ returns and brings in the New Creation and the New Jerusalem comes down out of heaven like a bride. God has engraved his people on the palms of his hands and so he will not forget us but will bring us to stand in the great multitude that no one could number from every nation. We can have much more confidence living after the coming of Christ that as God’s people we will not be put to shame. Let’s keep trusting in him. True saving faith is persevering faith (cf Hebrews 10.39). When it seems as though the Lord has forgotten us and when we’re tempted to pack it all in, let’s keep living for him (cf. 2 Peter 3.13-14).

2  The Lord will conquer his enemies (vv. 24-26)

Under normal circumstances, there is no hope for prey or prisoners when captured by a hunting animal or a powerful ruler. This time, the captives shall be rescued and the prey released because God will enter the battle and he will save his people and defeat those who oppress them. Illustration of prisoners of war being freed by the Allies in WW2. It will be horrific for the enemies of God’s people (v. 26). To turn away from the eternal God is a terrible thing and God will place his curse, his just punishment on them (cf. curse language of Deuteronomy 28 in which the Israelites eating their own children because she will be besieged for forsaking God). Drunkenness is a picture of God’s judgement – reeling, staggering and falling down as a result of his right anger. This was again partially fulfilled in the return from exile in the 6th century BC and the Babylonians are defeated by the Persians. The real problem is sin. This is why God handed his people over in the first place. It affects us all and we’re all captive to a mighty power – Satan. He accuses us before God because of our sin. Christ said he would bind the strong man and plunder his goods, i.e. defeat the devil and rescue people from him. He did this when he took the punishment for the sins of his people on the cross. There he disarmed all the powers of the world in opposition to God and his people. We’re still waiting for this to be fully seen (2 Thessalonians 1.6-9). People, even ministers within Christ’s church, are unable to accept this. Extract from a sermon I came across. But from Isaiah 49, God’s judgment is vital (v. 26b). It demonstrates his love and faithfulness to his people. A husband who lives his wife will be rightly indignant if someone threatened to harm her and will want to protect her. To do nothing would show little love and commitment. We can be much more certain of this than Israel and so we can trust him because we live after the death and resurrection of Christ (cf. Paul in Acts 17). This has implications for the shape our waiting for the Lord should take. It’s easy to become bitter and seek revenge, but if we grasp the message of these verses, we will be set free to continue living and working along side those who harm us, serving and doing good to them (Romans 12.19-21). If one is not a Christian believer, hear the warning of these vv. to all who remain enemies of God and his people, which we all are by nature. Do what the nations do in v. 23 – humble yourself. Put your trust in Christ and you will be gathered into God’s people, know his unfailing love and be brought to live in his new world.

Conclusion

Repeat headings – two aspects of our future hope that means we can know the Lord does not forsake or forget his people. Repeat v. 23b.

The Puritans: A Model for Ministry

Knappen comments on the impression the Puritan minister made by the ’strong selling-point of a life far superior, in the moral judgement of his contemporaries, to the normal standards of the clergy of his time.’ There is much that is worthy of imitation here if we wish our ministry (prospective or current) to bear fruit, and there is a lot that can be turned into prayer for current ministers of the church.

While exceptions were not unknown, the average Puritan worked at his calling far more energetically than did his conforming neighbour. Both tended to neglect the prescribed routine of morning prayer, evening prayer , and saints’ days, but the time saved was not spent by the Puritan at court, at the tavern, or in the hunting field. He felt the obligation to attain to the then dizzy heights of at least a sermon a week; and, if he was frequently a pluralist [held more than one living], it was partly for the sake of providing more people with the opportunity of hearing regular preaching. By thus exceeding the normal demands of his profession, he also took upon himself the supererogatory task of daily study. When he added a weekday lecture to his Sunday schedule of sermon and catechizing, or a Sunday sermon to his market-day exposition, it was obvious that he was doing the Lord’s work, and when he exhorted his parishioners in daily conversation, visited the sick, and started a school, it was hard to deny that he was instant in season and out of season. Permanently in opposition, he was barred from the more lucrative and influential poitions in the church and so was freed from the temptations and corruptions which came with power. To his parishioners he could nearly always appear as a poor, studious man of God. When the authorities added semi-martyrdom to his other crosses by suspending or depriving him, while the ignorant idler in the next village went on quite undisturbed in his slothful way, the appeal of the Puritan message was further strengthened. Tudor Puritanism, p. 381

