For All the Saints Who From Their Labors Rest

Unity matters. However, so does diversity. Unity and diversity unite in the very nature of God. God is three persons united in one essence. The world around us fails to see how God’s creation reflects the Trinity, and it always therefore either veers toward the imposition of the one or the disintegration of the many. It either blurs or destroys distinctives in the first case. Or in the second, it fragments because, in the words of T.S. Eliot, the center cannot hold. It either dies the death of a single tone, or death by cacophony.

As such, we ought to celebrate both unity and diversity, the one and the many, three persons and one essence. God, after all, does the same. The God we worship, God in three persons, knits together the church as one body. He calls out a people where there is no more Jew or Greek. Most importantly, He unites us with Himself through the atoning work of His Son.

On the other hand, our God is likewise the God of divisions. Even as far back as the garden of Eden we see God at work dividing. He divided day and night, land and water, man and animal. And each day He saw what He had done, both creating and dividing, and called it good.

That division hit its apex also in the garden. There God promised another division when He spoke to the serpent: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring” (Gen. 3:15). This same division comes to its ultimate fruition at the end of all time when Jesus will separate the sheep and the goats for all eternity.

Even as the serpent, from that time forward, has been sowing division among God’s people to destroy the unity we enjoy, so he tries to blur the chasm that separates the two seeds. He encourages the seed of the serpent to see themselves as God’s children when they are not. He encourages the seed of the woman to see themselves as at peace with all men when we are not. He encourages us to forget the war, to forget that those who walk outside the kingdom are not our kin but our enemies. Unity with them is, according to God’s judgment, an abomination.

It may well be that the worst fruit of this confusion is simply a blurring of our calling. Because we fail to see the great divide between sheep and goats, we look at the world as a neutral place. Worse still, we look at our own telos, or purpose, in neutral terms. We measure success in our lives by the same standards as those outside the kingdom, seeing our faith as something we add to our lives rather than seeing our faith as our lives.

We are, in a word, worldly. We who are called to walk by the Spirit too often are one flesh with the world. We deny that we have been called out, set apart — that we are to be separate from the world, to be holy. We refuse to follow the command of the Captain of our army who told us to set aside the petty concerns of the world and to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

We will not seek first the kingdom of God until we realize this kingdom is at war with the kingdom of men. God declared war in response to the attack of the serpent. At Calvary our Lord won the definitive victory. Since Jesus walked out of His tomb victorious, our calling has been to be about the mop-up operation. He has already overcome the world, and so we, being of good cheer, go and make the victory known. We bring heaven down to earth by doing His will here as our spiritual fathers do His will there.

The weapons of our warfare are not carnal. We’re called to love our enemies. We seek, as much as is possible, to live in peace and quietness before all men. Which does not mean that we’re not called to wage war, that we have no enemies. Such does not mean that all men are content to live in peace and quietness with us. We love our enemies by waging war. Our very peace and quietness rattles them like so much artillery bombardment. Indeed, we lose the war precisely when we lose our peace. And in turn, we fail to enjoy peace when we cease to wage war.

We who have been called out are different from the world. Our loyalty is toward another King, and our citizenship is in another kingdom. We, His body, are united together. But we are divided from the rest of the world by a chasm as wide as the east is from the west and as thin as a scarlet thread. We are one, and we are promised this victory parade:

From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast, through gates of pearl streams in the countless host, singing to Father, Son and Holy Ghost, Alleluia! Alleluia!

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Our Illiteracy: The Shameful Ignorance of our Churches

Ezekiel and the valley of dry bones. Moses and the burning bush. Hosea’s marriage to Gomer. These are not obscure stories hidden in out of the way books of the Bible. Yet each of them I have recently found were pure mysteries to those who should know better. No, I don’t mean that the people I was speaking with didn’t have a sound understanding of these things. I mean they’d never heard of them. And in each instance they were utterly unknown to adults who profess to be Christians.

Ligonier Ministries here recently released their most recent theological survey, just in time for Halloween. It’s enough to make anyone scream. As critical as sound theology is, however, it is one step removed from its source, the Bible. And we don’t know that. We will never be sound in our thinking about the things of God if His Word is just a blur to us.

Our famine of basic Bible knowledge is not the fruit of a famine of Bibles. We are not ignorant in that we lack teachers. The information is readily available, at our fingertips. It is not in our minds, much less our hearts because we have given our hearts to mindless entertainment. We have room and time for that which doesn’t matter, but none for the very substance of our lives. We’re starving on a diet of twinkies, with a feast set before us.

The solution isn’t a program at church. It isn’t one more translation or paraphrase. It isn’t the perfect app. No, the solution requires no technology, no money, no man hours from others. The solution is reading the Bible. Slowly, like you mean it. Not to give yourself a checkmark for doing your spiritual duty. But to give yourself food for your soul.

