Justin Taylor's Blog, page 218

Chronological Snobbery and the Spirit of Our Age

J. I. Packer describing the heretical spirit of our age, which holds that:

the newer is the truer,

only what is recent is decent,

every shift of ground is a step forward,

and every latest word must be hailed as the last word on its subject.

This is what C. S. Lewis called “chronological snobbery” (a lesson he learned from his friend Owen Barfield. Lewis defined it like this:

the uncritical acceptance of the intellectual climate common to our own age and the assumption that whatever has gone out of date is on that account discredited.

Lewis explains what’s wrong with this approach:

You must find out why it went out of date.

Was it ever refuted (and if so by whom, where, and how conclusively) or did it merely die away as fashions do? If the latter, this tells us nothing about its truth or falsehood.

From seeing this, one passes to the realization that our own age is also ‘a period,’ and certainly has, like all periods, its own characteristic illusions. They are likeliest to lurk in those widespread assumptions which are so ingrained in the age that no one dares to attack or feels it necessary to defend them.

Sources:

J. I. Packer, “Is Systematic Theology a Mirage? An Introductory Discussion,” in Doing Theology in Today’s World: Essays in Honor of Kenneth S. Kantzer, ed. John D. Woodbridge and Thomas Edward McComiskey (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1991), 21.

C. S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy (Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1966) ch. 13, pp. 207-8

Reading Camus’s “The Stranger” with Ryken

The Gospel Coalition’s first series of “Commending the Classics” (where Leland Ryken guides us in a weekly discussion of Albert Camus’s The Stranger) is now underway.

In a previous post he explained why Christians should read Camus.

Today he introduces the book.

Toward the end he discusses the schedule of readings:

The format for our discussion will be a chapter-per-week schedule. The guides that I will post for each chapter are intended as a preview to reading and discussing the week’s chapter. This means that we will start our trek through the novel with the next posting. I will provide both analysis and sections titled “for reflection or discussion.” The interaction will take place by way of “comments” on this site. Responses to this week’s introduction are welcome.

There are six chapters in part 1 of The Stranger, and five chapters in part 2. So it looks like the schedule will be as follows, with a new post each Wednesday:

Part 1

Ch. 1, April 25
Ch. 2, May 2
Ch. 3, May 9
Ch. 4, May 16
Ch. 5, May 23
Ch. 6, May 30

Part 2

Ch. 1, June 6
Ch. 2, June 13
Ch. 3, June 20
Ch. 4, June 27
Ch. 5, July 4

He also includes a note about translations:

I end with a note on English translations of The Stranger. I first fell in love with this book in Stuart Gilbert’s translation (available from Amazon from third-party vendors). This is the translation that made the novel a classic of English-language literature. Its style sparkles with descriptive and aphoristic brilliance. Among more recent translations is one by Matthew Ward (Vintage); since it is available directly from Amazon, it will be the “official” translation for purposes of this discussion. I will manage the discussion in such a way that either translation can be used. I myself regard Ward’s translation of Mother as Maman to be unnecessarily distracting.

 

The Danger of Being Earnest about Being Earnest

John Piper:

Unbroken seriousness of a melodramatic or somber kind will inevitably communicate a sickness of soul to the great mass of people. This is partly because life as God created it is not like that.

There are, for example, little babies in the world who are not the least impressed with or in need of our passion and zeal and earnest looks. They are cooing and smiling and calling for their daddies to get down and play with them. The daddy who cannot do this will not understand the true seriousness of sin, because he is not capable of enjoying what God has preserved from its ravages. He is really a sick man and unfit to lead others to health. He is, in the end, earnest about being earnest, not earnest about being joyful.

The real battle in life is to be as happy in God as we can be, and that takes a very special kind of earnestness, since God threatens terrible things if we will not be happy.

John Cleese Reading C.S. Lewis’s “The Screwtape Letters”

Inexplicably out of print, this is one of the finest audiobooks I’ve ever heard:

T4G 9, John Piper, "Glory, Majesty, Dominion, and Authority Keep Us Safe for Everlasting Joy" (Jude 1:24-25)

This message has two parts.

In the first part I will try to draw you into my amazement that I am still a Christian and still love the ministry of the word.

And in the second part I will try to draw you into an analysis of how that happened.

Our text is the book of Jude, and our focus will be mainly on verses 24 and 25.

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

1. My Amazement that I Am Still a Christian

This year I complete:

60 years as a believer,
32 years pastoring Bethlehem Baptist Church,
44 years of marriage to Noël, and
40 years of being a father.

These are momentous days for me as we plan for my successor to assume responsibilities at Bethlehem. If there is a T4G in 2014, and if I am invited to come, I will not be speaking as the preaching pastor of Bethlehem. This is my last T4G as a pastor.

When I think about finishing these laps in my race, I am simply amazed that I have lasted:

lasted as Christian,
lasted as a pastor,
lasted as a husband and father.

This excerpt from my journal of 1986 is the sort of emotional vulnerability that I have dealt all my life. There were reasons when it seemed like I simply could not last. I was 40 years old. I had been at the church for six years. My four sons were ages 14, 11, 7 and 3.

Am I under attack by Satan to abandon my post at Bethlehem? Or is this the stirring of God to cause me to consider another ministry? Or is this God's way of answering so many prayers recently that we must go a different way at BBC than building? I simply loathe the thought of leading the church through a building program. For two years I have met for hundreds of hours on committees. I have never written a poem about it. It is deadening to my soul. I am a thinker. A writer. A preacher. A poet and songwriter. At least these are the avenues of love and service where my heart flourishes. . . .

