Reforming the Church - APHealthy Church (Crossway, 2000, 2nd ed., 2004). He has also published A...

Mark Dever • Our best day • All of life

august 2009

Reforming the

Church

REFORMATION

Faithfully renewed: Mark Dever . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

No soft soap: John MacArthur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Letters from Jesus: Richard D. Phillips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

REFLECTION

Our best day: Leland Ryken . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

BIBLE STUDY

Ever-fresh, ever-needed

20 Bible studies in Isaiah 21-32 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

NEWS

News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

On the Agenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

SOCIETY

All of life: David Palmer and Ben Saunders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26

LETTERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

PRAYER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

BOOKS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

The Essence of the Reformation: Kirsten Birkett

Fearless Pilgrim: Faith Cook

The Expository Genius of John Calvin: Steven J. Lawson

God Is: Mark Macleod

BACK PAGE

Right out: Peter Barnes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32

A U S T R A L I A N P R E S B Y T E R I A N August 2009 • 3

August 2009

No. 617

Isuspect that one of the reasons why modern evangelicalsshow little interest for reform in areas such as worshipand church government is that the Christian communityis largely imbued with the spirit of individualism. Iain

Murray, in Evangelicalism Divided, traces this influence toFriedrich Schleiermacher (1768-1834), who placed individualreligious experience on a pedestal at the expense of doctrinalChristianity.

It is this emphasis on individualism which is the mark ofour own age and which theologians such as Ed Clowney andDonald Bloesch warn us against. They see it as an obstacle tothe reformation of the church. Bloesch has said: “We must bealert to the peril of individualism in which the quest of thesolitary individual for union with the eternal eclipses thebiblical vision of a community gathered together to hear theWord of God and to minister to the needs of the saints.”

In today’s culture, where mention of “spirituality”provokes far greater interest among Christians than the placeand role of the church, it is perhaps not surprising that theidea of church reform has slipped off the evangelical agenda.Previous generations of Christians were keenly aware of theimportance of the church in the fulfillment of God’spurposes. They realised that the church had to be healthy if itwas to undertake its role in an effective manner. Christianstoday have become too self-absorbed to see this.

Paul uses two images of the church that remind us thatthe issue of reformation remains a top priority. In 1 Timothy,he refers to the church as the “household” or “dwelling” ofthe living God and “the pillar and foundation of the truth”(3:15). In the Old Testament, the fact that God livedamongst His people meant that nothing unclean or indecentwas to be found among them. And the fact that the churchwas a “pillar of the truth” meant that it was God’s vehicle tolift up the truth to a watching world. Both these imagesremind us that the church has an ongoing responsibility tofaithfully transmit the gospel and to guard its moral life. Inshort, the church must be committed to continualreformation.

Peter Hastie ap

THE AUSTRALIAN PRESBYTERIAN (ABN 81 498 399 755): The national magazine of the Presbyterian Church of Australia. Editorial committee: Peter Hastie (NSW) Themes Editor;Barney Zwartz (Victoria) Production; Stuart Bonnington (West Australia) News Editor; Peter Hastie (NSW), World News Editor. Graphic Design: Sandra Joynt for A&J Moody Design:www.ajmd.com.au. Advertising and subscription inquiries: Michael Timmins, PO Box 375, Kilsyth 3137; Phone: (03) 9723 9684. Subscription: $38.50 a year inc. GST; bulk (etc)$35.20 each inc. GST. Office: PO Box 375, Kilsyth 3137. Phone: (03) 9723 9684. Fax: (03) 9723 9685. Email: [email protected] Printed by Adept Mail & Print Services,Boronia, Vic. Published: Monthly except January by the National Journal Committee of the Presbyterian Church of Australia; Convener Peter Hastie. Opinions expressed are those of thecontributor and not necessarily those of the PCA, the editor or the committee. Acceptance of advertising does not imply endorsement. Contributions: Submitted articles are welcome. The deadline is the first of the previous month. Donations are always welcome. Print Post approved 34918100384. www.ap.presbyterian.org.au

editorial

Dr Mark E. Dever serves as thesenior pastor of Capitol HillBaptist Church in Washington,DC. He is also the executive

director for 9 Marks (formerly TheCentre for Church Reform, CCR) inWashington, D.C. 9 Marks encouragespastors of local churches to look to theBible for instruction on how to organiseand lead their churches.

Dr Dever has written several books.Perhaps his best-known is Nine Marks of aHealthy Church (Crossway, 2000, 2nd ed.,2004). He has also published A Display ofGod’s Glory — Basics of Church Structure:Deacons, Elders, Congregationalism, andLeadership, The Deliberate Church –Building Biblically in a HaphazardAge(2005), which he co-wrote with PaulAlexander and Promises Kept – TheMessage of the New Testament, and a com-panion volume on the Old Testament. Hispassion for evangelism is seen in his bookThe Gospel and Personal Evangelism pub-lished by Crossway Books.

Dr Dever received his Doctor ofPhilosophy in ecclesiastical history from

Cambridge University, his Master ofTheology from the Southern BaptistTheological Seminary, and a Master ofDivinity from Gordon-ConwellTheological Seminary.

He and his wife Connie live and minis-ter with their son, Nathan, on CapitolHill in Washington, D.C. His ministrywebsite can be found at www.9marks.org

Is the idea of reforming the churchbiblical? For example, is theReformation in the 16th century sim-ply one aspect of a recurring themethat we find throughout theScriptures?

What we see in the Bible is that Godbrings new life to people and transformsthem by addressing them with His Word.This is a pattern in the history of Israel aswell as in the New Testament. If we look,

for example at the books of Ezra-Nehemiah, we find that this is the waythat God shapes His people. Ezra andNehemiah gathered the people and readand instructed them in the Word of God.This is one very clear example of whathappens on many different occasions inmany different places. It means that youraverage Christian minister, who believesthe Bible, must work again and again topreach the life-giving Word, then strive toreform and refashion the people of Godaccording to that Word. Our claim is thatthe Reformed church must always be inthe process of being reformed by theWord of God (ecclesia reformata semperreformanda).

Ministers are the people who arecharged with the frontline responsibilityfor the study and preaching of God’sWord. Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 3:16, 17that “all Scripture is God-breathed anduseful for teaching, rebuking, correcting,and training in righteousness so that theman of God may be thoroughly equippedfor every good work.” Isn’t that interest-ing? Paul assumes that a minister can be

R E F O R M A T I O N

Faithfully renewedThe gospel first, last and always for a healthy church.

Mark Devertalks toPeter Hastie

4 • A U S T R A L I A N P R E S B Y T E R I A N August 2009


equipped for every good work that is partof his calling by the study of Scripture. Iimagine that that would be a revelation formany ministers today.

Further, he goes on to say, “In the pres-ence of God and Christ Jesus who willjudge the living and the dead and in viewof His appearing in His kingdom I giveyou this charge; preach the Word. Be pre-pared in season and out of season.Correct, rebuke and encourage with greatpatience and careful instruction.” Thiscommand defines our ministry. Our fun-damental calling is to preach the Word. Webegin with our families and extend thisministry to the people within the church.And just as we remind our kids (some-times 10 times over) of certain truths, sowe patiently explain and apply the Wordto our congregations. Further, we do itcontinuously because we know that Godneeds to address us time and time again. Itrequires great patience, but after all, Godis very patient with us.

Do we see the principle of reforma-tion at work in church history?

Yes, we certainly do. Perhaps the best-known example of it goes by the samename – “The Reformation” – which was awork of spiritual renewal in 16th centuryEurope. I know there are now quite a fewscholars and church leaders who don’tregard the Reformation in a positive light;they see it as an aberration. However, Iwant to say right off that theReformation was not a mistake. It was anexpression of an important biblical truthand it’s definitely not over. God wants itto continue.

The Reformation was a period whenthe Holy Spirit awakened the sleepingchurch and taught it some vital lessonsabout God, the nature of salvation and theimportance of biblical worship and min-istry. It was a sovereign work of the HolySpirit that reminded the church that theministry of preaching was not conferredat the hands of a bishop – as though bish-ops stood in some special line of apostolicsuccession – but was a gift of the HolySpirit given according to His will. Wedon’t need a bishop to consecrate us to beeffective preachers; what we need most ofall is God’s Spirit and the gifts that Hesupplies for the task. The Reformationwas a time when people recovered thatunderstanding.

I am convinced that the Reformation isa model for us of God’s kindness andgrace that we must never forget.Incidentally, there is a superb book com-ing out soon on this subject. Michael

Reeves has written a book for IVP UKcalled The Unquenchable Flame, which is awonderful new history of theReformation. This is the best thing on theReformation I have read in recent mem-ory. It is an incredibly well-written intro-duction to an important phase of worldhistory. There are chapters on the back-ground of the Reformation, Luther,Calvin, the Church of England, and thena kind of postscript. He presents theReformation as a conflict over the natureof the Gospel and its recovery in the 16thcentury. He is a very astute historian.

If it’s a biblical principle, is there aproblem if the words “reformation”or “revival” arehardly used inthe Scriptures?Does thatmean that theideas lack suf-ficient biblicalgrounding?

No, the ideasof reformationand revival aredefinitely bibli-cal concepts. Ithink it’s quiteclear that we seea pattern of newlife and formation in Scripture, which isfollowed by a period of falling away, andthen God’s people experience renewaland reformation. We have a dramatic pic-ture of this process in Ezekiel 37, wherethe prophet gives us a vision of a valley ofdry bones which suddenly come back tolife. Actually, the biggest “re-” word thatwe have in the New Testament is “re-gen-eration” or being “born again”.Essentially, we are talking about peoplereceiving spiritual life who have beenunresponsive towards God. So I think thewords “regeneration”, “revival” and“reformation” are certainly biblical con-cepts. They describe a pattern that we candiscern throughout the course of biblicalhistory.

If there is a pattern of regeneration,decline, revival and reformation inbiblical history, how should weexpect to see it played out in our per-sonal experience and the life of thechurch?

First of all, I think we need to avoid amechanical view of this pattern. Forinstance, I don’t think you and I will nec-essarily see each of these phases playedout during our lifetimes. We certainly see

the pattern repeated in Scripture and inthe history of the church, but it’s difficultto point to such a process in any one indi-vidual’s life.

What this means, as we see supremelyin the book of Revelation, is that weshould not be discouraged by setbacks inthe church and evidence of decline. Ofcourse, we should grieve when thesethings happen but we shouldn’t lose heart.The reality is that God’s work in thisworld may look small but it will grow.God can bring new life and reform to achurch which appears to be dead. Weknow that from God’s word.

If there is a pattern of spiritualdecline and renewal that we find con-stantly repeating in the Scriptures, doyou think that it’s understood bychurch leaders today?

Some see it, but many don’t. The basicpattern is that we find ourselves inbondage to sin; God sends an evangelistto us with His message of redemption; welisten to that message as it is patientlytaught; and then the Spirit, who owns andinspires the work, changes our hearts andgives us the gifts of repentance and faith.This leads ultimately to the transforma-tion of our lives and the community inwhich the church finds itself. Of course,the degree of change will vary, but I amcontinually encouraged by the many sto-ries I hear of God bringing revival andreformation to the church.

Incidentally, Iain Murray has written abook that I highly recommend calledRevival and Revivalism. He has anotherone dealing with similar issues, AfterPentecost. In After Pentecost he argues thatrevival is the extraordinary blessing ofGod on the ordinary means of grace. Ithink that’s a good way to look at it. InAmerica we have been highly affected bya revivalist way of doing Christianitywhich became popular through the influ-ence of Charles Finney and Iain looks athow this happened in Revival andRevivalism. Although the book deals witha period of history that is unknown tomany readers, if you don’t get hung-upover some of the names and focus insteadon the themes, then you’ll find the bookvery profitable.

I know that there are some scholars inReformed circles who claim that a focuson revival and reformation has a tendencyto make us overly concerned with ourown spiritual state. I recognise that it’spossible for this to happen, but I don’tthink it overcomes the legitimate con-cerns of the Puritans and theologians like

TheReformationwas not a mistake. It wasan expressionof an importantbiblical truthand it’s definitely not over.


Jonathan Edwards who encouragedbelievers to engage in proper self-exami-nation. After all, the apostle Paul says in 2Corinthians 13:5: “Examine yourselves tosee whether you are in the faith. Testyourselves.” I think Edwards and thePuritans were right to invite us to testourselves to see if the genuine marks ofthe Holy Spirit’s presence can be seen inour lives.

Is it fair to call the letter to the sevenchurches in the book of Revelation acall to revival and reformation? Therisen Christ says, “Remember fromwhere you have fallen. Repent and dothe works you did at first”.

I am not sure that we have a definitionas such, but we certainly have severalexamples of it. One interesting pointabout these seven letters is that only twoof the churches avoid Christ’s criticism.Some of His criticisms of the other fivechurches are quite severe. However,Christ regards none of these churches asbeyond hope. That’s why He writes to allof them. Renewal and reformation arealways possible.

Yes, but He does warn that if they failto act they will lose their “lampstand”. That sounds pretty serious.Does this mean that pastors must be

constantly seeking spiritual renewaland reformation as a vital part oftheir ministry?

Yes, it does. However, pastors need tobe careful that they do it in a biblical way.This means that our starting point is thatwe assume that everyone needs to bedelivered from sin by confessing it andtrusting in Christ continually. Thereforepastors need to be evangelising all the

time and feedingthe congregationwith the gospel.We need to befaithful in usingthe means thatGod hasordained. It’s thework of the HolySpirit to use thosemeans to bringabout new lifeand repentance.

I am consciousas a pastor that Ineed to be on the

job all the time. The gravitational pull ofsin is always there. This means thatthere’s a tendency for us all to fall awayfrom our first love of God. This is some-thing that we will all experience until wereach glory. It’s a part of the Christian lifethat we have to deal with until then. Paul

tells us about his daily struggle with sin inRomans 7, so it’s a live issue for us all.There is always a need for revival andreform. Both you and I will face this issueat a personal level as pastors. We will needto keep a watch on ourselves. But therewill never be a church that you and I willpastor that will not need to hear thegospel and the constant call to repentanceand faith. We all need reviving, reformingand refashioning.

What, then, should a pastor’s attitudebe to the status quo?

Thankful for all that is good in thechurch and in people’s lives and for whatGod has done thus far. At the same timewe need to recognise that God’s plan forus is to grow more and more into His like-ness and this is a real possibility, even overthe space of a year or two.

Since this is so, church members needto be taught consistently in the Scripturesand shown how they apply to our lives.This is unending work for pastors and weneed to keep at it until people move on orare called home. John Bunyan capturesthe idea well in Pilgrim’s Progress. TheChristian life is a journey. The second sec-tion of the book, which is not as well-written as the first half, deals with thejourney of his family. In this part of thebook, Greatheart, the pastor figure, playsa prominent role throughout in helpingthem to complete their journey. Whenthey finish it, he goes back to the gateagain and picks up another band and takesthem on their journey. That is our work,isn’t it? It’s never done this side of heaven,but it’s always glorious.

Is it ever wise to leave the churchaltogether or should we stay in it andtry to reform it?

Well, by leaving the church I amassuming that you mean the local church.And there are several questions here thatwould need to be asked. Is it because thechurch is no longer teaching the gospel?Is it something to do with the leadershipor the pastor? There are a lot of questionsthat need to be raised.

Whenever we get somebody coming tojoin our church from another local evan-gelical church, it raises a lot of flags. Iftheir church has changed its doctrinalposition, or if they find that they are morecomfortable with our understanding ofthe gospel, or our church’s practices, thenthat may be okay. But even in that situa-tion, we want to be very careful abouttheir relationships with the members ofthe church to which they already belong.


As a pastor I need to be

on the job allthe time. Thegravitationalpull of sin is

always there.


Sometimes people are running from sin intheir personal relationships.

I don’t know about Australia, but inAmerica where we have a lot of poorteaching on the church, Christians tendto flit about from church to church. Theyact like consumers and go church-shop-ping. That’s hard on the church and onthem too. When they run from a situa-tion, they often forfeit the opportunity togrow in their discipleship. You know,when you hang in on some finance com-mittee that has a lot of difficulties, it’samazing how much you learn in terms ofunderstanding people and serving them.When you stay there for the long haul,you get a better understanding of howGod is patient and long-suffering withyou and your own sin.

On the other hand, I certainly don’twant to encourage someone to stay in aliberal church where the Bible is nottaught. I take very seriously the warningin 2 Timothy 4:3: “The time will comewhen men will not teach sound doctrinebut instead to suit their own desires theywill gather around them a great number ofteachers to say what itching ears want tohear.” It is very interesting that Paulblames not just the false teachers but thepeople who pay them. I, for one, wouldnot want to the member of a local churchwhere the gospel is not being taught andwhere a false gospel is being peddled. Iwould feel that is wrong. If Christ died forme, and I am living my life for Him, thenthe last thing I want to do is to pay Satanon the side.

