application

2 Blessings of Biblical Meditation

/ Richard Bargas / 1 Comment

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What is Biblical Meditation?

Most of the time, when we hear about meditation today, we think of eastern forms of meditation–that meditation that is practiced by Hinduism, Buddhism and other eastern religions. In those religions, the practitioner is called upon to empty the mind, to find a sense of what they often call “mindfulness.”

We do not have the time to address this dangerous and unbiblical practice, but let me just say that this is not what the Bible is talking about when it speaks of meditation.

The words in Hebrew and Greek which are used in the Bible speak of a lingering thoughtfulness which turns the thoughts of God’s Word over and over again. It can be likened to a cow’s chewing of her cud, seeking to extract as many nutrients from the grass as she can.

In his excellent book, God’s Battle Plan for the Mind: The Puritan Practice of Biblical Meditation, David Saxton gives us a good starting definition of biblical meditation in contrast to unbiblical meditation:

“…Biblical meditation does not seek to empty one’s thoughts. Rather, it seeks to fill one’s thoughts with Scripture, fastening them to the objective truths of God’s Word. Rather than seeking to arrive at a plane of self-actualization, biblical meditation seeks to think God’s thoughts after Him. It seeks to grow in appreciation that all of life is lived before a great and mighty God. Biblical meditation realizes that thoughts reveal beliefs. Whether we wish to admit it or not, our thoughts define our religion.”[1]

That last sentence is important. Here it is again, “Whether we wish to admit it or not, our thoughts define our religion.” You see, in a sense, we don’t need to learn to meditate because everyone already does. We meditate all the time. Saxton goes on to write:“As the heart is, so will be the thoughts. An unconverted person—a natural person—will also have reflections, but these are consistent with his nature.” Everyone meditates on something, whether it is right, wrong, or neutral.” [2]

What do we meditate upon is the real question! Says Saxton, “There is a meditation that is sinful and wicked, and that is when we meditate upon things that are wicked (Pss. 7:14; 36:4; Prov. 12:2)…. There is a meditation that is holy and godly, and that is when we meditate upon things that are holy and heavenly.”[3]

What are some of the benefits of Christian Meditation?

Psalm 119:97-98 give us two benefits. Those verses say, “Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day. Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me.” (Psalm 119:97–98, ESV)

  1. It Provides an Increased Love for the Word (v. 97) 

“Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.” (Psalm 119:97, ESV)

The Word of God is a cool drink to the thirsty soul. Better yet, it is like milk to a newborn baby. First Peter 2:2-3 says, “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.” (1 Peter 2:2–3, ESV)

We are commanded here to long for the Word like a newborn baby longs for milk. But nobody teaches a baby to long for milk. They might need help in other things, but a newborn is born with a longing for milk. And Peter here is clearly stating that those who do not long for the Word have not tasted and seen that the Lord is good (v. 2)!

We should never outgrow a love for the Word. At first as babes in Christ, our love may be ravenous, but it isn’t usually too deep. Over time, it should grow deeper, and our souls should begin to require more nutrients—meat!

In Hebrews 5:12-13, the writer rebukes those Christians who had not become dissatisfied with simply milk. He says, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child.” (Hebrews 5:12–13, ESV)

You see, we need to grow in our love for the Word, and this growth includes more than reading it, it must include meditating on it deeply–thinking about its application to our lives and what God would have us think or be or do because of his Word. We meditate upon those things which we feel most deeply about. For the psalmist, it is the law of God, because within it he comes to know God himself.

Have you ever done this? I remember that several times, someone in our family has

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started talking about donuts—especially the hot donuts at Krispy Kreme. It’s probably beginning right now—you are meditating on those hot glazed donuts. The way they melt in your mouth. With some cold milk or hot coffee to perfectly compliment that sugary treat. Before long, we are on our way, sometimes late at night, to Krispy Kreme.

We meditate upon those things that we feel most deeply about. A baby longs for milk. A Christian longs for the Word of God. He longs to pore over it, to think about it, to study it, to fulfill its commands. You can’t keep a true Christian from his Bible. That has been proven by those who have been willing to die in order to have a copy.

It isn’t really about the book though. Our love for the Word is produced by a love of our God and a desire to know him more fully. Our love for God drives our love for the Word. Show me a person who doesn’t love the Bible, and I don’t care what they say, they don’t really love God.

