I once heard that the reason we don't hear more about the Holy Spirit is because He was to testify about Christ. Charismatic writings emphasize the Holy Spirit. Do you think charismatics speak too much about the Spirit and not enough about Christ?

Their emphasis is off. First, the idea that the Holy Spirit shuns attention because he is to testify about Christ, or to say that he is deliberately self-effacing, is speculative and a begging of the question. Second, the regularity and prominence with which he appears in Scripture would make such an explanation too simplistic. The Spirit puts himself on the very top of Genesis, prominently throughout Judges, the Kings and Chronicles, the Prophets, at the birth of Christ, the baptism of Christ, on the day of Pentecost, throughout the letters, and so on. However, the main attention still belongs to Christ and the Father. I believe that we should approximate the biblical proportion in our emphasis.

There are times to stress the Holy Spirit more, such as when he is especially misunderstood. Many years ago when I preached at a gathering, a lady said to me, "Is your holy spirit doing something to my holy spirit?" This showed me that it was time to teach on the Holy Spirit.

There is also the matter of prayer and worship offered to the Holy Spirit. It is said that because the Spirit is God, we should direct prayer and worship to him, and that we have really neglected to do so. I agree that the premise, that the Spirit is God, warrants the conclusion that he could receive prayer and worship, and it would not be idolatry to direct such to him. However, the proportion, emphasis, and examples in the Bible certainly cannot produce the conclusion that we should direct prayer and worship to the Spirit just as much as we do the Father or to Christ.

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I have some thoughts for students. Since they are based on broad principles, others can also derive some benefit. Now, if you attend a Christian school, your situation is so dangerous, and your soul is in such peril, that a brief word will not do. Beg the Lord to spare you from heresies, subtle deceptions, and a gradual deadening of your spirit. Here I will focus on those who go to non-Christian schools, where they also teach lies but do not disguise them with Christian vernacular.

You have been told, by Christians no less, that although non-Christian teachers blaspheme your God and hold your dearest beliefs in contempt, you should nevertheless respect them for their scholarship and experience, and to learn all the truths that you can from them. They tell you that these men, even though they are unbelievers, and even though they despise your faith, are brilliant men who have labored long and achieved much in their fields. Humility demands that you listen to them.

But I tell you, that is complete rubbish. It is the worst advice that can be offered to a student. You say, "But my parents told me this." Your parents lied to you. And you say, "But my pastor told me this." Your pastor was a fool. He did not know what he was talking about, and if he knew what damage his advice could cause, he must have been a demon in the flesh to have told you to open your mind to non-Christian teachers.

Whatever the reason, it seems that many Christians think that this is what they are supposed to say to students. But this advice, if accepted, dulls your spiritual aggression, reduces your inward power to resist unbelief, and compels you to become vulnerable to deception. It divides your heart and generates a contradiction in you. The non-Christians do not hesitate to consistently deride your beliefs, and thus the bad advice puts you at a great disadvantage. To bow before the devil is not humility, but idolatry. It is sinful and foolish. On the other hand, it is not arrogant to despise falsehood, and to spit on idols.

Non-Christians are educated and accomplished only according to their own standards, and those standards are according to wickedness and foolishness, not according to holiness and truth. Just because non-Christians tell you that they are intelligent and successful according to their own standards, this does not mean that you have to accept their standards and accept their claims. To do so would be to become a non-Christian.

Rather, whether educated or uneducated, whether rich or poor, whether accomplished or unaccomplished, according to God's standards, non-Christians are bad people, just like you were a bad person before Christ changed you and rescued you. Non-Christians, as long as they remain non-Christians, are at least as bad as you were before you were converted. So either you admit that non-Christians are sinful and stupid, or you deny that you were sinful and stupid before Christ saved you, in which case you would insult the grace of Christ, and cast doubt upon the genuineness of your own faith.

If you are a Christian, you have inherited the most intelligent and powerful system of thought in existence. It is the only true religion, the only sound philosophy. If you are a Christian, then you believe the Bible, the verbal revelation of God. For this reason, you are in a position of knowledge, and just as God himself is intellectually superior to all non-Christians, because you have accepted God's wisdom, it is not arrogant for you to think that you are superior to all non-Christians in your intellect and knowledge. You are not superior in yourself or because of yourself, but God is superior, and you have received from him.

Do you not know about the foundation of all reality, which is God? Non-Christians do not know him. Do you not know the way of salvation, about which unbelievers are entirely ignorant? Do you not know about the creation of the world, the doctrines of moral excellence, or righteousness, or ethical judgment? Do you not know, or at least have access to, the universal and enduring principles concerning religion, psychology, politics, economics, history, family, sexuality, and all pivotal topics, and how all these fit together? Non-Christians know none of these things. If you have learned and believed any portion of Scripture at all, then to deny that you are superior to all non-Christians in wisdom and knowledge is also to deny that God is superior to them in these things.

