At the end
of last year I noted a dozen memorable events of 2021. Looking back on 2022 I
thought I’d do the same. Here are ten select highlights (in general chronology order), along with a few links, from 2022:
1.
I
got to see my youngest two sons start on the Grace Christian School baseball
team and win a second consecutive VACA state championship (this time over Smith
Mt Lake CS) held on the campus at Liberty University on May 14. My son Isaiah
won the tournament MVP for the second consecutive year. I also got to see
Isaiah graduate from Grace in May and begin college in August.
2.
I
enjoyed a week of vacation with my family at Topsail Island, North Carolina,
June 27—July 2.
3.
I
had the privilege of giving three lectures on “Received Text Apologetics” at
the 2022 Kept Pure in All Ages Conference at the Five Solas OPC in Reedsburg,
Wisconsin on July 22-23.
4.
The
book Why I Preach from the Received Text, which I co-edited with
Christian McShaffrey and to which I contributed a chapter, was released by The
Greater Christian Heritage in July 2022 and became the publisher’s all-time
best-seller. I also had several articles published throughout the year
including “A Defence of the Traditional Text of Scripture,” in Sword &
Trowel (Metropolitan Tabernacle, London) (2022 No. 1); “One Thing is
Needful: An Exposition of Luke 10:38-42” in Reformation Today (No. 305,
July-September, 2022); and “In Defense of the Traditional Text of Philippians
4:13” in Bible League Quarterly (July-September, 2022). In addition, the Ukrainian edition of my book The Doctrines of Grace: An Introduction to the
Five Points of Calvinism was also published in December.
5.
I
baptized my youngest son Joseph, along with several others, on Sunday, August
14 at the Woolfolk’s pond in Louisa. I have now had the privilege of baptizing
all five of my children upon their profession of faith.
6.
My
oldest daughter Hannah became the first of my children to be engaged to be
married [to a fine young man from Texas] (the wedding will be in early 2023).
7.
I
gave a challenge-to-the-candidate ordination message in the service to install
my friend Andrew McCaskill to the eldership on August 28, at Emmanuel RBC,
Verona, Virginia.
8.
I
had the privilege of speaking on “The Case for the Received Text” at the Text
and Translation Conference sponsored by the Trinitarian Bible Society in their offices in London on September 15. I then attended the 191st Annual General
Meeting of the Trinitarian Bible Society, held at the Metropolitan Tabernacle
Church in London on September 17. I also preached at Westminster Baptist Church
in London in the morning and evening services on Sunday, September 18 (the day
before the Queen’s funeral).
9.
I
gave the “Orientation to the 2022 Keach Conference” at the 21st annual
meeting of this theology conference, held on September 24 at Grace Baptist Chapel
in Hampton, Virginia.
10.I gave three lectures on “The Reformation and the Text of the Bible” in a conference sponsored by the Soli Deo Gloria Baptist Church in
Budapest, Hungary on October 29 and then preached the morning and evening
services there on October 30. I enjoyed the hospitality of Pastor Miklos
Chiciudean (and his family). Miklos had been one of my students in the Hungarian
Baptist Seminary thirty years ago.
11. My youngest son Joseph started for Grace when they won their
first ever VACA state championship in soccer on October 29 in Harrisonburg over
Blue Ridge CS (but I was in Hungary and had to miss seeing it in person!).
12. I passed the 30th anniversary of my ordination to
pastoral ministry, which took place at Beulah Baptist Church in Lyells,
Virginia on November 15, 1992.
SDG!
JTR
Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on Matthew 22:41-46.
After several confrontations recorded in Matthew 22, Christ turns
the tables and asks the Pharisees some questions. He begins, “What think ye of
Christ?” and then adds, “whose son is he?” (v. 42).
To answer the second question he conducts a Bible study on Psalm
110:1, “How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The LORD said unto
my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?”
(Matthew 22:43-44).
Notice three things about this latter question:
First, he identifies David as the author of this Psalm (v. 43). The
title of Psalm 110 is indeed, “A Psalm of David.”