2. It Provides Wise Counsel Against Enemies (v. 98)

“Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me.” (Psalm 119:98, ESV)

At first, it might seem like verse 98 is a bit boastful because they claim that the psalmist is wiser than others because of his knowledge and meditation on the Word. But the boast isn’t in his own wisdom, but rather in the wisdom acquired from God’s Word.

Listen to what Paul wrote about the wisdom of God in Romans 11:33-34, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?”” (Romans 11:33–34, ESV)

So, the question he asks is “who has known the mind of the Lord?” What does 1Corinthians 2:16 say? ““For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 2:16, ESV)

That is a staggering thought. It doesn’t mean that in our own minds we have obtained all the thinking and thoughts of God. What it does refer to is the fact that in the Scriptures, through the illuminating power of the Holy Spirit of God, we can think God’s thoughts after him as revealed in the Scriptures.

The very next verse in 1 Corinthians begins chapter 3, which is a rebuke of those Christians in Corinth who had not taken advantage of the Word and were like spiritual children, they are “mental midgets.” In other words, you can’t call upon the wisdom of God if you haven’t first put it into your head, and then it needs to be meditated upon.

Meditation upon the Word leads to wisdom. Simple knowledge without reflection will profit less than knowledge which has been illustrated and applied. The enemies, which the psalmist says he is wiser than, either do not know the Scriptures, or they know and do not practice what it says. Either way, the power of the Word of God is not available to them.

Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18, ESV). David had learned this, probably from the Word as well as by experience. He may have taught it to Solomon, his son, who put it in the book of Proverbs. One example of the downfall of pride can be seen in a time of great turmoil in the life of Israel when David’s son Absalom had overthrown his father’s government and David chose to flee instead of fighting.

When David’s wise counselors Hushai and Ahithophel were sought for the next step, Hushai, who was secretly still serving David, played on Absalom’s massive pride and gave him bad counsel. You can read the whole account in 2 Samuel 16:15-17:23.

absolamdeathAbsalom was putty in Hushai’s hands. Why? Not because Absalom wasn’t cunning or a great war strategist as his father David, he was both of these things. Hushai was wiser than his shrewd enemy Absalom because he knew what the Word of God says about the proud, and he used this truth to his advantage. But that took deep thinking about his situation and how the Word of God applied to it.

Psalm 1:1-2 speaks about the two types of counsel that are available in this world—either wicked or righteous. We need to understand that it is the counsel of the Scriptures which gives us the help we need form our enemies. And since the attacks of our enemies come at a time when there is usually not time to have a Bible study, we need to be gathering a supply of wisdom in our arsenal for the day when the enemy attacks.

In Ps 119:98, the psalmist says that the commandment “is ever with me.” That is what we would expect of a weapon, isn’t it? What good is a weapon of war back in the safe confines of the home? A sword needs to be strapped to the thigh to be ready for battle. So too we must be ready.

Psalm 119:11 reminds us, “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” (Psalm 119:11, ESV)

The storage of the Word of God is good for self, but it is also good for counsel to protect us from our enemies both internal and external enemies.

Conclusion:

So, what can we do to begin getting these blessings? We must begin with prayer. At the beginning of this post I told you that we didn’t need to learn you how to meditate because we already meditate upon many things all on our own. And that is true.

But we are not in glorified bodies, and we do not have glorified minds yet. And so, we must battle our own flesh so that we may have the strength and focus we need to meditate on the glories of Scripture. Our spirits may be willing, but our flesh is weak!

William Bridge explained, “If you would meditate on God, and the things of God, go then to God for this skill of meditation. Friends, there is an art, and a divine skill of meditation, which none can teach but God alone. Would you have it, go then to God, and beg of God these things.”[1]

[1]Saxton, David W.. God’s Battle Plan for the Mind: The Puritan Practice of Biblical Meditation (Kindle Locations 2705-2707). Reformation Heritage Books. Kindle Edition.

[1]Ibid. (Kindle Locations 452-454).

[2]Ibid., (Kindle Locations 373-375). Quote is from Wilhelmus à Brakel, “Spiritual Meditation,” in The Christian’s Reasonable Service, ed. Joel R. Beeke, trans. Bartel Elshout (Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books, 1995), 4:26.

[3]Ibid., (Kindle Locations 380-382). Quote is from Calamy, Divine Meditation, 2–3.

