The Wanderer

This past Lord’s day my father and co-elder was preaching away in Portsmouth, at Grace Baptist Church, so I had all three ministries at the church here.  We had a freak week when we had an unusual number of people absent: there were holidays, sicknesses, care responsibilities.  The net effect was that we were thin on the ground both morning and evening.  While the absences were for the most part legitimate, this was somewhat disappointing, as this Sunday was the first day of a week of prayer that we are undertaking as a church, and the ministry this weekend was geared primarily toward our concerns as a congregation: spiritual vitality and spiritual discernment.

In the Sunday School, though, I continued with our regular studies in the Christian family, moving into the realm of parenting.  We began by identifying – very carefully, I hasten to add – the God-ordained role of a parent to children as that of a mediator.  This is not any suggestion of a direct salvific role, but there is a sense in which a parent brings the character and Word of God to bear upon his children.  We contrasted this with the rationalistic, traditional, pragmatic, or fatalistic models that our society offers or imposes, and made plain that it is essential for a parent to see themselves in God’s role, and not be pressured into any others.  We took into account both the light of special revelation and the light of nature, and how to manage the latter in the context of the former.  We will delve into the role of the parent in more detail in coming weeks, God willing.

In the morning ministry, I took up Colossians 2 again, concentrating on verses 4 and 5, and The danger of deceit.  Here Paul expresses plainly what before he has only implied, and makes his first direct reference to the errorists in Colosse.

We saw the vehicle for Paul’s warning: it rides a wave of intense pastoral affection, demonstrated by earnest desire for and pursuit of the spiritual well-being of these saints, joy at every evidence of grace among them, and felt fellowship with them in Christ.  This opens a door to their hearts for a sober warning.

Observe also the alertness required of healthy saints: danger looms, and Satan orchestrates a campaign of deliberate deceit to undermine God’s character and word, just as he did in Eden.  He assaults the person and work of Christ Jesus.  Some will be utterly deluded and proved false, but even true saints will feel the debilitating effect of losing sight of Jesus as he truly is, being temporarily and partially crippled.

Finally, the danger lies in the persuasiveness of deceit: it is plausible.  It destroys by degrees – deceit is not a street thug but a cunning assassin.  It is not simply embracing gross heresy.  Orthodox saints can be deceived when they either believe or live as if Jesus is something less or other than he truly is.

Where the true knowledge of Christ declines, spiritual declension and debilitation follow, and all manner of errors and follies can enter in.  By contrast, clear and believing views of Christ are a shield against deceptive rhetoric, and the only means to attain spiritual vitality.

In the evening I turned to Psalm 119, and suggested that the psalm as a whole provides a profitable starting point for our prayers of this week, weaving together as it does pleas to God both for renewed vigour of faith and experience, and wisdom to walk in accordance with God’s will.  The opening stanzas make plain that genuine attention to the Word of God is always joined with prayer to the God of the Word.  Verse 10 was our focus, as we concentrated on Seeking God.  Here the author demonstrates a total engagement with God. David seeks him with the whole heart – with thoroughness and intensity. In approaching God, we must come in conscious, deliberate, entire dependence on Christ, aware of both the grace and glory God to whom we come.

We also see a singleminded pursuit of God: David seeks the Giver over the gifts, the Benefactor before the benefits, the Guide and not only guidance. We need God as creatures to be sustained, as sinners to be saved, and as servants to be sanctified. We need him always, but there are times when our sense of need is heightened by particular circumstances. It is God himself we need.

Finally, there is a humble request to God. Character does not purchase communion with God, but communion with God precedes and produces godly character. The more we know of God, the greater desire we will have for him, and the greater our holy fear of offending him. David therefore pleads with God, recognising that he is prone to wander the moment he might be without God’s presence. His desire is that he might live a life governed by the Word of God, neither deliberately transgressing nor ignorantly wandering, but upright from beginning to end, inwardly and outwardly, righteous in principle and in practice. For this, we do not need all the answers all the time, but rather light for obedience step by step.