A Shakespearean Sonnet on Physical and Spiritual Healing

I have written at least a few dozen poems in my life, starting with dozens of mostly non-rhyming dark poems that I used as lyrics to metal songs that I used to improvise in high school and college. After beginning this blog, I rediscovered my love for writing poetry as I wrote the introductory post for "Godly Fellowship", the "Adorned" / "Abhorred" / "A Sword" / "Adored" (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4) series, and other pieces. In these, I gained a greater appreciation for the craft of poetry, as I sought to not merely rhyme at the end of a line, but also have some sense of correct meter and syllable counts, and do some creative internal rhymes. (Side note: The lowercase MC, shai linne, is a master at this! :-) )

Recently, motivated by the sonnets of Dr. D. A. Carson, I made my first attempt at writing a Shakespearean sonnet and came to appreciate some of the great precision that sonneteers must have as they work, as they fit every line into iambic pentameter (blank verse) and keep a consistent rhyme scheme over 14 lines.

I started this sonnet basing it off of my pastor's ongoing series in the book of Mark, when many people approached Christ for various forms of physical healing and would not stop to allow Him to rest. Yet most of them only wanted physical healing and did not realize (or did not find important) that without the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit in their lives, they would shout, "Crucify Him!", with the rest of the masses less than three years later - and that death would not be applied toward their particular redemption. They would be physically healed, but go to hell - still in their sins, unredeemed, lost.

-----

Distressed by ills, the town stopped work to throng

Around my Lord, demanding all His time,

So that one touch would render lame men strong;

Then most retreated to their sinful grime.

I also have petitioned Him to heal

A different ailment, one within my heart,

That worships idols and tries to appeal

To my own hands to catch a flaming dart,

And stay unscathed despite the fervent heat.

The rival sees my hands of burning clay,

He gloats and mocks the mere man he just beat:

"You failure! Keep your hands unraised today."

Despite my prideful words, the Savior's face

Makes prideful Serpent flee: "He's bought by grace."

This Entertaining Truth, Part 5: Having Great Theology Does Not Equal Repentance And Belief.

I mentioned in a recent post that I visited a Biblical megachurch for their Easter Sunday service this year. The church had a baptism for three people that morning. In at least one of the testimonies, I saw a theme that seems common in youth who grow up in Biblical churches: Kid grows up attending Biblical church with parents. Kid gets old enough to make their own decisions, falls into a sinful lifestyle, leaves the church, gets into all sorts of trouble. At some point, kid hits rock bottom and God saves them, and kid returns to the church they grew up in - but this time, as a true believer.

Reformed churches tend to stress catechizing children - doing this, not with the guarantee of "this will save them", but in hopes that through diligent plowing, the truth will take root in their hearts and they will be genuinely saved. This is a great thing. But it often backfires as God shows us that we are not saved by our own effort or the effort of our parents - "born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:13, ESV). Parents can be raising the "perfect" children, discipling them well at home, having them sit under the preaching of a modern-day Spurgeon Sunday after Sunday, training them like Pavlov's dog to come up with the right answers to every theological question whenever you ask, and have them not really know Jesus Christ. And as they sit under true Biblical preaching week after week, they will search for more and more loopholes around that truth. And if they are listening to a preacher who knows how to close all of those loopholes, they will learn to appease their parents by continuing to hear it while, all the while, deeply hating that truth in their hearts and seeking every possible way to rebel against it.

I grew up as one of those kids who would fire off a whole chapter of Awana sections every week. As a wee lad, I was good at word-for-word memorization. I would finish my books with half a school year left to spare, then complete Scripture memory packets and, at least once, started memorizing a whole book of the Bible. I was the Awana leaders' dream, but I couldn't say much about what the verses actually meant. I wasn't much of a Christian - if I was even one at all at the time. "Repent" was just a word that sounded cool and spiritual. "Application" in sermons that I heard was a foreign language to me. In the background, I wanted to be in another world, whether an imaginary world or a real world where Game Time never ended. And in high school I just wanted my music and my movies. My desire wasn't for God; it was for fun. I didn't want to be part of any small groups where people would actually hold me accountable for growing in sanctification; I just wanted to hang out with my friends and do the minimum to appease their desires to see me bear fruit. And in college, when I started to listen to internet radio, fun meant listening to mostly disgusting comedy routines for hours on end with the excuse that a good clean routine would come on once in a while. Through headphones, you can deceive a lot of people. "What are you laughing at?" "Oh, nothing." Christ had to die for that "nothing" - and for the lie that it was "nothing". You can live casually until you see sin's gravity. But a blind eye can't even begin to see the infinite severity of even one sin against an infinitely holy God.

