Spurgeon on presuppositional apologetics

John Frame offers this definition of the presuppositional approach to apologetics:

"It takes account of what Scripture says about our obligation to presuppose God's revelation in all our thinking about the unbeliever's suppression of the truth, and it understands that according to Scripture the goal of apologetics must be to convince people that God's revelation is not only true, but the very criterion of truth, the most fundamental certainty, the basis for all intelligible thought and meaningful living." (New Dictionary of Christian Apologetics, IVP, 2006, p. 578).

When reading Surgeon's Lectures to my students the other day, I came across this remarkable piece of pre-Van Til presuppositionalism:

"...the sceptic cries, 'What I want is facts.' These are our facts: let us not forget to use them. A sceptic challenges me with the remark, 'I cannot pin my faith to a book or a history; I want to see present facts.' My reply is, 'You cannot see them, because your eyes are blinded; but the facts are there none the less. Those of us who have eyes see marvellous things, though you do not.' If he ridicules my assertion, I am not at all astonished. I expect him to do so, and should have been very much surprised if he had not done so; but I demand respect to my own position as a witness to facts, and I turn upon the objector with the inquiry - 'What right have you to deny my evidence? If I were a blind man and were told by you that you possessed a faculty called sight, I should be unreasonable if I railed at you as a conceited enthusiast. All you have a right to say is - that you no nothing about it, but you are not authorised to call us liars or dupes. You may join with the revellers of old and declare that the spiritual man is mad, but that does not disprove his statements.' Brethren, to me the phenomena which are produced by the Spirit of God demonstrate the truth of the Christian religion as clearly as the destruction of Pharaoh at the Red Sea, or the fall of the manna in the wilderness, or water leaping from the smitten rock, could have proved to Israel the presence of God in the midst of her tribes." (Lectures to my students, C. H. Spurgeon, Banner of Truth Trust , 2008 reprint, p. 224-225).

Bible study notes: Who "restrains" the man of sin?

6And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. 7For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. 8And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. 9The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders (2 Thessalonians 2:6-8, ESV).

In vs. 6 a principle or power restrains the man of sin, “what is restraining”. In vs. 7, the principle is described in personal terms “he who restrains”. This restraining factor or person has been variously interpreted. In his commentary, (The Bible Speaks Today, The Message of Thessalonians, IVP, 2004), John Stott runs through the options.

a) What restrains is the church and He who restrains is the Holy Spirit. But in vs. 7 he who restrains will be taken away or will withdraw himself. The Spirit has been promised to the church for ever (John 14:6).

b) What restrains is the preaching of the gospel and who restrains is Paul. But Paul nowhere puts himself at the centre of great eschatological events. Elsewhere in his teaching he does not suggest that his ministry was holding back the revelation of the man of sin and the onslaught of Satan. Indeed, Paul recognised that he could sometimes be restrained and hindered by the devil, 1 Thess 2:18. Besides Paul has long been removed from the scene of history and his being “taken away” vs. 7, did not usher in the revelation of the man of sin.

c) The restraining factor was the Roman state. This is Stott’s preferred option. Leon Morris (Tyndale New Testament Commentary, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, IVP, 1989) and Geerhardus Vos (The Pauline Eschatology, P&R, 1986 - chapter V. The Man of Sin) also lean in this direction. In Romans 13, Paul teaches that the function of the state is to restrain evil. But in the book of Revelation, the Roman state with its emperor worship and persecution of the saints is said to prefigure the man of sin - Rev. 17:7ff. Besides, the Roman Empire has fallen, yet once more in terms of vs. 7, the man of sin has still not been revealed.