To affirm that you have received good gifts from God is not arrogance, but the very definition of humility. Arrogance supposes that you possess good things when you have nothing, or to boast about something that you have received as a gift, as if you have not received it, and as if it was not given to you as a gift. It is not arrogant to say that you know more and that you know better than the non-Christians, if it is because you have learned the words of the Bible, and that God has, as a gift, given you faith to believe in these words.

Non-Christians know no truth and can teach no truth. Even their opinions in a field like mathematics must be thoroughly reinterpreted and reconstructed in order to arrive at something that is in touch with reality. But if this is the case, what is the reason for attending a non-Christian school?

First, there is the practical benefit of earning a diploma that allows you to circulate more freely in society. Even from a Christian institution, a diploma is nothing more than a symbol of human approval. It is no proof of intellectual competence or proficiency in anything important. A Christian who seeks God's approval should place no pride in it. But men, since they have no approval from God, seek approval from one another. And the diploma is a document that shows you have been included in men's pathetic exercise in self-approval. Convenience is its sole benefit.

Second, non-Christians can show you what it means to be non-Christians. I do not mean that they can teach you the truth about themselves. No, they do not understand themselves, and they cannot teach you anything. Rather, since they are non-Christians, they will talk and behave as non-Christians, and by living among them, you can perhaps gain some familiarity about their thinking and lifestyle. This will enable to you infiltrate circles that are mainly infested by non-Christians, and to build a life in this world, so that you may more effectively promote God's agenda among them, as well as to undermine their own.

Therefore, attend the schools which divine providence assigns to you, whether Christian or non-Christian. Both kinds of schools are dangerous, since so few are faithful to the Lord, but you will find safety not in men, but in the words of the Bible. Cling close to the Book, and you will be invincible in spiritual conflict. Submit to Potiphar in his household, but resist the seduction of that whore of a wife, and endure the vexation of spirit under his idolatrous culture. Do this not to gain Potiphar's approval, but so that one day you may rule over him.

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God asked Cain, "Where is your brother?" The passage makes it obvious that God asked the question not because he did not know the answer and needed a man to tell him. This is because when Cain denied that he knew, God revealed that he already knew what happened, that Cain had killed Abel. He said, "What have you done?" But again, he was not requesting information. It was a rhetorical question, for he immediately added, "Your brother's blood cries out to me."

From this we derive two principles that should control our thinking in theology and in biblical interpretation:

First, it is a nonnegotiable Christian dogma that God knows all things. We could add that God knows all things because he causes all things, including human thoughts and deeds, but it is possible to put that aside for now and focus on his knowledge. God knows the truth about all things, and he cannot be deceived. Cain's answer was contrary to the truth, but that did not affect God's knowledge. He knew the truth and saw through Cain's deception.

Second, it is established that when God asks a question, it never means that he does not know the answer, and therefore, when he asks a question, it must be for a purpose other than to obtain information. In fact, our passage stresses God's knowledge, since he knew the truth clearly even in the face of Cain's deception. Although God already knew what happened, instead of immediately confronting Cain, he produced an occasion or a context in which he could discuss it with the man.

Thus when God asks a question, or when he speaks in a manner as if he is less than omnipotent and omniscient, it is not due to any deficiency in himself, but it is for the purpose of effecting interactions with his creatures in a way that is intelligible and meaningful for them.

There are those who think that such interactions are possible only if God were limited in power and knowledge, and they seize upon passages where God acts and speaks in a manner that permits his creatures to respond. However, given the previous considerations, this doctrine is impossible, but it must be condemned as heresy and blasphemy.

Interactions that are intelligible and meaningful to the creatures does not depend on any impotence or ignorance in God, but it depends on what some would call his condescension. A man cannot function as if he is deity; his mind cannot embrace or communicate all knowledge in an instant. If God and man are to interact with each other, God would have to communicate in a way that man can follow, understand, and respond, and this is what God has done throughout history, and in a public and permanent form, in the Bible.

Contrary to what some heretics have taught, this does not mean that God communicates with man solely in terms of analogies, or that man has only an analogy of information about God's being and God's mind. There is no biblical basis for the strange doctrine. God's condescension does not alter the nature or status of the information communicated – it is merely a different way to communicate.

John wrote that we shall know as we are known. But unless we become deified in heaven, and we will not, God will still have to condescend when he communicates with us, so that if we only have an analogy of the truth now, we shall have only an analogy of the truth forever. This contradicts John as well as the whole testimony of Scripture. Rather, if we shall remain human, and if we shall know as we are known, it means that we can possess univocal knowledge about God even now. The difference is only in the degree or amount of knowledge. Paul affirms as much when he wrote, "Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." We have an abundance of knowledge about God now, and we shall have even more knowledge in the future, so much so that it can be said that we shall know then as we are known now.