There is a huge danger in wanting to bear only a minimum amount of fruit for the Lord. It is quite possible that, in effect, in this desire, someone is really saying, "I'm really bearing thistles, but let me spray-paint them to look as much like figs as I can, in my fleshly power, so that, from a distance, more spiritual people will glance at me and say, 'That guy is doing his job for the Kingdom', and they will want me to be their friend. But, oh, how I fear the scrutiny of those who want to look closely at my heart. They will realize, 'He's saying the right words, but his heart is far from Christ. If he were to leave this world right now, God would look on him as his Judge and sentence him to an eternity of eternities in hell, while this hero of deception has everyone, most of all himself, believing that he would be in heaven.' I must do everything I can to keep people from judging me like that." And all the while, they say loudly to others, "I am a five-point Calvinist." They carry a big Bible in a word-for-word translation. They know how to evaluate preachers: "He is a talented exegete and sesquipedalian, but I do not listen to him because we differ on infra- versus supralapsarianism. I would much rather listen to sermons by [fill in the blank]." They sing worship songs only to affirm, "That's... correct. That's... correct. Hey, that ain't right!" But where is the genuine fruit, the genuine rejection of your own sin (not only other people's), and the genuine affections for the Lord?

You can believe in your head without believing in your heart. The more advanced an unconverted person becomes in theology, the more they might become able to trust their own knowledge and say, "Look at me. I read Edwards. I'm definitely in." But that is not trusting in the finished work of Christ and realizing deeply that He had to die even for the pride of propping up your own religious accomplishments. God alone is capable of doing that in the heart of an unconverted person, who by nature hates Him. The Israelites did not have to speak of their own qualifications to look at the bronze serpent on a pole. They only, in their desperate condition, had to fix their eyes on that frightening creature that looks like the same thing that killed their families and friends, and they would be saved from death. And today, you cannot save yourself from spiritual death by knowing which theologians to quote when. Godmust open your eyes and turn your head to look on Christ in His frightening perfections, frightening because Christ is everything you are not and the Lord is thoroughly offended by even the good things you do in your own flesh. But the Father sent His Son, who laid aside His glory to die a gruesome death for your sins on this earth. The unconverted crowd looked upon Him with ridicule, as if to say, "He is not our King! We were expecting dashing good looks and the end of Roman rule, and instead we got this donkey-riding man from Nazareth. Whatever good ever came from there?" But the poor in spirit know: "In this Savior, who died for me, there really is a certain salvation, 'certain' in the surest sense of that word. And, as Spurgeon said, 'How can I [even] trifle with the evil that killed my best Friend?'" Forget yourself; look on Christ and live. Seek Him while He may be found. Turn away from your sins, to Christ, and believe in this gospel.

I do not write this with anyone in particular in mind. If I saw someone in my life acting like this, I would go to them privately and tell them rather than blogging about it. But maybe God will use this to wake someone up. The Lion is not tame, and His truth is not a toy.

Small Group Lesson: Titus 3:1-11

I tweeted recently that I would not have a new post this past weekend because I was preparing a small group lesson. Earlier this week, I taught my small group from the book of Titus. Here are my notes from the lesson:

Context of the book of Titus:

Paul identifies himself as "a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ" (1:2) and writes this letter "for the sake of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth". He is definitely writing to believers here. He considers Titus, a pastor in Crete, his "true son in the faith" (1:4) and co-laborer in the gospel. Titus, a Gentile, ministered to other Gentiles living in Ephesus, Macedonia, and Crete. He had traveled with Paul to Rome, but they had a shipwreck which forced them to take shelter at Crete. Paul left him in Crete to appoint elders in every town, that there might be churches in every town there. The churches there had significant problems with false teaching (1:10-16). Paul combated this by listing qualifications for elders in chapter 1 and instructions for cross-generational fellowship in the church body in chapter 2.

