Marcus Honeysett

Welcome to the web Marcus Honeysett, blogger, Bible teacher etc.
Digital H₂O, grace, glory, godliness.
http://marcushoneysett.squarespace.com/blog/

The Goal of Preaching: Worship

My one overwhelming tip for your Bible preparation for this weekend is this: worship over the Bible as you prepare. For sure we want to be diligent and accurate in our prep and our delivery but it is possible to have accurate Bible talks and studies that that don’t glorify God because they take his mighty word and make it boring.

...the key point is not to deify the technical and underplay the glory. Worship over the text as you prepare. Make every effort at accuracy. If you want your message to have power then it has to come with accuracy from the text. People have to be able to see clearly that you are preaching to them what the Bible says, concretely, specifically and compellingly. But don’t substitute glory for mere accuracy as your goal.

Lastly, that tells us we should pray over our preparation and our delivery. You cannot speak accurately of the Lord and his ways without having been caught up yourself. People can tell if we have engaged with God in our prep and whether they are coming from hearts that are affected by the content. Preaching can never be dispassionate. Occasionally I hear people say things like “present the text as objectively and dispassionately as you can so people don’t see the preacher only the passage.” NONSENSE! Preaching is NOT teaching precisely because the message has affected us and we are urging, exhorting, pleading with our hearers to turn to the living God. and do what the word says. It has exercised our prayer and our spiritual energy as we prepare. It has set our hearts ablaze and our prayer is that it does the same as bring it in the power of the Spirit.

NWA - The Interviews - Don Carson (part 2)

The Apostolic Fathers - Mike Reeves (mp3)

At Theology Network: The Apostolic Fathers (Mike Reeves)
Because church history is cool. And because ‘We are like dwarfs on the shoulders of giants.’ (Bernard of Chartres)

Part 1, Part 2

ht: Dan Hames

Hosea (Part 1 of 2) - Matt Chapman

Hosea: “Can I Know God?” - Matt Chapman

NWA The Interviews - Don Carson

Adrian Warnock's first video interview with Don Carson at New Word Alive is now online

Grace, all grace, that's all.

Keller makes a critical point. Too often as preachers we preach a gospel that moves people from rebel to legalist. We so easily preach so that younger sons become older sons, but somehow miss the glory of the father’s prodigious grace in humiliating himself for the sake of both sons. (ht: Milton Stanley)

Up at The Mill, Mo has been doing 'Relay' on us, encouraging us about this pioneering missionary opportunity for recent graduates to be immersed in the grace of God. I'm reminded how much I love Relay because Relay is about grace. Grace that I desperately need.

What's delighting me at the moment is that I work for UCCF who are all about Grace, and I find myself in a local church whose explicit foundation is the same glorious gospel of Grace. And not just notionally and nominally, but in both cases intentionally, relentlessly, specifically and deeply. That gospel, and the gospel-care I find is way more than I deserve. I need to believe that grace is enough for me in my sin, and to joyfully receive the grace that's already given to me.

As the Valley of Vision prayer puts it:

Keep me ever mindful of my natural state but let me not forget my heavenly title, or the grace that can deal with every sin.

Spiritual health?

Childlike. Reverent. Expectant. Guileless. Obedient. No agenda of our own. Desperate. Dependent for all things. Confident of mercy. Acknowledging sin. Repentant. Merciful. Having a deep appreciation of grace. A follower. Hating sin and temptation. At war with the evil one. Sheltering in the Lord’s deliverance.

Oh redemption, sweet redemption!

A new hymn by Matt Giles:

1. Oh redemption, sweet redemption!
Satan has no hold on me!
Full indemnity, I have indemnity,
The debt is paid and I am free!
So impoverish and desperate,
In my sins I would have died,
yet my King's eternal ransom,
Did my ev'ry need supply.

Oh the cross, my final plea!
Nought else to offer thee, but what Christ did for me.
A million sins implored my fall,
Christ died once, and crushed them all!

2. Pow'r of death obliterated
Serpent crushed beneath His feet.
From the grave He rose untainted
And still He stands in victory.
In His death we stand united,
In His life we shall arise,
Earthly shadows now receding,
For heaven's glory draws yet nigh.

Resurrected I shall be
For His empty tomb will now ring true for me!
Blast of trumpet will resound
We shall arise to claim our crowns.

3. He has raised a mighty army,
Where there once were only bones.
A people confident in His accomplishment;
That His perfect blood atones.
We will raise a royal banner,
With our heads held proudly high,
Boasting in the death of Jesus,
And His resurrection life!

Oh the cross our final plea!
Jesus leads us on to the victory!
Death and hell have been disarmed,
Christ is Lord! His kingdom come!

