Growing in Grace by Fasting

The Apostle Peter drew his second letter to a close with these wise and pastoral words: “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen” (2 Peter 3:18). The word “grow” is an exhortation and a command, and it implies that if we’re to progress in Christ we must play an active role, by the grace of Christ, in building habits that nurture our progress. Therefore, I am offering a series of devotionals this spring on eight essential habits that help us to grow in grace. For today, let’s consider the place of fasting in the Christian life. 

Midway through the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said to his disciples, “And when you fast...” Later he added, “The days will come when the bridegroom [Jesus] is taken away from them [Jesus’ disciples], and then they will fast” (Matthew 6:16; 9:15). The Lord said “when” not “if,” and “they will” not “they might.” Jesus assumed that fasting would be a regular part of his disciples’ lives, and so today I want to address three questions: What is fasting? Why should lovers of Jesus fast? How do we go about fasting?

First, what is fasting? To fast is to deny ourselves food or water or other necessities or pleasures of life for a time. It is putting aside good things so that we can feast on great things. It is a way of making space in our lives so that we can give more of ourselves to prayer and worship and the Word of God. And in this way, fasting is a way of intensifying our quest for God.

If you’ll think about this definition for a moment, you’ll see that we can only fast from things that are good. For instance, we can’t fast from stealing or gluttony or coveting or lust. We have to repent from these things. Indeed, the only things from which we can fast are good gifts from God. So again, fasting is putting aside good things for a time that we might feast on great things like prayer, worship, and the Word of God.

Second, why should lovers of Jesus fast? The primary reason we should fast is that Jesus fasted and taught his disciples to do the same. We don’t fast to be religious, or to deny ourselves for the sake of denying ourselves, or to earn the love of God, or to manipulate God into giving us what we want. Plain and simple, we fast because Jesus fasted and taught his disciples to do the same, and as Christians our passion is to be submissive to Jesus and our greatest hope is to be like Jesus.

Third, how do we go about fasting? Much needs to be said about this, and so rather than trying to answer this question here, I will simply refer you to Bill Bright’s helpful little booklet, Seven Basic Steps to Fasting and Prayer. Perhaps in the future I'll post a series of blogs on fasting wherein I'll share my many thoughts on this subject. 

My exhortation to us today is simply this: read Bill Bright’s booklet, ask Jesus to help you, take the seven steps, and learn to fast. Rightly understood and practiced, it is one of the most powerful disciplines in the Christian life. 

Living by Faith: These All Died in Faith

Over the last several Wednesdays, we’ve been meditating on the faith of Abraham and Sarah via Hebrews 11:8-12. The author of Hebrews still has a little more to say about their faith, but first he pauses in verses 13-16 to tell us something very important, specifically, he wants us to know that Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Jacob all died in faith even though they had not received everything God had promised to them by that time. They received enough to keep them going but they did not receive most of what God had promised them before they breathed their last. They believed in the words of God all their lives, and for several generations, but after all that time there was still not total fulfillment.

Yet, not one of them died in disappointment or bitterness or atheistic rebellion, rather, they died in faith. They died believing. They died with assurance. They died with conviction. They died with hope. They died with the sure knowledge that God would do all that he had promised to do, for they knew that he who promised is faithful.

Now, to keep it real, how did this work in their lives? Did they ever doubt? Yes. Did they ever fear? Yes. Did they ever become angry? Yes. Did they ever wonder if they misheard God and misunderstood his promises? Yes. Did they ever think that perhaps God had changed his mind? Yes.

However, time after time, no matter what the season or difficulty or doubt, these people of faith eventually went to God and spoke with him about whatever was on their hearts. For example, by my count, God appeared to Abraham on seven separate occasions to confirm his promises. And I’m not talking about Abraham’s daily communion with the Lord, rather, I’m talking about those times when Abraham cried out and said, “O Lord, I’m really struggling here: where are you? Is the deal still on? Are the things you promised still going to come to pass?” Every time Abraham called out to God in this way, God drew near to him and spoke to him in familiar words but with a freshness of presence that assured Abraham that his promises were still valid and would most certainly come to pass in his time and way. And day after day, season after season, Abraham and his family learned through communion with God that they could trust in his promises, and in this way, they persevered in faith.

Beloved, people who live by faith go through difficult times. We fear. We question God. We doubt his promises. We cry. We throw fits. We grumble and complain. We fall into sin. We distance ourselves from God. But the way faith grows in the midst of all these things is through a daily relationship with the God of the promises. Faith doesn’t grow by trying to conjure up faith, rather, it grows by spending time with the God who is faithful. Remember, faith is trusting in the faithfulness of God by clinging to his words in the power of the Holy Spirit. God himself is the fountain of our faith.

