Never was that little one more precious than when they looked their last on her baby sweetness, as they were roughly summoned the next morning and led out to die. . . . Painfully bound with ropes, their hands behind them, stripped of their outer garments, and John barefooted (he had given Betty his socks to wear), they passed down the street where he was known to many, while the Reds shouted their ridicule and called the people to come and see the execution.

Like their Master, they were led up a little hill outside the town. There, in a clump of pine trees, the Communists harangued the unwilling onlookers, too terror-stricken to utter protest—But no, one broke the ranks! The doctor of the place and a Christian, he expressed the feelings of many when he fell on his knees and pleaded for the life of his friends. Angrily repulsed by the Reds, he still persisted, until he was dragged away as a prisoner, to suffer death when it appeared that he too was a follower of Christ.

John had turned to the leader of the band, asking mercy for this man. When he was sharply ordered to kneel—and the look of joy on his face, afterwards, told of the unseen Presence with them as his spirit was released—Betty was seen to quiver, but only for a moment. Bound as she was, she fell on her knees beside him. A quick command, the flash of a sword which mercifully she did not see—and they were reunited (Mrs. Howard Taylor, The Triumph of John and Betty Stam).

John and Betty Stam left behind a three month old daughter, who they had hidden with ten dollars tucked in her blanket.

In a recent post, I quoted some comments Derek Thomas made about the peculiar evangelism methods Jesus used with the rich young ruler.  The parable of the good Samaritan is equally as confusing.

A lawyer approached Jesus and asked him a similar question as the rich young ruler, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”  Like the rich young ruler, Jesus took him to the law:

He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live” (Luke 10:26-28).

The lawyer then asks Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”  So Jesus tells him the story of the good Samaritan.

But the really astounding thing is that Luke notes here that this man wanted to justify himself:

But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29)

So it’s explicit:  This man wanted to justify himself by his own works.  And how does Jesus respond to him?  He tells him a story about a Samaritan who shows kindness to a Jew.  And then he concludes their encounter with the command, “Go and do likewise.”

Why?

He knew the covenant of grace was instituted way back in Genesis 3.  And it’s all over the Old Testament.  David understood it:  ”When iniquities prevail against me, you atone for our transgressions” (Psalm 65:3).  So why wouldn’t Jesus preach like David when Jesus is the very one David is speaking about?  Doesn’t he know it’s confusing to talk the way he does?

Of course he does.  He knows people are going to misunderstand him.  In fact, in Matthew 13:11-16, Jesus seems to say the reason he speaks in parables is so that people will misunderstand him… That is, unless I’ve misunderstood him.

O the great mystery that is the Son of Man!  And I love him so.

From Derek Thomas’ “A Rich Young Man”:

John MacArthur observes that Jesus would have failed a course in personal evangelism in almost any seminary on earth by what He does in this passage. It begins with a young man. . . .  “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” There’s a question. Have you ever asked that question? “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Do you know the answer to that question? You have two minutes, starting now! What must I do to inherit eternal life? If this was the seminary I’d ask you to take a piece of paper and I’d give you two minutes. Write it down. Tell me. What’s the answer? What must I do to inherit eternal life? You couldn’t ask a more relevant question than that. Do you know the answer? I wonder if it’s the answer Jesus gives here. Let’s look at this passage. Let’s follow Jesus. Let’s walk alongside the great Evangelist, shall we? Let’s eavesdrop on this conversation.

The first thing Jesus says to this young man is about God. That’s where He starts. He begins with God. Take a look at Jesus’ response. Do you know what He does? He picks on grammar. “Good Master,” (or, Good Teacher), “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good?” He picks on his use of the adjective. . . .

But then He takes him to the law, the Ten Commandments. Now if ever there was a faux pas in evangelism…you know this is it! This is about the last thing you want to speak to somebody who’s anxious and eager to enter the kingdom of God! He’s come running to Jesus, he’s kneeling before Him, and he’s asking the great question: What must I do to inherit eternal life? And what does Jesus do? He takes him to the law. . . .

Why does Jesus take this young man to the law? The Ten Commandments? “You know the commandments,” He says to him. Every Jewish boy knows the commandments. And Jesus rattles through commandments five through nine (what we usually refer to as the second table of the law) and adds the great commandment of neighbor-love…show no disrespect to parents, you mustn’t murder, you mustn’t commit adultery, you mustn’t steal, you mustn’t lie. . . .

Do you know what this young man said? It takes your breath away: “I’ve kept all these from a child.” It takes some gall to say that. Or does it? I wonder tonight if I were to say to you, in answer to the question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” and I said to you, “You must keep the commandments,” and you will say in response, “You know, I do my best. I do my best.” It’s the answer of millions of people around the globe tonight. That’s their response: “I do my best. I try to live a good life.” . . .

Read the whole sermon or listen to it below.

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Washer starts out with his testimony. His wife Charo’s testimony is below:

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This week, Mark Driscoll shared some great insight into understanding how to show love and care for those who we wish to share the gospel with.  The following are some clips from his sermon:

Jehovah’s Witnesses at My Door

Don’t Be Google For God

Don’t Shoot Other Christians

The full sermon is available below:

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I get very tired of people coming to look at staff positions in my church, which is in downtown Minneapolis. We all live in the inner city, and one of the first questions they ask is, “Will my children be safe?” And I want to say, “Would you ask that question tenth and not first?” I’m just tired of hearing that. I’m tired of American priorities. Whoever said that your children will be safe in the call of God? . . .

Jesus dies and he suffers for people all over the world in every nation. Then he is buried and, according to the Scriptures, raised on the third day. Then he ascends into heaven where he reigns over the world. And he leaves a work to be done.

Paul’s self understanding of his mission is that there is one thing lacking in the sufferings of Jesus. The love offering of Christ is to be presented in person through missionaries to the peoples for whom he died. And Paul says, “I do this in my sufferings. In my sufferings I complete what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ.” Which means that Christ intends for the Great Commission to be a presentation to the nations of the sufferings of his cross through the sufferings of his people. That’s the way it will be finished. If you sign up for the Great Commission, that’s what you sign up for (John Piper).

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When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne.  They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”  Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been (Revelation 6:9-11).

This is a repost from my old blog.  I like it so much I just had to put it on this blog somewhere.

This is a clip from Don Williams’ session at the 1991 Desiring God Pastors Conference, Spiritual Gifts and the Sovereignty of God, in which he explains why the power of the Holy Spirit in spiritual gifts is a necessary part of evangelism.

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How Our Suffering Glorifies the Greatness of the Grace of God

John Piper doing what he does best:  preaching on missions and the dangers of wealth.