Second, he says that David was speaking “in the spirit” (v. 43).
This refers not just to David’s spirit, but to the Holy Spirit. Mark adds that
Christ plainly said, “For David himself said by the Holy Ghost….” (Mark 12:36).
This Psalm was, as Paul would put it, “given by inspiration of God
[God-breathed], and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction,
for instruction in righteousness” (2 Tim 3:16).
Third, David spoke of the God of the Bible, the Father, Jehovah,
the LORD in this verse as speaking to another person whom he calls “my Lord,” my
Kurios, my Adonijah. Christ shows that this is a Messianic Psalm.
He notes that the God of the Bible promised to this person whom David calls “my
Lord” authority, “Sit thou on my right hand,” and dominion over his foes, “till
I make thine enemies thy footstool.”
Spurgeon says Christ’s teaching answers “the present day critics
who deny the divine inspiration of the Scriptures, and the Davidic authorship,
and the Messianic application of certain Psalms” (Commentary on Matthew,
347-348).
Christ continues his pedagogy through questions in v. 45: “If
David then calls him Lord, how is he is son?”
His point: If the Messiah is merely David’s son (a physical
descendent who comes through David’s line), how could he address him as Adonijah
or Lord or Kurios? How could he use such an exalted title for the
Messiah if he was merely an ordinary man?
What was he saying about himself? He was declaring: I am the Son
of David, born in Bethlehem. I am the anointed one. I am the King sent to
suffer on a cross. I am true man, but I am not merely a true man. David called
me his Lord. I am greater than David. I am not merely the Son of David, but I
am the eternal Son of God.
Believers are those who affirm that this is true, while
unbelievers deny it (cf. Matthew 10:32-33).
Grace and peace, Jeff Riddle
Image: CRBCers singing hymns following the Lord's Day afternoon service (12.18.22).
Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on Matthew 22:34-40.
Matthew 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38
This is the first and great commandment.
In this month when many think of the birth of Christ, we have
continued our Lord’s Day expositions of the Gospel of Matthew.
Last Sunday we considered Christ’s teaching on the Great
Commandment (Matthew 22:34-40) and were helped by Spurgeon’s commentary on this
passage (Matthew, 345).
Christ commanded first, “Thou shalt love the Lord they God
with all thy heart….”
Spurgeon: “Because he is our God, Jehovah claims our heart’s love.
As our Creator, Preserver, Provider, and Judge, he commands us to yield to him
all our heart’s affection; to love him first, best, heartiest; out of all
comparison to the love we have to any fellow-creature, or to ourselves.”
“…and with all thy soul….”
Spurgeon: “We are love to God with all our life, to love him more
than our life; so that, if necessary, we would give up our life rather than give
up our love to God.”
“…and with all thy mind.”
Spurgeon: “We are to love God with our intellect, with all the
powers of our mind, bringing memory, thought, imagination, reason, judgment,
and all our mental powers, as willing subjects to bow at God’s feet in
admiration and love.”
Let us be encouraged to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, and
mind, even as we also love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:39).
Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle
Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on Matthew 22:23-33.
In Matthew
22:23-33 we find the record of Christ’s conflict with the Sadducees in the week
leading up to the cross.
Christ
rebukes the priestly Sadducees who denied the final resurrection, “Ye do err,
not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God” (v. 29). This is the Lord’s
answer to all cults, to all false teachers and false religions. And it is his
answer to us when we stray from what it true and right and Biblical.
How
and why did they err? Christ continues, “Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures,
nor the power [dynamin—miraculous or wonder-working power] of God.”
Having
given this negative rebuke, Christ then turns to offer positive instruction in
v. 30: “For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage,
but are as the angels of God in heaven.”
Note three
key points:
First, Christ teaches that there will be a future time
during which all men shall experience the resurrection at the end of the ages. This
was taught in the OT in places like Daniel 12:1-2, Job 19:25-27, and Psalm 16:10-11.
