His "Virtual" Appearance - Rick Warren's Sermon At Desiring God (Part 1)

The new year is upon us and it seems that the theological dust in the blogosphere has settled enough to take a close look at Rick Warren's sermon at the 2010 Desiring God conference hosted by John Piper. I will reiterate once again what I have stated in earlier posts that I love John Piper, I count him as a true minister of the Gospel, and am unable to express my debt of gratitude for the biblical illumination John Piper has poured into my life through his sermons and books. His teaching has been a major factor in elevating me above the mire of the moralistic and therapeutic teaching that dominates mainstream evangelicalism these days.

With that thought in mind, I am absolutely shocked that John Piper would invite Rick Warren as a keynote speaker to the Desiring God conference. The lame man centered preaching that Piper rails against is propagated by men like Warren. In fact, if man centered seeker sensitive church growth methodology was an orchestra, then Rick Warren would be the conductor. No one has been given platforms like Warren in recent years to proclaim the Gospel. As a best selling author, as someone who spoke at the President's inauguration, as someone given one hour of prime time on the Fox Network each year, and as a major speaker at prominent "inter faith" events - Warren has continually perverted, distorted, diluted, and obscured the pure Christian Gospel. I don't have time to labor these claims further here but I have documented them and written extensively on them in many earlier posts which you can explore by clicking on either of the Rick Warren labels located beneath this post.

Many of us who have been elevated into a sense of awe and wonder over God's glory and sovereignty under the ministry of Dr Piper feel like he just dragged us back to the vomit that we gleefully abandoned. Is Piper a heretic for inviting Warren - no! Did Piper do a dumb thing - yes! Does this give Warren a dangerous legitimacy among the undiscerning who currently attend healthy churches with good Christ centered theology - yes! Does this impact negatively on the thousands of pastors who lost their pastorate over their refusal to embrace Warren's Purpose Driven philosophy (or Willow Creeks church growth strategies) - yes! Can this generate confusion over the normally clear lines of division between biblical theology and man-centered methodology - yes!

Warren has preached a lot of his purpose driven propaganda before Desiring God and most likely he will preach a lot more after it. And he is not alone in a landscape plagued by Schuller's, Hybels', and Osteen's. But this sermon can serve as a good litmus test for what is wrong with the message that these gurus proclaim. Warren could protest that he is nothing like Joel Osteen, and in one sense I would agree, but in another sense they proclaim different versions of the same religion - moralistic therapeutic deism. For a riveting expose of that insidious religion, I heartily recommend Michael Horton's book Christless Christianity. But for now, let's embark on a detailed examination of the sermon Warren preached at Desiring God 2010 in the hope that we can learn to better differentiate and discern the difference between being Christ centered and man centered. The difference between being Gospel driven and purpose driven. The difference between self esteem and esteeming Christ. The differences can be subtle but are as stark as the heaven and hell where these different gospels lead to.

The following commentary corresponds to the following video from 0:00 to 2:08



Though many of us were shocked at Rick Warren's invitation we remained massively intrigued as to what would happen when Piper interviewed him in the flesh and took him to task with some tough questions. Well, Warren didn't show up which led to plenty of murmuring that speculated that Warren had "chickened out". As this critique progresses I will be saying some very critical things of Rick Warren. But woe unto me if I venture off the narrow road of objective discernment and onto the freeway of subjective speculation. Here, Rick Warren gives his reasons for his non-attendance and I see no reason not to take him at his word. We should give criticism where it is due without being mean and judgmental about it. We can test the content of Warren's message against the sure plumbline of Scripture, but let's try and put the best construction on areas concerning the thoughts and intents of his heart. This critique is not supposed to elevate myself or my own knowledge - merely to show Scripture's clear and simple rebuke of man made cleverness. If anything, it will show that God has given the simplest of men the sharpest of tools in Scripture. But to speculate on the inner motives in Rick Warren's heart is a no go zone which is not even necessary. Let's take him at his word that he was unable to attend due to his extenuating family circumstances. (But I have to say that the tap dance joke was totally lame!)

Warren closes with his conviction that he has a message from God. I have a message from God too - it's called a Bible and we'll see how Warren's message stacks up against Scripture over the coming weeks starting on Wednesday where we'll pick up from where we left off today.

Go On To Part 2

New Years Resolutions - A Monument To Moralism

January 1 has rolled around again as the perpetual reminder that our finite human existance marches on like sand through our fingers. It was the psalmist who wisely said "teach me Lord to number my days". In the light of eternity we can see the futility of pouring our energy into worldly pursuits. Even botox will not travel into the next life - which must be a shock to some!