Help for New Expositors: Using Biblical Illustrations vs. Using Cross References. What’s the Difference?

/ Richard Bargas / 1 Comment

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In my personal library I have over a dozen books whose sole purpose is to provide me with sermon illustrations. In my Logos library I have several more. But honestly, most of them sit on the shelf collecting dust. It’s not that I’m against using sermon illustrations, or that I don’t use them myself. I use them and I think that they are an important component of preaching. The problem is that sermon illustration books are often old, overworked books that lack originality and are often outdated. That means that I am always on the hunt for good illustrations. One source for illustrations is the Bible itself.

Using the Bible for illustrations has great benefits. Using one part of the Bible to illustrate another allows us to help our congregation to see parts of the Bible that we might not be preaching in for a while. This “cross-pollination” is particularly helpful for newer believers who have little or no knowledge of the Bible.

Another benefit is that using the Bible for illustration keeps the hearers in mind in the biblical world. Sometimes a contemporary illustration can help the hearer “see” the biblical truth in modern terms, but it also has the danger of distracting the listener with thoughts we had not considered. For instance, an illustration drawn from a contemporary movie might cause a listener to begin thinking about other scenes in the movie we have not reference, or even that we have given a blanket endorsement of a movie when we only intended to refer to a small part.

One last benefit of using the Bible for illustration is that the Scriptures contain a massive amount of material for illustration. Not only do we have the illustrations used by prophets, Apostles and the Lord Jesus himself, but we have the lives of biblical characters from which we can draw more illustrations. There is no need to buy that cheesy outdated sermon illustration book when you have the only Spirit inspired illustration book in the Bible itself!

But sometimes new expositors get confused about the difference between a biblical illustration and a cross-reference. The confusion is understandable because they seem to be the same thing on the surface. The big difference between the two can be summed up in the purpose for each.

Cross-References

A cross-reference is normally used when we are seeking to strengthen a sermon point or sub-point in our sermon. There are times when we have made a point that is present in the main text we are expositing, but it may be that the English text does not clearly show the stress we need it to make. We might choose to bring in linguistic insights and grammar, but we might introduce more confusion if we do that. Instead, a good couple of cross-references will help to undergird and strengthen the idea from other places in the Bible to show that this theological idea is found elsewhere in Scripture.

We need to be careful that when we use cross-references that they are what Dr. Montoya at The Master’s Seminary calls “the jugular texts.” These are Scripture references that are clear and powerful in stating what we are trying to prove. If we want to prove that God loves the world, we would go to John 3:16, if we want to prove that Jesus is the only way to heaven, we might go to John 14:6. If we wanted to state that tongues is speaking in a known human language, we would go to Acts 2:5-11. The point is that we go to the strongest and clearest texts to prove our point and we read the section that makes the point. We must not abuse the authorial intent of these cross-reference passages, but we do not need to go into the background or other information in detail in order to quote them. The purpose is to undergird and strengthen a theological idea or sermon point.

An excellent place to find cross-references other than those in the margins of most Bibles is The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

Biblical Illustrations

The purpose of biblical illustrations is to illustrate. That may seem obvious, but it needs to be said. That means that we are predominantly looking for examples of the concept we are trying to illustrate in the narrative and some didactic sections of the Bible. The lives of Bible characters serve well as examples both negatively and positively. Another place to find illustrations is from the teaching illustrations given by Jesus, the Apostles and the prophets. Jesus was a master illustrator, and he used both the Old Testament as well as nature to paint pictures of deep spiritual truths. Study these so you can see how they did it, and use their illustrations for the same things they did. Think about the parables, the agricultural illustrations, and the nature illustrations used by all the great biblical teachers. God has given all of these for our benefit as teachers.

Because biblical illustrations can be lengthy (particularly narrative sections), many times it will be necessary to summarize a story’s details in order to bring out the main idea you are illustrating. For example, if you wanted to use the Joseph story in Genesis to illustrate the sovereignty of God over all things including his use of evil for good, you wouldn’t want to read the multiple chapters that it takes to cover that narrative. Instead you would summarize the highlights of Joseph’s life and then read the “jugular text” of Gen 50:20 to summarize the main idea. This is a biblical illustration.