Christ
also explicitly taught this in his earthly ministry (see John 5:28-29 in which
Christ spoke of how those in the graves who would hear the Lord’s voice and be
raised either “unto the resurrection of life” or “unto the resurrection of
damnation”).
This
is what the apostles taught. Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 declared, “We shall
not all sleep, but we shall be changed.... for the trumpet shall sound, and the
dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”
Second,
Christ teaches that life in the glorified state will be different than our
lives in this present age. One of the chief differences will be the ways in
which our former relationships will be changed. Marriage was instituted by God
at creation to be a sign of Christ’s relationship with the church (see Gen
2:24; Eph 5:32), but in the resurrection, the bridegroom (Christ) will be
joined to his bride (the church) and the temporary institution of marriage will
be eclipsed by our being without sin in the presence of God. This does not mean
that we will not know each other. I believe we will, but our focus and
attention will be upon the Lord and not each other.
This coheres with John’s description of life in the New Jerusalem
in Revelation 22:3-5, as he declares, “his servants shall serve him” and “they
shall see his face.” Our gaze will be always upon the Lamb.
Third, Christ
says we will be like the angels. Notice that he does not say we will become
angels. But we will be like the angels. We will have a resurrection existence
that exceeds our present earthly existence, and we will not be able to sin, and
we will pursue without hindrance the worship and service of the Lord. That’s
how the elect angels live.
Frank Capra’s It’s A Wonderful Life might be an
entertaining film, but it has terrible angelology. In that film Clarence is a
man who became an angel and has to earn his wings. We do not become angels at
death, and we have no post-mortem purgatorial work to do to attain higher
standing before God. Instead, like the angels we will glory forever in God’s
magnificent presence.
Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle
.webp)
"Though you are little (Micah 5:2-5a; Matthew 2:1-6)," in O Come, O Come Emmanuel: Devotions for December Lord's Day, IRBS Seminary (2021).
You can also download the entire booklet for free here.
JTR
We began
last Sunday afternoon a brief series through the book of Habakkuk, one of the
so-called “Minor Prophets.”
The title in
Habakkuk 1:1 provides our basic orientation to this little book: “The burden
which Habakkuk the prophet did see” (cf. Nahum 1:1).
Who was
the prophet Habakkuk?
We have almost no biographical information about this prophet, other than his
name, within this book. The name Habakkuk appears nowhere else in the
Scriptures.
He must have
been a man well known and respected, however, in his day. He does not need to
explain who he is. He must also have been a man of humility, who did not feel
compelled to call attention to himself. He is like John the Baptist, pointing
away from himself and toward the Lord (John 3:30).
What does
the name Habakkuk mean? Even the meaning of his name is
unclear. Some have suggested it comes from the name of a plant. Others suggest
it comes from a Hebrew verb which means “to embrace” or “to ardently embrace.”
This word appears in 2 Kings 4:16 when Elisha tells the Shunammite woman, “thou
shalt embrace a son.” Some have suggested that the spiritual significance of
the name was that Habakkuk would be one who would cling to God in the midst of
troubles and calamity. To turn that around, maybe it referred to the fact that
the prophet felt as though the living God had embraced him, as the Shunammite
did her son.
What is
the historical setting for the book? No specific names of the kings of Israel or Judah are
mentioned for us to be able to pinpoint the date, but in 1:6 he prophesied of
the LORD raising up the Chaldeans. From this most have construed that Habakkuk
was writing in the last days of Judah before it fell to the Babylonians. This
means Habakkuk would have been a contemporary of Jeremiah. Some have suggested
that was ministering during the days of Josiah, the last great hope for Judah,
and had seen the death of Josiah in battle and the undoing of all his reforms
under his successor Jehoiakim. So, he was living in the last days of his
nation. He saw the doom that was ahead and was naturally filled with dread and
questions about the disturbing things that were about to come.
What is
the structure of the book? The first two chapters are something like a lament and a theological
reflection on the coming collapse of the nation. The last chapter is a prayer
of the prophet (see 3:1).
