Beeke, Joel R., The Christian Teacher as Office Bearer. Conway: Free Grace Press, 2020. 64 pp. $10.00.

Joel R. Beeke is the president and professor of systematic theology at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary. His other books include Puritan Theology: Doctrine for Life, Heirs with Christ: The Puritans on Adoption, and Parenting by God’s Promises: How to Raise Children in the Covenant of Grace.  We have been blessed to have Dr. Beeke as a guest on our Roundtable Podcast and you can find our reviews of some of his other books here, here, and here.

In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he writes that Christ gave gifts, including “teachers” for the building up of his body, the church (cf. Ephesians 4:11–12). The Christian Teacher as Office Bearer is a short but potent new book from Joel R. Beeke addressing the calling of the Christian teacher. By “office bearer,” Beeke is not necessarily referring to those who hold a formally ordained “office” in a church. Rather, the primary theme of this book is that the Christian teacher is called to reflect Christ in his offices as prophet, priest, and king (3).

In the introductory chapter, Beeke lays out a vision for a teacher-valued, Christ-centered, and Reformation-grounded approach (1–11). The author quickly makes real-world application for this framework when he writes, “Only the Christian teacher can invite (an) abused child into the arms of a loving heavenly Father in whom he can finally find love and make sense of a sin-shattered life and from which he can stop the abusive cycle and lovingly raise the next generation in godliness (5).”

In the first chapter, “Bearing Christ’s Prophetic Office as Teachers,” Beeke does not mean “prophetic” in the sense of telling the future (13–26). Here the author cites the biblical definition of a prophet as one whose “essential task … is to receive divine revelation and to be God’s spokesperson to people (14).” The Christian teacher’s responsibility is to “humbly receive God’s written word,” “confess (his) own faith,” and “proclaim the whole counsel of God.” Beeke’s takeaway guidelines for teachers in their prophetic office are that they teach with a biblical framework, with passion, by example, as students of the Word themselves, and seeking the holistic maturity of their students (15–26).

The second chapter moves on to Christ’s office as our Great High Priest and how teachers can model Him. Citing the Heidelberg Catechism’s Question 31, Beeke affirms Christ’s unique role as “our only High Priest” (see Hebrews 5:1–2). At the same time, all believers are described by Scripture as a “royal priesthood” in passages like 1 Peter 2:5,9 and Revelation 1:6 (27–28).

Beeke presents readers with three ways that Christian teachers serve as priests in the classroom. First is to teach sacrificially (28–31), meaning that the teacher is carefully preparing lesson plans and materials, being disciplined in grading, and responding to difficult students in a patient (i.e. Christlike) manner (30). Secondly, the author encourages teaching through sharing the life of the teacher and having “compassion on the ignorant,” per Hebrews 5:2 (33). Thirdly, the teacher reflects Christ’s priesthood through intercessory prayer on behalf of his students (34–39). Unlike Christ, we as teachers must recognize our own sinful weakness and dependence on God’s grace. Beeke puts it well when he writes, “We serve our classrooms as priests by looking to the Great High Priest, whose blood and righteousness can serve the most hard hearted student and drive out the most stubborn sin of a believing student (36–37).”

Beeke’s third chapter unpacks what it means for the Christian teacher to model Christ in his kingly office (41–55). He argues that Christian teachers, like all believers, have a responsibility to exercise stewardship or “dominion” (not sovereignty) over creation, per Genesis 1:26–28. The Christian teacher is to reflect Christ’s role as king, to be “images of the King in their classrooms (42).”

The author gives us four ways that teachers can demonstrate kingly authority. First, the teacher can shepherd students as a Servant-King (43–44). We teach and serve with authority but also submit ourselves to God. So, in essence, the teacher who bears Christ’s kingly office “is not wielding authority but standing under authority (43, emphasis original). Next, as a natural outflow of this first principle, teachers empower students to labor and serve in God’s world as Servant-Kings themselves (45–49). Thirdly, the teacher is to defend his students as “a gentle warrior” in the sense of knowing when to provide nuance and sensitivity and when to take clear, bold, and unwavering stands (48–51). I was reminded of Calvin’s famous line about shepherds needing to have one voice for their sheep and another for the wolves. Finally, the teacher as Servant-King must consistently discipline students in ways that are loving and honorable (53–54).

