Philippians 3:7-11
J.A. Matteson
March 1998
A recent issue of The Baptist Standard included an article entitled, “U.S. Christians’ Influence Invisible.” After reviewing the polling data of a Christian pollster the author of the article concluded, “Christians don’t impact America because their lives don’t reflect their beliefs.” The author goes on to say, Christians aren’t sufficiently different from the people around them to make a difference in the lives of non-believers.” This man’s conclusion might strike a many of us as a bit strange. What’s even more interesting to me is the time in history in which this observation had been made. The church in the United States today is more organized than it has ever been. We have more technological machinery for doing church than our predecessors through the centuries ever dreamed possible. We have telephones, automobiles, fax machines, computers, copy machines, power point, with all of the bells and whistles to delight our senses. Gadgets and technology abound at our disposal to aid us in being the most effective and efficient ministering generation the world has ever witnessed. In addition to technology we have beautiful buildings, age graded ministry opportunities for children, adults, senior adults, singles, including divorce and addiction recovery. On and on goes the list of programs offered today by most churches. Yet in spite of the impressive programs and technological machinery approximately two thirds of all church across denominational lines are either plateaued or in decline. Something is tragically wrong. Sadly, the lives and character of many today who go by the name Christian bare virtually no resemblance to the Christians in the Bible. Rather than being transformers of the culture they have allowed themselves to be conformed to the culture. Many in the pews today have settled for mediocrity in their witness. To settle for mediocrity is to be the best of the worst or the worst of the best, how pitiful.
As we examine our text today let's first turn our attention to verse 7. In this verse the apostle Paul is addressing the Christians in Philippi from prison in Rome, imploring them to put no faith in the flesh in regards to their salvation, but to trust in Christ alone. There were Jewish Christians in Philippi who insisted that Gentiles had to first become Jews before they could become Christians. For men, this generally meant circumcision. To Paul a person’s correct understanding of salvation was foundation to their witness for Jesus Christ. A correct understanding ignited them for Christ and His kingdom, an incorrect understanding was the basis for every form of heresy and unrighteousness. Just like Paul, all of us prior to our conversion held a distorted perception of who God is. Upon coming to Christ our understanding was enlightened or transformed in the light of God’s marvelous grace. Yet some of us here today, like the Judaizers in Paul’s day, are holding to a subtle distortion of grace which is evidenced by the way in which we approach and practice Christian service. All of us, as children of God, know in our hearts that we are saved by grace alone, through faith, which is a gift of God. However, in our heads we too often abandon our first love—that which we first had for the Savior—by placing our service ahead of our worship and adoration of Him, and them we find ourselves amazed one day when we experience burnout. Today I want to amplify for you, dear beloved, four characteristics of Paul’s life that not only preserved him from burnout, allowing the fruit of his ministry to not simply persevere, but prosper. The resultant outcome of these characteristics in his life is a high impact Christian life, one you can have too, if you choose to. It is this type of life, the high impact Christian life, that when infused with the Word of God and the Spirit’s anointing compels sinners to come to the Savior.
The first characteristic to note is that Paul was born again (v. 7). Salvation forever changed Paul in observable ways. Others noticed that he was not the same person anymore. Something happened to Saul (Paul) that would forever alter the course of his life—he was encountered by the risen Lord, regenerated, and born again. At that encounter God opened his blind understanding to the true identity of Jesus as the Christ. To Paul, Jesus’ love and grace were intoxicating. From that moment on Paul lavished all of his affections upon the Lord Jesus, seeking desperately to know Him in a deeper way. It became his new quest in life. The Titanic was a cruise ship that was supposed to be impossible to sink, or so her designers bragged at the time. On a tragic night in 1912 the ship struck an iceberg and sank. Of the 2200 passengers and crew about 1500 went into the icy waters of the north Atlantic. Of the 20 or so lifeboats floating nearby, many only half full, only one returned to the scene in search of survivors. Six were pulled from the frigid waters and the rest died from hypothermia in a very short period of time. The scene outside the White Star Lines office in Liverpool defied description. A crowd of concerned relatives and friends of those who had taken passage on the ill-fated vessel thronged the street. On either side of the main entrance a large board had been placed. Above one board was printed, KNOWN TO BE SAVED. Above the other board was printed, KNOWN TO BE LOST. Every now and then a man would appear from the office bearing a large piece of cardboard on which was written the name of one of the passengers. As he held up the name, a deathly stillness swept over the crowd; they watched intently to see which of the boards he would pin the name. You see, beloved, there were only two categories—the saved and the lost, just as there are in the scriptures pertaining to forgiveness and eternal life. Having met Jesus, Paul stopped trying to save himself by keeping the Law. Paul could point back to a specific point in his life when he was confronted by the risen Lord of glory and it forever changed him. How about you? Has your life been changed in a significant way? Have you met Jesus? Jesus is in the business of changing lives. The marvelous thing about grace is that it not only saves from hell but it saves from perpetual sin, now, today. John in his first epistle put it this way, “No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God” (1 Jn 3:9). Could it be that if your life has not been radically altered that you have not encountered Him? If that is so then seek Him now, today. For Paul knowing Jesus intimately was his life’s most prized possession. Having met Him Paul gladly suffered loss in exchange for fellowship with Christ. Every fiber of his being was dedicated to Christ and His kingdom. In short, Jesus Christ was Paul’s Master and Savior in word and deed.
The second characteristic to note is that Paul placed himself under the Lordship of Christ daily (v.8-9). When Jesus saved Paul He got all of him, not just part of him. Paul had been freed of his dependence upon the civic and ceremonial Law, things, and the opinions of others. By all accounts he had earned what we would recognize as two PhD’s—he was a learned man. By all earthy standards he had much to brag about—but not before God. Before his conversion he may have had several diplomas and certificates of recognition form admiring colleagues. Paul was a real somebody to the people in Jerusalem. He may have sat with the privileged in the temple and in synagogues, enjoying the public praise of his countrymen. Paul concluded that all of his accomplishments were one big loss, trying to keep the Law would not have saved his soul from hell. When held up against the surpassing greatness of knowing God through Christ, diplomas on the wall somehow seem a bit trifling. Paul burned the bridges to his pas and pressed on to lay hold of the prize found in Christ. When Julius Caesar landed on the shores of Briton with his Roman legions, he took a bold and decisive step to ensure the success of his military campaign. Ordering his men to march to the edge of the Cliffs of Dover he commanded them to look down at the water below. To their shot and utter amazement they saw every ship in which they had crossed the channel inflames. Caesar had deliberately cut off any possible retreat. Now that his soldiers were unable to return to the continent there was nothing left for them to do but to advance and conquer! And that is exactly what they did. Some of you did not burn the escape routes to your past when you came to Christ. When you came to Jesus He did not get all of you. You have accepted Him as Savior but chaffed at His Lordship over your life. I have startling news for you: the same Jesus who is Christ is also Lord and you cannot subdivide Him, you either know Him as Lord and Savior and you do not know Him at all and are horribly self deceived. His Lordship as you understand it is conditional. When your circumstances are good He is Lord, when they are bad you assume lordship over your life. You may claim to be engaged in the Christian battle, but your eye is on the boat in the harbor, a means of escape in case Jesus asks you to do something you are unwilling to do. My advice to you: burn the boat! The Christian life is an all or nothing proposition. If Christ is not Lord of every aspect of your life, He is not Lord at all in your heart. Lordship means complete authority, power, and control over your life. For Paul, to live was Christ, and to die was gain. His life was so in tune with the will of God he loved the things God loved, people. Therefore, he begged the lost to be reconciled to God.
The third characteristic to note is that Paul bore witness to the truth of the Gospel (v.10). Paul’s greatest witness was the essence of his life. He walked so close to Christ that his very life reflected the love of the Savior. Paul did not need to tell people that he was a disciple of Jesus Christ, they knew it by the way he lived. Can others say that about you? Knowing the truth of Scripture was not enough for Paul, it was something that had to be lived. In living for the truth of the Gospel Paul joined Christ in His sufferings. Are you motivated to live the truth you have learned and professed, to really apply it to your life? Paul’s faithfulness in his witness was blessed by God, people got saved. This is the crux of what the author of the article read at the beginning of my message was getting at, viz., “Christians aren’t sufficiently different from the people around them to make a difference in the lives of non-believers.” In other words, many Christians today are such in name only. The result is that the cutting edge of their witness has been dulled. For many the threat of rejection in presenting the Gospel is not a problem, because they never share it. Some probably do not even have a testimony to share. There are four categories of people on earth: those who are saved and know they are saved; those who are saved and fear they may be lost; those who are lost and know they are lost; and those who are lost and think they are saved. Friend, my fear is for any in that last category: those who are lost but think they are saved. Listen to me, to follow Christ in obedience will cost you everything. And if you are not willing to surrender everything to the Lord then you cannot be saved, remember the rich young ruler who approached the Lord. Pious and smug this young man felt that relative to the other rabble he was doing pretty good. Then the Lord Jesus pressed on a pressure point to reveal that the man balked at His Lordship and could not follow a simple command. And did the Lord run after him and beg him to reconsider? No. He walked away with his possessions and left behind his soul for the judgment. Now this is not to say that the Lord will literally command you to leave everything in following Him, but you must have a heart tender and ready to do so in a moments notice if the Lord requests it of you. And, dear friends, may I suggest to you that money and possessions are the most common area of stumbling for any who would set out on the pilgrim’s way. So guard your heart in this area lest the things you posses end up possessing you, resulting in the shipwreck of your faith! Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962), the world famous violinist, earned a fortune with his concerts and compositions, but he generously gave most of it away. So, when he discovered an exquisite violin on one of his trips, he was not able to but it. Later, having raised enough money to meet the asking price, he retuned to the seller, hoping to purchase that beautiful instrument. But to his great dismay it had been sold to a collector. Kreisler made his way to the new owner’s home and offered to by the violin. The collector said it had become his prized possession and that he was unwilling to sell it. Keenly disappointed, Kreisler was about to leave when he had an idea. “Could I play the instrument once more before it is consigned to silence?” he asked. Permission was granted and the great virtuoso filled the room with such heart-moving music that the collector’s emotions ere deeply stirred. “I have no right to keep that to myself,” he exclaimed. “It’s yours, Mr. Kreisler. Take it into the world, and let people hear it.” The message of the Gospel is like a beautiful symphony to those with ears to hear, it carries with it for them the fragrance of life unto life. To those with closed ears, hardened to its plea, it takes on the putrid smell of death. Beloved, it is not your concern to attempt to determine how it will be received by whomever, but simply to fill the air and ears of all who will listen to it. Leave it to the Lord to sort out the rest. Have you consigned the beautiful melody of God’s message of salvation to silence? When was the last time you shared the Gospel with a lost person?
The fourth and final characteristic to note is that Paul maintained an eternal perspective (v. 11). Paul lived in the reality of the Son of God. For Paul to die was gain, to live was Christ. That’s simple to say but more difficult to perform. This was Paul’s personal life purpose statement, if he had such as thing. Paul’s life was not encumbered by the cares of the world. Because he know that his future resurrection was sure, and that the glory to come at Christ’s return would be far beyond earthly description, he willingly suffered the loss of all things to gain Christ. Do you maintain an eternal perspective or do you live for the here and now? If you live in the here and now you will be motivated by the here and now, you will be unfruitful for the kingdom of God. If you maintain an eternal perspective you will live above the circumstances of the here and now, and you will be fruitful for the King and His kingdom. Paul was certain that he same God who raised Jesus from the dead would one day raise him from the dead, for in Romans 8:11 he says, “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” Death has been defeated and is not to be feared by those in Christ. Have you ever heard the unusual story of how the news of the battle of Waterloo reached England? The word was varied first by sailing ship to the southern coast. From there it was to be relayed by signal flags to London. When report was received at Winchester, the flags on the cathedral began to spell it out, “Wellington defeated….” Before the message could be completed, however, a heavy fog moved in. Gloom filled the hearts of the people as the fragmentary news spread throughout the surrounding countryside. But when the mists began to lift, it became evident that the signals of Winchester Cathedral had really spelled out this triumphant message, “Wellington defeated the enemy!” Jesus’ burial chamber was not the final word; the message was not complete until the stone was rolled away! Resurrection implies prior death. Paul could not be born until Saul was crucified. At his conversion Paul eagerly cast aside the things in his life that would hinder his witness and service to his new Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. And all of this is a work of grace forged by the Holy Spirit in the hearts of God’s elect. It is not a natural thing to abandon the world system, it is supernatural.
What are you holding on to today? What is holding you back from being a warrior in God’s army? What is keeping you from being able to say, like Paul, “I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ”? Whatever it is, is it not time to get rid of it? For many of you it is materialism. For some of you it is comfort. For other of you it is pleasure. Still others power or position. Regardless of what it is the underlying questions is the same, “Are you willing to rid yourself of it today?” There may be someone here today who knows in their heart that the gig is up, they have never met the risen Lord, but have led others to believe they have. Whatever your situation Jesus bids you come. What are you going to do?
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Monday, December 21, 2009
The Shepherds Bore Witness
12.21.09
J.A. Matteson
"In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them…." Luke 2:8-9
Israel had been anticipating with desperation the arrival of Messiah and by this time in her history the expectation of His advent had reached a fever pitch under the yoke of Roman occupation which was ruthless and unyielding. The writings by the ancients who prophesied of Messiah were studied endlessly by the scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees. Even king Herod was familiar with their content and was consumed by a paranoia fixated on identifying and extinguishing the prophesized rival to his rule. The circumstances surrounding the announcement of Messiah’s birth was not arbitrary but divinely arranged, bearing witness to His person and mission. In this regard four key considerations are striking in Luke’s narrative regarding the angel’s announcement: the recipients of the message, the content of the message, the timing of the message, and the outcome of the message.
First, take note that the divine message was not delivered to the high priest or the Sanhedrin as human reasoning might expect, but to shepherds, those individuals who by vocation commonly endured low social, political, and economic status and were frequently accused of thievery due to their migratory lifestyle, being scorned by the religious elite. How fitting that the coming Good Shepherd purposed to announce in the open air His advent to those who were a portrait of His mission of mercy, “And He will arise and shepherd His flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD His God. And they will remain, because at that time He will be great to the ends of the earth” (Micah 5:4). These were shabbily dressed men, smelling of livestock and campfires, and not at all like those freshly bathed, well dressed, and occupying fine quarters in Jerusalem. The angel’s appearing to the shepherds bore witness to the coming Great Shepherd who in like manor would also be despised by the religious elite, those who’s hearts were filled with hypocrisy and conceit, being consumed with self-glorification and not concerned with the interests of the Lord’s flock, “Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, in His arm He will gather the lambs and carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes” (Isa. 40:11).
Second, the content of the message of great joy was intended for every nation, tongue and tribe on the earth, and not merely for the Jews—a shocking revelation to the misguided religious elite; the announcement fulfilled the Lord’s covenant to Abraham, "I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 26:4).
Third, it was no mere coincidence that the angelic announcement took place in the dark of night as the physical darkness was symbolic of the spiritual darkness in which the fallen human race is held captive. And it was in the midst of this great darkness that the brilliant light of the glory of the Lord shown forth, “The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them” (Isa. 9:2). Note also the initiative of the Lord in manifesting His glory in the darkness also bares testimony to the Lord’s initiative in salvation, for unless the Lord intervenes in the darkened heart of sinners they will remain in spiritual darkness, blind to spiritual truth, “I permitted Myself to be sought by those who did not ask for Me; I permitted Myself to be found by those who did not seek Me. I said, 'Here am I, here am I,' to a nation which did not call on My name” (Isa. 65:1). Salvation is dependant upon divine initiative for sinners do not seek after God on their own, “The LORD has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one” (Ps. 14:2-3). In his gospel John speaks of the divine initiative of the light of the glory of the Lord reveled in Jesus Christ, “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it” (Jn. 1:5).
Lastly, in verse 11 the angel announces that the substance of the good tidings of great joy is that in Christ a Savior was born and the outcome is salvation for whosoever shall call upon His name. In speaking to Nicodemus the Lord Jesus Christ later said of Himself, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life” (Jn. 3:14-15). Responding to the announcement the heavenly host began praising God, exclaiming, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among men of His pleasure” (Lk. 2:14).
Beloved, let us in unison join the heavenly anthem and daily give thanks to our heavenly Father for the gift of His Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Copyright (c) 2009 Immutable Word Ministries ("...the word of our God stands forever..." Isa. 40:8).
J.A. Matteson
"In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them…." Luke 2:8-9
Israel had been anticipating with desperation the arrival of Messiah and by this time in her history the expectation of His advent had reached a fever pitch under the yoke of Roman occupation which was ruthless and unyielding. The writings by the ancients who prophesied of Messiah were studied endlessly by the scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees. Even king Herod was familiar with their content and was consumed by a paranoia fixated on identifying and extinguishing the prophesized rival to his rule. The circumstances surrounding the announcement of Messiah’s birth was not arbitrary but divinely arranged, bearing witness to His person and mission. In this regard four key considerations are striking in Luke’s narrative regarding the angel’s announcement: the recipients of the message, the content of the message, the timing of the message, and the outcome of the message.
