Issue 1, Spring 2004, Volume 22
ISSN 1085-2808
Violence and Victory
Vic Reasoner
The
kingdom was established through Christ's atoning death, resurrection, and
session. According to Matthew 11:11 and
Luke 7:28, John the Baptist was not part of this kingdom, although he heralded
its arrival.
Yet,
for the 3½ years of the public ministry of Jesus, from A. D. 26-30, when the
kingdom was truly established, Matthew tells us that men began to press their
way into the kingdom ahead of schedule.
While the Jewish establishment had no interest in the Messiah, Richard
Watson described the disenfranchised, who eagerly pressed their way into the
kingdom "as far as it was then revealed."
There
were other Old Testament characters who seemed to realize a relationship with
God that was ahead of their day.
However, that number was always small.
Jesus said that only a few were finding access (Matt 7:14). But by the day of Pentecost, the few had
become many and ultimately the population of the kingdom of Christ will so
expand that it cannot be counted (Rev 7:9).
Yet,
while the kingdom of Christ is growing, the requirements for entrance have not
changed. The way into the kingdom is
still so narrow that the baggage of the old life must remain outside. Literally, Jesus said in Luke 13:24, "Agonize
to enter through the narrow door."
In Matthew 11:12 when Jesus said that forceful men were seizing or
taking the kingdom by force, he used a strong word which is related to our word
for "rape." This Greek verb is only used
twice in the New Testament. Because this
is descriptive of the kingdom of heaven, and because of the parallel passage in
Luke 16:16, I interpret this more difficult passage in Matthew as a positive
action. Therefore, the violence
which Jesus described is: aggressive agonizing, desperate determination,
earnestness, fervency, intensity, perseverance, persistency, zeal. "A share in the heavenly kingdom is sought
for with most ardent zeal and intense exertion" [Amplified Bible].
Just
as childbirth is a violent experience, so entry into the kingdom through the
new birth is an intense experience. In
fact, in Matthew 24:8, Jesus spoke of the establishment of his kingdom and the
destruction of the old system, as the Romans were about to rush into Jerusalem
and take the city by storm. Clarke
described it as "the beginning of birth pains."
John
Wesley wrote, "No man is able to work [the faith that produces regeneration] in
himself. It is a work of omnipotence. It requires no less power thus to quicken
a dead soul, than to raise a body that lies in the grave. It is a new creation;
and none can create a soul anew, but He who at first created the heavens and
the earth."
Yet
the sinner is never instructed to passively wait for his miracle. Wesley admonished all who were seeking the
grace of God to attend to all the means of grace. Thomas Coke explained that "the sluggish and
negligent triflers in religion may never hope for admission into the kingdom of
God." While we cannot save ourselves,
the resolution necessary to seek God is described by Christ as forceful or
violent. John Fletcher wrote,
They who are weary of the Egyptian
yoke of outward and inward sin, who cannot resist without the love of Jesus,
the life of God, at last become violent.
They forcibly turn from the world, by force they attack the devil,
bringing themselves by force before God, and drag out, by strong confession,
the evils that lurk within. Against
these they fight, by detesting and denying them. Their strength is in crying mightily to the
Lord, and expecting continually that fire which God will rain from heaven upon
them. All this must be done by force and
with great conflicts; for it is against nature, which hath the utmost
reluctance to it.
The words of the text allude to the
taking a fortified town by storming it, and this is of all military expeditions
the most dangerous. The enemy is covered
and hid, and those who scale the walls have nothing but their arms and
courage. But can the wrestling soul
overcome, can he take this kingdom? Ah!
No, not by his own strength, but his Joshua will take it for him. God only requires that we should entreat him
to do this, the prayer of repentance, the prayer of faith, storm Mount Zion,
the city of God. He that is violent
shall receive the kingdom of God, - justification and sanctification; but
remember the violent take it by force.
He shall have many a hard struggle with God's enemies, and it may be,
many with the Lord himself, before he declares him conqueror.
Yet
Augustine said that "no man ever failed in his attempt who was willing to take
it by force." In practical terms,
however, this determination cannot be measured in the volume of the petition,
but in the sincerity of the repentance.
The narrow way of true repentance is an agonizing experience, described
by James as grief, mourning, and sorrow (4:9).
Yet it produces a change of character (2 Cor 7:10-11). The essence of evangelical repentance is to
so take personal responsibility for ones sin as to turn from that sin. This makes possible the gift of faith, which
also must be exercised for salvation.
Adam Clarke wrote, "If a man be not absolutely determined to give up his
sins and evil companions, and have his soul saved at all hazards, and at every
expense, he will surely perish everlastingly.
This requires violent earnestness."
