No Small Churches

It is all too easy to despise the day of small things (Zechariah 4:10) when it comes to one’s view of small churches – to think little of a church based on its size (or lack thereof). As a pastor of a rather small church myself, I must confess that at times it is easy to be discouraged when I see empty seats on the Lord’s day.

And so it was no small encouragement to come across the following remarks by John Murray (1898-1975) in a sermon that he preached on Matthew 18:20 over half a century ago. That text of Scripture is as follows:

“For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” (ESV)

Professor Murray offers the following hypothetical scenario for our consideration:

“Let us suppose that on a particular occasion, where a much larger number of people are accustomed to gather, only two happen to come to the service. When the minister came to the pulpit and found that there were only two there, he said to them, “Well, since there are so few of us here today, we better suspend the service.” Of course, the minister then would be doing the gravest dishonor to the promise of Christ. He would be offering the gravest insult to the Lord of Glory himself.”

O Death, Where Is Thy Sting?, p.223

He goes on to suggest that the same would be true if even only one person came to the service, so that the pastor only had an audience (so to speak) of one! But why would this be such a grave insult to Christ and his promise? Murray goes on to say:

“For Christ’s institution is, “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them.” We must always remember that where there are only three, there are also four – and the fourth is the Lord of Glory. And where there are only two, there are always three -and the third is the head of the church, Christ himself.”

Ibid, p.223-224

Are we unduly impressed by large numbers of people in attendance, when the Lord Jesus Himself, the Lord of glory and the head of His church, is present among us? Likewise, do we despise the day of small things and offer insult to the honor of Christ by looking down our noses at His church when we see only a handful or so in attendance?

You could say that for the true church, even the smallest outpost of the visible church on this earth, if viewed rightly according to Scripture, is a really mega-church, for Christ is in her midst! In other words, in some rather important ways there is no such thing as a “small” church!

There are certainly a number of challenges and difficulties faced by smaller churches. But let us not compound the problem by having a low view of the church where Christ is present. And no matter how big or small our church might be, may we always be mindful of the presence of Christ among us in public worship on the Lord’s day, so that we seek to do all things in a manner that is well-pleasing in His sight, regardless of who else is or is not in attendance.

John Murray on the Importance of Proclaiming the Law of God

There might not be a topic on which professing Christians are more confused about, and more neglectful of, than the law of God. You could certainly say that the gospel itself ranks higher on that list, and you would not necessarily be wrong in saying so. But in some ways ignorance and confusion regarding those two things are inextricably bound up together, aren’t they?

For if you get the law of God wrong, it is seemingly impossible to get the gospel right. In some ways it may very well be the virtual absence of the law of God in the preaching and teaching of the church that has led to much of the perceived impotence of the proclamation of the gospel in our day! John Murray (1898-1975) writes:

“When the proclamation of God’s law is neglected, the significance of the gospel is correspondingly reduced in our presentation and in the apprehension of men. The gospel is the gospel of salvation, and salvation is, first of all, salvation from sin in its guilt, defilement, and power. If our emphasis on the judgment of God upon sin is minimal, correspondingly minimal will be our esteem of salvation and of the Savior. One sometimes wonders whether the faith in Christ which is demanded of men in the presentation of the claims of Christ can have any real content in view of the beggarly conception of the gravity of sin which is presented as its presupposition and concomitant. Faith in Christ does not arise in a vacuum. It arises in the context of conviction of sin and it is to the creation of that conviction that the ministry of judgment ministers.”

Collected Writings of John Murray, Vol.1, p.144

At the preaching of the Apostles on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2, the hearers were so convicted of their sin and guilt before God (“cut to the heart”), that they said, “Brothers, what shall we do?” (v.37). They were really asking the same question that the Philippian jailer asked Paul and Silas in Acts 16:30, when he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” In our day, with the lack of preaching of God’s law and corresponding lack of conviction of sin, one may be far more likely to hear someone say, “Why do I need to be saved?” or “Saved from what?”