Can I be the pastor of a church moving through a building program? Yes, by dint of massive will power and some clear indications from God that this is the path of greatest joy in him long term. But now I feel very much without those indications. The last two years (the long range planning committee was started in August 1984) have left me feeling very empty.

The church is looking for a vision for the future—and I do not have it. The one vision that the staff zeroed in on during our retreat Monday and Tuesday of this week (namely, building a sanctuary) is so unattractive to me today that I do not see how I could provide the leadership and inspiration for it.

Does this mean that my time at BBC is over? Does it mean that there is a radical alternative unforeseen? Does it mean that I am simply in the pits today and unable to feel the beauty and power and joy and fruitfulness of an expanded facility and ministry?

O Lord, have mercy on me. I am so discouraged. I am so blank. I feel like there are opponents on every hand, even when I know that most of my people are for me. I am so blind to the future of the church. O Father, am I blind because it is not my future? Perhaps I shall not even live out the year, and you are sparing the church the added burden of a future I had made and could not complete?

I do not doubt for a moment your goodness or power or omnipotence in my life or in the life of the church. I confess that the problem is mine. The weakness is in me. The blindness is in my eyes. The sin—O reveal to me my hidden faults!—is mine and mine the blame. Have mercy, Father. Have mercy on me. I must preach on Sunday, and I can scarcely lift my head.

That was 26 years ago. Same church. We built that building—and another one and another one. I hated it every time.

There were worse days—way worse days. Days when the marriage was under attack. Days when the soul was so numb I feared for my faith.

So, looking back, I am amazed [laughs!] that I'm a Christian today and am about to finish my pastorate at Bethlehem.

If—

my faith in Jesus, and
my eagerness to know him and his word, and
my thrill at preaching, and
my love for the church, and
my fitness for ministry, and
my fitness for heaven, and
my sexual continence, and
my spiritual marriage commitment to Noël

—depended decisively on me, I would have

ceased to be a Christian long ago
ceased to care about the word of God or thrill at exposition
given up on the church
ceased to be fit for ministry or heaven
given myself to sexual indulgence, and
ceased to be married to Noël.

I have no doubt about this—at all.

If the decisive cause for my faithfulness to Christ in any of those expressions must come from me, it will not come, because it is not there.

Therefore, the older I get, the more I am amazed, and full of wonder and thankfulness, that I am still a Christian—that I still love the word of God—more precious than gold, even much fine fold, and sweeter than honey and drippings from the honey comb—and that I still love the ministry of the word and the church of Christ, and that I still have not unfit myself for the eldership, and have still not given myself over to pornography or adultery, and that after 43 years I love my wife with the love of Christ. These things are to me utterly amazing.

So that I feel some sense of the wonder that Jude seems to feel. Because that's what it took to keep me a Christian for sixty years, and to keep me alive in the pastoral ministry at Bethlehem for 32 years, and to keep me obediently married for 43 years—glory and majesty and dominion and authority, working before the creation ever existed, and working every present moment of my life, and working into the future to keep me holy and happy for ever.

That's what it took to keep me from falling—and what it will take to get me home before the presence of his glory, blameless and full of unbridled joy. And that's what it will take to keep you believing, and ministering, and holy to the end of your days, and then get you home.

This is the way doxologies work.

They refer first to something that God has done or will do, and then they ascribe attributes to God that account for that action, or are expressed in the action.

So, for example, you might say, "Now to him who fashioned the intricacies of the human eye and every molecule and atom in it—to him belong infinite, inscrutable wisdom and skill."

Or you might say, "Now to him who adopts dirty, abandoned, rebellious children into his family—to him belong compassion and boundless mercy."

In other words, the attributes that you ascribe to God are the ones that account for the action you are praising, or that come to expression in the action you are praising. These attributes account for the actions you are celebrating.

What is Jude celebrating and worshiping?

God keeps us from stumbling;
he presents us before the glory of God blameless,
and he presents us before the glory of God with great happiness.

What came to expression in these three acts of God?

God's

glory
majesty
power
authority

That's what it took to keep me a Christian for 60 years. Jude is amazed at what it takes to keep us Christian, to keep us saved.

Do we have any idea of the degree of divine glory and majesty and power and authority that it took

to give us spiritual life when we were dead (Eph. 2:5), and
to keep us spiritually alive moment by moment for 60 years, and
to stir up that spiritual life in such ways that it resisted sins and loved holiness and pursued spiritual fruit in the life of the church?

Do we know the degree of glory and majesty and power and authority that took?

No. We don't.

We have no terms of measuring such things. How do you quantify a Spirit-creating spirit? Or a Spirit acting on spirit to sustain the life of that spirit?

God creates spiritual life when we are dead. "That which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (John 3:6).

We had no spiritual life.

Then the Spirit acted in us.

And now we are spiritually alive.

We are spirit. This is not spirit like the demons are spirit. This is holy spirit (little "s"). This is eternal, spiritual, God-created, and God-sustained spiritual life.

This spiritual life that we Christians have is not ours intrinsically. There is no autonomous life in me.

