I am currently cruising at about 36,000 feet on my way to the conference in Anchorage, Alaska. I was doing what is normally called "sermon preparation," but for me of late, that has been focused very much upon the text itself. That is, I have found great freedom (and the people of God have seemed to be especially blessed) when I speak directly from the original language text itself. This involves a flowing translation of the text, commentary thereon, followed by exegesis of the key passages. I was reading John chapter 8 when I encountered these familiar words from Jesus' encounter with the Jews, "And He was saying to them, 'You are from below. I am from above. You are of (from) this world. I am not of (from) this world" (καὶ ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς· ὑμεῖς ἐκ τῶν κάτω ἐστέ, ἐγὼ ἐκ τῶν ἄνω εἰμί· ὑμεῖς ἐκ τούτου τοῦ κόσμου ἐστέ, ἐγὼ οὐκ εἰμὶ ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου τούτου. John 8:23). I was struck once again by a theme I have pointed to many times in my preaching. We are so often used to hearing Jesus speak in the context of His divinity that we often do not "hear" how very strange His words would have sounded in their original context. We know Jesus is the Incarnate Lord, the eternal Second Person of the Trinity, the Son of God, and so these kinds of words do not amaze us. But we must put ourselves in the context of the Jews standing in the gazofulakion, the treasury room of the Temple. And I think what caused me to especially focus upon this text at this time is my upcoming debates with Muslims.

If you can, put yourself in the original context, and "hear" Jesus speaking. What do you hear? What strikes you? Is there not a clear, strong differentiation between the Lord's view of Himself, His self-understanding, and that of everyone around Him? Are these the words of a man who sees Himself as "one of us" in the sense of origination? Surely not. The "below/above" and "this world/not this world" couplets are meant to communicate Jesus' divine origin very strongly. Jesus is not merely saying, "I am in harmony with God, and hence have a heavenly connection, one that you could have as well, if you only chose to do so." He is not saying, "I am a prophet like many before me." No, He is about to say (v. 24) that His opponents will die in their sins: "Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins, for unless you believe that ego eimi, (ἐγώ εἰμι) I am, you will die in your sins." One's eternal destiny, even one's forgiveness of sins, is tied to faith in Christ, and more to the point, faith in what He reveals about Himself. The "I am" saying here (note v. 28, 58, 13:19, 18:5-6) aside from going directly to Yahweh's self-identification in such texts as Isaiah 43:10, flows naturally from the assertion to be "from above" and to be "not of this world."

Isn't it just here that the enemy has been so insistent upon attacking the once-for-all-delivered-to-the-saints-faith? The list of falsehoods concerning the person of Christ propounded down through history (let alone today) is long indeed, but all the heresies of the past and present share this one consistency: they refuse to allow the Scriptures to speak fully in defining Him. The Jews rejected His self-identification in this text as well (8:58-59), and they are followed by the entire Muslim world today. The "Islamic Jesus," though a virgin born worker of miracles, is not divine, but is a "mere rasul, a mere prophet." But what "mere rasul" (إِلَّا رَسُولٌ) speaks to his fellow creatures and says "you are from below, I am from above"? What mere prophet has this kind of self-awareness? Obviously, no sinner can say the words Jesus said, and, of course, this is exactly why Muslims reject the testimony of John, for they, like the Jews of Jesus' day, have a particular traditional understanding of who Jesus can, and cannot, be.

If today you embrace faith in Christ, obey Him as your Lord, love Him as your Savior, and rejoice in the fact that He is the God-Man, let your heart be filled with thanksgiving that He, by His Spirit, has opened your heart to see the very "Lord of Glory" (1 Cor. 2:8).

Greetings from Anchorage, Alaska! Just a real quick note to say that I won't be able to attempt to do a DL today via Skype. The conference schedule is such that I think it would be impractical. But it is great to be with the brethren here in Anchorage, and please pray that the Lord will bless the ministry of His Word this weekend.

He looked like death warmed over. “I’ve done all I can do. I just don’t know what to say any longer.” He looked defeated, and tired.

I sighed and said nothing at first. I had been through this too many times to count, but it never got any easier, never got enjoyable. I settled a little more deeply into the chair in his office and took a deep breath.

“Roger,” I began, “I truly do not believe it is a matter of what you have, or have not, said. People who make this decision do it for many, many reasons, and only rarely do they do so for strictly theological ones. I am sure, if we could dig a little deeper, we would find many personal reasons that have nothing to do with formal theological issues.”

He nodded in response. “Of course, I know. But it is so tremendously difficult to see someone simply abandon the gospel and walk into the arms of heresy. You want to do something.”

“Believe me, I know” I replied. “But I learned a long time ago that you cannot force someone to hear you. You cannot force someone to think rationally, to obey truth, or to recognize error, if they have chosen not to do so. It is beyond your capacity. Nor can you judge your ministry of the Word on the basis of such an action by someone in your congregation. The Apostles faced this same situation, so surely it was not a matter of failure for them, nor for you.”

“I know all these things” he said with a heavy sigh. He paused, then said, “But it really doesn’t make me feel any better right now.”

I smiled, “I know. So, your suggestion that she talk to me was ignored? Let me guess....I’m too, let’s see, harsh? Unloving?”

“You guessed it” he chuckled. “Seems the double standard doesn’t bother her. Her new found mentors can write or say anything, but if anyone responds to their arguments, and in fact refutes them, well, they are unloving and unkind and unChristian. You name the excuse.”

“Been there, done that.” I leaned forward a bit. “Well, your next move is not enjoyable, but necessary.”

“I know. I can’t believe we have to discipline someone who grew up in our midst.”

“She has embraced deadly heresy, Roger. God’s people must be warned. And we can only hope the seriousness of the response will communicate to her the gravity of what she has done. Besides, I think you will want to spend some time going over the foundations of the faith from the pulpit once again, just to make sure everyone is clear on the basics.”

“Indeed.” He rose from his chair and stood in front of a large shelf filled with books. He pulled down a hefty volume and opened it. “I have always sought to be faithful in preaching the whole counsel of God. She heard it preached over and over again. I thought she loved the truth....” His voice trailed off.

I stood. “Elders are not given a supernatural ability to see into the hearts of their congregations. Nor are you expected to. You exhort, you warn, you encourage, you teach. And you trust in Christ’s promise to build His church, but in His way, in His time. You hope the best, especially for those who are under your ministry for years, but you know that longevity is not a sure sign of calling. And, of course, we don’t know how long this fascination with Rome will last. Sacramentalism cannot long satisfy the heart of the truly redeemed, and if she is, well, the honeymoon can’t last forever.”

“Yes, of course. Well, thank you for coming. I will keep you appraised of any developments in the situation.”

“Please do” I replied, and walked out of his office into the gathering dusk. As I fought through rush hour traffic I pondered yet another example of why it is so utterly vital to not only understand biblical sufficiency, but to be passionate about it, both in one’s own personal faith, and for those called to the eldership, in one’s proclamation and teaching. A fine Christian pastor and church would now face the difficult questions that always follow an act of theological apostasy: why? What are the real reasons? Did the church fail in some fashion? How do we now respond to this person? And for those who are former Roman Catholics themselves, the questions would be even more difficult to answer. Literally millions of people have left Rome, seeking something beyond the dead formalism of sacramentalism based upon man’s acts, man’s merits. So how could someone go the other direction, especially when they had known, or seemed to know, the truth?