All of this amounts to a refutation of the traditional doctrine of the incomprehensibility of God, which represents God as a mystery, even though we are made in his image, and even though he has revealed and explained himself. Ironically, the doctrine has been used as a test of orthodoxy, when the traditional formulation is itself a rejection of God and of Scripture, and an example of heresy and blasphemy. Christians should not be embarrassed to oppose it, and to overthrow those who assert it. Do not be afraid of the ecclesiastical powers. No theologian, seminary, or denomination, and no council or confession or church court, or any other human authority, has the right to usurp the power of Christ and force you to believe false doctrine. Throw off the yoke and fight back.

When God commanded Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, even though he said, "now I know" the patriarch's obedience, it was to maintain the interaction for the benefit of the man, and not because the omniscient God discovered something new. As the Lord stopped the sacrifice, a ram was already prepared, caught by its horns in the thicket. He knew the man's heart all along, but the command produced the occasion for Abraham to demonstrate his obedience, for God to renew and add to his promises, and for revelation to be recorded and interpreted, since Abraham's faith was a metaphor for belief in the resurrection.

When God showed Ezekiel a valley of dry bones and asked, "Can these bones live?" he was not requesting input that he needed. The prophet wisely answered, "Lord, you know." And of course the Lord knew, for he himself would cause the bones to arise and flesh to come on them. Likewise, when Jesus asked Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" the Bible explained, "He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do."

Now the Lord Jesus tests all men by the Christian message, for he sends us to ask on his behalf, "Who do you say that I am?" He asks this not because he does not know what people think – he is the good shepherd, and calls his own sheep by name. Rather, the divine shepherd condescends and interacts with men. By their reaction to the gospel, they are revealed to be either the children of heaven or the children of hell. Those who believe with their hearts and confess with their mouths that Jesus Christ is Lord shall be saved, and those who do not shall be damned.

There are those who, like Cain, attempt to deceive him, calling him, "Lord, Lord," although their hearts are far from him. But even as he asks men whether they would repent and believe the gospel, he already knows their hearts, and he will say to the imposters, "Why do you call me Lord, but refuse to do what I say? Surely I never knew you!" And he will cast them out into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

It is a popular and persistent assumption that the Old Testament reveals the wrath of God, while the New Testament reveals the grace of God. This is a most inaccurate portrayal of biblical teaching. It is the Old Testament that says the Lord's mercy endures forever, and it is the New Testament that says it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

The true biblical teaching is that both wrath and grace belong to God's nature. Paul writes, "Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you" (Romans 11:22, ESV). Thus he shows wrath toward some men and shows grace toward others. The distinction is based on his decision, without regard to the conditions found in men, for he is the one who creates all conditions found in men in the first place, including faith. In fact, Paul writes that God creates some men as vessels of wrath and some as vessels for mercy, some to suffer damnation and some to enjoy salvation (Romans 9:21).

This is elementary. Indeed, the doctrine of predestination is one of the clearest, simplest, and least mysterious doctrines in all of Scripture. The whole doctrine is this: God creates, sustains, and controls all things. All additional expositions serve only to assure people that the doctrine means what it says. A retarded child can understand it. But even some of the most well-regarded theologians refuse to believe it, or to believe all of it, and to admit to the directness and fullness of God's power over all things, including human thoughts and decisions.

Thus, although few doctrines are more simple, misrepresentations remain common, and it is necessary to teach it again and again. Let us never become weary of basic doctrines, especially this chief of doctrines, that God is God. It is to be asserted, not with inordinate prudence and care, but with the bluntness by which it is presented throughout the Scripture.

The original point is that God is not one way in the Old Testament and another way in the New Testament. He has always been a God who damns and who saves, damning sinners and saving believers. Our passage is first directed to professors of faith, so that those who claim to believe in Christ will hold firm to their allegiance.

Now, the Bible teaches that God converts those whom he has chosen for salvation, and then he preserves their faith, so that not one true believer is ever lost. Surely he exercises a direct and hidden power in the souls of his chosen ones, so that they remain faithful to him. But in addition to this, he also uses various means by which he maintains their faith and encourages them to increase in the life of Jesus Christ. One of these means is the verbal warnings in Scripture concerning the unreasonableness and the consequences of abandoning this true religion. He preserves his chosen ones by issuing warnings and by causing them to heed these warnings. Reprobates and false Christians will not heed them. They do not reverence the words of God, and he does not cause them to heed these words. Rather, he hardens their hearts against them.

Although the first audience consists of professors of the faith, the argument hinges not on the identity of the audience, but on the superiority of Christ over Moses. The principle is universal regardless of the audience addressed. Therefore, the passage is readily adaptable to broader applications, so that it can be directed not only to professing Christians, but also to non-Christians. And the upshot is that the message of Jesus Christ sets forth an even greater threat against non-Christians than the message of Moses.