Those
who are now justified must continue to live through this same faith. The early Methodists used to ask those who
were applying for ordination, "Are you going on to perfection? Do you expect to be made perfect in this
life? Are you groaning after it?" Paradoxically, Hebrews 4:11 admonishes us to
zealously seek this rest. Notice how
this verb is also used in Eph 4:3, 2 Tim 2:15, and 2 Peter 3:14. Romans 14:19 and Hebrews 12:14 tell us to
"pursue" the holy life, not simply name it and claim it. Colossians 1:29; 4:12 express how earnestly
Paul and Epaphras worked to see the Colossians perfected in love.
In terms of
the discourse Jesus gave, the kingdom is advanced through the same method it is
entered. The Christian community is
altogether too passive about the expansion of Christ's kingdom. In order to see souls saved, Zion must
travail in the pain of hard labor (Isa 66:8; Micah 4:10). The kingdom advances through persecution,
self-denial, and total commitment.
Jesus said that his disciples must deny themselves daily and take up his
cross (Matt 16:24; Luke 9:23). The cross
was an instrument of violence. Those who
assume his cross are motivated by zeal for his cause. Yet Adam Clarke wrote
The doctrine and teacher most
prized and followed by worldly men, and by the gay, giddy, and garish
multitude, are not from God; they savor of the flesh, lay on no restraints,
prescribe no cross-bearing, and leave every one in full possession of his
heart's lusts and easily besetting sins. And by this, false doctrine and false
teachers are easily discerned.
The
cause of righteousness has always been advanced by those who "took it by
storm." By faith they conquered
kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised. They shut the mouths of lions, quenched the
fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword. Jacob wrestled all night with God and
declared, "I will not let you go unless you bless me" (Gen 32:26). Jabez cried out for God's blessing and
enlargement (2 Chron 4:9-10). Jesus told
of an unprepared host who shamelessly persisted in knocking because his need
was great and his resources meager (Luke 11:8).
The battle is won by those who persistently press their case. Paul admonished us not to grow weary for we
will reap a harvest if we do not give up (Gal 6:9).
The
kingdom has been advanced across the centuries through an unnamed army of
forceful men and women, described in Hebrews 11:35-38, who put the cause first
and paid whatever price was required of them.
They sang,
Let goods and kindred
go,
This mortal life
also,
The body they may
kill
God's truth abideth
still,
His kingdom is
forever.
Such
an army of meek cannot be stopped. They
will inherit the earth. The pastor of
the largest church in the world said Matthew 11:12 was the key to the growth of
his church. They did not pray that God
would bless their program. Instead, they
sought to discern where God is moving, where his kingdom is advancing, and lay
hold of God by prayer to do the very thing he had purposed to do. Thus, they became laborers together with
God. As they prayed for the advancement
of God's agenda, God used them to implement his agenda.
How
can we aggressively advance the kingdom?
There is nothing which requires more effort than intercessory prayer,
which includes fasting, carrying a burden, wrestling, and spiritual
warfare. Praying is the hardest thing
you can do. Martin Luther said, "Prayer
is indeed a continuous violent action of the spirit as it is lifted up to
God. This action is comparable to that
of a ship going against the stream."
Samuel Chadwick wrote, "Intensity is a law of prayer. Wrestling prayer prevails. The fervent, effectual prayer of the
righteous is a great force."
Yet
we cannot win spiritual battles by fighting with carnal weapons (2 Cor 10:4).
This essentially is what terrorists attempt to do. Historically, you cannot find one instance of
Arminians adopting this tactic, though others have. The church only has and
only needs one weapon - the sword of God's Word. This kingdom advances through preaching the
good news (Luke 16:16)
Isaac
Watts wrote, "Sure I must fight if I would reign, Increase my courage,
Lord." Yet
physical activity is not
synonymous with spiritual fervency. Many
prayer warriors have prevailed so silently through the night that those
sleeping nearby knew nothing of the struggle.
We do not earn God's blessing by lifting our hands, waving our arms,
pacing or lying prostrate. Romans 8:26
teaches that this earnestness cannot be reduced to mere noise. Fervency cannot
be mustered through physical exertion.
The answer is not to hold a pep-rally on Sunday morning for the
lukewarm. Wesley Duewel explained that
fervency is an outworking of Spirit's ministry within us. Fervency is a sanctified determination. John Fletcher wrote, "A humble, holy, sacred
violence must be used in prayer - with Jesus, that he would open in our hearts
the power of faith, apply the efficacy of his blood, and bestow upon us the
spirit of prayer; or in other words the prayer of faith, - with the Father,
that he would look through the pillar of fire, and discomfit all our enemies, -
with the Holy Ghost, that he would take up his abode with us."