So then, what or who exactly is “restraining" the man of sin? The problem with all the proposals listed above is that they assume that in this instance, the Greek word katechon means “restrain”. This suggests that some power or person is holding back the revelation of the man of sin. But the word has a broader range of meaning. Gene L. Green (The Pillar New Testament Commentary, The Letters to the Thessalonians, Apollos/Eerdmans, 2002) points out that the katechon could be translated, “that which seizes” or “one who possesses”. In some non-biblical sources the word is sometimes used of those who were seized or possessed by demonic powers. According to Green’s proposal, “that which seizes” does not entail restraining the man of sin. Rather “that which seizes” ensures that he will be revealed “in his own time” vs. 6. This demonic power was already at work, hence the false teaching that had infiltrated the Thessalonian church, vs. 7. (cf. 1 Tim 4:1) When the time is right, “he who seizes” will take possession of the man of sin and then withdraw from the scene to allow the lawless one to do his work. We find a similar transfer of malignant power between the beasts of Revelation 13, see especially vs. 12 & 15, cf. 17:12 & 13.

To sum up, we should not understand that Paul is talking about a power or person that is restraining the man of sin. Rather we should envisage a power or person that will seize the man of sin and take possession of him before taking himself out of the way to allow the lawless one to take centre stage.

The "man of sin" or the "lawless one" will be kind of parody of Christ. In John's terms, he is the antichrist. Note the way Paul describes his advent. He will be revealed – vs. 8 cf. Jesus revelation at the second advent, 1:7. He is described as "coming" vs. 9 (Greek, parousia), a term associated with the second coming of Christ, vs. 8 cf. 2:1. As the antichrist figure, he will set himself up against God and demand worship from all humanity, vs. 4. When the man of sin is revealed, the people of God will know him for what he is. Then the meaning of this rather difficult passage will no doubt become clear, at lest to those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. As Vos wisely points out, “2 Thess. belongs among the many prophecies, whose best and final exegete will be eschatological fulfilment, and in regard to which it behoves the saints to exercise a peculiar eschatological patience.” (The Pauline Eschatology p. 133).

Worship and the presence of God

I'm reading Philip H. Eveson's commentary, The Beauty of Holiness, Leviticus simply explained, Evangelical Press, Welwyn Commentary Series, 2007. The work is full of scholarly insight and thoughtful exposition. And unlike some modern commentaries on the Old Testament, Eveson does not shy away from showing how Leviticus is fulfilled in Christ. He also shows how the book applies to believers under the new covenant. Here he reflects on the presence of God in worship, commenting on 'Then the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people' (Lev 9:23). After setting the verse in it's Old Testament context he writes,

"The high point in worship is to experience something of the presence of God among his people. The Day of Pentecost was a unique coming of the Holy Spirit in fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy and the promise of our Lord. But it also initiated the ear of the Spirit, when similar experiences of God's powerful presence can be expected and prayed for. These experiences, when they occur on a large scale, we call 'revivals' or 'awakenings'.

To give a cry of joyful praise and to bow in awesome wonder at the presence of God reminds us of the words of Psalm 2:11: 'Serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling.' In the assemblies of God's new covenant people we should not suppose that because Jesus has promised to be with those who gather in his name, we should simply believe it to be so and not expect to experience that presence. Again, when Christians meet together, it is not only to build one another up in the faith - it is to worship God together and experience as a body the felt presence of God as his Word is proclaimed. In this way we anticipate the future glory when God's presence will be for ever experienced among his people. Unbelievers and the 'uninformed' should also be affected, as Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 14:23-25 when he states, '...and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you.'"

The Servant King?

This is our God, the Servant King
He calls us now to follow Him,
to bring our lives as a daily offering,
of worship to the servant King.

Some people object to Graham Kendrick's hymn The Servant King because they say that Jesus is no longer a servant. He is now the exalted Lord of all. Such thinking betrays some questionable theology. It is as if the servant form that Jesus took at the incarnation was not a true expression of who Jesus really is as the form of God. But humble servanthood is part of the divine identity. When God became man in Jesus Christ, he did not become other than himself. The incarnation was an act of self-expression not self-abnegation. The humiliation of the Son was not an artifice for the sake of the economy of redemption. The Son as man discloses the God, who by his very nature stoops to wash feet and bear the sins of his enemies. As Robert Letham reflects,

"The point is that when we have to do with Jesus Christ we have to do with God. His presence in the world is identical with the existence of the humiliated, obedient, and lowly man, Jesus of Nazareth. Thus, the humiliation, lowliness, and obedience of Christ are essential in our conception of God." (The Holy Trinity, In Scripture, History, Theology, and Worship, P&R, 2004, p. 397).

