Title: Does God have his testimony in my postmodern neighbors life
1Does God have his testimony in my postmodern
neighbors life?
- Jerram Barrs
- Lectures III IV
2Gods ceaseless work
- Close to one billion Christian believers
- Each has a unique story
- What is our part in this work?
- Following Christ into the world
- John 1715, 18 2021
3Gods Varied Testimonies
- Gods infinite variety of means
- How are we to speak to people?
- Philippians 48 ff whatever is true, whatever is
honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if
there is any excellence, if there is anything
worthy of praise, think about these things.
4Gods varied testimonies
- Gods revelation of himself in creation
- Gods revelation in his providential care
- The unique glory of our humanity as Gods image
- Gods moral wisdom revealed to all
- Objective standards of good and evil
- Delight in beauty of righteousness
- Sense of shame and guilt over wrongdoing
- Awareness of accountability
- Gods rule over the histories of nations and
individuals
5God Reveals himself through his Creation
- The majesty of the stars in the night sky
- The glory of a sunset
- The power of a storm
- The brightness of a snow-covered world
- The freshness of a spring day
- The wonder of the infinite variety of creatures
6Pied Beauty - Gerard Manley Hopkins
-
- GLORY be to God for dappled things
- For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow
- For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout
that swim - Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls finches wings
- Landscape plotted and piecedfold, fallow, and
plough - And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim.
-
- All things counter, original, spare, strange
- Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
- With swift, slow sweet, sour adazzle, dim
- He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change
- Praise him.
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10Gods varied testimonies
- Gods revelation in his providential care
- You cause the grass to grow for the livestock
and plants for man to cultivate, - that he may bring forth food from the earth and
wine to gladden the heart of man, - oil to make his face shine and bread to
strengthen mans heart. (Psalm 10414-15) -
- The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over
all that he has made - The Lord upholds all who are falling, and raises
up all who are bowed down. (Psalm 1459, 14)
11Gods Providential Care
- Look at the birds of the air they do not sow or
reap or store away in barns, and yet your
heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more
value than they? . See how the lilies of the
field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I
tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory
was dressed like one of these (Matthew 626-29) - The Most High is kind to the ungrateful and
the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is
merciful. (Luke 627-36)
12Paul Appeals to this Testimony
- We also are men, of like nature with you, and we
bring you good news, that you should turn from
these vain things to a living God, who made the
heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is
in them. In past generations he allowed all the
nations to walk in their own way. Yet he did not
leave himself without witness, for he did good by
giving you rains from heaven and fruitful
seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and
gladness.
13The unique glory of our humanity as Gods image
- We learn more from human persons for only we are
made in Gods image - Infinite Personal God
- Finite Personal Humans
- Animals - Animals
- Plants - Plants
- Physical world - Physical world
14We Are Crowned with Glory and Honor
- When I look at your heavens, the work of your
fingers, - the moon and the stars, which you have set in
place, - what is man that you are mindful of him,
- and the son of man that you care for him?
- You have made him a little lower than the
heavenly beings, - and crowned him with glory and honor.
- You have given him dominion over the works of
your hands - you have put all things under his feet (Psalm
83-6)
15What Is an Image?
- We are made as finite and visible/physical copies
of the infinite and invisible God -
- The image, or statue, of a king was set up in a
city square to be a constant visible reminder of
the king himself and of his governing power to
all the dwellers in that city - just so with us - We are not lifeless statues but living,
breathing, physical, personal representations of
the ruler of the universe
16What Can We Learn of God from Humans?
- Human persons are created for dominion over the
other creatures - God is the Sovereign over all creation, and we
have a finite and limited sovereignty under him - We are designed to exercise loving and faithful
rule over this earth and all of its creatures
17What Can We Learn of God from Humans?
- Human persons are created for love and
relationship -
- Within the Godhead there are the three persons of
the Trinity loving, relating and fellowshipping
with each other through all eternity - So we as those created in his image are made for
love, for relationship, for fellowship with our
Creator and with one another - Fundamental to our humanity is that we are made
to dwell in families, in community - I bow my knee to the Father from whom every
family in heaven and on earth is named
(Ephesians 314-15)
18What Can We Learn of God from Humans?
- Human persons are created to be like God in
righteousness and holiness - We are to mirror the moral nature of our Creator,
to walk in the way he walks - Behind every commandment of God stands the
reality of Gods moral beauty - Be holy, because I, the LORD your God, am holy
(Leviticus 192)
19What Can We Learn of God from Humans?
- Human persons are created to be significant
- We are designed to willingly and gladly choose to
be what God has made us to be, to live in love
and in moral beauty as he designed us to live,
delightedly reflecting his nature in all we do - We have a limited sovereignty over our own lives,
mirroring in a little way the infinite
sovereignty of Gods divine majesty - We are finite history makers, under God the Lord
of history
20What Can We Learn of God from Humans?