First, take note that the divine message was not delivered to the high priest or the Sanhedrin as human reasoning might expect, but to shepherds, those individuals who by vocation commonly endured low social, political, and economic status and were frequently accused of thievery due to their migratory lifestyle, being scorned by the religious elite. How fitting that the coming Good Shepherd purposed to announce in the open air His advent to those who were a portrait of His mission of mercy, “And He will arise and shepherd His flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD His God. And they will remain, because at that time He will be great to the ends of the earth” (Micah 5:4). These were shabbily dressed men, smelling of livestock and campfires, and not at all like those freshly bathed, well dressed, and occupying fine quarters in Jerusalem. The angel’s appearing to the shepherds bore witness to the coming Great Shepherd who in like manor would also be despised by the religious elite, those who’s hearts were filled with hypocrisy and conceit, being consumed with self-glorification and not concerned with the interests of the Lord’s flock, “Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, in His arm He will gather the lambs and carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes” (Isa. 40:11).
Second, the content of the message of great joy was intended for every nation, tongue and tribe on the earth, and not merely for the Jews—a shocking revelation to the misguided religious elite; the announcement fulfilled the Lord’s covenant to Abraham, "I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 26:4).
Third, it was no mere coincidence that the angelic announcement took place in the dark of night as the physical darkness was symbolic of the spiritual darkness in which the fallen human race is held captive. And it was in the midst of this great darkness that the brilliant light of the glory of the Lord shown forth, “The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them” (Isa. 9:2). Note also the initiative of the Lord in manifesting His glory in the darkness also bares testimony to the Lord’s initiative in salvation, for unless the Lord intervenes in the darkened heart of sinners they will remain in spiritual darkness, blind to spiritual truth, “I permitted Myself to be sought by those who did not ask for Me; I permitted Myself to be found by those who did not seek Me. I said, 'Here am I, here am I,' to a nation which did not call on My name” (Isa. 65:1). Salvation is dependant upon divine initiative for sinners do not seek after God on their own, “The LORD has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one” (Ps. 14:2-3). In his gospel John speaks of the divine initiative of the light of the glory of the Lord reveled in Jesus Christ, “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it” (Jn. 1:5).
Lastly, in verse 11 the angel announces that the substance of the good tidings of great joy is that in Christ a Savior was born and the outcome is salvation for whosoever shall call upon His name. In speaking to Nicodemus the Lord Jesus Christ later said of Himself, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life” (Jn. 3:14-15). Responding to the announcement the heavenly host began praising God, exclaiming, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among men of His pleasure” (Lk. 2:14).
Beloved, let us in unison join the heavenly anthem and daily give thanks to our heavenly Father for the gift of His Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Copyright (c) 2009 Immutable Word Ministries ("...the word of our God stands forever..." Isa. 40:8).
Monday, December 14, 2009
The Babe in the Manger
12.14.09
J.A. Matteson
"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14
The symmetry of a Christmas time snow flake; the refraction of the suns rays off an ocean breaker at sunset; the orderliness of the seasons; the wonder of life; the nurturing bond between mother and child; the transcendent innate sense of morality within the human soul of right and wrong; the beauty of mathematics seen in the irreducible complexity of creation; the enduring ache within the human heart for significance and immortality; the inner awareness of sin; the inner witness of a Creator; the foreboding awareness of the passage of time and ones mortality.
To all of these things and countless others the Word speaks, the Word knows, the Word acts, the Word precedes, the Word follows. The Word transcends all things and is before all things, ordains all things and maintains all things. The Word to the Greek philosophers was the order and logic that held the universe together, and to that extent they were correct in their understanding although incomplete in their conclusion.
By divine revelation the Apostle John borrows from the opening passage of Genesis and introduces a literary paradigm shift of understanding—he personifies the Word, offering insight into the triune Godhead of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God comprised of three persons. In contrast to the Greek understanding of the Word as an impersonal abstract force—atheistic in essence—the Apostle raises the understanding of his readers that the Word is in fact order and logic and that these are reflective of the personal characteristics of their Author who is a Person—the one and only true God, Yahweh.
Christmas bares witness to and celebrates the incarnation of the Word in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus (Yahweh is salvation) Christ (the Anointed One/Messiah/Savior) is the second Person of the singular Godhead, fully God, fully man; born of a woman, Mary, by the incorruptible divine seed of His Father; sinless, performing the Law of God perfectly and as such worthy as the spotless Lamb of God to atone for the sins of the world, and as noted by the Apostle, “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form…” and “For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him” (Col. 2:9; 1:19).
To this great mystery believers through the ages have marveled, pausing in awe at the miracle of the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. The babe in the manger being fully God while being fully human did not cease to exercise His divine prerogative as Creator for, “For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities -all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together” (Col. 1:16-17). The condescension of Divinity into humanity has been and will continue to be the most marvelous and joyous event in human history for by it God supplied expression of His heart to redeem His people from their sin through the substitutionary death, burial, and resurrection of His Son.
In contrast to all other religious teachers Jesus Christ is unique, for He alone made claims to deity, validating them by the witness of prophetic Scripture, attesting miracles, and the resurrection; He alone is able to forgive sin as that is a divine prerogative; He alone has been appointed as Judge and will come again as He left—in bodily form. All other religious leaders were mere mortal men, sinners, and the scant remains of their bodies remain decayed in the ground. Buddha, Mohammad, Confucius, Lao Tsu, the Caesar’s, Joseph Smith (Mormons), Charles Taze Russell (Jehovah’s Witnesses), L. Ron Hubbard (Scientology), and Mary Baker Eddy (Christian Science) are all dead. Only Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word of God, came into the world by means of a miraculous virgin birth, was resurrected from the dead, and ascended out of the world, remaining seated at the right hand of the Father as a testimony that His atoning work is complete.
Let us therefore hold the significance of Christmas near and dear to our hearts throughout the year, giving thanks to the Father for sending His only begotten Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And let us share the Father’s gift of His Son to all near and far as the Holy Spirit gives opportunity.
Copyright (c) 2009 Immutable Word Ministries ("...the word of our God stands forever...." Isa. 40:8).
J.A. Matteson
"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14
The symmetry of a Christmas time snow flake; the refraction of the suns rays off an ocean breaker at sunset; the orderliness of the seasons; the wonder of life; the nurturing bond between mother and child; the transcendent innate sense of morality within the human soul of right and wrong; the beauty of mathematics seen in the irreducible complexity of creation; the enduring ache within the human heart for significance and immortality; the inner awareness of sin; the inner witness of a Creator; the foreboding awareness of the passage of time and ones mortality.
To all of these things and countless others the Word speaks, the Word knows, the Word acts, the Word precedes, the Word follows. The Word transcends all things and is before all things, ordains all things and maintains all things. The Word to the Greek philosophers was the order and logic that held the universe together, and to that extent they were correct in their understanding although incomplete in their conclusion.
By divine revelation the Apostle John borrows from the opening passage of Genesis and introduces a literary paradigm shift of understanding—he personifies the Word, offering insight into the triune Godhead of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God comprised of three persons. In contrast to the Greek understanding of the Word as an impersonal abstract force—atheistic in essence—the Apostle raises the understanding of his readers that the Word is in fact order and logic and that these are reflective of the personal characteristics of their Author who is a Person—the one and only true God, Yahweh.
Christmas bares witness to and celebrates the incarnation of the Word in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus (Yahweh is salvation) Christ (the Anointed One/Messiah/Savior) is the second Person of the singular Godhead, fully God, fully man; born of a woman, Mary, by the incorruptible divine seed of His Father; sinless, performing the Law of God perfectly and as such worthy as the spotless Lamb of God to atone for the sins of the world, and as noted by the Apostle, “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form…” and “For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him” (Col. 2:9; 1:19).
To this great mystery believers through the ages have marveled, pausing in awe at the miracle of the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. The babe in the manger being fully God while being fully human did not cease to exercise His divine prerogative as Creator for, “For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities -all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together” (Col. 1:16-17). The condescension of Divinity into humanity has been and will continue to be the most marvelous and joyous event in human history for by it God supplied expression of His heart to redeem His people from their sin through the substitutionary death, burial, and resurrection of His Son.
In contrast to all other religious teachers Jesus Christ is unique, for He alone made claims to deity, validating them by the witness of prophetic Scripture, attesting miracles, and the resurrection; He alone is able to forgive sin as that is a divine prerogative; He alone has been appointed as Judge and will come again as He left—in bodily form. All other religious leaders were mere mortal men, sinners, and the scant remains of their bodies remain decayed in the ground. Buddha, Mohammad, Confucius, Lao Tsu, the Caesar’s, Joseph Smith (Mormons), Charles Taze Russell (Jehovah’s Witnesses), L. Ron Hubbard (Scientology), and Mary Baker Eddy (Christian Science) are all dead. Only Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word of God, came into the world by means of a miraculous virgin birth, was resurrected from the dead, and ascended out of the world, remaining seated at the right hand of the Father as a testimony that His atoning work is complete.
Let us therefore hold the significance of Christmas near and dear to our hearts throughout the year, giving thanks to the Father for sending His only begotten Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And let us share the Father’s gift of His Son to all near and far as the Holy Spirit gives opportunity.
Copyright (c) 2009 Immutable Word Ministries ("...the word of our God stands forever...." Isa. 40:8).
Thursday, December 10, 2009
The Child Mary Delivered
12.10.09
J.A. Matteson
"And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus." Luke 1:31
The earthy life and ministry of Jesus Christ was bookended by two remarkable pronouncements; the initial being to Mary, “And behold, you will conceive….” and the final being “It is finished!” The full weight of the first pronouncement was to give fulfillment to the last declaration uttered by our Lord as He hung on the cross. The miracle of the incarnation defies comprehension; not that it is unintelligible, but that understanding it escapes the human capacity to fully grasp its spender, for as the Apostle discloses, “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him” (Col. 1:16). And in regard to this statement consider this: the eternal God of glory condescend into the likeness man, walking among those He created, conversing, sleeping, and eating with them.
The Ancient of Days who set in the heavens the Pleiades, Orion’s Belt, and the Milky Way, and Who set the foundations of the earth, governing over all that dwell upon it and upholding it by the power of His Word, Who knows the essence and design of the subatomic molecule, Who drafted the chemist’s periodic table of natural elements, Who designed the laws of physics responsible for bringing to earth the leaf from an oak tree in Autumn, Who is the Author of light and life and all knowledge, things of the natural and spiritual order, He possess a perfect knowledge of all things past in what is called history, Who knows perfectly the present and is intimately acquainted with the heart of man, familiar with all his ways; Who knows the future plainly and His knowledge of all things exceeds merely what has been, is, or will be, but includes every possible combination of things that might have been, or could be in the present but will not be, and future things that could be but by His decree will not come to pass. He is also completely familiar with all secondary causes, maintaining governance over their effects to the satisfaction of His eternal decrees. And so as mother and father gazed into the face of the little babe lying in the feed trough intended for beasts they unwittingly peered directly into the eyes of the unfathomable depths of eternity Himself, “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God” (Ps. 90:2).
In our day some champion the naturalist position which rejects the virgin birth out of hand, suggesting it is a mere human contrivance, a biological impossibility and, thus, an absurdity. These voices of what is called “reason” deny the supernatural, eliminating the possibility of miracles. These same opponents, however, are often quick to acknowledge that science is correct in noting that the universe is not an eternal system, and in fact has been shown to have a beginning. The irony is that the opponents to the virgin birth appear to have no problem accepting the proposition that all the matter which makes up the universe came into being from a predicate state of nothingness, yet they insist on a natural first cause, denying a supernatural one, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). A state of nothing is impossible for the human mind to grasp because whenever our minds think of nothing we by nature think of something, such as an empty space of total blackness which is not nothing but something, because it has been described, for nothing to truly be nothing it must be indescribable, there being nothing to describe. There exists therefore an philosophical inconsistency by the opponents of the virgin birth who hold to the birth of the universe from nothing and who deny the birth of the Lord of glory in the womb of a virgin, to this end the Scripture is explicit, “For with God nothing will be impossible” (Lk. 1:37).
And the angel announced to Mary that His name would be Jesus, which means Yahweh is salvation. The eternal plan of salvation initiated in the Garden of Eden through the declaration of the Lord to the serpent found its fulfillment on a roman cross when the Son of God declared emphatically to the whole of creation, “It is finished!”, the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ bore witness to the Father’s acceptance of the atoning sacrifice of His only begotten Son. It was into this Face—the very face of God—that Mary and Joseph gazed. The child Mary delivered would not only deliver her from the bondage and penalty of sin, but also all who might call upon His name by faith.
Copyright (c) 2009 Immutable Word Ministries ("...the word of our God stands forever." Isa. 40:8).
J.A. Matteson
"And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus." Luke 1:31
The earthy life and ministry of Jesus Christ was bookended by two remarkable pronouncements; the initial being to Mary, “And behold, you will conceive….” and the final being “It is finished!” The full weight of the first pronouncement was to give fulfillment to the last declaration uttered by our Lord as He hung on the cross. The miracle of the incarnation defies comprehension; not that it is unintelligible, but that understanding it escapes the human capacity to fully grasp its spender, for as the Apostle discloses, “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him” (Col. 1:16). And in regard to this statement consider this: the eternal God of glory condescend into the likeness man, walking among those He created, conversing, sleeping, and eating with them.
The Ancient of Days who set in the heavens the Pleiades, Orion’s Belt, and the Milky Way, and Who set the foundations of the earth, governing over all that dwell upon it and upholding it by the power of His Word, Who knows the essence and design of the subatomic molecule, Who drafted the chemist’s periodic table of natural elements, Who designed the laws of physics responsible for bringing to earth the leaf from an oak tree in Autumn, Who is the Author of light and life and all knowledge, things of the natural and spiritual order, He possess a perfect knowledge of all things past in what is called history, Who knows perfectly the present and is intimately acquainted with the heart of man, familiar with all his ways; Who knows the future plainly and His knowledge of all things exceeds merely what has been, is, or will be, but includes every possible combination of things that might have been, or could be in the present but will not be, and future things that could be but by His decree will not come to pass. He is also completely familiar with all secondary causes, maintaining governance over their effects to the satisfaction of His eternal decrees. And so as mother and father gazed into the face of the little babe lying in the feed trough intended for beasts they unwittingly peered directly into the eyes of the unfathomable depths of eternity Himself, “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God” (Ps. 90:2).
In our day some champion the naturalist position which rejects the virgin birth out of hand, suggesting it is a mere human contrivance, a biological impossibility and, thus, an absurdity. These voices of what is called “reason” deny the supernatural, eliminating the possibility of miracles. These same opponents, however, are often quick to acknowledge that science is correct in noting that the universe is not an eternal system, and in fact has been shown to have a beginning. The irony is that the opponents to the virgin birth appear to have no problem accepting the proposition that all the matter which makes up the universe came into being from a predicate state of nothingness, yet they insist on a natural first cause, denying a supernatural one, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). A state of nothing is impossible for the human mind to grasp because whenever our minds think of nothing we by nature think of something, such as an empty space of total blackness which is not nothing but something, because it has been described, for nothing to truly be nothing it must be indescribable, there being nothing to describe. There exists therefore an philosophical inconsistency by the opponents of the virgin birth who hold to the birth of the universe from nothing and who deny the birth of the Lord of glory in the womb of a virgin, to this end the Scripture is explicit, “For with God nothing will be impossible” (Lk. 1:37).
And the angel announced to Mary that His name would be Jesus, which means Yahweh is salvation. The eternal plan of salvation initiated in the Garden of Eden through the declaration of the Lord to the serpent found its fulfillment on a roman cross when the Son of God declared emphatically to the whole of creation, “It is finished!”, the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ bore witness to the Father’s acceptance of the atoning sacrifice of His only begotten Son. It was into this Face—the very face of God—that Mary and Joseph gazed. The child Mary delivered would not only deliver her from the bondage and penalty of sin, but also all who might call upon His name by faith.
Copyright (c) 2009 Immutable Word Ministries ("...the word of our God stands forever." Isa. 40:8).
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Feeding Sheep or Amusing Goats?
by C.H. Spurgeon
1834–1892
An evil is in the professed camp of the Lord, so gross in its impudence, that the most short-sighted can hardly fail to notice it. During the past few years it has developed at an abnormal rate, even for evil. It has worked like leaven until the whole lump ferments. The devil has seldom done a cleverer thing than hinting to the Church that part of their mission is to provide entertainment for the people, with a view to winning them. From speaking out as the Puritans did, the Church has gradually toned down her testimony, then winked at and excused the frivolities of the day. Then she tolerated them in her borders. Now she has adopted them under the plea of reaching the masses.
My first contention is that providing amusement for the people is nowhere spoken of in the Scriptures as a function of the Church. If it is a Christian work why did not Christ speak of it? ‘Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.’ That is clear enough. So it would have been if he had added, ‘and provide amusement for those who do not relish the gospel.’ No such words, however, are to be found. It did not seem to occur to him. Then again, ‘He gave some apostles, some prophets, some pastors and teachers, for the work of the ministry.’ Where do entertainers come in? The Holy Spirit is silent concerning them. Were the prophets persecuted because they amused the people or because they refused? The concert has no martyr roll.
Again, providing amusement is in direct antagonism to the teaching and life of Christ and all his apostles. What was the attitude of the Church to the world? ‘Ye are the salt,’ not the sugar candy—something the world will spit out, not swallow. Short and sharp was the utterance, ‘Let the dead bury their dead.’ He was in awful earnestness!
