A War Horse Illustration

The new Stephen Spielberg film War Horse based on the Michael Morpurgo book about a horse that serves in the Great War of 1914-18 is a very moving film and many of its scenes are full of human emotion. One of the most striking scenes occurs when the real owner of the horse, a young man called Albert Narracott, is reunited with the animal, who he calls Joey. This happens while they are just behind the front lines of the Battle of the Somme at a field hospital. The military doctor in charge has ordered a sergeant to shoot the injured horse.

Albert, or Alby as he is called, has been blinded by gas in the trenches and cannot see but just as Joey senses that his master is near so Alby, despite his impaired vision, knows it is Joey who is near. The doctor is sceptical. This blind man is suffering from some sort of shell shock. He has not found his long lost horse. “This is a random horse, Narracott, and too badly injured” he says. Alby argues his case, declaring that although he cannot see, he knows this is his horse and can describe it.

“He’s not random at all, sir!” he says “He’s my horse. I raised him, in Devon. Sir, look at his legs! He’s got four white socks, he’s brown all over - and he has a white mark here - like so ….” He makes the shape of a diamond with his hands and points to his own head. The Doctor looks at the horse. He is now convinced that this is a random horse and that Narracott is delusional.

Then the soldier who found Joey on the battle field and rescued him realises the problem and speaks up “Wait!” he says “You can’t see ’cause of the mud.” He spots a bucket water, grabs it and uses a rag to clean Joey’s legs, revealing the white socks. He looks at the doctor. “Four white socks!” he declares. The doctor now takes a rag himself and wipes Joey’s snout and reveals the tell tale white diamond marking. The Sergeant takes this in and puts his pistol back in his holster.

No illustration is perfect but isn't this a little like the experience of the Christian at times? Not that our Master is ever blind, of course. Satan does raise questions, however. “This is a random individual” he declares “and too badly injured to be allowed to live”.

“He’s not random at all!” says our Saviour “He’s mine. I raised him. Look at him – he's like any man in some ways but he has my Spirit within him, my marks on him and my name and seal on his forehead - like so ….”

Yet to look at us sometimes we are so much besmirched by the mud and gore on us through our many falls and failures that these things are hardly seen. But then the water of the Word is applied and what do we see? There may be doubts at first but then the distinctive marks are seen to be there after all. The Holy Spirit is still within. Christ is still at work in us and through us. And so Satan is denied. The pistol is back in the holster as it were. We are his; we are Christ's. And so we are spared to live a little longer and to serve again, by grace, in the Lord's own army.

First published on the Sola Scriptura blog

Job and Japan

Calvin says somewhere that the Bible is subtle. It certainly is subtle and so it is easy to miss things. I've just finished reading Job again. Among the final verses are these (42:13-15) And he also had seven sons and three daughters. The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job's daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.

The first subtlety here is that although Job is given double the number of animals he had before, he has exactly the same number of children. This is a doubling then, and a reminder of the Old Testament's belief in the life to come.

Otherwise, it looks rather innocent and unremarkable at first glance until you think of how normally in the Old Testament you get the names of sons but not usually those of daughters. Something like “And he also had seven sons and three daughters. The first son he named Jeremiah, the second ..., etc” would be much less surprising. However, part of the whole purpose of the Book of Job is to say “be careful with those doctrines and traditions that you hold to – they don't always fit and cannot be applied in the wooden way that you want to employ”.

Yes, the Old Testament is patriarchal but again and again there is a sort of subtle subversion of the order (Deborah and Barak or Manoah and his wife are obvious examples from the days of the Judges). We have an example of it here and its purpose is not only to remind us that although society is to be patriarchal, women are not to be patronised or thought of as lesser creatures, but also that when disaster strikes a person, the knee jerk reaction that says that God must be punishing him for some sin is not necessarily the right one. There are other reasons why God brings suffering into people's lives and often we do not know what those reasons are.

A video is currently available on Youtube where a young girl, a professing Christian, rather disturbingly reveals her elation over the recent disasters in Japan (Spring 2011). It has understandably provoked a torrent of often foul mouthed and shocked opprobrium from many unbelievers.

