Twenty years ago, Judith and I were living three short blocks south of the Twin Towers in Downtown Manhattan. We had awakened that Tuesday morning to clear blue skies and the sparkling waters of New York Harbor. But it was not to last.
We felt the shock when the first tower was hit from the north. We heard the scream of the second jet flying low overhead and what sounded like a sonic boom when the south tower was hit. We experienced the shaking of our apartment building, similar to that of an earthquake, and the midnight darkness when the first tower collapsed. We saw the dust, the ash and the paper on the streets and felt the eerie silence when we were later able to leave our building. Lower Manhattan was like a moonscape. A great evil occurred that day.
Twenty years on it is easy to put aside the hideous acts that cut short the lives of people going about their daily affairs. It is easy to forget that commercial airliners were used as missiles to crash into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. A further flight intended for more destruction was thwarted by the selfless heroic efforts of passengers. People on that flight prayed the Lord’s Prayer as the plane crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. Over three thousand men and women died that day.
In his address to the nation that evening, George W. Bush, then President, called for prayers for all who had lost loved ones. He continued: And I pray they will be comforted by a power greater than any of us, spoken through the ages in Psalm 23: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me.”
In the Wall Street Bible talks I was giving at the time, I spoke on Psalm 46 which begins: God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.
Creation in turmoil. It can never be said that the Bible knows nothing about catastrophic events – and not least human evil and its devastating effects on this world. Indeed, the Psalm introduces a theme we overlook today – namely, the ultimate dissolution of the present world order by its Creator. God continues his work even in the midst of the chaos. God’s supremacy and presence with his people is never thwarted. He alone is our security and our strength.
The larger biblical epic records the intrusion of evil into God’s good creation (Genesis 3). God didn’t create evil but, because he didn’t make us robots, he allowed it. However, as the biblical narrative unfolds, we become aware of the reality and the depth of wickedness.
As a side note, if we insist we’re here by chance and are nothing but atoms in an ordered cohesion bumping around in time and space, evil and suffering have no meaning for there is no transcendental moral compass.
The opening lines of Psalm 46 speak of the unchanging God who is our refuge and strength. In him alone we find a secure shelter and the power within to address any situation. Indeed, verses 2 and 3 exhort us not to fear, even if the world around us is undone, for God remains supreme over every facet of his creation – the earth, the mountains, and the seas.
Humanity in turmoil. Psalm 46 moves from the upheaval of the material world to human turmoil. There is a river, whose streams make glad the city of God….God is the midst of the city; it will not be moved; God will help it when the morning dawns.
Derek Kidner comments that ‘the city of God is one of the great themes of the Old Testament … God’s choice of Zion, or Jerusalem, had been as striking as his choice of David, and the wonder of if keeps breaking through’ (Kidner, Psalms, Vol.1, p.175). We also find glimpses anticipating the New Testament vision of the heavenly Jerusalem as the community of God’s people rather than as a place (Ps.48:2).
Verse 6 speaks of the instability of evil and human tumult: The nations are in uproar, the kingdoms totter… However, God has the last word for when he utters his voice, the earth melts. Verse 7 is so reassuring: The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.
The Lord of hosts points to the mighty armies of heaven to which Jesus alluded when he was arrested (Matthew 26:53). Refuge, a different to word to verse 1, speaks of an ‘inaccessible height’ which the New English Bible translates as our high stronghold.
Be still! Verses 8 and 9 are an invitation to catch the vision of God’s ultimate intention – to make wars to cease to the end of the earth. It is a picture of the perfect peace that will follow on the other side of God’s judgement – the accounting that precedes the perfect righteousness of the new heaven and the new earth (2 Peter 3:12f).
The command “Be still” is not so much a word of comfort to the beleaguered but a command to all the nations. Jesus’ word to the turbulent winds and waters, “Peace. Be still” display the power of God’s Word. Mind-bending though the idea is, at God’s command the nations will be called to order, confronted by God’s glorious power: “Know that I am God! I will be exalted among the nations … and in the earth” (46:10).
In the closing words, the confidence in God in verse 1 returns with greater power: The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge – our high stronghold! The death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ confirm the truth and trustworthiness of these words.
In the immediate aftermath of 9/11 twenty years ago, churches were filled as many looked for comfort and hope. Some came to the risen Lord Jesus Christ for the first time. As we reflect on these events twenty years on, will you join with me in praying for the nations, especially that God might open blind eyes and unstop deaf ears, turning hard hearts towards their true home in Christ?
Let me encourage you to join us via the net to discover how you can turn the pages of John’s Gospel with your friends through Word121 (www.word121.com):
Friday morning, October 22 for ministers and ministry staff;
Saturday morning, October 23 for lay-leaders and church members.
Details to come this week.
Prayer. We commend to your fatherly care, merciful God, all those who in this passing world are in any kind of trouble, sorrow, sickness, anxiety or need, especially we pray for… Give them patience and confidence in your goodness, and in your mercy provide their every need. Father, hear our prayer, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
We praise your name for all your servants in whose life and death Christ has been honored. Grant that, encouraged by the good examples of their lives, we may run the race that is set before us, and with them share the fullness of joy at your right hand; through Christ who is the pioneer and perfecter of faith. Amen.
Faith is full of creativity. The house was full, a crowd blocked the entry, but faith found a creative way of getting to the Lord and placing the paralytic before Him. If we cannot get sinners to Jesus by ordinary methods, we must use extraordinary ones. It seems, according to Luke 5:19, that roof tiles had to be removed. That would create dust and cause a measure of danger to those below; but where the case is very urgent, we must be prepared to run some risks and shock some people. Jesus was there to heal, and therefore roof or no roof, faith ventured all so that the poor paralytic might have his sins forgiven. We need more daring creative faith among us! Dear reader, let us seek it this morning for ourselves and for our fellow-workers and try today to perform some gallant act for the love of souls and the glory of the Lord.