We have this life to the degree that we have the Holy Spirit in us, and to the degree that we are united to Christ—which are interwoven terms and realities. It is not the kind of spiritual life that we would have if the Spirit left us or we were not united to Christ. We would not be alive if we were not united to Christ by the Spirit. Our life is Christ's life. The Spirit's life.

The giving of this life, and the moment by moment sustaining of this life, and the stirring up of this life so that it treasures holiness and ministry is a work of God. This is why I said at the beginning:

If the decisive cause of my faithfulness to Christ must come from me, it will not come, because it is not there.

Christ created it by coming.

I bring nothing decisive to my creation. And I bring nothing decisive to the existence of this divine spiritual life in me. I exist as a Christian by it. I did not create it, and I don't keep it in being. Not any more than the universe came into existence by its own power or is upheld by its own power (Heb. 1:3). It is upheld by Christ.

Jude is clearly amazed at what it takes to sustain spiritual life—to keep it from collapsing and to bring it to glory blameless and happy. He must sense that what it takes to keep us believing—to keep us alive—is very great.

So how do we measure that so that we can join him in the amazement?

How Do We Measure What It Took God to Preserve Our Spiritual Life?

I can only think of two ways that we can measure what it takes to accomplish the preservation of our spiritual life.

One is to think about the fact that this is something we cannot do at all, and God does. And the difference between nothing and anything is infinite.

If God says to you: Create a being with divine spiritual life, you will say, "I can't." And you will be right. You absolutely can't.

Then he does it with a word.

The difference between your absolute inability and his absolute ability is immeasurably great. The measurement is the distance between us and God.

And the second way we know the measurement of what it took for God to sustain our spiritual life blameless and joyful before the glory of God is that he reveals it to us in verse 25: it took glory and majesty and power and authority. That is, it takes just about anything he's got to do this.

Your creation and your preservation takes divine glory and majesty and power and authority. And any amount of divine glory and majesty and power and authority is infinitely greater than what you bring to your creation and preservation.

 

(2) How This Happened

How does God keep us

when Paul's strategies of not losing heart seem remote (2 Cor 4),
when the language to articulate the gospel with words one more time won't come,
when I'm not depressed that your church false converts, but I fear that I may be one,
when I can remember countless times when I have given no evidence of trusting the power of the gospel to convert a neighbor, let alone a terrorist,
when Spirit-empowered, gospel-driven, faith-fueled effort feels as likely as flying by flapping your arms,
when the fuel tank of death-defying devotion to world missions seems empty,
when he holds out a treasure to me that I want almost as much as anything but says I can't have it
when the crown jewel of Jerusalem is cut in slivers by a propeller or by the prophetess Jezebel?

How does God keep us? Keep us believing, keep us serving, keep us married, keep us fathering?

Notice that Jude's letter begins (v. 1) and ends (vv. 24-25) with the assurance that God is decisively our keeper.

Verse 24: "Now unto him who is able to keep you . . ."

Verse 1: "Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James,  To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ."

We are

called
loved
kept for/by Jesus Christ.

The love of God moves him to call his elect to himself out of death and unbelief—and those whom he calls he keeps.

None is lost.

1 Corinthians 1:8-9, "He will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called."

The called are sustained guiltless in the last day.

Romans 8:30, "Those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified."

The called are kept. No drop-outs.

That's the framework of the book—being kept by divine, omnipotent, faithful power.

Sandwiched in there he warns against the false teachers who "pervert the grace of our God into sensuality" (v. 4) and who presume that they are saved but are "destroyed because they don't believe (v. 5).

So these professing Christians are not called and they are not kept. And the evidence that they are not called and not kept is that don't crave Christ, they crave physical sensations. They don't prize they God of grace; they prostitute the grace of God.

Then after those many warnings, Jude tells us what we must do—not only for ourselves to be kept (vv. 20-21) but also what we must do for others who must be kept  (vv. 22-23).  I'm only going to deal with the first part (what we do for ourselves) because this brings out the paradox of the Christian life most clearly. I want to underline Kevin DeYoung's message—because it's here (and everywhere).

Verses 20-21:

But you, beloved,

building yourselves up in your most holy faith and

praying in the Holy Spirit,

keep yourselves in the love of God,

waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.

So now Kevin DeYoung's message starts to come into focus again—as it does all over the Bible.

1 Corinthians 15:10: "I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me."

Philippians 2:12-13, "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure."

Jude "Keep yourselves in the love of God, for God is the one who keeps you in his love."

Verse 1: the love of God called you; the love of God will keep you; therefore keep yourselves in the love of God.

Keep yourself in God's commitment to keep you.

"Keep yourselves in the love of God" is the main verb—the only imperative verb in verses 20-21, and the other three verbs are supporting participles—they define how Jude understands keeping ourselves in the love of God. Verse 20:

"building yourselves up in your most holy faith" (v. 20)
"praying in the Holy Spirit" (v. 20)
"waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life" (v. 21)

So keep yourselves in the love of God—keep yourselves in the omnipotent commitment of God's love to keep you—

by trusting that omnipotent commitment,
by praying for its daily application to the specifics of your life, and
by waiting patiently for God to finish his merciful work.

As I have prayed on my little prayer bench I built in 1975, I have probably prayed a thousand times "help me," "keep me from temptation." And what's happening there? God is keeping me. The means of God's keeping you is being provided by God.

The psalm I pray the most: "Preserve me O God, for in you I take refuge!"

You pray for God to keep you ("Preserve me O God!"). You trust the promise that he will ("for in you I take refuge"). And you wait for his mercy.