© Matt Giles, Sheet Music

The Oracles of God (Martyn Lloyd-Jones on the Bible in the Evangelical House)

Several things strike me as I read Lloyd-Jones from 51 years ago.

1. There is genuine prophetic insight here.
2. Not necessarily negating the previous comment, problems recur in the church generation after generation.
3. Where's my Bible, let me read it! How precious it is to have the word of God.

"The Apostle finds it is essential to lay down a firm foundation. There are many people today who are in such a hurry to erect some kind of an evangelical house, that I am afraid it is not going to be very durable. And then you will find that in times of trail and testing, they will not quite know where they stand. They are carried away by every wing of doctrine, they have no discrimination and they cannot see the subtle error in false teachings. The only way to avoid that is to make certain that we are looking at every difficulty and dealing with every conceivable objection...

There is nothing greater than this, than that God should speak to man - the oracles of God..There is no greater loss that a man can suffer than that God should cease to speak to him... The Christian is a a man who ought to be wretched and miserable if he feels that he does not hear God speaking to him, if he feels he has lost contact with God. There is nothing more terrible that to feel you are abandoned of God. It is the loss, you see, of the oracles, of the Word of God.

Do we realise, I wonder, what a priviledge it is that we have these Scriptures, New Testament as well as Old? Do we realise the advantage of having an open Bible? Do we realise the advantage and the priviledge of having these living oracles of God? ...This is no ordinary book, this is the Word of God. Do we show that we realise that and what a priviledge it is, by reading it, studying it, delving into it, spending our time praying over it? ..Do you say, 'Here God is speaking to me, speaking to man and I am reading because it is God's direct word'.

We are living in times when evangelical people are increasingly saying 'Well it does not matter, we must all coorperate together. What if the man is not quite with us on the Scriptures, what does it matter? What if he is not quite with us on the atonement, that does not matter either, he is preaching Christ in a sense.' ...But we are specifically commanded to 'earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered to the saints' You as Christian people, as members of the Christian church, are to defend this truth as the Word of God, and to content for it."

Martyn Lloyd-Jones, #12 The Righteous Judgement of God.
Preached between October 15, 1956 and Feb 8th 1957.

There is such a thing as grace (and how the gift of repentance brings us to enjoy this profound doctrine)

Picked up my copy of Lloyd-Jones on Romans 2-3 today to accompany me on the train to Bristol. Classic, clear, passionate, gospel-filled stuff from The Doctor:

"This is the first note in gospel preaching. First and foremost he gospel calls us to repentance... there is but little evidence of a sense of sin these days, or that it is a rare thing to see anyone weeping under conviction; it is not surprising that it is a rare thing to hear anyone going throgh an agony of soul because of his or her consciousness of sinfulness in the presence of a holy God... repentance is not something detached and theoretical and academic... The beginning is this changed attitude toward God Himself; thinking about God in terms of the scriptural revelation rather than in terms of our own ideas... What amazes us, now, is how God tolerates us at all! We no longer feel that we have any claim on His love and we are reduced to tears when we realise that, in spite of our being what we are, and God being what He is, He nevertheless has had mercy and compassion, and there is such a thing as grace... This again is a profound matter of doctrine.. Now the more we grasp that truth, the more we shall see the absolute necessity of an operation by the Holy Spirit of God before a man can ever be a Christian."

Martyn Lloyd-Jones on Romans 2v1-3v20.

UCCF South West Update

Looking back on last term I'm massively encouraged by the many missions that happened. It's great to hear of new Christians and to be able to rejoice in the power of the gospel. And for every one of those who has become a Christian there are doubtless many who have heard and whom we can continue to pray for.....

Psalms and the Pentateuch

From The Bible Student's Compendium And Dictionary:
On the five books of Psalms corresponding to the Pentateuch:

Book 1 - Genesis.
It shows us God's plan for MAN. God is Jehovah (the Lord) in this book. He has covenant-plans toward mankind. True, sin has broken things up and man is in rebellion against God. But the plans were made in CHRIST, and God still has His one Man in mind: Ps. 2; THE LAST ADAM: Ps. 8 (cf. Gen. 1). The middle Psalm of the book (21) describes Him as crowned for rule and set to be a blessing for ever (v. 6; cf. Gen. 12 and 22:18); though, indeed, He shall only reach His Crown through a Cross (22-24). Yet the MAN Christ Jesus is set before us, waiting in faith for the glory the Lord will give Him (16, 17, 18); "bowed down heavily" in the days of His flesh (35:14), yet "the Lord hath pleasure in the prosperity of His Servant" (v. 27), and when He has "waited patiently" as "a poor and needy" Man, cast upon the Lord, He receives the promised reward (40, 41). It is a "blessed" thing to consider this poor MAN (41).