The world is constantly creating and inventing; genius serves all the purposes of human desire: Can’t faith invent too and by some creative means reach the people who are strangers to the Gospel? It was the presence of Jesus that stirred this victorious courage in the four friends of the paralytic. Is the Lord still present among us? Have we seen His face for ourselves this morning? Have we felt His healing power in our own souls? If so, then through the door or the window or the roof let us overcome every hindrance in bringing others to Jesus.
When faith and love are truly set on winning souls, we will learn to be creative in our approach. If hunger for bread can break through stone walls, surely hunger for souls is not to be hindered in its efforts. O Lord, make us quick to suggest and employ methods of reaching our friends and neighbors and of introducing them to You!
Sometimes it is less important to have the right answers than to have the right questions. A man named Saul thought he did not need to ask any questions. He had all the answers. The most important question, according to Saul, was “How can I be good enough for God?” He thought he had that answer down cold.
The only problem was, he was wrong. American humorist Will Rogers could have told Saul, “It’s not what you don’t know that will get you in trouble, but what you know for certain that just ain’t so.” Saul’s problem lay in the question “How can I be good enough?”
The answer, of course, is that he couldn’t. But he didn’t understand the holiness of God. No one who is separated from God understands His holiness. To tell you the truth, not many Christians do either.
Saul had never asked the right questions. I think non-Christians often don’t ask religious questions because down deep inside they have a sneaking suspicion of what the answers might be, and they don’t like them. But Christians also are afraid of questions for the same reason, so they get into trouble. Or they are afraid other Christians will call them “doubters” if they are overhead asking the wrong question. They don’t want to seem unspiritual or stupid. They also may be afraid God will lose patience with them.
But God loves to answer questions—the “stupider” the better—because He loves for us to have the ultimate truth we need to complete the sentence “I believe . . . ” He never loses patience with a question, and neither do people who are serving Him. If you take a question to more mature Christians, those who really are men or women of God, you likely will find they don’t think it is so dumb. Maybe they used to struggle with the same thing. Maybe they still do.
God tells us in James 1:5-8 that if anyone lacks wisdom “he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault.” James adds that what God doesn’t want is for someone to ask with a wavering heart. The purpose of God’s answer is to build a faith that is strong, single-minded, and founded on truth.
Saul’s faith was strong and single-minded, but it was not founded on truth. He believed that he would please God most by persecuting the followers of that trouble-making rabbi, Jesus of Nazareth. It never occurred to him to ask a rather obvious question: “Who are you, Lord, and who is Jesus of Nazareth?”
So God had a question to ask this pompous religious leader. In order to ask Saul, God had to get the man’s attention, so He tapped him on the shoulder (see Acts 9:1-9).
What He did was strike him blind. God knows how to get a person’s undivided attention. Then He asked the question, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?”
Saul, with all the answers, didn’t have a clue as to what God was talking about. Persecuting God? Wasn’t he doing his best to serve God by ridding the world of the followers of a crucified criminal?
But now Saul did know what question to ask. He asked the most important of all questions: “Lord, who are You?”
That is when Saul started to become Paul the Apostle—when he was confronted head-on by the holy God. When it comes to evaluating a religion and choosing ultimate truth, “Who are You?” is the question God most wants to answer. Only after you see Him for who He is can you have an intelligent belief.
It is good to be able, without any “if” or “but,” to say of the Lord Jesus, “You whom my soul loves.” Many can only say of Jesus that they hope they love Him; they trust they love Him; but only a poor and shallow experience will be content to stay here. No one ought to give any rest to his spirit until he feels quite sure about a matter of such vital importance. We should not be satisfied with a superficial hope that Jesus loves us and with a bare trust that we love Him. The old saints did not generally speak with “buts” and “ifs” and “hopes” and “trusts,” but they spoke positively and plainly. “I know whom I have believed,”1 said Paul. “I know that my Redeemer lives,”2 said Job. Get definite knowledge of your love for Jesus, and do not be satisfied until you can speak of your interest in Him as a reality—a reality that you have made sure of by receiving the witness of the Holy Spirit and His seal upon your soul by faith.
True love for Christ is in every case the Holy Spirit’s work and must be accomplished in the heart by Him. He is the efficient cause of it; but the logical reason why we love Jesus lies in Himself. Why do we love Jesus? Because He first loved us. Why do we love Jesus? Because He gave Himself for us. We have life through His death; we have peace through His blood. Though He was rich, yet for our sakes He became poor. Why do we love Jesus? Because of the excellency of His person. We are filled with a sense of His beauty, an admiration of His graces, a consciousness of His infinite perfection. His greatness, goodness, and loveliness, in one resplendent ray, combine to enchant the soul till it is so delighted that it exclaims, yes, He is “altogether lovely.”3 This is a blessed love that binds the heart with chains softer than silk, and yet stronger than steel!
“Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him” (Gen 2:18).
To create Eve, God put Adam to sleep and crafted Eve from his side. She lived in the perfection of the garden of Eden. She was perfectly made and bore the image of God. She was not, as Aristotle would claim, a lesser or maimed man but a perfect complement to Adam.
When Adam first sees his wife, we hear his beautiful poem:
“This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man” (Gen 2:23).
Adam and Eve had the perfect marriage; they were one flesh with no shame. We can think of this first family as Martin Luther did, as the first church; Adam, the first preacher, and Eve, the first hearer of the Word of God. But things changed when Satan, in the form of a serpent, began to cause Eve to question God’s Word.
We face the same temptations that Eve faced. The devil asks, “Did God really say…” and he distances us from God’s Word, weakening our faith in his promises. Instead of trusting in God’s word, she intentionally recalls it incorrectly. The devil deceived her, and she ate the fruit that Adam was told they could not eat. Adam and Eve’s act of rebellion was not a simple slip, but a declaration that they wanted to rely on themselves and not on God. Instead of living in the faith relationship first given to them by their creator, they desired to put themselves in God’s place. More than just a fall into sin, they declared themselves to be above the authority of God. Eve uses her reason, examining the fruit and making her own judgment, thinking she would become wise.
After they had taken the fruit, they realized their mistake but tried to hide and blame their sin on each other. Adam even blames God for his perfect work of creation in giving him his wife. But God does not leave them to hide. He invites them out of hiding into his forgiveness. He asks the question that he knows the answer to, “Where are you?”
Just like with Eve, God promises to remove us from our guilt and shame. He will clothe us with the righteousness of his forgiveness and grace.
When discussing these passages with my students, there are often so many questions about why and what-ifs. Many of the questions assume things that are not in the text. I think the questions are essential, but my goal is not to take the place of Eve and start to doubt why a loving God would do this or that. Instead, I point them to what we know. When Adam and Eve sin, there are consequences for each of them. But when God is cursing the serpent, we hear also hear God give Eve a new promise. God delivers a promise to Eve that also belongs to us. A Seed, a singular Seed, will come from Eve and end this separation of sin, death, and the devil. This is God’s first Gospel promise.
“I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel” (Gen 3:15).
Many might speculate about the details of this garden scene, but what we see in the text is clear. When we sin, God comes in with a promise. Luther put it this way:
Adam and Eve were encouraged by this promise. Wholeheartedly they grasped the hope of their restoration; and, full of faith, they say that God cared about their salvation since He clearly declared that the male Seed of the women would prostrate this enemy (AE 1:193).
Eve’s story continued in faith. When she had her firstborn son, she believed that she had received the promised Seed, declaring, “I have gotten a man with the help of the LORD.”
But years later, she would look in horror at the results of the sinful world. Cain’s murder of his brother, Abel, crushed her hope that her direct offspring would bring about the fulfillment of God’s words to her. And yet, her faith remained in the Word of God, in his promise. She said at the birth of her third son, Seth, “God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.”
Eve saw the effects of sin, death, and the devil first hand. But she kept her faith in the promise of God. She trusted that from her, a Savior would be born. It is by the death of the Seed of Eve that we all have our inheritance. From Adam, we inherit sin. But from Eve, the mother of all living, we inherit the promise of salvation from God.
Just like with Eve, God promises to remove us from our guilt and shame. He will clothe us with the righteousness of his forgiveness and grace. Maybe you have hidden sin that you have hidden from everyone. Remember that nothing is hidden from God. His invitation to come out of hiding is for you today. The righteousness of Christ covers all our guilt and shame. He offers it to us freely.
With the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan, the rise of ISIS-K and the prospect of renewed acts of terrorism, we wonder what the future holds. Judith and I were living in close proximity to the Twin Towers, Downtown Manhattan on September 11, 2001.
Psalm 146:3 says: Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs he returns to the earth;…
What a warning! Princes refers to people of influence and power. The psalm is telling us that humanly speaking, we will never find long-term answers to our deepest desires – our security and our future. And yet, in a world that has turned its back on God, is our only hope found in the decisions and achievements of influential men and women?
It is significant that in Isaiah chapter 32, verse 5 we find a deeper layer of the theme, put not your trust in princes. Isaiah warns us that the fool, one who denies God, will no more be called noble. And there is an even more sombre meaning when we consider God’s words to Adam in Genesis 3:19: “… You shall return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return”. It’s all rather depressing.
But the warning in Psalm 146 comes in the context of a big picture of God, for this is the first of the cluster of five psalms that conclude The Book of Psalms. Each of these psalms opens and closes with one Hebrew word: Hallelujah.
Hallelujah brings together two Hebrew words: Hallel a verb meaning praise, and Jah which is a contraction of the word for God – Jehovah or Yahweh. Put together they form a command to everyone: Praise the Lord.
This is the context of the warning in Psalm 146. No matter how powerful or rich, impressive or influential someone might be, they are still only human. The paths of human power and glory are transient for they always lead to the grave.
Despite the passing of the centuries Psalm 146 has lost none of its relevance. Only one person is worthy of our unconditional trust: the Lord God Almighty.
Which brings us to the second theme of the Psalm: Blessing.
In verse 5 we read: Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God,… We put our trust in the God of good news.
And as the psalm continues to unfold, the focus is on God as creator, his faithfulness and his justice, his love and his commitment to give us life and hope.
The notion of a creator God is aggressively dismissed today on social media and by opinion-shapers. Yet some of the finest scientific minds agree that we are not here by chance. The universe is the work of a supreme intelligence.
For example, Dr. John Lennox writes in God’s Undertaker: Has Science Buried God? ‘To the majority of those who have reflected deeply and written about the origin and nature of the universe, it has seemed that it points beyond itself to a source which is non-physical and of great intelligence and power’.
Furthermore, God is truly the God of good news. In verses 7 and 8 we read: …who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free;.. He opens the eyes of the blind. He lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. The oppressed, the hungry, the prisoners, the blind, and the righteous, as well as the sojourners or immigrants, the widow and the fatherless (verse 9), are the recipients of God’s help.
The flow of the sentence tells us that these are not different groups of people, but the same people. It speaks of God’s people as a whole. The righteous are those who are righteous by faith. They don’t put their trust in the influential or powerful. They put their trust in the God who is faithful, the God who has good news to offer, the God who offers hope and a future.
Now the psalmist is not saying that there is no place for human agencies. That’s not his point. His question is: ‘Where do you put your trust – in human princes or in God?’
When we open our minds and hearts to God, whose beauty and love are now perfectly revealed for us in Jesus Christ, God’s eternal Son, we will find Hallelujah rising to our lips again and again. We will find that whatever our song of experience was in the past, it can now finish with Hallelujah, the heartfelt song of praise, of hope and of joy, to the one true God.
Consider the biblical richness of the hymn from Keith and Kristyn Getty and Matt Papa:
‘What is our hope in life and death? Christ alone, Christ alone. What is our only confidence? That our souls to him belong.
‘Who holds our days within his hands? What comes, apart from his command? And what will keep us to the end? The love of Christ in which we stand! …
‘What truth can calm the troubled soul? God is good. God is good. Where is his grace and goodness known? In our great redeemer’s blood.
‘Who holds our faith when fears arise? Who stands above the stormy trial? Who sends the waves that brings us nigh, unto the shore, the rock of Christ? …
‘Unto the grave, what will we sing? Christ, he lives: Christ, he lives! And what reward will heaven bring? Everlasting life with him.
There we will rise to meet the Lord. Then sin and death will be destroyed. And we will feast in endless joy when Christ is ours for evermore!
‘O sing, Hallelujah! Our hope springs eternal. O sing, Hallelujah! Now and ever we confess, Christ our hope in life and death.’
To return to Psalm 146: The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
A prayer: O God, the author and lover of peace, in knowledge of whom stands our eternal life, whose service is perfect freedom; defend us your servants in all assaults of our enemies, that surely trusting in your defense, we may not fear the power of any adversaries, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10
Faith in Action
We are not saved by good works. But once saved, we should do good works. Salvation is by the grace of God alone, received by faith alone. However, we are saved to serve. We are blessed in order to be a blessing. To whom much is given, much is required. To whom much more is given, much more is required. Those who have been forgiven much, love much.
The Fruit of Faith
Good works are a fruit of faith. Not the root. The grace of Almighty God is the root of faith and the fruit of faith is seen in: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control in action.
Learn to do Good
We read in Isaiah 1:17: “Learn to do good; seek justice, rebuke the oppressor; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow.”
Glorify God by Good Works
In the Sermon on the Mount our Lord Jesus taught us: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven.” Matthew 5:16
Be Fruitful in Every Good Work
“That you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” Colossians 1:10
Be Rich in Good Works
“Let them do good, that they may be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share.” 1 Timothy 6:18
Maintain a Pattern of Good Works
“In all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility.” Titus 2:7
Be Zealous for Good Works
“He gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.” Titus 2:14
Be Careful to Maintain Good Works
“This is a faithful saying and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to man.” Titus 3:8
Exhort One Another to Good Works
“And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” Hebrews 10:24-25
Faith Without Works is Dead
“Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” James 2:17
Show Forth your Faith by Action
“But someone will say, you have faith and I have works. Show me your faith without your works and I will show you my faith by my works.” James 2:18
Live Honourably
“Having your conduct honourable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.” 1 Peter 2:12
Works of Charity
We read of Dorcas, in Acts 9:36, who is described as a woman “full of good works and charitable deeds …”
Labour of Love
The Apostle Paul commends the Church of Thessalonica “remembering without ceasing your work of faith, your labour of love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father.” 1 Thessalonians 1:3
Beware of Sins of Omission
“Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.” James 4:17
Honour God with Great Acts of Faith and Obedience
The Greatest Century of Missions was launched by a sermon by William Carey which was summarised as: “Expect great things from God! Attempt great things for God!” God is great. We should honour Him with great faith. God just loves to be trusted.
The Revival in Ireland
The Revival in Ulster of 1859 began when Rev. J.H. Moore exhorted some of his young men: “Can you not do something more for God?” He challenged them to gather some of their careless neighbours to spend an hour with them reading and studying the Word of God.
The Bible Study in Kells
James McQuilkin, Jeremiah Meneely, Robert Carlisle and John Wallace began a weekly Bible study and prayer meeting in the old school house near Kells, not far from Ballymena. During the long winter of 1857 to 1858, every Friday evening, these young men gathered with an armful of coal and taking their Bibles, made their way to the old school house. There they read and meditated upon the Scriptures and poured out their hearts in prayer to God. As the coals in the fireplace heated the school room, the Scriptures warmed their hearts and fired their minds with a hunger for Revival.
These Bible study and prayer meetings continued for three months before there were any visible results. During that time two more young men joined them and on New Years Day, 1858, the first conversion took place as a result of their prayer meeting. Thereafter, there were conversions every night. By the end of 1858, there were fifty young men involved in those Friday evening prayer meetings in the school house in Kells.
Edwin Orr later wrote that the Revival which originated in this prayer meeting of four young men in the school house of Kells made a greater impact in Ireland than anything else since the days of Patrick, the missionary who had won Ireland to Christ.
Many people had ridiculed these young men praying for Revival. But faith grew. Hope brightened. The power of prayer began to be known, felt and seen.
The School in Coleraine
At the local school in Coleraine, Antrim County, a school teacher, seeing one young boy clearly under the conviction of sin, advised him to call upon the Lord in private. He sent with him an older boy who had found peace the day before. As these two boys travailed in prayer, the young boy was blessed with such sacred peace and rejoicing. He returned to school, and with beaming face reported to his teacher: “Oh sir, I am so happy. I have the Lord Jesus in my heart!” The attention of the whole class was arrested.
Conviction of Sin
One boy after another silently slipped out of the classroom and after a while the school teacher looked out to see the boys on their knees throughout the playground, each one in earnest prayer. He turned to two boys who he knew to be walking with the Lord and asked them: “Do you think you can go and pray with these boys?” They did so, and kneeling down with one after the other, they began to implore the Lord to forgive their sins for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ who had borne all upon the Cross. Silent grief, soon turned to bitter cries.
As these cries reached the girls’ school, they too fell upon their knees and wept in grief over their sins. The cries of these boys and girls at school reached passers-by in the adjoining streets and conviction of sin came upon these pedestrians and they fell upon their knees in the street, pleading to the Lord for mercy.
Pastors and many prayer warriors were sought out and they spent the rest of the day in counselling and praying with these mourners. It was not until 11pm that night that the school premises could be closed.
Sermons in the Streets
The next day an open-air meeting was held to hear testimonies of those who had been converted. Masses of people from town and country began to pour into the square. The multitude could not hear the voices of the people on the platform, so it was suggested that the people should separate into different groups and that the various ministers should preach to each group. This was done immediately.
Earnest Searching for Peace with God
One of the ministers testified afterwards: “I never before saw in any audience, the same searching, earnest, rivetted look fixed upon my face, as they strained up to me from almost every eye in that hushed and awe-struck multitude. I remember while I was speaking, asking myself: How is this? Why is this?”
A peculiar cry arose from one side of the square and in minutes the whole multitude was overcome with conviction of sin. Ministers spent the rest of the day and night counselling and praying with individuals under the conviction of sin. As one minister described it: “When the morning dawned and the sun rose, I was still wandering from street to street and from house to house, on the most marvellous and solemn errand upon which I’d ever been sent.”
Kneeling in the Street
The next day the market place was packed with even greater multitudes than the day before. And they all fell to their knees in the streets and began to seek the Lord with loud cries, calling for mercy.
Transformation
On the night of June 1859, the town hall of Coleraine was packed to overflowing with people under conviction of sin and seeking consolation, instructions and prayer from Christian ministers. One minister wrote: “Full sanctuaries, full Sabbath Schools, full prayer meetings, brotherly love, increased generosity and additions by the hundreds to the communion of the Churches. These are the fruits that remain” of the summer Revival of 1859 in Coleraine.
Spiritual Hunger
When Church services were concluded, the people remained, still yearning for more. People would stop ministers on the street and urgently demand: “What must I do to be saved? I have been a hypocrite! I’ve been a formalist! I have been blind! I feel such a burden of sin. If I do not get relief, I must die and be dammed.”
The Music Hall
The Belfast Music Hall was packed to overflowing and nearly 100 ministers from all denominations filled the platform. Even the mayor was part of this seeking for the mercy of the Lord.
The Botanical Gardens
Soon the Botanical Gardens had to be opened up for the vast crowd that had gathered, a larger crowd that had ever gathered before in the history of Ireland. “It was the most impressive spectacle I have ever witnessed … thousands of sturdy and resolute men were congregated … with a stern purpose … with their Bible in their hands … pouring on as in as unceasing stream …” In Belfast it appeared that the entire population was gathered for prayer meetings and open-air evangelism, with the deepest seriousness and concern about eternal matters. It seemed that the entire city was filled with anxiety about salvation and a desire for prayerful study of the Word of God in the Bible.
Street People Saved
One humble, devout Christian woman led 20 prostitutes to salvation and rescued them out of sin and misery. “Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit says the Lord.” Zechariah 4:6
Joy Inexpressible
One pastor reported: “The joy of converts, the cry of penitents, the wailing of friends, the Holy Ghost was there indeed as a mighty rushing wind … we saw their eyes beaming with the light of Heaven; their light shining like angels, their hearts heaving with the love of Jesus and their hands clapping with joy before the God of Heaven … it was a foretaste of Heaven. All was in accordance with order, nothing extravagant … God was there and we all bowed before Him. To Him be the glory.”
Unable to Sing
There were services where people came under such conviction of sin that they broke down and were unable to continue with singing the words of the Hymn … “My body broken, thus I give …”
The Power of Prayer
One man who was converted became most anxious for the conversion of his fellow workers in the mill. However, his fellow workmen mocked, swore and sang impure songs to distress him. He resolved to pray for them. Suddenly, one day, the men in the mill were astonished by cries from their homes nearby. The business in the mill was suspended as the men rushed to their homes to see what was causing these cries. They found their wives, sons and daughters prostrate under strong conviction of sin. Crying out for mercy to the Lord. The men quickly requested the new convert to come and pray with their family members. Soon the weeping penitents became rejoicing converts.
The Power of God at the Mill
Soon the work of the mill had to be stopped because the men came under such conviction of sin that even the strongest men and greatest scoffers in the country, fell powerless under the mighty influence of God’s Holy Spirit. Strong men prostrated themselves face down on the ground and cried out for mercy. And this time it was their wives and daughters who came rushing over to the mill to pray with them. And with tears of joy, they returned thanks to God for His mighty works. As one minister wrote: “Such seeking, asking, striving to enter the Kingdom of God I never saw before.”
Children Praising God
As one young girl sang Psalm 51, crowds gathered outside and wept and prayed and came literally walking and leaping and praising God. In Armagh, a young girl of 11 years old entered school lifted her hands and declared: “Oh, I’ve found Jesus! I’ve found Jesus!” The other children began to cry to the Lord for mercy. One minister declared: “A year ago I was preaching to the dead, but now I am preaching to the living.”
God is Not Mocked
Some young men planned to mock the Revival by pretending to fall down and be stricken with guilt while others were to call Christians to come and pray for the pretended case of conviction. The first young man to foolishly take part in this blasphemous mocked grief fell dead on the spot. What had begun as a farce ended as a tragedy. The fear of God fell upon the unrepentant.
Drunkards Convicted
In Belfast, an old grey-haired man who had pawned his coat to pay for one more bottle of whisky, went into a bar and found a young woman there, on her knees, crying out for mercy. He left the pub declaring loudly that he could not take his whisky there. However, he soon returned and also fell on his knees, calling out to God for mercy. A coachman drew up, went in and was similarly affected. Before long there were five men in the whisky shop calling out to God for forgiveness and mercy, while praying on their knees.
The Presence of God
One minister wrote: “We have now seen the wondrous difference which His presence makes. When He is absent, Christians are cold, ordinances are powerless, cynicism immovable and dead, wickedness prevails. “When He comes in His love, and grace and power, God’s children are lively, tender, loving, fervent, zealous, laborious. The means of grace prove effectual to the salvation of multitudes. Hypocrites are unmasked. The careless alarmed and aroused. The ungodly fly to Jesus. Iniquity abashed hides it head. May the experience of the past stir us up to desire continued outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit.”
A Prayer of Surrender
One of the prayers used multiple times in the 1859 Revival was later printed up as a decision card for those who wanted to wholeheartedly surrender to the Lordship of Christ. It read:
My decision:
I take God the Father to be my God (1 Thessalonians 1:19)
I take God the Son to be my Saviour (Acts 5:31)
I take God the Holy Spirit to be my Sanctifier (1 Peter 1:2)
I take the Word of God to be my rule (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
I take the people of God to be my people (Ruth 1:16-17)
I likewise dedicate myself wholly to the Lord (Romans 14:7-8)
And I do this prayerfully (Psalm 119:94)
Deliberately (Joshua 24:15)
Sincerely (2 Corinthians 1:12)
Freely (Psalm 110:3)
And forever (Romans 8:35-39).
“Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God for He will abundantly pardon.” Isaiah 55:6-7
And how did this great Revival begin?
With a challenge: Can you not do something more for God?
Can you?
Can you not do something?
Can you do not do something more?
Can you not do something more for God?
We can all pray. Most of us can give. Some of us can go. Can we not study the Word of God more? Can we invite some friends or neighbours around for a Bible study? Perhaps you could start a Bible study and prayer fellowship at your work place, school, or neighbourhood? Perhaps you could make regular witnessing a lifestyle choice. To always have tracts and Gospel booklets to put into the hands of people you meet at shops, at petrol stations, at toll gates and police checkpoints. We can sow the good seed of the Word of God in the lives of those we come across. Perhaps we can do more worship? Sing a hymn before work each day. Read the Bible before breakfast. Instead of just revving your engine at a red traffic light, how about using these stops as an opportunity to pray for someone?
Carpe Diem! Sieze the day!
We can take initiative. Make a plan. “Where duty calls or danger, be never wanting there.”
Expect great things from God! Attempt great things for God!
“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and forever. Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21
What do tulips, the love of God, and a centuries-old understanding of salvation have in common? They are all reflected in what has come to be known as the five points of Calvinism.
How are these things interconnected? The word tulip forms an acrostic that summarizes a particular understanding of salvation that has at its center the love of God. Let’s see how this works.
Total Depravity
T stands for total depravity, which describes how sin affects human beings. But to understand this, we have to start before sin entered the world. Our triune God from all eternity has existed as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, equal in power and glory, enjoying a never-beginning and never-ending relationship of holy love. This holy love motivated God’s free decision to create the universe and to create man and woman in His own image to love Him and each other. However, Adam chose to reject our Creator, and, through Adam’s disobedience, humanity fell into sin (Gen. 3; Rom. 5:12–21). Total depravity says that sin has so twisted us that apart from grace, we love other things more than we love God. Our minds, our bodies, our affections, our spirits—every part of us has been affected by sin, and of our own accord, we cannot escape this predicament. God has not stopped loving His creation, however (John 3:16). And in His love, He restrains sin, keeping us from being as bad as we possibly could be. Thus, even those who do not know Christ can do things that are outwardly good. They can be good neighbors, love their children, and so on. However, outside of grace, none of us does these things with the right motivation to love and glorify God.
Unconditional Election
U stands for unconditional election, which is part of God’s solution to our total depravity. The fall into sin, of course, did not surprise God. He knows the end from the beginning and has ordained history as part of the outworking of His plan and purposes for all things (Isa. 46:8–11; Eph. 1:11). The Lord would have been just to keep us in our state of sin and estrangement from Him, but He decided to set His special love on His people, choosing to redeem them and restore to them their status as God’s children. Unconditional electionis God’s loving choice of specific sinners for salvation without respect to any good in them(Rom. 9:1–29). His saving love for us isnot conditioned on our intelligence, our looks, our kindness, our social status, or anything else. He loves His people not because they are less sinfulthan others. Everydescendant of Adam and Eve (except for Christ) is a sinner. Unconditional electionsays that God chooses to save some people and to pass over others. He has a love for some people that He does not have for others. If you are a Christian, it is because in eternity past, long before you were born, God chose to love you with His saving love. He did not choose youbecause you were better than others. He did not choose youbecause He knew you would choose Him if He gave you the chance. He simply chose to love you, and since His love is not conditioned on anything in you, He will never stop loving you.
Limited Atonement
L stands for limited atonement, which describes God’s intent behind the death of Christ in providing salvation. The question is, Did Christ intend to atone for the sins of all people who have ever lived, or did He intend to atone for the sins of the elect only? Another way of putting it: Did God love people generally, without reference at all to them as individuals, and send Christ to die to provide a possibility of salvation? Or did God love specific individuals, sending His Son to die for them specifically, perfectly atoning for their sin such that the death of Christ actually guarantees the salvation of a particular people?
Limited atonement is necessitated by God’s justice. If sin has been atoned for, it has been judged and God no longer holds it against us. But unbelief is a sin, so if Christ died for all sinners, how could God hold unbelief against anyone? Christ atoned for it, after all. But God sends unbelievers to hell, and if their sin has been atoned for, this is unjust. He is holding sin against them that cannot be held against them because Christ atoned for it.
Limited atonement is also taught explicitly in Scripture. Under the old covenant, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest of Israel offered an atoning sacrifice only for the people of Israel, not for everyone on the planet (Lev. 16). In the new covenant, Jesus tells us that He lays His life down for His sheep and only for His sheep (John 10:1–18). Some people are not His sheep but are goats. Jesus died not for the goats but for the sheep—His people. We should note that some people have objected to limited atonement because of texts such as 1 John 2:2, which says Jesus is the propitiation not for our sins only but “for the sins of the whole world.” Yet, that text is not talking about the intent of the atonement; rather, it refers to the way of salvation more generally. God has provided only one way of salvation—through Christ (John 14:6). If anyone in the world is going to be saved, it is going to be through Him. There is no other way. The point of 1 John 2:2 is that Christ is the only atonement that can save anyone, not that He has atoned for the sins of every individual.
Irresistible Grace
I stands for irresistible grace, which refers to God’s loving power in salvation. Essentially, it says that if God loves you and wants you in His family, He is going to get you. He loves you so much that He will ensure that you come to faith, and He is powerful enough to guarantee your faith. So often in life, we see people we love going down the wrong path and we cannot convince them to turn from it. We are powerless to ensure that they make the right choice. God’s love is powerful enough to ensure that we make the right choice. He can overcome all resistance we might offer and He never fails to persuade the elect to trust in Him. Certainly, we may resist Christ for a time. We might reject the gospel for years before we believe it. That’s why it might be better to speak of finally irresistible grace or of effectual grace. Yet, when all is said and done, God will bring all of His children to faith.