Are
you groaning after anything? There is
very little seeking after God. In all
too many instances, the Church is not only lukewarm, but at ease (Amos 6:1), if
not AWOL. We have been convinced that
God has predestined us to defeat, both in our personal lives and
corporately. But the real reason we are
defeated is because we are not committed and not aggressive. Some people need to get enough zeal to
repent for their lack of it and then maintain enough zeal so that they do not
continually need to repent for their laziness (Rom 12:11). Jesus was consumed with zeal for the house of
God (John 2:17). Writing 250 years ago,
John Wesley commented that Muslims and pagans would probably have received the
gospel "long ago, had they conversed only with real Christians." Thomas Coke and Joseph Benson both expressed
a similar opinion. Wesley wrote in a
letter, "Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire
nothing but God, and I care not a straw whether they be clergy or laymen, such
alone will shake the gates of hell and set up the kingdom of heaven upon
earth."
For
the first three hundred years of the Christian church, we grew at a rate of 40%
per decade. By the end of the first
century there were over 7,000 Christians - the rest had been martyred. By the end of the second century there were
over 200,000 Christians. By the end of
the third century, there were over 6 million - 10% of the world population. Then Christianity was legalized in AD 313
because it was too big to handle. Right
now 43% of the American population claim to be born again. Never have so many had so little influence.
Jesus
taught in Matthew 11:12 that we cannot wear the crown without bearing the
cross. May God awaken the Church, the
sleeping giant, and may we not rest nor give God any rest until he establishes
Jerusalem (Isa 62:6-7).
John
Fletcher wrote, "The grand device of Satan is to prevent us from seeing the
necessity of this holy violence, or from putting it in execution." Joseph Sutcliffe wrote, "He who besieges the
throne of grace by faith and prayer, is sure to prevail." Let us pray for revival and the advancement
of God's kingdom and take it by storm.
COURAGEOUS PREACHING
David Dewan
"Sanctify
them in the truth; thy word is truth" (John 17:17). "Therefore, I testify to you this day that I
am innocent of the blood of all men. For
I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God" (Acts
20:26-27).
These
two statements declare the importance of biblical preaching. We live in a church culture where we seem to
have tried everything to gather a crowd.
Most preaching seems to emphasize self-help messages or psychology or
"how can I manipulate God to get what I want?"
R.
C. Sproul, in his book Knowing Scripture says that the spirit of America
has been defined as the spirit of pragmatism.
Pragmatism may be defined as the approach to reality that defines truth
as "that which works." Sproul points out
that "the pragmatist is concerned about results and the results determine the
truth. The problem with this kind of
thinking, if left uninformed by the eternal perspective, is that the results
tend to be judged in terms of short-range goals." As an example, one prominent pastor equated
the bigness of his church to what he though was the truth. In other words, if it works, it's got to be
truth!
Courageous
preaching has never been popular.
Declaring the truth of the Scriptures has never "won friends and
influenced people." John R. W. Stott
said in his classic book on preaching, Between Two Worlds, that we are
called to the sacred task of biblical exposition and commissioned to proclaim
what God has said, not what human beings want to hear. Many modern churchmen suffer from a malady
called "itching ears," which induces them to accumulate for themselves teachers
to suit their own likings (2 Tim 4:3).
"But we have no liberty to scratch their itch or pander to their
likings," according to Stott.
The
Bible is full of men who did not "pander" to what people wanted to hear. There were many "lone voices" that spoke with
power and authority. We can also look in
church history at men and women who spoke with great courage to a dark and
sinful world The Word of God is our only source of inspiration, which is as it
should be. When all methods have been
tried, when all the latest gimmicks have been exhausted, it's the Word of God
that will stand as a rock. It is the
foundation of our preaching and teaching.
Paul says, "All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for
teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, that the
man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work (2 Tim 3:16-17). The prophet Isaiah said, "The grass withers,
the flowers fade, but the Word of God stands forever" (Isa 40:8). Fads come and fads go. Gimmicks are quickly forgotten. However, the Word of God stands forever.
Courageous
preaching begins and ends with the Holy Scriptures. A courageous preacher by the name of Paul
said, "For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for
salvation to everyone who believers; to the Jew first and also to the
Greek. For in it the righteousness of
God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, but the righteous man
shall live by faith" (Rom 1:16-17). The
power of God is in the Word of God.
Courageous
preachers are people of the Book. John
Wesley formulated it thus: "I am a creature of the day. . . . I want to know
one thing, the way to Heaven. . . . God Himself has condescended to teach the
way. . . . He has written it down in a Book.
Oh, give me that Book; at any price give me the Book of God!"
Again,
courageous preaching begins and ends with the Book of God. In the records of redemptive history, many
stood courageously and spoke the whole council of God. Moses stood in the face of opposition and
boldly declared, "Thus says the Lord."
