1 I have taken refuge in the Lord. How can you say to me, “Escape to the mountains like a bird! 2 For look, the wicked string bows; they put their arrows on bowstrings to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart. 3 When the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”
4 The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord—his throne is in heaven. His eyes watch; his gaze examines everyone. 5 The Lord examines the righteous, but he hates the wicked and those who love violence. 6 Let him rain burning coals and sulfur on the wicked; let a scorching wind be the portion in their cup. 7 For the Lord is righteous; he loves righteous deeds. The upright will see his face.
~Psalm 11
Series: Praying through the Psalms Text: Psalm 11.1-7 Church: South Caraway Baptist Church, Jonesboro, AR Date: June 7, 2023
15 This is why, since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 I never stop giving thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. 17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, would give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what is the wealth of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the mighty working of his strength.
20 He exercised this power in Christ by raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavens— 21 far above every ruler and authority, power and dominion, and every title given, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And he subjected everything under his feet and appointed him as head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.
~Ephesians 1.15-23
Title: On the Ground of Christian Hope Text: Ephesians 1.15-23 Series: The Letter to the Ephesians Church: South Caraway Baptist Church, Jonesboro, AR Date: May 28, 2023
For the choir director: on the Gittith. A psalm of David.
1 Lord, our Lord, how magnificent is your name throughout the earth! You have covered the heavens with your majesty. 2 From the mouths of infants and nursing babies, you have established a stronghold on account of your adversaries in order to silence the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I observe your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you set in place, 4 what is a human being that you remember him, a son of man that you look after him? 5 You made him little less than God and crowned him with glory and honor. 6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: 7 all the sheep and oxen, as well as the animals in the wild, 8 the birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea that pass through the currents of the seas.
9 Lord, our Lord, how magnificent is your name throughout the earth!
~Psalm 8
Series: Praying through the Psalms Text: Psalm 8.1-9 Church: South Caraway Baptist Church, Jonesboro, AR Date: May 17, 2023
A psalm of David when he fled from his son Absalom.
1 Lord, how my foes increase! There are many who attack me. 2 Many say about me, “There is no help for him in God.” Selah
3 But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, and the one who lifts up my head. 4 I cry aloud to the Lord, and he answers me from his holy mountain. Selah
5 I lie down and sleep; I wake again because the Lord sustains me. 6 I will not be afraid of thousands of people who have taken their stand against me on every side.
7 Rise up, Lord! Save me, my God! You strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked. 8 Salvation belongs to the Lord; may your blessing be on your people. Selah
~Psalm 3
Series: Praying through the Psalms Text: Psalm 3.1-8 Church: South Caraway Baptist Church, Jonesboro, AR Date: April 12, 2023
1 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers conspire together against the Lord and his Anointed One: 3 “Let’s tear off their chains and throw their ropes off of us.”
4 The one enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord ridicules them. 5 Then he speaks to them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath: 6 “I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.”
7 I will declare the Lord’s decree. He said to me, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father. 8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance and the ends of the earth your possession. 9 You will break them with an iron scepter; you will shatter them like pottery.”
10 So now, kings, be wise; receive instruction, you judges of the earth. 11 Serve the Lord with reverential awe and rejoice with trembling. 12 Pay homage to the Son or he will be angry and you will perish in your rebellion, for his anger may ignite at any moment. All who take refuge in him are happy.
~Psalm 2
Series: Praying through the Psalms Text: Psalm 2.1-12 Church: South Caraway Baptist Church, Jonesboro, AR Date: April 5, 2023
If there was one word that might be used to describe the culture that we live in, it would most likely be “discontent”; we are a people who have forgotten what it means to be content with what we have. We are constantly inundated with media and ad campaigns that promise satisfaction and fulfillment through some new product or service. On top of that, the proliferation of social media has caused the disease of comparison to rise to pandemic levels, such that we are unconsciously driven by a nagging need to have more and better than our “friends”. Whether because of materialistic consumerism or the sickness of comparison, we have become a culture that has completely forgotten how to be content. However, for those who are in Christ, the Scriptures remind us that “godliness with contentment is great gain.” (1 Timothy 6.6) In other words, our submission to the kingship of Christ, our citizenship in His Kingdom, is exhibited in our contentment with all that He has and has not blessed us with.