This destroys any notion that there is a disparity between Moses and Jesus Christ, as if Moses preached punishment while Christ proclaimed salvation. Rather, both preached damnation for sinners, unbelievers, non-Christians, and the threat of punishment is even more clear and acute in the Christian message. And both proclaimed one way to salvation: If we will look outside of ourselves for salvation, but rather look to Jesus Christ to save us, then we are manifested as God's vessels of mercy, as chosen recipients of his grace, so that God has already punished our sins in Christ. He is faithful and just to pardon all our transgressions, to impute the righteousness of Christ to our account, and to receive us as sons and daughters of the Most High.

No matter how we twist it with some "history of redemption" approach, and no matter how hard we try to "preach Christ from all of Scripture," the passage exists in a definite context that we cannot escape from. If the conditions surrounding the text are absent in our day, then a direct application is hardly reasonable, and can amount to only empty talk and unfulfilled expectations.

When it comes to the modern church, things do not look good. Except for some sects that appear problematic in theology and that are vilified by other traditions, almost all the conditions that come before our passage have been rendered irrelevant. Christians usually do not lay hands on people (v. 6a). Although the Acts of the Apostles records a number of examples in which the Holy Spirit is received as a second experience subsequent to conversion (v. 6b), they say that all those instances were exceptions, and except for all the exceptions, the Holy Spirit is received at conversion. This way of reasoning is the foundation of several major traditional doctrines, and it is an awfully convenient way of doing theology. Except for all the instances where I am wrong, I am always right. Except for all the instances where the Bible says something different, the Bible always agrees with me. Wonderful.

Here I have no intention to discuss this topic of the Holy Spirit. At this moment, for all I care, you can even believe that conversion is a second experience subsequent to the endowment of the Spirit. However and whenever they obtain it, Christians are supposed to have the power of the Holy Spirit. Do we? Tell me! Do we? Modern Christians exhibit almost none of the signs of power, faith, wisdom, and grace that the early disciples possessed. They have no tongues and no prophecy (v. 6c). They do not speak boldly (v. 8a). They do not argue persuasively (v. 8b). They perform no miracles, let alone extraordinary ones (v. 11). They depend almost exclusively on medical science to cure sicknesses (v. 12), and some of them think that all evil spirits have disappeared (v. 12). Before people were possessed, now they are just crazy.

So it is difficult to teach from this passage how the same effect can be produced in this generation, how to cause the unbelievers to be "seized with fear" (v. 17b), and for the name of the Lord Jesus to be "held in high honor" (v. 17c), and to compel those who believe to openly confess their evil deeds (v. 17d). In fact, it is easy to teach it, to tell what it says. Even a child can understand it. But it is hard to make Christians believe it. Instead, we have the opposite effect on the world: non-Christians are seized with disdain for us, and even Christians do not hold the name of Christ in high honor.

The result is that it is difficult to make any application at all except to show how modern Christians are weak, faithless, and impotent. I am sure that dishonest and imaginative preachers can extract some historical-redemptive principle from this, not that the approach is always a problem, but the text itself is plain – miraculous power, in a frightening measure, accompanied the testimony of the early Christians, so much so that the people were terrified and held the name of Christ in high esteem. This is what the text says.

Nevertheless, since this power is now denied, I will do the best I can. Let me think about this. Aha! At least we still know how to make fire to burn some books (v. 19). We still believe in fire, do we not? Fire did not die with the apostles. Alas, now we have powerful shredders and an advanced system of trash disposal. Still, consider the advantages of burning non-Christian books:

First, it reflects God's disapproval of non-Christian religions, occult teachings and practices, and all kinds of magic, divination, and esoteric doctrines. These ancient evils have persisted to this day, and it is disappointing to see the number of professing Christians who dabble, or more than dabble, in astrology, witchcraft, necromacy, and all kinds of forbidden arts, even if only in the form of milder derivatives. If you are a pastor, ask how many in your congregation have consulted with psychics after their profession of faith. Do not ask for a show of hands – unless you have the power of Acts 19:4-16, do not expect the honesty of Acts 19:18. But if you will pay attention, perhaps you will see some of them squirm in their seats.

Second, it depicts God's punishment for those who study and practice the forbidden materials. Revelation 21:8 says that, along with unbelievers and idolaters and murderers, those who practice magical arts will be thrown into a lake of fire. A ceremony where non-Christian materials are burned with fire provides an image of what God will do to those who do not relinquish these into the flames. Either they give up their books to be burned with earthly fire, or they give up their souls to be burned with endless hellfire.