The Ongoing Relevance of the Puritans

In his chapter entitled, “Puritan Propaganda”, Knappen turns his attention to the everyday ministry of the Puritans, from which there is much we can learn, and which is strikingly relevant to the spiritual state of our country today.

The first thing that strikes us in observing this activity is the absence of sectarianism. True, the political leaders of the party might expend their energies in attacking Anglicanism or perhaps some rival brand of Puritanism. The theologian might write in similar terms, sharpening weapons for use on his fellow-Christians. But the subalterns out on the firing line perforce recognized that the real enemy still lay neither to the right nor to the left, but to the front. Of atheism expressed in formal, philosophical terms there was little in Tudor England. But of tavern unbelief there was a great deal. Scoffers, flat atheists, and “Antilegons” (gainsayers) appear regularly in popular religious literature. In fact, the Puritan thought that the bulk of the nation had exchanged the sins of popery for neglect of religion: “before, they were altogether superstitious, now they are wholly profane.” Tudor Puritanism, pp. 379-380

Isaiah 49.1-13

I have the very great privilege of leading and preaching at the morning and evening services at Bethany Evangelical Church in Swinton, where I happen to know the pastor, on December 30th. I thought I’d take the opportunity to do a little mini-series on Isaiah 49.

Order of Service

Welcome
Verse from Scripture
Hymn: As with gladness men of old
Prayer (of confession)
Children’s talk (probably on Simeon)
Open prayer
Readings: Isaiah 49.1-13, Luke 2.21-38
Hymn: Hail to the Lord’s Anointed
Sermon
Hymn: O for a thousand tongues to sing
Communion: Exhortation based on themes from Isaiah 49 (the Servant’s sufferings and the promise that ‘they shall not hunger or thirst’), Reading of words of institution, prayer from Valley of Vision
Hymn: Joy to the world
Prayer (of blessing)

Isaiah 49.1-13 Notes

Introduction

“We don’t do God.” Tony Blair’s recent comments about why he wasn’t open about his faith during his time in office – “People think your’re a nutter.” This captures what many people feel: faith is something for the private sphere. One person’s comments to the effect that the secularists who dismiss faith as nothing more than private are mistaken in their understanding of faith. Isaiah would agree. See v. 1: this is a highly public message. From chapter 40, Isaiah brings a message of comfort from God to his exiled people. We meet the Servant through whom God will achieve his purposes. The promises are fulfilled in Christ’s birth and subsequent life. Christmas has implications for the whole world. Isaiah wants us to see this by showing us 3 things about the Lord’s Servant

1 The Servant’s calling is powerful (vv. 1-4)

He is called by God himself to be his servant and to do his work. He is the true Israel. God appoints him even before he was born. To be the servant is the reason he is born (v. 5). From the beginning, he has been given his commission from God himself and so his power extends over everything. He has been equipped powerfully. His mouth is like a sharp sword. His words are words of judgment against the wicked (cf. Isaiah 11). God speaks of his own words in this way (cf. Hosea 6). The Servant’s power is guaranteed: the Lord protects and upholds him. Illustration: the British Government is Her Majesty’s Government. The authority to run the country is hers. She gives authority to them so they have power to run the state. Similarly, the eternal God has given his power which extends over all to his servant, but his power is permanent. It is his by right. His power is not obvious. He looks weak (v. 4a, v. 7a). One day God will prove his power to all (v. 4b, v. 7b)

Hundreds of years later an angel appears to Mary. Read Luke 2.31-35 – here is the man, called to his task from the womb, named from the body of his mother, formed by the power of God (the Holy Spirit). He’s more than a man. He’s God-man, God the Son who has taken upon himself a further human nature. His words have the weapon-like character of God’s words in the present (Revelation 2 and Pergamum) and in the future (Revelation 19). He didn’t always look powerful. He went to the cross. But he was raised from the dead.