Had Christ introduced more of the bright and pleasant elements into his mission, he would have been more popular when they went back, because of the searching nature of his teaching. I do not hear him say, ‘Run after these people, Peter, and tell them we will have a different style of service tomorrow, something short and attractive with little preaching. We will have a pleasant evening for the people. Tell them they will be sure to enjoy it. Be quick, Peter, we must get the people somehow!’ Jesus pitied sinners, sighed and wept over them, but never sought to amuse them. In vain will the Epistles be searched to find any trace of the gospel of amusement. Their message is, ‘Come out, keep out, keep clean out!’ Anything approaching fooling is conspicuous by its absence. They had boundless confidence in the gospel and employed no other weapon. After Peter and John were locked up for preaching, the Church had a prayer meeting, but they did not pray, ‘Lord, grant unto thy servants that by a wise and discriminating use of innocent recreation we may show these people how happy we are.’ If they ceased not for preaching Christ, they had not time for arranging entertainments. Scattered by persecution, they went everywhere preaching the gospel. ‘They turned the world upside down’. That is the only difference! Lord, clear the Church of all the rot and rubbish the devil has imposed on her and bring us back to apostolic methods.
Lastly, the mission of amusement fails to effect the end desired. It works havoc among young converts. Let the careless and scoffers, who thank God because the Church met them half-way, speak and testify. Let the heavy laden who found peace through the concert not keep silent! Let the drunkard to whom the dramatic entertainment had been God’s link in the chain of their conversion, stand up! There are none to answer. The mission of amusement produces no converts. The need of the hour for today’s ministry is believing scholarship joined with earnest spirituality, the one springing from the other as fruit from the root. The need is biblical doctrine, so understood and felt, that it sets men on fire.
1834–1892
An evil is in the professed camp of the Lord, so gross in its impudence, that the most short-sighted can hardly fail to notice it. During the past few years it has developed at an abnormal rate, even for evil. It has worked like leaven until the whole lump ferments. The devil has seldom done a cleverer thing than hinting to the Church that part of their mission is to provide entertainment for the people, with a view to winning them. From speaking out as the Puritans did, the Church has gradually toned down her testimony, then winked at and excused the frivolities of the day. Then she tolerated them in her borders. Now she has adopted them under the plea of reaching the masses.
My first contention is that providing amusement for the people is nowhere spoken of in the Scriptures as a function of the Church. If it is a Christian work why did not Christ speak of it? ‘Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.’ That is clear enough. So it would have been if he had added, ‘and provide amusement for those who do not relish the gospel.’ No such words, however, are to be found. It did not seem to occur to him. Then again, ‘He gave some apostles, some prophets, some pastors and teachers, for the work of the ministry.’ Where do entertainers come in? The Holy Spirit is silent concerning them. Were the prophets persecuted because they amused the people or because they refused? The concert has no martyr roll.
Again, providing amusement is in direct antagonism to the teaching and life of Christ and all his apostles. What was the attitude of the Church to the world? ‘Ye are the salt,’ not the sugar candy—something the world will spit out, not swallow. Short and sharp was the utterance, ‘Let the dead bury their dead.’ He was in awful earnestness!
Had Christ introduced more of the bright and pleasant elements into his mission, he would have been more popular when they went back, because of the searching nature of his teaching. I do not hear him say, ‘Run after these people, Peter, and tell them we will have a different style of service tomorrow, something short and attractive with little preaching. We will have a pleasant evening for the people. Tell them they will be sure to enjoy it. Be quick, Peter, we must get the people somehow!’ Jesus pitied sinners, sighed and wept over them, but never sought to amuse them. In vain will the Epistles be searched to find any trace of the gospel of amusement. Their message is, ‘Come out, keep out, keep clean out!’ Anything approaching fooling is conspicuous by its absence. They had boundless confidence in the gospel and employed no other weapon. After Peter and John were locked up for preaching, the Church had a prayer meeting, but they did not pray, ‘Lord, grant unto thy servants that by a wise and discriminating use of innocent recreation we may show these people how happy we are.’ If they ceased not for preaching Christ, they had not time for arranging entertainments. Scattered by persecution, they went everywhere preaching the gospel. ‘They turned the world upside down’. That is the only difference! Lord, clear the Church of all the rot and rubbish the devil has imposed on her and bring us back to apostolic methods.
Lastly, the mission of amusement fails to effect the end desired. It works havoc among young converts. Let the careless and scoffers, who thank God because the Church met them half-way, speak and testify. Let the heavy laden who found peace through the concert not keep silent! Let the drunkard to whom the dramatic entertainment had been God’s link in the chain of their conversion, stand up! There are none to answer. The mission of amusement produces no converts. The need of the hour for today’s ministry is believing scholarship joined with earnest spirituality, the one springing from the other as fruit from the root. The need is biblical doctrine, so understood and felt, that it sets men on fire.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Whosoever Thirsts
12.07.09
J.A. Matteson
"Now godliness with contentment is great gain." 1 Timothy 6:6
A delightful aspect of grace in a believer’s life is the transformation of the desires of the heart. King David observed the miracle of grace in his own life, “How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings. They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, and You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures” (Ps. 36:7-8). By contract the natural man attempts to quell the unrest in his soul though an assortment of temporal alternatives, some of which may actually provide a deceitful form of solace, but like external anesthetic to the skin their effect is brief and soon the empty soul once again scourers the landscape of worldly balms to a ease the nagging discontentment within.
Intrinsic to the worlds understanding of gain is the presumption of an improvement to ones lot. The natural man, blind to the working of providence and spiritual light, finds the desired gain of inner contentment allusive because every object of his hoped relief is temporal and jaded by the fall. Within the fallen creation is the natural order of all things seen and unseen, physical and spiritual. The fallen world system affords many false allurements to the weary soul, pandering to the insatiable thirst for the gain of contentment. The Apostle prior to conversion sought contentment though the natural means of worldly power, position, prosperity, and popularity. Grace unto salvation taught him that real contentment is the fruit of justification and abiding in the true Vine, for genuine lasting contentment cannot be found apart from grace—it is a gift of God—and the sons of men living life under the sun are consigned to the drudgery of chasing a mirage through the desert sands of discontentment; Solomon under inspiration by the Holy Spirit observed, “For God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who is good in His sight; but to the sinner He gives the work of gathering and collecting, that he may give to him who is good before God. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind” (Eccl. 2:26).
Godly contentment influences all areas of life, health, possessions, relationships, and position by infusing grace within the heart, yielding a perspective of wellbeing irrespective of circumstances which may be perceived as contrary, undergirded with a childlike trust in the goodness of the Father, receiving providential realities as gifts from the Lord for sanctification which will culminate in glorification.
Contentment is evidenced by an attitude of gratitude; discontentment is known by complaining. Contentment has as its focus the excellencies of knowing Christ Jesus; discontentment is focused on self exaltation. Contentment is the fruit of intimacy with Christ—as the pilgrim draws closer to Christ, He draws closer to him and His presence yields a supernatural contentment; discontentment reveals a heart distanced from the nourishment which the Vine supplies. Contentment considers each day a gift and seeks to share the gift of Christ; discontentment is obsessed with the future attainment and utilization of worldly amusements. Contentment receives providence with the assurance that good is resulting; discontentment is anxious and preoccupied with dread. Contentment acknowledges the mysteries of the Lord, that His wisdom and ways are supreme; discontentment applies human reasoning of divine prerogatives. Contentment interprets unexpected providences against the backdrop of Calvary, not questioning the love of the Savior for His sheep; discontentment questions the wisdom and love of God. Contentment finds the pursuits of worldly gain boring and tarnished, unworthy of time and energy as contrasted to the surpassing riches of Christ.
If godly contentment is elusive to you it is because you are drinking from the wrong well, Jesus Christ alone is the source of eternal contentment, He calls now to whosoever thirsts, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28).
Copyright (c) 2009 Immutable Word Ministries ("...the word of our God stands forever." Isa. 40:8).
J.A. Matteson
"Now godliness with contentment is great gain." 1 Timothy 6:6
A delightful aspect of grace in a believer’s life is the transformation of the desires of the heart. King David observed the miracle of grace in his own life, “How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings. They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, and You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures” (Ps. 36:7-8). By contract the natural man attempts to quell the unrest in his soul though an assortment of temporal alternatives, some of which may actually provide a deceitful form of solace, but like external anesthetic to the skin their effect is brief and soon the empty soul once again scourers the landscape of worldly balms to a ease the nagging discontentment within.
Intrinsic to the worlds understanding of gain is the presumption of an improvement to ones lot. The natural man, blind to the working of providence and spiritual light, finds the desired gain of inner contentment allusive because every object of his hoped relief is temporal and jaded by the fall. Within the fallen creation is the natural order of all things seen and unseen, physical and spiritual. The fallen world system affords many false allurements to the weary soul, pandering to the insatiable thirst for the gain of contentment. The Apostle prior to conversion sought contentment though the natural means of worldly power, position, prosperity, and popularity. Grace unto salvation taught him that real contentment is the fruit of justification and abiding in the true Vine, for genuine lasting contentment cannot be found apart from grace—it is a gift of God—and the sons of men living life under the sun are consigned to the drudgery of chasing a mirage through the desert sands of discontentment; Solomon under inspiration by the Holy Spirit observed, “For God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who is good in His sight; but to the sinner He gives the work of gathering and collecting, that he may give to him who is good before God. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind” (Eccl. 2:26).
Godly contentment influences all areas of life, health, possessions, relationships, and position by infusing grace within the heart, yielding a perspective of wellbeing irrespective of circumstances which may be perceived as contrary, undergirded with a childlike trust in the goodness of the Father, receiving providential realities as gifts from the Lord for sanctification which will culminate in glorification.
Contentment is evidenced by an attitude of gratitude; discontentment is known by complaining. Contentment has as its focus the excellencies of knowing Christ Jesus; discontentment is focused on self exaltation. Contentment is the fruit of intimacy with Christ—as the pilgrim draws closer to Christ, He draws closer to him and His presence yields a supernatural contentment; discontentment reveals a heart distanced from the nourishment which the Vine supplies. Contentment considers each day a gift and seeks to share the gift of Christ; discontentment is obsessed with the future attainment and utilization of worldly amusements. Contentment receives providence with the assurance that good is resulting; discontentment is anxious and preoccupied with dread. Contentment acknowledges the mysteries of the Lord, that His wisdom and ways are supreme; discontentment applies human reasoning of divine prerogatives. Contentment interprets unexpected providences against the backdrop of Calvary, not questioning the love of the Savior for His sheep; discontentment questions the wisdom and love of God. Contentment finds the pursuits of worldly gain boring and tarnished, unworthy of time and energy as contrasted to the surpassing riches of Christ.
If godly contentment is elusive to you it is because you are drinking from the wrong well, Jesus Christ alone is the source of eternal contentment, He calls now to whosoever thirsts, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28).
Copyright (c) 2009 Immutable Word Ministries ("...the word of our God stands forever." Isa. 40:8).
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Thanksgiving Day
By Catherine Millard
Many Americans think of Thanksgiving as a wonderful time to celebrate getting out of school for a long weekend, and eating a great dinner. Or, maybe they think it is the start of the Christmas holiday season. What is the real meaning behind Thanksgiving? Catherine Millard writes:
We can trace this historic American Christian tradition to the year 1623. After the harvest crops were gathered in November 1623, Governor William Bradford of the 1620 Pilgrim Colony, “Plymouth Plantation” in Plymouth, Massachusetts proclaimed:
"All ye Pilgrims with your wives and little ones, do gather at the Meeting House, on the hill… there to listen to the pastor, and render Thanksgiving to the Almighty God for all His blessings."
This is the origin of our annual Thanksgiving Day celebration. Congress of the United States has proclaimed National Days of Thanksgiving to Almighty God many times throughout the following years. On November 1, 1777, by order of Congress, the first National Thanksgiving Proclamation was proclaimed, and signed by Henry Laurens, President of Continental Congress. The third Thursday of December, 1777 was thus officially set aside:
"…for solemn thanksgiving and praise. That with one heart and one voice the good people may express the grateful feelings of their hearts, and consecrate themselves to the service of their Divine Benefactor;… and their humble and earnest supplication that it may please God, through the merits of Jesus Christ, mercifully to forgive and blot them (their manifold sins) out of remembrance… That it may please Him… to take schools and seminaries of education, so necessary for cultivating the principles of true liberty, virtue and piety under His nurturing hand, and to prosper the means of religion for the promotion and enlargement of that kingdom which consisteth of 'righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost'…"
Then again, on January 1, 1795, our first United States President, George Washington, wrote his famed National Thanksgiving Proclamation, in which he says that it is…
"…our duty as a people, with devout reverence and affectionate gratitude, to acknowledge our many and great obligations to Almighty God, and to implore Him to continue is… our duty as a people, with devout reverence and affectionate gratitude, to acknowledge our many and great obligations to Almighty God, and to implore Him to continue and confirm the blessings we experienced…"
Thursday, the 19th day of February, 1795 was thus set aside by George Washington as a National Day of Thanksgiving. Many years later, on October 3, 1863, Abraham Lincoln proclaimed, by Act of Congress, an annual National Day of Thanksgiving "on the last Thursday of November, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens." In this Thanksgiving proclamation, our 16th President says that it is…
"…announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations are blessed whose God is the Lord… But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, by the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own… It has seemed to me fit and proper that God should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people…"
So it is that on Thanksgiving Day each year, Americans give thanks to Almighty God for all His blessings and mercies toward us throughout the year.
Many Americans think of Thanksgiving as a wonderful time to celebrate getting out of school for a long weekend, and eating a great dinner. Or, maybe they think it is the start of the Christmas holiday season. What is the real meaning behind Thanksgiving? Catherine Millard writes:
We can trace this historic American Christian tradition to the year 1623. After the harvest crops were gathered in November 1623, Governor William Bradford of the 1620 Pilgrim Colony, “Plymouth Plantation” in Plymouth, Massachusetts proclaimed:
"All ye Pilgrims with your wives and little ones, do gather at the Meeting House, on the hill… there to listen to the pastor, and render Thanksgiving to the Almighty God for all His blessings."
This is the origin of our annual Thanksgiving Day celebration. Congress of the United States has proclaimed National Days of Thanksgiving to Almighty God many times throughout the following years. On November 1, 1777, by order of Congress, the first National Thanksgiving Proclamation was proclaimed, and signed by Henry Laurens, President of Continental Congress. The third Thursday of December, 1777 was thus officially set aside:
"…for solemn thanksgiving and praise. That with one heart and one voice the good people may express the grateful feelings of their hearts, and consecrate themselves to the service of their Divine Benefactor;… and their humble and earnest supplication that it may please God, through the merits of Jesus Christ, mercifully to forgive and blot them (their manifold sins) out of remembrance… That it may please Him… to take schools and seminaries of education, so necessary for cultivating the principles of true liberty, virtue and piety under His nurturing hand, and to prosper the means of religion for the promotion and enlargement of that kingdom which consisteth of 'righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost'…"
Then again, on January 1, 1795, our first United States President, George Washington, wrote his famed National Thanksgiving Proclamation, in which he says that it is…
"…our duty as a people, with devout reverence and affectionate gratitude, to acknowledge our many and great obligations to Almighty God, and to implore Him to continue is… our duty as a people, with devout reverence and affectionate gratitude, to acknowledge our many and great obligations to Almighty God, and to implore Him to continue and confirm the blessings we experienced…"
Thursday, the 19th day of February, 1795 was thus set aside by George Washington as a National Day of Thanksgiving. Many years later, on October 3, 1863, Abraham Lincoln proclaimed, by Act of Congress, an annual National Day of Thanksgiving "on the last Thursday of November, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens." In this Thanksgiving proclamation, our 16th President says that it is…
"…announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations are blessed whose God is the Lord… But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, by the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own… It has seemed to me fit and proper that God should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people…"
So it is that on Thanksgiving Day each year, Americans give thanks to Almighty God for all His blessings and mercies toward us throughout the year.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Sabbath for the Christian
11.24.09
J.A. Matteson
"Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you." Deuteronomy 5:12
The spiritual significance of Sabbath for the Christian is summed up in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The origin of the Hebrew word Sabbath is sabbat from the toot bat which means to cease or to rest. At Mt. Sinai the Lord delivered His covenant to Israel and codified the idea of Sabbath introduced earlier, “Tomorrow is a Sabbath observance, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. Bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over put aside to be kept until morning" (Ex. 16:22).
At this time Israel understood the Sabbath as integral to the Lords act of creation where on the seventh day of creation He rested, and the imago dei in man required His people to rest as He rested as a perpetual reminder of His governance and provision, “For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy” (Ex. 20:11). In this passage from Deuteronomy Moses restates the covenant to Israel given by the Lord at Mt. Sinai, but this time in the broader context he mentions Israel’s deliverance from Egyptian bondage as the basis for the Sabbath observance, “You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to observe the Sabbath day” (Deut. 5:15).
For the nation of Israel they understood Sabbath as the perpetual reminder of the Lord’s act of creation of the heavens and the earth and His delivering them from Egyptian bondage. The early church began meeting on the first day of the week, Sunday, rather than the last day of the week, Saturday, which had been the traditional day of Sabbath observance for the Jews in accordance to the Decalogue and the reason for this change is wrapped up in the theological significance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The resurrection of the Son of God signified that His atoning work on the cross was acceptable to the Father to save His people from their bondage to sin, being new creations in Christ Jesus to the glory of the Father. The description of Christians as those who are “in Christ” is a summary statement of their redemption whereby they are elected in Christ, “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him” (Eph. 1:4), justified, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1), sanctified, “To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ….” (1 Cor. 1:2), and glorified, “and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified” (Rom. 8:30).
The tie for the believer between the Lord’s Day of resurrection (Sunday) and the Sabbath is two fold: first, the believer is a new creation in Christ Jesus, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Cor. 5:17); second, the believer as a new creation has been set free from the bondage of sin and death, “…and having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness” (Rom. 6:18). The old covenant understanding of Sabbath anchored in the six days of creation and deliverance from Egyptian bondage foreshadowed the atoning work of Jesus Christ. The resurrection speaks to both the Father’s approval of the Son’s atoning death for His people and to the reality of their spiritual resurrection/creation to new life in Christ Jesus.