I suspect that most of you reading this are somewhat familiar with Ezekiel and the valley of dry bones, with Moses and the burning bush and Hosea’s marriage to Gomer. If, however, you are patting yourself on the back while tsk tsking those who are not familiar, you haven’t read the Bible enough. Not one of us can safely conclude that we already know the Bible well enough that we don’t need to continually immerse ourselves in it.

All of us wish we would walk more faithfully. We aspire to greater spiritual maturity, to attain the measure of a man, to be complete. A workman not ashamed. Few of us are willing to take this simple step to get there, to feed on God’s Word. I often tell people, “I’d do anything to be able to play the electric guitar… except learn and practice how to play the electric guitar.” Sounds like how we treat learning God’s Word.

I have, however, read enough to know what to do. The solution is the solution to every problem- we have to repent, and believe the gospel. We repent for our failure, and we believe in His grace. And then we hunger for more. We do not, after all, live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

Posted in 10 Commandments, Bible Study, Big Eva, church, Devil's Arsenal, Education, kingdom, Kingdom Notes, preaching, RC Sproul JR | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Pottery and Wicker; Mideast Peace; Bondage of God’s Will

This week’s Jesus Changes Everything Podcast

Posted in Biblical Doctrines, Jesus Changes Everything, Lisa Sproul, politics, RC Sproul JR, Sacred Marriage, wonder, worship | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Walking Together, Wherever He Leads Us

No mere human can see down the corridor of time. God has no need to, as He is above time and He wrote the story in the first place. He does from time to time reveal future events to His people. When Lisa and I married nine years ago today we did not know what the future would hold. I did not marry her because I wanted the future I envisioned with her. I married her because whatever future lay before me, I wanted it to be lived with her.

Through these nine years we have had our share of hard providences, events and challenges I would not have chosen for myself. If, however, I could go back in time and select from a life of ease and comfort apart from Lisa, or a road filled with sharp curves, gaping potholes and all the hardships of the Oregon Trail, but with Lisa, there would be no real choice. Give me Lisa.

For nine years we have followed, side by side, as the Sower leads us toward the true and eternal promised land. We have drunk bitter waters, and we have beheld His astonishing miracles. The glory, however, is that we have done these things together.

I could hear, as I have done in other places, extol the virtues of my wife. I could celebrate and herald her amazing gifts. I am deeply grateful for all of them. But what I rejoice in is that she has stuck with me, she remains beside me, that we go together into whatever future lies before us. We do not know what the future holds. But we are loved by the One who holds it. And through it, by His grace and for His glory, we will hold each other.

Posted in 10 Commandments, beauty, friends, friendship, grace, kingdom, Kingdom Notes, Lisa Sproul, RC Sproul JR, Sacred Marriage, wonder | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Dinner and a Bible Study, Tonight

I Am… Studies on the Attributes of the Living God

We continue our weekly Monday night Bible study. We begin at 7:00, but local guests are invited to come for dinner too, at 6:15.

We air the study on Facebook Live (RC-Lisa Sproul). Within a day or two we post the video of the study right here for those who would like to watch on their own schedule.

We’d love to have you with us, in person if possible. We’d love for you to invite your friends. Our study considers the attributes of God, unpacking just a hint of His ineffable glory. Tonight- God Is Impeccable

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How Well Should Pastors Be Paid? Who Should Decide?

First, it’s not as easy question. In the open market people should be paid at the intersection of what they’re willing to work for and what someone is willing to pay them. You will never hear me complain either that some jobs don’t pay “enough” nor that some pay “too much” so long as both parties are in agreement.

The church, however, isn’t the marketplace, and should not be treated as such. Pastors are not church employees, but shepherds. “What the market will bear” no longer seems to me to be the right metric. Pastors, after all, are not supposed to be in it for the money. At the same time, there is in many churches the misguided notion that paying the pastor poorly will keep him humble. I suspect it’s more likely to make him resentful.

So how do you decide? First, the pastor doesn’t get to decide. Yes, he can certainly turn down a calling if it pays insufficiently. But he doesn’t get to determine by himself how much he will be paid. He is not an honest pastor who says, “Every Sunday after the service I offer the whole offering plate to the Lord by tossing its contents into the air. That which comes back down to earth, that’s what He wants me to have.”

Instead, those in positions of leadership in the church ought to be making these decisions. For many Presbyterian churches, that would be the session of the church. For Dutch Reformed churches that would be the consistory. For many Baptist churches that would be the deacons. These are the men in the church who are called to steward what God provides. Corporately, they rule in the church.