This is exactly the point that Jesus makes in the “Sermon on the Mount” in Matthew, chapters 5-7. The Sermon on the Mount is essentially the manifesto of Jesus’ Kingdom; it is Jesus’ vision for what life in His Kingdom should look like. In it, He describes the attitudes, the habits of character, and the behaviors that should identify His people. And this is exactly the point, namely that the Kingdom of God is not something that is just a future hope to be realized. It is that, but during His earthly ministry, by His death, resurrection, and ascension, Jesus inaugurated the Kingdom of God, and now, He is seated at the right hand of the Father, ruling over His people through the indwelling presence of His Spirit. This is often described by the phrase “already but not yet”, which is a short hand way of saying that the Kingdom of God is already inaugurated but not yet consummated. And because we are currently living under the benevolent and gracious rule of King Jesus, we are able to cultivate the spiritual discipline of contentment. As Jesus himself says,
Therefore I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. … But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.
Matthew 6.25, 33
In these verses, Jesus encourages His disciples to replace their worry and anxiety with contentment because His good Father knows their needs before they even ask Him. Even as He cares for the birds of the sky and lilies of the field, how much more will He certainly care for those who have been united with His Son by faith. “Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6.34) But, of course, this is easier said than done. Worry and anxiety are subtle; they are feelings that often well up inside of us unexpectedly and unnoticed. How, then, can we prevent ourselves from being overcome by these stumbling blocks? Is there a spiritual inoculation that will help us fight against their infection? I would submit that there is, and I believe Jesus identifies it for us in the section that immediately precedes His discussion of contentment.
In the first half of Matthew, chapter 6, Jesus discusses the spiritual disciplines of giving, prayer, and fasting. Of course, He lays out the primary principle for the practice of these disciplines in verse 1 of the chapter, “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. Otherwise, you have no reward with your Father in heaven.” However, there is a reason why He follows up His discussion of these by commands us not to worry. These spiritual disciplines are the primary means by which we cultivate the inner quietude of peace and contentment. When we give sacrificially of our material possessions for the blessing of others and devote ourselves the pursuit of God rather than material comforts through prayer and fasting, we will find ourselves being more and more content with what we do or do not have. In other words, spiritual contentment is borne out of soul that is fully satisfied in its own communion with the one true and living God.
In the piety of American Evangelicalism, the discipline of contentment among the disciples of Jesus is a glaring whole in our cultivation of Christlikeness. Sadly, we often look more like citizens of this world than citizens of the already but not yet Kingdom of God. We are driven by the felt needs of the moment instead of walking in satisfied contentment with our God, and it shows. We would do well to reconsider what it means to live under the reign of Christ and submit our material resources and our physical needs to the one who taught us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” (Matthew 6.11) This is the secret to the cultivation of contentment. As the Apostle Paul said,
I don’t say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself. I know how to make do with little, and I know how to make do with a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me.
Recently, I was following a thread on a friends Facebook post where the participants were discussing their disagreement on a question of biblical interpretation. The specific issue under debate is not important at the moment, and I’ll just say that I was surprised to find that this particular exchange was more graceful than these kinds of forums usually are. However, with that being said, after reading through the various points and counterpoints being made, I came across one response that made me pause. Figuring that the minds of the other participants were unlikely to change, one commenter attempted to conclude the discussion by saying:
“When it all comes down to it we should rely on The Holy Spirit of God to reveal His truths to us!! Don’t take what man has to say about it!!”
~Unnamed Facebook Commenter
In my previous post, I examined the question of “man-made” bible study resources, and I concluded that there is great wisdom in listening to the voices of those who have studied the Bible before us. We were never intended to approach Bible study as if we are the “lone ranger” of Bible interpretation, carving a path that has somehow never been carved before. Commentaries, theologies, and the like are part of God’s gift to the church (Ephesians 4.11-13); they are part of that “great cloud of witnesses” within which we pursue Christian maturity and godliness (Hebrews 12.1). However, even greater than these is the gift that is God’s Spirit. In the New Covenant, we who have been united with Christ by faith have been indwelt by God’s very Spirit, and He is the one who writes the Word upon our hearts and moves us to obey it (Jeremiah 31.33, Ezekiel 36.27). This is what makes Christian biblical interpretation unique; we have God’s Spirit (1 Corinthians 2.10-16).