I appreciated that the author was willing to use the potentially confusing terms of prophet, priest, and king in describing the task of Christian teaching. In his concluding chapter, Beeke is careful to explain that the Christlike offices should not be practiced in isolation from each other. For example, “priestly gentleness is always fortified with a prophetic truth-bearing and our kingly disciplining is always sweetened with a priestly approachability (58).”

The Christian Teacher as Office Bearer does not present a simplistic “What Would Jesus Do?” way of “being like Jesus.” Joel Beeke gives readers a wonderfully biblical, theologically rich, and yes, aspirational vision of what it means to reflect Christ to students. This little book left me challenged, convicted, and inspired to take seriously the blessing, opportunity, and responsibility of teaching God’s Word to God’s people. Highly recommended.

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

When discussing the humanity of Jesus Christ, impeccability is the word Christians use to describe that Jesus was unable to sin. This is a disputed topic even among Reformed™ brethren. There are some who teach that it was, in fact, possible for Jesus to sin, yet he did not. Impeccability is the word we use to say that it was impossible for Jesus to sin. If you aren’t familiar with the various arguments a quick search on the internet will yield some results where you can hear both sides. I affirm Christ’s impeccability, personally.

For this post, I just wanted to share my thoughts on the topic of Christ’s impeccability based on my reading through Isaiah. In Isaiah 7:14 we find a well-known verse about the coming Messiah:

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

This is a clear reference to the coming of Jesus Christ! Matthew quotes this verse in Matthew 1:23 as referring to Jesus, in case you don’t believe me.

But the verses that follow are the ones I want to focus on here. The verses following the promise of the son of the virgin are:

Isaiah 7:15 He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good.

Now let me tell you what came to mind as I meditated on these verses. It struck me that the boy—Jesus—would have a time when he didn’t know how to refuse evil and choose good. In fact, this “state” is mentioned twice in these two verses. Isaiah is telling us something true about Jesus’ humanity. That is, Jesus really, truly became a human, including all the infirmities and difficulties of being an infant and a toddler.

Photo by RICKEY HUTCHINSON on Unsplash

In other words, Jesus had a time when he was not fully developed in his thinking. I suppose we could say, when he was a child…he thought like a child and reasoned like a child (1 Cor 13:11). Now, my point is this: for Jesus to remain sinless even in this state would have been terribly unnatural had he been peccable or able to sin. I wouldn’t call this a nail in the coffin of the “impeccability argument,” but it makes more sense to me that Jesus, being born in the likeness of man, was not born only in a state of innocence from where he had even the slightest ability to fall. But rather, Jesus, being unable to sin, endured the affliction and infirmity of being a helpless child with sinless perfection because of His very nature as the sinless Son of God and Son of man.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that if Jesus had even the remotest possibility of sinning when confronted with temptation, then when he was a child who did not yet know how to refuse the evil and choose good (as God describes him, not me), this would have been a time that it would have nearly been excusable for him to fall. Yet He did not. Not even once, and He didn’t even come close.

We have a perfect high priest. Rest and rejoice in that fact today, brethren.

For more discussion on Jesus’ humanity and what that really means, I recently talked about that during a Zoom meeting through Hebrews that I am teaching. I’ll commend the episode to you here. Feel free to reach out to me at Michael (at) ThingsAbove.us if you’d like to join us in that study.

As much as we love great books, we at Things Above Us hope to point you to The Book, the Bible, which is God’s Word. By God’s grace, there has been a renaissance of so-called “premium Bibles” published in the last five to ten years or so. Premium Bibles tend to come in leather covers, are printed on specially selected paper stocks, and include aesthetic features like raised spine hubs and art gilding. You can find some of our reviews of premium Bibles here, here, and here. Ideally, a premium Bible is one that should be used, cherished, and passed on to loved ones. Yes, many of them can cost upwards of $200 to $300, but I suspect many of us at this very moment hold small screens in our hands which cost three to four times as much and will be discarded and replaced in under a year.

As we noted before, Crossway has been one of the leading publishers to go all-in on producing premium Bibles. In this review, we have the privilege of looking at Crossway’s ESV Preaching Bible in beautiful black goatskin. The Bible under review was printed in a standard paragraph format (except when it’s not, as we will see) but Crossway has also now released a verse-by-verse edition of the Preaching Bible.