With the resurrection the old covenant of the Law became obsolete, giving way to a new covenant—a better covenant (Heb. 7:22)--of grace with the Law of God written on the heart. The early church established the pattern of meeting for worship and Sabbath rest on the Lord’s Day in commemoration of His completed work of atonement, recognizing that in Christ they were literally new creations, set free from bondage to sin and death.
Copyright (c) 2009 Immutable Word Ministries ("...the word of our God stands forever." Isa. 40:8).
J.A. Matteson
"Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you." Deuteronomy 5:12
The spiritual significance of Sabbath for the Christian is summed up in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The origin of the Hebrew word Sabbath is sabbat from the toot bat which means to cease or to rest. At Mt. Sinai the Lord delivered His covenant to Israel and codified the idea of Sabbath introduced earlier, “Tomorrow is a Sabbath observance, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. Bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over put aside to be kept until morning" (Ex. 16:22).
At this time Israel understood the Sabbath as integral to the Lords act of creation where on the seventh day of creation He rested, and the imago dei in man required His people to rest as He rested as a perpetual reminder of His governance and provision, “For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy” (Ex. 20:11). In this passage from Deuteronomy Moses restates the covenant to Israel given by the Lord at Mt. Sinai, but this time in the broader context he mentions Israel’s deliverance from Egyptian bondage as the basis for the Sabbath observance, “You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to observe the Sabbath day” (Deut. 5:15).
For the nation of Israel they understood Sabbath as the perpetual reminder of the Lord’s act of creation of the heavens and the earth and His delivering them from Egyptian bondage. The early church began meeting on the first day of the week, Sunday, rather than the last day of the week, Saturday, which had been the traditional day of Sabbath observance for the Jews in accordance to the Decalogue and the reason for this change is wrapped up in the theological significance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The resurrection of the Son of God signified that His atoning work on the cross was acceptable to the Father to save His people from their bondage to sin, being new creations in Christ Jesus to the glory of the Father. The description of Christians as those who are “in Christ” is a summary statement of their redemption whereby they are elected in Christ, “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him” (Eph. 1:4), justified, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1), sanctified, “To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ….” (1 Cor. 1:2), and glorified, “and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified” (Rom. 8:30).
The tie for the believer between the Lord’s Day of resurrection (Sunday) and the Sabbath is two fold: first, the believer is a new creation in Christ Jesus, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Cor. 5:17); second, the believer as a new creation has been set free from the bondage of sin and death, “…and having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness” (Rom. 6:18). The old covenant understanding of Sabbath anchored in the six days of creation and deliverance from Egyptian bondage foreshadowed the atoning work of Jesus Christ. The resurrection speaks to both the Father’s approval of the Son’s atoning death for His people and to the reality of their spiritual resurrection/creation to new life in Christ Jesus.
With the resurrection the old covenant of the Law became obsolete, giving way to a new covenant—a better covenant (Heb. 7:22)--of grace with the Law of God written on the heart. The early church established the pattern of meeting for worship and Sabbath rest on the Lord’s Day in commemoration of His completed work of atonement, recognizing that in Christ they were literally new creations, set free from bondage to sin and death.
Copyright (c) 2009 Immutable Word Ministries ("...the word of our God stands forever." Isa. 40:8).
Monday, November 23, 2009
Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience
Drafted October 20, 2009
Released November 20, 2009
PREAMBLE
"Christians are heirs of a 2,000year tradition of proclaiming God’s word, seeking justice in our societies, resisting tyranny, and reaching out with compassion to the poor, oppressed and suffering. While fully acknowledging the imperfections and shortcomings of Christian institutions and communities in all ages, we claim the heritage of those Christians who defended innocent life by rescuing discarded babies from trash heaps in Roman cities and publicly denouncing the Empire’s sanctioning of infanticide. We remember with reverence those believers who sacrificed their lives by remaining in Roman cities to tend the sick and dying during the plagues, and who died bravely in the coliseums rather than deny their Lord.
After the barbarian tribes overran Europe, Christian monasteries preserved not only the Bible but also the literature and art of Western culture. It was Christians who combated the evil of slavery: Papal edicts in the 16 th and 17 th centuries decried the practice of slavery and first excommunicated anyone involved in the slave trade; evangelical Christians in England, led by John Wesley and William Wilberforce, put an end to the slave trade in that country. Christians under Wilberforce’s leadership also formed hundreds of societies for helping the poor, the imprisoned, and child laborers chained to machines.
In Europe, Christians challenged the divine claims of kings and successfully fought to establish the rule of law and balance of governmental powers, which made modern democracy possible. And in America, Christian women stood at the vanguard of the suffrage movement. The great civil rights crusades of the 1950s and 60s were led by Christians claiming the Scriptures and asserting the glory of the image of God in every human being regardless of race, religion, age or class. This same devotion to human dignity has led Christians in the last decade to work to end the dehumanizing scourge of human trafficking and sexual slavery, bring compassionate care to AIDS sufferers in Africa, and assist in a myriad of other human rights causes – from providing clean water in developing nations to providing homes for tens of thousands of children orphaned by war, disease and gender discrimination.
Like those who have gone before us in the faith, Christians today are called to proclaim the Gospel of costly grace, to protect the intrinsic dignity of the human person and to stand for the common good. In being true to its own calling, the call to discipleship, the church through service to others can make a profound contribution to the public good.
DECLARATION
We, as Orthodox, Catholic, and Evangelical Christians, have gathered, beginning in New York on September 28, 2009, to make the following declaration, which we sign as individuals, not on behalf of our organizations, but speaking to and from our communities. We act together in obedience to the one true God, the triune God of holiness and love, who has laid total claim on our lives and by that claim calls us with believers in all ages and all nations to seek and defend the good of all who bear his image. We set forth this declaration in light of the truth that is grounded in Holy Scripture, in natural human reason (which is itself, in our view, the gift of a beneficent God), and in the very nature of the human person. We call upon all people of goodwill, believers and nonbelievers alike, to consider carefully and reflect critically on the issues we here address as we, with St. Paul, commend this appeal to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.
While the whole scope of Christian moral concern, including a special concern for the poor and vulnerable, claims our attention, we are especially troubled that in our nation today the lives of the unborn, the disabled, and the elderly are severely threatened; that the institution of marriage, already buffeted by promiscuity, infidelity and divorce, is in jeopardy of being redefined to accommodate fashionable ideologies; that freedom of religion and the rights of conscience are gravely jeopardized by those who would use the instruments of coercion to compel persons of faith to compromise their deepest convictions.
Because the sanctity of human life, the dignity of marriage as a union of husband and wife, and the freedom of conscience and religion are foundational principles of justice and the common good, we are compelled by our Christian faith to speak and act in their defense. In this declaration we affirm: 1) the profound, inherent, and equal dignity of every human being as a creature fashioned in the very image of God, possessing inherent rights of equal dignity and life; 2) marriage as a conjugal union of man and woman, ordained by God from the creation, and historically understood by believers and nonbelievers alike, to be the most basic institution in society and; 3) religious liberty, which is grounded in the character of God, the example of Christ, and the inherent freedom and dignity of human beings created in the divine image.
We are Christians who have joined together across historic lines of ecclesial differences to affirm our right—and, more importantly, to embrace our obligation—to speak and act in defense of these truths. We pledge to each other, and to our fellow believers, that no power on earth, be it cultural or political, will intimidate us into silence or acquiescence. It is our duty to proclaim the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in its fullness, both in season and out of season. May God help us not to fail in that duty.
LIFE
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10
Although public sentiment has moved in a prolife direction, we note with sadness that proabortion ideology prevails today in our government. The present administration is led and staffed by those who want to make abortions legal at any stage of fetal development, and who want to provide abortions at taxpayer expense. Majorities in both houses of Congress hold proabortion views. The Supreme Court, whose infamous 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade stripped the unborn of legal protection, continues to treat elective abortion as a fundamental constitutional right, though it has upheld as constitutionally permissible some limited restrictions on abortion.
The President says that he wants to reduce the “need” for abortion—a commendable goal. But he has also pledged to make abortion more easily and widely available by eliminating laws prohibiting government funding, requiring waiting periods for women seeking abortions, and parental notification for abortions performed on minors. The elimination of these important and effective prolife laws cannot reasonably be expected to do other than significantly increase the number of elective abortions by which the lives of countless children are snuffed out prior to birth.
Our commitment to the sanctity of life is not a matter of partisan loyalty, for we recognize that in the thirtysix years since Roe v. Wade, elected officials and appointees of both major political parties have been complicit in giving legal sanction to what Pope John Paul II described as “the culture of death.” We call on all officials in our country, elected and appointed, to protect and serve every member of our society, including the most marginalized, voiceless, and vulnerable among us. A culture of death inevitably cheapens life in all its stages and conditions by promoting the belief that lives that are imperfect, immature or inconvenient are discardable. As predicted by many prescient persons, the cheapening of life that began with abortion has now metastasized. For example, human embryodestructive research and its public funding are promoted in the name of science and in the cause of developing treatments and cures for diseases and injuries. The President and many in Congress favor the expansion of embryoresearch to include the taxpayer funding of so called “therapeutic cloning.” This would result in the industrial mass production of human embryos to be killed for the purpose of producing genetically customized stem cell lines and tissues. At the other end of life, an increasingly powerful movement to promote assisted suicide and “voluntary” euthanasia threatens the lives of vulnerable elderly and disabled persons.
Eugenic notions such as the doctrine of lebensunwertes Leben (“life unworthy of life”) were first advanced in the 1920s by intellectuals in the elite salons of America and Europe. Long buried in ignominy after the horrors of the mid 20th century, they have returned from the grave. The only difference is that now the doctrines of the eugenicists are dressed up in the language of “liberty,” “autonomy,” and “choice.” We will be united and untiring in our efforts to roll back the license to kill that began with the abandonment of the unborn to abortion. We will work, as we have always worked, to bring assistance, comfort, and care to pregnant women in need and to those who have been victimized by abortion, even as we stand resolutely against the corrupt and degrading notion that it can somehow be in the best interests of women to submit to the deliberate killing of their unborn children. Our message is, and ever shall be, that the just, humane, and truly Christian answer to problem pregnancies is for all of us to love and care for mother and child alike.
A truly prophetic Christian witness will insistently call on those who have been entrusted with temporal power to fulfill the first responsibility of government: to protect the weak and vulnerable against violent attack, and to do so with no favoritism, partiality, or discrimination. The Bible enjoins us to defend those who cannot defend themselves, to speak for those who cannot themselves speak. And so we defend and speak for the unborn, the disabled, and the dependent. What the Bible and the light of reason make clear, we must make clear. We must be willing to defend, even at risk and cost to ourselves and our institutions, the lives of our brothers and sisters at every stage of development and in every condition. Our concern is not confined to our own nation. Around the globe, we are witnessing cases of genocide and “ethnic cleansing,” the failure to assist those who are suffering as innocent victims of war, the neglect and abuse of children, the exploitation of vulnerable laborers, the sexual trafficking of girls and young women, the abandonment of the aged, racial oppression and discrimination, the persecution of believers of all faiths, and the failure to take steps necessary to halt the spread of preventable diseases like AIDS. We see these travesties as flowing from the same loss of the sense of the dignity of the human person and the sanctity of human life that drives the abortion industry and the movements for assisted suicide, euthanasia, and human cloning for biomedical research. And so ours is, as it must be, a truly consistent ethic of love and life for all humans in all circumstances.
MARRIAGE
The man said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, for she was taken out of man." For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. Genesis 2:23-24
This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. Ephesians 5:32-33
In Scripture, the creation of man and woman, and their one flesh union as husband and wife, is the crowning achievement of God’s creation. In the transmission of life and the nurturing of children, men and women joined as spouses are given the great honor of being partners with God Himself. Marriage then, is the first institution of human society—indeed it is the institution on which all other human institutions have their foundation. In the Christian tradition we refer to marriage as “holy matrimony” to signal the fact that it is an institution ordained by God, and blessed by Christ in his participation at a wedding in Cana of Galilee. In the Bible, God Himself blesses and holds marriage in the highest esteem.
Vast human experience confirms that marriage is the original and most important institution for sustaining the health, education, and welfare of all persons in a society. Where marriage is honored, and where there is a flourishing marriage culture, everyone benefits—the spouses themselves, their children, the communities and societies in which they live. Where the marriage culture begins to erode, social pathologies of every sort quickly manifest themselves. Unfortunately, we have witnessed over the course of the past several decades a serious erosion of the marriage culture in our own country. Perhaps the most telling—and alarming—indicator is the outofwedlock birth rate. Less than fifty years ago, it was under 5 percent. Today it is over 40 percent. Our society—and particularly its poorest and most vulnerable sectors, where the outofwedlock birth rate is much higher even than the national average—is paying a huge price in delinquency, drug abuse, crime, incarceration, hopelessness, and despair. Other indicators are widespread nonmarital sexual cohabitation and a devastatingly high rate of divorce.
We confess with sadness that Christians and our institutions have too often scandalously failed to uphold the institution of marriage and to model for the world the true meaning of marriage. Insofar as we have too easily embraced the culture of divorce and remained silent about social practices that undermine the dignity of marriage we repent, and call upon all Christians to do the same. To strengthen families, we must stop glamorizing promiscuity and infidelity and restore among our people a sense of the profound beauty, mystery, and holiness of faithful marital love. We must reform illadvised policies that contribute to the weakening of the institution of marriage, including the discredited idea of unilateral divorce. We must work in the legal, cultural, and religious domains to instill in young people a sound understanding of what marriage is, what it requires, and why it is worth the commitment and sacrifices that faithful spouses make.
The impulse to redefine marriage in order to recognize same sex and multiple partner relationships is a symptom, rather than the cause, of the erosion of the marriage culture. It reflects a loss of understanding of the meaning of marriage as embodied in our civil and religious law and in the philosophical tradition that contributed to shaping the law. Yet it is critical that the impulse be resisted, for yielding to it would mean abandoning the possibility of restoring a sound understanding of marriage and, with it, the hope of rebuilding a healthy marriage culture. It would lock into place the false and destructive belief that marriage is all about romance and other adult satisfactions, and not, in any intrinsic way, about procreation and the unique character and value of acts and relationships whose meaning is shaped by their aptness for the generation, promotion and protection of life. In spousal communion and the rearing of children (who, as gifts of God, are the fruit of their parents’ marital love), we discover the profound reasons for and benefits of the marriage covenant.
We acknowledge that there are those who are disposed towards homosexual and polyamorous conduct and relationships, just as there are those who are disposed towards other forms of immoral conduct. We have compassion for those so disposed; we respect them as human beings possessing profound, inherent, and equal dignity; and we pay tribute to the men and women who strive, often with little assistance, to resist the temptation to yield to desires that they, no less than we, regard as wayward. We stand with them, even when they falter. We, no less than they, are sinners who have fallen short of God’s intention for our lives. We, no less than they, are in constant need of God’s patience, love and forgiveness. We call on the entire Christian community to resist sexual immorality, and at the same time refrain from disdainful condemnation of those who yield to it. Our rejection of sin, though resolute, must never become the rejection of sinners. For every sinner, regardless of the sin, is loved by God, who seeks not our destruction but rather the conversion of our hearts. Jesus calls all who wander from the path of virtue to “a more excellent way.” As his disciples we will reach out in love to assist all who hear the call and wish to answer it.
We further acknowledge that there are sincere people who disagree with us, and with the teaching of the Bible and Christian tradition, on questions of sexual morality and the nature of marriage. Some who enter into same sex and polyamorous relationships no doubt regard their unions as truly marital. They fail to understand, however, that marriage is made possible by the sexual complementarity of man and woman, and that the comprehensive, multilevel sharing of life that marriage is includes bodily unity of the sort that unites husband and wife biologically as a reproductive unit. This is because the body is no mere extrinsic instrument of the human person, but truly part of the personal reality of the human being. Human beings are not merely centers of consciousness or emotion, or minds, or spirits, inhabiting nonpersonal bodies. The human person is a dynamic unity of body, mind, and spirit. Marriage is what one man and one woman establish when, forsaking all others and pledging lifelong commitment, they found a sharing of life at every level of being—the biological, the emotional, the dispositional, the rational, the spiritual—on a commitment that is sealed, completed and actualized by loving sexual intercourse in which the spouses become one flesh, not in some merely metaphorical sense, but by fulfilling together the behavioral conditions of procreation. That is why in the Christian tradition, and historically in Western law, consummated marriages are not dissoluble or annullable on the ground of infertility, even though the nature of the marital relationship is shaped and structured by its intrinsic orientation to the great good of procreation.
We understand that many of our fellow citizens, including some Christians, believe that the historic definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman is a denial of equality or civil rights. They wonder what to say in reply to the argument that asserts that no harm would be done to them or to anyone if the law of the community were to confer upon two men or two women who are living together in a sexual partnership the status of being “married.” It would not, after all, affect their own marriages, would it? On inspection, however, the argument that laws governing one kind of marriage will not affect another cannot stand. Were it to prove anything, it would prove far too much: the assumption that the legal status of one set of marriage relationships affects no other would not only argue for same sex partnerships; it could be asserted with equal validity for polyamorous partnerships, polygamous households, even adult brothers, sisters, or brothers and sisters living in incestuous relationships. Should these, as a matter of equality or civil rights, be recognized as lawful marriages, and would they have no effects on other relationships? No. The truth is that marriage is not something abstract or neutral that the law may legitimately define and redefine to please those who are powerful and influential.