If this is the case, then Jesus remains the humble servant even in his present exalted state. It is part of his very identity. We worship no other Jesus than the Servant King. Besides, we have explicit biblical warrant for Jesus' continued servanthood, "Now I say that Christ has become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers." (Romans 15:8). According to Leon Morris, the verb 'become' is "in the perfect tense, indicating a permanent state: Christ continues in his capacity 'as servant of circumcision'." (The Epistle to the Romans Eerdmans/IVP, 1988 p. 503). William Hendriksen confirms this. "Christ became and continues to be 'a servant.' Cf. Isa. 42:1." (New Testament Commentary, Banner of Truth Trust, 1982, p. 475). This is our God, the Servant King. Are you following him?

Ascension Day and the Lordship of Christ

"and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:11).

The proclamation that “Jesus Christ is Lord” is the great task of the church

Paul wrote, "We preach Christ Jesus the Lord" (2 Corinthians 4:5). I think that we often give the impression that we approach the world with the gospel from a position of weakness. We feel that we have to justify our message before we will be granted a hearing. Men must be brought to see that what we say is eminently plausible. We appeal to arguments from design and feel obliged to refute Darwinism before we can ever think of deploying the gospel. Friends, this ought not to be. When we announce the gospel, we do so from a position of strength because we proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord! All authority in heaven and earth is his and he has told us to GO! He has the name above every name and to announce his name is to invoke his authority,

Jesus the name high over all,
in hell, or earth or sky;
angels and men before it fall,
and devils fear and fly.

We don’t have to justify the claims of the gospel to the non-Christian. It is the unbeliever that needs to be justified before God, not God before the unbeliever. We are ambassadors of the Lord Christ. Note the method of apostolic evangelism. On the Day of Pentecost, Peter preached, "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this jesus, whom you crucified both Lord and Christ." (Acts 2:36). This declaration had a powerful impact, "Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said, 'Men and brethren, what shall we do?'" (Acts 2:37). It is the unbeliever that is in the position of weakness. They are still in their sin and guilt, heading for a lost eternity. We preach Christ Jesus the LORD! He is the only hope for lost sinners, "there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12).

The church’s proclamation that Jesus Christ is Lord shatters the distinction between the sacred and the secular. The Christian faith is no “privatised spirituality” that has no role in public life. Jesus Christ is Lord of all. He is Lord of the arts, Lord of Science, Lord of Politics, Lord of ethics and morals. As Abraham Kuyper put it,

There is not a square inch in the whole domain of human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry: "Mine!" -

Let me give you one practical example of bringing the Lordship of Christ to bear upon the public sphere. It is because I believe that Jesus Christ is Lord that I have written to our MP (see here) regarding the Human Fertilisaton and Embryology Bill. Now the secularists will say that Christian principles should not intrude upon the laws of our land. But we cannot accept that there are areas of life over which Christ is not Lord. German Christians faced similar pressure to acquiesce to the onward march of National Socialism in the 1930’s. But the Confessing Churches rightly resisted the Nazification of church and society. Their Barmen Declaration states,

8.11 Jesus Christ, as he is attested for us in Holy Scripture, is the one Word of God which we have to hear and which we have to trust and obey in life and in death.
8.14 As Jesus Christ is God's assurance of the forgiveness of all our sins, so, in the same way and with the same seriousness he is also God's mighty claim upon our whole life. Through him befalls us a joyful deliverance from the godless fetters of this world for a free, grateful service to his creatures.
8.15 We reject the false doctrine, as though there were areas of our life in which we would not belong to Jesus Christ, but to other lords--areas in which we would not need justification and sanctification through him.

Now, the church is not simply to announce that Jesus Christ is Lord. She is to live as a community under the Lordship of Christ. He is head over all things for the Church. The church is not a democracy. She is a "Christocracy". Our task is to fulfil the task that he has given us in the way that he prescribes.

An edited extract from an Ascension Day sermon on Philippians 2:5-11 which I preached earlier this evening at Yarnbrook Chapel, Wilishire.