We can’t ignore Jesus, though there’s great pressure to do so. His word is the word that judges the world so we must listen to him now. This means a commitment to Scripture as individuals and as a church, hearing it and obeying it.

2 The Servant’s mission is universal (vv. 5-7)

The Servant is conceived and born for the task of bringing human beings from throughout the world back into a right relationship with God (vv. 5-6, 8). Isaiah starts with Israel. In immediate view is the return from exile to the land. The heart, however, is that they will be brought back to God. This is too small a thing. The LORD desires to honour the Servant. Only restoring the nations of the world will bring the Servant the honour the LORD wants him to have. The whole world has turned from God. We’re by nature separated from him. We’re his enemies. God is rightly angry with us. We deserve the judgment Christ will one day bring. We need saving. Illustration of an American aircraft flying in the fog, the lights on the instrument panel go off, they’re in danger of crashing in the darkness, but the co-pilot repairs the lights and they land safely and people are thankful to him. We’re all in the darkness of God’s right anger, in danger for the future, but God in his love gave the Servant to be a light in that darkness so that people from the ends of the earth are rescued as peace is made between them and God so they are safe. This is for people from every station in life, even rulers (v. 7b). The Servant is honoured as he receives the thanks and praise he is due for saving people.

Simeon is waiting for Israel’s consolation and sees Jesus. Read Luke 2.29-32. The Magi come from the east – the ends of the earth – to Bethlehem and fall down before him. Salvation is achieved through the servant’s sufferings, as he suffers and dies on the cross, bearing God’s wrath in the place of those he came to save.

The fundamental implication is that we must trust in Christ. No one is outside the scope of God’s invitation. No one is above all this. The first response salvation should produce in us is praise. We must also proclaim him – this is how Paul applied these verses. There can be no discrimination. We can’t write off people. The doors of the church must be open to all, whatever their background. To not do this is to be out of step with the Father’s will that the Son be honoured. We must also pray for the leaders of the nations. God has promised that the rulers of the world will grasp who Chrsit is and fall down before him. John in his vision sees kings bringing their glory into the New Jerusalem. For Christ’s honour let’s claim this promise in prayer. This is what Paul urged in 1 Timothy 2.

3 The Servant’s blessing is joyful (vv. 8-13)

God establishes his covenant with his people through the Servant whom he upholds, the Lord Jesus Christ who died and rose again. We see here the shape of the experience of those in the covenant – inheritance, release, freedom, provision, no want, security, rescue from being scattered. This is immediately referring to the return from exile but look at the grand language of v. 13. This is ultimately looking forward to the future experience of God’s people in the New Creation. There will be a transformation of creation itself. In Revelation 7, John has a vision of a great multitude from every nation and Isaiah 49.10 us applied to those saved through Christ. Illustration of the joy Nelson Mandea felt when released from prison – extract from autobiography. How much more should the delight of the Christian be having received compassion and comfort from God, having been saved from the wrath to come and looking forward to life in God’s new world. What comfort there is here to cling to in our time of need. Israel was still suffering in a foreign land and this message was meant to comfort them. We know forgiveness, we’re reconciled to God now, know his sovereign care over our lives now, we have been saved. But we’re still waiting to be saved. We’re still waiting for God’s promises to be finally fulfilled. We still suffer lack. We still suffer from external circumstances, hurtful things beyond our control. God’s promise to you, Christian believer, is that you will be brought into an inheritance in the New Creation where you will neither hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind or sun shall strike you.

Conclusion

Repetition of v.1 – the message of Christ has implications for the whole world. Repetition of headings and applications.