Even your praying is his doing—it is by the Spirit that you pray (v. 20). And your faith is his doing, not your own, "it is the gift of God" (Eph. 2:8).

My praying for his keeping and my trusting in his keeping is his keeping!

The glory and the majesty of his keeping consists very much in the power and the authority that he has keep you through the means of your keeping yourself in the love of God.

You are not a robot. And you are not autonomous. You a new creation, a new race. Your coming into being and your being sustained is unlike anything the world can ever experience. It is a mystery. A daily miracle. You are those who by prayer and trust keep yourselves in the commitment of God's love to keep you praying and trusting.

God's act to keep you praying and trusting, so that you remain in his love and are kept blameless and joyful for the glory of God, is the fulfillment of the New Covenant.

"I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me" (Jer. 32:40).

The New Covenant promise is that God will act so decisively for his elect that they will not turn from him. God will see to it that they will pray and they will trust and they will keep themselves in the love of God.

The New Covenant was bought by the blood of Jesus Christ. "This cup is the new covenant in/by my blood" (1 Cor. 11:25). When Jesus died for us, all the promises of God became Yes in him (2 Cor. 1:20). I will see to it that my own will not turn from me (Jer. 32:40). I will keep them from falling.

And that is the ultimate reason why Jude 25 says,

"To the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority."

The glory and majesty and power and authority that it takes to keep you and me alive in Christ—to keep us praying and trusting, to keep us in the love of God—was unleashed for us sinners, when Christ died for us. Therefore the glory and majesty and dominion and authority that keeps us from falling and presents us blameless and joyful to God is through the blood of Jesus Christ—the blood of the New Covenant.

Therefore when we ascribe glory and majesty and dominion and authority to God we do it through Jesus Christ.

So do not underestimate the power of the blood of Christ to keep you from falling. It's power was at work "before all time" (Rev. 13:8), it is at work "now," and it will be at work "forever." Your keeping began before creation, it is happening now, and it will never end.

He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. (Ps. 121:3-8).

He sealed that promise—he bought it—with the blood of his Son. Therefore, keep yourself in the love of God.

T4G Panel: Celebrity Pastors

Thabiti Anyabwile, Carl Trueman, C.J. Mahaney, David Platt, Matt Chandler, moderated by Ligon Duncan

(Carl and Thabit had a number of exchanges at the Reformation21 blog on this: see here, here, and here.)

Carl: We tend to invest special insight and knowledge because someone is a celebrity.

When I ask students who are the most influential pastors in their life, it's concerning that they rarely mention their local pastors.

When I ask who they want to be like, they mention people who are in situations where they will never be. Praise God there are big churches, and that God has gifted men in this way. But it's a problem when it becomes an aspirational model for most students. I wonder if this has an impact on the high burnout rate.

It's not necessarily a problem of the pastors himself—but of their reception. We need to be careful not to promote ourselves. Luther, the first celebrity pastor, in 1522 explained that the Word of God did it all. We should do all we can to minimize itself.

The aspirational model can be associated with the worldly model of success, rather than the faithful model of success. Paul's plan was to find ordinary guys who are qualified and able to teach and preach. It's not rocket science.

Thabiti: I agree with Carl's concerns. What I was reacting to—let's begin with where Carl ends. We need to find faithful pastors, but there is also a place for the appropriate expression of gratefulness. Sometimes the critique can catch too many people in the nets. Let's distinguish between (1) celebrity as being famous for being famous, and (2) those are attract people through their faithfulness and giftedness. There can be notoriety that isn't about self-promotion and self-adulation and fame-seeking.

Ligon: Certain types of media and platforms can project significance. Lig is mortified when people meet him and think he is someone of significance just because they see him preach on regional television. The medium can convey something.

Thabiti: In our day media access is pretty easy. To become a celebrity one must have a celebrity-conferring public.

Ligon: When T4G wanted to put Piper in front of folks in 2006, it's not because he's a celebrity but because he had spoken the word into our souls, and God gave him a wide influence. We exulted in that. But we didn't intend to say to brothers pastoring a 65-member church that he's a nobody. We wanted to serve that guy in that context. And that would be John's heart. That motivation is important for us to clarify.

Carl: You can have all the best intentions, but we also have to be aware of reception.

CJ: This conference exists to dissuade that thinking but to encourage and honor ordinary pastors.

Ligon: We thank God for you, David Platt and Matt Chandler. David, I know you have to protect your heart when speaking to 55,000 people on the atonement.

David: This conversation is dangerous for me. It brings to the fore a poison to my soul. I really believe, I think, I want Christ to become greater and me to become less. The temptation is to think, I want Christ to become greater and me to become greater. Pride has always been a problem for me. More attention means more temptation. It involves an intentional fight and battle. At the end of the Day, I want it to be about Christ's glory.

Matt: On top of that, there's the cultural beast—fighting something that won't die. If anyone says there's not a part of you that doesn't enjoy that, I'd call them a liar to their face. I don't fear that this week I'm going to say "I'm Matt Chandler," but it's people getting in your ear saying over the years "How much do you get paid?" "Why don't you have people do this?" It's important that guys know me before I was "Matt Chandler." And there's no celebrity pastor in our home.

CJ: There are temptations toward those who are known, and among those who are not home. There's probably a Corinthian temptation in every church. A pastor has to study his own soul.

