The Phantom of Liberty

Jesus answered them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed' (John 8:34-36)

A highlight of the American summer, this weekend arrives with barbecues and children around the nation tempting dismemberment on driveways. The celebration of Independence Day will likewise include plenty of obligatory speeches and celebrations about "liberty."

We are well-served to be reminded of John Newton's words at the onset of the troubles that precipitated our nation's independence from Great Britain:

It grieves me to hear those who are slaves to sin and Satan, make such a stir about that phantom which they worship under the name of liberty, and especially to see not a few of the Lord’s people so much conformed to the world in this respect. Let us pray and watch, let us bear testimony against sin, and abound in the fruits of the gospel. The Lord help us to do thus, and then we may humbly hope He will preserve our liberty; if He does not I am sure we cannot preserve it ourselves.

- John Newton to John Ryland, Jr., on August 1, 1775 (reprint, Wise Counsel)

Even as you gather this weekend to celebrate this "phantom," pray, watch, and bear testimony that He might turn a nation of slaves into the freedom of His Son.


N.B. For more extracts from this letter, see Trading Political Measures for Earnest Prayer.

Teach Hell to Your Children, Part 2

But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’ (Luke 12:20)


We observed yesterday, Gospel-success may be helped by teaching our children about the biblical doctrine of Hell. I am reminded (and rebuked!) by the example of the Puritans in general and our "homeboy," Jonathan Edwards, in particular.

Much of Puritan upbringing was designed to teach children to recognize how insecure their lives were. Every child knew of brothers, sisters, cousins, or friends who had suddenly died… Parents nightly reminded their children that sleep was a type of death and taught them such prayers as 'This day is past; but tell me who can say / That I shall surely live another day.'

...One of the Edwards children’s surviving writing exercises reads, ‘Nothing is more certain than death. Take no delay in the great work of preparing for death’… ‘In Adam’s fall, we sinned all,’ was the first lesson in the New England Primer.

- George Marsden, Jonathan Edwards, p. 27.

Flee the false security of the Western world that presumes your children will live to a ripe old age and that there will be plenty of time to teach them about the realities of sin, death, and hell. Teach them young and teach them plainly and teach them with love that they are sinners, they will die, and God judges sinners in hell.

Teach Hell to Your Children

Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell (Matt 10:28).


One of the thought-provoking pieces from the previously-noted series on Hell at The Briefing is by Gordon Cheng, "Should We Tell Our Children About Hell?" Of course, the short answer is "Only if you actually love your children."

Though Cheng's post is worth reading in its entirety, I was especially helped by his observations on what might occur if we consistently instructed our children in the biblical teaching on hell:

Naturally, if we begin to preach about hell and judgement to little children, we could potentially land ourselves in enormous strife. Those who have the privilege to teach children the gospel in schools would, in many cases, find it swiftly removed—through popular outcry in the school community or, eventually, through government legislation. The church, still seen as a community pillar in some places, might speedily become a community pariah. Funding would be withdrawn, tax breaks called into question and lawsuits would ensue. The pastor's phone would ring hot. The children's worker's phone would go into meltdown. Jobs would be threatened, committee meetings would be held and nervous warnings would be issued. In other words, the gospel would be heard and God would be glorified.

What an awesome thing such ostracism would be for the cause of Christ in our churches, communities, and country!

10 Gospel Questions

... and after he brought them out, he said, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?' They said, 'Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household' (Acts 16:30-31)


Some helpful hints from Don Whitney for turning conversations toward the eternal things of the Gospel and Jesus Christ (I personally like using #'s 7 and 10):

1. When you die, if God says to you, "Why should I let you into Heaven?", what would you say? Are you interested in what the Bible says about your answer?

2. If you were to die tonight, where do you think you would spend eternity? Why? Are you interested in what the Bible says about this?

3. Do you think much about spiritual things?

4. How is God involved in your life?

5. How important is your faith to you?

6. What has been your most meaningful spiritual experience?

7. Do you find that your religious heritage answers your questions about life?

8. Do you have any kind of spiritual beliefs? If what you believe were not true, would you want to know it? Well, the Bible says . . . .