Third, it testifies to our agreement with God on this matter, that there is no goodness and no salvation, but only evil, deception, and blasphemy, in non-Christian teachings, especially in their spiritual and occult materials, and that those who believe and practice them deserve to be punished by the fire of hell, which never weakens and never relents.

Although many of us reject the ancient power of the apostles, and thus do not share in it, all the ancient sins and manifestations have remained with us. We deny that occult powers are real, and if things get out of control, we ask non-Christians to save us by locking the people up in mental institutions. When it comes to the really scary stuff, we will let the Pentecostals handle them. We will let our crazies deal with their crazies. The apostles demonstrated a better way.

Due to the mighty displays of divine power, the word of the Lord "spread widely and grew in power" (v. 20). For those who call themselves Christians, but who reject this power, or at least this extent of power, my advice is to pray for as much of it as you dare, and then stretch your thinking to accept a little more. If you cannot throw off the religious tradition that forbids you to obey Christ, who through Paul commanded you to covet spiritual gifts and powers, then for the sake of the church, covet as much as you can get away with before they call you a heretic. And as you petition the Lord for greater power and effectiveness in the ministry of the gospel, it might be that he will also grant you the humility to say, perhaps at the privacy of your home, when no one is listening, "Lord, I believe, help my unbelief!"

God called Jeremiah to speak for him. The message was not pleasant. His own countrymen would be taken captive, and many of them would be killed. His whole nation would be ruined. The prophet explained that the Lord had determined to punish them, and it was too late for prayer and repentance. To submit to God's will and to limit the casualties, they were to surrender to their enemies and serve their time in exile. For this message, Jeremiah was branded a traitor, although in his age there was no one more faithful than he.

The message was not only painful for Jeremiah to speak, but the backlash against him was also difficult to endure. Thus he complained against the Lord in chapter 12. Instead of offering what Christians today would call a compassionate response, God told him to become stronger, for even more trying times were soon to come. But by chapter 15, Jeremiah was at it again. He said, "Why is my pain unending and my wound grievous and incurable? Will you be to me like a deceptive brook, like a spring that fails?" (v. 18).

The context provided above is important, lest we think that the prophet was a weakling, bending to the wrath of men as a reed in the wind. No, he was an exemplar of spiritual power and moral courage, even a type of the Lord Jesus (Matthew 16:14). In terms of privilege, even the least of the Christians is greater than he. But in terms of the actual quality of service rendered to the Lord, he was worth more than five hundred thousand, nay, five hundred million, of what we so glibly call Christians today. This is not to say that he had an excuse, but rather, to show up our failures for the catastrophic displays of weakness, selfishness, and incompetence that they are.

At any rate, it was clear that Jeremiah faced much opposition and danger. In sheer anguish of mind, he cried out again. God was either unfamiliar with our counseling techniques, or he just did not want to produce spiritual losers like we do, so instead of indulging the weeping prophet, he rebuked him: "Therefore this is what the LORD says: 'If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me; if you utter worthy, not worthless, words, you will be my spokesman.'" (v. 19). God did not even address his complaints directly, but straightway told the man to repent, and to stop speaking nonsense.

Those who have been with my ministry for very long should be comfortable with this. Even when I was a teenage preacher, my counseling would make adults two to three times my age weep, with tears streaming down their faces. My words were so much more severe that their problems appeared insignificant by comparison. But when they listened, they did not settle back into a mode of endless endurance. Rather, they fought and overcame their problems. This kind of counsel is not always appropriate, especially when counseling losers who would never amount to anything for the Lord. Sometimes the best one can do is to keep people from committing suicide. Am I trying to be humorous, or just frank? This is not always the right way to counsel, but it is certainly not always wrong, either.

If God told Jeremiah to repent, how much more does he despise your petty whining? As mentioned in a previous discourse, there is a common teaching that it is understandable to harbor doubt, anger, and resentment against God, and that when we do, we are to freely express these thoughts to him. Those who teach this horrible doctrine obtain examples from the prophets and the psalms, but they fail to acknowledge that those instances are marked by God's disapproval and the speakers' own repentance. To illustrate, God recorded the incident of David's sin with Bathsheba, not so that you too might commit murder and adultery, but so that you will not do these things, seeing the many deaths and tragedies that God brought upon David's family and nation because of his sins.

Those who urge this kind of complaining prayer teach God's people to blaspheme. They ought to be confronted and compelled to repent for spreading rebellion among the saints. They are losers, and they want you to be losers like them. Do not listen to them. Do not blaspheme. When oppressive thoughts arise, do not entertain them. Repent for the very feelings of dissatisfaction. Confront and destroy them with truth and reason. Do not speak against the Lord, but study the answers that he has already given in the Bible.