For those struggling because of their lower numerical growth: cultivate an appreciation for me who are pastoring churches larger than you. It's important to celebrate grace in other people.

Carl: I recognize that conferences cost money and that you can't fill a stadium with just a couple of other OPC pastors! But would it be impossible to have, out of 9 speakers, 2 that no one has ever heard of?

It's been great to rub shoulders with other believers from other denominations. (I believe in denominations because I like being around people who actually believe something.) My wife asked me, "Are you looking forward to going?" "Yes, because it will give me something to write about." But I have to concede that I've rather enjoyed myself!

T4G 8: Matt Chandler, "The Fulfillment of the Gospel" (Revelation 21-22)

Audio available here.

Two years ago I stood at this conference and had recently finished six weeks of radiation and had just begun what would be 18 months of high-dose chemotherapy.  The doctors hadn't given us much hope in the early days of that fight for a long life—or even past a couple of years. But God had plans to blow past the statistics and accomplish a few more things. To be here today and to be here today to preach from Revelation 21-22 is not only an honor but also one of the many mercies of God on my life.

I want to talk with you about hope today.

Some of you come here today with your resignation letter half-written, ready to throw in the towel.

But if you listen to these talks, from beginning to end, God has been saying, "I'm for you. I have no abandoned you. You are not alone." God has been talking to me, too.

Don't be such the "shepherd's shepherd" that you can't be shepherded.

Hope is necessary for all who cling to Christ. But hope is especially necessary for the pastor.

Without it he finds himself tossed about in a world that can be beautiful and spectacular (weddings, reconciliations, wayward children saved, healthy births after years of praying) but also cruel.

Earlier this year, in roughly a one-month period around Christmas time, we had an 8-year-old special-needs boy who went in to the dentist and had an allergic reaction to the anesthesia and died. And we had to walk into that room and cry and cover our mouths.

We just about had that family settled into care, but we pastor a young church. And then another call came. We had a 3-year-old girl who had a heart transplant but then rejected the heart a year later. It was heavy when you have a 3-year-old at home and you're doing a funeral for a toddler.

I finished preaching on the victory of Christ. We had a beautiful young woman talk after the service, then that night got discombobulated and walked into a propeller plane and lose her hand, eye, and clavicle.

All this on top of church discipline cases, writing sermons, trying to love my wife like Jesus loves the church, and gather kindling around the hearts of my children that the Holy Spirit might one day ignite for his glory.

I point at all these things knowing I have a great staff and none of these things were done simply by me. And what gives me such an appreciation for so many of you is that you live this and don't have a team of guys that you love and trust.

Brothers, we are in many ways first responders on the front lines of a cosmos in rebellion. Sometimes we are there before the paramedics because the damage is on the inside. When the sorrows and loss of a sinful world land, they land in the lives of people we love and have been called to serve.

The First Fruits of Hope

The promises are real (Gen 3, 12, 17, 49.  Numbers 24, Deut. 17, 18, 2 Samuel 7, Isaiah 7, 9, 53). Jesus fulfilled them. Hecame, He lived, He died, and He rose from the grave. He imputed to me his righteousness and He called me.

I wasn't looking for Him. God says whom he predestines He calls—and think back on His ruthless and aggressive pursuit and protection of met. It brings me a staggering amount of hope.

The guy in the locker next to be aggressively evangelized me. God did that. He didn't ask me; he didn't wait for all my questions to be answered. God opened my heart. My posture changed. He came and got me. He rescued me from the muck and the mire—and he didn't do it to hurt you. We laugh at the Israelites who grumble right after the rescue. But we do this too.

Acts 8:29: God calls Philip into ministry

Acts 10:19: God calls Peter to Cornelius' house

I felt this call to The Village Church.  I kicked and argued and tried to walk. The last place in the world I wanted to stay was Dallas, the center of evangelicalism. I said everything in my job interview that shouldn't have gotten me a job. (What would you change? "I wouldn't know where to start.") But God wasn't having it.

When I feel loss of hope, I remember that the Spirit does not lead where he does not empower. Usually I am trying to carry something I wasn't meant to carry.

Graeme Goldsworthy, "Hope without a time of fulfillment is a delusion."

We are not a delusional people—even if outsiders think we are absurd.  Our hopes are not bankrupt. We are not gambling.

In my remaining time I want to talk about the finish line.

The Fulfillment of Hope

The World Renewed: Revelation 21:1-8

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away."

And he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." And he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death."

We know this isn't just a spiritual ethereal existence.  This is real and it's physical.

What we know from the promises of the prophets is that it's a different kind of world than the world you and I walk on now.  It's one remade.

Isaiah 35:1 tells us that the deserts shall blossom as the rose. So when we think of the desert, we think of dead wasteland, but the Bible says that in the new earth, the deserts are going to bloom like roses.

Amos 9:13 says that the plowman shall overtake the reaper and that the mountains shall drop sweet wine. The mountains this side of consummation are spectacular and they provoke awe, but we Look forward to the new earth's mountain ranges, where fruitless rocks and frigid snow will put forth abundance, produce sweet wine.

Isaiah 65, we learn that there will be no more sounds of weeping heard on the earth, that the days of God's people shall be like the days of the tree, that on the earth the wolf and the lamb shall feed together.  So all this violence is gone.

We see in Isaiah 11 that no one will hurt or destroy anything in all of God's holy mountain. And this is true because evil will be vanquished to the lake of fire

Habakkuk 2:14 says the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as waters cover the sea.

