Chapman met Moody personally when the older man counseled the younger in an after meeting. In the inquiry room, Chapman professed his lack of assurance of his salvation. Moody read John 5:24 with him and asked, “Do you believe this?” Chapman replied, “Certainly.” Moody asked, “Are you a Christian?” The younger man said, “Sometimes I think I am, and again I am fearful.” Moody said, “Read it again,” then asked again if he believed it, and Chapman again said he was unsure. “Then he seemed to lose his patience,” Chapman recalled, “and the only time I can remember Mr. Moody being sharp with me was when he turned upon me and said, “Whom are you doubting?” After Chapman thought this over, Moody said, “Read it again.” He did and Moody asked, “Do you believe this?” Chapman replied, “Yes, indeed I do.” Moody asked, “Are you a Christian?” He answered, “Yes, Mr. Moody, I am.” Chapman concluded, “From that day to this I have never questioned my acceptance with God.” Later Chapman worked in some of Moody’s campaigns, preached at his Northfield Bible Conference, and served as vice president of Moody’s Bible Institute in Chicago.¹

The tale of Moody’s ministry to Chapman still warms hearts because many Christians today struggle with doubts like those that plagued Chapman. Many treasure Moody’s text, John 5:24, because it promises salvation to all who hear the gospel and believe in God. Looking at this passage illustrates why Moody insisted that Chapman’s fears betrayed doubt in the goodness of God.

John 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

An encouraging aspect of the gospel message shines through in this statement. Christ presents the good news here with enduring simplicity, calling for faith in response to the truth. True saving faith is not a product of human effort (which is more clearly stated in passages like Ephesians 2:8-9), and here Christ offers the eternal glories of heaven to anyone who will believe in Him.

As comforting as this is for a believer, Christ’s statement is exclusive. Only those who hear and believe will have this everlasting life and be saved. Elsewhere Christ becomes more restrictive, insisting that He alone is “the way,” limiting salvation to only those who approach God the Father through Himself (John 14:6). There is no hope of salvation any other way.

The simplicity (and exclusivity) of the gospel appeal became the central motivation for everything J. Wilbur Chapman later did. The need of the lost was paramount to him, apparent in this statement from Chapman, “For every lost individual in the community every Church has a measure of responsibility from which it cannot be freed until at least every legitimate means has been tried for his salvation.”²

Chapman’s efforts, largely forgotten today, have everlasting consequences. Chapman would probably agree that whether anyone remembers his evangelistic ministry today is truly beside the point. Your response to the gospel of Christ is what matters most right now, and Christ’s directions haven’t changed.

1. Sidwell, Mark. J. Wilbur Chapman and the Evangelizing of America. Fundamentalism File, Bob Jones University, Accession No. 01148006, pp. 3-4.
2. Chapman quoted in Sidwell, p. 35.

The challenge throughout the chapter is to trust in the Lord’s faithfulness so much that you still concentrate on deepening your relationship with the Lord even when evildoers prosper and cause you trouble. Pastor Minnick noted that the passage includes 21 distinct counsels for God’s people (17 of which are unique). The most common of these is the challenge “do not fret” (NASB), which occurs three times. He challenged us to look through the passage and catalog the other counsels for God’s people and seek to do them. I’m posting the entire chapter here, and hope to spend some time studying this in the future. Comments with your observations on the passage would be welcome!

NASB Psalm 37:1 A Psalm of David. Do not fret because of evildoers, Be not envious toward wrongdoers.
2 For they will wither quickly like the grass And fade like the green herb.
3 Trust in the LORD and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate² faithfulness³.
4 Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, and He will do it.
6 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light And your judgment as the noonday.
7 Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.
8 Cease from anger and forsake wrath; Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing.
9 For evildoers will be cut off, But those who wait for the LORD, they will inherit the land.
10 Yet a little while and the wicked man will be no more; And you will look carefully for his place and he will not be there.
11 But the humble will inherit the land And will delight themselves in abundant prosperity.
12 The wicked plots against the righteous And gnashes at him with his teeth.
13 The Lord laughs at him, For He sees his day is coming.
14 The wicked have drawn the sword and bent their bow To cast down the afflicted and the needy, To slay those who are upright in conduct.
15 Their sword will enter their own heart, And their bows will be broken.
16 Better is the little of the righteous Than the abundance of many wicked.
17 For the arms of the wicked will be broken, But the LORD sustains the righteous.
18 The LORD knows the days of the blameless, And their inheritance will be forever.
19 They will not be ashamed in the time of evil, And in the days of famine they will have abundance.
20 But the wicked will perish; And the enemies of the LORD will be like the glory of the pastures, They vanish– like smoke they vanish away.
21 The wicked borrows and does not pay back, But the righteous is gracious and gives.
22 For those blessed by Him will inherit the land, But those cursed by Him will be cut off.
23 The steps of a man are established by the LORD, And He delights in his way.
24 When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, Because the LORD is the One who holds his hand.
25 I have been young and now I am old, Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken Or his descendants begging bread.
26 All day long he is gracious and lends, And his descendants are a blessing.
27 Depart from evil and do good, So you will abide forever.
28 For the LORD loves justice And does not forsake His godly ones; They are preserved forever, But the descendants of the wicked will be cut off.
29 The righteous will inherit the land And dwell in it forever.
30 The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, And his tongue speaks justice.
31 The law of his God is in his heart; His steps do not slip.
32 The wicked spies upon the righteous And seeks to kill him.
33 The LORD will not leave him in his hand Or let him be condemned when he is judged.
34 Wait for the LORD and keep His way, And He will exalt you to inherit the land; When the wicked are cut off, you will see it.
35 I have seen a wicked, violent man Spreading himself like a luxuriant tree in its native soil.
36 Then he passed away, and lo, he was no more; I sought for him, but he could not be found.
37 Mark the blameless man, and behold the upright; For the man of peace will have a posterity.
38 But transgressors will be altogether destroyed; The posterity of the wicked will be cut off.
39 But the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; He is their strength in time of trouble.
40 The LORD helps them and delivers them; He delivers them from the wicked and saves them, Because they take refuge in Him.