No one has a civil right to have a nonmarital relationship treated as a marriage. Marriage is an objective reality—a covenantal union of husband and wife—that it is the duty of the law to recognize and support for the sake of justice and the common good. If it fails to do so, genuine social harms follow. First, the religious liberty of those for whom this is a matter of conscience is jeopardized. Second, the rights of parents are abused as family life and sex education programs in schools are used to teach children that an enlightened understanding recognizes as “marriages” sexual partnerships that many parents believe are intrinsically nonmarital and immoral. Third, the common good of civil society is damaged when the law itself, in its critical pedagogical function, becomes a tool for eroding a sound understanding of marriage on which the flourishing of the marriage culture in any society vitally depends. Sadly, we are today far from having a thriving marriage culture. But if we are to begin the critically important process of reforming our laws and mores to rebuild such a culture, the last thing we can afford to do is to redefine marriage in such a way as to embody in our laws a false proclamation about what marriage is. And so it is out of love (not “animus”) and prudent concern for the common good (not “prejudice”), that we pledge to labor ceaselessly to preserve the legal definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman and to rebuild the marriage culture. How could we, as Christians, do otherwise? The Bible teaches us that marriage is a central part of God’s creation covenant. Indeed, the union of husband and wife mirrors the bond between Christ and his church. And so just as Christ was willing, out of love, to give Himself up for the church in a complete sacrifice, we are willing, lovingly, to make whatever sacrifices are required of us for the sake of the inestimable treasure that is marriage.
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners. Isaiah 61:1
Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's. Matthew 22:21
The struggle for religious liberty across the centuries has been long and arduous, but it is not a novel idea or recent development. The nature of religious liberty is grounded in the character of God Himself, the God who is most fully known in the life and work of Jesus Christ. Determined to follow Jesus faithfully in life and death, the early Christians appealed to the manner in which the Incarnation had taken place: “Did God send Christ, as some suppose, as a tyrant brandishing fear and terror? Not so, but in gentleness and meekness..., for compulsion is no attribute of God” (Epistle to Diognetus 7.34).
Thus the right to religious freedom has its foundation in the example of Christ Himself and in the very dignity of the human person created in the image of God—a dignity, as our founders proclaimed, inherent in every human, and knowable by all in the exercise of right reason. Christians confess that God alone is Lord of the conscience. Immunity from religious coercion is the cornerstone of an unconstrained conscience. No one should be compelled to embrace any religion against his will, nor should persons of faith be forbidden to worship God according to the dictates of conscience or to express freely and publicly their deeply held religious convictions. What is true for individuals applies to religious communities as well. It is ironic that those who today assert a right to kill the unborn, aged and disabled and also a right to engage in immoral sexual practices, and even a right to have relationships integrated around these practices be recognized and blessed by law—such persons claiming these “rights” are very often in the vanguard of those who would trample upon the freedom of others to express their religious and moral commitments to the sanctity of life and to the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife.
We see this, for example, in the effort to weaken or eliminate conscience clauses, and therefore to compel prolife institutions (including religiously affiliated hospitals and clinics), and prolife physicians, surgeons, nurses, and other health care professionals, to refer for abortions and, in certain cases, even to perform or participate in abortions. We see it in the use of antidiscrimination statutes to force religious institutions, businesses, and service providers of various sorts to comply with activities they judge to be deeply immoral or go out of business. After the judicial imposition of “same sex marriage” in Massachusetts, for example, Catholic Charities chose with great reluctance to end its century long work of helping to place orphaned children in good homes rather than comply with a legal mandate that it place children in same sex households in violation of Catholic moral teaching. In New Jersey, after the establishment of a quasimarital “civil unions” scheme, a Methodist institution was stripped of its tax exempt status when it declined, as a matter of religious conscience, to permit a facility it owned and operated to be used for ceremonies blessing homosexual unions. In Canada and some European nations, Christian clergy have been prosecuted for preaching Biblical norms against the practice of homosexuality.
New hate crime laws in America raise the specter of the same practice here. In recent decades a growing body of case law has paralleled the decline in respect for religious values in the media, the academy and political leadership, resulting in restrictions on the free exercise of religion. We view this as an ominous development, not only because of its threat to the individual liberty guaranteed to every person, regardless of his or her faith, but because the trend also threatens the common welfare and the culture of freedom on which our system of republican government is founded. Restrictions on the freedom of conscience or the ability to hire people of one’s own faith or conscientious moral convictions for religious institutions, for example, undermines the viability of the intermediate structures of society, the essential buffer against the overweening authority of the state, resulting in the soft despotism Tocqueville so prophetically warned of.
Disintegration of civil society is a prelude to tyranny. As Christians, we take seriously the Biblical admonition to respect and obey those in authority. We believe in law and in the rule of law. We recognize the duty to comply with laws whether we happen to like them or not, unless the laws are gravely unjust or require those subject to them to do something unjust or otherwise immoral. The biblical purpose of law is to preserve order and serve justice and the common good; yet laws that are unjust—and especially laws that purport to compel citizens to do what is unjust—undermine the common good, rather than serve it. Going back to the earliest days of the church, Christians have refused to compromise their proclamation of the gospel. In Acts 4, Peter and John were ordered to stop preaching. Their answer was, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” Through the centuries, Christianity has taught that civil disobedience is not only permitted, but sometimes required. There is no more eloquent defense of the rights and duties of religious conscience than the one offered by Martin Luther King, Jr., in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail. Writing from an explicitly Christian perspective, and citing Christian writers such as Augustine and Aquinas, King taught that just laws elevate and ennoble human beings because they are rooted in the moral law whose ultimate source is God Himself. Unjust laws degrade human beings. Inasmuch as they can claim no authority beyond sheer human will, they lack any power to bind in conscience. King’s willingness to go to jail, rather than comply with legal injustice, was exemplary and inspiring.
Because we honor justice and the common good, we will not comply with any edict that purports to compel our institutions to participate in abortions, embryodestructive research, assisted suicide and euthanasia, or any other antilife act; nor will we bend to any rule purporting to force us to bless immoral sexual partnerships, treat them as marriages or the equivalent, or refrain from proclaiming the truth, as we know it, about morality and immorality and marriage and the family. We will fully and ungrudgingly render to Caesar what is Caesar’s. But under no circumstances
will we render to Caesar what is God’s."
Original List of Signers:
Drafting Committee
* Robert George
Professor, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, Princeton University
* Timothy George
Professor, Beeson Divinity School, Samford University
* Chuck Colson
Founder, The Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview (Lansdowne, Va.)
Signers (as of November 19, 2009)
1. Dr. Daniel Akin
President, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (Wake Forest, N.C.)
2. Most Rev. Peter J. Akinola
Primate, Anglican Church of Nigeria (Abika, Nigeria)
3. Randy Alcorn
Founder and Director, Eternal Perspective Ministries (EPM) (Sandy, Ore.)
4. Rt. Rev. David Anderson
President and CEO, American Anglican Council (Atlanta)
5. Leith Anderson
President of National Association of Evangelicals (Washington, D.C.)
6. Charlotte K. Ardizzone
TV Show Host and Speaker, INSP Television (Charlotte, N.C.)
7. Kay Arthur
CEO and Co-founder, Precept Ministries International (Chattanooga, Tenn.)
8. Dr. Mark L. Bailey
President, Dallas Theological Seminary (Dallas)
9. Most Rev. Craig W. Bates
Archbishop, International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church (Malverne, N.Y.)
10. Gary Bauer
President, American Values; Chairman, Campaign for Working Families
11. His Grace, The Right Reverend Bishop Basil Essey
The Right Reverend Bishop of the Diocese of Wichita and Mid-America (Wichita, Kan.)
12. Joel Belz
Founder, World Magazine (Asheville, N.C.)
13. Rev. Michael L. Beresford
Managing Director of Church Relations, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (Charlotte, N.C.)
14. Ken Boa
President, Reflections Ministries (Atlanta)
15. Joseph Bottum
Editor of First Things (New York)
16. Pastor Randy & Sarah Brannon
Senior Pastor, Grace Community Church (Madera, Calif.)
17. Steve Brown
National Radio Broadcaster, Key Life (Maitland, Fla.)
18. Dr. Robert C. Cannada, Jr.
Chancellor and CEO, Reformed Theological Seminary (Orlando, Fla.)
19. Galen Carey
Director of Government Affairs, National Association of Evangelicals (Washington, D.C.)
20. Dr. Bryan Chapell
President, Covenant Theological Seminary (St. Louis)
21. Most Rev. Charles J. Chaput
Archbishop, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Denver
22. Timothy Clinton
President, American Association of Christian Counselors (Forest, Va.)
23. Chuck Colson
Founder, The Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview (Lansdowne, Va.)
24. Most Rev. Salvatore Joseph Cordileone
Bishop, Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland, Calif.
25. Dr. Gary Culpepper
Associate Professor, Providence College (Providence, R.I.)
26. Jim Daly
President and CEO, Focus on the Family (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
27. Marjorie Dannenfelser
President, Susan B. Anthony List (Arlington, Va.)
28. Rev. Daniel Delgado
Board of Directors, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference; Pastor,
Third Day Missions Church (Staten Island, N.Y.)
29. Patrick J. Deneen
Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis Associate Professor and Director, The Tocqueville Forum
on the Roots of American Democracy, Georgetown University (Washington, D.C.)
30. Dr. James Dobson
Founder, Focus on the Family (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
31. Dr. David Dockery
President, Union University (Jackson, Tenn.)
32. Most Rev. Timothy Dolan
Archbishop, Roman Catholic Diocese of New York, N.Y.
33. Dr. William Donohue
President, Catholic League (New York)
34. Dr. James T. Draper, Jr.
President Emeritus, LifeWay (Nashville, Tenn.)
35. Dinesh D'Souza
Writer and Speaker (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.)
36. Most Rev. Robert Wm. Duncan
Archbishop and Primate, Anglican Church in North America (Ambridge, Pa. )
37. Dr. Michael Easley
President Emeritus, Moody Bible Institute (Chicago)
38. Dr. William Edgar
Professor, Westminster Theological Seminary (Philadelphia)
39. Brett Elder
Executive Director, Stewardship Council (Grand Rapids, Mich.
40. Rev. Joel Elowsky
Drew University (Madison, N.J.)
41. Stuart Epperson
Co-Founder and Chariman of the Board, Salem Communications Corporation (Camarillo, Calif.)
42. Rev. Jonathan Falwell
Senior Pastor, Thomas Road Baptist Church (Lynchburg, Va.)
43. William J. Federer
President, Amerisearch, Inc. (St. Louis)
44. Fr. Joseph D. Fessio
Founder and Editor, Ignatius Press (Ft. Collins, Colo.)
45. Carmen Fowler
President and Executive Editor, Presbyterian Lay Committee (Lenoir, N.C.)
46. Maggie Gallagher
President, National Organization for Marriage (Manassas, Va.)
47. Dr. Jim Garlow
Senior Pastor, Skyline Church (La Mesa, Calif.)
48. Steven Garofalo
Senior Consultant, Search and Assessment Services (Charlotte, N.C.)
49. Dr. Robert P. George
McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, Princeton University (Princeton, N.J.)
50. Dr. Timothy George
Dean and Professor of Divinity, Beeson Divinity School at Samford University (Birmingham, Ala.)
51. Thomas Gilson
Director of Strategic Processes, Campus Crusade for Christ International (Norfolk, Va.)
52. Dr. Jack Graham
Pastor, Prestonwood Baptist Church (Plano, Texas)
53. Dr. Wayne Grudem
Research Professor of Theological and Biblical Studies, Phoenix Seminary (Phoenix)
54. Dr. Cornell "Corkie" Haan
National Facilitator of Spiritual Unity, The Mission America Coalition (Palm Desert, Calif.)
55. Fr. Chad Hatfield
Chancellor, CEO and Archpriest, St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary (Yonkers, N.Y.)
56. Dr. Dennis Hollinger
President and Professor of Christian Ethics, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (South Hamilton, Mass.)
57. Dr. Jeanette Hsieh
Executive Vice President and Provost, Trinity International University (Deerfield, Ill.)
58. Dr. John A. Huffman, Jr.
Senior Pastor, St. Andrews Presbyterian Church (Newport Beach, Calif.); Chairman of the Board, Christianity Today International (Carol Stream, Ill.)
59. Rev. Ken Hutcherson
Pastor, Antioch Bible Church (Kirkland, Wash.)
60. Bishop Harry R. Jackson, Jr.
Senior Pastor, Hope Christian Church (Beltsville, Md.)
61. Fr. Johannes L. Jacobse
President, American Orthodox Institute; Editor, OrthodoxyToday.org (Naples, Fla.)
62. Jerry Jenkins
Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Moody Bible Institute (Black Forest, Colo.)
63. Camille Kampouris
Editorial Board, Kairos Journal
64. Emmanuel A. Kampouris
Publisher, Kairos Journal
65. Rev. Tim Keller
Senior Pastor, Redeemer Presbyterian Church (New York)
66. Dr. Peter Kreeft
Professor of Philosophy, Boston College (Mass.) and at the Kings College (N.Y.)
67. Most Rev. Joseph E. Kurtz
Archbishop, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville, Ky.
68. Jim Kushiner
Editor, Touchstone (Chicago)
69. Dr. Richard Land
President, The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the SBC (Washington, D.C.)
70. Jim Law
Senior Associate Pastor, First Baptist Church (Woodstock, Ga.)
71. Dr. Matthew Levering
Associate Professor of Theology, Ave Maria University (Naples, Fla.)
72. Dr. Peter Lillback
President, The Providence Forum (West Conshohocken, Pa.)
73. Dr. Duane Litfin
President, Wheaton College (Wheaton, Ill.)
74. Rev. Herb Lusk
Pastor, Greater Exodus Baptist Church (Philadelphia)
75. His Eminence Adam Cardinal Maida
Archbishop Emeritus, Roman Catholic Diocese of Detroit
76. Most Rev. Richard J. Malone
Bishop, Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, Maine
77. Rev. Francis Martin
Professor of Sacred Scripture, Sacred Heart Major Seminary (Detroit)
78. Dr. Joseph Mattera
Bishop and Senior Pastor, Resurrection Church (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
79. Phil Maxwell
Pastor, Gateway Church (Bridgewater, N.J.)
80. Josh McDowell
Founder, Josh McDowell Ministries (Plano, Texas)
81. Alex McFarland
President, Southern Evangelical Seminary (Charlotte, N.C.)
82. Most Rev. George Dallas McKinney
Bishop, Founder and Pastor, St. Stephen's Church of God in Christ (San Diego)
83. Rt. Rev. Martyn Minns
Missionary Bishop, Convocation of Anglicans of North America (Herndon, Va.)
84. Dr. C. Ben Mitchell
Graves Professor of Moral Philosophy, Union University (Jackson, Tenn.)
85. Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr.
President, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Louisville, Ky.)
86. Dr. Russell D. Moore
Senior Vice President for Academic Administration and Dean of the School of Theology, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Louisville, Ky.)
87. Most Rev. John J. Myers
Archbishop, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark, N.J.
88. Most Rev. Joseph F. Naumann
Archbishop, Roman Catholic Diocese of Kansas City, Kan.
89. David Neff
Editor-in-Chief, Christianity Today (Carol Stream, Ill.)
90. Tom Nelson
Senior Pastor, Christ Community Evangelical Free Church (Leawood, Kan.)
91. Niel Nielson
President, Covenant College (Lookout Mt., Ga.)
92. Most Rev. John Nienstedt
Archbishop, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
93. Dr. Tom Oden
Theologian, United Methodist Minister; Professor, Drew University (Madison, N.J.)
94. Marvin Olasky
Editor-in-Chief, World Magazine; Provost, The Kings College (New York)
95. Most Rev. Thomas J. Olmsted
Bishop, Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix
96. Rev. William Owens
Chairman, Coalition of African-American Pastors (Memphis, Tenn.)
97. Dr. J.I. Packer
Board of Governors' Professor of Theology, Regent College (Canada)
98. Metr. Jonah Paffhausen
Primate, Orthodox Church in America (Syosset, N.Y.)
99. Tony Perkins
President, Family Research Council (Washington, D.C.)
100. Eric M. Pillmore
CEO, Pillmore Consulting LLC (Doylestown, Pa.)
101. Dr. Everett Piper
President, Oklahoma Wesleyan University (Bartlesville, Okla.)
102. Todd Pitner
President, Rev Increase
103. Dr. Cornelius Plantinga
President, Calvin Theological Seminary (Grand Rapids, Mich.)
104. Dr. David Platt
Pastor, Church at Brook Hills (Birmingham, Ala.)
105. Rev. Jim Pocock
Pastor, Trinitarian Congregational Church (Wayland, Mass.)
106. Fred Potter
Executive Director and CEO, Christian Legal Society (Springfield, Va.)
107. Dennis Rainey
President, CEO, and Co-Founder, FamilyLife (Little Rock, Ark.)
108. Fr. Patrick Reardon
Pastor, All Saints' Antiochian Orthodox Church (Chicago)
109. Bob Reccord
Founder, Total Life Impact, Inc. (Suwanee, Ga.)
110. His Eminence Justin Cardinal Rigali
Archbishop, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia
111. Frank Schubert
President, Schubert Flint Public Affairs (Sacramento, Calif.)
112. David Schuringa
President, Crossroads Bible Institute (Grand Rapids, Mich.)
113. Tricia Scribner
Author (Harrisburg, N.C.)