So, if like Abraham and Sarah, you’re going through a painful or difficult time in your life right now, the call upon you today is not to try harder and do better, rather, the call upon you today is to spend time with your Father and express the fullness of your heart to him and allow him to speak to you and minister to you. Faith is a relational thing, and the more Abraham and his family got to know God, the less they needed tangible evidence that his promises would come to pass. The more they got to know God, the more they trusted him and patiently waited on him, and the same will be true for us as well.

Now, the author tells us beginning in verse 13 that these heroes of the faith saw God’s promises from a distance and welcomed them, or embraced them, as future-oriented things. And how did they know that these promises were so far off in the future? Simple: they asked God and he told them what they needed to know in his own time and in his own way. He didn’t answer all of their questions, but he answered their most important ones. And this is why the family who set out to find a homeland was content to live as strangers and resident-aliens in the place that came to be known as the Promised Land. This is why they were willing to camp out for decades, indeed generations, when they were more than wealthy enough to build houses and cultural infrastructure. They knew by faith that their hope was not in this world but that they were waiting for a heavenly city. And by faith they were willing to wait to inherit that city, even if it meant that generation after generation first had to die.

Since they clung so tightly to the promises of God through all the storms of life, God is not ashamed to be called their God. God is not ashamed to rise up and testify on their behalf and commend them for their faith in the hearing of all creation. Quite the opposite. God has vindicated their faith by preparing for them a city. A city for which they waited all their lives and for many generations. A city that God promised to them and slowly but surely revealed to them. Indeed, God has prepared for them that heavenly city of which it is said in Revelation 21:3, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them [he will live with them], and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.” They will live with one another as Father to children and children to Father. They will be a family forever and ever, to the glory of God and the joy of their souls.

This was Abraham’s hope and his family’s hope: that they would be with God and his people in that great city where the glory of God is the sun and the moon, where the heart of God is the temple of worship, where the presence of God is the joy of the people, where the praise of God is the city’s song, where the love of God is the life pulse of the city, where the justice of God characterizes their lives together, where the grace of God forever wipes away their tears and suffering and dying and sin and evil, and where the reign of God will endure forever without opposition or competition.

Beloved, I don’t know how much our Father revealed to these precious patriarchs and matriarchs about this city, but I am confident that they knew enough to know that their hope was not in this world but in heaven. And I am confident that they had confidence in this hope because they trusted God by clinging to his specific words in the power of the Holy Spirit.

This is what it looks like to live by faith. It’s not always easy but it’s very simple. Again, living by faith is trusting in God by clinging to his promises in the power of the Holy Spirit. May God our Father teach us the way of Abraham and Sarah! May God our Father teach us to set our hope on a greater city than any on this earth, so that our eyes will be fully fixed on him and we will therefore be useful to him and others in this world.

Book Review: Applying the Sermon: How to Balance Biblical Integrity and Cultural Relevance (By Daniel Overdorf)

Overdorf, Daniel. Applying the Sermon: How to Balance Biblical Integrity and Cultural Relevance. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 2009. 

The key assumption of Daniel Overdorf’s Applying the Sermon is that “[e]ffective preaching includes application that preserves biblical integrity while pursuing contemporary relevance.” The sermon should allow the Word to speak to God’s people “as explicitly and concretely as it did originally” (15), however, this is where most preachers falter because their applications either lack an explicit connection to the text or to the lives of God’s people.

Therefore, Overdorf devotes the first four chapters of his book to developing a biblical theology of sermon applications. He argues that the goal of preaching is transformation rather than information and that every sermon should “spur listeners toward this destiny, even if it’s just one step closer” (21). To achieve this, the preacher must first be faithful to the text but then he must also draw out the implications of that text for daily life. He rightly asserts that “if we preach God’s Word, empowered by the Spirit, listeners cannot escape the application” (28). He then builds on this foundation by showing that both the Holy Spirit and the preacher have a hand in developing applications, and that the logic of the Bible gives the preacher license to do so. Finally, in chapter four, he cautions against the potential pitfalls of developing sermon applications.

Overdorf then devotes the final four chapters of his book to developing a tool by which preachers can create applications that are biblically faithful and culturally relevant. His process includes ten-steps, six of which are dedicated to the creative process and four of which are intended to function as safeguards. He concludes his work by offering a series of ideas for how the preacher can include applications in his sermon.

The strongest aspect of Overdorf’s work is that his vision of preaching is rightly and tightly tethered to the Word of God and he’s clear that our applications must flow from it. He is wise to caution that most preachers slip into heresy at the application stage rather than the explanation stage because their process of developing applications is not biblically rigorous enough. The strength of this argument is what encouraged me to read his book with care.