What about the congregation? I understand the reasoning that suggests they ought to approve the church’s budget. My concern is that such tends to encourage members of the congregation to see themselves more as stockholders in a company that sheep in a fold. Budget approval is an act of ruling in the church, which is why it belongs in the elder/deacon bailiwick.

That said, I’d suggest that wisdom dictates that the congregation be informed of how the pastor is paid. Secrecy is generally not a good thing in the life of the church, especially when it comes to money. I can think of at least three reasons. While some in the congregation might take offense at the pastor’s pay when they should not, those same people will surely be suspicious if they are kept in the dark. Second, keeping such information secret can cover for pastoral pay that actually is embarrassingly high. Third, keeping this information secret can cover for pastoral pay that is embarrassingly low.

Because of all the dangers in this sticky wicket, there is a temptation to keep everything on a need-to-know basis. That, in the end, however, makes the wicket that much more sticky.

Most pastors I know are woefully underpaid. Most of these, however, are not underpaid because the church leadership is stingy, but because most churches have little income. Tithers are a rarity. Most churches are small. Most churches are zealous to do the work of ministry, to do outreach in the community, to support local and worldwide missions. The cupboard can get pretty bare pretty quickly. But the work of the ministry goes on.

The answer to the question- how much should pastors be paid- is one I don’t have the perfect answer for. The bromides, “Enough that he need not worry about providing for his family” or “As much as the average parishioner” I fear are not much help. First, everyone, no matter what they make, has money worries. Second, the average parishioner’s earning is market based. The pastor’s ought not to be.

To get to the answer, however, we need to remember money can be both a blessing and a curse. Handle with care, and handle with prayer.

Posted in 10 Commandments, Ask RC, Big Eva, church, Devil's Arsenal, Economics in This Lesson, ethics, kingdom, preaching, RC Sproul JR, scandal, wisdom | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Money From Nothing and Your Checks for Free

I’m connected to royalty. Granted, it’s a rather thin point of union. In less than six degrees, though, through enough marriage links that there is no legal tie, I am connected with the king of the tropical island, Yap. Yap is best known not for its sandy beaches nor its pineapple harvest, but for its money. They do not traffic there in sea shells. Neither is their money pure gold. Instead their coinage is great wheel-shaped stones that are hollow in the middle, some as tall as a coconut tree.

What can we learn from this about the people of Yap? First, that they are not given to hasty exchanges. It takes a commitment to trade goods and services for stones. As cumbersome as barter can be, it’s likely more easy than rolling a ton of rock down to the local bank. Second, while neither thieves nor robbers are apt to make off with the booty, it is likewise likely that there isn’t a great deal of foreign trade. That is, not many outside of Yap would want this money.

You can discern a great deal about a given people by studying their money. These United States, for roughly three fourths of our history, used gold for money. And we prospered like no other country before us. Granted, as the years went on, the connection between paper dollars and the gold that was supposed to be behind them grew more and more tenuous. Nevertheless, we used to be able to say that this thing or that was “solid as a dollar.” What we meant was that it was as solid as the gold behind a dollar. It could be counted on.

It was Nixon who fully and finally made the greenback truly a green back, that is, backed only by the ink with which it was printed. Since that time, our money has been as dishonest and unstable as we are. Now our money is debt backed by debt. Federal Reserve notes are not worth the paper they’re printed on. In more recent years we’ve gone high tech in our dishonesty. Paper “money” represents a tiny portion of the “money” we use every day. Instead our money today consists in the ethereal world of cyberspace as a simple collection of zeroes and ones, all of which in the end is worth nothing but zeroes.

In a perverse way, our folly makes perfect sense. That is, our understanding of wealth and money matches up nicely with how we view the whole universe. We live in a culture that believes it lives in a universe that just popped into existence. Why should not the god of our age, the state, pop more wealth into existence? If everything came from nothing, why not just make more? The tables turn on us, however, when we realize that’s exactly what we have — nothing — and mountains of it.

We in the church have drunk too deep of the “wisdom” of the world. We not only join in the feeding frenzy at the trough of the nanny state, but we spend our hours bickering over this or that policy proposal. If we are Republicans, then we hate the previous president who created money from nothing. If we are Democrats, we hate the current president for doing the same. We watch the headlines, putting our fingers to the wind, and sell each other on sundry schemes for profiting on the coming economic meltdown.

What we’re supposed to be doing, however, is seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. We’re supposed to be working. To be faithfully exercising dominion, bringing all things under subjection, ruling over all things. We’re not supposed to chase lying money but to do honest work. The wisest man, outside of our Lord, who ever lived told us: “Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. Let your garments always be white. Let not oil be lacking on your head. Enjoy life with the wife whom you love” (Eccl. 9:7–9a). This is honest living.