The ESV Preaching Bible boasts a soft (and fantastic smelling) black goatskin cover. The cover extends past the text block, into a half yapp. Like the Omega Thinline, the Preaching Bible‘s spine has four raised ribs or hubs and the words “HOLY BIBLE,” the “ESV” logo, “ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION,” and the “Crossway” logo stamped in gold along the side. The cover is flawlessly perimeter stitched. The binding is Smyth-sewn.

The pages are art gilded in a red, almost salmon color under gold. The paper is opaque with a nice cream color to it and, according to my research, comes in at 36gsm which will work well for underlining and note-taking. One of the few complaints I have about this Bible is the choice of ribbons. The two black ribbons included are on the thinner side. As I mentioned in my review of the Omega, thinner ribbons do not feel out of place on a thinner bible, but in the case of the larger Preaching Bible they appear a little flimsy and insubstantial.

The Preaching Bible uses the 2016 ESV Text. The font is what Crossway identifies as a 10-point Lexicon type. Though the font could have been a little larger, it should be legible enough for anyone with decent eyesight or at least a pair of reading glasses. The biblical text is laid out in a single-column format and is line matched so that text on one side of the page overlaps with the text on the opposite side of the page. The Preaching Bible maintains a paragraph format throughout apart from poetic sections which switch to verse-by-verse.

Crossway has said that their Preaching Bible was designed with input from over 1,000 ministers who preach regularly. Though technically not a wide margin Bible, the Preaching Bible features ample space for taking notes on the top, bottom, and outer edges of the page. There is slightly less space on the inner margins towards the gutter but still enough room for those who can write small. The designers made the interesting choice to place page numbers centered at the top of each page. The textual notes and cross-references are minimal and appear at the bottom of the biblical text. All of these features add up to an uncluttered page, allowing the reader/preacher to find his place quickly when glancing up at the congregation and back down at the text.

TOP: Omega Thinline | BOTTOM: Preaching Bible

The ESV Preaching Bible is another solid contribution from Crossway to the premium Bible market. The elegant black goatskin, art gilding, and generous font size all make this Bible a pleasure to use in service to the church or simply to read from devotionally. We look forward to seeing Crossway continue to respond to input and refine their Bible production. Highly recommended.

ESV Preaching Bible. Goatskin black ed. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway. $249.00.

A copy of this Bible was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I was surprised to find out how utterly readable John Calvin is when I first delved into reading him myself. As I stated (in other words) in my review of Simonetta Carr’s biography of Calvin, his immense contribution to Christianity made me think that somehow his writing would be “beyond my understanding.” Instead, what I found is that one of his talents is breaking down high-theological concepts for the average person.

He was a genius, but the type of genius that can talk to normal people. The kind we need in the church! So when I got a copy of this book, it was my first real experience reading Calvin. Of course, this is a translation since Calvin didn’t write in English. Gratitude is owed to the men who took the time and effort to convert this gem for us, Drs. Aaron Denlinger and Burk Parsons. Here is the blurb from the website where you can purchase the book: Ligonier.

For centuries, Christians of all ages have turned to John Calvin’s A Little Book on the Christian Life to help them on their journey as they follow Christ. This book is one of the great classics of the Christian faith, calling believers to pursue holiness and endure suffering as they rest in Christ alone.

In this new translation from the Latin, Drs. Aaron Denlinger and Burk Parsons capture Calvin’s biblical faithfulness, theological integrity, and pastor’s heart. This is a book for every Christian to pick up, read, and apply.

This book is divided into several small sections, each building on the previous and offering encouragement and edification to believers. One thing that is notable is that it is an excerpt from his larger opus, Institutes of the Christian Religion.

A Little Book on the Christian Life is a great introduction to Calvin’s Institutes, as well as a formidable help in understanding the Christian life. Its devotional tone and logical progression allow a reader to read a lot or a little in a sitting. My family even used it for family worship.

The book itself is small. Easily fitting in a large pocket or a purse, and the front and back covers unfold…and…whether this was intentional or not, they make perfect page markers. There are multiple cover designs to choose from, and all are affordable at only $6.40 as of this review.

