Grace Assembly 2010 09

John Hall was the final speaker. He took us to Isaiah 66 and especially verse 2. Again exploring this matter of the sovereignty of God he reminded us that what matters in the end is what God thinks of us.

He began by instancing the poor examples of the man on the king's arm in 2 Kings 6, Nadab and Abihu, King Saul and Ananias and Sapphira. He moved then to the Lord Jesus Christ who spoke only what the Father commanded in the way he commanded and to the matter of obedience - not an optional matter for us but a heart matter and a salvation matter.
Right at the end of Isaiah he noted is the theme of the new heavens and the new earth. It does not end there , however, but with the question he began with - obedience and disobedience.
He then made three points
1. The foundation for humbling oneself and trembling at God's Word.
It is crucial to see the sovereignty of God and the fact that he is the Creator. These themes are very clear in the chapter.
2. What or who it is that the sovereign Creator God esteems or looks upon
John then spoke about the difficulties of humility and obedience but that we must be determined to seek. Conscious of sin in our lives we should seek to tremble at the Word. If we merely listen to the Word it will only condemn us. It must rather change us. Self-assertion is not the answer. That leads only to misery. Rather, it is the blood of Christ that saves us. Through him we become humble, contrite and yet joyful. Sovereign grace experienced in the heart is the key to obeying God rather than man. People see this as a miserable worm theology but in fact anything self-centred will lead to misery in the end and the only hope for us is the sovereign power of God. What a thing the love of God is. It enables us to see our lameness and the need to cast ourselves on the Lord. If we have never trembled we are not converted. If we are getting older and have trembled we need to keep trembling.
3. The contrast between formalists and compromisers and the one who truly trembles
Choosing our own ways is offensive to God as is ignoring his Word. We see that in evangelical churches today. It's not the beat we need but the Word.
People will not love us for trembling at God's Word but we must be faithful. What joy lies ahead for such in God.
John is a blunt northern Baptist appalled at evangelicalism today and eager to urge preachers to preach the Word with honesty and power. It was good to hear him.

Worm Theology?

At the recent Carey Conference there was some discussion of what is sometimes called worm theology. The subject was raised in part by Bob Letham who, in passing, mentioned a hymn he found objectionable that says we are nothing and God is all. Then at some point we sang Hymn 411 from Praise! Isaac Watts' Alas and did my Saviour bleed, where they have altered the striking line Would he devote that sacred head for such a worm as I? to the innocuous Would he devote that sacred head for such a one as I? I asked Dr Letham about this and he said he simply wanted to underline that as Calvinists we are not saying man is worthless.If you Google the phrase 'worm theology' you get several references. An interesting wikipedia article suggests Watts' hymn is the source of the phrase but also cites the 3 relevant Scripture references Mentioned below and mentions Calvin, Wesley, etc. It comes out against worm theology. A more positive presentation can be found here. One blogger last year noted that the phrase is often just a derogatory term for Calvinism in general and total depravity in particular. She also points out that those who are into self-esteem are its fiercest opponents. She found a Lutheran Missouri Synod article bemoaning the removal of statements referencing 'the 'corrupted-nature' language of Luther and the Formula of Concord' from new Lutheran liturgy.
As she says

'Whatever you think of worm theology, you can't get around the fact that the Bible itself uses the image of a worm in reference to human beings in several places, for instance Job 25:4-6, Isa 41:14 and Ps 22:6. The image isn't used to deny our value as beings made in God's image, but rather to show that in comparison to God, who is righteous, perfect, eternal, and all-powerful, etc, we are like insignificant worms.'
I know the compilers of Praise! are good Calvinists and would defend their omission of the word worm but it is a shame as Watts surely drew the word straight from the Bible. May be this is one more instance where biblical ignorance is letting people down.