Right, just one more sermon to go…

Spot the Difference

I confess to being a reader of the Telegraph but I was very disappointed at a piece of very bad journalism today. The headline was Archbishop says nativity ‘a legend’. The article starts:

The Archbishop of Canterbury said yesterday that the Christmas story of the Three Wise Men was nothing but a ‘legend’. Dr Rowan Williams has claimed there was little evidence that the Magi even existed and there was certainly nothing to prove there were three of them or that they were kings. He said the only reference to the wise men from the East was in Matthew’s gospel and the details were very vague.

Dr Williams said: “Matthew’s gospel says they are astrologers, wise men, priests from somewhere outside the Roman Empire, that’s all we’re really told. It works quite well as legend.”

For the full article, click HERE.

The article is based on an interview between Rowan Williams and Simon Mayo on the wireless. The transcript of the interview can be found HERE. In answer to the question, “The baby Jesus in a manger; historically and factually true?”, Dr. Williams replied:

“I should think so; the Gospel tells us he was born outside the main house, probably because it was overcrowded because it was pilgrimage time or census time; whatever; yes; he’s born in poor circumstances, slightly out of the ordinary.”

He then affirmed his commitment to the virgin birth and says some sensible things about not wanting to set it up as a hurdle that one must jump in order to be ’signed up’ but that as time goes on, people get a deeper sense of what the virgin birth is about. He said that was the case for him – thirty years ago he wasn’t fussed, but now he sees it ‘dovetailing’ with what he believes and he affirms it. I guess it’s a little bit like John 7.17 really. On the subject of the oxes and asses, he rather sensibly said: “Pass on the oxes and asses; they don’t figure very strongly in the gospels, so I can live without the ox and asses.” Moving on to the wise men, what he actually said was:

Well Matthew’s gospel doesn’t tell us that there were three of them, doesn’t tell us they were kings, doesn’t tell us where they came from, it says they’re astrologers, wise men, priests from somewhere outside the Roman Empire. That’s all we’re really told so, yes, ‘the three kings with the one from Africa’ – that’s legend; it works quite well as legend.

Moreover, what he actually denied was that the wise men were there with the shepherds, not that they were there at all. He concludes by saying that he wasn’t sure Jesus was born at this time of year so it was unlikely that there would have been much snow around – hardly ground-breaking stuff. Of the wise men and astrology, he made a comment with which I was very impressed:

It’s all bringing them to Jesus; it’s not about fortune telling or telling the future, it’s about a skill of watching the universe which leads them inexorably towards this event, so I don’t think it’s a justification of astrology.

Perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised at this, but people seem unable conceive of a distinction between what the Bible says about Christmas and what has grown up as tradition. Either that or people just don’t listen. When the Archbishop of Canterbury rather helpfully affirms what the Bible says about the Nativity and remains agnostic about the rest, then he gets accused of dismissing it all as legend. I might not agree with everything he teaches, but let’s give thanks for what he said in a public broadcast to the nation.

Bad History

I have the written paper for the end of my Paediatrics rotation on Wednesday. It seems as though there is a correlation between examinations and ‘blogging. I recall a record number of posts in the month in which I took Finals.

Knappen’s book Tudor Puritanism has two parts. The first is mainly historical, charting the origins of the Puritan movement, its activities, its successes and its failures. The second part moves on to analyse Puritan thought. This aspect stimulates and engages me more, and while I do find church history interesting, it is difficult to keep track of the details of who is doing what when and what is going on at the same time. I think my leaning is definitely towards historical theology rather than church history. There are lots of highlights in Knappen’s book, but there are some places which annoy me. This is one of them. It’s a footnote to the introductory chapter on Puritan thought, entitled ‘The Spirit of Puritanism’:

In the succeeding chapters the illustrations of the Puritan attitude have been almost entirely drawn from those writers who are known to have had trouble with the governmental authorities for nonconformity or to have been out of sympathy with the episcopal system… by thus minimising the writings of the Anglican Puritans, the picture drawn may be sharpened somewhat but this procedure seemed preferable to trying to analyse the works of such men as Grindal and attempting to determine when they were speaking as mild Puritans and when as governmental agents. In any event, the right wing of a party is not to be considered as typical of the whole. In cases where a Puritan made his peace with the government and subsequently conformed to and supported the official system, his writings after that change of attitude are not cited. The works of persons, like Perkins, who conformed under pressure but who gave no further indication of sympathy with the governmental policy are, however, employed if there is reason to believe that they retained their Puritan sentiments. – p. 339

While ‘the right wing of the party is not to be considered as typical of the whole’, I would have to add that neither is the left! Knappen appears to have predefined ideas about what Puritanism is, or should be, and so to prove his point selects material that supports his position and deliberately ignores anything which might suggest otherwise. His presentation of the Puritan spirit is not completely awful, but his selectivity leads him to concluding that ‘The Puritan was quite explicit in his denials of any primacy to the intellect’ and that ‘the heart was above the head’. It would be nice to have a definition what Knappen means by ‘heart’, as well as some indication of the context of the quotations he includes that support his view. He also concludes that the Puritan belief in the importance and efficacy of sacraments was nominal and ‘badly attenuated’. He observes that ‘in practice, the Puritan does not actually seem to have meditated much on the future life. When he noted his thoughts, at least, they were almost entirely about his conduct in his earthly career.’ It is also quite clear in this section that Knappen’s promotion of idealism as an important force in shaping a nation affects his assessment of the Puritans. His criticism of the Puritans’ anti-Catholic stance and its hampering effect on the party springs from this.

Isaiah and the Nativity

“Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and for evermore.” – Isaiah 9.7

I take it this means that, from the time when “to us a child is born, to us a son is given” (v. 6), the God-man Jesus Christ, the “Prince of Peace” (again, v. 6) we can expect his rule to extend over the lives of increasing numbers of people as more and more people to bow the knee before him, come under his government and into his kingdom. As a consequence of this, this verse seemingly means that peace will increase as his righteous, just reign is established on earth – a real, tangible, armies-laying-down-their-weapons-for-definitive-decommissioning kind of peace (v. 5). This is definitely a promised to be ’sued out’ as the Puritans would say.

“They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.” – Isaiah 11.9

Because of the ’shoot from the stump of Jesse’ who ’shall come forth’, there will be a time when there is harmony between beast and beast, and between beast and man such that nature is fully tamed and safe (vv. 6-9). The curse of the Fall is reversed. The creation is released from its bondage to decay (Romans 8.19-23). The wide-ranging descriptions in vv. 6-8 and the parallelism in v. 9 indicates that in fact, the whole earth itself will become God’s holy mountain. The whole earth is place where God will meet with man, where relationship with him is enjoyed.

Christmas Bible Reading

I offer this reading plan for the days leading up to Christmas, (loosely) based on the Nine Lessons, in case anyone finds it useful:

December 15th – Genesis 3.8-15, 22.15-18
December 16th – Isaiah 9.1-7
December 17th – Isaiah 11.1-9
December 18th – Micah 5.1-5
December 19th – Isaiah 60
December 20th – Luke 1.26-38
December 21st – Matthew 1.18-25
December 22nd – Luke 2.1-7
December 23rd – Luke 2.8-20
Christmas Eve – Matthew 2.1-12
The Nativity of Our Lord – John 1.1-14
December 26th – Galatians 3.23-4.7
December 27th – Philippians 2.1-11
December 28th – 1 Timothy 1.12-17
December 29th – Revelation 12.1-17

Para-Church Organisations and the Local Congregation

While I of course value the role that para-church organisations play, with Christians coming together from many different churches for work that individual local churches would not be able to do on their own, they are not without their problems. This post is the product of an extended period of observation and reflexion. The difficulty in commenting comes from the fact that the New Testament has little to say about the phenomenon of the para-church organisation, although I think there are implications of the high view it presents of the local church.

