R.T. Kendall's Blog, page 12
November 9, 2013
The God of the Bible 1
The God of the Bible
We lived in England for over twenty-eight years; three in Oxford, four months in Brackley, Northamptonshire and twenty-five in London. During our twenty-five years at Westminster Chapel I was invited to speak seventeen years in a row at an annual event called Spring Harvest. It came every April, was held in at least two locations (Minehead, Somerset and Skegness, Lincolnshire). People would come for a week at a time. I did the ‘Bible readings’ – the English word for Bible expositions – or teaching. What partly made this even unusual is that it got traditional Christians and charismatics together – something never done before. This event had a lot to do with making the Charismatic Movement in England mainstream, whereas in America Pentecostals and charismatics are still largely seen as the lunatic fringe of Christianity.
I chose sixteen Bible expositions for a book which was published in the UK. We called it The God of the Bible. It went into several reprints but never I never tried to get it published in America. However, I recently signed a contract with LifeWay whose publishing arms is called LifeBooks. We gave them three books initially: He Saves (an exposition of Romans 1:16-18), Once Saved, Always Saved (a title that pretty much speaks for itself) and The God of the Bible (sixteen Bible expositions from Daniel, Romans, John and Acts). These three books are available in Christian bookstores (especially LifeWay) and our website (www.rtkendallministries.com)
There are three sermons I listened to many times over fifty years ago that shaped my thinking and preaching style – one by T. M. Anderson in 1951 on Revelation 1:17 (‘When I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead’), one by Martyn Lloyd-Jones on Luke 24 (the two men on the road to Emmaus – the sad heart, slow heart and burning heart) and one by Rolfe Barnard.The theme ‘God of the Bible’ came to me because of a sermon by Rolfe Barnard (d.1967) which I first heard in 1963. I listened to it again and again. It had profound influence on me, shaped my thinking considerably. Rolfe called it ‘Your God vs. the God of the Bible’.
We are living in terrible, terrible times. If our generation is not described in the New Testament as ‘the last days’ I don’t know what is. I refer not merely to the political situation but the state of the church, speaking generally – we are in a deep, deep sleep. The next thing to take place in God’s scheme (in my opinion) is the cry in the middle of the night – as described in Matthew 25:6.
How are we to prepare for this? One thing for sure is this – we had better get acquainted with the true God – the God of the Bible. If our ‘world view’ is not shaped by the God of the Bible we will find ourselves not only sound asleep spiritually but, alas, like the five foolish virgins described in Matthew 25:1-11. I would like to think that my recently published book The God of the Bible will be a major teaching aid to prepare us to face these troublesome times.
If you would like a copy, we are offering this book at a reduced price this month.
October 2, 2013
School of Ministry in Antioch (SOMA) Antioch, TN
FALL 2013 INTENSIVE
THE WORD AND THE SPIRIT:
WHEN: Sunday, October 27th 10:30am – Worship and Introduction 11am – Session one 12pm – lunch (provided) 2pm – Session Two 4pm – Tea/refreshments provided 5pm – Session Three 6:30pm – Panel Discussion
WHERE: Priest Lake Christian Fellowship 2311 Hobson Pike Antioch, TN 37013
COST: Participating students – individual $75, couple $125 Auditors – $25
For participants, fee includes book and meals, as well as mentoring. Each participating student will be required to attend all Sunday sessions, read the accompanying book, and meet with a mentor. Three Wednesday nights will be committed to mentoring (Oct. 30, Nov. 6, and Nov. 13 – other dates can be selected, if desired).
How do I register? If you would like to participate in our Fall Intensive, please complete the enclosed registration form, and mail it to Priest Lake Christian Fellowship by October 1.
Who can I contact to find out more information? If you have questions about the SOMA or need more information, please call Dean of Students, Lyle Williams by phone at (615) 425-6764 or by email at Lyle@fishbowlministries.org; or Gary Farmer (administrator) at somainantioch@yahoo.com.