Where has she gone wrong? Not in recognising that such things happen because God allows them to happen but in her cocksure confidence that she knows why this particular series of events has happened. According to her, it is a direct response to the prayers of certain people for God to open the eyes of atheists to the truth. She is young and excitable and we trust that her peremptory outburst will not do too much damage. Hopefully, someone will persuade her to remove it soon. It is a reminder, however, of the needless harm that Christians do when they get hold of a half truth and ride it like some manic rodeo rider in ways that are totally at odds with the Bible's own carefully nuanced and well thought out teaching.

This article first appeared on the Sola Scriptura Blog

A Shared Heritage

It is a reason for great joy that in our day the Reformed Baptist faith in its various forms, and particularly as articulated in the London Confession of 1689, is coming to more and more people around the world. It was my privilege recently to travel to Nairobi, Kenya, where a conference, attended by around 50 men, mostly ministers, was taking place. I was the main speaker and I endeavoured to bring before the men the wonderful but often misunderstood reformed doctrine of regeneration.

Also speaking was one of the pastors of the sponsoring church, Trinity Baptist Church, Nairobi. British born Keith Underhill was instrumental in planting the church and establishing the conference. He has now worked in Kenya for over 30 years. He also gave a number of messages at the conference, including one on the background to the history of the 1689 Confession.

As he did this, and in fine form I might add, I began to have a little twinge. Why do African pastors have to be exposed to all this? Why do they need to know, let's face it, often difficult to follow, English history? Americans, yes I suppose. Ours is, in many ways, a shared heritage. Some naively optimistic Brits even see our little disagreement of a few years back one day being resolved by an American climb down! (Some hope I guess.)

But Africans? Yes, their history has become somewhat intertwined with Britain's in the last 150 years or so but we are talking about 1689. Why would 21st Century Africans need to wade through this stuff? (And let me add that for all its gelatinous properties the paper made it all seem remarkably straightforward).

And then I started to think straight. These byways in history may have occurred on English soil but the history itself is the heritage not just of British Baptists but of every Reformed Baptist the world over, whether in England, America, Africa or the Far East for that matter.

When we learn about early church councils in Asia Minor or of Augustine preaching in North Africa; when we think of Luther in Germany or Zwingli and Calvin in Switzerland; when we think of Obadiah Holmes in America; of Carey in India or Judson in Burma – we don't say "ah, that's nothing to with us. Those places are far from where we live". We don't do ,any more than when we read in our Bibles of things that happened in Egypt or Palestine or Rome, do we say that's nothing to do with us. No, we embrace our heritage wherever it may accurately be traced.

What a joy it was then to be with these Kenyan pastors in the African heat considering things that happened long ago in Westminster and London and that are part of the wonderful heritage that all Reformed Baptists share the world over.

This article first appeared on the Sola Scriptura Blog

Remembering Dr Lloyd-Jones

A significant anniversary has quietly slipped by recently. March 1st (2011) saw the passing of thirtieth anniversary of the death of Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones. It is right to take a moment to remind ourselves, if we know, what an impact his ministry had, under God, and to alert a rising generation to his stature and importance.

I am of that generation that came immediately after the one that knew the full impact of his ministry. All my life I have heard him lionised (and sometimes criticised) but never met him personally.

I became aware of him shortly after being converted as a young teenager in Wales. It seemed that a sermon rarely got preached in those days without the minister mentioning him or Spurgeon or sometimes both. Spurgeon, I discovered, was one of those notorious dead guys but Lloyd-Jones was alive and kicking, living somewhere in London and still often about in our part of the world. I recall at least two occasions when trips were organised to hear the man himself. Not used to the idea of a preacher so popular that late arrival could mean no seat, both times I turned up late at my minister's house only to find he and the others long gone.