The first problem strikes me as being quite an insidious one. The para-church organisation becomes an entity to which one belongs that transcends the local church. So when one is part of a local church, one’s friendship group can essentially be those people who belong to the parachurch organisation. They are the people to whom one talks, and with whom one spends time and engages in activities. It can be very difficult, if not impossible, for those members of the local church who do not belong to that other organisation to enter that friendship group or interact in a more than superficial way. Difficulties also arise if an individual from outside that organisation is placed in some position of pastoral authority over some from within that organisation. It may be that the leader is not respected or listened to. I cannot help but think that this tends towards the behaviour so strongly rebuked by Paul in 1 Corinthians 11, which divides the fellowship, including some but excluding others, not on the basis of what one has, but on one’s membership of the organisation in question. Moreover, although the issue in Galatia was different, are there not parallels? Would not Paul have regarded the lack of fellowship with other believers within the local congregation on this basis as conduct ‘not in step with the gospel’ of justification by faith in Christ, and so deserving of opposition and condemnation, just as Paul did to Peter (Galatians 2)?

The second problem is to do with the depriving effect para-church organisations can have on the local congregation if care is not taken. I think of the situation where one is not able to participate in the activities of the local church because of one’s commitment to the other organisation, whether through lack of time, or clashes of timing. I would suggest that the Christian’s primary commitment should be to the local congregation, and one may agree with that but as a member of the para-church organisation, feel obligated to devote oneself to the other grouping instead. This tension can have potentially devastating effects on the life of the local church. To the local congregation, the ascended Lord Jesus Christ has given gifts to its members so that it as the body of Christ might be built up as believers ’speak the truth in love’ (Ephesians 4) ‘teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom’ (Colossians 3). God has given each member gifts for the good of the whole (1 Corinthians 12). If some because of their bond to another group are unable to participate in some aspect of the life of the church the maturation and edification of members of the local church suffers. Furthermore, fellowship can also suffer. It is a particularly sad thing to see believers unhappy that they do not have the opportunity to see their friends much, because one of them has a commitment to another Christian grouping that removes them from some meeting or activity of the local church.

I offer my brief thoughts in highlighting these issues with the hope that awareness of such problems is raised and the longing that something might change, for the good of God’s people, and for God’s glory.

Anglicanism at its best

The example of Northampton demonstrates how much Puritanism could be introduced within the Anglican system. The Prayer Book was used, but was said in the body of the church whre it could be readily heard. The superstitious use of bells was stopped. On Sundays, the parish service ended by nine o’clock, after which was a sermon in the main church which parishioners without sermons of their own were expected to attend. After evening prayer, the young people were examined on a portion of Calvin’s catechism. Every Tuesday and Thursday from nine to ten in the main church was a “lecture of the Scripture” for the benefit of the illiterate and the ancestor of the expository sermon. Ministers gathered to confer among themselves on their manner of life and conduct.

For me, the following is the highlight of Knappen’s book Tudor Puritanism so far (Chapter XII: The Episcopalian Experiment):

The mainspring of the whole system was the prophesying. This was a combination of public forum and literary society, to which the ministers of the town and countryside devoted each Saturday morning from nine to eleven. Each of the clergy in turn was assigned a passage of scripture. When his day came, he expounded it for three-quarters of an hour, correcting any false interpretations of which he knew, but not digressing beyond the limits of what was considered the true meaning of the passage in question. He was followed by several of his brethren, who criticized his performance and added further thoughts on the same theme. The learned ministers present were allowed a final judgment of the performance and provision was made for answering questions from the audience. Presiding moderators checked contentious speeches and regulated the general conduct of these exercises. Each participant had first to sign an acceptance of these rules, and also a strongly Protestant creed. Though the clergy were the speakers on these occasions, the public was admitted. Only the weekly sessions for clerical discipline, which followed, were private. It is obvious that such exercises must not only have instructed the laity but also have been a powerful stimulus to the rank and file of the clergy to continue their studies and perfect themselves in the preaching art.

