Changes to Mississippi RUM (THE RUM)

Reformed University Ministries is a product of the heart for students found in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Because of its Mississippi origins RUM Mississippi has always enjoyed a somewhat separate existence from the Atlanta bureaucracy, which was developed from it. Of course, human envy and lust for power drives all bureaucracies and Atlanta is no different. Here's an article showing the threat to the fine ministry here in our home state: (be sure to read Roger Collins's heart-breaking letter at the end)

Major Debate in Covenant Presbytery on the Structure of R.U.M. in Mississippi

Another Warning against Faith in Government:

This article is a must read:

Is Joe Stack a Wake-Up Call to America? by John W. Whitehead

Its purpose is to show the tragic futility of trusting government. Government is not God, it is not capable of doing what it promises & often promises what it has no intention of doing. Why? Because government is human. It is made up of men and women wielding power. It is subject to human corruption. And like mankind everywhere, it lies, cheats, steals for the extension of its own "good" (which, from the perspective of government, is power). Of course, government wants to put the best spin on its actions and so it creates myths and presents itself as the protector of human freedom, prosperity, and wellbeing. But that is its own useful fiction. The tragedy is that many people believe government myths, and they either become pawns in the oppression of themselves and their neighbors or they end up disillusioned and despondent: thus Joe Stack.

This is not to say that government serves no good purpose for mankind. All things work together for good to them that love God, and to them who are the called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28). God uses the evil of the world to bless his people. Government, as evil as it is, is still a restraint against humanity's utter depravity. God uses many such restraints. But when we confuse a restraint with a positive blessing, we set up an idol. This is the problem with the so-called Christian Right and the Christian Left, both replace politics with the gospel. Government is a burden, but with Paul we can say, I can do [endure] all things through Christ which strengtheneth me (Phil. 4:13).

The Rock

When Peter confessed Jesus to be Christ, the Son of the living God, our Lord made a confession to and about Peter (Mt. 16:16-18). Jesus declared Peter blessed in that he had received the truth from God himself. He also gave Peter his name, which in Greek means rock (John tells us in his Gospel that Jesus gave him his name upon meeting him, but this is a confirmation and an explanation of what made him a rock). Jesus also said that, “upon this rock I will build my church” (Matthew 16:18). Now whatever else this may mean, it has nothing to do with which bishop is head of the true church. The New Testament knows of no individual but Christ as the foundation of the church (1 Cor. 3:11). The Bible does name the prophets and the apostles as the church’s foundation with Christ as the chief cornerstone in several places (see Ephesians 2:19-22; Revelation 21:14). And it is true that the church must be apostolic, which means she must be founded on the teachings of the apostles. But she can only be built on the apostles as she is built on their witness, which is the holy Bible. Like Peter, the church must receive and submit to the Father’s revelation (see verse 17). Like Peter, the church must trust Jesus as the Christ, God’s anointed servant to bring salvation from sin and death; the church must trust Jesus as God’s Son, the very bosom of the Father. To be built on the rock of Christ, the church’s faith must be the same as Peter’s faith.

Behind the Question

In Matthew 16:13-20, we have one of the foundational texts regarding the church under the new covenant. In this post I want to point out how this passage begins. Jesus continues instructing his disciples after he has warned them of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees (16:5-12), by questioning about his reputation among the people: “Whom do men say that I, the Son of man, am?” Why? Obviously the answers the disciples gave do not reflect their own ideas. They certainly knew he was not John the baptist and it is unlikely that they ever identified him with the other prophets that they name. Peter spoke for all of them when he answered Jesus, “Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God.”

So what value did Jesus’ question have? Questions are a very old way to teach. We usually associate the method with Socrates, the great Greek philosopher. But even the Greeks knew that the socratic method was older than Socrates. In fact, God himself may have been the first to use it when he inquired of Adam, “Where art thou?” Jesus asked his question of the disciples, as he did of Adam, with more in mind than finding an answer. He was teaching them who he is.

The disciples could see immediately that the popular theories regarding Jesus’ identity were woefully insufficient. Jesus is more than a mere prophet of God; all their experiences with him told them that. God the Father made himself evident in the mighty works and authoritative teachings of Jesus. Compared to the fancies of the world, the Father’s testimony was brought home and made firm. Before Jesus asked, the disciples thought that Jesus was the Christ, afterwards they knew. Flesh and blood did not reveal it unto them, but their Father in heaven.

Signs from Heaven

At least twice during his ministry Jesus’ opponents requested a sign from him (Matt. 12:38 ff., 16:1-4). Specifically they requested a sign from heaven. In both instances Jesus had worked a miracle that demonstrated God’s mercy and power. In the first he cast out a devil from a man and healed him. The Pharisees accused him of witchcraft (casting out devils by the power of the devil). In Matt. 16:1, Jesus is being “tempted” by his distractors. The Pharisees and Sadducees had no intention of being convinced of Jesus’ Messiahship. They wanted to entrap him.

Jesus refuses both requests. In fact, he gives the same answer: he would only give them the sign of Jonah. The sign of Jonah refers to his resurrection (Jonah was resurrected from the fish’s belly, as it were). In John 2:18-22, Jesus gives the same sign in substance though with no reference to Jonah. So the sign that Jesus leaves the world is his death and resurrection.

This is important for us to note. We often look for signs from heaven. We wonder why our Lord allows his name to be slandered. We wish that we could be relieved of the doubts the world raises in regards to the faith. But Jesus will not give us a sign from heaven. Our faith is trusting him.

The fact is that the gospel is sufficiently suited to rescue sinners and prepare them for heavenly glory. The fact that the enfleshed Son of God suffered on behalf of sinners, and that he calls us out of our sin (not waiting for us to make ourselves worthy), and that the all glorious God has committed himself to us should be all that the failing heart should want. Victory over sin and victory over the grave are signs enough for those who know their sin, and more than enough. There is no need to look for the spectacular, let the Pharisees and Sadducees do that.

The Disciples Remember

Both Matthew and Mark record an additional miraculous feeding of large crowds. All four Gospels record the feeding of the 5,000 (Mat. 14:15-21), only the first two record the feeding of the 4,000 (Mat. 15:32-39). Some suppose that a literary doubling has taken place, but there are differences. For one, the numbers are different. Not only is the size of the crowd different, the number of loaves and fishes are different. The first miracles feeds 5,000+ with five loaves of bread and two fish, the second feeds 4,000+ with seven loaves of bread and “a few” fish. He feeds less with more. The number of baskets that are left over are also different, but as the types of baskets are different I am not sure what the quantitative difference actually is. But it is not these differences that I want to look at in this post, it is the difference in the disciples themselves.

Now at first glance there is no difference. How can the disciples be so stupid in not seeing that Jesus can feed these 4,000 after he has already fed the 5,000? But is that a fair reading of the disciples? In the first feeding the disciples approach Jesus before the first day was over, in the second feeding Jesus calls the disciples to himself after the third day. I think the Lutheran commentator R. L. Lenski is correct in seeing this as an indication that they trusted Jesus to take care of the situation.

But what about their answer to Jesus? Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude? Well, where indeed would they get the bread? From Christ? Yes indeed, they put the provision of the crowd back into the hands of Jesus Christ. Jesus takes the seven loaves of bread and few fish and proceeds to feed the 4,000 men plus women and children. Instead of seeing the disciples as stupid and faithless, we should acknowledge that this time they remember to put the whole affair in the hands of their Lord. In the span of two chapters Matthew has painted a picture of maturing faith in the apostolic band. Certainly Jesus will have many more opportunities to rebuke their little faith, but this time their faith gives all the glory to Christ, and there in nothing in that to rebuke.

Low Expectations

And Jesus departed from thence, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee, and went up into a mountain, and sat down there. And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus’ feet; and he healed them: insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel. Matthew 15:29-30.

This is one of those passages that we just skim over while we are reading. It is one of a few summaries of mass miracles that Jesus worked. It’s as if even Matthew has gotten a bit bored with the topic, but not quite. The summaries fit into larger contexts and serve to remind us of the fact that Jesus is the promised redeemer (see Isaiah 35, particularly verses 5 & 6, compare Matthew 11:7-15).

What strikes me about this particular summary is the fact that the crowds are surprised Jesus healed those who were brought to him (the multitude wondered). Presumably they brought him the lame, the blind, the mute (dumb), and the maimed for just such a result. It teaches us that faith is rarely found without a (large) share of doubt. The multitudes didn’t really trust Jesus to work genuine miracles. They probably thought he would give them some inspirational mumbo jumbo and sleight of hand and send them on their way. They were used to magicians and wonder workers, they were not used to him who caused the speechless to speak, who made the maimed whole, who caused the lame to leap for joy, and opened the eyes of the blind that they may see. Here was he who was sent by the God of Israel.

There are lessons here for us as well. As I mentioned above, it teaches us that our faith is often marred by a great deal of doubt. How many times does that lack of trust cause us to, as it were, stay home and not seek the Lord’s mercy. Think of your prayer life. We often struggle with prayer because we lack faith in the results. We don’t really believe that the Lord is interested in our burdens and struggles. Low expectations in prayer is an affront to the Lord’s liberality. If we don’t have faith, prayer will do us little good. We’ll never ask or seek, and so we will never find:

Ask, and it shall be given you: seek, and ye shall find: knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth: and he that seeketh findeth: and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? Matthew 7:7-11.

Fire that Burns, Fire Giving Light

‘For behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up,’ saith the Lord of hosts, that shall leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings, and [ye] shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.’ Malachi 4:1,2.

Here we are told that when the Lord comes in judgment it will be experienced in two different ways. To those who fear the Lord it will be like the refreshing Sun after a long winter. To those who scoff at the Lord’s concern for justice, it will be an oven that will consume them. It is, I think, significant that roughly the same imagery is used for both experiences: fire. To one it is the heat of judgment, to the other the light of righteousness. This is true of any encounter with the holy Lord. He is awful in justice. He is terrifying in his goodness. Here is One that probes the depths of my heart that I cannot even know (Jer. 17:9,10), that does not give any quarter to iniquity (Exo. 34:6,7), that demands a holiness equal to his own (Lev. 19:2; 1 Pet. 1:13-16). This view of God cannot be but a threat to one not righteous, and none of us are.

But there is a righteousness available by faith: the righteousness of Jesus Christ. When we forsake any dependency on our own worth, and cast ourselves completely on the mercy of Jesus Christ,we may then stand before the judgment of God, because it is not we, but Christ who stands in our stead. But the gospel, too, causes a division in reception. Like the fire of the day of judgment, the gospel reveals a distinction among men:

For we [the preachers of the gospel] are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish. To the one we are the the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life: and who is sufficient for these things? 2 Cor. 2:15,16.

To those who have been born anew by the work of the Holy Spirit and have received the righteousness of Jesus Christ by faith, the gospel is life. It is life because it changes the nature of the encounter with God. The gospel changes the day of judgment into the day of salvation. But to those who still rely upon themselves it is the savour of death. Because the gospel requires that those who receive it abandon any reliance upon themselves, it can only be received by the humbled heart. Those who will not be humbled before the Lord have no part in the righteousness he procured for believers. For them, the gospel confirms the sentence of death at the day of judgment.

Our Lord is a consuming fire. Whether he is a fire to consume all iniquity, or a light revealing the mercy of his salvation, depends on your relation to the Lord Jesus Christ and his gospel.

Faith that Won't Let Go

Genesis 32:24-32, records the odd way in which Jacob becomes Israel. After sending his family ahead of him he finds himself alone. Then he is met with a mysterious opponent. They wrestle together all night long. Interestingly, though the man is identified as God (see the implication of the name Peniel in verse 30), the man must injure Jacob to try to get Jacob to let him go. What is more, Jacob refuses to let the man go until he wins a blessing from the man that Jacob obviously recognizes as God. In verse 28, Jacob receives the Lord’s blessing: “Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.” Jacob becomes a prince of God (Israel) by his refusal to lose out on the Lord’s mercy.

Matthew 15:21-28, we get another picture of our Lord that seems strange. Jesus retires to the region of Tyre and Sidon (Mark 7:24 makes it clear that Jesus did not intend his visit to be a part of his public ministry). He is met with a local Canaanite woman who desperately wants him to cast a devil out of her daughter. Strangely, he ignores her. The disciples just want Jesus to get rid of the woman. Instead of saying no, Jesus explains that his ministry is to be among the lost sheep of Israel. She is not deterred, “Lord, help me.” Shockingly, Jesus answers, “It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.” Her faith catches the opportunity, “Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” Jesus commends her faith and grants her desire; her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

The woman’s faith is commendable for a number of reasons: it is humble and modest. She has no sense of entitlement to the Lord’s blessing, and she is content with what he will give. Yet she will not let off until she gets that blessing. She knows that he is the Lord of mercy, and she will not be put off any appearances to the contrary. In this she is also Israel, a princess of God.

The Lord often acts in such ways that his gracious nature is hid from us. To us sinners, trusting God is not a self-evident thing. In a general sense we acknowledge that God is trustworthy. It’s in the specific promises that we find faith hard. Nonetheless faith, if it is truly faith, perseveres, especially when it looks as if the Lord has forgotten his promises. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Heb. 11:1).

These are not isolated incidences. Job experiences the Lord in exactly the same way. So too, did the Hebrews during the exile. It is the reason why Christ, in illustrating the persevering prayer of faith, uses the picture of a persistent woman before an unjust judge (Luke 18:1-8). In none of these events is the Lord’s mercy denied. The lesson is faith.