Murray goes on to say that “Our age needs the ministry that will make men tremble before the awful majesty and holiness of God and in the conviction of the reality of his holy wrath.” (p.145)

Such was the preaching that God used to stir up a revival of sorts in the great city of Nineveh in Jonah’s day. The word of the Lord came to Jonah, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” (Jonah 1:2, ESV) Now, it took some doing to get Jonah there, but when he finally arrived at the city, what was his message? In Jonah 3:4–5 we read:

“Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.” (ESV)

And God showed mercy on them, didn’t He? But He used the proclamation of His just judgment and wrath to bring them under the conviction of sin, and to grant unto them the grace of repentance and belief.

Likewise it was this kind of preaching that the Lord used to stir up revival during what has come to be known as the Great Awakening in the 18th century. The best-known sermon from that awakening was no doubt “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God“, by Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758). It is as fire & brimstone as the name suggests, but God used it mightily in bringing revival to New England.

Ministers of the gospel must preach Christ and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 1:23), and to do that we must also preach the law. Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892) writes:

“Old Robbie Flockhart used to say, “It is of no use trying to sew with the silken thread of the gospel unless we pierce a way for it with the sharp needle of the law.” The law goes first, like the needle, and draws the gospel thread after it . . . .”

Lectures to My Students, p.338

He goes on to say that “No man will ever put on the robe of Christ’s righteousness till he is stripped of his fig leaves, nor will he wash in the fount of mercy till he perceives his filthiness.” (Ibid)

These things are clearly taught in Paul’s epistle to the Romans. Not only does he tell us there that “through the law comes the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20, ESV), but even the very flow of thought or argument in the epistle displays this for all to see. For right after speaking of the gospel being the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes (Romans 1:16), Paul spends the better part of the first three (3) chapters of the epistle expounding at length the bad news of the doctrine of the sin and depravity of man before giving us the good news of salvation in Christ, justification by faith alone, sanctification, and glorification in the chapters that follow (4-8).

May the Lord in His mercy grant that the ministers of the gospel in our day might not neglect the preaching of the law in connection with our preaching of Christ. And may He use that to awaken many unto their desperate need for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, in drawing them unto Him by faith for salvation.

Calvin on the Mode of Baptism

There is no small amount of debate and disagreement regarding the manner or mode of baptism. Some argue that total immersion is the only proper, biblical way to baptize in accordance with the Lord’s institution of the sacrament, while others hold to sprinkling or pouring as the proper manner or mode.

What was Calvin’s position on this subject? It may surprise you to know that he appears to have viewed immersion as most clearly representing the practice as it is described in Scripture.  In his Institutes of the Christian Religion he describes baptism in the following way:

“These things [i.e. washing away sins, sharing in Christ’s death, being united to Christ, etc.], I say, he performs for our soul within as truly as surely as we see our body outwardly cleansed, submerged, and surrounded by water.” (Book IV, Ch. XV.14, Italics added.)

So Calvin viewed baptism as involving the baptized person being “submerged” and “surrounded by water.”

Now, did Calvin view immersion as being somehow essential to baptism (i.e. as the only proper mode of baptism)? No. He goes on to write,

“But whether the person being baptized should be wholly immersed, and whether thrice or once, whether he should only be sprinkled with poured water -these details are of no importance, but ought to be optional to churches according to the diversity of countries. Yet the word “baptize” means to immerse, and it is clear that the rite of immersion was observed in the ancient church.” (Book IV, Ch. XV.19)

Part of that last sentence is debatable, as the New Testament writers used the Greek words for “baptize” or “baptism” to describe things that could not be reasonably thought of as referring to anything approaching immersion. (See Mark 7:3-4; 1 Corinthians 10:2, etc..) As John Murray  concludes,

” . . .though the word baptizw and its cognates can be used to denote an action performed by immersion yet they may also be used to denote an action that can be performed by a variety of modes. Consequently the word baptizw itself cannot be pleaded as an argument for the necessity of immersion as the mode of baptism.” (Christian Baptism, p.26)

