Quarantine Quick Read: Christ our brother - Don’t do this for me. Do it with me.

-
Jesus is a spiritual big brother for every Christian. Having suffered in every way like us He is able to sympathetically come alongside us with grace to help (Hebrews 2:17, 4:15-16).


Some of our politicians have got themselves into trouble in the past few weeks by ignoring the social distancing regulations they have imposed on other people. Leaders who act as though they are above the law do not inspire confidence or admiration! The Bible makes big ethical demands on Christians and this sometimes leads to the perception that God is an angry dictator in the sky. This couldn’t be more wrong! When the Son of God came to live as a human being He did not flaunt His authority and excuse Himself. Instead He lived up to the standards which God has set for people perfectly. So now He can never ask us to do what He has not already done Himself. What is more, He has promised to be with and in every Christian by His Spirit so that we are never on our own. That is true whether we are at home or at work, in an ambulance, the doctor’s surgery, or the hospital ward. Whatever He has put in your path today He wants you to respond to it in a manner worthy of a Christian. But He does not say “Do this for me”. He says “Do this with me”. And that makes all the difference.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Visits or Visitations? Lloyd-Jones Pops Around Again.

-
Image
In this blog I want to do two things. First, summarise the main points from my previous (excessively lengthy) blog for anyone who didn’t feel like wading through it all. Secondly, try and set things up to come back and develop the topic a bit more at a later date. The main point buried beneath all the detail was this: you cannot understand Martyn Lloyd-Jones’s (MLJ) teaching on the Holy Spirit’s work inside revival, in isolation from his understanding of the Spirit’s work outside of revival. That is, when you look at what MLJ taught about Pentecost, and the general call and effectual call of the gospel, as well as the work of regeneration and conversion (and, union with Christ, we could also add) it is clear that he recognised the Spirit to be continuously present and active in the church. But he also saw that the Spirit works with different degrees of power, according to His sovereign plans and purposes, at different times and places, and in different people. The simple existen
Read more

Visits from the Holy Ghost? Martyn Lloyd-Jones on Word and Spirit in Preaching

-
Image
It is very hard to estimate the influence of Martyn Lloyd-Jones (MLJ) on non-conformist Christianity in Wales. Leaving a prominent London medical career to minister in a socially deprived locality among the working classes of Sandfields, Port Talbot, his early ministry stood out as tremendously fruitful at a time when many churches were becoming lifeless under the influence of liberal theologies. Later, as minister of Westminster Chapel in central London, he drew large congregations and many people were helped spiritually through his clear, doctrinal preaching. He became a ‘pastor of pastors’ for a generation of Welsh ministers, inspiring many to make a costly stand and leave denominations which had become increasingly hostile to plain, orthodox Bible teaching. In this sense, his impact was clearly substantial. Still I hesitate, and for this reason. MLJ died 40 years ago this March so I never met him or heard him preach ‘in the flesh’. Through close friendships with older ministers
Read more

Touch Not the Lord’s Anointed!

-
Image
I heard one of my least favourite Bible verses again last week. It’s not a ‘bad’ verse - no Scripture is bad if it is interpreted rightly.   It’s just one of those verses that tends to be interpreted very badly and very destructively. I don’t ever remember hearing a proper sermon or bible study on it. But I have heard it invoked several times in situations where a church has fallen into some sad degree of disunity or a leader is facing accusations of misconduct. You may have heard it yourself. It looks something like this. There is a difficult meeting. The pastor is facing criticism. The congregation are divided in their assessment of the situation. And then one of the pastor’s closest supporters drops the bomb: “ Touch not the Lord’s anointed! ” The message is clear. This man is God’s man. No disagreement is permitted. No possibility of serious fault can be countenanced. Discontent ends right now. It’s really quite an odd concept to appeal to in such circumstances. The first
Read more