I got hold of some cassette tapes but only actually heard him in the flesh once. It was on Wednesday, May 14, 1980 - the last time he ever preached in Wales. I know the date because I still have the bilingual poster announcing that he would preach in the afternoon in Welsh and in the evening in English. Not having Welsh, I only went in the evening. He preached from Acts 2. It was a grand occasion and I well remember seeing the elderly and slightly feeble figure of Lloyd-Jones in his dark overcoat stepping up to the pulpit lectern to preach in his own unique way. My wife, six years my junior, was only 12 at the time. When her preacher father asked her what she thought of it, she said it was “just like Sunday mornings only simpler”!

Under a year later he was in the immediate presence of his Lord. Having come to appreciate the importance of this great man of God I made sure that I made the trip with my minister to Newcastle Emlyn for the funeral. I had never been present on such an occasion before and hardly ever since. There must have been as many as a hundred preachers there, many of them familiar to me, men who had made the journey to pay their last respects in that out of the way place to the man they always referred to as “the doctor”. I had never seen anyone at a funeral with a camera before but Iain Murray probably made the right decision to take one along. I well remember being at the graveside and singing God's praise under an open sky, aware that we were saying goodbye to a great man of God.

The writings of Lloyd-Jones had begun to appear and have continued to come out ever since. In due time Iain Murray's two volume biography appeared. The more I discovered about Lloyd-Jones the more amazed I was. Of course, one was aware of legitimate criticisms that were being made regarding the Doctor's stance on some doctrinal and practical issues. Sometimes his eagerness for experiential Calvinism perhaps betrayed him into unwise statements and actions. However, he was a man who walked with God and one who was greatly used in his service and we may not see his like for generations to come.

We could all benefit from a perusal of the biography and of at least some of his writings. Perhaps his Preaching and Preachers is a good place to start for preachers or Knowing the times, a collection of addresses. His Faith on trial on Psalm 73 is a wonderful little book as is his sermon series on The Sermon on the Mount. Check it out. It will do your soul good.

Is this the time ...?

My favourite chapter in the Old Testament is 2 Kings 5. It is a brilliant story for all sorts of reasons, both literary and theological.

The chapter ends, you will recall, not on a triumphant note but on a note of warning. We do not close with the healed and renewed Naaman heading off into the sunset in his chariot but with the grubby story of greedy Gehazi, Elisha's servant. He is told in the final verse that Naaman's leprosy would cling to him and his descendants forever. Then we read Gehazi went from Elisha's presence and he was leprous, as white as snow.

There are many interesting and sobering aspects to this sequel but to just focus on one for a moment, consider Elisha's two questions in verse 26.

First, he says Was not my spirit with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? It is a reminder of the fact that God is the all seeing God. You cannot hide anything from him. That is perhaps a fairly obvious lesson here. But what about the second question? Is this the time to take money, or to accept clothes, olive groves, vineyards, flocks, herds, or menservants and maidservants? Elisha doesn't say “Is this the time to be greedy, to take advantage of others or to tell lies and deceive people?” What most concerns him about Gehazi, a man who up until this point has given no obvious hint that he is anything less than fully committed to the same high ideals as his master, is this matter of priorities.

These were dark days in Israel, days when idolatry was everywhere and only a small remnant remained faithful. If ever there was a time to be giving oneself unreservedly to the cause of Yahweh this was it. But what do we find in Gehazi? He is all set on money and smart clothes, on commercial ventures in olives or grapes or livestock, on having servants or whatever else it was that he planned to spend his ill gotten silver on. And Elisha is horrified. The issue is not so much how he procured the silver and clothes but the fact that this is what was filling his mind.

The verse raises questions for us too. Is this the time to be thinking chiefly about what money we can make or how good we can look? Are spacious homes, long vacations and expensive entertainments the things that should be filling our heads? Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness says Jesus. Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, he says where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. He warns us very clearly No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

This article first appeared on the currently stalled Sola Scriptura blog

The Gospel Boots

Standing firm and going out

 

Cast your mind back, if you can, to the Gulf War, when George Bush Senior was US President. You may recall seeing footage, just the word I want, of Saddam’s ramshackle army. The only footwear that these poor fellows had was what they had bought in the local high street. I guess someone had decided, in an attempt to save money, that although weapons and uniforms were essential, boots were not. Big mistake.