Book 2 - Exodus.
It begins with the true Israel in tears and suffering (42) yet appealing to God against "an ungodly nation" (43) and though "counted as sheep for the slaughter" (44), calling upon God to redeem them (44:26). Then comes the divine redeemer. Finally a redeemed Israel sings sings praises for deliverance (61-68). And the book that began with suffering conducts us, Psalm by Psalm, through a varied experience on pilgrimage towards God, towards the glorious kingdom of Christ, which will leave nothing for the loyal soul to desire (72: see esp. v. 19 and 20).

Book 3 - Leviticus.
This is the book of the Sanctuary. Search and see how that in nearly every Psalm some reference is made to the sanctuary. Israel's house is indeed now left unto her "desolate" and given over to her enemies. But he who dwells between the cherubim(80:1) will yet "shine forth" again and the deserted altars shall again be laden with worship (84). For Jehovah is faithful and has sworn (89).

Book 4 - Numbers.
The book of the wilderness. Angels watch over God's true Israel there (91), and when Israel has profited by the past wilderness lesson (95), the wilderness shall blossom as the rose (96, etc. cf. Is. 35). For Christ will return as Lord of the whole earth (98:5-7; cf. Heb. 1:6) and the earth will no longer be a wilderness but will enjoy the promised blessings (101-106). This is a very striking book indeed and may well end, as it does, with "Hallelujah."

Book 5 - Deuternomy.
The book fo the covenant. Its chief Psalm is 119, which is all in praise of that Word. (Remember Deuteronomy begins "These be the words" and tells, as we saw, how God bare witness of a New Covenant through Moses). This Word tells of "good things to come." Christ is the High Priest of these good things (Ps. 110; cf. Heb.). It will be a wonderful day when "the greater Hallel" (Pss. 117-118) is sung in Mount Zion - "the day which the Lord hath made," when the Rejected Stone is made "The headstone of the corner." No wonder the words are treasured by believing hearts (119) and their eyes "lifted up" (121) for their redemption which draws nigh. From distress (120) they will ascend - as the songs of "degrees", songs of "the steps" (the steps of ascent to the Divine Temple) describe - to the sanctuary of blessing, where the Lord of heaven and earth will bless men out of Zion (135).

The Book closes with a grand universal anthem in five "Hallelujah" Psalms.
(source)

What can help the squeamish fellow who is afraid of making global claims for Christ?

...John Piper talks about what can explodes his little world.
(at TheologyNetwork.org)

UCCF Evangelism Podcast #3 - Art and Evangelism

Arts and Evangelism with Clive and Cully, plus Linda Marshall on Forum 2008

Andy Farmer - Important Values for Christian Artists
PDF @ New Attitude, ht: JT

James Carey on Evangelicalism and Art (at David Field's blog)

Man Curved in on Himself

"...personhood as ‘ecstatic’, in terms of a going out or being drawn out of oneself by the Spirit into the life of Christ, a life lived for and with others. So we might also say that persons are ‘eccentric’, that they find their lives in the lives of others. Enter the man curved in on himself, who stubbornly refuses to go out of himself and smugly stays at home in and with himself. He is ego rather than ec-centric, finding his life in and living his life for himself... It’s a familiar image, and a fitting one, the photonegative of the man whose life is found in relationship. In this view, sin is a violation, perversion, and refusal of the very relationships which constitute us. Eberhard Jüngel puts it succinctly, calling sin "the urge towards relationlessness and dissociation". And the sinner? "The sinner is, to put it simply, a person without relations, with no relation to God or to self".
--Matt Jenson, The Shape of Our Sin - at The Other Journal

Martin Luther - "Our nature...is so deeply curved in on itself that it not only bends the best gifts of God towards itself and enjoys them...but it also fails to realize that it so wickedly, curvedly, and viciously seeks all things, even God, for its own sake." (source)

1 John 3v23: "This is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another." The gospel comes with the life-giving lavish love of divine command enacted at Calvary to uncurve us from our devilish introspection and instead look to Jesus, In becoming Jesus-centred we also become other-centred.

On the Holy Spirit - gifts for the common good

Gifts are for the common good (1 Corinthians 12v4-11)

Paul here notes that

• v4 – there are various gifts and in v8-10 he lists many. What are they? Paul doesn't say – it's not the point! Our (21st Century) way of reading is desperate for those definitions of prophecy etc, and maybe some controversy might have been avoided if they had been supplied - but they're not, which probably means there is something more important for us to understand. We'll find some sense of more specific and descriptive definition of tongues and prophecy across the whole of chapters 12-14, but not much yet. So far, they are gospel-centred gifts..
• v6 – gifts come from God. He gives. And they are gifts (charismata) of grace. Given to all. Freely. Graciously. Not as a reward but a gift.
• v7 – gifts are manifestations of the Holy Spirit. The work of the Spirit is one of revelation, of manifestation, of confession. Displaying God. God's gifts show us our God. Prophecy, tongues, administration... gospel-centred gifts of grace to reveal God.