Although biblical illustrations and cross-references have many overlapping qualities, the two serve difference purposes. Both have their place in a biblical exposition, but for the sake of clarity we need to know the difference.

Appeal to the Heart in Your Preaching

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“It is my firm conviction that those sermons are most likely to convert men that really appeal to their hearts, not those that are fired over their heads, or that are aimed only at their intellects. I am sorry to say that I know some preachers who will never do much good in the world; they are good men, they have plenty of ability, they can speak well, and they have a good deal of shrewdness; but, somehow or other, there is a very sad omission in their nature, for to anyone who knows them, it is quite evident that they have not any heart. I know one or two men who are as dry as leather.”-Spurgeon, The Soul Winner, 100–101.

Help For New Expositors: The Four P’s of a Balanced Sermon

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esv_studybibleExpository preaching is both an art and a science. But we must beware of the danger of making our sermons either too light or too dense in regards to our content. Those expositors that are more cerebral can easily slide into a lecture mentality that sees the pulpit as a lecture and each Sunday as an opportunity to dump all of their exegetical research upon their unwary members. Those who have been given the “gift of gab” can think that simply because they can fill the allotted teaching time with witty speech, good stories and lots of application are being faithful to preach when they are most often simply pandering to the baser desires of their listeners.

A helpful way to know how to organize a well-balanced sermon is to follow the rule of the Four P’s–Point, Proof, Picture and Practice. Every sermon point should include all of the “P’s” as a general rule. There are some exceptions, but as a general rule, these should be followed for most sermons.

  1. Point-Whether you have 2, 3, 4, or more, you need to have main points which point to your thesis statement (sometimes called a propositional statement). If you just read a passage, talk about it a little bit, throw in some illustrations and application randomly as they come to mind, this is not biblical exposition. The mind of the listener needs clarity to aid its understanding and organization helps with this. Stay your point, and then…
  2. Proof-Prove your point. If you state that your sermon thesis is “Three Unimpeachable Evidences that Jesus is the Son of God,” then one of your points may be–“Jesus forgave sins.” Your proof will be the exegetical proof taken from the given text for this sermon. This might include cross-references to strengthen the doctrinal truth or it might include word studies or contextual information to make clear the meaning of the passage. Whatever you include, this part of the sermon should only include information that adds clarity and argues the idea of the main point. In other words, your long study of the Greek post-positive de should be left in your study, unless it is necessary to understand this main point.
  3. Picture-Simply put, this is an illustration. Your illustration should direct your hearers to think about the main idea of your point in a concrete way. It might continue an example from Scripture or history, or it might be a more contemporary picture of what this main idea looks like today.
  4. Practice-This is application. Application follows illustration logically because we cannot apply what we do not fully understand, and illustrations help with clarifying the ideas we have presented. The application seeks to help the hearer put into practice what the biblical text says they should feel, believe or do.

Every one of these P’s should be present for each main point of a sermon to continue to help the sermon move along with clarity, timelines and purpose. All put together, they explain the text, illustrate the main concepts and show the hearer how they should be applied.

A Power Couple Meets the Apostle Paul

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“After some days Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, and he sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus.” (Acts 24:24, ESV)

The Apostle Paul would have understood the drive for success that motivated Felix and Drusilla. He too, had this focus at one time. He had studied and worked hard to rise in the ranks of Judaism as a Pharisee of Pharisees. He had the passion and the smarts to go far. But on that road where he encountered the risen Christ, everything changed.

He wrote about this change in his letter to the Philippian church:

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:7–11, ESV)

Paul’s whole worldview had changed. Jesus was everything to him, and nothing else mattered. He counted it all as rubbish. Now, he stood before a couple that were like he was, looking to gain whatever they could from this world because they believed the philosophy that says that “the one who dies with the most toys wins.”

The problems with this philosophy is that the one who dies, still dies—no matter how many toys he has. And as Jesus said, “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36, ESV). What would Paul talk about when he had the ear of this power couple? We don’t have to guess because Luke tells us in v. 24—he spoke about “faith in Christ Jesus.”

You see, the Christian faith is based upon a person, upon Jesus Christ. It isn’t about this earth, or what we can get. Those people who claim to be Christian preachers and teachers who are trying to sell us our best life now don’t get it. Our faith is heavenward, and that is where our focus is. Jesus is in the heavens preparing a place for us, and he is coming again for his Church.