Christian, do not be down on yourself. Run to new heights in the love of God in Christ, by trusting in Him and adoring His hand toward you in seasons of ease and difficulty.

They say that April showers bring May flowers. Well, that might ring true for many parts of the country, but in central Texas, it’s usually May showers that bring June flowers. There’s quite a bit more rainfall in May. It’s always beautiful seeing the Indian paintbrushes, Indian blankets, and pink evening primroses rise up and cover the fields. The scenery from our God far surpasses even the most alluring Bob Ross paintings, as the landscape is dotted with radiant colors that seem to dance with the wind.
But as you know with flowers, as beautiful as the bright reds, the vibrant yellows, and the glowing pinks are…they do not last for long. That is especially true in the middle of a Texas summer. The rains have usually gone, and the heat scorches the once blooming and thriving floral landscapes. The colorful vista becomes light brown, with a dull green intermingled.
Something similar can occur within us, it’s something we are prone to in our fallenness. When the heat of trials are turned up and the fires are stoked, a certain flower that is designed to remain constant in the Christian life, begins to wither in us all at particular moments in time. The flower that I am speaking of is that of Christian contentment. Yet, it is a flower that does not have to fade or droop over from exasperation.
Christians have such a treasure that the world does not possess. By the grace of God, everyone who has believed in Jesus Christ, who laid down His life for sinners as a propitiatory sacrifice to the Father, who has risen gloriously from the dead, can be content––always. That’s moving news! However, it might not sound all that earth-shattering to your ears at first (or your eyes in this case since you’re reading this), but let me illustrate.
For the people of the world who remain at enmity with God, their contentment is only superficial. The burden of their sins remains fastly strapped to their backs. It cannot be shaken off permanently even with a seared conscience (cf. Matt 27:5 ; 1 Tim 4:2 ). There is a settled recognition that something is wrong and that judgment will come because of it. The contentment of the world, when it does appear, it never lasts because the object of their contentment is never sure (cf. Matt 7:24–29 ).
For some, it might be difficult to remember the discontentment that you had in your life before coming to love Jesus Christ. It might be tough to remember the fear of your guilty standing before a holy God. What liberty and freedom you have now. That knowledge of a perfect Judge which once made the skies sullen now makes them bright in the light of the gospel of Christ.
Having said that, even in salvation…as precious as that reality is, discontentment isn’t entirely absolved around us, or in us. For some of you, you do love the Lord Jesus, and you know all about discontentment in your life, even as you are reading this article.
There are at least two reasons for this. First, the world around us thrives on discontentment. Second, what became natural in us because of the fall, in our flesh, is discontentment.
It should come as no surprise that most people in this world are not content. Satan both knows this and loves this reality. He does everything he can to fan the flame toward more unsettledness in the world (always wanting but never having). It’s why in the United States last year according to Forbes, 300 billion dollars were being spent on advertising. For some perspective, it would take 9,500 years to count to that number without sleeping. Don’t let your head spin too much on that.
The number $300 billion is not consumers buying products. It’s only companies paying for their products to be displayed on TV, on the internet, and in print. Just for some additional perspective, that amount of money is more than the GDP of the 41st most wealthy country in the world, which is Chile, which is in front of Finland, Egypt, Portugal, Greece, and most other countries. That’s a lot of money. And that’s just for the US. When you add in the rest of the world by the same article approximately one trillion dollars were spent on advertising in 2021. The advertising business is predicated upon causing you to believe that you need something that you don’t presently have when you have probably been living just fine without having whatever they’re selling and didn’t realize you “needed” their trinket until you saw their message…just some food for thought.
Discontentment is not just bred through looking at advertisements alone. That’s something we all know. It can come through the relationships you have, even with brothers and sisters in the church. It can happen when you go over to someone’s house and see that they have the new this, that, or the other name it appliance. It can be when a family talks about the vacation they just went on to the mountains or through wanting to keep up with the Jones’. Or maybe it’s through social media in seeing someone wear a certain brand of clothing or living in a certain house or doing something in particular that causes you to think…“if only I had that…if only I were there too.”