Second, Overdorf is right to balance the relationship between the Holy Spirit and the preacher in the process of developing applications, but his thoughts along these lines need a bit more explanation (I will address this in more detail below). He is also right to look to the pattern of indicative-imperative in the text of Scripture as a validation of developing applications in modern preaching. In other words, I found his argument regarding the biblical foundations of sermon applications persuasive.

Third, his ten-step process is logical and it flows well, although I’m not sure it will always produce the right applications—no process ever will! But what I’m saying is that good applications don’t simply reduce to a process, rather, they flow out of intimacy with God, a love for the text, and a loosely held process.

Finally, the main weakness I found in Overdorfs work is that there are so many quotes from other authors that I sometimes wondered whose book I was reading. But alas, not every preacher is a born author so despite this weakness I value his work.

I have four personal observations to make about this book. First, the most impactful thought of Overdorf’s book for my preaching was this: “If we preach our own ideas, people can take them or leave them. Listeners can ignore our opinions and, quite possibly, fare better for doing so. But if we preach God’s Word, empowered by the Spirit, listeners cannot escape the application” (28). I literally said “Amen!” out loud when I read these three sentences! It’s not only that they can’t escape the interpretation, but that they can’t escape the implications of the interpretation for their lives—and neither can we preachers for our lives.

I stated the principle this way in the margin of my book: one of the primary goals of biblical preaching, then, is to unveil the inescapable consequences of the text of Scripture for our lives together. This thought really blessed me and motivated me to give a larger place to the development of applications in my process of writing sermons.

Second, although I thought Overdorf was right to argue that both the Holy Spirit and the preacher have a hand in developing sermon applications, I thought he should have pointed out that the lion’s share of the burden falls on the Spirit’s shoulders. God Almighty is the good and great Shepherd of the sheep, and we are merely under-shepherds who do his bidding inasmuch as we discern and submit to his will. Thus, the way we preachers play our part in applying the text of Scripture is by drawing near to our Father, understanding the text as thoroughly as we can, and listening to the whispers of the Holy Spirit as he teaches us how to apply his Word. I’m sure Overdorf would agree with my thinking here but again it would have been good for him to draw this out a bit more. We are, in a sense, co-laborers with God but we are not co-equals.

Third, Overdorf’s conviction that biblical preaching should not only inform the people of God but also transform their lives, reminded me of something I heard Jack Hayford teach a few years back. He argued that every sermon should include information and inspiration, but that its essential nature should be incarnation. That is, the Word of God should “take on flesh” in the life of the preacher and then in the lives of the people through every sermon that is preached. I found this both moving and persuasive “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” (Heb 4:12).

And I now find this helpful for understanding the need for biblically faithful, culturally relevant applications because by helping God’s people see the implications of the Word for their lives we are assisting the Word in “taking on flesh,” if you will. We are offering ourselves as tools in the hands of God by which he can incarnate his will and ways among his people. Of course, the necessary antecedent to this is that we preachers first put ourselves under the Word and allow it to incarnate in our lives—teaching, correcting, rebuking, and training us. Only as the Word has power in us can it have power through us. 

Finally, I so appreciated Overdorf’s emphasis in chapter three on the place of grace in the development and delivery of applications. For example, as it is with so many of the epistles, all of the practical instructions in Ephesians 4-6 are firmly rooted in the truths of Ephesians 1-3, and the former cannot be rightly understood or practiced without the latter. “For by grace [we] were saved, through faith” (Eph 2:8), and by grace we learn to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. By grace we learn to apply to daily life the truths God has revealed in his Word.

Growing in Grace by Praying to God

The Apostle Peter drew his second letter to a close with these wise and pastoral words: “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen” (2 Peter 3:18). The word “grow” is an exhortation and a command, and it implies that if we’re to progress in Christ we must play an active role, by the grace of Christ, in building habits that nurture our progress. Therefore, I am offering a series of devotionals this spring on eight essential habits that help us to grow in grace. For today, let’s consider the place of prayer in the Christian life.

Paul writes in Colossians 4:2, “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.” The words “continue steadfastly,” like Peter’s word “grow,” implies that we who love Jesus must put forth effort by the grace of Jesus and learn to talk to him about everything. And this is, of course, the essence of prayer: talking to Jesus. Prayer is not some kind of incantation or request line through which we get things from Jesus, rather, it is the highest and most important use of the gift of verbal and non-verbal communication.

And Paul exhorts us to keep on keeping on in prayer because this is the way we remain alert to the presence of Jesus in our lives, the perspective of Jesus on our lives, and the power of Jesus for our lives. In fact, the word translated “watchful” here literally means “to stay awake,” and I think Paul meant it to be taken literally. I think Paul is saying that when we pray we stay awake to the presence, perspective, and power of Jesus, and when we fail to pray we fall asleep to these things. Therefore, it is of vital importance for those who long to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus, to learn what it means to persevere in prayer, to talk with our Savior about all things at all times.

