Let's Talk About Preparationism

Title: Let’s Talk About Preparationism
Text: John 3-4

Introduction: Last week’s snow day means we need to cover two chapters this morning. And I think I have a plan for how to do that. We need to talk about a rather obscure theological term. That being “Preparationism.”

The idea behind preparation is the recognition that in his wise providence God usually prepares a soul to receive Christ well before they actually believe.

There are only three major conversations that happen from John 3-4.

Nicodemus and Jesus (3:1-21)
John and his disciples (3:22-36)
The Woman at the Well and Jesus (4:1-26)

And all of them intersect with this idea of preparationism.

Why this matters?

It is good to be reminded that God did not just save us out of nowhere. He had worked in countless ways to bring us to that point.

Lewis wrote about friendship,

In friendship...we think we have chosen our peers. In reality a few years' difference in the dates of our births, a few more miles between certain houses, the choice of one university instead of another...the accident of a topic being raised or not raised at a first meeting--any of these chances might have kept us apart. But, for a Christian, there are, strictly speaking no chances. A secret master of ceremonies has been at work.

This is true of our friendship with Christ.

Psalm 71:15 says, “My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is past my knowledge.

Secondly, this awareness should boast our faith. We should be able to say, “with God, nothing is impossible.”

I read this week that John Knox, while he was a galley slave, saw the spires of St. Andrews cathedral and said, “one day I will preach there.” And then, through countless providences, God made it so.

Deep in unsearchable mines
Of never-failing skill
He treasures up His bright designs
And works His sovereign will

Thirdly, this is going to remind us about the pace of heart change. It rarely comes all at once. Zechariah 4:10 tells us not to despise the day of small things.

Fourth, this is parenting. Preparationism is parenting. We obviously don’t do patron saints – but if we did, John would be the patron saint of parenting. The whole goal is prepare our children for a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

There are other reasons to consider this topic. It will give you a clearer sense of the functional relationship between law and gospel. There’s even a direct implication toward the concept of cultural christianity and Christian nationalism – which I doubt we will have time to address.

The Problem: The Why of Preparationism

Preparationism is meant to solve a problem presented in John 3…

Look at John 3:16-21

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

What keeps people from escaping condemnation and receiving eternal life by believing in Jesus?

A few weeks ago we read that “He came unto his own and his own received him not.” Why did that happen?

Look again at vs. 19-20

“And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.”

A person whose “works are evil” and “does wicked things” will not come to the light lest his works should be exposed. It is fondness for sin (or indifference to the reality of sin) that prevents someone from surrendering to Christ.

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” – Upton Sinclair

Preparationism attempts, by use of the law of God, to make sin taste sour to the sinner. To make it seem ridiculous. To make it seem unprofitable. To make it seem self-defeating.

Illustration: When God speaks to the people of Israel through the profit Isaiah, he does so in two steps:

“Let me show you how foolish your choice is!”

Isaiah 55:2-3

Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?

Followed by, “how bout this instead…”

Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.

The Person: The Who of Preparationism

This is exactly what John the Baptist came to do.

And that John’s job was one of preparation. Look at John 1

John 1:6-8

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

John 1:19-23

And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

“When God starts to work on a sinner, there are “high mountains of pride that must be leveled and deep valleys of ignorance that must be filled.” Cor Harnick

He’s pricking consciences by pointing out sin, righteousness, and judgment… (John 16:8, Luke 1:14-17)

He’s calling them to make moral improvement BEFORE their conversion

Look at Luke 3:7-14

He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?” And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.”

This was not so that they could earn their way into God’s good grace. This is not a substitute for conversion. Nor was this some kind of preclean so that Jesus would offer saving grace. This was merely a preparing work, inciting the conscience of the people so that they would run to the light when it appeared to them.

Before we turn away from Luke, I want to point out the kinds of sins John is pointing out…

1. Religious presumption

“Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our Father.’” This meant, “of course we’re ok, we have this ethnic connection to the blessings of God…”

Preparationism is largely concerned with various aspects of presumption. Meaning, people think they’re ok with God when they aren’t.

