Book Review: The Wartime Sermons of Dr. Peter Marshall

How could sermons preached during World War 2 possibly be relevant to us? A dozen messages selected by Dr. Peter J. Marshall published in 2005 may have seemed relevant to the post-September 11, 2001 milieu. However, they more perceptively pierce U.S. international leadership in a context of an era without overt large scale military conflict. 

The sermon “Why does God permit war?” turns the question on its head. Why does man choose war? Why does man ignore evil until war is the only defense against it? Why do men choose the sins of self-centeredness and preoccupation with the world’s stuff that lead to war?

The sermon “Are We Good Enough?”  contrasts the self-discipline, sacrifice, and moral virtue of the soon-to-return soldiers and the crass worldliness of civilians who they are returning to. Dr. Marshall quickly turns to the question of our spiritual state. Have we turned to God to be transformed into a people who are morally improved, who God has empowered to be better people? After militarily defeating the Axis powers, will we lead the way for international order that goes beyond the absence of armed conflict to the building of a just, ethical, and righteous world? 

The common thread in all of the sermons is Rev. Marshall’s belief that American values, political structure, and our entire ethos is based on Christianity, and that in order to establish something better than more of the same, Christianity must be lived out by our people and nation. Otherwise there would simply be another world war in 20 or thirty years, and our own nation would decay from moral rot. Viewed from 70 years after the fact, the fear of another world war has not yet materialized, but our nation is seriously divided by a spectrum of moral value systems. 

My perspective: The challenge is that the presence of God in our lives forces us to confront His nature and character. God’s perfect holiness and uncompromising love cannot rest on fallen humans. His remedy was to reconcile us to Himself through the propitiatory death of Jesus on the cross. Any human effort to experience His presence only results in death. Human efforts to be righteous, to be just, to do the right thing, will fail in the end, even on a worldly level. The 70+ years since the end of World War 2 show that practicing values based on Christian principles, but without the power of God, brings at best a temporary improvement in world conditions. 

Satan was defeated by Christ on the cross. Victory over the axis powers forestalled one of the devil’s attempts to rule the earth overtly, but most of the world remains lost in darkness and sin. We who have heard the gospel must respond or face the consequences, both eternally and in this present world. That is Peter Marshall’s message to us in an era of international terrorism, cybercrime, and resurgent superpower competition. 

Christmas and sexual predators

On the eighth day after the birth of Christ, Simeon came into the temple and announced the arrival of the promised Messiah. The next passage is intriguing.

Luke 2:34-35 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed — and a sword will pierce even your own soul — to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” (NASB)

Four statements. Their application could be profound.

• The Child (Jesus) is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel.
• Jesus is appointed for a sign to be opposed.
• A sword will pierce your soul.
• Thoughts from many hearts will be revealed.

The fall and rise of many points to the priests, scribes, and Pharisees, whose influence and power would ultimately wane under the revealed truth of God incarnate, and the rise of the downtrodden whom the gospel would bring into God’s kingdom. That was the immediate  fulfillment. But perhaps Simeon is also describing the defeat of Satan’s kingdom. In the battle between good and evil, as an adult Jesus would give authority over demons to His disciples, and send them to build the kingdom of God. (Luke 9:1-2) 

Naturally the religious establishment opposed the One who proclaimed God’s nearness, as they would lose their status when every believer has direct access to God. Deeper spiritual opposition comes from the kingdom of the devil (Luke 4:6), which will one day be cast down (Rev 20:1-3,10).  He is not going down without a fight. (Rev. 19:19)

The sword would pierce Mary’s soul when she stood by the cross 33 years later. But the convicting power of the Holy Spirit pierces the soul of every believer when Christ becomes real to us, and we become aware of our condition before Him. Simeon was acquainted with the Holy Spirit (Luke 2:25-27), and gave us a brief summary of how to expect Him to work.

Simeon’s final point was that the thoughts and reasonings of many hearts would be revealed. This goes beyond mere confession of unspoken sins of the heart, as difficult as that is. The spear to our soul results in death to self. We recognize that our condition is terminal. The new life that God brings when we are born again will be manifest when our life to self is crucified (Galatians 2:20). When the sword pierces our soul, may the involuntary statement we utter reveal that our heart trusts God.

Simeon’s statements about spiritual reality impact all life. How might they apply to sexual predation? Powerful men have abused vulnerable females throughout recorded history. (Genesis 34:2; 2 Samuel 13:14) The sexual revolution of the 1960’s & 70’s essentially eliminated all traditional mores in society, but these mores had never prevented predation anyway. If we want to fight it, will setting a standard work? If so, what should be the standard?

• Sex between consenting adults is usually proposed as the standard, but is harder in practice than theory. Men may think a woman is playing hard-to-get as a game, or misinterpret a woman’s signals, or claim to. He-said/she-said is a difficult case to judge.
• A higher standard might be that sex should be engaged only in the context of a stable, loving relationship. But what would be the mechanism for establishing this? Perhaps a public declaration of the relationship? That would provide some evidence that the relationship was consensual. Sounds a lot like marriage. 
• The divorce rate suggests that even this cannot stand the test of time. The ultimate standard would go back to Adam and Eve, a relationship established and blessed by God. It is not that God sanctions the relationship so that the parties cannot deny it or break it, but that God empowers them to fulfill it. 

God created marriage as a picture of the fulfillment of a relationship with Him. (Ephesians 5:25-33) Few of us achieve this level of marital bliss all the time. But the point of the Biblical metaphor is that just as God is with us through thick and thin (Hebrews 13:5), so the marriage commitment is fulfilled by loving in real and practical ways when times are tough, and not just when hormones flow. Love is a decision, a choice. This provides the basis for sex that is not predatory, but is shared by two people who cherish and love each other, and accept each other for who God made them. 

We can and should make every legal remedy against evil that predators wreak. But we must recognize that evil cannot be defeated by human effort alone, because we live in a spiritual universe. It is futile to invest in the world’s ways and expect to overcome Satan, its prince (Ephesians 2:2), because Satan cannot be defeated with his own tools. (Matthew 12:25-28)  How can Satan be defeated?  Only a spiritual war born of faith in Christ can overcome Satan’s kingdom. (Ephesians 6:11-12) The weapons of our warfare (Ephesians 6:13-18) are not of the flesh, but are mighty before God to the casting down of strongholds. (2 Corinthians 10:4) Simeon would challenge us to use God’s spiritual armory, to bring the authority of Christ, to overcome satanic sexual predation.

My other blogs

May I point you to my other blogs:

Commentary on John's writings in the New Testament.
https://awesomefisherman.blogspot.com/

Commentary on Luke's writings.
https://gospeldynamics.blogspot.com/

Christmas: Roe v Wade to the Eschatological Jubilee

Christmas brings an annual remembrance of the events surrounding the birth of Christ. The slaughter of the innocents (Matthew 2:16-18), reminds us that Satan opposes God’s work with violent evil. A similar attempt to kill Moses at birth also failed in Satan’s scheme. (Exodus 1:15-2:10) In both cases, Satan sought to kill God’s deliverer while still a baby. The modern version of Satan’s infanticide is called abortion on demand, or a woman’s right to choose. 

What great deliverer threatens Satan that will arise from this generation? The next event promised in the cycle of God’s plan is the completion of the great commission. (Matthew 24:14, Mark 13:10) The only interpretation I can give to the flood tide of demonically-inspired war against unborn children is that Satan knows that this generation is destined to finally accomplish the command of Christ. (Matthew 28:18-20) This is not the work of a single tyrant seeking to exterminate possible competition for his throne, but a social consensus brought by the deception of the evil one upon the mass of unbelieving humanity.

What will this generation accomplish? Anyone born since January 22, 1973 is part of a generation that the devil fears, because in completing the great commission, the condition for “the end” that Jesus described will be met. (Matthew 24:14) The exact sequence of eschatological events has been debated endlessly, but I wish to raise the question of when these things might happen. Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt approximately 80 years after Pharaoh’s slaughter of the Hebrew babies. Jesus began His ministry approximately 28 years after Herod’s slaughter of the innocents. A generation might be construed to be 30-40 years, but one Old Testament yardstick is the year of Jubilee, which culminated a Sabbath of Sabbath years. After 49 years, including a Sabbath year every seventh, the year of Jubilee observed an additional year of rest for the land. (Leviticus 25:8-16) 

God took this so seriously that when the Jews were carried off to Babylon in captivity as a result of their apostasy, God numbered the years of exile based on the Sabbath years that had not been observed by the Jews since the establishment of the kingdom. He allowed them to be captives long enough for the land to have its allotted rest. (2 Chronicles 36:21) 

What form could a Jubilee take in the context of the modern world? It does not appear to be a direct judgment and removal of those who perform the devil’s bidding by carrying out mass slaughter of infants, because in both Biblical cases those responsible had much earlier been disciplined and removed. The year of Jubilee has more to do with resetting society, with redeeming that which had gone awry: the freeing of slaves, and the return of land to its rightful family ownership. (Leviticus 25) Under the New Covenant, this could take the form of freeing those who are slaves to sin, and God’s children going to the dwelling places God has prepared for them. The marriage feast of the Lamb! 

Book Review: Spirits in Bondage, A Cycle of Lyrics by C. S. Lewis

The poetry in Spirits in Bondage, A Cycle of Lyrics, by C. S. Lewis reveals the worldview, thoughts, and especially feelings of the author written during that period when he struggled with God over his initial decision to become a Christian. Surprised, by Joy, written much later retrospectively, has a more measured, rational narrative of this period. Forty poems in three sections convey the intensity of this struggle. 

Part I, the Prison House, shows the torment of a man who recognizes spiritual reality, reacting to the horrors of the battlefield of World War I and more broadly the battlefield of life on earth. He wrestles with the problem of pain writ large - if God is good, why does evil flourish and why do the innocent suffer? He recognizes Satan but sees a distant God, not yet having grasped the power of the Incarnation and the Atonement, of the price God paid to rescue fallen man. He writhes in emotional pain that the universe is so. 

Part Two, Hesitation, briefly chronicles the invitation the author perceived, both from God to join Him at table, and from the multitude of those who have gone before him to faith. He hears their call to join them, and sees their blessedness. But he also sees the awesomeness of God, which he dreads. It is reminiscent of The Hound of Heaven, in which Francis Thompson recognized God’s love but fled from it, knowing that choosing Him would require the loss of all worldly values.

Part 3, The Escape, reads as though Lewis had a visit to heaven almost on a par with that which Paul described in 2 Cor. 12:2-4. Almost is a caveat because Lewis uses verse to convey the essence of that heavenly experience, which St. Paul was forbidden. There is no attempt to explain the process, of reason or explanation, by which he became a Christian. The inference is that it was experience, direct revelation of the rapture of heaven, of God’s nature and character, that overcame his objections. Lewis worked out his theology over the next forty years and wrote it down plainly for the rest of us. He included hints of his experience at the end of Till We Have Faces and The Last Battle. Curiously, although experience played a significant role in Lewis’ decision, in fiction he included them only at the end, after the hero or heroine had fought through through the obstacles.

We live in a world of desperation, yet unbelievers resist or reject outright Christianity. Whether this rejection is due to misunderstanding, akin to Lewis’, or outright rebellion against authority or any externally defined standards of good is the key difference for each individual. Rebellion akin to Satan’s will be broken by God in the end (Rev. 6:15-17), but mistaking God’s nature and character can be remedied by the gospel. Jesus came to set the captives free. We cannot arrange heavenly visits of divine rapture, but we can promise that God will respond to those who earnestly and honestly seek Him.

Visit Monticello

Monticello embodies the stark contrast between the ideals of our founding fathers and the reality of their lives. The architecture, shown on the obverse of the nickel, is fascinating in detail and in person. Thomas Jefferson wrote the magnificent proclamation in the Declaration of Independence “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Tours show the extent to which the third president was reliant on the labor of over 100 enslaved people to maintain his lifestyle and the magnificent mansion. Guides discuss his relationship with his slave Sally Hemings, half-sister of his wife, and the children they had together after his wife’s death.

Jefferson was aware of this contradiction. Tour guides mention a statement he often quoted, attributed to Tiberius Caesar, to describe slavery. “But, as it is, we have the wolf by the ear, and we can neither hold him, nor safely let him go. Justice is in one scale, and self-preservation in the other.”

TJ was not a confederate hero, although he had some of the same issues. Antebellum Southern culture erected an elaborate biblical justification for why slavery was moral and approved by God. Abolitionists believed the Bible taught that slavery was an evil to be fought and ended. Who was misreading Scripture? TJ knew that slavery was unjust, even though he did not hold a high view of the Bible.

What does the Bible say about slavery?

•      The Bible acknowledges slavery as a fact of life in the world, without justifying it. Under Mosaic law, it was recognized that an Israelite might sell himself for his debts, or that foreigners captured in war might be made slaves. (Leviticus 25:39-46)   Moses gave rules for treatment and freeing  (redemption) of slaves; and the year of Jubilee required Israelites to free slaves every 50 years. (Leviticus 25:54)

•      Under the new covenant, in the Roman Empire, slavery was also a fact of life. Paul gave instructions for treatment of slaves (Ephesians 6:9, Colossians 4:1) but also encouraged believing slaves to obtain freedom if they could. (1 Cor 7:21-23) Paul’s epistle to Philemon encouraged (but did not order) Onesimus’ owner to accept him back as a brother, not a slave. (Philemon 16)

•      Paul referred to love-slaves (Exodus 21:5-6) as a type of our relationship to Christ. (1 Peter 2:16), to encourage devoted service to Christ.

How can we summarize the Biblical position on chattel slavery? The above all do not add up to a theological basis for defending it. The most that can be said is that the Bible commends slavery to God as preferable to slavery to man, slavery to sin worst of all, and that believing slaveowners were commanded very specifically as to how they were to treat slaves, as they will be held accountable.

Racism is often conflated with slavery in the modern world. There is a sharp difference between Old & New Testaments in the context and treatment of inter-racial relations.

•      Under the Mosaic law, and during the conquest and occupation of the promised land, Israelites were warned against intermingling with the Canaanites. The evil embedded in the Canaanite culture had to be eradicated to not infect Israel. Even so, Canaanites who came under the Mosaic Law (e.g. Rahab, Ruth) were accepted and lauded for their faith, and are in the bloodline leading to Jesus Christ. (Matthew 1:5; Hebrews 11:31)

•      Under the new covenant there is no racial or cultural distinction in Christ. (Col. 3:11; Galatians 3:28)

Visiting Monticello, I had to wonder how TJ thought of Sally Hemings. (Ecclesiastes 4:1) Did he see her as property to be used for his own enjoyment? As a person with inalienable rights “married” to him, that his society and culture prevented him from acknowledging legally? Did she see herself as a common-law wife? As a doulos - a love-slave according to Ex 21:5-6? Take the slavery tour while at Monticello, and contemplate the consequences of sin, and the consummation of human history:

And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.  You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.” (Revelation 5:9-10)

None of us lives up to God’s call, although that does not excuse us from our duty. How great is the grace of God that one day we, who name Jesus as our Savior, shall stand before Him with those from every race who so name Him. And we shall be found in Him not as slaves, but as welcome sons.

Chemo for sin

Governments believe they can bring a return to Eden by controlling their citizens or by  implementing massive programs of jobs, education, healthcare, public assistance, and so forth. Anti-government militias and non-state actors believe they can bring heaven on earth by destroying existing governments by violence so that they can implement their own programs, typically a rules-based order for society, with their version of the rules.

Jesus laughs (Psalm 2:4). God’s planned for each person individually walk with Him (Jesus) in the garden in the cool of the morning. But since we all have ingrained sin, we need the chemotherapy of Jesus’ blood to cleanse us so that we can walk with Him. Jesus laughs over the ridiculous idea that governments or any human organization, by force or law, can bring paradise on earth.

Cancer might be an apt metaphor for government, but better pictures sin. What is the fundamental difference between cancer and healthy growth and development?

• Healthy cells reproduce to replace cells that are aged, damaged or destroyed. Cancer cells reproduce unchecked, having lost mechanisms to monitor and control reproduction.
• Healthy cells communicate with other cells chemically. Cancer cells do not respond to signals from other cells, hence their uncontrolled reproduction.
• Healthy cells adhere to neighboring cells; cancer cells do not.
• Healthy cells specialize to perform specific functions within the body. Cancer cells are unspecialized and do nothing useful.
• Healthy cells self-destruct when they are damaged or diseased. Cancer cells do not.

All of these attributes might make cancer cells sound royal, powerful or immortal. Actually they reveal that life without context, relationship, purpose, and self-control becomes ultimately destructive of those nearby and of self. When cancer has its way, its victim dies.

Medical science treats cancer with a combination of surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy.  Surgery removes macroscopic accumulations of cancer cells, and tissue that is infested. Radiation kills all cells within its beam focus without regard to health. Chemotherapy attempts to target cancer cells specifically.

How can God treat our sin? If it is big enough, its consequences will be self-destruction, but may also result in the destruction of the sinner. Sadly this is all-too-common  in those who have rejected God’s pleading. Radical surgery can potentially remove the offensive growth but carries life consequences - similar to a missing limb or organ. It is the blood of Jesus, applied to our life, that has the capability to target sin at a microscopic level and distinguish healthy thoughts, words, and deeds from sinful ones. But … a big but … the predilection of our heart for right or wrong will determine the efficacy of the treatment. If we continue to infect new thoughts, words, and deeds with sin, the treatment fails, leading ultimately to more extreme measures.

God conditions the idyllic life of Eden or heaven on believing His words so that we can fellowship with Him. Genesis 3 is unambiguous. Since all have sinned in the likeness of Adam’s offense, the only remedy is Jesus’ blood. No government can control the behavior of its citizens, and only deters defined crimes like murder, assault, theft, rape and so on. Courts can neither know nor change the heart of offender, and struggle even to establish the facts about actions. Only the promise of the return of Christ to establish His kingdom will bring justice and peace on earth.  His blood is the prerequisite to continuous fellowship with Him, the elimination of sin in our lives.