This was Anglicanism at its best…

This strikes me as a thoroughly wholesome model and a testimony to what can be achieved in training ministers to preach faithfully in order to build up and instruct the church, both young and old, in order to promote greater godliness.

C. S. Lewis on the Puritans

C. S. Lewis said:

We must picture these Puritans as the very opposite of those who bear that name today: as young, fierce, progressive intellectuals, very fashionable and up-to-date. They were not teetotallers; bishops, not beer, were their special aversion.

From an overview of English Puritanism that can be accessed HERE.

The Puritans and Conscience

Fifth year Medicine is proving to be a barrier to frequent ‘blogging, and I am finding myself hard-pressed to find time to do any reading and thinking in order to have something about which to write in the first place. However, the latest problem to afflict my dicycle (the left pedal has fallen off) has meant that I have had to get into town on foot, and this has afforded me the opportunity to redeem the time by listening to talks on my MP3 player. Here, therefore, is the latest installment of my slow series of summaries, of Packer’s lectures on the Puritans, given in 1988 at Reformed Theological Seminary.

The idea of conscience was central in Puritan thinking, as it was amongst all the Reformed. It was Luther who said at the Diet of Worms, when asked to recant his writings:

“My conscience is captive to the word of God. To go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I can do no other. God help me. Amen.”

For the Puritans, conscience was a faculty of rational self-knowledge and self-judgement. It was a faculty inseparable from the mind (or heart for that matter). This is an idea inherited from Aquinas. The conscience gave knowledge of oneself as seen by God. The Puritans often appealed to the form of the word: con + scientia. This was knowledge (scientia) shared in community (indicated by the prefix con-), namely with God, or rather the knowledge of oneself that God shares with you. The conscience reasons according to the use of the syllogism. For example: “Major premise: all who live in sin will die. Minor premise: I live in sin. Conclusion: Therefore I will die. Major premise: all who believe in Christ shall live. Minor premise: I believe in Christ. Conclusion: Therefore I shall live.” Obviously in reality this occurs much more quickly than can be consciously analysed.

The Puritans had a number of vivid descriptions of conscience, which far from being fanciful, get to the heart of conscience’s function. It was God’s vicegerent (what a lovely word!) in the soul, God’s spy in the bosom. Richard Sibbes (whose biography by Mark Dever is hopefully winging its way to me as we speak, to add to my pile of Christmas reading, when the break finally arrives) in one of his sermons gave an extended analogy for the conscience, saying that in every man’s heart there is a court, with a register/registrar, prosecutor, judge and executioner. Conscience fulfils all these functions. It records all that one has done, it accuses one of misdeeds, it passes judgment on one, whether one is guilty or innocent, and it even acts as executioner, giving a foretaste in the present of future punishment (i.e. conviction of sin). Mr. Recorder in John Bunyan’s allegory The Holy War provides another excellent illustration of the Puritan doctrine of conscience.

The conscience has to be trained by Scripture, otherwise it would condemn where God doesn’t condemn, and it would justify where God would not justify. If one has an untrained conscience, one can end up in a double bind if conscience tells one to do something and it is against God’s word. Either one sins against conscience, or one sins directly against God. There was no tolerance for the notion of just doing what one’s conscience says is right.

A good conscience is a blessed thing, providing assurance by appealing to Christ’s death on the cross for forgiveness and then applying his shed blood to us. William Fenner wrote that it would be better to sleep in a house of adders than to spend one night without confessing one’s sins and receiving assurance of pardon. We must daily sue out pardon, daily go to the fountain for cleansing. Having a good, clean conscience brings great joy to the Christian life, sweetening trials and crosses, just as the prospect of pleasantness at home sweetens the experience of trouble abroad. It adds to our enjoyment of the Sabbath, of prayer, of preaching, and all God’s ordinances. Packer challenges us to whether there would be greater enjoyment of Christian duties in our day if we made every effort to have a good conscience.