The prophet Elijah confronted an apostate nation with the Word of
God. He and many true prophets after him
wielded the sword of the Spirit with conviction and authority.
If
there is to be a true revival of our churches, it needs to begin with a fresh
view of the Word of God. Without the
Bible, there is no true conversion. As
David the Psalmist said, "The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple" (Psalm 19:7). In 2 Timothy 3:15, Paul said to a young
preacher, "From childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to
give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ
Jesus." There is no other source of
salvation, for only in the sacred writings do we see the person and work of
Jesus Christ.
John
the Baptist was a man controlled by the Word of God. It was said of him that he was "neither a
reed blown by public opinion." Stott
also observed, "Jesus himself gained a reputation for fearless and
uncompromising speech." Peter and Paul
preached with great courage in the Book of Acts. The church age from Chrysostom to Wesley,
from Whitefield to Graham is one of bold proclamation of the Word of God. Martin Luther stood against the full might of
the Roman Catholic Church with just "Bible in hand." John Knox, the great Scottish reformer, said
to Mary, Queen of Scots, "Without the preaching place, Madam, I think few have
occasion to be offended at me, but there, Madam, I am not master of myself, but
must obey Him who commands me to speak plain and to flatter no flesh upon the
face of the earth."
A.
W. Tozer said, "I preach to my congregation week after week. And I pray that I may be able to preach with
such convicting power that my people will sweat! I do not want them to leave my services
feeling good. The last thing I want to
do is to give them some kind of religious tranquilizer - and let them go to
hell in their relaxation."
Courageous
preaching does not flatter; it confronts!
It confronts men in their sin. It
declares that the only way to salvation is through the bloodstained cross of
Calvary. Again, the apostle Paul says,
"May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which
the world has been crucified to me and I to the world" (Gal 6:14).
Courageous
preaching not only confronts, but it also gives hope. The hope that I speak of is the hope of grace
and mercy. Psalm 51:1 says, "Have mercy
on me, O God, according to your unfailing love, according to your great
compassion, blot out my transgressions."
The Psalmist says also in Psalm 103:8, "The Lord is compassionate and
gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love."
Courageous
preaching confronts and seeks to restore.
It cuts and it heals. It is the
message of the cross! John Stott says,
"The fact is that the authentic Gospel of the New Testament remains extremely
offensive to human pride, and nobody who preaches it faithfully can expect to
escape at least some degree of opposition.
Paul found in his day that the message of Christ crucified was both
folly to Greek intellectuals and a stumbling block to self-righteous Jews. Nobody can reach God by his own wisdom or by
his own morality. Only at the cross can
God be known."
God
cannot be known through the latest fads of the church. God can be know through the faithful
preaching by men inspired by the Holy Spirit who look to the Word of God as
their only source of truth. Peter said,
"f anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God (1
Peter 4:11).
THE BRUSH
ARBOR
Marion Brown
In an effort to promote
biblically-based, doctrinal preaching, I want to reproduce some sermon outlines
from the ministry of Robert L. Brush. My
purpose is not to produce a polished homiletical specimen, but to provide a
model from which pastors and teachers might profit. Here is a message he
preached at Mascot, Tennessee in December 1981.
What I Preach
John 7:17
Introduction: The total gospel
message is based upon two axioms:
All Salvation is of
the Lord.
All damnation is of
ourselves.
The
whole of the scriptures, when properly understood, support these axioms. Some
wrest the scriptures to their own destruction. Others, thank God, open to its
teachings as a flower to the sun and are blessed by its truth.
1. Men are totally depraved
and cannot come to God without Divine assistance. John 6:44
2. Repentance must proceed the
New Birth. Luke 13:5; Acts 3:19; 17:30
3. True saving faith is a gift
of God as well as an act of the will. Ephesians 2:8; Philippians 1:29
4. The New Birth is produced
by the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Acts 10:34-45, 1 Corinthians 12:13
5. He that is born of the
Spirit does not commit sin. 1 John 3:9
6. Sin is rebellion against God. Romans 8:7
Sin is defined as a willful transgression of a known law of God - John Wesley
7. All Christians have
crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts. Galatians 5:24
8. Sin remains in the heart of
the believer, but it does not reign. Romans 6:12
9. Conviction of the remains
of sin must precede any real progress toward entire sanctification. Galatians 5:17
10. Entire sanctification is a
second work of grace, wrought in the heart of the believer, by grace through
faith subsequent to regeneration. 1
Thessalonians 5:23-24
11. There is no state of grace
from which a believer may not fall. Hebrews 12:15
12. The leaven of the gospel
will leaven the whole earth. Habakkuk 2:14
13. Jesus Christ will return
to the earth in a bodily visible form at the end of the age, at which time
there shall be a resurrection of the just and the unjust. Jesus Christ will
judge them and separate the sheep on the right hand and the goats on the left.