How was
Habakkuk used in the New Testament? This book was known, read, and used by the apostles. The
most often cited passage from this book in the NT is Habakkuk 2:4 which ends,
“but the just shall live by his faith.” The apostle Paul appealed three times
to this verse in his writings (Rom 1:17; Gal 3:11; Hebrews 10:38).
What is
Habakkuk about? In
the opening chapter, Habakkuk offers a lament, “O LORD, how long shall I cry,
and thou wilt not hear!” (1:2a; cf. Psalm 13:1-2). He then proceeds, however,
to acknowledge the greatness of God: “Art not thou from everlasting, O LORD my
God, mine Holy One?” (1:12a). Thus, he notes the eternality of God, who is from
everlasting to everlasting, as well as his holiness. Perhaps these two
statements sum up the book’s theme. In the midst of national doom and personal
distress, the prophet discovers the greatness of his God.
Grace and
peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle
Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on Matthew 22:1-14.
Matthew 22:9 Go ye
therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.
10 So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as
many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.
In Christ’s parable of
the wedding dinner in Matthew 22:1-14, those first beckoned to the feast rejected
the invitation, so the King sent out a second round of invitations. He gives something
like a Great Commission to his servants: “Go ye therefore…” (v. 9; cf. 28:19). He
tells his servants to go out into the highways (epi tas diexodous tōn hodōn;
literally, the ways leading out of the main way, the byways) and “gather
together (synago, assemble) all as many as they found, both bad and
good” (v. 10a). This refers to that general and promiscuous call of the gospel
that would go out not merely to the Jews but also to the Gentiles. This is the
general call of the gospel to all kinds of men. Spurgeon notes: “Glorious was
the outburst of grace which bade the apostles turn to the Gentiles” (Matthew,
327).
When it says men “bad
and good” were called it is not speaking here of moral indifference to the
behavior of those called. It is simply saying that at the time of their calling
there would have been some considered to be living badly and others considered
to be living well. Their calling, however, was not conditioned on their present
circumstances. This is a picture of what we call “unconditional election.” When
Paul describes the divine choosing of Jacob and the divine rejection of Esau,
he says this took place before they were even born “neither having done any
good or evil that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of
works, but of him that calleth” (Romans 9:11).
The end result: “and
the wedding was furnished with guests” (v. 10b). Spurgeon was fond of saying
that there will likely be many more in heaven than we think there will be. The
picture here is of a King (God himself) who wishes to have many, many come to
the wedding dinner of his dear Son. He is not stingy. He is not parsimonious. A
wonderful feast has been prepared, and he desires large numbers to be there.
And his will is always done.
I think of that scene
in Revelation of John’s vision of God’s throne in heaven and those gathered
around it, “a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and
kindreds, and people, and tongues” (Revelation 7:9).
Let us long for the
day when Christ returns in glory, and his elect are beckoned to join at last “the
marriage supper of the Lamb” (Revelation 19:9).
Grace and peace,
Pastor Jeff Riddle
What about Apostolic Succession?
I want to examine the topic of
“Apostolic Succession.”
This is a term primarily used in
Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, but also in Anglican churches,
suggesting that their tradition is a true church (or even “the true church”).
because it can trace a direct line from the apostles to its own bishops/ministers.
It assumes an unbroken
succession or line formed by the laying on of hands from the apostles to bishop
to bishop to bishop down to the present day.
Furthermore, it contends that
those outside this line of succession cannot lay claim to be true churches,
because they are not the inheritors of this visible tradition.
At its root “Apostolic
succession” raises the question of the authority and the essence or being (ens)
of any tradition which claims to be a church.
Recall the questions of the
chief priests and elders in the temple to the Lord Jesus, “By what authority
doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?” (Matt 21:23).
Notice that the Lord Jesus did
not come from either a priestly or ruling family. His authority did not come
from his priestly lineage, but from his authoritative teaching as the Word made
flesh.
The Founding of the Church
We turn now to the founding of
the church.