The chapter titles are

But each chapter is divided into smaller sections marked off by extra spacing and bold print beginning new thoughts. It makes it very easy to select stopping points in your study. And there is a scripture index at the end of the book. I highly recommend this book. New Christians will benefit as well as long-time Christians because Calvin’s writing about the Scripture is evergreen. There is joy in trusting the unchangeable nature of the Scriptures, and Calvin’s writing follows that example well. Because he sticks close to the scripture and explains the scripture’s meaning, his writing is able to live on for long after he could have even expected.

Strongly recommended!

You can buy the book here: https://www.ligonier.org/store/collection/a-little-book-on-the-christian-life

No doubt it was a bizarre sight – the bush burning, but not consumed from the fire. And when God called Moses he said the same thing Abraham said to God in Genesis 22, “Here I am!” This is the same thing the prophet Isaiah said in Isaiah 6 when the voice of the Lord said, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Of course, Isaiah followed up his “Here I am!” with a “Send me!” This was not the case for Moses, but we’re pushing ahead of the story too quickly.

In this encounter with Moses, Yahweh recounted that He knew the affliction of His people and that He knew the time had come to rescue them from the land of Egypt, all to which I’m sure Moses would have, at least silently, said amen.

But then we realize that God doesn’t just have lofty indicatives to speak to Moses, but a specific imperative! The Lord tells Moses that He’s sending him to Pharaoh to accomplish His purposes (cf. Exodus 3:10). This doesn’t sit well with Moses, and he offers God four excuses.

The first is feigned humility — “Who am I that I should go?” (cf. Exodus 3:11). The second is that he doesn’t know God’s name (cf. Exodus 3:13). The third is that the people won’t listen to him (cf. Exodus 4:1). And finally, Moses says he is slow of speech and tongue (cf. Exodus 4:10).

In response to each excuse, Yahweh is full of compassionate mercies. True, His “anger was kindled” (cf. v.14) but instead of wiping Moses off the face of the planet, He shows Him grace, in essence “arguing” with him in order to convince him that he will in fact go and achieve this mission that God has for him and His people.

I said Moses gave four excuses and outlined those above. But there is a fifth reply Moses gives to God found in Exodus 4:13 — “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.”

Philip Ryken comments,

This fifth and final objection exposed what was underneath all of Moses’ excuses: a fundamental unwillingness to obey. The real issue was not that he lacked the stature to persuade Pharaoh, or that he was ignorant of God’s name, or that the Israelites would not believe him, or that he was a poor public speaker. God had answered all of those objections. The real issue was that Moses refused to trust and obey.

We could analyze all the reasons Moses had for not obeying the Lord, but at the end of the day, the fact is that he did not want to go. And it’s not that he didn’t want Israel to be rescued! He just wanted God to use someone else. Please send…someone else!

This reminds us of Esther who simultaneously did not want the Jews to be destroyed while also being hesitant to approach the king. But as we know both Esther and Moses did go with the resolve of “If I perish, I perish.” Both were people of faith and were convinced in the end that the reproach of Christ is greater than any worldly treasures or accolades.

And this brings us closer (but not quite!) to the point of today’s post. What a time to be alive right? I’m an 80s kid, so the first decade I really fully remember is the 90s.

In many ways, those pre-9/11 days were simpler. Internet access was sparse, and where it was it was soooo sloooow. No cell phones. Classic video games that we didn’t realize were classic. A bit less partisanship in American politics. If you missed a TV show, well, you just missed it. Friday night pizza and a trip to the video rental store was awesome. And the music was better. That’s how I remember it anyway.

And there is a part of me that might daydream periodically and say, “Boy, I wish I were back in the 90s.” “I wish I could raise my kids in a pre-social media, pre-iPhone, pre-COVID world.”

But I’m reminded of J.R.R. Tolkien’s great lines in his Lord of the Rings series,

“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.

“So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

I can’t go back to the 90s. Those are not the days Sovereign Wisdom and Love decreed that I should live my 30s in. Providence has graciously given me the 21st century in which to raise my children. I cannot live pre-9/11 or pre-COVID. We must use these days wisely, for they are the only days we have. Our life is a vapor. You may wish that you lived in another age, but you do not.

This is the very time that Providence has so wisely and kindly bestowed upon you! And it is only a vapor. We cannot and must not neglect the preciousness of what we have been given.

And now to the point. Considering the kind providence of God. Considering the chaos of our day. Considering the fear, cowardice, and evangelical capitulation around us. Considering the future of our nation, of your children and grandchildren, of the Christian faith here in our land. Considering all of this in more, my exhortation to you is simply this: do not ask God to send someone else.