Ascension Day

Apart from Christmas, Easter and Pentecost, I don't usually follow the liturgical calendar. But I'm due to preach this evening at an Ascension Day service. I wonder if we pay enough attention to our Lord's ascension. The event was full of meaning and significance. By his ascension Jesus returned to the Father who send him into the world. Being exalted to the right hand of the Father, he was made both Lord and Christ. Jesus was anointed with the oil of gladness and crowned King of kings and Lord of lords. Christ did not abandon his human nature at the ascension. As Rabbi Duncan put it, "The dust of earth is now on the throne of the Majesty on High." Jesus' sovereign rule is conditioned by his humanity. We have a High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God. He is able to sympathise with us in our weaknesses having been tempted on all points as we are, yet without sin. As Jesus ascended bodily and visibly into the glory cloud, so he will return, coming on the clouds of heaven. Then every eye will see him, even they who pierced him. Even so, come Lord Jesus!

"Old hymns good, new hymns bad"

Some believers operate on the Orwellian principle, "Old hymns good, new hymns bad." Maybe that's because only the best of the older compositions are still in use today. The worst are best left in the depths of hymnological oblivion. See this little gem from Cotton Mather (1663-1728),

Ye monsters of the bubbling deep,
Your Maker's praises spout;
Up from the sands ye codlings peep,
And wag your tails about.

As Alister McGrath comments, "It certainly rhymes. But it's not exactly inspirational." (Christianity's Dangerous Idea: The Protestant Revolution from the sixteenth century to the twenty-first, SPKC, 2007, p. 302).

Preaching as a Spirit empowered speech act

We live in a very visual society, where words are often dismissed as “just words”. This is something of a problem for preachers, for words are our stock in trade. But words are never really “just words”. They always do something. This is the helpful insight of speech act theory. This way of viewing language was formally proposed by J. L. Austin in his How to Do Things with Words (Oxford, 1962). Kevin Vanhoozer makes speech act theory a major component in his theological constructions. The theory breaks language down into three component parts: locutions, illocutions, and perlocutions. First of all we have locutions – basic units of speech or words and sentences. In theological terms, we confess that Scripture reveals God Word in words – locutions. But we use words to do things. With words we declare a man and a woman husband and wife, we ask for a glass of water, or order a ticket for the cinema. This is the illocutionary effect of language. By speaking, I have acted. In Scripture we have God’s own illocutions – his speech acts. By words, he makes promises, utters warnings, and enters into a covenant relationship with his people. Scripture is not simply a record of God’s words. In the Bible we have the communicative action of the triune God. But it is one thing for God to speak words and to do things with his words, like make promises. But what guarantees that God’s words will be received for what they are? God may make a promise, but it is another thing for us to trust in that promise! This is called the perlocutionary effect of language. And it is here that the work of the Holy Spirit comes into its own. He enables people to respond appropriately to God’s communicative action in Scripture. Vanhoozer sums up the point,

What God ultimately communicates in his crucified Word is the reality of salvation itself: a share in the divine life. And yet, this intended effect - fellowship with God through union with Christ - is not an automatic consequence of God's utterance. Not all communicative acts are received for what they are. So, the Word accomplished something on the cross (makes atonement for sin; declares pardon); this is the illocutionary aspect. Yet it does not really communicate salvation until and unless it is received and appropriated by the hearer [the perlocutionary aspect]. The Spirit's role is to minister Christ, to make what God is saying and doing in the cross effective." (The Drama of Doctrine, WJK, 2005, p. 66).

We see this in 1 Thess 1:5, Paul's preaching was "not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance". What was that word? The gospel of God. Where is that gospel now revealed? In the Spirit-breathed Scriptures. But it is not enough simply to declare the Spirit-authored and inscripturated gospel message. The Spirit who gave the Word must also be active in the proclamation of that Word so that it is received for what it is,

"For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe." (1 Thess 2: 13).

It is through this distinct work of the Spirit that the preaching of the word of God is the word of God to those who hear it. The Spirit so empowers the proclamation of the Word that preaching becomes a revelatory event where the God of the gospel is encountered. This results in the salvation of sinners and the transformation of saints.