See Matthew 16:13-20.
The founder is Christ. He builds
his church on Peter’s confession, not on Peter himself (vv. 16-18). He promises
that the gates of hell will not prevail against his church. In other words, he
promises to preserve and maintain it. He gives to Peter the keys as a
representative of the apostles (v. 19). He later addresses similar teaching not
to Peter alone but to all the apostles (see Matt 18:18-20).
The Foundation of the Church
In Ephesians 2:19-22, Paul uses
various metaphors to describe believers, noting that they are “built upon the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus himself being the chief corner
stone” (v. 20). Notice also his prayer in Ephesians 3:20-21 where he makes
reference to glory being given to God “in the church” (v. 21).
Does built on the foundation of
the apostles have any reference to an unbroken succession of bishops/minister
from the apostles?
Or, does it refer to those who
hold to the doctrinal and practical teaching of the apostles?
Consider:
Acts 2:42 And they
continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking
of bread, and in prayers.
Note: The focus
was on the apostles’ didache.
Galatians
1: 8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any
other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be
accursed.
9 As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other
gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
Note: Paul said that even if he (an apostle) preached a false
gospel, let him be anathema. Right teaching prevails over personal office—even
of an apostle.
Colossians 2: 6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in
him:
7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye
have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
Note: Establishment in the faith in key, not adherence to any
apostle.
2 Timothy 2:1 Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the
grace that is in Christ Jesus.
2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses,
the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.
Note: The emphasis is not merely on the fact that men be tapped
who are associated with the apostle but that they be faithful teachers.
The Marks of a True Church
What make a true church to be a
true church?
Does a historical claim to have
bishop/ministers who were ordained in a line of succession going back to the
apostles necessarily make a true church?
Or, are there some other, more
central distinguishing marks of a true church?
The classic Protestant view has
been that a true church bears three distinguishing marks (see Louis Berkhof,
Systematic Theology, 576-588).
1. The true preaching of the Word
(John 8:31, 32, 47; 14:23; 1 John 4:1-3; 2 John 9).
Berkhof: “The true preaching of
the Word is the great means for maintaining the Church and enabling her to be
the mother of the faithful” (577).
2. The right administration of the
sacraments (Matt 28:19; Mark 16:15-16; Acts 2:42; 1 Cor 11:23-30).
Berkhof: “The sacraments never
should be divorced from the Word, for they have no content of their own, but
derive their content from the Word of God; they are in fact a visible preaching
of the Word” (577-578).
3. The faithful exercise of
discipline (Matt 18:18; 1 Cor 5:1-5, 13; 14:33, 40; Rev 2:14, 15, 20).
Berkhof: “This is quite
essential for maintaining the purity of doctrine and for guarding the holiness
of the sacraments. Churches that are lax in discipline are bound to discover
sooner or later within their circle an eclipse of the light of truth and an
abuse of that which is holy” (578).
Apostolic Continuity
Rather than linear apostolic
succession, Protestants have focused instead on spiritual apostolic
succession, in continuity in teaching and practice with the apostles. A church
“succeeds” the apostles not because it has a bishop/minister who can trace an
unbroken line of ordination back to the apostles, but because it is consistent
with the teaching and practices of the apostles as they are set forth in
Scripture.
Calvin on Apostolic Succession
John Calvin addressed the issue
of apostolic succession in his Institutes (see especially 4.2.1-5). Here are a
few quotes:
“That is, wherever the ministry
remains whole and uncorrupted, no moral faults or diseases prevent it from
bearing the name ‘church’” (4.2.1).
“It therefore follows that this
pretense of succession is vain unless their descendants conserve safe and
uncorrupted the truth of Christ, which they have received at their fathers’
hands, and abide in it” (4.2.2).
“But especially in the
organization of the church nothing is more absurd than to lodge the succession
in persons alone to the exclusion of teaching” (4.2.3).