Matthew 25:33
THE ENDURING QUALITY OF
WESLEY'S THEOLOGY
Joseph D. McPherson
Jonathan
Goforth, that great missionary and revivalist to China from 1887-1934, was once
speaking in Toronto, Canada. Included in
his remarks were some references to Mr. Wesley's teachings. While in the midst of his delivery, a Methodist
minister arose and made the startling statement that he believed, "Our theology
today is better than that of Mr. Wesley's."
Goforth readily responded by asking the minister, "Have you caught the
fish that Mr. Wesley caught?" The
minister abruptly sat down, quickly ending his presumptuous challenge. Goforth then added, "There must not have been
too much wrong with Wesley's theology if he caught the fish and you haven't."
It
cannot be denied that the theology of the holiness movement, though often
claiming to be Wesleyan, has evolved with various changes and emphases since
Mr. Wesley's day. A close study of
Wesley's sermons and other writings, followed by a study of the history of the
holiness movement and various teachings together with the personalities who
influenced those changes over the last century and a half, will bear this
out.
Can
it, however, be said that Mr. Wesley's theology and doctrinal teachings did
also evolve with change during his long life of ministry? There are those who would have us believe
this to be so. 'Tis true that one may
possibly find some insignificant shifts in Mr. Wesley's thinking over the
years. To give but one example, he once
thought that those who had experienced entire sanctification could not easily fall
from grace. Observation over a
successive period of time changed his mind.
To be sure, the writings of the mature Wesley may be preferred to those
of his earlier ministry, but so could it be said of any and all spiritual
leaders. The candid reader will rather find an amazing uniformity of thought
and doctrine between the young and elderly Wesley. Whatever the negligible changes one might
find in Mr. Wesley's theology, they do not present sufficient justification for
an abandonment of his theology in favor of the many alterations to which
so-called Wesleyan theology has been subjected since the nineteenth
century. No Bible expositor ever relied
more heavily upon scriptural support for his teachings than did Wesley. His writings are literally stitched with
Scripture. Furthermore, in old age he
would claim that he had not significantly changed his theological views. "I
was musing here on what I heard a good man say long since, -'Once in seven
years I burn all my sermons; for it is a shame if I cannot write better sermons
now than I could seven years ago.'
Whatever others can do," says Mr. Wesley, "I really cannot. I cannot write a better sermon on the Good
Steward, than I did seven years ago: I cannot," he continues, "write a better
one on the Great Assize, than I did twenty years ago: I cannot write a better
on the Use of Money, than I did nearly thirty years ago: Nay," says he, "I know
not that I can write a better on the Circumcision of the Heart, than I did
five-and-forty years ago. Perhaps, indeed
I may have read five or six hundred books more than I had then, and may know a
little more History, or Natural Philosophy, than I did; but," says he, "I am
not sensible that this had made any essential addition to my knowledge in
Divinity." Then with a final statement
of strong conviction he assures his readers of this: "Forty years ago I knew
and preached every Christian doctrine which I preach now" [Journal, 1
Sept, 1778].
Having
studied the writings of Wesley and Fletcher for many years, this writer finds
altogether unsubstantiated the claim by some scholars that the written works of
the saintly Fletcher had a significant modifying and refining influence upon
the theology of the founder of Methodism. Furthermore, one will also find an
uncommon adherence to Wesley's theology in the writings of his Methodist
coworkers, including John Fletcher, Joseph Benson, Adam Clarke, Richard Watson,
Joseph Sutcliffe and other eighteenth and early nineteenth century advocates of
scriptural holiness. In contrast, numerous
are the differences we find in the theological thought among later holiness
proponents.
Would
to God more of today's holiness leaders would venture upon a thorough
investigation of the writings of early Methodist leaders. It would not be surprising if they should
happily find a clearer understanding of biblical truths in general and the
teaching of scriptural holiness in particular.
As one holiness leader stated, "Too long our people have struggled along
without recourse to the best of the old authorities." It is nevertheless encouraging to learn of
the growing number of scholars, ministers and teachers who are presently
discovering new and fresh insights into those truths that God owned and used to
bring about the great Wesleyan revival of the eighteenth century.
In
the Wesley Memorial Volume, published in 1880, William Burt Pope
concluded, "The staple and substance of Methodist theology is essentially that
of the entire Scripture as interpreted by the catholic evangelical tradition of
the Christian Church. . . . It has no more borrowed from the Remonstrant
Arminians than it has borrowed from the Protestant Lutherans. It agrees with both these so far as they
express the faith of the New Testament; but no further. It has had, indeed, in past times a
conventional connection with the name Arminian; but its Arminianism is simply
the mind of the Catholic [or universal] Church down to the time of Augustine. .