Even today an essential element in military strategy is speedy mobilisation of your troops. The Romans figured this out early on and their soldiers were equipped with stout, thick soled, hob-nailed, leather sandal-boots of a very sturdy type. These were important too for hand-to-hand fighting, where one slip could be fatal, to say nothing of snakes or strongholds fortified with short sharp spikes all around. David Beckham’s October (2003) penalty miss in Turkey was a reminder of the importance of staying on your feet.

 

Staying on your feet

In his fight against the devil, the Christian must stay on his feet. He must be sure-footed and able to move forward at a moment’s notice. Paul puts it this way in Ephesians 6, with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. Some say this means only that we need the gospel of peace as a basis to withstand Satan but it probably also means that we should be ready to move into enemy territory. Perhaps Paul has in mind Isaiah’s reference to the beautiful feet of those who bring good news (Isaiah 52:7). Ephesians and Colossians have many parallels and perhaps there is one in Colossians 4:5, 6 which speaks of being wise in the way you act towards outsiders; making the most of every opportunity and letting your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

 

Fighting for peace

Gospel, of course, means good news, and Paul here stresses the peace it brings to all who accept it and trust in Christ. He seems to be speaking paradoxically, then. We fight to bring peace. Indeed, it is widely accepted that sometimes the way to peace is through war. That is certainly the situation as far as Christ’s kingdom and the devil are concerned. War against the devil is the only way to lasting peace.

The peace Christ brings is both outward and objective and inward and subjective. By his death Christ has reconciled his people to God, even though we are all his enemies by nature. With that comes an inner peace that guards our hearts and minds in Christ. When we have such peace we can advance the kingdom. This includes taking the message of peace to others by telling them the gospel. God has reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation (1 Corinthians 5:18). The gospel brings its own offence but is essentially a message of peace. It calls on all to lay down their arms and stop fighting against the Lord and instead to be enlisted in Christ’s own army in the fight against sin and against the devil. To be successful in battle, then, we need to be at peace with those who are on our own side and to be at war with the devil. The gospel must be the basis and foundation of all that we do. Then we can give ourselves to the work of advancing the kingdom, which includes telling others the way to peace through trust in Christ. We must go as ambassadors and present the appeal of the gospel to all whom we meet. We must implore them to be reconciled to God.

Originally published in Grace Magazine

An Introduction to Biblical Hermeneutics

Hermeneutics is the science or art of interpretation. The word is from the Greek for to interpret, explain or translate. The Greeks spoke of Hermes, the god of writing, art and science and messenger of the gods. Hermeneutics is

 

The science of interpreting an author’s language (Milton Terry)

Principles, laws and methods of interpretation (Louis Berkhof)

 

It assumes that people communicate to be understood and that there is  a need to remove confusion between writer and reader so that the writer is understood. It also assumes that you find meaning by understanding a writer’s intention, something that not all would accept.

Hermeneutics can be applied to any literature. We distinguish between general and special hermeneutics, the latter dealing with law or poetry, for example. We further distinguish between secular special hermeneutics and biblical hermeneutics, a very special sort dealing with God’s Word and having its own special field. The Bible was written by men but above all else it is God’s Word to his people. Critical methods alone will never do it justice. Historical and rational methods of interpretation have their place but can only take us so far in our understanding.

 

Neighbouring disciplines

It is useful to distinguish between biblical hermeneutics and related fields of study.

 

Biblical Introduction (Isagogics) deals with questions of authorship, date, canonicity.

Textual Criticism seeks to discover the exact words of the original biblical manuscripts. At the point where textual criticism ends hermeneutics begins.

Exegesis This is sometimes thought of as part of hermeneutics, but we can distinguish. Exegesis is the application of the principles and laws of hermeneutics, the practical outcome of hermeneutics. Exegesis relates to hermeneutics as language to grammar, reasoning to logic. Speech and reason existed before written grammars or rules of logic; but to speak correctly and reason rightly usually involves knowing grammar and logic. Hermeneutics (science) seeks to lay down principles of interpretation. Exegesis (art) applies those rules. Both affect each other in some ways, as rules of grammar and spoken language can interact.