Unfortunately, there is great misunderstanding as to the exact nature of the Spirit’s role in biblical interpretation, and in the space that follows, I would like to explore the contours of the Spirit’s work in Bible interpretation. According to the view represented by the Facebook comment above, all we need to do is read the Bible and then open our hearts and minds so that the Spirit can tell us what the Scripture means. This approach is essentially a recapitulation of the ancient heresy of Gnosticism. In other words, it suggests that Biblical knowledge comes to us by some kind of secret mystical experiential revelation from the Spirit apart from the text. But this is not the way that the Spirit works. Revelation is fixed, and the canon is closed. Moreover, the Spirit will not do for us what God has equipped us to do for ourselves. He has given us rational minds with the ability to read and comprehend His revealed Word. This is why we are repeatedly commanded to read, study, and grow in the knowledge of the Scriptures.
The Spirit’s work in biblical interpretation is not primarily revelatory; He does not impart the content of biblical meaning. Rather, His work pertains more to our accepting and obeying the principles that are revealed in the Scriptures. This is what is known in theology as the doctrine of illumination.
The Spirit convinces God’s people of the truth of the biblical message, and then convicts and enables them to live consistently with that truth. The Spirit does not inform us of Scripture’s meaning.
~Klein, Blomberg, & Hubbard, Introduction to Biblical Interpretation
The Spirit illuminates our hearts to accept the truth of God’s Word, and He helps to conform our will in submission to that Word through conviction. This illumination comes to us not through some mystical experiential supra-rational revelation, but through the classic word-centered spiritual disciplines. In other words, once we have done our exegetical work in the text, then we must do our closet work (ala Matt 6.6) through memorization, meditation, and prayer. When we engage in these rhythms of the Spirit, we put ourselves in a posture where He can use the fruits of our study to sift our souls. As the Scripture says,
“For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
Hebrews 4.12
Under the New Covenant, one of the primary roles of the Spirit is to mediate the knowledge of God, but this ministry cannot, nay must not, be separated from the Word of God. Throughout all of Holy Scripture, the Spirit of God and the Word of God work together to transform the people of God into the image of God. More often than not, this transformation happens in ways and means that are consistent with the way God has made us. We do not seek any secret mystical revelation of God’s Word; rather, we use all of the natural and supernatural resources that God has given us to understand His revelation of Himself to us through His Word.
TEXT 11 He was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.”
2 He said to them, “Whenever you pray, say,
Father, your name be honored as holy. Your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread. 4 And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone in debt to us. And do not bring us into temptation.”
5 He also said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6 because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I don’t have anything to offer him.’ 7 Then he will answer from inside and say, ‘Don’t bother me! The door is already locked, and my children and I have gone to bed. I can’t get up to give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though he won’t get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his friend’s shameless boldness, he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
9 “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”
Text: Luke 11.1-13 Series: Supply Preaching Church: South Caraway Baptist Church, Jonesboro, AR Date: August 9, 2020
25 My life is down in the dust; give me life through your word. 26 I told you about my life, and you answered me; teach me your statutes. 27 Help me understand the meaning of your precepts so that I can meditate on your wonders. 28 I am weary from grief; strengthen me through your word. 29 Keep me from the way of deceit and graciously give me your instruction. 30 I have chosen the way of truth; I have set your ordinances before me. 31 I cling to your decrees; Lord, do not put me to shame. 32 I pursue the way of your commands, for you broaden my understanding.
Well, after taking a short break for the season of Advent, we are back to working our way through Psalm 119. And so, we come to the fourth stanza (daleth/ד), where our psalmist turns his attention to the turmoil of human existence. “My life is down in the dust; give me life through your word.” (verse 25) “I am weary from grief; strengthen me through your word.” (verse 28) This may not seem like a very positive outlook on life, especially when it is compared with the first three stanzas, but it is a brutally honest confession about the reality of the struggle. We live in a world that is stained, polluted, even controlled by sin, a world that is absolutely hostile to the ways of God and His word. And so it is understandable that those who try to live according to God’s Word will inevitably suffer pain and difficulty, whether directly or indirectly. As the Apostle Paul said, “In fact, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” (2 Timothy 3.12)
Pain, heartache, suffering, loss; these are staples of the human experience in this already but not yet phase of God’s kingdom. And the temptation that we all will eventually face is to simply give up, to stop trying, to abandon the ways of God and His Word. Because, on the surface, there doesn’t seem to be a difference between our experience and that of the non-believer. But our psalmist understands that in the midst of this chaos, there is only one place to turn for stability and perspective, namely to God’s Word. “I cling to your decrees; Lord, do not put me to shame. I pursue the way of your commands, for you broaden my understanding.” (Verses 31-32) In fact, our psalmist even prays, “Keep me from the way of deceit and graciously give me your instruction.” (Verse 29) “Help me to understand the meaning of your precepts so that I can meditate on your wonders.” (Verse 27)
And so when we face inexplicable suffering in this life, what can we do? Well, our psalmist gives us two answers. First, we should be honest about our pain. As He says, “I told you about my life, and you answered me; teach me your statutes.” (Verse 26) In prayer, we can be honest with God about the depth of our sufferings, the difficulty of our heartaches; we open them up to Him so that He can comfort us with the gracious compassion of His promises. But not only must we be honest with God, but we must be honest with each other in the body of Christ. We need not suffer alone, as the Scriptures tell us, “Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.” (Romans 12.15) Our psalmist is doing just that in the writing of this Psalm, as it would be shared with the gathered assembly. We must learn to share our deepest and most painful heartaches with the community of God’s people, so that they can be the means of His comfort in our lives.