You can probably see how this is required by unconditional election. If God chooses some for salvation and this will cannot be thwarted, then His grace must be finally irresistible. It must be effectual to bring us to faith. But we also find evidence for it in texts such as John 6:37–40, where we are told that everyone given to Christ by the Father for salvation actually comes to Him. Ephesians 2:1–10 also tells us that God makes people who are dead in sin alive. Resurrection requires an effectual power because dead people cannot respond in faith. God must act effectually to give us new hearts before we believe because we cannot cooperate with Him while dead in sin. Other texts that point to God’s finally irresistible grace include Genesis 12:1–3, where God commands Abram to go up out of Ur and the patriarch does not at all hesitate to leave. God decreed it and it happens.
In sum, irresistible grace preserves the truth that God is not just all-loving but He is all-powerful. His love is strong enough to guarantee the salvation of all those He wants to save. His love for His people is omnipotent.
Perseverance of the Saints
P refers to the perseverance of the saints, which teaches God’s permanent saving love for His people. The Lord never stops loving His people with a saving, effectual love; consequently, all those who have truly believed in Him will not finally fall away from faith. True believers in Christ might seem to abandon Him for a time, but if they have truly believed in Him, they will always come back to Him. Those who profess faith but then fall away finally never actually believed in Christ in the first place. They go out from us because they were never truly of us (1 John 2:19).
Again, other theological points such as unconditional election require perseverance. If God chooses to save the elect, the elect must persevere. We also find the teaching explicitly stated in Scripture. Christ says that no one can snatch us out of the Father’s hand (John 10:28). “No one” includes even us—even we cannot snatch ourselves out of His hand. Romans 8:28–30 says that everyone whom God justifies He also glorifies. Since justification comes by faith alone (Rom. 4), if God glorifies all whom He justifies, He glorifies all who come to saving faith. In short, God loves us too much to let us fall out of His grace. He simply will not let us.
As you can see, TULIP, or the five points of Calvinism, summarizes God’s work of salvation, and it highlights the omnipotent love of God. Christians can rest assured that if they believe, it is because of the work of God, and that work cannot fail because His love cannot fail.
Etched on a granite memorial in Point State Park in Pittsburgh are the words “A Place of International Consequence.” This place, Three Rivers, played a pivotal role in the Colonial era. In the 1750s, however, few likely realized the full significance of the events transpiring in that place. But the ramifications were huge, and the impact would last for centuries. This place of international consequence was directly ten miles to the northwest of the childhood homes of R.C. Sproul and Vesta (Voorhis) Sproul.
Before August 1971: The Foundation
R.C. had fond memories of his beloved Pittsburgh. This place shaped him; you could hear it in his accent decades after he had left. Pittsburgh was not only the Steel City; it was also the Presbyterian City. But by the 1950s and ’60s, it was a Presbyterianism void of its confessional commitments. R.C. went to a Presbyterian church, a Presbyterian college, and a Presbyterian seminary—all of which were patently liberal. This provided R.C. with two fundamental building blocks. First, when he finally did hear the truth of the gospel, he had an overwhelming gratitude for the grace and kindness of God and a consuming desire and passion to know, serve, and worship the triune God of the gospel. That gratitude and passion marked his entire life; it drove him and the ministry he founded. Second, being surrounded by error honed his apologetic skills. R.C. was a communicator; he was also an apologist. He spoke often of Ligonier’s mission not only to teach and proclaim the truth but also to defend and contend for the truth. R.C. knew firsthand the ravaging effects of false teaching.
R.C.’s love and passion for truth, goodness, and beauty—and his desire to fight for them—served as part of the foundation for Ligonier Ministries. Another part concerned the message. From the first time R.C. read the Bible as a Christian, he had the transformative realization that “God is a God who plays for keeps.” While so many in culture and in the church were taken by a shallow view of who God is, R.C. was brought to his knees, like Isaiah the prophet, before the refulgent splendor of the holiness of God. The holiness of God, in all its fullness, was not only the foundation for Ligonier; it permeates everything the ministry has done over the last fifty years, and it remains the North Star.
With a mission and a message in place, the foundation needs one more piece, and that is the audience. By the time he turned thirty years old, R.C. was a seminary professor at the top of his profession, and he was bored. Meanwhile, he was teaching a Sunday school class. There he discovered laity who were hungry not for crumbs but for the meat of God’s Word and of doctrine. Teacher and audience played off each other. The hungrier they were, the more excited R.C. was to teach them, which only caused them to come back for more.
1971-1984
With the foundation laid, God brought two forces together to start building the structure. One was R.C., Vesta, and the Sproul family. It is important to remember that from the beginning it was R.C. and Vesta. The other force was Dora Hillman, the widow of a Pittsburgh industrialist. She lived in the Ligonier Valley, in western Pennsylvania. Near her home, a fifty-two-acre property went up for sale. She bought it and built a house on it for the Sprouls that served as their family home, lecture hall, dining commons for students, and the offices for the Ligonier Valley Study Center. R.C. prepared and gave lectures and hosted the legendary “Gabfests,” Q&A sessions on Monday nights. Books were written. Teaching series were recorded on audiocassette. Then, in 1975, a teaching series was recorded, for the first time, by video. Wearing his aviator sunglasses and a distinctly 1970s outfit, R.C. recorded The Holiness of God. There was nothing like it at the time. He had a chalkboard, a lectern, a passion, a message, and an audience. Those early years at the LVSC were a pioneering moment in adult Christian education.