“To sum up, since the church is
Christ’s Kingdom, and he reigns by his Word alone, will it not be clear to any
man that those are lying words [cf. Jer. 7:4] by which the Kingdom of Christ is
imagined to exist apart from his scepter (that is, his most holy Word)?
(4.2.4).
“[Paul] means that apart from
the Lord’s Word there is not an agreement of believers but a faction of wicked
men” (4.2.5).
JTR
In 2019 our church's publishing ministry produced a short book I had written titled The Doctrines of Grace: An Introduction to the Five Points of Calvinism (print and digital editions, find it here). As the title indicates, this book is a brief and simple introduciton to the Reformed doctrine of salvation (the doctrines of grace), using the TULIP acronym.
Two years ago, Gloria Boyd, a member of our church originally from the Dominican Republic, translated the book into Spanish, and so we published a Spanish version (print and digital editions, find it here).
In the past year my friend Vadim Chepurny, Assistant Dean at the Reformed Baptist Seminary, enlisted the help of Daria Musiyenko to produce a Ukrainian version of the book.
D. Florentine, a member of our church who serves as technical editor for Trumpet Books formatted this work for publication, and it is now available on amazon. You can find it here.
We were hoping we could produce an inexpensive kindle edition (as we had done with the Spanish version) but at present amazon does not support books in the kindle format in Ukrainian. Maybe we can produce a digital edition of this version in the future.
We trust that the Lord may be pleased to use this new edition of the book in Ukrainian in any way he sees fit to magnify his glory and build his kingdom.
We are also interested in sending complimentary copies of this book to Ukrainian-speaking churches or ministries that might be interested in receiving it or using it in their labors.
If you are interested, send an email to the info.crbc (at) gmail.com.
JTR
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Note: Devotional taken from last Sunday's sermon on Matthew 21:28-32.
Matthew 21: 28 But
what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said,
Son, go work today in my vineyard. 29 He answered and said, I will not: but
afterward he repented and went.
In Christ’s Parable of
the Two Sons (Matthew 21:28-31), Christ begins by describing the command given
by the father to the first son (v. 28). Notice four things about this command:
First, the father begins by appealing to this first child
as his “Son.” Sons are expected to obey and honor fathers (see the fifth
commandment, Exod 20:12).
Second, he does not issue a request but a command. He does
not say, Son if you have the time and you’re not too busy, would you be so kind
as to go into the vineyard for me? Pretty please with sprinkle on top. No, he
extends two imperatives, Go! Work!
Third, notice the urgency of the command. Not, if and when
you have time. Not, by the end of the week or month. But “today.” This recalls
David’s words in Psalm 95, “Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your
heart” (vv. 7-8).
Fourth, he provides clear direction as to where the son is
to go and labor (the sphere of is labor), “in my vineyard.” Any reference to a
vineyard recalls those scenes from the OT, as in Isaiah 5, when the Lord
presents himself as the owner of the vineyard, and the vineyard as the “house
of Israel.”
We then have the
response of the first son (v. 29). He answers his father, “I will not.” This is
a perfect representation of the exercise of man’s free will. Man has a free
will. Only problem is that it is in bondage to sin, so that when God the Father
commands, sinful men respond, I will not!
In this case, however,
we are next told that some change overcame the first son. We are not given any
reason or explanation for this change. There is no record of angst or guilt or
pangs of conscience. There is just a change: “but afterward he repented…” The
word here for “to repent” is not the word typically used for the turning away
from sin and self and toward God (metanoeo), but another (metamelomai)
that appears less frequently and is associated with a sense of regret. It is
used in Matthew 27:3 to describe how unconverted Judas “repented himself” or
was filled with remorse for betraying Christ.
Finally, it says, he
“went” out into the vineyard to labor for his father, even though he had
initially refused (v. 29).
There is something in
this account of the first son that is applicable to the experience of every
believer. The Father calls us and commands that we serve him. The response of
every unconverted man is, I will not. Then, however, the Lord is pleased to
bring about repentance and leads the child of God to respond in obedience.
Let us listen to the
Father’s commands and obey him.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Jeff Riddle