Titus 3: (ESV)

¹Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities,

"them" refers to those who Titus is ministering to in Crete. Crete, in this time, was under the authority of the Roman Empire. So were the recipients of Peter and Paul's epistles, where they were instructed to suffer well for Christ in spite of rulers and authorities (the government - like in Romans) who stood firmly against the truth of God and would even kill them for saying that Jesus is Lord.

to be obedient, to be ready for every good work,

So Titus needs to instruct them to not only submit to these leaders in actions but to use each opportunity they get to do these leaders good. They are not to be Christians whose job is to kick out an oppressive secular regime and put one of their own in power so that they will not be persecuted. Paul, in effect, wants Titus to tell these believers to suffer well for the sake of Christ under the oppressive rule of Rome. This is a practical example of living out Christ's words in Luke 6:28 ("bless those who curse you") and Paul's instructions in Romans 12:14 ("bless those who persecute you").

²to speak evil of no one,

Notice that it says "of" and not "to". "Of" implies that Titus is to instruct the church to not speak evil "about" anyone. This applies to speaking evil to another person or speaking evil about them when they are not looking. Speaking evil robs good works (vv. 1, 8) of their effect on their recipient. It shows an inconsistent walk.

to avoid quarreling,

As Calvin said, there are more ways to fight than with fists and weapons. Quarreling is fighting with words.

to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people

Again, Paul permits no loopholes. The Christian is to be gentle and courteous, both characteristics of Christ, to all people, even those who mistreat them and use them for selfish gain.

³For we ourselves were once foolish,

The word "for" implies that this and what follows serves as a justification for the instructions in vv. 1-2. "Ourselves were once" shows that, in the condition of our hearts and our actions, we were once just like the people that were speaking evil of us and doing wrong to us now. "Foolish", according to Calvin, seems to refer to their past ignorance of the gospel.

disobedient,

This is a contrast to "obedient" in v. 1, here describing their former way of life. Unbelief is inherently wayward and rebellious.

led astray,

Tying this into the next phrase, it seems to be referring to an ability to fall to temptation easily, maybe because of a lack of firm rooting in the faith and the body of doctrine.

slaves to various passions and pleasures,

Their desires ruled them. They did whatever felt right (passions) and whatever gave them joy (pleasures) without considering what the Word of God says is right. "Various" refers to the fact that many different desires were ruling them. It was not just a desire for sex, money, power, the praise of men, or anything else. It was a combination.

passing our days in malice and envy,

"Passing our days" means their lives were just passing by with them continuing in these attitudes of selfish motives and wrong intentions (malice) and being greedy or envious because, in the sinful desires of their heart, they were comparing themselves to others.

hated by others and hating one another.

And in that comparison to others, they were competitors against each other. This "hated by others" does not refer to persecution, because the world hates Christians for a different reason: we are not of the world. The test of assurance of salvation of loving the brethren is a test of true conversion because unbelievers cannot love in the way that we can love.

⁴But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared,

God, in His nature, is true love, not love on the surface like this world has. "Appeared" refers not to Christ's appearing to all men (elect and non-elect), but His work that the elect particularly benefit from in the gospel. We are saved because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. We must hear the gospel in order to be saved. I would say this refers to the hearing of the gospel and (v. 5) the work of regeneration in us that allowed us to say that we have truly been saved by God. I say this because the "But" stands in contrast to our former ways of life in v.3.

⁵he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,

His work in us is by His mercy, not by our credentials. We can thus say His election of us is unconditional. He saved us. We did not save ourselves. His justice to us was satisfied in the person and work of Jesus Christ, not in our own acts of self-righteousness which He sees as filthy rags. But He must work in us in regenerating our hearts, turning a heart of stone into a heart of flesh. The regeneration is a one-time occurrence. The renewal is day-to-day. As progressive sanctification takes place in us, we exhibit less and less of the characteristics of v.3.