- Human persons are created to think God's thoughts
after him - We are made to be rational, to use our minds to
the glory of our Creator - We are to seek to understand our world and our
life here in it - We are to turn our thoughts to reflect on and to
treasure all that is right and true
21What Can We Learn of God from Humans?
- Human persons are created to use language
- We are all like the Word himself we are little
words - God called all worlds into being by his creative
word - He sustains and rules over all things by his
powerful and law-giving word - He reveals himself by his truth-giving word
- He communicates by his life-giving word
- We are to use language in imitation of him by
exercising the gifts of creative imagination - By understanding and naming the world around us
- By revealing ourselves truthfully in all we say
and write - By communicating with our Creator and with one
another to build trust and to give life to all of
our relationships
22Appealing to this Testimony
- The knowledge of ourselves (and of one another)
not only arouses us to seek God, but also, as it
were, leads us by the hand to find him - (John Calvin Institutes I, i, 1-2)
23Gerard Manley Hopkins
- Christ plays in ten thousand places,
- Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his
- To the Father through the features of men's
faces - This Jack, joke, poor potsherd, ' patch,
matchwood, immortal diamond -
24Gods moral wisdom revealed to all
- Does not wisdom call?
- Does not understanding raise her voice?
- On the heights beside the way,
- at the crossroad she takes her stand
- beside the gates in front of the town,
- at the entrance of the portals she cries aloud
- To you, O men, I call,
- and my cry is to the children of man
- By me kings reign,
- and rulers decree what is just
- by me princes rule,
- all nobles who govern justly (Proverbs 81-4
15-16)
25The Testimony of Moral Wisdom
- Objective standards of good and evil
- Delight in beauty of righteousness
- Sense of shame and guilt over wrongdoing
- Recognition of moral responsibility for children
- Awareness of accountability ultimately
- Examples sexual chastity response to wedding
sermon war criminals (Khmer Rouge)
26Gods rule over the histories of nations and
individuals
- The God who made the world and everything in it,
being Lord of heaven and earth does not live in
temples made by man, nor is he served by human
hands, as though he needed anything, since he
himself gives to all mankind life and breath and
everything. And he made from one man every
nation of mankind to live on all the face of the
earth, having determined allotted periods and the
boundaries of their dwelling place, that they
should seek God, in the hope that they might feel
their way toward him and find him. Yet he is
actually not far from each one of us. For in
him we live and move and have our being as even
some of your own poets have said, For we are
indeed his offspring. (Acts 1724-28)
27Gods Rule over History Unseen, yet Constant
- In the fullness of time God sent forth his Son
- Lives of individuals Ruth, Naaman, Esther
- Fall of communism and impact in Eastern Europe
and former Soviet Union - Tiananmen Square
- Rise to power of Ayatollah Khomeini in Iran and
Fundamentalist Islam - Islamic Radicalism and terrorist acts
- More conversions from Islam today than at any
point in history
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29Jeff Wideners Photograph
- The Unknown Rebel This famous photo, taken on 5
June 1989 by photographer Jeff Widener, depicts
an unknown man halting the PLA's advancing tanks
near Tiananmen Square
30- Echoes of Eden recalling creation, fall and
redemption - The transformed life of each believer
- The new community of Gods people
- The redolence of Christ in all we do
- Gods Word has the ring of truth
31Westminster Confession
- We may be moved and induced by the testimony of
the Church to an high and reverent esteem of the
Holy Scripture. And the heavenliness of the
matter, the efficacy of the doctrine, the majesty
of the style, the consent of all the parts, the
scope of the whole (which is, to give all glory
to God), the full discovery it makes of the only
way of man's salvation, the many other
incomparable excellencies, and the entire
perfection thereof, are arguments whereby it does
abundantly evidence itself to be the Word of God
yet notwithstanding, our full persuasion and
assurance of the infallible truth and divine
authority thereof, is from the inward work of the
Holy Spirit bearing witness by and with the Word
in our hearts. (Westminster Confession Chapter
1, Section V)
32Honoring the Spirits work as he uses these
varied testimonies
- Example two men from Afghanistan village
- Their desire to know God
- Their sense of problems with Islam
- Their secret prayers
- Gods hand in their history - Australian from
LAbri - Can you help us find God?
