As long as we have been acquainted with Satan, we have seen sin and destruction. As long as we have been familiar with God, we have seen love and benevolence. That’s why John will go on later to assert, “God is love” (4:16). There can be no richer way to say that love is from the beginning because there is God, the same yesterday, today, and forever. 

For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another (1 John 3:11, NKJV)
John’s first epistle is indeed a love letter, not only because it communicates the love of God to us but also because love is a dominant theme. He uses the term “love” over 40 times. He comes at the topic from just about every angle imaginable.
He began the chapter by speaking of the love of God the Father to us. He has just told us that a distinguishing trait of being born of God is a love for the brethren. Now John tells us just how old is this message of love: “For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another” (1 John 3:11).
Love is not just a New Testament message. There are those who will try to set the Old Testament against the New by saying the Old had to do with justice, judgment, and wrath, while the New has to do with mercy, grace, and love.
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Vanguard Presbytery has had wonderful fellowship for these past two years. Except for this late unpleasantness caused by a few parties who have now left due to their desire to rush to judgment on one issue in violation of the Scripture and our Constitution. Vanguard has new churches that are starting in various places and other existing churches talking with us about becoming part of us. Our goal is primarily to start new churches through evangelism and the Lord is indeed blessing our denomination in various ways.

As I was boarding a plane on my way to a Vanguard Presbytery meeting on Friday, May 13, I received a text from a fellow presbyter about an article written by the Christ Reformed Presbyterian Church that was on The Aquila Report. When I landed I opened the article and read what could only be described as slanderous accusations against the good name of Vanguard Presbytery. It is easy to slander with a broad brush when facts do not have to be provided. I hope everyone reading this article will carefully consider that point.
Vanguard Presbytery was accused by a few (who have left to start a new denomination) of constitutional and theological abuses. No evidence was given to support such accusations. Thus, I will reply by simply stating where Vanguard Presbytery stands on its constitution and doctrinal standards.
First, we believe, as does the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) and most every Reformed and Presbyterian denomination, that Matthew 18:15-18 is a basic principle of church government, and few are the instances in which it can be ignored. Requiring people to follow Matthew 18:15-18 is not an abuse of Presbyterian polity and does not constitute a constitutional crisis. The failure to do so would constitute the crisis.
Second, the polity of Vanguard Presbytery clearly makes committees of all church court levels subordinate to the courts and prohibits those committees from acting on any matter which is not given to them by the court. Upholding our polity is not a constitutional crisis. The failure to do so would constitute the crisis.
Third, Vanguard Presbytery upholds the rights of due process for all members at every court level. Preventing a rush to judgment in violation of the rights of due process of any person is not a constitutional crisis. The failure to do so would constitute the crisis.
Fourth, Vanguard Presbytery believes, as does the PCA and other Reformed or Presbyterian denominations, that discipline must be exercised in a dispensation of mercy and grace. If any member is accused of an error in doctrine or practice, the court must proceed carefully in order to attempt to reclaim the erring brother. The goal is to bring the brother to repentance. Proceeding cautiously does not constitute a constitutional crisis.
Vanguard Presbytery has upheld our constitution in all our decisions and we have certainly not adopted any theological error. The few who have left did not proceed through the court with their matters to its final decision and did not wait for the courts to act. Vanguard Presbytery has neither swept anything under the rug nor adopted any theological error. Anyone saying otherwise is bearing false witness. Without going into details, that is all I can say in response. Thus, I categorically deny what was written about us. Other elders in Vanguard Presbytery have contacted me to express that they feel we have been slandered. We have!
Vanguard Presbytery has had wonderful fellowship for these past two years. Except for this late unpleasantness caused by a few parties who have now left due to their desire to rush to judgment on one issue in violation of the Scripture and our Constitution. Vanguard has new churches that are starting in various places and other existing churches talking with us about becoming part of us. Our goal is primarily to start new churches through evangelism and the Lord is indeed blessing our denomination in various ways.
Anyone who has ever started a new congregation knows how easy it is to gather some people in the beginning who later prove not to be good fits for the congregation. It is no different in starting a new denomination. It is nice to write an irenic sounding purpose statement, but true irenicism is proved by actions.
Dewey Roberts is Pastor of Cornerstone Presbyterian Church in Destin, FL, a member congregation of Vanguard Presbytery.
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Wisdom is not a mere matching quiz between biblical principles and life situations. Biblical wisdom is the embodiment of God’s character carrying out God’s agenda redemptively in a broken world. Intelligence is no big advantage to obtaining this kind of wisdom. It is as accessible to the simple as it is the brilliant. The power of this wisdom can be unleashed by the poor as much as it can the rich, by those with little social influence as much as the social elites.

Passage – James 3:13-18
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
Commentary
Imagine you’re in a group for overcoming anger. The group facilitator starts your meeting with the question, “Who is the strongest person in the world?” A few people roll their eyes at this hokey ice breaker, but still participate. Some do a quick web search for famous weightlifters and offer a few names. For a laugh, someone guesses Jesus. As a longshot, someone else guesses the current most famous athlete. The group leader doesn’t seem satisfied with any of the answers.
Once no one else has a guess, the leader says, “The person who can control their tongue.” The leader is defining power as the ability to curtail destruction and identifying the tongue as the source of the most life disruption. That is, in effect, what James does in this passage. He is going to redefine a key term: wisdom. In James 1:5, we were asked to pray for wisdom. In these verses, we will learn a lot more about what we should expect to happen within us as God answers our prayer.
What Is Wisdom? (vs. 13)
James starts this section of his letter by asking the question, “Who is wise and understanding among you?” We read this question and begin looking for valedictorians or someone with a Ph.D. James says, “That’s not what I’m talking about.” In effect, James says, “I’m not looking for a high IQ – intelligence quotient. I’m looking for a high CQ – character quotient.”
James defines wisdom as the ability to live in God’s world in a way that represents God accurately. James is going to help us see that the best way to measure biblical wisdom isn’t with a theology quiz but with a character assessment.
The wise person is the one who displays good conduct and meekness – power under control – even in hard times (v. 13). When situations are dicey, the wise person doesn’t acquiesce to a “survival of the fittest and shrewdest” mindset. The biblically wise person maintains a focus being an accurate ambassador of God’s character and agenda for that moment (2 Cor. 5:20).
In might be easy to miss that James is returning to theme that faith must be expressed in tangible actions to be genuine (v. 13). In this case, the “work” of faith is a disposition. Many of us fall into the trap of thinking that being wise is only about having right answers to hard questions and miss, as James is teaching, that wisdom is also about maintaining virtuous character in hard times.
Let’s contextualize this point for the original readers of this letter.
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