But the line in the sand that happens on the first of January each year is also a timely reminder of the futility of moralism and a reminder that Calvin got it right with his doctrine of total depravity. New years resolutions have about as much going for them as Rick Warren's moralistic therapeutic sermons. Fallen men vow anew to change their fallen nature just like the church growth gurus who spend their time week in/week out trying to persuade goats to act like sheep.

The heart of the human problem remains the problem of the human heart. A professing Christian recently handed back a Gospel tract I gave him saying "I'm already a Christian so I don't need that". He would do well to heed the counsel of the Apostle Paul and examine himself to see whether he is "in the faith". We never outgrow our need for the Gospel either as a reminder of our total dependence on Christ or as a reminder of our desperate need for Him. Unless God breathes on our valley of dry bones then we remain but dust! I've never been one for new year's resolutions but I am a passionate advocate of the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.

Salvation is of the Lord. Without Him we can do nothing. If you must start the new year with a resolution, then meditate on those two thoughts.

An Emergent Critiques My Sermon - My Life In Denmark (Part 18)

After the events that transpired in my previous post I eventually received some feedback from one of the camp leaders. I am posting some of this correspondence today because I believe it may be helpful in recognizing the winds of pragmatism, popular psychology, and self esteem philosophy that are blowing hard in opposition to straightforward biblical theology. This is a pervasive problem and the following correspondence is in no way meant to be a shot at the individual who wrote the mail. His approach is merely a product of these prevailing winds in modern evangelicalism, and perhaps even more so, within the emergent movement. The correspondence in question contains some personal discussion which is unnecessary in this forum and as such, I am posting small portions in italics followed by my responses in bold and my quotations in bold italics. There is also some additional commentary in CAPITALS.

I am a fan of Ray Comfort whom you also quote on your webpage, so in many ways I personally agree on your teaching but there are also something that I do not agree on. I do like that you are firm and direct in your preaching but when you are speaking such a strong message to young people then I would say that you have to talk a lot more grace as well.

I spoke more about God's grace than any other speaker I heard at the camp. Also remember that the first message (though it did focus on the cross) plowed the soil for the second message which was about the meaning of the cross (my favorite subject). What is grace? It is God's undeserved favor. Why don't we deserve it? Because we are people who have sinned wickedly against a good God and we deserve his fierce wrath. God doesn't love people for who they are, He loves them inspite of who they are. Anyone who claims to preach the grace of God without preaching the wrath of God is a liar or deceived. Grace has no meaning without the context of God's wrath. That is why Paul Washer and Ray Comfort are some of the strongest grace preachers I have ever heard.

Martin Luther said in his Galatian commentaries that:

Satan the god of all dissension stirs up daily new sects. And last of all which of all others I should never have foreseen or once suspected, he has raised up a sect such as teach that men should not be terrified by the law, but gently exhorted by the preaching of the grace of Christ.

The grace of God is one of the most precious subjects I love to talk about. The more sin hardened a culture is the more their hearts need to be plowed with the law of God before they can ever see His grace. Try asking someone if they think that it would be fair and reasonable for a good God to damn them to hell? Try asking most church-goers. Few in Denmark say yes to this and that is exactly the problem. If you can't see the problem how can you ever see the solution of God's grace. Furthermore how will it ever become meaningful? The grace of God is clearly seen in the Christ's substitutionary death on the cross in which he bore the sin of the sinner so that the sinner can bare the righteousness of Christ. How can that ever have any value to a person who cannot see their own unrighteousness.

One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner." And Jesus answering said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." And he answered, "Say it, Teacher."

"A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?" Simon answered, "The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt." And he said to him, "You have judged rightly." Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little." (Luke 7:37-47)

Many of our teenagers are not brought up in Christian families and do not automatically know what the Love of God means or Gods grace just by a preacher saying Jesus died for you, because he loves you. When that sentence is comming right after 40 min. of hell fire brimstone then it is difficult to be encouraged to come to the cross with your sins.

I would also contend that it was not 40 minutes of hellfire preaching. Hell was one of many subjects I discussed. The reason many notice it is because they almost never hear about it.

I want them to acknowledge that sin is wrong and is having the consequence of seperating us from God

Hell is not separation from God. Those in hell are tormented in the presence of Christ:

And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name." (Revelation 14:9-11)

I also want to preach a thousand times that Jesus is the friend of sinners and that His Love is never failing and is never ending. It is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance. That is what the Bible teaches and that is what I experience.

The kindness of God that leads to repentance is actually a part of a verse in Romans 2. The context is that God's kindness is defined in His patience and forbearance - that He delays His wrath giving us time to repent. That is exactly what I was preaching. Furthermore, Paul goes onto tell the Corinthians that godly sorrow (sorry because I sinned against God) leads to repentance but worldly sorrow (sorry because of the consequences) leads to death. If we want to see true repentance we need to cultivate godly sorrow and that is done by starting with preaching the Holiness of God, the sinfulness of man, and the coming judgment which is the sequence Paul follows in his letter to the Romans.

Luther himself said that:

The first duty of the Gospel preacher is to declare God's moral law and to show the nature of sin.

Paul Washer had this to say (click here) on the subject.

Actually I think that you could have an even stronger message by diving into the individual sins and how they are changing our chraracter and in that way isolating us from both God and people. Really specify the nature of sin and then use a lot of time on how we as the body of Christ can help each other instead with discipleship to walk to the cross, confess our sin and turn away from it.

Thank you for this critique. It is difficult with the limited time to delve into some of these issues. But I made a conscious decision to address our personal responsibility to cry out to God in brokenness and desperate need. We can certainly help other believers in their war against sin. But those who have not been regenerated by the Holy Spirit need that before any human being can provide any Spiritual help. Until we are regenerated the Scripture pronounces us dead in trespasses and sin and in need of a resurrection. And there were clearly people there in the meeting who were not Christians.

As I mentioned, I am encouraged that you have planted your own church, but there is also a part of me that is concerned when a Christian brother like you won't attend and strengthen existing churches.

You don't know the full story here so I will inform you about what has taken place and why we planted a church. Since moving to Denmark my family and I have attended and visited a lot of different "churches". The local Pentecostal pastor did not want me talking to anyone about sin and refused to even discuss it over the Scriptures. The local Baptist church did not even believe that the Bible is God's inspired Word. The Methodist pastor turned out to be a universalist (everyone goes to heaven). The Inner Mission Lutherans taught my daughter that it was baptism that would save her. And the Lutheran priest supported homosexual marriage. I am a reasonable man but these are not small issues. I can work with people, I can submit to authority, I can lay down my agenda for the sake of unity. But truth must never be sacrificed at the altar of unity.

Ultimately, this is about the Gospel. In all my travels to many different churches for over 3 years in Denmark I have only ever heard three faithful Gospel proclamations - two were by visiting preachers and the third guy was never allowed to preach again. I don't say this lightly - this is a disaster! There is no more pressing matter in Denmark right now that Gospel purity and Gospel proclamation. According to Luther and the reformers, any church that does not preach the Gospel and faithfully teach the Bible is not a church. For the sake of being a godly husband and father, for the sake of obeying God's command to integrate into a community of believers - it was necessary to plant a church. I would love for you to prove me wrong and send me audios of faithful gospel preaching around Denmark. If you do this I will gladly promote these churches and do everything I can to work together with them. (AS USUAL THIS CHALLENGE WAS NEVER TAKEN UP)

I know that Christians will never agree 100% on doctrine and teaching but we are still called to unity with one another. We also need unity to get a revival to our nation.

I attend a Reformed Baptist church but I never used a moment during the camp to argue my position on baptism with Lutherans. Why - for the sake of unity. But when it comes to the Gospel there can be no compromise. Not preaching the Gospel, or changing it, is a sure way to avoid revival. I long for revival which is why I poured my heart out at the camp.

(AT THIS POINT THE WRITER CHOOSES NOT TO BIBLICALLY CRITIQUE BUT RATHER, TO CRITIQUE ONE OF MY FRIENDS CALLED RENE. A FRIEND WHOM I HAD NEVER MENTIONED AND COULD ONLY HAVE BEEN KNOWN THROUGH HIS OWN INVESTIGATION)

I have often read articles from Rene and felt very sad and frustrated afterwards. There are roughly no righteous christians on the planet besides him. Where is the UNITY in Christ ?????

I don't mind you criticizing my friend Rene but you should not do this unless you are willing to back up what you are saying about him. You need to give me some examples of what Rene has said that was wrong or untrue. I promise you, if you can show me something Rene said that was false or unbiblical then I will speak with him and get him to remove it from his blog and get him to make a public apology (I have already spoken with Rene and he has agreed to this challenge). And also, please show me where Rene has proclaimed himself as someone more righteous than anyone else.

(OBVIOUSLY, TAKING A SHOT AT RENE WAS EASIER THAN BACKING IT UP - AGAIN HE REFUSED TO RESPOND AND GIVE EVEN ONE EXAMPLE ON WHICH TO BASE HIS ACCUSATION)

You also asked "Where is the UNITY in Christ". To that I would have to say that my experience of Rene is that he is someone who fights for unity in the way Paul commanded in Romans 16:17:

Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.

Paul here is saying that we should "mark" or point out false teachers because it is they who cause division (ie destroy Christian unity) by teaching doctrine contrary to Scripture. Take Brian McLaren for example who was being heavily promoted at your camp. Rene is pointing him out as a false teacher because he denies the atonement, denies that Jesus is the only way, denies a literal Hell, and denies the authority of Scripture. These are teachings that cause division among true Christians and are particularly harmful to our impressionable youth. I would ask your fellow leaders about their concern for Christian unity when they promote books by authors who preach a different gospel to the true Gospel found in Scripture. When Rene is one of the few people willing to point out heretics like McLaren (all the while comparing it to the true Gospel), he becomes one of the few people fighting for true Christian unity.

Furthermore, I even heard some leaders at the camp have an open discussion with the youth where they answered questions. Where Scripture had a clear cut answer I heard one of them give his own opinion instead which was directly translated "there are no right or wrong answers to this question". This sort of talk does not promote unity - it is postmodern anarchy.

We do what is possible and God what is impossible

Actually, Jesus said "without me you can do nothing" (John 15:5).

Go On To Part 19
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Go Back To Part 1

Postmodernism And Flying Pigs - My Life In Denmark (Part 17)

The camp discussed in my previous post was a surreal experience in many ways. It was a Lutheran camp but the leaders knew virtually nothing of what Luther wrote and taught. The camp was run by an arm of the Danish Lutheran movement that is heavily immersed in the teachings of prominent emergent leaders like Brian McLaren - and they invited a bare knuckle reformed preacher like myself to come and minister to them. Not only that, but I was asked to deliver three messages! I don't live under a rock and am well aware that I lived on a different theological planet to these people, and as such, the likelihood of sermons number two and three ever seeing the light of day after sermon one landed on their postmodern table was as likely as Rick Warren getting invited to speak at John Piper's conference . . . hey what's that! Is it a bird? is it a plane? No it's a . . .


Well, it seems that pigs actually can fly! Warren did get invited by John Piper (more about that next week)! And I was preparing three sermons for this "emergent Lutheran" camp. Welcome to the bizarre world of 21st century evangelicalism - just last night I heard John Macarthur preach a topical sermon about making the Bible more relevant by not preaching from it while he rode his Harley onto the stage . . . . . . . but that was just a scary dream! The rest, however, was all true.

I decided the best approach for a clear conscience on my part, was to be explicitly clear about my opposition to the emergent teachers these Lutheran leaders were reading (if the words "enemies of the Gospel" qualify as explicit). I also sent transcripts of all three sermons months in advance so that they would have plenty of prior warning thinking this may deter them. But the flying pig still arrived on my doorstep with the preaching invitation in his mouth and I headed out to the camp fearful in my desire to faithfully deliver Christ's beautiful Gospel but fearless with regards to the reception that may await.

After delivering my first sermon, which can be heard on my previous post, it was readily apparent that a bomb had been dropped. I knew it was a jolt to the audience who were not used to hearing about subjects like God's wrath, judgment, our sinful nature, penal substitutionary atonement, and true repentance. And several third party sources informed me of the strong displeasure certain leaders had at the content of my sermon. But not a single leader at the camp gave me any critique or feedback. The fact that my first sermon was loaded with Scripture and quotes by Luther probably made it difficult for them to censor me. It was also a problem that I had sent a transcript of the sermon months in advance. Nevertheless, the following morning I was informed about a "sudden change of plan" where they needed to have a different speaker on the Friday night when I was to deliver my final message. It would have been nice if they had informed me of this some time prior to the day before the event. Perhaps even prior to the many hours I spent preparing that particular sermon for that particular event. I was, of course, cynical as to whether they had given me the real reason for the change of plans. If there is one thing I have learnt about the "emergent conversation" it is an almost total lack of genuine communication.

After the camp I continually tried to get some feedback as to what was really going on and if the real reason for the late changes was mainly to do with the content of my final message. A response eventually came, albeit after a long wait, which I will discuss on my next post - on Friday.

Go On To Part 18
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Preaching The Gospel At An Emergent Camp - My Life In Denmark (Part 16)

It is just after Christmas now and my Rick Warren at Desiring God series is about to launch next Monday. I recently concluded my Life in Denmark series but wanted to add three interesting appendices that didn't make it into the original 15 part series. I am posting the first of these today with a sermon I preached at an emergent camp and will follow it up on Wednesday with some interesting background information and then on Friday with some correspondence that took place after the event.

Sometimes the planets align in a bizarre way and this was certainly the case in July of this year. I was invited to speak at a large youth camp organized by a group of emergent/postmodern leaders in Denmark. In a strange turn of events certain people within this group started to get concerned with the accelerating decline into liberalism that authors like Brian McLaren were taking. There was also the growing problem of overtly sinful behavior that was getting even too much to bear for this liberal crowd. Someone connected to them recommended me as someone who knows Paul Washer and is a bit of a firey preacher. They somehow thought this might spice things up nicely and get people to tone down their rampant carnal behavior. I had a good sense of where these people were at theologically and tried to give them every reason to not invite me, including calling Brian McLaren and Rob Bell "enemies of the Gospel" and raging heretics who were poisoning their movement. I also told them what I would be preaching, if invited, and sent them postscripts in advance. Though taken aback by my un-Danish forthrightness, I was still invited. Strange I know!

I was nervous before I came, not because of preaching, but because of a heavy burden for so many false converts who need to be awakened to the pure Gospel and it's call to genuine repentance. I arrived to preach and without going into too much detail about the atmosphere and activities, I will only mention one example that paints enough of the picture - there were two openly practicing lesbians sitting in the front row unaware of what was coming.

Click here to hear the sermon, it also features a danish translator and has low volume so you'll need to crank up the sound on this one.

Go On To Part 17
Go Back To Part 15
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The Bottom Line Christmas Message

The baby in the manger grew up. He came with a mission. He had the power to lay His life down and the power to take it up again. Why was this necessary? The Bottom Line presents to you my Christmas e-card . . .
Click Here To View and be sure to scroll down.

8 Days of Christmas on The Bottom Line - Day 8

Today is the day my eager young children salivate over their impending gifts. I am reminded of the Lord's words to His disciples - "If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" (Luke 11:13).

May the delights of this world, so evident at this time of year, never blind us to the true riches found only in being born again with the indwelling of God's Holy Spirit. Well may we remind our children, that as much as we love to give them the desires of their hearts, it is ultimately only eternal things that matter. How wonderful it is to look "unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2).



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8 Days of Christmas on The Bottom Line - Day 7

Continued from yesterday.

Today is the seventh part of our 8 part series dissecting the famous Christmas carol "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" line by line to understand the underlying message of Christmas which has ultimately more to do with a rugged wooden cross than a manger in Bethlehem.

Yesterday we finished looking at the text of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen". What can we learn from this examination?

One thing we can learn is how oblivious we often are to the meaning of a song that becomes little more than Christmas tradition. Whenever we sing anything we should pause and ponder the theology behind it. We will one day give answer for every idle word we speak. Be careful what you proclaim. I can remember being at a gathering of Danish Christians once where they all stood to sing their national anthem. The only problem with this was that (as I sat and listened in disbelief) they proclaimed, in accordance with the song, that their homeland belongs to a false god called Freja.

Conversely with a song like "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" we can fall into the other ditch by ignoring the wonderful truths being proclaimed. That the Gospel is exceedingly good news. That this good news can only be properly understood in the light of a true grasp of our own depravity. That if Christ is a Savior then we had better know what we need saving from. That Christmas ultimately points to the cross of Jesus Christ as the pinnacle of human history. That the greatest gift will not be found under a shiny tree but at the foot of a blood stained wooden cross. That the greatest gift we can give will be wrapped in the lips of him who preaches this Gospel.



Go On To Day 8
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8 Days of Christmas on The Bottom Line - Day 6

Continued from yesterday.

Today is the sixth part of our 8 part series dissecting the famous Christmas carol "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" line by line to understand the underlying message of Christmas which has ultimately more to do with a rugged wooden cross than a manger in Bethlehem.