There is nothing new under the sun. The world around us, as it always does, is self-destructing. It is has built its culture on sand. And as the foundations of the city of man continue to crack, our hearts are troubled because we have forgotten where our citizenship lies.

By all means we ought to pray for the peace of Babylon. We ought to be a prophetic voice to the world around us. But, in the end, we do all of this from a position of peace. We’re not only a people of unfathomable wealth but are immutably so. Our treasure is in heaven where it cannot be devalued. We have been given the Pearl of great price, Who is worth more than all the wealth in the world. Whether it be measured by round, hollow stones or by trillions of dollars. Our wealth is not backed by the Federal Reserve. It is not backed by gold. It is not backed by bitcoin. Our currency is the Rock of Offense.

We are all connected to royalty, immediately. We are the bride of the King. His kingdom knows no end. And we reign with Him, seated in the heavenly realms.

Posted in 10 Commandments, Biblical Doctrines, Big Eva, Devil's Arsenal, Economics in This Lesson, kingdom, Kingdom Notes, politics, RC Sproul JR, work | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Praise Praise For the Dying of the Light: An Ode to Autumn

Cooling breeze carries frost to town

Harvest plucked from the weary ground

Laden tables of festive feasts

Candy grubbing fantastic beasts

Passing, punting boys of fall

Coming home to homecoming ball

Hunting, hauling squirrelly hoarders

Closing in on winter’s boarders

Apples, cinnamon, pumpkin spice

Flavors of our own device

A time to see the shadows weaken

Continue reading

Posted in beauty, creation, kingdom, Kingdom Notes, poetry, RC Sproul JR, seasons, wonder | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Monday’s I Am… Study- The God Who Judges

Technical difficulties have postponed our next Jesus Changes Everything podcast. In lieu of, here is our study from our series “I Am…” considering God’s role as judge of all things. Check it out.

Posted in 10 Commandments, assurance, Bible Study, Biblical Doctrines, Big Eva, church, creation, eschatology, RC Sproul JR, sovereignty, theology, worship | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Blah, Blah, Blahg: Silencing the Devil with Silence

My reputation is often savagely assaulted in the Devil’s great gossip tool, the world wide web. There’s plenty to talk about, since I not only have plenty of sin in my life, but some of my most spectacular sins are widely known. Entire websites have been created for the sole purpose of trumpeting my weaknesses, some real and some imagined. When my reputation is being mauled all over the internet, friends express their dismay and concern, wondering why, oh why I don’t answer my critics. The answer is simple enough- I believe the Bible says not to.

Proverbs tells us to answer a fool according to his folly, lest be become wise in his own eyes. It likewise enjoins us not to answer a fool according to his folly, lest we become like him. Wisdom is the ability to know when we are to do the one, and when the other.

Here is one piece of evidence that it is better to not answer a fool in this case. Internet critics like nothing more than to be answered. They love being thrown into the Bre’r patch to dicker over arguments, and they are tarbabies that will not let go. The best way to silence these fools is to give them nothing to talk about. Soon enough, they’ll start arguing with each other.

But what if they’re right? David, while fleeing his own son, is harassed by Shimei. Shimei scurries along the cliffs while David and his men travel through the valley. He is exposing their position. He is throwing rocks and dirt upon the King. His tongue is wagging, rejoicing in the hardship of the one who took Saul’s throne. Abishai, one of David’s men, offers to silence this fool with his sword. But David sees the hand of God in this. “He is cursing because the Lord said to him, ‘Curse David.’… “Let him curse, for the Lord has told him to.”

Nothing that has been written about me, whether it is true or false, has been written outside the will of God. Even when it is all lies, but especially when it is not, perhaps God might humble me under this barrage. That’s a good thing, not something to fight against.

Last, I won’t fight back on the internet for this simple reason- I don’t want to get in God’s way. My response should be prayer and more prayer, each time affirming, “Nevertheless, not my will but Thine be done.” If God wants to protect my reputation among my friends, He will do so. If He wants to restore my reputation among former friends, He will do so. If He wants to bring judgment against those who spread gossip and calumnies, He will do so. If He does none of these things, yet will I praise Him. Naked I came into this world, and naked I will return. Blessed be the name of God.

One wise man told me many times, “Never let your critics set your agenda.” So far, God has given me work to do. He has given me friends to teach, to exhort and to encourage. He has given me friends who are willing and able to work beside me. I intend to so serve Him as long as He will allow.

Posted in 10 Commandments, Biblical Doctrines, cyberspace, Devil's Arsenal, ethics, kingdom, Kingdom Notes, RC Sproul JR, scandal | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments