The other day, I listened to John Piper talk through Galatians 1:1-5 (text). After arguing from the Scriptures rather persuasively and passionately regarding Paul being an apostle, to be included with the particular and singular group of 12 alongside them, he says:
We should stop and absorb for a moment the implications this should have for us. In three weeks we will talk about how Paul argues for his authority (in Gal 1:11ff.). Today I will assume that we accept his claim. But what an assumption! Do you see what it means? It means that when you read Galatians, you are hearing Christ. An apostle speaks with authority the message of the one who sent him. Galatians is the very word of the King of kings. O how many of us are tempted to cry out to Jesus for some message, some revelation, some dream or vision, but make almost no serious effort to understand the deep things of Scripture, the very Word of Christ. How many times have Christians come to me in search of counsel for some problem, but when I ask if they have searched the Scriptures relating to the issue, they get nervous and begin to make excuses. There really isn’t a lot of disciplined submission to the apostles’ Word in the contemporary church. We treat the Bible mainly as a kind of spiritual hypo to boost our emotions. But the practice of submitting all our ideas and attitudes and habits day by day to the scrutiny and absolute authority of the apostles is very rare.
For some of you the ongoing attitudes and habits of relating to each other at home is clearly contradicted by the apostles’ teaching. A few of you go on as you do because Christ is not the glorious Master of your lives, and so the instructions of his apostles are of no great weight. But for others the problem is different. You want Jesus to be the Master of your life, but over the years there has developed a relationship between you and Scripture in which Scripture is just a blur of hazy notions. There is no real, life-changing encounter between the lucid and vivid conceptions of Scripture and your own thoughts, because you have inherited habits of reading which simply spread a fog across the crisp, angular skyline of the biblical teaching.
How piercing and painful and convicting! It has been a long time since I’ve heard a sermon from a pulpit where I was strickened and cut to the quick (as the old saying goes). Oh, the hand of God is on Piper. It doesn’t take long to see that. Look at his story. Look at the people around him. Look at how full his books are of the Scriptures. And Piper can care less about all these words. His primary concern is whether I look at the Scriptures the same way. Do I see them as the very words of Jesus spoken to me?
One of the byproducts of my viewing of pornography is the loss of my biblical knowledge. Instead of seeking the Scriptures and seeing what the Lord has for me, it became an object, a means to an end, a thing to be mastered and known, something to be studied and taught. Previously, Scriptures would flood my mind constantly when talking to people. Now, while the remnants are left, the number of Scriptures there have steadily declined.
In the Bible it clearly states that he who has and does not utilize correctly or understand the mysteries of the kingdom will be taken. Consider these parables and verses. After the parable of the 4 soils where the sower throws seed beside the road (Matt 13:4), rocky places (Matt 13:5-6), among the thorns (Matt 13:7), and the good soil (Matt 13:8). When Jesus was questioned as to why he spoke in parables, Jesus replied, “11 To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. 12 For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. 13 Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand” ( Matt 13:11-13). In Mark after the same parable, Mark writes from another perspective, “24 And He was saying to them, “Take care what you listen to. By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides. 25 For whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.”"
In another place, Jesus tells the Parable of the Talents (Matt 25:14-30). Here Jesus tells of a man who gave a different portion of money to different people according to their ability. When the master returned he asked to settle the accounts. The first two slaves doubled theirs, and the last one just hid it. The master infuriated said, “You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed. Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest” (Matt 25:26-27), and the master took the money and gave it to another. Then Jesus says, “For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt 25:29-30).
Many times I feel that I am not using my “talents” correctly and I am being disciplined for it. However, I also pray that as I continue to move forward that the Lord will also restore unto me as He did Job (Job 42:10).
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