Of course, the Lord is not commissioning you like Moses or even Esther. Each of them had a specific role to play in God’s redemptive purposes.

But when it comes to standing for truth, we certainly have the propensity to wrongly think along the same line of Moses and ask the Lord to send another. It’s not that we don’t want to see change! Many of us do want to see Christ-exalting change in our homes, churches, neighborhoods, and country.

It’s just that we rather the Lord not use us. Oh, Lord, please send someone else! It might cost us our friends, finances, or reputation. To be the one to speak the truth to our neighbors and even our nation, might cost us our job, or it might not even be long until it costs us our freedom.

But these are the days God has given us. And have not the last two years at least shown us how paltry our excuses are? Do you think continued compromise with the world will cause the world to somehow like you? No, beloved. Instead, we must trust and obey Him who is worthy of all that we are and all that we have.

Not everyone is called to be a pastor, of course (an office reserved for qualified men). But none of God’s people are called to cowardice since we know the cowardly find their eternal home in the Lake of Fire (cf. Rev. 21:8). So, stand brothers and sisters. Stand upon the Truth. And don’t just stand there. Do something.

We are not those who shrink back. Let us wage the weapons of Christian truth, wielding the sword of the Spirit, as we seek to do battle against the deceptions, lies, and wickedness of this age. And yes, I think there is specific application here for COVID. But that’s certainly not the only appropriate application.

Just remember, these are not the days for someone else. These are your days.

Lead, men. Lead your home, your wife, your children. Support your local church. Be there. Pray for her and her leaders. Younger men, learn from the older men both the skills of life and how to walk humbly with the Lord.

Ladies, reject the stupidity of the gender fluidity of our day. Embrace your womanhood. Care for your home. Help your husband. Rear your children. Older women, pour into the younger and train them in godliness.

These are not the days for someone else! These are our days. Let us share the gospel and live obediently before the King, which entails even standing for the truth in hard seasons. I think applications abound here. But let us encourage one another all the more as we see the Day approaching. Let us stand together for a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Here we are Lord! Not anyone else. Send us! Not someone else.

In 1 Peter 1:3, Peter gives glory to God highlighting His blessedness and His great mercy for His causing sinners to be born again. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…” Of this verse, Wayne Grudem notes,

This being born anew is by his great mercy, a phrase with the same preposition (kata) as ‘according to the foreknowledge’ (v. 2). No foreknowledge of the fact that we would believe, no foreseeing of any desirableness or merit on our part, is mentioned here or anywhere else in Scripture when indicating God’s ultimate reason for our salvation. It is simply ‘according to his great mercy’ that he gave us new life.

Being born again is not a work of God and man, but a work of God in man. It is not according to our merits, but His mercy. Now, let’s contemplate this whole sentence in 1 Peter 1:3-5.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

In the Old Testament, there is a Hebrew word “chesed”. It is often translated as “steadfast love”. It might be better understood as “covenantal love” or “loyal love.” It’s a word pregnant with comfort for the Christian. According to the CSB Study Bible, it’s used 249 times in the Old Testament and 129 of those times in the Psalms. It appears in Isaiah 54:8, which says, “’In overflowing anger for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love (chesed) I will have compassion on you,’ says the LORD, your Redeemer.”

In Psalm 136 this word is used 26x, once in each verse. Psalm 136 ends this way in verse 26, “Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his steadfast love endures forever.” For Greek writers to convey that word they would usually use the Greek word eleos which is translated in the New Testament as “mercy” (Luke 10:37, Romans 9:23, Jude 1:21, etc.). In the Greek version of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, both Isaiah 54:8 and Psalm 136 use the Greek word eleos to translate the Hebrew word chesed. This word for “mercy” is used to communicate the Hebrew understanding of Yahweh’s loyal covenantal steadfast love.

It is right for us, then, at times, when we see the word for mercy used in the New Testament, to understand a connection with the Hebrew concept of chesed. And that’s exactly what we have going on in 1 Peter 1:3. The way we are born again is by God and the reason He does this is because of His loyal covenantal steadfast love. Peter understood the concept of chesed. He understood the Greek Septuagint.