Dissatisfaction can happen almost anywhere, at any time. There is a battle for your contentment, and it’s a battle that began long before you or I were born. You can trace the battle for contentment all the way back to the garden. Think about what the god of this age says to Eve, “For God knows that in the day you eat from it (the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
We can postulate what went on between Eve’s ears. “You mean, serpent, there’s more to life than what I currently know? There’s more that I can have in this world? I have been misled and duped?” This leads us to the underlying accusation, the place where Satan wanted Eve. It’s where he wants you, and me, “Why would a good God withhold that from me?” That right there is an affront to and a charge against a perfect God. It’s nothing new, and it’s what we battle against today.
The goal of this brief post is to show you that God has given you, Christian, a Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment. I have seen no better definition of contentment than that of the puritan pastor, Jeremiah Burroughs in the aforementioned work. He wrote in 1648,
Contentment is the inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, freely submitting to and taking pleasure in God’s disposal in every condition.Jeremiah Burroughs, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment
With those words, Burroughs, based on Scriptural texts (of which we will consider), opens the doors of your heart for greater joy in contentment in Christ.
There is only one word used in the New Testament for contentment. That sounds simple enough. But here’s the kicker, the word is found in three different forms (as a verb, adjective, and noun). The forms have slightly different nuances.
The verb form is “ἀρκέω.” It is used eight times and speaks of sufficiency or satisfaction (depending on the context). The idea is that there is nothing that is lacking. For example, Paul says in 2 Cor 12:10 , “Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions and hardships, for the sake of Christ, for when I am weak, then I am strong.” Paul was saying that amid all the hardships he went through: the beatings, imprisonments, sleepless nights, etc, he was sustained and content.
At which point, the world would say, “that’s simply not possible.” But the reason for this state was due to the Lord Himself. In 2 Cor 12:7–9 , we see the key turn in the lock of the truth revealed in verse 10.
Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me⁠—to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.2 Cor 12:7–9
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Jews to work His glorious purposes to ensure that “all Israel will be saved” and the “fullness of the Gentiles” will come in to the Kingdom of God (cf. Rom. 11). All the unlawful disregard of process inflicted upon our King by the Jews was according to what God’s hand had “predestined to take place” (cf. Acts 4). But we nonetheless grieve for how our Lord was abused and mistreated, denied justice and due process for our sakes. As such, in the PCA we have a firm devotion to observing judicial procedure and upholding due process.

In the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), we believe in process. The congregation I serve is about to ordain a new ruling elder, and there has been a process leading up to it and even a particular process we must follow on the night of his ordination.
Judicial process in the PCA is exceptionally rigorous and specific. There are even procedures that must be followed in the PCA before entering into judicial process! There are numerous reasons for this. One is surely the closing verse of 1 Corinthians 14: all things should be done decently and in order (14:40).
While the context of 1 Corinthians 14 deals with worship, the principle nonetheless holds true for the government of the Church more broadly.
The Sufferings of Our King
But there is a more important reason clear, fair, and impartial judicial process is so valued by the PCA: our King was falsely accused by wicked Jews and was finally executed because proper judicial process was not observed.
This has become especially clear to me as I have preached through the Gospel of John:
The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!” The Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived? Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.” Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee” (John 7:45–52).
In that brief passage, the leaders of the Jews declare a crowd of their countrymen “accursed” because they follow (to some extent) the Lord Jesus Christ. Many members of the Jewish Senate apparently have already decided Jesus is guilty – of something – and they are ready to condemn Him accordingly.
But the esteemed Nicodemus reminds them of their duty according to the Law: they must give a man a hearing; it is unlawful to condemn a man without due process.
The appeal to God’s word made by Nicodemus has no effect on the wicked and unbelieving Jews. They turn and deride Nicodemus, and they twist the Scripture in order to undermine their colleague’s reminder of God’s Truth: “Search [the scripture] and see…” they retort.
Satanic Disregard of Due Process
We should not miss the satanic undertones in this passage. In the wilderness (cf. Matthew 4 or Luke 4), Jesus rebuked Satan’s temptation by quoting Scripture, and Satan responded in the next temptation by quoting Scripture, twisting it to his own wicked purpose:
And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written,
“‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”
Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test’” (Matthew 4:3–7).
Most commentators believe John wrote the Fourth Gospel assuming his readers are familiar with some of the other Gospels. In light of this, it is hard to believe John does not want us to perceive a satanic undercurrent in the Jewish attempts to disregard judicial process as they try to condemn Jesus in John 7ff.