 

Importance

Hermeneutics is not all important. Right interpretation does not guarantee right practice. However, it is fundamental. The Bible is God’s Word but if not correctly understood it is useless. Misunderstanding God’s Word can do great harm. This is how heresies begin. Because it is God’s Word, it is vital for us not only to understand its general sense but every word. Without hermeneutics you can establish no other branch of theology. It leads to sound interpretation, the root of all sound theology. Without correct interpretation how can anyone preach faithfully?

 

Necessity

‘But you don’t have to interpret the Bible. Just read it and obey it. If you have the Spirit that’s enough.’ One writer describes a student weeping for her hermeneutics lecturer because he could not see that you do not need to interpret, you just believe. Such attitudes often spring from an objection to the need for preachers and scholars but what about Ephesians 4:11, 12? It was he who gave some to be ... pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up ....

Walter Kaiser has boiled the objections down to three and gives answers:

1. God’s Word has its own compelling power. However, it is as you understand and apply it that its power is unleashed.

2. If you have the Spirit that is enough. So why did Peter find some of Paul’s writings hard to understand? (2 Peter 3:16). The Spirit’s main work is overcoming pride and prejudice. Without his work, we fail to see a truth’s value or how to apply it. The Spirit is vital but uses means.

3. If you have faith you will understand. We dare not deny Scripture’s clarity. The Bible can be understood by all who seek God’s help and are willing to obey it. However, some parts are more difficult to understand than others and we must give attention to these too. It is when we have understood that faith becomes important.

Besides, anyone who wants to understand the Bible must take into account these important factors:

1. Even the most straightforward statements often need interpretation.

2. Sin has darkened man’s mind and continues to impair his ability to think and understand, including ability to interpret accurately.

3. People tend to disagree, to drift apart mentally (Berkhof’s phrase)

4. Also remember Isaiah 55:8, 9 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, … As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are … my thoughts than your thoughts.

5. Even the most experienced and judicious readers are not yet fully mature. Inevitably, differences of interpretation arise even among those who love Scripture and accept it as God’s Word.

6. Besides all this, various cults and false religions have promoted many false interpretations. We must expose and correct their errors.

7. We must remember how cultural presuppositions affect us (words such as church, cross, etc). In using a translation, we are already involved in hermeneutics as every translation involves a degree of interpretation.

8. We must also remember the Bible’s nature. God’s Word came through human beings in particular historical settings not as a series of propositions and commands. As Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart put it, God ‘chose to speak his eternal truths within the particular circumstances and events of human history’. This is not a disadvantage but leads us to hope that by these same words God will again speak to his people in the context of human history, this time our own.

Thus, one has to

• Hear the word they heard then and try to understand what they said to those people then and there
• Then learn to hear that same word in the present

Bible interpretation is not always a simple matter. There are many traps to avoid. Not only is it difficult to transpose ourselves into the time and spirit of the biblical writers but we are aiming to know not only their mind but that of God himself.

 

Goals

In hermeneutics, the material object is the writing to be explained. The formal object concerns the sense expressed by the book’s author. Our material object is the Bible. We seek a complete set of rules for finding and expressing the true sense of its inspired writers. The formal object is to discover and present the Bible’s genuine sense.

A modern group of writers (Klein, Blomberg and Hubbard) say we need to practice proper hermeneutics to:

• Discern God’s message. Good hermeneutics lead to good exegesis and so Scripture’s true meaning is established. It avoids the oft abused ‘proof-texting method’.
• Avoid or dispel misconceptions, wrong perspectives and false conclusions about the Bible.
• Be able to apply the Bible’s message to our lives. In different ways, the ancient biblical text teaches us how to live today to God’s glory. The task of hermeneutics is to discover what the text reveals about this.

This article first appeared in Grace Magazine