114. Dr. Dave Seaford
Senior Pastor, Community Fellowship Church (Matthews, N.C.)
115. Alan Sears
President, CEO, and General Counsel, Alliance Defense Fund (Scottsdale, Ariz.)
116. Randy Setzer
Senior Pastor, Macedonia Baptist Church (Lincolnton, N.C.)
117. Most Rev. Michael J. Sheridan
Bishop, Roman Catholic Diocese of Colorado Springs, Colo.
118. Dr. Ron Sider
Director, Evangelicals for Social Action (Wynnewood, Pa.)
119. Fr. Robert Sirico
Founder, Acton Institute (Grand Rapids, Mich.)
120. Dr. Robert Sloan
President, Houston Baptist University (Houston)
121. Charles Stetson
Chairman of the Board, Bible Literacy Project (New York)
122. Dr. David Stevens
CEO, Christian Medical and Dental Association (Bristol, Tenn.)
123. John Stonestreet
Executive Director, Summit Ministries (Manitou Springs, Colo.)
124. Dr. Joseph Stowell
President, Cornerstone University (Grand Rapids, Mich.)
125. Dr. Sarah Sumner
Professor of Theology and Ministry, Azusa Pacific University (Azusa, Calif.)
126. Dr. Glenn Sunshine
Chairman of the History Department, Central Connecticut State University (New
Britain, Conn.)
127. Joni Eareckson Tada
Founder and CEO, Joni and Friends International Disability Center (Agoura
Hills, Calif.)
128. Luiz Tellez
President, The Witherspoon Institute (Princeton, N.J.)
129. Dr. Timothy C. Tennent
President, Asbury Theological Seminary (Wilmore, Ky.)
130. Michael Timmis
Chairman, Prison Fellowship and Prison Fellowship International (Naples, Fla.)
131. Mark Tooley
President, Institute for Religion and Democracy (Washington, D.C.)
132. H. James Towey
President, St. Vincent College (Latrobe, Pa.)
133. Juan Valdes
Middle and High School Chaplain, Florida Christian School (Miami, Fla.)
134. Todd Wagner
Pastor, WaterMark Community Church (Dallas)
135. Dr. Graham Walker
President, Patrick Henry College (Purcellville, Va.)
136. Fr. Alexander F. C. Webster, Ph.D.
Archpriest, Orthodox Church in America; Professorial Lecturer, The George
Washington University (Ashburn, Va.)
137. George Weigel
Distinguished Senior Fellow, Ethics and Public Policy Center (Washington, D.C.)
138. David Welch
Houston Area Pastor Council Executive Director, US Pastors Council (Houston)
139. Dr. James Emery White
Founding and Senior Pastor, Mecklenburg Community Church (Charlotte, N.C.)
140. Dr. Hayes Wicker
Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church (Naples, Fla.)
141. Mark Williamson
Founder and President, Foundation Restoration Ministries/Federal Intercessors (Katy, Texas)
142. Parker T. Williamson
Editor Emeritus and Senior Correspondent, Presbyterian Lay Committee
143. Dr. Craig Williford
President, Trinity International University (Deerfield, Ill.)
144. Dr. John Woodbridge
Research Professor of Church History and the History of Christian Thought,
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Deerfield, Ill.)
145. Don M. Woodside
Performance Matters Associates (Matthews, N.C.)
146. Dr. Frank Wright
President, National Religious Broadcasters (Manassas, Va.)
147. Most Rev. Donald W. Wuerl
Archbishop, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, D.C.
148. Paul Young
COO and Executive Vice President, Christian Research Institute (Charlotte, N.C.)
149. Dr. Michael Youssef
President, Leading the Way (Atlanta)
150. Ravi Zacharias
Founder and Chairman of the Board, Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (Norcross, Ga.)
151. Most Rev. David A. Zubik
Bishop, Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh
152. James R. Thobaben, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Professor, Bioethics and Social Ethics, Asbury Theological Seminary (Wilmore, Ky.)
153. Rev. J.A. Matteson, M.Div.
Immutable Word Ministries (Redmond, OR; self-added and not included in the original signers)
For more information visit www.manhattandeclaration.org
Released November 20, 2009
PREAMBLE
"Christians are heirs of a 2,000year tradition of proclaiming God’s word, seeking justice in our societies, resisting tyranny, and reaching out with compassion to the poor, oppressed and suffering. While fully acknowledging the imperfections and shortcomings of Christian institutions and communities in all ages, we claim the heritage of those Christians who defended innocent life by rescuing discarded babies from trash heaps in Roman cities and publicly denouncing the Empire’s sanctioning of infanticide. We remember with reverence those believers who sacrificed their lives by remaining in Roman cities to tend the sick and dying during the plagues, and who died bravely in the coliseums rather than deny their Lord.
After the barbarian tribes overran Europe, Christian monasteries preserved not only the Bible but also the literature and art of Western culture. It was Christians who combated the evil of slavery: Papal edicts in the 16 th and 17 th centuries decried the practice of slavery and first excommunicated anyone involved in the slave trade; evangelical Christians in England, led by John Wesley and William Wilberforce, put an end to the slave trade in that country. Christians under Wilberforce’s leadership also formed hundreds of societies for helping the poor, the imprisoned, and child laborers chained to machines.
In Europe, Christians challenged the divine claims of kings and successfully fought to establish the rule of law and balance of governmental powers, which made modern democracy possible. And in America, Christian women stood at the vanguard of the suffrage movement. The great civil rights crusades of the 1950s and 60s were led by Christians claiming the Scriptures and asserting the glory of the image of God in every human being regardless of race, religion, age or class. This same devotion to human dignity has led Christians in the last decade to work to end the dehumanizing scourge of human trafficking and sexual slavery, bring compassionate care to AIDS sufferers in Africa, and assist in a myriad of other human rights causes – from providing clean water in developing nations to providing homes for tens of thousands of children orphaned by war, disease and gender discrimination.
Like those who have gone before us in the faith, Christians today are called to proclaim the Gospel of costly grace, to protect the intrinsic dignity of the human person and to stand for the common good. In being true to its own calling, the call to discipleship, the church through service to others can make a profound contribution to the public good.
DECLARATION
We, as Orthodox, Catholic, and Evangelical Christians, have gathered, beginning in New York on September 28, 2009, to make the following declaration, which we sign as individuals, not on behalf of our organizations, but speaking to and from our communities. We act together in obedience to the one true God, the triune God of holiness and love, who has laid total claim on our lives and by that claim calls us with believers in all ages and all nations to seek and defend the good of all who bear his image. We set forth this declaration in light of the truth that is grounded in Holy Scripture, in natural human reason (which is itself, in our view, the gift of a beneficent God), and in the very nature of the human person. We call upon all people of goodwill, believers and nonbelievers alike, to consider carefully and reflect critically on the issues we here address as we, with St. Paul, commend this appeal to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.
While the whole scope of Christian moral concern, including a special concern for the poor and vulnerable, claims our attention, we are especially troubled that in our nation today the lives of the unborn, the disabled, and the elderly are severely threatened; that the institution of marriage, already buffeted by promiscuity, infidelity and divorce, is in jeopardy of being redefined to accommodate fashionable ideologies; that freedom of religion and the rights of conscience are gravely jeopardized by those who would use the instruments of coercion to compel persons of faith to compromise their deepest convictions.
Because the sanctity of human life, the dignity of marriage as a union of husband and wife, and the freedom of conscience and religion are foundational principles of justice and the common good, we are compelled by our Christian faith to speak and act in their defense. In this declaration we affirm: 1) the profound, inherent, and equal dignity of every human being as a creature fashioned in the very image of God, possessing inherent rights of equal dignity and life; 2) marriage as a conjugal union of man and woman, ordained by God from the creation, and historically understood by believers and nonbelievers alike, to be the most basic institution in society and; 3) religious liberty, which is grounded in the character of God, the example of Christ, and the inherent freedom and dignity of human beings created in the divine image.
We are Christians who have joined together across historic lines of ecclesial differences to affirm our right—and, more importantly, to embrace our obligation—to speak and act in defense of these truths. We pledge to each other, and to our fellow believers, that no power on earth, be it cultural or political, will intimidate us into silence or acquiescence. It is our duty to proclaim the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in its fullness, both in season and out of season. May God help us not to fail in that duty.
LIFE
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10
Although public sentiment has moved in a prolife direction, we note with sadness that proabortion ideology prevails today in our government. The present administration is led and staffed by those who want to make abortions legal at any stage of fetal development, and who want to provide abortions at taxpayer expense. Majorities in both houses of Congress hold proabortion views. The Supreme Court, whose infamous 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade stripped the unborn of legal protection, continues to treat elective abortion as a fundamental constitutional right, though it has upheld as constitutionally permissible some limited restrictions on abortion.
The President says that he wants to reduce the “need” for abortion—a commendable goal. But he has also pledged to make abortion more easily and widely available by eliminating laws prohibiting government funding, requiring waiting periods for women seeking abortions, and parental notification for abortions performed on minors. The elimination of these important and effective prolife laws cannot reasonably be expected to do other than significantly increase the number of elective abortions by which the lives of countless children are snuffed out prior to birth.
Our commitment to the sanctity of life is not a matter of partisan loyalty, for we recognize that in the thirtysix years since Roe v. Wade, elected officials and appointees of both major political parties have been complicit in giving legal sanction to what Pope John Paul II described as “the culture of death.” We call on all officials in our country, elected and appointed, to protect and serve every member of our society, including the most marginalized, voiceless, and vulnerable among us. A culture of death inevitably cheapens life in all its stages and conditions by promoting the belief that lives that are imperfect, immature or inconvenient are discardable. As predicted by many prescient persons, the cheapening of life that began with abortion has now metastasized. For example, human embryodestructive research and its public funding are promoted in the name of science and in the cause of developing treatments and cures for diseases and injuries. The President and many in Congress favor the expansion of embryoresearch to include the taxpayer funding of so called “therapeutic cloning.” This would result in the industrial mass production of human embryos to be killed for the purpose of producing genetically customized stem cell lines and tissues. At the other end of life, an increasingly powerful movement to promote assisted suicide and “voluntary” euthanasia threatens the lives of vulnerable elderly and disabled persons.
Eugenic notions such as the doctrine of lebensunwertes Leben (“life unworthy of life”) were first advanced in the 1920s by intellectuals in the elite salons of America and Europe. Long buried in ignominy after the horrors of the mid 20th century, they have returned from the grave. The only difference is that now the doctrines of the eugenicists are dressed up in the language of “liberty,” “autonomy,” and “choice.” We will be united and untiring in our efforts to roll back the license to kill that began with the abandonment of the unborn to abortion. We will work, as we have always worked, to bring assistance, comfort, and care to pregnant women in need and to those who have been victimized by abortion, even as we stand resolutely against the corrupt and degrading notion that it can somehow be in the best interests of women to submit to the deliberate killing of their unborn children. Our message is, and ever shall be, that the just, humane, and truly Christian answer to problem pregnancies is for all of us to love and care for mother and child alike.
A truly prophetic Christian witness will insistently call on those who have been entrusted with temporal power to fulfill the first responsibility of government: to protect the weak and vulnerable against violent attack, and to do so with no favoritism, partiality, or discrimination. The Bible enjoins us to defend those who cannot defend themselves, to speak for those who cannot themselves speak. And so we defend and speak for the unborn, the disabled, and the dependent. What the Bible and the light of reason make clear, we must make clear. We must be willing to defend, even at risk and cost to ourselves and our institutions, the lives of our brothers and sisters at every stage of development and in every condition. Our concern is not confined to our own nation. Around the globe, we are witnessing cases of genocide and “ethnic cleansing,” the failure to assist those who are suffering as innocent victims of war, the neglect and abuse of children, the exploitation of vulnerable laborers, the sexual trafficking of girls and young women, the abandonment of the aged, racial oppression and discrimination, the persecution of believers of all faiths, and the failure to take steps necessary to halt the spread of preventable diseases like AIDS. We see these travesties as flowing from the same loss of the sense of the dignity of the human person and the sanctity of human life that drives the abortion industry and the movements for assisted suicide, euthanasia, and human cloning for biomedical research. And so ours is, as it must be, a truly consistent ethic of love and life for all humans in all circumstances.
MARRIAGE
The man said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, for she was taken out of man." For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. Genesis 2:23-24
This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. Ephesians 5:32-33
In Scripture, the creation of man and woman, and their one flesh union as husband and wife, is the crowning achievement of God’s creation. In the transmission of life and the nurturing of children, men and women joined as spouses are given the great honor of being partners with God Himself. Marriage then, is the first institution of human society—indeed it is the institution on which all other human institutions have their foundation. In the Christian tradition we refer to marriage as “holy matrimony” to signal the fact that it is an institution ordained by God, and blessed by Christ in his participation at a wedding in Cana of Galilee. In the Bible, God Himself blesses and holds marriage in the highest esteem.
Vast human experience confirms that marriage is the original and most important institution for sustaining the health, education, and welfare of all persons in a society. Where marriage is honored, and where there is a flourishing marriage culture, everyone benefits—the spouses themselves, their children, the communities and societies in which they live. Where the marriage culture begins to erode, social pathologies of every sort quickly manifest themselves. Unfortunately, we have witnessed over the course of the past several decades a serious erosion of the marriage culture in our own country. Perhaps the most telling—and alarming—indicator is the outofwedlock birth rate. Less than fifty years ago, it was under 5 percent. Today it is over 40 percent. Our society—and particularly its poorest and most vulnerable sectors, where the outofwedlock birth rate is much higher even than the national average—is paying a huge price in delinquency, drug abuse, crime, incarceration, hopelessness, and despair. Other indicators are widespread nonmarital sexual cohabitation and a devastatingly high rate of divorce.
We confess with sadness that Christians and our institutions have too often scandalously failed to uphold the institution of marriage and to model for the world the true meaning of marriage. Insofar as we have too easily embraced the culture of divorce and remained silent about social practices that undermine the dignity of marriage we repent, and call upon all Christians to do the same. To strengthen families, we must stop glamorizing promiscuity and infidelity and restore among our people a sense of the profound beauty, mystery, and holiness of faithful marital love. We must reform illadvised policies that contribute to the weakening of the institution of marriage, including the discredited idea of unilateral divorce. We must work in the legal, cultural, and religious domains to instill in young people a sound understanding of what marriage is, what it requires, and why it is worth the commitment and sacrifices that faithful spouses make.
The impulse to redefine marriage in order to recognize same sex and multiple partner relationships is a symptom, rather than the cause, of the erosion of the marriage culture. It reflects a loss of understanding of the meaning of marriage as embodied in our civil and religious law and in the philosophical tradition that contributed to shaping the law. Yet it is critical that the impulse be resisted, for yielding to it would mean abandoning the possibility of restoring a sound understanding of marriage and, with it, the hope of rebuilding a healthy marriage culture. It would lock into place the false and destructive belief that marriage is all about romance and other adult satisfactions, and not, in any intrinsic way, about procreation and the unique character and value of acts and relationships whose meaning is shaped by their aptness for the generation, promotion and protection of life. In spousal communion and the rearing of children (who, as gifts of God, are the fruit of their parents’ marital love), we discover the profound reasons for and benefits of the marriage covenant.
We acknowledge that there are those who are disposed towards homosexual and polyamorous conduct and relationships, just as there are those who are disposed towards other forms of immoral conduct. We have compassion for those so disposed; we respect them as human beings possessing profound, inherent, and equal dignity; and we pay tribute to the men and women who strive, often with little assistance, to resist the temptation to yield to desires that they, no less than we, regard as wayward. We stand with them, even when they falter. We, no less than they, are sinners who have fallen short of God’s intention for our lives. We, no less than they, are in constant need of God’s patience, love and forgiveness. We call on the entire Christian community to resist sexual immorality, and at the same time refrain from disdainful condemnation of those who yield to it. Our rejection of sin, though resolute, must never become the rejection of sinners. For every sinner, regardless of the sin, is loved by God, who seeks not our destruction but rather the conversion of our hearts. Jesus calls all who wander from the path of virtue to “a more excellent way.” As his disciples we will reach out in love to assist all who hear the call and wish to answer it.
We further acknowledge that there are sincere people who disagree with us, and with the teaching of the Bible and Christian tradition, on questions of sexual morality and the nature of marriage. Some who enter into same sex and polyamorous relationships no doubt regard their unions as truly marital. They fail to understand, however, that marriage is made possible by the sexual complementarity of man and woman, and that the comprehensive, multilevel sharing of life that marriage is includes bodily unity of the sort that unites husband and wife biologically as a reproductive unit. This is because the body is no mere extrinsic instrument of the human person, but truly part of the personal reality of the human being. Human beings are not merely centers of consciousness or emotion, or minds, or spirits, inhabiting nonpersonal bodies. The human person is a dynamic unity of body, mind, and spirit. Marriage is what one man and one woman establish when, forsaking all others and pledging lifelong commitment, they found a sharing of life at every level of being—the biological, the emotional, the dispositional, the rational, the spiritual—on a commitment that is sealed, completed and actualized by loving sexual intercourse in which the spouses become one flesh, not in some merely metaphorical sense, but by fulfilling together the behavioral conditions of procreation. That is why in the Christian tradition, and historically in Western law, consummated marriages are not dissoluble or annullable on the ground of infertility, even though the nature of the marital relationship is shaped and structured by its intrinsic orientation to the great good of procreation.