Following the arrest of Jesus, John’s Gospel bears out the legal gymnastics observed by the Jews in order to secure a conviction against Jesus: e.g. two separate hearings in order to try and condemn him on the same day (cf. John 18:12-23 before Annas and John 18:24 before Caiaphas), the sudden and early morning timing of the Jewish trials followed by the quick referral to Pilate (John 18:28ff).
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Written by John M. Frame |
Sunday, October 27, 2024
The apologist’s responsibility is to (1) set forth the biblical story rationally and persuasively, (2) answer the objections inquirers will raise against the truth of this story, and (3) challenge the worldview from which those objections come. In all aspects of our discussion we must keep in mind the antithesis between the two worldviews and the need to avoid compromise. But we must also keep in mind that we are sharing good news with precious human beings in God’s image. We should treat them as we would like them to treat us—with gentleness and respect.

The Term Apologetics
The term apologetics has nothing to do with “apologizing” for anything. Typically we think of an apology as an admission of wrongdoing and a request for forgiveness. But presenting an apologetic is almost the very reverse of apologizing. An apologetic is rather a defense of what might appear to be wrong but actually is right. Rather than requesting forgiveness, an apologetic seeks to persuade someone that no forgiveness is needed, despite a wrongful accusation.
The term apologetics is related to the biblical word group apologeomai, apologia, usually translated “defend, defense.” In the NT, the term is used most often by the apostle Paul, when he defends himself against charges brought against him (Acts 22:1; 24:10; 25:8, 16; 26:1–2, 24). To defend himself against these charges, Paul defends the gospel, the good news about Jesus, which is his overall calling, the context of everything he does. Defending his preaching means defending the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is why in Philippians 1:7 Paul speaks of his whole apostolic ministry as “the defense and confirmation of the gospel.” It is that defense of the gospel that has landed him in prison (Phil. 1:16).
The Biblical Mandate for Apologetics
Peter generalizes to all believers the obligation to defend the gospel whenever nonbelievers question our faith:
In your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense [apologia] to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect. (1 Pet. 3:15)
This is the biblical mandate for apologetics. Peter says that all believers should be prepared to make a defense. We should note that he places this in two contexts: the context of Christ’s lordship and the context of the inquirer. The first context tells us that apologetics is an act of worship, not just a human conversation but a way of honoring Jesus as Lord. When we get into a discussion of the gospel with an unbeliever, we are often tempted to set Christ aside and focus on the common ground of reason and evidence. But we must never set Christ aside. Even in apologetics, our first responsibility is to please him.
The second context is also important. We are to defend the faith “with gentleness and respect.” Some Christians are attracted to the work of apologetics out of a desire to win a contest. Their purpose is to defeat unbelievers, to devastate them. God, however, calls us to respect them, to convince them gently, and therefore to love them, as Christ first loved us. In apologetics, we are called to image our Lord, not just to talk about him.
In the light of Peter’s mandate, we can define apologetics as the defense of the faith. As a theological science, it is the discipline by which we learn to give reasons for our hope, always honoring Christ and showing love for inquirers.
As such, apologetics is found throughout the Bible, not just in the relatively few passages that use apologeomai and its derivatives. Think of how often Jesus reasons with his Jewish opponents. The prophets and apostles regularly do the same, emulating him. Indeed, God himself reasons with those who question him: “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord” (Isa. 1:18).
So the whole content of the Bible is apologetic, for all Scripture is the speech of God, and throughout the Bible God speaks apologetically: he engages in a rational attempt to change the beliefs and behavior of his readers (2 Tim. 3:16–17). And, in all biblical apologetics, God honors his Son as holy and shows gentleness and respect to his readers.
As we seek to learn, then, the art and science of apologetics, the whole Bible will be our text. We shall try to follow the example, not only of Jesus and Paul as they deal with controversy, but of every part of Scripture as it defends its gospel message.
Scripture’s Approach to Apologetics
The Bible’s own apologetic approach can be conveniently divided into three aspects: (1) setting forth the truth with its rationale, (2) giving direct answers to objections, and (3) showing the foolishness of competing messages. We can distinguish these for convenience, but none of them is complete without the other two.
Setting Forth the Truth
The first of these is by far the most common, in which the Bible in various ways describes its message. What makes this description apologetic is that since the Bible is God’s Word, it always sets forth its message clearly and rationally. The story is believable to those who read it with open minds and hearts. But many readers are not open to what it says.
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