But, to what purpose? Why give these grace gifts, these charismata?

• Answer: v7. For the common good. Gifts are not given to me for my good but to me for the good of others. The purpose of gifts is God-centred in manifestation and other-centred in service. What is good for the people of God will in turn be good for me. We’ll see later with tongues that some gifts are particularly useful for the building up of the person who exercises them – such as uninterpretted prayer in tongues. That said, my own edification is subsequently for the benefit of the body. So we see that our thinking about the Holy Spirit must first be gospel-centred and then other-centred. These are indeed Elephants in the Room.

Beach Supervision and the kindness of God

Kath has tormented me for five years because for our first four years as colleagues I worked in landlocked Reading and she worked on the south coast.

Finally, almost five years since I started working for UCCF I've been able to do a meeting on the beach. With Kenny, on Falmouth beach under glorious sunny skies. Brilliant! Beach, talking, praying and studying Ruth 4 with a brother.

O the kindness of God! Utterly undeserved. May I never lose the wonder and priviledge of this. May the beach never be taken for granted. May the grace of God never be presumed. Those famous words from Lewis ring truer now... this time last year I was supervising Ed & Carolina in our paved frontyard (on a sunny day) to the roar of the M4, now I've felt the sand between my toes and heard the waves reaching the shore. Undeserved kindness.

This same kindness is shown in the book of Ruth, through God's actions and through the kindness of his people. Ruth is a story that begins with death and ends with new life. It begins with emptiness and ends with fullness. It begins with no king and ends with King David. The kindness of God overflows to bring redemption.

A culture of grace

Listening to something by Tripp & Powlison whilst musing on 1 John 3 (ahead of preaching on it in Reading in a few couple of weeks), they comment on how the gospel creates a culture of grace. In that, Jesus is a role model to us. Not like normal role models who we watch from a distance. Jesus shows us what love is by acting upon us in love, dying for our sins.

This is how we know what love is - by way of his substitutionary and propitiatory death. And as we become increasingly Jesus-centred we'll become increasingly other-centred. Not just in sentimental words of love, but in love that acts to meet needs.

This sets an agenda totally opposed to the spirit of our age, indeed of every age since the days of Cain - an age in which we're so curved in on ourselves that we don't know what love is. The gospel takes us away from ourselves, to Jesus to believe in him and onward to others to serve them.

Like extinguishing a fire with petrol?

Easy to observe this from outside the Church of England, but Rowan has kinda missed the point hasn't he? Trying to smooth out the gay bishops question by inviting the Catholics to join the party...

On the Holy Spirit - Spiritual is Gospel

Let's go hunting elephants in the charismatic jungle in 1 Corinthians 12-14. Chapters 1-4 of this letter are most concerned with wisdom and then the discussion is pursued in the area of sexual immorality (5-7) and idolatry (8-14) all of which has concern with the body of Christ, a prominent theme in chapter 15...

1. Spiritual is gospel (1 Corinthians 12v1-3)

Paul says, v1, that he does not want them to be uninformed about 'spiritual gifts' or 'spiritual things'. He's writing to a church that is experiencing charismania. Things are in chaos – evidently it’s more the miraculous gifts being carried to excess than an excess of administration. Rather than forbidding pursuit of these things he seeks to inform them. It's a good principle to remember that abuse should be replaced by right use rather than non-use.

Getting informed: First there are idols. Mute idols (v2). The Old Testament says quite a lot about idols. A key theme is their inability to speak. They are breathless. (Habakkuk 2v18-19). By stark contrast the Spirit speaks (v3). His words give life. By the Spirit Paul will preach Christ & him crucified (2v4) and know the mind of Christ (2v10,16). And by the Spirit the Christian confesses - Jesus is Lord (12v3). We have no business attributing anything to the Holy Spirit unless the focus in the gospel. That might not always be easy to see (Agabus?) But, the broad brushstroke is that Spiritual is Gospel! Do not be uninformed – by the Holy Spirit we confess the gospel.



Confessing the gospel is not something to take for granted. Only by the power of the Holy Spirit will men and women delight to confess the glory of God's gospel about Jesus Christ who was crucified. Only by the Spirit will we love God's wisdom and God's power at the cross. The gospel sets the stage for our thinking about all things charismatic. Whatever our thinking about gifts of the Spirit our framework is of being Spirit-indwelled justified-by-grace people.