But notice that both Calvin and John Murray are in agreement that the mode of baptism (whether by immersion, pouring, or sprinkling) is basically a matter of indifference. (Calvin above states that this is “of no importance.”) And this is also the stated position of the Westminster Confession of Faith as well, which puts the matter this way:

“Dipping of the person into the water is not necessary; but baptism is rightly administered by pouring, or sprinkling water upon the person.” (Westminster Confession of Faith 28.3)

So when it comes to the manner or mode of baptism, there is room for some disagreement and diversity of practice among the churches. On these things we may (as the saying goes) feel free to “agree to disagree.”

Sinclair Ferguson on Union with Christ

In his book, Devoted to God, Sinclair Ferguson makes an “staggering” observation about how often the Apostle Paul used language in his epistles denoting the doctrine of the believer’s union with Christ. He writes,

“Contrast Paul’s frequent use of the specific expression ‘in Christ’ (over eighty times), and ‘in the Lord’ (over forty times), not to mention the variations of it such as ‘in him.’ The statistic is staggering. It is the basic way Christians in the Pauline churches were taught to think about themselves. They were ‘in Christ’, united to Christ, and therefore sharing ‘with Christ’ in all that he had accomplished for them. After all, as we have seen, they had been ‘baptized into Christ Jesus.’ (p.114)

Think about that for a moment. By Ferguson’s count, not even including Paul’s frequent use of phrases like “in him” (e.g. Ephesians 1:4, 7, 11), that adds up to no less than 120 times that the Apostle Paul used language related to the believer’s union with Christ!

No wonder John Murray once wrote that, “Union with Christ is really the central truth of the whole doctrine of salvation not only in its application but also in its once-for-all accomplishment in the finished work of Christ” (Redemption Accomplished and Applied, p.161). Do we think about our union with Christ in such terms, as being central to the whole doctrine of salvation?  Or do we read through the epistles of Paul and simply pass right over such phrases, either not noticing them in the first place, or not giving them much thought at all?

The next time that you are reading through one of the epistles of Paul, take some time to note (highlight?) the numerous times that you come across such phrases as “in Christ”, “in Him”, and the like. You may be surprised to see that the doctrine of union with Christ, as central as it is to the biblical doctrine of salvation, has been hiding under your nose in plain sight all this time!

The Spark that Lit the Flame of the Reformation

What was the spark that lit the flame of the Protestant Reformation?  John Murray writes,

It may be safe to say that the greatest event for Christendom in the last 1500 years was the Protestant Reformation. What was the spark that lit the flame of evangelical passion? It was, by the grace of God, the discovery on the part of Luther, stricken with a sense of his estrangement from God and feeling in his inmost soul the stings of his wrath and the remorse of a terrified conscience, of the true and only way whereby a man can be just with God. To him the truth of justification by free grace through faith lifted him from the depths of the forebodings of hell to the ecstasy of peace with God and the hope of glory.” (Collected Writings of John Murray Vol.2, p.203)

In other words, it was the salvation of one sinner – a monk named Martin Luther.  Not only his new-found understanding and grasp of the gospel of God’s grace in Christ, but his personal belief in it  – that he himself was justified by faith alone in Christ alone – was the spark.

Martin Luther found true peace with God through faith in Christ.  And by the grace of God he would spend the rest of his days telling others how they too could know peace with God through the good news of Jesus Christ.

Are you (like Martin Luther before his conversion) stricken with a sense of estrangement from God because of your sins?  Are you suffering from a terrified conscience?  You too can have peace with God through faith in Jesus Christ.  The truth of justification by the free grace of God through faith in Jesus can lift you from the depths of the forebodings of hell to the ecstasy of peace with God and the hope of glory.

The just shall live by faith (Romans 1:17)!