In view of the spiritual decline thatwe see around us in many places,what should be our response?

In Revelation 6:9, when the fifth seal ofGod’s judgments is opened, John says, “Isaw under the altar the souls of those whohad been slain because of the Word ofGod and their testimony. And they calledout in a loud voice, ‘How long SovereignLord, holy and true, until you judge theinhabitants of the earth and avenge ourblood?’ Then each of them was given awhite robe and they were told to wait a lit-tle longer until the number of their fellowservants and brothers who were to bekilled was completed.”

There is a lot to think about in thosewords. John is clearly talking about mar-tyrs. It’s interesting, I think, that even themartyrs have to be given a white robe ofrighteousness. They don’t earn it by theirdeaths. But the point that I really want tomake is this: as these people who wit-nessed for Christ cry out, God urges them

to be patient. He tells them to waitbecause there is more to unfold in God’splan. There is more suffering to come. Itis not yet complete.

A little later, in Revelation 8:3, we seethat the prayers of God’s people will beanswered. God will end the downward,gravitational pull of sin upon the world.But until it ends, we are called to endurewith faith and hope as Christ endured thecross. He did that for the joys that wereset before Him. This means we mustnever despair over the state of the church.God has a plan and He will deal with theproblems in His own time.

Calvin, in his commentary on Titus,says Paul left many things unfinishedin Crete and makes the point that it isnot a short task to reform the church.What sort of attitude shouldChristian leaders have?

First, we must be assured that thechurch will win. Jesus has promised vic-tory in Matthew 16:18. The church is notin mortal danger and its future is not inour hands. It’s in the hands of Christ. Sowe need to take a deep breath of the air ofnon-alarm, of confidence and of triumph.That’s where we start.

Second, we need to remember that alocal congregation isn’t the same thing asthe universal church. In the mystery ofGod’s ways He has closed down manycongregations already. Further, if He takesa long time to return, there will undoubt-edly be many more. In a sense, we need todisconnect ourselves from associating theapparent success of our local congregationwith the certain success of the universalchurch that Jesus founded.

Third, we can also be confident of thespiritual safety of all those that God haschosen to glorify. So we don’t have toworry about the ultimate safety of thosewe are shepherding. We want to care forthem and we certainly feel great empa-

thy and urgency at certain moments intheir journey as Christians. But it’s withthat calmer perspective, knowing thatGod is sovereign over all that He isdoing in our local church, that we under-take our work.

Further, in 1 Corinthians 12-14 welearn that God the Holy Spirit is sovereignover the way He gifts His church. Thishelps me as a local pastor to feel confidentand joyful even if I find myself in a pas-toral situation that looks like a disaster. Atleast I know what to do. I am called tolove God and love His people, to teachGod’s Word, and to leave it up to God asto what happens. I want to see peoplesaved; I want to see people grow inChrist-likeness and I will work tirelesslyto that end, although I know it is ulti-mately God’s work. He owns it and Hefinishes it. This, I think, is the right com-bination of confidence and urgency thatwe are meant to have.

Should a pastor ever get discouragedat the pace of biblical change takingplace?

Well, it’s quite natural to get discour-aged. We certainly see Jeremiah gettingdiscouraged as he watches things gettingworse and worse. Ezekiel must have beenvery frustrated that he was prophesying toa people who would not listen to him.That is not an encouraging call, is it? Wetrust that God was glorified in it.However, if you or I were in the sameposition, no doubt we might feel ratherlow. But that shouldn’t lead us intodespair.

If we are discouraged we need torefresh ourselves in God’s great promisesand His mighty acts recorded in the Wordand we need to pray for His help. I thinkit also helps to talk to ministerial friends.Don Carson has a great perspective onthis in his book, How Long O Lord.Martin Lloyd-Jones’s book, SpiritualDepression, is also helpful at many points

If we are discouragedwe need torefresh our-selves in God’sgreat promisesand mightyacts recordedin the Word.

too. Another book on the same subjectthat is well worth a look is John Piper’sHow to Fight for Joy.

Was Israel’s request for a king duringthe days of Samuel typical of themain problems of spiritual declinethat we face today such as thechurch’s desire to be successful in theworld’s eyes?

Yes, it was. Israel wanted to be like thepowerful nations around them. Theywanted to be able to trust in somethingvisible rather than make the invisible Godtheir hope. We see the same tendency inthe church today where people wantimmediate and visible signs of success.For example, they want to have impressivechurch buildings and celebrity leaders. Ithink it’s an unhealthy emphasis wherepeople want to rely on visible leadersrather than God Himself, or on apparentvisible success rather than the spiritualwork that is going on. Those are just fewways that I can think of.

The Bible tells us that Solomon wasvery successful as a king and wasadmired for his wisdom, even thoughhe was following other gods. Is it pos-sible to have a “successful” churchand still be following the spirit of theage?

I am sad to say that it is. You know,you can have a growing church in a num-ber of immediately apparent ways, but itmay not be growing healthier as a whole.God, in His kindness, may be growing afew saints in such a place but it will notbe a good environment for spiritualgrowth long-term. The people there willbe like the boys in Daniel 1 who ate thebad food instead of the boys who ate theHebrew food, the good food. Theymight have some signs of being wellnourished in the short-term, but they

will only be healthy long-term if they eatthe right things.

In what ways does Solomon show usthat spiritual decline is often associ-ated with our choice of marriagepartners?

Well, there is no doubt at all that yourmarriage partner will have a significantinfluence on the expression of your per-sonal faith. The Bible tells us that spiritualadultery and idolatry are closely related.

Proverbs contains all kinds of warningabout the influence that other people canexercise over us. Solomon tells us about

the kind of friends we should keep aroundus. In a lot of ways you can tell what a per-son is going to be like next year by thefriends he has this year. Well, it’s the samewith a marriage partner.

So, I always tell people that what I waslooking for in a wife was somebody wholoved Jesus much more than I did. And Ialways prayed for a partner who’d keepme on the straight and narrow if I wasever tempted to turn aside. And that’swhat I got with Connie. We have beenmarried 27 years and she has been a won-derful wife to me. She loves the Lord andshe loves me. And, you know, she has

really helped me to grow as a Christianand has represented the Gospel betterthan I have to our children. That’s whatyou want in a wife: someone who willprovoke you every day by their love andgood deeds to love the Lord more fully.And that’s what the Lord gave me inConnie.

What sort of priority do you give topreparing people for marriage inyour ministry at Capitol Hill?

Well, because our congregation isquite young it’s pretty important. Wehave a Sunday School class that meetsfrom 9:30 to 10:30 on Sunday morningsand for two months of the year weschedule this topic as one of the options.We also have one-off lectures that wegive to the single guys as well as the sin-gle girls in the congregation, and thatusually happens once a year.

What sort of topics do you cover?We cover the purpose of gender; the

purpose of friendship; the purpose of sex;how to conduct a relationship withanother woman or man honourably; howto move from friendship to marriage aswell as how not to do it; how you canwrongly lead another person along andthe unkindness involved in that; andfinally, the specific privileges you shouldleave for marriage. They’re just a few ofthe things we touch on.

Calvin says in his tract on reformingthe church that there are two mainareas where we have to get it right –understanding the gospel accuratelyand worshipping God. Do youagree?

I do, but we need to remember thatCalvin was writing in a context where theworship of the church was corrupted bythe teaching of the Mass. Getting thegospel right and changing what thechurch did when they gathered for wor-ship was essentially the same problem inthe Roman Catholic setting of latemedieval Geneva and France.

For us, in evangelical churches, we sup-posedly have the gospel. Therefore, thequestion for us is, “How much do our ser-vices of public worship reflect that?”Sometimes I think we forget how God ispresent with us through the gospel.Evangelical services often give the impres-sion that we somehow have to “rev up”God’s presence by getting excited. If weunderstand the gospel properly we willrealise that this is something that we don’thave to do.



I always tellpeople thatwhat I was

looking for ina wife was

somebody wholoved Jesusmuch morethan I did.

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There is another area, too, where weneed to consider what is appropriate inworship. It’s in the area of novelty. Thereis a certain sense in which we have aresponsibility to do new or fresh things.“Sing to the Lord a new song!” Ministershave to preach fresh sermons and prayunder the direction of the Spirit.However, the fact remains that we do avery poor job of understanding the placeof repetition in public worship. Haveyou noticed how children love to heartheir favourite stories told over and overagain? Peter, when you and I are on ourdeath beds we will be singing a hymn thatwe know, not one that we have justlearned.

What, like Jesus loves me or AmazingGrace?

Yes, or It Is Well With My Soul or WhenI Survey. New is often good, but repeti-tion is also good and that is the half thatevangelicals don’t seem to understandvery well. When I conduct a wedding, afuneral, a baptism or the Lord’s Supper, orwhen we set apart new elders, we alwaysuse the same words. A lot of the words Iuse have been borrowed from people likeThomas Cranmer. These words have beenin English for a long time. They representbiblical truth, and I have been using themat this one congregation for 15 years now.The repetition of these words is really theequivalent of catechising the congrega-tion, especially when I use the words ofthe Ten Commandments or the Apostle’sCreed. It is a good thing for Christians todo.

Also, we need to remember that in oursermons it is far more important that weemphasise what God has done for usthrough Christ than concentrate on ourresponsibilities and obligations that wehave as believers. Naturally, we mustn’tomit this important element. I am aPuritan at heart; I love applying theScriptures, but the most fundamentalthing that I must do as a preacher is to putthe stress on what God has done for us inChrist and not on what I am required todo.

Paul wrote to the Galatians to arrest asudden spiritual decline in theirchurch. What was it that led to such arapid collapse in their spiritual lifetogether; and to what extent was falseteaching to blame?

False teaching was very much to blame.It is always dangerous, especially when itundermines the grace of God and makesour own works part of the salvation equa-

tion. In the first chapter of the letter itbecomes clear that they had fallen for a“different gospel” and now believed thattheir actions had become the grounds fortheir right standing with God. At thispoint, Paul says that they had departedfrom the gospel and he wanted to be quiteclear about this. It is interesting how hedeals with the problem. He was very the-ological in chapters 1-4 but by chapter 5he is saying, “Look, you can tell this falsegospel has had an effect on you becauseyou are actingin ways thatindicate thatyou are notbeing led by theSpirit. You areobviously beingcontrolled bythe flesh.However, if youact in this otherway, then it willbe clear that theSpirit is produc-ing His fruit inyou.” So, look-ing for the presence of the fruit of theSpirit was a part of how God, throughPaul, was instructing these Christians todo a spiritual self check-up.

Is the modern evangelical church indanger of losing the gospel? Do yousee disturbing trends across the com-mon scene at the moment?

There are worrying trends in the wider

evangelical movement. I don’t have anyunusual comments to make that haven’talready been made by people like DavidWells, James Davidson Hunter, OsGuinness and Don Carson. I am con-cerned about the extent to which modernevangelicals are trying to conform to ourculture. It’s almost as though many evan-gelicals are afraid to stand apart from it.

Another concern that I have is thatthere is an increasingly influential groupof people within evangelicalism whobelieve that the Reformation in the 16thcentury was a mistake or is no longer rel-evant. Today we have well-knownChristian leaders, publishers, campusministries and organisations which werefounded 50 to 70 years ago to preach thegospel that the Reformers preached ofGod’s free grace through faith alone inChrist alone.

However, these leaders and organisa-tions are now saying we will drop the“alone”. “Rome has always said throughfaith so be satisfied with that.” They aresounding more and more like RomanCatholics. While I certainly think thatmany individual Roman Catholics can besaved, the only way they can be saved is bybelieving the Bible and not what their ownchurch teaches. They must be trusting inChrist alone if they are to be saved, andRome has specifically anathematised whatwe understand to be the gospel. It is forthis reason that I am concerned too aboutincreasing numbers of people who areattracted to the New Perspectives views ofscholars like Tom Wright. ap

An increasinglyinfluentialgroup withinevangelicalismbelieves that theReformation in the 16thcentury was amistake or isno longer relevant.

Recently, the 11th edition of theMerriam-Webster’s CollegiateDictionary was published. Thereprint included 10,000 new

words – words that will bring us all up todate. Words like “phat” (excellent), “deadpresidents” (paper currency), and“McJob” (low paying, dead-end job) areamong the entries that will finally help uscommunicate with our teenagers.

How did those words make it into theupdated dictionary? There is one crite-rion: usage. A word qualifies for the newedition based on how widespread its usagehas become. While I can’t imagine howphat, McJob, and dead presidents will finda place in America’s pulpits (e.g., “Thelove of dead presidents is the root of allkinds of evil”?), there is one phrase bor-rowed from the computer industry thathas spread into mainstream usage in thechurch – its impact has been monumental.

“User-friendly” was first used todescribe software and hardware that iseasy for the novice to operate. Applied tothe church, it describes churches thatoffer a decidedly benign and non-chal-lenging ministry model. In practice, it hasbecome an excuse for importing worldlyamusements into the church in anattempt to attract non-Christian “seek-ers” or the “unchurched” by appealing totheir fleshly interests. The obvious falloutof this preoccupation with the unbelieversis a corresponding neglect of true believ-ers and their spiritual needs.

If you want to know how user-friendly

a church has become, the emphasis, or de-emphasis, on biblical preaching is theyardstick. A church that buys into thenew paradigm sidelines provocative andconvicting sermons for music, skits, orvideos – less confrontational mediums for

conveying themessage. Evenwhen there is asermon, it is fre-quently psycho-logical and moti-vational ratherthan biblical.Above all, enter-tainment valueand user-friendli-ness are para-mount.

I once readthrough a stack ofnewspaper andmagazine articles

that highlight a common thread in theuser-friendly phenomenon. These obser-vations from newspaper clippingsdescribe the preaching in user-friendlychurches:

“There is no fire and brimstone here...Just practical, witty messages.”

“Services at (the church featured in thearticle) have an informal feeling. Youwon’t hear people threatened with hell orreferred to as sinners. The goal is to makethem feel welcome, not drive them away.”

“As with all clergymen (this pastor’s)answer is God – but he slips Him in at theend, and even then doesn’t get heavy. Noranting, no raving. No fire, no brimstone.He doesn’t even use the H-word. Call itLight Gospel. It has the same salvation asthe Old-Time Religion, but with a thirdless guilt.”

“The sermons are relevant, upbeat, andbest of all, short. You won’t hear a lot ofpreaching about sin and damnation, andhell fire. Preaching here doesn’t sound likepreaching. It is sophisticated, urbane, andfriendly talk. It breaks all the stereotypes.”

“(The pastor) is preaching a veryupbeat message... It’s a salvationist mes-sage, but the idea is not so much beingsaved from the fires of hell. Rather, it’sbeing saved from meaninglessness andaimlessness in this life. It’s more of a soft-sell.”

So the new rules may be summed uplike this: Be clever, informal, positive,brief, friendly, and never, never use the H-word.

The pastors and leaders in the church-growth movement certainly wouldn’t

portray their own ministries in that way.In fact, they would probably laud theirsuccess in drawing people into the churchwithout compromising the message. Butthey fail to understand that by decentral-ising the Scripture and avoiding hardtruths, they are compromising. “For who-ever is ashamed of Me and My words, ofhim will the Son of Man be ashamed whenHe comes in His glory, and the glory ofthe Father and of the holy angels” (Luke9:26, emphasis added). If the design is tomake the seeker comfortable, isn’t thatrather incompatible with the Bible’s ownemphasis on sin, judgment, hell, and sev-eral other important topics?

The gospel message is a confronta-tional message. When you remove theconfrontation – or soften, downplay, orbring it in through the back door – youhave compromised the message. Themodern pulpit is weak, not for a lack of

1 0 • A U S T R A L I A N P R E S B Y T E R I A N August 2009

No soft soapThe gospel is confronting. Compromising on that is a betrayal.

JohnMacArthur


The obviousfallout of this

preoccupationwith the

unbelievers is acorrespondingneglect of true

believers andtheir spiritual

needs.

A U S T R A L I A N P R E S B Y T E R I A N August 2009 • 1 1

witty messages, but because men fear tospeak the hard truths of God’s Word pow-erfully and with conviction.

The church is certainly not sufferingfrom an overabundance of forthrightpreachers; rather, it seems glutted withmen-pleasers (cf. Gal. 1:10). But, as it wasin the early church, when men are faithfulto preach God’s Word with boldness, Godwill give the increase. “And they were con-tinually devoting themselves to the apos-tles’ teaching... then fear came upon everysoul... and the Lord added to the churchdaily those who were being saved” (Acts2:42, 43, 47).

When a sinner wanders into the churchand sits through skits, mimes, interpretivedances, and the like, and yet never hears aclear, convicting message about his dan-gerous and tenuous spiritual situation –that he is a depraved sinner headed for aneternal fire because he is a daily offence toa holy God – how can that be called suc-cessful? You could achieve the same levelof success by sending a cancer patient toreceive treatment from a group of chil-dren playing doctor. A sinner must under-stand the imminent danger he is in if he isever to look to the Saviour.