1 Corinthians 15 says our body will be a resurrected body. This is a text the Lord used to minister to me during brain cancer.

There is coming a day where we aren't looking forward to this day. That glorious day won't be future. On that day, we will be here!

A deer panting for water is not a cute text for a coffee mug. One thing I ask is to behold his beauty. Someday it will be now, not future.

C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle:

The things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story.

All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read:  which goes on for ever:  in which every chapter is better than the one before.

Revelation 21:9, "Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, 'Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.'" We will get to see the fruit of God's work and see the Bride. This is surely more spectacular than when the door swings open and we see our earthly bride. We get to see her!

And it's here! It's no longer a future hope. The kingdom has come in its fullness!

    And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed—on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and width and height are equal. He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel's measurement. The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

(Revelation 21:10-21 ESV)

The first time we see the church in Revelation (chs. 2-3), it doesn't look like this.

At Ephesus they had great doctrine but forgot their first love. Good doctrine without love is not good doctrine.

At Smyrna they faced tribulation and poverty.

In Pergamum they put up with teachings that went against the grain and hope of the Gospel.

At Thyatira they loved the sensuality of Jezebel and sexual immorality.

In Sardis they were dead.

In Philadelphia they had little power but were clinging tightly to Jesus.

And in Laodicea they were lukewarm and indifferent towards the things of God.  They considered themselves rich and prosperous but were pitiful, blind, poor and naked.

I think many of us can relate to these churches.  There are groups within the church I pastor that lean in these directions.  And my understanding is that to be a faithful shepherd I'm on the fringes, warning those who are idle, encouraging the timid, and being patient with the weak.  That can be exhausting.  This is the fire where our hope burns the brightest, and our confidence in God's power to save must hold us steadfast.  The good news for each of us today regardless of what lay waiting for us at home is that it won't end this way.

Where is everyone of these in the vision of Revelation 21?

Paul says:

1 Corinthians 3:11-13. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.

There are days that I feel like I'm building with wood, hay, and straw.  There are people who have been deeply embedded in our community of faith and get outed in their sins. People agree with my rebuke as though I was talking to someone else.

But look at the bride! God is faithfully cleansing his bride.

The Church will cease to be the suffering servant church and be the church triumphant.

We are one day closer. New mercy every morning till everything is fulfilled.

God's Dwelling and the Trophies of the Nations (Rev. 21:22-27)

    And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.

(Revelation 21:22-27 ESV)

We'll no longer need a tabernacle. The dwelling place for God is with man! There will be no more shadows. This is the sum of the entire bible!  Every aspect of hope and redemption is wrapped up in this one phrase.

By it's light the Nations walk. Think about how hard unity and diversity can be here. But it will be fulfilled.

All that is truly good and beautiful in this world will reappear there and be renewed there, purified and enhanced in the perfect setting.

Conclusion

You have to get over you. I don't know how else to say it. Don't hedge your bets.  Don't keep one foot in this world "just in case." Straddling two world is a miserable way to live life. Sell out.  Don't put your hope in you!  You won't be strong enough.

This is why Paul can call his troubles "light and momentary." This is why anything here isn't worthy to be compared to the glory that will be revealed.

Paul says we need to be "all in."

Some of you might be in the pastorate becomes it seems like a sweet gig.

Some of you don't really believe this, and you need to repent.

But for those of us who believe, let's hope and believe. We're a couple of days closer! It's gonna happen. We're going to get there. We're going to see the city—we're going to be the city!

Hope is essential for those who shepherd the bride of Christ. There is a finish line, a day when all will be made new.

The Books Given Away at T4G

Here are the list of the 18 books that were given away at T4G 2012 and particularly recommended. A few of them are special editions created just for the conference. I'll add more links if/as they become available:

HCSB/T4G UltraThin Bible

Mark Dever, The Church: Making the Gospel Visible (B&H, 2012).

David Wells, Turning to God: Reclaiming Christian Conversion as Unique, Necessary, and Supernatural (reprint; Baker, 1989, 2012).

D. A. Carson, The Cross and Christian Ministry: Leadership Lessons from 1 Corinthians (Baker, 1993, 2004).

Carl R. Trueman, Reformation: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (Christian Focus, 2011).

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Fellowship with God:  Studies in 1 John (Crossway, 2012).

D. Martyn Lloyd Jones Sermon CD

Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert, What Is the Mission of the Church? What Is the Mission of the Church? Making Sense of Social Justice, Shalom, and the Great Commission (Crossway, 2011).

Matt Chandler, The Explicit Gospel (Crossway, 2012).

Mark Dever and Bobby Jamieson, Building Healthy Church Series (Study Guides) (Crossway, 2012).

Jonathan Leeman, Church Membership: How the World Knows Who Represents Jesus (Crossway, 2012).

Christopher Ash, Listen Up! A Practical Guide to Listening to Sermons (Good Book Company, 2009).

Mark Dever, 1 Corinthians 1-9: Challenging Church (Study Guide) (Good Book Company, 2012).

David Jones and Russell Woodbridge, Health, Wealth & Happiness: Has the Prosperity Gospel Overshadowed the Gospel of Christ?

John Piper, The Pleasures of God: God's Delight in Being God (new edition; Multnomah, 2012).

Graeme Goldsworthy, The Gospel and Kingdom (Paternoster, 2001).