. . It might be said, with equal
propriety or want of propriety, that it has learned some of its lessons from
Calvinism. Certainly it has many secret
and blessed relations with that system; not with its hard, logical, deductive
semi-fatalism, over which Absolute Sovereignty reigns with such awful
despotism, but with its deep appreciation of union with Christ, and of the
Christian privileges bound up with that high principle. . . . No community
falls back more absolutely or more implicitly than Methodism upon the supreme
defense of the entire Bible which our Lord's authority gives it. . . . And it may be asserted with confidence,
though without boasting, that there is no communion in Christendom the
theological writings of which are so universally free from the tincture of
doubt or suspicion as to the supremacy of the Bible."
Interpreting the Word
Accurately 2 Timothy 2:15
I
have read some of the articles in The Arminian Magazine Index and find them
inspiring and biblically sound. I am confused about a subject, "Second
Blessing Holiness." In simple terms, can you explain what this means?
Although
those who are truly born again begin to live a holy life, the new birth is only
the beginning point of the Christian walk.
Without meaning to diminish the transforming grace of regeneration, we
do not get everything God has for us when we get saved. Therefore, some have referred to a deeper
work of God's grace as "a second blessing."
The
Scriptures do not use this term "second blessing." The phrase "second benefit" in 2 Cor 1:15
simply refers to a second visit from Paul to Colossae. In his Plain Account of Christian
Perfection Wesley advised, "Avoid all magnificent, pompous words; indeed,
you need give it no general name; neither perfection, sanctification, the
second blessing, nor the having attained."
Yet Wesley himself sparingly used the phrase "second blessing" a total
of five times, and always in correspondence.
He wrote in a letter to Jane Hilton (who was later known by her married
name, Jane Barton), "It is exceeding certain that God did give you the second
blessing, properly so called. He delivered you from the root of bitterness,
from inbred, as well as actual, sin. And at that time you were enabled to give
Him all your heart; to rejoice evermore, and to pray without ceasing" [8 Oct, 1774;
see also this phrase used in a letter to Sarah Crosby 14 Feb, 1761; in a letter
to Thomas Olivers 24 March, 1757; in a letter to Jane Salkeld 9 Aug,
1772]. He wrote to Samuel Bardsley,
"Press all believers to go on to perfection.
Insist everywhere on the second blessing as receivable in a moment, and
receivable now, by simple faith" [3 April, 1772].
Yet
there is something ambiguous about the phrase "second blessing." Since it is not a scriptural phrase, we
cannot become contentious over it. Some
have reasoned, if a second, why not a third or fourth? This tends to fragment the grace of God and
create a caste system within the Church.
Those who use the term "second blessing" properly mean by it that sin is
two-fold in its nature, both an outward expression and an inner attitude. Thus, salvation is also twofold. The new birth enables a person to live holy
in his outward expressions, but while the old nature of sin no longer reigns,
it still remains.
In
a letter to Joseph Benson he wrote of a "second change, whereby they shall be
saved from all sin, and perfected in love" [28 Dec, 1770]. In one sermon, "The Repentance of Believers,"
Wesley spoke of the Lord speaking "to our hearts again, to speak the second time,
Be clean." In a letter to Jane Hilton,
Wesley referred to a "second deliverance" [1 March, 1769]. Thus, there is a "secondness" about the
perfecting grace of God which deals with those inner attitudes.
A
friend of mine was told by his modern holiness Pastor that the disciples were
born again before Pentecost because the Lamb was slain from the foundation of
the world. I don't understand that
Pastor's reasoning that the disciples were born again before Pentecost because
the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world.
Revelation
13:8 states that the Lamb, Jesus Christ, was slain from the foundation of the
world. This implies that before God ever
created this world, he knew that sin would enter it. When sin entered this world through Adam, God
was not caught unprepared. The cost of
atonement would be the sacrifice of his own Son. Thus, God not only foreknew Adam's original
sin, but God had predestinated the plan of salvation.
However,
it seems to me that this pastor has logically concluded that if salvation was
potentially planned from creation, that every obedient believer from the time
of creation has enjoyed the full benefits of that salvation. It is true that all who were saved under the
old covenant were saved through the provision of Christ's atonement, but it is
not correct to assume they enjoyed the full benefit of Christ's atonement. The main thesis of the book of Hebrews is
that the new covenant is "better" or superior in privilege. Peter wrote that indeed Christ was chosen
before the foundation of the world, but he was not revealed until "these last
times" (1 Peter 1:20).
Unlike
God, we live under the restrictions of time.
There remain future benefits of the atonement which we have not yet
realized. Ultimately the provisions of
the atonement will restore paradise and open heaven, but we are not there
yet. The opposite danger is to fail to
appropriate all of the grace which is presently available for us.