We understand that many of our fellow citizens, including some Christians, believe that the historic definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman is a denial of equality or civil rights. They wonder what to say in reply to the argument that asserts that no harm would be done to them or to anyone if the law of the community were to confer upon two men or two women who are living together in a sexual partnership the status of being “married.” It would not, after all, affect their own marriages, would it? On inspection, however, the argument that laws governing one kind of marriage will not affect another cannot stand. Were it to prove anything, it would prove far too much: the assumption that the legal status of one set of marriage relationships affects no other would not only argue for same sex partnerships; it could be asserted with equal validity for polyamorous partnerships, polygamous households, even adult brothers, sisters, or brothers and sisters living in incestuous relationships. Should these, as a matter of equality or civil rights, be recognized as lawful marriages, and would they have no effects on other relationships? No. The truth is that marriage is not something abstract or neutral that the law may legitimately define and redefine to please those who are powerful and influential.
No one has a civil right to have a nonmarital relationship treated as a marriage. Marriage is an objective reality—a covenantal union of husband and wife—that it is the duty of the law to recognize and support for the sake of justice and the common good. If it fails to do so, genuine social harms follow. First, the religious liberty of those for whom this is a matter of conscience is jeopardized. Second, the rights of parents are abused as family life and sex education programs in schools are used to teach children that an enlightened understanding recognizes as “marriages” sexual partnerships that many parents believe are intrinsically nonmarital and immoral. Third, the common good of civil society is damaged when the law itself, in its critical pedagogical function, becomes a tool for eroding a sound understanding of marriage on which the flourishing of the marriage culture in any society vitally depends. Sadly, we are today far from having a thriving marriage culture. But if we are to begin the critically important process of reforming our laws and mores to rebuild such a culture, the last thing we can afford to do is to redefine marriage in such a way as to embody in our laws a false proclamation about what marriage is. And so it is out of love (not “animus”) and prudent concern for the common good (not “prejudice”), that we pledge to labor ceaselessly to preserve the legal definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman and to rebuild the marriage culture. How could we, as Christians, do otherwise? The Bible teaches us that marriage is a central part of God’s creation covenant. Indeed, the union of husband and wife mirrors the bond between Christ and his church. And so just as Christ was willing, out of love, to give Himself up for the church in a complete sacrifice, we are willing, lovingly, to make whatever sacrifices are required of us for the sake of the inestimable treasure that is marriage.
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners. Isaiah 61:1
Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's. Matthew 22:21
The struggle for religious liberty across the centuries has been long and arduous, but it is not a novel idea or recent development. The nature of religious liberty is grounded in the character of God Himself, the God who is most fully known in the life and work of Jesus Christ. Determined to follow Jesus faithfully in life and death, the early Christians appealed to the manner in which the Incarnation had taken place: “Did God send Christ, as some suppose, as a tyrant brandishing fear and terror? Not so, but in gentleness and meekness..., for compulsion is no attribute of God” (Epistle to Diognetus 7.34).
Thus the right to religious freedom has its foundation in the example of Christ Himself and in the very dignity of the human person created in the image of God—a dignity, as our founders proclaimed, inherent in every human, and knowable by all in the exercise of right reason. Christians confess that God alone is Lord of the conscience. Immunity from religious coercion is the cornerstone of an unconstrained conscience. No one should be compelled to embrace any religion against his will, nor should persons of faith be forbidden to worship God according to the dictates of conscience or to express freely and publicly their deeply held religious convictions. What is true for individuals applies to religious communities as well. It is ironic that those who today assert a right to kill the unborn, aged and disabled and also a right to engage in immoral sexual practices, and even a right to have relationships integrated around these practices be recognized and blessed by law—such persons claiming these “rights” are very often in the vanguard of those who would trample upon the freedom of others to express their religious and moral commitments to the sanctity of life and to the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife.
We see this, for example, in the effort to weaken or eliminate conscience clauses, and therefore to compel prolife institutions (including religiously affiliated hospitals and clinics), and prolife physicians, surgeons, nurses, and other health care professionals, to refer for abortions and, in certain cases, even to perform or participate in abortions. We see it in the use of antidiscrimination statutes to force religious institutions, businesses, and service providers of various sorts to comply with activities they judge to be deeply immoral or go out of business. After the judicial imposition of “same sex marriage” in Massachusetts, for example, Catholic Charities chose with great reluctance to end its century long work of helping to place orphaned children in good homes rather than comply with a legal mandate that it place children in same sex households in violation of Catholic moral teaching. In New Jersey, after the establishment of a quasimarital “civil unions” scheme, a Methodist institution was stripped of its tax exempt status when it declined, as a matter of religious conscience, to permit a facility it owned and operated to be used for ceremonies blessing homosexual unions. In Canada and some European nations, Christian clergy have been prosecuted for preaching Biblical norms against the practice of homosexuality.
New hate crime laws in America raise the specter of the same practice here. In recent decades a growing body of case law has paralleled the decline in respect for religious values in the media, the academy and political leadership, resulting in restrictions on the free exercise of religion. We view this as an ominous development, not only because of its threat to the individual liberty guaranteed to every person, regardless of his or her faith, but because the trend also threatens the common welfare and the culture of freedom on which our system of republican government is founded. Restrictions on the freedom of conscience or the ability to hire people of one’s own faith or conscientious moral convictions for religious institutions, for example, undermines the viability of the intermediate structures of society, the essential buffer against the overweening authority of the state, resulting in the soft despotism Tocqueville so prophetically warned of.
Disintegration of civil society is a prelude to tyranny. As Christians, we take seriously the Biblical admonition to respect and obey those in authority. We believe in law and in the rule of law. We recognize the duty to comply with laws whether we happen to like them or not, unless the laws are gravely unjust or require those subject to them to do something unjust or otherwise immoral. The biblical purpose of law is to preserve order and serve justice and the common good; yet laws that are unjust—and especially laws that purport to compel citizens to do what is unjust—undermine the common good, rather than serve it. Going back to the earliest days of the church, Christians have refused to compromise their proclamation of the gospel. In Acts 4, Peter and John were ordered to stop preaching. Their answer was, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” Through the centuries, Christianity has taught that civil disobedience is not only permitted, but sometimes required. There is no more eloquent defense of the rights and duties of religious conscience than the one offered by Martin Luther King, Jr., in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail. Writing from an explicitly Christian perspective, and citing Christian writers such as Augustine and Aquinas, King taught that just laws elevate and ennoble human beings because they are rooted in the moral law whose ultimate source is God Himself. Unjust laws degrade human beings. Inasmuch as they can claim no authority beyond sheer human will, they lack any power to bind in conscience. King’s willingness to go to jail, rather than comply with legal injustice, was exemplary and inspiring.
Because we honor justice and the common good, we will not comply with any edict that purports to compel our institutions to participate in abortions, embryodestructive research, assisted suicide and euthanasia, or any other antilife act; nor will we bend to any rule purporting to force us to bless immoral sexual partnerships, treat them as marriages or the equivalent, or refrain from proclaiming the truth, as we know it, about morality and immorality and marriage and the family. We will fully and ungrudgingly render to Caesar what is Caesar’s. But under no circumstances
will we render to Caesar what is God’s."
Original List of Signers:
Drafting Committee
* Robert George
Professor, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, Princeton University
* Timothy George
Professor, Beeson Divinity School, Samford University
* Chuck Colson
Founder, The Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview (Lansdowne, Va.)
Signers (as of November 19, 2009)
1. Dr. Daniel Akin
President, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (Wake Forest, N.C.)
2. Most Rev. Peter J. Akinola
Primate, Anglican Church of Nigeria (Abika, Nigeria)
3. Randy Alcorn
Founder and Director, Eternal Perspective Ministries (EPM) (Sandy, Ore.)
4. Rt. Rev. David Anderson
President and CEO, American Anglican Council (Atlanta)
5. Leith Anderson
President of National Association of Evangelicals (Washington, D.C.)
6. Charlotte K. Ardizzone
TV Show Host and Speaker, INSP Television (Charlotte, N.C.)
7. Kay Arthur
CEO and Co-founder, Precept Ministries International (Chattanooga, Tenn.)
8. Dr. Mark L. Bailey
President, Dallas Theological Seminary (Dallas)
9. Most Rev. Craig W. Bates
Archbishop, International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church (Malverne, N.Y.)
10. Gary Bauer
President, American Values; Chairman, Campaign for Working Families
11. His Grace, The Right Reverend Bishop Basil Essey
The Right Reverend Bishop of the Diocese of Wichita and Mid-America (Wichita, Kan.)
12. Joel Belz
Founder, World Magazine (Asheville, N.C.)
13. Rev. Michael L. Beresford
Managing Director of Church Relations, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (Charlotte, N.C.)
14. Ken Boa
President, Reflections Ministries (Atlanta)
15. Joseph Bottum
Editor of First Things (New York)
16. Pastor Randy & Sarah Brannon
Senior Pastor, Grace Community Church (Madera, Calif.)
17. Steve Brown
National Radio Broadcaster, Key Life (Maitland, Fla.)
18. Dr. Robert C. Cannada, Jr.
Chancellor and CEO, Reformed Theological Seminary (Orlando, Fla.)
19. Galen Carey
Director of Government Affairs, National Association of Evangelicals (Washington, D.C.)
20. Dr. Bryan Chapell
President, Covenant Theological Seminary (St. Louis)
21. Most Rev. Charles J. Chaput
Archbishop, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Denver
22. Timothy Clinton
President, American Association of Christian Counselors (Forest, Va.)
23. Chuck Colson
Founder, The Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview (Lansdowne, Va.)
24. Most Rev. Salvatore Joseph Cordileone
Bishop, Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland, Calif.
25. Dr. Gary Culpepper
Associate Professor, Providence College (Providence, R.I.)
26. Jim Daly
President and CEO, Focus on the Family (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
27. Marjorie Dannenfelser
President, Susan B. Anthony List (Arlington, Va.)
28. Rev. Daniel Delgado
Board of Directors, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference; Pastor,
Third Day Missions Church (Staten Island, N.Y.)
29. Patrick J. Deneen
Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis Associate Professor and Director, The Tocqueville Forum
on the Roots of American Democracy, Georgetown University (Washington, D.C.)
30. Dr. James Dobson
Founder, Focus on the Family (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
31. Dr. David Dockery
President, Union University (Jackson, Tenn.)
32. Most Rev. Timothy Dolan
Archbishop, Roman Catholic Diocese of New York, N.Y.
33. Dr. William Donohue
President, Catholic League (New York)
34. Dr. James T. Draper, Jr.
President Emeritus, LifeWay (Nashville, Tenn.)
35. Dinesh D'Souza
Writer and Speaker (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.)
36. Most Rev. Robert Wm. Duncan
Archbishop and Primate, Anglican Church in North America (Ambridge, Pa. )
37. Dr. Michael Easley
President Emeritus, Moody Bible Institute (Chicago)
38. Dr. William Edgar
Professor, Westminster Theological Seminary (Philadelphia)
39. Brett Elder
Executive Director, Stewardship Council (Grand Rapids, Mich.
40. Rev. Joel Elowsky
Drew University (Madison, N.J.)
41. Stuart Epperson
Co-Founder and Chariman of the Board, Salem Communications Corporation (Camarillo, Calif.)
42. Rev. Jonathan Falwell
Senior Pastor, Thomas Road Baptist Church (Lynchburg, Va.)
43. William J. Federer
President, Amerisearch, Inc. (St. Louis)
44. Fr. Joseph D. Fessio
Founder and Editor, Ignatius Press (Ft. Collins, Colo.)
45. Carmen Fowler
President and Executive Editor, Presbyterian Lay Committee (Lenoir, N.C.)
46. Maggie Gallagher
President, National Organization for Marriage (Manassas, Va.)
47. Dr. Jim Garlow
Senior Pastor, Skyline Church (La Mesa, Calif.)
48. Steven Garofalo
Senior Consultant, Search and Assessment Services (Charlotte, N.C.)
49. Dr. Robert P. George
McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, Princeton University (Princeton, N.J.)
50. Dr. Timothy George
Dean and Professor of Divinity, Beeson Divinity School at Samford University (Birmingham, Ala.)
51. Thomas Gilson
Director of Strategic Processes, Campus Crusade for Christ International (Norfolk, Va.)
52. Dr. Jack Graham
Pastor, Prestonwood Baptist Church (Plano, Texas)
53. Dr. Wayne Grudem
Research Professor of Theological and Biblical Studies, Phoenix Seminary (Phoenix)
54. Dr. Cornell "Corkie" Haan
National Facilitator of Spiritual Unity, The Mission America Coalition (Palm Desert, Calif.)
55. Fr. Chad Hatfield
Chancellor, CEO and Archpriest, St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary (Yonkers, N.Y.)
56. Dr. Dennis Hollinger
President and Professor of Christian Ethics, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (South Hamilton, Mass.)
57. Dr. Jeanette Hsieh
Executive Vice President and Provost, Trinity International University (Deerfield, Ill.)
58. Dr. John A. Huffman, Jr.
Senior Pastor, St. Andrews Presbyterian Church (Newport Beach, Calif.); Chairman of the Board, Christianity Today International (Carol Stream, Ill.)
59. Rev. Ken Hutcherson
Pastor, Antioch Bible Church (Kirkland, Wash.)
60. Bishop Harry R. Jackson, Jr.
Senior Pastor, Hope Christian Church (Beltsville, Md.)
61. Fr. Johannes L. Jacobse
President, American Orthodox Institute; Editor, OrthodoxyToday.org (Naples, Fla.)
62. Jerry Jenkins
Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Moody Bible Institute (Black Forest, Colo.)
63. Camille Kampouris
Editorial Board, Kairos Journal
64. Emmanuel A. Kampouris
Publisher, Kairos Journal
65. Rev. Tim Keller
Senior Pastor, Redeemer Presbyterian Church (New York)
66. Dr. Peter Kreeft
Professor of Philosophy, Boston College (Mass.) and at the Kings College (N.Y.)
67. Most Rev. Joseph E. Kurtz
Archbishop, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville, Ky.
68. Jim Kushiner
Editor, Touchstone (Chicago)
69. Dr. Richard Land
President, The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the SBC (Washington, D.C.)
70. Jim Law
Senior Associate Pastor, First Baptist Church (Woodstock, Ga.)
71. Dr. Matthew Levering
Associate Professor of Theology, Ave Maria University (Naples, Fla.)
72. Dr. Peter Lillback
President, The Providence Forum (West Conshohocken, Pa.)
73. Dr. Duane Litfin
President, Wheaton College (Wheaton, Ill.)
74. Rev. Herb Lusk
Pastor, Greater Exodus Baptist Church (Philadelphia)
75. His Eminence Adam Cardinal Maida
Archbishop Emeritus, Roman Catholic Diocese of Detroit
76. Most Rev. Richard J. Malone
Bishop, Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, Maine
77. Rev. Francis Martin
Professor of Sacred Scripture, Sacred Heart Major Seminary (Detroit)
78. Dr. Joseph Mattera
Bishop and Senior Pastor, Resurrection Church (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
79. Phil Maxwell
Pastor, Gateway Church (Bridgewater, N.J.)
80. Josh McDowell
Founder, Josh McDowell Ministries (Plano, Texas)
81. Alex McFarland
President, Southern Evangelical Seminary (Charlotte, N.C.)
82. Most Rev. George Dallas McKinney
Bishop, Founder and Pastor, St. Stephen's Church of God in Christ (San Diego)
83. Rt. Rev. Martyn Minns
Missionary Bishop, Convocation of Anglicans of North America (Herndon, Va.)
84. Dr. C. Ben Mitchell
Graves Professor of Moral Philosophy, Union University (Jackson, Tenn.)
85. Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr.
President, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Louisville, Ky.)
86. Dr. Russell D. Moore
Senior Vice President for Academic Administration and Dean of the School of Theology, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Louisville, Ky.)
87. Most Rev. John J. Myers
Archbishop, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark, N.J.
88. Most Rev. Joseph F. Naumann
Archbishop, Roman Catholic Diocese of Kansas City, Kan.
89. David Neff
Editor-in-Chief, Christianity Today (Carol Stream, Ill.)
90. Tom Nelson
Senior Pastor, Christ Community Evangelical Free Church (Leawood, Kan.)
91. Niel Nielson
President, Covenant College (Lookout Mt., Ga.)
92. Most Rev. John Nienstedt
Archbishop, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
93. Dr. Tom Oden
Theologian, United Methodist Minister; Professor, Drew University (Madison, N.J.)
94. Marvin Olasky
Editor-in-Chief, World Magazine; Provost, The Kings College (New York)
95. Most Rev. Thomas J. Olmsted
Bishop, Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix
96. Rev. William Owens
Chairman, Coalition of African-American Pastors (Memphis, Tenn.)
97. Dr. J.I. Packer
Board of Governors' Professor of Theology, Regent College (Canada)
98. Metr. Jonah Paffhausen
Primate, Orthodox Church in America (Syosset, N.Y.)
99. Tony Perkins
President, Family Research Council (Washington, D.C.)
100. Eric M. Pillmore
CEO, Pillmore Consulting LLC (Doylestown, Pa.)
101. Dr. Everett Piper
President, Oklahoma Wesleyan University (Bartlesville, Okla.)
102. Todd Pitner
President, Rev Increase
103. Dr. Cornelius Plantinga
President, Calvin Theological Seminary (Grand Rapids, Mich.)
104. Dr. David Platt
Pastor, Church at Brook Hills (Birmingham, Ala.)
105. Rev. Jim Pocock
Pastor, Trinitarian Congregational Church (Wayland, Mass.)
106. Fred Potter
Executive Director and CEO, Christian Legal Society (Springfield, Va.)