Derek Thomas, How the Gospel Brings Us All the Way Home (Reformation Trust, 2012).

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Preaching and Preachers, 40th Anniversary Edition (Zondervan, 2012).

Three Recommended Books on Inerrancy

Simon Gathercole recommends Biblical Authority: A Critique of the Rogers/McKim Proposal by John D. Woodbridge, for a historical study of what the church has held through the centuries.

Mark Dever recommends Christ and the Bible by John Wenham, on Jesus' view of Scripture.

John Piper recommends "Fundamentalism" and the Word of God by J. I. Packer.

T4G 7: Ligon Duncan, "The Underestimated God: God's Ruthless, Compassionate Grace in the Pursuit of His Own Glory and His Ministers' Joy" (1 Kings 19)

Audio available here.

1 Kings 19

1 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow."

3 Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. 4 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, "It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers."

5 And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, "Arise and eat." 6 And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again.

7 And the angel of the LORD came again a second time and touched him and said, "Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you." 8 And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God. 9 There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

10 He said, "I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away."

11 And he said, "Go out and stand on the mount before the LORD." And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper.13 And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

14 He said, "I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away."

15 And the LORD said to him, "Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. 16 And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place. 17 And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death. 18 Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him."

19 So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, …

2 Kings 2:1-14

Now when the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal.

2 And Elijah said to Elisha, "Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me as far as Bethel." But Elisha said, "As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you." So they went down to Bethel.

3 And the sons of the prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, "Do you know that today the LORD will take away your master from over you?" And he said, "Yes, I know it; keep quiet." 4 Elijah said to him, "Elisha, please stay here, for the LORD has sent me to Jericho." But he said, "As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you." So they came to Jericho.

5 The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha and said to him, "Do you know that today the LORD will take away your master from over you?" And he answered, "Yes, I know it; keep quiet." 6 Then Elijah said to him, "Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me to the Jordan." But he said, "As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you." So the two of them went on.

7 Fifty men of the sons of the prophets also went and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. 8 Then Elijah took his cloak and rolled it up and struck the water, and the water was parted to the one side and to the other, till the two of them could go over on dry ground. 9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, "Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you." And Elisha said, "Please let there be a double portion of your spirit on me." 10 And he said, "You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it shall be so for you, but if you do not see me, it shall not be so."

11 And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

12 And Elisha saw it and he cried, "My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!" And he saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. 13 And he took up the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14 Then he took the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the water, saying, "Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?" And when he had struck the water, the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over.

Luke 9:28-31

28 Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. 30 And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, 31 who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

2 Corinthians 4:6

6 For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Discouragement is no stranger in the lives of many faithful pastors

I want to give special encouragement to discouraged and downcast pastors.

There are things to learn in our disappointments. We can think, "If I'm faithful to God, trusting in his grace, empowered by Spirit—I will not have crushing darkness as part of my experience." And then it comes. What's happening to me, O God? What am I supposed to do? I didn't see this coming. I didn't think it'd be this way. I didn't think I'd be here now.

If we study our discouragements, we'll see what we love and what we really believe and where we really rest and what our real treasure is. And it won't always be pretty.

In discouragement we forget that God is God and God is good.

In disappointment and discouragement we are tempted to succumb to idolatry, because we begin to think that there is a greater treasure that has been withheld or taken away, a greater treasure than what God has or can give us.

1 Kings 18 is where you want to be in ministry—you don't want to be in 1 Kings 19.

What are your greatest losses in this life? What are your unfulfilled dreams, your unsatisfied and unsatisfiable desires and plans, yearnings, and longings? I wonder what they are. I wonder what are the hopes and treasures you've never obtained, though you've always wanted them, or had them taken away from you from before your very eyes. I don't ask whether you have these things, I know you do, we all do. Some great to the point of being unbearable, some less so, but we all have them. And my friends, the question is—what will we do with them?

Did you think that growing in grace, and being faithful in the ministry would spare you from those disappointments, crushing heartbreaks, unfulfilled yearnings?

I wonder how you've responded to yours—how have you responded to the loss of your greatest treasure, or your failure to obtain it? I wonder what you've cried out deep in the darkness of the night through blinding, hopeless tears, and I wonder what you've hoped for after you've asked God, 'Why?' and you've heard no audible answer, and your heart is just as restless and unsettled as it was before you asked. And I wonder how you've responded to a life you've longed for, slipping through your fingers right before your very eyes.

I wonder what you've done, because what you do in response to that may be the most important thing you do in this life.

Elijah has something to teach us about that. Because that is the story of this man, Elijah.

It's the story of a man of power—no one except Moses had a ministry of power up to this point in the OT. This man yearned for good and great things and who served the Lord courageously. And yet he knew what it was to walk in this world right up to the very end of this life with his hopes utterly dashed. But he also knew the relentless, ruthless, compassion God who pursued him for his glory and the good of his people.

1. Even people who believe in God's sovereignty can fail to believe that the Lord is God!

After his victory, a messenger showed up to him with a letter, written in the hand of a woman named Jezebel who said, "May it happen to me if at this time tomorrow I don't have your hide. I will murder you."

And suddenly this man forgot every drop of theology he had ever taught and he ran scared.

The expression of Elijah's discouragement: flight in fear.

This man is a disappointed man; a discouraged man. Why?