C.H. Spurgeon, facing a similar mind-set in his day, once said: “I fear there

are some who preach with the view ofamusing men, and as long as people canbe gathered in crowds, and their ears canbe tickled, and they can retire pleasedwith what they have heard, the orator iscontent, and folds his hands, and goesback self-satisfied. But Paul did not layhimself out to please the public and col-lect the crowd. If he did not save them hefelt that it was of no avail to interestthem. Unless the truth had pierced theirhearts, affected their lives, and made newmen of them, Paul would have gonehome crying, ‘Who hath believed ourreport, and to whom is the arm of theLord revealed?’.

“Now observe, brethren, if I, or you,or any of us, or all of us, shall have spentour lives merely in amusing men, oreducating men, or moralising men,when we shall come to give our accountat the last great day we shall be in a verysorry condition, and we shall have but avery sorry record to render; for of whatavail will it be to a man to be educatedwhen he comes to be damned? Of whatservice will it be to him to have beenamused when the trumpet sounds, andheaven and earth are shaking, and the pitopens wide her jaws of fire and swallowsup the soul unsaved? Of what avail even

to have moralised a man if still he is onthe left hand of the judge, and if still,‘Depart, ye cursed,’ shall be his por-tion?” (“Soul Saving Our OneBusiness,” The Metropolitan TabernaclePulpit, Vol. 25, London: Passmore andAlabaster, 1879.)

That is precisely my concern about

today’s pragmatic church-growthtrend. The strategy focuses on attract-ing and keeping the unchurched. Forwhat? To entertain them? To get themto attend church meetings regularly?Merely “churching” the unchurchedaccomplishes nothing of eternal value.

That is where their strategy seems toend.

What’s worse is when seeker-focusedchurches baptize the masses with theirwatered-down gospel, assuring them thatpositive decisions, feelings, or affirma-tions about Christ equal genuine conver-sion. There are now multitudes who arenot authentic Christians identifying withthe church. The church is literally invadedwith the world’s values, the world’s inter-ests, and the world’s citizens. It isn’t aninvasion prompted by overt hostility;people are simply responding to a surveythat came in the mail. Ironically, Satanisn’t sowing the tares; church leaders are.

As you set your strategy for churchministry, you dare not overlook the pri-mary means of church growth: thestraightforward, Christ-centered procla-mation of the unadulterated Word ofGod. If you trade the Word for amuse-ments or gimmicks, you will not only findthat you have no effective means to reachpeople with the truth of Christ, but youwill find yourself working against theLord Himself.

Noted evangelical writer and minister JohnMacArthur is pastor-teacher of GraceCommunity Church in California. ap

The modernpulpit is weak,not for a lackof witty messages, butbecause menfear to speakthe hard truthsof God’s Wordpowerfully andwith conviction.

“The Harvest is Plentiful but the Laborers are Few” Matt. 9:37

St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Moe is seeking a full time Minister to lead a congregation of committed Christians who are spiritually strong

with a real trust in the Lord.

The parish is located in the rural township of Moe, in Gippsland within the Latrobe Valley region. Sustained by a diverse and growing population, Moe and thesurrounding townships are well positioned, accessible to snowfields, national parks

and beaches and all within easy reach of Melbourne city.

Can you:• Engage a rural and industrial population in the good news of the gospel,

• Build the church’s profile and engagement within the community,

• Work with a team to establish and build the Lord’s ministry vision and strategy, instilling a strong biblical faith?

Do you:• Want to be a valued member of a willing congregation committed to the

Lord’s work?

• Want an opportunity to preach the good news of the gospel?

If you answered yes to these challenges and opportunities and wish to find out more about the position, please contact the Interim Moderator

Reverend Gary Stephens via telephone 03 5153 1669 or via email [email protected] to discuss the role further.

In the Lord we Trust

Imagine if the Lord Jesus Christ hadappeared in His glory to one of Hisapostles, with letters to be deliveredto several of His churches. These let-

ters would deal with local situations, butwould also convey general and universalprinciples to all Christians. If Jesus haddone this, and if the letters were preservedin the New Testament, surely they wouldwield vast influence among Christians andchurches of all times.

In fact, Jesus did commission the apos-tle John to provide letters to sevenchurches in Asia Minor, and these lettersare recorded in chapters two and three ofthe book of Revelation. Yet, surprisingly,these letters exert little influence on thethinking of Christians today.

There is no reason to think that theirmessage is any less relevant, nor Christ’smandate for reformation any less authori-tative, now than it was in the late first cen-tury. If the writer of Hebrews was right insaying that “Jesus Christ is the same yes-terday and today and forever” (Heb.13:8), then it is imperative for churches toembrace Christ’s ancient call to reforma-tion and heed the warnings he issued tohis churches of old.

The seven letters of Revelation 2-3 arepreceded by the vision of Christ in chap-ter 1. Here, Jesus appears in His majestyas Lord, bearing His emblems of sover-eignty, glory, and power. John wasbrought to his Master the way that Moseswas brought to Mount Sinai, with a trum-pet blast summoning him to divinity (Ex.19:16, 19; 20:18); like Ezekiel, the voice heheard was “like the sound of many waters,like the sound of the Almighty, a sound oftumult like the sound of an army” (Eze.1:24).

Jesus’ voice, so often heard at John’sside during His earthly life, comes forthnow as the voice of the Almighty. Jesusis “one like a son of man” (v. 13), an allu-sion to the vision of Daniel 7, anddressed in the robe and golden sash ofthe true high priest (Ex. 28:4; 29:9). Heis the Great Prophet, with “a sharp two-edged sword” coming from His mouth(Is. 49:2). John worships Him as thehigh and holy king, falling down likeIsaiah for the sense of his own defile-ment. Jesus is the Lord Almighty, reign-

ing in power in His threefold office ofprophet, priest and king.

This vision also highlights Christ’s pre-sent relationship to the church. John seesHim standing in the midst of sevengolden lampstands. In His right hand areseven stars which “are the angels of theseven churches, and the seven lampstands

are the seven churches” (v. 20). The sevenletters that follow are each addressed “tothe angel of the church” in that place.Jesus probably means a guardian angelcharged with protecting God’s people in acertain place (see Dan. 10:12-13). Thestars and lampstands also indicate thefunction of the churches. DennisJohnson writes, “Stars and lampstandsboth speak of the churches as reflectingthe light of their King, but the lampstandshighlight His presence and the starsemphasize His protective possessiveness.”

Here, then, is the picture: the exaltedChrist is Lord Almighty of the church,among which He himself walks, whichHe possesses and protects, and in whichHe seeks the display of His own glory andlight.

Jesus’ appearance anticipates the con-tent of the messages He will send. FromHis mouth comes the sword of God’sWord, and this He expects to see pro-

claimed, defended, and applied in thechurch. His appearance and clothingspeak of priestly holiness, and these heseeks in those who follow him. As Heholds the churches as lights in His hand,He looks to them to shine the light of thegospel in the world. Since He holds, asHe tells John, “the keys of Death andHades” (Rev. 1:18), so He speaks to thechurch as One who can enforce His com-mands and reward those who remainfaithful.

First, the seven letters highlight theimportance that Jesus attaches to

upholding the truth in His church. Hisfirst letter praised the Ephesians for test-ing those falsely claiming to be apostles, aswell as for opposing the heresy of “theNicolaitans” (2:2, 6). Just as Mosescharged the Israelites with testing a sup-posed prophet for his conformity to theScriptures (Dt. 13:1-5), so all teaching inChrist’s church is to be assessed for itsbiblical fidelity. Jesus thus praised theEphesians because they “tested those whocall themselves apostles and are not, andfound them to be false” (Rev 2:2).

Today, those who test doctrines andchallenge false teaching are despised asbeing narrow-minded and uncharitable.But Jesus praised those who carefullyguarded the truth within His church.According to Dennis Johnson, the politi-cally incorrect and intolerant Ephesiansmerely “reflected Jesus’ intolerance ofpoisonous lies and of liars who prey on hissheep.”

Jesus took a similar stance towards thechurch at Pergamum, which held to thetruth in the face of deadly persecution(2:13). Nonetheless, they came underHis criticism for permitting false teachingthat encouraged licentiousness (whichseems to be the point of “the teaching ofBalaam”) as well as the Nicolaitan heresy(2:14-15). It is noteworthy that whileonly some people had gone in for thesefalse teachings, the whole church wascharged by our Lord for permitting it.Similarly, the church in Thyatira wascharged for permitting a figure Jesus iden-tifies as “that woman Jezebel”, whose falseteaching led to sexual immorality andidolatry (2:20).


Letters from JesusReformation will come only through rediscovering God’s Word.

Richard D.Phillips


Jesus’ interactions

with Hisancient

churchesshould

disabuse us ofthe possibility

of neutralitywhen it comesto matters of

truth.


Jesus’ interactions with His ancientchurches should disabuse us of the possi-bility of neutrality when it comes to mat-ters of truth. There are good reasons forus to avoid controversy; we should nei-ther seek it nor love it. But Christ chargesHis church to reject neutrality when itcomes to the truth of His Word. There isfidelity to Christ and there is friendshipwith the world. Faithful churches, whichreceive His commendation and blessing,are those that fiercely stand against theworldly currents of errors and lies.

Christ’s call to single-mindedness isalso revealed in the second theme of Hisseven letters: His urgent insistence onholy living. False teachers in Pergamumled believers to “eat food sacrificed toidols and practice sexual immorality”(2:14), and the “Jezebel” in Thyatira iscondemned for “seducing my servants topractice sexual immorality and to eat foodsacrificed to idols” (2:20). Jesus isurgently concerned, then, over His peo-ples’ sensual sin and involvement in idola-try.

These warnings are coupled withsevere warnings. Jesus makes clear thattrials suffered in the church are Hisresponse to their gross immorality, awarning many evangelical churches oughtseriously to consider today (2:21-23).Jesus holds churches responsible for thedissolute among them, and He treasuresthose who have pursued purity. To Sardis,He writes, “Yet you have still a few namesin Sardis, people who have not soiled theirgarments, and they will walk with me inwhite, for they are worthy” (3:4).

The third theme that dominates theseletters is Jesus’ unfailing zeal for gospelmission. He emphasises both the witnessof the church and its ministry of mercyand justice. Ephesus is called back to theworks of her first days, when togetherwith Paul and his associates they “turnedthe world upside-down” (Acts 17:6) bytheir ministry of word and deed. Worksof ministry are emphasised in the lettersto Sardis and Laodicea, both of whichhave substituted a false glory for the trueglory of gospel mission.

What does Jesus demand of Hischurches? According to the letters to thechurches in Revelation, the exalted Lorddemands a zeal for Scriptural truth (seenin testing and opposing false teachers),holy living (especially sexual purity andthe rejection of cultural idols), and gospelmission (through the witness of bothword and deed). To uphold these man-dates is to conquer: “The one who con-quers,” He concludes, “I will grant him to

sit with Me on My throne, as I also con-quered and sat down with My Father onHis throne” (3:21). But to churches andprofessing Christians who refuse theLord’s reformation call, He warns: “If youdo not wake up, I will come like a thief,and you will not know at what time I willcome to you” (3:3).

As Almighty Lord, Jesus calls Hischurches to triumph and persevere in theworld, in spite of the fierce opposition totrue and saving Christianity. He depictsour situation instark terms thatfew are willing toconceive oftoday. Thosewho will notreform will havetheir lampstandremoved fromits place (2:5) – ajudgment his-tory records asbeing visitedupon these sevenchurches, whichnow consist onlyof mounds of rubble. Against those whofail to guard the truth Jesus “will come…and wage war against them with the swordof my mouth” (2:16). To those who willnot repent of unholy living, He promisesto “give to each of you as your worksdeserve” (2:23). To those who burn nei-ther hot nor cold for His gospel, Jesussays, “I will spit you out of My mouth”(3:16). The Sovereign Lord calls allChristians to reformation: “Those whomI love, I reprove and discipline, so be zeal-ous and repent” (3:19).

So what would Jesus have us do in orderto reform our lives and churches?

First, he urges us, to remember. Twice inthese letters, Jesus gives this call:“Remember therefore from where youhave fallen” (2:5); “Remember, therefore,what you have received and heard” (3:3).

This means that if our churches aregoing to experience reformation today, itwill be through a rediscovery of God’sWord. James Montgomery Boice identi-fied a lack of confidence in Scripture asperhaps the chief problem in the churchtoday. He wrote, “It is possible to believethat the Bible is the inerrant Word of God,the only infallible rule of faith and prac-tice, and yet to neglect it and effectuallyrepudiate it just because we think that it isnot sufficient to today’s tasks and thatother things need to be brought in toaccomplish what is needed.”

Because of a neglect of Scripture,churches today are increasingly governedby the principles of the world – therapeu-tic psychology, secular business practices,and even New Age mysticism – ratherthan the rule of Christ. He calls to uswith the double-edged sword of hismouth: “Remember.”

Coupled with the call for the church toremember is an urgent mandate to repent:“Remember therefore from where youhave fallen; repent, and do the works youdid at first” (Rev. 2:5). “Remember, there-fore, what you have received and heard;obey it, and repent” (Rev. 3:3).

Jesus never merely threatens, but Healso woos His purchased bride with sweetpromises, and these ought especially toenliven us today to Christ’s call to refor-mation. To those who press on in truthand in love, He says, “I will grant to eat ofthe tree of life, which is in the paradise ofGod” (2:7). Those who follow Him tothe end “will not be hurt by the seconddeath” (2:11). Jesus adds His gift of “thehidden manna… and a white stone”(2:17). He promises authority to thosewho conquer, “and I will give him themorning star” (2:28).

Having sprinkled His seven letterswith these marvelous incentives, Jesusconcludes His reformation charge withthe greatest incentive of all: Christ’s giftof Himself: “Behold, I stand at the doorand knock. If anyone hears My voice andopens the door, I will come in to him andeat with him, and he with Me. The onewho conquers, I will grant him to sit withMe on My throne, as I also conquered andsat down with My Father on His throne.He who has an ear, let him hear what theSpirit says to the churches” (3:20-22).

Richard D. Phillips is senior minister ofSecond Presbyterian Church, Greenville,South Carolina. ap

Jesus nevermerely threat-ens, but he alsowoos his bridewith sweetpromises, andthese oughtespecially toenliven ustoday.

VisitingBallarat?Worship with us at Ebenezer

Presbyterian Church.Every Sunday 10.30 am.

214 Armstrong Street South.Rev. Dr John Woodward

Phone: (03) 5334 2909

Most people think about theirown death as a fearful prospect,but the title of a famous Puritanfuneral sermon offers a pleasing

alternative: a believer’s last day on earth ishis or her best day.

The Puritans of the 16th and 17th cen-turies produced a wealth of writing thatcan be read devotionally. They were attheir devotional “best” in a genre that fallsinto the category of “best kept secrets”,namely, funeral sermons. By the time aPuritan funeral sermon found its way intoprint, it had often been expanded into asmall book. Puritan funeral sermonsannounce a single Bible verse at the out-set, but as the sermons unfold they almostalways become a mosaic of evocativeverses on the subjects of death, heaven,and immortality. Some of these sermonsare small anthologies of choice Bibleverses.

When Thomas Brooks preached a ser-mon at the funeral of Mrs Martha Randallat Christ’s Church, London, on June 28,1651, he chose a title that is a stroke ofgenius. By calling a believer’s last day onearth his or her best day, Brooks at oncedemolished the conventional view ofdeath as an earthly calamity. The follow-ing excerpt brings together a few key pas-sages from the sermon.

Death is a believer’s coronation day andmarriage day.

Death is a change of our imperfect andincomplete enjoyments of God, for amore complete and perfect enjoyment ofHim. As no believer has a clear sight ofGod here, so no believer has a full and per-fect sight of God here. In Job 26:14, howlittle a portion is heard of him — speakingof God — and of what is heard, ah howlittle a portion is understood! It is anexcellent expression that Augustine has:“The glorious things of heaven are somany — that they exceed number; so pre-cious — that they exceed estimation; sogreat — that they exceed measure!”Bernard says, “For Christ to be with Paulwas the greatest security — but for Paul tobe with Christ was the chief happiness!”…

When death shall give the fatal stroke,

there shall be an exchange of earth — forheaven; of imperfect enjoyments — forperfect enjoyments of God; then the soulshall be swallowed up with a full enjoy-ment of God; no corner of the soul shallbe left empty — but all shall be filled upwith the fullness of God. Here in this pre-sent world, they receive grace — but in

heaven they shallreceive glory.God keeps thebest wine untillast; the best ofGod, Christ, andheaven — isbeyond this pre-sent world. Herewe have but somesips, some tastesof God; fullnessis reserved for theglorious state.He who seesmost of God hereon earth, sees but

His back parts; His face is a jewel of thatsplendour and glory, which no eye canbehold but a glorified eye.