At the time, however, R.C. and Vesta were not thinking of it that way. They were simply being faithful and being obedient to what God called them to do. As they were faithful, God blessed the study center with fruitfulness. Bob Ingram, who later served as Ligonier’s president and editor of Tabletalk (1988–1992), recalls going out to the study center, always with a carload from his singles group. He said succinctly, “The study center trained my generation.” From 1971 through 1984, tens of thousands would make their way up and down the back roads snaking through the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains to get to the study center in Stahlstown. They came with questions, and R.C. and the other teachers at the study center gave them answers from God’s Word. Far more would learn from R.C. through the teaching that was sent out on audio- and videocassettes. Many first heard and saw R.C. as they sat in a Sunday school class in a church basement watching a TV set.
1984-1994
It soon became clear to the board that Ligonier could be more effective without a large campus to upkeep. In 1984, Ligonier moved to Orlando, Fla. Orlando provided both a place where people could come for teaching and a place from where teaching could go out. In 1988, Ligonier hosted its first National Conference under the title Loving a Holy God. The National Conference continues to be the annual family reunion for Ligonier students and also serves as a focal point for Ligonier to release new books and teaching series.
The move to Orlando also coincided with a significant development regarding the publication Tabletalk. Started in 1977, Tabletalk was redesigned and reformatted in 1989. Offering articles around a theme and daily devotionals, Tabletalk has continually grown in circulation, now with more than one hundred thousand copies distributed monthly. It encapsulates R.C.’s vision for encouraging God’s people not only to read God’s Word but also to study God’s Word. During this time, R.C. published two classic books: The Holiness of God in 1985, followed by Chosen by God in 1986. All the while, the teaching series continued to be produced, recorded, and distributed.
1994-2021
R.C.’s first radio program, The R.C. Sproul Study Hour, aired in 1982. In 1986, Ask R.C. aired on six radio stations. These were building up to the launch of Renewing Your Mind in 1994. Of course, the first episodes would be his series on the holiness of God. Christian radio consisted mostly of sermons. RYM aired teaching episodes. You could hear the chalk as R.C. dotted i’s and crossed t’s. He made you feel like you were sitting in his class, that he was talking directly to you. There was nothing else like it on the air, and it soon became a staple for commuters. It continues to be.
More books were written. Conferences continued to be held in Orlando, across the country, and, eventually, around the world. Ligonier also started hosting study tours in the Holy Land and in the fabled cities of the Reformers. As technology developed, Ligonier expanded the means to communicate and promulgate the teaching. The website remains a significant and efficient tool to distribute teaching. Additionally, there is RefNet, a host of podcasts, Ligonier Connect, and Ask Ligonier. All these initiatives, and new ones under development, leverage technology to proclaim the holiness of God to as many people as possible.
While Ligonier continued to expand its reach, in 2011 it returned to its roots by opening the doors of Reformation Bible College in central Florida. The college has around 140 students on campus, with an additional one hundred students taking courses online. Ligonier also expanded the teaching base in 2010 to include the teaching fellows. Alongside the vast array of teaching materials from R.C., Ligonier provides a platform for the writing and speaking of the teaching fellows and other trusted teachers. Since 1971, Ligonier has served to bring teachers to students.
Ligonier also expanded beyond the English language and currently operates websites in seven different languages, including Spanish, Arabic, Farsi, and Chinese. New content is added daily to each of these sites. In March 2018, Ligonier first aired Renovando tu Mente, the daily Spanish language version of Renewing Your Mind. These efforts also include translating many books by R.C. and others, as well as producing translations of the Reformation Study Bible. Ligonier Ministries, like the point at Three Rivers, has become a place of international consequence.
What’s Next?
Whenever a significant initiative was launched or a milestone reached, R.C. would take a moment to celebrate. Then he would turn to those around him and ask, “What’s next?” We continue to ask that question. The answer on the one hand is that we don’t know. We do know that God has been faithful to us from the very beginning and through challenging years. And as we mourned the passing of R.C. in the final days of 2017, God blessed Ligonier. In these past three years, we have seen the most expansive outreach in the history of Ligonier. For these past fifty years, we are grateful. But may we never be presumptuous. Ligonier serves the church, and we serve by the divine prerogative of our holy God. Looking to God, we ask: What might the next fifty years bring? As we look back to celebrate our fiftieth anniversary together with you, please know that we are looking ahead, renewed in our commitment to proclaim the holiness of God in all its fullness to as many people as possible. We have set a course for faithfulness, not knowing what comes next, but eagerly anticipating what God will do.
Strive with all diligence to keep out the monster of unbelief. It is so dishonoring to Christ that He will withdraw His visible presence if we insult Him by tolerating it. It is true it is a weed that we can never entirely remove from the soil, but we must aim at its root with zeal and perseverance. Among hateful things it is the most to be defeated. Its hurtful nature is so poisonous that he that uses it and he upon whom it is used are both harmed by it. In your case, believer, it is most wicked, for the mercies of your Lord in the past increase your guilt in doubting Him now. When you distrust the Lord Jesus, He may well cry out, “Behold, I will press you down in your place, as a cart full of sheaves presses down.” To doubt is to crown His head with thorns of the sharpest kind.
It is very cruel for a well-beloved wife to mistrust a kind and faithful husband. The sin is needless, foolish, and unwarranted. Jesus has never given the slightest ground for suspicion, and it is hard to be doubted by those to whom our conduct is consistently affectionate and true. Jesus is the Son of the Highest and has unlimited wealth; it is shameful to doubt Omnipotence and distrust His sufficiency. The cattle on a thousand hills will be enough for our most hungry feeding, and the granaries of heaven are not likely to be emptied by our eating. If Christ were only a cistern, we might soon exhaust His fullness, but who can drain a fountain? Countless believers throughout the ages have drawn their supplies from Him, and not one of them has complained at the insufficiency of His resources.
Dispel this lying traitor unbelief, for his only errand is to cut the bonds of communion and make us mourn an absent Savior. Bunyan tells us that unbelief has “as many lives as a cat”; if so, let us kill one life now, and continue the work until the whole nine are gone. Down with you, traitor, my heart detests you.
SFOI ARCHIVE 