Your
question concerns itself with how much grace was then available to the
disciples before the atoning work of Christ was completed, before he ascended
back to the Father's right hand, and before he poured out the Holy Spirit. How could they be justified freely through
faith in his blood (Rom 3:24-25) before that blood was shed? How could they be regenerated through the
work of the Spirit before the Spirit was even given (John 7:39)? How could they enter the kingdom of God (John
3:5) before that kingdom was established (Matt 11:11)?
If
we are going to disregard any distinctions between past, present, and future
benefits of the atonement, by using this pastor's logic we could argue that we
are already in heaven - since glorification and heaven are future benefits of
the atonement.
REVIEWS
Iain H. Murray. Wesley and Men Who Followed. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust,
2003. 272 pages.
The 300th
anniversary of Wesley's birth in 2003 occasioned several new biographies
concerning Wesley, including works by Stephen Tomkins (Eerdmans), Roy
Hattersley (Doubleday), and John Kent (Cambridge). Hattersley's biography contains a number of
factual errors. Kent's revisionist
history claims there was no large-scale eighteenth century revival. This work
by Iain Murray, and published by a major Calvinistic publisher, of which Murray
is Editor for the Banner of Truth and is a trustee as well, also comes as a
surprise.
The first
section is a sketch of Wesley's life, which covers a hundred pages. Murray reduced the servant stage to merely
the lack of assurance, which he does not see as essential to salvation. Therefore he reinterprets Wesley's experience
at Aldersgate in light of the Puritan paradigm.
According to Murray, Wesley was converted prior to Aldersgate but
received assurance of his salvation at that time. Murray concluded, however, that while
Wesley's theology was confused, he was a great evangelist. Yet Murray conceded that the Calvinism of
Wesley's day had become fatalistic and prone to antinomianism.
Murray
included this exchange between Wesley and a Calvinist. "Do you believe in the perseverance of the
saints?" Wesley replied,
"Certainly." When his questioner
registered his surprise, "I thought you did not," Wesley explained, "O, Sir,
you have been misinformed; it is the perseverance of sinners we doubt."
While the
first section contains little new information about Wesley, the second section,
covering another hundred pages, focuses on three representatives of the next
generation of Methodism. None of these
men appear in Wesley's Veterans.
It is a joy to read about such men as William Bramwell, Gideon Ouseley,
and Thomas Collins, who carried the torch of Methodist evangelism into the
nineteenth century. Murray concluded,
"We have gone too far from the Methodist pattern"
Murray
noted that early Methodism taught saving faith as both the gift of God and the
act of man. During the nineteenth
century evangelism shifted to a more simplistic view of faith which emphasized
only the necessity for man to exercise faith unto salvation. Thomas Collins expressed concern that
salvation was wholesaled by prodding sinners to believe prematurely, without
conviction of sin, repentance - without the fallow ground broken. This resulted in faith without trust,
assurance by logic, religion without holiness, and eternity without hope. Methodism believed that faith not only has
to be exercised, it has also to be received.
"The Holy Ghost gives not the act of faith, but the light, power, and
disposition to believe."
Yet Murray
reported that half of the Methodist preachers in one English circuit seceded in
1832 to form the Arminian Methodists.
These "Arminian" Methodists adopted a revivalistic emphasis, believing
that more success in evangelism would be realized if this superficial concept
of faith was adopted. While Murray's
research is helpful in identifying this debilitating trend, he distorts the
picture by reporting that early Methodism was not "Arminian." Certainly all
branches of Methodism have always been Arminian, whether or not that was part
of their name. The problem is that
Murray does not properly understand historic Arminianism. Arminius explained the gift of faith in his Apology
Against Thirty-One Theological Articles, Article 27.
In the
third section of the book, comprising thirty pages, Murray evaluates Wesley's
doctrine of justification and Christian perfection. His chapter on justification raises more dust
than is settled. Apparently Wesley's
teaching on justification is suspect because he does not hold that the act of
justification results in a permanent state.
Here Murray finds Wesley suspect because he does not embrace the baggage
which Calvinism has attached to the doctrine of justification. Therefore, Murray judged Wesley's orthodoxy
concerning justification on the basis of his acceptance of corollary
doctrines. Yet according to Wesley's own
evaluation, he did not differ from Calvin on justification "an hair's breadth"
[Letter to John Newton, 14 May, 1765].
One can only wonder why Methodists can be held up as exemplary
evangelists if they do not have a proper grasp of the Gospel.