To this end, the Puritans also stressed the importance of having a tender conscience. They spoke of ‘ripping up the conscience’ by application of the word of God, in order to see what was inside, in the same way that one would tear open a cushion, in order to get at the feathers. This was done by self-examination during the course of one’s daily walk with God. This was no haphazard morbid introspection, which signals depression and leads to an intensification of depression. This was a discipline, performed at least once a week (on a Saturday night, before the Lord’s Day, and especially so if one was going to the Lord’s Table) in which one looked at one’s life over the previous week and considered how it matched up to God’s standards, in the Ten Commandments and in the Sermon on the Mount, for example. One would confess one’s sins and make new resolutions to walk in God’s ways.

This was not only an individual exercise. Whereas today, it would appear that clear explanation of doctrine is valued most of all in sermons, the Puritans, while very able at explaining doctrine, esteemed that preaching which applied the word of God to men’s hearts, ripping up their consciences and exposing what was there. This is of course working out in practice Hebrews 4.12. In order to do this, preachers, they said, must first apply the word of God to their own hearts. So the Scottish Puritan David Dickson, at the ordination of a young minister, told him to the be student of two books – the Scriptures and his own heart. John Owen asked how we can expect the word of God to forth in power from us if it does not dwell in power in us. Robert Bolton would not teach some point of doctrine unless he had first applied it to his own heart.

The Puritans, however, were no legalists. They taught very clearly that we were saved entirely on the basis of Christ’s death for us and not by our own works. They did not fall into the Galatian error of teaching that our own good works advance our own salvation. Our good works flow out of gratitude for what God has done for us in Christ. Nor did the Puritans fall into the problem of license, thinking that because we have been saved we don’t have to bother too much with obeying God. They taught that sinners are set free in a very specific sense. We are set free from the guilt of sin, and the obligation to justify ourselves by our own good works. But in the freedom which Christ won for us, we are to live lives of obedience to him.

Despite allegations to the contrary, the Puritans were not over-scrupulous in their applications of Scripture. While there are of course exceptions, as a whole they did not seek to prescribe anything that Scripture does not prescribe, nor take liberties where Scripture does not give us liberty. Richard Ridding was a Puritan whom the Lord of the Manor castigated for his ‘precision’. He replied that he served a precise God.

I think those are all the main points, if memory serves me correctly. I now know what I need to go and do before I go to church tomorrow, and when I prepare my sermons.

Happy New Year

ALMIGHTY God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious Majesty to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal, through him who liveth and reigneth with three and the Holy Spirit, now and ever. Amen.

They don’t write them like this anymore

Tune: Ebenezer

Who is this with garments gory,
Triumphing from Bozrah’s way;
This that weareth robes of glory,
Bright with more than victory’s ray?
Who is this unwearied comer
From his journey’s sultry length,
Travelling through Idumè’s summer
In the greatness of his strength?

Wherefore red in thine apparel
Like the conquerors of the earth,
And arrayed like those who carol
O’er the reeking vineyard’s mirth?
Who art thou, the valleys seeking
Where our peaceful harvests wave?
“I, in righteous anger speaking,
I, the mighty One to save.”

“I, that of the raging heathen
Trod the winepress all alone,
Now in victor garlands wreathen
Coming to redeem Mine own:
I am He with sprinkled raiment,
Glorious for My vengeance hour,
Ransoming, with priceless payment,
And delivering with power.”

Hail! All hail! Thou Lord of Glory!
Thee, our Father, Thee we own;
Abraham heard not of our story,
Israel ne’er our Name hath known.
But, Redeemer, Thou hast sought us,
Thou hast heard Thy children’s wail,
Thou with Thy dear blood hast bought us:
Hail! Thou mighty Victor, hail!

Words: Arthur C. Coxe, 1844