Christian doctrines, accompanied by the power of the Holy Spirit, make weaklings into strong men and women. Paul wrote, "Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might." Those who grant license to feelings of victimhood and bitterness betray this gospel heritage. We enter the Christian life by way of the cross, but just as Christ was raised from the dead after his suffering, after the cross there is glory. After suffering, there is victory. We are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus, and we can have a taste of the power of heaven right here on earth, if we will only believe.

Jeremiah had a difficult life. God called him to speak a message of punishment to the people, and because of this, they hated him, and even his own family plotted against him. He did not enjoy proclaiming such a message and antagonizing everyone, but it was the message that God commanded him to speak, and that he inspired in the prophet by the Spirit.

Thus in one place we read, "Whenever I speak, I cry out proclaiming violence and destruction. So the word of the LORD has brought me insult and reproach all day long. But if I say, 'I will not mention him or speak any more in his name,' his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot." (Jeremiah 20:8-9). Christians often cite verse 9 to express their eagerness to preach the gospel, but we insult Jeremiah if we ignore the original context. His task was to tell the people that God would send Israel's enemies to slaughter them and to capture them. This would come as punishment against their idolatry and disobedience. The decision was made, and judgment could not be averted. It was too late. God told Jeremiah that, even if Moses and Samuel were to pray for the people, he would not listen.

Jeremiah did not want to proclaim such a harsh message, but God wanted him to do it, and he placed such a spiritual compulsion in the earthen vessel that, even when the prophet decided to fold up his ministry, the fire burned within him until it was impossible to endure. He opened his mouth again, and "violence and destruction" came out. As Paul wrote, "Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God" (Romans 11:22, KJV). This is the kind of God we serve. When sinners aggravate him enough, he kills them and sends them to hell, and it is the right thing to do.

James wrote that Elijah was a man just like us. But he mentioned this so that we could imitate his example of faith in prayer (James 5:17), and not so that we could run when Jezebel pursues. If you stop the rain for three and a half years, then you might have an excuse to have a pity-party – well, not even then. In any case, if all you know to do is run when someone pursues, you are no Elijah.

Jeremiah was also a man like us, and he was feeling the pressure from the opposition, and exasperated, he prayed, "You are always righteous, O LORD, when I bring a case before you. Yet I would speak with you about your justice: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?" (12:1). There seems to be a consensus in Christian literature, except for some Pentecostal and Charismatic writings that are often accused of a warped understanding of faith, that this kind of complaining prayer is worthy of emulation. Christians are encouraged to vent their frustrations to God, even in a questioning and accusatory tone. This is counsel for spiritual losers, from spiritual losers. They appeal to the prophets and the psalms for support, but they fail to mention how God responded to this attitude.

For example, Asaph was disturbed by the prosperity of the wicked in Psalm 73, but he admitted that he was wrong, that his foot almost slipped, and that he was senseless and ignorant, and as a brute beast before the Lord. In other words, he should never have thought the way he did. But if even Asaph had no excuse, why do you think you have one, when you have the benefit of Psalm 73 and so much more? We ought to appeal to the prophets and the psalms to forbid this type of attitude and prayer. If you cannot say something reverent to God, shut your mouth, and read the answer that he has already given in the Bible. Then, begin your prayer with repentance for your weak faith and blasphemous emotions.

Jeremiah was a spiritual winner. That was his destiny. And God was not about to let him think like a loser – perhaps someone like you. So he said to the prophet, "If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?" In other words, "If you cannot keep up now, and if you stumble now, how will you succeed when things become even more difficult?" This is counsel for a spiritual winner, one who is destined for increasing greatness in the service of God.

Most of our troubles are nothing like the threats that Jeremiah faced, and the degree of faith and patience that he exhibited would be unfathomable for today's Christians. Thus to bring it down to their level, I might say, "If you are now immobilized with grief because your pet gerbil died, how can you encourage someone whose children perished in an accident, and how will you fight off atheists and heretics?" Understand?

God's counsel is stern when measured by the delicate and effeminate sentiments of modern Christianity. He challenges us to renounce our self-pity and unbelief by presenting to us even greater difficulties. He refuses to relax his demand for excellence. This is contrary to the loser mentality of non-Christian psychology, and that have poisoned the teachings of Christian preachers and counselors. Our Lord Jesus is not one who says, "I know, I know, just let it all out…," but one who exclaims, "How long do I have to be stuck with you? How long do I have to put up with this? Man, where is your faith?" (see Matthew 17:17, Luke 8:25). He wants his disciples to be spiritual winners. Ironically, today his approach would be considered unchristian, lacking in love and refinement.

In 1 Peter 3:15, the Bible teaches that we should always be ready to answer someone who asks us to explain the reason for the hope that we have in Christ. The verse is often used as a general charter for apologetics, and instructors on the subject almost universally insist that it is to be done with "gentleness and respect," not as defined by the internal context of Scripture, such as other biblical passages and examples from biblical characters, but as defined by contemporary non-Christian norms and cultures. The context of the verse, even the immediate context of 1 Peter 1-2, is seldom mentioned or applied to its interpretation.