The best of Christians are able to takein but little of God; their hearts are likethe widow’s vessel, which could receivebut a little oil. Sin, the world, and crea-tures do take up so much room in the besthearts, that God gives out Himself littleby little, as parents give sweets to theirchildren. But in heaven God will commu-nicate Himself fully at once to the soul!Grace shall then be swallowed up ofglory! …

Death is another Moses: it deliversbelievers out of bondage, and from mak-ing bricks in Egypt. It is a day or year ofjubilee to a gracious spirit — the yearwherein he goes out free from all thosecruel taskmasters which it had longgroaned under … Death is a believer’scoronation-day, it is his marriage-day. It is

a rest from sin, a rest from sorrow, a restfrom afflictions and temptations, etc.Death to a believer is an entrance intoAbraham’s bosom, into paradise, into the“New Jerusalem,” into the joy of hisLord…

Christians! what is your whole life —but a day to fit for the hour of death?What is your great business in this world— but to prepare and fit for the eternalworld? It was a sad speech of CaesarBorgia, who being on his deathbed said,“When I lived, I provided for everythingbut death! Now I must die, and amunprovided to die.” Ah, Christians! youhave need every day to pray with Moses,“Lord, teach us to number our days, thatwe may apply our hearts to wisdom,”Psalm 90:12 … .

See that Christ be your Lord andMaster, … and then your dying-day shallbe to you as the day of harvest to thefarmer, as the day of deliverance to theprisoner, as the day of coronation to theking, and as the day of marriage to thebride. Your dying-day shall be a day of tri-umph and exaltation, a day of freedom andconsolation, a day of rest and satisfaction!

Leland Ryken is professor of English atWheaton College. The text of ThomasBrooks’ sermon can be found athttp://www.gracegems.org/Brooks/a_believers_last_day.htm In the six-volume Works ofThomas Brooks, published by Banner ofTruth Trust, the sermon appears in volume 6(pages 339-408). ap


Our best dayThe Puritans understood that, for believers, death is no calamity.

LelandRyken

R E F L E C T I O N

Death isanother

Moses: itdelivers

believers outof bondage,

and from making bricksin Egypt. It isa day or yearof jubilee to agracious spirit.

Covering the areas ofMillicent and Penolaare seeking a pastor

The Wattle RangePresbyterian Charge

For further information please contactRev Ian Touzel

Interim Moderator Ph 08 87239317

[email protected]


E V A N G E L I S MB I B L E S T U D Y

One of the factors that sparked theProtestant Reformation nearly 500 yearsago was the discovery that the God of theBible was a God of grace who revealed

the depth of His love and mercy in the gift of JesusHis Son. The church had been able to manipulatepeople’s lives by keeping them in bondage to fear,preaching a message that made heaven a rewardfor good deeds, and made punishment in purga-tory for bad deeds an inevitable part of the processfor getting there! The Reformers’ liberating “goodnews” of salvation by grace alone, through faithalone, was gladly embraced by humble, God-fear-ing people who longed for peace in their hearts – apeace that their loving heavenly Father intendedthem to enjoy.

We are faced with the opposite problem today. Thecommon theme in churches at the beginning of the21st century is an emphasis on God’s love andmercy that virtually refuses to acknowledge any-thing to do with His anger at sin, His eternal rejec-tion of all who spurn His offer of salvation, and Hispromised coming in judgement when Christ returns.

Of all the reformers, John Calvin is probably theone who got the balance right. His focus on boththe sovereignty of God and the gospel of His grace,not letting either diminish the other, is one that thechurch must capture again. Isaiah’s prophecyhelps us to do that. Isaiah was given the formida-ble task of declaring God’s pending judgement ona rebellious people who ignored His covenantrequirements while taking His covenant love forgranted! We are in danger of making the samegrave mistake. Bruce Christian�

Ever-fresh,ever-needed

20 daily Bible studies in

Isaiah 21-32


B I B L E S T U D Y

THE PASSAGE ISAIAH 21:1-10THE POINT In chapters 13-20, under the Holy Spirit’s inspi-ration, Isaiah has been revealing to God’s covenant nation Hisplans to bring judgement on the wickedness of the surroundingmajor powers which presented a constant threat to their secu-rity, peace and prosperity. There he had targeted Babylon,Assyria, Philistia, Moab, Syria, Cush and Egypt. He nowintensifies his message against that great godless nation thatbecomes the symbol of the ultimate demise of every arrogantauthority that sets itself up against God’s rightful rule in Hisworld (cf Revelation 18).THE PARTICULARS• “Desert by the Sea” was perhaps a derogatory term for

Babylon, drawing attention to the land’s parched terrain in spiteof the proximity of the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea(1).• God gives Isaiah a glimpse of future events to share withJudah to warn and encourage them (10). Why seek aid fromBabylon whose powerful rise would be short-lived and whowould face inconceivable destruction even in the midst of theirvictory celebrations (5)! Assyria, Babylon, Media ... kingdomswill rise and kingdoms will fall – but only as the sovereignLORD directs.TO PONDER ... AND TO PRAY• Is the Church today too ready to depend on human resourcesand methods rather than trusting God to give us His victory?

THE PASSAGE ISAIAH 21:11-17THE POINT We sometimes despair of the situation in theMiddle East as we see no solution to the problem. The differ-ent Semitic peoples are forever at war over things for which nocompromise position exists, or is even possible, in spite of theurgent need for peace and the cessation of bloodshed. It isgood to be reminded: God still rules and all these skirmishesare a part of His big picture.THE PARTICULARS• Israel’s cousins – Dumah, in Ishmael’s line (Genesis 25:13-14), and the inhabitants of Seir, descendants of Esau/Edom,were excluded from God’s covenant line, and so would be aconstant thorn in Jacob/Israel’s side. God would lead His

Church, His people through seasons of darkness (night) andtimes of blessing (morning, cf Psalm 30:5), and this will con-tinue throughout all history until Jesus returns in power. Weshould keep waiting on God, listening to His voice, and trust-ing Him alone (11-12).• Other descendants of Abraham listed in Genesis 25 (Dedan,3; Tema, 13; and Kedar, 15) are also subject to God’s sovereignworking in history on behalf of His chosen people; we musthold on tightly to His covenant promises, and trust, and wait(13-17).

TO PONDER ... AND TO PRAY• Do you let relatively small problems rob you of God’s peace?

THE PASSAGE ISAIAH 22:1-13

THE POINT Jerusalem was the home of God’s prophets, theplace where He revealed His will and His ways to His peoplethrough His chosen delegates. It should have been in reality aValley of Vision. But instead there was only chaos and confu-sion. Soon Isaiah will say: “In repentance and rest is your sal-vation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you wouldhave none of it.” (30:15) Sadly, but typically, God’s peoplewere not willing to take up His gracious offer, preferring ratherto continue in their own rebellious ways and reap the disastrousresults. Any comfort to be had from God’s promised judge-ment on their wicked, godless neighbours, Babylon, Edom andArabia, is completely lost while ever they try to solve their own

problems independently of Him.THE PARTICULARS• How foolish it is when God’s people worry themselves intoinactivity and defeat when God’s help is so close at hand, andespecially when His power to help is already proven (1-4)!• Jerusalem’s destruction is inevitable; but its residents are only“crying out to the mountains” (5; cf Psalm 121:1-2), shiftingthe deckchairs (6-11a), and having one last big fling (13),instead of seeking the LORD their Maker in repentance andfaith (11b-12)!TO PONDER ... AND TO PRAY• What is your vision for God’s Church? Do you pray orworry?


THE POINT Ultimately, the rejection of God’s saving gracecannot be atoned for (14; cf Hebrews 2:3; 6:6; 10:26-31).Shebna’s function in the court of Hezekiah was like Joseph’s inPharaoh’s court; but unlike Joseph, Shebna used his positionfor personal advantage, using the dwindling national resourcesto build a memorial to himself, and failing to acknowledge thesovereign rule of “the LORD Almighty”. He would thereforebe quite unceremoniously tossed from office, and replaced bysomeone who would fill the role appropriately. Eliakim wouldbe this person, and in this sense would prefigure Christ, the“Servant” who would be the “true Israel” which the nationitself (depicted in Shebna) should have been (20-24; cf

Revelation 3:7). But, in spite of the relative stability Eliakimwould bring, he too, like any human leader, will fail, makingway for God to send His own Messiah, Jesus, to be the trueand only Saviour for the world in disarray (25).

THE PARTICULARS• God’s Word is final in the spelling out of human history as itprogresses to its culmination in the sending of a Saviour. Thefact of Man’s helpless plight in need of grace is non-negotiable!

TO PONDER ... AND TO PRAY• Why is it that fallen humanity continues to remain deaf towhat God declares, thinking it can work out its own salvation?

DAY 4 The Key of David.

DAY 1 Chariots... horses... God.

DAY 2 Big picture thinking.

DAY 3 Valley of no vision.


B I B L E S T U D Y


THE POINT Jesus was consistent with the message of thewhole of Scripture when He spoke out strongly against the evilassociated with the acquisition of wealth (cf Luke 6:24-26;16:13-21). Tyre and Sidon were prosperous seaports, benefit-ing from the free flow of the Mediterranean shipping tradebetween Egypt, Tarshish (Spain), islands like Cyprus, and theMiddle Eastern nations. Like any such port, its prosperitymade its people proud and arrogant, with a feeling of securityand self-sufficiency that had no place for God. But Isaiah wasgiven the task of announcing its demise, a downfall to bedirected by the LORD Almighty (the God of hosts, Israel’sGod) as He worked out His Plan in history (8-9). God’s

instruments would be Assyria’s Sennacherib in 701BC and, 130years later, Babylon’s Nebuchadnezzar. It is an important les-son to nations of all ages, especially our own!THE PARTICULARS• Tyre and Sidon’s complacency about the sea’s ongoing abilityto “bear” them a fruitful economy is about to be crushed (1-12); even the great Babylon had fallen previously to Assyria(13)!• Unscrupulous commerce can become no better than prosti-tution, and God distributes the earnings (14-18; cf Ecclesiastes2:26)!TO PONDER ... AND TO PRAY• What is God saying to us through the present financial crisis?

THE PASSAGE ISAIAH 24:1-13THE POINT God has been unfolding His Plan as it affectedthe fate of the different nations individually. He now turnsour attention to the ultimate destiny of all people as the earthheads towards His final judgement against Man’s sin and rebel-lion in accordance with His often repeated warnings andagainst the background of His justice. There will be a day ofreckoning; Man continues to despise the everlasting covenant,and the consequences are inevitable. Here the prophet’s mes-sage becomes apocalyptic and universal – he is talking about thedevastation of the end-times!THE PARTICULARS• God has never kept us in the dark concerning the ultimate

fate of the present created order (1, 3) as we anticipate the cre-ation of the new heavens and earth (cf Joel 2:28-32; Mark 13;etc).• God makes no distinction among sinners (2; cf Acts 10:34).• The demise of our world is the direct result of Man’s rebel-lion (4-6; cf Genesis 3:17-19; 6:5-7, 13; Romans 5:12; 6:23;8:20-22).• Our own society tries to ignore God’s serious warningsabout where we are heading; but if we were honest we wouldsee the clear signs around us of the truth of His Word (7-13; cf22:13).TO PONDER ... AND TO PRAY• Read 2 Peter 3. Are we concerned enough for the lost today?


THE POINT We see TV coverage of earthquakes, tsunamis ortornadoes that destroy life and property in a way that’s hard forus to process. We struggle with the question, “If God is good,why does He let such things to happen?” Here Isaiah gives usa glimpse of what it will be like on Judgement Day; and, amaz-ingly, although our worst earthquakes will pale into insignifi-cance by comparison, no one will be asking that question!Instead, all peoples will be shouting praise to God, singing,“Glory to the Righteous One.” It will be obvious to all thatGod is just in His judgement (cf Psalm 51:4), and only thegodly remnant like Isaiah will be lamenting the treachery of thewicked in having deceived so many (16-18).

THE PARTICULARS• People from every corner of the world will “acclaim theLORD’s majesty” and “exalt the name of the LORD, the Godof Israel” when He comes in power to judge (14-16a; cfPhilippians 2:10-11).• The end of the world will be sudden and cataclysmic, thisbeing the just consequence of its rebellion against its Maker(18-20).• God will rule in glory with His Church; all heavenly andearthly powers and dominions will submit to Him (21-23; cfEphesians 1:18-23).TO PONDER ... AND TO PRAY• Are you looking forward to, and preparing for, Jesus’ Return?

THE PASSAGE ISAIAH 25:1-12THE POINT Having described powerfully the more dramaticside of the Day of Judgement, God is now able to let us bemore reflective about what it means to share in, and be pro-tected by, His salvation on that Day. Our God is a righteous,just and powerful God, but He is also a faithful, loving, caringand merciful God, a “refuge for the poor ... and needy” (4).THE PARTICULARS• The powerful, sovereign Lord of creation and history is theGod whom humble, poor believers like you and me can knowpersonally, and who always remains faithful to His word (1, 4).• God will not only defeat all His enemies; they will acknowl-edge His right to rule over them and they will honour Him (2-

3, 5).• Isaiah gives us a glimpse of heaven, the feast we will share inthe unveiled presence of God, made happy and whole and per-fect for all eternity (6-8; cf 1 Corinthians 13:12; Revelation21:1-4)! In contrast, those too “clever” in their own eyes tolook to God to save them, will spend eternity swimming inmanure (10-12).• The focus of our salvation is not on how we have lived orwhat we have achieved; it is on the God in whom we havetrusted (9).

TO PONDER ... AND TO PRAY• What do you anticipate you will enjoy most about heaven?

DAY 8 O LORD, you are my God.

DAY 5 Pride comes before a fall.

DAY 6 No respecter of persons.

DAY 7 To God be the glory.


B I B L E S T U D Y

THE PASSAGE ISAIAH 26:1-11THE POINT Isaiah gives us a picture here of what it would belike to have a society where God’s people walk faithfully in Hisways so that even unbelievers see and enjoy the blessing thisbrings, and are left without excuse for persisting in God-deny-ing wickedness.THE PARTICULARS• Isaiah longs for “that day” when God’s power to save, tomake people thoroughly whole in every part of their lives, isthe norm and not the exception for a community – keepingfaith, enjoying peace, trusting steadfastly in God’s Rock(Jesus), the level path of right-living and right-relationshipsunderpinning everything, deeply desiring God’s honour in all

things, at all times (1-9a).• A hard but important lesson for God’s people to learn is thatHis Kingdom is an upside-down kingdom, where the higheststatus is given to the insignificant poor (5-6; cf Mark 10:35-45)!• When God’s ways are seen in the lives of His people it impactsthe whole society (9b-11; cf Matt. 5:13-16; 1 Pe. 2:11-12).TO PONDER ... AND TO PRAY• Is this a picture of what the Church on earth, now, ought tobe? (We might be the only glimpse some people ever get ofheaven!)• What influence is the Church having on our society? Are weso compromising that unbelievers remain comfortable in theirsin?

THE PASSAGE ISAIAH 26:12-21THE POINT When all is said and done, for Isaiah only onetruth stands firm: the God who has revealed Himself in historyand in His Word is the only true God, to whom we owe every-thing. He is the source of all life; He gives and takes away; Heblesses and punishes in a perfect balance of mercy and justice.This passage reminds me of Harriet Auber’s lines: “And everyvirtue we possess, and every victory won, and every thought ofholiness, are His alone.”THE PARTICULARS• The one thing God’s people ever have to learn and own isthat the LORD (Yahweh, Jesus) is the only God, all things arein His sovereign hands, and to Him alone belongs all the glory(12-15).

• Jesus’ sobering words in Luke 17:10 reflect Isaiah’s senti-ments here; none of us (not Mary, not saints) can ever gaincredit with God; our prayers are but groans (Romans 8:26-27);it is God alone who saves – we can have no “notches in ourgun” (16-18).• But the issues of life and death belong to our God (cfDeuteronomy 32:39) and He is able to raise us up from thedepths of this dust of death to share eternal life and joy in Hispresence (19).• Wait patiently for His vindication (20-21; cf Revelation 6:9-11).TO PONDER ... AND TO PRAY• Reflect on the outworking of God’s grace throughout yourlife.

THE PASSAGE ISAIAH 27:1-13THE POINT Isaiah looks forward again to the restoration ofGod’s people, Israel, His Church. He sees it in their returnfrom exile; he sees it in God’s ongoing protection; he sees it inher prosperity and growth; he sees it in the dealing with her sin;he sees it in the doing away with false religion and the establish-ment of healthy worship practices. There have been periods inthe history of Israel and the Church where these things havebeen evident to a greater or lesser degree; but Isaiah is alsolooking beyond these to “that day” when all will be restored inthe “New” Jerusalem.THE PARTICULARS• Leviathan depicts Satan’s attacks on the Church (cfRevelation 12-13, 17), through hostile nations or opposing ide-

ologies (1).• The Church is God’s vineyard that He will continue to pro-tect and care for so that it bears fruit for Him (cf 5:1-7). Yes,He must destroy anyone who opposes this, but His first desireis for all to be part of His people and enjoy His peace andblessing (2-6).• Israel’s exiles are part of God’s process for purifying her. Inthe end, He will “exile” His own Son (cf Mark 15:34) to pro-vide the ultimate, perfect atonement for, and removal of, hersin; then an open invitation will go out for all to return, on Histerms (7-13)!TO PONDER ... AND TO PRAY• Does the Church today need drastic refining? (cf 1 Pet. 4:12-19)

THE PASSAGE ISAIAH 28:1-15THE POINT Ephraim’s problem, and Isaiah’s exposure anddenunciation of it, provide a good backdrop for understandingJesus’ problem with the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees.God’s people had become intoxicated, literally as well asmetaphorically, by the ways and ideas of the world, but theydidn’t realise it. Worse still, it was coming from the top – fromthe priests and prophets, the very people who should haveknown better. Their loose living led to confused teaching, thelaying aside of justice, the legalistic performance of empty andmeaningless ritual, and a compromise of the truth that gavethem a false sense of God’s protection from the eternal conse-quences of sin and death! Jesus’ language in the debates Hehad with the Jewish leaders (cf Mark 7:5-13; John 8:31-59)

reflect Isaiah’s prophecy against Ephraim.THE PARTICULARS• God has the power to deal with all man’s pride and passion(1-4).• God’s Church will always succeed, even if it is a remnant (5-6).• The world’s empty wisdom and foolish ways lack substanceand depth. Although Himself a Jew, Jesus’ words of comfort(eg Matt.11:28-30) were like a foreign language to the Jewishleaders, so they were left with their impotent rule book (7-13)!TO PONDER ... AND TO PRAY• Do people today rely on a false “covenant with death” (14-15)?

DAY 12 Proverbs 14:12/16:25.

DAY 9 Reflecting heaven?

DAY 10 In Christ alone.

DAY 11 Restoration.


B I B L E S T U D Y

THE PASSAGE ISAIAH 28:16-29THE POINT Isaiah foresees the coming of one who will bethe foundation and key of everything God is doing among Hispeople (16). He will provide the stability and orienta-tion/direction/purpose to everything God is doing to establishHis Kingdom among men. In the NT both Peter (Acts 4:11; 1Peter 2:4-7) and Paul (Romans 9:33; 10:11) tie this verse inwith 8:14 and Psalm 118:22 and apply it to Christ. In fact,Jesus Himself had alluded to the same connection (Mark12:10). So we are not surprised to find this part of Isaiah’sprophecy so relevant to the coming of Jesus.THE PARTICULARS• Jesus is the only basis for a stable, fulfilled and purposeful life(16); He is the standard against which all else is measured

(17a).• Israel had often experienced God’s power to defend His peo-ple (21a); now God will use that same power in judgementagainst them: for their injustices and lies, their complacencyconcerning death and eternity, and their mocking of God’sways (17b-22).• God’s coming in judgement will be appropriately measuredto achieve His positive purposes for His people, just as thefarmer is careful not to thresh and beat everything aimlessly(23-28). In all things He is a powerful, understanding & wiseLORD (29).TO PONDER ... AND TO PRAY• If Jesus is your rock, can you trust God to discipline youwell?

THE PASSAGE ISAIAH 29:1-12THE POINT Isaiah’s attention again focuses on Jerusalem. Itis ever under fire because of its sacred significance as the tangi-ble expression of God’s dwelling among His people. Assyria,Babylon, Rome, ... – and it is certainly not a city of peace(Salem/shalom) in our own day. But Isaiah needs to remindthe inhabitants that the problem is not “persecution for right-eousness’ sake”, but God’s rod of discipline for their failure toread and heed God’s Word.THE PARTICULARS• It is clear that Ariel refers to Jerusalem (cf the reference toZion, 8), but it is not clear why. “Ariel” sounds like theHebrew for “altar-hearth”, and Jerusalem is where the sacrifices

were made; or it could mean “Lion of God” referring to Judah’scity (1-2, 7).• God’s people should speak in a clear voice to a godless world(cf 1 Corinthians 14:8), but often fail to do so even while giv-ing the outward appearance of spiritual vitality (1-4).• God is able to protect His Church, as He did so amazingly in701 BC in Sennacherib’s case (5-8; cf 37:21-37; 2 Kings 19:20-36).• Spiritual blindness is our major problem (9-12; cf Rom. 11:8).TO PONDER ... AND TO PRAY• Is the Church today facing the possibility of God’s judge-ment? Could it be because of our failure to read and heedGod’s Word?

THE PASSAGE ISAIAH 29:13-24THE POINT It is not surprising that this passage is cited invarious places in the NT. It gets right to the heart of man’sunderlying spiritual problem: we cannot understand God’snature/ways because sin has blinded us; but instead of realisingthis we try to be God and we redefine our spirituality in a wayto suit ourselves!THE PARTICULARS• Jesus quotes 13 to describe the blatant hypocrisy of theJewish leaders of His own day (Mark 7:6-7) – it is a real warn-ing to us!• Paul quotes 14 to show how human wisdom can neverexplain or understand the message of the cross (1 Corinthians1:19).

• Paul quotes 16 to substantiate God’s sovereign right tochoose whomever He will to inherit eternal life while at thesame time holding all men accountable for their sin (Romans9:20-21).• God’s salvation will be swift, and its day marked by abundantprosperity for His people, His opening deaf ears and blind eyesto understand His Word, and the establishment of justice sothat the humble oppressed will be glad and tyrants removed(17-21).• Abraham obeyed God without questioning; if he is our role-model we can impact the lives of our children and others (22-24).TO PONDER ... AND TO PRAY• Is the Church in danger of repeating Israel’s mistakes today?

THE PASSAGE ISAIAH 30:1-17THE POINT Joachim Neander wrote: “Pride of man andearthly glory, sword and crown betray his trust; what with careand toil he buildeth, tower and temple, fall to dust.” The kingsof Judah were all too ready to look to the surrounding nationsfor help when their policy should have been: “All my hope onGod is founded”! We never seem to learn the lesson of historythat using the world’s methods and resources “brings neitherhelp nor advantage, but only shame and disgrace” (5b). We for-get that God is the ruler of all history, and that it is futile not tocommit everything to Him.THE PARTICULARS• God described His people as behaving like obstinate childrenin refusing to listen to Him, trust Him, and be led by His Spirit

(1-5).• There is no future in discounting God’s revealed Word (6-14).• The very simple key to life is to turn from our rebelliousways and rest in the salvation our God, the “Holy One ofIsrael”, has provided for us in Christ (cf Mark 1:24); to restquietly in Him, trusting Him, and leaving everything safely inHis sovereign care (15; cf Matthew 6:19-34). If only we couldall always do this!• The final outcome of every battle belongs to God alone (16-17).TO PONDER ... AND TO PRAY• Are you committed to the Bible regardless of human opin-ion?

DAY 16 Trafficking with the world.

DAY 13 Cornerstone... sure foundation.

DAY 14 The Lion in the fire.

DAY 15 Walking humbly before God.

E V A N G E L I S M


THE PASSAGE ISAIAH 30:18-33THE POINT The record in Luke 13 of Jesus’ strong wordsabout judgement (1-9), mercy (10-17), the kingdom of God(18-21) and discipleship (22-30) as He faced the cross, culmi-nate in His passionate words of concern for Jerusalem itself(34-35). He could have had this passage in Isaiah in mind asHe balanced mercy with judgement. Isaiah expresses greathope as he looks from his vantage point, beyond the City’srejection of her Messiah, to God’s promises to His Church.The salvation and blessings He will give in the time ofHezekiah, coupled with judgement upon all who would harmHis chosen people, are but a foretaste of the final Judgementand the appearing of the New Jerusalem described inRevelation 21!

THE PARTICULARS• Compassion and justice are satisfied in the death of Jesus;there is salvation for all who in faith call on Him (18-19; cf Joel2:32).• Isaiah joins with Jeremiah 31:31ff and Ezekiel 36:24ff inpointing to the New Covenant Paul spells out in 2 Corinthians3 (20-22).• The language of the remainder of this chapter (23-33) returnsto the apocalyptic style of chapters 2 and 24. “Assyria”becomes a symbol of all who continue to oppose God’s rule orHis people.TO PONDER ... AND TO PRAY• What difference does our having the Scriptures make (20-21)?


THE POINT After his little more apocalyptic discourse, Isaiahreturns to the situation at hand. The continued threats fromthe north and north-east made it very tempting for Israel tolook to the south and south-west for help. The nation was notunaware of its own vulnerability at the geographical centre ofall the political vying for power, and so it was natural to seekout protective alliances. Sadly, no matter how much experi-ence they’d had of the fickleness and unreliability of thesealliances, or of God’s supernatural power to intervene on theirbehalf, and in spite of God’s many warnings through Hisprophets, they continued to act foolishly. All God asked ofthem was a childlike faith that looked to Him in trust as their

faithful, covenant-keeping LORD.THE PARTICULARS• The LORD pleads with His people to put all their trust inHim as He is both willing and able to help them, whereas thefeeble human resources of places like Egypt are neither (1-5; cf2 Kings 6:8-23 as a practical example of how He had shownthis before).• God is always ready to forgive and help repentant rebels (6-9).TO PONDER ... AND TO PRAY• Where does your true security lie? How does this showitself in your daily life in times of financial hardship? ... seriousillness? ... broken relationships? ... opposition and conflict?

THE PASSAGE ISAIAH 32:1-8THE POINT The reference, “a king will reign in righteous-ness” could be to Hezekiah who stood out among the others asa king who sought God’s ways in all he did. However, Isaiahmust also be looking beyond Hezekiah to the later trueMessiah in this Davidic line (cf Matthew 1:10), because he isdescribing characteristics and circumstances unlikely to beachieved by any “ordinary” king.THE PARTICULARS• The “king” in God’s theocracy was His resident representa-tive among the people (cf Deuteronomy 17:14-20). It wastherefore essential for the king to reign “in righteousness” and“with justice” (1). Very few, of course, came anywhere near it; it

was only when Jesus came that the office was fulfilled perfectly.• Like God, the king was to be the protector of the people (2).• The king was to reveal God’s character and ways to the peo-ple in a way that enabled them to “see” and “hear” Him clearly(3-4).• All impostors and pretenders in high positions will eventuallybe exposed and seen for what they are in their stupidity, heresy,ungodliness, evil, self-serving, deceit and unjust practices (5-7).• “Noble” has the idea of “generosity of spirit” towards others(8).

TO PONDER ... AND TO PRAY• What aspects of Jesus’ life show Him to be God’s true King?

THE PASSAGE ISAIAH 32:9-20THE POINT God’s earnest desire is for His people to live inprosperity and peace, and for homes to be places where every-one feels secure and confident, resting quietly under the mantleof His grace. The difficulty is that such conditions are nosooner established than God’s people become complacent,enjoying the blessings so much that they forget the one whogave them. It is this situation Isaiah had to address, warningthem of the judgement God was about to send to humble themand turn their hearts back to Himself.THE PARTICULARS• In a stable, comfortable society it is easy for the women to letworldly interests and pursuits occupy their attention to the

exclusion of spiritual disciplines. Isaiah had to tell them howGod was going to strip them of all their finery, humbling themin sackcloth. The reference to the failure of the grape harvestin 10 reflected on their propensity for wine (9-13; cf Amos 4:1ff).• What is really needed for any society to enjoy God’s blessingof peace and prosperity is the outpouring of His Holy Spirit(14-15).• A direct relationship exists between justice/righteousness andpeace/blessing/confidence/security/quietness/rest (16-20).

TO PONDER ... AND TO PRAY• Are you praying earnestly for a genuine spiritual revival here?

DAY 20 Till the Spirit is poured on us.

DAY 17 Mercy and judgement.

DAY 18 The arm of flesh will fail you.

DAY 19 God’s true King.

B I B L E S T U D Y


PTC’s new principal

The Presbyterian Theological Centre,Sydney, has a new principal. Vice princi-pal and academic dean Rev. Dr IanSmith, who has been working at PTC forthe past 14 years, most recently teachingNew Testament and Greek, was formallyappointed by the 2009 NSW GeneralAssembly in July. Dr Smith takes over therole following the departure of the Rev.Dr John Davies after 23 years as dean andprincipal.

PTC lecturer John McClean says theappointment of a new principal for thecollege is a once in a generation event. “Ithas a big influence on the PresbyterianChurch in NSW,” he says, “and we lookforward to having Ian at the helm.”

The Pulse

Encouragement in Myanmar

Devastating cyclones, bitter ethnic wars,and human rights abuses have all had apart in contributing to the poverty andspiritual darkness that characterisesMyanmar, which was formerly known asBurma. Despite this opposition, thechurch in Burma is gaining ground,according to Christian Aid.

Christian Aid assists a number of min-istries in Burma, which remain unnamedfor their security, who submitted reportsconcerning their various strategies forspreading the gospel.

“These are fiery times for testing theirfaith,’’ said one leader. “The governmenthas put high restrictions on work amongthe cyclone victims. They presume thatwhat we are doing is for political pur-poses.”

Even Buddhist monks and laymen,interested in helping victims, are beingpersecuted. Some were caught and sen-tenced to very long jail terms — 45 to 65years!

Assist

Apostasy penalty revoked

A member of Iran’s Parliament hasreportedly revealed that the country’sParliamentary Committee has struckthe mandatory death penalty for thosewho leave Islam from proposals for anamended penal code. Citing a BBC

Persian news service report, UnitedKingdom-based Christian SolidarityInternational announced on June 26 thata member of Iran’s Legal and JudicialCommittee of Parliament, AliShahrokhi, had told the Iranian statenews agency of the decision to eliminatethe mandatory death penalty amend-ment.

The Parliamentary Committee hadcome under intense international pressureto drop clauses from the Islamic PenalCode Bill that allowed stoning and madedeath the mandatory punishment forapostates.

Compass Direct

India bans rights team

The Indian Government is silent onwhy it refused visas to allow members ofthe US Commission on InternationalReligious Freedom to visit troubledOrissa state, but there are indications thatit was ducking protests from Hindunationalist groups. The US team was toleave for India on June 12, but the Indianembassy in Washington did not give themvisas in time, the religious panel said.

The atmosphere in Orissa’sKandhamal district has remained tensesince a spate of attacks began inDecember 2007 that killed at least fourChristians and burned 730 houses and 95churches. The attacks were carried out toavenge an alleged attack on a WorldHindu Council leader, Swami

Laxmanananda Saraswati. Violence re-erupted in Kandhamal in August 2008after the assassination of Saraswati by aMaoist group, though non-MarxistChristians were blamed for it.

Had the US team been able to visitKandhamal, Christian leaders said, itwould have found the situation far fromnormal even eight months after violencereportedly ended.

Compass Direct

Atheist camp launched

An atheist summer camp for children setup in the United Kingdom offers a “god-less alternative” to religious camps. The 24places on Camp Quest UK (CQUK)near Bath, Somerset, have already beenbooked, according to organisers.

Organisers said the purpose of thecamp was “to encourage critical thinkingand provide children with a summer campfree of religious dogma”. The camp, sup-ported by anti-religion crusader RichardDawkins, plans to expand after receivinghundreds of inquiries.

The event has been set up bySamantha Stein, a postgraduate psychol-ogy student from London. She said: “It isnot about changing what they think, butthe way that they think. There is very lit-tle that attacks religion, we are not a rivalto religious camps. We exist as a secularalternative open to children from parentsof all faiths and none.”

Assist

N E W S

News

Two boys beheaded

Islamic extremists have beheaded twoyoung boys in Somalia because theirChristian father refused to divulgeinformation about a church leader, andthe killers are searching Kenya’s refugeecamps to do the same to the boys’father.

Before taking his Somali family to aKenyan refugee camp in April, 55-year-old Musa Mohammed Yusuf was theleader of an underground church nearKismayo in Somalia. Militants from theIslamic extremist group al Shabaabentered his village and interrogated him.He fled and the next day the extremistsreturned and slaughtered two of hissons.

Compass Direct

Methodists banned from BNP

The Methodist Church in Britain haspassed a motion at its annual conferencebanning members from joining the far-right BNP. The motion bars members ofthe Methodist Church from joining anypolitical party “whose constitution, aimsor objectives promote racism”, but espe-cially the BNP.

The motion was proposed by the Rev.Sylvester Deigh, who told the conferencethat racism was “a denial of the gospel”.“An openness to all people, regardless ofnationality, is at the heart of Methodistidentity,” he said.

The Church of England passed asimilar ban at its General Synod inFebruary. It came after a list of 12,000

BNP members leaked onto the internetlast year was found to include five clergy,one of whom was a retired Anglicanpriest.

Acid attacks scar Christians

About 600 Muslims have used petrolbombs to attack at least 117 Christianhomes in Bahmani Walla, a village inPunjab, Pakistan, and threw acid atChristians as they fled. At least ninewomen and four children were injured.

The violence was seemingly caused byan incident on Monday night, in which aChristian man driving a tractor requestedthat a Muslim man riding a motorcycleallow him to pass. The request wasrefused and a disagreement ensued.News of this was spread along with alle-gations of blasphemy against Islam. Inthe next few hours a mob of about 600Muslims congregated in Bahmani Wallaand began to attack the Christians livingthere.

Barnabas Fund

New name for Baptists

Australian Baptists last month launcheda new national name and logo, signaling arenewed commitment to evangelism, mis-sion and ministry around the nation andaround the world.

The three-circles logo replaces the tra-ditional green and gold image, and themovement will be known as AustralianBaptist Ministries. The Baptist Union ofAustralia will remain the legal name.

Days off for pagan police

Pagan police officers in some areas ofthe United Kingdom are being allowed totake as many as eight days leave a year forevents such as the summer solstice andHalloween.

The BBC said the move comes afterthe Pagan Police Association was set upafter discussions with Home Office offi-cials. The broadcaster reported thatHertfordshire Police lets Pagan staff re-allocate the traditional bank holidays tomeet their beliefs and has also appointedtwo Pagan chaplains.

Police Constable Andy Pardy, a Paganneighborhood beat officer in HemelHempstead, Hertfordshire, outsideLondon, told Police Review magazine:“Paganism is not the new age, tree-hug-ging fad that some people think it is. It isnot the clandestine, horrible, evil thingthat people think it is.”

Assist

Tone it down: FIFA

World soccer governing body FIFA hassparked controversy after disciplining theBrazilian team for overt displays ofChristianity during a match.

Stars including Real Madrid forwardKaka and captain Lucio revealed T-shirtswith devout slogans such as “I Belong toJesus” and “I Love God” during the recentConfederations Cup final last month.

Daniel King wrote in Britain’s DailyMail that FIFA risked accusations ofbeing anti-religious by reminding Brazilof its guidelines banning players from

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St. Columba’s Presbyterian Church[Perth, W. Australia] is seeking expressions of

interest from suitably gifted and qualified mento join our ministry in the part-time position of

associate/assistant Pastor.

The Church will provide training and mentorship, with the hope of taking over

sole, full-time ministry in the future.

The successful candidate will have, or be in theprocess of gaining, suitable theological training.He will maintain a strong faith in Christ, commitment to the truth of the Scripture, andagreement with our Reformed faith, as outlinedin the Westminster Confession of Faith.

For more information, please contact Rev. Keith Morris on 08 9384 9186, [email protected], or PO Box 155, Mosman Park, W. A. 6912.

Associate/Assistant Pastor

making displays of a personal, religious orpolitical nature on the football pitch.

Assist

York’s ancient service

An English church has celebrated Massas it would have been performed 600 yearsago thanks to a partnership with theUniversity of York. PhD student EleanorMcCullough pieced together the Massused in York churches in the 14th centurybased on manuscripts from the periodheld by York Minster and the BodleianLibrary.

Ms McCullough spent nine monthsresearching the Mass. She said:“Recreating the Mass was a complex taskas in this period there were different ele-ments for special feast days, and instruc-tions for use were not always writtendown since priests were expected to knowthem.

“In addition, each diocese had its ownspecial hymns and prayers for the feastdays and sometimes only the openinglines were given so other sources had to beconsulted to find the prayers in full.

“This may well be the first time that aYork Lady Mass has been reconstructedand performed from the medieval manu-scripts here in York since theReformation.”

Christian Today

Scotland tries virtual ministers

To stem a nationwide shortage of full-time clergy, the Church of Scotland isconsidering the use of “virtual ministers”who would preach over a live video link tocongregations that do not have a perma-nent minister.

“Preaching by live video link to vacantcongregations is one of many radicalchanges being proposed by the MinistriesCouncil in consultation with the Missionand Discipleship Council,” GordonBell, media relations officer with theChurch of Scotland, told EcumenicalNews International.

There are 21 congregations in Orkneypresbytery, spread over more than 10islands. Initially four congregations inRousay, Shapinsee, Flotta and Hoy in thearchipelago will be linked.

There are presently an estimated 190full-time vacancies for clergy acrossScotland, which has a population of 5.1million. Under the proposal, churcheswould be linked by technology similar tothat used in video conferencing.

Kenyans oppose polygamy

Kenyan church leaders have becomeembroiled in an argument about a draftmarriage law because of a clause onpolygamy. But civil rights activists say thatthe bill could end a range of abuses andthat church practice should not beimposed on the whole of society.

Church leaders in Kenya say theyreject a draft law due to be debated in par-liament that would authorise polygamousmarriages, outlaw compulsory dowriesand recognise cohabitation.

“The law will confuse citizens. It willcause chaos in families,” AnglicanArchbishop Benjamin Nzimbi said. “Itshould be rejected.”

The draft marriage law prohibits com-pulsory dowries, a key principle inAfrican marriage. It also recognisescohabitation as equivalent to marriage forheterosexual couples who have livedtogether for at least two years. The mea-sures also seek to eliminate child mar-riages by raising the the age of marriagefrom 14 to 18 years and makes it nolonger necessary to prove adultery or cru-elty for divorce.

Ecumenical News Internatioanl

Nationalist dissuaded

In a bizarre show of Turkish nationalism,a young Muslim here took a ChristianTurk at knife point, draped his head withthe national flag and threatened to slit thethroat of the “missionary dog” in broaddaylight last month.

Yasin Karasu, 24, held Ismail Aydın,35, hostage for less than half an hour onAugust 3 in a busy district on the Asianside of Istanbul in front of passersby andpolice who promptly came to the scene.Karasu threatened to slit Aydin’s throat ifanyone came near him and commandedthose watching to give him a Turkish flag.Within minutes, Aydin told Compass,bystanders produced two flags.

Karasu, who has known Aydin for ayear, wrapped the larger of the two flagsaround Aydin’s head, making it difficultfor him to breathe in the heat. “Do yousee this missionary dog?” he yelled at thecrowd. “He is handing out gospels and heis breaking up the country!”

Police managed to convince Karasu toput down the knife and release Aydin,telling him that if he killed the convertTurkey would be ridiculed around theworld, and that as a last resort they wereauthorized to shoot to kill him.

Christian-Muslim guidelines

The first ever set of guidelines givingadvice for Christians and Muslims whowant to share their faith in an ethical waywas launched in June at Islamic Relief ’sheadquarters in London.

The guide, which contains 10 points ofadvice, has been produced by theChristian Muslim Forum, a nationalbody set up in 2006 to improve relation-ships between the two faiths.

Forum youth specialist Andrew Smithwas a key speaker at the launch. He hasbeen working for Scripture Union ininner city Birmingham for the past 14years and has been active in promoting hisown faith whilst at the same time seeking

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On the Agenda


We urgently need help in South AustraliaThere’s an urgent need for Ministers, HomeMissionaries or other suitably qualified peopleto come here and preach the Gospel as well ascare for the flock in this part of God’sKingdom. There is a particular need in a largeregional city with a diverse background and aprojected growth to exceed 100,000 in thenext 20 years.

Do you think you would meet the criteria?Do you revel in the challenge of proclaimingChrist?Is a regional city your preferred choice oflocale?If this is you then you may be the person we’relooking for!

The person we envisage for this challengewould need to meet the requirements of PCAMinistries (copy available on request) andwould, ideally have some form of additionalincome available as funds are limited.

We’re looking forward to hearing of your inter-est in this challenge for the Kingdom.

PREZRA School of TheologyIf you’re interested in gaining qualifications forservice then we suggest you consider trainingwith PREZRA.

The courses are free;

They are structured to meet the requirements ofthe Australian College of theology (A.Th., L.Th.,as well as the Home Missionary Certificate(HMCertif.)

There is also a Certificate of Biblical Studies forLay Workers available.

Contact: Rev. Kevin [email protected] orPhone: (08) 8284 1719

PCA Ministries –

South Australia

to listen to and understand his Muslimneighbours.

“Speaking with local Muslims and shar-ing my faith has been fascinating, stimu-lating, even fun, but at times it has becomecompetitive, aggressive and has left a nastytaste in my mouth. I was left feeling frus-trated and defensive and with no wish todo it again,” he said.

“Talking to others I realised that thiswas a common experience, so the idea of aset of principles that would help bothfaiths avoid this, seemed to me an obviousway forward.”

Another key speaker was SheikhIbrahim Mogra, interfaith spokesman forthe Muslim Council of Britain, whorecognises that this is a controversial andsensitive area

“Islam and Christianity are two worldreligions that are missionary – and there-fore are ever vying with each other forconverts,” he said. “But we should be ableto speak of our faith honestly and withconviction, without demeaning or ridicul-ing others. There is no place for coercionor manipulation and when a person doesconvert from either faith that decisionshould be respected.”

Christian Today

Blasphemy ‘illegal’

Irish President Mary McAleese hassigned into law the Defamation Act,which includes clauses that create theoffence of “blasphemous libel”. Civilrights campaigners are predicting outrage.

The effect of the new law is to make ittechnically a crime in Ireland to produceor say anything “that is grossly abusive or

insulting in relation to matters held sacredby any religion, thereby causing outrageamong a substantial number of the adher-ents of that religion; and he or she intends,by the publication of the matter con-cerned, to cause such outrage”.

Committing the offence could incur afine of up to 25,000 Euros. Human rightsand free speech advocates, humanists,atheists and non-conformist Christianshave spoken out strongly against the law –which is likely to be tested shortly.

Critics say that the Irish parliamentseems to have been acting under pressurefrom Catholic bishops in particular. TheCatholic Church has seen its moral andspiritual authority massively underminedby abuse scandals and is seeking to fightback against those it perceives as attackingit. Ms McAleese is a Roman Catholic.

The group Atheist Ireland havealready pledged to put out a blasphemousstatement, offensive to all religions inIreland, in order to test the law.

Simon Barrow, co-director of the reli-gion, society and politics thinktankEkklesia, which argued for the abolitionof blasphemy laws in Britain, commented:“This is a very sad day. Criminalising reli-gious offence – whether it is in Ireland,Pakistan or anywhere else – is an offenceagainst religion, as well as an abuse ofhuman dignity and freedom. Christians,in particular, should remember that theirown founder was executed on a charge ofblasphemy. Yet he told his own followersto love their enemies, not to persecutethem. It is to be hoped that this law will bechallenged both morally and, in all likeli-hood, in the courts.”

Ekklesia

Rape victim ‘converted’

The Centre for Legal Aid Assistanceand Settlement, an advocacy agency forpersecuted Christians, is calling on thePakistani Government to ban forced con-versions after a group of Muslim menraped a 14-year-old Christian girl andforced her to convert to Islam.

The case of schoolgirl Shaj Taj wasreferred to CLAAS by Sharing LifeMinistry Pakistan and comes as a nine-year-old Christian girl was reportedlygang-raped before being killed and dumpedin a canal. Outrage is growing amid reportsthat Pakistani police, as so often, are failingto follow clear evidence to charge Muslimsfor violence against Christians.

In that case, Nisha Javid was walkingclose to her home when she disappeared.Her body was found in a canal not farfrom the Javids’ home in Essangri villagein Faisalabad. A post mortem revealedshe had been gang-raped and had diedafter repeated blows to the head.

In the first case, Shah Taj said TalatRizwan, Mikael But and Faisal Butt bun-dled her into the back of a car while shewas on her way to school on December 5,2008. They allegedly took her to a hotelwhere she was raped by Mikael beforebeing forced at gunpoint to add herthumb print and signature to documentsdeclaring her supposed conversion toIslam and marriage to Mikael.

Shah Taj was freed from her abductorsby police after being held for around onemonth and a case was filed against thethree men. The perpetrators thenallegedly tried to prove their innocence bypresenting the forged documents as legit-imate certificates of marriage and conver-sion to Islam. Police have detained two ofthe attackers, but a third is still on the run.

CLAAS Co-ordinator Nasir Saeedmade an urgent appeal to the PakistaniGovernment to pass legislation banningforced conversions. He said: “The forcedconversion of a non-Muslim minor toIslam is a trend that is spiralling out ofcontrol, especially since the recent impo-sition of Sharia law and the increasingTalibanisation of Pakistan.”

Christian Today

Stand by us: bishop

Jerusalem Lutheran Bishop MunibYounan has appealed to leaders ofchurches in Europe to stand by Christiansin the Middle East in their struggle for jus-tice and peace by remembering how injus-tice was fought in South Africa.

N E W S


Your Pastoral Opportunity in Rural Victoriacan start this August in Sydney or Brisbane!Our Ministry Development Director, Rev Dr Robert Carner, will be in Sydney and Brisbane in early August to interview potential gospel workers.

A range of pastoral vacancies exist, some suitable for ordained ministers, some for experienced home missionaries, and some for applicants interested inentering into home missionary service.

Available interview dates and locations are:

Monday 10th & Tuesday 11th August, Moore College, Newtown, Sydney

Thursday 13th August, Brisbane

Friday 14th August, Gold Coast

To make an appointment on one of these days, please contact Dr Carner at the Presbyterian Church of Victoria; Email [email protected] phone (03) 9702 0548 or mobile 0419 780 810


“I ask you as our brothers and sisters inChrist, do not leave us alone, do not leaveus alone in the struggle,” Younan told theonce-every-six-years assembly of theConference of European Churchesmeeting in Lyon, France.

“Do you know how the apartheid sys-tem collapsed? It is because the churchesin the world accompanied the churches inSouth Africa,” said Younan, who headsthe Evangelical Lutheran Church inJordan and the Holy Land. “As long asyou accompany us as churches in Europe,there is hope that peace and justice willcome to the Middle East.”

About 300 delegates from CEC’s 120member churches – principally Anglican,Orthodox and Protestant – and 500 otherparticipants attended the assembly in lateJuly.

Younan said he would never lose hopefor peace and justice in the Middle Eastdespite circumstances such as the region’sdeclining Christian population.

As a sign of hope, he pointed to theformation of a council of religious institu-tions in the Holy Land which includeslocal Islamic and Christian leaders andIsrael’s two chief rabbis and meets everytwo months.

One project of the inter-religiouscouncil has been to carry out a review oftextbooks used in schools, which insteadof promoting justice and reconciliation,Younan said, “are teaching hatred againstthe other”.

Another project has been to commis-sion Palestinian and Israeli communica-tion bodies to monitor the public utter-ances of religious leaders.

Ecumenical News International

Christians persecuted in UK

By Dan Wooding

Former speaker of the British House ofLords Baroness Caroline Cox andConservative MP Dominic Grieve havehosted a consultation in Parliament on thepersecution of Christians in the UK.

Baroness Cox said that Christian stu-dents in Britain had a spiritual vacuum.They did not know the names of thegospels or the disciples of Jesus, and feltuncomfortable when they were askedabout the “Crusades” by their Muslimpeers.

Baroness Cox added that she was ofthe view the Christian students would notbe ashamed if they knew of the “400 yearsof Islamic aggression” leading up to theCrusades.

She called for an end to giving conces-sions to Muslims in Britain. Terming theCross as “our heritage”, Cox categoricallycondemned incidents involving forcedremoval of crosses and pictures of Christ.

Criticising the establishment of Shariacourts in Britain she said: “They are oper-ating in the country without any particu-lar public debate or discussion on theissue.” She alleged that mosques wherepolygamous marriages have been per-formed are not even registered in Britain.

She praised former Australian PrimeMinister John Howard for tellingMuslims that they were free to live andbuild mosques in Australia but there wasno room for Sharia law.

Andrea Minichiello Williams, direc-tor of Christian Concern for OurNation and the Christian Legal Centresaid: “In recent years we have seen ourlegal culture change from one where therewas a clear accommodation, protectionand endorsement of Christian principles –sanctity of life, marriage, freedom ofspeech, conscience and religion – to a sys-tem based on human rights which ironi-cally is attacking these principles”.

Those who gave testimonies of the per-secution they had faced in the UnitedKingdom, included Caroline Petrie, acommunity nurse, Gosia, a Polish socialworker Ashar Mall, former TV evange-list, Nobel Samuel, a pastor and TV pre-senter, and Kwabena Peat, a Jamaicaneducator.

‘Use the media’

By Jenna Lyle

The head of British broadcasterChannel 4, Andy Duncan, has said thatChristians need to engage more with themedia and keep up-to-date with newmedia technologies in order to furtherpromote their cause.

Duncan, who attends a Baptist churchin London, also said that TV programsabout religion often did not have highaudiences, reports the Baptist Times.

Speaking at a seminar at the BaptistAssembly entitled “God and the media -an unholy alliance”, he said that churchesneeded to do more to become aware ofchanging media technology and the effectit has on younger people.

He said, “The media world is changingvery fast for the younger generation. Thefirst thing my 14-year-old daughter willdo when she comes home from school isgo to the computer, ahead of the televi-sion.

“It’s really important for churches tobe media savvy, to understand the impor-tance of things like social websites for theyounger generation.”

On religious programming, Duncanused the example of the recent Channel 4series History of Christianity, which hadaround one million viewers an episode.

He said while that was a significantnumber of people, given that the pro-gramme was aired in a peak time slot itcould have easily had a lot more viewers,had it been a different program.

According to Duncan, Christians werenot “engaging” as much with the media aspeople from other faiths. He claimed thatfollowing the conflict in Gaza both Jewsand Muslims were keen to put forwardtheir side of the story in a way thatChristians seem reluctant to do.

He said: “On occasions we get a lotmore contact from other faith groups,who stress their side of the debate prettyheavily … Are Christians engagingenough?”

Duncan was quoted by the BaptistTimes as saying, “There are fewer pro-grams on religion than there used to be …There are far less money and resources. Ifwe carry on the current trajectory, therewill be even less about religion, includingChristianity, which I think will be a realshame.”

Despite the various shortcomings ofthe media, Duncan said that he was“absolutely convinced” that media couldbe “a force for good”.

Christian Today

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Any AP reader who strays into theletters to the editor page of thenation’s broadsheets or roams theblogosphere is all too aware that

our secularist opponents would have allChristians – actually persons of any reli-gious faith, but especially Christians – dri-ven from the public square and locked upbehind church doors.

At present in Victoria, already alludedto in the article Here we stand in the MayAP, a parliamentary committee is review-ing the exceptions and exemptions in theEqual Opportunity Act 1995 that permitfaith-based institutions to discriminate intheir employment policies. There arepowerful forces which seek to removethese freedoms from faith-based institu-tions. An options paper has been pro-duced which recommends curtailing theexception clauses in the act on the basisthat a distinction can be drawn between“internal” and “external” aspects of free-dom of religion.

The options paper takes the view thatcore “internal” aspects of freedom of reli-gion are worthy of protection, that reli-gious adherents should be free to adopt areligion and set of religious beliefs, butthat “external” aspects of freedom of reli-gion, namely the manifestation of thosebeliefs, should be subject to regulation bythe state, which may restrict the freedomof religious adherents to live according tothose principles.

This distinction becomes a convenientploy, by way of example, to reject a faithrequirement for teachers and other staff at

a school expressly set up according toChristian principles and catering to thepreferences of Christian parents.

The Presbyterian Church of Victoria,in its submission to this review, assertedthat it must be understood that there is nopublic/private distinction in Christianteaching. Christianity is all of life: once aperson embraces the Christian religion,

this has implica-tions for thewhole of thatperson’s life.This is premisedon the fact thatGod is the makerand Lord ofeverything, andas our Lord, weare bound to liveour whole livesto His glory:“whether youeat, or drink, or

whatever you do, do all to the glory ofGod” (1 Cor. 10:31).

No one expressed this attitude betterthan the Dutch pastor, professor, educa-tor, newspaper editor and party politicalleader Abraham Kuyper, founder of theFree University and Prime Minister ofHolland from 1901 to 1905, whofamously said: “There is not a singlesquare inch in the whole domain of ourhuman existence over which Christ, whoalone is sovereign, does not cry, ‘Mine!’”

Christian teaching extends to everyaspect of our lives, and lays down specificrules which govern family relationships,church relationships, relationshipsbetween employers and employees,behaviour in the public sphere, etc. Thusthere is a distinctively Christian way forChristian employers to behave towardstheir employees, and likewise for the wayin which Christian employees go abouttheir work.

Accordingly, true freedom of religion

requires that we have the freedom to man-ifest our religion in public as well as pri-vate. To deny Christians the right to man-ifest our religious beliefs externally isessentially to deny freedom of religion toChristians.

There were two points we made in oursubmission:

Our religion requires us to engage inpublic works in a manner consistent withChristian teaching – we bring Christ withus into the public realm. Our Christianprofession is therefore not confined toprivate life, but pervades all of our lives,both private and public.

This involvement in public life hasbeen part of the Christian tradition for thepast 2000 years.

The foundational Christian principleby which individuals relate to each otheris the golden rule: “whatever you wishthat others would do to you, do also tothem” (Mt. 7:12). Rather than enforcingone’s rights, we should be prepared evento sacrifice our rights for the sake of oth-ers: “if anyone strikes you on the rightcheek, turn to him the other also” (Mt.5:39). Thus the Apostle Paul gives thefollowing direction: “Let nothing be donethrough selfish ambition or conceit, butin lowliness of mind let each esteem oth-ers better than himself. Let each of youlook out not only for his own interests,but also for the interests of others” (Phil.2:3-4).

The imperative concern for neighbouris reinforced for the Christian by the link-ing of the command to care for the neigh-bour with the command to love and serveGod, with the clear implication that thisshall be for every compartment of life,whether private or public. Thus, Jesussummarised the Old Testament law in thisfashion, making it binding on His follow-ers, “You shall love the Lord your Godwith all your heart and with all your souland with all your mind and with all yourstrength. The second is this: You shall loveyour neighbour as yourself. There is noother commandment greater than these”(Mk 12:30,31).

We therefore affirm that looking outfor the interests of others must most cer-tainly include every appropriate effort tostand up for those who suffer specific


All of lifeChristianity belongs in the public square – and everywhere else.

David Palmer and Ben Saunders

S O C I E T Y

The churchhas alwaysbeen to theforefront of

education andthe provisionof health and

welfare ser-vices.


injustices, especially at the hands of themore powerful.

The Old Testament prophet Micahexpresses this truth in the following way:“He has told you, O man, what is good;and what does the Lord require of you butto do justice, and to love kindness, and towalk humbly with your God?” (Micah6:8).

This foundational principle to do goodto others and meet their needs isexpressed in numerous practical ways,including:

Performing acts of mercy and charity; Speaking out on public issues;Establishing schools, hospitals, aged

care facilities, welfare organisations, chap-laincy and prison ministries.

Historically, from the earliest days ofthe church, Christians cared for their

fellow citizens. The noted sociologistRodney Stark, in reviewing the historicalevidence for the growth of the church to aposition of pre-eminence in the ancientworld by the fourth century, concludedthat it was due in large measure to the careof the Christians for their own as well asfor their pagan neighbours during thedevastating plagues of the second andthird centuries. Whereas the pagans fledfrom the cities and towns leaving the sickbehind, the Christians remained and caredfor the sick, in this way demonstratingboth love of God and love of neighbour.The Emperor Julian (known as Julian theApostate) said, “atheism (i.e. Christianfaith!) has been especially advancedthrough the loving service rendered thestranger and through their care for theburial of the dead. It is a scandal that thereis not a single Jew who is a beggar and thatthe godless Galileans care not only fortheir own poor but for ours as well, whilethose that belong to us look in vain for thehelp that we should render them”.

This has been the pattern ever since,and even now continues despite the rise ofthe modern state. The church has alwaysbeen to the forefront of education and theprovision of health and welfare services. Itis as true in Africa and all those other for-mer colonies of Christianised Europeancountries as it is in Australia.

The fact that church and other faith-based institutions continue to exist andexpand despite the additional cost to par-ents in the case of schools bears eloquenttestimony to the value placed on theseinstitutions with their clearly defined reli-gious foundation by parents, clients,patients and residents.

The Presbyterian Church of Victoria

traces its lineage back to the Reformationof the 16th century and especially to theGenevan Reformer, John Calvin. The cul-ture of Scotland and Holland in particularwas profoundly influenced by Calvin, butalso that of England and America, the lat-ter through the Pilgrim Fathers. Henryvan Til writes: “Calvin saw the church andstate as two independent entities, eachhaving received its own authority fromthe sovereign God. In this conception thestate is never secular.

“According to Calvin, church and statemust live at peace and must cooperatetogether in subjection to the Word ofGod. Each is to have its own jurisdiction.

The state has authority in purely civil andtemporal matters; the church in spiritualmatters.”

The Westminster Confession of Faithof 1646 includes a chapter (Chapter 23)on the role of the “civil magistrate”. Thischapter makes clear that the role of civilgovernment has been established by God“for His own glory and the public good”and further that it is “lawful for Christiansto accept and execute the office of a mag-istrate, when called thereunto: in the man-aging whereof, as they ought especially tomaintain piety, justice, and peace, accord-

ing to the wholesome laws of each com-monwealth.”

That is, in discharging public office, orperforming public services, Christians areto do so in accordance with Christianprinciples and teaching.

The way in which the Calvinistic refor-mation percolated through all spheres oflife in Scotland is seen in matters asdiverse as the practice of establishingschools for the education of all childrenalongside the village Kirk; the role ofchurch elders in promoting morality; andthe promulgation of town mottos such asthat for Glasgow, which still remains thecase today: “Let Glasgow flourish by thepreaching of His word and the praising ofHis name.”

From the earliest days of European set-tlement in Australia, Presbyterians arrivedestablishing their churches, and oftenschools, wherever they settled. One of theprime areas for Scottish settlement wasVictoria’s Western District where, in townafter town, our Scottish and Irish fore-bears settled, entering fully into the life ofgrowing local communities, being farm-ers, storekeepers, school teachers, towncouncillors, with men like RobertMenzies entering politics and servingtheir nation.

The Rev. James Forbes (1813-1851),the first full-time Presbyterian minister inMelbourne encapsulated in himself theconcern for others. He was first ministerof Scots Church, visited prisoners, helpedestablish the Stranger’s Friend Society forthe benefit of needy people, founded theLadies Benevolent Society, was one of sev-eral to help establish the MelbourneHospital. The plight of the indigenouspeople upset him considerably leadinghim to petition the Government on theirbehalf. He established a total of fourschools, one of which is today’s ScotchCollege. His biographer, Dr Mairi

Some may seereligion as atired oldsuperstition,but it doesprovide ourmost caringand ethicaladults.

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Harman, writes: “James Forbes was ahighly public person who participated inall the activities he thought were for thegood of the people of Melbourne.”

In time not only were schools and soci-eties formed, but also a multitude ofhealth and welfare institutions estab-lished, such as St Andrew’s Hospital, EastMelbourne, homes for destitute women,children’s homes, men’s hostels, resthomes, and mission stations amongAustralia’s indigenous peoples – the lattertaking place during a time when theAborigines were held in low regard by thesettlers. The Royal Flying Doctor Servicewas started by the Rev. John Flynn,Presbyterian minister from Victoria andSuperintendent of the Australian InlandMission. Both Francis Ormond, benefac-tor of many institutions including RMITand Ormond College at the University ofMelbourne, and H.V. McKay, inventorand producer of the first successful com-bine harvester, were notable Presbyterianlaymen. In more recent times, ProfessorGraeme Clark, inventor of the bionic ear,has been a Presbyterian elder.

In 2007, The Age newspaper reported, “Astudy at Monash University showed

that religion is strongly identified withpositive life outcomes. Andrew Singleton,in the School of Political and Social

Inquiry, writes, ‘The religiously active aremore prone to have positive civic atti-tudes, display high levels of social concernand be actively involved in communityservice. Active Christians, for example, dofar more hours of volunteer work permonth than do secular youth. On a mea-sure of the extent to which a person holdspositive human values – favouring an eth-ical life, justice for all and having an orien-tation for the common good – we alsofound that the religiously active werestreets ahead... Well what about the youngatheists? Most secular-minded youth are

more self-ori-ented becausethere is nowidely under-stood or sharedethical paradigmon which tomodel their lives... Perhaps thevociferous anti-religious typescould afford tobe a little less tri-umphalist. Somemay see religionas a tired old

superstition, but it does produce our mostethical and caring adults – believe it ornot.’”

Today, following the 1977 formationof the Uniting Church, the PresbyterianChurch of Victoria – while being a smallerbody, with most of its health and welfareagencies having passed into the UnitingChurch – has nevertheless commencedthree new schools, Kings College,Warrnambool, Belgrave HeightsChristian School and St Andrew’sChristian College, Burwood.Additionally, chaplains have been placedin most hospitals, mainly on a volunteerbasis, as well as in a number of police sta-tions and prisons.

The above analysis demonstrates thatChristianity cannot and never has beenconfined to the home and the church.Christianity is a religion involving all oflife. The Presbyterian Church, both cor-porately and more especially through itsmembers, will continue to involve itselfin public life. Indeed, partly because ofthe continuing if not acceleratingdecline in the nation’s welfare and pub-lic life, it is likely that the Christianvoice and presence in practical ways inthe public domain will only increase infuture years.

That this should be the case is fully inaccord with Article 25 of theInternational Covenant on Civil and

Political Rights, to which Australia is asignatory:

Every citizen shall have the right andthe opportunity, without any of the dis-tinctions (such as religion) and withoutunreasonable restrictions:

(a) To take part in the conduct of pub-lic affairs, directly or through freely cho-sen representatives;

(b) To vote and to be elected at genuineperiodic elections which shall be by uni-versal and equal suffrage and shall be heldby secret ballot, guaranteeing the freeexpression of the will of the electors;

(c) To have access, on general terms ofequality, to public service in his country.

Finally, it needs to be pointed out thatin times past in the West, just as today

in many parts of the world, Christianssuffer persecution and even martyrdom atthe hands of the state. In the history ofthe Presbyterian Church we have justsuch a heritage. In the so called “killingtime” of the 1680s, 18,000 ScottishPresbyterians were killed, exiled, impris-oned or tortured, such persecution onlyceasing with the Glorious Revolution of1688 which brought William of Orangeand his wife Mary to the throne. Weremember our history.

Those 18,000 Presbyterians were notpersecuted as private believers but as citi-zens refusing the religious claims of thestate over them. They suffered in the pub-lic domain, in what might be described asa sometimes gentle but always determinedand a strangely loyal defiance of the state’sclaim on their ultimate allegiance. Wetrust that we might not be entering such atime again, but if we are, then it needs tobe understood that if put to a choice, ourloyalty will be first and foremost to ourLord Jesus Christ.

David Palmer and Ben Saunders are mem-bers of the Victorian Church & NationCommittee. This article has been adaptedfrom the submission of the PresbyterianChurch of Victoria to a review of the excep-tions and exemptions in the EqualOpportunity Act 1995 being conducted by theVictorian Parliament. It benefited consider-ably from the contributions of Mr JohnBallantyne, Rev. Dr. Peter Barclay (membersof the Victorian Church & NationCommittee), Rev. Neil Benfell, principal ofKings College, Warrnambool, Rev. Dr PeterBarnes, Church historian and Rev. DrMichael Jensen, lecturer at MooreTheological College. The actual submissionwith sources for quotes may be found here:http://candn.pcvic.org.au/media/pdf/articles_2/PCVSubmissionExceptionsExemptions.pdf ap

S O C I E T Y


If put to achoice, our

loyalty will befirst and fore-

most to ourLord Jesus

Christ.

is a well established parishof all ages in North East

Victoria. We are seeking afull time minister who has a

warm pastoral heart andthe gift of teaching. He will

be expected to have avision for maximising the

great potential of theparish, for growing God’s

kingdom and fordiscipleship, training andoutreach to the younger

generation.

Please contact InterimModerator for further details

Rev. Kyung Rae Ee03) 5831 6494 / 0403 536 721

[email protected]

Benalla Parish:


Commission, not creation

While in his second paragraph NeilCadman (AP, June) seems confused overthe role of a pastor and congregationalmembers, it is his third paragraph thatconcerns me the most. Neil appears to besaying that those of us who do not believein six-day creationism are causing denom-inational decline.

But Calvin did not take Genesis 1 liter-alistically and many of Presbyterian’sgreatest theologians (Warfield, Shedd,Hodge and Orr) accepted evolution.Today most evangelical commentators onGenesis warn against linking chapter 1with science. Perhaps our most respectedAustralian Presbyterian Hebrew scholar isResearch Professor Alan Harman and in asmall volume titled Learning about the OldTestament he writes “Nowhere does theBible fix the length of days and in Genesis1 and 2 the word ‘day’ is used in at leastfour different senses.” We Presbyteriansare not here to defend the literalistic cre-ationist prophesies of Ellen White and theSeventh Day Adventists. So what could be

the cause of decline and why are we here?Perhaps the reason why some of our

churches are in decline is because theirpastors and members are hung up onperipherals and not focused on what Jesushas commissioned all of us to do. All of us(not just pastors) are to prayerfully andobediently make disciples. As Christ’sambassadors all of us are to make Jesusattractive and Christianity relevant tothose around us, and as we fulfil our roleof honouring his son by obeying the onlycommission he has given us, so God willbring others to a saving faith in Jesus.