September 12, 2013
Lords Prayer 3
Having given us God’s prayer list, Jesus now tells us what our prayer list should be when we pray. First, surprisingly, we pray for our essential daily needs: ‘Give us this day our daily bread’. Some early church fathers thought this was a daily prayer for ‘spiritual’ bread, but the Reformers (as Luther and Calvin) said such was nonsense; that the prayer for daily bread certainly does cover our physical needs. We have to eat in order to live. Jesus realistically asks us to pray that we are taken care of at the physical level – our daily food. We cannot adequately pray for spiritual needs when we are starving.
It was an agrarian society in Jesus’ day. They did not have food in their freezers. They lived day by day – one day at a time. Therefore the prayer for daily bread was a serious request to God that food will be provided. But such a prayer also refers to our sleep, our emotional needs, our finances and general well being in order to cope in life.
Having prayed for our essential needs, the second thing on our prayer list is for the forgiveness of our sins. It is not a prayer for salvation but for continued fellowship with God in the Kingdom. In order to have a relationship with the Holy Spirit it is essential that the Spirit be ungrieved. Unforgiveness grieves the Spirit. So in this fifth petition – Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us’, it is a plea and a promise. The plea is that God will forgive us our sins. We are all sinners. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us (1 John 1:8).
But do not forget the pledge we make when we pray the Lord’s Prayer: that we have forgiven those who have trespassed against us. Have you? Do you realize what you are saying when you pray the Lord’s Prayer – that you have forgiven those who have trespassed against you? Have you really? If you have not read it, look at my book Total Forgiveness.
The petition ‘lead us not into temptation’ is a difficult one to explain theologically. It implies that God could actually lead us into temptation. The best way to understand this, as Dr. Michael Eaton put is, is to pray God will not let us be lead ‘into’ temptation – that we will not be thrown in at the deep end as it were; that we won’t have to face what seems to be over our heads. We should pray this daily.
Finally, the petition ‘but deliver us from evil’ (some think it is a continuation of the previous petition, some think it is yet another one, making it seven – but it doesn’t matter) is a prayer to be delivered from Satan’s attack and oppression. The Greek probably should be translated ‘evil one’; deliver us from the evil one. The devil is always on the prowl – like a roaring lion, seeking who he may devour (1 Pet.5:8)
The conclusion, ‘Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory’ is possibly not in the original. Who knows? But I have none the less dealt with these words in my book The Lord’s Prayer.
Read more in my book on this fascinating and important subject. On sale this month.
Lords Prayer 2
The Lord’s Prayer contains six (perhaps seven) petitions, the first three are God’s prayer list, the last three (or four) would be our prayer list.
God puts his own prayer list first – for our benefit. We should never rush into God’s presence with our demands but rather realize we are approaching the Most Holy God, and should do so (as it were) on bended knee.
Some say the Lord’s Prayer should not be prayed because it does not end ‘In Jesus’ Name’. Wrong. The moment we say, ‘Our Father’, we instantly are praying in Jesus’ Name because we could not call God our Father apart from Jesus being our Saviour, Lord and Elder Brother. Jesus is the only ‘natural’ born Son of God. You and I are adopted sons and daughters of God. This is what gives us the right to call God ‘our Father’ – a prayer therefore that presupposes the Name of Jesus.
God is in Heaven, we are on earth. We should let our words be ‘few’ (Eccl.5:2). The Lord’s Prayer touches on the transcendence of God (He is in Heaven) but also God’s immanence (‘Your kingdom come’). As I try to show in my own book The Lord’s Prayer, the Word and Spirit coming together are implied.
The words ‘Hallowed’ be Your Name is not merely an acknowledgement of the holiness of God; it is a prayer that God’s Name will be sanctified all over the earth. The Beattles once boasted that they were ‘more popular than Jesus’. They were probably right, sadly. But the Lord’s Prayer is a plea that God will be famous in the world He created.
When Jesus gave us the petition ‘Thy kingdom come’, there is no doubt that the disciples took those words to refer to an earthly kingdom. They could not conceive of a reign of a king except in material terms – as if the kingdom would be like the ‘glory days’ of Israel when David and Solomon reigned. It was not until Pentecost that the disciples grasped the kingdom as being something spiritual – namely, the rule of the Holy Spirit.