⁶whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

"Whom" is the Holy Spirit; "He" is God the Father", and "Jesus Christ our Savior" is the means the Father used to save us. This is all of the Trinity acting as one God in three separate persons in one verse. Think about "richly". It means we have no idea how blessed we are with our salvation through Jesus Christ. "Poured out" also highlights the great extent and value of this work. The Father could have just forgiven our sins. But He has declared us "not guilty" and allowed us to enjoy all sorts of spiritual blessings in Christ.

⁷so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

The hope of eternal life is not past or present grace, but future grace. Our inheritance in Christ, made possible by God's mercy and His work in saving us, is that we have certain hope in eternal life. It is certain because we are not hoping in the accomplishments of ourselves, which are subject to inconsistency and never meet God's standards anyway, but in the finished and perfect work of Jesus Christ.

⁸The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things,

"The saying" is v.7. "Insist on these things" means defend them before your churches where you minister and before men. Do not bend on this gospel.

so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works.

Paul's motivation for telling Titus to insist on these things is so that the churches where he ministered - and he assumes the church consists only of believers - would live out their faith.

These things are excellent and profitable for people.

"These things" refers to sound doctrine rooted in the true gospel. This does a true church consisting of real believers a lot of good.

⁹But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless.

These are all referring to side issues which pale in importance to the core doctrines of the faith. Genealogies were a particular problem in their day; people in that time, even Gentiles on Crete, had been giving allegorical and mystical interpretations to "he begat him". "Dissension" refers to stirring up controversy. "Quarrels about the law" refers to people making dogmatic statements about things that Scripture does not state clearly. In Judaism there are many commentaries on the Torah which have significant doctrinal weight. They deal with "here is what you should do in this very specific situation". In effect, it adds more law on top of the law. False teachers were also involved in using the law for their own gain by making assertions about it.

¹⁰As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him,

This is similar to how Corinth was to deal with the immoral brother, but without bringing this matter before the whole church. We are to treat such a person as a pagan and an outcast (Matthew 18:17). Warning someone twice emphasizes the seriousness of the warning. The warning means: tell them that they are in sin and if they continue down this course the results will be destructive. The "person who stirs up division" refers to someone who seeks to divide the Body of Christ by attacking historic Christian doctrine. The true church is united, but it must be pure by not allowing strange doctrines (in their day, the circumcision group who said people needed to be circumcised in order to be saved) to infiltrate it and over time, cause it to no longer stand for the truths that set it apart as Christian.

¹¹knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.

"Warped and sinful" refers to the condition of the person's heart. "Warped" means "twisted" or "perverted"; "sinful" refers to his persistent sin of rejecting the truth. The Greek word translated "a person who stirs up division" is the word from which we get our word "heretic", but in that day it referred to making a choice. This person is stubborn in their choice and not willing to submit it to the Word of God.

Application:

1. As Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, following Christ means "leaving yourself outside." This is not something that the natural man can do. God must work this in us.

2. v.3: From time to time, a Christian will fall into sin or struggle with it for an extended period. Realize that this stems from what you were before the Lord saved you. Fight to live out not your inborn identity, but the identity that Christ has given you.

3. v.3: Most sins come from envy (v.3), which has covetousness as its root. Desire God above all selfish ambition, and covetousness will become less of a problem.

4. vv.6-7: Think often of the significance of your salvation. Thank God for it in worship and prayer, and use it as a motivator for you to discuss the gospel with others, both nonbelievers and other believers. There should never be a time when we find the gospel insignificant and look for other things in Christianity (or psychology or sociology, etc.) to prop up our faith.

5. v.8: Defend the gospel. It is under constant attack from nonbelievers and, perhaps more than that, from fake Christians and misguided believers who think that something else is the gospel.

6. v.9: If you are in a disagreement with someone, consider the importance of the issue that you disagree about. Many Christians tend to fellowship well with another Christian until they happen upon one point of disagreement. Then their fellowship can turn bitter and they can even lose their friendship as they talk about that one issue at length. Also, see if your position is really in line with Scripture or if you have just been arguing based on feeling.

7. v.10: He is writing to a pastor. Most of us are people in the congregation. Have we ever been the person that stirred up division? If so, we need to repent and look at others in light of how God sees them.