It is often said that we can defend the faith without being defensive. This is one of the most idiotic and cliché statements in Christian writings, and it appears in so many places, whether in Evangelical, Reformed, Arminian, or Charismatic literature. But it is not a biblical teaching. A person who teaches with cliché statements is a lazy thinker, powerless expositor, and a useless believer. Still, I admit, an occasional cliché is not unforgivable. But a person who uses them too often is just a cliché person, unintelligent and uninteresting.

As anyone who actually reads Peter's letter should perceive, the context of 3:15 is interrogation by authority figures. Depending on a person's circumstances, such interrogation may very rarely happen, even if we include questioning by parents, teachers, and the like. The Christian does not have to answer his friend or a stranger on the street the same way that he answers a federal agent, a judge, or a king. Still less is a God-ordained preacher of the gospel required to always speak with soft words and tones to the general audience. In fact, if he does, he is most likely a weak and disobedient preacher, since the Bible says that some people ought to be rebuked sharply, so that they may be sound in the faith.

Whereas our encounters rarely fit the exact context of 1 Peter 3:15, Stephen's situation fits very well. Those who teach that apologetics is to be done with non-Christian gentleness and respect are afraid of biblical examples, because so many of them contradict their interpretation of apostolic teaching. That is, if these teachers of apologetics are correct, then it must mean that the prophets and apostles all practiced the opposite behavior that they set forth for us to follow. Were they hypocrites? No, our apologetic professors say, they were exceptions. I assume that believers from other traditions say this too, but I hear this most often from Reformed apologists – shame, shame, shame. The Reformed mantras are "This is a mystery" and "That is an exception," or as in many cases, "All of these are exceptions." And this is why some Pentecostals wonder if the Evangelical and the Reformed even affirm biblical inerrancy. Let me tell you something: they think that you are the liberal theologians. Dutch Reformed? No, they say, you are Much Deformed.

But Stephen was not an apostle, and not a prophet. He was not even called an evangelist, or a pastor, or a teacher. The Bible says that he had the Holy Spirit, faith, grace, and power (Acts 6:5, 8). Thus anyone who calls him an exception also confesses that he lacks these things. And ironically, in this Stephen was indeed an exception. Our apologists may have a few good arguments, but the Spirit? Faith? Power? When it is put this way, I must accept the explanation. Stephen was a remarkable exception. Nevertheless, for those of us who possess Stephen's spiritual inheritance, or at least who despise the sorry excuse, let us examine his answer, his apologetic.

His whole answer is interesting, but the culmination is most applicable to our topic. He recites the history of Abraham and Moses, then briefly, Joshua and David, and this builds up to verses 51-53: "You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit! Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him – you who have received the law that was put into effect through angels but have not obeyed it." Stephen answered this way under official interrogation. It cannot possibly be reconciled with the common interpretation of 1 Peter 3:15. If their interpretation of 1 Peter 3:15 can accommodate this, then my disagreement with them ends. However, if I actually do it, let them not complain, but sit down and shut up.

Many positive reviews and endorsements for books on Christian apologetics share a common theme, that these books manage to provide sound arguments for the faith without becoming offensive, confrontational, or just plain rude. And debates about the existence of God and the truth of Christianity are often praised because the two sides remained cordial – that is, polite and academic – throughout the exchange. "How refreshing!" Christians would say. These people would not have approved of Stephen. They would have condemned the prophets and the apostles, and even Jesus Christ himself. After all, the Lord got physical and turned over tables. Will Christians now call him a terrorist? The truth is that these Christians are not brave enough, and they do not care enough. But they want to hide this, so they make behaviors that resemble those exhibited by the biblical characters into the wrong behaviors. It is now unbiblical to act like the prophet, the apostles, and Jesus Christ. Once again, those Pentecostals scratch their heads: Are these folks even Christians? Are these the liberal theologians that we hear so much about? Are these the anti-christs that John mentioned, who would lead people astray?

But I will follow Stephen. There might be an indirect way to say this, but this is meant to be brief: I have too little respect for these Christians to care what they think. I respect Stephen, because he received the Lord's approval: "But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 'Look,' he said, 'I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God'" (v. 55-56). I want that. Would Stephen have coveted a silly endorsement that says, "Stephen teaches us that we can disagree without being disagreeable"? Or, picking up a book on my floor to find another example, I read, "The author proves we don't have to be abrasive to be persuasive." Is that a jab at Stephen?

Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit, full of faith, grace, and power. When non-Christians argued with him, "they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake" (6:10, KJV). If you still insist that he was an exception, then I will have to agree with you. I can see that you are right. You are nothing like him. And I hope that I will never be anything like you.