The life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus bought for us the right of access to the throne-room of our Father. And his desire is that we would become intimately familiar with his courts, spending much time in his presence, seeking his broad and wise perspective, and pleading for the power to do his will.

So my exhortation to you today is this: commit yourself to spending more time with your Father every day, preferably in the morning. When we talk with the Lord at the beginning of the day, we tend to talk with him throughout the day. Press yourself to grow. “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving” (Colossians 4:2).

Living by Faith: The Fruit of Sarah’s Faith

In last Wednesday’s post, we pondered the faith of Sarah who believed in the words of God and obeyed the commands of God despite the occasional doubt and deep pain she experienced along the way. This week I’m eager to ponder with you the fruit that came about because of Abraham’s and Sarah’s faith, fruit for which God is ultimately responsible.

Because Sarah lived by faith in the promises of God, a son was born to her at the ripe old age of ninety. And sons were born to him. And sons were born to them. And the nation of Israel came into being. And the kings and priests and prophets of God arose. And in due time Jesus Christ was born in the line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And in due time Jesus sent his followers into the world to preach the good news that whoever believes in Jesus will not perish but have everlasting life. And in due time Jesus will finish the work of building his church so that one day some people from every tribe, tongue, and nation who’ve clung to Christ by faith will gather around his throne as one body, one temple, one bride, one nation, and one people of God. And there the mighty throng will worship the Lord forever in fulfillment of the words of the Lord to Abraham and Sarah.

O Beloved, may we have eyes to see and ears to hear today! Because Abraham and Sarah believed that he who promised is faithful, because they clung to the specific words of God, many others have believed and clung to his words as well, including us. I say this not to give glory to Abraham and Sarah but to give glory to the God who is faithful to his word.

It was God who spoke the promises. It was God who reiterated the promises. It was God who sustained Abraham and Sarah through the excruciatingly long process of waiting on his promises to be fulfilled. It was God who caused the miracle of birth to happen for people who were well past the time. It was God who caused that family and their descendants to prosper. It was God who caused Jesus to come and lay down his life and take it up again so that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life. It is God who will bring about the fullness of his purposes and promises to Abraham and Sarah all the way to the day when Jesus Christ returns and all things come to their appointed end.

Beloved, the story of Abraham and Sarah is ultimately about God. It’s about a God who speaks and makes promises and fulfills his promises, and what we learn about faith as we look at this story is that faith is trusting in God by clinging to his specific words, to his specific promises. Faith is not the product of fantasy, feelings, or foolishness; it’s the fruit of a soul that by grace believes what God has said and therefore clings to him who is forever faithful.

Book Review: “The Art of Preaching Old Testament Narrative” (By Steven D. Mathewson)

Steven D. Mathewson. The Art of Preaching Old Testament Narrative. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2002.

Steven D. Mathewson’s burden is to help preachers give more attention to Old Testament narratives and excel at it when they do. He has a fundamental commitment to the exposition of biblical texts as well as to the application of those texts, but he fears that evangelical preachers have shied away from preaching story. Thus, he purposes in The Art of Preaching Old Testament Narrative to lay out a path whereby preachers can honor their passion for teaching truth while also giving place to the dominant genre of the Bible.

The first section of the book, then, deals with the journey from text to concept, that is, from the specific meaning of the story to the broader truth of the story. In order to successfully complete this journey, the preacher must give thought to the plot, characters, setting, and points of view of the story. This gives rise to an exegetical outline and the main thrust of the story. And while Mathewson is thoughtful in explaining this process, he’s also insistent that it’s a bit of an art and dependent upon prayer.

The second section of the book deals with the journey from concept to sermon, that is, from the broader truth of the story to the presentation of that truth. Mathewson suggests that the preacher ask three questions in this stage: what does the text mean (explanation)? Is the text true (validation)? What should we do about it (application)? He then deals with a number of matters related to conceiving and writing the sermon, and concludes the book with five sermon manuscripts from various preachers that display the principles of the book.

The strongest aspect of Mathewson’s book is his right understanding of story with an equally strong emphasis on expositional preaching. He is passionately committed to the details and purposes of Scripture and this sets his work apart from so much of the literature on preaching story today. And he’s right to point out that expositional preaching does not demand a particular method but that it demands a commitment to saying what the text says, even when preaching story.

Further, Mathewson does a good job of integrating scholarship on the nature of story into his argument without stripping the text of its divine nature. That is, he doesn’t reduce the Word of God to mere literature but he deals well with the fact that it is literature nonetheless, and he listens well to those who understand the nature of story.