1. Greed (selfishness)

And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?” And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.”

And one last thing. Notice he isn’t only speaking of sin, he is also speaking of judgment.

“Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

So John is really the patron saint of preparationism. The puritans had a very robust understanding of preparationism (went too far) – but their model was John.

But when we talk about the person of preparationism, we must see that it is really the Holy Spirit…

IIA: Not Just John but the Spirit in John

Now look at Luke 1:14-15. Listen to what the angel Gabriel said to John’s father prior to his birth…

“And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.”

Now look at John 16:8-11

And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

I want you to notice that the ministry of the Holy Spirit toward the world (those outside of Christ) involves the presentation of sin, righteousness, and judgment. And that John, a person full of the holy spirit even in his mother womb, did precisely that.

Summary Thus Far

Ok, so far we’ve seen the problem preparationism is meant to solve. People love their sin and thus the darkness. Preparationism is meant to make them less comfortable in their sinful condition.

And we’ve seen the person of preparationism. On one level it is John, but in reality, this is the work of the holy spirit.

Let me tell you why this is important. Firstly, some of you lack faith to do this kind of work because you do not believe that God is with you and that the holy spirit will work through you. He will if you ask him. He will if you repent of your sins and in the name of Jesus ask for his help. So pointing out the key role of the holy spirit should help some overcome hesitancy.

Secondly, I want us to remember how easy it is for us to start attempting the work of the Spirit in the power of the Flesh. Some will be too nice, some will be too mean. The Holy Spirit does it right.

The Practice: The How of Preparationism

Now we can we turn our attention to the practice of preparationism. How does this work in the real world? And this is where we can grab the other two major stories in John 3-4 and glean some crucial information.

Conversation
Demonstration

Preparationism involves direct conversations about a person’s sin. Many times, these are sins of presumption and lust/greed.

John did that with the crowds in Luke 3, Jesus does it with Nicodemus in John 3. Look at John 3:1-3

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Here Jesus is dislodging Nicodemus from his presumption. He is laying down a law. A law which Nicodemus cannot keep. You must be born again. This is the first law of the kingdom.

And we see Jesus having a hard conversation with the woman at the well. Look at John 4:13-17

Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.” Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”

Once again, a difficult conversation. Facts on the ground.

So one essential feature of preparatory conversations is to have polite but frank conversations about sin, righteousness, and judgment.

Secondly, we can observe the role of demonstration. Not just talking, but also showing.

Earlier I said that there were three major conversations in these two chapters. There are a few smaller ones that take place. For instance, look at John 4:46-50

So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way.

There is usually some display of spiritual excellence.

Nicodemus – “...we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” (3:2)

Samaritan Woman – “Sir I perceive you are a prophet” (4:19)

I recently read of another somewhat prominent atheist converting to Christianity (and no, I can’t remember who it was). Anyway, he said that he met some new people who were intelligent, funny and happy and lived lives of moral excellence and it really ticked him off to discover they were evangelical Christians.

Many such cases – for thousands of years – many such cases…

Conversation: You gotta talk to people frankly
Demonstration: You gotta show good deeds

Let me conclude by discussing an issue commonly raised by Christian parents with low faith in the word of God. When you begin to tell them to be little John the Baptists in their own homes to their own children, they often worry about provoking rebellion against God’s law.

As best as I can see, the antidote to this kind of thing is simple. To do the work of John the Baptist in the world, you need the heart of John the Baptist. And what was his heart most fundamentally?

He was a Jesus man. He loved Christ. Well before his natural birth, John the Baptist lept for joy in his mother’s womb when in the proximity of the preborn Jesus.

John was a man of the law. But that was his secondary identity. His primary identity was a man in love with Christ.

So I say to parents and to those who will start embracing preparationism in their workplaces, etc… do not fear being overly rigid, bold, etc… Just ensure that you love Jesus – like really really love Jesus.

John 3:22-30

After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing. John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized (for John had not yet been put in prison). Now a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over purification. And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’ The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.”