Murray then
claimed that Wesley's doctrine of entire sanctification was based upon
experience, not Scripture. In The
Path to Perfection W. E. Sangster compiled a list of thirty Scriptural
passages from which he taught Christian perfection. In Wesley's A Plain Account of Christian
Perfection, Wesley established the doctrine on four broad Scriptural
foundations: the promises that God will save us from all sin, the prayers for
entire sanctification, the commands to be perfect, and the biblical examples of
those who had attained this experience.
However, Murray never evaluates the biblical basis for the
doctrine in his brief, fifteen-page chapter. Instead, he concluded that Wesley at best was
able to popularize truth, but at his worst he created doctrine. Murray dismissed this emphasis of Wesley
saying only that he was not "a precise exegete." Yet Murray conceded, "Every believer needs to
be taught to press on to perfection."
Murray
misunderstood Wesley's teaching by declaring that "there is no biblical or
logical connection between a maturity of life in the believer and the
eradication of sin." But Wesley never used the word "eradicate" with reference
to entire sanctification or Christian perfection. He did say that "entire sanctification . . .
is neither more nor less than pure love - love expelling sin and governing both
the heart and life." [Letter to Walter Churchey, 21 February, 1771]. He preached:
It is love excluding sin; love filling
the heart, taking up the whole capacity of the soul. . . . For as long as love
takes up the whole heart, what room is there for sin therein? ["The Scripture
Way of Salvation, Sermon #43, 1.9; 3.14]
Here is the "expulsive power of a new affection." Perfect love drives out (present tense) or
displaces fear (1 John 4:18). But this
is the moment-by-moment victory of perfecting grace, not a static state of
perfection. Wesley does not contend for
any specific term: "Call this the destruction or suspension of sin, it is a
glorious work." [Journal, 15 November, 1763]. Therefore, Murray has only attacked a straw
man and contributes little to the discussion.
The final
section of the book runs fifteen pages.
Here Murray wrestles with the dilemma he has created. If Methodism was so wrong doctrinally, why
was it so used of God? He concluded that
God blessed their faith. God also
blessed their labor and spiritual discipline.
Murray concluded that as twentieth century Methodism denied the divine
inspiration of Scripture, they became bankrupt and lost their evangelistic
fervor. While this is undoubtedly true, yet according to Murray, their
understanding of the Scriptures was always confused. Murray's analysis of Wesleyan doctrine is too
condescending, yet he is very impressed with their evangelistic success. If faith comes from the Word of God (Rom
10:17), how can Murray be consistent and commend their faith while condemning
their doctrine? Orthopraxy is the result
of orthodoxy. Murray has never resolved
his personal appreciation for Methodism with his intellectual adherence to a
more rigid Calvinism. The result is an
uneven treatment which appears to have gone to press prematurely.
-Vic Reasoner
A Longing for Holiness: Selected Writings of John Wesley
(Upper Room Spiritual Classics. Series I).
Keith Beasley-Topliffe, editor.
Nashville: Upper Room Books, 1997.
This
79-page book gives a nice introduction of the man John Wesley and his work.
This book provides the reader with several key selections from Wesley's
journals, sermons and books. As a pastor I found this to be a good source to
direct the non-academic layperson. The books size is certainly not
intimidating, nor is the content. The editor begins the book with some
background material on the world in which Wesley lived. He then moves into some
biographical information on John Wesley, highlighting his conversion
experience. I think many people would be attracted to Wesley and his valuable
writings if they only knew the unexpected story of his conversion.
At this
point the editor begins to share some brief selections from some of Wesley''s
most important writings. Writings like: The Character of a Methodist; The Use
of Money; and several selections from A Plain Account of Christian Perfection.
My hope is that with this small exposure to some of the great work of John
Wesley many will be encouraged to pursue a more in-depth study of his life and
his work.
-Andy Heer
Renew My Heart, Daily Wisdom from the Writings of John
Wesley. Alice Russie, editor.
Uhrichsville, OH: Barbour Publishing, 2002. 383 pages.
Alice
Russie has done a service to every serious Christian by compiling from the
writings of John Wesley, 365 devotionals built around his core doctrinal
convictions. Mrs. Russie has devoted her life to the study and propagation of
fundamental Methodist thought. Born into a family where her father was a Free
Methodist preacher, from an early age Alice has been fed well in the Holiness
tradition. Renew My Heart is her
latest contribution of love to what influence Methodism has done to strengthen
her walk with our Lord. As you read Renew My Heart you will find a
rather comprehensive approach to Wesley's writings. Mrs. Russie has organized
the book into themed sections, so one day follows another and each day brings
more light to the subject at hand. By compiling John Wesley's writing in this
way Mrs. Russie has avoided the trap of selecting a hodgepodge of thoughts that
would not necessarily relate to each other. I would encourage every believer to
pick up a copy of this devotional, and take a deeper journey of faith into the
teachings of one of the greatest Christians who ever lived.
-Al Stefan