Third, as I mentioned above, Mathewson provides a refreshing balance between the science of method and the art of sermon preparation. I particularly appreciated the analogy to golf, although I thought an analogy to music would have been better. That is to say, while it’s necessary for the musician to learn the rudiments of music, when it comes time to play, he or she must let the notes flow from the heart. And like music, preaching ought to emerge from truth and flow from the heart, especially when it deals with stories.

Finally, Mathewson does an excellent job of guiding preachers along the path of preaching narrative texts. I find him to be a rare blend of an intellectual and a practitioner, one who both thinks well and grasps the contours of the shepherd’s life. I highly recommend his book for the seasoned preacher, although the student or the novice would benefit from it as well.

Mathewson helps us see that preaching expository sermons means allowing the text to dictate not only the content but the shape of the sermon. Most American (indeed Western) preachers are trained to exegete the epistles and of course many of the principles we learn in the process and hone over time transfer to exegeting stories. But the problem arises when the preacher shifts from the exegetical truth to the homiletical presentation of a story for at least two reasons.

On the one hand, old habits die hard and thusthe age-old paradigm of proposition-explanation-illustration-application is difficult to let go in the process of relating a story. Of course, none of these elements need be sacrificed in preaching OT or NT stories but they must, like water, learn to conform to the form of the text. When preaching from Romans, the sermons must take the shape of Romans. When preaching Job, the sermons must take the shape of Job.

On the other hand, I suspect that many Western preachers are suspicious that merely telling a story is not enough to feed the people of God or win the lost to Christ. Texts like Rom 15:4 ring in our minds: “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” We tend to think that to make hope palpable we have to do more than merely read, or re-tell, biblical stories in the presence of the church. And certainly, the preacher must do than merely re-tell a story, but at the same time, we must learn to trust in the form, content, and intents of the stories God himself has chosen to tell. At the end of the day, then, telling biblical stories on their own terms is a matter of faith, that is, of trusting that God will work as we faithfully reiterate his Word in the hearing of others. 

That said, I would have liked to hear more about how Mathewson conceives the relationship between the gospel and the text of the Old Testament, and how the preacher ought to handle this as he works through specific texts. Surely, the preacher must allow a story to be what it is and not to read too much into it, but at the same time Jesus himself once unmasked his presence in the pages of the Old Testament (Luke 24:27) and thus he bid us to search for and expose him there as well. Furthermore, since all stories consummate in his story, it seems wise to help God’s people see how this is so. 

I must conclude by reiterating how much I appreciated this book. I will not only read it again, I will use it as a reference guide as I grow in preaching through the years. I heartily recommend it and urge you to read it for yourself. 

Growing in Grace by Praising God

The Apostle Peter drew his second letter to a close with these wise and pastoral words: “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen” (2 Peter 3:18). The word “grow” is an exhortation and a command, and it implies that if we’re to progress in Christ we must play an active role, by the grace of Christ, in building habits that nurture our progress. Therefore, I am offering a series of posts this spring on eight essential habits that help us to grow in grace. For today, let’s consider the place of praise in the Christian life. 

Paul writes in Colossians 3:16, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” The three clauses in this verse are often quoted in isolation from one another, but they are in fact designed to be kept together. As Jesus enriches our lives with his Word, by his Spirit, we cannot help but overflow with praise for God through teaching, singing, and thanksgiving. 

As Jesus teaches us his will and ways, we naturally long to share what we’ve learned with others. As he reveals to us more of his beauty and excellence, we naturally long to say and sing our praise, sometimes in the privacy of our hearts and sometimes at the top of our lungs. As he applies his will and ways to our lives, we naturally overflow with specific thanksgiving for who he is and what he’s done. As the Word of Christ becomes our treasure, the expression of praise becomes our pleasure. Indeed, as C. S. Lewis pointed out, the verbalization of joy completes our joy (Reflections on the Psalms). 

Now, having said that, I must add that there is discipline to praise. That is to say, we must discipline ourselves to treasure the words of Christ and receive from the Spirit of Christ day by day. We must sometimes press ourselves to overflow with praise through teaching, singing, and thanksgiving. We must sometimes force ourselves to fix our eyes on him who is the prize of life that we may exalt him in one another’s eyes. Praise is the natural overflow of a heart enamored of Jesus and rich with the Word of Jesus. And praise requires effort, discipline, and perseverance. 

So my exhortation to you today is this: spend some time with Jesus and search your heart in the atmosphere of his grace. How are you doing with regard to his Word—is it dwelling in you richly or poorly? Are you overflowing with praise through teaching, singing, and thanksgiving? How can you grow in discipline with regard to these things? May Jesus grant us the passion and power to grow in the grace and knowledge of him, and to overflow with the praise of him all the days of our lives. Lord, hear our prayer!