John Buchanan,Randwick, NSW

Not all the same

I read with interest the replies of StanGliszczynski and Neil Cadman to my letter(AP, April). To Neil Cadman I state: I didnot condemn anyone but made the validpoint that you cannot simply tar allchurches with the same brush. To StanGliszczynski I state: To accuse me ofdeparting from Scripture as a reply to mesimply advising you to be more consideratein your blanket criticism is a pretty lowposition to stoop to. You know absolutelynothing about my faith or where I standwith God. If you both belong to thePresbyterian church then why are you still

in it if it is as bad as you both seem to think. I do not want to use this good maga-

zine to conduct a religious slanging matchbut I felt compelled to speak up againstwhat I see as some pretty destructivecomments from Stan and Neil about thechurch in general and Stan’s commentsabout my departure from Scripture whichI believe unfounded. I have spoken on thismatter for the last time.

Steve Davis,Menai, NSW

More diversity please

Unfortunately I find AP very arid andconformist. Presbyterians are reformerswho continually challenge the attitudes ofthose in power in the church to guardagainst any unfaithfulness. No one canclaim to have spiritually arrived, even StPaul strained towards the goal (Phil. 3:12-14). There is sufficient admonition in theScriptures to challenge every believer toconstantly review every aspect of their pil-grimage.

I would expect to see a great diversityof opinion evident in any Presbyterianpublication, as believers strivetogether to ensure the church’s witnessfully accords with the Word.

William J. FraserDuffy, ACT

L E T T E R S

Letters

AUGUST 200921 Presbytery of the Hastings, NSW

north coast – 7 charges and 2 homemission stations totaling 16 congrega-tions with about 1435 c&a (communi-cants and adherents), and 335 yf(younger folk – Sunday School andyouth) and 4 retired ministers. JohnRooimans clerk.

22 Southern Cross charge, East Lismore,northern NSW (near SC Uni.) withabout 390 c&a, 140 yf and 5 e; Steveand Rosaline Cree, Peter Thompson.

23 Moderator General Robert Benn ministering in the Church of CentralAfrica Presbyterian in Malawi andZambia.

24 General Assembly of our partnerchurch, the Presbyterian Church ofVanuatu at Mela village, Port Vila.Philip Burns representing ourModerator General.

25 Thank God for 100 years of ministryin Clifton home mission station Qldwith about 60 c&a, 30 yf and 3 e; Johnand Carolyn Sybenga. Pray for theongoing work .

26 Pray for the Interim moderator,preachers and filling of the vacancy inMullumbimby charge northern NSWwith about 65 c&a, 15 yf and 3 e; Jonand Ruth Nuttall.

27 Richard and Bernadette Axon newmission partners (APWM) workersfrom Moruya and Narrabri areasNSW to serve in Papua New Guineawith Missionary Aviation Fellowship.

28 Camden charge NSW with about 145c&a, 30 yf and 9 e; Warren and JulieHicks, David Trounce.

29 Peter and Annie mission partners(APWM) workers from Dalby, Qld inEast Asia with Pioneers involved ineveryday witness.

30 Gold Coast Korean charge Southport,Qld. Ted Myoung Hun Moon.

31 Presbytery of Ballarat, Vic. – 7 chargesand 2 home mission stations totaling17 congregations with about 445 c&a,and 75 yf, 1 retired minister and 2under jurisdiction. John Woodwardclerk.

SEPTEMBER 20091 North Adelaide charge with about 65

c&a, 15 yf and 6 e; Chris ten Broeke.2 Upper Blue Mountains charge NSW

comprising Wentworth Falls andBlackheath with about 60 c&a and 8 e;Keith and Patricia King.

3 Carusbrook-Castlemaine home mis-sion station Vic. (2 congregations)with about 65 c &a, 12yf and 3 e; Johnand Rosalie Gething.

4 Toukley charge north of Sydney withabout 85 c&a, 3 yf and 5 e; Rex andBeverley Swavley.

5 The work of the PresbyterianTheological College Gazipur, Dhaka,Bangladesh with 36 students, SubashBala, Principal and also regionalDiscipleship Training Centres. Missionpartners (APWM) assist with visitingteachers. In this very poor nation 86%of the population of about 152 millionare Muslim, 12% Hindu and only0.72% professing Christians.

6 Condobolin charge including Ootha,western NSW with about 35 c&a and5 e; Michael Eleveld.

7 David and Lalit Clarke associate mis-sion partners (APWM) workers fromCamberwell, Melbourne in PhnomPenh, Cambodia involved in “grassroots evangelism” through Englishclasses, bible studies etc.

8 Western Blacktown charge outer west-ern Sydney comprising Doonside andGlenmore with about 100 c&a, 30 yfand 5 e; David and Caron Balzer,Peter and Caroline Williamson.

9 Pray for members of all our parlia-ments to act with wisdom andintegrity and for Christian membersto give an effective witness.

10 Murray (Queanbeyan) charge NSWnext to the ACT with about 60 c&a,15 yf and 3 e; Andy and AnneMcConaghy.

11 Presbytery of the Central Tablelands(formerly Bathurst) NSW – 8 chargesand 2 home mission stations totaling21 congregations with about 1060c&a, and 180 yf and 3 retired minis-ters. Heather Barr clerk.

12 Living Hope charge Marangaroo,northern Perth with about 35 c&a, 20yf and 4 e; Darrell and MargaretThatcher.

13 Andrew and Michelle Blumer missionpartners (APWM) workers fromParramatta City church NSW inVienna, Austria with Pioneersinvolved in local church ministry.

14 Pray for the Interim moderator,preachers and filling of the vacancy inWalcha charge including Woolbrooknorthern NSW with about 95 c&a, 7yf and 11 e.

15 Bob and Deb McKerral mission part-ners (APWM) workers from CreekRd church Brisbane, in a variety ofservice with Australian IndigenousMinistries.

16 Macquarie Chapel charge Eastwood,northern Sydney – near MacquarieUni. – with about 355 c&a, 70 yf and20 e; Richard and Wendy Quadrio,Duncan Robinson.

17 Seymour-Nagambie charge (2 congre-gations) with about 36 c&a, 7 yf and 2e; Rob Myors.

18 Coffs Harbour congregation NSWwhich suffered flood damage earlierthis year.

19 Julie Lawrence mission partners(APWM) worker from Epping,Sydney in Peru with SIMInternational involved in Englishteaching.

20 St Andrew’s charge Canberra includ-ing Weston Creek with about 625c&a, 20 yf and 43 e; Joy and ArnoldBartholomew; celebrating the 75thAnniversary of the building (close toParliament House) with theModerator General preaching.

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The Essence of theReformationKirsten BirkettKingsford: Matthias Media, 2009.Reviewed by Peter Barnes

This work is an ideal introduction tothe Reformation. The first third

gives an overview of medieval Europe,the onset of the Reformation, and thechanges it brought. The last two-thirdsgive a taste of the writings of MartinLuther (on freedom), John Calvin (onprayer), and Thomas Cranmer (on sal-vation). The style makes for easy read-ing, and it could be read even by thosewith little background in the subject.

I suppose any reviewer is expectedto pick up something to argue with.Kirsten writes: “Erasmus was not aProtestant; he was an exceptionallygood Catholic.” There is no arguingwith the first part of the proposition,but the more doctrinaire Catholicsobject to Erasmus’ indifference to cer-tain Roman dogmas and practices. Aman who wrote a satire on Pope JuliusII’s being excluded from heaven andwho managed to get his works placedon the Papal Index of banned booksmight not easily be regarded as “anexceptionally good Catholic”.

Leave that to one side, this is ahelpful work, and it is to be com-mended, especially for those with littlegrasp of the issues of that great move-ment of 500 years ago.

Peter Barnes is books editor of AP.

Fearless PilgrimThe Life and Times of JohnBunyanFaith CookDarlington: Evangelical Press, 2008.Reviewed by Mignon Goswell

‘John Bunyan lived in days when it wasa costly thing to be a Christian,”

writes Faith Cook in her preface to thisnew, thorough biography of this greatpreacher and writer. John Bunyan is bestknown as the author of Pilgrim’s Progress,one of the greatest allegories in WesternLiterature. Faith Cook, however, bringsto us much more of the man and his times

than simply focusing on his most famouswork.

There is great detail about his life, hiswriting and the tumultuous period helived in. We are shown what he was likebefore his conversion, the people whowere his early Christian influences, thosewho printed his works and aided his min-istry and the faithful wives who bore andraised his children. Extensive use is madeof Bunyan’s diaries, revealing to the readerthe process of his conversion and showinghis wrestling with doubts and issues offaith. This backdrop places the reader in abetter position to appreciate his writing.

We are shown that those who aregreatly used by God have often livedthrough turbulent, difficult years. As wellas the personal background, Cook givesus considerable detail of the historicalfacts of the period, including influentialand powerful state figures and vitalChristian leaders and writers. The vehe-ment hatred of some state figures for theNonconformist cause in general, and forBunyan in particular, is described.

The books Bunyan wrote are exploredin detail – not just Pilgrims Progress andthe autobiography Grace Abounding to theChief of Sinners, but also other lesserknown and smaller works. This biographywill help the reader to find Bunyan’sbooks and read them, not just for their lit-erary merit but for the spiritual encour-agement they give. Cook reminds us inher preface that one day we may find, as inother parts of the world today, persecu-tion and imprisonment to be our lot aswell.

Mignon Goswell is manager of PTC Mediaat the Presbyterian Theological College inMelbourne.

The Expository Geniusof John CalvinSteven J. LawsonOrlando: Reformation Trust, 2007.Reviewed by Peter Barnes

2009 marks the 500th anniversary ofJohn Calvin’s birth, in Noyon in

France in 1509. Calvin is known as atheologian and a commentator of thefirst rank, but he deserves to be betterknown as a preacher. In this littlework, Steve Lawson gives us 32 sum-maries of features of Calvin’s work asa preacher. Calvin himself declared: ‘Ihave observed ... a simple style ofpreaching ... I have felt nothing to be

of more importance than a literal inter-pretation of the biblical text.’

Not everything that Calvin did inthe pulpit ought to be imitated by themodern preacher. His sermons lacksomething in structure, and he reliedovermuch on his extraordinary memory.Lesser mortals would be advised toprepare more and give their sermons amore obvious outline.

Yet Calvin was a warm-heartedpreacher, who used all means, includingthat of vivid imagery, to proclaim theWord of God clearly and accurately toordinary people. In this he succeeded,and we can learn much from him.Lawson’s work will further our educa-tion in this regard.

God IsMark MacleodABC Books, 2009Reviewed by Sheryl Sarkoezy

This beautifully illustrated book waswritten to introduce primary school

children to ideas of God, and attempts topresent a spiritual alternative to materialis-tic values. Macleod poses the question“Where is God?” and answers by describ-ing a god that can be found in the waves atthe beach, in the light of the moon, inlaughter and friends – in every momentand every living thing around us – exceptin Jesus Christ.

Despite his suggestion that we canhave a big view of God (each page endswith the words “and more”) the authorhas, in fact, reduced God to something fartoo small – things and feelings and experi-ences. Macleod has made the error con-demned in Romans 1:25, that of substi-tuting creation for the Creator. His god isin everything, and so becomes nothing; isimmanent but never transcendent;omnipresent but not omnipotent.

Macleod’s god is not the God of theBible. The real alternative to materialismin our times will only be found in a per-sonal relationship with Jesus Christ.Anything else, no matter how beautifullyillustrated, is a lie.

Sheryl Sarkoezy is a student at PTC, Sydney.

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The Bible tells us that Satan dis-guises himself as an angel of light(2 Cor. 11:14). Therefore, whenwe hear of moves to press on with

legislation in favour of anti-discrimina-tion, freedom of religion, and a bill ofrights, we ought to be mindful of whatprecisely is being suggested.

Christianity teaches us to think interms of right and wrong, but theAustralian Human Rights Commissionand the Anti-Discrimination Board, natu-rally, think in terms of rights. InChristianity it is a sin to bow down toidols, to murder, to commit adultery, tosteal, to be covetous or proud, or to breakany other commandments. Sin is lawless-ness (1 John 3:4). There is a fundamentaldiscrimination between truth and error,right and wrong.

But under the “rights” approach,divorced from moral absolutes, itbecomes a sin to think in terms of rightand wrong. In the Christian scheme ofthings, the magistrate is to punish evildo-ers and praise those who do what is good(1 Pet. 2:14). In a system governed bymoral relativism, the law is supposedlymorally neutral; the one real wrong left isdiscrimination. Hence it is supposedlywrong to discriminate against people ongrounds of sexual preference. This is aludicrous and dangerous proposition. Sofar it has usually been interpreted to meanthat one is obliged to pander to homosex-uals and transvestites, but logically itmeans that practices such as necrophiliaor pedophilia are above criticism. If thesepractices can be criticised, then the anti-discrimination approach is self-defeating.

The alarming thing is that those withlegal authority apparently wish to imposetheir definition of sin upon everybodyelse. In 2004 Britain’s Royal Navy allowedthe worship of the devil on its ships. Thatis where this approach leads.

One major problem is that rights andfreedoms require definition, and hencethere will be more dependence on lawyersrather than on law. Dr Samuel Johnsonwisely pointed out: “How small, of all thathuman hearts endure, That part whichlaws or kings can cause or cure!”

The 1936 Soviet Constitution was per-haps the 20th century’s most liberal

sounding constitution, but it was promul-gated during the heyday of the brutal dic-tator Josef Stalin. While Stalin murderedhis friends and his enemies in their mil-lions, Soviet citizens were guaranteed allkinds of rights and freedoms. Small won-der that the ancient historian Tacitusmade the pithy comment that “The morecorrupt the state, the more numerous thelaws”.

In 2001 the Victorian LaborGovernment passed the Racial andReligious Tolerance Act. This was suppos-

edly designed tostamp out reli-gious vilification.Instead, it led toa long, drawn-out and expen-sive case againsttwo Christianpastors, DanielScot and DannyNalliah, who hadventured to criti-cise the Qur’anin the context of

a seminar on Christian evangelism.The most cogent criticism of this whole

approach has come from a former Laborpremier of NSW, Bob Carr, a religiousagnostic, who has declared, quite rightly,that “more judicial review is the last thingAustralia needs”. C. S. Lewis saw thisdecades ago, and commented: “It may bebetter to live under robber barons thanunder omnipotent moral busybodies.”

The UN Declaration on theElimination of All Forms of Intoleranceand of Discrimination Based on Religion orBelief of 1981 affirms that “Everyone shallhave the right to freedom of thought,conscience and religion” (Article 1.1).This freedom is not absolute as it may beprescribed by laws to protect publicsafety, order, health or morals or the fun-damental rights and freedoms of others(Art. 1.3). It goes on to declare: “No oneshall be subject to discrimination by any

State, institution, group of persons, orperson on grounds of religion or otherbeliefs” (Art. 2.1).

Discrimination between human beingson grounds of religion or beliefs isdenounced in the strongest terms as anaffront to human dignity, a violation of ...human rights and fundamental freedoms,and an obstacle to friendly and peacefulrelations between nations (Art.3). Henceall states are to take effective measures toprevent and eliminate discrimination onthe grounds of religion or belief (Art.4.1,2).

This may sound all very edifying, nobleand self-explanatory, but it is fanciful.There is no clear distinction betweenChristianity and Satanism, or the TenCommandments and the practices of sut-tee (widow burning) or child sacrifice inthe Ganges River. Armed with no clearmorality and an agenda that makes rightsparamount, it would be quite in order forjudges to allow polygamy or homosexualmarriage, and to outlaw any body, includ-ing a church, which refused to kow-towto this approach.

The discussion paper of the HumanRights and Equal Opportunity

Commission, Freedom of Religion andBelief in the 21st Century, released inAugust 2008, asks: “How can faith com-munities be inclusive of people of diversesexualities?” The question presupposesthe conclusion, and it is the wrong one.

Discrimination is not inherently evil.What is so wrong about a Muslim refusingto employ a woman whom he regards asnot adequately covered up so far as herclothing is concerned? Why should aChristian publisher be forced to employ aNew Ager? Why should the ProtestantChurches’ Cricket Competition be dis-mantled? Such situations may prove to beparadise for lawyers and litigants, but theart of manufacturing grievances is not oneto be encouraged. What appears to conferrights – or recognise them – may in facttake them away. As George Orwell put it:“Freedom is the right to tell people whatthey do not want to hear.”

Peter Barnes is minister of RevesbyPresbyterian Church, Sydney. ap


Right outWhat’s wrong with a bill or rights? Plenty.

Peter Barnes

B A C K P A G E

Judges couldallow

polygamy orhomosexual

marriage, andoutlaw anychurch that

refused tokow-tow to

this approach.

Reforming the Church - APHealthy Church (Crossway, 2000, 2nd ed., 2004). He has also published A...

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Transcript of Reforming the Church - APHealthy Church (Crossway, 2000, 2nd ed., 2004). He has also published A...