It is not a stretch, therefore, to surmise that Peter is communicating this Hebrew idea of chesed to us by the Greek phrase “great mercy”. The Apostle emphasizes more than mere mercy, but an eternal, sovereign, loyal, faithful, covenantal love. We are born again according to God’s steadfast love. We owe our lives to God’s mercy. The cause of our regeneration does not originate in us but from the incalculable depths of God’s abundant mercy.

There is nothing in us to bring about our new birth. In fact, all that is in us – sin – demands justice. We are not neutral and in hope of God showing us a bit of kindness. Rather, we are rebellious by nature and choice and in desperate need of great mercy.

Being born again, then, is all of God, in God, by God, through God, and for God’s glory. And this is possible because of the gospel – through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Richard Sibbes wrote, “God quickens us with Christ and in Christ.” Regeneration and union with Christ are inseparably linked and the point here is this is all attributed to God’s great mercy.

In 1 Peter 5:8 the Apostle says, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” The Bible is clear in many places that Satan is at work in our world today. Yet, the Bible also reveals that even Satan’s work is under God’s sovereign authority. God is not the author of evil. God does not condone sin. Yet, even Satan’s work does not thwart God’s work.

Let me illustrate this by mentioning Job 42:11 — “And they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that Yahweh had brought upon him.” Now that is interesting to say the Lord brought these troubles on Job. I thought it was Satan? But the Bible recognizes that the Lord is in ultimate control of all things.

I’m sure I’ve said this before in a blog post, but the 1689 London Baptist Confession describes God’s control so beautifully and biblically:

From all eternity God decreed everything that occurs, without reference to anything outside himself. He did this by the perfectly wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably. Yet God did this in such a way that he is neither the author of sin nor has fellowship with any in their sin. This decree does not violate the will of the creature or take away the free working or contingency of second causes. On the contrary, these are established by God’s decree. In this decree God’s wisdom is displayed in directing all things, and his power and faithfulness are demonstrated in accomplishing his decree.

Now, why does God allow Satan to work as he does? I don’t have the answer. I just know God is sovereign and good and His secret plans and purposes are higher than I am allowed to question.

But now we need to focus on this work for a moment. Satan says to God in Job 1:7 that he goes to and fro on the earth and walking up and down on it. And Paul says Satan is “at work in the sons of disobedience” in Ephesians 2:2.

How is our adversary at work? Well, we know in the book of Job he is able to control the weather and armies, and even attack Job’s body. Again, this is all by the Lord’s sovereign permission but it is something to consider. I don’t mean to say that every storm is the Devil’s doing. In fact, you cannot read the Bible rightly and fail to see God’s sovereignty over the wind. God the Son incarnate reveals this when He calms the storm in front of His disciples! So, I don’t mean to say every storm is the Devil’s work like it was in Job. I just mean to highlight that Satan is at work in our world today.

Satan is also a deceiver — Paul says in 2 Corinthians 11:4 that he disguises himself as an angel of light. He came to Eve, not as an adversary but pretending to be a friend. And he does so today as well. Again, we are not told the mechanisms of how this works – of how Satan might put a thought in someone’s mind or whatever. But we are told he is at work. He deceives countless numbers of religious people. For example, Jesus tells some of the religious people of his day: “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires.” That’s John 8:44.

I think Satan and his legion of demons are very crafty at making people feel comfortable in their rebellion against God. “Oh you are okay. Don’t worry about all of that. God and you are okay. Look how bad other people are. But not you. Deep down you’re a good person.”

Or Satan deceives people into looking to another god or savior. This may be in formalized religions or it may be in secular worship too. For example, the savior many lost people are looking to in the West today is a vaccination. That is, they believe their greatest problem is COVID-19 when in truth, their greatest problem is their sin against a holy God. Satan is active in all these ways and more in the deceptions we see in our world today.

Satan is at work in our world today. He is opposed to all that is good and holy. He hates God and he hates humanity because he hates God. He is a liar and deceiver and introducer of division and controversy. He is at work in the church in the sense that he accuses the brethren, sows discord, and seeks to undermine or distort the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

All this to say we must not underestimate his vile craftiness. He has been at this a long time.

This is the audio edition of “Unintended Consequences,” the written edition of which we originally published in September of 2018. You can go back and read it if you wish or just enjoy the audio edition. If you haven’t subscribed to the audio edition already, you’re missing out!