John Murray on Sanctification

In his book, Redemption Accomplished and Applied, John Murray writes the following about the sanctification of the believer in Christ:

There is a total difference between surviving sin and reigning sin, the regenerate in conflict with sin and the unregenerate complacent to sin. It is one thing for sin to live in us: it is another for us to live in sin. (p.145)

If you are a Christian and you struggle with sin . . . welcome to the club!  That is not a cause for worry or despair.   The work of the Lord in your sanctification is ongoing; it is lifelong.  You will spend the rest of your life repenting of sin, and you will do that because of the grace of God at work in you!

The time to worry (as Murray says) is if you are complacent in and about your sin.  That is a sign that sin is still reigning in your life.  It is a sign that, despite whatever profession of faith you may have made, you are simply not yet a Christian.

But if you are a believer in Christ, you are no longer a slave to sin.  As Paul writes in Romans 6:20-23,

For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

It is vitally important that we understand the difference between “surviving sin and reigning sin.”  The better we understand not only the nature of our justification, but our sanctification in Christ as well, the better equipped we will be to deal with our sins and the doubts that sometimes accompany them.

Justification is an “act of God’s free grace, wherein He pardons all our sins, and accepts us as righteous in His sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone” (Westminster Shorter Catechism Q.33).  So we are not justified by anything that we do (not by any righteousness of our own!), but only on the basis of the perfect righteousness of Christ, accounted to us by faith alone!

And sanctification is “the work of God’s free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness” (Westminster Shorter Catechism Q.35).  So, unlike justification (which is a one-time act of God’s grace), sanctification is the ongoing work of God’s free grace in the life of a believer, conforming us more and more into the image of Christ.

Understanding the work of God’s grace in our sanctification (like the act of His grace in our justification) is a key to experiencing the assurance of our salvation in Jesus Christ.  In fact, truly understanding the difference between the two (our justification and our sanctification) is one of the keys to experiencing the assurance of our salvation.

And God most certainly does want every one of us who believes in the name of Jesus Christ to know that we have eternal life (1 John 5:13).

Who said that theology wasn’t practical!

“At Home” In Sin?

Some strong, but ever-so-timely words from the late John Murray (1898-1975) regarding the effectual calling of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers:

“If we find ourselves at home in the ungodliness, lust, and filth of this present world, it is because we have not been called effectually by God’s grace.” (John Murray, Redemption Accomplished and Applied, p.92)

What is effectual calling?  The Westminster Shorter Catechism (Q.31) defines it as “the work of God’s Spirit, whereby, convicting us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills, He does persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the gospel.”

So in other words, if we (to use Murray’s phrase) still “find ourselves at home in the ungodliness, lust, and filth of this present world” it shows that the Holy Spirit has not worked in us to convict us of our sin and misery.  Sinners who are “at home” in sin do not perceive the sinfulness of sin.  Sinners who are “at home” in sin do not see it as the source of their misery.

And so Murray is also saying that being “at home” in sin is also evidence that one has not truly been enlightened in the knowledge of Christ, nor has he or she truly embraced Jesus Christ by faith as He is freely offered to us in the gospel.  All this is to say that being “at home” in sin is evidence that one is not yet truly a believer in Christ at all.

Are you “at home” in sin?  Then, simply put, you are not yet a Christian.

But there is a world of difference between being “at home” in sin (in other words, seeing nothing wrong with it, being quite comfortable in it), and being a believer who simply struggles with sin.  Struggling with sin shows that one is convicted that it is, in fact, sin.  Struggling with sin shows that one is convicted of the misery of sin.

If you are a believer in Jesus Christ and are struggling with sin, welcome to the club!  You are in some pretty good company.  Even the Apostle Paul himself struggled with sin!  Look at his words in Romans 7:15-23 (ESV):

For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.

Sound familiar? Feel familiar?

And what was his solution?  Look at what he wrote in the next two verses:

Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. (Romans 7:24-25 ESV)

When you feel the weight of your struggle with sin, let that drive you all the more to Jesus Christ.  Cling to Him by faith.  Thanks be to God through Jesus our Lord, for He is the One who will deliver us from this body of death!