True religion must have a proper place for the forgiveness of sins. Theologies that are centered upon the dignity and welfare of men, if they include the idea of sin at all, cannot rightly interpret forgiveness. We can see this in the popular understanding of conversion, often attributed to the Christian faith, but in fact has no resemblance to it. This is illustrated in the analogy of the drowning man. It is said that the sinner is in trouble and is about to submerge, as Jesus Christ extends a helping hand. The Lord saves, but the man has to take the hand, and accept the assistance.

But if we are to think about it this way, why not make the analogy more accurate? Salvation does not occur in a vacuum. There are thousands of religions in the world, many of which acknowledge some kind of problem in man's condition and propose ways to save him. This may or may not be salvation from sin, from intellectual blindness, and from divine judgment, since some of them do not include these ideas. Nevertheless, each of them extends a helping hand. Thus what we really have is the ridiculous scenario of thousands of hands crowding around the head of the drowning man. The man-centered believer claims that, even in his desperate condition, he considers his options, weighs the arguments, and decides that the truth is in Jesus, and so he chooses the Christian faith. Even if there were only ten hands, that is one sharp drowning man. But is it possible that he is still in the sea, that he has submerged and passed out, and the rescue is nothing more than a dream, a wishful fantasy?

Consider the actual Christian teaching. The man is not drowning, but dead in the water. Thousands of hands reach up to seize him. We hear voices from the water. One of them says, "Come with us. Be with Buddha." Another says, "Come with us. Bow before the Bishop of Rome." Still another says, "You are not drowning. Just relax and come with us." But there are too many of them, and at times it is difficult to distinguish one from all the others. Suddenly, the noises merge together and a deeper voice demands, "Come with me. There is no difference. We are legion, but we are as one." As the hands reach up to drag the man down, a ship draws near. And a voice thunders from above, "THIS ONE IS MINE! LEAVE HIM!" Screams of terror rise from the water – "It is Jesus, the Son of God!" – and the shadowy figures turn back into the dark regions of the ocean. Jesus reaches out, and without any cooperation or awareness from the dead man, pulls him out of the water. And the Lord says to the corpse, "I command you, LIVE!" Immediately, life returns to the man – he opens his eyes, and wakes in the bosom of his savior.

You are a Christian because Jesus chose you, and not because you chose him. You were dead in sin, and in bondage to the powers and doctrines of demons. But Jesus took you away from them and raised you from the dead. He rescued you. He saved your life. A Christian consciousness that is unaware of this, or that fails to think of salvation as…salvation, is at best a defective faith, if it is genuine at all, since that awareness is itself a manifestation of salvation. It is faith in the gospel.

This awareness is what makes our sins all the more repugnant to us. If someone saves your life and takes you to his home, will you steal from him? Will you abuse his wife and his children? Whenever we sin, we betray our savior, and it pierces our soul with pain and regret. Peter cried bitterly. Judas, even though reprobate, killed himself. What does this say about those who complain that we take sin too seriously, or that we rebuke sinners too harshly? Oh, I stand in doubt of them.

But Jesus Christ continues to saves us. The Bible says that he saves us to the uttermost – completely and all the way. We betray our savior in many ways and on many occasions. If we claim that we do not sin, we deceive ourselves, and we call him a liar, since he knows that we do sin. But if we will confess our sins, to declare our wrongs and ask for pardon, the Bible says that he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. What relief! What a necessary provision! What a God of mercy and patience!

Perhaps the most important feature of this teaching is that God makes forgiveness depend on his integrity, and not our goodness. We are not very good, and that is why we need forgiveness in the first place. Rather, "Jesus Christ the righteous" (2:1, KJV) represents us before the Father. The righteousness of Christ, and the faithfulness and justice of God, constitute an anchor for our souls. When we confess our sins, we are confident that we receive forgiveness, because it is easy to believe that Jesus Christ is righteous, and it is easy to believe that God is faithful and just to acknowledge that our sins have been paid by Christ's suffering.

If you are a non-Christian, or if you do not rely on Jesus Christ for your forgiveness, then be very afraid, because the same God has declared everlasting punishment against all sinners who have not received pardon. Just as he is faithful to forgive a Christian, because he is faithful to his own nature, he is also faithful to condemn you. His justice guarantees pardon for those who belong to Christ, but the same justice guarantees hellfire for those who do not cling to his Son for salvation.

Think on the goodness and sacrifice of Jesus Christ, then confess your sins. God pardons you because Jesus Christ is righteous, and because Jesus Christ has paid for the sins of those who believe in him. Confess your sins to the Father, looking to Christ as your only mediator and priest. By this, you will gain and regain immunity from accusation, confidence in fellowship, and boldness in service.