Because Elijah had yearned for one thing and one thing only, as far as we know, through the whole course of his existence as a prophet of the Lord—he wanted to see God glorified in Israel. He wanted Israel to turn back to God. It wanted repentance. He wanted conversion. He wanted to be the instrument of conversion and restoration in Israel so Israel glorified God. Then he gets a message saying he's going to be dead this time tomorrow. He realizes: It's not going to happen the way I dreamed. It's not going to happen.

It'd be easy to give him spiritual counsel that would not resonate with him. He cares more about his message than most of us do. He is so discouraged because he longs so much for God to be glorified. And when it doesn't materialize, his world almost comes to an end.

You long to see conversions—and you're not seeing them the way you long for them.

You see false prophets drawing in hundreds and thousands—and you have 65 people, none of whom can get along with one another.

God has blessed your ministry with conversions and edification, but for 25 years God has not saved your own son.

You love Jesus and your wife loves Jesus, but she doesn't like you.

You fill in the blank. There is despair and discouragement that can come even to faithful servants. And when it comes you learn what you love, believe, treasure, and where you rest.

Elijah's deepest dream has been shattered.

So he is running. To the south, not just to Judah, but past Judah and down in to the wilderness to the mountain of God.  And then at the mountain of God he went into a cave and wanted to die.

2. Even people who fight against idolatry can succumb to it.

The source of Elijah's discouragement: he forgot his name and he forgot the message he wanted Israel to embrace.

His name means Yahweh is Lord—and he's forgotten it.

God first comes in a whirlwind. It's not an F5, it's an EF6.

And then the Lord comes in a mighty earthquake and then in fire, but Elijah's still inside; he wants to die.

This is a picture of what Elijah wanted—a spectacular demonstration of God's power, as the Lord as the only God. And it didn't happen. God did not purpose to answer the cries of Elijah's heart that God would operate spectacularly.

And finally a small whisper inexorably draws him out.

Then God says, "What are you doing here? This is not where you're supposed to be! I've got stuff for you to do!" And then His follow up to that is, "Head north, young man, and you pass right through Judah and you pass right through Israel, and you head straight to Syria because"—you want to hear the tender words of compassion? Hear God's tender words of compassion: "Elijah, I'm putting you on the shelf. You're done. The only ministry that you're going to have for the rest of your life is preparing the way for others who are going to do the job that I had sent you to do."

You cannot  possibly imagine how hard those words were for a man who had lived for one thing.

You know, when a voice whispers in your ear, "You ought to always have your heart's desires." You can be assured that that voice always speaks with a hiss from a forked tongue. But when you hear a voice say to you, "You see that treasure? The thing that you want more than anything else in the world? You can't have it, but I'll give you Me instead." You can always be assured where that voice comes from. It's just like you, Lord.

Jesus was battling idolatry in the garden (not my will, but yours be done). And God loves Elijah too much to let him stay there.

God will not let you preach a message that you do not live.

Lord, you are hard to your servants! No. Even when Elijah can't eat, God sends an angel to prod him to eat a hot breakfast.

Elijah's ministry is essentially over. It doesn't end well. Elijah has all but had his day.

3. Even when it looks like God is being hard on his servants, you can be assured that his provision is staggeringly and lavishly loving, generous, good and kind.

The balm of God on Elijah's discouraged soul: God's lovingkindness is the ground of a certain hope and everlasting encouragement

But see 2 Kings 2. Look at vv. 1-14, and vv. 9-10 in particular. Elisha asked for a double portion of Elijah's spirit. Elijah says something really strange: "You will only be able to get it if you see me when I'm taken." What is up with that? What do you mean I'm not going to get it if I don't see you when I'm taken, but I am going to get it if I see you when I am taken?

Look at verse 11: "As they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven."

You don't think God didn't know the deepest desires of Elijah's heart? You think he doesn't care about your dashed hopes and broken dreams? God brings him home by fire and whirlwind—I know my servant's heart. This is how we're bringing him up.

The man who was so dead of all his hopes and bereft of all his treasure that he didn't want to see the glory of God in the whirlwind was ushered into glory—by a whirlwind and horses and chariots of fire.

"And Elisha saw it and he cried, 'My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!' And he saw him no more."

Why did Elisha have to see him? So that he could come back and tell the writer of Second Kings, "Let me tell you how God took him! He not only took him on horses and chariots of fire; He took him by the whirlwind and he saw His glory." Because the One who took him is worth infinitely more than anything he had ever taken from Elijah. And He showed him His glory whether Elijah wanted to see it or not.

But I want to tell you my friends, it gets better than this. This is not the last time we see Elijah in the Bible. Turn to Luke 9:28ff.

Elijah: I want you to go down on a mountain again. There's something I want you to see.

He's on a mountain. Do you see what Elijah was able to see? He was is looking into the face of Jesus and beholding the transfigured glory of God (2 Cor 4). It all makes sense now.

Do you see the lesson that Elijah has learned? A costly and brutal lesson. God has ruthlessly and emphatically pursued his fundamental idolatry and he's ripped it from his heart and crushed it and then He said, "Don't underestimate me. I'm enough for you, Elijah. I'm the only treasure worth having and I'm the only treasure that can't be taken away from you. Elijah, I am to be your vision."

Every single one of us faces that choice. Believers face this choice and they ache and they cry and they mourn and they ask why. They ask it a thousand times. But in the end, they go limping along their way for the rest of their lives having learned His grace is sufficient for me and His power is perfected in my weakness and they go on fixed on Him as their treasure.