9. To you, who is Jesus?

10. I often like to pray for people I meet; how can I pray for you?

HT: 9Marks

The Church in the Future: Smaller and Stronger

... I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it (Matt 16:18).

In his recent talk at the Next conference, "The Church," Kevin DeYoung helpfully clarifies the grim numbers which frequently seem to indicate the decline of Christianity in America:

When you hear these numbers of the decline of the Church, on one level we are sad, but you dig into the numbers and you realize that it is not a new-found dissatisfaction with the Gospel, as much as it is the continuing story of Catholic and mainline protestants losing their young, not increasing through evangelism, and the old “dying-off.” What we are losing in this country are nominal Christians who no longer feel the cultural pressure to say they go to church or that they are Christians. ...my hunch is that in your life time, my lifetime, we will see the church in North America smaller than it is today, but it will be more Gospel–centered, more Scripture-saturated, stronger, more doctrinally-robust, and more in love with the Savior than it has been in the last fifty years.

Christ will build His Church... and He continues to do so today.

(For more winsome wisdom on loving the Church see DeYoung and Kluck, Why We Love the Church).

Update: Providentially, CJ Mahaney and I posted on DeYoung's message today. See Mahaney's summary here.

Are We Still Serious about Hell?

Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell (Matt 10:28).

Here at TPC, we are strictly non-conformist, neither Anglican nor the son of an Anglican. Yet, we continually thank God for the Australian Anglicans and their ministry through Matthias Media! Their evangelistic efforts with Two Ways to Live, their book publishing with such gems as The Trellis & the Vine, and their monthly periodical, The Briefing, are continually Biblical, straight-forward, and helpful.

This continues with the most recent issue of The Briefing (June 2010), which is focused on the Church and the ignored (despised?) doctrine of Hell. In "Are We Still Serious About Hell?" Jonathan Gibson simply, but thoroughly, explains the current controversies and the biblical teaching on hell. Despite the intuitive difficulty, Gibson exhorts all Christians to upholding the Bible's clear teaching on hell:

But as I have studied this topic again, I am reminded of John Stott’s words: the issue is “not what does my heart tell me, but what does God’s word say?" If what God’s word says is true—that hell really does exist—then I need to face it. Ignoring it, denying it or even reinterpreting it will not change its reality. In fact, I believe that the reality of hell explains why Jesus taught more about it than he did about heaven. When given the only opportunity that we know of to address thousands of people, Jesus chose to speak about hell (Luke 12). And when interrupted with the tragic news of Pilate’s slaughter of Galileans (Luke 13:1-5), he refused to be taken off the topic: “unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (v. 3).

All this is to say that the issue of hell ultimately comes down to trusting Jesus—trusting that he’s telling us the truth and that he’s telling us for our good. I believe with all my heart that he is worth trusting, for he too wept over Jerusalem and, what’s more, vanquished hell, so that Jerusalem and all the ends of the earth might enjoy his heaven—a new heavens and a new earth, the home of righteousness.

Gibson has also expanded greatly on his article in three on-line posts that are worth your time:

Hell: Is the church still serious about it?

Hell: Theological Reflections on Hell

Hell: Pastoral Reflections on Hell

Be Real: Confess Your Sins

If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:8-9).

Classic evangelical Christianity has often been accused of a morbid preoccupation with sin and guilt. John Stott reminds us that we are in no way to be offended by such criticism:

We are not in the least ashamed of the fact that we think and talk a lot about sin. We do so for the simple reason that we are realists. Sin is an ugly fact. It is to be neither ignored nor ridiculed, but honestly faced. Indeed, Christianity is the only religion in the world which takes sin seriously and offers a satisfactory remedy for it. And the way to enjoy this remedy is not to deny the disease, but to confess it.

- John Stott, Confess Your Sins, p. 9.

There is no good reason for Christians to downplay the significance of sin in their personal testimonies, public worship, or even corporate prayer. In a world that asks for authenticity, here it is... you and I are undoubtedly sinners. So, let's get real and confess our sins.