Therefore when you and I pray the Lord’s Prayer and come across the words ‘Thy kingdom come’, we must mean the rule of the Holy Spirit in us. Or as I put it in my book, the rule of the ungrieved Holy Spirit in us. And yet the petition ‘Thy kingdom come’ is a prayer for revival. There is more: it is a prayer for the Second Coming!
Therefore when you pray the Lord’ Prayer – praying, ‘Thy kingdom come’, you are praying for intimacy with God, the demonstration of the power of God in the world and for the final coming of Christ on the Last Day.
‘Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven’ is an acknowledgement that God’s will is being done perfectly in Heaven. There is no rebellion in Heaven. Therefore when we pray that God’s will to be carried out on earth as it is in Heaven we are praying we will be just as submissive to God’s will as the angels and sainted dead are. Some believe this is a prayer for people to be healed since there is no sickness in heaven. In other words, if there is no sickness in Heaven, there should no sickness on earth. I don’t agree with this interpretation. Jesus only meant that we should be as obedient to God on earth as they are in Heaven. I certainly do pray for just that!
Read more in my book on this fascinating and important subject. On sale this month.
September 11, 2013
The Lords Prayer 1
This blog and perhaps one or more to follow is about the Lord’s Prayer. It is in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount (Matt.6:9-11) and in Luke 11 when the disciples came to Jesus and said, ‘Lord, teach us to pray’ – and then gave what we now know as the Lord’s Prayer.
When I pray I want to know that I am praying in the will of God? Why? Because He only hears prayers that are prayed in His will. If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us (1 John 5:14).
The problem is, we don’t always know we are being heard. This is why John followed up with a huge ‘if’ – ‘if we know that he hears us’. That is a big ‘if’. You may ask: don’t we always know whether we are praying in the will of God? No. Zechariah asked God for a son. He was heard. But he did not know at the time he was heard. He and Elizabeth gave up praying for a son a long time ago. They reasoned that with his age and her apparent barrenness that their prayer was not in God’s will.
They were wrong. It was – after all. After they had given up praying the angel Gabriel appeared to them to say, ‘Your prayer has been heard’ (Luke 1:13). I unfold this in more detail in my book When God Shows Up.
My point is, when we pray the Lord’s Prayer we can know absolutely and utterly that we are praying in the will of God. Why? Because Jesus told us to pray this prayer! Not only that; He wrote it!
I believe in the infallibility of the Bible. But when you have our Lord Jesus Christ giving us a word which He himself created, I would call it being doubly infallible. Jesus’ prayer is verbally inspired – word for word. So if you want to know when you pray that you are praying in God’s will, pray the Lord’s Prayer. It is absolutely God’s prayer for you and me to pray.
When we were at Westminster Chapel we as a congregation prayed the Lord’s Prayer every Sunday morning. I wish every church did. Perhaps they fear being too liturgical. I fear that people don’t even know the Lord’s Prayer! At least they would be pretty forced to learn it if their church prayed it!
It is not the only way to pray. I do not find that it was uttered ever again – except when Jesus gave it. It is not in Acts – or any of the epistles.
But I pray it every day. Louise and I pray it every day.
That said, the Lord’s Prayer mainly is a pattern prayer. If a new Christian wants to learn how to pray, I say: look at the pattern of the Lord’s Prayer. You begin with focusing on God, then come to our own requests. All good praying should begin not by rushing into God’s Presence to demand this or that, but by addressing God and put His requests first.
Read more in my book on this fascinating and important subject. On sale this month.
September 10, 2013
Oral Roberts University, Dallas, TX
Retreat for Board of Directors.
July 30, 2013
First Baptist Church in Pasadena
7500 Fairmont Parkway, Pasadena, Texas 77505
Phone: 281.991.1232
Sunday: 9:30 AM, 11:00 AM, 6:30 PM
July 29, 2013
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