And secondly, we must resolve anew to stand firm on the ways of God which are given in His word. “I have chosen the way of truth; I have set your ordinances before me.” (Verse 30). The reality is that there will be times when obeying the Word of God will be the absolute last thing we want to do. We may not understand why God has commanded us in this way, or we may simply not feel like keeping it at that given moment. However, this is where faith steps in, because we trust that God is fundamentally good and all of His commands are good, even when we can’t see it. This is what comes across most vividly in this stanza, the psalmist’s faith even in the face of difficulty and doubt. And here again, we simply cannot do this alone. When we are hurting, the temptation is to withdraw and isolate our selves, but this is when we need the support and encouragement of the people of God the most, which is why we are told, “And let us watch out for one another to provoke love and good works, not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.” (Hebrews 10.24-25)
But our psalmist is clear, that in the midst of the chaos and turmoil and heartache of this world, the only footing, the only foundation, the only security that we have available to us is to be found in the Word of God, because it forces us to set our faith, our hope on something, or I should say someone, other than ourselves, namely the one true and living God.
I have recently been considering Jesus’ teaching on the topic of prayer. In my last post in particular, I looked at Luke 11 and the parable of the friend at midnight, and I concluded that Jesus is calling us to a persistence in prayer that is general in scope, a persistence in the spiritual discipline of prayer, itself. Our Father is not the kind of God who needs to worn down, pestered, or annoyed into answering our prayers. He is an essentially good and trustworthy father who knows what His children need before we even ask him, and he delights in meeting the needs of his children.
Now, in chapter 18, just seven chapters later, Luke presents a parable that would seem to negate that very conclusion. In Luke 18:1, Luke states that “Now he told them a parable on the need for them to pray always and not give up,” and he goes on to relay the parable of the unjust judge in which a widow repeatedly goes before a local magistrate seeking justice against her “adversary.” Ultimately, the judge concludes that “because this widow keeps pestering me, I will give her justice, so that she doesn’t wear me out by her persistent coming.” (v5-6) If we assume that this parable relates to the practice of prayer in general, then we have no choice but to conclude that perhaps we need pester God into giving in to our requests.
This is exactly the assumption that we must reconsider in this passage: is Luke and, by way of implication, Jesus telling this parable to illustrate something about prayer in general? I think not.
Luke often arranges the teaching and parabolic material of Jesus topically, and he indicates the topic usually at the beginning of a new section. So, in Luke 17:20, Luke begins a new section about “when the kingdom of God would come,” and this section dealing with the coming of the kingdom begins in 17:20 and extends all the way until Luke 18:8. (Remember, Luke did not originally have chapter divisions). Then, in Luke 18:9, he begins a new section in which “He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and looked down on everyone else.” This informs us that Jesus is not addressing our practice of prayer in general, but he is addressing a very specific kind of prayer, i.e. the prayer for the coming of the kingdom.
Secondly, in order to understand the exact nature of the widow’s request, we have to see her in light of the first century world in which Jesus lived. In Jesus’ day, women were essentially powerless, and, if their husband died, then they were left without many options for survival. Most likely, this widow was not allowed to inherit her husband’s property. So, her only options were to remain with her husband’s family where she would probably be treated as a servant, or to return to her family and repay her dowry to her parents. If she could not do either of these, she would probably be sold as a slave for debt. She was faced with homelessness, poverty, and starvation. So, her request to the judge “give me justice against my adversary” is a once-in-a-lifetime request, it was unique to her situation, and it was not something she would repeat ever again. Her situation is desperate, and she is powerless to change it.