Spirituality

An edited version of my Morning Thought, for BBC Radio Wiltshire

I’d like to conclude this week’s Morning Thoughts by talking about spirituality. Did you hear about the man in Bradford on Avon who got trampled by a herd of cows? Seems like he only escaped “dairy herd danger” because a passer by came to his aid. I don’t know what effect this has had on the unfortunate gentleman’s spiritual life. But events like that can make us think about spiritual and eternal matters. Lots of people today have realised that there must be more to life than fleeting riches of this world. Their souls long for spiritual fulfilment. God has made us for himself and we can find no rest apart from him. Some try Transcendental Meditation. Others just like rambling in the countryside in an attempt to find the divine in nature – just look out for those cows!

Christian spirituality is a bit different. It is not first and foremost a human attempt to seek God. It’s the other way around - God has come down to seek us. The Father sent his Son Jesus Christ into our world to bring us back to him. By his death upon the cross Jesus has dealt with all the wrong things that separate us from God. For the believer, God is not some distant, far off being. He has drawn near to us by the presence of his Spirit. In Jesus we can know God as our heavenly Father. Just think of that – having a Father/child relationship with your Maker!

Our relationship with God develops as we pray and read his Word, the Bible. But Christian spirituality is no private affair. It leads to involvement in a believing community, the church. We grow spiritually by worshipping together, learning together, and caring for each other. So, if you are interested in spirituality, do something worthwhile this weekend. Why not go along to a church where you can find out more Jesus, who came from heaven to bring us near to God?

Well, Graham, I’d just like to say thanks very much you for having me on your show this week!

You can listen again here, about 45 minutes into the show.

True Beauty

An edited version of my Morning Thought, for BBC Radio Wiltshire

I know that the skies are grey and overcast this morning, but nothing can detract from the beauty of spring time. On the estate where I live I can see nature springing back to life after the deadness of winter. The old trees are green with leaves once again. Cherry blossom adorns the streets. If instead of talking to you now, I was walking around a Wiltshire beauty spot like Stourhead Gardens, then the sight would be even more impressive. Right now, I can imagine the glimmering lake and the trees and flowers in all their glory. What a wonderful world we live in!

But there is nothing necessary about the beauty of the world. Things sometimes function very efficiently without being especially beautiful. The street light outside my house isn't great to look at compared with a lovely old oak tree, but it illuminates our street pretty effectively at night. The beauty that we encounter every day is a sign of the Creator's loving generosity. He does not want us simply to exist in the most efficient way possible, he made us to live. He created us with the capacity to enjoy the world that he made for his glory and our pleasure. "But" you might say, "there is also much ugliness in the world." Yes, that is true. Rainforests are devastated, rivers and seas polluted. Some people have to live in soulless, graffiti strewn "concrete jungles" rather than pretty Wiltshire towns villages. Not to mention the moral ugliness that often confronts us - the ugliness of greed, hatred and selfishness. That reminds me of the old expression, "as ugly as sin". Sin, rebellion against the God of beauty has brought ugliness into our world.

So, how can we recapture true beauty? Not by conforming to the idealised images of physical perfection that we find in the fashion magazines. We can't all be supermodels. Even if we could, through the marvels of plastic surgery, that would not make us truly beautiful people. As the saying goes, that kind of beauty is only "skin deep". True beauty comes from knowing the God of beauty. If you want an example of a beautiful life, don't look at the latest Hollywood heartthrob. Consider Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I don't mean look at a picture of him, because we don't really know what he looked like. But think about the life he lived. Jesus shows us the beauty of love, grace and truth. In an act of unimaginable beauty, he laid down his life for his friends, dying on the Cross for us. Jesus embraced the ugliness of our sin so that by trusting in him, we might be forgiven and made whole. God raised Jesus from the dead. His body that was flogged, crucified and disfigured was gloriously transformed. In Jesus, true beauty is restored. Those who believe in him will be made like him. "May the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us" (Psalm 90:17).

You can listen again here, about 45 minutes into the show.