107. Dennis Rainey
President, CEO, and Co-Founder, FamilyLife (Little Rock, Ark.)
108. Fr. Patrick Reardon
Pastor, All Saints' Antiochian Orthodox Church (Chicago)
109. Bob Reccord
Founder, Total Life Impact, Inc. (Suwanee, Ga.)
110. His Eminence Justin Cardinal Rigali
Archbishop, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia
111. Frank Schubert
President, Schubert Flint Public Affairs (Sacramento, Calif.)
112. David Schuringa
President, Crossroads Bible Institute (Grand Rapids, Mich.)
113. Tricia Scribner
Author (Harrisburg, N.C.)
114. Dr. Dave Seaford
Senior Pastor, Community Fellowship Church (Matthews, N.C.)
115. Alan Sears
President, CEO, and General Counsel, Alliance Defense Fund (Scottsdale, Ariz.)
116. Randy Setzer
Senior Pastor, Macedonia Baptist Church (Lincolnton, N.C.)
117. Most Rev. Michael J. Sheridan
Bishop, Roman Catholic Diocese of Colorado Springs, Colo.
118. Dr. Ron Sider
Director, Evangelicals for Social Action (Wynnewood, Pa.)
119. Fr. Robert Sirico
Founder, Acton Institute (Grand Rapids, Mich.)
120. Dr. Robert Sloan
President, Houston Baptist University (Houston)
121. Charles Stetson
Chairman of the Board, Bible Literacy Project (New York)
122. Dr. David Stevens
CEO, Christian Medical and Dental Association (Bristol, Tenn.)
123. John Stonestreet
Executive Director, Summit Ministries (Manitou Springs, Colo.)
124. Dr. Joseph Stowell
President, Cornerstone University (Grand Rapids, Mich.)
125. Dr. Sarah Sumner
Professor of Theology and Ministry, Azusa Pacific University (Azusa, Calif.)
126. Dr. Glenn Sunshine
Chairman of the History Department, Central Connecticut State University (New
Britain, Conn.)
127. Joni Eareckson Tada
Founder and CEO, Joni and Friends International Disability Center (Agoura
Hills, Calif.)
128. Luiz Tellez
President, The Witherspoon Institute (Princeton, N.J.)
129. Dr. Timothy C. Tennent
President, Asbury Theological Seminary (Wilmore, Ky.)
130. Michael Timmis
Chairman, Prison Fellowship and Prison Fellowship International (Naples, Fla.)
131. Mark Tooley
President, Institute for Religion and Democracy (Washington, D.C.)
132. H. James Towey
President, St. Vincent College (Latrobe, Pa.)
133. Juan Valdes
Middle and High School Chaplain, Florida Christian School (Miami, Fla.)
134. Todd Wagner
Pastor, WaterMark Community Church (Dallas)
135. Dr. Graham Walker
President, Patrick Henry College (Purcellville, Va.)
136. Fr. Alexander F. C. Webster, Ph.D.
Archpriest, Orthodox Church in America; Professorial Lecturer, The George
Washington University (Ashburn, Va.)
137. George Weigel
Distinguished Senior Fellow, Ethics and Public Policy Center (Washington, D.C.)
138. David Welch
Houston Area Pastor Council Executive Director, US Pastors Council (Houston)
139. Dr. James Emery White
Founding and Senior Pastor, Mecklenburg Community Church (Charlotte, N.C.)
140. Dr. Hayes Wicker
Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church (Naples, Fla.)
141. Mark Williamson
Founder and President, Foundation Restoration Ministries/Federal Intercessors (Katy, Texas)
142. Parker T. Williamson
Editor Emeritus and Senior Correspondent, Presbyterian Lay Committee
143. Dr. Craig Williford
President, Trinity International University (Deerfield, Ill.)
144. Dr. John Woodbridge
Research Professor of Church History and the History of Christian Thought,
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Deerfield, Ill.)
145. Don M. Woodside
Performance Matters Associates (Matthews, N.C.)
146. Dr. Frank Wright
President, National Religious Broadcasters (Manassas, Va.)
147. Most Rev. Donald W. Wuerl
Archbishop, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, D.C.
148. Paul Young
COO and Executive Vice President, Christian Research Institute (Charlotte, N.C.)
149. Dr. Michael Youssef
President, Leading the Way (Atlanta)
150. Ravi Zacharias
Founder and Chairman of the Board, Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (Norcross, Ga.)
151. Most Rev. David A. Zubik
Bishop, Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh
152. James R. Thobaben, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Professor, Bioethics and Social Ethics, Asbury Theological Seminary (Wilmore, Ky.)
153. Rev. J.A. Matteson, M.Div.
Immutable Word Ministries (Redmond, OR; self-added and not included in the original signers)
For more information visit www.manhattandeclaration.org
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
The Divine Connection
11.10.09
J.A. Matteson
"Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man intimately." Numbers 31:17
Instinctive to the fallen Adamic nature is the tendency to extend leniency towards wickedness that is reprehensible to the holiness of God. If the pilgrim grimaces at the wisdom of the Lord he must catch himself before his heart is lead astray into entertaining the possibility that that there may be injustice with God, for to entertain the possibility of such is contrary to Scripture and, therefore, sin, "The Rock! His work is perfect, for all His ways are just; a God of faithfulness and without injustice, righteous and upright is He” (Deut. 32:4). The wisdom from above confesses that God’s ways are higher than mans, and that the divine prerogative and holiness of God preserves His right to dispose of His creatures as is right and pleasing in His sight. Taking into account the fallen human condition of man the apostle thus speaks, “…for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”, and “…the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 3:23, 6:23).
The passage under consideration is difficult to the human mind; we can apprehend it as Scripture is plain, but the comprehending of it is more challenging. At stake in the case of the extermination of the Midianite women and male children is the righteousness of God. That God is holy and “…dwells in inapproachable light….” (1 Tim. 6:16) is clearly established in Scripture. In the text we witness the divine connection between actual sin and latent sin; actual sin referring to a state of being. In this regard king David while under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit reflected upon his own sin nature, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me” (Ps. 51:5).
Actual sin pertains to the radical fallen state of human existence in mind, soul, and body; people sin in thought, word, and deed because it is their nature to do so and they can do no other; they sin out of necessity in accordance to their nature, and to this end the apostle reminds his brethren that through regeneration the Lord in the new covenant has given them a new nature with the Law of God written on their hearts, “Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest” (Eph. 2:3). Latent sin is the fruit of an actual sin nature, it is observed through deeds of unrighteousness. The Lord Jesus Christ spoke of the connection between actual and latent sin when He said, "A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit” (Matt. 7:18), for both produce fruit, sweet or bitter, in accordance to their natures.
In the text the women brought forth the latent fruit of sexual immorality and idolatry from the fertile soil of actual sin, leading the children of Israel astray. The male children, while not responsible for the sins of their fathers (Deut. 24:16), were nonetheless the offspring of Adam and as such carried within them an actual sin nature, one that in due season would most certainly produce latent sin in the form of wicked thoughts, words, and deeds, latent sin that would perpetuate the evil of their fathers in leading Israel into idolatry.
To conclude that the male children were innocent is to overlook their actual sin worthy of death (Rom. 3:23). To the events in the text pilgrims will do well to honor the name of the Lord and in humility confess their ignorance of His wisdom which is infinite. With Daniel let us humbly declare, “Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to Him” (Dan. 2:20). And while in our finite understanding our hearts and minds may be left perplexed when attempting to understand the wisdom of the Lord, we are at the same time filled with joy in the knowledge that His loving kindness, righteousness, praise, and dominion endure forever (Ps. 21:1; 113:3, 10; 145:13).
Let us offer praise to the name of the Lord our God Who is able to keep from stumbling all who love Him and long for His appearing on that Day.
Copyright (c) Immutable Word Ministries ("...the word of our God stands forever." Isa. 40:8).
J.A. Matteson
"Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man intimately." Numbers 31:17
Instinctive to the fallen Adamic nature is the tendency to extend leniency towards wickedness that is reprehensible to the holiness of God. If the pilgrim grimaces at the wisdom of the Lord he must catch himself before his heart is lead astray into entertaining the possibility that that there may be injustice with God, for to entertain the possibility of such is contrary to Scripture and, therefore, sin, "The Rock! His work is perfect, for all His ways are just; a God of faithfulness and without injustice, righteous and upright is He” (Deut. 32:4). The wisdom from above confesses that God’s ways are higher than mans, and that the divine prerogative and holiness of God preserves His right to dispose of His creatures as is right and pleasing in His sight. Taking into account the fallen human condition of man the apostle thus speaks, “…for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”, and “…the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 3:23, 6:23).
The passage under consideration is difficult to the human mind; we can apprehend it as Scripture is plain, but the comprehending of it is more challenging. At stake in the case of the extermination of the Midianite women and male children is the righteousness of God. That God is holy and “…dwells in inapproachable light….” (1 Tim. 6:16) is clearly established in Scripture. In the text we witness the divine connection between actual sin and latent sin; actual sin referring to a state of being. In this regard king David while under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit reflected upon his own sin nature, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me” (Ps. 51:5).
Actual sin pertains to the radical fallen state of human existence in mind, soul, and body; people sin in thought, word, and deed because it is their nature to do so and they can do no other; they sin out of necessity in accordance to their nature, and to this end the apostle reminds his brethren that through regeneration the Lord in the new covenant has given them a new nature with the Law of God written on their hearts, “Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest” (Eph. 2:3). Latent sin is the fruit of an actual sin nature, it is observed through deeds of unrighteousness. The Lord Jesus Christ spoke of the connection between actual and latent sin when He said, "A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit” (Matt. 7:18), for both produce fruit, sweet or bitter, in accordance to their natures.
In the text the women brought forth the latent fruit of sexual immorality and idolatry from the fertile soil of actual sin, leading the children of Israel astray. The male children, while not responsible for the sins of their fathers (Deut. 24:16), were nonetheless the offspring of Adam and as such carried within them an actual sin nature, one that in due season would most certainly produce latent sin in the form of wicked thoughts, words, and deeds, latent sin that would perpetuate the evil of their fathers in leading Israel into idolatry.
To conclude that the male children were innocent is to overlook their actual sin worthy of death (Rom. 3:23). To the events in the text pilgrims will do well to honor the name of the Lord and in humility confess their ignorance of His wisdom which is infinite. With Daniel let us humbly declare, “Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to Him” (Dan. 2:20). And while in our finite understanding our hearts and minds may be left perplexed when attempting to understand the wisdom of the Lord, we are at the same time filled with joy in the knowledge that His loving kindness, righteousness, praise, and dominion endure forever (Ps. 21:1; 113:3, 10; 145:13).
Let us offer praise to the name of the Lord our God Who is able to keep from stumbling all who love Him and long for His appearing on that Day.
Copyright (c) Immutable Word Ministries ("...the word of our God stands forever." Isa. 40:8).
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
The Peril of Presumption
11.04.09
J.A. Matteson
"...but they presumed to go up to the mountaintop." Numbers 14:44
He who promised Israel would be given a good land, one flowing with milk and honey, demonstrated His faithfulness by previous miracles. While in Egyptian bondage the children of Israel witnessed no less than ten occasions where the Lord spoke judgment upon the Egyptians and carried it out. Hemmed in between the sea and Pharaoh’s army without a natural escape route the children of Israel witnessed the salvation of the Lord, the waters parted and they crossed on dry ground and once on the other side watched in amazement as their enemies drown in the midst of the sea. Arriving at Marah in the wilderness of Sinai the waters were bitter, then Moses called upon the name of the Lord and they were made sweet. Not withstanding the Lord’s subsequent supernatural provision of manna and quail the children of Israel continued in unbelief.
The tragic pattern was cyclical: the Lord would speak to the congregation who quickly responded positively only a short time later under divine testing to refute their earlier profession. And so the spies came back from Cannan, two brought a good report rooted in faith; ten brought a bad report manifesting unbelief. Two examined the land promised with eyes of faith based upon the previous word of the Lord; ten shook in fear in response to beholding the formidable size and fortification of their adversaries. That the inhabitants of the land were a powerful people was reality and to deny it would have been to entertain a delusion. Where the ten failed was in not accounting for the presence of the Lord with them, by questioning His promise to them that He would give them the land, by assessing their relative probability of victory over their adversaries by natural means rather than taking into account the supernatural presence of the Lord their God.
Unbelief in the promise of God, that He would give them the land, that He would go with them and fight for them to assure their victory, was their first sin in this setting. In response to their sin the Lord pronounces judgment and rather than being repentant and sorrowful for their sin, humbling themselves, they now sin a second time by disbelieving the judgment of God and brashly charge the mountain, presuming upon their own strength, only to be roundly defeated, unable to rescind the decree of the Lord spoken against them.
Pilgrim, if you are to take hold of that which the Lord has promised, let not unbelief fill your heart, for that which He has promised can only be secured by Him. Soberly consider and bring to remembrance the word of His promise in light of the pressings dangers that surround you; the dangers are real and not to be trifled with in the natural, but, thanks be to God, His presence is supernatural and exceptional to their hellish taunts, well able to vindicate your faith in due season—only trust Him. Remember too that the Lord tests the hearts of His servants to determine whether they will believe Him or not, so be prepared for the crucible of testing. It is in the chamber of temptation to doubt the word of the Lord that your faith is refined, learn therefore to embrace the providences of God that appear contrary human reasoning, as they are designed for your sanctification and as such are good. There are only two options available to the pilgrim in response to the word of the Lord: proceed forward confidently in faith, or hastily retreat in fear.
In the final analysis the testing of the Lord is not for His benefit, as though He lacked knowledge of the true state of your heart, for He is omniscient, but rather it is ultimately intended for your benefit, dear pilgrim, so that you might know by your perseverance that you are an heir of the King in the likeness of Abraham and not an illegitimate child, for this is “the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus” (Rev. 14:12). But in like manor let us also not presume upon the mercy of Lord should we falter at the promise of His word, ascending the mountain of promise in our own strength, for to do so is sin and will result in our ruin as it did Israel. But rather, let us learn from their error the sacrifice of a broken spirit and contrite heart, thus being restored in fellowship with the Lord; for, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn. 1:9).
Copyright (c) 2009 Immutable Word Ministries ("...the word of our God stands forever." Isa. 40:8).
J.A. Matteson
"...but they presumed to go up to the mountaintop." Numbers 14:44
He who promised Israel would be given a good land, one flowing with milk and honey, demonstrated His faithfulness by previous miracles. While in Egyptian bondage the children of Israel witnessed no less than ten occasions where the Lord spoke judgment upon the Egyptians and carried it out. Hemmed in between the sea and Pharaoh’s army without a natural escape route the children of Israel witnessed the salvation of the Lord, the waters parted and they crossed on dry ground and once on the other side watched in amazement as their enemies drown in the midst of the sea. Arriving at Marah in the wilderness of Sinai the waters were bitter, then Moses called upon the name of the Lord and they were made sweet. Not withstanding the Lord’s subsequent supernatural provision of manna and quail the children of Israel continued in unbelief.
The tragic pattern was cyclical: the Lord would speak to the congregation who quickly responded positively only a short time later under divine testing to refute their earlier profession. And so the spies came back from Cannan, two brought a good report rooted in faith; ten brought a bad report manifesting unbelief. Two examined the land promised with eyes of faith based upon the previous word of the Lord; ten shook in fear in response to beholding the formidable size and fortification of their adversaries. That the inhabitants of the land were a powerful people was reality and to deny it would have been to entertain a delusion. Where the ten failed was in not accounting for the presence of the Lord with them, by questioning His promise to them that He would give them the land, by assessing their relative probability of victory over their adversaries by natural means rather than taking into account the supernatural presence of the Lord their God.
Unbelief in the promise of God, that He would give them the land, that He would go with them and fight for them to assure their victory, was their first sin in this setting. In response to their sin the Lord pronounces judgment and rather than being repentant and sorrowful for their sin, humbling themselves, they now sin a second time by disbelieving the judgment of God and brashly charge the mountain, presuming upon their own strength, only to be roundly defeated, unable to rescind the decree of the Lord spoken against them.
Pilgrim, if you are to take hold of that which the Lord has promised, let not unbelief fill your heart, for that which He has promised can only be secured by Him. Soberly consider and bring to remembrance the word of His promise in light of the pressings dangers that surround you; the dangers are real and not to be trifled with in the natural, but, thanks be to God, His presence is supernatural and exceptional to their hellish taunts, well able to vindicate your faith in due season—only trust Him. Remember too that the Lord tests the hearts of His servants to determine whether they will believe Him or not, so be prepared for the crucible of testing. It is in the chamber of temptation to doubt the word of the Lord that your faith is refined, learn therefore to embrace the providences of God that appear contrary human reasoning, as they are designed for your sanctification and as such are good. There are only two options available to the pilgrim in response to the word of the Lord: proceed forward confidently in faith, or hastily retreat in fear.
In the final analysis the testing of the Lord is not for His benefit, as though He lacked knowledge of the true state of your heart, for He is omniscient, but rather it is ultimately intended for your benefit, dear pilgrim, so that you might know by your perseverance that you are an heir of the King in the likeness of Abraham and not an illegitimate child, for this is “the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus” (Rev. 14:12). But in like manor let us also not presume upon the mercy of Lord should we falter at the promise of His word, ascending the mountain of promise in our own strength, for to do so is sin and will result in our ruin as it did Israel. But rather, let us learn from their error the sacrifice of a broken spirit and contrite heart, thus being restored in fellowship with the Lord; for, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn. 1:9).
Copyright (c) 2009 Immutable Word Ministries ("...the word of our God stands forever." Isa. 40:8).
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