- Conversation Go to LAbri in Switzerland
- Secret preparation then travel
- Please Teach us about God
- Conversion
33Our Calling cooperating with God
- Live the truth make the gospel attractive by
our lives in family, in friendships, at work - Commit ourselves to deep friendships 90 of
unbelievers come to faith primarily through
personal relationships with friends, family
members, neighbors or workmates - Praying for family, friends, and neighbors for
the Spirits work in them
34Imitating the Love of our Heavenly Father
- Respect for every person they bear Gods image
- Never despise people in their sin see my own
sin instead! - Showing grace and mercy because of sin (Jesus and
Zacchaeus)
35Whatever man you meet who needs your aid, you
have no reason to refuse him help. Say, He is a
stranger but the Lord has given him a mark that
ought to be familiar to you, by virtue of the
fact that he forbids you to despise your own
flesh Isaiah 587. Say, He is contemptible
and worthless but the Lord shows him to be one
to whom he has deigned to give the beauty of his
image. Say that he does not deserve even the
least effort for his sake but the image of God,
which recommends him to you, is worthy of giving
yourself and your possessions. Now if he has not
only deserved no good at your hand, but has also
provoked you by unjust acts and curses, not even
this is just reason why you should not embrace
him in love and to perform the duties of love on
his behalf we remember not to consider mens
evil intention but to look upon the image of God
in them, which cancels and effaces their
transgressions, and with its beauty and dignity
allures us to love and embrace them. (John
Calvin Institutes III, vii, 6)
36Observing the Spirits Testimony
- Praying for wisdom and discernment to see
Whatever is true, whatever is honorable,
whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is
lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any
excellence, if there is anything worthy of
praise, think about these things. Philippians
48 ff - Honoring this testimony and building on it
- Pray for grace and clarity to begin to speak the
truth in love when God opens the door
37My Story
- Parents great marriage and happy family life
- Passionate commitment to justice and integrity
Dad a communist - Delight in world of nature
- Reading aloud Lewis and Tolkien
- Reading Bible stories prayer
- At 10 we dont believe your choice
38Year between High School and College - Developing
Questions
- What does it mean to be human Is there any
foundation for the glories of our lives? - Is there any basis for distinguishing between
good and evil? - Is there any explanation for suffering and any
resolution to the problem of suffering?
39Off to University
- No answers whats your problem are you a
nihilist? - Studying literature that wrestles with these
questions - Movies Blow Up, The Silence, Winter Light, Whos
Afraid of Virginia Wolfe? - Life seemed completely absurd
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Collection DVD cover
Region 1 DVD
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42Meaningless, Meaningless
- Plan to commit suicide at Alderley Edge
- Cold January day sunshine glory of nature
- Too soon - I must keep looking
- Meeting my first true Christian, Mike
- Hospitality, kindness, the beauty of his life
- First evening meeting Ecclesiastes 1 2
Meaningless, meaningless, everything is
meaningless says the preacher
43Bible not Fairy Stories, but True!
- True account of our human condition - answers to
my questions from Mike and from tapes of
Schaeffers lectures - True historically God acted in history in
sending his Son into our world to be born, to die
and to rise again - True in the lives of believers
44Finally, Bowing before God
- 1. Bowing as a creature before the Creator
- 2. Bowing morally before the Judge who determines
good and evil, before whom I must acknowledge my
guilt, and who has dealt with my condemnation on
the cross - 3. Bowing before God as the source of truth he
knows the way things are, not me my reason must
be the handmaid of his revelation
45Example an easy family member
- My father, a communist five years of prayer
- Writing from St. Louis
- Dying of cancer
- Gods gracious providence LAbri nearby
- The Spirits testimony marriage, family,
justice, generosity - These are Gods gifts to us
- They have no place in Marxism
- His conversion
46Example a difficult family member
- My parents wonderful marriage
- My step-father the wedding
- His unkindness to my mother
- His dislike of me
- My friends advice Pray that he will die!
- Testimony what is lovely in his life? Growing
flowers - A gift of fuchsias two each birthday and
anniversary - 23 years of pain and sorrow and prayer
- Visit to St. Louis
- Conversion
- Funeral
47Examples from Family
- My mother grief over bereavement
- My brother brokenness of life after Dads death
and a divorce I have to make it on my own
in need I am ready to think about it is
evolution an adequate explanation? - My sister the love of Christ
48Example a friend
- His wife converted 35 years ago
- Successful, angry, anti-Christian
- Prayer for 35 years and faithfulness of wife
- 5 years ago invitation to lunch
- Each year more friendly
- Testimony of Spirit wisdom about finance
- Honoring that wisdom with questions
- Last October 3 lunches
- Discussion - passionate convictions
- Everythings relative
- You are no relativist! (gently and with a
smile) - Carrying guilt to the grave
- This is why Jesus died
- That is too easy!
- Not for Jesus, and not for you silent tears
- Teasing him about conversion
- Asking if pushing too hard
49Who is sufficient for these things?
- Not one of us
- But, God is sufficient
- We do not have to be clever but we are to take
people seriously and to communicate truth - We are to pray and to ask for wisdom to see Gods
testimony in each unbeliever - Our lives are our final apologetic
- We have to follow Jesus into the world