Living by Faith: The Faith of Sarah

As it was with Abraham, so it was with his precious bride, Sarah. The author of Hebrews could have said so many things about her life of faith but he focuses our attention on the conception of Isaac which took place when Sarah was eighty-nine years old. “By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised” (Hebrews 11:11). This is not a fable, it’s a true story, and it was just as impossible then as it is now for an eighty-nine-year-old woman to become pregnant. But that’s exactly what happened by the grace of God because Sarah believed in the specific words of God. Sarah believed that he who promised is faithful. 

Sarah clung to the things God said, along with her husband, for some twenty-four years. She believed and prayed and did what she could to apply her faith. Sometimes she and Abraham made big mistakes because they thought they had to help God fulfill his word, and while we shouldn’t commend them for this, we can at least admire the fact that they took the words of God seriously. By God’s grace, when the time was full, Sarah’s persistent faith in the speech of God caused her to be with child at the age of eighty-nine and to bear a son at the age of ninety. Sarah’s persistent faith in the words of God led her to taste the joy of God as he fulfilled his promises in his own time and way. 

Now, those of you who know Sarah’s story well might object and say that Sarah isn’t the most stunning example of faith in the Bible, for after all, when the Lord appeared and told her at the age of eighty-nine that she would have a child within one year, she laughed. And she didn’t laugh for joy, rather, she laughed because she doubted the words of the Lord. She laughed because she was afraid to believe. She laughed because she had been living with the deep pain of one who waited long on the promises of God. As Solomon later wrote in Proverbs 13:12, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick,” and indeed Sarah’s heart was very sick. So again, you might object and say that we really shouldn’t look to Sarah as a model of faith but I would say two things in return. 

On the one hand, we must understand that Sarah’s laughter came after twenty-four years of actively clinging to and waiting on the promises of God, and sometimes living by faith is very painful. Sometimes waiting on the Lord is just plain excruciating. We believe in the Lord and in his words, but then the things we’ve been hoping for don’t come to pass, and they don’t come to pass, and they don’t come to pass. Eventually we get so discouraged and filled with pain that every reiteration of the promise feels like a knife piercing into our hearts. This is where Sarah was in her life and I think we need to have compassion toward her. 

When God, for the seventh time, promised that she would soon be with child, Sarah’s heart cried out, “Stop it, God, please stop it! I know you mean well but your words are killing me! Your words are hurting me! Please stop it!” This is what Sarah was feeling when she laughed—it wasn’t that she didn’t believe God, it was just that she hurt so bad, and who can blame her? Would you believe God if he told you, after so many years of waiting, that you would have a child at eighty-nine years old? I think we need to have compassion and give Sarah some space to vent. God did. 

On the other hand, despite the pain of faith that was there in Sarah’s life, she did walk in obedience to the promises of God. I don’t want to be inappropriate here, but what I mean is that Sarah did what was necessary for a woman to become pregnant and she did it in faith. I don’t know what her attitude was at the time and I don’t think it’s all that important, rather, what’s important is that she believed in God and took action on the basis of his promises. Sometimes that’s what genuine faith looks like. It acts despite the intensity of the pain. Beloved, not many eighty-nine-year-old women go to bed with their ninety-nine-year-old spouses at all, much less think that they’re going to be able to have intimacy, much less think that they’re going to become pregnant. But that’s what Sarah and Abraham did by faith not fantasy, feelings, or foolishness. That’s what they did by believing against all odds that God would do exactly what he said he would do. 

In the next post in this series I’m going to write about the fruit of Sarah’s faith, but for now I want to encourage you to join me in pondering her life with Abraham, the pain she experienced in waiting on God, and the faith she expressed by obeying God despite the pain. As we ponder these things, I pray that God will minister to our hearts and teach us what it means to live by faith in the faithfulness of God. 

Book Review: “Effective First-Person Biblical Preaching” (By J. Kent Edwards)

J. Kent Edwards. Effective First-Person Biblical Preaching. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005. 

J. Kent Edwards is a seasoned preacher who desires to help other preachers “preach the stories of Scripture in an irresistible, unforgettable, life-transforming fashion, and to do so without theological compromise…[for] if we cannot captivate people’s minds, we will never capture their souls” (12). He is convinced that first-person preaching is the best way to communicate such stories and thus he begins his book by offering a number of reasons why this is so, behind which is the conviction that the form of the Bible (i.e., the genre) is as inspired as the content and must therefore be honored in the style of preaching. 

As a good student of Haddon Robinson, Edwards then divides the labor of developing first-person sermons into the exegetical task and the homiletical task, however, he focuses on narrative texts which does make his treatment somewhat unique. Part one of the book, then, focuses on the exegetical task and offers an eight step process by which this can be accomplished. Part two focuses on the homiletical task and suggests a fifteen step process by which this can be accomplished. And while the reader may question this or that part of his overall twenty-three-step process, he must certainly agree with Edwards’ aim: to create narrative sermons that “convey exactly the same idea and emotional impact as the biblical story” (76). 