Lastly, just like in Luke 11, so here we must recognize that Jesus is using a rhetorical technique called “from the lesser to the greater”; he is making a “how much more” argument, and he is doing so by way of contrast and not comparison. It is patently obvious in this passage that we are not supposed to identify God with the unjust judge, since the passage tells us twice that he neither feared God nor respected men. The God of the Bible is fair, good, and just. He treats all people equally; He blesses those who call upon him in faith. No, God is not like the judge in this passage.
So, hear Jesus’ conclusion,
“Listen to what the unjust judge says. Will not God grant justice to his elect who cry out to him day and night? Will he delay in helping them? I tell you he will swiftly grant them justice.” (vv6-8)
In the final analysis, Jesus is teaching us to pray always as he taught us in The Lord’s Prayer, “May your kingdom come,” and not give up hope. He is coming soon. “Amen, come Lord Jesus!”
Faith seeking Understanding 
On Biblical Interpretation and the Holy Spirit
Recently, I was following a thread on a friends Facebook post where the participants were discussing their disagreement on a question of biblical interpretation. The specific issue under debate is not important at the moment, and I’ll just say that I was surprised to find that this particular exchange was more graceful than these kinds of forums usually are. However, with that being said, after reading through the various points and counterpoints being made, I came across one response that made me pause. Figuring that the minds of the other participants were unlikely to change, one commenter attempted to conclude the discussion by saying:
In my previous post, I examined the question of “man-made” bible study resources, and I concluded that there is great wisdom in listening to the voices of those who have studied the Bible before us. We were never intended to approach Bible study as if we are the “lone ranger” of Bible interpretation, carving a path that has somehow never been carved before. Commentaries, theologies, and the like are part of God’s gift to the church (Ephesians 4.11-13); they are part of that “great cloud of witnesses” within which we pursue Christian maturity and godliness (Hebrews 12.1). However, even greater than these is the gift that is God’s Spirit. In the New Covenant, we who have been united with Christ by faith have been indwelt by God’s very Spirit, and He is the one who writes the Word upon our hearts and moves us to obey it (Jeremiah 31.33, Ezekiel 36.27). This is what makes Christian biblical interpretation unique; we have God’s Spirit (1 Corinthians 2.10-16).
Unfortunately, there is great misunderstanding as to the exact nature of the Spirit’s role in biblical interpretation, and in the space that follows, I would like to explore the contours of the Spirit’s work in Bible interpretation. According to the view represented by the Facebook comment above, all we need to do is read the Bible and then open our hearts and minds so that the Spirit can tell us what the Scripture means. This approach is essentially a recapitulation of the ancient heresy of Gnosticism. In other words, it suggests that Biblical knowledge comes to us by some kind of secret mystical experiential revelation from the Spirit apart from the text. But this is not the way that the Spirit works. Revelation is fixed, and the canon is closed. Moreover, the Spirit will not do for us what God has equipped us to do for ourselves. He has given us rational minds with the ability to read and comprehend His revealed Word. This is why we are repeatedly commanded to read, study, and grow in the knowledge of the Scriptures.
The Spirit’s work in biblical interpretation is not primarily revelatory; He does not impart the content of biblical meaning. Rather, His work pertains more to our accepting and obeying the principles that are revealed in the Scriptures. This is what is known in theology as the doctrine of illumination.
The Spirit illuminates our hearts to accept the truth of God’s Word, and He helps to conform our will in submission to that Word through conviction. This illumination comes to us not through some mystical experiential supra-rational revelation, but through the classic word-centered spiritual disciplines. In other words, once we have done our exegetical work in the text, then we must do our closet work (ala Matt 6.6) through memorization, meditation, and prayer. When we engage in these rhythms of the Spirit, we put ourselves in a posture where He can use the fruits of our study to sift our souls. As the Scripture says,
Under the New Covenant, one of the primary roles of the Spirit is to mediate the knowledge of God, but this ministry cannot, nay must not, be separated from the Word of God. Throughout all of Holy Scripture, the Spirit of God and the Word of God work together to transform the people of God into the image of God. More often than not, this transformation happens in ways and means that are consistent with the way God has made us. We do not seek any secret mystical revelation of God’s Word; rather, we use all of the natural and supernatural resources that God has given us to understand His revelation of Himself to us through His Word.
For further study:
On the Spirit and the Word
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4 Comments | tags: Bible Study Resources, Closet Work, Commentaries, Exegetical Work, Gnosticism, Holy Spirit, Illumination, Meditation, Memorization, New Covenant, Phillip Powers, Prayer, Spiritual Disciplines, Theologies | posted in Biblical Theology, Hermeneutics, Spiritual Formation