1. it reads וּרְעֵה אֱמוּנָה
2. ”Cultivate” is used here in the same sense in which a shepherd actively feeds or grazes his flock.
3. NKJV “Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.”

Projects

1. For starters, I’m taking Old Testament Interpretation by correspondence. This requires much reading, chapter content memorization, and a paper.
2. In order to take a third semester of Hebrew this fall, I plan to follow a personal program of Hebrew grammar review, translation, and parsing. I’ll start my translation projects with Genesis 4, and see how far I can get. If all goes well, I hope to log 50 hours of Hebrew study this summer.

OTI

My assignment schedule for OTI breaks down as follows. I hope to finish by the end of the June or July.

Hebrew

I don’t have a formal schedule for this, as I already mentioned. For this project, my approach is simple: “just do it.”

When can we go outside to play?

Never! [Just kidding.] I look forward to this summer, and will be doing some fun things (like playing softball).

The fundamentalists rallied around inerrancy from the beginning, separating from old liberalism and “new evangelicalism.” Unfortunately, their separatist instincts occasionally drove them not only to affirm inerrancy, but also to allow other issues (sometimes non-essential) to further fragment the fundamentalist movement. These men, such as John R. Rice, Carl McIntire, and Bob Jones, Jr. were all committed to biblical inerrancy despite eventual enmities with one another.

The evangelicals responded to inerrancy with less harmony. Some such as Carnell, Dan Fuller, and Hubbard chose to reject it in favor of infallibility. Others, such as Lindsell, Henry, and Kantzer chose to affirm it, although they never separated like the fundamentalists.

Later, inerrancy passed from the forefront of discussion, but it had already defined the limits of fellowship for both groups. Each group subdivided to include the broad variety of viewpoints which today compose fundamentalism and evangelicalism while remaining distinct from each other.

Fundamentalism today remains largely committed to inerrancy, although those originally divisive non-essentials have continued to divide the ranks. A few (such as Peter Ruckman) have exalted non-essentials to the level of core doctrine and practice a “hyper-separatism” from all opponents that others almost universally regard as heresy. Ruckman’s idiosyncrasies make him a questionable fundamentalist, holding a doctrine of preservation that tampers with the traditional view of inerrancy. Fortunately, the vast majority of fundamentalism attempts to practice a separation motivated by the love of Christ and eschewing heretical hyper-isolationism.

Evangelicalism today has diversified far more than modern fundamentalism, allowing tremendous variety in doctrine. Self-described evangelicals range from conservatives (such as Mohler and MacArthur), to church growth phenoms (such as Hybels and Warren), to charismatics (such as Jakes, Osteen, and Meyer), to ecumenists (such as Graham and Colson), to social gospel advocates (such as Tony Campolo), to mainline denominationalists (such as Neuhaus, Packer, and Beckwith), and even to overt heretics (such as Pinnock and N.T. Wright). To some extent, leaders of the emerging church movement (such as McLaren and Driscoll) also call themselves evangelicals, though they try to repudiate key tenets of past evangelicals (such as the church growth movement). The evangelicals stand united only by their unwillingness to repudiate those who deny inerrancy or other key doctrines but would claim evangelical faith. Indeed, the term “evangelical” today sustains more abuse by application to these disparate men than the term “fundamentalist” used for its proper adherents.

1. Marsden, George. Reforming Fundamentalism: Fuller Seminary and the New Evangelicalism. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1995, p. xi.

Oops… a misquote, of course. When I heard him mix up the words of James 1:22 (”be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only”) in his prayer, I was a little startled, and took a moment during announcements to look the verse up again to make sure I had it straight in my head.

I can’t say I blame the man for misquoting — preachers misquote Bible verses all the time, of course, and having once prayed in chapel at BJU myself, I can only say that the fear of the Lord isn’t the only fear felt while praying there. Besides, everyone says things wrongly in public prayer now and then — I tend to nearly stammer when I pray out loud.

The misstatement caused me to think about James’ point, and I think even the misquotation leads to an important point of application.

James was addressing the problem of disobedience despite knowledge of the Word’s contents. He explains in verses 23-24 that anyone who does not adjust his behaviour in response to the Word is foolish. James challenges Christians to be obedient doers of the Word, not forgetful hearers (v. 25).

Do Christians sometimes fall into a different trap? Amidst the hustle of “doing ministry” or “doing the will of God,” do we sometimes fail to also be attentive hearers? How often have we ignored the message of a sermon because it was presented in a style we disliked or with applications that came too close to home? Worse, how often do we read Scripture in superficial pursuit of “our own personal growth” or immediate practical application without attention to the truths of Scripture enlightened by context?

Interestingly, James addressed this too. Verses 19-21 warn that obedience to God requires attention to the Word of God:

KJV James 1:19-21 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

Considered as a unit, James 1:19-22 teaches that obedience is a union of informed belief and responsive practice.

Oddly (providentially?), the sermon from that day’s chapel service was from Isaiah 6:1-8. I could not help but wonder about all of this when I saw these verses in the context:

KJV Isaiah 6:9-10 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.

Are we Christians today remiss the way James condemned and the way Isaiah was to expect?