Edwards draws the book to a close by addressing a number of questions about first-person preaching, suggesting seven alternatives styles for presenting narrative texts, and providing several example sermons and useful worksheets. 

The strongest aspect of Edwards’ book is the argument he makes for the inspiration, value, and importance of biblical narratives. After reading the first couple of chapters I was convinced that not to preach these stories as stories is sin because they comprise so much of the Bible. Surely God did not falter in his choice of genre. I’m not sure I agree that first-person preaching is the best way to present narrative texts but his insistence upon this method does not diminish the strength of his broader argument. 

The weakest aspect of his book is that he does not adequately deal with the potential pitfalls of employing creative means to present the “the big idea” of a story. In fact, I must admit that I was surprised by how easily he left the details of the text behind when enumerating the various ways one can preach a narrative text. He seems to imply that once the preacher has discerned the “big idea” of the story, he’s free to present that idea in any way he’d like, even if it’s wrapped up in a completely different story (see his comments on “parabolic preaching” and “refurbished stories,” 137-42). However, the particular details of a story that lead up to and follow from “the big idea” matter very much and the preacher cannot simply dismiss them as window-dressing when he develops the flow of the sermon. 

I am certain that Edwards has a high regard for the text of Scripture and that he does not mean to demean it in any way, but I do think his book would be stronger if he gave more thought, and wrote a chapter, about the potential pitfalls of creative preaching and how to avoid them.

Growing in Grace by the Word of God

The Apostle Peter drew his second letter to a close with these wise and pastoral words: “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen” (2 Peter 3:18). The word “grow” is an exhortation and a command, and it implies that if we’re to progress in Christ we must play an active role, by the grace of Christ, in building habits that nurture our progress. Therefore, I am offering a series of posts on eight essential habits that help us to grow in grace. For today, let’s consider the place of the Word in the Christian life. 

Isaiah wrote, “The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught” (Isaiah 50:4). 

The longing of our God and Father is to draw near to his children morning by morning, opening our eyes to his glory and our hearts to his mercy. He wants to use his Word, by his Spirit, to lavish his love upon us that we might lavish his love upon others. For it is in receiving mercy that we’re able to give mercy, in receiving wisdom that we’re able to give wisdom, in receiving encouragement that we’re able to give encouragement, in receiving blessing that we’re able to be a blessing. 

Therefore, our Father most lovingly calls us to allow the word of Christ to dwell richly in us (Colossians 3:16). His heart is not that we would legalistically hear, read, study, memorize, meditate on, apply, and teach the word. No, his heart is that we would seek him, that we would long for him to draw near to us and minister to us and transform us into his image, and that we would share in his joy and become a blessing to others. 

So whatever place the Word of God has in your life right now, I want to challenge you to press on and let the word of Christ dwell in you all the more richly. Grow in the daily habits of hearing, reading, studying, memorizing, meditating on, applying, and teaching the Word of God. But as you do, remember that the aim of pressing on in the Word is to connect, heart to heart, with our Father. Mere reading and such will do us no good. 

Indeed, let's remember the words of Isaiah: “The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught” (Isaiah 50:4). 

Living by Faith: The Faith of Abraham

The author of Hebrews could have said so many things about Abraham and his life of faith, and therefore we need to understand that he focuses our attention on a few things because he wants us to see a pattern in his life that will teach us to live by faith. So first, in 11:8, he draws our attention to Abraham’s obedience. “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.” 

In Genesis 12:1-4, Moses writes, “Now the Lord said to Abram [notice that the words of God are in view here], ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ So [on the basis of the words of God] Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran” (emphasis mine). 

Notice, first of all, that the word of God spoken to Abraham is what caused him to leave everything familiar and go to a country he did not know. Indeed, Abraham didn’t even know the general location of that country. He didn’t even know what peoples lived there. He didn’t even know the general climate of the region. He didn’t know what natural resources were there. He knew nothing about that country. But he did know this: God had spoken and instructed him to pack up all of his possessions and gather everyone who was under his authority and walk with them for what ended up to be seven-hundred-fifty miles. Again, Abraham was willing to do this not because he had some flight of fantasy or because he was moved by some powerful emotion but simply because God had spoken very specific words to him and he believed those words. He believed the Lord. This is so important, Friends, because it teaches us that faith doesn’t spring out of nowhere but that faith emerges as we trust in the specific speech of God. Faith looks to God and clings to his words; this is how it operates. 