The sixth line in the song is:

O tidings of comfort and joy, Comfort and joy, O tidings of comfort and joy

It is the “good news” that brings us tidings of comfort and joy. At Christmas 2000 years ago, God appeared in human form as a baby born in Israel. Jesus Christ came on a mission to fulfill the law that we had broken and then pay the penalty for our crimes with His own blood (II Corinthians 5:21). The cross He died on was meant for you and me. The only way God could make reconciliation possible was by living a perfect sinless life as a human and then paying for our sin with His own blood (I Peter 1:18-19). He then rose from the dead defeating the curse of sin and death because of His own righteousness (Romans 4:25) and ascended up into heaven to prepare a place for those who follow Him (John 14:2). God showed us His love in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). To receive God’s free gift of payment for our sin and inherit eternal life we must repent of our sin and put our complete trust in Him to save us (Acts 20:21) from His terrible day of judgement (Romans 5:9). To repent is to turn away from our sin and apologise to God with genuine sorrow. To trust in Him means to put our complete hope in Jesus work on the cross because no other prophet or religious leader has done that for you. Trust in Him like you would in a parachute when jumping from 10000 feet. If we confess our sin He is faithful to forgive us and clean us from all unrighteousness (I John 1:9). That is tidings of comfort and joy.

I hope and pray that you would consider these things as we approach the season when Christ was born.

You are in my prayers

Go On To Day 7
Go Back To Day 5
Go Back To Day 1

8 Days of Christmas on The Bottom Line - Day 5

Continued from yesterday.

Today is the fifth part of our 8 part series dissecting the famous Christmas carol "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" line by line to understand the underlying message of Christmas which has ultimately more to do with a rugged wooden cross than a manger in Bethlehem.



The fifth line in the song is:

When we were gone astray

Please bear with me as I labor this point because it is so important that we grasp what this line is saying.

People often ask the question that if there is a loving God then why is there so much evil in the world today? The problem with this question is that it is built upon a wrong view of humanity. The Bible tells us that many men “proclaim their own goodness” (Proverbs 20:6) and are “clean in their own eyes” (Proverbs 16:2) but that we have all “sinned and fallen short” (Romans 3:23) of God’s standard. This is far more serious than most of us realise. God, being good, is a just and righteous judge and He must punish the Hitlers, Stalins, and Bin Ladins of this world, otherwise He would be corrupt. Because we are all made in God’s image we crave justice to be done with the wrong things we see in this world. An infinite God must punish infinitely and that is why there is a Hell, and why Jesus warned so much about it (Matthew 10:28).

But when God’s judgement comes to this earth it won’t stop with murderers, rapists, and paedophiles. He must also deal with liars, thieves, blasphemers…… even every wrong thought. As painful as it is, it is always good to examine ourselves in the light of God’s justice system. Martin Luther said that we should hold up the mirror of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17) so we can see ourselves as we really are and what our real need is.

Have you ever lied? The Bible says that all liars will end up in Hell(Revelation 21:8). If that seems overly harsh then consider this: If I lie to my daughter there is nothing she can do to me. But if I lie to my wife then my sleeping arrangements are likely to shift from the bedroom to the garage. If I lie to my employer then I’ll probably get fired. If I lie to the government then I can end up in jail. Though the crime never changed in each situation, the level of punishment did in proportion to the level of authority being dealt with. How serious is it then to lie to an infinite and perfect God?

Have you ever stolen anything? The Bible says that no thief can inherit God’s kingdom (I Corinthians 6:10).

Have you ever used God’s name as a swear word? The Bible tells us that God will not hold anyone guiltless who blasphemes His Holy Name (Exodus 20:7). God will judge every word spoken.

Have you ever committed sexual immorality outside of the confines of marriage? Jesus took it even further to tell us that even a lustful thought makes us guilty of adultery of the heart (Matthew 5:28). God will even judge our thought life. Nothing is hidden from Him (Ecclesiastes 12:14).

If you are anything like me and have broken those four commandments then you are a liar, a thief, a blasphemer, and an adulterer at heart. And that is just four of the Ten Commandments. And here’s the killer punch, if you break just one commandment then you are guilty of all of them anyway (James 2:10). The line of the song “when we had gone astray” means that every single person has strayed from God because of our own exceeding sinfulness (Isaiah 53:6).

It was when I examined myself in the light of God’s standard that I realized that if God is good then He should send me to Hell for my crimes against Him. I stopped asking why there is so much evil in the world, and started asking why God has not yet poured out His judgement and justice on me already. And this is why, because it is not God’s will to send anyone to Hell (II Peter 3:9). God is holding back His judgement because He is merciful and giving us time to repent of our crimes against Him. He loves us so much that He made a way for us to be reconciled to Him and be “Saved” from His judgement (John 3:16). This is the amazing “good news”.

But how can we possibly be reconciled in the light of our crimes against God?

Continued tomorrow . . .

Go On To Day 6
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