Now, when we think carefully about Genesis 12:1-4 we see that the Lord gave Abraham one command and several promises. The command is in verse 1 and it’s very simple: “Go!” Leave this place and go to some other place that I’ll identify later. The promises are found every time you read the words “I will,” and in the interest of time I won’t reiterate them for you. But please notice these promises because they become the content of faith for Abraham and his family after him for generations to come, in fact, down to our own day. God spoke, Abraham believed in the person and words of God, and by grace he lived his life accordingly. This is how faith operates. 

Turning our attention back to Hebrews 11, we see in verse 9 that in faith and obedience Abraham went out and took many with him. “By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise” (Hebrews 11:9). In other words, Abraham trusted in the words of God and lived his life accordingly. Once he arrived in the land of Canaan and the Lord told him to settle down there, he was so convinced by the truthfulness of the words of God that he was willing to live in tents from the age of seventy-five until the day of his death. Please let that sink in: we live in apartments and houses and relative luxury. Abraham and his family lived in tents for many decades because they believed the specific words of God spoken to him. 

Indeed, as the Bible says, Abraham essentially lived as a wanderer and resident-alien all the days of his life. He never had earthly roots in an earthly place like so many of us desire, and this was specifically because he believed in the promises of God and he “was looking forward [into the future, not to the present] for a city whose designer and builder was God” (11:10). The author doesn’t tell us what he means by this just yet, but he will soon enough.

For now, this is his point: Abraham heard, believed, and obeyed the words of God. This is what it means to live by faith and I pray that we’ll have ears to hear. I pray that we’ll seek God by his Word, listen and believe, and then follow in his ways by his power and grace. This is how faith operates.

Book Review: “The Study of the Bible in the Middle Ages” (By Beryl Smalley)

Beryl Smalley. The Study of the Bible in the Middle Ages (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1994). 

The aim of this book is to show how, despite the predominance of the four-fold sense of Scripture as an exegetical assumption and method, the literal-historical sense of Scripture rose to prominence throughout the middle ages, from about A.D. 700 to about A.D. 1300. This is an advanced text and assumes that the reader possesses a more than rudimentary knowledge of medieval history and culture, church tradition and structure, and a basic knowledge of Latin, French, and German (Smalley often uses non-English terms and sentences without translating or explaining them). 

Smalley commences her fine work with a brief treatment of the patristic fathers who most influenced the middle ages, namely, Origen, Jerome, Augustine, and to a lesser extent Bede. She then analyzes the complex array of ideas, institutions and personalities as embodied in several circles throughout this period where biblical studies most flourished. She concludes that the literal-historical sense of Scripture rose to prominence in the later portions of this period because of the shift of exegetical locus from the congregation to the academy or the monastery, the influence of Aristotelian thought via Thomas Aquinas, the novel interest in the natural world and the development of various sciences related thereto, and the complex ebb and flow of the discovery and loss of vital and influential texts. She “predicts” that the following period (i.e., the Renaissance) will be characterized by the sharp rise of critical scholarship and the corollary suspicion of, and attack upon, mysticism. 

While Smalley is quick to point out the inadequacies of her work, she has undoubtedly made a significant contribution to the understanding of the practice of hermeneutics in the Middle Ages, and I strongly recommend this work to anyone interested in the subject.

Growing in the Grace and Knowledge of Christ

Do you want to grow in love for Jesus? Do you long to experience more of his grace day by day? Do you desire for your life to bring glory to Christ? Most Christians will, of course, answer “yes” to these questions, but I want to encourage you to join me in searching our hearts to see if our “yes” really means “yes.” Are we willing to take up our cross daily and die to anything that stands in the way of our progress in Christ? Are we willing to sell everything we have in order to gain him? 

The Apostle Peter drew his second letter to a close with these wise and pastoral words: “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen” (2 Peter 3:18). Beloved, this is an exhortation from an elder brother in Christ, and it’s also a command. The word “grow” is in the imperative mood which means that it’s a directive. Peter is saying to people he loves very much, “Forsake the fading pleasures of this world and make every effort to pursue Christ” (see 1 Peter 1:5-11). 

So I ask again: do you long for growth, grace, and the glory of Christ in your life? If you answered “yes,” then know that you will have to play an active role, by the grace of Christ, in building habits that nurture this longing. We cannot sit idly by and expect to grow, rather, we must apply ourselves according to the will and wisdom of God. 

Therefore, over the next several weeks, I’ll be offering a series of posts on eight essential habits that create an atmosphere of growth in our lives. These habits do not, in themselves, cause us to grow in Christ, but they are tools and fertilizer in the hands of the God who does cause us to grow. 

Specifically, I will to write about the Word of God, praise, prayer, fasting, giving, community life, evangelism, and mercy ministry. As you read these posts each week, please join me in the quest to understand what our Father is asking of us and why, and in the effort to apply his wisdom to our lives by the grace and power of Christ. Those who hear and do the will of God will be blessed indeed!